Chapter 18: Return to Love's Hollow
The field was still; save for a lonely cat twitching its tail on a low tree branch and a late-night bumblebee buzzing around some holly bushes. It was an unusually warm December night, and the two seemed to be enjoying the rarity of nice weather.
There was a soft 'pop', and the cat stood, its back arched and its fur on end, as four teenagers appeared out of thin air. As if determining that it was in no danger, the cat sat down on its branch once again and licked its paw absentmindedly as the bee came bumbling over its head. Either the cat didn't notice or it didn't mind, but the bee seemed to think that the best place to rest for the moment was on the branch next to the tabby; snuggling next to its left paw for warmth.
The four teenagers looked cautiously around themselves, nodded, and walked to the center of the field. The cat lightly jumped down from its branch, evidently curious as to what four young people would be doing out in the middle of Godric's Field so near to midnight. The bee, apparently annoyed that its source of warmth had left so abruptly, buzzed along after the tabby, intent to catch up.
Deciding that a lone fence post was a satisfactory spot, the cat lit itself upon it and gazed at the humans with a curious eye. A small knothole in the wood suited the bee just fine, and it crawled inside it to rest its wings.
"Are you ready?" asked a curly haired brunette, and she waved a stick in her hand. There was a flash of sparkles and dozens of tiny fairies to appeared, dancing lightly through the wind and lighting the field with their wings.
The cat purred- it seemed to be pleased with the fairies. It watched as a raven-haired boy and a redheaded girl nodded, taking their place between the brunette and another redheaded boy. The two boys stood together on one side and the two girls on the other, the redhead and the raven-haired in the middle, all facing one another.
The bumblebee raised its head inside its knothole to take notice of their appearances and clothes the teenagers were wearing: the two boys had donned what looked like dark colored robes. The redhead had deep navy robes and a look that was deemed quite well kempt in comparison to his friend. The raven-haired boy had the untidiest hair the bumblebee had ever seen, and he was wearing robes that were black with a green collar and cuffs.
The two girls were also wearing what appeared to be robes of some sort, and had done their hair very prettily. The redhead had worn hers long, elaborately curled and cascading down to the middle of her back, pinned away from her face with emerald clips. She was wearing robes in the softest white the bee had ever seen. To the happy bumble, she looked like a particularly beautiful flower, absolutely radiant in the moonlight. The brunette was wearing robes of a deep crimson, and her hair had a matching ribbon across the crown of her head, with the rest of her curls pinned at random to the back, making her look like an ancient Grecian Goddess. The bee buzzed its wings in pleasure for a brief moment and then settled down once more to watch.
The boy with the untidy hair appeared to be concentrating very hard, and suddenly a large force erupted from his hand, enclosing the field in an invisible, yet extremely solid shield, so no one could disturb him and his friends. The bee shot out from his knothole like a rocket, and buzzed erratically around the cat's head, which twitched its tail patiently before finally getting irritated and batting the bumble back to its knothole.
The other boy looked around and observed the raven's work- he grinned, smacked the boy on the back, and then turned to the girls.
"Shield is set, then. Nice one, Harry."
"Is it midnight yet?" asked the red haired girl (that was standing next to the boy called Harry) rather anxiously.
The brunette checked the red-haired boy's pocket watch, nodded, and carefully waved the stick once more and a podium appeared. She cautiously set a book on its top, opened it to a specific page somewhere towards the back, and began to read in unison with the red haired boy.
"By power of the Equinox, we unite this love.
In light of the moon in an eclipse by the sun,
We proclaim the rarity of a binding so pure,
Witnessed by eternal stars, ever shining above."
As if on cue, the moon suddenly disappeared in a complete lunar eclipse, and the bee began buzzing in its knothole once more. The raven-haired boy called 'Harry' grabbed the redheaded girl's hands and they smiled at one another. The brunette and the other redhead placed their hands on their friends' shoulders, and continued to read.
"We acknowledge one divine and single truth,
With essence drawn from both our spirits,
That love so true can be only found
In the hearts of pure and untainted youth."
At the end of this verse, the two united in the middle began to glow, illuminated by a solid white light emitting from the center of their chests. The glow rapidly spread down the rest of their bodies, and extended to include the two witnessing the ceremony. When the radiance had encompassed them all, they raised off the ground together, levitated inside a ball of pure, translucent light. The two in the middle now began to speak, their voices blending together in what might have been a harmony written for angels.
"With all my soul I pledge you my heart
I give myself, my love, freely to you
Knowing that what I offer, I gain in return
Bound by power of Equinox's arc."
There was an abrupt flash, and the ball of light that had concealed the four teenagers seemed to explode as it surrounded itself in a ring of lightning the circled around its center. As the lightning circled faster, the ball seemed to glow impossibly brighter. The bumblebee fluttered its wings inside its knothole while the cat airily licked it paw.
The ring split itself in half, and began to encase the sphere, one arc encasing the northern part, and the other encasing the southern. Each half circle began to pulse and rotate, stretching as it did so, one spinning vertically and the other horizontally until they turned into two complete circles of lightning. Spiraling faster than an atom's nucleus the protective ball glowed with a brilliant white light. As the sphere pulsed with the power of Equinox's Arc, the two redheads, the brunette and the raven-haired boy, Harry, floated into a circle and joined hands. Where two circles had been made from one they now collided into a thousand other rings, circling and spiraling around the sphere, sheathing it in their pure brilliance.
When the sphere was finally completely surrounded by the lightning, the four bodies encased inside it went rigid and looked towards the heavens, curling their toes as if in a sensation of unearthly ecstasy. Four jets of red light shot straight from their chests to the outside of the ball and combined into a brilliant red firework above them. Slowly, as the shimmers from the explosion dissipated back to the ground, the teenagers were lowered softly to the earth.
"Did it work, Hermione?" asked the redheaded boy, presumably to the brunette.
She flipped through the book, and read to the bottom of the page the spell had been on.
"Everything looks ok, Ron. Besides," the girl called Hermione gestured towards the couple in the middle, "look at Harry and Ginny. If that isn't proof I don't know what is."
The redheaded boy Ron laughed as the couple (Harry and Ginny) broke away from their kiss and turned to hug their friends. The bumblebee had once again left its knothole and began buzzing in excited loop-the-loops around the tabby's head. The cat didn't seem annoyed this time, it just purred louder than it had done when the fairies appeared. There was another brilliant flash of light as dozens more of the red fireworks exploded randomly above their heads.
"Ooh!" sighed the girl named Ginny. "They're so pretty!"
They watched for a while until they ended, and the girl named Hermione commented, "Maybe we were a little over-zealous. It said there was only supposed to be the one firework."
"Eh, who cares?" said the boy named Ron. "Fireworks are great, aren't they, Harry?"
"Perfect…" mumbled the raven-haired Harry, though he was obviously too occupied with watching the red-haired girl to care.
"What about the mark, though?" asked the white robed girl named Ginny, as she looked at her wrists and arms, and gingerly felt her face and forehead. "Hermione, didn't it say—"
The other three looked at one another, and then began checking themselves over for some sort of mark. Suddenly, the boy called Harry reached up and gently pulled the neckline of Ginny's dress down a fraction to expose a soft, silver crescent moon that was now marked on his love's breastbone.
"Here it is, you guys. Right over her heart."
The other two called Ron and Hermione opened their robes and looked down to see their marks for themselves as Ginny opened Harry's robes to see his.
"Ours are different from yours, Harry," commented Ron the redhead, as he looked at the Hermione the brunette's chest. "See, look- Hermione and I have stars."
Harry and Ginny looked towards their friends and smiled.
"The witness of eternal stars," said Ginny the redhead, as she looked over toward the book.
The girl called Hermione smiled, and ran her finger down the text. "That would be it. Stars mark us because we witnessed the ceremony, Ron. Ginny and Harry have crescent moons because it represents the sun bonding with the moon to make a lunar eclipse."
The group smiled at each other, and the raven-haired boy called Harry pulled a playing card from his pocket.
"Ready to go back to The Burrow?"
The other three nodded. Taking one last look around the field in Godric's Hollow, they all placed a finger on the card and in a blink, they were gone.
Once again, the field was still, save for the bumblebee that was still buzzing around the cat's head as the tabby swatted at it with its paw. Suddenly there was a soft 'pop', and the bee was buzzing around the head of a tall black haired woman, dressed in long black robes and an emerald cloak.
"Oh honestly, Albus, you think you would grow up after a century and a half! All this infernal buzzing about is enough to drive me mad!" she cried, as she smoothed her hair back into its bun.
Another small 'pop' sounded, and a tall, regal looking wizard, complete with hat and long white beard, now accompanied the witch.
Albus Dumbledore laughed and reached into his robes and pulled out a small tin. "Lemon Drop, Minerva?" he offered.
The witch snorted, "You and your sweets. Oh, Albus, what will you think of next?"
Albus merely smiled and popped a small candy into his mouth. Crunching it thoughtfully, he swallowed and then commented, "You know, Min," – the witch cringed—"one might say that sometimes you need to let your hair down and relax a little."
The witch sniffed, and crossed her arms. This only made the wizard laugh harder.
"Come now, Minerva! You must admit that it was a glorious thing to watch! Highly entertaining! Even without the additional fireworks…"
The witch seemed to debate with herself for a while before she finally sighed and threw up her arms.
"All right, you win, Albus! It was rather lovely. I've never witnessed an Equinox Binding spell- I imagine it was quite powerful, what with the magical attributes of this particular day. The additional fireworks, I wonder why that happened?"
"Extremely powerful," Albus confirmed. "I gather that you have read the binding incantation?"
"Yes, I have. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger must have been unwaveringly loyal Miss Weasley and Mr. Potter to have been magical witnesses to such a ceremony."
Albus smiled, "Ah, well, if I know Harry and Ginny, they would have had no one else."
"No one, Albus? I know Mr. Potter is quite close to the Weasleys, as he is quite close with you. Surely he and Miss Weasley—"
"By Miss Weasley, am I to assume that you actually mean 'Mrs. Potter', Minerva?"
Minerva sniffed, and this time it didn't seem to be in disdain.
"Yes, I suppose I do. I don't think I shall ever get used to calling her Mrs. Potter, though. Do you think she might consent to being called Miss Weasley still until she finishes school?"
Albus shrugged, "I can only say that it would be better to ask. I know Harry better than most of the staff, but as for Ginny I can make no assumptions as to her wishes.
"As for the loyalty of Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley to Mr. Potter, I know that they have proved it countless times- starting with the Sorcerer's Stone."
Minerva nodded, recalling the memory of the first year the infamous trio came to Hogwarts.
"And Ginny, then?"
Albus popped another candy into his mouth and thought for a moment, before a dawning look of comprehension rose on his face.
"The very next year. When Tom Riddle possessed Ginny it was Ron, along with Harry, who risked expulsion by coming to find her. After Hermione had taken the Mandrake draught to be released from her Petrified state, I believe it was she that took Miss Weas—excuse me, Mrs. Potter, you're right, that is going to be hard—Mrs. Potter under her wing and helped her cope with the travesty.
"Hermione was her only friend- before and after the Tom Riddle incident. Ginny finds Hermione to be unwaveringly loyal to her because Hermione was the only one that she knew at the time other than family (and Harry) that didn't turn their back on her because of what Tom had done."
Minerva nodded. "That's loyalty if I ever saw it. But what about the true love and lunar eclipse part?"
"Ah, yes. Well, that part is more or less specific depending on the couple that chooses to use the Equinox Binding spell, but I didn't tell Miss Granger that."
"What do you mean by 'more or less specific'?"
"In the Muggle world a natural Lunar Eclipse only occurs on extremely rare occasions- there are a lot of specifications about science and the placement of the earth, sun, moon and whatnot- I don't really know the specifics, Muggle Science was never really my forte.
"Any way, with the Equinox Binding spell, or any other spell that creates a Lunar Eclipse, many times they will be visible only to the couple and their witnesses. However, when the couple's love is exceptionally strong, if they are predestined soul mates, or even if they have a life bond (as Harry and Ginny do), the eclipse will be visible to everyone- Muggle and Wizard alike."
"I see," said Minerva slowly, nodding her head. "So since you and I saw the eclipse we can assume that everyone will have been able to?"
"Precisely."
"Well, I'm not surprised then. That also explains the extra fireworks at the end."
"You're not? It does?"
"No, I'm not. There were quite a few life debts going around that ceremony. In addition to Harry killing the Basilisk to save Ginny, he and Ron saved Hermione's life when they knocked out the Mountain Troll on Halloween their first year. My guess is that they also fueled the fireworks and that is why there were so many as opposed to just the one that the spell calls for."
"You are quite right, Minerva. My goodness, I had never thought of that. This opens a wide range of possibilities."
"Does it?"
"Yes, yes indeed. I don't think there has ever been an Equinox Binding on record where multiple life debts had been involved, and if you asked my personal theory, I believe that Harry and Ginny's love is exceptionally strong and that they ARE indeed soul mates."
"You really think so, Albus?"
"I do. Ginny is the seventh child of a seventh generation of Weasleys, and she is also the first girl born in six generations- there hasn't been a female Weasley since the line first began. Harry is the seventh generation of living Potters, and also the seventh heir to the Potter line."
"Is he really?"
"He is. Of course, you can always attribute the fact that James and Lily were soul mates (despite how they still wouldn't believe it, even after they were married). Harry looks uncannily like James—"
"And Ginny like Lily, except for the eyes."
"It is entirely possible, wouldn't you agree, Minerva?"
"Entirely possible, Albus. That means that they would qualify for all three special cases—that would most likely make this the strongest Equinox Bond on file. I noticed their markings were visibly silver and seemed to radiate, I imagine that must indicate the strength of the bond as well."
Albus nodded, and the two walked on in companionable silence for quite some time through the field.
"Ginny looked quite lovely," commented Minerva, "wouldn't you agree, Albus?"
Albus smiled, "Quite lovely indeed. I remember when Lily and James were married; I thought that I would never again see a witch so beautiful—present company excluded, of course," he added cheekily.
Minerva giggled and slapped him playfully on the arm. "I wonder where she got the dress robes from?"
Albus smiled malignantly, "Ah, that would be Mr. Potter. He placed an order through Madam Malkin for them, I suppose as a Christmas present, but thought they would be of better use this evening."
"What a lovely gift."
"Indeed… I imagine that Harry had quite the Muggle vision of his bride "walking down the isle in a glorious white gown", and so he gave her the robes early."
"Albus," began Minerva warningly, "just how much of a 'traditional Muggle wedding' did Harry have in mind?"
Albus blushed- he was caught.
"Ah, well, I might have neglected to mention that the customary "asking permission" isn't exactly, well, customary in Wizarding weddings and binding ceremonies."
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!" cried Minerva, scandalized. "Please do NOT tell me that you made that poor boy go all the way to Ottery St. Catchpole and ask Mr. Weasley for his PERMISSION to marry Ginny because a centuries old wizarding tradition happened to have slipped your mind!"
Albus shrugged defeatedly, "Well, all right then… I won't tell you."
Minerva threw up her hands, exasperated. "Oh, Albus! That must have been terrifying for him, how COULD you?"
Albus smiled, "I merely thought that with Mr. Weasley's fascination of anything Muggle (including traditions) and Mrs. Weasley's incapacity to turn down anything Harry asks when he feels he "doesn't deserve it" (when she would very well give him anything after the way the Dursleys treated him) that it might be a good idea in order for them to accept the idea of their youngest child and only daughter marrying so young."
Minerva's jaw dropped. "Albus Dumbledore! You conniving sneak!"
Albus smiled and hummed to himself. After a while he said, "Well, Minerva, I don't think I would go that far."
"That far as to call you a conniving sneak?"
"Yes, Minerva, that far."
"Albus, you and I know better than anyone else that a conniving sneak is EXACTLY what you are!"
Albus hummed to himself for a while again, and then smiled. "Why, Minerva, I think you might be right. But I am a rather intelligent conniving sneak, you at least must give me that."
Minerva smiled, "Oh, all right, then. But only that."
They walked on once more in a friendly silence until Minerva commented, "It was an impressive bit of charmwork when Miss Granger conjured those fairies."
"I must agree, Minerva, I must agree. No doubt we should mention it to Filius that she was able to achieve it. He would be most pleased- he has always been proud of Miss Granger's accomplishments."
"Indeed, indeed. And what about Harry's shield?"
Albus did a little jig, and once again reached into his cloak for his tin of lemon drops. "He's been researching, and I must say I was quite impressed. I'm sure you noticed, what with all my 'infernal buzzing about' and whatnot?"
The witch smiled slightly, and reached over for the wizard's tin. Helping herself to a lemon drop, she chewed contentedly before she commented, "You know, maybe I was wrong about these. Muggles certainly have a way with sweets."
Albus smiled, "Yes, they certainly do. Now, shall we adjourn to my office for some tea?"
The witch positively grinned at this thought, "Oh, Al,"—it was the wizard's turn to cringe now—"after all this time you would think that I know that when you ask me for "tea" what you're really asking me over for is a large night cap."
The wizard smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Well, Minerva, you are wonderful company. Shall we?"
The witch nodded, and with a single 'pop' they both disappeared into the night.