Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Chapter One
The Wedding
Harry Potter, hero of the Second War and Auror in training, watched as Hermione tried to defuse the potentially lethal situation.
It was lunchtime in the Ministry of Magic canteen. The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office leader, one Willy Woodroy, was glaring daggers at Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Office member Benjy Warick. This time there had been a bust up at the paypoint, as Willy said Benjy deliberately spilled coffee down him and Benjy insisted that Wily had stolen the last piece of lemon meringue pie to spite him. Now Hermione was trying to diffuse the situation before the food went flying. Seamus Finnigan sat down beside him.
"Have I missed much?"
"Not yet. Hermione should just let them get on with it then we can all get on with our lives." Harry said.
Then with a large clang, Spaghetti Bolognese and Vanilla cake shot into the air, followed closely by mince and tatties and lemon meringue pie. Hermione shrieked and Disapparated out of the way as the food landed where she had been a second before.
She sat down next to Harry, shaking her head.
"Like children." She complained, pulling her plate of mince towards her and attacking a doughboy.
"So Harry mate, all set for the weekend?" Seamus asked.
Harry smiled nervously.
"Yeah, I suppose. I'll be glad to have Mrs Weasley stop fussing all over us all the time."
Hermione snorted.
"Count your blessings. We have to endure her for another six months."
Harry laughed, as Ron and Ginny came in. They took one look at Benjy and Willy fighting, got their food and sat down beside them.
Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek, while Ron did the same to Hermione.
"Look. I could do anything I put my mind to. Except break that pair up." Hermione complained.
Ron smiled as Sirius came in, looking tired. Daraala came in behind him, talking fluently with Susan Bones.
"Hey you lot." Sirius said, ignoring the combatants and tucking into some soup.
"Hi. Who would have thought that lot would get on so well?" Ron asked, indicating Daraala and Susan.
"Yeah. The pair of them are going out to the theatre next Friday." Sirius said.
Harry looked at the others, got their nod then turned to Sirius.
"Go to Lupin's."
Sirius shot him a dirty look.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know full well what that's supposed to mean. I remember the last time she left you alone." Mr Weasley, the Minister for Magic said, sitting down beside them.
"Poor woman came back to find you lying drunk on the floor, the curtains on fire and the kitchen swimming in water." Harry said.
"Shut it. I'd had a bad day."
Hermione snorted.
"A bad day? What was bad about it? You'd had to come into work an hour early then got locked out of the office during the fire alarm."
"Like I said a bad day."
Daraala and Susan sat down, and they were joined by two more Aurors in training, Parvati Patil and Padma Patil.
"They're still at it." Daraala said with a sigh, helping herself to a roll.
"They say I should go to Lupin's when you're out."
Daraala looked at him.
"They say you should go to Lupin's?"
"Yeah."
"Nice of them. I want you to go to Azkaban."
The table burst into laughter, while Sirius looked sour.
"nice. My own wife turns against me."
"No bloody wonder after the mess you made last time. I do not want to come back from Starlight Express to find the house in ruins again."
Sirius harrumphed.
"You make one mistake…"
Harry shook his head, and then turned to Daraala.
"Got your dress yet?"
She had been trying for the last year to get a dress for the wedding, and still hadn't succeeded.
"Yep, got it last night. Sirius said if I didn't hurry up and get one he'd make me go naked."
She threw him a dirty look.
"I would like it." He said defensively.
"That's what worries me."
Susan shook her head.
"I cant wait to be rid of mum fussing all over us!"
"She's only doing that because she cares." Mr Weasley said.
"I know she means well, but shes driving me nuts. Every time we go up to the school she's onto us. Drives me mad."
"She only wants her second wedding to be a success." Seamus said.
"And the rest. She organised ours." Sirius said, shaking his head in futility.
"And Bill's." Mr Weasley said.
"And Charlie's." Hermione added.
"And Fred's." Harry put in.
"And George's." Ron finished.
"And the only one that went mildly wrong was Charlie's." Ginny moaned.
"That wasn't your mothers fault. Dobby gave the location of the church to the minister. He just told him the wrong church." Mr Weasley smiled.
"Poor Dobby. He looked as though he was going to die of fright when mum started on him." Ron giggled.
"Voldemort would have died of fright if your mother had started on him. I remember her in last year. She might have been less strict than McGonagall, but she was a right evil old witch when she got going." Seamus complained.
"He hem." Mr Weasley coughed pointedly, throwing a look at Seamus.
"Oops. Sorry boss."
"That's quite alright. Just make sure she never hears you."
Parvati smiled reminiscently.
"It's what she did to Zachrias Smith when he called her a pig. That was great fun."
Harry laughed.
"Her finest hour. Cornered the sod in the Entrance Hall and let loose with a massive barrage of spit, curses and swearing."
"Even McGonagall didn't want to stop her." Ginny said.
"She probably knew it would most likely get her killed, so she stayed out of it." Padma supposed.
"Coward." Another voice said.
They turned to see the white haired Head of Ministry Intelligence, Atris. She was followed as ever, by her red haired deputy.
"Hello Atris." Harry said.
"Hello dear. This is my deputy, Brisha Eir."
The woman was small, red haired and had vivid green eyes. She wore a lot of make up, but that only added to her beauty.
"Hello."
Mr Weasley didn't like the look on Atris' face.
"What is it?"
"I think you had better see this. You lot too."
Taking a wistful look at their lunch, the Auror's stood. They watched as Lupin, Dobby, Firenze and Ronan, who was the Wizengamot member for the Forbidden Forest, entered.
"You can finish ours if you want." Harry said as they passed.
"Don't mind if we do."
And with that, the Aurors were taken to the Intelligence offices.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Intelligence was in a new wing, on the same floor as the Minister's office. It was wide and spacious, as Intelligence did a lot of work that required a lot of paperwork. They were led into Atris' office, a wide, well furnished room, with a deep purple carpet and bright orange walls.
"This was just delivered." Atris said.
She held in her hand a video tape.
"Who's it from? One of the Dark Arts groups?" Daraala asked.
While not an Auror, she had crossed swords with some of the smaller groups in Magical Law enforcements, while Sirius and his Auror's took on the larger groups such as Tyber Zann's Consortium, Sykes' Syndicat, Kang's Exchange and some others. However, thanks to the help of Magical Law Enforcement, a large group by the name of the Cartel, had been disbanded, its leaders arrested and its assets seized a month ago.
"Afraid not. We know their style. And they don't make terrorist threats."
She put the video into the recorder, and pressed play. The Auror's, the two Intel members and the Magical Law Enforcement lot watched it with the Minister.
A woman appeared on the screen. She had raven black hair, yellow eyes and a blazing expression.
"Who's she?" Seamus asked.
"You're about to find out." Brisha said in distaste.
The person started speaking.
"I am Idalma. You people took my husband from me. Your relentless war mongering got the only one I ever cared about killed. All because of your stupid war with Voldemort. No more. From now on, I am going to make you pay. That is why I will launch a terrorist attack on an undisclosed target soon. You will all know my pain. Do not worry. I am not a suicide bomber. I will merely make you suffer for what you've made me suffer. That is all."
The video stopped. Mr Weasley looked up at Atris.
"Is she serious?"
"I'd say so."
"But it could be a hoax. Remember that one we got last year from the guy who threatened to drown Devon in tons of custard."
"Oh, he was serious Sirius. He just couldn't get the right consistency for his custard. Daraala's lot brought him in and gave him two months in Azkaban for inappropriate cooking and threatening the government." Atris said.
"She sure seemed serious." Hermione stated.
"We're taking every possible precaution. And we're working tirelessly to try and find out if she's a hoax or not." Brisha said.
"Well, what if she isn't? What do we do?" Harry asked.
"Obviously we have to protect the public. Use the computer system Atris."
The Ministry Information Computing Electronic Research Facility, of MICREF, of Mice for short, had been set up the year before, with the intention of holding information on every magical being in Britain. It was still relatively new, but people were growing to rely on it more and more.
"We already have. We cant find any mention of this Idalma."
Daraala looked at her in concern.
"None?"
"None. We don't know who the hell she is. All we know is, she's made a threat against the government and seems to be quite serious about pulling it off."
Mr Weasley frowned.
"We don't want a panic starting. I'll need to ask Rita to keep her mouth shut until we get this under control."
"We're working tirelessly." Atris said.
"What else can we do?" Hermione asked.
"Dad could declare a state of emergency." Ginny suggested.
Mr Weasley shook his head sadly.
"Afraid not. That will just cause a massive panic. I do not want the public screeching out claims of the Dark Arts being back full time."
"So what? We're doing it to save lives!" Harry protested.
"If only it were that simple Harry. Yes we would be. However, a state of emergency will just make people band together for protection. They would have to deal with something they've not had to deal with for a year: fear of a resurgent Dark Arts, and the fact that people could be killed by them. True, they know about the various groups, but they know that as long as they aren't unified, they aren't a threat at all. But someone like this Idalma would just make them panic."
Parvati hissed.
"But that wont stop you from declaring one!"
"Two problems Parvati. The first, is that to a terrorist, people banding together will be a sublime target. Look at what Voldemort did to those cities when the war ended. And the second is, that the vote would need to go through the Undersecretary's, who would not allow me to declare a state of emergency."
Harry growled. While they knew, and trusted, a fair few members of the Undersecretaries, the majority couldn't be trusted.
"It's all because of that stuck up French tart!" Hermione said viciously.
They all looked at her in surprise.
"Now now Hermione. Zut is the Veela Representative. True, she may be a right royal pain, but that cant be helped. The problem is, she doesn't like me because I refused her when she wanted to sleep with me. So, everything I want passed, she uses her Veela powers and convinces Crom, Ragnok and Indimus, the Ogre, goblin and Human reps, to vote against me, and because Beatrice, the Hag rep, is in love with Crom, she votes against me as well. Thus, I lose."
Harry sighed.
"Bloody politics."
"I agree Harry."
"You're the one who wrote the new constitution!"
"Yes, but I didn't expect Zut to be on the board did I? I actually wanted Fleur to take the job, but she was pregnant with Rika, and then she decided to become a full time mum."
Harry sighed.
"So what do you want us to do?" Atris asked.
"I want you to try and find out who this Idalma is and try to find out if she's for real. If not, we'll explain all this off as a drill. If not, then we'll have to adjust everything. You can tell Kale to try and do something, just make sure that whatever he does doesn't come through either the Wizengamot or the Undersecretaries."
"Why don't you do it through your Stabilisation Powers?" Ernie asked.
The Stabilisation Powers had been granted to the Minister for Magic at the conclusion
of the war, to try and help rebuild the wizarding world all the quicker.
"Because at the moment I've been passing a fair few laws with them. The Wizengamot is beginning to see me as a dictator who is using his powers to pass laws without having to go through them first. All it needs is one clever Wizengamot leader to bring up the issue of a Vote of No Confidence, then all he'll need is to get approval of one Undersecretary before it becomes to the vote. Zut will approve that, and then I'll be in trouble."
Harry sighed. Politics weren't for him.
"So, we all have our plans. And I have a speech to write before the weekend, or my wife will kill me. So, let's get to it, and god help us if this female's serious."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The rest of the week passed without peril, and the terrorist threat wasn't acted on. Atris was still using Intelligence to try and find out who Idalma was, but they had had no such luck, so she had reduced the threat warning from critical to severe. The Ministry Defence Corps, under Atris' lover Kale, was on high alert, but with nothing to worry them, Harry could turn his attention to something a lot more interesting: marrying the girl of his dreams. His wedding was the next day. But for now they had to deal with the stag night. All of the men from the Order were going out, with a stern warning from their others halves that if they came in drunk, they would suffer. The warning was especially appropriate for Bill, because Fleur had warned that if he came in and woke up Rika she would personally feed him to a chimera. So, it was with a light, if foreboding mood, that Harry went on his stag night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ginny was nervous. Tomorrow, her and Harry would be getting married. But before that, she had to survive tonight. Her hen night. She hoped she didn't feel the affects in the morning. So, with that, she went to her hen night.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was the morning after the night before. Harry had a splitting headache. Ron, who hadn't been drinking so he could annoy everyone else, came crashing into the living room of the small flat they shared with Hermione and Ginny.
"Ready for the big day buddy?" Ron shouted happily.
Harry shot him a venomous look.
"Who else have you woken up with your loud noises?"
"Everyone. Except Bill. I don't fancy going one on one with Fleur. Not after what she did to Fatale."
"Coward." Harry said, holding his pounding head.
"Nearly everyone's got a hangover. Even mum."
"So who doesn't except you, you swine that you are?"
"McGonagall. She had an upset stomach."
Ron put breakfast on a tray and brought it over to Harry. Then, he dropped it. On purpose. The loud noise further affected Harry's massive headache.
"Ron!" Harry pleaded.
Then Harry saw what Ron had in his hand. The Hangover Potion, which would get rid of your hangover in minutes.
"Give it to me Weasley, and I might convince my wife to be to spare you."
Ron smiled and threw it to Harry, who gratefully drank it. By the time he had finished his breakfast his hangover was gone.
"Bet you didn't wake Hermione up like that." Harry snarled as he cleaned away the dishes.
"Damn right I didn't. She has weapons that you cant even imagine mate."
"Oh yes I can. They're the same as Ginny's."
Hermione appeared, looking pained.
"Where are the hangover cures?" she pleaded her fiancé.
"I just gave the last one to Harry." Ron said.
Hermione shot him a poisonous look, then vanished.
"Oh oh." Ron said sadly.
"Now you're in for it."
"Come on mate. It's my job to get you to this bloody wedding, and if I fail that, every woman in the Order will be after me."
Harry laughed, then followed his friend from the room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was chaos. People were running around getting dressed for the wedding and preparing for the big bash after it, where Harry would finally reveal how he had survived the final battle with Lord Voldemort. While Harry and Ron got dressed in their dress robes, as neither of them had wanted to wear suits, Hermione and Ginny got into their dresses.
Ginny's dress was deep violet, and was embroidered with gold lace. Hermione's was pink and embroidered with silver. Mrs Weasley, her hangover gone, rushed about, making sure everyone was ready. The wedding was about to go into full swing when Harry and Ron arrived in their dress robes, Harry in robes of emerald and Ron in ones of deep blue. The guests were already there, those from work and those from the Order, and other friends that they had made over the years. The priest, a slow, old, doleful man, was standing at his podium, sleeping until it was time to begin. Harry walked towards the altar where Mr and Mrs Weasley were standing.
"Nervous Harry?" Mr Weasley asked.
Harry smiled meekly. Yes, he was nervous, and didn't trust himself not to throw up.
"Calm down dear. This is you and Ginny we're talking about. You've finally made it. All you need to do is say two little words, and it'll all be over." Mrs Weasley soothed fondly.
"Yeah, leave all the worrying to mum." Ron said with a grin.
"I've already worried about it all, but we have everything we need, except the bride herself." Mrs Weasley said happily.
She kissed Harry on the cheek, patted Ron on the shoulder and led her husband to their seats. The rest of the Weasley's, who Harry had met at Bill's wedding, were all there, beaming. Rika, Harry's soon to be niece, was wearing a tiny gold dress and was being talked to by her mother. Harry looked around the church, seeing all their friends and family members. Even Rita Skeeter was there, having taken time off from her busy editorial schedule. Comrades from the Order and from the various rebellions had all turned up for the wedding.
"Calm down Harry. Christ, you've faced death right in the face! You went one on one with the greatest Dark Wizards known to man! And you killed them! Surely you can get through your own wedding!" Ron shouted.
"At the moment I'd rather go up against Voldemort again." Harry said nervously.
He was feeling very nauseous. He'd never been so nervous. As he waited and worried, he caught himself wishing people who had died in the war could be here. Hagrid, Neville, Dumbledore, his parents, they were all missing this. He pulled himself together. The losses still hurt but he was ready for them now.
Then, the music began. Harry swallowed his fears and looked towards the door with the rest of the church.
The doors opened to reveal Ginny. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was done elegantly, she was dressed in violet and seemed to hold herself differently than she normally did. Harry's mouth dropped. He knew she was beautiful, of course he did, but not his beautiful.
Behind her, Hermione didn't look so bad herself.
Ginny came up to the altar and gave Harry a nervous but beautiful smile.
"You look like you're going to throw up." She whispered.
"Not anymore. You look gorgeous."
"Thank you."
Hermione smiled at them and then went to stand beside Ron.
The priest stood up, wheezing as he did so.
"We are gathered here today to witness the coming together of Harry James Potter and Ginerva Molly Weasley. May the ring bearer please come forward."
Hedwig swooped down from above, the rings attached to her legs. Harry took them off, and she fluttered over to sit on Mrs Weasley's shoulder.
The two exchanged vows, Harry's eyes never coming off of his beloved. Then, the priest got to the part that really mattered.
"Do you Harry James Potter, take the Ginerva Molly Weasley to be your lawful wedded wife?"
Harry took a deep breath.
"I do."
"And do you, Ginerva Molly Weasley, take the Harry James Potter, to be your lawful wedded husband?"
Ginny smiled.
"I do."
"So, it is with the power vested in me that I pronounce you both husband and wife."
And with that, Harry kissed his wife. They had made it! She returned his kiss, and then broke apart as the applause started.
"Now you cant get rid of me." Harry muttered.
"Like I'd want to."
With a smile, he kissed her again, and they went to the reception.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The reception was a great success. There was eating, drinking, dancing and singing as they all socialised with each other. Harry couldn't wait for it to end, when he and Ginny would be away on their honeymoon to the Bahamas. But first they had to get through the speeches, and Harry had to reveal how he had survived the final battle.
First, Mr Weasley did his, followed by Sirius. Mrs Weasley did hers, and she was followed up by Ron and Hermione. And then, all eyes turned to Harry. Now, he had to reveal how he had survived.
He stood up and smiled at them all.
"So, now you all want to know how I survived the final battle."
All eyes were fixed on him, especially the ones who had been at the final battle.
"Well, here goes. Well, as you all know, I was doing it one on one with Voldemort. Hermione used the last of her Phoenix powers to create a nexus of energy that gave me the strength I needed to finish off Voldemort. My power forced his wand to churn up all the people he and his goons had killed. They all swooped down on him, my spell hit his wand, it disintegrated and the spell hit him. He was dead. His body fell, but the power inside him was suddenly released. All his magic came bursting out of his body in a massive explosion that wiped out the last of his Inferi and the other creatures he had serving him, and made the enemy surrender. The blast shot out from his body and would have killed you all if you hadn't found ways to protect yourselves."
McGonagall was growing impatient.
"Get on with it!"
Harry smiled, as he watched the audience. They were hanging on to his every word.
"Alright already. Well, the blast went outwards, and I don't know, I just sort of, disappeared. God knows what happened. One minute I was in Hogwarts, the next I was somewhere totally different. I was in the middle of a desert somewhere. I knew I hadn't Disapparated, because I know what that feels like. I still don't know what I did. So I was cut off from everything else, dehydrated in a desert who knows where, and I didn't have a clue how I got there. I fainted. It was so hot, and I hadn't had any water and I was tired from all the fighting. I remember a woman coming. I could never wake up, I think she must have drugged me, but she had to fight to get me out. That was all I knew for a week. When I woke up I was in some fluid stuff. I conked out again, then I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital in London. It was a muggle hospital, and I think whoever saved me did that on purpose so no one would recognise me. I know because the woman who was there was the same woman who treated Ginny after she was stabbed. She nursed me back to health, and then said I could go free. So, I timed it so that I would get to the castle at exactly the same time as McGonagall was making her speech. So, I waited, and then went back home to you lot."
Silence followed these words.
"Who do you think the woman was Harry?" Firenze asked.
"Don't know. All I know is that she got me out of the desert, into that stuff, and got me into the hospital. I don't know who she was, but I've got a feeling I know her. What little I could hear of her voice seemed familiar."
"So, you kept us waiting that much longer just so you could surprise us?" Mrs Weasley asked, flaring up at once.
"No, so I could let you know that I was real and not an illusion." Harry said hastily.
She calmed down, but still gave him a dirty look.
And with that, the dancing started again. Harry turned to Ginny.
"Ready to get out of here?"
She snorted.
"I'm ready to get out of these clothes. After that I'm open to suggestions."
"Well, I can help with both of them." He said mischievously.
And so, the two of them left the reception, while everyone was dancing. With a wave from the Weasley's they Disapparated out and got ready for their honeymoon.
So, thats how he survived. sorry it took so long. I didnt know how he survived myself. And Im sorry if it disappointed anyone. Next chapter will be up soon! Please review!