Chapter Seventy-Four: Twenty-Six Years After Catastrophe

"A.J., can you get this tie on me?" J.R. asked.

"How the heck am I supposed to know how to tie these things?"

"Well, your sister wants us to put 'em on!"

"Boys, calm down." A.J.'s Aunt Ginny had appeared in the nick of time as usual. "Here." Deftly she tied Albus Julian and James Ronald's ties, with all the expertise she had gained in doing the Boy Who Lived's since they had been married. "There. Are either of you choking?"

"Gaaack!" J.R. joked, pretending to asphyxiate quite convincingly.

"Good." Ginny started to leave to go tackle the groomsmen's ties. "They look better when you're about to die."

"Aunt Ginny?" A.J. asked. "Where did I leave the rings?"

"You didn't!" Ginny went ashen and began to look around. "Albus Julian, if you've lost-"

"Got you!" J.R. produced the rings from his own pocket.

"Honestly, you're worse than your cousins, James! No more sleepovers with Tom and Tim if you boys keep bringing home bad habits."

"Is Aunt Judy going to be there, too?" A.J. asked.

"Yes, of course she will. Whyever wouldn't she be?"

"Well, Aunt Cissy said-"

"Your Aunt Narcissa thinks pregnant ladies are incapable of riding brooms, let alone being in weddings. Don't take her to heart." Ginny adjusted the boys' boutonnières and finally pronounced them ready. "Now for Merlin's sake don't spill anything on yourselves."

"Mitchie already charmed our suits," J.R. pointed out, shaking a powdered donut over his sleeve. Sure enough, the sugary crumbs seemed to bounce right off.

"Smart girl. I can't believe she's all grown up and getting married-"

"Mum!" J.R. looked at his mother in surprise. "Don't tell me you're going to cry too!"

"Well, what else do mothers do at weddings?" Ginny asked, looking a little ticked.

"Here, Aunt Ginny." A.J. handed her a flask. "It'll calm your nerves." Ginny trustingly took a sip and then stared at her nephew.

"Albus Julian Snape!" She picked up a glass of water and swallowed half. "Who gave you Firewhiskey?"

"Theodoric. He said to give it to anyone who looked like they might cry."

"Southerners!" Ginny cursed, taking another sip of the alcohol. "Don't drink any of it yourself. You'll stunt your growth."

That wouldn't have been too bad, actually. At nearly eleven, Albus Julian Snape was already shaping up to his father's build, which meant he was taller than any other going-to-be first years. His twin cousins Lily and Hermione loved the fact that he was so tall, as it gave them somebody to dance with besides J.R. The two honorary cousins were best friends and already as notorious as J.R.'s father and Uncle Ron for getting into mischief. Their other close companion was nine-year-old Katie Malfoy, a sweet-seeming little redhead with a Southern American accent and a real predilection for Slytherinish tricks. She would be entering Hogwarts early in the boys' class, which was a good thing as she already knew how to fly and was shaping up to be quite the young Seeker. A.J.'s own big sister had taught Katie to fly with him and J.R., and he didn't mind the verdict that Katie could out-Seek him. He wanted to be a Beater like his dad.

"Why, if y'all aren't just the handsomest Brits alive!" Katie observed, coming in with open bottles of thorn soda for her friends. "All we need's a set and you could be Algy and Jack."

"Speak for yourself, Cecily," J.R. replied. "I haven't seen you in a dress since you last tore your overalls."

"Peasant," Katie snapped, trying desperately to make the ladylike dress look a little less so. "I saw your sister, A.J., she looks nice."

"Mitchie? Has she got the white dress on?"

"Not that one. But yes, Mitchie looks wonderful, complaining she's a snow beast and everything."

"Julie's here?" J.R. asked, his face lighting up like Christmas had come early. A.J. grinned and stifled a laugh, knowing that in J.R.'s eyes Julie Starcatcher Snape was nothing less than the perfect female creature. To say his friend had a crush would be minimizing it.

"Well, naturally, it's her sister's wedding and all-"

J.R. and A.J. were already gone, looking for the famous female Auror. Katie sighed.

"Men."

"You sounded just like your mother there," Aunt Ginny observed, hiding some mints in her purse for later. "How is she?"

"Oh, Mother? You mean the redheaded one who flirts with Daddy as if they were bloody teenagers?"

"That sounds like my Jen, alright."

"It's disgusting! Have you ever tried explaining why your grandparents just got married last year even though you're nine? Or how your Aunt Ginny turned out to really be your great-aunt?"

"It could be worse."

"No, it couldn't! I'm the only redhaired Malfoy in the world!"

"Well, your mother's a Weasley."

"That in itself is weird! Uncle Draco doesn't take any of this seriously, either. He thinks it's funny."

"Well, it is." Ginny offered Katie a lipstick, which she frowned at in disgust. "Malfoys and Weasleys were enemies for so long, you really are kind of a funny end."

"Honestly, though! A.J.'s mother was a Gryffindor and his dad's the Slythiest Slytherin on the earth, but people don't laugh at him!"

"Katie, they aren't laughing at you personally," Ginny pointed out. "They're laughing at two old families who have just been proved wrong by their descendents. It's like if Romeo and Juliet had had a kid. And people laughed when his big sister turned up, believe you me. In about ten years' time, people will be so used to your parents being a couple, it won't be anything."

"How did Julie Snape put up with it?"

"Well, she had kind of a unique solution to the problem. She was a Granger and a Snape, but she acted more like your Uncle Harry than anyone. She also joked about it like a Weasley, and did that make her father mad!"

"I bet she never got pissed and tried to change her name."

"Not change my name, but I did get awfully pissed sometimes," Julie pointed out, walking in the door in her bridesmaid's dress. "How's the flying been in this weather, Kate?"

"Spiff, actually. I love a good headwind."

"Seen my brother and cousin anyplace?"

"They went to look for you."

"Figures. What was Mitchie thinking with these dresses, eh?" Katie brightened, seeing that Julie didn't like dressing up, either. "At least all the boys are in kilts, so we aren't alone in having our butts frozen."

"Kilts?" Katie's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

"She's springing it on A.J. and J.R. right now, I bet. They won't be too pleased, if I know them. Grandfather Donalbein is coming, and Mitchie's doing it to please him, I think. That, or she just thinks guys in kilts are hot. How's your mum?"

Julie said all of this very fast, but Katie understood.

"Probably shagging Dad in one of the confessionals."

"Katie Scarlett Julia Michelle Hermione Narcissa Weasley-Malfoy!" Ginny chastised. "That is not funny!"

"So that's what the noise was," Julie remarked absently. "Thought so."

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"Why do we have to wear kilts?" J.R. protested. "We look like girls."

"No, you don't." Mitchie pointed out. "You look like hardy Scottish men."

"I like mine," A.J. admitted. "At least we don't have to wear tight jeans."

"Whenever did you have to wear tight jeans?" Mitchie asked. "Oh, right. When I did the laundry, yeah." It was a running family joke that Mitchie shrunk everything. "Well, I could have decided to have this wedding with a glam-rock theme."

"Will Julie ever get married, do you think?" A.J. asked. J.R. looked slightly perturbed at this.

"You know, A.J., I don't think your sister's serious enough about anything right now." Mitchie tried to zip up the back of her dress, but A.J. helped her before she took out her wand.

"She beat all those Dark wizards, didn't she?" J.R. defended. "That's serious."

"Yes, but I don't think she took them seriously. She never does anymore. That's how she manages to not get killed." Mitchie sighed at her own reflection. "I'm a snow beast." She took a big gulp of soda and turned back to the boys. "Julie might just take awhile to get serious about someone, like your dad, A.J., but I think she will get married eventually. Know what, I dare you to ask her that."

"She'll kill him," J.R. pointed out with a grin. "Julie Starcatcher's never fallen in love. She's too cool for that."

"Oh, no, I think she has," Mitchie smiled knowingly.

"Who?" J.R. demanded to know.

"Look, boys, whether Julie ever gets married is one of your uncles' favorite bets. However, there is one bet about her I know you can win."

"What?" A.J. asked.

"Who the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be." Mitchie grinned. "Those Concord Grape dragons are supposed to be domestic enough to ride."

"Naw!" J.R. was amazed. "Think she'll let us pet 'em and everything?"

A.J. was lost in thought. His sister was a jet-setting Auror and international celebrity. Whenever had she fallen in love? He saw Mitchie every day, but Julie was usually traveling about the world righting wrongs and doing espionage work. He knew that Mitchie knew Julie best of anyone, so she must be right, but who could the man have been? Donaghan and Mitchie had been together since God was in short pants, so it couldn't be him, and the same went for Aunt Jen and Uncle Theodoric, who were married and so in love it made their daughter Katie nauseous sometimes. Surely it couldn't be anyone he knew. Maybe one of Donaghan's Quidditch friends was the one! A.J. made up his mind to watch the groomsmen and his sister. He had to find out if one of them was the one she loved, and if so, whether she would ever get married and come stay in England with him. He missed his sister when she was off making him the envy of all the other kids his age. She was cool, but he really wished she would stay around sometimes.

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The ceremony was beautiful, as A.J. had expected. His usually stern father had almost cried, he thought, when he gave Mitchie away. Severus Snape was one of the most well respected wizards in Britain for good reason; for as a spy, a potions researcher, and lately headmaster of Hogwarts, he had accomplished much. Every wizard's child in the country had gotten a vaccine against lycanthropy because of Severus and Hermione Granger-Snape, and a painless form of Skele-Gro had repaired A.J.'s own knocked-out teeth when he crashed his broom. A.J. was a little startled to see his father squint as he kissed his adopted daughter on the cheek, but it was when Donaghan hugged Snape that he understood.

Mitchie's real parents had been his father and mother's friends, and they had died when she was just a baby. The Snapes had adopted her on her sixteenth birthday, and A.J. had grown up with two sisters instead of one. His father must be wondering if his friends the Tylers could see how beautiful their daughter was today. That thought nearly made A.J. cry himself, and his Uncle Draco patted his shoulder.

Uncle Draco was actually no relation by blood, as were most of A.J.'s 'relatives.' He had been in his mother's class at school and was sort of like his dad's honorary son. By now his white-blond hair had a little gray in it, but A.J. knew he was still considered quite handsome. Uncle Draco was another person who should really get married, come to think of it. He would be A.J.'s Charms professor in the fall, and he sometimes looked so lonely it was sad.

Julie, who was standing opposite Uncle Draco with the bridesmaids, smiled. A.J. smiled back. With her long, black hair up and a dress of cinnamon brown, she looked exceptionally pretty. Mitchie, ever the artist, had designed the bridesmaids' dresses with identical black velvet bodices and skirts in iridescent colors that matched their eyes. Aunt Jen's skirt was green and Katie's was blue. Mitchie's wedding dress, an heirloom from some long-dead Snape or MacPhersen, had multitudes of tiny pearls on it, and in the enchanted light she looked rather like an auburn-haired angel. Donaghan couldn't take his eyes off her, and A.J. couldn't blame him.

"Will you love, honor and protect her, through sickness and health, rain and shine, poor and rich, until death do you part?"

"I will."

Donaghan had been like A.J.'s big brother forever. A.J. could remember the time he had burned his hand on a hot cauldron and Donaghan had told him stories while Mitchie mended it. He had forgotten the pain almost instantly. There were also the many happy afternoons spent looking for books and potions ingredients in Diagon and sometimes Knockturn Alley, for A.J.'s mother trusted Donaghan with her son anywhere. The fact that Donaghan and Mitchie were both werewolves was simply a fact of life, and A.J. knew full well that Donaghan had saved him from Acromantulas when he went into the Forbidden Forest at night looking for Great-Uncle Arthur's flying car. He knew Donaghan loved Mitchie more than life, and secretly looked forward to babysitting his nieces and nephews after they'd been married a few years.

"Will you love, honor and protect him, through sickness and health, rain and shine, poor and rich, until death do you part?"

"I will."

There was a loud sniff from the church somewhere. A.J. was betting it was either Great-Aunt Molly Weasley or Aunt Kitty-cat, as he had nicknamed Minerva McGonagall as a toddler. Judging by the way his godfather raised an eyebrow; it was Aunt Kitty-cat, alright.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Albus Dumbledore announced. Donaghan leaned over and kissed Mitchie. "Not yet!" They both went red. "Alright, now you may kiss your bride."

Everyone applauded and the thirty or so house-elf guests did backflips and cheered. A.J. watched Donaghan and Mitchie hug and kiss all the relatives, including his mother and Aunt Ginny, both of whom were wiping away tears, Firewhiskey or none. MacAndrew Shannon and his wife Sweets cheered. A.J. had heard Sweets telling Katie how Donaghan and Mitchie had introduced her to her husband at least three times, and the fact that they were expecting their first baby led him to believe they were somewhat grateful. Tom and Tim Weasley started to throw rice, which turned into flowers in mid-air. Everyone caught one and disappeared. Instead of a Weasley joke, however, the flowers were essential parts of the ceremony –Portkeys to where the reception was being held.

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"The reporters are already climbing the gates," Theodoric whispered to Snape as he appeared. "Shall I take care of them?"

"Yes," Severus replied shortly. "It's my daughter's wedding day. What are they doing here?"

"They're here because it's your daughter's wedding day." Theodoric pointed out.

"And here I thought it was for the food," Ron joked. "Dobby completely outdid himself with that cake. It's as tall as the Christmas tree."

"Is it just me or are the Creevey boys not supposed to be here?" Theodoric asked, rolling up his sleeves.

"Naw. Donaghan hired them to take pictures." Ron explained.

"I don't feel old." Snape remarked.

"Why should you?"

"I figure if I keep saying it, I'll believe myself."

"Come on! Mitchie and Donaghan are wonderful together!"

"I know just what you mean, sir," Theodoric said sympathetically. "You'll understand when you have a daughter, Ron."

"I have two. What's Julie's wedding going to be like?" Severus wondered despondently.

"Rather like this, only with a chocolate cake," Julie announced, coming up and kissing her dad on the cheek. "And maybe not kilts, at least if it's in wintertime."

"I always saw you eloping, Julie," Ron observed. "I mean, with all the traveling you do..."

"I don't think I'll ever want to get married, just fly about, save the world, and bring everybody's kids inappropriate presents." The female Auror grinned. "I'll be the Auntie Mame of Gryffindor."

"Mark my words, Julie, you'll be next," Theodoric remarked. "And you'll love it when you do."

The bride and groom entered before Julie had a chance to contradict the Southerner. Everyone took their seats at the tables, and the best man, Theodoric, made a speech.

"I met the bride when she was about thirteen. That was before she came to Hogwarts and met Donaghan. She played Quidditch, as most children in this country do, and as a Beater she had more injuries than anyone else on the team. Then someone announced to the school that she was a werewolf, and she wasn't allowed to play anymore. I was so angry I quit the team, partly because I felt it was unfair, and partly because we didn't have a chance in hell without Mitch playing.
"After she stopped playing Quidditch, I didn't see Mitchie happy very often. Sure, she smiled and drew pictures and was the most irreverent female in the United States, but she wasn't really happy and we could tell. Then she flew off one day to Great Britain, and the next time I saw her, I almost didn't recognize my best friend. She was almost incandescent, the way she is right now, and I knew she had found a reason to love living, something even better than Quidditch. That reason is about six-three, a Chaser, and has a Scottish accent that's thicker than London fog.
"Now, any man here who has female friends or sisters can understand why I didn't quite trust Donaghan to start. Noone trusts his best friend with any man at first. But when we were in America, waiting for fighting to start and maybe one of us to die, I saw the two of them together. They were sitting in one of those fat armchairs, with a notebook in Donaghan's hand and a drawing pad in Mitchie's. Every so often they would kiss each other or one would play with the other's hair. I knew that he would protect her from anything and she would protect him. Then some years ago, Donaghan asked me if I'd be his best man. I asked him 'why,' because we hadn't really talked that much, and he said because I knew Mitchie well. Then he asked me about a hundred questions about things she liked. We got to be pretty close friends during their engagement, which was longer than I think any pair of werewolves should have had to endure, and now I can say with the rest of us that these two people belong together."

Next, the maid of honor made her speech, as was wizarding tradition.

"I met Donaghan when I first came to Hogwarts, and we dated for awhile before we realized that that was simply a bad idea. See, I had a nasty trick of wanting to play the field and have some fun, while Donaghan put all women on pedestals. I think it's a Scottish thing. Anyway, we had realized we were put on this earth to be friends, and suddenly Mitchie came along. The two of us hit it off because we liked the same music, and things went uphill from there. When Mum and Dad adopted her, I was glad to have her as my sibling. But the first night Mitchie was at Hogwarts, sitting with the Gryffindors, she suddenly got this look on her face, as if everything in the world that a girl could want was across the table and three seats down. I noticed that Donaghan had the same look, and they've been arse-over-teakettle ever since. That's pretty much how it is with them. You see one and wonder where the other is. They're two halves of one, and since getting married is making one out of two, I think they chose each other perfectly."

Then, in accordance with wizarding and Scottish tradition, both sets of parents gave the couple gifts. Grandfather Donalbein's was typical of him, thirty bolts of McPhersen clan tartan, newly woven to include Tyler and Snape colors. The Snapes' gift was a little more English, but still rather typical of them –a restored cottage on three acres of the old Snape land within ten minutes' flight of Hogwarts, where both Donaghan and Mitchie taught. A.J. had visions of playing with his nieces and nephews there, all of them dressed in clan tartan clothes. He had been in on the cottage surprise and helped to decorate it with his Aunt Cissy, and he had also gone with Grandfather Donalbein to check on the weaving of the tartan. Part of Grandfather Donalbein's surprise in the gift was that when he said thirty bolts, he didn't mention that he meant hundred-meter bolts. Nearly every sheep on the Peatbog moors had been shorn for his mischievous project.

After dinner, the band began to play, and the dancing began. First Mitchie and Donaghan had their first dance together as a married couple, and then Donaghan danced with Hermione and Mitchie with Severus. Julie danced politely with each of the groomsmen, as did the other bridesmaids, and finally with her own brother.

"Julie?"

"Yeah, A.J.?"

"Are you ever going to get married?" Well, Mitchie had dared him.

"I don't know...I might. More likely I'll just have a multitude of cats like Arabella Figg."

"Aunt Jen has a multitude of cats and she got married."

"That's just because our big brother Crookshanks misbehaved with Emmy." Julie sighed. "I don't know, little brother. I just might. How 'bout you?"

"I'm going to marry Katie Malfoy, I think."

"You do? Good lord, you're quick. Why her?"

"Because I'm lousy at Charms and she's great at it, but she can't transfigure to save her life." A.J. grinned. He thought it was a clever plan. "Why don't you marry J.R.?"

"Why? He's ten years old and I'm twenty-six!"

"It'd be a little like Mum and Dad in reverse."

"Albus Julian, you have some strange ideas."

"Well, how about Uncle Draco, then?"

"Why, you little-!"

"You could at least dance with him," A.J. pointed out, indicating the blond man who had just walked up to them. "Here she is."

And without further ado, Julie Snape found herself neatly in the arms of her ex for a rapid swing number. The look she shot her brother over Draco's shoulder was beyond priceless.

"A.J.," Mitchie whispered in his ear a moment later, "that was brilliant."

"What was?"

"Look at them. Did you know they dated once?"

"Uncle Draco?" A.J. was shocked. "Do you think that they-?"

"Totally. Arse-over-teakettle." Mitchie gave her little brother a hug. "Well, may I have this dance?"

"Certainly, Mrs. McPhersen."

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The End.