Harry Potter and the Golden Labyrinth
Book Seven Fanfic
Disclaimer – Anything that you recognise belongs to J K Rowling.
A/N: This fan fiction follows on from book six, The Half Blood Prince. Harry is on his quest to find and destroy the seven Horcruxes, including Lord Voldemort. This is my first full-length fanfic, and I am sorry if I am sometimes slow up-dating.
Chapter One – Wedding
Harry leant back in his chair, trying to stifle a yawn. A slight breeze ruffled his black hair as he squinted in the sunlight. Harry shifted on the wooden chair on which he was seated. He was outside, surrounded by rows of similar seats. Ron and Hermione were to his right, holding hands. Hermione was smiling soppily. Glancing to his left, Harry could see Mrs Weasley across the aisle, quietly sobbing in her seat. Harry sighed and looked ahead of him.
Fleur and Bill were standing together in the shade of a large leafy tree. Fleur was in a beautiful, full-length wedding dress of a silvery material that shimmered in the bright sunlight. On her silvery hair perched the tiara that Mrs Weasley had promised her. Bill was in smart black robes, with a black wizard's hat perched on his red hair. Bill was watching Fleur as she came to a halt, her tall father guiding her by her arm. Behind them Ginny and Gabriel were standing in gold dresses, each holding a posy of white flowers.
Harry stifled another yawn. They had all stayed up late the night before, excited about the wedding, and Mrs Weasley had woken them early that morning to help with the final preparations. They had spent hours setting out chairs, laying tables, carrying food, sorting rooms and showing people where to go. Now, a few hours after people had started arriving, the wedding was at last underway. Many wizards and witches, mainly Bill's many friends and relations, surrounded Harry.
A small, wizened old wizard was standing in front of the soon-to-be married couple. He now cleared his throat and started speaking in a croaky voice.
'We are here today to celebrate the union of William Weasley and Fleur Delacour…'
Harry glanced around him as the wizard droned on. He was surrounded by the numerous redheads of the Weasley relations. Sitting next to Arthur and Molly were Fleur's mother and sister. Both of the mothers were smiling tearfully up at their children.
The wizard had turned to address the congregation. 'Is there anyone here today who feels that these two should not be united in holy matrimony?'
There was a tense silence, where everyone held their breath in case someone objected. Once he was sure that no one was going to object, the wizard turned to Bill.
'Do you, William Edward Weasley, take Fleur Delacour to be your lawful wedded wife? Do you promise, in sickness and in health, to look after her and any children she may bear you until death doth you part?'
'I do.' Said Bill, talking awkwardly due to the healing wounds that still covered his face.
Bill's best man, his friend from Hogwarts, handed him a ring with a wink. Fleur smiled radiantly as Bill carefully slipped a gold ring onto her finger. Bill was smiling too, although his face still held hideous scabs from his encounter with Fenir Greyback. The tiny, grey-haired wizard turned to face Fleur.
'And do you, Fleur Amalie Delacour, take William Weasley to be your lawful wedded husband? Do you promise, in sickness and in health, to look after him and to respect him until death doth you part?'
Looking Bill in the eye, Fleur spoke clearly. 'I do.'
She in turn pushed a gold ring onto Bill's finger. The wizard at last cracked a smile.
'Then I pronounce you wizard and wife. You may now kiss the bride.'
The crowd erupted into cheers and the twins wolf-whistled loudly. Mrs Weasley practically wailed as she watched her older son kiss his new wife. She held a handkerchief to her face as Mr Weasley comforted her. Harry turned to look at his friends. Tears were rolling down Hermione's face as well, although she was smiling through them. Harry caught Ron's eye, and they grinned at each other. The two had never been able to suss women out; they cried when they were sad and when they were happy. Sometimes it was hard to work out the reason at all.
Once Fleur and Bill had walked back down the aisle, followed by their bridesmaids, everyone started standing up at last; chatting and laughing good-naturedly. Harry stood up too and followed everyone else over to the space that had been cleared for photos. Fleur and Bill were hugging again as a stumpy wizard hurried backward and forwards positioning and photographing them with loud bangs and puffs of green smoke.
Then all the Weasley children crowded together with Bill and Fleur at their centre. The whole family had managed to come; the twins had left the shop for the day and Charlie had travelled home the day before. Harry was just turning to go when Ron grabbed him good-naturedly and dragged him over to the group to have a picture with him in it too.
Eventually the boys headed over to the heaving buffet tables that they had helped to set out that morning. Harry grabbed a plate and started loading it with all manner of good food. Then they headed over to where Hermione was talking to Ginny and Gabriel.
'Hi Harry, hi Ron.' Said Hermione with a smile when she saw them. She glanced at Harry's plate, which he was struggling to balance on one hand so that he could eat with the other. 'Are you sure you've got enough food?'
Harry laughed indistinctly, unable to speak because he had just taken a large bite of chicken. He noticed Gabriel was blushing from beside Hermione, looking up at him adoringly. He looked away, and saw Ginny watching him nervously. She looked down as their eyes met, then hurried away to get some food.
Harry sighed, suddenly not hungry anymore. He had been staying at the Burrow for about a month. After his final visit to the Dursleys, where he had only stayed for one night, he had gone home with Ron. Hermione had come as well, explaining the situation to her reluctant parents. During his stay, Harry had realised that his easy friendship with Ginny was gone. They both understood why they weren't together, but the fact that they both still liked each other made things difficult. They struggled never to be alone together, or even be too close to each other, because they knew they had to stay separate. But Harry missed Ginny; they had enjoyed an easy friendship over the last few years, and a good relationship for a few perfect weeks.
Hermione had walked off with Ginny to get food, and Gabriel had gone to find her sister, leaving Harry and Ron standing together. Harry absentmindedly watched Fleur being introduced to one of Ron's many aunts and uncles. To Harry, who had never had much of a family, the sheer size of Ron's was incredible. When everyone was arriving earlier, Harry had been introduced to Grandmas, Granddads, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Godparents, second cousins, Great Aunts and Great Uncles by the dozens. They had all wanted to meet him, and had been introduced by an increasingly awkward Ron.
A wistful feeling lay over Harry as he looked around. The many relations and friends were chatting, eating, or in the case of the children running around and screaming. Everyone was relaxed and smiling. If it wasn't for the odd Auror prowling the perimeters you wouldn't have known there was a war on. The Order of the Phoenix always had at least one Auror at the Burrow at the moment, because of Harry being such a high-risk target. Most of the Order had turned up for the wedding anyway, so everyone felt well protected.
A crowd was gathering under the same tree that the couple had married under. Harry and Ron wandered over to see what was going on. Surprisingly the crowd consisted mainly of girls and women, with men and boys watching and laughing from the side. Harry soon realised why; Fleur was standing at the front of the crowd, preparing to throw her bouquet of white roses. He looked around and saw Hermione in the crowd, next to Ginny. Gabriel was there as well as many redheaded cousins and a couple of Fleur's friends. Fleur turned around and threw the bouquet with great ceremony over her head.
It rose high up in the air, and the crowd of women jumped and pushed and snatched to try and grab it. It flew slightly to the right, where a pink-haired Tonks caught it and waved it triumphantly in the air. Then she gave a significant look and a smile to a blushing Remus Lupin.
The evening proceeded slowly, everyone talking and eating the mounds of delicious food. As it slowly grew darker, thousands of candles were lit and suspended in mid-air. An area was cleared and a band started playing a slow song. Bill and Fleur started the dancing to loud cheers, Fleur reflecting the candlelight off her magnificent dress and silver hair. Slowly the grassy area filled up. Harry saw, with a surprise, that Ron and Hermione were dancing. Admittedly, Ron wasn't very good, but Hermione was showing him what to do.
Ginny, in her gold dress, was dancing with one of her many cousins. He was a fairly tall boy with dark hair, but he looked younger then Ginny. Harry forced away the jealously that was rising in his stomach. Firstly they were cousins, and secondly Ginny was free to do whatever she wished to do. Harry sipped at his butterbeer, trying to convince himself that he had no right to inspect who ever Ginny was dancing with.
The half moon was shining in the greying sky as Tonks walked over, Remus in tow. The wedding had been specially scheduled so that Remus would be able to attend. Tonks spotted Harry and came to stand beside him. Her hair was its usual pink, and she was smiling broadly.
'Wotcher Harry. Not got anyone to dance with?' She asked.
Harry shook his head mutely, watching Ron and Hermione dance past, Ron stepping on her toes. Tonks followed his gaze, then nodded knowingly.
'Ahh, don't worry Harry. You'll find someone soon enough.'
Harry nodded again. Little did she know that he could see the redhead of that someone now on the other side of the dance area. Tonks winked and then dragged Remus onto the floor for the next dance, which was much more lively.
A girl, who Harry managed to place as one of Ron's cousins, walked up to him shyly. She was a couple of inches shorter then him, and had wavy auburn hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes glinted in the moonlight as she smiled nervously.
'Hello Anita.' Harry greeted her, dredging her name up from earlier.
'Hi.' She came and stood beside him, smoothing her blue dress nervously. 'Will you dance with me?' She asked suddenly, with the air of someone signing their own death warrant.
Harry's immediate reaction was to say no, but he stopped himself when he saw the hopeful expression on her face. It would do not harm to dance with her, and it was a wedding after all. He smiled slightly and nodded, placing his butterbeer on a table. Anita looked relieved and smiled as they walked onto the dance floor.
At the end of the dance she thanked him, and went off in search of her friends to say that she had danced with Harry Potter. Harry headed over to where he could see Ron and Hermione taking a break. They were both looking a bit tired, but happy all the same.
'Who was that you were dancing with, Harry?' Enquired Hermione. Ron looked at Harry in surprise that he was dancing with someone when he had just dumped Ginny for her own safety.
'Just one of Ron's cousins; Anita. She asked me.' Harry assured Ron, who looked relieved.
Throughout the course of the evening, Harry was asked several more times to dance. He realised that he couldn't say yes to some and no to others, so he ended up dancing rather a lot. He came off the dance area with a small bow to the young woman he had been dancing with, to where Ron was standing alone with a frown on his face.
'What's up?' Harry asked, pouring himself some fruit punch.
Ron just nodded in the direction of the dance floor. Harry looked and saw that Hermione was dancing with Bills' best man. He was tall, with hair even longer then Bills. Both ears were pierced several times, and his eyebrow had a bar too. He and Hermione were dancing enthusiastically to the lively song that was playing.
'Oh come off it Ron.' Said Harry good-naturedly (he had drunk quite large amounts of butter beer and even a couple of glasses of stolen fire whisky.). 'He's far too old for her. She's just dancing with him.'
Ron shrugged, but seemed in a slightly better mood after that. At the end of the dance Hermione came back to them, red-faced, and drank large amounts of iced water to help her cool down.
Eventually people started heading off to bed. Many people chose not to Apparate home, due to the large amounts of alcohol they had consumed. This event had been prepared for, and an army of tents had been set up in a field adjoining the Weasley's garden. The various drunken relatives weaved off, aiming vaguely for the tents, although there were some who couldn't even make it out of the garden without help. At about two in the morning, Harry left the remaining celebrating people and headed upstairs to Ron's room.
There were two mattresses crammed on the floor, and two sleeping bags on the bed. Ron was already snoring on one of the mattresses, but the twins were nowhere to be seen. Because of all the relatives staying, the house was crammed and overflowing. Harry changed and then lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. As he lay and waited for sleep to claim him, his mind turned to the Horcruxes.
The last month that he had spent at the Burrow with Ron and Hermione had been filled with furious research for clues about the Horcruxes. The adult members of the Order had originally questioned Harry about where he had been with Dumbledore, and what they had done. But eventually they had been forced to accept that whatever they had done was between Harry and his friends only, on Dumbledore's orders. In the end they had made them promise to act responsible, and not to be afraid to ask for help.
The friends had slowly been trying to think of places where they could go and search for clues and the objects themselves. They had scrutinised the memories that Harry had been shown, Hermione forcing Harry to repeat every tiny detail that he could remember. They had a few plans set out on where to go, and were merely waiting for Harry to come of age before they set off. It would be stupid, Hermione had reasoned, for Harry to go into dangerous situations when he couldn't perform magic without getting arrested.
Harry rolled onto his side and sighed. How he wished that Dumbledore were here. Three teenagers couldn't hope to match the mind-power and logical thought that one man had possessed, and they sorely needed him to help them in their tasks. But the people that Harry loved always seemed to be ripped away from him, dieing to save him. The love that made them sacrifice themselves for him felt like a curse of guilt.
A/N: Please tell me what you though of the wedding. Just note that I have never been to a wedding so if I have forgotten something out it is not my fault, but I would like to know. Read less happy scenes soon in Chapter Two – Temper.