Chapter 26: A Horcrux, A Meeting and A Wedding

Potter Manor - Saturday 24th April 1982

Three days later Molly and Narcissa had their hands full setting up for the wedding. They were both furious and thrilled to learn James, Hermione and Sirius were getting married the night before the Final Battle. Luckily the wedding had already been planned and after many happy tears, they immediately set to work preparing the grounds of Potter Manor for the wedding ceremony.

James, Sirius and Hermione were preoccupied with preparing to destroy the Horcrux within Harry. A spring Saturday, was the day. It was sun down.

The four Marauders gathered in front of the lake on the Potter grounds, a blanket laid out on the floor with Harry in the centre playing with his stuffed dragon.

"You can do this, I have faith in you" James said quietly and looking down at his son with complete love and fear.

She shook her head, forcing herself not to cry. "What if I fail?" she whispered with fear laced in her tone.

"You won't; your bond and your love for Harry will keep him safe" Sirius spoke, though he didn't look to be in better condition.

"You will save us all, Mia" Remus spoke, much more confident than the other two and she couldn't help but feel a little more confident in her plan.

"Let's get this over with" she muttered. She stepped forward and sat down next to Harry, smiling at him and handing him a drink of milk which she had poured the pain potion into.

He took it with a giggle and drank from it, within in a matter of minutes Harry had fallen asleep.

James, Remus and Sirius all stepped forward. Hermione shifted Harry so that he lay in her arms. She picked up his sun pendent and clasped it together with her moon pendent. James wrapped the invisibility cloak around both Harry and Hermione. Remus placed the resurrection stone in the sleeping Harry's hand and Sirius pressed Hermione's wand –the Elder wand- into his other hand. They stepped back and waited.

Hermione took a deep breath and stared down at Harry. She looked up at the sky and summoned her magic and some magic for the moon.

"Please help me" she whispered. "Please don't let him die, I've failed him once, I won't do it again" she looked back down at Harry and then removed a vial of basilisk venom from her pocket. She removed the stopper and lifted the vial to Harry's scar.

Without giving herself a chance to stop, she tipped the vial and several drops of basilisk venom fell onto the scar. Several seconds later black smoke poured out of Harry's scar and there was an ear splitting scream. Everyone covered their ears but Hermione tightened her hold on Harry as tears streamed down her face. She was mumbling the binding vows under her breath.

The black smoke faded and the scream stopped, leaving only the sounds of the wildlife around the grounds and Hermione's sobs and muffled words.

Harry wasn't breathing.

"No, please, please, save him" she begged.

Tears fell from her face landing on Harry's scar. Their combined necklaces began to glow, a mixture of silver and gold, the light grew brighter and brighter.

"Merlin" she heard three voices whisper in awe. Hermione's head snapped up to see what they were looking at.

The sun and the moon were glowing brighter then she had ever seen them. When she started the process, the sun was setting and the moon rising, but that had changed.

The sun and moon were moving across the sky, moving closer together.

"What's happening?" James asked with tears falling down his face.

"She's saving him, they're saving him" Remus whispered.

The sun and the moon suddenly collided with a loud bang and the ground shook beneath them.

Harry was lifted from Hermione's arms and she stood up. Harry was floating in the air, the Elder wand, the stone and the cloak falling to the floor.

Harry glowed a blinding white before he was lowered back into Hermione's arms. The sun disappeared from view, leaving only the moon.

Hermione stared mesmerised as Harry's chest moved up and down.

"Thank you, thank you" she chanted in a whisper as she clung to Harry. "He's alive" she spoke louder. The three men rushed forward and crowded around her and Harry, encasing her in a hug.

"You did it" Sirius said in joy, disbelief, fear, too many emotions to name.

"I did it" she whispered in shock. "That's the final Horcrux, only Voldemort left"

"How about we get married first?" James spoke.

Worcestershire - Sunday 25th April 1982

"Professor, why are we here?" Hermione asked looking around the field that the last battle had taken place at and where the Final Battle would be in four days time.

"I received a message that I was to bring you here"

"From?"

"Me" a gruff voice spoke. Hermione turned around, followed by James, Remus and Sirius.

"Moody" Hermione greeted, he stared at her. After a few minutes of silence she was getting bored. "Well, why are we here? I have a wedding to prepare for and battle plans to finalise"

"You will need my help"

She raised an eyebrow. "Not really, we are doing just fine, thank you"

"No, you're not" he barked.

She snorted. "I had undercover agents in your organisation, three of them senior aurors who you never even suspected, not to mention eight junior aurors, the Malfoys and the Weasleys. In addition, both Severus and Professor McGonagall switched alliances weeks ago"

"She's got you there" Sirius laughed.

"I destroyed three Horcruxes under your nose and left you a false trail and fake evidence"

"She's got you there" Remus laughed.

"Finally, I found out that Dumbledore made a great injustice against Lucius Malfoy, an innocent man and I freed him from a fate worse than death, when you were in the same building"

"Once again, she's got you there" James laughed. "Besides, I don't trust you; you wanted to use my son as bait" he spoke, his laughter gone.

"And we still should" Moody replied.

"We don't need him, we have me. Voldemort is more interested in me at this point in time, he revealed that I intrigued him. I showed up out of nowhere, he doesn't know about my past or about where I came from. He realises that I am a threat to him, especially when he learned that I knew about his Horcruxes"

"You told him?" he snarled.

"Yes, the art of distraction is a great thing" Hermione answered. "You see, I told him that I couldn't figure out what his final Horcrux was, of course it was a lie. So now he will be preoccupied with retrieving the Horcrux instead of making battle plans. Immortality is the only thing he cares for and he fears that I may find his Horcrux and destroy it, leaving him mortal. Whilst he's doing that I have already destroyed the Horcrux, we did it last night"

"You will still need my help" he muttered.

"Why? The aurors trust me, did you know that more than thirty have expressed interest in joining the White Lions?" she spoke. "But if you want to switch sides and join the White Lions, you have to pass the initiation process"

"What initiation process?"

As soon as he spoke Hermione pulled her wand and sent a spell at him. Moody blocked it and sent a curse in return. Hermione sent a jinx, Moody sent a hex. Hermione moved left, Moody moved right. Hermione blocked, Moody sent a curse. This continued for ten minutes before Hermione found an opening.

"Pullus" she said flicking her wand and effectively transfiguring Moody into a chicken, he clucked at her and ruffled his feathers and the others were laughing, even Snape was smirking and McGonagall's lip twitched.

She turned back to the others.

"Should we let him help?"

They shrugged.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he has experience that will come in handy, he's a good duellist and a paranoid old fool. That will work in our advantage" Snape drawled.

"He stays away from Harry" James said.

Hermione snorted. "I would die before I let anyone near him"

"It's your choice, Love, but don't expect me to babysit him" Sirius spoke.

"You do what you think is right, if you think having his help will be useful then agree, if not send him on his way" Remus said.

Hermione sighed and turned around, with a flick of her wrist and a muttered incantation Moody stood back up, no longer a chicken.

"You passed the initiation process" Hermione informed him.

"You out duelled me" he mumbled annoyed.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Duelling her wasn't the initiation process, it was being turned into a chicken. She's done it to almost everyone, especially the ex-Order members"

Moody glared.

"If you wish to help you may. If there's one thing I can't fault you on it's your loyalty. Unfortunately you were loyal to the wrong person. My attack, it was Dumbledore, he used an Unforgivable on me whilst the other two stood there and watched, Dumbledore wasn't the man you thought he was. I'm not saying he deserved to die, but it was his own fault. As far as he was aware, there were still Horcruxes to be destroyed and Voldemort was still immortal. Trying to kill him when he couldn't was stupid and I warned him, but he didn't listen to me" with that said she turned on the spot and apparated.

Potter Manor - Tuesday 27th April 1982

It was the day of the wedding. Minister Bagnold would be officiating the ceremony. The night before Hermione had visited and informed the Minister of her true identity, the reason for many of her strange requests and the reason to why her name had been in many of the reports regarding the capture of many Death Eaters, but most importantly, she had informed her of Voldemort's return.

It had taken an hour of conversation followed by three hours of watching memories before Minister Bagnold finally relinquished her denial and accepted that Hermione was telling the truth, particularly about the battle that was taking place very soon. The Unspeakables had been informed of the battle and they were preparing to work under Hermione, who had been made the leader of the mission. They would answer to her. Hermione had given James, Sirius, Remus, Moody, the twins, Kingsley, Lucius and McGonagall their own teams of aurors and members, but Hermione would be overseeing the entire organisation.

Battle plans had been made, shown to everyone and then re-shown. They were prepared.

And now Hermione was getting married.

She had made a quick trip into the muggle world and bought a wedding dress, bringing it back with her to be magically altered which took all of two days. Now she was dressed, her hair and makeup done and finally she was putting on her shoes.

She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was left flowing down her back in soft, shiny curls. Her makeup light, barely even noticeable; only a gold eye shadow, a shiny lip gloss and a smidge of black mascara. Her wedding dress was simple, but she loved it. It was the only dress she tried on. It was made of white silk with sleeves that reached her palms, but they sat on her shoulders, baring the ivory flesh for everyone to see. The dress fell to the floor, clinging to her frame beautifully. Her veil wasn't overly long or too short, just right and made from lace. It was clipped to the silver diamond tiara she wore on her head, a gift from Sirius from the Black vault.

Her jewellery consisted of a pair of diamond stood earrings, her silver moon pendant and her engagement ring. She looked down at it fondly. The white gold band sat on her ring finger, with a large heart shape ruby catching the attention of all that looked her way. James and Sirius had presented her with it the day after she agreed to marry them, formally proposing to her. She had argued that the ring was too expensive but they waved her off, informing her that she was marrying both the second wealthiest and the third wealthiest men in Europe. She huffed and stormed out of the room and she heard them laughing in the background.

She smiled at the memory. There was a knock on the door and Arthur walked in.

"You look beautiful" he said with a smile. Hermione smiled back, she had asked Arthur to walk her down the aisle, being the only father she had had in her life since entering the magical world. Arthur had been more than honoured and promptly accepted her wish.

"Thank you"

"Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes" he smiled and held his arm out, which she took.

They made their way out of the room and to the lake, where the wedding would be held. The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky, the weather warm with a pleasant breeze in the air and the surface of the water sparkling in the sun light. White chairs with white silk banners draped over them sat the guests: Weasleys, Malfoys and members of the White Lions.

There was a white carpet rolled out creating the aisle, Sirius and James stood at the end of it with Remus as their best man. Narcissa made her way down the aisle as Hermione's bridesmaid. Each of the Weasley children -except Ginny- Harry, Draco and Theo, following behind her, dressed in their suits and all beaming wide grins.

"Now it's your turn" Arthur whispered just as the bridal march began to play.

All guests turned to face her and they beamed at her as she slowly made her way down the aisle. She could see camera flashes going off in her peripheral vision, but her attention was on James and Sirius, who were both supporting the biggest smiles she had ever seen and their eyes rakes over her.

She smiled at their attire, both of them wearing identical, black muggle suits. From the shoes to the tie, they were identical.

Before Hermione knew it she had reached the end of the aisle, both of her hands held by James and Sirius and it was time for the vows.

Hermione turned to James first. "Don't you ever doubt the love I have for you. You are kind, you are intelligent and you are loving. Simply put, you are amazing and everything you do, everything you are makes me want to love you more than I already do. I wouldn't have joy in my life if I didn't have you. I wouldn't have family, I wouldn't have someone who cared whether or not I came home. I wouldn't have someone to make me laugh, to make me smile. I swear to be everything that you need and to love you for eternity. I love you" she spoke with tears in her eyes, James mirroring her.

She then turned to Sirius.

"You are a pain in the arse" the crowd chuckled at her, he scowled at her. "But you're my pain in the arse. You tease me, you annoy me and you steal my food, but I wouldn't have you any other way. You are so much more than you allow people to see, but with me I see everything. Your flaws, your perfections, your quirks, your annoying habit of stealing my fruit scented shampoo" again this earned laughs but Sirius smiled widely, unaffected. "You make me want to be a better person, a better friend, a better everything. I swear to be everything that you need and to love you for eternity. I love you"

James and Sirius wrote their vows together.

"Mia" they both spoke.

"We love you; it is undeniable that we love you. You are one of a kind and we are incredibly lucky for you to have chosen us as your partners, as your choice of husbands when you could've had anyone. I don't know what we did to deserve you, but we thank every God and every form of magic there is. We would be useless without you, you give us purpose, you give us hope" James said.

"You are the strongest person we have ever met. You keep everyone safe, you protect people, you sacrifice so much that we could never repay you for your kindness and selflessness. You have no idea how happy we are to have you in our lives. We promise to love you for as long as we shall live and we will carry that love for you into the afterlife with us. We will protect you like you have protected us. We will give you hope like you have given us and we will give you a loving family, like you have given us. We love you" Sirius spoke. Hermione had tears falling down her face.

"James, Sirius, do you take Mia Granger, for better or for worse? For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you shall live? As your lawfully and magically wedded wife?"

"We do" they replied without hesitation and together they slipped the white gold wedding band with rubies and diamonds embedded into the metal, onto her ring finger in front of her engagement ring.

"Mia, do you take James Charlus Potter and Sirius Orion Black, for better or for worse? For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for long as you shall live? As your lawfully and magically wedded husbands?"

"I do" she spoke instantly. She slipped the matching wedding band onto their ring fingers, only theirs were thicker.

"I now pronounce you husbands and wife, you may now kiss the bride" Minister Bagnold said with a large smile. The crowd erupted into cheers and she rolled her eyes when Sirius and James proceeded to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to kiss her first.

James won.

Her pulled her to him, lifted the veil over her head and pressed his lips to hers, keeping the kiss publically acceptable but still passionate and loving. She pulled back and he stepped aside. Sirius smiled at her and pulled her to him, his mouth crashed against hers and he dipped her low.

Hermione couldn't help smile when she heard whistles and Narcissa's huff of "honestly" but Hermione knew she was smiling. When Sirius pulled back he looked at her with so much love and joy that she almost burst into tears again.

"We have a party to get to" he smiled at her and he pulled her back up onto her feet and they faced the cheering crowd.

"May introduce to you, Messrs Potter and Black and Mrs Potter-Black" Minister Bagnold spoke and Hermione couldn't keep the beaming smile off her face.

The reception was in full swing. Children ran around laughing and smiling and the adults mingled and talked. No one would guess what was to happen the next night, no one would think that a war was about to be ended for good.

They had the first dance, with Sirius and James playing rock, paper, scissors - Sirius won. Everyone shared a dance with Hermione, including Bill, much to the amusement of everyone. They ate the food prepared by the house elves and Molly. They watched the fireworks created by Hermione –of course Fred and George insisted they helped- and photos upon photos were taken of the entire day.

And to make the day even better, Hermione convinced Snape to dance with her, which ended in a round of howls and relentless teasing from the Marauders, but with a glare and a threat of no sex from Hermione, James and Sirius were promptly silenced.

Hermione, James and Sirius entered her bedroom. When she turned around they were both smiling at her with soft smiles on their faces.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Mrs Potter-Black" James replied.

"Our wife" Sirius said, reaching a hand out to take hers and pull her over to them. "I never thought I'd see the day I got married. I never thought I would even marry, that I would have a family. That was until I met you" he said softly and she smiled at him.

"I never thought I'd love anyone again after Lily, but then I met you. Lily was my first love, I will always love her, but I love you more than I ever thought possible" James spoke.

"I honestly never thought I would marry, I didn't expect to live this long. And I will always love you both, for the rest of my life. Whether it be until tomorrow or in a hundred years"

"We will not let you leave us, we forbid it" Sirius spoke and she smiled at him.

"We at least have tonight to be together" she said. "No messing around tonight, no teasing, no joking and no tears"

She pulled away from them and walked over to her bed. She sat down on the edge and removed her shoes, taking her veil off, followed by her tiara. She looked up to see them both staring at her adoringly.

"Do you plan to just stand there all night?" she asked with a smile.

They shook their heads and chuckled at her, moving over to the bed. James picked her up in his arms and moved her further back, depositing her on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and removed his suit jacket, before climbing onto the bed and sitting behind her, Hermione resting against him with her head against his stomach. Sirius kicked off his shoes and removed his suit jacket and then slipped onto the bed at her feet. In some unplanned movement James lifted his hands to her shoulders and began massaging, easing the knots of stress she had from fighting in a war. Sirius took her right foot and massaged her aching heel, from hours of wearing uncomfortable shoes.

"I knew I made the right choice marrying you" she mumbled, closing her eyes. She heard them both chuckling.

"Happy wife, happy life" Sirius replied, continuing to ease her aching foot.

"And you are most beautiful when you are happy and smiling" James added.

"Or when she's just wokem up and her hair is attacking her. When she's kicking someone's arse in a duel. Defying Dumbledore's orders. When she's playing a prank. When she outsmarts Lucius. When she's with Harry or the other children. When she's kicking my arse as a fox at the full moon. And when she tied herself to us in marriage, telling all men that we won her heart" Sirius said, swapping to her left foot.

James chuckled. "To name a few"

"I really do love you both" Hermione whispered.

"We know, we love you too" James said. Hermione opened her eyes and looked up at him. James couldn't resist and he bent his head down to kiss her.

Hermione lifted her hand and rested it against the back of his neck, keeping him to her. The kiss deepened when her lips parted giving him access that he took advantage of. His hands slipped from her shoulders and covered her breasts, massaging them over the silk of her dress and Hermione hummed.

She felt Sirius' hands moving away from her feet and up her legs, moving higher and higher before moving back down to her feet and returning on their journey upwards. When Hermione made a noise of impatience he chuckled and brushed his fingers over her.

He groaned in surprise.

"James, mate?" James hummed in response, not breaking away from the kiss. "Our dear wife is not wearing underwear" James groaned and pulled away from the kiss breathless.

"Really?" he asked in a husky voice that had Hermione shivering.

She bit her lip and nodded. "They leave lines, particularly in a dress of this material and fitting"

"Yet another reason to adore your clever thought process"

Sirius' hands suddenly pressed against her nub and she gasped and wriggled. James looked over at Sirius with a raised eyebrow and he smirked in response.

James chuckled and tried to distract Hermione by kissing her and Sirius moved her dress up to her waist and situated himself between her legs, moving closer and using his tongue to swipe through her folds and he groaned.

Hermione cried out against James' mouth and he moved his mouth down to her neck, biting her shoulder gently before placing kisses against her skin as she wriggled and gasped under Sirius' ministrations.

When Sirius slipped a finger into her and sucked on her nub, she gripped the bedding and arched her back, her breasts pushing more forcefully into James' hands.

She looked down at Sirius and his eyes locked onto her eyes. She cried out as her orgasm washed over her, her body shaking and her eyes shutting tightly.

"So beautiful" James whispered against her ear.

When Hermione opened her eyes it was to see Sirius looking at her smugly. She narrowed her eyes and dragged him up her body and crashed her mouth against his. James chuckled. Hermione with a new burst of strength rolled them so she was straddling Sirius and she pulled away from him, he was panting and staring up at her with almost black eyes, filled with lust and love.

She reached over and took her wand from her bedside table and she waved it, muttering an incantation - vanishing their clothes. James looked amused as he looked down as himself, clad in only his tie and trousers, where as Hermione and Sirius were completely naked.

Without thought Hermione lifted herself and sank down onto Sirius, both groaning loudly. Hermione placed her hands against his chest for balance and he gripped her waist tightly and they both began moving.

James was transfixed on Hermione's face, watching the pleasure that washed over it in waves. She opened her eyes and they locked onto his. He almost gasped at how dark they were, no longer the warm chocolate brown. She reached over and grabbed his tie, pulling him to her and crashing her mouth against his, her moans lost in his mouth. His moved his hands to her bare breasts and he kneaded and pinched as she and Sirius continued their movements.

It wasn't long before she pulled away from him and cried out her release, as her walls clamped down on Sirius, he barked out her name and released inside her and she collapsed on his chest panting.

A few minutes later she sat up and moved away from Sirius, launching herself into James' arms and kissing him. He pushed her onto her back and reached for her wand, patting the bedding trying to find it until he heard a laugh and he felt Sirius shift on the bed and mutter the incantation. James felt the immediate change as the remainder of his clothing disappeared, he silently thanked Sirius. Hermione didn't give him chance to think of anything else and she shifted under him and guided him into her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

James removed her hands from his shoulders and held them above her head as he drew back and thrust into her. He felt another pair of hands touch his and he looked up and Sirius smirked at him. James moved his hands away and Sirius held Hermione's hands in place, whilst James sat up and gripped Hermione's hips.

Sirius was whispering into Hermione's ear and she was panting, moaning and wriggling. She gave a sudden cry and clamped down around James, he cursed in surprise and felt himself let go. He collapsed onto her and the room fell in silence, the only sounds being heavy breathing. Hermione removed one hand from Sirius' grip and ran it through James' hair and the other held onto Sirius.

James looked up to see a still naked Sirius. To be fair he had seen Sirius naked more times than he could count, what with sharing a dorm, locker room and bathroom throughout school. He thought that he would think it wrong to see him naked because of this reason though, but he didn't. That's when he knew for certain that they had made the right choice in courting their wife together. He looked back down at Hermione, her eyes shining but she was still very much awake.

It's fair to say none of them got much sleep that night.