Should a Muggle, by any chance, be allowed to catch even a small glimpse of a Wizarding wedding, he would be most definitely astounded. In the Muggle world, for some reason somewhat unexplained, marriage is already considered a magical day; in a perfect logic, for Wizards and Witches, it is an absolute supernatural day.
Harry had spent the last five days at the Burrow, the Weasleys' home, waiting for Bill and Fleur's marriage to take place. Everyone there, even if worried by the latest events and completely overbooked with the wedding arrangements, had been kind and nice, making him feel comforted. Hermione also had joined them and was sleeping in Ginny's room.
Harry felt both admiring and positively thrilled that, in such a dark and gloomy time, the Weasleys had allowed something as simple and marvellous as a marriage to take place. Of course, there would most certainly be a few Ministry employees hanging around during the ceremony, securing the perimeter and taking care that nothing unpleasant happened. Harry had decided to ignore them completely and if possible spend some enjoyable moments with his friends.
Harry and Hermione, who had been raised by Muggles and never witnessed a Wizarding wedding, seeing everybody hectic, didn't dare to ask questions but were awfully curious to see what was coming about. Every now and then, they exchanged questioning looks, usually answered by one of them shrugging the shoulders and smiling, at a loss.
Mrs Weasley had spent the last weeks creating the finest ceremonial clothes for the whole family. As soon as the young people had come back from school, they had been asked to stand up in the middle of the overcrowded living room. "Please don't move, hold your breath, don't move a muscle," had asked Mrs Weasley. "I have to take your exact measurements; I have been working without them until now. It was guesswork; I'm not satisfied with the result."
"Medimnum!" she had exclaimed, raising her wand. In the same instant, dozens of tape measures, safety pins, scissors and every kind of imaginable tissue and fabric –tartan, taffeta, calico, gloss, moiré, organza, jacquard, silk, velvet, chenille, satin and linen, in any possible colour, with the most amazing wand-made embroideries, had jumped into the air, directed straight toward the young people's bodies. Harry had gulped hard, not daring to let out his breath, until the process of measuring, cutting, pinning and creating pattern types and sizes was over.
"Now, I'm satisfied," had said Mrs Weasley with an approving nod. "Can you please go and degnome the garden now? It would be most inconvenient if a guest found a gnome in his glass during the ceremony."
The morning of the wedding day had also been full of surprises. Since dawn, the house had been in complete turmoil. From the window of his room, Harry had watched, entranced, as crowds of Goblins had begun the long procession of deliveries, starting with huge bunches of incredible unknown flowers. There were all varieties of striking blooms with otherworldly colours, magically bred by Wizarding botanists and horticulturists: ultraviolet blue tubular flowers, accented with red and pink; lovely bright yellow, bell-shaped roses with inner petals of magenta that extended beyond outer ones of lilac; cascading bouquets of lavenders and plums; oriental lilies marked with dramatic purple tiger stripes; sparkling white, red, pink, orange snapdragons, big as sunflowers; daffodils, hyacinths, tulips and ranunculus –mixed with exotic miniature orchids and larger than life amaryllis, arranged with northern forest foliages hold with invisible ribbons.
A delightful fragrance that was both powdery and sweet was in the entire house, mixed with the scent of orange blossom, lavender and citrus. A huge procession of butterflies, attracted by the flowers, twirled around joyfully.
A gigantic transparent basin, full of sparking, salted water and wild marine plants had also been left at the doorstep. "It's for the Merpeople," Ron had explained , sensing Harry's silent question. "There is this music group, 'The Blumaris Band', that plays hot live music for marriages. Fleur managed to have them singing for us all evening!"
"But Ron," Hermione finally asked. "How will all these people fit in your garden yard? Even if you put a big tent…"
"Oh, we won't be using the garden! We will be using the clouds!" answered Ron matter-of-factly. "And mum is ecstatic, it seems to be a very cloudy day, a perfect day for a wedding!" he added, his nose directed towards the sky, before he returned hurriedly back to the house, leaving Harry and Hermione still more perplexed.
He came back a few moments later, holding his wand. "Mum has been asking me to do this all morning, and I forgot –better do it before she gets really mad," he said. He directed his arm to the sky and shouted "Descendo!"
A small cloud above their heads started to move silently, growing, inflating then stretching down until it touched the ground. Harry and Hermione stood open-mouthed. A Goblin, who was standing behind them, his brow fully covered with thick hair and his mouth filled with yellowed, crooked teeth, pushed Ron on the side, snapping "Ziz was about time!" With a loud whistling sound, he called his colleagues, and then started to climb the cloud that now formed a long aisle leading to the sky. A crowd of French Goblins, all with pointed beards, appeared out of thin air, carrying their deliveries hurriedly to the clouds.
"Let's go to get ready," said Ron, dragging his friends towards the house.