Around late May, Mary sat at her desk inside her trunk, which she thought still sounded quite strange to say aloud. She was adding the final details to yet another essay she had to write for Slughorn. She had decided long ago that he was likeable, but he did seem to favour some students over others. Mary was a good example of that.
Her good grades and the fact that she was Harry Potter's ward were too irresistible for Slughorn to pass up. Not even a week of the term had passed and Slughorn had already invited her into the Slug Club. Of course, she said no. Harry had told her about the elderly professor's tendency to 'collect' students. Mary thought that was the reason he was so adamant in giving them endless essays on the uses of moonstones and Occamy eggs in potion making. One thing she'd learned about her professor is that he doesn't take rejection too mildly.
As she finished, she let it dry and made her way out of the trunk and into the dormitory. When she climbed out, Annie lifted her gaze off the issue of Witch Weekly she was reading and smiled at her best friend.
"Hey, Mary," she greeted her.
"Hey, Ann," replied Mary, plopping herself on the bed. She was exhausted, she realised.
"I'm still not used to you just walking into and out of your trunk, you know?" said Annie from her own bed.
"I told you, you can use it whenever you want. You already know where I keep the keys," Mary reminded her.
"Yeah, I know, but it's kind of weird. I guess being muggleborn, I'm still not used to that kind of thing."
Annabeth Laverne was medium height, with curly black hair and fair skin that seemed to glow when the light hit it just right. She wore glasses but, unlike Mary's, they were square shaped and seemed to fit her face perfectly. They had become almost instant friends on their first week at Hogwarts. She was almost as studious as Mary, and took pride in being muggleborn; something that made Hermione proud when Mary told her about Annie. Heaving a sigh, Mary made her way to the door and looked back at her friend.
"I think I'll go for a walk. See you later," she said, running down the stairs into the common room.
She walked aimlessly around the castle, often talking to one portrait or the other. That was something else Mary had a habit of doing, and the people in the portraits were most pleased to be addressed by a student. She was walking down a corridor on the seventh floor when she spotted her guardian exiting the Headmistress's office with a big smile.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Neither did I, little one," he told her, kissing her forehead and kneeling to her level. "I came by to ask Minerva a question."
"Oh, are you two finally getting married?" she teased.
Harry chuckled and gently tousled her hair. "No, silly. I asked her if Ginny and I could have our wedding here at Hogwarts," he explained.
"Wow, that's amazing, Harry!" she said, hugging him again.
"It is, and she said she'd do whatever necessary to convince the Board of Governors to let us do it."
"I really don't think they can deny you, Harry, after what you've done," she reminded him.
"I was hoping they would remember some of it, yes," he admitted with a lopsided grin.
"Are you staying longer, then?" she asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately no, little one," replied Harry. Mary's face fell, "I have to go run a couple of errands concerning the wedding. It is much more work than I had anticipated."
"Imagine how it'll be when I get married," she mused dreamily.
Harry paled and looked down at his ward, "Hopefully that won't be for a long time, okay?" he said, all fatherly.
"Of course, Harry." Mary kissed his cheek and, after exchanging another hug, bounded off to her dormitory.
After his chance encounter with Mary, Harry walked back through the corridors and down the grounds, where he made his way through Hogsmeade. Since it was a school day, not as many people milled the streets. A few of them gave him curt nods, but mostly let him go about his business. He walked into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and greeted his best friend.
"Hey, Ron," he said.
"Harry! I didn't know you'd be dropping by," said Ron. He shook his hand and beckoned him to follow him through the back door into his little apartment.
"I had to go ask McGonagall a question so I figured I'd stop by," he explained, "We haven't properly talked in some time."
"You're right, mate. It's been long."
"So how is living alone treating you?' asked Harry, looking around the place. It was modest enough, though it was clearly a step up from Ron's old room.
"Very well, Harry. Although Hermione comes by very often, so I'm not totally alone," said Ron, sitting on the edge of his bed. Harry conjured a kettle to start making tea.
"So when are you guys moving in together?" Harry asked while he stirred the contents of his cup.
"We've talked about that, actually." He saw his friend smile and lean back on his bed. "Maybe after your wedding," Ron told him.
"That's brilliant, mate, congratulations."
"Thanks, Harry."
"I actually came by for another reason," said Harry, scratching the back of his head.
"Anything, mate. What is it?" Ron said immediately. Harry placed his teacup on the little bedside table and clapped his hands together.
"I was wondering if you'd like to be my best man."
Ron sat silent for a minute, staring at Harry in amazement. He found his voice finally and said, "Wow, you-really?"
"Really, Ron. You're my best mate," said Harry, "You were my first friend, and I'd love for you to be up there with me. Plus, Ginny's asking Hermione, but don't tell her I said that," Harry told him with a wink. Ron laughed and shook his best friend's hand.
"Thanks, mate, it really means a lot," Ron said.
"No problem." Harry looked around and spotted a small dusty case beside the window. "So, how about we break out the old set and play some wizard's chess?"
"You sure you want to take that chance again, mate?" teased Ron
"I don't know about that," said Harry, shrugging as the redhead took out the case and opened the board on a small table. "Ginny says I've been getting better recently."
"You haven't played me recently," Ron reminded him.
Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "Just shut up and move your piece."
What followed were three intense matches between the two wizards, in which Ron always came out victorious. Admitting gracious defeat, Harry suggested chatting about their lives would be a much more pleasant way to spend their remaining time. They talked about nothing in particular as their tea got cold and evening drew closer.
Four weeks passed in which Harry and Abby's case of the "Half-blood killers" became quite cold. They had allegedly stopped their attacks, and Harry and Abby were forced to work minor cases, which had them bored out of their minds. Luckily for Harry, he would be picking Mary up at King's Cross Station soon, and he was just as excited as Mary.
So, three days later, Harry stood at Platform 9¾ along with Ginny to greet their ward after her second year at Hogwarts. While they waited they noticed many people staring at them, and they even caught a glimpse of a photo being taken just before the train started drawing to a stop. Harry didn't give it much thought as they looked over people's heads in search of Mary.
They waited for barely five minutes before a diminutive figure bounded its way towards the couple. Mary was carrying her trusty trunk in one hand and Armand's cage in the other. She had gotten very close with the tiny owl, Harry noticed.
Mary gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and the three of them left the platform as quickly as possible so as to not draw the attention of reporters. When they got to the house, Mary settled her trunk in her room and opened Armand's cage so he could fly around at will. That evening, they were having dinner in the dining room and talking about Mary's term.
"So who won the House Cup this year?" Ginny asked in passing.
"Ravenclaw, of course," Mary announced proudly.
"That's great, little one," said Harry, taking a sip of his soup.
"How are the wedding preparations coming along?" asked Mary excitedly. Ginny had asked her to be the flower girl earlier, and she wanted to know everything about it.
"We're doing great, sweetheart," said Ginny, "We've already arranged almost everything, and we couldn't be happier," she added, taking Harry's hand in hers.
"Hey, little one, you didn't happen to tell your friends about the date and place of our wedding, right?" asked Harry.
"No, only Annie, my best friend. I figured she wouldn't tell anyone," she told them, to which they nodded.
"Good. We wouldn't like for the entire wizarding world to barge into our wedding," said Ginny, only half-joking.
"I understand. It has to be hard being the most famous couple in our world," Mary said with a grin.
Harry made a show of rolling his eyes. "It is, actually," he said exasperatedly.
Both women laughed at Harry as they continued to have their dinner and talk more about the details of the wedding to come. Ginny didn't want to spoil many details, but she shared with Mary everything she could. After about thirty minutes, Harry excused himself to go into his study, where he usually practiced his Animagus transformation.
By now, he could turn all four main body parts into those of a stag's: right arm, left arm, head, and torso. The only thing missing was a full transformation, which included his legs. The phoenix form he was having a little more trouble with. At this point in time, he could only change his arms into beautiful red and gold wings, yet his head and torso proved to be a much bigger challenge. He kept getting frustrated because of it.
He stood in the middle of the room, being careful to move all furniture to the sides, and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the magic flowing through his veins, picturing it as water flowing through a pipe. Releasing what he hoped was just the right amount of magic through his entire body, he pictured himself as a great black stag with brown markings around its eyes and a white line on its forehead.
After a few futile attempts, he huffed in annoyance. It should be easier than this, shouldn't it? Though he thought he couldn't really complain about his progress. Auror Evans had said that it takes seasoned Aurors over a year to perfect an Animagus transformation, let alone work on two of them at a time. Slowly, he raised his arms at shoulder-level and closed his eyes. Again, the energy flowed freely through his arms, his body, his soul. I'm not Harry Potter, for now, he told himself. I'm a black stag.
And indeed, he was.
In a few seconds, he was looking at the wall in front of him from a whole new perspective. He felt taller and stronger somehow. He turned to look himself in the mirror by the other wall; instead, he wasn't really himself anymore. Where he once stood, a great stag with jet black fur was looking back at him with hazel eyes.
He could see the brown markings around those eyes, and the faint lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. He tapped his hoof loudly on the wooden floor and waited in silence. Mere seconds later, Ginny and Mary appeared in the entrance to his study, staring flabbergasted at the creature in front of them.
"Wow! Harry, is that you?" exclaimed Mary excitedly, almost jumping on the balls of her feet.
Seeing as he couldn't talk while he was a stag, Harry chose to nod vigorously and bow his head towards them.
"That's incredible, love," said Ginny with a proud smile on her face. "Can you change back?" she asked after a moment's thought. Good question, Harry thought.
He closed his hazel eyes and concentrated on his green-eyed human form, with the real lightning-shaped scar on his forehead and round glasses on the bridge of his nose. After two minutes of intense concentration, he was finally looking at them from his normal height. Mary was the first to react, and she promptly launched herself at her guardian, embracing him in a big hug.
"I'm so proud of you, Harry!" she told him. Ginny smiled at her fiancé from over Mary's head. For the next two hours, Harry entertained Mary by changing into a stag and letting her ride on top of him in the garden outside. He also attempted to further practice on his transformation of the phoenix, but barely got a tingling sensation in his head.
The next day, Harry showed his progress to Auror Evans, who was thoroughly impressed.
"This is unbelievable, Harry," she told him once he showed her he could turn into a stag and back in less than ten seconds.
"Thank you, Evans."
"Call me Ellie, Harry," she told him, "Now you can register it at the Animagus Regulation Office."
"I will. Do you mind if we keep practicing on my phoenix form, though?" he asked her.
"Of course, show me how you're doing with it."
Harry nodded and stood in the middle of the room. He closed his eyes and once again concentrated on his magic. He hoped this transformation was that much harder for being a magical creature and nothing more. The magic in his veins kept flowing through his body and he directed it into his head, picturing a majestic phoenix's head in its place.
After a few demonstrations, he was finally able to change his head into a phoenix's. It sported his own bright green eyes, and the feathers matched the red and gold ones on his wings. He changed back into himself and spent the better part of an hour trying to change his torso into that of a phoenix. Sadly, again, he could only feel a tingling.
"That's still very impressive, Harry, don't worry about it," Ellie assured him.
Later that day, he walked into the Animagus Regulation Office to register his stag form. The examiner had him change into it as fast as he could, and he had to fill out a form promising to transform into his animagus form responsibly. He didn't know exactly what that could mean, but he filled it anyway.
The month of July was passing painfully slowly for Harry and Ginny, who were occupying most of their free time on wedding plans. Molly was a great help with that, they agreed, and she was more than happy to help plan her only daughter's wedding. She hadn't put up much of a fight against Harry's idea of getting married at Hogwarts but still wasn't thrilled about it.
Days stretched into weeks, and sooner than they thought possible, Harry's twentieth birthday was upon them. The couple had agreed that this year, both of their birthday celebrations would be much more subdued, as their wedding was much more important. And so, on the afternoon of the 31st, Harry was surrounded by the Weasley children with their significant others, Mary, Andromeda, and Teddy.
As usual, the redheaded family didn't indulge Harry's desire to not receive gifts; though he actually enjoyed opening them. From Bill, Fleur, and Victoire he got two tomes on Animagus transformation and its advances through the ages. Hopefully, this could help him master the phoenix form quicker, he thought.
From George, he got a nice batch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ron and Hermione gave him three new novels by Harry's favourite authors and a nice assortment of sweets and chocolates. Three more guesses as to who picked which gift. Next, it was Charlie, who got him a brand new set of dragonhide gloves. Apparently, they were magically resistant to any temperature and would repel dirt and blood. Harry hoped he would never have to test the latter.
Arthur and Molly gave him a brand new red jumper with a black stag on the front. He noticed that it even had the markings of his animagus form around its face, and thanked them profusely. Andromeda produced a framed photo from her coat.
"I found this among Remus' things when I was looking around Dora's flat," she explained, "I think you should have it."
Harry took it and looked at the picture inside. In it he saw a nineteen-year-old James in a tux at an altar, looking lovingly at a beautiful redhead in a wedding dress. Lily's green eyes were likewise fixed on her new husband's hazel ones, and they were both grinning like madmen. To James' right was a much younger Sirius in a similar tux to his best friend's, only this one had a sizeable boutonnière on its lapel. Harry figured Sirius thought it was stylish. It wasn't.
Beside Sirius, Remus stood tall in his shabby-looking beige suit. His face was covered in the looked to be scars, and Harry sighed. It must have been a full moon, he thought ruefully. Standing next to Remus, looking almost as dishevelled, was Peter Pettigrew. Harry felt a surge of anger as he saw the mousy-haired man fidgeting with his fingers awkwardly. He decided to make himself look away and found someone else he knew.
To his mum's left was a woman he recognized from St. Mungo's, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Watching the exchange of the bride and groom was a twenty-one-year-old Alice Longbottom in a beautiful pale gold dress. Harry looked back at his parents, who were now sharing a passionate kiss thanks to the magic properties of the photograph. Sirius was wolf-whistling and cheering them on. They looked happy, Harry thought.
He looked up at Andromeda with tears in his eyes and nodded. "Thank you, Andromeda. This is amazing," he said.
"Look at the back," she advised him.
He did as she said and turned the frame around. In a corner of the paper was a note in what he assumed was his mother's handwriting. It was much too neat to belong to a Potter.
August 10th, 1979, the happiest day of our lives.
Right below this statement was a much untidier scrawl written with a muggle pen.
Give to Harry when he gets married...
He flipped the frame once more and saw his parents holding hands, looking back at him with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts. If only they had known...
Harry thanked Andromeda once more before turning to Mary, who was holding a wrapped gift in her hands. It was roughly the size of the frame in his own hand. Ginny stood beside the diminutive witch and together they handed Harry his final present.
It was a beautiful oil painting of Potter Manor as viewed from the start of the gravel path at the edge of the tree line. On the front porch, Harry and Ginny sat on the bench, holding hands and looking far off into the distance; not a care in the world. On the bottom-left corner was Mary's signature in neat calligraphy.
"Thank you, little one, it's amazing," he said, hugging his ward tightly.
"It's more than that, Harry. See how it's very sunny here?" she pointed at the painting, "The weather changes with the change of the seasons. Ginny helped me with that."
Harry looked up at his fiancée and smiled, getting up to kiss her deeply. Both Ron and George made gagging noises and got subsequently hit on the head by Hermione and Angelina respectively. Harry could only laugh at his friends' antics.
Later that night, Harry was practically kidnapped by the Weasley men, minus Arthur. They took him to the Leaky Cauldron, which looked uncharacteristically empty.
"We booked the whole place for the night. Tom was quite nice about it," Charlie explained, reading Harry's confused look.
"What exactly for?" asked Harry wearily.
"It's your bachelor's party, of course," Ron piped in as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, I don't think –," he said before being cut off.
"I do think," Bill said with a wink. Harry noticed he had small bags under his eyes, yet his smile never wavered.
"When did you all plan this?" Harry asked, while Charlie and Bill made him sit around a round table, which was filling with firewhisky bottles.
"While you and Ginny planned your actual wedding," Percy said this time.
Harry couldn't even complain as the Weasley's eased a couple of drinks down his throat, which burned like hell. Before he even noticed, the group was joined by Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Harry figured this party didn't have much of a point, other than getting piss-faced drunk and enjoy background music as they shared stories of their significant others and how much they loved them.
No one was really surprised when Dean and Seamus told them they were now officially a couple, and that only gave them an excuse to toast once more with more alcohol. By the fourth drink, Harry had forgotten that he hated the taste of it.
They drank for most of the night, and by the time they got to their respective homes, Harry felt like crap. He was ever thankful that today was Saturday, as he didn't feel like he could move for the following ten hours. Indeed, he slept through most of the day.
After that big send-off into married life, days loomed ever closer until the morning of August 7th dawned slowly, and Harry felt couldn't have felt better. It was finally time.
It was time to get married.