The wedding was the grandest thing Harry had ever seen in his life.

He was dressed in fancy day robes which consisted of many layers in green and dark gold. His cousin took him to the Burke Mansion directly after elevenses by Apparition – the least chance of spoiling your robes, he had said – and there, Mrs. Theodore Burke took charge of him. She directed him to the big golden pavilion that stood next to the mansion, with rows and rows chairs facing the cliffs and the sea. He found, to his astonishment, that his seat was directly in the first row. "Isobel and Abduaziz should join you here soon," she said, "Mrs. Abdullah Shafiq, I mean."

"Yes, I know," Harry nodded, looking around to spot someone he knew. There were still only few people present, but he noticed Kingsley Shacklebolt approaching in the distance, and Mercurius Ollivander – though he was headed to what he learned was the bride's side, which confused Harry, because wasn't he Alduin's second cousin or something like that? The rules on who was seated on whose side seemed very complicated to Harry, in this world where everyone appeared to be related to everyone else from all sides.

The Shafiqs come, or rather, Mrs. Abdullah and Abdulaziz, as had been announced, both dressed very fancily. Harry greeted them enthusiastically and immediately asked his friend: "Where is your dad and Gamila?"

"Dad is somewhere with your cousin – they'll be coming in together, you know."

Harry hadn't, but was unwilling to show his ignorance by admitting it, and so he just nodded. "And Gamila?"

"With your cousin's bride. She's a bridesmaid."

"Oh, right." At least he had some vague knowledge that bridesmaids were supposed to come in with the bride, but he didn't want to discuss this in too much detail either. "Oh, look, there's the Crouches!" He said instead, and they amused themselves by people spotting until Mrs. Abdullah told them to quiet down, by which time, the place was completely filled with people.

Then, music sounded from an invisible source, and Harry's cousin appeared at the other end of the aisle, accompanied, as Abdulaziz had said, by Mr. Abdullah, and also by an official looking wizard. Alduin was wearing fantastic robes in shades of grey, silver and black and looked very noble and like someone not quite of this world. When he reached the front, he turned to the side, Mr. Abdullah behind him, and looked in the direction he came from. Harry followed his gaze, and realized, for the first time, how beautiful Miss Burke truly was.

She came, dressed in rich blue, her hair done up in some extraordinarily complicated pattern, a heavy jewelled necklace on her neck and matching bracelets on her arms. The train of her robes must have had several yards, and she looked like a medieval queen, just as his cousin looked like a king. For the first time in months, Harry felt out of place. Surely he would never be as noble and imposing and regal as these people? Had his parents been like this? He wondered. He would have to look over the pictures from their wedding again…

Gamila was walking in front of Miss Burke, in pretty silver robes with a small bouquet of flowers in her hand, and looked very cute. She wasn't alone either – three other girls were with her, and four boys, one of whom was little Daniel, Miss Burke's nephew. Mrs. Mercurius Ollivander was there as well, walking behind Miss Burke and carrying the train, and Harry wondered why for a moment before he remembered hearing something about her being the matron of honour.

Miss Burke reached the front and the official wizard started speaking. It wasn't long, only a few sentences and then the bride and the groom said their vows – something very noble-sounding Harry did not entirely understand and was not sure was wholly in English – and exchanged rings and kissed, and golden stars erupted above them as the music changed to something very jubilant. "I pronounce you bonded for life," the official wizard said, and disapparated. Miss Burke – no, she was Mrs. Travers now, wasn't she? How strange… - turned to face the crowd, together with Alduin, and Harry understood this was the moment to offer congratulations. He rose, a little unsure, and stood behind the Burke family in the forming line and tried to listen to what they said to get some inspiration.

Getting through this part, a little awkwardly he thought, he waited for the Shafiqs to be done. Mr. Abdullah joined them now, his official duty done for the moment. "Let's go to the reception area," he said, "it's too crowded here to be comfortable."

That was certainly true, and so Harry followed him on a red carpet to a pavilion next to this one, which he could have sworn hadn't been there until now. They just stood there on the edges of it, gradually joined by others, and Harry wondered why they didn't sit somewhere when his question was answered by Mrs. Theodore telling her little daughter that it was very impolite to sit before the newlyweds came in. He was relieved he hadn't asked.

"How did you like the ceremony?" He asked, directign the comment to Abdulaziz.

"Alexandra looked so nice," Harriet Bulstrode, who stood nearby, replied before Harry's friend could. "I would like to have a tiara like hers!"

Her mother laughed at this. "Maybe on your wedding day," she replied. "Family jewels are not for playing princess!"

"Uncle Alduin's robes were really great too, though," Abdulaziz noted.

Harry agreed wholeheartedly. "They just seem to fit him so well...I mean his personality, not..."

Abdulaziz laughed. "Yeah, I know," he said. "It's true, too. But yours appear to have as many layers!"

Harry grimaced. It was true, and in spite of the cooling charms, it was the beginning of July and he was starting to feel it.

The reception was very grand too, and there were so many courses Harry had trouble eating all the food. His mouth constantly full, he listened to Mr. Abdullah's stories of his own wedding, and to Abdulaziz's memories of the ones he had seen. "The Odgen wedding was fun," he said, "but not near as awesome as this one. The Rowles were closer to it, but still, I think your cousin is easily pulling the event of the decade."

Afterwards, they all returned to the first tent, which had changed into a dance floor in the meantime, with small tables – well, smaller than the huge table where they all ate lunch was - all around it. Harry had a place at Alduin's, together with the youngest Shafiqs and their children and the youngest Ollivanders and theirs. He watched with interest as Alduin and Miss...Mrs. Travers went to dance together. They were very smooth. Is there something my cousin can't do? Harry thought with irritation, but then he remembered Alduin wasn't a very good flier and that calmed him a little.

After this dance, the bride went to dance with her father and Alduin with Mrs. Muhammad Shafiq. Harry remembered that there had been some discussion about this. Alduin's mother was dead, of course, so they had to decide who'd take her place in this, and he recalled the new Mrs. Travers jokingly suggesting Mrs. Jeremiah Smith, since she was apparently Alduin's mother's cousin. Alduin's expression at that had been priceless, and he ended up with his father's cousin, because, as he had said, he actually liked her. Mrs. Travers went to dance with Mr. Abdullah and Alduin with Mrs. Mercurius, then, but Harry was starting to get bored. The dances looked all the same. He looked around to see who sat at the other tables, and noticed the Malfoys nearby, seated with the rest of the Shafiqs, Mr. and Mrs. Ollivander and some people he didn't know. "Hey," he said, turning to Abdulaziz, "I'll go and talk to some other people. Want to come too?"

"Just wait till my dad finishes this dance," the boy replied, "and I'll go."

Harry obligingly waited. Many more couples appeared on the floor for the next number, and it took the two boys a while to to worm their way between all of those headed in that direction to get to Draco. "Hello," Harry said, plopping down to the seats of Mr. and Mrs. Muhammad, who had gone to dance. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Draco nodded. "The ceremony looked great," he said, "and the food was brilliant." He hesitated. "You don't know Horatio, I guess?"

Harry shook his head, looking at the older boy Draco gestured to. "Well, then, this is Horatio Yaxley. His parents are dancing at the moment. And Horatio, this is Harry Potter."

They nodded at each other. "So you're at Hogwarts, right?" Harry said. "What year?"

"I'll be starting my third in September. You and Draco are both going to be first years, right?"

"Yeah. And you're the first person currently at Hogwarts I'm speaking to, so...can I interrogate you?"

Horatio laughed. "Sure," he said, "but I don't know I can tell you much your cousin couldn't."

"At least you can tell us about the teachers," Draco said. "I'm interested as well."

At this point, another boy appeared behind Horatio and nodded to them. "May I sit down?" He asked the Malfoys, as the only adults present at the table, politely.

"Of course," Mrs. Malfoy replied, pulling out of her conversation with her husband for a moment.

"Harry, this is Roger Davies, my best friend," Horatio said, "and Roger, this is Harry Potter."

There was another mutual nod. "They were just about to grill me over Hogwarts," Horatio added.

Roger laughed. "Ah, future ickle firsties. What can you expect?"

Harry fought the urge to stick out his tongue at him. The potentially interesting conversation was interrupted again by the adults returning from their dance, forcing Harry, Abdulaziz and Roger to get up.

"Let's go back to the reception area," Abdulaziz suggested. "No one's there now, and we can all sit."

This idea was approved, but there was another delay as they passed the Shacklebolt table and Harry stopped briefly to greet them, since he hadn't done so yet. He was also introduces to Maurice and Kiara, the Shacklebolt children. Kiara had just finished her first year at Hogwarts, while her brother was to start his fourth. He was fourteen already, and so appeared to see himself as above talking to 'little kids'. At least that's what his look seemed to indicate when Horatio told them when they were going and asked whether they wanted to go too. Kiara, however, got up and accompanied them.

"Ignore my brother," she said with a sigh. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's normally okay, but the last couple of months...it's been driving my parents up the wall as well, ever since we came back. Well, mainly Mum. Dad says it's just part of being a teenager."

"I can't wait to be fourteen too," Horatio muttered. "I mean, my birthday is right at the beginning of January, so I only have half a year left, but they will still send me to bed at ten, just you wait. And of course Roger here is even worse off."

At Harry's questioning look, Roger explained: "I was born in September, so I will just miss all of the summer dinner parties."

They sat in the reception area and talked about Hogwarts, and gradually, other older children joined them there, until there was about twenty of them. But Horatio was proven right, since at ten, Mrs. Theodore Burke appeared and told them that house-elves would direct them to their rooms. "You can stay up as long as you want," she explained, "but I want you to stay inside the house."

That only served to make Harry curious, but he didn't want to make trouble on Alduin's special day, and so he took himself quietly inside the manor, where they continued to interrogate the three members of their little group who were already fortunate enough to attend Hogwarts. Horatio and Roger were both Ravenclaws, and very vocal in support of their house, but they did not convince Harry, who sided with Kiara's defense of Gryffindor.

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The next morning, he woke up late and it took him a while to realized where he was. Coming down to breakfast, he discovered most of the Burke family there. "So, did you enjoy the wedding?" Mrs. Tacitus asked.

"Yes, it was very impressive," Harry replied politely while putting some bacon and scrambled eggs on his plate. "I really liked their robes, and the food was very good."

Mrs. Theodore smiled at him. "You cousin was very well dressed," she agreed. "Grey and silver really become him. But the robes you had were very nice too."

"Er," said Harry, "I let him choose it, I don't understand robes much..."

"Oh course you did. No one expects you to pick your own dress robes at eleven, Harry!"

"Though Alexandra certainly insisted that she should be allowed to do so when she was your age," Mrs. Tacitus added.

Her daughter-in-law laughed. "She would," she agreed. "I don't remember it much, but I think I didn't really care – not at eleven, anyway – and mostly tried to stay in the bookshop while Mum went to shop for clothes."

"And your mother let you get away with that?" Mrs. Tacitus asked in some surprise.

"Not really, no," Mrs. Theodore admitted, "but that didn't mean I didn't keep trying."

Harry turned to Mrs. Theodore. "Your mother wasn't a Ravenclaw?" He asked curiously. He knew that she was, as well as every member of the family currently living in the mansion.

"Oh no, she was a Gryffindor. Shacklebolt by birth. Actually your cousin's first cousin once removed."

"Oh, right, I member the family tree..." He frowned. He should have known this.

Mrs. Theodore smiled at him again. "Don't worry about it," she said. "It will pass into your blood in time. It's too much new information at once, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

Returning to Travers Manor, he found the newly-weds just sitting down to elevenses. "Good morning, cousin Alduin, Miss- er, Mrs. Travers," he said awkwardly as he went to join them.

She smiled at him. She was dressed in her airy, simple elegant style again, but Harry thought he would always remember her as queenly as she was at the wedding, and could see something of it in her even now. "None of that," she said. "I'm now your cousin by marriage, as well as your guardian's wife – so please, do call me Alexandra. Or at least cousin, since I know you still have trouble calling my husband Alduin."

"All right. Thanks."

"How did you enjoy the wedding?"

Harry repeated the compliments from breakfast, and Alduin asked him: "And how was the company?"

"Oh, that was great! I mean I met people who are attending Hogwarts for the first time, and it was so exciting to talk about it!"

"There is going to be so much more of that," his new cousin promised. "Being a proper lady of the house now, I can give garden parties, and in fact, I'm planning one in about a fortnight – after our supposed honeymoon period passes."

Harry was confused. "But aren't you supposed to go somewhere for honeymoon?"

"Yes, but we decided that we can postpone that until after you are at Hogwarts – no sense losing a big chunk of the last two months we have with you, when we can comfortably go away for two months once you are at school!"

Harry went red. "You didn't have to- I mean, I could have stayed anywhere, or here alone, or-"

"Harry," Alduin said seriously, "we know we didn't have to, but we wanted to. It's no great loss for us, and it really makes much more sense this way."

"Besides," cousin Alexandra added, laughing, "we couldn't trust anyone with you education, could we? They would certainly let you slack off!"

Harry grimaced.

Alduin returned the conversation on track. "But we have to have a honeymoon period when we don't go much anyway," he explained, "otherwise the papers would start to talk. But after that, there are going to be plenty of parties here."

"Why would the papers talk?"

Alduin and Alexandra exchanged a look. "To the romantic mind," he explained, "the newlyweds are supposed to be so full of each other after the wedding that they don't want to see anyone else for a while. If we didn't observe this rule, some of the society reporters would jump on this fact and use it to discuss whether ours was a marriage of love or simple political advantage."

"And- I mean-," Harry stuttered, realizing there was no polite way to ask this.

Alduin raised an eyebrow at him. "Whatever the answer," he said, "we prefer the papers not speculating about us in this way."

"It's fashionable nowadays to have marriages based on romantic love," Alexandra added, "and we find it easier to avoid doing anything that might cast a shade of doubt on ours being such. As I'm sure Alduin had already explained to you, good press can be advantageous in many ways."

Harry concluded that he simply did not understand his cousins.