Chapter Thirty-Seven Bridal Party and Wedding Date Planning

Disclaimer: Any characters other than Athena and any situations related to the book or any other Harry Potter related items belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. I do not gain any money from this. I only write to relieve stress and to get the ideas out of my head.

A/N. Feel free to leave a review or comments on anything I messed up on or if you have a suggestion for the story. Don't feel obligated to give me a review though. I appreciate everyone who reads my stories. Reviews are bonuses in my eyes so like I said don't feel obligated to leave one. Thank you also to those who have added this story to favorites or following I appreciate it. ".."=talking '..'=thinking *..*=text message/notes.

June 28, 2001

A week had passed since Harry and Athena had gotten engaged. The pair sat in Harry's office looking at their calendars trying to decide on a date when they would tie the knot. Athena looked at Harry "I think a summer wedding would be nice so June or July of next year should work."

Harry looked at his calendar noticing that currently he had no events scheduled for any Saturday in June but that July was mainly full "well July will not working for me. I've got committee meetings and tournaments scheduled during July. June will work for me as all my weekends are free in June. Do we want early June or late June shortly after the summer starts?"

Athena looked at her calendar "well I have the first weekend and the last weekend of June available so either June 1st or June 29th are the Saturdays I have open. Which one would work better for you? I'm good with either one and don't really have a preference for early or late June."

Harry "I think June 1st will be a good time. I don't think it will be too hot and hopefully the weather will be cooperating. So June 1st, 2002 sound like a good date for our wedding? It will be less than a year to plan our wedding. If you want to push it back another year that will be fine with me."

Athena "I think next year will be fine and it sounds like we have picked our wedding date. Now we just have to start looking at venues and decide on one soon as they usually want a year or close to a year's notice on a date. June 1st, 2002 will be a happy day for us." She sat down on the edge of his lap kissing him still unable to believe that they were engaged and planning their wedding.

Harry returned the kiss wrapping an arm around her waist. He pulled away after a moment putting the event on his calendar and her's to make sure they were listed as busy. "Now that we have a date in mind we need to decide who we want to be part of the bridal party and invite them over to ask them in person to be part of our bridal party."

Athena got up "I'm going to my office so I can think about bridesmaids and Maid of Honor and getting a binder organized for planning of our wedding. Why don't you take some time and think about who you want to stand by your side on our wedding day." She headed out of Harry's office and into her own sitting down at her desk opening her laptop. She started preparing what she wanted to go into her wedding planning binder until she could buy one from one of the local bookstores. She started making a list of her closest friends that were girls trying to determine who she wanted to stand by her side and who she didn't really talk to as much. She frowned slightly looking at the short list in her hands not sure how many people Harry would have on his side. She had come up with four names for her side which included Hermione, Madison, Ginny, and Catherine Vanderbilt who had been a good friend of hers. She got up heading back to Harry's office looking at her future husband working on his list "I think I have my list for my part of the bridal party."

Harry looked up at her "I think I have just finished mine. Ron will be my best man with Neville, Seamus, and Dean as my groomsmen. I'm thinking Teddy will be our ring bearer if that is okay with you. I'm just not sure who we could have as a flower girl."

Athena perched on the edge of his desk "I was thinking Hermione for my Matron of Honor as she has become one of my best friends. Madison, Ginny, and my other friend Catherine Vanderbilt for my bridesmaids. Teddy is a fine choice for a ring bearer. As for the flower girl Catherine has a daughter who should be the right age around the time we get married to be our flower girl."

Harry nodded "I believe your mother mentioned a Catherine that you had grown up with and it sounds like we now have our bridal party. I guess we should send some owls out and get everyone gathered here today so that we can ask them. It is hard to believe that in an hour we have settled two of the biggest questions we will be asked about when people learn that we are engaged. We do need to look at venues but I believe that is something that can wait a week or so until we can find a time that your parents and Ron and Hermione are free. I remember when Ron and Hermione started looking at venues it seemed very difficult to choose and they looked at multiple venues in a day before finally deciding on one that would allow for magical guests. I think they waited until about 10 months before their wedding just because of busy schedules and trying to get both sets of parents to the venues." He pulled a stack of parchment out of the drawer getting a pen out of the pen holder ready to write.

Athena took a few pieces of parchment before grabbing a pen beginning to write quick notes to those she planned to have be in her bridal party and penning a quick note to her parents regarding free time the next weekend. She did her best to make the writing as clear as possible working to not smear it in her effort to get the letters written and sealed quickly. She set her stack down beside Harry's "we should send them off in pairs if possible. Ron and Hermione's should go together, Ginny and Neville's should go together. Though for my last three notes I might want to find another method as I would hate to make my poor Hermes travel as far as would be needed to get the letters to those in the states."

Harry looked at her "hmm that does pose a slight problem. I guess we could pop by your parents and use one of their owls to send the notes and then head back home before everyone gets here. We could go the ministry and either take the international floo or get a portkey which one would you like?"

Athena "I feel a portkey would be better and faster for us to get to my parents. I have no doubt that my parents will allow us to borrow the owls and I'm sure they will want to be a part of us asking our friends to be a part of the bridal party." She got up walking over to Hermes releasing her owl from the cage before tying Hermione and Ginny's letters to her owl opening the window to let her fly to her destination.

Harry tied his envelopes to Midnight's leg stroking the owl's feathers as he spoke to him "make sure those letters get to Ron and Neville." He released the owl through the window watching as Midnight joined Hermes in the sky on their mission to deliver letters to Harry and Athena's friends. He turned towards Athena "shall we head to the ministry and get our portkey?"

Athena nodded sliding off the counter to the ground "yes we should head that way. The faster we get to Boston the faster we can come back and have our gathering and ask the important question of our friends about our special day."

Harry nodded looking at her "of course and we will be bringing your parents back with us today so they can be apart of the gathering. I think they deserve to know when we have decided to get married and who we want to have by our side on the special day."

Athena took his head "of course I want my parents to be a part of this gathering." She lightly kissed him before taking his hand pulling him out of the room. She headed out of the office heading for the garage not sure yet if they were driving or apparating to the ministry.

Harry blinked at his vehicle following behind Athena "let's apparate to the ministry. For one it will save gas for this vehicle and second it will save us the hassle of trying to find a parking spot close to the ministry." He apparated into the ministry looking around before glancing to his side to make sure Athena was in one piece by his side.

Athena wandered over to the fountain in the lobby "I'll wait here by the fountain if you want to go get the portkey."

Harry kissed her cheek "try not to get into any trouble while I go get the portkey. I'll be back as fast as I can." He headed for the lift greeting some of his fellow employees on his way. He headed to the floor responsible for the portkeys. He got off on level six heading back towards the office smiling at the witch seated at the front of the department "hello I would like to create a portkey that will leave in 20 minutes and will get me to the Boston Ministry of Magic." He filled out a form before taking the torn boot similar to the one he had used with the Weasleys when they went to the Quidditch World Cup a few summers before. He walked back to the lift heading back down to the lobby to meet Athena so that they could leave for Boston.

Athena looked up as Harry walked over with the torn boot "well that is one of the more interesting looking portkeys I have seen but it will do the trick to get us to Boston. How much time before we can activate it?"

Harry "we have about 15 more minutes before we can leave. Why don't we go take a seat on the benches over there." He led her over to a bench taking a seat keeping an arm around her as she sat down next to him.

Athena reached into her bag pulling out a crossword puzzle book and a book of Sudoku puzzles "would you like the crossword puzzles or the Sudoku puzzles?"

Harry looked at the two books "I would like the crossword puzzles. I feel that I will have more success with finishing the crossword than I would with the Sudoku." He took the offered book and pencil after setting the torn boot in his lap. He looked at the clues for the puzzle trying to solve the first clue.

Athena put her brain to work on one of the numerous puzzles figuring out a few of the numbers automatically while having to work on figuring out the rest of the numbers.

The fifteen minutes flew by and soon enough the portkey began to buzz on Harry's leg letting him know it was ready to be activated. He closed the puzzle book tapping on Athena's shoulder "it is time to go sweetheart." He waited until she was ready with a hand on the portkey before he activated the portkey feeling the familiar tug at his navel.

Athena blinked when they landed in the lobby of the ministry of magic in Boston. She watched familiar faces walk by before following Harry out and to the nearest alleyway. Once they made sure that no one was looking at them she grabbed his hand apparating to her parent's house. She glanced at Harry when they landed in the foyer of her childhood home "Mom & Dad we need to speak with you in the living room." She walked into the living room listening for the sounds of movement within the house.

Harry blinked at the silence that greeted them "maybe they are out on business? I don't think it would be this quiet unless they were out."

Athena walked into the kitchen looking at the calendar hung near the fridge finding the day "they are at the office. I guess I should have called them before we headed here. I will go find the owls and get the letters sent out and then we can head to their office." She headed up the stairs heading for the office near her parent's bedroom. She opened the door smiling at the two owls sitting in their perches "hello lovelies. Would you do me a favor and get these letters to Madison and Catherine for me?" She smiled when the owls pecked her finger affectionately. She opened the cage waiting as the first of the two brown owls hopped onto her arm. She tied the letter onto the owl's foot before holding it out to the window "deliver this to Catherine Vanderbilt." She watched it take off before holding her arm out to the second owl tying the letter to it's foot before holding it to the window "deliver this to Madison." She watched the second owl head out before heading back down the stairs leaving the window open for the owls to return through. She looked at Harry "are we ready?"

Harry nodded "are you planning on taking the vehicle you have left here or are we going to apparate to an alleyway near their office?"

Athena "we can drive. We've done enough apparating for the moment and we will have to get back to the house before we use a portkey to get back to the London Ministry of Magic." She headed out into the garage opening the door to her vehicle feeling a little strange being on the opposite side of the vehicle to drive. She started up her vehicle smiling as it roared to life making sure Harry was buckled in before she put the vehicle in drive and heading towards Boston. She made the drive in a quicker than normal time as traffic was light. She pulled into a parking spot in front of her parents' real estate firm waiting until she was fully in the parking spot before placing the vehicle in park and getting out. She ran into the office looking for her parents heading into her mother's office not surprised to see both her parents in the office with a client "oh I'm sorry for interrupting I'll just wait in the lobby." She ducked out of the office taking a seat in one of the chairs in the lobby.

Harry looked at Athena chuckling "a bit excited to tell your parents?"

Athena bit her lip blushing slightly "maybe a little bit. I know you told them that you were planning to propose but they don't know that we are engaged yet. Plus now that we have set a date it and have decided on who we want by our side makes it all the more real. I can't help it wanting my parents to know."

Harry took her hand running his thumb over the top of it "I understand the feeling darling. I do want to make a stop at the Weasleys later to let them know that we are not only engaged but that we have a date set. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the Daily Prophet has already been informed and talking about us being engaged. Rita Skeeter has always managed to find out what has been going on in my life but at least she has been fact checking and making sure her sources are credible before printing anything after Hermione dealt with her."

Athena nodded "it has been the same way with my family. It didn't take long for the gossip columns to start reporting on my breakup with Alexander and then his engagement to Madison. Luckily they have not wrote anything terrible about me or my family but they seem to keep up with us pretty well when anything major happens. I'm sure they have started talking about us being engaged." She looked up as her parents walked the clients out of her mother's office. She waited until the clients were out of the office before getting up and walking over to her parents "I'm engaged!"

Audrey looked at the ring on her daughter's hand that was being shown "congratulations sweetheart. We are both very happy for you and Harry. That is a beautiful ring clearly meant for a beautiful girl such as yourself. Have you and Harry decided on a date yet or given any thought to who you want to be part of the bridal party?"

Axel placed a hand on his wife's shoulder "slow down on the questions my darling. Our daughter just told us the great news that she is engaged. I'm sure she and Harry are working on figuring out the details. We are so happy for you though it does make me a little sad that I am going to have to let my daughter leave the family to join another."

Athena hugged her father smiling up at him "It had to happen at some point dad." She turned her focus to her mother "we did decide on a date. June 1st, 2002 and we have decided on our bridal party. My Matron of Honor is going to be Hermione with Madison, Ginny, and Catherine as my bridesmaids. For Harry his Best Man will be Ron with Neville, Dean, and Seamus as his groomsmen. We are having a gathering at the house to officially ask the members of the bridal party to be part of our bridal party. We wanted you two to be present at the gathering to help celebrate with us."

Harry looked at the happy family glad he had asked Ron to ask his parents to be at the gathering since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were like parents to him.

Axel looked at Harry "come on over here Harry. It isn't just Athena who got engaged. You two are part of a team now and that is something you both will need to remember going forward."

Harry walked over to Axel accepting the pat on the shoulder. He smiled as Audrey gave him a hug before looking at Athena as she wrapped an arm around his waist and smiled up at him. He looked at Axel "I knew the minute I asked this lovely lady to move in with me that it wasn't just me against the world anymore. I knew that I had a partner that would be there to support me through the ups and downs of my job but also someone that I would be there for as well. I knew I had found the girl that was meant for me and who would complete me. She's my rock and I try to be her rock as well. We are a team and we take on our challenges head on and together when we can." He kissed the top of Athena's head keeping her close.

Athena looked at her watch then up at the trio "well I suppose if we want to meet everyone at the house in Lancashire at a decent time we should head back to the Blaze home and then portkey to London. From London we will drive to the house in Lancashire and meet everyone."

Audrey "organized as always my darling. Well everyone heard the young lady let's get a move on. Axel we will discuss taking time off to help our daughter plan the wedding after we meet everyone and have fun watching the engaged couple ask their friends to be part of their bridal party." She headed out linking arms with her daughter as they walked out to the car.

Axel chuckled "those two fill my life with lots of laughter and happiness. Let's follow them before we are forced to hear about how we are holding up the gathering." He walked with Harry out to the vehicle getting into Athena's car with Harry.

Half an hour later the group arrived at the Blaze home. They rushed inside after making sure the vehicle that was put in the garage and the garage door was shut. Athena ran up to the office making sure the window was shut now that the owls rested in the cage. She shut the cage before heading back down the stairs to the living room "okay window is shut and now we can go."

Harry turned the book in his hand into a portkey using the spell he had been taught waiting until everyone had a hand on the portkey before activating it blinking a few minutes later when they landed in the London Ministry lobby. "all right everyone here? Are we all in one piece and have all of our belongings with us?"

The three Blazes answered the questions before following Harry to his vehicle getting in the vehicle. Athena looked out the window as they headed towards the house holding the book that had been a portkey in her arms trying not to bounce with excitement. She got out once they reached the driveway heading up the drive to the front door. She unlocked the door heading into the house and shutting the door behind her before pulling her wand out adjusting the wards to allow her friends and family to apparate into the house. She walked into the kitchen starting to prepare snacks and drinks for the guests. Harry took a seat at the bar summoning more chairs into the kitchen for the soon to be arriving guests. Axel and Audrey took seats on the opposite end of the bar leaving space for the guests.

A half an hour later Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Madison, Catherine, and Mr and Mrs. Weasley had arrived and were in the kitchen talking about what everyone had been up to still not sure exactly why they were all gathered at Harry and Athena's home. Axel and Audrey chatted with Molly and Arthur doing their best to not spoil the couple's news. Harry tapped his glass holding Athena's left hand in his covering up her ring to the best of his ability "so I'm sure you all are wondering why we have asked you to gather here. Last week on our nine month anniversary I asked Athena to marry me and she said yes. Not only did we want to let our closest friends and family know but we have another reason for you to be here. Athena if you would do the honors."

Athena removed her hand from Harry's letting the group see the ring "we have decided on a date for the wedding next June 1st we will be tying the knot. We wanted to ask each of you to be part of the bridal party to help us celebrate our special day. Hermione, you have become an amazing friend to me over the past nine months and I am more than thankful for all your support. Will you do me the honor of being my Matron of Honor?"

Hermione nodded surprised that she had been asked "of course I will be your Matron of Honor."

Athena looked at Madison, Ginny, and Catherine "you three have been great friends to me though we have had our ups and downs throughout our friendships. Would you three do the honor of standing by my side as bridesmaids?"

The three nodded glad they had asked to be included in the special day that would occur the next year.

Harry smiled "well I guess it is my turn now. Ron, you have been my best mate since we were at Hogwarts and your family has been there for me throughout the toughest times I have faced. Would you do me the honor of being my Best Man?"

Ron nodded clapping Harry on the shoulder "of course I would mate. You know I will be there for you on this special day and for the rest of our lives."

Harry looked at Neville, Seamus, and Dean "you three have been great friends both in and out of Hogwarts. Will you three be by my side as groomsmen as I marry the special woman in my life?"

The three nodded "of course we will Harry. How could you even doubt that we would be."

Harry looked at Molly and Arthur "You two have become parents to me and I wanted you two to be here to celebrate this milestone in my life. I would be honored to have you at the wedding as parents since you have become like parents to me."

Molly walked over and enveloped Harry in a hug "of course we will attend. You know you have become a son to us, Harry. If you want we will stand in for your parents but only if you want us to. I don't want to act like we are replacing your parents."

Harry returned the hug "that means more to me than you could imagine. I would be grateful to have you two stand in for my parents. I imagine it would be what they wanted."

Athena smiled at the touching scene. She looked at the various food and drinks refilling the nearly empty glasses and meat and cheese trays.

Arthur clapped Harry on the shoulder "so under a year until you become a married man."

Harry nodded "we wanted June or July and the beginning of June worked best for both of us. Though we probably won't have a honeymoon right away due to our busy schedules but we will make time." He looked over at Athena thinking about how lucky he was to have her watching as a beautiful smile spread across her face as she talked with their guests.

Athena looked at Harry feeling his gaze still shocked that the wonderful man across the room wanted to marry her. She turned back to Hermione as they discussed possible color schemes.

Hermione "so do you have any color schemes in mind for this wedding? Have you guys made a list or decided on some venues you want to look at?"

Athena looked at Hermione thinking about the questions "something with silver or maybe a teal or blue color. If we have silver in the scheme I would probably want it more as an accent color rather than making it one of the main colors. We haven't had a chance to look at possible venues yet but we are planning on starting a search later today."

Hermione nodded "maybe a teal and black with a silver accent or maybe a teal and another color like red with silver as an accent. As for venues once you decide on ones you want to tour we will have to schedule a time when Ron and I, your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and yourself and Harry are available to tour these venues."

Athena nodded "I figured it is most likely going to have to happen on Saturday or Sunday since that is usually the least busy days for people. Teal and Black does sound good but maybe teal and red would be better. Though if we are going with red it would have to be a cherry red or light red color otherwise it might overpower the teal/blue."

Harry walked over to Athena's side as Mr and Mrs. Weasley went to talk to Ron and the other groomsmen. He looked at the unfamiliar blonde standing near Athena. She was about half a foot taller than Athena and dressed more formally than the others with her hair in a perfect up-do not a hair out of place. He thought for a minute about the description Athena had given him of her friend Catherine guessing that the blonde was indeed Catherine. He offered a hand "Harry Potter."

Catherine eyed Harry offering a dainty hand "Catherine Vanderbilt. I've heard many things about you Mr. Potter. I am glad to see my closest confident over the years is happy with you. I hope you two share many years of happiness. My hopes she would find someone who would love her truly for everything she is and be as powerful as her parents, my parents, and my own marriage had started to diminish when she got with Alexander." She looked at Madison "Alexander is a great guy he just wasn't the guy for Athena."

Madison nodded "he is wonderful for me and was meant for me like Harry was meant for Athena. Those two are perfect for each other and you would never have imagined it unless you see them together. I'm just glad that Athena and I were able to move on from the past and go back to being really good friends again so that I could share this moment with her."

Soon enough a few hours had passed and the guests began to trickle out heading back to their respective homes. Athena watched as her parents activated the portkey in their hands that would bring them back to their home in Boston. She looked at Harry "we had a good time today. Hermione reminded me that we have plenty to plan and less than a year to get it all done. I guess it is good that my workload has decreased a bit so I will have more time. I'm wondering how long it will take before my mother takes off time from clients to come spend time here to help us plan."

Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders kissing the top of her head "it is going to happen sooner than you think. We will make time and we will make sure it all comes together exactly how you want it in the allotted time we have. I'm glad we got to spend time with our friends and have them share this special moment with us."

Athena kissed his cheek "that was really sweet what you said to Molly and Arthur this afternoon. It was touching and I am sure that your parents would have been proud of you and would have wanted you to ask Molly and Arthur to represent your parents in the wedding since they can't be there in person. Of course, we know they are watching over you and are proud of the man you have become."

Harry nodded "I'm glad we had this little gathering. Not only did we lock in our bridal party but the two sets of parents who will help with the wedding and will have the most input were here to celebrate and got to meet the people who will stand by our side."

Athena smiled she slid out of his embrace heading for the kitchen slightly hungry for dinner. She opened the fridge staring at the different food options that Kreacher had picked up for them based on her shopping list. She pulled the eggs and cheese out before grabbing the tortilla shells and meat preparing to make a few burritos for her and Harry. She worked on cooking the meat glancing up as Harry walked into the room "what do you think of teal and cherry red for our colors?"

Harry made a slight face "the cherry red I am okay with but I am not sure about the teal. Maybe a soft red, a light yellow, and silver? I know that makes it a Gryffindor colors wedding but in some variations, it looks good together."

Athena thought about it as she cooked the meat in front of her "cherry red, buttercup yellow, and gray. I can see that working out well. Red and gray as the main colors with yellow accents would look really nice and modern. We do want a modern but traditional wedding correct?"

Harry nodded "that sounds like a good idea. Yes, I want a traditional but also a modern wedding." He wrapped his arms around her waist "I think we have done enough wedding planning for today. Let's just relax and have this nice dinner and maybe watch a movie until we get tired." He kissed her neck before releasing her and setting two places at the bar.

Athena finished up the last of bits of the meal before wrapping up the burritos filled with meat, cheese, egg, and other various ingredients. She set two on each plate before taking a seat at the bar "I guess I've been dreaming about my wedding for so long that now that I get to plan I want to plan as much as possible as quickly as possible." She took a bite of her burrito chewing and savoring the flavor.

Harry devoured his first burrito before looking at Athena "We will have to rush some of the planning of course and I understand that you want to get it all planned as quickly as you can but we just got engaged a week ago and we just decided when we wanted to get married. We will do our best to work on some of the planning each week and see if we can make our regular workload less to compensate for it. I just don't want you to stress over getting this planned and ready in less than a year and hurt your health." He worked on eating his second burrito taking his time to enjoy the food.

Athena finished her food a little bit later getting up to put her dishes in the sink until later when they would get washed. She looked at Harry after he set the dishes in the sink as well "should we watch a movie or are you ready to call it a night?"

Harry "let's watch one movie and then we will go to sleep so that you can be well rested for your clients and any summer classes you may be taking." They walked into the living room putting a movie into the DVD player and settling on the couch to cuddle and watch the movie.

Athena snuggled into his side fighting a yawn as the opening credits began to play on the screen "I had a good day sweetheart and I couldn't be luckier than I am to marry someone as amazing and loving as you are."

Harry held her close keeping an eye on the screen "I am the lucky one my darling. I don't know where I would be without you in my life." He quieted down as the beginning scene of the movie came onto the screen proving that he had chosen an action movie again.

A few hours later the movie had ended Athena had fallen asleep during the last fifteen minutes of the film exhausted from the busy day. Harry scooped her into his arms after shutting off the TV and DVD player carrying her up to their room starting to feel exhausted from the long day. He set her on the bed transfiguring her clothes into her usual sleepwear before tucking her in. He walked into the bathroom performing his nightly routine before sliding under the covers and closing his eyes asleep within minutes dreaming of a wedding to come.

Song Choice: Papa Roach-Forever