Under the Stars

"Katie, will you hold still?" cried Ginny in mock-exasperation.

"Can't!" said Katie, pulling out her wand and fiddling with it. Silver sparks shot from the end, causing Susan to leap out of the way.

"Katie, calm down," said Susan, in her best calming voice. "Before you blow us all up."

"I am calm!" This caused more sparks to shoot out of Katie's wand. Susan took it off her and laid it on the table a safe distance away, and Ginny returned to her task of curling Katie's hair and piling it up on the back of her head.

"You know, Katie, you're just like I was when I got married," Ginny mused, pinning another curl in place.

"I can't help it," said Katie, tapping her fingers on her knees as if she was playing the piano. "I just want to go and get married."

"You've got another hour and a bit to go," said Susan, who was doing Angelina's hair. Susan was always very calm. Susan and Neville were the calmest couple Katie knew; she was willing to bet that Susan had been very calm on her wedding day.

"I can't wait an hour and a bit. I can't. I'll explode." Katie didn't think she'd ever felt so nervous and energetic and impatient all at once. It was maddening.

"Well you'd better not, as you're marrying my brother. I don't think we'd ever hear the end of it. Especially not from Mum, because George is the last of us to get married. There! Done!"

"Can I get married now?"

"Not yet. Hold still and I'll do your makeup."

***

George Weasley stared at his reflection in the mirror, and ducked deftly out of the way as his mother bore down on him, intent on straightening his tie again. "Mum, I'm fine. I'm ready."

"You look so handsome, dear."

"Of course he does. He looks exactly like me!" announced Fred, not particularly helpfully.

"We'd better hope Katie marries the right one, then," said Lee, wandering over for a look at the twins.

"You marry my fiancée, I'll kill you."

"I marry your fiancée, Angelina will kill me first. Anyway, Katie can tell us apart."

"Ahhhh... my baby brother's getting married."

"Shut up, Bill. Please."

***

The old Hogsmeade chapel was packed. The whole Weasley clan was there, except those directly involved in the wedding (Molly had finally been torn away from her last unmarried child). Old school friends of the two were there, and a group of Katie's workmates. Up the back sat Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, who looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else, and little Professor Flitwick, who was standing on the pew in order to see the front. Arthur Weasley had insisted that they invite McGonagall and Snape, who had been so involved with the Order of the Phoenix during the war, and Katie had invited Flitwick as well "because he was always my favourite teacher."

The presence of some of his former teachers merely added to George's anxiety. He was expecting a sarcastic comment from Snape any minute, or McGonagall to leap up and tell him off for snogging Katie. He really could do without them. Katie was going to be here any minute now, and he had enough to deal with, what with Fred and Lee being the groomsmen.

The enchanted organ changed its tune and the congregation turned their heads as one to focus on the back of the chapel. Angelina appeared under the stone archway first, wearing a deep red dress that swept the floor as she walked, and then Katie, eyes shining, in a beautiful cream dress, deep red roses pinned amidst the curls that tumbled from the top of her head. Slowly, sedately, the two girls walked down the aisle of the chapel. George watched Katie, who only had eyes for him. She looked beautiful.

The girls reached the front. Angelina joined Fred and Lee, standing off to one side, and Katie took George's hand. He squeezed it, gratefully, his heartbeat slowing down a bit. This was all about them now. In about half an hour they'd be husband and wife.

"The sacred ceremony of marriage has been venerated within and without the wizarding world since ancient times," intoned the old wizard who was taking the service. "It is a solemn vow in which two people are bound to one another for life, as witnessed by family and friends and verified by the Ceremony of the Wands. Today George and Katie take these vows, and become one until death."

Katie glanced at George, and he smiled back. It was really happening. They were really getting married.

"I ask them now, in front of you all, to declare their love and commitment to each other as the first part of today's ceremony. George?"

George felt the eyes of the congregation on him as he shifted slightly to face Katie. He had his notes in his pocket, but he knew he wouldn't need them. "Katie, I've loved you since we were at school, and I've never stopped. I'll always love you, because you're the most important thing in the world to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Tears were pooling in her eyes. George squeezed his hand, murmuring again, "I love you," so only she could hear. She nodded.

"Katie?"

"George, I've also loved you since our schooldays. We were friends and team mates first, and we'll always be that, and we'll always have our love as well. I'm marrying you today because I can't live without you. I promise I'll be there for you, no matter what happens, and I'll love you for the rest of my life." Katie spoke quietly but firmly, her eyes never wavering from George's, two tears trickling lazily down her cheeks, causing her to be extremely grateful for Ginny's enchanted makeup.

"A marriage built on friendship and love is one that will stand the test of time. In the wizarding world, a couple becomes bound together through their wands and the rings that will be forged through their wands and their love. I would ask George and Katie now to raise their wands."

Fred and Angelina passed their wands over. Katie gripped the familiar wood and held it up, the tip pointing towards the tip of George's wand. The venerable old wizard began to chant in Latin and in response, the wand tips glowed. A pillar of light began to grow from each wand; silver from Katie's, red from George's. The pillars met and began to entwine and twist themselves together, growing until they met the tip of the other wand. No one moved as the strands of light began to merge together, slowly turning gold, and two rings began to take shape at the top of the arc of gold. The rings grew more and more solid, and when they were complete, the golden arc faded away, leaving two rings floating in mid air.

"Please take your rings," said the wizard solemnly. Katie took George's ring from the air as he took hers. His was a thick back of gold, intricately carved. The wizard directed Katie to take George's hand and slide the ring onto his finger. It was a perfect fit, of course, wrought as it was for him and him only. In response, he slipped a cool circlet of gold onto her own finger. Two rubies, the same colour as the roses in her hair, stood on either side of a diamond. It was beautiful. It was hers. The rings would link her and George together forever. It was an incredibly sobering yet exhilarating thought. They would be together forever.

"The Ceremony of the Wands has bound George and Katie together in the deepest form of magical bond. They have demonstrated their commitment to each other and fulfilled all the requirements of the marriage ceremony. As such, I can now announce that they are now husband and wife. George, I ask you now to kiss your wife to seal that bond in front of these witnesses."

George felt, as he kissed her, that life was perfect. He was married. He'd be with Katie forever.

Katie, feeling George's arms around her and his lips on hers, knew that she would never be lonely again. Right at that moment, everything was perfect.