Chapter Eight

Convincing and Celebration

The next day came much quicker than Harry had wanted it too. Today would be full of problems, and none of them would have a chance just to sit and talk. Everyone would either be congratulating them, or threatening to curse them into oblivion. He also knew he would have to talk with an angry Weasley, possibly two.

Breakfast was a quick affair, and the others rushed off to prepare themselves for the party. Harry couldn't yet as he was supposed to pick up a few guests. He first went to collect Neville's Grandmother, which seemed the easiest of them all. Next he went to Hermione's parents, who were quite understanding when he told them everything would be explained as soon as possible. After two successful trips, Harry braced himself for what he knew would not be an easy event.

As soon as he appeared in the kitchen of the Weasley home, those there were so shocked they began sending spells at him. He threw up his shield waiting for them to realize who he was. As soon as they did the spells stopped and only one person did not look happy to see him. Sighing he sat next to Mrs. Weasley.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" Harry asked softly.

"Everyone, out." Mr. Weasley said calmly, and Bill, Charlie, Fred and George all left the room. "This may not be a good talk to have Harry." He added.

"I know, but everyone else is even more afraid of her than I am." Harry said nervously.

"My own children! Afraid of their mother!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Please, Mrs. Weasley, let me say what I have to say." Harry said, his voice now calm. "If you don't like what I have to say, then I will leave and I won't return to burden you anymore."

"Speak quickly, Harry." Mr. Weasley said.

"I'm sorry for what I said that day." Harry started. "That's important to me for you to know. It just hurt me that you were blaming Serena for everyone making their own decisions. You should know that all of us spent an entire summer living life like regular people. Not worrying about whether it would be our last day or not. Our biggest worry this summer was what we would eat for dinner. We all enjoyed that freedom.

"That's another reason why your children were so angry. You started giving out orders within five minutes of seeing them. Every one of us made our own choice, and whether you approve or not, I think everyone is going to follow their own path. I know I am, as well as Serena. The rest I cannot give you an answer on, but they seem to be very set in their plans. I came here today to tell you that. To tell you that they love each other, and they deserve happiness as much as anyone else. Please, forgive them, be happy for them, and love them. That is all I'm asking, Mrs. Weasley." Harry ended with an endearing tone to his voice.

"Why so young, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Why can't they wait? They have time, they don't have to rush!" She said, crying.

"Don't we?" Harry asked. "Don't all of us have a need to rush? All five of them are right under me as targets for Voldemort, just for being my friends. None of us are certain about the future. All we have are our dreams, and more and more they become to not have to worry about being hunted by dark wizards, to live the fairy tale endings of happily ever after, but we are all afraid if we wait we won't see that ending. Don't you understand that?"

"Is that really how you all feel?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It's how we've felt for quite a while, actually. We just don't talk about it outside of our group. We all understand that we may not live through this war, but if we don't, don't we at least deserve the chance to be as happy as we can be while we're all still alive?" Harry said, his voice faltering as he spoke.

"This will happen if I agree or not, I see." She said. Harry nodded. "Well then, perhaps I should be happy for them. After all those girls will need another woman to help plan these weddings. Sam is a good woman, but only a muggle concept of beauty."

Harry laughed. "Well then, I will tell everyone you will arrive at Grimmauld Place around noon, along with the rest of the Order. Of course the whole family is invited, though Fred and George knew already, and told the others to come. Everyone felt it best for me to invite you two personally." He said, smiling at them. "Sorry for this, but I must run. Still a lot to do before noon, and it is so close to being that time. Forgive me." He added disappearing.

"I don't see how I can always give in to that boy." Molly said to her husband.

"Because he is normally right." Arthur said smiling.

Harry began getting ready as soon as he returned to Grimmauld Place. This was more difficult now, as Serena had took him shopping for even more muggle clothes, as well as some wizards clothes. He spent about an hour till he found something they could both agree on. They eventually settled on an unbuttoned Black and white plaid shirt, a white t-shirt with black jeans.

You know, my dressing was easier when I didn't have someone constantly objecting to what I wanted to wear. He thought.

"Yes, but also, you didn't have any clothes of your own. Just a bunch of horrid cast offs from that git of a cousin." Serena said.

"I can see already that this will be a difficult relationship for me." Harry said, smiling happily.

"Would you have me any other way?" Serena asked mockingly.

"I wouldn't change a thing. Guess I will at least look better this year." Harry said, laughing.

"Hey you two." Remus said, smiling. "People are starting to arrive, and Dobby is already getting lunch ready in the parlor."

"Great." Serena said half heartedly. "Are they all still being assholes about me?"

"Serena, they gave that up weeks ago. They were more angry that they had to think you were dead for almost a year." Remus said.

"Moony, what are we doing about this big announcement?" Harry asked.

"Well, we did decide yesterday to do it before dinner didn't we?" Remus asked.

"Yeah I mean are we going to do it all at once, or take turns between now and dinner?" Harry asked.

"Lets do it all at once." Serena said. "Drop this huge bomb right before, then maybe eat in peace."

"Sounds good to me." Remus said.

"Me too. Ok, that's the plan then." Harry said. "I suppose its time for lunch."

They followed Remus downstairs, and were shortly joined by the rest of the marauders and Sam. Everyone was catching up with their children, those who hadn't seen them for a while during lunch. Harry was talking with Remus, Dumbledore, Moody, Kingsley, and Serena. He was shocked that they weren't talking to him as a child, scolding him for leaving his aunt and uncles home, or anything that seemed so normal. Instead they asked how his summer was, what had caused them all to come back early, and told them the news of what the Order was up to during the summer.

After lunch, Serena went to talk with Sam and the rest about the announcements while Harry was still involved in conversation with Dumbledore and Remus. Everything seemed light and happy, as a party should be. It seemed to Harry that for the day, everyone had forgotten their problems.

"Harry, do you still wish for everything to happen as you asked last year?" Dumbledore asked smiling. He gave a quick wink to Harry.

"This is not the time, Professor. Maybe after dinner we could talk. Would that be all right?" Harry asked.

"Of course, of course." Dumbledore said, and continued to talk about the subject of school.

"Harry, a word please?" Mr. Weasley said.

"Of course." Harry said following him. When they were in an empty room, he looked at Mr. Weasley calmly, trying to find out what this was about.

"I wanted to thank you Harry." Mr. Weasley said.

"Why, Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"Please, call me Arthur. I feel you earned that with how you acted today." He said. "You aren't a little boy anymore. That was obvious today with Molly."

"You're welcome, Mr.- Arthur." Harry said, smiling. "I only wanted her to realize what was happening. I love your family like they were my own, and I don't want them split apart because of something that is supposed to be a happy event."

"Spoken as a true adult, Harry." Arthur said. "That is what I was thanking you for. Seeing an adult way to handle a situation, instead of just complaining about it."

"I see. Thank you as well." Harry said smiling. Someone actually thought of him as an adult, and not just because of his age. "Don't think that this will affect my attitude in school however." He added jokingly.

"Well, so long as you try not to get suspended again." Arthur said laughing.

The rest of the afternoon passed swiftly. Harry was asked many times about the attack during the summer, which most of the time he shrugged off to the death eaters being a bit stupid. He told them it was an easy situation to handle, and the only reason they left was because they weren't sure if they knew where the marauders were living.

Harry realized he was not the only one being treated like an adult. All of them were being treated as equals today. This caused Harry to smile even more. They were no longer being told that they were too young to be hearing something, no longer being cast aside while others talked, no longer hearing that business was more important. Today, everyone was equal, which was exactly what Harry wanted.

Time passed quickly to dinner. With everyone having a good time, no one noticed how quickly it came to be 6 o'clock. Harry began to look at his friends nervously once Dobby said dinner would be served soon. They noticed the look and soon they were all nervous as well. It would soon be time to bring the reason for this party to light. Leading everyone into the kitchen, they briefly smiled at the shock of how the kitchen now looked. It seemed to be the same as when Sam's parents arrived except the table was longer, and more magical things had been put in place, such as fairies lighting the room.

"Please sit everyone." Remus said. Eight chairs were left when everyone had sat, four on each side. "We have all invited you hear to give you a large amount of very happy news."

"Moony," Harry said. "Your flair for drama astounds me." He finished smiling.

"Shut it." Remus said. "Anyway, back to the situation at hand. Sam and I are getting married!" Everyone cheered. Remus looked at Harry. "See, drama has its place."

"Shut it." Harry said, smiling. "Also, Serena and I are getting married." This caused an effect of shock. Harry looked at Serena, who was frowning now. "What, you're happy for him, but we get left behind?"

Dumbledore clapped. "Congratulations, all four of you. I see you became impatient Harry." He said, smiling warmly. This caused the others to clap and cheer as well, as if Dumbledore's approval was what they were waiting for.

"There's...there's more." Ron said, swallowing slowly and quite visibly. "Hermione and I too." He added softly. Everyone gasped and looked at Molly, who was beaming at her son.

"Well! Clap for them! They deserve it too!" She said quickly. Ron smiled quickly at his mother as they were cheered for as well.

"So are Neville and I." Ginny said, tired of waiting. "Go on, clap! I'm getting hungry!" Everyone laughed and began clapping even louder.

"That could have been much worse." Harry whispered to Remus.

"I agree. Be grateful." Remus whispered back.

"But now dinner will not be a quiet affair." Harry said quickly.

"Better, we get congratulated almost a thousand times." Remus said, laughing.

They all sat down, now hungry. None of them thought about food until after the announcement, and now they were starved. They ate happily, talking amongst themselves a while, while people kept shouting their congratulations, making toasts, and laughing about what they were getting themselves into.

"Well Harry, I see that I will have a great many people to unite." Dumbledore said. "I see why you waited. I am happy for you all, but you and Serena especially."

"Sorry, sir. Didn't mean to throw all this at you at once." Harry said. "We just figured it would be the easiest way. Truthfully, I don't know anyone's plans, but I would love it if you would still marry us."

"Same here." Serena said. "Hey why not do it right now?"

"Serena! No, you have to get married right! You need your family and friends." Sam said.

"Sam, these are our family and friends." Harry said.

"You two be patient. Please?" Sam asked.

Harry looked at Serena, who nodded. "Alright, but not too long. Which means you and Moony have to hurry up and get married as well." he said.

"Yeah, great load of good it does us to be married before our godparents." Serena said.

"Pressuring us now?" Remus said slightly amused. "We already decided that it would be on Halloween."

"NO!" Harry and Serena said together.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You two cannot miss the Halloween party!" Harry said.

"It's set in honor of all the marauders!" Serena said. "That means you too, Moony!"

"I know, which is why you six have the day off." Remus said smiling. "Getting married in the morning, reception at lunch, a few hours to relax, and then to the party."

"Oh." Harry said.

"That'll work then." Serena said.

"What about you two?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"What do you mean Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"Molly, please." She said, smiling at Harry. "When will you two get married?"

"Hm, good question. A moment please?" Harry asked. Molly nodded.

What do you think?

Don't know, any ideas?

One.

Spit it out.

Christmas, Hogwarts, by the lake.

Snow.

Not a problem. I'll enchant it so everything hovers an inch off the ground. Sound good?

Sounds wonderful, but what about the fairies?

Freeze 'em.

Works. I like it.

A little after lunch? then have a reception at the great hall?

Sure, works for me.

It's a date.

"Christmas." Serena said simply.

"Professor Dumbledore, could we be married and hold a reception at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Of course Harry. I will help you in any way I can. Merely tell me what I can do." Dumbledore said.

"I need to learn a warming charm. As well as a nice freezing spell for fairies." Harry said.

"Leave them to me, Harry. We will talk about your plan during your winter break, and have everything done to perfection." Dumbledore said.

"Well we have a date, so do those two." Harry said, nodding to Remus and Sam. "What about you lot?" He finished, looking at his four friends.

"Valentine's." Ron said. Harry smiled and nodded.

"New Year's." Ginny said, smiling.

"Well, dates are all set, and no one is interrupting someone else's. Sound good?" Harry asked, looking at Molly.

"Sounds wonderful." Molly said smiling. "Now who is inviting muggles?"

"We are." Harry said.

"No, dear not Sam." Molly said.

"No, her parents, who I think either invited themselves or Sam invited them. They know about magic though." Serena said, smiling.

"Okay, well how about muggles who don't know about magic?" Molly asked.

"Not us." Harry said, quickly.

"Us either." Ginny said.

"I will be, obviously." Sam said.

"So will I." Hermione said.

"Okay, well then you two have to figure out how you want to handle that." Molly said. "Tell them if you want magic accessories there, or a muggle wedding."

"We'll stand by whatever decision you make, Hermione." Mr. Granger said, smiling warmly.

"Would it be okay to not do this the muggle way, Mum?" Hermione asked.

"Honey, it is up to you." Mrs. Granger said.

"Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I'll learn the muggle way if you want. I just want you to be happy." Ron said honestly.

Hermione kissed him quickly. "I think we should have a magical wedding." She said.

"Muggle for us." Remus said, smiling. "Already been decided."

"Does that mean I have to get a suit?" Harry asked.

"Well, the best man normally does have to dress the part." Remus said, laughing.

"The best man?" Harry asked.

"Of course. If it weren't for you none of this would be possible." Sam said. "Serena?"

"Of course, of course." Serena said smiling. "I would be honored. Mommy!" They all laughed.

"Remus you know I-" Harry started.

"I know, Harry. That is fine. I knew that even before I decided." Remus said.

"What does he know, Harry?" Serena asked.

"That I was going to ask Ron to be the best man." Harry said easily.

"Sure mate, no problem. You're the same on ours, you know." Ron said, grinning.

"I was thinking of asking you to stand with me, but Ron said you might be uncomfortable." Hermione said, laughing.

"Of course I would." Harry said. "Dresses just make me look fat, and never could wear a pair of high heels to save my life!" He added, laughing with them.

"Oi, Remus, want to be a best man?" Neville asked, smiling.

"Sure, Neville." Remus replied.

"Well, thats all taken care of." Ron said.

"Yup. Serena, you joining me?" Hermione said.

"Certainly." Serena said.

"Mione, how bout you up there with me?" Ginny asked.

"Sure."

"Well I guess I'll take Sam with me." Serena said, as if bartering.

"Alright." Sam said smiling.

"Well, that's a bit of planning done." Harry said. "All the rest is downhill right?"

"No, no Harry." Molly said. "There is much still to do. You will need the clothing, invitations, you need to decide on dinner, and many other things."

"Hmm, invitations...I have an idea." Harry said, standing. "Everyone! You are formally invited to our wedding!" This got a round of applause and laughter. "Invitations, check."

"Harry, we are going to do this formally if we aren't getting married today." Serena said, laughing at him. "Don't worry your pretty little head, love. All will be done soon enough."

"Yes, I believe it will, but plans like this scare me quite often." Harry said sheepishly. "Especially when I have to get clothes. Last time I got talked out of everything I liked."

"Welcome to married life, Harry." Remus said smiling. "You now have no control over your own actions!" He added laughing as Sam hit him playfully.

"I have never tried to control you!" Sam exclaimed.

"Are you forgetting the other day when you kept telling me I needed new clothes as nothing I had seemed appropriate for a teacher?" Remus asked.

"Oh, but everything you seem to wear lacks the authority I'm used to teachers portraying." Sam said shyly.

"Moony doesn't need clothes to hold authority." Harry said.

"Yeah, everyone listens to him anyway." Serena said.

"Of course they do." Hermione said.

"He's a marauder." Ginny said.

"And they know that." Neville said.

"Couldn't get more respect if he was thought of as a teacher." Ron said.

"Oh." Was all Sam could say.

The rest of the evening was a cheerful affair. Everyone either talking about what they had to do before the wedding, during the wedding, after the wedding, for the honeymoon, and many other things. The teenagers started to feel overwhelmed when dinner was over. So many people kept trying to give them advice, tell what to do about some things, telling them of silly superstitions, but none of them were upset about this. It was better to have everyone try to help then to have them all against you.

Everyone left shortly after dinner, leaving eight people sitting in the parlor watching the telly. None of them spoke of weddings or what people said. They just enjoyed the program, and each others company. No talk was needed. They had succeeded in pulling off an event that had everyone thinking the same thing. For once, there was happy news in the Order. And with so little happy news for the Order, any that came was celebrated instantly and happily.

"Well, school is definitely going to be interesting this year." Harry said to Serena.

"Yeah. Who knows what kind of trouble awaits us this year." She replied.

"Wasn't really talking about that." Harry said.

"I know. Christmas can't come fast enough now, though." Serena said smiling brightly.

"I agree, but we will be busy. So many things, so many things." Harry said.

"What are you on about?" Serena asked.

"Surprises, love. Nothing but surprises." Harry said.