The List

By: lbfan

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and situations are all property of JK Rowling, her publishers and AOL Time Warner. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and no profit will be made.

Chapter 4 – Wedding Bells

Sunshine beamed in through the drafty cracks of the rickety detached garage waking Harry up. Hedwig and Pigwidgeon hooted a good morning. 'She must have had a good night of hunting,' Harry thought.

This was day of Bill and Fleur's wedding. The wedding was planned for the morning, so Harry and Ron needed to get up, quickly get around and get dressed. Struggling out of his cot, Harry threw his pillow at Ron, telling him to wake up. Harry opened the door of the garage, and made his way across the lawn to the house.

When Harry walked through the front door, Fleur was walking down from the stairs to the kitchen. Something seemed different about her. He had noticed that she was no long distractingly attractive. "Fleur," Harry said, "You seem different, yet you look the same."

Fleur laughed softly to herself. She said to Harry, "I'z hear zat a lot." She continued, "Arry, iz just zat you in amour. Er… love. I'z always happens to men ven dey find zer true love." She laughs softly again.

"I'm, zorry" she said, "Because zis happens to many men, zis happens to me often." "Wé, I vish more men would vined zer true loves, it's zo tiring have men swooning me for my charms rather zan vhat I am in ze inside."

Harry told her, "I like what I see in you. You are, at times, annoyingly arrogant, but you are also incredibly, brilliant and brave."

Pleased, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Again, it was not the same as last time. It felt the same as Hermione does when she was very pleased with something he had done.

Harry quickly used the loo and washed up. When he was finished, he decided to get a bite to eat for breakfast and made his way to the kitchen. When he walked into the kitchen, Ginny, Fleur, and Gabrielle were seated at the table eating. Mrs. Weasley gave him a stern look which he just ignored. Upon seeing Harry enter the kitchen, Ginny got up out of her chair and walked right up to him. She had red puffy eyes, like she had been crying. She threw the paper at him saying, "It looks like you can't stay out of the paper," then left the kitchen.

Harry picked up the paper. The front page showed a picture of him and the flirtatious sales clerk together. He remarked out loud for everyone to hear, "I don't know why they wanted that picture. I was only trying to get a gift wrapped. It seemed she was more interested in the boy-who-lived then assisting me." This did have the result of releasing some stress from the room.

Gabrielle came running up to him and gave him a big hug. In near-perfect English, she said, "Oh Harry, it is good to see you again."

Harry looked down at her and said, "It is good to see you too Gabrielle. You're not getting kidnapped by mermen anymore, I see."

She smiled at him and replied, "Harry you're my hero. Thank you for rescuing me."

Harry softly shook his head. "Gabrielle, I wasn't brave or heroic. You weren't in any real danger, and I was dumb to believe that you were."

Gabrielle just smiled a knowing smile at him, then shook her head.

Harry sat at the table in Ginny's unoccupied seat, and started helping himself to breakfast like he always use to do in Mrs. Weasley's kitchen. He ate lightly, and placed two strips of bacon in the pocket of his robe. When he was done, he asked, "Has anyone seen Hermione yet this morning?"

No one answered him. Sensing the silence, Harry picked up Ginny and his plates and took them to the sink. Harry gave Mrs. Weasley a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, and said a soft "Thank you" to her. Running short on time, Harry quickly left to get dressed and kick Ron out of bed.

After he was well away from the kitchen, Molly threw down the towel she was using and exclaimed, "I hate it! I can't stay mad at him when he does that."

When he got back to the garage, he called Hedwig and Pigwidgeon down to feed them the bacon he brought from breakfast. Just as he expected, he had to wake Ron up and encouraged him to eat breakfast and get dressed. Before Ron left, He asked Ron to do some cleaning charms on him and cast the magic to make his wand into a shaver. He got dressed in the robe which he purchased in Diagon Alley. He was actually considering one of the robes from his dad's closet, but he remembered that Hermione helped to pick this robe out. The last effort he made was on his hair, attempting to calm it down before he went back into the house.

The wedding was going to be held outside in a new flower garden. From the number of chairs, it looked as though they were expecting about 40 guests. The altar was a beautiful white gable with climbing roses clinging to each side, and the chairs were separated into to halves with the isle running down the middle. Gorgeous flower blossoms where adorn everywhere.

When he entered the house, people were just starting to arrive. Wedding participants were busily rushing here-and-there in their last minute preparations. He found himself drawn to the clock in the living room. This was the clock with a picture of everyone of the family on each of the hands. All of the hands were pointing to "mortal peril" still.

Something just clicked in the back of mind. The recent words from Fleur, Fred, Tonks and Remus started to make one clear conclusion in his mind. It took some time, but it sent him into such a shock, he stood there for what seemed like hours, just staring at the clock hands. A few tears escaped from his eyes, as he realized the gravity of his mistake. The heart ache which has been slowly ripping him apart for the past month, just finally hit him full-force.

Coming down the stairs, Ginny took the last steps into the living room to find Harry was in there. Forgetting what she was going to do, she stopped and started to go back up the stairs to escape his presence. It was then, that her heart stopped her. Something was wrong with Harry, and she couldn't bear seeing him like this.

Damn him! He ditched her. He crushed her heart. He never wrote, but an unsigned, unfinished, crumpled note. Yet, there he was silent, vulnerable, and sad. Her heart won out, and she reluctantly walked over to Harry and gently took his hand. With a quavering voice she asked, "Harry, are you OK?"

Harry was pulled out of his trance by the familiar floral scent which had always filled his heart with peace. Then, he felt the familiar, soft hand delicately holding his. He slowly turned and saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Ginny was there, next to him, with a loving gaze which shown her concern. He stood there speechless as her eyes captured his soul. He soon forgot the emptiness he was just then experiencing.

When he did fall out of his trance, his eyes fell to the floor in shame. Still holding onto her hands, the burden on his heart escaped his lips. "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I was wrong to break up with you."

At these words, Ginny's heart speeded up, as her mind started to ingest the words. She could almost read his heart through his eyes, but she did not want to believe them. She had to hear the words. After a pause, she replied, "I don't know, I hurt… It hurts. What changed?"

Harry explained, "Fleur told me that I have already found my true love. That is why I see her differently now, and her charms are not effecting me. Remus told me that in these dark times, we must keep the ones we love close. Tonks told me that by pushing you away, not matter how noble the gesture, it still hurts you. It hurt me too. Fred said that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. Everyone, friend and death eater alike, can see that I love you. Finally, this clock is a reminder that by breaking up with you, I didn't save you from grave danger, but it has been and always will be around you. The only way for me to protect you is to stay close to you and personally guard you from harms way."

He let the words soak in for a while.

Ginny's mind was celebrating that he finally had come to his senses. She was definitely going to thank her new sister-in-law when this was done.

Harry then continued, "Ginny, I love you. Will you accept your unworthy, despicable, dirt bag of a boyfriend, back into your life?"

Ginny nodded and then met his mouth with a warm, passionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around him and held onto him tight as her world started to right itself inside. When they parted their lips, she settled into his arms willing this moment to last an eternity.

Ginny softly spoke, "Harry, I love you too. I always have. I always will. When Hermione gave me her big-sister talk two months ago, she warned me that you would probably go noble on me and that I should be patient. Even then, it still didn't properly prepare me for the heart ache I had endured."

Harry struggled with this revelation. Hermione acted the part of his big sister, and gave a protective talk to his then new girlfriend? Actually, he could see it, but the feelings and respect for his best friend had hit an all time high.

Ginny started to say, "Harry, don't call yourself a despicable dirt—," before she was interrupted.

"Ginny! Hurry up!" called out from someone up the stairs.

"Oh, Harry, you should go get seated. We're going to start soon," Ginny said, then gave him a quick kiss and left.

Harry turned towards the door to find his second most important woman in the world leaning in the doorway. She was looking at him with a small smile on her face. Harry greeted, "Good morning, Hermione."

With a smirk, she replied, "Yes, I see it is. Should we go get a seat?"

Harry walked up to her and offered his arm. With a smile, she took his arm and allowed him to escort her to the wedding.

As they reached the flower garden where the wedding was to take place, they found Ron stationed at the head of the main isle. Ron had a mixture of emotions circulating in his face. He was elated at first to see both of his best friends; irritated that they were holding each other like a couple; angry, that both of them looked like a happy couple; melancholy, that it was not his arm that she was holding; pleased that they were just friends, his friends and they would never do anything which would hurt him; and lastly, he was mesmerized by the beautiful dress which Hermione was wearing.

Hermione caught every one of the emotions on Ron's face and settled on replying with a flushed expression on her face.

Ron said, "Hermione, you … you look … beautiful." Ron was so dazed, he seemed to loose all track of time. He was looking from her hair which hung in soft curls down her back to her brown eyes which caught the late morning sunlight.

Since Hermione was equally enchanted by Ron, Harry gently took her hand and offered it to Ron. "Would you like to seat us?" Harry asked.

Ron's heart raced in his chest as he gently took her hand and guided them to some seats in the back on the left side of the isle. Never did he ever think that she could look more beautiful then the day of the Yule Ball two years ago, but there she was.

Harry tried to give Ron a questioning look when seated in the back row of the Bride's side of the wedding party. Ron caught the look and just shook his head and quietly said, "Not now."

While they were waiting for the ceremony to start, Hermione drilled Harry for every detail of the scene between him and Ginny which she only half-witnessed.

Harry told her everything and then teased her about the big sister connotation.

"Well, speaking of our brother/sister relationship," Hermione started with a worried look on her face," I hope you don't mind, but I have asked my mum and dad to be your legal guardians in the muggle world for the next year. I have already started the paperwork."

Harry looked dumbfounded.

Hermione explained, "Well you made it clear that you didn't want to ever go back to the Dursleys ever again, and you still won't be of age until your 18 in the muggle world. So to prevent any more legal complications involving the Dursleys, I have petitioned the government to assign you to my parents. There really won't be any problems convincing the courts to make the change with the way they squandered all of your inheritance. So, what do you say?"

Harry thought for a while and said, "Sis, that's a brilliant idea. No, you didn't have to bother me with asking. I trust you."

Hermione's face lit up and, she hugged him fiercely. "Brother, there is just one thing," Hermione began, "Mum and Dad expects us to come over for dinner every so often. We will also have to go home to visit for the holidays."

Harry re-assured her, "Sis, I was looking for an excuse to visit them anyways. You are the second most important woman in my life. It would be an honor to meet my new parents … Erm … guardians. Growing up the way I have, I …" Harry started to choke out the words, "I have always wanted a family of my own, a brother or sister, a mother or father. You have always have been a good friend and I have always thought of you as a sister ever since our first year."

"Unfortunately," Harry said, gesturing to where they were seated. "Sometimes these family ties just don't seem as strong as the real thing." The look of reassurance melted into a depressed melancholy expression.

"Cheer up, Harry," Hermione said. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will come around, especially since you're fixed back up with Ginny again. It was just too hard to continue to treat you as a part of the family when you hurt Ginny as bad as you had. Ginny is the family's pride and joy, you must understand that."

"Oh yes, I can definitely understand that. If someone else made Ginny as sad and hurt as I did, I wouldn't be very charitable to them either." Harry replied. Then he thought, 'well that was the understatement of the century.'

Sure enough, when the mother of the groom was escorted down the isle, she had a glow about her like she could never be happier. When she caught Harry's eyes, she beamed from ear to ear.

Bill stood at the gable in the front. The heavy scars on his face bore evidence of the attack by Greyback. Bill turned to his best man and whispered, "Thank Merlin, there is a chance for this wedding yet." His suspicions were confirmed when he saw his sister. She was beaming with happiness, and like her mother. She too gave Harry a very warm passionate look as she marched up the isle. When he saw this, he let out his breath and then whispered, "Yes, this is going to be a happy wedding after all."

The wedding march started. In the back of the isle, Mr. Delacour could be seen holding the arm of a beautiful half-veela dressed in white, and wearing a beautiful tiara. Fleur gave Harry a solid smile and then turned her face to the front where she caught the sight of her husband to be. She smiled and gave him a quick wink, like her work had been done.

The rest of the wedding was a blur to Harry. All he could remember of it was the beautiful red-haired maid-of-honor which he stared at for the whole service.

Harry, Ron and Hermione made there way inside for the reception, where Mr. Weasley magically expanded his living room to be the size of a great hall. Ron asked, "Harry, what have you done to my sister?"

Harry had a smirk on his face when he answered, "I apologized, groveled, begged, and when that didn't work, I snogged her. She seemed to have liked it, because she's my girlfriend again." Harry could see that this was working. Ron's face was screwed up in disgust. Sobering to the thought, Harry figured he was going to have address Ron about his need for alone time with Ginny. He did not want Ron to be constantly shadowing him to prevent him from having private time with his sister, like he did at the end of school.

Remus and Tonks came up to them, arm-in-arm. Remus said to Harry with a smile, "Hello there Harry, it looks like you have already made an impression on the wedding."

Harry had a chagrin look on his face when he noted, "Well at least it is for the better this time."

Hermione's face lit up as she took in Tonk's dress. She said, "Tonks, your dress looks beautiful. Where did you get it?"

Tonks seemed to be taken by her interest, and dove into a conversation with her over dresses.

Ron, Remus and Harry exchanged some looks, and went back into their own conversation. Remus said, "Give them only four minutes, their conversation will drift to something safe for them, like books or weapons. I can't see those two maintain a true girly conversation for long."

Ragnok approached them and asked, "Mr. Potter, can I have a word with you?"

Confused, Harry replied, "Erm… sure. Would you like to talk over at the table?" Harry pointed to an empty table far enough away from everyone for some privacy.

Ragnok kept a serious look on his face as he nodded and stood up on one of the chairs. This allowed him to be just slightly taller than Harry when he sat down.

From what Harry had already learned from Dirk and the book, he needed to hold himself in a submissive posture, yet show strength in what he said and did. Harry said, "May your days be profitable." Harry finished with a bow.

Ragnok, had a toothless grin on his face as he returned, "Mr. Potter, may your life be victorious." It was very unusual to be greeted by wizard with so much respect. It was even more unusual to see it coming from a wizard with so much notoriety and power. Ragnok continued, "Mr. Potter, I am Ragnok, the Chairman of the Board at Gringotts. You may not know this, but you have some considerable influence at the bank, just with the assets you hold in our possession. I wish for you to come and meet with me on August 1st. You can review your holdings, read to the letters left to you in the wills of Potter, Black, and Dumbledore, and ratify the lease contracts of many properties you own."

Harry smiled back with a toothless smile, and answered him, "Ragnok, it would be my honor to meet with you. Will 7:00 a.m. be acceptable for you? The earlier we start our day…"

Ragnok smiled, and finished the goblin expression, "the more profitable we will be. Yes, Mr. Potter, 7:00 a.m. would suit us well."

Harry inquired, "Would you ask Griphook to be there as well?"

Ragnok raised his eyebrow, and asked, "Griphook of the vault accounts department?"

Harry replied, "Yes sir, Griphook has treated me well. I would like his continued assistance in escorting me to my vaults."

Ragnok, nodded in agreement. He said, "Griphook will be there. We'll see you on August 1st at 7:00 a.m. May your days be plentiful and your enemies fall at your feet."

Harry bowed, and said, "May your friends become many, and your enemies become few."

As Ragnok left to mingle with the other guests, Hermione came over, and took his seat. Before sitting down, she brushed the chair off with her hand. Hermione looked up to Harry and asked, "Harry, is there anything I can do to help?"

Harry replied with a thankful look, "No Hermione, everything with Ragnok and the bank is fine. He just wanted to set up an appointment for me to review the property and talk with him. I'm actually looking forward to talking to him about more than just my holdings."

Hermione smiled. "Good, I was afraid that he was trying to get something out of you."

Harry searched her face for a while, before asking, "Hermione, did you consider the danger that you are placing your mum and dad when you asked them to be my guardians? This legal paperwork will be a trail which leads right to them"

Hermione dropped her eyes to the table as she thought. Without looking up, she answered, "These last two years have been faced with tightened security of our home and my parents' place of work. After almost dying last year, Mum and Dad had to come to realization of the true danger that my association with you brings to us. I explained to them that the danger would still be there if I didn't help you. As a muggle born witch, my family would still be eventually targeted. It is just as you told Ginny this morning. We can't protect the ones we love by pushing them further away. We must keep them close enough to put our arms around them."

Hermione looked up at Harry to see if he was internalizing what she said. She continued, "I assume that if they were directly attacked, you would protect and care for them. You would have done it even if they didn't agree to be your guardians."

Harry did not want to consider the situation, but she did make a point. He nodded to her, "Yes Hermione, you're right. Matter of fact, I would like them to go into hiding right now, if they would."

Thinking, Hermione said, "I don't think they will. What if we go have dinner with them tomorrow night? You could then tell them how you feel and why you think it is important."

Harry smiled and answered, "I like that, tomorrow then."

A female voice behind them said, "I've only had you back for two hours, and you're already making dinner plans with another woman?"

In a panic, Harry turned his head to see Ginny smirking back at him. When he realized that she was just joking, he smiled and breathed to relax.

This made both Ginny and Hermione laugh.

Harry told Ginny, "I'm going home with Hermione to meet her parents, who offered to be my muggle guardians. I would take you, but I should meet them first, before bringing you home to meet the parents." Harry said it so quickly, he seemed to even confuse himself.

Ginny just smiled at his confusion; took his hand; and asked Hermione, "Are you done with him?"

Hermione said, smiling, "Yes, maybe I find out what Ron is getting into."

Ginny said, "Oh, you know Ron. Just look for the food, he won't be too far from there."

When Hermione left, Ginny sat down at the seat which Hermione vacated. Still holding Harry's hand, Ginny asked, "Do you even remember that there was a wedding this morning? I believe you were staring at me the whole time."

Harry gently squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes. "You couldn't help it you were the most beautiful woman there. Even amongst a family of veela, I couldn't find a fairer beauty then you to gaze upon."

Ginny asked, "What about that tramp in the prophet?"

Harry assured her, "Oh, she was supposed to just wrap my purchases and be done, but she thought that she would attempt to flirt with the famous 'Boy-who-lived' instead. Believe me, Ginny, she is nothing to me."

Satisfied, Ginny asked, "OK, if you were at that tramp's shop, across the alley from where I work, then why didn't you come, and at least say hello to me?"

This started to make Harry uncomfortable. Harry said, "I didn't have all of the answers. I didn't know what to say. When ever I see you, my stomach turns to butterflies and my mind turns to mush. Where I had a strong resolve to break it off with you a month ago, the last three weeks has been filled with doubt. I couldn't just waltz into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, and say hello to you as if you were just a sales clerk. Even as much as I tried, I couldn't even compose a letter to you."

Ginny started to correct him, but then it started to make sense. Harry didn't send the wad of parchment, but it was Hedwig who just grabbed it and took it to her. Ginny really needed that note from him, and she was grateful to Hedwig for at least bringing her that much. Ginny said, "Well, that is all behind us now. Let's start again."

Harry smiled and nodded. "Ginny, if we can't stay apart from each other, then I need to keep you close. I want to be around you much more. It's not that I want to be constantly snogging you. I need your presence, and the knowledge that you are safe during the day."

Ginny said, "We'll work something out about keeping in contact with each other. However, we do need to get Ron to leave us alone more often."

They talked for a few more minutes before Harry asked, "How could an 11-year-old girl fall in love with me when I was only 12?"

Looking sheepish, she reluctantly started into her story:

"I was actually in love with the Boy-That-Lived before that. My favorite bedtime story was the 'The Boy That Lived.' My Mum and brothers would read me other books, but that was the one I would always ask for. When I was nine, I received a divination board game for Christmas. One time when playing it, I asked it 'Who will I marry?' It answered, 'Harry Potter.' Since then, I would constantly ask it the same question to see if it was a fluke, but the majority of the time it would say, 'Harry Potter, Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, or (now realize) The-Chosen-One.'

That really wasn't enough for me to fall in love with you. At that point, you were a hero, but not my hero. It wasn't until after I met the real you, and that real Harry befriended my closest brother. That was when you first became my hero. Before school, Ron and I only had ourselves as friends, and it wasn't because we didn't try to make other friends. There was a lot of bigotry in the wizarding world towards wealth and status, and we are on the bottom most rung. For the rich and famous Harry Potter to be the first to look beyond wealth and status, and measure my brother by his character instead, this made you bigger than life to me. To top this off, when you, Ron, and Hermione went to protect the sorcerer's stone, you gave my brother an achievement to be proud of. With you two, he had belonging; he had friends for the first time. That summer, the more I saw of you, the more infatuated I became of you. It only became worse when you saved my life in the Chamber of Secrets. When I couldn't act normal around you, I just avoided you.

Your temper in my fourth year gave me good reason to find a boyfriend, but they all fell under comparison to you. Eventually their contempt for you (or my constant comparison of you to them) was what made me break up with them.

Oh, another thing I need to come clean about was our kiss after the last quidditch game. It was actually due to a challenge. Cho bated me by saying she will get the snitch before me just like she got your kiss. I boasted to her that it was my day, and I would get both. You should have seen her face at dinner when she learned I did."

That last thought left a smug look on Ginny's face.

Concerned, Harry was going to first question the sincerity of her kiss, but the more he thought about it, the more it didn't matter. Harry told her, "No worries Ginny. The kiss you gave me wasn't one given in a challenge. I could tell that you wanted to kiss me just as much as I wanted to kiss you. That had to be the happiest day of my life. The next time you see Cho, you can tell her that you are the first girl whom I ever kissed back. At least you weren't dwelling on the loss of an old boyfriend."

In reflection to the whole story, he asked, "Who were the other husbands your game told you about?"

Ginny's mouth just about dropped, and her face turned red. She said, "I'm not going to get married to those other men."

Harry, not wanting to give in asked, "I know, but just humor me. Who are these others I have to worry about?"

Ginny squirmed a bit, but answered, "I don't remember all of them, but I do remember: Headmaster; DADA teacher; my knight in shining armor; Heir of Gryffindor; the black griffin; and Lord Black." Ginny's face was in a look of disgust as she thought about the man who could carry such a dark and sinister name.

Harry just thanked her, and then spent the rest of the reception in her arms on the dance floor, or looking for someplace private for a quick snog. The monster in Harry seemed to purr with delight.

The last dance was a song by a Canadian muggle named Bryan Adams. It was a ballad called, "(Everything I do) I do it for you." Harry and Ginny were on the dance floor holding each other close, but not too close that they lost eye contact.

It was not planned to be the last song of the afternoon, but when the song ended, the beat from the drums didn't. But that was not drums. The whole house shook. It was giants! A scream pierced the air. Harry recognized the scream at once and ran to look out the window.