A/N: The next chapter is the last one, I hope you've enjoyed this story... I own nothing of the HP series...
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Planning and Paparazzi.
About two weeks later Ginny woke up in the middle of the night and sat bolt upright Harry woke up beside her.
'Whatsa matter?' Harry said groggily.
'We haven't even thought about rings Harry. The wedding is in two and a half months and we don't have rings,' Ginny said.
''S ok Gin we'll go have a look tomorrow when were looking at clothes, don't panic, Go back to sleep its' Harry squinted at his watch 'half past one' he said and turned back over.
'Harry… HARRY!' Ginny said.
'Didn't I say it'd be fine and to go back to sleep' he replied turning over again.
'Harry!' Ginny said again.
'What?' He asked sitting up frustrated. He grabbed his glasses off the bedside table and pushed them on.
It was daylight; Ginny was fully dressed, standing beside her side of the bed with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot with an amused look on her face. 'It's ten thirty Harry, we're leaving in an hour. GET UP!' She said.
'What if I don't want to?' Harry joked.
'You'll do what you're told' Ginny retorted.
'Yeah' Harry said climbing over to Ginny's side of the bed and pulling her down to tickle her, she shrieked.
'You'll ruin my hair,' she said through tears of laughter.
'You can do it again' Harry replied tickling her again. He allowed her to over power him and she sat on him smiling down at his messy hair and shining eyes.
'Come on, I win. Get your butt out of bed you lazy, lazy man,' She said hitting him with a pillow.
'Fine then, gee you already sound like my wife' Harry said grinning widely.
Ginny got off her fiancé and he got up and gathered his things together to take a shower. Harry stood under the water for half an hour before he heard Ginny's voice.
'COME ON HARRY GET A MOVE ON. WE'VE GOT THINGS TO DO TODAY!' she said. Harry detected a hint of annoyance but a lot of enjoyment in her voice so he got out, she was impatient today, but then, he thought, he was too.
They got to Diagon Alley at about a quarter to twelve Ron, Hermione, Isabella, Mr and Mrs Weasley were all with them. They decided to eat first as they figured they'd need a full stomach for the task at hand.
After lunch they stepped in to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, the men went one way and the women the other.
After Harry had tried on about ten different suit styles he said to Ron 'How on earth did you decide on a suit?'
Ron shrugged 'Hermione just told me the colours and I went with that, I dunno really, what are your colours' He said.
'Umm… I can't remember' Harry and Ginny had decided on colours just last week after going over millions of combinations 'GIN!' He yelled.
'What Harry!' She yelled back from somewhere else in the store.
'What are our colours again?' He yelled back.
'Honestly' she said 'they're purple and black Harry!' she added.
'Thank you sweetheart!' he yelled back then lowered his voice 'there you go, we need something purple and black,' he said to Ron and Mr Weasley.
Harry tried on at least fifteen more suits before he found the one he wanted, black jackets, pants, shoes and ties with purple shirts and pocket-handkerchiefs. He asked Ron to go and ask Ginny about the shirt colour because he wasn't sure it was exactly the shade they'd decided on and he didn't want to catch her trying on wedding dresses. When Ron came back he said that Ginny had picked out exactly the same shade for Hermione's dress and that it was perfect. When the clothes were all sorted (Mrs Weasley's mother of the bride outfit included) and they'd been measured properly Madam Malkin said that they all needed to come back two days before the wedding day for final fittings, to pay and to pick everything up, she said it was absolutely essential that Isabella be re-measured because she would grow a lot in the next few months, they agreed and left.
Harry and Ginny went in to the jewellery shop to look for rings while the others went to visit the twins. Ginny's eyes immediately fell on to two rings, silver with matching knot designs a female and a male set. The band of the female ring was half a centimetre thick with three small clear stones worked in to the design while the male band was about one centimetre thick with no stones in it.
'They're gorgeous Harry, do you like them?' Ginny said.
Before Harry answered the store manager came over 'Looking for wedding rings are you?' He asked.
'Yes' Ginny replied.
'When's the big day?' the man asked.
'May thirty-first' Harry answered, 'we'd like to see those rings please' he said indicating the rings Ginny had pointed out.
The manager took the rings out of the glass case they were displayed in 'the rings are pure silver, the stones in the ladies ring are diamonds, the design is simple but beautiful would you like to see how they look on?' he said.
'Ginny and Harry tried them, Ginny's was to big and Harry's was a tad small but they'd both fallen in love with them.
'What do you think Harry?' Ginny asked.
'I love them but are you sure you don't want to keep looking around? We haven't looked at any other's yet' Harry replied.
Ginny nodded 'positive, I want this one, it matches my engagement ring see' she held up her hand, both rings sparkled on her finger.
'They look great, is it possible to get them resized?' Harry asked.
'Of course, if I could just take your name I will let you know when they're done' The manager said taking out a piece of parchment 'name?' he asked.
'Potter, Harry…' Harry replied.
The man looked up from his piece of parchment and gapped at the young man standing in front of him 'really?' he said 'the Harry Potter?'
Harry nodded, turning red.
'Congratulations Mr Potter' the manager said seizing Harry's hand and shaking it vigorously.
'Thank you but can we please get on with this,' Harry said. He had a strange feeling about this man.
'Very well then what is the brides name?' The assistant said.
'Ginny Weasley' Ginny replied.
'You're Arthur Weasley's girl aren't you?' He asked 'I read about him in the paper a few months back, works for the Ministry' he said.
'Yes I am' Ginny replied.
'Very lucky young lady to bag yourself Harry Potter, how long you two been together?' he asked.
'Yeah I guess I am pretty lucky, we've been together a year and a half,' Ginny said.
'I think I'm pretty lucky too,' Harry said smiling at Ginny.
'So when do you want these by? You said that your wedding is on the thirty-first of May so is the twenty-ninth ok with you?' The manager said.
'Yes, we'll be here for our final fittings so we can drop in and pick them up' Ginny replied.
'Very well then, I have to ask for a ten percent deposit today though,' The man said.
'We'll pay in full if you don't mind' Harry said.
'Ok then…'
So Harry paid and he and Ginny went to meet the others in the Leaky Cauldron.
The next day must have been a slow news day because the front page of the Daily Prophet had two photo's, an old one of Harry that had been taken after he defeated Voldemort and one of Ginny, also taken at that time, the headline read.
HARRY POTTER TO WED IN MAY!
The short piece said:
The saviour of the wizarding world, Mr Harry James Potter is to be married on the thirty-first of May. The lucky lady is Ginny Weasley, daughter of prominent Ministry of Magic employee Arthur Weasley in what is sure to be a spectacular ceremony. The manager of the Diagon Alley Jewellery Shop where the couple recently purchased their wedding bands stated that 'the couple, who have been together for one and a half years, looked very happy together' Both Mr Potter and Miss Weasley said that they thought themselves lucky to have found one-another. We wish the young couple all the best in their future.
'Oh no' Harry and Ginny said together when they saw the paper.
'I'm glad we didn't tell that man where it's going to be' Harry said.
'Yeah, I thought it was a bit suss when he asked for my name too' Ginny replied.
'What's the problem?' Ron asked he'd seen the paper too.
'That's the problem,' Harry said grabbing Ginny and hiding under the kitchen table from a man who was holding a camera at the window.
'They're going to be on us every five minuets now' Harry said from under the table 'I won't be able to go to work tomorrow, they'll want to publicise this as much as possible… I hope they don't find the location of the ceremony and gate crash,' he added.
'Don't worry it'll be fine' Ginny replied.
They ran up to their bedroom on the third floor where the photographer couldn't get them but drew the curtains anyway, they sat on the bed together.
'What are we going to do?' Harry asked.
'I honestly don't know, I guess it's back to keeping a low profile' Ginny replied.
'We could pretend to break it off,' Harry said.
'They'd want to publicise that even more than this, we should just lay low for now,' Ginny answered.
'What if we release a statement and promise to send photo's and give them an interview after the wedding?' Harry suggested.
Ginny thought for a minute 'that might work, we'll give it a go' she answered.
So they released their statement and promised photo's, after that they were left alone mostly but one photographer would not leave them alone so they made a complaint and he was suspended indefinitely without pay.
When she was ten-months-old Isabella took her first steps, everyone ran in to the living room when Hermione shouted out 'IZZY'S WALKING!' the little girl got a lot of hugs and kisses that day.
By her first birthday Isabella was walking confidently and even running, she had a big chocolate cake to share with the whole family and got spoiled rotten, she was such a lucky girl, so many people thought she was just the bees-knees.
On the twenty-ninth of May everyone went in to Diagon Alley to have their final fittings done. Isabella's dress was the only thing that needed alteration; everyone else's clothes were a perfect fit. Harry and Ginny were glad that when they picked up their rings the manager that sold them out wasn't there.