Previously:

With that, Death turned around and simply walked away, his form fading away into insubstantial smoke and shadows with each step.

Harry continued to gaze in the direction Death took, but his eyes caught no abnormality in the room. He turned around towards his desk, where the cloak and ring lay innocently on the desk.

He placed the elder wand next to the rest of the Hallows on the desk, involuntarily shivering at the spark of magic that raced up his fingers.

Never in his life had he felt this out of depth, this clueless about what to do next.

Chapter 4: A Time of Joyous Celebration

(Posted 2014-10-30, Updated - -)

Harry slumped into his armchair next to the unlit fireplace, looking towards his desk where the Hallows still lay.

"Kreacher?"

With a crack, Kreacher appeared with a small bow, gazing up at Harry.

"Yes, Master?"

"Could you get me a cold cup of water? I.. I've had some bad news."

"Yes Master." Kreacher looked worried, as worried as an old elf could look. He cracked his fingers and held out a tray with a cup and a pitcher of water.

As Kreacher poured out the cup, he muttered under his breath, quite loudly at that, obviously hinting at Harry to go rest.

"…Mistress wanted Master Harry to go to bed early, but Master is not going to bed… Kreacher wants Master to rest, but Kreacher can't tell Master what to do…"

By this time Harry had already downed a cup and was pouring another for himself.

Feeling slightly better as he sipped the second cup, Harry thanked Kreacher, reassuring him that he would go to bed soon. Kreacher left with a small bow.

After a few more minutes of silent contemplation on how to destroy the Hallows, Harry got up, placed the Hallows in the hidden vault, then headed for his bedroom. There was nothing he could do now. He would start searching up destructive spells and perhaps research some muggle methods of destroying an object the next day.

As he was washing up in preparation for bed, he found himself looking slightly older.

Death had done something to age him, he supposed.

After tossing and turning for several hours in bed, he drifted off to sleep wondering how in the world he would tell his friends about this.

{(TFM)}

~Several days later~

"Harry!"

"Hello, Ron, Hermione. Tomorrow's the big day! Are you ready?"

Harry had come around to pick up Hermione and Ron to drop them off to their respective pre-wedding parties.

As the three of them walked to the waiting portkey, with a glance around to check no one was nearby, Hermione cautiously commented, "You... look older."

Harry grimaced, reluctant about answering her implied question.

"Er... yeah, about that. I actually met Death -"

"What?" "Met -?"

Harry quickly forged ahead, not really wishing to go into details.

"- and he told me he had been... pulling my leg, so to speak. He was interested in the person who had joined the Hallows together."

Both Hermione and Ron had stopped walking, staring at Harry.

Ron broke the silence with a bewildered look. "By Merlin, Harry, what's going on? Death pulling people's leg?"

"Harry, just tell us! I keep getting the feeling you aren't saying everything there is to say!"

Harry motioned to the portkey area a few meters ahead.

"Later, Hermione. After you come back from your honeymoon. There's no hurry. If you hear the details now, I don't think you two would enjoy your week off as much."

"But - but -"

Harry gave Hermione an exasperated look. "Later, Hermione."

After a brief eye-staring contest, Ron reached out and gently guided Hermione forward towards the portkey, a chipped mug cup.

"Come on, Hermione. He promises to tell us later, right Harry?" Ron gave Harry a glare.

Harry gave him a mock salute with his first two fingers. "Yessir, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley."

Hermione and Ron blushed deeply, both trying to outdo Ron's hair color.

Harry burst into raucous laughter at his two best friends' embarrassment. He held out the mug towards them by its handle.

"Alright, next stop is Hermione's hen's night area where we'll drop her off, then we'll take another portkey to Ron's stag party."

Harry looked at his watch.

"Come on then! Touch the portkey. Alright... in three, two, one."

They were at shell cottage, where Fleur had volunteered her house for Hermione and her bridesmaids. Harry and Ron were quickly chased out by the other girls, and when Hermione gave Ron a worried look, Harry gave her with a bright grin.

"Hermione, enjoy your night. I promise we won't be too tough on Ron."

Slinging an arm around Ron, Harry pulled him towards another portkey ready for them on the yard. When Ron dawdled, trying to see through the windows to get a last glimpse of his fiancé, Harry gave him a playful punch.

"George is going to prank me till the end of time if I make you late for your party. Come on Ron. Ready? In three, two, one."

{(TFM)}

~The Next Day, Shell Cottage~

The wedding was a small event, with only friends and family invited.

Considering that one of the family involved were the Weasley's, it was a paradoxical statement: the number of red-heads alone made the wedding almost as large as Bill's and Fleur's from several years ago.

Harry reached over and fixed Ron's tie that he was struggling with, as his fingers were shaking. "Nervous?"

Ron looked practically green in the face, reminiscent of the times he played Keeper for Gryffindor. "Yeah."

Neville came over half-dressed in his suit. "Blimey, Ron, you're as green as that time in second year, throwing up slugs!"

"Not helping, Neville."

Neville gave a boisterous laugh. "Well, you sure can't leave Hermione at the altar, now, can you? Harry and I'll be forced to hex you."

Ron groaned.

Ever since the end of the war, Neville had become much more confident in himself, cracking jokes with people, when, before, he would have cowered or stuttered his apologies instead.

"Hey Harry, mind handing me that comb next to you?"

Harry wordlessly handed it over.

Ron took a fortifying breath as he tried to give himself a pep talk. "Okay. It's going to be okay. I've been looking forward for this."

"You don't need another 'false' dose of Felix Felicis, do you?"

Ron gave a nervous chuckle. "No, definitely not." He gazed at his reflection quite balefully.

"But... Harry, mate, does Hermione really want to marry me? Me?"

Harry composed himself and sincerely tried to convince his best mate.

"Ron, come on. You two have been at it for how long? Five, six years? I'm not saying it was all happy and everything. But because of the hardships you both faced in your relationship, it's going to be easier than most couples to... click."

Ron considered that, absent-mindedly messing up his hair as he thought. Harry quickly grabbed a brush and brushed it back into place after slapping away his best mate's hand.

"But... Harry, me? Really?" Ron's small voice still sounded insecure.

Harry gave Ron a slightly amused, slightly exasperated sigh as he finished smoothing out his hair. "I bet ten galleons that Hermione is going through exactly the same thing as you are. Want me to go and check?"

Ron just looked back at the mirror at his reflection and grumbled something under his breath.

A middle-aged woman's voice came from the mirror, clearly amused. "Ahh, a groom's insecurities before the wedding. How sweet."

Harry snorted, then patted him on the shoulder. "I'll be right back. Prepare to pay up that ten galleons!"

He left the room with Ron spluttering something about never taking up the bet and Neville's roar of laughter behind him.

{(TFM)}

Harry knocked on the door where the bride and bridesmaids were preparing.

"It's Harry. Ron seems to need some reassurance that Hermione is really, really sure that she wants to marry him." His sarcasm only emphasized the humor in his voice.

The door opened, and Harry couldn't help but freeze slightly as he came face to face with Ginny. She was wearing a light blue dress that went well with the white-colored freesia done up in her hair.

He recovered quickly with a small smile.

"Wow Ginny. You look beautiful."

Ginny had been nibbling her lip in nervousness, but at the compliment, she gave a small smile back.

"Thanks. You look quite handsome as well, Harry."

"Thank you."

There was a bit of an awkward pause between them for a while, but Ginny saved them from an even more awkward situation by pulling Harry into the room and talking about the to-be-wedded couple.

"It doesn't surprise me that Ron is nervous. Hermione is exactly like the day she received her O.W.L.s. Do you remember?"

"Ah. You mean the shaking and grabbing the nearest arm to squeeze it hard enough to stop the blood flow?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and nodded.

Harry came in to find Hermione sitting in front of the vanity mirror, holding Luna's hand tightly. She was in her wedding dress, but her face was pale with nervousness, making her look like she was facing a Hungarian Horntail instead of a simple wedding ceremony.

"H-h-harry!" Her plaintive cry was so shaky that Harry could barely keep his laughter in check.

"Hermione, you look amazing. You're going to knock Ron off his feet."

"Y-you think so?"

"Of course."

"But... but... H-harry, what if... later, he doesn't love me anymore? What if we start hating each other? What if I can't control my bossiness enough that Ron gets annoyed by it and leav- "

"Hermione." Harry kept his voice stern. "You two have been together for a long, long time. You two are not going to fall out of love anytime soon, and I highly doubt you two will hate each other."

He paused, thinking over what he just said, and decided to qualify it a bit. "Well, you are allowed to hate him, but just not any more than you do already."

Hermione had been slowly calming down at Harry's logical rebuttal until Harry's last statement. "I do not hate him!" Her protectiveness over Ron was truly very sweet to see.

Harry pretended not to hear her. "I suppose your 'hate' for him is more of a hate-my-annoying-brother kind of hate, so instead of it being a problem, I'll bet it's going to make married life pretty interesting for you two."

Hermione stopped her fiddling with the sleeve of her dress and slowly let go of Luna's hand. She stood up and turned to Harry. She reached out for a hug, a request to which Harry quickly obliged.

"Harry, I'm really, really nervous. I don't know if I can do this! Married life... everyone I've asked said similar things about how it wasn't what they expected and how it was harder than it looks. Even unmarried people I've asked - " Hermione was starting to go into panic as she thought more about the ways a marriages could go wrong, when Harry shushed her, interrupting her.

"Hermione, your research into the subject is only increasing your nervousness. Breathe. Deep breaths. ...That's right, deep breaths." Harry slowly rubbed his nervous best friend's back, breathing with her until she calmed down.

Hermione had buried her face in his shoulders, so her next question came as a small mumble only they could hear.

"... Harry, what does he see in me? Why me? I like going by the rules, I tell everyone the correct way to do things, and I -"

"Shh. It's because you are a beautiful, incredibly intelligent woman who is gentle and sweet to all she loves. A woman who is a muggle-born yet has so much knowledge about the Wizarding world that she knows better than half the Wizarding population put together."

"Oh, Harry. Really?"

"Yup, I don't lie about these things, Hermione." Harry pulled her slightly away from himself to check her face.

"Now, are you calm enough to continue with the preparations? I hope you are going to say yes, because although you're my best friend, that's my best mate you're leaving at the altar. I now know how you made those canaries back in sixth year, you know... "

"Harry!" Hermione playfully slapped Harry on his shoulder.

Luna, who had been quietly watching the entire exchange between the two, spoke up quietly from her seat next to the vanity mirror.

"Wow, Harry, you got rid of all the Wrackspurts clustered around Hermione just now."

Harry turned to Luna and gave her a smile. She was wearing a matching light blue dress as Ginny was, and her hair was done up similarly as well, only with lavender-colored freesia instead of a simple white.

"Luna, hi. You look very beautiful."

"You are looking quite handsome as well. I think the Nargles are going to cluster around you after the wedding ceremony."

"... Ah, yeah." Harry had taken a while to understand that Luna's 'Nargles' were just another word for the generally annoying people one met in their lives.

"Well, it's expected." He said with a sigh of annoyance.

"Anyway, I should get back to Ron before he becomes even more nervous and comes up with the ridiculous notion that I abandoned him." Harry turned back to Hermione.

"Ready?"

"No."

"Well, as you know from experience, there's only so much preparation you can do before you need to take the leap of faith." Harry gave her a small smile. "I'm sure the Gryffindor in you is roaring at you to just go already."

"...Yes."

Chuckling, Harry waved as he headed out. "Well, ladies, I'll leave you to make Hermione the prettiest you can, enough to make even Fleur's veela cousins green with envy. See you all later. I expect Ron to be incapable of speaking for the first few seconds after seeing her."

The giggles from the room behind him let him know that he had succeeded in breaking some, if not all, of Hermione's nervousness.

{(TFM)}

The wedding ceremony was not that much different from other weddings, but Harry experienced the novelty of seeing it from the opposite side of the audience. Ron and Hermione wished for an outside wedding as well, and asked Bill and Fleur for the use of their cottage, as it had the nicest view.

He saw Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger crying their eyes out as soon as Hermione stepped through the arch onto the aisle, Mr. Granger having suspiciously shiny eyes as he walked his daughter down the aisle.

Harry watched Victoire gracefully tossing flowers before Hermione, Teddy almost tripping on a non-existent snag on the even floor and almost lose the rings, and Aberforth, who was fortunately next to him in the seats, save them and, with a wink to Teddy, place the rings back on the cushion.

He saw his best mate be dazzled by the appearance of his future wife; he watched his best friend slowly gain confidence as she gazed into her future husband's eyes.

He paid an absent sort of attention on the ceremony, watching more of how his two friends: best mate and best friend. They were so... right for one another.

They were sneaking glances at each other, and when their gazes met, they blushed and looked away; their attention was not so much on the ceremony, but on each other.

They swore their vows.

They exchanged rings.

They kissed.

They kept a hand on each other's waists, or at least their eyes on each other as they went through the rest of the traditional ceremonies; cutting the cake, a muggle-style dancing routine to a muggle song performed by Ron and Harry with his brothers (Ron had gotten the idea from a muggle wedding and convinced the rest of them), and finally, leading the dance floor for the traditional wizard dancing that accompanied big and happy events.

Harry couldn't keep from smiling as he watched the entire thing unfold right by their side. He had the privilege of seeing their happiness up close.

And what a beautiful thing it was to watch. Their happiness was almost tangible. All their initial nervousness and fear for the future were laid aside as they basked in the feeling of being together, finally.

But his smile also had a bit of a wistful tinge.

He was planning to leave for a while. There were plans for him to travel, leaving letters via Gringotts that said he would come back in several years.

He didn't want to break their lives again, leading a wandering life, most likely almost exactly like that horrid year-long search for the Horcruxes. Only this time, it would be even worse, as even Death did not have a clue to destroying the Hallows.

But even knowing this, they would still immediately drop their jobs, their lives, everything. For him.

They would search with him for the something that would destroy the Hallows, allowing him rest, to go Onwards and meet his parents, mentors, and friends.

His friends' loyalty was admirable. But this was his own problem. He didn't want to ruin the lives of his friends. Not when they were this happy.

He was going to leave during their honeymoon, so they would not need to hear of his conversation with Death or what his task was. Not until several years have passed and they realized that there was nothing they could do to help.

As he watched a glowing Hermione giggle at something Ron whispered in her ear on the dance floor, Harry could not help feeling a stab of sorrow at being unable to watch the couple as they came together to share life's burdens.

He silently raised a glass to them, toasting them to a life of happiness.

A/N - Okay, so, not as long as I would like it to be, but overall, a good place to stop.

Have you people ever been to a wedding? Isn't it wonderful to watch the bride and groom melt in happiness, doing sappy (and maybe corny) romantic stuff and not caring about its sappiness? :)

Lots and lots of cyber-love to Viewers/Reviewers!