Harry Potter and the Tides of the Moon
Disclaimer: All JKR's, not mine.
Summary: AU After OOTP- After Harry is thrust back in time, he has to contend with surviving the rest of his years in Hogwarts and living his new life around people that he knows will one day become Death Eaters. Can he find the balance between giving people a chance and doing what he knows is right or will he crumble under the pressure that comes with knowing the future?
A/N: Thanks for the reviews everybody. Oh, and review again!
S/N: Sorry for the long wait, I truly and honestly apologize. Chapters 9, 20, 26, 27, 30 and 32 are referenced in this chapter, so you may want to read them beforehand.
S/N2: I think there will probably be two more chapters, plus the epilogue. As you recall, there is going to be a long time jump, which I think will be about three to four years in the future.
Chapter 37: Till Death Do Us Part…
It was a Sunday that found Bellatrix sitting with Alphard and Andromeda tending to wedding invitations as Sirius entered in through the living room fireplace. Seeing her cousin, Bellatrix gave him a small smile before furrowing her brow, which earned her a questioning glance. "Sirius, I've never asked you for anything in my life," she started slowly, looking over to her cousin. "But I need a favor from you. Please."
"What is it?" Sirius said, somewhat hesitantly, still a bit distrustful that Bellatrix truly had changed for the better.
"I need you to make sure that Lily Evans, James Potter, and Remus Lupin are at the wedding," she replied, hoping that those three would come, no matter what Sirius had to do to get them there. She was not going to tell Harry that they had been invited; instead, she hoped the keep it a secret as a surprise for him on his birthday.
"Why?" Sirius questioned in return, not understanding the request. Why was it imperative that those three attended? He assumed they all would come if invited, so to him, her request was unnecessary and strange.
"Just do it, please?" Bellatrix said quietly, not wanting to reveal anything more than that. "It's for Harry." Sirius cocked an eyebrow at Harry's mention, but just nodded silently, willing to acquiesce to her request. "Thank you."
"What do you want to do for music, Bellatrix?" Andromeda questioned, looking up from her spot next to Alphard, wanting to hear her sister's opinion on a band. Bellatrix's gaze moved from Sirius to Andromeda, her brow furrowed, before she gave an amused smile, surprised by her sister's enthusiasm over the wedding. With that, the pair went into conversation about Andromeda's own wedding, which Bellatrix had not attended, a fact that was starting to form as a regret deep inside her soul.
Meanwhile, on that same afternoon, Harry was set to meet with Dumbledore to discuss Voldemort's Horcruxes. He appeared in front of the gates of Hogwarts, and just as the headmaster had promised, the gates opened upon his nearing of them, allowing him entry to the grounds of Hogwarts without the need for a professor to escort him. He began the trek towards the castle, passing Hagrid's hut along the way, though he did not stop as the half-giant was not present, slowly walking up the path as to admire the grounds that he had grown to love over his time at the school. It was strange, he felt, being back on the grounds but not a student; it was both refreshing and daunting, though he did not quite understand either emotion.
He entered the castle and headed towards the headmaster's office, walking by the portrait of Elmar Prince that Canute Kneen, the former Hogwarts headmaster, had mentioned would know something about the Peverell brothers. However, as it had been for the past few months, it was once more empty, it's occupant nowhere in sight. He had no idea where a portrait could go for so long, though he did not give up hope that one day he would be able to find the answers that he sought from the portrait, assuming Canute Kneen's information was correct and Elmar truly did have knowledge about the family. With a sigh, he turned down the hallway and immediately noticed a house-elf cleaning the floor with a slew of magical mops. Immediately upon the elf turning his attention towards him, a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face as they both recognized one another.
"Master Harry!" Bustle exclaimed, excited at seeing Harry. "Bustle has missed bringing you cookies late at night since you've left."
"I've missed you too, Bustle," Harry replied honestly, having grown fond of the house-elf over the time they had known each other. He bent down and squatted to be eye to eye with the elf, reaching out and putting his hand on the elf's shoulder as a sign of closeness. "How have you been?"
"Bustle has been good, Master Harry," Bustle announced, nodding his head vigorously. His large ears flapped all the while, smacking him lightly in the face. "How is Master Harry?"
"I miss Hogwarts, but I am quite well, thank you," Harry said with a tender smile, memories of his time at Hogwarts sprouting into his mind. He didn't know why, but he was more emotional then than he had been on his graduation day.
"Bustle would like to come work for Master Harry!" Bustle announced, wanting to leave Hogwarts along with Harry.
"You do?" Harry inquired with a raised eyebrow, surprised at that revelation. He did not know how he felt about the practice of having a house-elf since he was against the idea of the kind of servitude that the house-elves seemed to desire, though if he paid the elf, he felt a tad more comfortable with the arrangement. However, he also knew that house-elves accepting pay was seen as dishonor if Winky's opinions on the matter were the norm, rather than the ravings of a minority opinion.
"Bustle likes Hogwarts, but Bustle would like a family," Bustle admitted, wanting to know the personal joy of making his master happy once more, a gift that he was not granted at Hogwarts due to the relatively unknown nature of the house-elves work in the school.
"Well," Harry started, thinking of a polite declination for the time being. "When I get a real house, we can discuss it then. Right now, I'm living behind Lycoris' house."
"You live behind Bustle's old master's house?" Bustle said as a few tears started to well up in his eyes, memories of his long dead master popping into his mind. He was young when he started working for Lycoris, so he spent most of his developmental years with the old witch, growing fond of her all the while like one would a mother.
"Yes, Alphard allowed me to move in just recently," Harry nodded, informing the elf about his living arrangements. "Like I said, when I have a house to call my own, we'll talk, okay? Until then, don't be a stranger, yeah?"
"Bustle will certainly come visit you, Master Harry!" Bustle said, earning both a sigh and a laugh from the wizard.
"Bye Bustle," said Harry, getting to his feet and allowing the elf to get back to his duties.
"Goodbye, Master Harry," Bustle waved, watching as the wizard walked away.
"It was great seeing you again, Bustle," Harry called out before turning down the hallway that would lead to the gargoyle, leaving the house-elf to his work at Hogwarts for the foreseeable future.
Harry stepped into Albus Dumbledore's office, arriving just as the clock chimed the pre-arranged time. The two had agreed to meet in order to discuss the extracurricular activities that Harry would be up to over the next few months, namely searching for Voldemort's horcruxes. "Hello Harry," Dumbledore said from his desk as Harry entered, looking up from a letter that he had been reading previously. "It is good to see you, my boy."
"I have news!" Harry exclaimed, not bothering with pleasantries just yet. The pair had grown close enough over the past two years that Harry felt excited to share in the news with the man, whom he had grown to care about a great deal.
"Oh?" Dumbledore waited with a cocked eyebrow, wondering what it was the younger wizard had to say.
"Bellatrix and I are getting married," Harry said with a large smile on his face, thrilled that someone outside of Bellatrix's family finally knew about the plans. "I hope that you'll be there. It's going to be soon because we don't want a drawn out engagement. We're thinking on my birthday at the end of July."
"Congratulations, Harry!" Dumbledore exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together in excitement. Then, rising to his feet, he walked over to the cabinet, took out a bottle with an amber-colored liquid and poured two glasses. He brought the glasses back to his desk and handed one over to Harry, who accepted it gladly. "Congratulations, it would be my honor to attend. To a happy life!" Dumbledore toasted, holding his glass up in the air.
"Thank you, sir," replied Harry, talking a gulp and swishing the rest around in the glass. "Who would have known I had to travel two decades into the past to find the love of my life?"
"People meet in strange ways," Dumbledore shrugged with a smile, recalling the various histories he had been told over the course of his long life. "Do you know how my mother and father met?"
"No," Harry shook his head, having never heard the story before.
Dumbledore reached to the bookshelf to the left of his desk and pulled out a small tome, before handing it over to Harry. Harry looked down at it, reading its title: Artistry of the Animagustry: A History by Arold Dumbledore. "They met through a book?" Harry asked, confusedly, not understanding what Dumbledore had meant.
Dumbledore smiled, shaking his head in the negative. "My grandfather was traveling the world in order to learn about the history of animagi, to see what other wizarding cultures found, and on his travel, he brought my father along with him. He was researching for the book that he wanted to write."
"This book?" Harry inquired, already knowing the answer, but using it as a way to force Dumbledore to continue on with his thought.
"Exactly," Dumbledore agreed, flipping his gaze down to the book that was in Harry's hands. "One of the stops was in the New World, in a plains state, where they learned about one of the many native cultures present. Well, there my father met a young witch named Kendra that was part of the tribe—she was born from muggles, but she took to the craft quickly and was accepted into the magical community with open arms. While I won't say it was love at first sight, something in them clicked, and before long, my grandfather and father were leaving to continue their travels. My father promised the witch that had captured his heart that he would return, and a few years later, he did, where he spent enough time with her for them to fall in love and marry. After they were married, they moved back to England, and I was eventually born on August 16, 1881."
"So you're half-Native American?" Harry inquired in a surprised tone, having never expected that revelation from the older wizard. He had never thought about Dumbledore's ancestry before then, outside of musings about being the heir of Gryffindor, instead simply having always assumed he was from a British family.
"It seems so," smiled Dumbledore, amused at Harry's disbelief. "Or a quarter, more like. I'm not truly sure about my mother's parentage as it was a different world back then. She didn't speak much about her muggle family."
"Completely different culture," Harry agreed with a nod of his head, knowing that there were a lot of differences between the 1970s and the 1870s. He briefly flipped through the book, checking out some of the pages, before handing it over to Dumbledore, who placed it back onto the shelf. "Either way, it's funny that your father and I both had to travel to find our loves."
"To love," Dumbledore said thoughtfully as he raised his glass once more and bottomed his drink.
"To love," Harry returned, he too finishing his drink. He placed his glass down onto the desk, before looking back at Dumbledore, knowing that it was time to discuss their business. "I have a question regarding Tom Riddle and his horcruxes."
"I hopefully have an answer," Dumbledore said, gesturing for Harry to voice his inquiry. He had to admit, his knowledge on the subject when it came to Tom Riddle's horcruxes was relatively limited, but ever since Harry's arrival, he had thrown himself into the pursuit and had only paused when Harry himself had taken over the endeavor.
"As you know, according to my research of your own notes and the research I have done on my own since leaving school, it seems that you believed that Voldemort would have five horcruxes at this time, with his sixth coming a bit later when he went to kill me as a baby," Harry started, recalling the conversation the pair had at the start of his seventh year, as well as the various notebooks that older Dumbledore had left for him.
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore nodded, remembering Harry having said that. "Wherein lays your question?"
"Why, sir, why does Voldemort not just create the amount of horcruxes he wants and be done with it?" Harry questioned, wanting to know the exact thought process behind Tom Riddle's actions. To him, it didn't quite make sense, as it would be much wiser for Voldemort to take other actions. "There's got to be more to it than just his arrogance."
"Perhaps," Dumbledore reasoned slowly, giving it a moment of thought. "That Tom has found, through his research, that creating different amount of horcruxes instills different effects on the creator. As such, he lingers on with a certain amount of horcruxes for a while, enjoying what it brings to him, before pursuing the benefits of the next level of horcruxes."
"Hm," Harry whispered, going over what Dumbledore had just said. Could magic work like that, giving various enhancements to a person that murdered more and more people? He didn't know if he wanted to believe that, but without any further ideas, he had to admit that it was a decent possibility.
"Or his ego makes him wait until a kill is worthy to create a horcrux, which is a very good likelihood," Dumbledore nodded, realizing it was most likely the case—Voldemort wanted his kills to mean something and wanted his horcruxes to prove his greatness.
Harry bit his lip at that last comment, not knowing if he agreed with it as the Dumbledore from the future believed that Tom Riddle, Sr., had served as one of Voldemort's casualties, which would suggest that he simply used any death for his horcrux creation. "What benefits do you think it bequeaths?"
"Oh, I have no idea," Dumboedore shrugged, chuckling slightly, having never, ever looked into such magic for himself. "Like I mentioned previously when we discussed this, horcruxes are one area of magic in which I do not trifle."
"His actions just do not make sense," Harry sighed, realizing he would probably never understand Voldemort as the man was nigh insane. "If he really, truly wanted to protect his horcruxes, he should just buy a house, place the horcrux inside, cast the Fidelius Charm with him as the Secret Keeper and forget all about it."
"Or drop it to the bottom of the ocean," Dumbledore agreed, having been worried that would be the case prior to starting his on search on the matter. "Thankfully, he did neither, presumably."
"I'm ready to go see if my research is right, I think I know where the first hiding location is," Harry said, earning a curious expression from the older wizard. "Shall we go?" Dumbledore quietly rose from his seat, and reached out his hand to Harry, allowing the younger wizard to disapparate from the Headmaster's Office. With a loud crack, the pair disappeared from Hogwarts, starting the journey that would one day lead to Voldemort's death if all were to go to plan.
They arrived on a large chunk of rock that protruded out of a towering cliff that stood behind them; the North Sea was looming below them, roughly crashing against the rocks. The chunk of rock looked as though it had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past, whittled down by rain and erosion over the years. They moved to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged crevices made footholds leading down to boulders that were semi-submerged in seawater, all of them closer to the cliff.
It was a terrible descent that took a while as they moved at half-pace, the lower rocks being slippery with seawater and green algae. Upon reaching the boulder closest to the cliff face, Harry saw a fissure in the cliff in which dark water swirled. Believing that this was the place that Dumbledore had referenced in his notes, Harry slid from the boulder and entered into the sea after studying the fissure for a second; Dumbledore followed silently behind him, seemingly content with following Harry's lead.
Beginning to swim immediately, Harry had his wand was in his mouth, held in place between his teeth, as he made his way towards the fissure. The water was warm but rough, pushing the both of them back and forth as they got closer and closer, the danger of the smashing into the rocks not escaping their minds. As they swam, their robes were starting to weigh them down as small waves crashed into each of them, the undertow starting to push them side to side in the alcove. However, they both managed to secure their safety by using the momentum of the outgoing tide to push them towards their goal.
As they neared, the pair saw that the fissure turned into a passageway that curved to the left and extended deep into the cliff; the walls of the passageway were three feet apart and covered in a green slime. Swimming at a quicker pace, they neared the end of the passageway, and Harry quickly pulled himself out of the water with his wand still in his mouth, helping Dumbledore out once he was safely on the rocky platform. He gave the area a quick scan and saw that they had emerged into a small cave; their clothes were soaked, but they had arrived without any other issues.
From his side, Dumbledore gently touched his robes with his wand and then touched Harry's shoulder, and at once, both of their clothes were as warm and dry as if they had been hanging in front of a crackling fire. With an appreciative nod, Harry stood in the middle of the cave, his wand was shinning high as he turned slowly on the spot, examining the walls and ceiling with the light from his wand. "This way," he said, walking forwards deeper into the cave, wanting to see where it would lead.
He moved towards the wall of the cave, trying to find any sign he could of Voldemort's magic. He noticed Dumbledore was staring straight ahead, seemingly unconcerned about anything, so he hastened his pace, presuming that Dumbledore could sense something he could not. A few seconds later, they came upon a hole in the cave wall, which allowed entry just sizeable enough for a human into another cave. With his wand held in front of him and not knowing what to expect, Harry ducked his head down and entered, his eyes going wide upon seeing where he appeared.
The inner cave was enormous and housed a large lake inside: its calm dark water was as smooth as glass. The lake was so vast that he could not make out the distant banks, and the ceiling was so high that it too was out of sight. With their wand tips still alit, they followed the small path that ran against the wall around the lake, their footsteps echoing across the otherwise silent cave. The path stopped after a hundred or so feet, making both travelers furrow their brow in confusion. Then, as he stared around the area, Harry, for the rest time, saw the small inlet that was barely bigger than a small room directly in the center of the lake.
"It must be there," Harry suggested, gazing over to the inlet that was seemingly of the same rock that made up the cave. It was whittled down by erosion, but it had the same relative appearance and texture of the cliff.
"Maybe," Dumbledore whispered, his brows still furrowed in thought. He knew that something was not right, that something was off than what he had imagined the cave to be, though he wasn't quite sure what it was yet.
"I'll be back," Harry said, before jumping into the water and swimming over to the island.
He arrived to the island in a few strokes, and quickly pulled himself up onto the rock. He walked around the isle in a short manner as it was only about ten to twenty feet in diameter. He studied all that he could, searching for any sign of Voldemort's horcrux, but found nothing, as if Voldemort had never even been there in the first place. He looked over to Dumbledore, who held his wand high into the air in order to get a view of the younger wizard, a realization starting to dawn on him.
"There isn't anything here," Harry called out in a confused tone, his eyes giving one more look at the island to make sure his assertions as correct. He didn't understand why there was no magic to be seen or felt, instead it was simply an empty cave—he was certain that he had the right place prior to entering, but now he did not know what to think.
"Yeah, that's what I figured," Dumbledore called back, nodding his head in understanding. He had started to realize something was wrong the second he did not feel any magic upon entering the cave, an oversight that he knew Voldemort would not make.
"Do we have the wrong place?" Harry questioned, not understanding where the horcrux was as the cave had every characteristic that Dumbledore had referenced in his notes.
"No, this is definitely the spot that I would have written in my journal," Dumbledore answered quietly, though his voice carried around the entirety of the cave.
"How do you know?" Harry asked interestedly, wondering what it was that gave Dumbledore that impression.
"Because I was here before, nearly a decade ago," the older wizard replied simply, recalling the time he had spent researching Tom Riddle upon Voldemort's return. "And I came here because Tom Riddle was once here, as well."
"When he was a kid..." Harry said, before jumping back into the water and swimming back to Dumbledore, pulling himself back up onto the rocky pathway upon arrival.
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded in agreement, presuming Harry had heard the same story, where Tom Riddle had tortured an orphan inside the very cave they stood while the orphanage was on a trip to the coast.
"Then where is it?" Harry asked as he used his wand to dry off his clothes, using the same spell that Dumbledore had used earlier.
"I believe," Dumbledore started, meeting Harry's gaze, knowing that what he was about to say would greatly upset the younger wizard. "We are simply too early."
"Too early?" Harry inquired with a furrowed brow, wanting Dumbledore to expound on his idea.
"He either has yet to make this horcrux, or more likely, he has yet to place it here," Dumbledore answered, having started to grow truly suspicious when there was no defense to the outer cave. In his mind, he highly doubted that a wizard as skilled and as paranoid as Voldemort would allow such easy access to his hiding spot like that, as doing so would allow any wizard or witch to enter his domain, rather than only the most talented of wizarding folk like Voldemort prided himself to be.
"What...what do I do now?" Harry said lowly, not knowing where to go from there. He had hoped to find all of Voldemort's horcruxes by the end of the summer, but now that he knew the cave was empty, he had no idea what use he would be for the Order of the Phoenix for the foreseeable future.
"We have to wait," Dumbledore reasoned, knowing that it would cause great danger around the country to allow Voldemort to continue on with his reign of terror. "We have to wait until this horcrux appears before we can act further. Continue on with your research, find the locations as thoroughly as you can, but do not act until and unless this horcrux is here. Then, when the time is right, we can scoop them all up in one go and I will personally destroy them."
"I guess that's as good of a plan as any," sighed Harry, not really knowing what else to say. He had put all his energy and emotion into this very horcrux, the first of many, so to realize the day and his entire plan was a bust was difficult for him to swallow.
"We cannot ruin this opportunity, Harry," lectured Dumbledore, wanting to instill in Harry that sometimes things needed to be done for the bigger picture, even if they seemed incorrect at the time: that was the difference between what was correct and what was right. The things that were right would usually not be easy, and if you took the easy path, it was likely not the right path in the end. "We've been given a gift with you being here. I know it will be hard, but we have to be patient, because in the long run, we will be saving a lot more people. If we mess up, and Voldemort goes against what he did in the future, we would be right back to square one."
"I know, sir," Harry replied with a nod, seeing the wisdom behind Dumbledore's idea. So long as they waited and were patient, Voldemort's Horcruxes would be located in places that they had information about, which would allow them to end the war in a swift manner. Still, that did not mean that he liked it, as he knew it would force pain on innocent people that did not deserve that fate. Giving one last look around the cave, he silently disapparated them both back to the headmaster's office, before each went their separate ways, both promising to discuss it more at the next Order meeting that would be taking place in a few days.
He arrived in his home a few moments later. He quickly ran upstairs, took a shower, got dressed, and walked across the backyard to Alphard's. Hearing voices in the living room, he headed in that direction with a smile on his face. He stood in the doorway as he watched Bellatrix interacting with a small girl, no more than five years old. The other occupants, Ted, Andromeda, and Alphard all looked on with smiles on their faces, each enjoying the first meeting between Bellatrix and her niece, Nymphadora.
"Well, who do we have here?" Harry said, announcing his presence as he walked into the room.
"Harry!" Adromeda chirped happily, wanting her future brother-in-law to come meet her daughter. "There is someone that would like to meet you."
"I'm guessing this is little Nymphadora," Harry said, bending down to be eye to eye to the little girl. She had pale, heart-shaped face with brown hair and bright blue eyes, much bluer than normal eyes could be, a clear sign that she was already in the use of her metamorphmagus powers, even if they were relatively limited.
"Can you say hi to your Uncle Harry?" Ted said affectionately, rising to his feet and coming to stand behind Harry, hoping the two would bond.
"Uncle?" Harry laughed, zipping his gaze over to Ted. He had never heard anyone call him that before, so to hear it for the first time was a bit jolting to him, though the actually idea of being an uncle to Tonks was exciting to him.
"Invitations are nearly done, no backing out now," Bellatrix said, sticking her tongue out towards her fiancé. "Plus, I'd hex you into oblivion."
"Better than being cursed," Harry shrugged, turning his attention back to Nymphadora, who was a bit scared by his presence. A great swell of emotion entered his chest, as memories of Tonks from the future flooded his mind, making him equally happy and sad. "Hi Nymphadora, I'm Harry, Harry Dumbledore, you're future uncle."
"Hi," Nymphadora said shyly, hiding behind her mother's leg. She was tall for her age, coming just up to the middle of her mother's thigh, who herself was a tall woman just like all of the Black sisters.
"Can you tell Uncle Harry your favorite jellybean, Dora?" Ted asked, hoping to ease his daughter's discomfort a bit and allow her to show her true personality.
"Mine is white chocolate, and your aunt's favorite is strawberry, though she will not pass up a pumpkin one," said Harry, seeing what Ted was trying to do and helping out himself in the attempt.
"Mine...mine is marshmallow," Nymphadora replied slowly, coming out from her mother's leg and holding her box of beans.
"Marshmallow is always good," Harry approved, earning a smile from Nymphadora, who seemed to ease a lot at his proclamation of agreement in the important issue of the best jellybean flavor.
After that, the small family had a nice dinner. Harry and Bellatrix spent their time getting to know Nymphadora, as they hoped to play a big part in the girl's life now that they had met her. Ted and Andromeda, meanwhile, couldn't have been happier, as they had always wanted more family in their lives, especially ones that would dote on Nymphadora. And Alphard was the happiest of all as he now felt complete, the loneliness that had enveloped his life since leaving the Blacks behind finally retreating to the annals of his personal history. The family was small, but their love was big, and it was growing by the day.
A week went by, and the day found Bellatrix opening the door of Alphard's home, which she had moved into after leaving Hogwarts—telling her parents she would be living on her own all the while—to a happy, smiling witch with a plump face and long blonde hair. "Hi Bellatrix," chirped Greta Catchlove, having arrived at the specific time that the black-haired witch across from her had mentioned in her letter.
"Hello," Bellatrix replied with a small smile, nervous for what was to come. "Come inside."
"Thank you," Greta replied with a nod as she took a step into the house, her eyes zooming about the surroundings. The house was relatively small, but well decorated, showing a touch of elegance without being pretentious. "So you didn't mention it in your owl, but what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if, well," Bellatrix started slowly, embarrassed by what favor she wished for Greta to complete. "If you could teach me some cooking charms, the ones that everyone says you know."
"What?" Greta replied in a serious tone, wanting to make sure she heard Bellatrix correctly. She had anticipated a conversation about Harry, maybe even information regarding Harry's friends, both topics of which were a far cry from what Bellatrix had actually asked, surprising her a great deal.
"I want to learn some cooking charms, I don't want Harry to have to cook every single meal when we are married, I want to be able to do it every once in a while, but I don't really know how as my family has always had a house-elf," Bellatrix rambled, explaining why she wished for Greta's knowledge on the subject. "Not that I think I have to learn to be a good wife, I don't, and neither does Harry, but I want to be able to make him a meal if I so choose."
Greta looked at Bellatrix with clear surprise written on her face, having never thought that would be something that Bellatrix would ever ask for in a thousand years. "And you want to learn from me?" She reiterated, still confused as to what was going on.
"Harry always said that you were good at this kind of stuff," Bellatrix shrugged, giving the blonde witch as nice of a compliment as she could. "I could learn from books, but I figured you would be better than that. I'll owe you, of course; don't think I'm asking you to do it for free..."
"I am, and I will absolutely do it!" Greta grinned, thrilled to be able to use her knowledge for the benefit of her friends. "I was just surprised, I'm sorry. It'll take some time, though."
"That's fine, I'm not in any rush," Bellatrix agreed, not concerned with how long it would take to learn. She understood that some magic came more naturally to certain people than others, which allowed people to show talent where others faltered. "Thank...thank you."
"You are welcome," Greta smiled, knowing how hard it was for Bellatrix to do what she was doing. She knew that Bellatrix was a Black, arrogant as they all were; she had a lot of pride to swallow down so to hear her say thank you like that really touched Greta. "What do you know so far?" She asked, wondering what kind of base Bellatrix had when it came to cooking. The witch just shrugged in response, seemingly having very little knowledge at all. "That's fine; we'll start at the beginning."
"Can you teach me how to make popcorn first?" Bellatrix questioned, hopeful that there was a spell that would allow her to cook popcorn, which she had come to find was one of Harry's favorite treats, as well as her own.
"I can do that," Greta nodded with a large grin, enjoying the less serious side of Bellatrix. Very rarely did Bellatrix allow the barrier around her heart to come down, the shield that kept people at arm's length, so to see it was refreshing for Greta.
With that, Greta started teaching her everything that she could. She admitted to Bellatrix that there were quite a few difficult charms that would take a few sessions of teaching to learn that would greatly enhance Bellatrix's cooking abilities, but Great knew that she needed to give the witch a better understanding of everything else first before she could teach her the more difficult spells. However, Greta was thrilled to spend some time to Bellatrix, a witch that had been otherwise distant and closed. While the two had been cordial, if not friendly, Greta did not consider them friends just yet, but with a reason to finally spend time together, she hoped that would change in the future as she had no intention of not having Harry in her life.
As Bellatrix spent her days with Greta, Harry spent his days in Diagon Alley, doing whatever the Order of the Phoenix found necessary, having had to put his quest to destroy the horcruxes on pause for the time being. He had not experienced much Death Eater activity, but he had noted that one of the apparent leaders of the Death Eaters, Hektor Pyrites, had been seen around the area numerous times throughout the days. With his lightly blood stained white silk gloves, the wizard had a dandy air about him, seemingly exalting himself above all others due to his substantial wealth, though it masked a deeply violent man that did not mind getting his hands dirty as his gloves attested. He was smug, but pleasant in his interactions, never showing outright wickedness, keeping his cruelty and evil close to the chest instead.
Harry followed him around the Diagon Alley as frequently as he could, before allowing Dorcas Meadowes to take over in order to prevent Pyrites from knowing he was being followed. The pair did not know what the wizard was doing as all he seemed to do was go into various shops, look around, and leave without saying a word. It was strange to both of them, though they knew well enough to mention it in the various Order meetings that had taken place. He would show his hand one day, they knew, but until they, all they could do was watch the alley to their best ability.
"Harry!" The candy maker Ivey Canady said as Harry walked passed her cart one day. She was a petite witch with long auburn hair that was pulled into a bun, and wore a candy-cane styled dress.
"Hey, Ivey, how are you?" Harry questioned, having grown friendly with her since his arrival in the past three years prior.
"Dreadful, business has been just awful," replied the candy maker as she gestured to her surroundings, where there were very few visitors. Those that did visit simply rushed about their day, instead of taking their time to enjoy their day in the alley like would normally occur without Voldemort's presence.
"I'm sorry," Harry said compassionately, knowing that the woman barely made a living these days. She had to close down her shop at the far end of the alley for the reason, leaving just her cart business to sustain herself. "I'll be here buying everything I can if that helps," he smiled, before purchasing some goodies and walking over to the small table that was near the cart and taking a seat to enjoy his snack.
"You are my best customer after all," Ivey grinned as she called over to Harry, who laughed in response, unable to disagree with that assessment.
Harry opened Remus' journal and took out a quill, starting to write in the journal for the first time in a few months. He announced to Remus that he had left Hogwarts, with Remus congratulating him and recalling his time as Harry's teacher during his third year. Remus also told Harry about some school stories with his father, which Harry greatly appreciated. They then spoke about what Remus remembered about the first war against Voldemort, but as Harry expected, Remus did not know much until he left Hogwarts and joined the Order of the Phoenix, a fact that would not happen for another year. Finally, Harry relayed to Remus that he was marrying Bellatrix Black, which greatly surprised and amused Remus, but nonetheless, he responded with happiness to the news. When Harry left the alley after his shift was over, he promised himself that he would write in the journal more often, though he did not know if he would do it every time he was at Diagon Alley or not.
The month passed in a blur. Nearly every hour of the day was busy for both Bellatrix and Harry—Bellatrix mostly working on the plans for the wedding, while Harry was dedicating his time to the Order of the Phoenix. While Harry was out during the day, Bellatrix performed the tasks that she could do on her own, with her uncle and her sister helping out as well, while she and Harry handled the objectives that needed both of their input at nighttime. They worked well together, their tastes and desires being complementary to one another just as they themselves were complementary in their relationship. Before long, it was a few days before the wedding was supposed to take place that found them both preparing for their various bachelor and bachelorette festivities.
Two nights before the wedding, which would take place on Harry's birthday, both Harry and Bellatrix went out on their own: Harry to the Three Broomsticks with Hagrid, Edgar, Xenophilius, Frank, Bertram, Sirius, and Alphard, while Bellatrix went to the Leaky Cauldron with Andromeda and Greta, who was quite surprised and pleased to be invited having thought that Bellatrix did not want to be friends with her even with all the time they had spent together. Truthfully, while she would have never admitted it, Bellatrix did not have many options, having distanced herself from everyone that she would have invited prior to meeting Harry. After all, she couldn't invite Narcissa since she was not invited to the wedding in the first place, and having her middle sister there along with her oldest sister would not make for a very comfortable night. She was sad, but she also knew that her long term happiness would be with Harry and not the rest of her Black family.
Each had an eventful night in different ways: Harry had been transformed into Bellatrix using Polyjuice Potion, forced to spend part of the night as his future wife. Everyone had a good laugh at it, including Xenophilius who had come up with the idea, but Harry had already started to plan his revenge for them. Bellatrix, meanwhile, had seen her sister drunk for the first time, which greatly amused her, having never expected such a thing from her more proper sister. The two were quickly growing closer to one another over their time planning the wedding—the sisterly bond was very much present with both being happy that they got to see various sides of one another throughout their month planning the wedding.
On the morning of the wedding, which coincided with his eighteenth birthday, Harry awoke at 10 o'clock. He stayed in bed for a while reading the daily prophet, before putting on his slippers and walking downstairs to make himself a small breakfast. Once the toast and the eggs were made, he brought his plate over to the table and took a seat, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice all the while. He ate slower than he normally would, enjoying the peace that the alone time brought to him, knowing that things would be different forever after the day ended for then he would be eating his breakfasts with Bellatrix, his wife. Once he was finished his meal, he brought his plate over to the sink, gave it a quick rinse, and headed up to the bathroom to take a shower.
He exited the bathroom nearly a half an hour later wearing a towel, before walking to his closet and pulling out the dress attire that he had purchased with Ted a few days earlier. He placed the clothes down onto his table and headed over to the vanity, where he looked at himself in the mirror and gently rubbed his hair with his towel. He then picked up his wand and ran it through his hair, drying it off and combing it to his satisfaction—it was much easier to comb due to Dumbledore's charms, which made it considerably more manageable.
He then took a seat on the edge of his bed and tossed on a black pair of trousers that were akin to muggle tuxedo pants; it even had the strip of silk braiding down the side, as well. Then he buttoned up a white dress shirt that had a pleated front, and tucked it into the pants, making sure it was even all around. He wrapped a green cummerbund around his waist, making sure it was flat and wrinkle free, hugging it tightly to his body. He tied his green bow tie around his neck, using the full mirror that was in the corner of his room to make sure it was straight. He then reached into his jewelry box and pulled out the pocket watch Dumbledore had gifted to him on his 17th birthday a year before, having worn it only sparingly prior to leaving Hogwarts. Giving it a small smile, he fastened the watch to his belt loop, making sure it was visible for all to see.
He looked down at the last remaining article of clothing that he had lain on his bed, surprised that he was dressed so quickly. Reaching down to pick it up, he put on his single breasted, green frock coat, which had silver trim and black fastenings. Green was a color that had always made him look best in his opinion; it brought out his eyes and showed just how green they were, even if they were now tinged with some blue by way of Dumbledore's charms. In fact, green was one of his favorite colors: if he could change Ravenclaw's colors, he'd switch them for Slytherin's since, in his opinion, green and silver were a lot better than blue and bronze. He kept his jacket open, liking how it looked to him as he stared at himself in the mirror. Smiling, he turned and walked out of the room, whistling an easy tune all the while in an effort to calm the nervousness that was starting to grow inside of him.
Edgar and Xenophilius were waiting for him in the living room as he walked downstairs, having arrived while Harry was in the shower. "You look good," Edgar said, nodding approvingly upon seeing his friend. "She's going to look better, but at least you're not embarrassing yourself."
"You are the worst best man of all time," Harry sighed, earning a laugh from both Edgar and Xenophilius. He saw that the pair were both wearing elegant blue robes, with Edgar's being tartan and made of velvet, while Xenophilius' had bright golden stars on his.
"Oh, I'm not so bad," Edgar grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. "I did bring this, after all."
"You only had one job, Xenophilius did everything else, you better have brought my ring," Harry laughed, though they all knew he was thankful for the help of his friends. "How much time do I have?"
"It starts in a little less than an hour, guests should start arriving in twenty or so minutes," Xenophilius answered, showing a seriousness to him that Harry and Edgar had seen only a few times. Xenophilius often was viewed as an absentminded dreamer, but both Harry and Edgar knew that it was hiding a very shrewd and intelligent man.
"Thanks," replied Harry, taking a seat on the couch as he reached down and put on his black leather shoes. "Where are Pandora and Charlotte?"
"Pandora is coming later," Xenophilius returned, knowing that his girlfriend planned to come a few minutes before the start of the wedding, rather than come with him early and awkwardly linger around.
"Charlotte's in Alphard's house talking with Greta," Edgar answered, having just left the pair a few minutes before Harry came down.
"Greta's here already?" Harry inquired, looking up from his shoes and over to his friend, a surprised expression on his face.
"Bellatrix invited her, apparently," Edgar nodded affirmatively, having been surprised to see her himself. While he knew that Greta was a somewhat acquaintance to Bellatrix, he had no idea the pair were close enough to be invited to pre-wedding events.
Harry nodded, before going silent for a few moments, his thoughts entirely on the coming day. Wanting to get his mind off of his nerves, he reached for his wand and gave it a flick, where two parcels zoomed from the kitchen table over to him on the couch. "These are for you two, as a thank you for helping me with all of this."
"You didn't have to get me anything, Harry," Xenophilius said, not wanting anything from his best friend. He had helped because Harry was the best friend Xenophilius had ever had; he had accepted Xenophilius without question, without comment, which was something that only Bertram and a few others had done before. They both opened their presents at the same time, which earned a smile from each of the recipients. "Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks, mate," Edgar agreed, seeing how personal the gift was to them respectively. "It means a lot."
"No problem, thank you," returned Harry, not thinking anything of the gift as he simply wanted to show his appreciation to all that they had done for him throughout the past month.
"Don't think we've forgotten your birthday, we plan on celebrating it later on," Edgar winked, earning a nod from Xenophilius. "Happy Birthday!"
Harry smiled, but stayed silent, inwardly still thinking, the brief respite not having accomplished anything for his mental state. "Are you nervous?" Xenophilius questioned, seeing the look on Harry's face and assuming it was simply pre-wedding jitters that came to everyone.
"Not really," Harry answered, though the lump in his throat betrayed his seeming confidence. "I know she's it for me, if anyone is it, but the journey to get here is starting to hit me hard, bringing back memories and whatnot."
"What's wrong?" Edgar inquired, coming to take a seat closer to Harry, while Xenophilius took a seat in the chair across from them.
"You two are my best friends; you both know that, right?" Harry asked, with both silently responding with a nod. "I've been...hiding something from you both, from just about everyone save Bellatrix, Alphard, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that, well, it's sort of unbelievable."
"What is it?" Xenophilius questioned interestedly, wondering what big secret Harry was hiding. He had secrets himself, things that he kept hidden from the rest of the world, so Harry having them did not make him feel betrayed or anything of the sort.
"You sure you want to hear it now? You can't tell a soul about it, not even to Charlotte or Pandora," Harry returned, looking at them each, wanting to make sure they understood that it was to stay inside that room.
"You have our vow that it'll stay between us," Edgar agreed, finding it preposterous that Harry would even think that he'd let slip a personal secret of Harry's.
"My name isn't Harry Dumbledore, it's actually Harry Potter," Harry started, revealing his biggest secret like someone would take off a band-aid: quick and without preamble. "I am a time traveler from the future that came back from the 1990s. I am the son of Lily Evans and James Potter, and I normally don't look like this, but my appearance is based on charms that were performed by Dumbledore when I arrived because I look almost exactly like my father, albeit with my mother's eyes. I'm sorry I did not tell you earlier, it's just...you know, it never came up."
Silence. Silence filled the room, with Edgar and Xenophilius going over everything that Harry had relayed to them. "Get out of here," Edgar finally whispered when he finally was able to form a sentence, clearly gobsmacked by the revelation.
Was it possible? He knew that time travel was a thing, what with a time-turner being well-known and all, but could someone really travel that far back into the past? He had never heard anything like it before, which left him a bit confused, inwardly wondering if Harry was pulling his leg on the issue. How would a person go about such a thing, anyway? He didn't have answers, but he also did not have answers for why Harry would make up such a thing, either.
"That's wicked," Xenophilius grinned after he had gone over what he had heard; seemingly not having the internal struggle that Edgar was having across from him.
"You believe me? Just like that?" Harry said, surprised that Xenophilius apparently did not take issue with anything about the story.
"Why would you lie about something like this?" Xenophilius said with a broad smile, still not offended at all by Harry keeping it a secret. He was easy to believe things, easy to trust, and he knew that Harry always had his best interest at heart so Harry's revelation only served to bring the two closer in his mind. "Plus, I've seen your eyes change to full on green some days, with those green eyes matching Lily's, so it kind of makes sense to me."
Harry thought back, remembering that time that his eyes had flashed green while in the presence of his mother, and gave a small smile at the memory. "What about you?"
"I believe you, it's just a lot to take in," Edgar said honestly, his confusion subsiding a bit at Xenophilius' acceptance of the issue. "But don't worry, we're good. I have questions, certainly, but none that need to be answered on your birthday or, more importantly, on your wedding day."
"You sure?" Harry asked, wanting their relationship to grow and not stagnate because of the revelation. He did not mean to ruin the day for Edgar, but he felt it necessary to start his new life with his wife and his friends by his side.
"Absolutely, you're one of my best friends, the fact that you haven't been born yet doesn't change that," Edgar grinned, trying to bring laughter to the situation. "Thank you for telling us, though."
With that, the trio embraced and talked about nothing for a few more minutes before they exited into the backyard where they noticed that the guests were starting to funnel in from Alphard's house, having arrived via the portkey inherent in the invitations. The backyard was decorated elegantly, with three rows of white chairs situated on both sides of a long purple carpet that led up to a gazebo-like altar, where a ministry official named Declan Tennyson already stood. All around the yard were golden balloons that hovered in the air, while an unusual amount of birds chirped in the trees that granted the backyard some privacy from muggle onlookers. To the side, there was a band of three, who were somehow able to set up without making a sound, though Harry did not know if it was because of magic or they were simply quiet. Butterflies fluttered all around, bringing bright colors to the yard with each flap of their wings.
Harry greeted the guests as Edgar and Xenophilius led them to their respective seats. The wedding was small, so the guests were sparse, but the ones that most surprised Harry, having never known they were even invited just as Bellatrix had planned, were Lily and James, who arrived along with Remus and Sirius. "Hello Harry, fancy seeing you here," Lily said with a smile as she greeted the groom.
"Lily, it's great to see you," Harry replied with a grin that he was unable to contain, the pure joy of having his parents at his wedding swelling inside of him. "Are you here with James?"
"That she is," James smiled, earning a roll of the eyes from the witch next to him. "Good on you for getting married. I myself am the marrying-type, as well. Congratulations!" After a few more pleasant words, the pair moved by Harry and allowed Xenophilius to show them to their seats, where they had their own row with their other friends.
"Remus, it's always a pleasure," Harry said, shaking the werewolf's hand. While the pair hadn't spoken much, their interactions had always been peaceful and respectful, making Harry assume that they would become fast friends once they interacted with each other more upon Remus joining the Order of the Phoenix.
"The same for you, Harry," Remus replied with a small smile, having only known Harry through passing before then. "I want to wish you congratulations on the day," he added, giving a small nod and then following Lily and James to his seat.
"Did you bring them, Sirius?" Harry asked, wondering how the wizard knew he wanted them to come. He had decided not to push the issue, believing that it would do more harm than good in the long run, but was happy that Sirius seemingly decided to invite them on his own.
"Bellatrix told me to get them here," Sirius shrugged, not really seeing the big deal, but wanting Harry to be happy on his special day.
"The more the merrier," Harry replied as his heart jumped at the idea of Bellatrix going out of her way to make him happy like that. If there was any doubt about his love for the witch, it was now gone, having seen how much she sacrificed and thought about his needs and wants.
"I never thought I'd see this day," Sirius said, truly surprised at Bellatrix's personal growth. The pair spoke quietly for a few more minutes, before Sirius took his seat next to Remus towards the back.
About ten minutes before the wedding was to start, Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid arrived, making a large grin appear on Harry's face. Dumbledore wore bright purple robes and a tall hat, each of which were decked with shooting stars. "I'm so glad you two could make it," Harry said happily, giving them both a hug, thinking of each of them as a member of his family, along with Bellatrix, Alphard, Sirius, and the Tonks.
"Yeh thought I'd miss this?" Hagrid replied with a laugh, the full force of which carried around the entire backyard. "I miss yeh at Hogwarts. I heard yeh came by a few weeks ago, sorry I missed yeh."
"Me too, Hagrid, me too," Harry agreed, having grown accustomed to being able to see Hagrid every day at Hogwarts. "I promise once this madness is over, I'll be coming by the school a lot more and will be at your hut for lunch quite often." Hagrid gave a large smile at that, and after a few moments of conversation, the pair took their seats over to the left, where a special chair for Hagrid was located, allowing the half-giant to sit comfortably without worry.
Overall, once Harry noticed that all twenty or so guests were seated, he knew that it was almost time and headed towards the gazebo-like altar. He gave a hug to Andromeda along the way and winked towards Greta, both of whom had just arrived, and before he knew it, he was standing on the altar, waiting for Bellatrix and Alphard to appear. Music was playing in the background, though the band was unseen, and the songs carried from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Then, suddenly, as if on cue, the music changed, and Nymphadora appeared at the head of the yard and quietly walked down the aisle, tossing white and red roses along the way, before jumping into Ted's arms with a large smile on her face. The music changed once more as Alphard and Bellatrix stepped onto the long, purple carpet. The runner, which ran from behind the chairs all the way up to the gazebo-like altar, was made of a purple felt and was lined with the aforementioned rose petals. Quietly, the guests all rose to their feet, turning their attention behind them where the bride was ready to walk down the aisle.
Harry's breath hitched in his throat as Bellatrix came into view. With her long black hair done up in long, loose curls, and a silver tiara set on her head, she was a sight to be seen. She had on her floaty, silky white robes that hung off her shoulders elegantly; revealing tanned and toned shoulders and unblemished skin. Her cheeks were pink, and were elegantly touched up with makeup, as if done by a muggle. He gave her a small smile as they made eye contact, which grew into a large grin as she began to walk down the aisle with her uncle. Soon enough, she was just a few steps away from him, as she stepped up onto the raised platform, gazing at no one but Harry. Her uncle gave Harry a smile before walking over to his place in the front row next to Ted and Andromeda, who had tears in her eyes as she watched her baby sister.
The warlock officiating gestured for all to be seated as the music came to an end. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today celebrate the union of two faithful souls," Declan Tennyson started, calling the ceremony to order, having performed many such ceremonies throughout his career.
The ceremony would last around a half an hour, as Declan would only read from ancient scrolls and tales of old before the bride and groom performed their vows. So there the couple stood, looking into each other's eyes as Declan started to speak, inching through the ceremony at a slow pace. Other than Declan's voice, the only things that could be heard was the sound of the birds chirping in the distance and the fish jumping in the koi pond off to the side. The setting, being outside of Alphard's house, and with the sun shinning high above, couldn't be any more apt, as it showed the world what their relationship was about: small and quiet. Finally, the vows came, and the pair said their peace with such conviction and truth that their love, which they both pledged was eternal, was almost palpable.
They each promised that they would love one another until their death. They promised that, no matter the circumstance, they would fight for one another, have and hold one another, in sickness and in health, no matter what happened in their lives. And most of all, they promised to compromise should a problem ever arise, each vowing that they would sacrifice things for the other just as they had done up until that point. It was clear that they both knew exactly what they would have to do to preserve their marriage and allow it to grow through their lives, which was a good sign to all those that were in attendance that they were watching the beginning of a happy and healthy marriage. They placed their rings on their fingers after saying their peace, each having been handed their respective band by Andromeda and Edgar, the maid of honor and best man respectively.
"Here before witnesses, Bellatrix and Harry have sworn their vows towards each other. With this cord, I bind them to those vows," Declan Tennyson recited, flicking his wand and conjuring a rope that wrapped itself loosely around the couple's entwined hands. "Heart to thee, body to thee, always and forever, so mote it be," he finished off, smiling at the pair in a congratulatory manner. "You may, as muggles say, kiss the bride."
Harry grinned and leaned in, kissing Bellatrix tenderly and lovingly. The euphoria of kissing her as her husband for the first time was something that Harry had not expected, so after pulling away, he still had his eyes closed as the attendants began to clap in congratulations. The golden balloons that were scattered about the area burst, releasing confetti and snow-white doves that flew high into the sky, disappearing into the orange-gold disk that was the sun. Declan Tennyson ran his wand through the air, and above Harry and Bellatrix's heads, there was a shower of rainbow colored stars that shot out all around them, illuminating the area in celebratory colors.
"Shall we, Mrs. Dumbledore?" Harry said, holding out his hand for Bellatrix to take. He looked down at her with his blue-green eyes showing nothing but love, his heart full of happiness for her in that instant. For the briefest of moments, Bellatrix thought she saw his actual beautiful green eyes, so much alike his mother Lily's, where they were seemingly alight with the flames of passion for her, but as quickly as the image came, it faded into eye color she had grown to know.
"Let's, Mr. Dumbledore," Bellatrix replied, wrapping her arm around Harry's, and taking off down the carpet-laden pathway slowly. They smiled and said their thanks as the guests whispered words of encouragement and congratulations when they passed. They headed out of the rows of chairs, and to the side of the house, where pictures would be taken, allowing the backyard to be transformed into the reception area all the while.
After twenty or so minutes, Bellatrix and Harry both entered Alphard's house through the front door, the pictures finished and the backyard nearly transformed. While Harry had planned on returning to the backyard, Bellatrix had asked for a couple of minutes of private time, so there they were, entering Alphard's kitchen as a married couple for the first time. "That was easy," Harry laughed, realizing his nervousness beforehand was misplaced.
"The hard part is still in our future," Bellatrix replied, knowing that they would have to work as hard as possible in order to create and maintain a happy marriage, just as they both had done to maintain the relationship that they had.
"Oh, only a hundred and fifty years or so," Harry laughed, wrapping his arm around Bellatrix as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Keep doing that, and I'll stay with you for two hundred years, don't say I wont!"
"So I have something for us," Bellatrix said, as she walked over to the counter and reached behind the breadbox. Pulling out a small vial, she held it up to Harry, showing him the golden liquid that was inside and revealing the real reason she wanted to be alone with him for a few moments. "Remember this?"
"Is that your vial of Felix Felicis?" Harry asked, surprised that she had brought it with her. The last he heard about it was when they had first purchased it a year ago and she said that she was saving it for a special day. Today is a special day, he thought to himself, realizing her plan.
"You know it is," Bellatrix smiled, glad that Harry had remembered that day in Diagon Alley the previous summer that had set them on their mutual journey together: it was exactly one year prior to their wedding. "I was thinking, maybe we should each take a sip and have a great rest of the day, what do you think?"
"Together?" Harry questioned with a raised eyebrow, recalling that they had planned on using their potions together and wanting to make sure that was exactly what she desired.
"Always," Bellatrix nodded, uncorking it and taking one swig, before handing it over to Harry, who downed a swig himself, leaving enough for one more gulp.
Just then, Ted and Andromeda entered the house, each wearing large, bright smiles, happy for the newly married couple. "Congratulations!" They both said, hugging each of them, thrilled for the younger couple.
Harry quickly grabbed the cork from Bellatrix, before stopping the vial and placing it in his pocket. "Thank you," Harry nodded with a sigh of relief, a contentedness inside that he had never experienced before. It was as if a great burden had been taken off his shoulders, one that he had never known he even had before that day.
"How does it feel?" Ted questioned, raising an eyebrow, curious as to how being married was different in Harry's opinion.
"Fantastic," Harry returned enthusiastically, the potion having hit him just then, filling his heart and mind with such great confidence that he felt he could take on all of the Death Eaters at once. "I feel absolutely fantastic."
"It gets better," Andromeda smiled, then looking back towards the door, she remembered the reason they had come into the house. "We were supposed to come and tell you that everything is ready out there. It looks amazing! We'll all take some more pictures as the hors d'oeuvres are handed out, then we celebrate."
Nodding her head, Bellatrix looked over to her husband with a large smile on her face, silently enjoying the fact that they were both hopped up on luck potion and no one else had any idea. "Shall we, Mr. Dumbledore?" Bellatrix questioned as she reached out towards Harry, inwardly correcting Dumbledore to Potter for her own sake. She knew that only Alphard, Hagrid and Dumbledore, along with herself, knew of Harry's secret, though she presumed that both her sister and her brother-in-law would find out about it one day in the future—she had yet to find out that Harry had added two more people to the circle an hour or two prior.
"Of course, Mrs. Dumbledore," Harry replied, wrapping his arm around Bellatrix's and allowing Ted and Andromeda to lead the way, where they would enjoy the celebration of their marriage.
Just as they had planned, it would be a fun event, small in attendees but large in love and excitement, and it would be a glimpse of the life that the new couple would lead. It would be one of love, of closeness, and in the end, devotion like no other. They would cut the cake, which was an elegant, two-tiered creation, with one tier being white chocolate frosted with strawberry filling and the other being pumpkin that Greta had made as her gift to the couple. And when the night came to an end, the pair would leave to their room above the Three Broomsticks that they had rented for the weekend, hoping to enjoy their new marriage as best as they could.
Overall, as Harry lay beside his new wife later that night, it was a great day, but he knew that the future would be even better assuming Lord Voldemort was defeated quickly. He didn't know when or how, but he knew that Voldemort would die one day, allowing the couple to be open about their love, which would be dangerous to do before that day came. Each day that the Dark Lord lived was a risk to them, as Bellatrix would now be branded a blood traitor and be just as big of a target as muggleborns were, but he knew that Voldemort would be defeated eventually. However, what he did not know was that he would have to sacrifice more than he ever imagined in order to make that happen.
A/N: As is tradition, a new chapter on my birthday! I'm sorry it took so long to get this out and I missed a chapter on Christmas, I went through a personal happening that uprooted my entire life. There should be three chapters left, so this story will not be abandoned, don't worry. I hope to continue with my Christmas/Birthday uploading scheme, but I may get another chapter out before then. No promises, though, as I wanted to get this chapter out on Valentine's but failed.