Disclaimer: Anything familiar to JKR's books probably comes from there and is hers not mine. Also, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Wizarding World, and anything else that has to do with it belongs to the lovely JK Rowling, not me. I'm just playing in her sandbox and building my own Hogwarts in it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Harry whistled as he looked around the Family Vault that he had never been permitted to see before this. It was August 2nd, and Sirius had agreed to take him to Gringotts.

"I didn't realize the Potters had so much gold," he commented off-handedly as he looked around. This vault, unlike the Family Storage Vault, was mostly filled with gold, though Harry could see a few documents and books in a corner.

"They're one of the older Wizarding families for a reason," Sirius reminded him in amusement. "Now, you can choose to keep the trust vault you've been using or send that gold back into this one and give it up."

"I think I'll keep it, maybe even replace the gold I've used over the years," Harry decided easily, having been informed of the possibility by Draco the other day. "When I have kids that can be the vault they use until they get jobs and go off on their own."

"A good idea," Sirius commended him.

Harry walked towards the papers and saw that the largest book was a self-updating log of what was taken out of all three Potter vaults from his own to his trust vault to the storage vault. He claimed that immediately and glanced at the other documents, noting they were mostly copies of the deed to the cottage in Godric's Hollow. The second book was a book meant for the representative of the Wizengamot for the Potters to write in to describe each meeting in a page-long summary. It went all the way back at least five hundred years with each decade marked with a marker so that it was easier to find the date wished. Harry also took that book, knowing he would be grateful for it in the future.

"I think that's all I need from here," he told Sirius, who nodded and led the way out of the vault.

Harry took one last glance at what had been left from him by his parents and allowed Griphook to close the vault behind him.

On his way to the tent in the yard, Harry glanced at the home that was the Burrow. From his vantage point, it didn't look as if it had been unoccupied for almost two years, though Harry knew it had been up until two weeks ago when the wedding was in its final stages of preparations. Ginny had been ecstatic and her handwriting more sloppy when she told Harry and the others via Journal that they had returned to her home.

"Harry!" a voice called, and he turned to see the twins walking up to him and the others quickly.

"It's so fantastic to see you here on this most important day," Fred continued as the two Weasleys reached the group from Marauder Manor.

Sirius and Remus were the only adults along for the wedding of Bill and Fleur, but all of the teenagers had been brought to celebrate the happy couple. Euan was the only one of the group not to have known Fleur from her year at Hogwarts, and even the young Gryffindor knew her well from all the time she spent at the Manor.

"Wouldn't have missed it," Harry replied with an easy smile while looking at the tent before them. "Nice setup. What'd your mother bribe you with to get you to help?"

"Oh, you wound us, Harry!" George exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart and pretending to be in great pain, Fred doing the same next to him.

"Why would she ever need to do that?" Fred questioned, still keeping his act up.

"Probably because, knowing you, you'd completely mess things up and not be wearing proper dress robes like you are if she didn't," Ginny commented as she walked up to the group, rolling her eyes. "And she threatened them with no meals from her for the next five years if they didn't behave," she added, earning many laughs from the teens as her older brothers glared at her. "Fred, George, just show them to their seats. I'm sorry, but I've got to go be with Fleur until the ceremony is over. I'll see you soon." With a quick kiss for Harry, Ginny headed back into the Burrow.

"That was fast," Blaise commented in amusement as the twins sighed and gestured for their friends to follow them.

"Oi, lover boy, come on," Theo called to Harry, who muttered curses under his breath in Parseltongue at Theo while following the rest.

"Harry Potter, it is good to see you again," a deep voice said from behind the Slytherin as he made his way to his seat. Harry turned in surprise before grinning and holding out his hand.

"Viktor! It's good to see you as well," Harry exclaimed while Viktor Krum shook his hand. "How have the other Seekers been? Giving you a challenge, or are you still beating them too easily?"

"Some haff been giving me more trouble, but they still are not vorth much trouble," Viktor replied in amusement. "You still hold the spot of biggest challenge for the Snitch."

"Excellent," Harry declared with an even larger grin, finally releasing Viktor's hand and lowering his own.

"I haff heard from Fleur that you are very busy at Hogwarts?" Viktor asked, his hand lightly tapping his chest where his Journal most likely hung from the thick, gold chain Harry had sent him for his birthday over a year before to hold the book. "You do not talk vith me often."

"I know, and I'm sorry about that, but it's quite busy with the war going on," Harry sighed, feeling more solemn now than he had just moments before. "Amelia – our Minister – is doing what she can, as are the Aurors, but Voldemort just keeps on attacking…"

"Yes, I haff heard," Viktor agreed. "However, vhile you haff asked Fleur for help, you haff never come to me. Perhaps my contacts can be of assistance?" Harry looked at him curiously, wondering how much sway Viktor had over foreign Ministries due to his fame.

"Amelia hasn't been able to get much from other countries, not even in the form of keeping the Death Eaters from getting onto the Continent," Harry admitted. "Do you have any contacts high up in other Ministries that might be able to get their Aurors working on finding Death Eaters that leave Britain to recruit from other countries or just to cause chaos?"

"Many Ministers come to my games and talk vith me aftervards," Viktor began slowly, obviously thinking about it. "They tell me to tell them if I ever need anything, anything at all, and they vill do their best to make it happen. Perhaps it is time to call in these promises. I will try to get them to protect those not in Britain from your Death Eaters, Potter, and perhaps get your Ministry some assistance from others for your Aurors."

"Thank you, Viktor," Harry told the Quidditch star, truly grateful. "Even if you only get the other Ministries to protect their own lands, it will be a huge help for us. We have squads of Aurors out in the Continent, searching for Death Eaters, right now, and it would make things easier to be able to pass those missions on to the locals so that we can recall them. With the increase in attacks, we have need of those Aurors here in Britain."

"I vill do vhat I can, Potter, this I promise," Viktor stated. "Now, vhat can you tell me about this Ron Veasley Hermione writes about in her letters?"

Harry laughed, remembering the time Hermione told him that she and Viktor kept in contact as normal friends, realizing the idea of them dating just wasn't reasonable. Viktor had taken it well and was now a good friend to her.

"Well…"

Ginny smiled gently as her eldest brother and new sister-in-law were swarmed by well-wishers. She couldn't help but be happy for them both.

Had Hogwarts been different during the Triwizard Tournament, Ginny had an odd feeling she wouldn't have liked Fleur. However, the partially unified environment as well as friends, both male and female, willing to protect her had allowed the quarter-Veela Fleur Delacour to rid herself of the snobbish act she had picked up at Beauxbatons to stop the boys from trying to date her. This had allowed Ginny to meet the true Fleur, and she couldn't help but like the blond woman, believing that she was a fantastic partner for her older brother, despite their age difference.

Arms wrapped around her waist suddenly, a chest against her back as she was pulled tightly to the person behind her, and Ginny leaned into the touch, closing her eyes. She didn't even have to look to know that it was Harry; she knew his touch.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked him, her tone light.

"I am now," he replied in her ear, tightening his hold on her for just a moment. She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Really, Harry, are you enjoying yourself?" Ginny sighed, opening her eyes and turning her head to look at his face.

"I am," he told her more seriously. "I got to speak to Viktor, and the war came up, but this is such a light atmosphere that it's impossible not to have fun." Harry grinned a slightly crooked grin in her direction, and Ginny couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Now, I believe the bride and groom are about to begin dancing, so we'll be able to join them shortly."

Ginny turned to see Bill and Fleur out on the dance floor, waiting for the music to begin. Everyone was surrounding the floor, watching the pair. It was hard not to be awed by them once they began moving oh so gracefully around the floor, never taking their eyes off one another.

"That will be us one day," Harry promised in a whisper, her lips touching her ear as they moved. "Sometime in the future, we will have our closest friends and family in this very garden, possibly even under this very tent, dancing after saying our vows. By then, Tom will be dead, and the world will be at peace. We'll have the time of our lives, and we'll never forget it."

Ginny turned to face her love, seeing the determination and love in his emerald green eyes as they locked onto her own. She knew in that moment that he would do anything to make sure that day came.

"I love you," she whispered, kissing him gently for his words.

"Love you, too, Gin," he replied before offering his hand to go join her brother and new sister on the dance floor with other couples. She placed her hand in his, knowing that he would give her the time of her life tonight.

"Lily and James all over but without the fighting," Sirius sighed, watching as his godson and the youngest Weasley joined other couples out on the dance floor.

"Yes… and no," Remus replied. "They certainly look like Lily and James, but they're not the same, not at all."

"No, they aren't, are they?" Sirius had to admit. Harry was so different from both his parents while still having what most viewed as the best of them in him, and Ginny, while similar in some ways to Lily, was vastly different. Their relationship was built on shared trauma followed by years of friendship that grew into love. The two of them clicked in a way that was just so very different from how Harry's parents had been together, but both couples were breathtaking, despite the differing generations.

"It makes you miss them more, sometimes, doesn't it?" Remus asked, giving Sirius a knowing look that Sirius turned away from. "I miss them, too, but it's been a blessing to get to watch Harry, their Harry, grow up like he has. He's an amazing young man, and I know they're proud of him."

"Proudest damn parents up there," Sirius agreed harshly, tears forming in his eyes as he remembered the wedding of Lily and James while watching Harry and Ginny dance at this one. "What else could they be?"

Albus Dumbledore stood to the side of the tent, looking around at the crowd. He had already spoken to those who wished to speak with him, and he was being left alone now in favor of enjoying the celebration.

It made him so very happy to see the love William Weasley and Fleur Delacour held for one another, just as he was so relieved to see the happiness and joy in the air despite the darkness of the war that surrounded them. Even young Harry, dancing with Tracey Davis at the moment, could be seen smiling and laughing, despite knowing the pressure on his shoulders to kill Voldemort and end this war. No, nothing could make Albus Dumbledore more pleased than seeing this light in the darkness.

There was just so much pain and sadness and loss right now, and Albus Dumbledore could see teenagers he was headmaster over at Hogwarts smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves like they hadn't been able to all year long. Euan Abercrombie was laughing along with Natalie MacDonald, both dancing together, as Graham Pritchard danced with his older sister Maya and made faces in their direction over her shoulder. Draco Black, Blaise Zabini, and the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astoria, were sitting at a table with Butterbeer in hand, laughing and making jokes. Theodore Nott was dancing with Ginny Weasley close to where their dates were dancing, having obviously swapped partners for the dance. Even Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were enjoying the food as they talked to the eldest Weasleys, Molly and Arthur.

Albus Dumbledore just hoped that Tom Riddle would let them have this one day, this one memory, to make it through the next few months of the war, because days like these just didn't come along every day.

Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin – though she only went by Tonks, thank you very much! – checked the monitors for Death Eater activity once more. She was being quite diligent about it today, knowing that her friends, family, and husband needed today to relax and enjoy themselves as the new term at Hogwarts would begin in just two and a half weeks.

No, Auror Captain Tonks wouldn't allow anything to ruin that wedding if it was the last thing she did.

Arthur Weasley stood with his wife, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, their conversation lulling as all four of them looked at the wedding around them.

Arthur couldn't be more proud of his eldest son for finding love. Fleur Delacour was a wonderful young woman, strong and intelligent and hand-working. She would be good for his eldest, and it made him truly happy and at ease.

"Look at them, Arthur," Molly whispered softly, and he turned to see that her face was both sad and happy at once. He followed her gaze and realized easily what had captured her attention. "They're so happy, and we've been keeping them apart most of the summer for two years now, and even that summer he was with us… they were never like this."

"They understand, Molly," Remus assured her from her other side, and Arthur turned to look at the man. "Of course they're upset about being apart, but they know why it is, and they accept it. Don't be ashamed of trying to keep your children safe while they're away from Hogwarts."

Turning back to the couple, Arthur noted many others around them. His youngest son, Ron, was dancing with his fellow Gryffindor, Hermione Granger, looking more at peace than he had since before leaving for Hogwarts six years before. Many Slytherin friends of Ginny and the twins were paired up as well, and Arthur could even see a girl he swore was a Hufflepuff dancing with the young Longbottom boy, another Hufflepuff pair next to them. Three younger students were nearby, one holding a Butterbeer and smiling while the other two were dancing.

In his mind, these kids were all so comfortable with one another and were best friends. Together, they seemed to bring a spark to the wedding, making things that much more lighthearted than they already were. The bonds connecting them were almost tangible, made all the more obvious when the song ended and partners were changed without a word, the youngest boy passing his drink over to the other boy as he held the hand of the girl. His Ginny was in the arms of Draco Malfoy – no, Draco Black – and he said something that made her laugh easily before they began moving with the music.

"They're amazing to watch, aren't they?" the calming, quiet voice of Albus Dumbledore asked from behind him, and Arthur turned to see the Headmaster watching the group as well. "It's awe-inspiring to see the love shared between all of them, whether it is the love of lovers, siblings, or best friends. It brings hope to a person's heart when one sees this sight, making us believe that, perhaps, the war isn't going to destroy everything, not if something like this can still exist as it does."

Arthur could only nod while returning his gaze to the group, slightly surprised to see Bill and Fleur in the middle of it, Bill dancing with his sister while Fleur was spun around by Harry. The red-headed father could tell just by the way Harry and Ginny's gazes met when they could and by the small smiles they shared that he had already lost his daughter to the raven-haired Slytherin. If they both survived the war, those two would be together for the rest of their lives; of that he had no doubt.

"I'm honored to have been able to see it," Arthur finally told Albus Dumbledore, and he could see the Headmaster's nod of agreement of out the corner of his eye as they both watched the group of friends and family.

Tonks locked the last of the Death Eaters captured not far from the Weasley home into his cell herself. When she left the Ministry prison, she was met by Amelia.

"Were they enjoying themselves?" the Minister asked, and Tonks nodded easily. The Auror had taken a moment after the Death Eaters were tied up to check up on those she cared about at the wedding, and they had all been having an amazing time.

"Easily as happy as we've seen them since this began after the Third Task," Tonks replied, and Amelia smiled, both in happiness and relief. Tonks could understand that, feeling the same way herself after seeing the wedding reception.

"Well, then, we'd best get some interrogators in here to question these Death Eaters before sending them to Azkaban," Amelia declared, leading the way to the lifts.

Harry smiled as he spun Fleur around on the dance floor, Ginny off dancing with Euan now. The part-Veela had a look in her eyes that claimed she was on top of the world at the moment, happier than he had ever seen her. He was just happy seeing one of his friends so happy.

"Zank you for coming today, 'Arry," Fleur told him, and he just grinned while shaking his head.

"Wouldn't have missed it for anything."

The song ended, and Harry reclaimed Ginny as his partner, pulling her out of the crowd and over to the drinks table. They were both getting tired from all the dancing, and they knew it. However, they didn't get enough chances to enjoy themselves like this, so they were taking it for all it was worth.

"I'm a bit surprised Tonks didn't come," Ginny suddenly mentioned, and Harry blinked.

"Oh, Amelia asked Tonks to head the Aurors tonight," he explained. "Said that having someone with people here at the wedding would give her an edge. Plus, as Tonks said before anyone could complain, she's got two left feet and would rather protect us than even dare to dance." Harry paused for a moment as Ginny took this in, an idea coming to him. "You know, maybe it's her two left feet that made Tonks pressure Remus into eloping – she didn't want to embarrass herself at her own wedding."

They both shared a look before they burst out laughing.

"That was fun," Euan told Graham and Natalie as they headed upstairs to their shared room at Marauder Manor. "Did you see Mrs. Weasley when the twins tried to prank Bill and Fleur?" The three youngest of the Manor laughed at the memory.

"Her face was so red," Natalie gasped out, "I thought she could cook breakfast on it!"

"I wonder what she's going to do to the twins for that," Graham mused as he calmed down a bit.

"Oh, I believe the best way to get revenge would be to ask Ginny for help, but Mrs. Weasley would never think of it," Euan heard Harry comment as he passed them on his way further up the stairs. "Now, off to bed, you three. You can continue this conversation in the morning."

Once Harry was gone, Euan whispered to his two friends, "Silencing Wards on the room and then laugh up a storm?"

"Silencing Wards before laughing up a storm," Graham and Natalie agreed together before the three of them tore down the hallway to their bedroom.

Posted: 4/8/12