As everyone found their seats, a rather dramatic presentation of "Here Comes the Bride" began to play.
Harry looked backwards as the procession arranged themselves around the flowered arch to the music. Bill and Fleur had hired a band from Egypt called The Cleopatras. Apparently, they had danced to a song played by this band on their first date. Though a mildly gag-inducing story, Harry reluctantly admitted the all-girl band looked and sounded very cool.
Ginny had come down the aisle, accompanied by Charlie.
Bill had included all four of his brothers as his
groomsmen (Percy had been invited, but had neither
shown up or even RSVP'd.) Gabrielle was accompanied by
Ron, and Fred and George had been paired with Fleur's
other bridesmaids- one girl as shockingly beautiful as
her named Harmon, and a rather plain-looking girl by
comparison, apparently Bill and Fleur's mutual friend,
a bank teller named Gwen.
Now Fleur herself, accompanied by her tall,
dark-haired father, came down the aisle. She looked as
if she was actually glowing- whether that was some
latent veela power or just plain happiness, Harry had
no idea.
When she reached Bill at the end of the aisle and was
given away by her father, Harry could see that Mrs.
Weasley was already starting to tear up on the front
row.
She wasn't the only one. Fleur could barely choke her way through her vows, holding Bill's hand tightly the entire time.
Fleur had written her own vows, and even though they
were heart-tugging in their sincerity, Fleur's talents
clearly did not lie in the written word. Harry noticed
that when Fleur called Bill "her knight in ze shining
armor", Ginny suddenly had a massive coughing fit,
her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
Even Bill, who Harry thought might still be a little
influenced by the daily fistful of magical painkillers
he'd been subscribed, got very emotional. Mr. Weasley
did a very nice job proceeding over the whole thing.
Harry found magical ceremonies to be much like what he
knew of Muggle weddings, until Mr. Weasley asked them
to join hands and kneel down.
"What are they doing?" Harry whispered to Hermione.
"Unbreakable Vow. Common in magical wedding ceremonies. You're basically saying 'til' death do us part', but actually meaning it, unlike in most Muggle ceremonies."
"So if you split up..."
"You die." Hermione shrugged.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Our lot really doesn't do things halfway."
"It doesn't HAVE to be a part of the ceremony...but I think it's beautiful. The bonds of marriage really mean something. I love that." Hermione smiled.
When the Vow was taken, Arthur pronounced them husband and wife.
"You may kiss the bride!" He said, looking relieved to have gotten through the whole thing.
Bill helped Fleur to her feet, and she nearly knocked him off his feet with a kiss.
Everyone clapped and cheered (or in Fred and George's case, cat-called) as the new couple walked back down the aisle, hand in hand.
The tables surrounding the dance floor were suddenly magically laden down with food. Everyone sat down at their seats assigned with little gold name tags .
As The Cleopatra's burst into a beautiful,
piano-driven rendition of their very popular song
"Love Like This", Fleur and Bill danced their first
dance as husband and wife.
The dance floor had been set up farther down the lawn,
and was bathed in romantic semi-darkness with pink and
gold fairy lights around it. Everyone watched the
couple dance together, both so ecstatically happy, and
something about the moment was so blissfully peaceful
that Harry felt a happy drowsiness settle over him, as
he sat there between Ron and Ginny. The outside
troubles he knew he was so close to facing suddenly
seemed very distant.
He was surrounded by everyone he loved, in the place he felt the safest. He looked around the table, and saw Ginny watching her brother and sister-in-law dance, the lights from the dance floor reflecting in her eyes.
She was so gorgeous. Way too pretty for me, Harry
thought to himself. Without really thinking, he put
his hand over hers. She looked over at him, surprised.
With a small smile, she laced her fingers through his
and looked back at the dance floor.
Hermione looked over at Ron, who was happily stuffing his face.
"Ron?"
He looked up at her, cheeks full of food.
"Oh, THAT'S attractive." She laughed.
He took an enormous swallow, looking slightly indignant.
"It's good. If we don't eat it, it's rude."
"So the faster you eat it, the better manners you have?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
Ron nodded earnestly.
Fred and George came up to their table, holding two shots of Firewhiskey. Ron and Hermione gave them blank looks.
"You two are of age now--we thought we should usher you in with your first legal drinks."
Harry and Ginny looked over at this.
"No, no- Harry, you're the baby. No alcohol for little Harry yet. And Gin- if you think we'd let our darling little sister get wasted, you're sadly mistaken."
"Thanks." Ron said, taking it.
Hermione looked like she was about to say something,
then stopped, taking hers as well.
"That's the spirit, Hermione!" George clapped her on the back "And nice dress, by the way."
Hermione smiled, until she looked down to see that her dress had stubbornly gotten lower and lower as the night had gone on.
She sighed, tugging it back up again.
"Thanks." She said sarcastically, drinking the shot in one sip.
Ron looked at her in awe for a second, then drank his as well.
"Well, there you go--kiddies no longer. Now we better take off before mum figures out that we brought you these." Fred said
They walked off, and the four friends fell into an awkward silence. Everyone seemed to be finishing dinner and making their way towards the dance floor.
"I'm thirsty." Ginny suddenly announced, standing up.
"I'll get you a drink." Harry offered.
"No, Prince Charming, I can do it myself." Ginny said,
sounding vaguely irritated.
She walked off towards the kitchen.
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry.
"What's her problem?" Ron looked at Harry, his tone accusing.
"I dunno." Harry shrugged.
"Harry, am I going to have to give the
"If-you-ever-hurt-my-little-sister-I'll-kill-you"
speech? Because I've actually been perfecting it ever
since you started dating her, and it's pretty good."
"Well...actually, we kind of broke up." Harry said,
awkwardly messing with his napkin.
"Could've fooled me." Hermione said, obviously surprised Ginny had not shared this information with her.
"What'd you break up for?" Ron just looked confused.
"Well...it's not like I wanted to or anything--but I mean, with what we're going to do this year...it's just not the best time for me and her. Maybe when I get back-"
"Harry, this isn't really the time for "maybes" or
"what ifs"! Anyone of us could be dead tomorrow"
Hermione said, sounding exasperated.
"Yeah, Hermione, this is a great time to bring that up." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Well, it's true!"
"What about you two?" Harry shot back, obviously trying to change the subject.
"What about us?" Ron said, looking up.
"Well...you two took six years to even admit you liked
each other, and you're saying I'm being a coward"
"That's none of your business!" Hermione said, her
voice raising slightly.
"Of course it's my business! I'm the one who has to put up with your stupid fights, and I'm the one you both come crying to when you're pissed off-- you two are the ones who are being cowards! I'm doing this to protect Ginny! What are YOU so afraid of?" Harry threw down his napkin, storming off.
Ron and Hermione sat there in shock, staring after him. A few of the other guests were looking over at their table curiously. Fleur looked angry they were stealing her thunder. Ron raised his glass with a slightly sarcastic smile at them, and most people looked away.
"Great. Angry Harry rears its ugly head again." Ron sighed, putting his glass back down.
Hermione didn't say anything.
Ron looked at her, and saw that she was visibly upset.
"Come on, Hermione. He's just stressed out about everything." Ron said, unsure whether it would be okay if he took her hand.
He patted her shoulder instead.
She looked at him.
"You don't think he's just a little bit right?"
"About what?"
She made an exasperated sound, rolling her eyes.
"About what, Ron? About US! Honestly, you are so impossible sometimes!"
"Well, what does he want us to do? Snog each other madly everytime we pass in the hallway?"
"No! You always make everything some big joke"
Hermione said, looking away from him.
"Hermione, come on. What is it with everyone tonight?
This might be the last time we're all together, and
everyone's fighting."
"Fine, Ron. Just avoid the issue." Hermione said quietly.
"I don't want to avoid anything, I just want to have a good time! Do you want to...do you want to dance or something?" Ron said, in a last-ditch effort to stop this fight before it really started.
Hermione looked back at him, as if considering him for a moment.
"Yes, actually, I do want to." She finally said.
"And you said you can't dance." Tonks shook her head,
one arm around Remus' neck, the other in his hand.
"Well, this isn't so bad." He relented.
"What kind of dancing were you expecting? The Electric Slide?"
"And who said I can't do that?"
"You are a man of many talents." She laughed.
They danced in silence for a moment, and Tonks leaned forward, her head on his shoulder.
"So you're really leaving tomorrow?" She asked, trying not to sound too forlorn.
"I think I have to. Or it will just seem too suspicious. I've been gone for too long already."
"Right. And it's nearly the full moon." Tonks said.
"You've been keeping track?" Lupin asked in her ear.
"Of course. It's almost time for you to sequester yourself, right?" She laughed.
Tonks had coined that term when Lupin had told her
that he usually shut himself off from all contact,
especially female, right before the full moon. Every
since he had hit puberty, the transformation had
affected him in very strange ways. His hormones had
always gone absolutely berzerk before the full moon.
Sirius had found this very amusing, especially when
Lupin turned into a total stuttering idiot if any
pretty girl crossed his path the day before the
transformation.
Lupin had never found it quite as amusing.
"Right. But I mean...since I'm leaving tomorrow..." He started to say.
"And the day after tomorrow is the full moon..." She continued for him.
"I guess there's no harm in you coming to my apartment tonight." He finally finished, smiling at how awkward he was at all of this.
"I haven't been to your place in ages."
"Well, seeing as that's where this whole crazy thing got started..." Lupin shook his head, and they both smiled at the memory.
"I'd love to. Pre-wolf craziness or not"
Harry went into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.
Ginny looked up at him from her perch on the counter with a start.
"Something bothering you?" She asked sardonically.
"Ron. Hermione. They're both just...so..."
"Infuriating?" Ginny finished for him, taking a sip of a clear liquid that Harry didn't think looked like water.
She saw him looking.
"You going to go tell my mum?" She giggled.
"I don't care." Harry shrugged.
She held out the glass to him.
"No, thanks." Harry said, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter next to her.
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, bugger it. Fine." Harry drank some of it as well.
Ginny laughed.
Harry closed his eyes, wincing slightly.
"So what's wrong?" He asked, his eyes still closed.
"In general with the world?" She grinned.
"No. Just with Ginny." He looked at her.
"I just...I hate this. I so did not want to be one of
those couples who are always having some huge problem.
And now we're being one of those annoying couples in
relationship limbo. Are we dating? Are we not? Can we
still be a couple until you leave? It all just gives
me a headache."
"It's not that I wanted to break up-" Harry started to say.
"Harry, I KNOW. I get it. You're doing the noble hero thing."
"Don't say it like it doesn't mean anything. You know I have to do this."
"Yes, I do know. It's just..." Ginny looked down at her feet, her throat catching slightly.
"It's just what?"
"I've waited practically my whole life for you. And now you're leaving." Ginny said, swallowing hard.
"Gin-"
"How pathetic does that sound?" Ginny got off the counter.
"It doesn't sound pathetic." Harry said to her back as she crossed her arms away from him.
Sh finally turned around, and Harry was shocked to see that her eyes were slightly glassy.
"Yes, it does. Despite all my best efforts, you make
me so pathetic. Yes, I know everyone thinks I'm the
funny girl who doesn't care what people think about
her--but I've always cared about what you think. And
that's the whole problem- you make me act like a total
idiot, and you're the only person I care about
thinking I'm an idiot..." Ginny laughed humorlessly,
"And now I'm not even making sense."
She turned around for the door.
"Ginny, just wait for two seconds!" Harry said, going after her and grabbing her arm.
"What? Harry, there's nothing else to say!" She asked,
turning around.
They looked at each other, inches apart.
Harry's hand tensed on her arm as she leaned towards him slightly.
"This is just going to make it harder to go." Harry said breathlessly.
Ginny's face hardened.
"Well, God forbid I get added to your list of your problems." She said, pushing away from him.and walking out the door.
The wedding's festivities went on until past midnight.
People started trickling off to disapparate. Charlie
and the bridesmaid Harmon had disappeared some time
ago. Harry looked around the backyard, his face set
into a very surly expression.
Ron and Hermione had apparently made up-- he didn't see them anywhere. Ginny had staunchly been avoiding him, sitting at Fred and George's table and laughing loudly at all of their jokes.
"All right there, Harry?"
Harry looked up to see Lupin join him at his table.
"Not really." Harry said, relieved to be talking to someone who wasn't a teenager for ten seconds.
"Professor Lupin?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Do you ever just feel...older than everyone else around you?"
Lupin smiled.
"Practically my whole life."
"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Harry asked him.
"I have to."
"Have to. Responsibility. Messes up everything,
doesn't it?"
Lupin smiled wearily.
"Yes, it seems to."
Tonks walked over to the table.
"Why the long faces, boys?" She asked, sitting between them.
"The real world keeps ruining everyone's night." Lupin told her.
"Something wrong, Harry?" She looked concerned.
Harry shook his head as if to say "don't-even-get-me-started."
"Remus...we should probably Apparate off. You have to leave early tomorrow." Tonks said, sensing Harry needed time alone to brood.
"Bye, Professor Lupin. Keep yourself in one piece"
Harry said, shaking his hand.
"Same to you, Harry." Lupin put a hand on his shoulder as Tonks gave him a small wave good-bye.
Harry watched them walk off hand-in-hand.
Lupin woke up in a darkened room. He looked up at the ceiling, which was made entirely of glass. A full moon was slowly revealing itself behind a mass of clouds.
Where the hell was he?
He got to his feet, feeling his heart start to pound faster as the transformation began.
Suddenly, a light flicked on behind one of the walls,
revealing it to to be made of glass. Severus was
standing behind the wall, looking highly pleased with
himself.
"Well, well. You finally wake up. And just in time"
Snape looked up at the moon above them.
"What's going on?" Lupin demanded, his heart still beating quicker as his muscles started to ache and stretch.
"Just something I found highly amusing. Look, my dear Professor Lupin, you have a friend in there with you."
Lupin looked around the room, terrified. Tonks was sprawled out in the far darkened corner.
"What's wrong with her?" Lupin raced to her side,
trying to ignore the effects of the transformation
beginning.
"She's only asleep, Remus. She'll wake up just in time to see your face before you kill her."
As if on cue, Tonks rolled over drowsily, pushing her long dark hair out of her face as she opened her eyes.
"Remus...what's going on?" She asked drowsily,
reaching out to him.
He backed away from her.
"Snape...don't do this." Lupin said, his voice weak as he broke out in a cold sweat.
"I found it all very poetic. She claims to love you
for who you really are, I'm assuming? Well, now she
can see who...or I suppose, what you really are"
Snape crossed his arms, as if preparing to watch an
entertaining show.
Tonks sat up, finally understanding what was going on.
Remus tried to find his voice, a million furious words ready to pour out of him, but he couldn't. He couldn't speak, he could barely think...
"Remus...this isn't your fault. Whatever happens, this isn't your fault." Tonks stood up.
"How touching." Snape said sarcastically.
She ignored him, walking towards Remus. He was staring at the moon rabidly, practically panting as the transformation took complete control.
"I love you."
He faintly heard her words echoing through the room before he couldn't even form coherent thoughts anymore.
The werewolf howled, a chilling, predatory sound, and looked at the woman standing before him. Prey. His prey.
As he ripped her to pieces, she didn't scream or cry out. Not once. The only sound was a low, horrible laugh from behind the glass.
Lupin eyes snapped open, suddenly and completely awake. It wasn't real. It hadn't happened. It was only a dream.
He looked at Tonks sleeping peacefully next to him.
What was she playing at? He could kill her and not
even know he had done it. Why had they ever told
anyone about their relationship?
Why had they ever even tried any of this?
She sighed peacefully, rolling over, her arm splayed
across his chest. He watched her sleep for a moment,
overcome with how much he didn't deserve her.
He got out of bed, careful not to wake her. Lupin looked out the window at the sunrise. One more day until he became a monster.
He knew he should go before she woke up. They had said their goodbyes. And suddenly, he wanted to be as far away from anyone he loved as possible.
The nightmares were nothing new. He'd had them his whole life, but more frequently since the night when he had opened the door to find Tonks standing there in the rain, soaking wet, and saying simply, "I thought you could use a friend."
No, he didn't deserve someone like her. But he was still grateful for her...she had come at a time in his life when he had almost run out of reasons for waking up every morning.
Now he had a reason.
And now he had to leave her.
A/N- Please review! I know this was an angsty chapter,
but hey, these guys live angsty lives. I had to admit
that it couldn't be a fluff-for-all the entire time. I
hope you still enjoyed--please let me know.