Wedding Gifts

"Ginny, if you don't stop twitching you will end up with very dark rings around your eyes," Angelina was trying to hide her exasperation as she went about applying mascara for Ginny. "Don't force me to use PetrificusTotalus on you now."

"Relax, Ginny," Hermione commented. She was responsible for Ginny's hair while Fleur and Angelina was responsible for makeup, and at the moment, she was using magic to do huge luxurious curls for Ginny.

"This coming from the witch who couldn't sleep two nights before her wedding day," Ginny replied dryly, eyeing her sisters-in-law from the mirror. "And another who needed Cheering Charms every hour to rid nerves."

The wives of George and Ron Weasley coughed lightly in mild embarrassment while Fleur laughed gaily at Ginny's comments. The wife of the eldest Weasley was perhaps the most relaxed bride of the ladies in the room, given the circumstances of her wedding.

"If anything, 'Arry should be the one nervouz," Fleur commented, her French accent less noticeable now having lived in England for years, while blending some blusher. "Remember how nervous Ron was."

The ladies laughed, with Hermione perhaps being the loudest. Her wedding was a comedic event from end to end and two years to the day of their marriage, Hermione still enjoyed teasing her husband about it.

"You ladies would be nervous if there was to be a live dragon at your wedding," Ginny sighed.

There was another burst of laughter from the bridesmaids. Charlie Weasley had turned up with a live dragon, an actual young Hungarian Horntail (named Cornus), presenting it as his wedding gift to Harry and Ginny. Only Merlin knew how he managed to obtain permission from the Ministry of Magic to even bring it into England, or obtaining an actual license for Harry and Ginny to rear it, for that matter. Never mind the minor detail that the couple was completely clueless on how to rear a dragon. When Ginny pointed that fact out to her elder brother, the dragon-keeper responded…

"Take it as practice before having your first child," Charlie grinned mischievously.

"…"

At the very least, this Horntail was a young male, barely a year old and was only five feet long. According to Charlie, was very much more mild-tempered than its peers; 'a rare one', he said. True enough, the young dragon was incredibly docile, never breathing so much as a wisp of smoke since its arrival, and allowed just about anyone to pat any part of its scaled body. It was docile enough for Harry to take rides on its back. Harry described it as not unlike riding the Hippogriff in his third year.

Right now, the said dragon was out in the backyard of 12 Grimmauld Place with two very exuberant toddlers and Charlie riding on its back, while Bill and Percy watched carefully, wands at the ready for any accidents. Needless to say, Molly was less than pleased at Charlie's choice of gift, but she relented eventually, after seeing how her granddaughter adored it.

"It waz a unique gift, you 'ave to give 'im credit," Fleur grinned, applying blusher on Ginny's cheek with expertise.

"At the very least, Cornus could help keep off the nosy media," Hermione reasoned, trying to hide a smile.

"I just hope it doesn't keep off our guests too," Ginny commented wryly.

A few stories below where Ginny was getting her makeup done, a certain bridegroom was in his room (previously his godfather's room) trying, for what seemed like the countless time in his lifetime, to flatten his hair.

"Forget it, mate," Ron chuckled as Harry positively growled in frustration. "Your hair has a personality of its own."

"Thanks Ron," Harry replied, rolling his eyes. Though he stopped trying to flatten his hair after that, he didn't stop pacing. The nervousness he felt during his proposal had nothing on this.

Ron, who was Harry's best man, empathized with how Harry was feeling. The red-head was an even worse wreck that morning of his wedding day. If not for Harry, his best man at the time, he might have just passed out even before the ceremony started.

Having said that, just because he remained conscious didn't mean his wedding was a smooth sailing affair.

"I think I finally understood why you were a case of nerves that day," Harry muttered.

Ron stood up at that moment and clasped his hands heavily on Harry's shoulders, imitating what the latter had done to him two years earlier. Harry jumped at the sudden contact. "Harry James Potter, you loved my sister, don't you?"

"Of course!" Harry's answer was unwavering, despite his anxiety.

"You want to spend the rest of your life with her, don't you?"

"Definitely!"

"Today is the start of spending the rest of your life with her," Ron continued, using Harry's words from two years back. "You should be looking forward to this."

Harry nodded, swallowing hard. His anxiety, however, was not muted.

"Hit me with a Cheering Charm," Harry gasped. Ron resisted the urge to chuckle. It was a perfect reenactment of Ron's own wedding day, only this time, the roles were reversed.

"Harry," the familiar voice of Andromeda sounded from outside his room before Ron could cast the spell. Harry opened to door to see Andromeda dressed in dress robes of a rich emerald color.

"Aunt Andi, you look beautiful," Harry complimented. The older witch smiled widely and gave Harry a hug. She handed a small, wrapped box to him.

"This came for you earlier through special owl post," Andromeda explained. Harry thanked her and Andromeda left to prepare Teddy for the ceremony.

"What's that?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged and went about unwrapping the box. As he pulled open the top cover, the first thing he saw was a simple note written in a calligraphy which Harry recognized in an instant. It was the handwriting of his partner.

The note was short, and curt, and true to the personality of the person who wrote it.

Congratulations.

D.S.M

Beneath the note, laid a pair of cufflinks made of the most beautiful gemstones Harry had ever seen. The design of the cufflinks was simple; a large sparkling round champagne gold diamond rested in the middle, surrounded by dozens other smaller dark red rubies in a perfect circular border – these were the colors of his house at Hogwarts. Harry's finger felt a touch of roughness behind the cufflinks and he turned it over. Two familiar words that were engraved on the back of the cufflinks greeted him.

Semper Fidelis

Harry recognized the handwriting of the third member of his team. Disbelief stung the back of his eyes as he realized they must have had bought this before they went for their final mission. He fingered the engraving for a moment, the cool metal warming the depths of his chest, before clasping the cufflinks onto his dress robes. The cufflinks immediately added a touch of elegance and grandeur to his garnet colored dress robes.

The cufflinks were a testament that his team was once complete. Only she, being Muggleborn would know what a cufflink is used for, and only he, with his family background, had the taste to select such a grand (not to mention, expensive) item. He could almost imagine the conflict his two partners had while selecting this cufflink. The two of them never could see eye-to-eye when it comes to material tastes.

"D.S.M," Ron first read from the card in thinly veiled amazement as he recognized the initials and held up Harry's wrists, admiring the cufflinks. "I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. Somewhere, someone must be laughing in his grave. Snape, probably."

Harry laughed at Ron's comment. His mood lightened exponentially. The gift came as a pleasant surprise for him and cheered him up better than any magical charms possibly could.

"I suppose you don't need a Cheering Charm now," Ron chuckled as he watched Harry kept the note and the box in the top drawer of his desk.

Harry grinned.

No, he didn't.

Author's Note:

I was having a minor debate with myself in including this chapter in. It didn't seem right to include so much of another unpublished story into this story, but then again, it also didn't seem right if Harry's partners did not give him a wedding gift.

In the end, the feel of this chapter won out. By now, it is quite apparent who Harry's male partner was. Rest assured I am planning to do a story on that. This particular combination is simply too much fun for me to pass up. It will come, sometime in the new year, after I finished the story planning.

I am not done with the dragon yet though. Next chapter should be the actual wedding ceremony. Someone else from the books will appear. It will be fun. *grins*

Alicenotinwonderland: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter too!

SinaFairchild: Thank you for your kind compliment and long review. *hearts* You did point out something I didn't consider, and that is apparating straight to Grimmauld Place. (Oh well.) And as much as I'd like to describe how George and Madam Malkin dealt with the reporters, I supposed it would be better to leave it to everyone's imagination. In my mind's eye however, the reporters were not able to sit properly for a fair bit of time. *winks* About Harry's partner… well… I hate to do this, but you'd have to wait for the new story to know who she is. Many thanks again for your kind and very long review.

WizardChick4Eva: Thank you! Hope this one made you smile too.

Pimberlee: Thank you for your kind review!

HolyheadHarpies: Thank you. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

FMaurice: Thank you! About Ron and Hermione's wedding, I don't have much of an idea on what to write about it, so at the moment it's not in the plans. Perhaps at a later time if any inspiration strikes. ;)

Signing off

Rainremember