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Chapter 17

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The last two weeks since Ginny had been finished with Hogwarts had flown by and now Harry found himself standing in his parents room with a suit on and his hair miraculously tamed. It was too tamed actually; he didn't quite look like himself with his hair flattened like it was, and he really wanted to mess it up some. Catching sight of himself in the mirror, he didn't recognize himself right away.

Today was the day everything was going to change.

When Ginny had told him she'd wanted to stay at The Burrow for the last two weeks before they were married, he'd fought back the urge to pout. It would have been unreasonable for him to be pouting over that though, when she would be living at the Manor permanently so soon. And he understood that she had been wanting to enjoy her childhood memories of home as much as she could until then.

What it had really turned out to be though was that he wanted to sleep beside her again, and he'd realized that when he went to spend his first night with her at The Burrow.

It had been pretty entertaining when he'd shown up to dinner to eat with her three brothers and her father. It had been funny for Ginny at least, he hadn't known just how serious they were being when the Weasley men told him explicitly which room he would be sleeping in. Ginny had let her brothers go on and on about propriety and 'under the Weasley roof' for ten minutes while he sat there nodding dumbly before she burst out with laughter and he realized he'd been had.

Arthur had given him a pat on the shoulder after and told him he'd been a good sport.

It wasn't every night that he'd gone back over there after work to share her small bed with her, but he'd slept surprisingly well in the cramped and squeaky bed when he had.

It wasn't something he could say out loud either, but, Merlin, was he ever looking forward to tonight. And it wasn't just the whole Ginny being his wife thing and now they could share the large bed in their room, it was the wedding night portion he was really looking forward to. He was still technically a teenager after all, and his eighteen-year-old hormones had him drumming up how incredible it was going to feel to be with her like that for the first time.

They'd been intimate since she'd been home from school, but tonight… tonight they were going to properly consummate, and he really hoped he wasn't going to embarrass himself. And if he did, he was determined to make it up to her and give it another try, and then another, as many times as it took until she was satisfied.

But he couldn't think about that now, not with his father in the room, looking into the full-length mirror at his side and adjusting his cufflinks and tie.

"I really like the style of these morning suits. It think next time we have to go to a formal event I'm going to opt for this and a top hat, maybe one of those ridiculous cane things that that Malfoy bloke likes so much," his dad was saying.

"A cane? What, has he got a bad hip or something?"

"No, it's a style thing. Went out of fashion ages ago, he apparently didn't get the memo. But it could be a statement piece. Pretty sure he's got his wand in there too."

Harry nodded and shifted a bit in these unfamiliar clothes.

"Nervous?"

He caught his fathers eye in the mirror at the question. "More about being the center of attention than anything else, I think."

"No, it's the bride that will be the center of attention. You just get to be her arm candy."

The door to the room opened without so much as a knock. "How're we doing in here?" Sirius asked.

He too was wearing a morning suit, and it fitted him perfectly. He was relaxed and his hair was also more tamed than usual, but it had this effortless style to it too that Harry was jealous of.

"I think he'd do good with a drink," his father said and went into his closet.

"Nothing too strong," Harry called out to him. He didn't know why his father would need to have alcohol in his closet. The last thing he was going to need was to get drunk before the ceremony. He wanted to be as functional as possible.

"I'll give you a half finger then."

"And I'll give you a mint for after," Sirius promised him.

"A mint?"

"Yeah, you don't want your binding kiss to be revolting for her. Scotch is good and all, but it doesn't make your breath smell daisy fresh."

Sirius would be the expert in that area.

Harry took the half finger of scotch in a glass from his dad and they raised the glass in the air to each other in salute and Harry shot it all back at once. Scotch was never something he'd warmed to, and he wanted it over as soon as possible.

"That was for sipping," his dad protested. "It was aged 25 years!"

"Then I'll drink it properly when I'm 25 years old." He turned back to Sirius. "How is everything going downstairs? All good?"

"Yep. We've got extra House-Elves and all the decorations and what-not are all set up. The wards were temporarily lifted and I have briefed the event security. All will be perfect and magical, including your bride. She got here a few hours ago, her hair and make-up is all done and your mum is upstairs with her and the bridesmaids." He topped up his Scotch a smidge more. "I left them some champagne to help calm her down. Although, she looked pretty calm. Well, calm enough. I've seen worse anyhow."

"You mean, she only sort of looked like she wanted to bolt?" he worried.

"She's not going anywhere," his dad assured him. "Now, we're all dressed, why don't we go downstairs and greet the guests as they come in? And find Daniel, he's supposed to be your main support for the day."

"I thought Sirius was supposed to be my main support for the day."

"No, I make sure no one fucks up and I get to dance with the Maid of Honor," Sirius smirked.

"Just remember, she's seventeen," his dad reminded Sirius.

"Eighteennow," Sirius corrected. "I checked," he added with a wink.

"Gross," Harry told him pointedly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'll behave. And it is going to be great. Just do what you did for the rehearsal and everything will go smoothly."

Harry raised his eyebrows at his Godfather/Best Man then. The rehearsal had been started and stopped several times because Sirius needed to change something; first it was expanding the aisle, then it was moving the altar, then it was the material that the curtains were made of. That last one was the most ridiculous, since the rehearsal they had done in the evening and the ceremony was taking place in mid-afternoon so the curtains wouldn't be an issue then.

"I mean the last rehearsal," Sirius exasperated. "Someone had to care about the little things!"

Harry and his dad laughed at him for that and then followed him out of the room.

As they were passing through the second-floor landing, Harry glanced up to the third floor in the direction Ginny should have been standing right then and hoped she was as settled and amused now as she had been acting during the rehearsal.

The last two weeks of her being at The Burrow had been filled with Quidditch practice and helping out the twins with packaging and doing inventory for their shop that would be opened by this time next month.

He had been so relieved when she'd told him she had offered to help the twins with getting their shop up and running for the next year. When they'd chatted over the mirrors for the last few weeks of her term he could see that it hadn't just been exam stress that she'd been feeling, she was also worried about how aimless her next year was going to be if the only plan for her had been to lay around with her feet up expecting to be pregnant. That couldn't be all she had planned, he knew it, she knew it, and she'd brought up the idea of scouring the grounds and cataloguing the plant life and seeing if there was anything she could find for potions ingredients and such, but he knew that wouldn't satisfy her either.

Working with the twins was going to keep her much more active, and entertained.

At the time she'd come up with her Herbology project he knew that she was viewing it as a quiet and simple task at a time when she had far too much on her plate. She needed more chaos than that, more sense of accomplishment.

He could see the light in her eyes when he met up with her after work and she'd been out in the yard practicing with his Nimbus all day and she'd gotten a bit of a tan from it, also a sunburn on her nose that Sirius had seen and immediately found some creams to take care of.

He wanted to see that light in her eyes every time he came home from a day at work.

He wanted to see that right now.

"Are you sure I can't just go up and check on her?"

"It's bad luck!" Sirius reminded him. Or rather, scolded him.

Harry rolled his eyes. Apparently it was bad luck for them to share a bed the night before the wedding as well, which was why he'd had to say goodnight to her after dinner yesterday and sleep in his bed by himself.

It had given him the time to appreciate some of the changes that she'd made to their room though.

He'd expanded the closet to accommodate her things and put a few of his things in a trunk with a few different compartments, things like his school textbooks and childhood items that he hadn't looked at in ages.

He never had an excessive amount of things because he always downsized a bit before they moved, but it turned out his parents had been saving more of his things than he realized until they moved to England and he'd found out a lot of his belongings had been sent here. Now they were safely stored, and the room had an imaginary line down the middle for his and hers; two halves to the closet, two dressers and two distinctly different sections in the bathroom as well; one that essentially held towels, shaving cream, a razor and soap, and one that held all kinds of scented things that had him wondering if anyone had mistakenly spread it on toast before.

It wasn't a wonder to him anymore how she always smelled so nice.

He loved that he was going to be officially living with her after today.

And that they were going on a honeymoon together for just the two of them in two days!

She had wanted sand, sun and interspersed fun, and he had found the perfect way to give her that.

Harry managed to focus back on following Sirius and his father down the stairs so they could greet the guests as they came in, and he spotted Daniel as one of the first 'guests'.

"Sorry! Am I late?"

"Yes."

"No," Harry said over top of Sirius. "You're right on time."

"He did miss out on the scotch," Sirius pointed out.

"Where is mum?" Harry wondered and looked around.

"She's up with Ginny. You know… doing the mum thing that they do."

Harry nodded, then was obligated to greet some of the guests that his parents had invited that he didn't really know. Then he saw that the twins and Ron had arrived.

"Aren't we supposed to be acting as ushers?" Fred asked him.

"We are, and we got here when we were supposed to," George told him and looking inquiringly at the well-dressed people that were trickling down the walkway.

"It looks like there are several people that took the arrival time as a suggestion," his dad said dryly. "Ministry types."

"Speaking of," Ron nodded in the direction of the gate, which Percy was now coming through.

Harry smirked along with the Weasley boys as they all noticed that Percy was nearly tripping over himself to gain the ear of a Ministry official.

"Guess it doesn't help that this is the first time Potter Manor has been open for an event in the last two decades," his dad added.

Harry hadn't considered that bit. There would be plenty of people in attendance that were coming more to visit the Manor than to see himself and Ginny married. Now he felt a bit like a zoo animal, like they were the first act at the event.

"That's a lot of people," Ron commented.

"I don't even know half of them," Harry frowned. "If you don't know their name, try and seat them at the back. I don't care what they're the department head of," he told Ron and the twins, in full earshot of his father, who didn't seem to mind that suggestion at all.

It didn't feel like much time between when he was standing at the front doors politely greeting those that may as well have camped out, then suddenly he was standing at the altar.

He hadn't known how he was going to feel standing up there, but with the light coming through the windows, even with the white curtains, he was starting to feel really warm, and yet his hands felt cold. He really wanted to tug at his collar, and Sirius kept telling him to stop fidgeting.

Harry just wanted this part done with, he wondered if Ginny felt the same way.

At least she was able to enjoy the last two hours in the quiet of an upstairs room.

"Any minute now," Sirius promised him.

He looked over at Sirius and Daniel, both of whom were staring at the door at the back of the room expectantly. Then his eyes moved over to the Weasley side of the room and saw Hermione there, giving him a comforting smile.

His eyes wandered over to the Potter side of the room and found Neville and his date, and then his eyes caught on the face of one of his school friends, the only one that had been able to make it from Mauritius, and he had to give a big smile to them.

Finally, the music started up and the ladies began their walk into the room, first his mother accompanied by his father, then Demelza, then Luna. Then the music got louder and everyone stood up as Ginny came into the room with her arm around her fathers.

She looked gorgeous, like something out of a painting, a still Muggle one.

Her hair was down and pinned up on one side and the dress was perfect on her. What he really was focusing on though was her face. Her eyes were wide and slightly terrified, which only made him smile because he knew it was due to the sheer amount of people in the room staring at her, and her lips were painted with this striking color that suited her so nicely, and made her lips look so inviting.

He knew what he was supposed to be doing because of the rehearsal, but when he stepped down to take her hand, he didn't hear what Arthur had said to him, he only saw Ginny grin at him and shoot her eyes over to her father, telling him to respond.

"What?" he asked Arthur.

Arthur chuckled and simply told him to 'take good care of her', to which Harry only nodded and then followed Ginny's lead back up to the altar.

"You look incredible," he whispered to her.

"You look rather dashing yourself," she said back to him with a wink.

The officiant said his piece and then had them repeat a few words after him. This Harry was glad for, because he was so nervous that any more than one sentence that he would have had to remember and repeat he didn't think he could have managed.

"And now I pronounce you Husband and Wife," Mr. Tedrick announced for the room and finally he was allowed to lean towards her and kiss those distracting lips.

There was a great amount of applause when they did, and it sounded so loud that he thought he'd actually gone deaf as they sealed their union. He felt tingles of warmth shooting through him, it felt like it was surrounding them as well.

"I love you," he whispered to her and rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you too."

He opened his eyes to see that she was already looking at him with a grin on her face. Her face that looked like it was being illuminated by more than just the light coming through the windows.

They had an audience, he remembered, and pulled back, keeping their hands joined.

"It's been a while since I've seen that happen," Mr. Tedrick stated.

"What?" Harry asked, not taking his eyes away from his wife's.

"The Bonding. You didn't mention that this was coming about from a generations old agreement."

That got their attention.

"What?" Harry asked again, this time in a much different tone. Because, they hadn't mentioned anything about the Betrothal Contract to him. They'd talked about bringing it up, but both were curious what he might have to say about people their age getting married so young and impulsively, as most all their friends had all thought this was. He hadn't said anything about it though, so they hadn't told him about the contract.

"There is a light that shines around two fulfilling a contract," he told them quietly. "The brightness of it is amplified by the generations of waiting that has occurred before it could be fulfilled, usually it is the souls of their ancestors approving the union. From this brightness, I'd say the two of you found a real partner in each other. Congratulations," he smiled kindly down at them.

"We were glowing?" Ginny asked, her eyes darted out to the seats where several of their guests were looking surprised, most in the front rows were clapping though.

Sirius gave him a nudge from behind.

Right, they were supposed to be leading the procession out down the aisle. He clasped Ginny's hand in his and began heading back up the aisle and then out the front door of the manor because they were supposed to be doing drinks outside and Sirius had the caterers set up a small tent off to the side of the building for just the wedding party so they could grab a drink and some food if they wanted.

When he and Ginny made it through the opening of the tent and into the shade they both let out a breath like they'd just run five miles.

"We did it!" Ginny exclaimed, sounding more dazed than anything else.

"Yeah," he nodded lamely.

"Drink?" Sirius interjected, handing each of them something in a champagne flute.

Harry went to take a sip and then realized it was champagne with a strawberry floating in it. Right, Sirius had decided that was the reception drink. He then followed through and took a small sip before putting it down.

"What happened back there? When we kissed? Did we really start glowing or whatever?" he asked him.

"You didn't start glowing. It was like there was a ball of light around you," Sirius told him.

"It was white and gold, and pretty spectacular," Daniel told him, looking impressed.

"It must have been your magic bonding you, because you are soulmates," Luna grinned at them.

"No, the officiant told us it was because of the contract finally being fulfilled after 150 years," Ginny corrected her.

"Oh yeah," Sirius looked up to the ceiling of the tent in thought. "I've heard that can happen. It usually isn't as bright, but then again, it usually doesn't take so long to have the contract fulfilled."

"Excuse me, but, what contract?" Demelza asked.

"You didn't tell her?" Harry asked his wife in surprise.

"Never seemed like the right time," Ginny blushed.

"You two met and married because of a Betrothal Contract?!" Demelza exclaimed. "Why am I the last to know?"

"I only just found out!" Daniel stated with his hands up and then started helping himself to the small spread on the table.

"I was there when they met," Luna said fondly.

"As was I," Sirius raised a glass to her.

That got Demelza quirking a smile. She just shook her head and started making herself up a plate too. They had only thirty minutes to calm down before the photographer was going to start ordering them about.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked Ginny. "Alright? Any regrets?"

"Well, that kiss wasn't quite long enough," she teased. "Other than that," she shrugged. "I'm just glad that part is over." She took another sip of her drink. "You?"

He was going to tell her how nervous he'd been, how stir crazy, how lost. Instead, he just looked down at her and smiled. "You look so gorgeous," he gushed.

Now, without two hundred eyes on them, he could properly appreciate all that work that had gone in to making her even more beautiful than usual today.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," she grinned. "I've a feeling I'll be wiping it off for hours tonight. There were all sorts of charms put on me to make sure it wouldn't come off before the end of the day."

He just grinned and pulled her closer so his arms were properly wrapped around her waist. "Does that mean I can kiss you all I want and it won't look like I'm the one with all the lipstick?"

"Yes," she grinned and pulled him down for another kiss.

()()()

It was amazing how the day had gone by so slow, and yet so fast. There had been so much to do but each segment of time had been broken down in her mind.

She'd woken up at The Burrow, Luna and Demelza had already been there, Luna with their dresses, Demelza with Ginny's coffee, then they all used the Floo to get over to the Manor where Sirius ushered them up to the 'wedding central' guest room that now had special chairs and vanities on it instead of easels and sample linens, then Lily walked in with food and drinks for them while they were getting primped up by the hair and make-up artists. Her stomach had been in knots but she managed to eat some. Whenever someone asked her a question though, she felt almost too nervous to answer.

Having Lily there had helped keep her centered. She was supposed to be going through all this with her own mother, but Lily was a good substitute.

Before she knew it, she was standing in her wedding gown with her hair and make-up all done, being told that everyone was ready for her to start heading downstairs.

From the moment her father had taken her hand and led her into the room, all she focused on was Harry. She still felt they were too young to be doing this. Though, if she were to have been stuck in this situation with anyone, she was so glad it was him; because she really did feel like they'd fallen in love over the last year.

She felt like they would be able to make this work.

After the ceremony, after the pictures, which took nearly three hours out under the sun, the reception started.

This was what she'd been looking forward to. The food was good, she got to chat with her friends and family at the tables. There were plenty of people that she didn't know that 'had' to get invited from the Ministry, but she didn't care, and it seemed like they didn't care about she and Harry either, they were there for the prestige of the event.

After the music had started and people began either leaving or dancing, that was when the sub-party started in the bar.

She and Harry indicated to Luna, Demelza and Daniel that they needed to round up the fun one's and they all went downstairs, and it got so loud. Fred and George had music playing in the rec room and everyone took a turn playing bartender; it was a fantastic time.

Until she and her husband were called away to be the farewell party.

Around eleven she and Harry started making eyes at each other, just every few minutes. It was a raised eyebrow here, a lingering look there. Translation: how much longer before they would be able to retire for the night?

The basement was still full of people when Ginny decided that enough was enough and claimed they both had another duty to attend to upstairs and took Harry's hand. She didn't stop at the main floor though, they went up to the second floor, and to his room.

"We have another duty to attend to, do we?" he chuckled.

Ginny turned to him in the hallway and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Something tells me you won't mind this one."

"I've the same feeling about it." He rested his forehead against hers for a moment before giving her a kiss.

The kiss grew deep quickly, then urgent and passionate. He moved them backwards towards their room and fumbled with the door. Once through the doorway, he shut it and she felt him reaching for his wand and she started kissing down his neck as he cast a few spells on the door so they wouldn't be interrupted.

She started working at the buttons on his vest and then his shirt while he wove his fingers through her hair and brought her lips back to his.

They'd done this part before, it was familiar to her. They'd been naked together, they'd given each other endless amounts of pleasure, now it was just that last step they were taking and she was both nervous and excited for it.

"I need help," she told him, pulling back and turning around, pulling her hair to one side to show him all the buttons on her dress.

"My God, this is complicated."

Ginny giggled and felt him getting to work on it. She was nearly dancing with anticipation yet trying to remain still enough for him to free her from the beautiful dress.

At last, she felt the catch at the base of the buttons come free and he's loosened the zipper that bound the corset part of the dress to her torso. She reached back to pull the zip all the way down and pulled at the lace sleeves to get the entire dress to fall to the floor before stepping out of it and kicking off her heels.

Harry was looking at her negligee in obvious appreciation. "That is a very pretty piece."

It was; smooth, white silk with a string bow in the back, it was hidden perfectly under the dress.

"You're a fan then, are you?" she grinned and began walking backwards to the bed. "I bet it will look great on the floor. So will your trousers."

It was only his vest and shirt that were opened in the front that showed any signs of him being in the process of joining her in near nudity.

"Put on a show for me, Mister Potter," she asked and sat back on the pillows in the middle of the bed.

She chuckled as he made his attempt to do a strip show for her. It was truly terrible, but wonderful, as his clothes started falling to the floor and he whipped off his belt, then it got stuck on the last belt loop. There was also no way he could manage pulling down his trousers and making it look enticing, he made a valiant attempt though before he started crawling across the mattress to meet her.

"I think your moves could use a little work," she grinned before he kissed her again.

"I'll get right to that," he assured her and started kissing down her jaw, then down her chest before kissing each of her breasts and continuing his way down, not making any attempt to remove her negligee. Instead, he kept moving down her body until he kissed her right between her legs through the fabric and she sucked in a breath.

"Harry," she whimpered.

"I promised I would take care of you," he reminded her as he reached under her skirt and pulled down her knickers. Then he coaxed her legs apart and buried his head between her legs and his tongue got immediately to work.

Ginny's eyes rolled back and she let all the sensations he was causing wash over her.

This was still familiar ground and she wanted to enjoy it, not think about what was going to be coming next. She let out a sound when his finger went inside her to join the party, and another sound came when he added a second finger.

He'd gotten so good at this that it didn't take long before her climax hit her and she was panting. He didn't stop though, he just kept on going. At first, it felt like it was too much, she was too sensitive, but then it wasn't too much, and she wanted more.

She started rocking herself back against his fingers, wondering if she could ask for him to add a third. She panted his name again, completely lost in all the amazing feelings that were stemming from what he was doing to her.

Then he looked up at her, his fingers still going, and she was still rocking against them.

She looked down at him and just knew that this was it, he was asking her for permission.

She nodded and he came up onto his knees, and impressive tent showing through his pants, then he pulled them off and shifted her down the bed so that she was no longer resting back on the pillows.

Her eyes were locked on his erection and she couldn't help rolling her hips at the thought of how it was soon going to be buried inside of her. Then her view of it was obstructed because he'd come to lay down on top of her and their eyes found each other.

He had himself in hand and was slow about it, circling the head around her sex and making these tentative movements forward and back that had her moaning. It felt nicer, smoother, than is fingers had been. She started rocking back against him in time and he was slipping further and further inside her with each pass.

Thus far, intercourse felt really good.

Then he was buried completely inside her, his hips spreading her legs apart completely and it felt really good. He caught her lips and continued his back and forth movements, making these little whimpering noises like he was thoroughly enjoying it, but trying not to.

She met his thrusts and they progressively got faster. Then she started rolling her hips, because every time she did it would make her feel this extra sensation like when he would use his tongue on her. Then she felt another orgasm about to take her over. Her head tilted back and her chest arched upwards as the feeling shot through her and she cried out 'yes'.

It was at her exclamation that Harry started speeding up his movements. He was murmuring something that she couldn't hear over her heart beating in her ears and then there was this spasm through his body that she felt and he clenched his arms around her before his body relaxed.

"I liked that," she told him with a dopey smile on her face.

She felt him smile against her neck where he'd buried his face, then hugged her tight again and rolled them over. He slipped out of her in the process, but neither of them cared. She nestled her hips down between his thighs and rested her head on his chest.

They lay there silently basking in the afterglow for several minutes while he played with the ends of her hair and she wondered if they should simply drift off to sleep now. It had been a full day and, though they paced themselves, there had been quite a bit of alcohol consumed by each of them.

"Totally worth the wait," he murmured.

Ginny smiled and then couldn't fight it anymore and drifted off to sleep.

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