Chapter Twenty-One

Cassie stepped out of the bathroom in the hotel room to be greeted by her mum's beaming smile. The golden fabric gathered around her feet making it difficult to walk and she was quite afraid of tripping but she felt like an angel.

'Oh!' gasped Romilda and Cassie couldn't remember her mum ever being lost for words before. She was expecting some kind of rant about it not looking right and shouldn't she had taken it in here or wasn't it the wrong colour, but he mum was just staring at her with a massive smile on her face.

'Is that…?' asked Cassie peering at her mum's face. 'Are you, are you crying Mum?' Cassie was pretty sure her mum's eyes were glistening with tears, something else she had never seen from her mum.

Romilda shook her head a little to bring herself back to normal and said 'Well love, what do you expect when a mother sees their eldest in her wedding dress for the first time?', chiding Cassie for being surprised at seeing the tears, she was back to normal then. Cassie laughed at her mum who would obviously never change and she shuffled over to her and gave her a big hug, a hug that conveyed all the love they had for each other despite their various frustrations and bickerings, the bond that only a mother and daughter can have.

'Now' said Romilda once they broke apart from their hug, 'we need to do something with this dress.'

'What?' said Cassie, astounded that her mum wanted to alter her dress less than an hour before her wedding. 'What do you mean "do something with" it?'

Romilda stood back and looked appraisingly at Cassie and the dress, the overwhelming joy of seeing her in it now obviously faded and her critical eyes back on.

'Well you can't walk for starters' she said.

'It'll be fine once I've got my shoes on' said Cassie getting annoyed with her mum for what felt like the thousandth time in the wedding planning process.

'Hmmm' said her mum dubiously, looking her up and down again.

Cassie shuffled across the room, finding that sliding her feet along the carpet was the best way of avoiding tripping, round to the other side of the huge bed to where the shoebox with her shoes in it was. She sat down on the bed and slipped on the golden, strappy shoes and stood back up, the dress falling back around her feet but now that she was in heels, the dress stopped a fraction above the floor letting her toes poke out.

'See?' she said to her mum. 'Much better now with shoes on.'

'Right' said Romilda. 'Let's see you walk then.'

Cassie started to walk around the bed and found as soon as she picked her feet up at all then they got caught up in the dress still and continuing to slide her feet along the carpet was the best way to walk but that was more difficult now that she was in shoes with little heels.

'You're wobbling all over the place' said Romilda critically. 'I can put a simple levitation charm on you and you can glide along, ever such a tiny amount above the floor, the muggles won't be able to tell.'

'Mum!' said Cassie. 'I'm not floating, what if something went wrong and I ended up floating just a bit higher and all the muggles would see, I can't do that Mum.'

'Right right right' said Romilda sounding annoying and staring at the dress still. 'I've got it!' she said at last.

Cassie rolled her eyes but knew this wouldn't end until she let her mum do something to it. 'Go on then, what's your genius solution?'

'The problem is that it's getting under your feet as you walk, yes?' she asked.

'Yes mum, that's the problem' said Cassie, 'but it's really not a big pr-'

'So what we can do' said Romilda, cutting Cassie off, 'is I can put a little repelling charm on your feet and it'll keep the dress away from them no matter where you move them but the muggles won't be able to tell.'

Cassie thought for a moment and reluctantly said 'Actually, that's quite a good idea.' Romilda had her wand in her hand in a blink of an eye and waved it towards Cassie's feet before Cassie had a chance to stop her if she'd wanted to. She felt the dress lift slightly away from her feet and she looked down to see that the dress still looked normal from where she was looking. 'How does it look?' Cassie asked her mum as she couldn't see the mirror from where she was.

'I can't see a difference' said Romilda, frowning. 'Did it not work?'

'It worked!' said Cassie. 'I don't want it to look any different!'

'Oh marvellous then' said Romilda. 'Have a walk around, see how it works.'

Cassie walked back round the bed and then round to her mum again with no problems at all, despite reversing direction even and the train which would have been a big problem just glided out of the way seamlessly. She walked over to the full length mirror which was next to the bathroom and walked around as many ways as she could think of doing in front of it; the dress moved and slid out of her way in such a way that looked completely natural and yet the material never got even close to Cassie's feet in all that movement. It was perfect.

'I love it' she said to her mum. 'You did it perfectly!'

'I can't believe you doubted me' said Romilda smiling. 'I am capable of subtle magic you know.'

'I didn't know!' said Cassie laughing. 'I've never seen you be subtle in my life!'

Romilda used her magic to put Cassie's hair up in the style they had practiced; it was a tricky spell and it took a bit of time but Romilda took her time and did it properly and the result was stunning. As she starting putting on the jewellery her mum had brought as the finishing touches, Cassie was anxious about the fact her sister wasn't there yet.

'What time is it now Mum?' she asked.

'Just after half past eleven' said Romilda. 'Are you getting nervous?'

'No' said Cassie. 'I'm getting worried. Why isn't Hannah here yet? McGonagall would have let her out by now surely?' Romilda shifted a little uncomfortably before she replied.

'I'll go and see if I can find her shall I? Maybe she's just got a bit lost?'

'Yeah, that's probably best' said Cassie who was then left alone in the room, with less than half an hour until she was walking down the aisle and feeling panicked and alone.

Hannah landed on the ground and fell straight down onto her face on the ground. She lay there for a moment as she concentrated on the different parts of her body and determined nothing was hurting any more than it should for just having fallen over. He legs had started jerking about just as she apparated and she was terrified she had splinched herself and left a leg behind at Hogwarts. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and cautiously peered at her legs. It was hard to tell under her robes but she used one hand to hold herself up and used the other to pat her legs all over. She let herself fall backward onto her back on the grass in relief as all her legs seemed to be there.

Then she remembered she didn't have much time, she now had dirt all over her and she hadn't even checked she'd arrived in the right place yet, she was just so glad she'd made it there in one piece. She swept up her bag as she leapt to her feet, noting the metal bucket lying next to it which she realised had probably been a port key from her family earlier so it looked like she was probably in the right place. She pushed through the trees to the car park and saw the building that she recognised from her practices and knew she'd done it. She had made it there, to the right place and in one piece and not even battle scarred from the duel.

Moments of the duel and the narrow misses of some of the spells flashed through her mind and she found herself dwelling on images of the Durmstrang captain. She realised then that he hadn't attacked her once in the whole fight and wondered why that was. She was at the front door of the hotel now and pushed the duel out of her mind, knowing that now she had to focus on her sister.

Just as she came in through the door, her mum was on the other side rushing through.

'Han-Han!' Cassie screeched at her.

'Mum' said Hannah happily. 'It was amazing mum, the Durmstrang team were so different to-'

'We'll have none of that!' said Romilda sharply. 'So far as everyone is concerned today, that duel happens tomorrow, put it out of you head completely.' Hannah did as she was told and stopped talking about the duel even though she was dying to break down everything that had happened and tell everyone about it.

Romilda led Hannah up to the bridal suite, waved her wand at the door and opened it. Hannah's jaw was on the floor when she saw how beautiful her sister looked.

'Cassie, you look stunning!' she said.

'You're here!' yelped Cassie rushing over to give her sister a big hug and stopping herself just before she did. 'And you're filthy! She said laughing. 'Maybe we should save the hug for when you've got changed.'

Hannah looked down and herself and saw her robes and hands were covered in dirt from her ungracious landing and also from the duel itself.

'You've got your dress right?' asked Cassie nervously.

'Right here' said Hannah, lifting up her bag.

'I'll help her into it' said Romilda, ushering Hannah into the bathroom in the hotel room. 'We've only got ten minutes!'

When Hannah emerged from the bathroom, Romilda had not only got Hannah into her dress, and removed the creases the dress had presumably picked up from being packed into a bag and done something to her hair to make it glossy and curly.

'You look gorgeous' said Cassie when she saw her sister appear in the dress she had long expected to be getting married in herself. 'I think it looks better on you that it did on me!'

'Do I get that hug now' asked Hannah, grinning.

Hannah stood on tiptoes to hug her taller sister and Cassie noticed the problem then.

'Hannah, where's your shoes?'

'Ah, yes' said Hannah, her smile dropping. 'I kind of, forgot them.'

'You what?' asked Cassie.

'I forgot them, I'm really really sorry!'

'You only needed to bring your thing Han' said Cassie. 'Are you that disorganised these days?'

'I thought I had them in the bag, I just forgot to check' said Hannah pleadingly.

'Well, it's done now' said Cassie. 'I guess you'll have to go barefoot, it's not a disaster.'

'Or' interjected Romilda. 'I can transfigure some from these slippers?'

Cassie could tell from the way she had said it, that although her mum was technically asking, she had already decided that she was going to go ahead and do it, and with only a couple of minutes until she was meant to be walking down the aisle, she didn't have time to argue.

'Go on then' she said. 'Just do it quickly.'

Romilda transfigured the slippers into a pair of purple satin shoes which were even nicer than the ones Hannah was meant to be wearing. Hannah felt completely transformed as they grabbed the bouquets for each of them that the florist had brought up whilst Romilda had been tracking down Hannah and they headed downstairs to find Cassie's dad.

They were assembled in front of the door, the hotel events manager called Lindsay was with them telling them what to do, which was lucky since Cassie didn't really know how things were done at wizard weddings, let along muggle ones. Lindsay insisted on Romilda going into the ceremony room and taking her seat which Cassie was relieved about as her constant fussing was stressing her by that point. The photographers had both said they were ready for her to go and so everyone was in place.

The string quartet in the corner of the room which had been playing classical music Brian didn't recognise the whole time he had been waiting there, suddenly struck up into the tune he had been waiting for. 'Here comes the bride' he said softly to himself in time with the music. The doors at the back of the room opened and Hannah walked into the room, wearing the lovely purple dress Cassie had been planning on wearing herself. She looked so much more grown-up than she had looked when Brian met her at Christmas and it was good to see her fully recovered from injury that had left her wheelchair bound for a while. As Hannah turned the corner and started down the aisle, Cassie and her dad walked into the room, arms linked.

It felt like all the lights on the rest of the whole had been turned off and there was only Cassie she looked so radiant. The golden dress she was wearing seemed like it was her own sun and the rest of the world was now revolving around her. She turned the corner as well and he couldn't see her for Hannah now as she walked along in front of the pair of them. Brian had felt nervous right until the point that he saw Cassie as he realised all his nerves had left him and he was just so happy to even be in the same room as her.

As Hannah neared the front of the aisle and everyone was getting their photos of Cassie, Hannah suddenly did the strangest thing. Her legs shot out in random directions and she danced like a lunatic on the spot for about five seconds. Everyone turned to look at her and there were shocked expressions on everyone's faces, including Brian's. What on earth was she doing? Was this some kind of wizard tradition or a practical joke or something.

He saw Hannah's face go almost instantly beetroot red and she hurried to her position at the side. Brian frowned at her but turned his attention back to Cassie who looked confused as well but then made eye contact with Brian and beamed at him and Cassie could be juggling fire now and he wouldn't care, his Cassie was there and she was perfect.

The muggle registrar and the wizarding official both stood in front of Cassie and Brian. Romilda had cast some memory modification on the muggle registrar to make him believe that the wizarding official was from another country and was needed to make the wedding official wherever that was. Cassie hadn't asked for the details, she was just grateful for her mum taking the initiative and sorting it out.

Cassie glanced over to the side where her sister was to give her a questioning look as to what on earth that crazy dance she did was all about but she just shrugged back and her and Cassie decided that was better left till later.

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Saddleworth on this very special day for Cassandra and Brian' began the muggle registrar. Cassie looked over at Brian whilst he continued talking, Brian looked back and they just giggled a little at each other, both so relieved to finally be here and actually getting married after all the stress and drama they had had since Brian had first proposed.

The wizarding official and the muggle registrar took it in turns to address Brian and Cassie and the guests; the wizarding official was fully aware of the muggles that were present and he kept his words strictly muggle safe.

The part everyone at every wedding was always nervous about arrived as the muggle registrar asked if anyone knew of any reason why they couldn't legally marry. The tension in the air was palpable as everyone held there breaths. And then Hannah, stood to the side of them mirroring where Geoff was stood as best man for Brian, suddenly burst into the same crazy dance she had done at the front of the aisle.

'What are you doing?' asked Cassie through clenched teeth to her sister, trying to keep a smile on her face.

'I'm sorry!' Hannah said desperately as the dancing ended as soon as it had begun after about five seconds.

'Well' said the muggle registrar, 'I guess I'll just take that as a celebratory dance then!' The guests all laughed and Cassie resumed her smile when she looked at Brian again.

'I declare you bonded for life' said the wizarding official as the ceremony finally concluded and as Cassie and Brian kissed, the guests applauded and some even cheered. No matter what else went wrong now, thought Cassie, we're married and no-one can take that away from us.

After they had signed the muggle register, Cassie and Brian were led off by Lindsay, the hotel events manager, to a small private room to have a few minutes with each other before they rejoined their guests.

They were taken into a small conference room where there were two champagne glasses on a tray covered in rose petals on the table for them and a card from the staff of the hotel saying congratulations and wishing them a happy marriage.

They had barely had a chance to sit down when the door opened and the wizarding official came in.

'One more item to attend to I'm afraid' he said. 'One we couldn't do in front of all the muggles of course.'

'Oh right' said Cassie. 'I'm sorry, I hadn't realised.'

'Oh it's quite alright' said the wizard. 'You just stand together here' he said, indicating the spot in front of where he was stood.

Brian took Cassie's hand and led her over to where they had been directed.

'Now, if you could just hold hands here please' said the wizard. They held hands facing each other, smiling at each other and the wizard waved his wand and said again 'I declare you bonded for life.' This time golden sparks appeared around them, encircling them and they both felt a wave of energy go through their bodies as the sparks passed down around them. Brian had never had a feeling like that before and really quite liked it. 'I shall leave you alone now' said the wizard, 'and congratulations!'

He left and Cassie and Brian were finally alone.

'No-one could see that, right?' asked Brian nervously, looking around the room. There was no window in the little conference room so they relaxed and held each other for a couple of minutes.

'What was that about with your sister?' asked Brian once they had sat back down to drink their champagne, was something wrong with her.

'I really haven't got a clue' said Cassie. 'I'll be asking her about it later, it's not like her to be attention seeking or something though, I am a little worried about her.'

'You don't think someone put a hex on her or something do you?' asked Brian, not really feeling sure of the right magic terminology but Cassie didn't correct him so he thought he probably got it right.

'I can't see why' said Cassie. 'And a hex like that would have lasted longer. It looked a lot like the dancing feet spell tarantallegra but just in little bursts isn't like anything I've seen from it before.'

'And why would anyone do that to her anyway?' asked Brian. 'If someone really did want to ruin the day like that then surely they'd do it to you rather than to Hannah anyway.'

'Well, it didn't ruin anything and we're married now' said Cassie. 'My husband' she said to Brian grinning.

'My wife' he said and they chinked their glasses together and finished off their champagne.

'What happened?' asked Romilda as she grabbed Hannah by the arm and dragged her to one side once they had picked up their drinks at the drinks reception.

'I don't know' said Hannah, pulling her arm free of her mum's grip and straightening herself up, hoping it didn't look like they were causing a scene, she was embarrassed enough as it was.

'You must know' said Romilda. 'Did someone there curse you or something?'

'I think it was from the duel' said Hannah who could think of no other explanation. 'I was hit by a dancing feet spell at the end of the duel, but Professor Longbottom lifted the jinx, I was ok, or I thought I was, until I apparated.'

'What happened when you apparated?' Romilda demanded.

'I thought I was going to splinch myself' said Hannah dramatically. 'Just as I was starting to apparate, my legs started doing that crazy dance thing. I was sure when I landed here that I was going to be missing a leg or a foot or something!'

Romilda sighed. 'Yes, with the bursts you had at the ceremony too, it sounds like this Professor Longbottom didn't do a very good job removing the jinx.'

'I was in a hurry' said Hannah. 'It was probably my fault not concentrating or something.'

'Don't make excuses for him Hannah' said Romilda sternly. 'Now hold still she said as she took her wand out of her pocket.

'Mum!' said Hannah. 'You can't do magic in front of all these muggles!'

Romilda looked around and said 'No, I suppose you're right. I'll have to sort you out a little later.'

Brian and Cassie came into the room where the drinks reception was being held then, which had patio doors leading to the garden outside which were wide open and most of the guests were now out there.

'Congratulations!' said Romilda, hugging Cassie. Brian's parents rushed over to see them as well, exchanging hugs and general excitement.

'What happened to your legs in there?' asked Martha to Hannah once they had finished all the congratulations.

'I'm not sure' said Hannah as evasively as she could and to her relief the muggle photographer came over then.

'Time to get the photos done' he said ushering them outside.

The photographs went smoothly with the muggle photographer and Cassie's uncle Cuthbert who was doing the wizarding photographs for them managed to work together to do all the photographs they wanted to do and Hannah kept anxiously checking the time.

She needed to be in the Great Hall, in her robes by three forty-five at the latest and it was already quarter past two.

Finally Brian and Cassie were called to start the receiving line into the big room they would be eating the meal in. The meal started at two thirty so Hannah had allowed herself an hour to eat, which seemed plenty when they ate in about twenty minutes at school, and then she needed to grab her things and apparate back to school.

By the time everyone was seated in the room, Hannah having been put on one of the family tables with cousins about her age, it was already two forty five and Hannah was starting to realise her plan wasn't going go as smoothly as she had thought. By the time the melon balls starter had arrived at all the tables it was after three o'clock and Hannah knew she was going to have a problem. When the waiting staff were clearing the plates from the starter at twenty-five past three, Hannah went over to her Mum sat at the top table next to Cassie and Brian and asked to speak with her privately so that Cassie wouldn't overhear. They headed out of the room with a frown from Cassie who was obviously wondering what was happening with them and ducked into the little room where Cassie and Brian had gone after the ceremony.

'I need to go Mum!' said Cassie desperately when they were inside.

'Oh my goodness, is it that time already?' asked Romilda who had obviously been swept away with the events of the day and had forgotten about the drama that her younger daughter was enduring.

'Can you tell Cassie something?' Hannah pleaded. 'Anything.'

'I'll tell her you've had to go and lie down because you're not feeling well' said Romilda, who Hannah thought was far to calm about and found it far too easy to lie.

'Ok' said Hannah, dashing out of the door to get up to Cassie's room where her bag was stashed.

She got up to the room in under a minute, checked around her to see if anyone was there, got her wand out and whispered 'Alohomora.' The door unlocked and she went inside and found her bag. The pulled her robes out from it as fast as she could, got her bridesmaid dress off and got into her robes faster than she thought she could then she apparated from right where she was in the room.