Chapter Two
Harry was sitting on the edge of Ron's bed at the Burrow. He was supposed to be tying his tie but in actual fact was deep in thought. His mind had drifted back to the day of his seventeenth birthday. So many momentous things had happened that day, but only one set of events in particular were replaying in his head as if determined to drive him crazy.

He remembered nervously following Ginny into her room, which he'd never caught a glimpse of previously. He'd found it difficult to look at her after his "noble" decision at Dumbledore's funeral. Disregarding his feeble attempts at conversation she'd barrelled on.

And kissing her again had been simply magical; his heart had been set alight with the fiery passion only for it to dim when conveniently interrupted by Ron and Hermione's entrance.

He also remembered his words to Ron as though they'd glued themselves with a Permanent Sticking Charm to the inside of his brain. She's not expecting us to end up married. His own words were coming back to hex him. They were taunting him; the very thing that at the time had seemed beyond impossible was now becoming a reality.

The idea of Ginny marrying a stranger repulsed him as much now as it had back then so he thanked his lucky stars – or Felix Felicis that she was his. But he wasn't going to sit around moping like Moaning Myrtle on his wedding day – Merlin's pants no! He knew in his heart that Ginny would be walking down that aisle and that he would be the one waiting for her.

"Are you okay mate?" Ron asked from the doorway. Harry jumped as if he'd been confunded but quickly managed to regain his composure. It was odd seeing his best friend in a suit, as it had been the first time when they were getting measured. That day it had brought tears to his eyes but now he was able to contain his laughter.

"I'm fine. I'll be down in a minute," Harry reassured Ron. His best friend seemed satisfied and nodded before turning and proceeding downstairs.

Harry groaned when he realised that he hadn't thought to ask if anyone knew a spell that would tie his tie for him; no occasion that he'd been included in at the Dursleys had called for him to wear a suit so up until this point in time he'd never owned one.

Mrs Weasley just happened to be passing the open door with an indistinguishable item in her hand and was only too happy to help with the tie, much to Harry's embarrassment. He identified the item as a sapphire necklace but had barely laid eyes on it before Mrs Weasley whipped it out of sight.

"There you go dear. Is there anything else I can help you with?" she offered kindly. Harry shook his head so she disappeared briskly out the door to continue with wedding preparations.

Harry knew that in only a few hours he would be standing alongside Ginny not as Ron's best friend, or her boyfriend or even her fiancée but as her husband. The thought made him feel like he was floating on air and he knew that he would be that much happier the moment he could call her his wife.

***

She couldn't breathe. The breath was caught in her stomach and wafting the butterflies around at top speed; they were going so fast that they threatened to explode from her but she doubted they would relieve her from the anxiety they were causing any time soon.

Hermione squeezed her hand with much-needed reassurance; if she couldn't get a grip on herself she wouldn't be in any shape to step outside the car, let alone walk down the aisle. The made-up face that Fleur had been working on all morning was also in jeopardy if Ginny couldn't calm herself down.

"Where's Luna?" Ginny asked anxiously between her deep breaths. They hadn't seen her since she'd defied Ginny and gone to speak to George. A car was scheduled to pick up George outside the Leaky Cauldron but she could only hope that he'd arrived in time.

They had no idea about whether Luna would arrive with him but Ginny knew for certain that no matter what had gone down between the pair of them that her best friend would not miss her wedding day. The car pulled up to Xenophilius Lovegood's house, the outside of which was the designated Apparition point.

Hermione and Ginny would be Apparating into Ginny's room at the Burrow which Mrs Weasley had instructed everyone to keep clear of and was sticking to her word. Ginny could picture her mother now, patrolling the hallway in front of her door to keep everyone away.

Xenophilius Lovegood had kindly laid out a carpet so as not to dirty Ginny's wedding dress by them turning on the grass to Apparate. The car was parked precisely next to the carpet so Ginny could step right out of the car and onto it. Hermione followed, being very careful not to tread on Ginny's train.

Ginny kindly lifted her dress up as Hermione gripped her arm. Ginny's feeling of being suffocated only intensified as she was being squeezed through to meet her destiny.

***

The weather was miraculously perfect as Harry stood at the end of the aisle, the aromas of the various flowery scents at the Burrow filling his nostrils but only calming him down slightly. He'd pictured this moment many times in the months he'd been planning his wedding but he'd never quite imagined exactly how he'd feel.

There were so many feelings inside him right now, all struggling to the surface. He was excited and eager to marry Ginny after all those months of planning and waiting, wishing and hoping. He was anxious for Ginny to arrive, though he highly doubted it would slow down the rapidly increasing beat of his heart.

There was of course a part of him that was nervous about what was to come. The whole concept of marriage was completely new to him and though he'd seen it many times and thought about it, he wouldn't truly know until he experienced it.

But the fact that Ginny would be the one to experience it with him made the prospect that all the more brighter and he could hardly hold back the grin that lit up his face at the very thought.

When Mrs Weasley caught his eye from across the garden and shot him a significant look he knew she was here. His body seemed to be working of its own accord and he nodded once, indicating that he was ready for the ceremony to begin.

Mrs Weasley dispatched her husband who was to give his only daughter away to go and fetch Ginny and her bridesmaids. Mr Weasley obediently disappeared into the house and went up to the room that had been declared off-limits all morning.

From inside Ginny had just managed to calm down and the knock at the door only set her off again. It was very out of character for her to be like this but she'd changed quite a bit in the few months since she'd accepted Harry's proposal.

She convinced herself again that she was only acting like a loony and that she was ready to go and meet her destiny head-on. Hermione and Luna went ahead of her in their blue dresses and her father took her arm. She'd rarely seen him cry but there were tears in his eyes as he escorted her down the stairs. Ginny didn't see any of the guests as she stepped outside; she only had eyes for the man waiting at the end of the aisle.

And that man only had eyes for her as he locked his green eyes on her brown ones. In that moment nothing else in the world mattered. In that one second when they first caught sight of each other nobody else existed as her eyes didn't leave his own. As he felt his heart skip a beat he knew that this was his deepest and most desperate desire.