The next month passed in a flurry of activity, and all of a sudden it was
the week of Fred and Angelina's wedding. Oliver received a letter from
George at breakfast one morning in the owl post. He removed the letter from
George's owl's foot and the owl swooped out of the great hall. He read it
quickly, not realizing that Adrianna was reading over his shoulder.
"So, are you going?" she asked.
"I thought I would, unless you adamantly object."
"No, I think you should go to Fred's bachelor party. You'll have fun. Just don't tell me what happens there, I think I'm better off not knowing," Adrianna replied.
So on Friday night, Oliver apparated to Fred and George's apartment above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Bill and Charlie were already there. Lee Jordan arrived just after him, and Harry and Ron got there about five minutes later.
"Is that everyone, then," asked Lee.
"Yeah, should be," George replied.
"Where exactly are we going?" inquired Harry.
"Knockturn Alley," Fred and George replied in unison, identical mischievous grins on their faces.
"But that's where all those dark wizard shops are!" cried Ron.
"Awww, is ickle Ronnie afwaid?" teased George in a mock baby voice.
"You didn't expect to find a strip club on nice, respectable Diagon Alley now did you?" asked Bill.
The group set out on foot and walked about fifteen minutes until they came to a building that appeared to be abandoned. Bill tapped a sequence of bricks on the wall, and a doorway suddenly appeared. They handed their IDs to a wizard with multiple piercings sitting behind a desk just past the doorway, and he inspected them before handing them back.
"This way," said Bill, leading them through the crowd and up a narrow staircase. "I got us a private room." He ushered them into a room with a sofa and a couple of armchairs. In addition to the furniture, there was a keg of mulled mead.
"You only got one keg?" asked Fred, looking a bit annoyed.
"It's a bottomless keg," Bill replied. Oliver almost laughed aloud as Fred's expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to glee.
"Excellent," said Charlie, helping himself to the mead.
The guys spent the evening drinking from their bottomless keg and watching the various witches that came up to their private room to strip for them. At first they were satisfied to just watch and cheer, but after the first few strippers they became increasingly inebriated and discontent. They magically removed the clothes of the next witch that came to the room in the middle of her routine, then laughed at the look of mixed confusion and embarrassment when she tried to remove the next article of clothing and realized that it was already gone. Oliver noticed her confusion turning to anger, and would have stopped laughing had she not just grabbed her wand from the floor and hit him with a tickling charm. She hexed every one of them before leaving the room in a huff. Poor Fred had been hit with a nasty furnunculus curse, resulting in painful boils all over his body.
"That'll look just lovely for your wedding photos tomorrow," teased Harry, who had performed the counter-curse to whatever hex had hit him.
"Not to worry," said George through gritted teeth. He was trying to hold his legs still, but they were jerking uncontrollably. "We've got the antidote back at the apartment. We brewed a whole cauldron of it when we were testing our new Botched Bon-bons."
"They're bon-bons that, when consumed, produce boils similar to the ones I've got now," Fred explained.
"Can- someone- do- the- counter-curse?" Oliver gasped, tears rolling down his face and still laughing hysterically.
"Finite incantatem!" shouted Harry, waving his wand. Oliver was finally able to stop laughing, and nearly everyone else was free from the adverse effects of the various hexes. However, Fred was still covered in boils and Ron was still vomiting slugs.
"Hey Ron, remember in second year when you tried to curse Malfoy with your broken wand and you cast the slug hex on yourself?" asked Harry with a grin.
"Shut up Harry," said Ron with a glare in Harry's direction.
"Hey mates, I could be wrong here, but I think we ought to leave this place before that witch goes to her boss and tells him what we've done. Better to leave on our own than to get thrown out," said Lee.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," agreed Charlie.
"Not without our keg! I shelled out a lot of galleons for that!" shouted Bill. He shrunk the keg so that it fit into the palm of his hand and stowed it in his pocket, and then the group made their way back to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, some of them staggering and swaying as they went.
Oliver awoke with a splitting headache the next morning. He rolled over, looked at the clock, groaned loudly and closed his eyes again.
"That'll teach you not to get drunk," said Adrianna, who was lying awake next to him.
"Ha! That's like the pot calling the kettle black. I seem to remember someone else getting rather trashed on New Year's Eve," he replied, which shut her up effectively. He didn't want to get out of bed, but he also didn't want to have to deal with his headache. He reluctantly rolled out of bed and staggered to the hospital wing for a dose of hangover potion.
By early afternoon when it was time to leave for the wedding, Oliver was feeling one hundred percent better. He and Adrianna dressed in nice sets of robes and then walked to Hogsmeade so that they could apparate to Angelina's parents' house, where the wedding was to take place.
It was a bright, sunshiny Saturday in April, which was perfect for the huge garden wedding that Fred and Angelina had planned. Fred stood in front of a beautiful arch covered in white flowers, and Oliver was glad to see that Fred's boils had cleared up since last night. Fred was looking a little nervous as the groomsmen walked the bridesmaids down the aisle. The bridesmaids wore lovely aqua-colored matching dress robes, and the groomsmen wore simpler charcoal gray dress robes.
After the rest of the wedding party had gone down the aisle, everyone oohed and aahed as Angelina walked down the aisle on the arm of her father. Oliver could barely believe that this was the same girl that he had played quidditch with for four years. She looked amazingly beautiful in her flowing white bridal robes. She had chosen not to wear a veil, but instead wore a gold tiara imbedded with pearls. She was positively glowing with joy as her father kissed her on the cheek and handed her off to Fred. Oliver could hear Mrs. Weasley sobbing as the happy couple exchanged vows and rings. When they were finished Fred kissed his bride, and then the crowd clapped as the ministry wizard that had performed the ceremony pronounced them husband and wife.
After the ceremony was over, a live band set up the garden while the guests were invited to help themselves to appetizers and fancy little finger sandwiches. When everyone seemed to have had their fill, the band began to play and Angelina and her father had the traditional father-daughter dance. Angelina had not cried during the ceremony, but Oliver saw a few tears trickle down her face as she danced with her father and noticed that her dad was crying as well.
When they had finished, Fred requested a dance with his mother. He was beaming the whole time, but Mrs. Weasley was sobbing hard on his shoulder. After that, Fred and Angelina invited their guest to join them as they began to dance together. Knowing how much Adrianna loved to dance, he led her over to the grassy area where the others were and slow danced with her. After the first few songs the songs became more upbeat, and everyone had fun dancing until Mrs. Johnson announced that her daughter and son-in-law were ready to cut the cake. They fed each other the first piece of cake. To everyone's surprise, Fred fed his piece to Angelina very nicely. Angelina, however, smashed her piece all over Fred's face.
"No fair, I was nice to you!" Fred exclaimed as he reached for a napkin to wipe off his face.
When everyone had had a piece of the cake, Angelina announced that she was going to throw her bouquet. All of the single ladies gathered in a group behind her. There was a scramble as the girls literally fought for it, but in the end George's girlfriend Steph emerged triumphant, sporting a bloody nose and holding the bouquet above her head.
"That means I've got to catch the garter. I'm not letting someone else put it on my girlfriend. You'd better stay out of the way if you don't want to be injured, Wood," George muttered in Oliver's ear.
Sure enough, when Fred threw the garter, Ron caught it and George immediately tackled him and wrestled him for it. Steph sat in a chair holding the bouquet while George slid the garter up her leg.
After dancing for a while longer, Fred and Angelina announced that they were departing for their new house that they'd bought together and that they'd be leaving on their honeymoon the next day. The reception continued for a while after they left, but eventually it began to wind down, and Oliver and Adrianna returned to Hogwarts.
They decided to hang out in Adrianna's rooms for a while, and Oliver brought Duncan over to see how he interacted with Chip. Both he and Adrianna were pleasantly surprised to see that the crup and the kneazle seemed to get along rather well. They were observing their pets when there was a knock at Adrianna's door. She pointed her wand at it and the bookshelf/door swung open to reveal Minerva McGonagall.
"So, are you going?" she asked.
"I thought I would, unless you adamantly object."
"No, I think you should go to Fred's bachelor party. You'll have fun. Just don't tell me what happens there, I think I'm better off not knowing," Adrianna replied.
So on Friday night, Oliver apparated to Fred and George's apartment above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Bill and Charlie were already there. Lee Jordan arrived just after him, and Harry and Ron got there about five minutes later.
"Is that everyone, then," asked Lee.
"Yeah, should be," George replied.
"Where exactly are we going?" inquired Harry.
"Knockturn Alley," Fred and George replied in unison, identical mischievous grins on their faces.
"But that's where all those dark wizard shops are!" cried Ron.
"Awww, is ickle Ronnie afwaid?" teased George in a mock baby voice.
"You didn't expect to find a strip club on nice, respectable Diagon Alley now did you?" asked Bill.
The group set out on foot and walked about fifteen minutes until they came to a building that appeared to be abandoned. Bill tapped a sequence of bricks on the wall, and a doorway suddenly appeared. They handed their IDs to a wizard with multiple piercings sitting behind a desk just past the doorway, and he inspected them before handing them back.
"This way," said Bill, leading them through the crowd and up a narrow staircase. "I got us a private room." He ushered them into a room with a sofa and a couple of armchairs. In addition to the furniture, there was a keg of mulled mead.
"You only got one keg?" asked Fred, looking a bit annoyed.
"It's a bottomless keg," Bill replied. Oliver almost laughed aloud as Fred's expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to glee.
"Excellent," said Charlie, helping himself to the mead.
The guys spent the evening drinking from their bottomless keg and watching the various witches that came up to their private room to strip for them. At first they were satisfied to just watch and cheer, but after the first few strippers they became increasingly inebriated and discontent. They magically removed the clothes of the next witch that came to the room in the middle of her routine, then laughed at the look of mixed confusion and embarrassment when she tried to remove the next article of clothing and realized that it was already gone. Oliver noticed her confusion turning to anger, and would have stopped laughing had she not just grabbed her wand from the floor and hit him with a tickling charm. She hexed every one of them before leaving the room in a huff. Poor Fred had been hit with a nasty furnunculus curse, resulting in painful boils all over his body.
"That'll look just lovely for your wedding photos tomorrow," teased Harry, who had performed the counter-curse to whatever hex had hit him.
"Not to worry," said George through gritted teeth. He was trying to hold his legs still, but they were jerking uncontrollably. "We've got the antidote back at the apartment. We brewed a whole cauldron of it when we were testing our new Botched Bon-bons."
"They're bon-bons that, when consumed, produce boils similar to the ones I've got now," Fred explained.
"Can- someone- do- the- counter-curse?" Oliver gasped, tears rolling down his face and still laughing hysterically.
"Finite incantatem!" shouted Harry, waving his wand. Oliver was finally able to stop laughing, and nearly everyone else was free from the adverse effects of the various hexes. However, Fred was still covered in boils and Ron was still vomiting slugs.
"Hey Ron, remember in second year when you tried to curse Malfoy with your broken wand and you cast the slug hex on yourself?" asked Harry with a grin.
"Shut up Harry," said Ron with a glare in Harry's direction.
"Hey mates, I could be wrong here, but I think we ought to leave this place before that witch goes to her boss and tells him what we've done. Better to leave on our own than to get thrown out," said Lee.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," agreed Charlie.
"Not without our keg! I shelled out a lot of galleons for that!" shouted Bill. He shrunk the keg so that it fit into the palm of his hand and stowed it in his pocket, and then the group made their way back to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, some of them staggering and swaying as they went.
Oliver awoke with a splitting headache the next morning. He rolled over, looked at the clock, groaned loudly and closed his eyes again.
"That'll teach you not to get drunk," said Adrianna, who was lying awake next to him.
"Ha! That's like the pot calling the kettle black. I seem to remember someone else getting rather trashed on New Year's Eve," he replied, which shut her up effectively. He didn't want to get out of bed, but he also didn't want to have to deal with his headache. He reluctantly rolled out of bed and staggered to the hospital wing for a dose of hangover potion.
By early afternoon when it was time to leave for the wedding, Oliver was feeling one hundred percent better. He and Adrianna dressed in nice sets of robes and then walked to Hogsmeade so that they could apparate to Angelina's parents' house, where the wedding was to take place.
It was a bright, sunshiny Saturday in April, which was perfect for the huge garden wedding that Fred and Angelina had planned. Fred stood in front of a beautiful arch covered in white flowers, and Oliver was glad to see that Fred's boils had cleared up since last night. Fred was looking a little nervous as the groomsmen walked the bridesmaids down the aisle. The bridesmaids wore lovely aqua-colored matching dress robes, and the groomsmen wore simpler charcoal gray dress robes.
After the rest of the wedding party had gone down the aisle, everyone oohed and aahed as Angelina walked down the aisle on the arm of her father. Oliver could barely believe that this was the same girl that he had played quidditch with for four years. She looked amazingly beautiful in her flowing white bridal robes. She had chosen not to wear a veil, but instead wore a gold tiara imbedded with pearls. She was positively glowing with joy as her father kissed her on the cheek and handed her off to Fred. Oliver could hear Mrs. Weasley sobbing as the happy couple exchanged vows and rings. When they were finished Fred kissed his bride, and then the crowd clapped as the ministry wizard that had performed the ceremony pronounced them husband and wife.
After the ceremony was over, a live band set up the garden while the guests were invited to help themselves to appetizers and fancy little finger sandwiches. When everyone seemed to have had their fill, the band began to play and Angelina and her father had the traditional father-daughter dance. Angelina had not cried during the ceremony, but Oliver saw a few tears trickle down her face as she danced with her father and noticed that her dad was crying as well.
When they had finished, Fred requested a dance with his mother. He was beaming the whole time, but Mrs. Weasley was sobbing hard on his shoulder. After that, Fred and Angelina invited their guest to join them as they began to dance together. Knowing how much Adrianna loved to dance, he led her over to the grassy area where the others were and slow danced with her. After the first few songs the songs became more upbeat, and everyone had fun dancing until Mrs. Johnson announced that her daughter and son-in-law were ready to cut the cake. They fed each other the first piece of cake. To everyone's surprise, Fred fed his piece to Angelina very nicely. Angelina, however, smashed her piece all over Fred's face.
"No fair, I was nice to you!" Fred exclaimed as he reached for a napkin to wipe off his face.
When everyone had had a piece of the cake, Angelina announced that she was going to throw her bouquet. All of the single ladies gathered in a group behind her. There was a scramble as the girls literally fought for it, but in the end George's girlfriend Steph emerged triumphant, sporting a bloody nose and holding the bouquet above her head.
"That means I've got to catch the garter. I'm not letting someone else put it on my girlfriend. You'd better stay out of the way if you don't want to be injured, Wood," George muttered in Oliver's ear.
Sure enough, when Fred threw the garter, Ron caught it and George immediately tackled him and wrestled him for it. Steph sat in a chair holding the bouquet while George slid the garter up her leg.
After dancing for a while longer, Fred and Angelina announced that they were departing for their new house that they'd bought together and that they'd be leaving on their honeymoon the next day. The reception continued for a while after they left, but eventually it began to wind down, and Oliver and Adrianna returned to Hogwarts.
They decided to hang out in Adrianna's rooms for a while, and Oliver brought Duncan over to see how he interacted with Chip. Both he and Adrianna were pleasantly surprised to see that the crup and the kneazle seemed to get along rather well. They were observing their pets when there was a knock at Adrianna's door. She pointed her wand at it and the bookshelf/door swung open to reveal Minerva McGonagall.