Special delivery for da_angel729 Title: It's a Nice Day For a (Weasley) Wedding, part 2 Author:idea_of_sarcasm Recipient's IJ/LJ name:da_angel729 Rating: R Pairings: Katie/Charlie (with Angelina/George and other brief pairing mentions) Word Count: ~21,000 Warnings: Sex (duh) and a bit of language Summary: Angelina and George are getting married. Nobody said it was going to run smooth, and nobody said they were going to be the only ones getting together. Author's notes:da_angel729 I struggled with getting an idea for this more than I would care to admit considering you had a good number of pairings suggested I'd be thrilled to write. I hope this end result is something that fulfills your request!
The men's pre-wedding gathering was different.
In that there really wasn't one.
Katie had expected to find them all congregated in George's room that had formerly been allocated for him and Fred when they were actually at the Burrow. Instead, it took her a good while to find them. After a good amount of searching she located the lot of them around the corner of the house; away from the guests and the marquee in the back and away from air drifts that would take the smell to the windows of the upper bedrooms. As she walked around the corner the odour of cigar smoking tickled her nostrils, and she wrinkled her nose as she approached. "I thought cigars were supposed to wait until after," she grimaced, "or you know, until the first baby or something."
With her approach they'd all shoved the cigars behind their backs guiltily, but had relaxed when they realized who it was. Even Arthur Weasley was taking part, as was Tom and all the groomsmen - as well as the prospective groom of course. Percy looked distinctly uncomfortable with the cigar, but was dutifully trying his best to fit in.
"Give me something today," George said, balancing the cigar between his teeth as he walked up to her, "bemoaning the loss of my bachelorhood in the dying moments." Then realizing who he was talking to he grinned, "Or you know, celebrating its loss. Whatever you'd prefer to think."
Katie rolled her eyes as he slung an arm around her shoulders, "You realize you lot are going to stink to high heaven?"
It was Lee who responded, "Turns out there's this handy little spell that. . . " He broke off, demonstrating instead. With a wave of his wand over George, and a muttered, "olfactory concealo," the odour of cigar from the man beside her disappeared and was replaced with a light flowery scent.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" George asked with a grin, giving her shoulder a pat and pulling away.
Katie would place bets on Molly Weasley's nose ferreting them out regardless, but she had to appreciate the effort and the brilliance of the spell. She couldn't resist the urge to needle the group, though she kept it quiet enough Mr. Weasley couldn't hear, "You all must be insanely secure in your manhoods to be smoking those things."
It was Bill who raised his eyebrows questioningly. Katie resisted the urge to stumble in her jest. She might not exactly have a 'thing' for the eldest Weasley brother, but he disconcerted her all the same. She could never quite place her finger on it, but she thought it might be because he seemed to much like a man. Oh, not that the rest of them were - at least always - immature boys, but he seemed leagues above the rest of them. It must have been the marriage and the child. Merlin, did that mean she was going to look at George in the same way soon?
Pushing that aside, she continued bluntly, "Phallic symbols."
As a good number of them looked at the cigars a little more distastefully, Katie pushed aside jesting and said what she was coming for. She had a habit of getting distracted by talking even when there was a task at hand. "Mrs. Weasley sent me down. It's time to get things started - Angelina's all ready. So you lot get yourselves smelling respectable, and all lined up."
They all waved their wands to vanish the cigars, and started casting the charms to mask the odour. As George straightened his dress robes, he started to look a little nervous. It was Mr. Weasley who walked up, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder.
They didn't exchange words, it didn't seem their relationship was the type, but George relaxed at his father's reassuring smile - and they did a quick manly hug before stepping back, not caring that they were doing it in front of the entire male contingent for the wedding.
Katie smiled at the display of affection, and as she turned to go, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she found Charlie delaying her.
He dropped his head to speak quietly so the words were for her alone. "Katie, if you think a little cigar like that is phallic, you've been sleeping with the wrong men."
With a smile and a wink he patted her shoulder and turned back towards his brothers, leaving her with a curl of arousal in her belly and a remarkably dry mouth.
Cursing her inability to give him a proper retort, and the fact she was now picturing the. . . cigar inside his trousers, Katie headed back towards the women inside.
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For what essentially amounted to a backyard wedding, the setup had been done beautifully. Nothing to do with the chairs of course, but the decorations the Weasley family and friends had set up around the yard were gorgeous. It had still been a lot of work that they could have foisted off on others at different locations, but it had worked out lovely in the end.
There had been many discussions over the arrangements, whether or not the groomsment should walk with the bridesmaids down the aisle, but instead George was standing with his brothers and friend beside the witch officiating the ceremony. Katie couldn't help but snicker as she peeked out to have a look. It might be appropriate, and it might be the right thing at the right moment, but there were way too many of them all in the wedding party. Her eyes lingered over Charlie, looking dapper in his dress robes, even if they perhaps weren't the most masculine sort. She tried to not think about how she would like to have the opportunity to divest him of said robes later. Turning back to the girls, and Angelina's mum and brother, she watched as they all straightened themselves at the last minute.
From her seat at the front, Molly Weasley waved her wand, and the muted strains of 'Charmed by you' started to air across the backyard.
Ginny gave Angelina a quick hug, murmuring words about being glad to have another sister, before grabbing her flowers and starting the slow walk down the aisle. Katie was fairly sure Fleur hadn't gotten the same type of reception initially, even if she was technically a 'sister' as well.
As she waited her turn, Katie reminded herself sternly that she was not to rush down the aisle as was always her temptation, having no patience for the slow stroll that was required. Alicia as the maid of honour was to go last before the bride, and Katie was just before her.
Therefore when Angelina went into a panic, it was only the two of them left, besides of course the woman's mum and brother.
As Audrey started her walk down the aisle, Angelina all of a sudden gripped Katie on the arm, and looked desperately at her and Alicia. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck," she started to murmur under her breath, "you have to stop this. I'm not sure I can do this. Oh dear Merlin, we've got to stop this."
Alicia and Katie looked at each other in panic, as Angelina slowly backed away. Tom and her mum had been oblivious, but following her retreat just looked startled. As Angelina backed her way into the backdoor of the house, Alicia following behind, they left Katie standing at the top of aisle with hundreds of people looking expectantly at her.
She froze, she couldn't help it, having no idea what to say. George was looking flabbergasted at the end of the aisle, as was the whole lot of them, when there was nobody else heading down.
"Slight. . . wardrobe malfunction," Katie gulped, her voice breaking. Public speaking she was shite at, especially when she was making up hippogryff dung on the spot. Forcing herself to speak louder she offered weakly, "Just have to go look up the proper charm. . . we'll be right back." It was bollocks, considering every witch in the crowd probably knew a spell to fix a broken heel, a stain, or a ripped dress, but she'd had no bloody idea what else to say. Leaving the multitude of people murmuring amongst themselves, she moved as fast as her dress robes would allow into the house, following the other two women. Angelina's brother made a motion to follow, as did her mum, but then hesitated and stayed behind.
When she stumbled into the kitchen the backdoor opened into, she found Angelina squishing her flowers mercilessly as Alicia patted ineffectually at her shoulder, looking helpless.
"What. . . ?" Katie asked, not knowing what else to say.
"I think I'm making a mistake," Angelina said, her voice almost unrecognizable with how quiet it was, "I'm pretty sure I'm making a ridiculous mistake."
Katie closed her eyes, wishing it wasn't happening like this.
"Why?" Alicia was the one who asked the question bluntly.
"I'm too young to get married, aren't I? Oh Merlin. . . the rest of my life. . . and maybe all that taking the piss got to me, but. . . well, it is George and. . . ."
The rambling and panic was entirely unlike Angelina, and Katie forced herself to step into a different role than was normal for her, staying calm and trying to get it all sorted in the matter of moments. "Did he do something?" She asked, wondering if maybe there had been something to prompt this, "Did you catch him shagging one of the multitude of bridesmaids, saying nasty things to his brothers about you, I. . . ." It was George, Katie couldn't really think of hideous things he would have done to prompt this kind of turnaround.
"No," Angelina said quickly, "no, nothing like that. I just. . . oh Merlin, what if I'm making a mistake? In so many ways he's everything I chucked Fred for in our short lived relationship."
"You didn't love Fred," Alicia pointed out quietly, "not as more than a mate anyway. Do you love George?"
Her answer to that was quick as well. "Of course. I didn't think I could feel this way about anyone ever, but everybody always says things about him that imply it's not going to work out. He's too immature for me, he'll drive me nutters within a year, he's never going to grow up. . . .you two have said the same things yourself." They both started guiltily, never realizing good natured teasing and minor reservations would have led to this. "It's not a matter of love, because I know he loves me too, it's just. . . " she trailed off helplessly.
Alicia started to speak, but Angelina was off on another tangent, "People think it's unhealthy you know, me getting married to George, considering Fred was my significant other of sorts. They think I'm confusing the two, trying to replace one twin with the other in grief. That George is doing this out of some kind of. . . misplaced obligation."
That was complete bollocks, which would be apparent to anybody who actually knew the two of them and their history - and her and Fred's history as well. She and Fred had never had a doomed romance; they'd been mates who had temporarily tried something more and then reverted back to the norm when it didn't work out. Even if it hadn't been exactly like that underneath though, Angelina hadn't lost herself in grief and wasn't trying to replace a dead boyfriend. It was just. . . .so bloody ludicrous on so many levels.
Watching Angelina working herself into a panic though, Katie knew logic wasn't the thing to appeal to her with. Trying to reason this out wasn't going to work.
It was funny listening to her, because the doubts she was listing were the ones Katie'd had initially when she was looking on the outside in. But knowing them, and seeing them together now, she'd been convinced that this was so bloody right even if they would drive each other round the bend on occasion. It might have come as a surprise, but that didn't make it any more invalid. She couldn't know that it was the right thing, nobody could really know that, but seeing how much George truly cared for her friend she believed it had as good a chance as any of being right. In the end though, it was far from being her decision to make.
Before Angelina could ramble on about every doubt she'd ever had about the relationship, Katie took the other woman's hands in hers, forcing Angelina to look at her. It calmed Angelina down slightly, as Katie spoke, "If you don't want to get married, I will support you every step of the way." Alicia was nodding along, still patting Angelina's shoulder. "I will break the news to every single person out there, I will find us a portkey to the French Riviera where we can ogle rich half naked blokes, I will do whatever you want. No questions asked, no recriminations, because I love you and I want you to be happy. But do you really believe, deep down inside, that you're making a mistake here?"
They all paused in that moment, and Angelina's face fell, before she murmured silently. "No, I. . . I don't. I just. . . .this is forever, and when I start to think about it logically it makes it so much harder."
Katie had to bite her tongue against suggesting she get her arse out there and get married then, but she knew it was something Angelina had to come around to. If there were truly that many hesitations for her, Katie had meant it when she'd said she'd support her in whatever she wanted to do. She wasn't capable of legilmency, but she was fairly sure Alicia felt the same.
"I love him so much," Angelina closed her eyes for a moment, "fuck, I actually love the prat so bloody much." Running a hand over her face, she looked up with an expression that was suddenly remarkably calm, "I'm being a fucking idiot."
"You? Never." Alicia said supportively, smiling as she gave Angelina a half hug, being careful not to mess up her dress and hair in the process. "Well, at least not until this moment anyway."
Angelina returned the hug, and gave Katie's hand a quick squeeze. "I'm getting married," she said resolutely, and before they could say anything else she offered quickly, "Yes, I'm sure. No, there are absolutely no doubts. I just. . . please don't tell anybody I panicked. I don't panic." Except apparently when it came to George. Smiling softly at both of them, she added, "I'm really lucky to have friends like you, you know?" Obviously unable to resist, she added, "All ready ad willing to brave the Weasley clan for breaking the heart of one of their brood."
They all smiled at each other. In that moment, Katie actually felt really happy, because she knew in essence it would never change, not really - the three of them. George would come first, as he should, but their real friendship was not going to fade - not even if Angelina had a gazillion little red-haired babies and moved to Venezuela.
In the next moment, she felt panic.
"Shit," she said, grabbing Angelina's arm, "as touching as this moment is, we've got hundreds of people and your lucky groom out there wondering that the bloody hell is going on."
They rushed out after that. Angelina's mum and brother looked relieved when they saw their daughter emerge from the house, smiling and composed again. As she peeked around the side of the marquee, Katie could see George beginning to make his way down the aisle towards them, and she frantically shook her head, motioning him back. He hesitated, but obliged, taking his place beside the rest of the men standing up with him. The crowd had been murmuring, but they quieted slightly when they saw Katie standing at the top of the aisle ready to go. She caught the eye of Mrs. Weasley, who although looking a little perturbed, started the music up again and Katie began her slow walk down the aisle, Alicia following behind the requisite ten paces afterwards.
As she neared the front of the aisle, the guests around her were getting to their feet, and she was lucky enough to see the look on George's face when Angelina started to walk down the aisle with her mother and Tom.
He looked like he'd just won the Quidditch cup single-handedly; like he was the sort of person who didn't even need felix felicitas to get what he wanted; like he was in complete and utter awe, and like he could lift mountains. The grin across his face was wider than she had ever seen it, and completely genuine, for once not a bit of mockery in his gaze. George looked so bloody happy, and so bloody in love, as he watched his bride to be walk down the aisle towards him.
It was schmoopy, and it was out of character from the type of person she thought she was, but Katie didn't even care as her eyes started to tear up.
This was what she wanted for her friend.
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At the reception Katie had snagged a seat next to Charlie at one of the tables that had sprung up after the end of the ceremony; the plans for walking back down the aisle had been pushed aside in favour of a smoother transition. They hadn't had much time to talk, except for a comment he'd muttered quietly about the things the dress did for her arse.
She was still fairly sure he'd done it just in an attempt to make her blush as one of the many Weasley cousins had procured a wizarding camera to help commemorate the wedding.
On her other side Alicia sat very close to Lee.
Katie was carefully trying to avert her eyes from that direction as she was fairly sure Alicia's hand occasionally kept drifting towards the area of the man's crotch.
Ron and Ginny had sat down with their respective significant others, making some attempt to follow the mostly botched seating plan, but the four of them were a group onto themselves as seemed the norm - chatting with each other rather then the rest of the group. Katie had invited Brianna and Tom to join them with their son, but they had joined Angelina's mum and the Weasley parents, as well as Bill with his wife and daughter. Katie had been tempted to make a crack about it being the 'domesticated' table, but she wasn't sure how well that would go over with everyone.
"You're not a bad dancer, Weasley," Katie elbowed him lightly. Already she'd snagged a glass of champagne and was sipping slowly at it.
"Charlie," he corrected her.
"Fine, Charlie," she emphasized with a roll of her eyes, "I assumed you had two left feet."
"Because. . . "
"I don't know, you're a bloke."
He snorted, "You really are big on stereotypes, aren't you?"
"It's not exactly a stretch."
They'd taken to the dance floor after Angelina and George had been allowed their solo dance, followed by being joined by the parents. She wouldn't welcome it herself having a solo dance like that, considering her grace was limited to the broom alone, but Angelina and George hadn't seemed to have too many problems being the center of attention. Not that it had been taken too seriously, as he'd slid her into a fast dance despite the first song being of a noticeably slow and romantic beat. For all Angelina normally might have clapped him upside the head and told him to behave himself, this time she only grinned and laughed as she went along. Apparently marriage mellowed people, or maybe that was just happiness.
When the wedding party had joined in, and Charlie's hand had slid to her waist, Katie could only be glad for the planned pairing. If nothing else than his ability had kept her afloat and stopped her from stepping all over his toes.
"I'm a very good dancer," Charlie said, grinning at her, "of course I'm even better at the horizontal kind."
"Bloody hell, do you ever think about anything besides sex?"
His hand slid to her chair as he leaned closer, speaking close to her ear, "Not when I'm sitting here beside you."
Merlin but that was a horrible line. It was cheesy, overused, over the top and he probably didn't mean it any more then he would with any reasonably attractive woman - but damn if it didn't make her stomach flutter all the same.
Katie cleared her throat, trying to sound sultry - or whatever the hell somebody adept at sexual flirting would sound like. "Talk like that, Charlie, and we're going to have to find ourselves an empty room to retire too."
After that statement she expected a quick retort, maybe a little upping of the ante, but Charlie fell silent for a moment, simply looking at her. Katie almost raised a hand to her face to see if there was something on it, but then he looked away - almost as if he was checking around them to see if anybody was listening. She was confused, and raised her champagne to distract her, but already Charlie was turning back.
"Listen, Katie," he said, sliding a hand from the chair to her hip, "I know you're not exactly the femme fatale type, and I'm not exactly suave and debonair. I work with bloody dragons every day, who aren't exactly great for conversation, and are only good for sexual interest for the most sick fucks out there. Straight out, for all we've been dancing around it - in truly pathetic fashion - I want you. A lot. And before you get your knickers in a twist, I don't just mean for sex. I'd like to. . . get to know you better."
Katie looked at him rather dumbly. That, she hadn't been expecting.
After a few seconds he snorted, "Saying something would be a good idea."
What the bloody hell was she supposed to say? Oh, the obvious choice would be 'me too', but her brain didn't go to the obvious when it was presented with a male like Charlie Weasley with serious interest. Merlin, but George had had the right of it earlier, annoying prat though he was. She could do the banter and the rest of it when it was casual, and more a joke. In truth though, when faced with any man who wanted her for more than that, and who came at it rather abruptly, she didn't have the first clue what to do with him - let alone with a man like Charlie. It was the byproduct of being the girl who was normally always 'friends' with the blokes, rather than yes, the femme fatale type.
At the back of her mind too there was the completely irrational thought that she wished he wasn't being so nice about it, so polite. Wasn't she attractive enough for him to just want to shag? Did she seem like the type who needed words, and months of conversation first and. . . whatever else.
Merlin, all right, maybe in some ways she was, but that didn't mean she relished it.
Before she could say anything however, their conversation was interrupted by Audrey plopping down at the table, dragging Percy in her wake as she pulled him down into the chair beside her.
Disconcerted, Katie reluctantly turned her attention away from Charlie to the rest of the table. She could hear him curse under his breath before doing the same.
Percy was muttering something under his breath to Audrey, obviously trying to pull away and leave.
"They don't want. . . " he hissed. Katie missed the next few words, then heard, ". . . somebody needs to make sure the charms on the. . . "
Before he could finish, it was Charlie who spoke, "How are things at the Ministry, Percy?" Percy had returned to work there only the year before.
Katie hid a smile behind her hand at the overenthusiastic nature of his tone. She was fairly sure Charlie didn't give a hippogryff's arse about the Ministry of Magic, but was making the effort for his brother's sake all the same. It had been the theme with the Weasley brothers, trying to make the effort to make their brother feel included and welcome. Perhaps in the case of George the effort was a little more forced, but that didn't mean it wasn't forthcoming all the same. It had been a slow process, Percy coming back into the fold; Fred's death had widened the chasm that had narrowed when Percy had changed back to his family's side, even if it was all in the mind of the more uptight Weasley brother.
Percy seemed startled by the question. "Oh, just fine. We've been rewriting the regulations on. . . ." With that he was off into a mind-numbingly boring speech about cauldrons and wand length and. . . things Katie didn't quite catch due to her attention drifting, but at least he stopped trying to get up and leave.
"Percy," it was Audrey who interrupted him when there was a stop for him to take a breath, to the relief of them all, "be a love and wave down one of the waiters. I've yet to get myself a glance of champagne." He looked startled, but obliged, reaching for his wand to send sparks up in the air and get one of the men in the plain robes to come over with his tray.
Alicia and Lee had turned their attention back to the table as well, and Katie was hoping to Merlin they were keeping their hands to themselves.
"It was a lovely ceremony," Alicia said with a wistful sigh. Lee and Charlie exchanged pained glances, so it was left to Katie to humour her friend as Audrey was staying annoyingly silent as the only other female at the table paying any attention.
"It was," she agreed, "the uh. . . the flowers, and the lovely charms that came after they exchanged their vows and the uh. . . "
Snorting, Alicia shook her head, "Katie love, don't worry, I'm not making us discuss that sort of thing. I meant the two of them, you know."
That she could agree on, and the wistful look that had been in Alicia's eyes, now shone in Katie's as well. It wasn't like the words the couple had exchanged had been any different from any other wizarding wedding ceremony, elite pureblood or otherwise, but it had been lovely to hear the two of them saying them. Maybe it helped that she finally knew the people involved, and wasn't attending the wedding of a peripheral family member or influential friend of her family's, but so much of it was that it was lovely to see two people who actually seemed to mean it. Also, two people who hadn't been able to stop themselves from sneaking grinning glances at each other while the witch officiating the ceremony had been talking, and who'd snogged for much longer than was necessary.
"Birds," Lee said under his breath, shaking his head.
Alicia's eyes narrowed as she swatted him on the arm. "Oh shove off. You can't tell me you weren't just a little moved. It's not going to call your manhood into question to admit it."
"Oh fine," he conceded, "even if I think this sort of thing is bollocks. I'll admit the two of them do seem disgustingly in love, and it made me happy to see George happy. Before Angelina came into his life, it didn't happen near often enough this last while."
"I'll toast to that," Charlie said quietly, raising his glass of champagne they'd recently snagged from the waiter, and they all followed suit.
A somber moment followed, as they were all remembering why George had been faced with such a hard time of it, and Katie seized the remembrance of Fred to try and move them all past it rather than let it get them down. "Merlin, can you picture if Fred was here?" Surprised eyes turned to her at the question, but she carried on, "He wouldn't have let his twin get married without a few good pranks; I think the only thing safe would have been Angelina's dress as she would have hexed him but good if that got ruined." Smiling a bit wistfully, she added, "Not that I think it would have been too much of a bad thing, mind, the livening up a bit."
Rather than getting maudlin about who wasn't there, at least not overly, Charlie took her approach. "Well, at least this way we came out with mum's sanity intact. I think I would have liked to see what he'd come up with though."
Alicia grinned. "I think I could more picture him wrapping his arms around George's legs, begging him not to get married. Now there was a man allergic to commitment."
Perhaps for all it brought back bittersweet memories of their friend and brother respectively, in some ways it relieved the load to be able to talk like this. She could in no way imagine what it had been like for the Weasley family, but she knew even amongst friends it had been impossible to really talk about him. Offhand mentions were always glossed over in the sadness that came with them, and memories that included him were rarely touched on directly. Or, if they were, they omitted him somehow - like he hadn't been there; they did it like they thought doing it that way would make some sort of difference in how much they missed him.
"I think it would have been the opposite," Percy was the one who spoke quietly next, surprising them all. "I think he wouldn't have wanted a single thing to mar this day, even something that was second nature to them both. I think he would have gone over the top to make it absolutely perfect for George. He would have done everything to ensure. . . " He broke off, embarrassed. He ducked his head, cleaning his glasses as a cover, but they all could see there were tears in his eyes.
As they all were silent for a moment, and Katie knew for her part it was trying to think of what to say that wouldn't seem out of place, Percy got purposefully to his feet mumbling an, "Excuse me."
As he strode away, Charlie got up and made move to follow him, but Audrey shook her head, pushing to her feet.
"Let me," she said quietly, "sometimes somebody a bit more on the outside isn't a bad thing."
They watched as she walked away. Katie turned sad eyes towards Charlie, "I didn't mean to. . . "
He waved it off, "You didn't say anything wrong."
She hadn't, that was true, but she hadn't meant to upset Percy either. What did they think though, that they had been going to get through the day without anybody thinking about Fred? Merlin, but in that moment, she wished he was there. He'd always been good at diffusing every situation, and swinging them all around to a better mood no matter what was going on. That was one of the things she missed about him the most, even though she did miss everything. Percy had had a point; once Fred would have got past sharing his twin with a woman, she could picture him being obsessed with making everything perfect for the two of them.
Charlie's hand was on the table and she took it, threading her fingers through his from the top. It was comfort for both of them. He didn't say anything, but put his other hand over hers.
"I hate this song." Lee didn't exactly have the same knack for diffusing any situation and turning it for the better, but his comment didn't exactly hurt.
Their attention turned to the song some of the wedding guests were currently dancing to. 'If I Can't Have You (Without Amortentia)' had been playing on the wireless way too bloody much for the year previous, and the teenage witch who sang it sounded like she was under crucio. They all cringed as the song played on.
"If I ever get married," Alicia began, "it's going to be all instrumental music playing." Apparently that was the common conversation of the day amongst the single guests - how they would do things if they had the choice.
In the end, it wouldn't matter.
Katie still wasn't sure who exactly had the control when it came to planning weddings, but she was fairly sure nobody got everything they wanted in the process.
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Over the evening, Katie had found herself twirled around the dance floor by more men then she could keep track of - a good portion of them some relation of the Weasleys. The most memorable had actually been with Angelina's brother Tom, as the three minute waltz had been their longest consecutive conversation, and her best chance to actually get to know him. She could see shades of his sister in him, despite their differences in age, and it made her take to him all the quicker. Of course it was obvious he was head over heels for his wife and son, who sat in a chair off the side of the dance floor with her waving the boy's arm at them, which made him all the more endearing as well.
It also meant she'd lost track of everybody she had started out the rest of the night chatting with.
All in all everything had gone smoothly save a few minor clothing emergencies, a few embarrassing dances from drunken uncles and cousins, and one unfortunate shouting match between a (soon to be divorced, Katie was assuming) couple. They'd done some toasts at the end of the evening, when people were too far down in their cups to care, and Katie had stopped caring that her eyes were watering fairly frequently despite the fact it was a reaction she completely wasn't used to. She and Alicia had done an overly sentimental toast to the bride, which had got Angelina tearing up as well.
Lee's toast to George was a little more light hearted, though with no less sentiment - even if it wasn't explicitly stated.
The rest of the toasts Katie hadn't paid much attention to, guzzling down something deliciously alcoholic to relieve the stress of the public speaking.
As the wee hours approached, Angelina and George had been packed off by portkey on their honeymoon, and the numbers in the crowd had dwindled to next to nothing. Katie had offered her services for cleaning to the Weasleys, but Molly had shrugged her off, saying George had insisted on hiring out somebody to come and do the job the next day. Therefore she was one of the last ones around as she sat at one of the empty tables and pulled off her shoes, the cushioning charm she'd placed on the pinching heels having worn off hours before.
As she let out a relieved sigh, Katie massaged her feet for a moment. What she wanted to do more than anything in the world was get some sleep, but Lee and Alicia had retired, and knowing the sleeping arrangements as she did for this last night - Katie was fairly sure the room was where her stuff was would be currently occupied with those two. Apparating to her parents place a few miles out was a shite idea considering she'd had a few glasses of champagne and she liked her body parts where they were, so she supposed she was consigned to trying to find a sofa or spare bed somewhere in the Burrow.
"I meant it, you know." A shadow fell over her, and Katie looked up to find Charlie standing over her, hands in his pockets and the ties at his neck from the dress robes undone.
"Hey," she smiled, "I think I lost track of you about the time you and Hagrid decided you wanted to do a duet over in the corner."
He momentarily let himself be distracted, his expression rueful, "The scary thing is we belted out that song stone cold sober. Well, I did it stone cold sober - I think Hagrid had taken a few nips even before the ceremony earlier. I think I need to stop hanging out with that man at weddings, much as I do like him."
"Dancing. . . singing. . . .you really are a dream come true," Katie teased. In truth his voice wasn't all that great, though it had been a sight better than Hagrid's.
That allowed him to return to the subject matter she had been dancing around. "Speaking of - I think I propositioned you earlier. Something which you have been deliberating avoiding. If my ego wasn't so well developed, I'd think you weren't really interested in me at all."
"I'm interested," she responded automatically, even if she hadn't exactly meant to, and watched as he grinned.
Charlie grabbed her hand, gently pulling her to her feet. Her shoes lay forgotten on the ground, and it made her even shorter than him and forced her head to tilt up. "Fantastic," he said, sliding his hands to her waist.
It seemed natural to slide into his arms, but too easy. It seemed like she had skipped some monumental step in the process of getting to this point, whatever this point was, but really what else was there? Maybe she was spoiled by the stories. He seemed to notice her hesitation however, and raised his eyebrows, "You sure about that 'interested' thing?"
This time she did roll her eyes, "No, I'm lying, Charlie. I don't think you're fit, I find your personality repellant, and my knickers don't get wet when I think of your hands on me." She nearly blushed at the rather dirty comment, even if maybe it was a good thing - that she was able to joke around with him again despite his words of interest. Maybe though underneath she thought he didn't really mean this 'interested' thing, and that he was just toying around until he could find somebody a little more like Alicia in the crowd.
She was a bloody confusing bint, especially to herself.
"I think I'm flattered by the heavy sarcasm," Charlie murmured, his hands managing to make her stomach tingle despite never leaving her hips, "and I know I'm keen on any effect I can have on your knickers - preferably of the 'removing' variety, but I think I'm sensing some hesitation."
"If it's the fact I'm Britain living-challenged," she couldn't help laughing at his phrasing as he continued, "I've got portkeys available every time I have two consecutive days off. Only way they can get blokes out to such a remote location for an extended basis. I wasn't exactly kidding about wanting to date you, lest you think I'm a lustful perv who can't think with anything but his prick."
How could she explain it, without sounding nutters? Those had been things she'd been wondering, considering he didn't exactly live in the country. For that matter most of the year neither did she, but portkeys could take a person to Italy as well. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that much of an obstacle to trying something between them considering neither of them were overly needly. It was obvious he could tell she was hesitating still, and raised his eyebrows in question.
"I don't know how to handle you," she blurted out, a slight flush crossing her cheeks, "I mean you're. . . .you, and I'm. . . yeah. Innuendo and flirting, that's not me. I think I've been implying a lot more than I'm. . . used to."
"So, you're not going to be the best sex I've ever had?" Charlie asked, a smile playing with the corners of his mouth.
She did blush slightly, "I think I did say or imply that at some point, didn't I? I do say the most blatant things when I don't think they're going to go anywhere."
"Katie," this time his tone was more firm, "you are being bloody ridiculous, you realize that? Listen, I might like to know if you're a virgin in spite of the dialogue, just so we can. . . "
"I am not."
". . . okay, well then, I don't bloody care if you don't know every dirty trick in the book and don't have the testimonials to back up anything. In fact, maybe I kind of like it." He grinned, "We can discover things together. Now you see I'm a virgin. . . " she socked him in the arm, and he broke off laughing.
"Listen, this isn't about my experience level which we are not discussing. This is about the fact that I lost all ability to. . . " she stopped her speech short, grimacing. "You know what, I am being fucking ridiculous. Please let's just ignore every little word that came out of my mouth. Except, you know, the part about me being interested."
"I'm all for that," as Charlie spoke the words, his mouth was already lowering slowly to hers
The man knew how to kiss. His hand splayed across her lower back, bringing her closer to him - and as she slid her arms around his neck she could feel the swell of his erection against her stomach. Not that she was paying much attention to that evidence of desire as she was more preoccupied with his lips on hers. He kissed her slowly and deeply, and her head was spinning as she tried to get as close to him as she possibly could. As her tongue mingled with his, his hips arched instinctively as if searching for relief, and she started to moan her approval.
She moaned her disapproval then a second later, when he pulled away slightly.
"Maybe we should. . . wait," he said, breathing heavily, "I've got a break coming up in a few weeks - the entirety of which can be spent here or in Venice, wherever you are."
"Do you want to?" Katie asked, shocked.
"No," his response was instantaneous, "but like you said, the innuendos, the flirting, they're not. . . "
She grabbed the loose strands of the tie that had been wrapped in complicated fashion around his neck and pulled him closer to her. "Charlie, we're forgetting everything I said, remember?"
"Good point," he grinned, bending his head down to hers.
"Then again," Katie continued, cutting him off before he could kiss her again, "it is awfully gauche of me, isn't it, and fulfilling the horrible stereotype? The loose and easy bridesmaid at the wedding."
Charlie winked, his hands starting to roam. "Don't you remember, Katie, you're all about the stereotypes?" It took her a moment, but she flashed back to all her other earlier comments about his marriage as a dragon handler and his supposed lack of dancing ability as a man.
Just when she'd been about to concede the point, his lips had descended once again, cutting off exactly what she'd meant to say. Not that she had any complaints, as right then she was about to lose herself in the moment. She happily forgot there were still a few people lingering about, some related to him closely and some not. When his hands slid up to cup her breasts though she was the one who broke away abruptly, grabbing his hands just for a moment before they could toy with her nipples through the flimsy material of her dress.
"Too public," she muttered, even if all she'd wanted to do was continue.
He nodded his assent, cursing. "We walk in, we're going to run into Mum and Dad in the kitchen."
"You up for apparating?" Her hands were toying with the buttons of his shirt of their own volition. "There has to be an empty bedroom somewhere. Yours maybe?"
"I haven't had that much to drink, so it's worth a shot," Charlie gave a strangled laugh as her fingers found bare skin.
Katie took great pleasure in being able to disconcert him. With his comment though, she glanced down to the vee of his thighs. "So long as you don't splinch the most important part."
For a moment she thought he was going to resume where they'd left off, right in the middle of the tent, but instead he cursed and let his hand slide around her waist to side-along apparate them both to whatever venue he could find in the seemingly much too small Weasley house.
When the crack of apparition landed them awkwardly in a bedroom on the upper floor that she could only assume was his, Charlie didn't waste any time, fusing his lips to hers as his hands then slid over her with no hesitation as he braced her back against the wall behind her. His knee slid between her legs, raising up until she straddled his thigh, and she moaned at the pressure and friction that hit at just the right spot. Desperately, she began to work at his clothes, trying to get him as naked as she could, as fast as she could.
The sound of a muffled, "Bloody hell," behind him, with some more sounds of fumbling, was a nearly instant mood killer.
Embarrassed and worried, she pushed at Charlie's chest and fumbled away from his leg, not that there could have been any real doubt in what they had been doing.
It was obvious he hadn't heard the others in the room, because he was looking at her with absolute shock. Behind her, she could see Harry and Ginny fumbling for blankets to cover themselves up, the latter with her dress hitched up around her hips as she straddled her boyfriend whose trousers were lying on the floor beside them. It was obvious they had been interrupted mid-coitus, even more so than she and Charlie had been. By the time Charlie had heard the sounds, and turned, they'd covered the naughty bits. Ginny's blush aside though, there would be no way for them to gloss over what had been going on.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Charlie began, irate, as they both scrambled.
"Shove off, Charlie," Ginny retorted, "we've been dating for nearly years now; you can't honestly have believed that we'd never. . . ."
"You're my little sister, and Harry should have more respect for you than to. . . "
They were both talking over each other, and yelling loudly. Harry for his part looked downright miserable, and Katie was glad her wand was still tucked in the folds of her dress as she reached for it and cast a muffliato around the room.
"Charlie," she reached for his arm just as Ginny was calling him a complete boor, "we are getting the bloody hell out of here."
It was a challenge getting his attention to focus on her, but finally he obliged. "Do you know what they've been doing?"
"Well, yes. Much as I know it grates, we're going to leave them to it too."
"She's my little sister. . . "
"And an adult. Who's probably shagged her boyfriend a hundred times now; once more won't make a difference. Listen, pot calling kettle black, yeah?" She lowered her voice, "It wasn't like we're not about to engage in a similar activity."
It was obvious he still wanted to maybe hit or hex Harry a few times, as he glared daggers at the younger man, and Katie increased the pressure on his arm. She didn't really care all that much about the younger couple's love life, but she cared about her own.
Standing up on tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, forcing herself to use the crude words that didn't come naturally. "If we stay here, you're not going to have the opportunity to fuck me properly."
His attention was completely caught then. For a moment he spared another glare for the two of them, but his arm slid around her waist and they were cracking out of the room - apparating into another dark room she could only assume was one of the bedrooms. "George's," he murmured against her lips as his head lowered once again, "and he's off on. . . "
This time he heard the noises the same time she did. A glimpse of blonde hair, and a red ponytail moving as he thrust into her, they didn't need the shocked French epithet to know who they had interrupted.
Katie didn't have to prompt Charlie to apparate them out of there right away.
Apparently the wedding had been an aphrodisiac for all couples present.
They'd popped out in the hallway this time, the only thing tempering both their amorous advances, though their hands continued to roam. "There aren't too many bedrooms left," he muttered desperately, "and I bet ickle Ronniekins has holed up in one with Hermione. Maybe where you girls were. . . "
Katie shook her head. "Alicia and Lee. I've got no ambitions to see his bare arse, thanks, nice as your brother's was."
The growl that came was out of jealousy and frustration. "Fuck. I want to. . . "
This time the sounds came from the bottom of the stairs, not of fucking but of love all the same. They could hear the soft laughter and the conversation of Molly and Arthur preparing for the night ahead. She would have happily ducked into a closet to avoid them as she was fairly sure she'd not come out well in this situation if Mrs. Weasley thought she was defiling her son, but as they continued Charlie and Katie had another reason to make themselves scarce as well.
As the lights were extinguished below, they heard a shocked and titillated, "Arthur!" from Molly that they both took to mean one thing.
This time it was Katie who slid her arm around his waist, apparating them both away as fast as she could.
When they stood after the apparition, this time she had taken them outside. Not back towards the tent, but out towards the grove of trees that bordered the land the Weasley house was situated on. They'd hid out here before as kids, playing hide and go seek when they'd come out here on a school leave from Hogwarts one year. Of course it had been a fairly short game once they'd learned the homenum revelio charm, but she remembered the location of the grove all the same. The night was cool, especially away from the warming charms that had been placed around the tent for the wedding, but she barely felt it. It might not be ideal, but the light of the moon was enough, and she already had her wand at the ready to cast a few lumos charms and transfigure something in a blanket at the very least.
"Is this okay with you?" She asked, slightly nervous, "I know it's not exactly a luxury suite but every bloody room in that house seemed occupied and I couldn't wait. . . "
Before she could finish, Charlie stalked towards her, muttering as he went, "If this is fine with you I don't bloody care, so long as I can finally get my hands on. . . "
His statement didn't finish either because their lips had finally fused together, falling to the ground in a tangle of dress robes and wandering hands as they realized they were finally without interruptions and together.
Her breasts were cupped roughly with his hands, and then Katie gasped softly as he tugged down the top of the bodice of her dress and bra to rub his thumbs across the tips.
"This truly is the most hideous set of dress robes," Charlie laughed against her neck as she struggled to pay attention with the things his fingers were doing. "Mind if I get rid of them for you?"
"By all means." It took two tries to get the words out because he'd pinched her nipples lightly, and they hardened to tiny little nubs under his touch.
She'd expected him to divest her of it quickly, or maybe even rip it a little bit - not that she'd mind, she didn't plan on wearing it again any time soon. Instead, a wave of his wand and a muttered evanesco sent her dress robes into oblivion - leaving her clad only in bra and knickers. The grass was surprisingly soft against the bare skin of her back, not that she exactly relished that part of the situation. Especially when he was still fully dressed and looking entirely too put together.
"You. . . " Katie was at a loss for a moment for what epithet was appropriate, "I've got to get back into the house after this!"
"We'll worry about it after," Charlie muttered, as he knelt between her thighs, his eyes lit up wickedly.
As his hands slid up the bare skin of her legs and danced attendance at the wet material of her knickers, Katie stopped caring about her dress robes. Ugly or otherwise.
##############################
After, they found themselves entwined on the hard ground. They hadn't had the presence of mind to do much wandwork of the literal kind beforehand, but had since had the brilliant idea to place a cushioning charm on the ground, and transfigured the outer garment of his robes into a blanket to cover them both. Katie was trying not to think about all the creepy crawling things that existed on the ground because she didn't really want to move, even if she wasn't entirely comfortable.
"Brilliant," she sighed, her head rested against his chest.
Her knees might have grass stains and scrapes on them from the second go around that had expanded her sexual repertoire, but she didn't care about those even if they had started to sting once the pleasure had worn off.
She could feel the rumble of his laughter through his chest. "You really do lovely things for my ego."
"Don't get used to it, Weasley, I. . . ."
"Charlie."
"Don't get used to it, Charlie," she rolled her eyes, patting his stomach with a limp hand, "I was just going through a pathetic dry spell. Any sex was going to leave me spent." Especially the mind-numbingly and lovely orgasms he'd given her, not that she was going to say that now. "Give me a day to get used to being a sexual creature again, and I'll go back to busting your balls."
"I can think of a much better use for my privates," he snorted
They lay together in companionable silence. It was startlingly silent, save a slight rustle of the leaves above them from a gentle wind. As gooseflesh formed along her arm, Katie snuggled closer to Charlie - more for comfort than for anything amorous right then. He might joke around, but she was fairly sure that they'd shagged him out - at least very temporarily. Her hand slid to rest on his chest, and she clenched her hand for a moment when she became consciously aware of it, but realized how ridiculous any hesitation was to touch him when they were naked and entwined - and she was already resting on him as it was.
"So," Charlie broke the silence finally. When he didn't speak, she tilted her head up to find him grinning at her. "I think this is the point where I should ask you out on a proper date."
"Pff," Katie scoffed, "I've had my wicked way with you already. What do I need all that touchy feely stuff for?" It was amazing, but he'd seen her completely starkers and she was almost more comfortable with him right then then when they'd started.
His hand slid over to tickle her, catching her by surprise, and she shrieked in laughter, trying to push him away.
Giving quickly, he gathered her back to his side again, and she didn't resist. Charlie feigned a heavy sigh. "Fine, I suppose I can come back and let you use me just for sex again."
Katie laughed, "I do wonder if you'll be able to get it up without us attending a wedding first."
Charlie pretended to think. "Hmm, good point. I think you're going to have to stay tomorrow too just so we can test that theory out right away."
"I've already got enough foliage on my arse and knees already, thanks."
"There has to be a spare bedroom someplace in there," Charlie pondered, "if not, we can lure them out of the house under false pretenses. I'm sure I could come up with something brilliant."
Katie rolled up over top of him, resting her chin on her crossed hands that sat on his chest. Winking, she offered, "Well, even if you can't, we could always join Bill and Fleur."
The expression on his face was priceless before he laughed. There was some solace in the fact no desire had come up at the idea, no matter how ludicrous, of any kind of sharing with his Veela sister-in-law. "Bloody fucking hell - what happened to that shy little thing you apparently faked being?"
"She started to recede the moment I let you fuck me - multiple times- in the middle of a bloody forest." Katie only stumbled slightly over the crude word. In truth, it wasn't like any kind of fabulous sex had really changed her, but she was having fun right then all the same.
His hands started to slowly run up and down her back, and she could feel his interest stirring again, perhaps not quite as shagged out as she'd thought. "Maybe you should let me know what type of sexual creature you're going to end up being. I have a feeling in the end I might have to play catch-up."
Katie slid up, lowering her head to kiss him. "Merlin, I confuse myself, and really have no idea. I think it's different when it comes to you anyway." She grinned against his mouth. "I think it's going to take lots of. . . .practise though to figure it out."