Molly and Arthur Weasley rose early the next morning, before the rest of the household was awake. There was a lot to do that day in preparation for the wedding early that afternoon, so the long-married couple wanted to start the day with a leisurely breakfast before the pandemonium of preparation began.

"Is yesterday's Daily Prophet still around?" Molly asked Arthur. "I was so busy yesterday that I never got around to reading it."

"It should be around here somewhere," Arthur said, as he sifted through a stack of mail sitting on the sideboard. "I didn't get to it yesterday, either, but I'll look at it when you're through." After a moment, he said, "Ah, here it is!"

Taking the paper from her husband, Molly smoothed it out on the table in front of her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a photo of a smirking Lucius Malfoy sneering up at her.

After quickly scanning the article below the haughty wizard's picture, she flung it away in exasperation.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked. "Bad news in the paper?"

Thrusting the paper under her husband's nose and pointing to the article about Lucius, she huffed, "It's this! It's an article telling us all how wonderfully marvelous Lucius Malfoy has become since the end of the war! Oh, please! If one were to take this article about Malfoy seriously, one would think that every time he went to the loo, he pushed out roses!"

Arthur chuckled heartily to hear his wife speaking so bluntly, but waited for her to finish her rant.

"The Prophet has turned into nothing but rubbish, and I can't imagine the Quibbler being any much better if Lucius Malfoy is going to be bankrolling it."

"Well, Malfoy has actually done the stuff mentioned in this article," Arthur pointed out. "It could well be that Hermione is having a positive influence on him. I can't see Malfoy doing all this stuff simply out of the goodness of his own heart. I would imagine he's doing some or all of it to please her."

"Nonsense!" Molly replied. "She's just a girl! I can't see her having much influence against such a strong-willed wizard as Malfoy. He's just using her to infiltrate his way into respectable society and to warm his bed! If anything, she's the one who is being influenced by him!"

"Don't be so sure about that," Arthur countered. "It's amazing what a man will do when he's led around by his--"

"Arthur!" Molly broke in before he could finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry," he said. "What I meant to say was that amazing what a man will do for love. And I do think it's a strong possibility that he loves her."

"That man doesn't know the meaning of love," she sniffed. "Lucius Malfoy is only out for himself."

"Don't be so sure," Arthur said.

Before Molly could answer, they heard someone coming down the stairs. Ginny appeared a moment later, stretching and yawning. Arthur quickly stuffed the newspaper into the rubbish bin, as he'd had enough of the subject of Lucius Malfoy for one day and he didn't want anything distracting his only daughter on her wedding day.

"You're up early," Ginny said, yawning as she joined her parents at the table. "I meant to sleep a bit later myself, but I'm so excited about the wedding that I couldn't sleep any longer."

"We thought we'd get a good breakfast before we got too busy to eat," Molly explained. "We've got a lot to get done today before the wedding." Pointing her wand at the table in front of Ginny, a plate and silverware appeared.

As Ginny began helping herself from serving dishes already on the table, Molly urged, "Eat up, dear. Remember that you're eating for two and you'll need your strength today."

"Yes, Mum," Ginny said agreeably, then tucked in without further ado.

--

Back at the Malfoy penthouse, Lucius and Hermione had tarried in bed for most of the morning, leisurely making love before reluctantly rising for brunch so they'd not have to show up to Harry's wedding on empty stomachs.

After enjoying an unhurried meal, then showering with Lucius, Hermione went to her dressing room to get ready for the wedding, with Lucius doing the same. Lucius had taken her shopping the week before for a new gown to wear to the event. As she slipped the elegant, deep purple gown on, she noticed that the cut called attention to her pregnancy but this did not in any way detract from its elegance. Rather, it accentuated her glowing good health.

"Magnificent," Lucius breathed as she came out of the dressing room and turned so he could view the dress from every angle. "I daresay you'll outshine the bride wearing that."

"Do you really think so," she asked, giving him a wicked smile. "I was rather hoping I would."

"I know so," Lucius assured her, returning her smile. "Every man in the place will be jealous of my good fortune, while simultaneously feeling sorry for Potter because of the shrew he's marrying. With the two most beautiful women in wizarding Britain on either arm, I will be the most envied man at the event."

As Harry Potter's closest living wizarding relatives, Narcissa, along with Andromeda, would be attending the wedding. It would also be the first time Lucius would be seen in public socially with both his mates. When he'd originally bonded with Hermione, his plan was to keep each relationship strictly separate when interacting in public, but because Narcissa and Hermione got along so beautifully, he'd decided to amend that rule to some degree.

Today was an event that would draw people from all segments of the wizarding population, so Lucius privately thought it would be a good idea to see a united Malfoy family at the wedding. It had been Kingsley Shacklebolt's idea to legislate the consort relationship and for Shacklebolt to see him, his wife, and his consort all getting along well together could only to be to Lucius' benefit when Shacklebolt made his decision about the governorship position.

After glancing at the mantel clock, Lucius said, "We'd better get moving if we're going to pick Narcissa up and get to the wedding on time without having to hurry." A Malfoy never hurried if they could at all prevent it.

"Right you are," Hermione agreed, as she slipped her wand into a cleverly hidden wand pouch in her gown. Since first receiving her wand eight years before, Hermione never went anywhere without it.

Forty-five minutes later, the Malfoy party apparated at the same place they'd done so before for the graduation. As well as Lucius and his two mates, Narcissa and Hermione, the party included Draco, Luna, Andromeda Tonks, and Xeno Lovegood, who was Andromeda's escort for the event.

The group headed directly to the Great Hall, as the wedding was due to start in less than fifteen minutes. People from all walks of wizarding life were milling around in small groups in the hallways adjacent to the Great Hall as they made their way there to take their seats. With a haughty smile, Lucius noted the eyes that followed him as he walked toward the Great Hall, with both Narcissa and Hermione on either arm.

Narcissa looked regal as always in a cornflower blue gown, with matching sapphire and diamond jewelry that perfectly matched her eyes, with her gown complementing Hermione's deep purple ensemble with matching Russian amethyst and diamond jewelry. Luna and Andromeda were also elegantly attired in gowns of pale violet and forest green. Lucius was in his usual black with emerald cufflinks and stick pin, along with his wedding and bonding rings on either hand. Even Xeno had managed to look tasteful for once, in robes of Ravenclaw blue.

They did not stop to chat with anyone, though Lucius acknowledged several people with a nod and a tight smile on the way to their seats. He intended to circulate during the reception, knowing it could well generate support for his bid to return to the Hogwarts Governorship, though he'd not specifically mention it to anyone.

Because of Narcissa's and Andromeda's status as Harry's closest magical relatives and Hermione's status as his best friend, they took seats on the groom's side of the seating, which had been arranged in two sections for the wedding. Out of respect for Harry, they took seats near the front, but to the far left near the wall, so they'd not chance sitting anywhere near any Weasleys.

The room was filling up rapidly as the Malfoy entourage took their seats. As Harry had no family members he was close to, his side of the room was filled mainly with his former classmates and some adults in the community with whom he shared special friendships, such as Rubeus Hagrid.

As they waited for the ceremony to begin, Hermione looked around the room to see who'd arrived and what they were wearing. As her eyes swept the entrance, she saw a heavyset young man about her own age appear in the doorway. He was dressed in an ill-fitting muggle suit and his eyes shifted around nervously as he entered the room. He was accompanied by a thin woman in her fifties, whom Hermione recognized as Harry's squib neighbor from Little Whinging, Mrs Figg. She realized with surprise that the uncomfortable young man had to be Harry's cousin, Dudley Dursley. When Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones hurried over to greet him, her suspicions were confirmed. The two escorted him and Mrs Figg to sit on the first row on the right side, to the spot Harry's parents would have occupied had they still been alive.

A few moments later, Percy Weasley appeared in the doorway to escort his mother down the aisle, which signalled the ceremony was about to begin. Hermione noted that Molly Weasley was wearing the same amethyst colored robes she'd worn for Bill's wedding. Leaning across Lucius, she whispered to Narcissa, "She worn those same robes to Bill's wedding to Fleur Delacour!"

"I'm not surprised," Narcissa sniffed. "She'll probably make do with them for the weddings of the rest of her children as well."

"She might as well wear them," Lucius observed. "It's not as if new robes would do anything much to improve her appearance, anyway."

As Molly Weasley made her way up the aisle on Percy's arm, she noticed the three Malfoys with their heads close together, whispering and snickering. Knowing there wasn't anything she could do about them being here and wanting Ginny to have the best wedding possible, she tossed her head and turned away from them, determined to put the Malfoys out of her mind.

After Molly had been seated, Harry and Neville Longbottom emerged from the back entrance of the Great Hall and took their places on the dais near the podium. Looking distinctly ill at ease, Harry glanced back to the main entrance, awaiting the start of the procession.

"He looks as if he's anticipating the arrival of the executioner, rather than his bride," Lucius observed, as he watched the young man swallow heavily, then pull at his collar. "Shacklebolt should leave the back door open when he comes out, so Potter can make a run for it, if he manages to come to his senses at the last minute."

"That's not going to happen," Hermione said. "Harry always has to learn his lessons the hard way. For him, it will be like the old muggle saying goes, 'Marry in haste, repent in leisure'."

Before Lucius could reply, the bridesmaids made their appearance, each dressed in a particularly unattractive shade of brownish orange.

"I see that Miss Weasley has chosen to employ the strategy of ugly brides everywhere," Narcissa sniffed. "She's dressed her attendants in hideous gowns to make sure they don't make her look plain by comparison."

As Fleur Weasley passed them, Lucius commented, "I'd say she's failed miserably. That young woman could wear a burlap bag and still be more attractive than the bride."

Finally, Ginny Weasley appeared in the doorway on her father's arm. Hermione was shocked to see that she was wearing her mother's wedding gown. She'd remembered a conversation with her about a year before when Ginny had said she would wear her mother's wedding gown at her wedding just to please her mother.

As the redhead proceeded slowly up the aisle, Hermione was shocked to see how unflattering the gown was on Ginny. For one thing, Ginny had grown to be several inches taller than her mother, so the gown didn't hang well, and it looked stretched and tight under the armpits and was too short at the bottom. Her visibly pregnant body also didn't help matters any, adding to the overall ungainly effect. Plus, the gown was faded and yellowed with age.

"That's her mother's wedding gown," Hermione whispered to Narcissa when she heard the other woman's sharp intake of breath at seeing the unfortunate gown. "I imagine she wore only to shut her mother up."

"No doubt," Narcissa replied. "But you think someone could have transfigured it larger and gotten rid of the fading."

"That would have been my job," Hermione told her. "None of the Weasleys are particularly good at transfiguration, and I'd promised to help Ginny with it when she showed me the gown some time last year."

"She should have given that old rag to a house elf to cut up for dusting rags," Narcissa observed uncharitably.

The two women fell silent a moment later, as Ginny reached the dais and took her place by Harry. Kingsley Shacklebolt stood behind the podium, smiling at the couple as he took out his wand to begin.

As the ceremony began, Hermione suddenly realized that she had to pee very badly, but didn't want to get up while it was going on. Concentrating on suppressing the urge to go, even jiggling a leg a bit to distract herself, she tuned out the ceremony itself, knowing she'd have to quickly find a bathroom as soon as the ceremony was over.

"They're not using the pureblood wedding vows," Lucius muttered to Narcissa as Hermione continued to squirm. "I shouldn't be surprised, blood traitors that they are, but you think they'd have done so this time, considering that Potter's children will be practically pureblooded." Turning to Hermione who wasn't paying any attention, he demanded, "What's wrong? You're acting as if you have ants in your knickers."

"I have to pee!" she said.

"Well, you shouldn't wait," Lucius told her. "It's not good for you to hold it."

"I don't want to disturb the ceremony by getting up," she told him.

"Just apparate into the corridor," he told her. "Then you can run to the loo."

"All right," she said. "I'll wait out there once I'm done, as the ceremony is nearly over

"That's fine," Lucius said. "Now, go!'

She apparated into the corridor with no further ado, thus did not get to see the precise moment when Harry lost his status as a single man and officially became a member of the Weasley family.

--
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A/N Next chapter: The Wedding Reception