Harry's seventeeth birthday was celebrated at the Burrow four days later. Despite the tragedies that had occurred over the past few months, everyone decided to focus on the better parts of life, like his birthday celebration, as well as the upcoming wedding of Bill and Fleur.

Florence had been staying at the Burrow ever since the 27th, as Molly and Arthur had advised the twins and her to stay away from their apartment and their shop for the time being, Fred and George agreeing almost entirely, though making brief visits to check up on it from time to time. She slept with the twins in their childhood room, she and Fred managing to squeeze into his old bed that was only meant for one average sized person. It was also a challenge for Florence as well, traveling a lot further to get to work, apparating about two different times in fear of splinching herself because of the distance.

Despite the tight squeeze in living quarters, the Burrow still felt very much homey, with Mrs. Weasley's home cooked meals that she would pack a portion of for Florence to take to work, to the sense of belonging to a family whenever she was with the rest of Fred's siblings. Bill and Charlie were like the older brothers she never had, and Ginny was the sister she always wanted. Being around bright-souled people made Florence forget that she was in the middle of such terrible times.

The situation with Harry was getting worse by the day. He had revealed to the Order the mission Dumbledore had asked him to carry out before his untimely death, about the Horcruxes, to find them and to destroy them. Of course, everyone thought it absolutely mad that Dumbledore even considered giving such a task to Harry, as if he hasn't been through enough. He had made his decision to not return to Hogwarts for his last year, as did Hermione and Ron, who were rather set on helping him accomplish what he had to do.

There was a lot of opposition in this, but the young boy was set on his decisions, and it was evident that there's was little people could do to sway him from it. It was dangerous, as they knew that Death Eaters would surely be on the hunt for him, especially when they find him absent from his last year in school. 

The Weasleys had already set up a reason for Ron incase people would come knocking to ask why he wasn't in Hogwarts, while Hermione had also said that she's taken care of it when asked what her plan was.

Harry's birthday was a small celebration, Mrs. Weasley baking him a cake with seventeen candles, while Fred and George got him a gift basket filled with the most popular items from their shop. Everyone was still admittedly reeling from everything that was happening, Harry most of all. Florence could still see it in his eyes that he thought he was to be blamed for all the things that went wrong. She couldn't forget the guilt in his eyes when he tried to apologize to her for her mother's death. It was tragic to have someone as young as him bear the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Harry was also set on leaving that night, eager to start his journey, however his friends had somehow managed to persuade him to stay one more day for the wedding, Ron telling him that he could not bear to face the wrath of both Fleur and Mrs. Weasley if they missed it.

The day was almost seemingly normal until the Minister showed up to the Burrow with Percy in tow, shaking up the Weasleys, especially Mrs. Weasley, who was conflicted on how she was to feel that her estranged son was back in their home once more. Bill was rather furious that his brother had the gall to even show his face around them, especially with his wedding around the corner.

Percy looked like he knew what his family was thinking about him, but held his head up high regardless.

The Minister requested a private conversation at the living room with Harry, Ron, and Hermione regarding Dumbledore's will, everyone clearing out the space to do different things, knowing that consequences would be more dire if they tried to eavesdrop on the Minister himself.

Fred decided to busy himself by going back to Diagon Alley to check up on the shop momentarily, while Florence was left to change the bandages on George's ear.

Nicolai had done it for the most part days after the incident, but her visits to the Burrow came to a halt when her obligations at work and frequent travels became too hard to manage. And with the wedding two days away, Molly had her hands full preparing and organizing, so Florence had to learn.

"I walked in on Ginny and Harry snogging in the kitchen this morning." George blurted out as soon as Florence started rummaging through the first aid kit, averting her eyes towards the redhead who was holding back his laughter, "Uh oh... what'd you do?"

"I just tiptoed to get a cup of tea and waited for them to finish. It isn't polite to interrupt two people snogging." He said as Florence began unwrapping the bandage, a horrified look on her face, "So you stayed?" 

"Pretty much. When they were done I said good morning and they left."

"George, that's embarrassing. Ginny must have been mortified...." she chastised, starting to wrap the bandage around his head.

"She'll get over it— ow!" George said as soon as the bandage grazed his ear, making Florence gasp, "Merlin, I'm so sorry."

George laughed, "I was only joking, Florence."

She hit him on the shoulder, "Don't do that. You scared me."

"I'm fine now, silly. It's practically healed up at this point, no need to worry too much about my bandages."

"Well, we still have to change it everyday otherwise you might get an infection," Florence told him, wrapping the bandage around one more time before tucking it in under itself, "Have you written to Lisa yet? She must be worried not hearing from you for awhile."

"Yeah I have written to her. She tried coming to the shop a few days ago but no one was there. Told her not to worry and that I'll see her after the wedding."

Florence frowned at this, "She's not gonna be here for the wedding?"

"No," George shook his head, "She left for Brussels yesterday with her family. She was supposed to make it if Bill and Fleur hadn't scheduled for the wedding to happen a week earlier than it was supposed to. She asked why and I just told her they just couldn't wait any longer... It sucks, though. She was really looking forward to going and meeting everyone."

"Oh," Florence trailed off, "So... You didn't tell her what happened? With this whole thing?"

He shook his head, "Lisa's probably the only person in my life who isn't caught in the middle of this... thing... I'd like for it to stay that way for as long as I can help it. But, of course, when she sees my other ear is missing she'll definitely have questions. But I'll let her keep her obliviousness until then."

This made her smile a little, "That's true love right there." she said, before securing the bandage once more. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt anymore?" she pressed on, "If it does I can owl Nic and tell her to stop by a little bit later—"

"I'm okay now, I swear." he insisted, "Thank you, for helping with taking care of me."

"Its the least I could do." she told him, before she started to put away the first aid kit, George getting up from where he sat on his bed, "Is Percy still downstairs?"

"Last I checked, yeah. Scrimgeour is still talking to Harry, Hermione and Ron about the will... they might take awhile."

"Great," he huffed, "So I'll be stuck here until he leaves. I don't ever wanna see that smug bastard's face ever again."

Florence offered him a small smile as she carried the first aid kit, about to exit the room, "I'll fetch you when they're gone."

Florence decided to make herself useful with the wedding preparations by going outside to help with setting up the venue. A big tent was set up in the backyard, inside pixie lights were being set up meticulously. The tables had already been assembled, an intricate table skirting done on the table cloth with flowers pinned on to it. The flower centerpieces on each table were delicately arranged by a florist that the Delacours had hired. For a wedding that was originally supposed to be a small gathering, there quite a lot of guests on the list.

Fred came back to the Burrow around the late afternoon, long after the Minister and Percy had left the burrow. He had finished closing down the shop as well as depositing Verity's monthly payment at Gringott's. With him he also brought some of Florence's dresses so she could choose which one to wear for the wedding, along with a few more of her Auror uniform sets.

"You're wearing a blue suit, right?" Florence inquired, as she stared down her dress options that she had sprawled on Fred's bed, eyeing the off-shoulder deep navy silk dress before picking it up, "Let's match?"

"Not a problem," he smiled, helping her put away the other dresses, "You look stunning in blue anyway."

She arched her brows, "Just in blue?" she joked, Fred immediately shaking his head, "No, uh—I mean every color, my love. Its just blue is my favorite color, and you're my favorite person so—"

"I know, I was just messing with you." she chuckled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, "I can't wait to see you in a suit tomorrow. If my memory is correct, you don't clean up too bad."

"The suit is itchy. The Delacours had it made for us by a very grumpy tailor."

"Itchy or not, you'll look wonderful." she smiled up at him, "And think of this as an opportunity for us to observe what to do and not to do for our own wedding. Who to invite, who not to invite...."

"Definitely none of Mum's extended family." He said quickly, "I heard Dad say Great-Aunt Muriel was going to be there. Dreadful woman, dunno why she hasn't kicked the bucket yet.... I'll definitely be hiding from her for most of it."

"I'm sure she's not that bad."

"Oh she is. Trust me." He insisted, shuddering a bit, "By the way, is Nicolai coming with anyone? I know Xander is coming with his sister."

"Yeah, she's taking Hadley, I think. I'd be a good way for her to get to know other people. Plus, I think she and Fleur knew each other from school so it'll be nice for Fleur to have one more familiar face in the crowd."

"Oh, Hadley huh?" Fred said, his brows quirking a little bit, "Is there something going on there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know... doesn't Hadley like girls too? And then Nic... well... they've been hanging out quite a lot."

"I guess they have been..." Florence said, before shaking her head, "I dunno, I think they're just friends, though I haven't asked her about other things. Maybe I should do that—"

"Fleur's wedding gown has bloody feathers on it!" A voice exclaimed as the girl with long red hair marched in to the room without any regard as to whether she was being invasive or not, Ginny pausing her rant at the sight of her brother, "Oh, I didn't know you were back... I just wanted to talk to Flo..."

"Yes, about the feathery wedding dress, right Gin? With how loud you said that you might as well have told the entirety of Devon."

"Oh do be quiet." she said, sticking her tongue out at him before looking to Florence, "Do you know what you're gonna wear yet?"

Florence chuckled, before holding up her blue dress, Ginny's eyes growing wide, "That is so pretty. You're gonna look amazing in it, Flo!"

"Thank you very much. Did you still need help picking something out?" she asked, Ginny nodding vigorously, "I'm stuck between two options."

"Poor thing, we'll figure it out. C'mon.." She said, hanging her dress on one of the hooks on Fred's old dresser before making a beeline for Ginny's room, the redhead girl following behind her.

"How you even scored someone like her is still the biggest mystery to me," Ginny said to her brother, before shutting the door.

——————

Mrs. Weasley was standing by the backdoor, facing an open window overlooking the tent venue for the big wedding the next day. She had a cup of tea in one hand, and held a slightly melancholic look on her face.

Florence was in the living room, setting up the blankets and pillows for Remus and Tonks who came just before sunset with Matthew and Sirius, who was in his animagus form. They figured it was better to bring them along to the wedding as most of the Order was going to be attending. Since all the rooms were full, they were set up to spend the night in the living room, with Remus taking one of the long couches, and Tonks on the other, while Matthew slept on the floor with Snuffles resting by his feet.

Florence was just about to head back up to Fred after she finished helping when she saw Mrs. Weasley by the window, deciding to go up to her for a bit to see if she needed anything.

"Are you quite alright, Molly?" She asked carefully, the woman snapping out of her faraway gaze and smiling at her, "Yes, I'm okay, dear. Thank you for helping them get settled, you should go get some rest now."

"In a minute," she said, "Just checking up to see how you are knowing it's happening tomorrow."

"Just a little overwhelming." She said, "Its not every day your eldest child gets married."

Florence nodded in understanding, even though she knew she couldn't quite comprehend it from a mother's perspective, "I've seen it with my two eyes, though," she told the older woman, whose brows drew together in confusion, "Seen what, dear?"

"The way she looks at Bill. She looks at him like he's hung all the stars in the sky for her..." finished, "From the looks of it, I think Bill's in rather good hands, Molly. I think he's marrying a woman capable of loving him unconditionally. Just like what you've wished for."

This gave her a slightly blissful expression on her face, Florence seeing her shoulders relax a bit, "Just like what I've wished for...."

/////
a.n: OH MY GODDDDD ONE MORE CHAPTER OUT SOON I LOVE ALL OF U HOPE U LIKED THIS

-Denise