Chapter 3: Wedding Bells

Harry adjusted the collar of his cream shirt nervously as he made his way up towards the stage in the Grand Hall of the Combined Operations Training Centre, where Director Wright and the commanders of the Inquisitor Branch and the Dark Force Defence League were standing. Gathered around Harry were the other three Aurors, and the five Inquisitors that he had trained with for the last three years. Today, they would be made full members of their respective organisations, with all the rights and responsibilities that entailed, and Harry was rather nervous at the prospect.

Director Wright walked to the podium flanked by Assistant Commander Graydon, and Deputy Assistant Commander Peel, head of the Inquisitor Branch of the MLES.

"Good morning everyone," he said, looking out into the packed audience, which included most of Harry's closest friends. "We are here today to witness the ascension to the ranks of the Ministry law enforcers, of ten of best students we have ever had the pleasure of having on our training programmes."

He turned to the assembled trainees. "Now, when I call your name, come forward and accept your badge and uniform from either AC Graydon or DAC Peel, depended on your chosen service."

He unrolled the parchment, and read the first name at the top of the list. "Bones, Susan." Susan broke away from the knot of trainees and took her own blue-and-silver robe and gold badge from Peel and went to sit with her sister and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Terry Boot, who was made an Inquisitor, followed him up to the podium a moment later.

When Hermione's name was called, she beamed, and rushed forward, eagerly accepted her own uniform from Peel, and then rushed down the stairs to sit between her mother and Ron. Debra Ling was awarded the cream-and-gold robe and gold badge of an Auror, then Ernie MacMillian became an Inquisitor and then Romulus joined Ling. Finally it was Harry's turn.

"Good luck, Mr Potter," said Graydon, gripping Harry's hand tightly after he handed over Harry's things. "You're a great wizard and will be a fine Auror."

"Thank you, sir."

"You might want to examine your badge, Potter," commented the Director. "You may get a surprise."

Harry almost asked what he meant, but decided to check the badge instead and hurried off the stage, dropping into the empty seat between Ginny and Jamie just as the next trainee, Jean-Pierre Roche of the Inquisitors, received his things. Zacharias Smith became an Inquisitor, and Blaise was invested as an Auror, then it was all over.

The entire audience filed out to the buffet that had been set up in the next room. But Harry's keen ears picked up Hermione speaking to Ron. Harry raised his eyebrows and turned around, then smiled. The expensive ring nested in the velvet box told him all he needed to know. Ron had proposed to Hermione and her response ("Of course I will, Ron.") meant that she had accepted. "Congratulations!"

Both his best friends turned at Harry's shout, and blushed. "Thanks Harry."

"Will you be my best man?" Ron asked.

Harry smiled. "I'd love to, Ron. In fact, I'd be insulted if you asked anyone else."

----

"I'm beginning to wish he had now," Harry moaned as he sank into a chair in one of the smaller lounges at Gryphon's Eyrie. Remus, who had returned from Hogwarts a few days earlier, looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows.

"I've been trying to sort out the arrangements for the wedding," Harry told him. "Ginny's too busy with her summer assignments to do much, she's sorting out the dresses for the bridesmaids, but I've got to handle to handle everything else. Today, I had to go down to Hogwarts to check the catering arrangements with the house-elves. Boy, I'll never complain about Velky's efficiency ever again. Dobby was on one of his rare days off and I had to deal with a particularly excitable female house-elf called Likky. It took me over an hour to get her to calm down long enough so I could ask her about the cake, and the whole thing took four hours."

"Sounds like you need a drink," commented Sirius, who had come in the middle of the conversation.

"A spot of Alik's Ancient Ale sounds good," Harry agreed.

Sirius grinned, and reached into one of the cabinets along one wall of the room and with drew two icy bottles, one of which he threw in Harry's direction.

Harry caught it easily, popped off the lid and took a big slug from it. "That's better."

"Best Man duties giving you problems?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded. "Yeah, getting married is the easy bit, it's everything that needs to be done beforehand that's the hard part."

"Well, I intend to make sure everything goes fine," Harry said. "Nothing is going to spoil my best friends' wedding. Not if I can do anything to stop it."

"It'll be fine, Harry," Remus assured him. "Ron and Hermione have faith in you, we all do."

"Thanks Remus, I need all the help I can get at the moment."

----

Did you manage to get the dresses today, love?" Harry asked as he slipped into bed beside Ginny a few nights later.

Ginny - who was still engrossed in one of her poisons books - nodded and snuggled in next to Harry. "Hermione's dress is amazing and I must admit Madam Malkin did a good job on the other dresses too. She's expecting you, Ron and the groomsmen and male ushers for a fitting on Friday."

"I know, Gin. I arranged it," Harry reminded her. "Don't worry, we'll be there." He reached over Ginny and eased her book out of her hand, cast a wandless Place Marking Charm on it, and put it on the side of the bed. Ginny tried to protest, but Harry quickly silenced her. "Ginny, you've had a long day and you need your sleep. You know most of that stuff anyway and you have all summer to revise what you don't."

"I know, Harry," Ginny told him. "It just seems like there isn't time to do everything."

"I know, love," Harry assured her. "But now is time for sleeping, not studying. Okay?"

"Okay."

Ginny twisted around so she was spooned against Harry, and he wrapped his arms around her. In that position, they fell asleep.

----

Still somewhat leery of reporters since his encounter with Melinda Maledicta about two -and-a-half years before, Harry decided to hold Ron's bachelor party at the fairly out of the way, but easily controlled, Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade. He had a few things he needed to do first so by the time he arrived at the pub on Ron's stag night - which took place two days before the wedding - the party was already well underway in the corner Harry had reserved for them. Ron was there, as were the other Weasley brothers, Romulus and Sirius. Harry got a beer from Madam Rosmerta and joined his friends.

They hadn't been drinking long before more guest started to trickle in; Neville, Remus and Hagrid walked down from the castle a bit later, and two of Ron's squad - Peter Roberts and Carl Pinkerton - turned up about two hours into the event.

The party itself was rather tame, the twins had obviously decided to get the groom and the best man, completely drunk. Ron was a semi-willing participant in this endeavour and by midnight he was in fact too drunk to stand. Harry on the other hand was having none of it, he agreed to have a couple of shots of Firewhiskey, but other than that had only a couple of beers and two or three Butterbeers, which with a Sobriety Spell in place, was nowhere near enough to get him anything more than slightly tipsy.

However, when the majority of the party dragged themselves up to the rooms Harry had booked upstairs at about two a.m., they were feeling rather worse for wear, a feeling that was compounded when they woke later that morning with raging headaches and rather nasty cases of nausea.

Harry and Romulus were the only ones not to be feeling any serious after- effects of the nights drinking - largely due to the Sobriety Spells they'd both applied before they joined the group - and so they got in some strong coffee and after fortifying it with one or two potions from their belt pouches, they handed out steaming cups of it to everyone and they were able dress and go down to breakfast.

"Well, that's the stag party over," Harry commented to Ron a few minutes later, over a plate of bacon and eggs. "Just the main event to go."

"Don't remind me, Harry," Ron moaned. "I'm scared out of my mind about it."

"It'll be fine," Harry assured him. "You're doing the right thing."

"Thanks Harry. You're a pal."

"I'm always glad to help."

----

"And then he said. whatever House she's in, I hope I'm not in it!" Harry told the assembled guests. This earned him several chuckles, and glares from both the bride and groom.

"But, fortunately, as you know, all three of us were Sorted into the same House. Gryffindor. Ron and I didn't get on very well with Hermione at first, but then on our first Halloween at Hogwarts, something happened that brought us together. we faced a full-grown mountain troll which had been let into the castle by a professor working for Voldemort." Many of audience shivered at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, even four years after his defeat, he was still feared. "During that year we also worked together to save the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort and that brought us even closer together.

"The three of us were close from then on, but it wasn't until our fourth year that anything really changed. That was when Viktor Krum came along." Here he paused, as if pondering what to say. "Despite what many people said at the time, most notably Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet, I never saw him as a threat. a rival. in fact, I was quite surprised when Viktor himself believed the rumours about me and Hermione. But Viktor's short lived and innocent relationship with Hermione did accomplish one thing. it made Ron realise that Hermione was a girl, and it made those of us who knew him well, suspect that he might have deeper feelings for her.

"Now, I don't know exactly how long it took for Ron to act on his feelings, but by the beginning of our sixth year there were definite signs of a little romance behind the scenes. They finally 'went public', after Gryffindor's first match of that season, and they've dated ever since. The day Hermione graduated - at the top of her class and with one of the highest marks in recent history - from the Inquisitor Training Program, Ron proposed to her, she accepted, and you all know what happened next."

"I ask you to raise your glasses. to Ron and Hermione! May their love sustain them for a long time to come."

The Great Hall echoed with calls of 'Ron and Hermione', the loudest coming from bridesmaids (Luna, Blaise, Fleur and Tonks), the ushers (Neville, Romulus, Bill and Charlie) and the Maid of Honour. Harry sat down between Ginny and Jamie and helped himself to the food, grinning to himself when he noticed that Ron was still scowling also not with any real anger.

The reception lasted well into the night, and it only began to break up, once people realised that the guests of honour had in fact departed several hours before. Harry admitted that they were probably already at the honeymoon destination, which he refused to disclose saying only that he knew where they were, and that only he could contact them. They intended to return in two weeks at which time Hermione would be assigned to an Inquisitor unit and begin her career.

----

A year later, Harry was on a field assignment leading the Donnerkeil Squad of Special Tactical Unit of the Hit Wizards Branch, when a thought that had been chased around his head for quite some time finally crystallised into a clear idea. "Let's get this over with," he told the squad. "Intel indicates that Warrington is guarded by Vampires, specifically Vetuni, so our wands won't be much use."

"We know, Harry," Sergeant Dean Thomas, now a Sergeant in the STU, reminded him. He reached behind his back and unshipped his rifle from its carrying pouch, it was a customised Heckler & Koch G3 automatic rifle, the standard issue rifle for Hit Wizards. His squad followed suit and Harry reached down the holster at his belt and removed one of the two Desert Eagle .44 Magnums that he had brought with him.

The eleven Hit Wizards and one Auror moved silently to the door of the large house. Two Hit Wizards, Carl Luken and Alan Bennett, both strong brawny fellows, took position either side of the door. One of Dean's corporals, Vince Emhart, took position in front of the doors. "On my count." he said. "Three. two. one. Oblitter?rre!"

The wooden door was smashed to smithereens and the team moved forward only to be met by concerted resistance in form of thirty Vetuni, who managed to take down Corporal Emhart and Officer Luken before the team could react. Dean and Bennett opened fire with the their rifles joined a breath later by Harry and the other Hit Wizards. The Exploding Fluid-tipped Argentium rounds made quick work of the opposition, accounting for almost all of them within a minute, the last two were taken down by one of Harry's glaives.

With his 'welcoming committee' disposed of, it was easy work to locate Warrington and arrest him. Dean took custody of him, and used a special Portkey to transport them back to the Ministry. Harry filed his report on the operation with Tonks - his immediate superior - and then Apparated to Diagon Alley where he picked up a small package from Gringotts.

Upon returning home, he discovered that Ginny had gone for a walk in the hills above the castle. Deciding that he could probably catch up with her easiest in his Animagus form he transformed.

A few minutes later, Ginny was a little startled when a sleek black panther came up behind her. Her hand flew to her hand, but before she could draw Harry transformed back.

"Harry! You're back!" she exclaimed, running over to him and smiling as he folded her into his arms. "Good mission?"

"It was a success."

"Good."

"Ginny, I've been thinking about asking you this for over a year now. and I think now is the right time." He reached into his pocket and took out a small black jewellery box. He flicked it open and a small, delicate gold ring topped with a large ruby was revealed. "Virginia Weasley, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will, Harry." Ginny told him, and paused just long enough for Harry to slip the gold band around her finger, then she reached up, and drew his head down for a very passionate kiss.

A/N: Sorry about the long wait, but University has been a killer recently. I'm not sure when the next chap will be up, but it probably won't be for at least a week. In the meantime, please review.