true love [leleti]

[chantelle raine truelove]

on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur

❝

Her wedding day had finally come. It wasn’t Chantelle’s first wedding, but she still felt the same level of excitement mixed with the soothing reassurance of love. She and Erik were getting married. And, now that Hogwarts had closed and war loomed over them like an inescapable shadow, they were moving to France, too. To protect their family. It had been a difficult decision - she and Erik had gone back and forth for weeks trying to figure out the best option, but all they could come up with was hiding. Trying to wait out the inevitable storm, and keep their beloved children safe.

Chantelle tried not to focus on that today, though. This day was about her love for Erik. Their marriage, the start of their lives together. Uniting two families to become one.

The wedding was small, and as such, Chantelle’s bridal party was also small. Her sister had travelled back to London for the wedding, and she, alongside Erik’s adopted sister Leleti, helped the bride prepare for her big day. Micah began to fuss just as the finishing touches were starting, and so Marie had stepped away for a moment to tend to him. Chantelle had smiled at her sister’s retreating figure, bouncing her son in her arms. It was so long ago, but also felt so recently, that she had been doing the same with Simon. That Erik had likely been doing the same with James, too. And now, their little boys were six and walking their mother and father down the aisle to be married.

Her sister-in-law-to-be helped pin the veil into Chantelle’s hair, and the former professor caught the eye of her former student in the mirror. She smiled, feeling inexplicable tears well up in her eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered, “for sharing this day with us.”

There were so many more words that she wanted to say - express sorrow for Leleti’s predicament - the young girl had been through so much. Losing her arm, and now without a school to finish her education. The professor in her felt an extreme amount of guilt at that. Leleti had always been her student. It was bizarre that in mere moments, they’d become sisters.

The bride turned, pulling her young bridesmaid into her arms for an embrace.

“You’re so strong,” she murmured. “You shouldn’t have had to be so strong so young.”

Chantelle pulled away, holding Leleti at arm’s length as the tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Quickly, she gently dabbed at them. It was her wedding day, she had no reason to cry.

“Well,” she breathed after a moment, regaining her composure. “How do I look?”

leleti fatuma truelove ● wedding dress ● 441

MADE BY MIZO

[leleti fatuma truelove]

●●●

leleti truelove

This had been a long time coming.

When Erik had first told Leleti that he’d found someone new, she’d been more than a little apprehensive after the way things turned out with James’ mother. Not that the split had been bad, all things considered it was amicable, but her younger self had lacked the maturity and experience to see it that way. But now, as she helped her soon to be sister-in-law prepare for the big day, Leleti was beyond pleased. She saw the way they looked at one another, true love for the Trueloves. They were building a beautiful little family, Simon and James already thick as thieves, they could have been twins for all anyone else knew. Leleti had lacked the dexterity to help do up the back of the dress, Chantelle’s sister Marie took care of that before her baby started fussing.

So with the new mother and infant out in the hallway to calm him, Leleti was tasked with pinning the veil into Chantelle’s hair. She did so delicately, carefully, afraid to mess anything up. Chantelle was an absolute vision, not a hair out of place, Leleti couldn’t help the small smile on her face. The world had fallen into disarray, they were seemingly a breath away from ruin, but today, in this moment, they could have something good.

“Thank you, for sharing this day with us.”

Leleti felt tears of her own spring up, happiness, pain, guilt, empathy for Chantelle’s, it was hard to specify an origin. There had been a time last summer where she’d been so ready to throw it all away, the impulse still struck on occasion when things got hard, but Leleti had managed to keep going for moments like these. The proof that, even if she didn’t always like herself, that others wanted her to stay.

“You’re so strong. You shouldn’t have had to be so strong so young.”

She hugged Chantelle back, giving her a squeeze the best she could with the arm she had. It was the truth, but Leleti didn’t have any other option. It was keep going, or stop. She gave a watery smile when they parted, both women trying to contain their tears to avoid smudging their makeup. They were contained eventually, though Leleti was sure the waterworks would return during the ceremony- she’d always been a happy crier.

“Well, how do I look?”

“Si belle,” Leleti replied, still dabbing at the inner corner of her eye with a tissue. She’d been trying to learn French, not that Chantelle was poor in English, but Leleti wanted to make her feel welcome in the family, have something to share with her.

chantelle raine truelove ● 441 ● no notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[chantelle raine truelove]

on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur

❝

Becoming a mother had changed Chantelle fundamentally for the better, and it shaped most of her interactions. Even now, with the young woman that was moments away from becoming her sister-in-law, the bride felt more maternal than anything else. Leleti was now family. And that meant that Chantelle felt a sense of responsibility to protect her.

As they both held back the tears they were getting choked up on, the woman leaned in and pressed a kiss to her bridesmaid’s forehead. Leleti had been full of nothing but love and support for her brother and his new bride. It was the truest blessing that she could have ever hoped for. Even as Leleti’s life had been torn apart, even as she had been pulled through darkness that was horrifying for a girl so young to endure, she had persisted. It had been difficult, Chantelle could not ignore the sadness that seemed to echo in her young former pupil’s soul.

But they now stood together on what would be one of the happiest days of Chantelle’s life - second only to the day she welcomed her son into the world.

And all of that darkness, all of that heartache and loss and the weight of the tragedy around them felt a little diminished. Today, it seemed, love banished all of it away. Even if only for a moment.

Si belle.

Chantelle dabbed at her eyes and beamed at Leleti. “Your French is coming along so well, ma chère,” she praised, “you would be a perfect fit in Giverny.”

She trailed off, considering her young sister. She had been intending to wait until Erik was with her, after the wedding ceremony and into the reception to make this offer, but…

“Actually,” Chantelle offered, drawing in a hopeful, hesitant breath. “Erik and I were hoping you’d join us. The boys would love having you around, and it would give us peace of mind to know that you are safe. You don’t have to answer now,” she added hastily, “think about it, and you can tell us after the wedding. But we want you there.”

leleti fatuma truelove ● dress ● 350

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