Til The End

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`Til The End

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On a sunny morning in May, as fifth year students such as Anthony Weston and Una Markham studied for their quickly-approaching O.W.L.s, Cho Chang had her wand out, and was busily muttering charms, her eyes fixed upon the austere interior of the tent that, until now, she had shared with Jing-Li. The plain walls of the bedroom were slowly but steadily being decorated with valances of red silk, bunched into triumphant rosettes at the corners. Already, on the door, she had carefully put on the newly painted red banner of double happiness in traditional calligraphy, done by one of the Mages who had a knack for the art form, and inside, there was an exquisite bead curtain showing lotus blossoms, for luck and togetherness. The plain, Spartan cot would be transfigured into a carved, larger bed with a dragon and phoenix on the top of the headboard, and luxurious with satin.

The door opened, and in walked a languidly graceful blonde woman, her hands full of delicate pink sprays. Cho turned around and smiled. The mother of the groom. Narcissa Malfoy had, after a few months of entering life like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, had become rather close to Cho, who had helped to take care of her through it all. She was gowned in robes of a fresh spring green, and, on this happy day, almost looked girlish as she handed Cho the blossoms. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Cho looked around. "Here, put the flowers in water. And charm them not to wilt for the whole night. And then... you must help me with the dress."

Narcissa nodded slowly, and picked up a nearby cup. When Lucius had locked her in, her wand had been broken in two. However, after she had left the hospital, Cho had taken her to Diagon Alley and Ollivander´s, and she had purchased a new one. Ten inches, laurel, slender, and with the hair of a stately female unicorn for the core. Now, she transfigured the cup into a blue-and-white porcelain vase, and filled it with water from the nearby jug. The flowers were placed in, and set up opposite the bed. Another wave of the wand, and they would not wilt for another two days.

Soon, between the two of them, the room was decked out in bright Oriental splendor, and the two women stepped back to survey their handiwork. Narcissalooked around the room with interested eyes the color of delphiniums in bloom. "It´s so different... but I like it," she said softly. Cho smiled.

The door opened again, and Draco´s head peered in. "Good Lord! Chang, is this a subliminal way for me to convert to being a Gryffindor?" he gestured the bright splashes of crimson around the room. Cho rolled her eyes slightly, and smirked at him.

"You´re going to have to wear red tonight too. A red sash." Draco´seyebrows shot up to his hairline, and both Cho and his mother laughed slightly. "Oh come off it, Malfoy," Cho scoffed, "you´d wear a pink petticoat if that was what Jing-Li desired, and you know it. But what are you doing here?"

"Just thought that you might want to know that your grandmother is here. She´s talking to Jing-Li right now," Draco winced slightly. "She gave me a rather long and severe admonition..."

Cho gave an amused chuckled, "You don´t speak Chinese, and she doesn´t speak English."

Draco shrugged, "Jing-Li translated. The bit about the being dropped over a cliff by angry crane spirits after they´d pecked my eyes out if I were ever to treat my wife-to-be with disrespect might have been a fabrication on Jing-Li´s part, but I think the rest..."

Cho grinned, "I´ll go and see her. Now, you get out."

"Huh? Why are you kicking me out of here? Spoilsport..."

"Because if I didn´t, the room would be green from floor to ceiling within five minutes.I don´t trust you in the least, Malfoy. Now, shoo!" And the bridal chamber was left empty of people until the nighttime.

* * *

By late afternoon, when the final guest arrived, all the preparations had been completed. Unfortunately for the guest, neither his friend nor the Mage leader with whom he was acquainted, were available to greet him immediately as he Apparatedinto the camp. Rather, Roger Davies found himself staring down at a little boy who was grinning ear-to-ear and holding a rattle-like drum which he would shake frenetically every few minutes.

"Hello, are you Uncle Roggie?"

Roger grinned somewhat wryly, "You might say that. Is that what Cho told you my name was?"

Jack nodded, "She´s gone to make Auntie Jing-Jing look pretty. But you can talk to Uncle Draco. He´s looking pretty too. Come on!" And "Uncle Roggie" followed the boy deeper into the Mage camp.

As he walked past the Mage tents, Roger noticed that the usually simple and stark places all had bright red ribbons streaming from the top. At the center of the camp, the Mage Leader´s tent was gaily decorated, and tightly sealed shut. And, waiting a little ways off, looking distinctly uncomfortable with a scarlet shoulder sash, stood Draco Malfoy, wearing black silk embroidered with silver dragons. Roger grinned at the younger man and held out a hand for him to shake. "Hello there, Malfoy."

"Davies," Draco gave a nod, and shook Roger´s hand, before scowling down slightly at himself once more, "I look like a bloody Gryffindor."

Roger laughed somewhat, "Oh, come off it. At least she´s not making you wear something completely ridiculous. What if it were leather trousers?"

Draco blanched slightly, "You Ravenclaws have horrible, twisted imaginations; do you know that? Chang was talking about pink petticoats..." he glanced at the tightly closed tent. "Jing-Li and Cho are off in my tent over there, getting ready... well, it´ll be Cho´s tent from now on, I guess..."

Roger nodded, "Congratulations, Malfoy. And good luck."

Draco gave a half-smirk, "Thank you. I´ll need it." And then, he grew somewhat serious, "Davies... there´s been something that has been on my mind since the day that my father... well... and I´d speculated about it before, as well. Since you´re here, I might as well take the opportunity to ask you about it. Heaven forbid I ask Potter..." Draco rolled his eyes slightly, and Roger bit back a grin.

"All right, I´m all ears."

"Well... now that I´m going to be married... I would very much hate sitting at home while my wife is out playing heroine and putting her life out on the line every day. If she is going to be in danger, I want to be there. You know what I mean?" Roger nodded slowly, and the blond man continued, "I´m thinking of signing up to join the Aurors´ Guild. What do you say? Well, on the stipulations that I will not have to be trained by Potter."

Roger glanced at Draco in surprise, and saw that the younger man was absolutely serious. In a tone just as serious, "Well... if that is what you want... we´d love to have you. I´ll owl you the documents, and tell you when and where to meet so we can arrange for training you."

"All right."Draco nodded his head, and at that moment, the sun set in the sky, and all at once, the flap to the tent where Jing-Li had been getting ready, with Cho and Narcissa and Madame Chang helping, opened, and at the entrance, several Mages, along with Jack with his drum, started a rousing, festive song with Chinese instruments.

Draco took one look at the three figures coming towards him, and his heart skipped a beat. Cho, along with his mother, were both clad in simple red Chinese tunics and black trousers. In between them, Jing-Li stood, her slim, wiry form clad in a bright cerise dress with golden phoenixes and poppies so exquisitely and skillfully embroidered that they looked like they´d been painted on. On her strong, slender wrists, she wore jade bracelets, and her usual simple and severe bun had been exchanged for a complicated series of braids and loops that shimmered like onyx in the ethereal light of dusk. Dangling jade earrings peeked out from under the wings of hair at the side of her head, and through the gold-tasseled ruby chiffon veil that covered her head and face, Draco could make out jeweled hairpins. Her eyes were downcast, her expression demure. For a moment, Draco forgot to breathe.

A moment later, Cho´s grandmother came to stand in front of him, and signaled for him to get on his knees. Somewhat confused, he did, and a moment later, Jing-Li was led to kneel beside him.

"Bow before the Heavens!"

The two kowtowed towards the twilight sky, and turned.

"Bow to the people!"

The two kowtowed towards the others, gathered in a group and watching them with smiles.

"Bow to each other!"

And in the final kowtow, the two faced each other, and lowered their heads.

And then, Madame Chang ceremoniously handed Draco a rod of pure gold, and Draco used that to gently lift the veil away from Jing-Li´s face. And she gazed up at him, her expression somewhat bashful for the first time in her life. Draco smiled. Gryffindor colors or no, no one had ever looked so beautiful to him.

Cho walked forward, helping Jing-Li to her feet, and Draco stood up as well. A Mage held out a tray with two small cups of sweet wine, and Draco and Jing-Li entwined their arms, drinking wine from each other´s cups.

And then, Draco and Jing-Li were led into the bridal chamber, with many smiles and good wishes. Finally, Cho walked out after all the others, and Draco and Jing-Li were alone. Draco looked at his blushing bride and smiled. "Well... that was interesting. But, there were no vows."

Jing-Li gave him a long, appraising look, and softly said something melodious-sounding in Chinese. Draco looked at her questioningly. "What did you just say?"

Jing-Li gave a somewhat embarrassed shrug, and spoke, "It is a traditional Chinese love vow, since you were wondering about vows. Roughly, it translates to this:

To Heaven, this I swear,

With this man will I remain forever.

Until the mountains are no longer angular,

The rivers dry into desert wastelands,

Until there are thunderstorms in the winter

And snowfall in the summer,

Until the Earth and sky meld into one, formless,

I will never part from him that I love."

She sighed somewhat. "It sounds better in Chinese." With that, she lifted a hand to her head to pull off her veil, and, one by one, undo her hairpins. Draco quickly put his hand over hers.

"Let me." He gently slid one hairpin, then another, out of the jetty mass that was her hair. Gradually, bit-by-bit, the black strands fell downward, and she cocked her head sideways to look at Draco, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Now, you must say a vow back to me. In Chinese," she teased him. Draco frowned.

"You know that I´m miserable at the language," he pointed out. She didn´t look concerned.

"Try your best, I just spoke a Chinese love vow in English," she retorted archly. Draco removed the final hairpin from her hair, and all of it streamed down past her waist. He gave her a long, deep look, and finally, took her hand gently in his.

"All right then. WoAi Ni, Jing-Li," he whispered, before bringing her hand to his lips and laying a kiss on the palm. I love you.

Jing-Li smiled up at him. "See, it is not that hard," she said softly, before closing her eyes and letting him kiss her.

* * *

Roger was stretched full-length on the ground in front of Cho´s tent, his slender hands clasped behind his head, when Cho reached her tent. She lay down next to him, silent, side-by-side, just content to watch the stars. Cho gave him a sideways glance, taking in the sharp, clear profile, the deep blue eyes gazing into space, and unconsciously, moved her head a little closer, resting her temple against his shoulder. A moment later, he lowered one hand from his head and his fingers, warm and strong, curled around hers.

Finally, he broke the silence. "I´m honored and glad that you and Jing-Li invited me today. That wedding was really something."

By his side, Cho gave a small nod, "Yes... you´ve probably never seen a traditional Chinese ceremony before, have you?"

"No, can´t say that I have. It´s nice though... and it´s also nice that... even now, people can find love and happiness. Gives us all some hope, don´t you agree?" A small smile grew at the corners of his mouth, and Cho smiled as well.

"Yes, it does. Well... who knows, perhaps, someday, we will be in their shoes." She blushed somewhat. She had meant that someday, the two of them might marry, but with the way she phrased it, it sounded like she meant that the two of them might marry each other. She hadn´t meant that... necessarily. Oh... everything was different and irrelevant now, anyway.

"Perhaps," Roger, next to her, gave her a sidelong glance, watching her face bloom crimson with her last statement. He knew what she had meant by it, and gave her a little wry smile, signifying that he understood. Slowly, he got up to his feet, and offered her a hand, pulling her up as well.

Slowly, still hand-in-hand, the two walked to the edge of the Mage camp, to the Apparationpoint. And then, there they stood for a few long moments, deep in their own thoughts. Finally, Cho stepped forward, and impulsively stood on tiptoe to brush a light kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for coming, Roger."

"No problem," he said easily. "I´m glad that I got a chance to see you again."

And then, he turned around, and Disapparated with a pop. Cho stared at the spot where he had stood a moment ago, and she gave a soft sigh.

"Me too, Roger... me too."

* * *

Gabrielle Delacour smiled in ineffable satisfaction as she folded up the letter that she had just received. Honestly, normal people were so... dense sometimes! It drove her up the wall, but Gabrielle took all of the stupidity with an admirable amount of acceptance and composure. After all, if they were all very clever and discerning, then she, Gabrielle, would not have so much string pulling to do. And then, everything would be much less fun.

Three days later, the Delacour-Weasley house was full of people. The twins, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were all over, as was Una, whom Gabrielle had invited to go with her to Diagon Alley in a few days. Now...

There needed to be Quidditch.

An "ice-breaker", if you will. And an integral part of her plan. Gabrielle smiled charmingly at everyone assembled. The twins were showing off their latest prank candies to Bill and Ginny, Fleur was fussing over little Juliette, Harry was watching her expectantly, and Anthony and Unawere sitting apart, looking warily at each other. "´Elloeveryone," she chirped, "It is such a nice day outside, no?"

Several nods and answers to the affirmative greeted her.

Gabrielle´s grin widened, "Let us `ave a Quidditch game, zen. We can `ave simplified teams, and I want to get some practice."

Everyone but Anthony and Una nodded their assent once more. The latter two just looked at her somewhat suspiciously. Gabrielle continued in an airy voice, "Well, `Arry and I both play Seeker, Ansony and Ginny both play Keeper, zerecan be one Beater on each team, and Beel can play Chaser opposite Una. What do you say?"

Not waiting for any answers, she grinned, "And I `ave asked Fred and George´s girlfriends Angelina and Katie eef I could borrow zeir old brooms, so zere will be enough broomsticks for everyone."

Bill looked at her, amused, "You´ve really got this all planned out, haven´t you?"

Gabrielle grinned, "Of course! Well, are you going to do zis or not, everyone?"

Anthony muttered, "Not like we have a choice here..."

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Gabrielle evidently had much more planned as well. Before the game, she had a brief talk with Harry, who gave her a wry, indulgent nod at the end of their conversation before getting hugged enthusiastically, to everyone else´s collective amusement. Then, she quickly divided everyone into two teams.

"Una, Ansony, Fred and I can be on one team, as ze Chaser, Keeper, Beater and Seeker. On ze ozer team, Beel, Ginny, George and `Arry can play. `Ow does zat sound?" She looked at everyone with a grin.

"Are you sure that I shouldn´t resign, Gabrielle, and let you take over as captain?" Una asked dryly. Gabrielle merely winked at the older girl and said nothing, grabbing the Firebolt that used to belong to Harry and taking to the air. Shrugging, Unaand Anthony took to the air as well, along with a vastly amused Fred. The opposing team took their positions as well, and Ron, playing referee, released the makeshift Quidditch balls (with a Mugglevolleyball for a Quaffle, a pair of enchanted baseballs for bludgers and an enchanted golf ball for the Snitch).

And as the game began, the tenseness between Anthony and Unadisappeared. They were teammates, a Keeper and a Chaser. They worked together, with him passing the Quaffle to her without a thought after blocking shots. And meanwhile, Gabrielle divided her time between smiling triumphantly to herself and searching for the Snitch. Harry had promised... although she was sure that if she were really playing poorly, he would retract that promise.

George hit a bludger at Anthony, and, to the Slytherin´s immense surprise, Una, used to instinctively protecting her team on the pitch, swerved in front of the bludger´s path and, with a slight shove, moving Anthony out of the way. A moment later, Fred was in pursuit of the bludger and had hit it at Bill, who had the Quaffle in possession. Una moved away from Anthony, both rather startled at her action, and the strange, not-exactly-uncomfortable feeling that had coursed through them... for just a moment.

And then, the game continued. Anthony blocked another shot, and Unacaught the Quaffle once again from his hands, racing forward towards the other goal. And then, as the Snitch came into view, and Harry deliberately watched Una score the goal rather than go after it until a moment later, Anthony cheered for the Ravenclaw girl.

And a moment later, Harry and Gabrielle were both racing after the Snitch, with Gabrielle in the lead. Perhaps it was Una´simagination, but... was Harry Potter purposefully flying slowly?

In any case, the small blonde girl caught the golf ball a moment later, and blew a kiss towards the still-indulgently-smiling Harry before she ran to her "team", grinning ear to ear. Una, listening to the other team giving knowing chuckles at Harry, tore her attention back to her Seeker, who was addressing her.

"Zat was brilliant, no? You two did wonderful togezer, no?" She hugged first Fred, then Una, and then Anthony. "Una is an excellent Chaser, no?"

Fred, rolling his eyes slightly, obliged, giving the slight Mugglebornwitch a hug as well. "Corking," he said brightly. Una blushed. Gabrielle looked pointedly at Anthony.

"Don´t you sink she did a good job?" she demanded to her surrogate brother. Una would not look at him.

Anthony gave the brown-haired Ravenclaw girl a brief glance, and inclined his head, "Not bad. I´ll have to watch out for her, then." Gabrielle continued to look at him expectantly, and finally, he stepped forward and stopped in front of Una, proffering a hand. Una, rather startled but strangely gratified, put her smaller one in his, and he gave it a warm, albeit brief shake.

"Good game, Markham, good game."

Gabrielle smiled.

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