Archive of Our Own ^beta

I despised weddings with an absolute passion. Why? Because I inevitably got roped into the less pleasant side of them e.g. the side of running around after my bride friend as one of the many bridesmaids. Admittedly on this particular occasion, I wasn’t too unhappy with being roped in, but that was because it was for Angelina, and having been good friends with her and Fred at Hogwarts, I wouldn’t have refused.

“you look flustered,” Katie commented, as maid of honour it would have been logical for her to look flustered, but instead I was the one looking flustered, just probably not for the reason she expected. Having spent most of my morning running around, I probably shouldn’t have been as calm as I had been until I had seen George Weasley. Now had I still been my teenage girl self, this would have been wonderful, a chance to long distance daydream,

unfortunately, having passed that stage, and cringing at some of my friends’ attempts to get him to notice me back in Hogwarts, I wasn’t delighted with this turn of events. Of course I had expected him to be there, and the best man no less, seeing as he was the twin brother to the groom, what I had been banking on – was being able to avoid the living crap out of him, which clearly wasn’t working.

“I am a little,” I replied, running a hand through my hair before remembering I had tied it into a ponytail as I had been running around and yet to make it to the room where hair and makeup was being done. “well don’t worry, you look beautiful regardless,” I rolled my eyes at Katie’s enthusiasm, assuming she either hadn’t seen George or hadn’t remembered my highly embarrassing crush on him.

“George is here to if you want someone to talk to,” I recoiled in low key horror, so she had noticed him, but her comment was easily a nonchalant comment and could mean that she mercifully had no recollection of my crush on him. “I’ll pass on that,” I muttered under my breath, “I still need to get my hair done,” she nodded understandingly, ushering me towards the lift which would take me back onto the floor where all the bridesmaids were staying for the event.

Of course, my reasoning for wanting to avoid George didn’t come down solely to an embarrassing high school crush, it also had to do with the soulmate markings that all wizards had. As much as I hated to admit it, but the only thing worse than as a teenager having a huge (not entirely subtle) crush on someone, was to add on top of it a soulmate marking that he had no idea who had the same marking. Which of course, happened to be me. now to many I'm sure this would’ve been a thrilling discovery, but seeing as George was particularly unaware of me, it only added to the demoralisation.

I still remembered the day that George and Fred had discovered their soulmate markings as I had been in the common room when they were discussing it, Fred’s was obviously Angelina and was quite obviously wrapped across his top left shoulder blade. George’s was more subtle, and from what I remembered of what had been said (and not from personal experience) was on his groin.

Despite having been in Gryffindor, our soulmate marking was more easily recognised alongside those of a Slytherin, as it was a small thin coiled up snake with intricate design. Although my soulmate marking was equally coiled up, it was coiled around my foot, ankle, and up my leg ever so slightly, it was easily hide able – and that was exactly what I had done the last few years of Hogwarts.

Assuming that soulmate markings were incredibly similar to each other, I had hidden mine, unable to comprehend that my mark could be the same as George’s. to all extent and purpose, my marking could easily have appeared as a tattoo – and this was often how I had treated it when I was in the muggle world. But in the wizarding world it wasn’t so easy to hide, and it was especially hard to hide when the bridesmaid’s dresses had a large slit going down the side of them.

thank you, Angelina, for the choice.

Not to discredit Angelina’s sense of style, the pale blue dresses with gold belt around the waist were stunning, even if the halter neck, mermaid dress, and sharp V-neck down the front was pushing it a bit, the dresses were generally beautiful. Just not beautiful for the occasion of trying to hide soulmate markings, especially not when paired with the gold heels to match the belt and small hair decoration that some of the other bridesmaids had already had fitted.

Walking into the room where hair and makeup was being done, I pretended not to notice the raised eyebrow of one of Angelina’s cousins who was doubling up as the perfect yummy mummy and bridesmaid. I smiled sweetly at her, lucky her hadn’t had to move since she had woken up and settled in her seat on the love seat several hours before – whereas I had spent my morning all but running around the hotel (sometimes with Katie) in a flimsy looking bridesmaid robe in gold heels.

It had been one hell of a morning. Deciding not to dwell too much on this, I simply dumped myself down in one of the empty hairdressing chairs, and pulled my hair out of the more practical ponytail I had first put it in. while the hairdresser set about doing my hair, I took the opportunity to check my muggle phone, ah one of my muggle exes was also at a wedding. His own. I had definitely used my jobs in the muggle world to try and escape the truth of my soulmate marking – it clearly hadn’t worked, but it had been fun while it had lasted.

And I had got to meet some very loving, kind, and generous muggles – I had definitely benefitted from this when I had come back into the wizarding world. It wasn’t uncommon for many wizards who were unhappy with their soulmate marking to try and date other wizards – or anyone else who wasn’t meant to be their soulmate. “you’re all done, lovely,” the hairdresser murmured, stirring me awake from my thoughts, I smiled back at him, and instead shut my eyes as the makeup artist got to work.

Yes, I had been one of those who had dated someone other than my soulmate in an attempt to ignore what was marked permanently on my foot. Admittedly a glamour charm was always helpful, probably would have been a good idea for the wedding too, but I had grown almost tired of having to pretend the marking wasn’t there. Maybe if I just left it be, I wouldn’t have to think about it. Probably not but worth a try at the very least.

“you can go and get changed lovely,” the makeup artist murmured gently, I took that as my leave, and hurriedly got out of the chair and made my way down the corridor towards my room where my dress was waiting for me. locking the door behind me, I slid out of my heels, and instead set about easing myself into the gorgeous – and hellishly expensive dress – I had always known Angelina was fairly wealthy, but she was clearly considerably wealthier than I had expected judging from the amount of money being thrown at the wedding.

Zipping up the dress easily – because for once, we weren’t having the cliché moments of the zip being stuck – I turned to look in the mirror. I had of course tried on the dress multiple times, but it was breath takingly stunning, and I had forgotten just how beautiful it really was. Running a hand through my perfectly done black hair, I glanced around the room, there was very little need for a clutch, but I had still brought one with me in case Angelina had a bridezilla moment and decided we all needed on – she thankfully hadn’t. and I was instead able to place my wand in a secreted compartment of the dress, to hide it from any muggle guests.

For as long as I could remember after graduating Hogwarts, Angelina and Fred had been unofficially together, when they’d finally made it official – which had taken years in itself – no one was surprised. People were even less surprised when they got engaged and planned to start a family, if anyone was surprised by anything however, it was that George had remained single.

Having had very little interest in wizarding gossip, I hadn’t heard until Angelina and I went for a coffee, that George had apparently decided to stop dating until he could find the person with his matching soulmate mark – though that had meant he had left many (albeit desperate) women in floods of tears that he would not consider dating them. originally, I had felt guilty for dating others when George wasn’t willing to, but seeing as he didn’t know I was the person with his soulmate marking, it was a feeling that became gradually easier to ignore.

What was not so easy to ignore, were my extended family’s wishes that I ‘hurry up and find’ the person with my soulmate mark – needless to say, they had been ignored. Frequently. Though my family weren’t ones to go down without a fight, and had frequently asked my favourite cousin to pester me about finding my soulmate. That had also been ignored.

Sighing, I hoped the day would go quickly – not because I didn’t want to be there, but because I didn’t feel the need to contend with my family’s unrealistic expectations for what my soulmate should be like. Returning to the main room where many of the bridesmaids were sat lounging around, I caught sight of Katie and Alicia who were stood talking in hushed tones away from the rest of the people in the room.

“ah y/n!” Katie called me over, and I walked over quietly to where they were stood, slipping through the small clusters of bridesmaids with a practiced ease, “have you seen George?” my eyebrow rose silently, “we can’t find him! we need him to tell us where the groomsmen are,” I shook my head slowly. “Alicia, you go with her, go and find George and the groomsmen and tell them what the plan of action is,” Katie ordered, having shared a dorm with her during my time at Hogwarts, I knew that arguing with her – or questioning her when she was starting to look panicked – was not a good idea.

Without another word, Alicia grabbed my hand and all but ran us through the room and out into the corridor, “so we need to find George?” I questioned as she pulled us into the lift and started impatiently tapping her fingers beside the keypad, having hit the button for two floors up. “yes,” she replied hurriedly, she looked equally as panicked as Katie which was not reassuring in the slightest, as the lift began rising she turned to me, before her eyeline dropped to my exposed ankle.

“does he know?” I shook my head, careful not to lean on any of the walls of the lift, “how can he not know?” I shrugged, “I never told him,” she sighed as the lift doors opened, “you’ll have to tell him sooner or later, imagine he finds out through someone else.” I shrugged again, “then he finds out through someone else,” she groaned, “just tell him already!” I didn’t get a chance to reply as at that precise moment we came across the man in question.

“ah George! Just the person we were looking for!” Alicia’s irritation and anxiousness disappeared almost instantaneously, “what’s up?” he asked, running a hand through his dark red hair, “Katie needs you and the groomsmen to be ready for 1pm before the ceremony so we can all go over the plan,” he nodded without question. For the first time since the morning I actually looked at him properly, he hadn’t grown much taller than when we were at Hogwarts, though him and Fred had always towered over most people, his face had got older, his shoulders broader, but the same smile and mischief lingered in his eyes.

“hello y/n, it’s nice to see you,” he commented, he had done away with his suit jacket for the moment and was instead stood in smart trousers and a white shirt which had the top button undone, “it’s nice to see you too George,” I replied politely, my eyes flickering across to Alicia. She looked somewhere between willing the conversation to go on, and wishing we could start the ceremony already so that her half of the second maid of honour duties would be over with. I was hoping for the latter.

We politely excused ourselves, and made our way back to the lift, “you’re going to have to tell him, tell him before the wedding is over,” I groaned quietly to myself, glancing up at the ceiling in hope of some divine intervention. “he’ll figure it out eventually,” she added as if this was somehow going to convince me, “he didn’t realise it in the last few years, he didn’t notice it at the battle of Hogwarts and he didn’t notice it on the few occasions I was in the wizarding world. So pardon me for not believing he’s going to notice.”

I replied flatly, and it was her turn to roll her eyes as we stepped out onto the floor which was housing the bridesmaids, all the bridesmaids had been kicked out of the makeup and hair room, which was now home to a relaxed looking Angelina. “do they know when to meet everyone?” Katie whispered before we step foot in the room, Alicia nodded conspicuously while I lingered behind them awkwardly, unsure if I should take my leave.

“y/n,” I glanced up from where I had been looking at my shoes to look at Angelina, “come here please,” walking over to where Angelina was sat getting her hair done, I settled beside her on one of the small stalls. “you should take this opportunity,” she murmured quietly, “to speak to George, it won’t be hard once the ceremony is over, and you deserve to be happy.” I sighed quietly, fiddling with my hands and twisting the dainty flower bracelet on my wrist around a few times, “I’ll speak to him,” I murmured quietly, if it would make her day better, I would do it, even if the idea was painful.

“good,” she replied smiling at me before turning to look back at the mirror and to watch another delicate curl fall into her hair. By the time all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were gathering away from the bride and groom to organise the plan for the ceremony, I had almost forgotten I was supposed to speak to George. That was, until I saw him waiting a little way away from the groomsmen, propping up the wall as he watched for the arrival of the two maids of honour, and apparently the third maid of honour – me.

Along with the trail of bridesmaids, including several of Angelina’s cousins, that I knew she despised but had invited to keep them quiet. I had managed to keep my calm up to that point, knowing Alicia and Katie had finalised the few final details it had been easy enough to not snark back at one of the bridesmaids, and I had instead managed polite smiles all around.

But approaching the groomsmen, alongside Alicia and Katie and then catching sight of George, was not as easy as I had been hoping it would be. “hello again,” he called to me and Alicia, I managed a polite smile as we stopped just ahead of him and the rest of the groomsmen with the bridesmaids behind us. While Katie explained the plan for the beginning of the ceremony and explained where everyone would sit, I fidgeted uncomfortably, only stopping when I noticed George had chosen to stand beside me.

“I didn’t know you had a mark on your foot,” he commented, my stomach automatically dropped, there was only one marking on my foot he could be talking about, seeing as I had been too much of a chicken to get a muggle tattoo, and too disinterested in Voldemort to become a deatheater. “mmmm,” I mumbled in response, which was probably the worst response anyone could give when their soulmate marking had just been picked up by their soulmate.

Luckily for me, George didn’t get the chance to push the conversation any further, and instead we were ushered by Katie outside to the sunny rooftop overlooking the ocean where Angelina and Fred would be getting married. It was some small condolence that the reception was inside considering that the breeze blowing across the rooftop at that moment was particularly cold. While many of the bridesmaids shivered – and loudly complained – I glanced around, I knew the rooftop was beautiful as Angelina had taken me, Katie and Alicia with her when she and Fred had chosen the venue to show us.

I suspected it wasn’t George’s first time up there either judging from his general lack of a reaction, the view was breath-taking, but until the sun came out – which would thankfully be in the time for the wedding, I doubted many guests would be that impressed. Not least because most of the guests attending, or so I had been told by Angelina, thought she had chosen a downmarket venue – which they were of course comparing to their overexuberant and in my opinion, overzealous venues for their own weddings.

“it’s a lovely view,” George commented quietly from where he had stood beside me once more, he spoke just loud enough to catch my attention, but not enough to make me jump, I nodded, smiling slightly across at him. “quite cold until the sun comes round though,” I replied quietly, noticing how many of the bridesmaids had either clustered together to cast warming charms – before any muggle guests could notice – or had approached the groomsmen in the hope of persuading them to give up their warm looking suit jackets.

“it should be warmer later,” George replied, slipping off his suit jacket and placing it around my shoulders, I glanced at him in shock, “I wasn’t suggesting you gave me your jacket,” he smiled down on me, “I know, but your dress looks a lot flimsier than my suit.” I didn’t have a response to that, and instead looked up at him open mouthed, “don’t gawp love, you look better when you smile,” if my mouth hadn’t dropped open before, it certainly had by then.

“are you flirting with me?” he chuckled to himself, “if I was love, I would be far more blatant about it,” my eyebrow rose silently, “I wouldn’t call you subtle,” I replied, noticing how our conversation, and the jacket around my shoulders, was drawing the attention of several of the bridesmaids – and several of the ones I didn’t like at that. “they’re all staring,” I muttered, shifting uncomfortably, “you still don’t like all eyes on you, do you?” he asked, “what do you mean ‘still’?” I quoted back to him, “you never did at Hogwarts either, out of your friends, you were always the quietest and most hidden.” He replied simply, leaving me gawking once again.

Realising I clearly hadn’t realised how aware George actually had been during our time at Hogwarts, I glanced round trying to find Alicia or Katie, desperate to not have to stand here and find out what else George had noticed. My breath caught in my throat at the thought that he may have been aware of the soulmate marking, and that was enough to have a shudder run down my spine – not because I hadn’t crushed incredibly hard on him, but because I had no idea how I could possibly have that conversation with him.

“if you’re looking for Alicia and Katie, they’re with Lee and Oliver,” my eyes flickered over to two of the groomsmen, who were talking with Alicia and Katie, of course they had also relocated their suit jackets onto the two ladies’ shoulders. Which was customary of a relationship – so why in Merlin was I stood with George’s jacket wrapped around my shoulders!?! “we should join them,” George murmured quietly, moving us over towards them, Alicia and Katie’s eyebrows raised automatically at the sight of George’s jacket around my shoulders, I shook my head silently, shifting uncomfortably under the questioning expressions of my friends.

“shouldn’t the ceremony start soon?” I asked quietly, Katie suddenly scrambled for her watch and nodded, “we should go and get Angelina, see you soon,” she mumbled to Oliver, before practically dragging me and Alicia back inside the hotel and across to the lift. But not before I had returned George his jacket. The warmth it had been providing disappearing, not that it mattered.

The second the lift doors shut, Alicia and Katie turned to look at me, “so did you tell him?” they asked immediately, I shook my head, “but he did notice the mark,” the pair both looked down at my foot which was being covered by the long dress. “did he say anything about it?” I shook my head again, “I don’t know if he really knows what it is,” the pair shared a look, “there is no way in merlin he doesn’t know what is on your foot,” Katie stated assured, while Alicia nodded.

“well he didn’t ask any further,” I replied quietly, “so are you going to talk to him about it after?” Alicia interjected, “I don’t know,” I muttered as we walked along the corridor and then into the bridal suite where Angelina was stood looking out of the window like a portrait. “you look beautiful,” we said smiling at her as she slowly turned to face us, she looked absolutely gorgeous, her skin was glowing with a light dust of makeup, and she smiled across at us, her hair had been piled into gorgeous curls and her dress skimmed every inch of her frame perfectly.

“you three look beautiful too,” she replied, reaching for the bouquet of flowers that had been set beside her on the window sill, “so are you ready to get married?” I asked quietly, she nodded smiling. “I need a moment though,” we nodded, excusing ourselves out of the door, “one thing y/n,” I glanced back at Alicia and Katie who nodded to me to go and talk to her while they slipped out of the door.

“you and George are perfect for each other,” she stated quietly, I smiled to myself, “do you really think so?” she nodded completely undeterred, “there’s no doubt in my mind. Go and talk to him before the ceremony, do something so unlike yourself that you’ll surprise yourself,” I laughed quietly, “I'm serious, you’ve hidden being his soulmate long enough, you deserve to make the move.”

My eyes flicked to the clock, “there is still time, do it or you’ll sit through the whole ceremony wishing you’d done something,” I sighed quietly, “Angelina, I know you mean well, but I'm not sure it will do any good,” she looked back at me, mirroring my expression, “I'm telling you, y/n, I sat through tons of ceremonies with you guys, tons of those I wished I had spoken to Fred before we sat in our respective seats. I kept wishing I’d tell him I wanted to stop putting off the inevitable, take this opportunity to do it, or you’ll feel exactly how I felt. And I can tell you, nothing goes slower than a wedding ceremony when you didn’t tell your soulmate exactly how you felt.”

At a complete loss for words, I stayed quiet, “do it now, or regret it,” she stated simply, turning to look back out of the window, “and by the way, you looked gorgeous with his jacket around your shoulders, you suit each other.” I stared at her in confusion as to how she could possibly have seen us, “my secret,” she murmured quietly, a mischievous twinkle in her eye – there was no doubt in my mind that she would fit into the Weasley family perfectly.

I got up from my seat and prepared to leave the room, “and one final thing, don’t sit with the bridesmaids at the ceremony, I could never stand being sat so far away from the person my heart belonged to. sit next to George.” I couldn’t decide if Angelina was giving me an order or not, but not dwelling on it, I excused myself from the room, only to find Alicia and Katie stood in the corridor, giving each other a knowing look.

“go and find him,” they both ordered, nodding slowly, and giving them a mock salute, I hurried past them and past the lift too, not bothering with it, instead opting to (stupidly) half run up the stairs in heels, apparition would have been the easier option, but too many muggles. And from my experience, muggles didn’t do well with people popping up out of thin air. If nothing else, my friends – and probably my extended family – would be happy that I was going to talk to my soulmate before a wedding. Almost pushing several of the groomsmen out of the way, I hurried down the corridor to the room I had been told was George’s and knocked lightly on the door.

The groomsmen looked at me in curiosity as I glanced around nervously, when the door finally opened, it was like the oxygen had been sucked back out of me again, George had put his jacket back on, and put on his tie, “hi y/n?” taking a deep breath, I replied, “hi, Angelina told me I should come and talk to you before the ceremony,” he nodded, looking slightly confused, but opened the door far enough to allow me inside.

I barely glanced around the room before I turned to look at George, unable to look at his face I glanced down to my hands before forcing myself to look back up at his face. “what’s up?” he asked, “can I see your soulmate marking?” his eyebrow rose silently, before nodding slowly, “I think, I think we have the same mark,” I muttered in answer, watching him start untucking his shirt from his trousers, and lowering his trousers on his hips slightly to show off where next to his hip was the exact same snake.

“I'm pretty sure we do,” he replied as my eyes roamed over the snake, that I knew in my heart was identical to the one on my foot, “I’ve known for a while,” he admitted as I straightened back up and he tucked his shirt back in, replacing his blazer style jacket back over it. “can I look?” he asked gesturing to my foot, I nodded watching as he crouched down and gently moved the fabric of the dress out of the way to look over the soulmate marking.

Keen to get answers, I pressed on, “you have known a long time?” he nodded, gently running one of his long fingers over the marking, a light flush tinted my cheeks, “I didn’t know when we were at Hogwarts, but I found out about a year ago,” my eyebrow raised curiously, as he stood back up in front of me, “this girl I was with at the time told me she’d seen someone in the muggle world with the same marking, she described this girl to me, told me she thought I knew who she meant, when I said I didn’t, she told me.”

my brain thought over who the girl could possibly be, but unable to think of anyone, I turned my attention back to focus on George’s face, “you knew back in Hogwarts though, didn’t you?” he murmured quietly, his hand drifting up to my face to move several pieces of hair out of my face. “I did,” I murmured back, before my eyes caught sight of the clock, “we have a wedding to go to,” he sighed for a moment before nodding, “we can discuss this later,” he stated, without another moment of pause, I hurried out of the room, assuming he would be behind me as I all but ran down two flights of stairs and down the corridor where Angelina would likely still be sat.

“did you confirm it?” were the first words as I re-entered the room, hurrying to catch my breath, all I could do was nod, “so what happened?” the three of them were clearly on the edge of their seats, “I hate to be the one to remind you, but Angelina, you are getting married, and you two have your own love lives, I assure you mine is not that fascinating.” I stated flatly, tidying up my hair in a mirror,

“your love life is finally getting there though!” the three of them screamed in scaringly accurate unison, “ok, and?” I rolled my eyes at them as Angelina tossed three bouquets our way. Catching the bouquet, I followed behind the others out of the room, down the corridor and into the lift, “you ready to hand your life away to mischief?” Katie teased, “please she’s always been like that,” I stated, smiling across teasingly to Angelina who flipped her hand at us.

“I don’t know what you’re all talking about,” she replied nonchalantly, but even she couldn’t stop her a smile from rising to her lips. “of course you don’t,” Alicia hummed, a smirk stretched across her face as we reached the top floor and stood a little way away from the doors that led onto the rooftop where friends, family, and family who had (but weren’t liked) were sitting. From our positioning I could see several of the best men stood behind Fred who – for once in his life – looked a bundle of nerves.

“looking for your man?” Angelina teased, I groaned good humouredly, glancing down at my shoes, “just checking I'm not going to fall over in front of everyone,” the three of them burst out laughing – I wasn’t entirely lying, I had never enjoyed wearing heels, and Angelina had all but had to beg with me to get me to even consider wearing them. the sound of music starting, was enough to stop our giggling, and instead turn to help Angelina out onto the rooftop, following her down the aisle was an interesting experience, but she had been right.

My eyes were fixated on George for a lot of it, and when we were ushered off to sit down, I ended up beside him, placing my bouquet on my lap, he slipped his hand into mine and interlocked our fingers without ever taking his eyes away from the podium where the ceremony was taking place. Throughout the ceremony I wondered if it would’ve felt longer had I not been sat next to George, having already checked the soulmate markings, I was willing to bet it would have been.

The ceremony felt surprisingly quick, and before I knew it we were stood in another grand and beautifully decorated room for the reception, Mrs Weasley was blowing her nose as happy tears rolled down her face, while many of the other Weasley children – and grandchildren – were stood around happily teasing each other. From my vantagepoint in a far corner I watched smiling to myself, I was always happy to see my friends happy, and watching each of them snuggled up to their partners while they stood toasting (disgusting) champagne, was a sight that made me very happy.

“what are you smiling to yourself about?” George asked settling beside me on the loveseat I had commandeered, “I'm just happy to see my friends happy,” I replied, turning to look at him slightly, offering a quick smile before looking back at the rest of the room. “you deserve to be happy too,” he replied quietly, gently nudging my foot where the soulmate marking was, “it’s later,” he added, I nodded slowly, “so what did you want to do about it?” I couldn’t make myself sound overly enthusiastic or overly fed up of the whole ordeal, so instead waited for his answer.

“what do I want to do about it?” he echoed, “I want to be with you,” he stated simply, too simply, I turned my whole body to properly face him, and watched him mirror the action. “those are some pretty powerful words,” he shrugged, “I have no intention on taking them back. I knew how you felt about me at Hogwarts, it all fitted together perfectly when I realised you had the same soulmate marking as me,” I stayed quiet, unsure what the correct answer was.

“is it really worth delaying the inevitable? When I'm pretty sure you feel the same way I feel about you,” he stated, sliding his jacket off himself once more, and placing it around my shoulders, “no, it’s not,” I mumbled quietly leaning in towards him, our lips connecting, blocking out the mayhem that surrounded us…

The end.

Yep imma leave it there. They all live happily ever after, if you were wondering 😊