Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any associated characters.

All He Ever Wanted

It was nearly time.

Harry Potter had known that this day had been coming for some time, but being this close to it gave him the right to be nervous. Or at least, that's what he told himself. He wasn't particularly nervous about one aspect, more all of them put together. He could fluff his lines, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he did, and it wasn't that hard to repeat what someone else said. Ginny could not turn up, except he knew she would. It didn't particularly bother him that there would be over a hundred people there; he'd been forced to get used to being the centre of attention years ago and it didn't affect him anymore.

No, it was just pre-wedding jitters. It was perfectly normal, according to Mr Weasley. And Mrs Weasley. And Bill. And Percy. And Andromeda Tonks. In fact, anyone who Harry had spoken to in the past month had said the same thing.

Or maybe, said a small part of Harry's brain, something could happen.

Thoughts of Voldemort being reborn and Death Eaters attacking during the ceremony flooded Harry's mind and he quickly shook his head, as if it would help get rid of them.

That wasn't going to happen, Harry mentally told himself. Voldemort is dead, everyone saw it happen, and the Death Eaters are all in Azkaban, the dangerous ones at least. He was just being paranoid.

Of course, being paranoid was understandable. Harry had lost count of all the times he had nearly died during his schooldays - or had been attacked - and becoming an Auror had only increased his paranoia. He loved his job, and wouldn't want to do anything else, but sometimes it was hard to separate work and his personal life. For Harry, whose personal life had consisted of an entire Auror department's worth of work for so long, it was especially difficult.

Harry played with the collar of his robes that felt like it was threatening to strangle him. They had picked out simple black robes for him to wear that made his bright green eyes stand out even more against his pale skin and black hair. Once again, he made an attempt to flatten his hair. There was no hope for it; over the past few weeks he had tried every available hair potion there was to try to make it stay flat and they had all failed, even the ones that claimed to tame the unruliest of hair. In the end, Ginny had told him that she preferred his hair messy and he had given up, much to Mrs Weasley's disapproval.

"You okay?"

Ron's voice made him jump. Harry ran his hand through his hair as he turned round to see his best friend standing in the doorway.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound sure."

"I am."

And he was. The dangers of the past were over; he had helped to make sure of that. Sure, being an Auror meant he wasn't completely safe from harm, but Harry was no longer a schoolboy being forced into a war that had him at the centre and there wasn't a sociopath set on murdering him. In fact, most of the time, he felt remarkably safer than he had during his schooldays.

And wasn't this what he had always wanted? He had spent his childhood not knowing what it was like to have a family who cared for him. Then he had met Ron, and the rest if the Weasley's had welcomed him as one of their own, and although they had been a sort of surrogate family to him, something hadn't been right. He had still felt like he hadn't completely belonged and was causing them trouble (which had been true, for the most part).

But now he was starting his own family. Everything he had missed out on growing up, he would have, plus more.

"Ready to go then? I think people are beginning to worry where the groom is."

"How many journalists have tried to get in yet?" Harry said, attempting a grin but it felt more like a grimace.

"George has the latest count at six, I think. Mum's started threatening to turn their quills into owls."

This time Harry did smile; he didn't envy anyone who got on the wrong side of Mrs Weasley.

"Well, I won't want to miss that."

Harry made to walk out, but Ron put his arm across the doorway, blocking Harry from leaving. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron, who was looking awkward.

"Ron?"

"I – I don't want to do this, and you know you're my best mate, but you're marrying my little sister and –"

"Are you giving me the older brother talk?" asked Harry, slightly bemused. He had already been subjected to some form of this four times and, rather than getting annoyed, he found it amusing.

"Well, yes… Just don't give me any reason to choose between the two of you, right?"

"I asked her to marry me. I'm not going to change my mind."

At Harry's words, Ron visibly relaxed and smiled.

"Okay then." Ron dropped his arm, allowing Harry to pass.

Harry descended the staircase with Ron following him. They were halfway down the steps to the first floor when a door opened below them.

"Harry!" said Hermione as she carefully closed the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Everyone keeps asking me that."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but a voice could be heard from the room she had just left, and Harry, instantly recognising it, walked down the last few steps so that he was stood outside the door.

"Is that Harry? Hermione, are you still there? Who was that?"

It's me," Harry said before Hermione could speak, causing her to purse her lips. "And Hermione's here too, so she'll probably hex you if you try to come out, sorry."

"You don't think I could beat her in a duel?"

"Well…" Harry glanced at Hermione. "I think if I say you can then you won't have anyone to say your vows to."

They heard laughter come from the other room that was quickly cut off when another voice said "Stop moving your head, Ginny, or you'll have to go down with your hair looking like you've just got out of bed."

"I'll see you later, Ginny. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Harry turned away from the door, feeling as though a fist was clenching his heart. Hermione was watching him, looking as if she was trying to restrain herself from smiling. Ron had his arm casually thrown across her shoulders, and he too was watching Harry.

"What?"

"Nothing." Now Hermione's face broke out into a grin. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

At that moment, George's head appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"There you are, dad sent me to get you."

"I was getting him," Ron said indignantly.

"You were taking too long, and now I see why: distractions." George winked, eyeing Ron's arm around Hermione. "Thought the groom was going to be the one who was late instead."

"Shut up. Harry was the one having a conversation through a door."

"Aah, not been peeking at the bride-to-be, have you? It's bad luck."

"Luck hasn't ever taken an interest in my life, I doubt it'll start now," said Harry, making his way to the bottom of the stairs. "What does your dad want doing?"

"I think you've just got to stand around and talk to people."

"Is that it? I can help –"

"There's nothing to help with, ickle Harry. For once, everything is under control."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, pointing out the window to where a small crowd of people all holding Quick Quotes Quills were standing in the Weasley's back garden.

"Damn, won't be a second."

Harry waited out of sight of the journalists, not watching to see how George was going to get rid of them. Ron joined him a few minutes later, looking confused when he saw Harry lying on the sofa so that his head didn't show over the top.

"Journalists." Harry nodded towards the window. "So much for a quiet wedding."

"Were you ever going for quiet?"

Ron had a point. With the amount of people that Harry knew, he was never going to have been able to have a quiet ceremony unless they only invited immediate family. Not wanting to leave anyone out, they had invited his old Quidditch team, members of the DA, Order members, the Dursleys (who had declined but had sent a present and their well wishes) half the Auror department, not to mention the extended Weasley family and Ginny's teammates. Inviting that many people, the details were bound to get out and the arrival of journalists had been inevitable.

Out of the quiet, came loud shrieks and shouts. Harry jumped off the sofa, drawing his wand and ran to the window. He was ready to start firing spells, until he saw that the shouts were coming from the crowd of journalists and they had all started running towards where the anti-Disapparition charms ended.

Harry narrowed his eyes, and – sure enough – George was sat in a tree not far from where the journalists had been standing. George must have seen that Harry had spotted him, as he waved and began to climb down.

Harry pulled open the back door and walked across the garden.

"Thanks," Harry said once George was in earshot. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did anything?"

"I'm not stupid."

George grinned. "Their quills may have turned against them. And started writing on their faces."

Harry laughed. Not for long though; his presence appeared to have been noticed by some of the guests and they were beginning to drift towards his general direction. Harry barely had time to sigh before he felt something crash into his legs.

"Uncle Harry!"

Harry looked down to see a mop of bright red hair, that was slowly turning green, hugging his legs.

"Hi Teddy." Harry picked up his godson. "You're getting big, aren't you?"

"Granny says that too, I had to get new robes even though I told her that you wouldn't mind if I wore my old ones."

"I think your Gran wanted you to look nice for my big day."

"But it's your big day, so what Granny says shouldn't matter."

Harry struggled to not laugh. "What your Gran says always matters."

But Teddy wasn't listening, he was looking at where the last of the journalists were Disapparating.

"Why are they leaving? Did they do something wrong?"

"They weren't invited."

"So why did they come?"

"They wanted to take photos of Harry and put them in the newspapers," George supplied.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Uncle Harry's been in enough papers, isn't that right?"

"Definitely." Harry turned to see Andromeda Tonks having finally caught up to her grandson. "How have you been? I'm sorry I've not been around much, work got busy and I had to plan this –"

"No worries, Harry. I know how busy life can get, and you're not the only babysitter I know."

"I feel like I should see him more."

"If you spend any more time with him then he might as well live with you, not me. Apart from the last month, you've looked after him every weekend and come round for tea once a week."

While Harry and Andromeda had been talking, Teddy's hair had been cycling through the colours of the rainbow. Harry looked down at him before replying to Andromeda, and found himself looking at a brown-haired brown-eyed Teddy Lupin, looking extraordinarily like a younger version of his father. The resemblance was so striking that Harry almost dropped him.

"He's been doing that a lot since I showed him some pictures of Dora and Remus. I think that might be how he looks without his metamorphmaging, of course, it's impossible to know for sure."

The crowd of guests milling around Harry was growing, so he passed Teddy back to his Gran, said goodbye to them for the time being and went to mingle.

Slowly, Harry made his way around the majority of the guests. He was mid-conversation with Paige Skeates, the seeker of the Holyhead Harpies, when Ron interrupted, saying that it was nearly time.

Harry's nerves, which had been nearly unnoticeable while he had been talking, returned in full force. With his stomach feeling like it had been filled with lead, Harry made his way to the raised platform at one end of the aisle in the marquee that had been constructed in the Weasley's back garden.

The seats that filled the marquee were beginning to fill up, causing the aisle to become crowded as people tried to find their seat. Fortunately, most people felt it necessary to move out of Harry's way and he had no trouble making his way towards the raised platform. No trouble, except for nearly walking into a head of pure blonde hair.

"Watch out," Harry said, picking up the youngster. "If you get trampled by anyone then your mum will have my head."

Victoire Weasley looked up at Harry and flashed him a smile. It was already obvious to anyone that she had inherited her mother's Veela charms, and she regularly used them to get her own way.

"Come on, let's get you back to your dad. Where is he?" Harry glanced over the tops of people's heads, trying to look for the eldest Weasley brother. He was heading back inside to see if Bill had gone in there when he saw Mrs Weasley come out of the house, spot him, and start walking towards him.

"Do you know where Bill is? Victoire –"

"Oh, don't bother about that, Harry. Give her here and get back to the marquee; I'll look after her. Everyone will be wondering where you've gone."

"Thanks." Harry handed Victoire over to Mrs Weasley. "I couldn't find Bill and I think Fleur's got past the point of being able to look after her."

"Yes, well, the baby's due in two weeks, and it's been giving her back pain. No wonder she can't look after this little rascal." Mrs Weasley gave Victoire a stern look. "You can't even behave for Harry and Ginny's wedding, can you?"

Harry didn't think Victoire had heard a word that Mrs Weasley had said; she was twisting round in Mrs Weasley's arms, trying to look around at everyone. Harry laughed.

"Go on, everyone will be missing you, Harry. You can't avoid the attention today. Everything will be fine, don't worry."

"I'm not," said Harry, and his eyes drifted up towards the first floor of the Burrow.

Mrs Weasley smiled at him, before insisting once again that he return to the marquee. This time, Harry did as she said

Ron was already stood on the raised platform and Harry took his place beside him, underneath the bunch of golden balloons that had become something of a Weasley tradition since Fred and George had decided to use them at Bill and Fleur's wedding. All of the seats facing him were full, and Harry could feel their occupants' eyes on him. He lowered his gaze so he wouldn't have to look at anyone

"I thought we were going to have to send out a search party again. Today isn't a good day to start disappearing," Ron said.

"I ran into Victoire, literally. I was trying to find Bill so he could look after her. Just wait until you and Hermione get married, we'll have to lock all the doors so you won't go escaping." Harry grinned.

Ron spluttered and Harry had to refrain from laughing as Ron's face went visibly paler. "When? We're not even engaged!"

"It's only a matter of time; trust me, I knew you were going to get together for years before you did. Just do me a favour and don't propose to her tonight, Ginny won't like it and I'll be legally obliged to side with her. She's edgy enough about Fleur possibly going into labour during the ceremony."

Ron didn't reply, and Harry glanced at him to see that he was staring resolutely ahead.

At that moment, music started playing and the mutterings from the guests that had filled the room quieted. Harry's stomach seemed to be doing somersaults in his abdomen, making him feel ill.

The music picked up, and Hermione and Luna entered the marquee, wearing lilac dresses. They walked down the aisle, and Hermione gave Harry look that he couldn't quite decipher before she took her seat.

Any second now…

Harry thought his heart must have stopped. Ginny was walking down the aisle and the rest of the world fell away; Harry wouldn't have cared whether there were a thousand people there or ten. He was too caught up in the sight of Ginny in her white dress and veil, beaming at him. Time seemed to have slowed down, giving Harry the chance to commit this moment to memory forever, because he was certain he would never forget the sight of the person he loved more than anyone walking towards him.

Ginny had reached the spot where he stood and, as if he was in a daze, Harry took her hand from Mr Weasley's, not once looking away from her face. He felt his face break into a smile as the officiator began the service.

Harry's heart felt as if it had swollen to twice its usual size and was constricting his throat – it came as a surprise when he was able to repeat the vows that the officiator spoke, and then those two small words with enormous meaning:

"I do."

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