This story is the product of Elizabeth and Katie's imagination!

Disclaimer: Oh, to be JKR…unfortunately, we aren't…

Chapter 3: The Wedding in the War

Harry wasn't sure he was ready to enter the burrow again, so he sat on the old bench swing and looked out at the woods he had just come from. He felt so restless now. He knew that very soon he would need to be out in the world, searching for the Horcruxes. If he sat here at the burrow doing nothing for much longer he'd go mad. The locket, the cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's. Coming out of his reverie, he realized he'd been pacing without knowing it. Harry wished he could use his Firebolt to let off some steam, but of course due to safety issues that wouldn't be allowed.

Just then he saw a streak of white fly through the trees, coming at him.

"Hedwig!" Harry said. She landed on his arm. "Have a good hunt?" asked Harry, stroking her feathery head. She hooted happily at him. Harry sighed. Hedwig was just another thing he would miss terribly when he, Ron and Hermione were off. He raised his arm and Hedwig flew off again.

Harry rested his arms on the railing and found himself trailing off into thought again. It wasn't until Mrs. Weasley called lunch some time later did he realize that some warm summer rain had begun to fall softly. He slipped inside the door and shook water out of his hair. He entered the kitchen to find it surprisingly full. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Tonks, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley, and McGonagall were there, as well as Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He entered in rather unnoticed, owing the amount of talk going on, and took a seat next to Hermione. Ron passed him a sandwich.

"Thanks." Harry said.

"No proflem" said Ron with his mouth full. Hermione shot him an exasperated look. Ron had the good grace to look guilty, even though he rolled his eyes at Harry when Hermione turned away.

"Have we found out anything going on in the Order?" asked Harry quietly.

Ginny shook her said.

"Remus said he would tell us as much as he could in private, once lunch was over." Harry nodded, and he ate quickly, anticipating what news they may learn.

As soon as everyone had finished eating (some people took longer than Harry had hoped), and the members of the Order began to disperse, Remus stood from the table, thanked Mrs. Weasley for a lovely lunch, and gave a knowing, yet subtle, nod to the trio. They followed him out of the kitchen and onto the back porch as inconspicuously as they could, hoping that they ever-watchful eyes of Mrs. Weasley would not notice them.

Once they were safely on the porch, with the door tightly closed behind them, Remus sat down comfortably on an old and worn blue lawn chair as the three under-aged wizards crowded around him.

After a few moments of silence as Remus stared at his open palms, Harry couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. "So? What happened? What did the Order decide?"

Remus continued to stare at his hands for several seconds longer before looking up, and his sad, amber eyes met Harry's vivid green ones. "We've realized… no, not realized. It's a common fact. We know that no one can take Dumbledore's place. No one person knows enough to completely take over where he left off…" his voice trailed off.

Harry bit his lip, not wanting to interrupt Remus's thoughts again, but Hermione clearly did not feel the same way. "So?" she asked. "What did they do?"

Remus shook his head and looked up again. "They decided on a joint committee, Hermione." He sighed. "The entire order will vote on an issue, and then the five members in the committee will vote from there. Majority rules."

"So who was voted into the committee?" Ron asked then.

"I'm getting to that, Ronald." Remus rubbed his head. Harry noted how tired and worn he looked. "They chose five members. Your father, Mad-Eye Moody, Professor McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, and… myself."

Harry wasn't the least bit surprised of the choices for the committee, and he wanted to congratulate Remus on his appointment, but held back. For some reason, Remus didn't seem nearly as honored as Harry might've thought he would be.

"What's wrong, Remus?" Hermione asked, as she must have been thinking something along the same lines as Harry. "You seem upset that you were chosen. It really is a great honor, you know."

Remus blinked. "I know that Hermione. I know. It's just… my, I feel foolish talking about this. But it's just that this will force me to be with Tonks more often than I already have to be."

Harry almost smiled and let out a chuckle, but restrained himself because of the seriousness with which Remus was conversing. This was clearly not a joke to him. "But Remus," he started. "You love Tonks. We all know it. You even know it. Why are you holding back? She loves you, too. She confessed it before all of us. This should be a good thing. Not something to be depressed about."

"Again, Harry, I know this. I just don't feel good about this. I'm too dangerous for Tonks to be around. I don't want to hurt her… mentally or physically. I'm too deeply involved in both the search for Voldemort and a dangerous group of werewolves. Not to mention, I am a werewolf myself, and there's nothing that I can do about that. I can't even protect her myself! I don't want to take that chance with her…"

At this moment, Harry was forced to draw the parallel between the relationship between Remus and Tonks and his own relationship with Ginny. The thought frightened him. What if none of them were ever able to be with those they loved for fear of hurting those that they loved.

Cold fear gripped Harry's insides. Already Voldemort is winning, he thought. Fear of him is forcing people to forsake love.

Harry was awoken the next morning by a pillow in his face. He started, and looked over to see Ron standing next to his bed, yawning.

"Mum says we have to go help set up…actually she said to let you sleep…" he snorted. "fat chance of that…" he grinned. Set up? Harry thought. The wedding! How could I have forgotten…Harry looked over at the clock. 7:30.

"Git…" he grumbled, not really upset. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed he rubbed at his eyes. He was quite excited to see the wedding, actually. He had never been to one, only seen the pictures of his parent's.

After showering, Harry and Ron threw on some comfortable clothes. They wouldn't need to change into more presentable clothes until later.

Downstairs, it was chaos. Harry was nearly stampeded by four flower-bearing women, and nearly deafened by Mrs. Weasley's shriek of "no! no! not there! The lilies go over there, and the roses over their!" Harry and Ron made their way to the kitchen and met up with Hermione and Ginny.

"It's a bloody madhouse in here!" Ron cried.

"Ronald Weasley! Don't you dare let me hear you swear like that, especially in front of the guests today!" chastised Mrs. Weasley, coming up being him. Ron rolled his eyes but said "yes, mum". Harry and Ron grabbed a bagel from the plate Hermione proffered and started to eat as Mrs. Weasley told them what they were to do that day. They were to move tables and chairs into their proper places, arrange the food, de-knome the garden, and other such menial tasks.

After finishing breakfast, the four proceeded outside. It was a beautiful summer's day, with only a few wispy clouds obstructing the clear blue sky. The Weasley's backyard already looked beautiful: there were white wooden lawn chairs stack up in rows (waiting for them to arrange them), a thick white band of carpet running up to a wooden archway. The archway was entwined with green vines that had small purple flowers.

"Joyebud!" said Hermione, pointing at the vines. "the flowers give off a mild calming vapor. They're very rare."

"And beautiful," observed Ginny.

The quartet got to work. Ginny and Harry began to unstack the chairs and place them in perfect rows of seven on each side of the white runner. Ron and Hermione went to the archway to arrange tiny mirrors on it. Mrs. Weasley said that the mirrors would reflect the sunlight and caught a striking effect.

At one point, Harry looked up to watch Ron and Hermione. They were standing back to back under the arch. She was laughing at something Ron said as she placed the mirrors in the Joyebud, and Ron was watching her, also grinning, out of the corner of his eye. Harry half-smiled, turning away to watch Mrs. Weasley, in a rare moment of calm, smiling serenely at the setup. Mr. Weasley came up behind her and pecked her on the cheek, also smiling.

An hour later they took a break for lunch. The wedding area was done, and all that was left was to wait for all the guests to arrive. Harry, Ron and Hermione took their sandwiches out on the back porch. Very soon, however, Ron was called in to greet the first of his many relatives. Harry stood and looked out over the arrangement of chairs and flowers, his elbows on the railing.

"It's just like my parent's wedding," He said, looking back at Hermione, who smiled.

"Harry, you've never saw your parent's wedding."

"I know," he replied, "but I know this is what it was like."

"And you are quite right" said a deep male voice from the doorway. "Their wedding was spectacular." Remus Lupin looked…different. It took Harry a moment to realize that it was because he was wearing clean cut navy dress robes, as oppose to the slightly tattered brown robes Harry was accustomed to seeing. He looked younger, and more alive, then Harry had ever seen him. A life not lived flashed before Harry's eyes, and he wondered, again, how it would be if his parents were alive. Remus's voice brought him back to the present.

"Harry?" he asked, brows creased. Harry smiled at him.

"Hi, Remus! You look very suave. Anyone special you're dressing up for?" Harry asked, teasing him. To his credit, Remus only blushed slightly before informing them that they needed to get on their nicer clothes for the wedding. Mrs. Weasley had informed them that dress robes would be required for the service itself, but they could go more relaxed for the reception. Harry and Ron would wear the same robes they had for the Yule ball, as would Hermione and Ginny. They went down the stairs and were immediately sheparded away by Mrs. Weasley who was telling all the guests to proceed to the seats outside.

Once outside, Hermione joined them. She looked much the same as she had at the Yule Ball, except she had severed the long sleeves into three-quarter length, obviously to evade the heat. Ron stared open-mouthed at her for a moment, before commenting that she looked very nice and kissed her cheek. Harry lost himself in the crowd. He didn't think he would be missed. How much has changed since the Yule Ball… Harry mused. And yet…

Harry found a seat in the middle, near the aisle. He was soon joined by Hermione, who was glowing and flushed. Ron was one of Charlie's groomsman, along with Fred, George and one of Bill's friends from Gringotts. Bill stood at the front of the crowd, dressed in a black form-fitting robe with silver lining. The music started and the procession began. First out was Charlie and Gabrielle, the best man and maid of honor. Fred was next, then George, both of whom were escorting distinctly French and blonde women. Next out had to be Ron and…Harry's breath caught in his throat. He'd forgotten that Ginny was a bridesmaid. Harry had to admit, Fleur was slightly mental, but had good taste. The bridesmaid dresses were silver, and seemed to catch the light in a way Harry had never seen. Ginny had her up in a loose bun, with a few strands falling about her face. Harry thought he must have looked like Ron back in their fourth year, when the Beauxbatons girls first arrived. She locked eyes with Harry for a few seconds, before resolutely staring ahead. Ron nodded to Harry and Hermione as he walked by. The music changed then, and everyone turned to look as Fleur walked down the aisle, on the arm of a very regal looking man who must have been her father. She seemed to have a glow around her, or perhaps that was just the reflection off of her shimmering white dress. Bill was looking at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Harry tore his eyes away from the part-veela and looked at Ginny. She was clearly resisting the urge to roll her eyes. He caught her eye and mouthed "ugly, though" to her. Ginny hid a smirk behind her hand.

The rest of the ceremony, however, was not quite as exciting as Harry might have hoped. He found himself looking around at the crowd, and spotted Mr. Weasley consoling his wife, who was crying quite liberally into a handkerchief. However, she was looking at her eldest son with proud eyes. Everyone looks so peaceful he thought. It was hard to believe that out there in the world, evil was at large. It truly was amazing that people could come together like this, in the midst of a terrible war, to celebrate something as joyous as the marriage of two people.

It was almost like magic.