Chapter 1: The Wedding
“Harry?” Ron asked. “Have you seen my tie? I can’t find it anywhere.”
“It must be with my left shoe, then “ because that’s missing as well…”
Harry looked at himself in the full length mirror hanging on the open wardrobe door. It seemed that, at the age of seventeen, he had finally finished growing. He was an inch or two short of six feet, and his still thin frame was slightly more filled out. Harry could hardly believe he had once been the short, skinny eleven-year-old in Dudley’s oversized clothes that he was the summer before leaving for his first year at Hogwarts. The only thing that had not changed was his impossibly untidy black hair, and his bright green eyes. He turned and looked at his best friend, Ron, who, if possible, had changed even more. His hair was still flaming red and his face was still innumerably freckled, but he had reached a towering height of an inch or two above six feet, and, due to rigorous Quidditch practice, he was slightly stockier than Harry. His body had finally grown enough to balance out his large feet, though it had not changed his tendency to be quite clumsy at times “ particularly at times when Hermione looked especially enchanting.
“And where are Fred and George? Mum wanted me to keep an eye on them, in case they try anything funny…” Ron said.
“I don’t think they’d be that insensitive…”
“They’ll be trying to cheer everyone up “”
“Ronald! I found your tie; it was inside this shoe downstairs in the broom closet!”
“Wow, Hermione “ you look great,” Harry said, as Hermione walked into the room carrying the tie and the shoe. Hermione had also changed a lot since first year; she had grown taller also, though she was about a head shorter than Harry, and almost a foot shorter than Ron. She was much more curvy than she had been before, though Harry did not feel comfortable consciously making this kind of observation.
“Great?” Ron said, awestruck “Try bloody gorgeous…”
She was dressed in beautiful, shimmering, sky-blue dress robes of light silky material, and her normally bushy hair had been straightened and pulled to the back, where it cascaded down in light waves. Ron made to move towards her, but whacked his shin of the bottom of his bedside dresser as he did so, knocking a lamp onto the floor, which fell onto his foot with a painful sounding thud. Ron swore loudly.
“Well, Fleur has excellent taste…” Hermione said, placing the tie around Ron’s neck and knotting it neatly for him. “And watch your language, Ronald Weasley.”
“You know you’d look fantastic in anything,” Ron said, grinning. “Where did you get the earrings? I don’t think I’ve seen you wear them before…”
Hermione’s face fell as she finished with Ron’s tie and brushed off his black dress robes.
“They were Ginny’s,” she said quietly. “Your mum gave them to me last night… she wanted me to have them, and asked if I could wear them today…”
The three of them fell silent. It had been almost three months since Ginny Weasley’s life had been taken and it had turned out to be a summer more miserable than the last. Everyone was trying to cheer each other up, but nobody was having any success. The events that had occurred at Voldemort’s headquarters could not easily be forgotten. Mrs. Weasley, more than anyone, wanted them to focus on the positive “ but everyone knew full and well that she spent her nights sobbing herself to sleep.
Harry had stayed a single week at the Dursley’s, and it had been a deathly silent seven days. The only exchange of conversation between him and a single member of the Dursleys had been when Uncle Vernon, after three failed attempts of trying to shove a distracted Harry’s elbow from the butter dish, finally requested quite vehemently that he remove it.
After the first excruciating week of the holidays, which he had spent most of alone in his room trying to push away thoughts of Ginny’s final moments, Harry left for Grimmauld Place, which he found had, as he requested, been newly decorated. He had not thought that the changes made to the house would actually remove the gloom that came with the knowledge that Sirius had grudgingly spent the last year of his life inside the place, but that was before he saw the renovations.
It was completely unrecognizable. There was not a trace of black or green, it was painted and wallpapered in shades of deep red and shimmering gold. The rooms were all brightly lit by enchanted candles along the top of the walls. The floors were a newly finished dark mahogany, and all the old furniture had been disposed of, and replaced with new, more comfortable seating and shining polished tables and desks, dark and enchanted to sparkle like the starry night sky. The only clue that it had ever been residence to the Black family was Sirius’s portrait, though he was ecstatic with the removal of every trace of his family’s presence from the house.
Harry’s only thought concerning the decorations was that Sirius would have loved them, and that was enough for him. He at once invited the Weasleys, Hermione, and his girlfriend Katie Bell to stay with him and Grimmauld place, and they all arrived within a matter of days.
As for Harry’s seventeenth birthday party, it had almost been a successful distraction from everyone’s grief, until an owl arrived with Ginny’s O.W.L results and Mrs. Weasley ran sobbing from the room leaving the kitchen full of party guests painfully silent and mournful, all still bedecked with colorful party hats.
There were was one thing that managed to keep everyone going, though “ and that was the prospect of Bill and Fleur’s wedding. The ceremony had originally been planned for late November, and Fleur had offered to push it back further after Ginny’s death, but Mrs. Weasley insisted that instead of moving the date back, they move it forward to August 11th “ Ginny’s birthday.
“She would have been sixteen today…” Ron said, sitting down on his bed and sighing deeply. Hermione sat down next to him and took his hand, but did not say anything.
It was understandable, as words of comfort were hard to come by these days. Harry watched for a moment as Hermione and Ron sat miserably together, before remembering, as he found himself often doing during instances such as these, why they were in this situation.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry hated her. She was the reason Sirius died, and she was the reason Ginny died. It was by her hand that two of his most beloved were taken from him. He despised her with every fiber of his being. His hatred for her and become so deep-seated that he was convinced he could easily produce a Cruciatus Curse against her without a moment’s hesitation.
Harry picked up a glass from the dresser he was standing next to, and threw it against the wall facing him. The glass bounced off the wall and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Hermione had taken to placing Non-Shattering Charms on all the glass and ceramics in the house after the first week at Grimmauld Place, merely because between Harry and the male Weasleys, more objects were being flung angrily about the house than could be repaired.
Harry wished the glass had broken, though. It would have been satisfying. He would have enjoyed hearing the sound of shattering, and seeing the shimmering broken glass scatter across the floor. He wanted to know that he could destroy something, that there was something weaker than him, because more than anger, hatred and sadness, that is how Harry felt: weak.
“Are you okay, Harry?” Hermione asked softly, biting her lip as she watched Harry sit down on his own bed and bury his face in his hands.
“Fine as can be expected…” he muttered, lifting his face to her. Ron was merely staring into space.
There was a sudden knock on the door, and not bothering to wait for an answer, Mrs. Weasley burst in looking quite frantic.
“Here you are!” she said. “I’ve been looking for the three of you “ I’m leaving now, and the ceremony will be starting in an hour…Hermione dear, I need your help with something at the chapel…”
“Alright, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said.
“I’ll go with you, Hermione…” Ron told her.
The three were of age and could now Apparate. Hermione and Ron, had both turned seventeen during the previous school year and had taken their Apparition tests at the beginning of the summer; Harry had passed his test only a week ago. It had taken two tries, because he was so distracted the first time he accidentally Apparated right to the middle of a lake in Wales and was returned to London by Ministry Officials, feeling very cold, wet and confused. He was much more successful the second time, and needless to say, he would be Apparating to the wedding.
Ron and Hermione said goodbye to Harry and headed downstairs; Mrs. Weasley, however, lingered for a moment.
“Are you okay, Harry?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he said standing up with a sigh and smiling at her. He certainly wasn’t going to allow Mrs. Weasley to worry about how he was feeling, as he felt her emotions were more important than his own given the situation.
“Good, I’ll see you at the chapel, then,” she said, smiling softly. Harry nodded to her and she turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind her.
Harry sat back down on the bed, his anger calmed from his concern for Mrs. Weasley. Who couldn’t comprehend how she could be so strong for other people when she was obviously suffering on the inside. Only eight months ago she had witnessed her own husband’s death, and now her youngest child and only daughter had been stolen from her, too. Yet she insisted on being the one to hold them all together.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Harry knew it could only be one person.
“Come in,” he said, standing up from the bed.
The door opened and Katie Bell entered, looking absolutely breath-taking. She was dressed in pale-blue bridesmaid robes matching Hermione’s, and her hair was falling past her shoulders in loose waves. She didn’t say a word, but flashed Harry a tired smile before the two of them wrapped their arms around one another.
“Holding up okay?” she asked him softly.
“Alright…” he said.
“Is that the truth?” she asked him dubiously. “Your emotions have been all over the place all summer…”
It was true. In only the last few minutes Harry had gone from a normal mood to sad to angry to calm and now, with Katie, happy.
“Really, I’m fine,” Harry said. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said, stepping back and straightening his tie. Without warning, Harry leant down and kissed her. After a few moments he pulled his lips away, but his face lingered close to hers.
“What was that for?” she asked breathlessly.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too,” she said, and Harry smiled and kissed her again. He felt very peaceful when he was Katie; she was like the calm in the center of his storm. He was grateful everyday that she was still with him, especially since he had been led by Lucius Malfoy to believe she had been killed, and only minutes after Ginny’s murder did he learn the truth. He had been torn between relief for Katie’s life and the pain of Ginny’s death, and still was not quite sure how to handle the conflicting emotions. One thing he was sure of, though, was the happiness he felt with Katie, and he wouldn’t allow that to be taken from him.
A few seconds later, Katie pulled away and cleared her throat
“We should go, now…” she said, raising her eyebrow at Harry, who smiled as she pulled him from the room and went downstairs.
They passed a few members of the Order in the main corridor as they walked for the front door, and after exiting the house onto the freshly rebuilt and repainted porch, they both Disapparated with a loud crack.
They reappeared almost instantly outside a large stain-glassed, stone-walled chapel, and immediately headed in through the opened tall oak doors, which led to the outer hall of the building, which had a set of doors to each side, and another, larger set of doors in the center leading into the actual ceremony hall.
“Well, I’m going to go to the groom’s room,” Harry told Katie, nodding to the door on the left.
“Alright, see you soon,” she said, kissing his cheek and leaving for the bride’s room on the right.
Harry pushed his way through the rather large crowd of wedding guests that had already gathered inside the chapel, and stopped in front of the door.
“Password?” asked a small statue of an owl perched atop the doorframe.
“Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes…” Harry said, and the door swung open for him to enter.
Inside Harry found five of the Weasley brothers, including the frantic groom Bill who was struggling with his tie.
“Stop panicking, Bill “ it will only get tighter,” Fred told him.
“What’s happening?” Harry asked, confused as to why exactly Bill’s face was turning purple.
“Fred and George replaced Bill’s tie with a joke tie…” Percy said disapprovingly. “The more anxious you are, the tighter the tie gets…”
“It’s meant to play with your mind,” George explained, while Charlie tried to get Bill to calm down. “You’re supposed to only think the tie’s getting tighter, when it really is…”
“Unfortunately,” Fred said sadly. “We didn’t realize that Bill would be quite so anxious…”
“He’s getting married!” Charlie said. “Of course he’s a nervous wreck! He’s about to commit himself to one woman for the rest of his natural life. It’s huge…”
“N- ot… hel “ ping!” Bill choked.
“Sorry about that,” Charlie said wistfully.
“Bill “ you’re about to spend the rest of your life with Fleur! She’s beautiful, and intelligent and classy, and could have any man she wants…” Fred told him.
Bill made a significant choking sound.
“But she chose you!” George continued, elbowing his twin out of the way.“If you die, she’ll be devastated.”
Bill made another large rasping noise. His brothers all looked at one another desperately, wondering what to do. Harry stepped forward.
“If Ginny were here, she’d want you to relax and be happy,” he said calmly. “And she’d tell you to stop being a bloody idiot and calm down…” he added with a sad grin.
Everyone went quiet, including Bill. After a few seconds, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His face began turning back to its natural color. Charlie immediately took the tie from around Bill’s neck and threw it at Fred.
“Thanks Harry,” Bill breathed.
“For reminding us what’s important,” Percy said, somewhat hoarsely.
“She should have been sixteen today,” Charlie said, looking at a photograph they had of Ginny, sitting on the top of a dresser in the corner.
“She was the most fun out of all you bores…” Fred said.
“Knew how to have a good laugh, Ginny did…” George added.
The door opened and Ron stepped in.
“It’s time.”
Bill stood up, still fixing his real tie, and smiled as he glanced once more at the photo of Ginny. He looked at his brothers and Harry, and let out a deep breath.
“Let’s go,” he said.
They all exited the groom’s room, and Bill, with a few supportive pats on the back from Charlie and Fred, entered the ceremony hall, while the groomsmen waited nervously outside. Many of the wedding guests were still entering the chapel. Harry saw quite a few Order members including Tonks, Moody and Kingsley. After another few minutes, it seemed everyone had arrived for the wedding, and the bridesmaids came out from the bride’s room. There were five bridesmaids, all dressed in identical light blue shimmering dress robes. Harry felt that Katie was, by far, the most breathtaking of them all, and smiled at her as she walked over to him and took his arm. Charlie, the best man, was paired with Fleur’s maid-of-honor, her cousin Charlotte. The exotic-looking Charlotte, it was well known, had been quite taken with Ron since she had first met him, and she threw a contemptuous glance at Hermione as Ron took her arm.
The other two bridesmaids were Fleur’s friends from France, and one was paired with Percy, the other with Fred. It had been originally intended for Ginny to be the sixth bridesmaid, and Fleur had not wanted her replaced, so instead George would be accompanying the flower girl, Fleur’s sister Gabrielle, down the aisle.
The last to exit the bride’s room was Fleur and her father. Harry assumed the Veela blood must have come from her mother’s side, because her father, like Charlotte, had dark eyes and black hair. Fleur was dressed in white silk dress robes of a ball gown cut with beautifully embroidered sleeves that touched the floor. Her long silver hair was pulled to the top of the back of her head, and was curled in sparkling ringlets that reached almost to the bottom of her back, and her light skin was glowing. Harry’s mouth dropped open when he saw her, and he felt Katie’s elbow jab him in the stomach.
“What?” he said to her, grinning. “She’s part Veela… I can’t help it!”
Katie merely rolled her eyes.
“Oh, you all look so ‘andsome,” Fleur said sweetly to Harry and the Weasleys as they all lined up, with Charlotte and Charlie at the front. A few moments later, the doors in front of them opened and soft music could be heard from the hall. Harry spotted a nervous looking Bill at the front of the hall as the guests turned in their seats to face them. One by one the couples proceeded down the aisle, parting ways when the reached the front. Harry kissed Katie’s cheek as she went to the left and he took his place on the right next to Ron. Harry spotted Mrs. Weasley in the row of seats just in front of him and saw that she was crying. It was clear though, that these were tears of pure happiness and not of sadness.
Harry looked to his right, past Fred, Percy and Charlie to see Bill, who looked as though he would be instantly throttled were he to put back on the joke-tie.
The music changed as George and Gabrielle reached the end of the aisle, which was now coated in sparkling blue petals.
Fleur entered with her father, and everyone drew in a collective breath of awe. Heads turned to follow her progress down the aisle, and her smile grew wider with every step, not taking her pale blue eyes from Bill, whose nerves seemed to have settled and was smiling just as widely as his enchanting bride.
Mrs. Weasley stopped crying for a few moments as she watched Fleur approach her son, but her sobs took up again when Fleur’s father gave her hand to Bill.
Fleur’s father sat back down, and Harry watched as Fleur, whose eyes were glittering with tears, leant to Bill’s ear and whispered.
“For Ginny…”