A/N I Own Nothing
Ao3 – Once_Upon_A_Potter
March 1st, 2005
"Good morning!" Ginny said, she was here on her own, Astoria being out sick and no one else want to take her shift. "How may I help yo-" Ginny cut herself off, seeing who had come into the store, "Dudley?"
"Yeah, Ginny, right?" He asked, "Harry's wife?"
"Uh. Yeah." Ginny stuttered, "What can I get for you?"
"Black coffee. To-go. And a French vanilla cappae thing. Also to go."
"So," Ginny started, "One black coffee, and a French vanilla cappuccino? Both to go?"
He nodded, pulling his credit card out.
"Okay," Ginny muttered, moving to start putting his order together, "While I get that ready for you. I have to ask, because it has been killing me," She leaned over the counter toward him, speaking quietly "about Cho… Do you know…?"
"About her being, you know, a witch?" Dudley finished in a whisper, "Yeah, I do."
Ginny felt almost an insane sense of relief wash over her.
"Good." She muttered, "Good. I'll go, get your order ready now."
March 5th, 2005
"Okay." Ginny started, looking back from her spot in the passenger seat, and glancing between James and Teddy who sat in the back seat. "We are going to go into this wedding, and you two, are going to behave."
Both boys nodded vigorously.
"And," Harry added, "After, we're going to go stay with your grandaunt Petunia and granduncle Vernon and I'd like you to behave for that, as well."
The boys nodded once more.
"Alright." Ginny sighed, opening her door, "I guess let's do this."
xXx
"…speak now," The priest was saying, "or forever hold your pea-" he was cut off by a loud wailing.
Bride and groom silently made direct eye contact for several seconds, before Cho burst into cackling laughter, leaning into Dudley's chest.
Dudley sighed, arms wrapping around her, asking, "Is that the bloody fire alarm?"
Cho nodded, shoulders shaking. "Does the fire alarm count as an objection?" she joked, not at all worried about an actual fire, with a lack of smoke, combined with no one else noticing anything off.
The priest shook his head, "No. But we will need to call the fire department in to have it turned off." He told her, causing her laughter to intensify.
"I guess we move out to the front step?" Cho asked, looking up at Dudley.
He nodded, "That, or we put off until the fire department gets here."
Cho shrugged, "I always thought an outside wedding could be nice."
And that was how they ended up getting married on the front step of the church, getting both an outside and a church wedding in one.
Guests ended up standing, bride's and groom's sides intermingling.
Ginny held onto Teddy's hand while Harry had James on his hip.
The ceremony picked up right where it had left off.
The wind kept blowing Cho's hair into her face, causing her to constantly push it behind her ear.
The fire department arrived just in time to shut off the alarm for the reception, being invited to stay for cake.
Dennis Creevey, taking after his big brother, made sure to capture everything in detail with his camera.
xXx
Harry led the way up to number four privet drive when he and his family finally got there at eight that evening, Ginny carrying a half-asleep James, and Teddy sandwiched between his godparents.
Harry had been legitimately surprised at hearing that his aunt and uncle had moved back into number four privet drive, even after they had had to evacuate it during the wizarding war. But, looking up at the house, it seemed quite a few renovations had been needed.
He rapped almost tentatively on the door, not really knowing what to expect, having not been here since just before his seventeenth birthday, and not having spoken to his aunt or uncle in almost as long.
They could just barely hear the click, clack of high heels coming toward the door.
The door swung open, and they were greeted by a tense Petunia who had plastered a smile onto her face. She was still wearing the dark blue and silver dress she had wore for the wedding, nude heels, with her hair pulled back from her face in a tight bun.
"Harry and Ginny!" she exclaimed, opening the door wider for them to come in, "And of course little Edward and James."
Teddy looked up at her, confusion screwing up his features, very few people called him by Edward.
"Aunt Petunia." Harry returned, tensing slightly as he heard Vernon grumbling in the kitchen. His green eyes met his aunt's blue.
She sighed, explaining, "Vernon and Marge are in the kitchen."
Harry nodded in understanding, knowing both his uncle and his uncle's sister. Ginny glanced between her husband and his aunt, adjusting her grip on James.
There was a moment of silence that steadily grew more awkward as it stretched.
Harry could hear Vernon and Marge's voices drifting in from the kitchen, grumbling about the wedding. About the fire alarms. How they couldn't believe Dudley had actually married someone, knowing she was a witch.
Harry and Ginny shared an apprehensive look.
"I'll just, show you to the guest room, then." Petunia told them, gesturing toward the stairs. She led them up the stairs, pointing out the bathroom as they passed it, and to Dudley's old room. The room had tan walls, twin windows on one wall, the bed was perpendicular to the windows, with crisp white bedding, and the closet was at the foot of the bed.
"You and Ginny can stay in here." Petunia told them, she gestured to the door across from them, "I also have the bedroom across set up for Edward and James."
She stepped across the hall, opening the door, the room had cream-colored walls with two twin beds, one with light gray covers and a dark blue pillow, the other with a dark blue pillow and light gray covers. There was a small dresser between the beds, acting as a nightstand.
"And Marge is in the room next to yours." She continued, the 'as always' going unsaid as she stepped out of the bedroom. "You're welcome to join us in the kitchen for drinks if you'd like to."
"Aunt Petunia?" Harry called as she stepped away. She paused at the top of the stairs, turning back to look at them. "Thank you for letting us stay."
Petunia nodded, "Anytime you need to stay." She told him, before going back downstairs.
Ginny set to waking James up, leading him to the bathroom, to get him changed and his teeth brushed for bed.
Harry waited with Teddy, watching as the little boy yawned, rubbing at his eyes.
"Which bed do you want?" Harry asked him, Teddy blinked blearily, before climbing onto the gray blanketed bed. "Don't go to sleep yet, you still need to change and brush your teeth." Harry reminded him, sitting at the foot of the bed. The little boy nodded even as his eyes started slipping shut, it wasn't much past his bedtime, but the day had been a busy one.
It was just moments later that Ginny came back with James, and Harry roused Teddy for his turn.
Ginny pulled back the blue blanket, and lifted James up and onto the bed, "You go to sleep, okay?" Ginny told him, pulling the covers up and over him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Mummy and Daddy will be just across the hall if you need us."
"Want Snuffles." James mumbled, snuggling into the blankets.
Ginny smiled softly, "Snuffles is at Grandma and Grandpa's, remember?"
Harry came back into the room, and did the same with Teddy, before he and Ginny left the room, gently pulling the door closed behind them.
Ginny looked to her husband, asking simply, "Bed, or downstairs?"
Harry glanced at the stairs, "I guess we might as well go down." He told her, as it was still early for them to head to bed.
Ginny le the way down the stairs, to the kitchen, just vaguely remembering the way from the time or two she had been in the house.
Vernon, Marge and Petunia were sitting around the kitchen table. Vernon and Marge were chortling about something over their beers, while Petunia sat silently staring down into her glass of red wine.
Ginny cleared her throat, Petunia's head snapped up to look at them, Vernon and Marge instantly went silent.
"Harry! Ginny!" Petunia exclaimed, standing, "Sit, sit. Would you like a glass?" she asked, reaching for the open bottle of wine they had sitting on the counter.
"Uh, sure?" Harry stuttered, as he and Ginny sat across from Vernon and Marge. "Thanks."
Petunia nodded, coming back to the table and handing Harry and Ginny a glass of red each.
There were several moments of surprisingly pleasant conversation between Harry, Ginny, Vernon, and Petunia, before Marge brought up the wedding again.
"Well, that was the most eventful wedding I've ever been to." Marge commented, side eyeing the young couple sitting across from her.
Harry chuckled nervously at her side eye. "Yeah, it was pretty eventful, wasn't it?"
"It was a lovely wedding, though." Ginny interjected, Harry agreeing with her.
Marge hummed, sipping at her beer, "It was also the first wedding I've been to with that many… unnatural… people at it."
"Well," Ginny started, "Cho is a witch."
Marge grumbled, squinting her eyes at the couple in suspicion, "I just wish I knew which freak it was that pulled that fire alarm." She commented.
"It could have been anybody." Ginny told her, eyebrow raising at the woman's paranoid suspicion.
"Didn't the fire department say it was the placement of the candles?" Harry asked in a deadpan tone of voice.
"Marge," Petunia started, in a placating tone, "neither Dudley nor Cho were upset about what had happ-"
"It was one of your shits, wasn't it?" Marge asked, speaking over her sister-in-law.
Harry slowly shook his head as Ginny answered, her face flushing at the audacity of the woman across form her, "They were with us the entire time. We're not just going to let our children run around in a room full of people we don't know."
The redhead glanced at the three Dursleys, noticing that Vernon seemed to agree with his sister, but hadn't spoken up due to the death glare Petunia was giving him.
"Yeah, I'd bet it was." Vernon murmured under his breath.
Marge didn't seem to hear what Ginny had said, nodding her head, set in her and her brother's opinions as she was.
"Vernon." Petunia hissed, futilely, she herself had seen the two boys, James had been with Harry the entire time, and Edward had been between Harry and Ginny, quiet and respectful.
"And don't get me started on your hair, boy." Marge continued.
"My… hair?" Harry asked, bemusement coloring his tone.
"Would it have killed you to cut it for your cousin's wedding?" Marge asked, liquor sloshing in her glass as she leaned forward, jabbing a finger in Harry's direction.
Harry just stared at his uncle's sister. Was that the best she had? Last time he had been around her for any long period of time, she was insulting his mother, now she's just got a problem with his hair?
Now, Harry had been raised by Petunia and Vernon, though they (mostly Petunia) were trying now, it didn't do anything to erase the past, he could take a few degrading comments about himself.
"Men just aren't meant to have long hair." Marge continued.
Petunia brought her hand up, hiding half her face from her guests, as she glared at her sister-in-law.
Harry wouldn't exactly call chin length long himself, in fact it was just long enough to tame the untamable mess that was his hair. Believe it or not, a little longer and styled, seemed more professional than shorter and out of control.
"Then again," Marge continued, "Men also aren't supposed to… what was the word your lot uses? Bear? Their children, either."
"Are you quite done?" Harry asked, his hand finding the hand of his fuming wife under the table, starting to massage soothingly.
"Yes." Petunia hissed, staring Marge down. She had just started to build a relationship with her nephew, one of, if not the only, thing she had left of her sister, she would prefer Marge didn't ruin it. "She is."
