Author's notes: Okay. To avoid confusion, breaks between different points of view are indicated by the page breaks. Breaks that are in-between the POV sections are represented by: 'IIIII'

Also, I am looking for someone who would be interested in taking over 'Dea Ex Machina'. I am tied up with 'Inside Out' and my crossover fic 'When Worlds Collide' so I need a hand.

I would also like to thank the loyal readers of this fic for continuing to follow along. I also would like to extend a very special thank you to sydedalus for writing three superb 'House' fics: 'Of a Thursday', 'Intervention', and 'Some Days Are Worse Than Others'. So after you finish here, read her stuff, then insist she take a job writing for FOX, because—at least in my opinion—her talents are not exercised NEARLY enough with fan fiction.

Also, in the end, I have not yet decided where House and Angela will live. I am up for suggestions.

Thank you very, very much.

Ch. 17 The Reception

House's POV

Introducing your parents to your girlfriend is hard enough. Introducing your parents to your wife is far harder. My parents hadn't had a chance to meet Angela before we left New Jersey. When Angela and I arrived at the reception, my mother came over with my father in tow. "Greg, I am so happy for you," she said, smiling. My mother was a tall woman, and very thin. I took after her body-wise, while my eyes and hair were from my father's side. Angela looked at me expectantly, and I introduced my parents. "Angela, this is my mother and father, Trish and Eric."

"It's so wonderful to meet you both," Angela said, shaking hands with them. "And I'm so glad you came."

My father smiled at her. "Well, it's not everyday we get invited to the wedding of our only son."

"So I take it you approve of Angela?" I asked, looking slightly nervous, I admit.

Dad shrugged. "It's your life, Greg. I mean if you fell in love with this woman, even if she is younger than you… than I'm happy for you, son."

I could see Angela trying not to laugh at being called 'young'. But telling the truth would probably be more than my parents would be willing to believe.

"Greg? Angela?" I turned around and saw Wilson coming up.

"Hey, it's the first dance in a minute," he said, giving a nod to Mom and Dad.

"Okay, we'll be there in a moment," Angela said, smiling sweetly. "Thank you, Wilson." She pulled lightly on my arm and the two of us left and went to the center of the crowded pavilion. I handed my cane off to Wilson and put my hands around Angela's waist. It hurt not to have the cane's support, but I gritted my teeth. I'd only have one chance to do this, and I wasn't about to let Angela down just because of the removed muscle in my thigh.

Angela put her arms around my neck and Lily Potter turned the music on.

'The biggest lie you ever told

Your deepest fear about growing old

The longest night you ever spent

The angriest letter you never sent

The boy you swore you'd never leave

The one you kissed on New Year's Eve

The sweetest dream you had last night

Your darkest hour, your hardest fight'

She'd picked a good song. I'd been secretly afraid that Angela would pick something sweet and sappy. But she'd gone with sweet, yet meaningful. Plus there was no real way you could ever go wrong with Bryan Adams. Even I knew that.

'I want to know you--Like I know myself

I'm waiting for you--there ain't no one else

Talk to me baby--scream and shout

I want to know you—inside out'

'I want to know you like I know myself'. I like that. I've never really known myself, but after meeting Angela… well, maybe she'd finally help me figure things out. I always liked puzzles, and she certainly was one.

'The saddest song you ever heard

The most you said with just one word

The loneliest prayer you ever prayed

The truest vow you ever made

What makes you laugh, what makes you cry

What makes you mad, what gets you by

Your highest high, your lowest low

These are the things I want to know'

I did want to know everything about Angela. And despite what I had seen in her penseive, I wanted to hear it from her. I wanted her to tell me why she'd felt so depressed, she'd slashed her wrists.

"You didn't tell your parents about me before we left, did you?" Angela asked, quietly.

"Well, you whisked me away before I could call them."

Angela stopped dancing and looked at me. 'Oh, hell', I thought. 'I pissed her off and we haven't even finished our wedding reception.'

"Well, I am sorry that my godson's illness interfered with you-"

"Angela, I don't want to fight you. Not on this." I looked into her blue-green eyes and I felt her relax. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to diminish your problems."

"This how it will always be, isn't it? Us trying to be who we are, and… also try to be new people."

"Probably." I kissed her as the song ended.

"House?" I turned to see Cameron standing behind Angela and me, looking very nice in a pale blue evening gown.

"Dr. Cameron."

"I—could we… talk for a moment?" I looked at Angela who smiled and shrugged. "It's okay, Greg." She kissed me on the cheek. "You guys talk."

Then she slowly limped off and retrieved her cane from Lily. Cameron handed my own cane to me with a little smile. "House, I know that you're not usually an emotional person, but… This side of you… I like it. I think you're a better person since you and Angela hooked up. Look, House, I just want to ask you something. Do you like me?"

I looked into Cameron's green eyes. Eyes that reflected a need to love and be loved. To be healed. At that moment, part of me knew that—if I hadn't met Angela—Cameron would try to seek that from me. And I would never be able to do it, or if I did and Cameron hurt me… I'd never be able to come back from that.

"House?" Cameron stared at me and repeated, "Do you like me?"

"Yes. I do."

Dumbledore's POV

One of my favorite muggle sayings is 'To err is human, to forgive divine'. But seeing the Potters at Angela McKeaten's wedding, I realized that not even a divine being could forgive what I had done nearly 17 years ago. So much grief and pain caused by one mistake of an old man. Lily and James wouldn't even look at me as I entered the church. I couldn't blame them. After what I put their son, Harry, through, I understand why they didn't want to see me.

All through the wedding, I pondered my mistakes. Not only with Harry, but with Angela as well. Angela had come to me 22 years saying that she needed help… an escape from the life of an Immortal. I had thought that by offering Angela the life she never got to have, it would help her to rediscover her own inner strength. Instead, my act led to new problems.

I had seen the strain and one-sidedness of Angela and Sirius's relationship. Sirius needed someone wholesome, open, and free to bring him up from the oppression of his family's dark lineage. Angela would never be that. She was already haunted by her life, and the last thing she needed was to deal with someone else's past in addition to her own.

Angela's face lit up when Dr. House slid the wedding band on her finger. It was the smile of someone who finally had their whole life's happiness before them. Someone who was loved wholly and completely. I smiled. It was how Angela deserved to be loved.

As the two stood together as the priest presented them, I realized just how much Angela looked like her mother. I had never personally met Rosemund McKeaten, but one of her portraits hung in my office for many years. Rose loved hearing stories of her daughter. And watching Angela… I felt a multitude of guilt for allowing everything to fall apart.

IIIIIIIIIIII

When I saw Angela at the reception, I realized even more the pain my actions had caused. When she danced, it was very slow and careful, not only due to her husband's injuries, but her own. And injury that might have been prevented if I had not been so foolish. If Sirius Black had not died, he wouldn't have been possessed by Voldemort, and therefore wouldn't have cause Angela's accident.

"Dumbledore."

I turned to see James and Lily standing nearby, their faces with an expression of unhappiness. "James, I am very happy that you-"

"Save it," Lily said coldly. "Angela only invited you because she knew you'd come regardless." Unfortunately, I had suspected as much when I received the invitation. Still, a small part of me had hoped that it was a sense or burying the hatchet. But once more, I was wrong.

James looked at me, and I knew that he had something more to say. "I just want to tell you, Dumbledore—when Harry goes back to Hogwarts, stay away from him. If you need to talk with my son, you contact Lily and me first. I don't want you meeting with Harry alone. Is that clear?"

"Understood," I replied. James and Lily gave curt nods and then walked away.

Only a few moments later, Angela came up, leaning on an elegant mahogany cane topped with a phoenix, and looking only a bit happier than James and lily. Though I knew that that was only because she needed something from me.

"Did you find it, Albus?"

I reached into the pocket of my waistcoat and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "You know that this takes a wiccan witch of pure heart to perform."

"Yes, and I know that Angel knows one."

I handed the spell to Angela and gave her a smile. "You look so beautiful, you know. So very much like your mother."

Angela gave me a half-smile. "Thank you," she said, before hurrying off. After a while, I decided to leave, as I wasn't very welcome here.

Wilson's POV

I saw Angela talking with a tall, thin man with long white hair and beard—probably a wizard. He handed her an envelope that she took gratefully. 'I wonder what that was about,' I thought. But that wasn't the only thing that I was thinking about. I also thought about House's choice. And I wanted to know how she felt about it. Seeing that she was coming my way, I decided to broach the subject.

"Hello, Wilson," Angela said, sweetly. She was so kind and polite. It was amazing.

"Hey. Can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure. No problem. I need to sit for a moment anyway." I led the way to a couple of chairs under a canopy and we sat down.

"Angela," I asked, her wondering how to best put this. "Have you ever talked to Greg about…?" I tried to formulate my phrasing, but ended up gesturing feebly at her left leg and cane.

Thankfully, Angela got my meaning. "You mean his choice to have the surgeon amputate. No, but… I know it was the right thing to do."

"I was just wondering if you knew how hard it was for Greg to make that choice."

Angela cocked her head slightly. "What do you mean, Wilson?"

I sighed. I knew House wouldn't tell her. It was hard enough for him to deal with, let alone relating that tale to a new woman who was in that same situation. "When House had the clot. His girlfriend at the time tried to talk him into amputation. She was the one who gave the go-ahead for the surgery to have the dead muscle cut out. House was in a chemically induced coma at the time."

"Greg didn't tell me. It must have been agony for him to make that choice with me." She looked over at House who was talking with Cameron.

I needed to ask Angela something. Something I knew House needed to know as well. "Angela, do you hold Greg's choice against him?"

Angela's eyes went wide. "How could I? I mean, really, there was no other choice. Wilson, I watched my mother die of cancer. I couldn't even fathom dying that way."

"So you forgive him?"

Angela gave a warm smile. God, I wished I could meet a woman like her. Her blue-green eyes twinkling, she said, "What's there to forgive?"

Angel's POV

When I first saw Angela in her wedding dress, hair framing her face… I was so proud and happy. But not perfectly happy as I noticed Angela's limp as she came towards me. I tried to show that I hadn't noticed, but as always, Angela knew better.

"I'm fine, 'Lus. Really."

I took her hands in mine. "I just wish it hadn't happened to you."

"I don't," Angela said. I just looked at her in quiet surprise. She noticed my look and explained. "Losing my leg let me see that I had more problems than I realized. I've let my past hold me back. But I have a new life now, and I'm going to embrace it."

I smiled. "It's always surprising when your baby sister gets smarter than you."

"15 minutes!" Angela screeched. "I am ONLY 15 minutes younger than you!"

I laughed as Angela tried to chase me around the room.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

Later, at the reception, I still couldn't believe that Angela was finally married. Seeing her at the wedding, and now at the reception, she looked so much like our mother. The same smooth, fair skin, the same smile, the same twinkle in the eyes. For the first time, I didn't see Angela as my sister or an Immortal, but as a vibrant and lively woman who was taking life by the horns and turning it the way she wanted.

I watched Dr. House and Angela dancing, then one of Dr. House's friends wanted to talk. I just stayed off to the side of one of the outdoor pavilions. The sun had set, so I didn't have to worry about being roasted to a crisp, but I felt removed. Buffy was with Willow, talking with the Weasleys. And Cordelia, Gunn, and Fred were chatting with some of the staff from Hogwarts.

I sighed. 'Maybe I should just leave.'

"Leave, and you don't get your gift," said Angela, who came around from behind. She handed me a folded piece of parchment. "I know how much you want to be with Buffy. So I found something that will help."

I unfolded the parchment and saw that it was a spell written in rhyming couplets A spell to… "Is this real?"

"Absolutely," Angela replied. "Your friend Willow needs to do it, though."

I hugged Angela who gave me a one-armed hug in return. "Good luck, 'Lus. You deserve this."

She let go and gave me a smile. As she limped away to rejoin Dr. House, I went to find Willow and Buffy.

(Author's note: Here ends the POV section. Now it's regular story time.)

As the reception drew to a close, House and Angela took the limo back to the estate. Once in their room, they held their own private celebration. House pulled out a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses. House garnished the sparkling wine with a few fresh berries, while Angela changed out of her dress and into a camisole top and a pair of heat silk boxers. House pulled off his jacket, dress shirt, and shoes and sat on the bed next to his wife. He handed her a glass and took one for himself. "Here's to many happy, wonderful years together."

Angela toasted him. "And to whatever deities decided to put us together."

They drank, and then House set the glasses aside and carefully took Angela's left leg. He slid the prosthetic off and slowly ran his fingers over the stump. "Angela, I was wondering…"

"No." She looked into his blue eyes. "I never thought you made the wrong choice. Never." Angela lay down, and House lay next to her.

"I love you, Angela."

"I love you, too, Greg," Angela said, smiling. "Now can we cut the chitchat and make love already?"

House laughed as he indulged his wife.