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Chapter 8: 'One Last Golden Day of Peace'

Harry had quite a bit of fun teasing Remus for the next several days about his Apparition scores, and just by apparating around the house. He realized that it didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable as when you were doing side-along apparition. However, Remus did make comments about how loud the noise was and how large his movements were. "You're flourishing like Lockheart." The older wizard drawled as Harry apparated to breakfast one morning. Harry spent the entire day working on minimizing his movements.

He got several owls from his friends, and he told each of them about his apparition license. He felt rather proud of himself actually, but his ego took a blow when he accidentally splinched and left behind his foot one afternoon; Remus nearly passed out laughing. However, in Hermione's letters, she asked about where he was planning to go first, when he was planning to go (so she could get ready and tell her parents), and what it was he was going to start looking for first: hints of Voldemort's past? Items that belonged to the Founders? How to create/destroy horcruxes? He was glad that Hermione asked these annoying questions, however, because he knew that, without them, he would never actually get going.

Ron's and Ginny's letters both talked about the upcoming wedding, which was set for thetwenty-first of August. Of course, Ron's letter also talked—inevitably—about Quidditch and the Chudley Cannons; he also took a moment to pose the question of if they would be able to watch Quidditch while they searched. Ginny's was a little bit more personal. She didn't seem to have taken Harry's saying that they couldn't remain together all that difficult. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad, really. With Hermione's advice in mind, Harry asked Ginny how she was feeling about a new Head of House; McGonagall couldn't be Headmistress and Gryffindor Head, after all. With that question, he would be able to see if she was going to continue Hogwarts. If she said she wanted to come with him, well, he was going to have to refuse her, and possibly even bring Mrs. Weasley into the fray if she argued.

About two days later, Harry and Remus both received an invitation to the wedding. It read:

To Misters Harry Potter and Remus Lupin
You are Invited to the Wedding of
Bill Arthur Weasley
&
Fleur Anastasie Delacour
On August the Twenty-First
Six in the Evening,
At the Bella Luna Pavilion

"What should we get them?" Harry asked after reading the invitation. He'd never been to a wedding before, but he at least knew that a gift was appropriate.

Remus shrugged. "We can ask Molly, she'll know, since she's in the middle of the planning. Personally, I don't see how someone can stay sane with all that planning, all those people to invite, all the lists you have to make," he shuddered slightly, "Bill told me a little while ago that he left it to Fleur, since he was so overwhelmed."

"How do they do it?" Harry said, shaking his head.

Remus simply replied, "It must be a woman thing."

So, it was on the twenty-first, eleven days before Hogwarts would begin again, that Harry and Remus arrived at the Bella Luna Pavilion. It was an outdoor pavilion, stationed next to a crystal-watered lake that was facing west. The ceremony itself would be taking place outside, and the after-party inside. After they had set their gifts on the designated table, they passed through the arched doors at the back of the pavilion, where two young wizards bowed them through. The friends and family of the Weasley family would be seated on the right, the friends and family of the Delacour family on the left. When Harry entered, he thought for a moment that the seats were in fire, but after he blinked, he realized that it was a very, very large group of red-heads. He couldn't help but grin. "I never realized there were so many of them," Remus murmured, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Me neither," Harry murmured back as they looked for seats.

"Harry!" called a familiar voice. "Professor Lupin! Over here!" They turned their heads and saw someone waving to them. Their hair was a light tan speck among the red; it was Hermione.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted with a smile as she gave him a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she replied happily. "How are you two?"

"Just great," they replied.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked as they sat down.

"Oh, he'll be coming in later, he's part of the ceremony," she replied, "All of the Weasleys are; well, all of Bill's direct family is," she amended, biting back a smile as she looked at all the red-heads present. Harry grinned.

"Red and silver go well together," Remus commented with asmile. Harry's grin widened as he realized what Remus was talking about. All of Fleur's family had silvery hair, while all of Bill's had red. However, there were spots of other colors where the non-related guests were. Harry recognized the Headmistress of Beauxbatons sitting on the Delacour side, talking with someone he couldn't see. Other than her, he didn't recognize anyone over there. However, on the Weasley side, he saw a few members of the Order, and even a few goblins, most likely friends of Bill's from Gringotts. They watched the others around them suspiciously, talking among themselves in low, foreign tones.

Suddenly, music filled their air. Harry looked up and quickly found the source. A little to the left of the slightly raised platform where the preacher stood, was a small band. One played the flute, another played the harp, a third played the piano, and two others played instruments Harry didn't recognize. The platform itself was white, with an elegant arch framing a beautiful setting of the lake and the sunset, and also where the couple would stand. As the music started, Bill himself came walking down the aisle, in dark blue robes with white trim and a crest on the back. The shield was split into four parts, the alternating spaces held lions on gold backgrounds and deer on silver. Two unicorns held up the shield, and an inscription was below, but Harry couldn't make it out; it must have been the Weasley family crest. Bill's long hair was loose, though he still wore his dragon-fang earring. The scars on his pace weren't as puffy as when Harry had seen him last, perhaps it was the lighting.

Once he was standing to the left of the preacher. The music changed tune, and the doors of the pavilion opened once more. People looked back to see who was coming: Charlie Weasley escorting a beautiful woman with silvery hair and luminous blue eyes; she was most likely Fleur's mother. When they reached the stage, they stood on opposite sides, and the next pair came in: a young man related to Fleur, and Molly Weasley. Mrs. Weasley had tears of happiness in her eyes as she looked at Bill and took her place. The other pairs all included members of both sides of the immediate family. Harry suspected that many of the witches from Fleur's side were cousins or aunts, since there were so many more Weasley siblings. All the men wore robes of cerulean blue, and all the women wore dresses of pale gold. When Ron came through the doors with a witch just a little older than him, and looking extremely nervous and happy at the same time, Harry grinned from ear to ear and gave his friend a subtle thumbs-up, which Ron saw and straightened his shoulders a little bit in answer. To Harry's surprise, even Percy was there, though his expression was not happy, simply blank. Harry wanted to throttle him; how could he be like that at his brother's wedding?

When at last all the pairs had taken their places either on the stage or at the sides of it, the music changed once more, to the tune Harry recognized as the bride's song. The doors opened, and his heart beat slightly faster as he saw the two flower girls: Gabriel and Ginny. They walked side by side, smiles on their faces. They were both dressed in matching gold gowns with white trim, and both had small baskets of flower petals, which they gently scattered on the ground as they passed. Ginny saw Harry looking at her and a small blush crept onto her cheeks as her smile widened ever so slightly. Harry grinned at her in reply. The two flower girls then stationed themselves at the edges of the platform, and then Fleur came out of the doors. Even though Harry though Ginny beautiful, he couldn't help staring.

The bride was in a gown of white, with gentle washes of gold, giving it the look of an ocean tide made entirely sparkling sunshine. However, the colors were not so bright as to hurt the eyes, but soft enough to sooth and be noticed. Her over robe was the same, though slightly more golden, with pearls on the hem. Her silvery hair was coiled up in a long thin braid on top of her hair, and a small, barely-visible net with small pearls covered it, similar pearls lined the edges of her dress and robe.The tiara Mrs. Weasley had mentionedweeks agosat elegantly on her head.

As she was led down the aisle by her father, Harry saw the crest on the back of her robe. It was an oval-shaped design, held up by a mermaid and a veela. In the center was the elegant letter 'D', and around it were a rearing unicorn, a sleeping dragon, and two doves, one above and the other below. An olive branch hovered below the device, along with words Harry, once again, couldn't make out.

The music died down as the bride and her father reached the platform, where Mr. Delacour kissed his daughter on the cheek and took his place next to his wife. Fleur smiled at Bill and he smiled back, then they both turned to face the preacher. I wonder if that's actually what he's called, Harry wondered, but the thought was soon lost as the ceremony began.

The 'Unitist' (Preacher) began the ceremony, his voice warm and deep. "Welcome all, to this day and place, where these two people shall be joined together for as long as they live. Through light and dark, through day and night, through trials and triumphs, and through life and death, shall they be joined?"

"We shall." Bill and Fleur said, and a golden thread rose from the Unitist, while a blue thread rose from Bill as a ruby one rose from Fleur.

"On this day, your lives will begin; they will begin in a new way, not as two people, but one. Shall you be joined?"

"We shall." They replied, and the golden thread wrapped itself around the two threads, bringing them slightly closer.

"In the next day, your lives will continue, they will change, and they will be filled with pain and joy, with errors and corrections, with peace and unsettlement. Will you be joined?"

"We shall." The threads drew closer, growing brighter as they did.

"Fleur Delacour, will you join yourself with this man? Will you join and share in his faults? His triumphs? His love?"

"I shall," she replied, smiling at Bill.

The Unitist looked at Bill. "Bill Weasley, will you join yourself with this woman? Will you join and share in her faults? Her triumphs? Her love?"

"I shall," he answered, returning the smile.

"Then join, share, live, love, in all things good and bad, in all things hidden and revealed, in all times to come and pass, join in the name of your families, yourselves, your souls, and in the name of magic."

The ruby and blue threads merged together, forming a vibrant violet, and the gold thread held it together. There was a bright flash of light as Bill and Fleur kissed, blinding the audience for a moment. But when it cleared, Harry saw that the purple light was surrounding Bill and Fleur, twining around them as if it were a living thing. It wrapped tightly around them, then sank into their skin, where it merged with the brightly burning spheres of light at their hearts; Harry realized that those must be the cores of their magic, their essence. The two spheres rose higher, and melted into the purple light, ceasing to be separate, and becoming a single, golden-purple sphere. The lights vanished, and Harry saw the motherscrying they hugged each other. He couldn't hold back a grin, especially when the peoplebroke intolaughter and applause, and as fireworks burst in the air, courtesy of the Weasley twins. The fireworks blazed, illuminating the sunset, forming shapes that soared through the sky. Harry laughed as a purple one wrote the words: Congratulations to Bill and Fleur Weasley; welcome to the family!

The bride and groom then walked back down the aisle hand in hand, and led the guests back inside to the pavilion where drink, food, music, and dancing awaited them. Bill and Fleur danced first, and soon the other guests began. Harry grinned as Ron approached Hermione and asked to dance, she accepted with a smile and blush.

Harry and Remus watched as the dance floor was overrun by silver- and red-heads. Then someone appeared at Remus' elbow and whisked him off to dance, Harry laughed as he recognized Tonks. It'll be their turn next, Harry thought with a smile. "Want to dance?" asked a familiar voice.

Harry turned and saw Ginny standing next to the table he was seated at. His smile widened. "You look great, Gin." He told her.

She blushed. "Thanks Harry. Now answer the question."

He laughed, "I'd love to." So they went out onto the floor, and Harry bowed slightly over Ginny's hand before they danced. As she came closer, he realized that he hadn't danced with her before, nor realized what a good dancer she was. Personally, he was having a difficult time not tripping over his robes, but Ginny—whose dress was longer than his robes—had no trouble at all. "So I guess you've finally got a sister, eh?" he said.

She smiled. "Yeah, two of them. Gabriel is really nice, and she likes pranks too."

Harry laughed. "Another miniature Fred 'n' George, hm?"

"Well, I don't know about that, I think just a miniature of one of them is enough. Fleur thinks the jokes are funny too, but isn't up to creating them like Gabriel is. She still talks about you, you know." She added, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Er—well, I'm sure it's nothing," he replied after clearing his throat, "I mean, it's just because of the Triwizard Tournament, really."

"Mmhmm," Ginny replied skeptically.

"So, how are you looking forward to school?" he asked hastily, trying to avoid the subject of Gabriel.

"Oh, I suppose it won't be too bad, with a new Head and all. It just...won't be the same." She added in a quiet voice: "You know, without Dumbledore."

Harry nodded, mentally kicking himself for bringing up a sad subject; this was a wedding! It was supposed to be happy. Great tact Harry, really. Hermione's voice said in his head. Harry shook it out.

"What about you?" she asked casually. "Where are you going first?"

He was silent for a minute, not sure what he should tell her. "I'm not entirely sure," he said, "But Dumbledore—his portrait, I mean—suggested a place."

"Is it in another country?"

"Yeah."

"Will you be able to right?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, you'd better find a way." He smiled wryly; Ginny could sound a lot like Mrs. Weasley at times.

The song ended, and Harry and Ginny sat down with Ron and Hermione to eat. Tonks and Remus were still dancing, and the four youths grinned at them whenever the pair looked their way. Remus was blushing in no time. As they ate, the 'Golden Trio of Gryffindor' talked about the past years, of the first time they'd met on the Hogwarts express, the Fluffy incident, constant arguments they'd had about studying vs. Quidditch, the stories they'd made up for Divination, all the fun things they'd done, all the good times they had. They laughed, bringing tears to their eyes as the memories came back, the ones full of adventure, puzzles, and happiness; the memories that would remain bright even in the darkness they all knew would come. And Harry realized that this might be one of the last times they'd get to talk so carefree, so close, without war, horcruxes, or Voldemort to distract him, and he took advantage of every moment; Ginny's being there was a bonus.

This was certainly his one last guaranteed day of golden peace.