A/N: Thanks to all of you who received invitations and took the time to
R.S.V.P.: Jemi Fal, Kate Potter, Kyra Potter, Kimmy Larisa, oO WTH, Meir
Brin, Keva, animegirl-mika, Slone, and my dear friend Cissa who is my
fabulous beta reader and made me describe Molly's dress. The bride and
groom would like to thank Meir Brin for her gift on behalf of The Hogwarts
Fanfiction Academy of 500 Galleons (although they were not told that this
money was stolen from the Gringotts vault of one Mr. Lucius Malfoy), and oO
WTH for her gift of a beautiful clock.
Disclaimer: as always none of these beautiful people belong to me except Sophie and Gertie and Terrence and of course Gwin Weasley but then I don't own the Weasley name either. I love you J. K. imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.
* * *
The day of the wedding drew closer. Molly and Arthur searched for the perfect place to have the ceremony. What they found was an ancient oak tree in Nonsuch Park in the county of Surrey. Professor Dumbledore was asked to officiate, and he was very pleased to do so. Robes were fitted, flowers chosen, and invitations sent out.
Mr. and Mrs. Fergus O'Grady
cordially invite you to witness the marriage of their daughter,
Molly Fae,
to Mr. Arthur Gawain Weasley,
in a ceremony to be held
under the English Oak, Nonsuch Park, Surrey
on the twenty-third of June at one p.m. nineteen hundred sixty-four
~ ~ ~
an apparation point will be determined
and portkeys will be made available
for those who do not wish or are not able to apparate.
The bride and groom are registered at
Kettles and Caldrons
Sophie was chosen as Molly's Maid of Honor and Arthur's brother Billius was his best man. Everything was going swimmingly until the day before the wedding little Gwin who was so looking forward to being the flower girl came down with the mumps.
"Well, I guess it's not essential that we have a flower girl," said Molly a bit sadly.
Arthur agreed, "It really wouldn't be fair to choose someone else with this short notice." So they decided to just go without.
The day of the wedding dawned bright and fair. Hosts of Muggle repelling charms were put up around the sight, along with three tents. The two smaller tents would be used as dressing rooms for the bridal party. The largest would provide shade for the reception following ceremony.
At last the time had come. Sophie had already taken her walk up the aisle and now Molly and her father were waiting for the Wedding March to begin.
Molly looked like a princess. Her delicate silk charmuse dress clung attractively to her curves, draped gracefully over her legs, and pooled luxuriously around her bare feet. The sleeves, which left her creamy shoulders bare, were tight down to her elbows where they opened up into voluminous bells that trailed down past her knees. Over this she wore a cloak of the lightest, airiest velvet, embroidered white on white with paisley and vines and trimmed around the edges with gold braid. Her curls were left wild but for the two tiny braids that came from her temples and met at the back of her head. And on her head she wore a gold filigree crown dripping with pearls and flowing from it a veil sheer as a moonbeam. Around her neck she wore her locket and in her hands she carried a single pure white lily.
In all of the excitement no one seemed to notice a four-year-old little girl wander through the trees. She was wearing a white sundress, had long red hair and was holding a bouquet of freshly picked daisies. She didn't look at all out of place. In fact the O'Gradys seemed to think she was just another Weasley and the Weasleys had her pegged for an O'Grady. She did indeed resemble both the bride and the groom.
Molly couldn't breath as she watched the little girl skip up the aisle in front of her, just as if she was meant to be there. Arthur was too focused on Molly to worry about the child. But Molly saw a worried look pass from Dumbledore to Arabella Figg, who sat in the second row shaking her head in disbelief.
By the time Molly and her Father had made their way to the front, Dumbledore had silently communicated to Arabella to escort the child out when she got the chance and had regained his composure. Then he spoke, "Friends, we have been invited here to share with Arthur and Molly in a most important time in their lives. In the time they have been together, their love for and understanding of each other has grown and matured. Now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife.
"Today they promise to face the future together, accepting whatever may lie ahead. For the world that God has created for them, with its beauty and grace that is all around, with the strength that it offers and the peace that it brings, makes them truly grateful.
"Arthur and Molly, nothing is easier than saying words and nothing harder than living them day after day. What you promise today must be renewed and re-decided tomorrow. At the end of this ceremony legally you will be man and wife, but you still must decide each day that stretches out before you, that you want to be married.
"Real love is something beyond the warmth and glow, the excitement and romance of being deeply in love. It is caring as much about the welfare and happiness of your marriage partner as about your own. But real love is not total absorption in each other; it is looking outward in the same direction --together. Love makes burdens lighter, because you divide them. It makes joys more intense because you share them. It makes you stronger so you can reach out and become involved with life in ways you dared not risk alone. Love is the greatest and strongest magic there is.
"Who brings Molly to stand beside Arthur?"
Molly's parents answered, "We do."
Dumbledore then addressed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well, "Parents, are you willing, now and always to support and strengthen this marriage by upholding both Arthur and Molly with your love and concern?"
Both sets of parents responded, "We are."
Molly's father gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down beside his wife.
Dumbledore then turned to the groom, "Arthur, this woman whom you hold by the hand is to be your wife. She has given you one of the most sacred things under heaven: a woman's life and a woman's love. You may bring her great joy or cause her great sorrow. It is not what you bring her in a material way that will make happiness - riches without love are nothing. The gift without the giver is bare. The practice of those virtues as a husband that you have shown as a lover will keep her heart won to your heart. Do you vow here, as you have promised that you will be true and loyal, patient in sickness, comforting in sorrow, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her for so long as you both shall live?"
Arthur beamed at Molly, "I will."
Dumbledore spoke the next words to Molly, "Molly, this man whom you hold by the right hand is to be your husband. On your life, your love, and devotion he will lean for strength and inspiration. He is going to look to you for encouragement, for cheerfulness and confidence. May your life and your love be his constant inspiration. Do you vow here, as you have promised that you will be loyal in adversity, ministering to him in affliction, comforting him in sorrow, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only to him for so long as you both shall live?"
Molly felt like she was in a dream she looked at Arthur, at Dumbledore, even down at the little girl who was smiling back up at her. Then she looked at Arthur again. There was no question about it, "I will."
"Arthur, what token do you give of the vows you have made?" asked Dumbledore.
"A ring." Arthur looked a bit nervous, trying to remember the words he had memorized. Billius handed him the ring and then he softly began his vow, "Molly, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true, that prayer has been answered. For today, Molly, you as my joy become my crown. I thank God for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future bright, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, Molly, my friend and my love. Today I give to you me."
"Molly, what token do you give of the vows you have made?" Dumbledore asked Molly.
"A ring." The grin on Sophie's face could not have possibly been bigger as she handed the ring to Molly. And then Molly said her vow, "Arthur, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helpmate designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto you. Therefore, Arthur, I pledge to you my life as an obedient, faithful and loving wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God."
Dumbledore winked at her as he spoke, "Arthur and Molly, we have heard you promise to share your lives in marriage. We recognize and respect the covenant you have made. It is not a minister standing before you that makes your marriage real, but the honest and sincerity of what you have said and done here before your friends and relatives in the sight of God." He was positively grinning when by the time he looked up to the assembly to make the pronouncement, "Forasmuch as Arthur and Molly have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, by the authority committed unto me, I declare that Arthur and Molly are now husband and wife, according to the ordinance of God and the laws of our people: in the name of the Father, and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Whom therefore God hath joined together, let no man put assunder."
"You can kiss her now," Dumbledore whispered nudging Arthur with his elbow.
Arthur jumped. "Oh, yeah." He drew Molly to him and kissed her very sweetly on the mouth, nearly oblivious to the cheering crowd. Dumbledore waited for them to finish and then spoke again, "Now the ceremony is over and the experience of living day by day as married people is about to begin. Go forth to meet it, gladly, love life so it will love you. May blessings of God be with you.
"I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weasley"
Molly had all but forgotten about the little redhaired girl in the flourish of the kiss and the pronouncement and now walking back down the aisle arm in arm with her husband. But then as they waited in the receiving line, she heard something through the bushes.
"Arabella, thank God you were here. You found her," came the voice of a woman Molly had never heard before.
"Gotta' watch this one she's quick." Now, that was Bella.
"We had told Petunia to keep an eye on her while we set up the picnic. They were picking daisies, and then we looked up and she was gone."
Then Molly heard for the first time the voice of the child, "Mummy, I saw a beautiful princess and she was marrying a handsome prince."
"What an imagination this one has," Arabella covered.
Sophie's voice brought Molly back to the present. "Cute little girl," she whispered. "But how did she get through the Muggle repelling charms?"
"She," began Molly slowly, now realizing fully who the little girl really was, "She wasn't a Muggle,".
"You don't mean. . ."
"That was Lily. I know it."
They weren't able to finish the conversation what with all the congratulations and dancing and eating cake and drinking champagne. Gertie caught Molly's bouquet, and Terrence found someone to hide behind. Before they knew it Arthur and Molly were saying their goodbyes and preparing to apparate off to their own home.
They didn't apparate directly into the house but right onto the front step. Then Arthur swung his bride up into his arms and carried her over the threshold into their new home. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her softly onto the big oak bed. Molly giggled all the way.
"Arthur," she said as he held her tightly and kissed her.
"Yes, Luv."
"I think maybe I don't want to wait so long before we have a baby."
"Really? I mean, what brought this on?"
"Well, just seeing Lily and how sweet she is."
"Seeing Lily?" Arthur looked confused.
"The little girl who wandered into the wedding, that was Lily."
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice," Arthur stared at her lovingly. "I was too busy marring the most beautiful woman in the world."
And with that he drove every other thought out of her head.
Disclaimer: as always none of these beautiful people belong to me except Sophie and Gertie and Terrence and of course Gwin Weasley but then I don't own the Weasley name either. I love you J. K. imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.
* * *
The day of the wedding drew closer. Molly and Arthur searched for the perfect place to have the ceremony. What they found was an ancient oak tree in Nonsuch Park in the county of Surrey. Professor Dumbledore was asked to officiate, and he was very pleased to do so. Robes were fitted, flowers chosen, and invitations sent out.
Mr. and Mrs. Fergus O'Grady
cordially invite you to witness the marriage of their daughter,
Molly Fae,
to Mr. Arthur Gawain Weasley,
in a ceremony to be held
under the English Oak, Nonsuch Park, Surrey
on the twenty-third of June at one p.m. nineteen hundred sixty-four
~ ~ ~
an apparation point will be determined
and portkeys will be made available
for those who do not wish or are not able to apparate.
The bride and groom are registered at
Kettles and Caldrons
Sophie was chosen as Molly's Maid of Honor and Arthur's brother Billius was his best man. Everything was going swimmingly until the day before the wedding little Gwin who was so looking forward to being the flower girl came down with the mumps.
"Well, I guess it's not essential that we have a flower girl," said Molly a bit sadly.
Arthur agreed, "It really wouldn't be fair to choose someone else with this short notice." So they decided to just go without.
The day of the wedding dawned bright and fair. Hosts of Muggle repelling charms were put up around the sight, along with three tents. The two smaller tents would be used as dressing rooms for the bridal party. The largest would provide shade for the reception following ceremony.
At last the time had come. Sophie had already taken her walk up the aisle and now Molly and her father were waiting for the Wedding March to begin.
Molly looked like a princess. Her delicate silk charmuse dress clung attractively to her curves, draped gracefully over her legs, and pooled luxuriously around her bare feet. The sleeves, which left her creamy shoulders bare, were tight down to her elbows where they opened up into voluminous bells that trailed down past her knees. Over this she wore a cloak of the lightest, airiest velvet, embroidered white on white with paisley and vines and trimmed around the edges with gold braid. Her curls were left wild but for the two tiny braids that came from her temples and met at the back of her head. And on her head she wore a gold filigree crown dripping with pearls and flowing from it a veil sheer as a moonbeam. Around her neck she wore her locket and in her hands she carried a single pure white lily.
In all of the excitement no one seemed to notice a four-year-old little girl wander through the trees. She was wearing a white sundress, had long red hair and was holding a bouquet of freshly picked daisies. She didn't look at all out of place. In fact the O'Gradys seemed to think she was just another Weasley and the Weasleys had her pegged for an O'Grady. She did indeed resemble both the bride and the groom.
Molly couldn't breath as she watched the little girl skip up the aisle in front of her, just as if she was meant to be there. Arthur was too focused on Molly to worry about the child. But Molly saw a worried look pass from Dumbledore to Arabella Figg, who sat in the second row shaking her head in disbelief.
By the time Molly and her Father had made their way to the front, Dumbledore had silently communicated to Arabella to escort the child out when she got the chance and had regained his composure. Then he spoke, "Friends, we have been invited here to share with Arthur and Molly in a most important time in their lives. In the time they have been together, their love for and understanding of each other has grown and matured. Now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife.
"Today they promise to face the future together, accepting whatever may lie ahead. For the world that God has created for them, with its beauty and grace that is all around, with the strength that it offers and the peace that it brings, makes them truly grateful.
"Arthur and Molly, nothing is easier than saying words and nothing harder than living them day after day. What you promise today must be renewed and re-decided tomorrow. At the end of this ceremony legally you will be man and wife, but you still must decide each day that stretches out before you, that you want to be married.
"Real love is something beyond the warmth and glow, the excitement and romance of being deeply in love. It is caring as much about the welfare and happiness of your marriage partner as about your own. But real love is not total absorption in each other; it is looking outward in the same direction --together. Love makes burdens lighter, because you divide them. It makes joys more intense because you share them. It makes you stronger so you can reach out and become involved with life in ways you dared not risk alone. Love is the greatest and strongest magic there is.
"Who brings Molly to stand beside Arthur?"
Molly's parents answered, "We do."
Dumbledore then addressed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well, "Parents, are you willing, now and always to support and strengthen this marriage by upholding both Arthur and Molly with your love and concern?"
Both sets of parents responded, "We are."
Molly's father gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down beside his wife.
Dumbledore then turned to the groom, "Arthur, this woman whom you hold by the hand is to be your wife. She has given you one of the most sacred things under heaven: a woman's life and a woman's love. You may bring her great joy or cause her great sorrow. It is not what you bring her in a material way that will make happiness - riches without love are nothing. The gift without the giver is bare. The practice of those virtues as a husband that you have shown as a lover will keep her heart won to your heart. Do you vow here, as you have promised that you will be true and loyal, patient in sickness, comforting in sorrow, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her for so long as you both shall live?"
Arthur beamed at Molly, "I will."
Dumbledore spoke the next words to Molly, "Molly, this man whom you hold by the right hand is to be your husband. On your life, your love, and devotion he will lean for strength and inspiration. He is going to look to you for encouragement, for cheerfulness and confidence. May your life and your love be his constant inspiration. Do you vow here, as you have promised that you will be loyal in adversity, ministering to him in affliction, comforting him in sorrow, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only to him for so long as you both shall live?"
Molly felt like she was in a dream she looked at Arthur, at Dumbledore, even down at the little girl who was smiling back up at her. Then she looked at Arthur again. There was no question about it, "I will."
"Arthur, what token do you give of the vows you have made?" asked Dumbledore.
"A ring." Arthur looked a bit nervous, trying to remember the words he had memorized. Billius handed him the ring and then he softly began his vow, "Molly, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true, that prayer has been answered. For today, Molly, you as my joy become my crown. I thank God for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future bright, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, Molly, my friend and my love. Today I give to you me."
"Molly, what token do you give of the vows you have made?" Dumbledore asked Molly.
"A ring." The grin on Sophie's face could not have possibly been bigger as she handed the ring to Molly. And then Molly said her vow, "Arthur, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helpmate designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto you. Therefore, Arthur, I pledge to you my life as an obedient, faithful and loving wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God."
Dumbledore winked at her as he spoke, "Arthur and Molly, we have heard you promise to share your lives in marriage. We recognize and respect the covenant you have made. It is not a minister standing before you that makes your marriage real, but the honest and sincerity of what you have said and done here before your friends and relatives in the sight of God." He was positively grinning when by the time he looked up to the assembly to make the pronouncement, "Forasmuch as Arthur and Molly have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, by the authority committed unto me, I declare that Arthur and Molly are now husband and wife, according to the ordinance of God and the laws of our people: in the name of the Father, and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Whom therefore God hath joined together, let no man put assunder."
"You can kiss her now," Dumbledore whispered nudging Arthur with his elbow.
Arthur jumped. "Oh, yeah." He drew Molly to him and kissed her very sweetly on the mouth, nearly oblivious to the cheering crowd. Dumbledore waited for them to finish and then spoke again, "Now the ceremony is over and the experience of living day by day as married people is about to begin. Go forth to meet it, gladly, love life so it will love you. May blessings of God be with you.
"I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weasley"
Molly had all but forgotten about the little redhaired girl in the flourish of the kiss and the pronouncement and now walking back down the aisle arm in arm with her husband. But then as they waited in the receiving line, she heard something through the bushes.
"Arabella, thank God you were here. You found her," came the voice of a woman Molly had never heard before.
"Gotta' watch this one she's quick." Now, that was Bella.
"We had told Petunia to keep an eye on her while we set up the picnic. They were picking daisies, and then we looked up and she was gone."
Then Molly heard for the first time the voice of the child, "Mummy, I saw a beautiful princess and she was marrying a handsome prince."
"What an imagination this one has," Arabella covered.
Sophie's voice brought Molly back to the present. "Cute little girl," she whispered. "But how did she get through the Muggle repelling charms?"
"She," began Molly slowly, now realizing fully who the little girl really was, "She wasn't a Muggle,".
"You don't mean. . ."
"That was Lily. I know it."
They weren't able to finish the conversation what with all the congratulations and dancing and eating cake and drinking champagne. Gertie caught Molly's bouquet, and Terrence found someone to hide behind. Before they knew it Arthur and Molly were saying their goodbyes and preparing to apparate off to their own home.
They didn't apparate directly into the house but right onto the front step. Then Arthur swung his bride up into his arms and carried her over the threshold into their new home. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her softly onto the big oak bed. Molly giggled all the way.
"Arthur," she said as he held her tightly and kissed her.
"Yes, Luv."
"I think maybe I don't want to wait so long before we have a baby."
"Really? I mean, what brought this on?"
"Well, just seeing Lily and how sweet she is."
"Seeing Lily?" Arthur looked confused.
"The little girl who wandered into the wedding, that was Lily."
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice," Arthur stared at her lovingly. "I was too busy marring the most beautiful woman in the world."
And with that he drove every other thought out of her head.