Before he left Tom's House, Harry made sure to talk to Sors'Dzala and Lily, detailing his meeting with Fate and making sure they understood the true story of the Elementals before being told that the dragons would return when the "Songs of Fate are sung again".
Now, however, Harry was spending the night with his family, after all, there was a wedding on the horizon and Elias wanted to get everyone involved with the last-minute planning, something that amused Harry, but he made no comment about.
By the time they had gotten everything sorted, Sirius and Petunia found the three boys sleeping on a sofa, Dudley and Elias leaning on Harry, so Sirius levitated the trio to their rooms.
Two days before the wedding, Harry, Elias, and Dudley met up with Hermione, Blaise, Neville, and Theo, before heading to meet Filch at his house in Birmingham. They all gathered at Neville's house, which was only eighty miles outside of Birmingham, and took the train to meet the Squib. They each carried a bag with three heavy crystal balls, each a bit smaller than the last, and arrived at Filch's house. A modest abode in the southwest of Birmingham, on a cul-de-sac with many empty and boarded-up houses neighbouring it.
Once they were let in, the group of seven wasted no time in setting up the ritual with Filch sitting on a chair in the middle, having already made both a written and verbal statement absolving the children of any involvement in a ritual that could potentially lead to his death, a precaution Hermione wouldn't proceed without.
With the smallest nearest Filch and the largest being by the seven wizards, the crystal balls were all placed down in waiting for the ritual to begin.
Having received the go-ahead from Filch, the group began to gather up their magic, feeding it into the outermost orbs, which passed into the next, and again, until it was concentrated down and sent directly at Filch, passing through him and passing through the other side, with more staying each time it passed through. Once it had passed through Filch, the magic fed back into the middle crystal ball, concentrating down further and further and becoming more faint as time went by.
Once Blaise gave the signal, everyone ceased pouring magic into the crystal balls, with them stepping back and watching the magic jumping back and forth until it stopped, with the unexpected side effect of the crystal balls filling with a thick black mist, rendering them completely useless.
"How do you feel?" Hermione stepped forward and asked the man quietly. Once Filch looked up and around the room, taking in the moment and the faces of those who had made it possible.
"Like I've gained a new sense, it is slightly overwhelming. Thank you for this, you've given me the life I always wanted."
"What will you do now?" Harry asked him, stepping back as the man laughed loudly.
"I'm going to go to Gringotts and get them to verify my claim to my family vault, then I'm going to rub my magic in my parents' faces. It's been my dream ever since I was a child," the man, who was no longer a Squib announced, feeling a bit silly about his declaration, but making no effort to explain upon seeing the understanding looks upon the faces of all present.
"I used to hate Hogwarts students, but you lot are alright. Now please leave so I can do the same, you're welcome to use the floo, though it only connects to the Leakey Cauldron and Hogwarts."
"It sure beats getting the bus again," Theo joked and they all packed into the fireplace one by one, calling out the Leakey Cauldron each time.
They didn't see Filch come through, so they assumed he was coming later or went to Hogwarts to talk to Professor Dumbledore, and so they all went their own ways. Blaise asked them to all come to his house next week to do the same for his sister now that they knew it worked, to which the group agreed, bidding each other goodbye until the wedding.
/_-^_^_-/
Sirius Black to marry a Muggle woman in what is being called the event of the season. By Rita Skeeter.
Two years ago when the wrongfully imprisoned Lord Black was cleared of all charges what did he do? Did he go out and enjoy his newfound life of being a wealthy eligible bachelor, or maybe leave the country that took away over a decade of his life? No, he did not.
Lord Black, who asked to be referred to as Sirius, managed to find love in the most unexpected place. As many of you will know, for centuries the Black family were famous for their anti-Muggle stance, so much so that they would disavow any members of the family who didn't align with their backwards and dogmatic views.
Now, however, the head of House Black has caused somewhat of a stir among the more traditional members of our society in his choice to deviate so much from their long-held beliefs, as he embarks on the journey of married life with the Muggle aunt of The-Boy-Who-Lived, who will now become his step-son in addition to already being his godson.
It appears that Lord Black is intending to change the social paradigm as we know it. I for one congratulate Lord Black on his bravery in such a matter.
"What a load of contrived nonsense. Remind me again why I agreed to a public wedding," Sirius complained after reading the paper published on the day of his wedding.
"Simple," Regulus replied jovially. "Our ancestors were desperate for attention and so made sure any wedding would take place on such a public stage. If they knew that one day the Lord of House Black would marry a Muggle, then I imagine they would've probably changed that requirement."
"Thank you for agreeing to be my best man, though I do still worry that Voldemort will hunt you down upon the reveal of your continued life," Sirius said after a moment of silence, thinking about how different things had been when he escaped Azkaban.
"Let's make sure the kids are ready, Petunia has already left."
/_-_^_^_/-/
For the first time since he was freed from his imprisonment at the hands of an imposter, Lucius Malfoy was getting ready to make a public appearance at the wedding of his wife's cousin to a Muggle, of all things.
Not for the first time after accepting the invitation he found himself questioning his decision, did it mean that he had accepted the mixing of Pure and Muggle blood?
"Lucius, darling, we're leaving shortly. Draco is waiting in the foyer and our gifts have been sent ahead," his wife Narcissa informed him, kissing him on the cheek and placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Do you think it is wise to go out so soon?"
"The Lucius I married wouldn't let the trivial concerns of the general public bother him, but something tells me this is more than that."
"You know as well as I do that the Dark Lord isn't happy that I was incapacitated and unable to answer his summons, he wishes to make our son a Death Eater, such a thing cannot be allowed to happen. If attending this wedding is the first step towards moving against the Dark Lord, then we still have one last moment to reconsider."
"Draco will not be a Death Eater. If it means I must go against my beliefs to ensure his safety, then I would sooner marry a Muggle myself than allow him to die so wastefully."
"Together in everything," Lucius recited.
"United in love," Narcissa continued.
"Bound by blood," they finished together, leaving the room to depart with their darling son.
/_-^_^_-/
"I thought it was difficult to stand at the front of Elemental lessons, now I long for that over this," Harry complained to Dudley, who privately agreed with Harry, but kept silent to appease Elias, who was very excited.
"You've faced the Dark Lord and survived, surely you can make it through the next few hours," Elias ribbed, having teased Harry all day.
"I'd face someone trying to kill me over these fake smiles and well-wishes."
The wedding guests had been arriving for over an hour now and in that time Harry hadn't seen a single person he actually wanted to speak to, but that all changed with the very loud arrival of a certain redheaded family.
"Fred, George, you will absolutely not be networking here, you're here to support your friends." Molly Weasley's voice preceded their arrival by about thirty seconds, with some of the older, more traditional, guests taking offence at their noisy entrance to the wedding. Harry, however, was thrilled and walked with his brothers straight over to the family, who became much quieter at Molly's command.
"Hello Harry, hello Elias, and last but not least, hello Dudley," Molly greeted them all, hugging them in between greetings. "I'll leave you all with the kids, Petunia has asked me to join her."
"Hello Mr Weasley, remembering your own wedding day?" Harry joked earning a scoffing laugh from the man.
"I assure you that my wedding wasn't so opulent and full of members of high society. Alas, like Molly, I have been asked to join Sirius before the big moment so I shall excuse myself." Arthur followed in the direction Molly had gone in, though he went through a different door labelled 'Groom'.
At the same time that the Weasleys arrived, the Malfoys walked in, with Ron going over and, using the etiquette lessons Draco had given him, greeted Lucius and Narcissa before politely requesting Draco's presence. With a shared look and a raised eyebrow each, Draco's parents gave their consent to Draco leaving their side.
As Elias spoke to Bill and Charlie, and Dudley spoke to Percy, Harry was left to chat with the twins, though there was something off about them. They spoke about their prank shop, which they told him was located in Diagon Alley, and that the signs were all up, and about some of the ideas they had, with Harry offering them any financial help they would need in the future.
"Harry mate- you already forced us to take a thousand Galleons- you simply cannot offer us more money- nor can you spend it in our shop. Everything you want is on the house- after all, we owe you," Fred and George refused his offer, it was at this moment that he realised what was wrong with them.
"Why are there two Georges in front of me?" he asked quietly, not wanting to attract any additional attention to the family.
"Three days- that's how long we've been like this- you'd think someone in our family would have noticed by now."
"Is it a type of glamour?" Harry inquired, never knowing what to expect with the twins.
"We took what you said- about us not being as identical as we thought. It took us a while- but now we have a spell to turn someone into Fred- and another to turn them into George."
"Right… So is this a spell you're keeping between the two of you?" At their nods, Harry continued. "Was it really necessary to create a spell to turn Gred into Forge?"
"Yes! It was absolutely necessary."
"You two are mad," Harry commented, though what the twins would have said in response was lost to the world as Harry was pulled into a hug by his girlfriend Daphne Greengrass.
"Ooh Harry- are you trying to steal the show?" the twins teased, causing Harry to blush, which caused Daphne and the twins to laugh as well.
"Stop embarrassing the poor boy." Charlie had finished chatting with Elias, who was more interested in talking about Egypt with Bill, and had come over to join the group that was forming around Harry.
"Hey Charlie, how have things been?"
"A bizarre mix of quiet and hectic, we are yet to even obtain even a credible sighting of them."
"At least that means they're not dead. They must be moving around."
"I've never seen Bogdan so miserable, it's awful. We're just playing it by ear at this point, though we do expect to obtain a few young dragons that wouldn't otherwise make it to adulthood."
In the moments after Charlie finished, there was a large influx of guests, all heading to their seats, and so Harry, Dudley, and Elias headed over to the back of the room to get into position for the wedding that was about to begin. After Elias told Harry to stop fidgeting for the thirtieth time, the music finally began and everyone fell silent.
They watched as Petunia walked up the aisle, looking absolutely stunning in robes of pure blue silk, a statement that would later inspire a trend among the female wizarding young adults.
Not to be outdone, Sirius walked in decked head to toe in a suit of black silk with red and green piping and a top hat styled in the same way. He walked with a cane that was purely for show, though it did contain his wand, made of black mahogany. It tapped with every other step as Sirius reached the altar and the music ceased.
The ceremony itself was a rather short and classic affair, with the rings being made of platinum and a small black meteorite fragment.
The party would go on with nobody noticing the out-of-place old lady standing at the entrance staring in.