The chapel was filled with the sounds of last-minute preparations; the small orchestra testing their strings, the flipping pages of the Vow Book as the Bonder went over the incantations and spellwork, the cough of the tailor as he fixed that groom’s pesky trouser leg that somehow ended up three inches shorter than intended. The attendants murmured and whispered in their pews; some were admiring the décor, while others were checking their watches, impatient for the ceremony to begin.

The bride peeked out at it all, hidden behind a curtain that separated her from the main part of the chapel. Every part of her was trembling, and an odd feeling was creeping in her stomach; she felt sure her breakfast was threatening to revisit her. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves.

“It’s just jitters,� she muttered to herself. “Once you’re out there, you’ll be fine.�

Once you see him.

She smiled, and her eyes welled up with tears for possibly the hundredth time that day. She couldn’t believe where she was, what was about to happen. It had felt like an eternity of counting down days to this. She let out a sigh and tried to focus her thoughts on how incredibly happy she was.

---

“No,� the woman sobbed. “Please, please – Ormond, I’ll do anything, just don’t – Ormond, please ---�

The tall man lowered his wand and, with a closed fist, struck the pleading woman across the face. His face was contorted with disgust, and he spit on the floor beside her in contempt. He turned back to the little girl, cowering in the corner, shaking as she feared for what was to come next.

“What the hell are you looking at?� he growled.

The little girl just tore her eyes from him and cried harder. He walked away and slammed the door behind him as he left the hallway. The girl quickly rushed to the quivering woman who was slumped on the floor –

“Mum, mum,� she cried. “Mum, are you alright?�

Her mother nodded weakly, and the little girl tried to not sob harder at the sight of the blood running down her mother’s face. “I’ll be alright, Lavender,� she murmured fraily, coughing slightly. “You – you… just go to your room, love. Please, just, go stay in your room for a while.�

“No, Mum,� her daughter begged. “No, you’re hurt, I can get help –

“No,� the mother replied hoarsely. “I’ll be fine. It’s not too serious, I can take care of it myself. I just want you to stay away from him. Please, until he’s in a better mood. Just, let him be.�

The young girl nodded, her lower lip trembling; not from sadness or fear now, but from a surge of anger. “Please, until he’s in a better mood,� her beaten and bleeding mother had asked. Lavender bit back another onslaught of furious tears before doing as asked.

---

Lavender felt frail again as she looked around and found herself completely alone. She did not want her father to be there; he was the last person in the world she wanted to be with her on that day. But, she pined for what was missing -- a father. A man to stand by her, to take her arm, and walk her down the aisle that, now, was looking so very, very long.

The orchestra has begun to play, and she watched as her bridesmaids and flower girl prepared to proceed. A fear struck her very suddenly, and tears of a different kind began to roll down her cheeks. She drew in a quivering breath in an attempt to keep herself together, but she felt it might be no use. She so badly just wanted to curl up in the corner and sob, because of that central part of her life was missing. She felt incomplete as a sudden flash of thought came to her mind, and she pictured herself walking forward in the chapel, no father by her side, completely alone.

---

“Leave her alone,� she yelled, drawing her wand.

“What are you going to do, Lavender?� Ormond Brown asked, his drunken words slurring together stupidly. “Charm my shoes to tap dance for me?�

Lavender glared back at him, her body trembling; she was afraid, yes, but it wasn’t going to stop her. She wasn’t defenceless. She could thank Harry Potter and the DA for that – she knew very bloody well how to protect herself.

“You’re a pathetic bastard, Ormond,� she spat angrily, tears streaming down her face. She stepped between her father and her mother, who was, once more, quivering on the floor, her body bleeding from lacerations he’d inflicted on her.

“You’re not to be calling be “Ormond�, Lavender,� he growled, “I’m your father, and you’ll show me the respect –�

“You don’t deserve respect, Ormond,� Lavender cried back at him. “Now, back away, or I will make you regret it.�

Ormond let out a stupid laugh and took a step forward – Lavender, true to her word – raised her wand.

---

Another deep breath.

And another.

Lavender put one foot in front of the other, and looked straight ahead. She shut everything out except for him. His face, smiling, but looking a nervous wreck. He was her destination, and nothing could keep them apart. Her body was still shaking, and her lip was trembling as more tears spilled down her already red face. She didn’t care. She just wanted to get through it. She could do this. She didn’t need him.

Her eyes flitted into the pews for a moment, and her eyes found her mother, whose face was just as red as her daughter’s. Lavender’s heart swelled at the sight of her, and at that moment, she broke into tears. She stopped in the middle of the aisle and sobbed. It might have been partly from the sadness, but more than anything, it was the pride. The pride and love for her mother, and the joy that she was there, walking towards the man she was going to spend her life with.

Her mother rushed from the pew to Lavender’s side; she squeezed Lavender’s hand and murmured, “Everything’s going to be fine, love.� Then, in a moment of surprise, Lavender felt someone take her other hand – she looked and she saw his parents – her soon to be mother- and father-in-law. They smiled at her encouragingly and Lavender took another deep, shuddering breath and nodded, mouthing “Thank you,� to them.

With the three of them on either side of her, she walked the rest of the way, and stopped in front of her groom. He took her hand and smiled at her, and she could see he’d let a tear or two slip, also. “I love you� he said quietly. "I love you, too," she replied, tremulously.

Lavender had never been so happy in her life. She was ready to put the past behind her. She was ready to start a life. She was ready to have a little girl, and watch her grow up with a good man, a good father. Everything was going to be fine, now. After so long, she’d finally found him.

She’d finally found the right man.