Chapter 3 : Weasley's Wizarding Wedding
An ear-splitting shriek echoed across the lawn. As Harry watched in shock, the Dementor vanished, being replaced by a cloud of shimmering silver mist, which slowly turned to a fine dust as it fell harmlessly to the ground, revealing a bright silver tiger. Behind the tiger stood Ginny, shaking from head to wand arm, having cast her first corporeal Patronus.
Harry had never seen a Dementor destroyed by a Patronus before. Neither, it seemed, had the other Dementors, for they fled from the path of Ginny's tiger. The foul creatures also seemed more wary of Prongs, Hermione's otter and Tonks' wolf. Once Charlie, Arthur and Remus emerged from the house casting their respective Patronuses, the battle was won. The Dementors panicked, gliding quickly away from the Burrow, like a herd of stampeding cattle.
Harry found himself shaking with relief as he watched the last of the vile creatures make its way over the nearby wood, starting nervously as they disturbed some nesting birds. Once they were out of sight the sky lightened and Harry turned towards Ginny once more, this time intent on comforting her. She was still standing there shivering, both from the effect of the Dementors and from shock. Their eyes met briefly as Harry made his way across the lawn, but her shocked look soon turned into an angry glare as he got closer. Quickly she turned and ran inside the house, leaving Harry standing there confused. Life wasn't fair. He'd broken up with Ginny to protect her, and now she clearly hated him so much she couldn't bear to even see him.
Fortunately nobody had been seriously injured and with true Weasley grit, Bill and Fleur's wedding had gone ahead as planned. Remus had even remembered Harry's dress robes, which were shorter than he remembered them being. As he sat with Hermione on the groom's side, fidgeting and discreetly trying to lengthen the sleeves of his robes, Harry was thankful that he was not sitting on the other side of the aisle. Even from this range he could feel the charms of dozens of Veela women seated opposite, although their pull on him did not appear to be as strong as at the Quidditch World Cup.
No wonder their Veela husbands looked so haggard, he idly thought as he looked around his surroundings. This was the first time Harry had ever been to a wedding. The Dursley's having left him with Mrs Figg on the one occasion darling Dudders had been a page-boy; it had not been something Harry had been sorry to miss, although the teasing value had been quite high.
Today, Ron and Charlie were acting as Ushers, guiding guests to their seats, a task that Ron appeared to be finding difficult. He had shown an attractive blonde Veela girl to her seat, and had now taken up residence next to her in the pew. Harry cast a worried glance at Hermione, who fortunately was still looking forwards and had not noticed. As he looked back, he saw Charlie drag Ron back to his post. Further forward, Fred and George stood alongside Bill, jointly fulfilling the role of best man. A decision that Harry was certain Bill was going to live to regret.
Harry saw that Ginny was sitting next to her parents in the front row. He was somewhat surprised by this, as he knew that Bill had insisted his beloved sister be a bridesmaid. Mrs Weasley was sitting with a half-empty box of tissues on her lap. One hand would periodically dab her nose with a tissue, while the other maintained a vice-like grip on her daughter's arm. Harry's eyes lingered on Ginny's long glistening ginger locks which lay naturally flat on her back. He remembered the soft, silky feel of her hair as it flowed through his hands, and all thoughts of Veela left his mind. As he stared helplessly at the back of his former girlfriend's head, Ginny turned, and he caught a glimpse of the beautiful face that he had stupidly told he didn't love. He could tell she was struggling almost as much as her mother to maintain a brave face for the wedding, when for a fleeting second she caught Harry's eye. Quickly she turned away, but not before Harry saw fresh tears start to well up. As Ginny reached for one of her mother's tissues, Harry was distracted by Fleur's entrance.
She glided down the aisle wearing a white dress made from intricate flower-patterned lace, overlaying expensive shot-silk. On her soft gold hair rested Mrs Weasley's, Great Aunt's, Goblin-made tiara. Harry couldn't help but notice that the dress accentuated Fleur's curves, something he was not alone in noticing as all chattering ceased abruptly. In unison, every head turned and stared as she made her way proudly to the front, accompanied by her younger and equally resplendent sister, Gabrielle. There was quite a contrast as the beautiful French Fleur took the battle-scarred Bill's hand. Harry took time to glance at Ron, whose eyes betrayed a twinge of jealousy, and he smiled to himself as he imagined what his best friend was most likely thinking now.
A loud trumpeting, as Mrs Weasley blew her nose violently, brought Harry's attention back to the service, a service which seemed to last forever. The bride and groom exchanged long and sickly sweet vows, which were followed by a series of monotonous prayers, interspersed by tuneless hymns. Harry secretly thought that the bouts of singing were designed to keep the congregation awake. Something, which judging on the couple of indignant prods he had received from Hermione he was having trouble doing.
While rubbing his ribs after a particularly painful prod, he noticed that Fred and George were now hunting desperately through their pockets for the wedding rings, producing all manner of inappropriate objects as they searched. Harry caught a glance of Mrs Weasleys thunderous expression, as Fred innocently asked Fleur if she'd lost the item George was now holding. George also appeared to have spotted his mother's glare, as the next things he produced were the wedding rings; rings which they had hexed to make the wearers reveal their inner-most thoughts.
As soon as Bill placed the ring on Fleur's hand she said out loud, "What eez it with zose flaming bruzzers of yours? Zey are sooo stupid and emm-mature. When will zey grow up? How dare zey steal my …" before she clapped her hand over her mouth in shock.
When Fleur placed Bill's ring on his hand he said, "I can't wait for this ruddy service to end and get my darling wife back on my own. I can't believe mother made us sleep in separate rooms this week."
At this point Fred and George remembered a more pressing engagement and left quickly, while Bill cancelled the spell on the rings with a quick Finite Incantatem and then brandished his wand in the direction of his fleeing brothers. Fleur fortunately stopped her husband-to-be from leaving the wedding to kill them, and the service continued without further incident.
When the bride and groom kissed at the end of the ceremony, Harry noticed that even Hermione had a slightly glazed look and he could have sworn there was a small tear running down her cheek. Most of the male members of the congregation also had glazed looks, as they were mesmerised by an apparent burst of vela charm. But, for some reason, they no longer seemed to have any affect on Harry.
After this were photographs and more photographs, followed by speeches and yet more speeches. Fred and George made a brief return to relay an embarrassing story about Bill from his childhood. Harry could see Ron drooling over the gigantic wedding cake, as he waited for the speeches to end. As he followed his best friends gaze, Harry thought that the minature bride perched atop the cake looked very unflattering. In fact, she looked suspiciously like a young, stunned gnome, wearing a wedding dress.
Finally, to Ron's relief, the cake was cut and Fleur daintily bit into the first piece and immediately turned into a giant yellow canary. Even Ginny smiled at this, and Harry could have sworn he heard her comment that Fleur suited her dress better as a canary. Sighing in resignation, Bill cast Finite Incantatem, both at his new wife, and then the wedding cake, before he howled in pain as the newly freed gnome latched firmly onto his nose.
These were the only bright moment as far as Harry was concerned, as he'd been spending the rest of the afternoon avoiding Ginny so as not to upset her, and avoiding dancing completely, so as not to upset everyone else! He didn't quite succeed though, as Fred (or was it George?) managed to collar him on the way to the bar, and by some deft manoeuvring had paired him and Ginny together for one dance.
Trying to break the awkward silence, Harry complimented Ginny on her excellent Patronus, and asked how she had managed it.
"The problem in the DA was that I didn't have a strong enough memory to use," she replied almost smiling.
"What did you use?"
Ginny was silent for a while, before replying in strained, breaking voice: "The first time you kissed me in the Gryffindor common room." Tears welled in her eyes as she turned and fled to the house once again.
Harry wished the ground would swallow him up, but it didn't. Instead Mad-Eye Moody pulled him aside, displaying his usual skills in tact and diplomacy. "Last night, Death Eaters broke into Azkaban again and freed a bunch of You-Know-Who's followers."
"Lucius Malfoy?" asked Harry, wondering if the day could possibly get any worse.
"Yeah, and some of the other scum you caught in the Ministry last year."
Harry's heart sank and his shoulders slumped.
"This is one of the joys of being on the good side, boy. You end up fighting the same scum over and over again. In this case it can't be helped; you have to fight within the law, at least to start with. At least this breakout will serve to remind Scrimgeour that he and his bloody Government haven't got things under control."
"What do you mean; to start with?" asked Harry tentatively.
"You would do well to remember that sometimes in a war, it's necessary to do more than just stun 'em."
Harry gulped, but Moody continued, "Sometimes you've just got to do it, lad. It's no good disarming 'em and then having to fight 'em all over again. Remember that they are trying to kill you, and that sometimes killing them first is the only way to survive. I'm not saying you have to do it every time, and it should be hard for you. If you ever get used to killing, then get out of the job. You don't want to end up like me."
"I can't get out of the job it's my bloody destiny!" replied Harry angrily.
"I know you've got to do it, lad. In these last few weeks, you've proven to be the best I've ever trained. You will succeed; no doubt about it. Don't forget, the Order will be right behind you when you need us, whatever you are doing."
Feeling awkward about the compliment and not wanting to give anything away about the Horcruxes, Harry changed the subject. "What happened at Azkaban? It wasn't in the Prophet."
"It ain't in the paper as the Ministry is trying to cover up the fact they got tricked. As you know, since the Dementors left the island has been guarded by Aurors. Last night, a Senior Auror approached the prison leading a flock of Dementors. He relieved the lads on duty, as he was more senior than their commander. He told them that the Dementors had returned to Ministry control and they were back to guard the prison again. Azkhaban is a foul place, and the resident Aurors didn't need telling twice. So they left - but instead of Apparating directly to the Ministry, they stopped off at the Hog's Head for a celebratory drink, hence our information. Scrimgeour is livid, but it has served some good. He now realises that the Death Eaters are not just a bunch of thugs, but are quite capable of planning and outwitting him, and that they have some very senior spies within his own Government."
"So Scrimgeour has the Prophet in his pocket like Fudge and Umbridge, then?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, they're the Government; of course they control the press. But it was easy in this instance because nobody died and everybody involved is too embarrassed to talk about it."
"Do you have any news on Snape or Draco Malfoy?" asked Harry. "The Ministry hasn't by any chance covered up their deaths or capture?"
"Sadly not. They would be shouting it from the rooftops if they actually caught a real Death Eater."
Lupin, who had wandered over, joined in the conversation. "Our sources indicate that Snape and Malfoy have returned to Voldemort's side. We believe that since Snape's loyalty to Voldemort has been proven beyond question, he has been promoted to second in command."
"It is also likely that the break out from Azkaban was Voldemort's way of thanking Draco for his part in ... in last month's events. It would appear that not all the Death Eaters were released, we suspect only those who had earned Voldemort's favour."
There didn't seem to be anything to add to this, so Harry looked around in a desperate attempt to find something less depressing to do. In the end he headed for a quiet table where Hermione was unsuccessfully trying to drag Ron away from his butterbeer and onto the dance floor. As he sat down, Ron gratefully started to talk about the Dementors. Hermione stared at the two of them looking scandalised that Ron should consider that talking about Dementors was more preferable than dancing with her.
"I suppose we should have known that Voldemort would try and attack the wedding," commented Harry morosely.
Hermione shook her head in resignation and sat down at the table. "I don't think the attack was ordered by Voldemort," she pondered. "The Dementors probably sensed the happy emotions from the wedding party and were drawn by the opportunity to feed. As the wizarding world is in such turmoil at the moment I suspect they are struggling to find many large gatherings of people with enough happy emotions to feed on."
"I've never seen a Dementor just sort of go poof before," Ron made an odd gesture which caused Hermione to smile indulgently. "Did it die or something?" he mused.
"It's not alive to start with, Ron. So it can't have really died," countered Harry.
"I feel like I've said this somewhere before, but don't you two read?" Hermione looked exasperated at the blank starts from her two friends. "Honestly Harry, they were chasing you all over the place in our third year. Didn't you learn anything about them? "
Harry bridled at this; he had learned to defeat them after all, and felt that that should count for something. But before he could protest Hermione was quoting a text-book.
"In Confronting the Faceless, our NEWT book, it states that the only defence against a Dementor is the Patronus Charm. This normally doesn't destroy them, just holds them off or, in the case of a strong Patronus, drives the Dementors away. However, Andros the Invincible was reputed to have destroyed one, by casting his giant Patronus when the Dementors mouth was opened. Legend says all that remained of the Dementor was a pile of silvery dust – remnants of the emotions and memories that it had fed on during its existence. This is the only known time that one was destroyed; normally most victims are too frail to cast the Patronus, once the Dementor has opened its mouth."
"Do you suppose Ginny's Patronus is special?" Ron didn't appear to have taken in any of Hermione's explanation. She stamped her foot in frustration, before storming away from the table in disgust.
"No. I don't think so, although Ginny is special, of course," answered Harry automatically, not even noticing Hermione's departure. "I think the Patronus hit the Dementor while its hood was lowered, you know it was trying to kiss her."
"Harry!" He turned to see Charlie walking up behind him.
"We'd like a …" Bill had appeared on the other side.
"... word with you about -" A grim-looking Fred was approaching the table now.
"- how you've upset our -" With some trepidation, Harry turned to see George blocking the way behind him.
"- little sister," completed Ron with a little too much relish as he stood up from the table.
"Why don't we go somewhere quieter and you can tell us why you dumped her?" Charlie had put his arm firmly around Harry's shoulder now and was dragging him from the chair.
"I … errr… it's not …" stammered Harry.
"Not good enough for you, is she?" asked Bill, flexing his muscles.
"Do you remember what we told you we'd test on anyone who hurt her?" added the twins together.
By now they had reached the hallway in the Burrow and Harry turned to hesitantly explain why Ginny couldn't be safe with him.
Bill jumped in. "We know this you prat, Ginny told us. But you're wrong, Harry. Hasn't today shown you that being a Weasley makes her just as big a target as being your girlfriend?"
Harry lowered his head, he had not thought of that.
"We are seen as a bunch of pure-blood traitors and we're hated by all Death Eaters. They loath Dad for liking Muggles and arresting any wizards who bait them;they hate me for working with Goblins and for seizing the assets of Death Eaters; Charlie for keeping the dragons out of Voldemort's clutches; and the twins for their home security products which have led to the capture of dozens of Voldemort's followers."
"Malfoy and Snape knew you two were going out," added Ron, "so Voldemort will know by now - Malfoy will pass it on, trying to curry favour with the bastard. So, they will still think you two are together, unless you take out an advert in the Daily Prophet to tell them otherwise."
"Look at the damn clock," commanded Fred. Harry turned to look at all the Weasley hands resolutely pointing at mortal peril, as they had last summer.
"See Ginny on there? Splitting up with her hasn't made her 'Safe at Home.' She's still in mortal peril, whether she's going out with you or spending her entire time moping and crying in her room." Harry looked down at the floor in shame.
"Quite frankly we think she's safer with you, as you're less of a drip than that Michael bloke, and as for Dean, well …We know you will protect her with your life," added George.
"So unless you want me to show you how my dragon neutering kit works, I suggest you get up to her room and snog her senseless," ordered Charlie
Relief and realisation poured into Harry's mind in equal amounts. "I think he's got the message, brothers. Let's leave him and concentrate on getting Ronniekins to dance with Hermione," finished Bill, and they all dashed upstairs after a rapidly disappearing Ron, leaving Harry to his thoughts.
Almost mechanically he climbed the rickety old staircase and without noticing he found himself knocking on her door. Steeling himself, Harry pushed open the door and found his heart breaking again as he saw Ginny curled up on her bed sobbing softly.
He walked over to her, gently hugging her shoulders. "I've been an idiot," he tentatively admitted, but there was no reaction.
"I made a terrible mistake splitting up with you. Can you ever forgive me, Ginny?" Harry tried again, with a similar lack of response.
"Please, will you go out with me again?" Harry's heart gave a little flip as Ginny appeared to stir, so in desperation he decided to give it his all.
"I … I love you."
Ginny uncurled quickly and span round to face him with wand drawn while muttering under her breath. Harry knew he was in serious trouble when he felt a tickling in his left nostril. Within seconds his nose was enveloped in expanding bat-winged flying bogies. After one flew into his mouth, causing him to gag, he closed his eyes and staggered out of the room, crashing headlong into Charlie, who was dragging a protesting Ron downstairs.
"You didn't listen to us, did you Harry? We told you to snog her senseless, not grovel and give her time to hex you."
"Help … can't ... breathe …" stuttered Harry
"Nothing I can do, mate, Finite Incantatem doesn't work on that hex. You need to see Madam Pomfrey, and it took her a whole week to get rid of them off Michael Corner's face when Ginny caught him snogging Cho Chang in the Room of Requirement a couple of years ago."
In desperation Harry turned and bumped into someone else. A heavenly, soft voice muttered the counter-curse and the bogies dropped harmlessly onto the floor. Before he could even open his eyes, Harry felt warm arms around his neck and soft lips pressing against his as he was pulled backwards into Ginny's room.
It was several hours later when a grinning Harry stumbled into Ron's room, followed by Ginny. "If you ever dump me again for some stupid noble reason you will find that the Bat Bogey hex doesn't just work on your nose," she threatened as she aimed her wand lower, causing Ron to instinctively cross his legs in sympathy.
Harry was still walking round in a daze the following morning, much to the amusement of the twins. It was only after he put marmalade on his bacon that he started to return to reality. It was time to get on with business. "War meeting in your room, Ron, after breakfast?" he suggested to Ron and Hermione, who perked up a little at the prospect.
Ron was still shovelling bacon down his throat, as Harry and an impatient Hermione made their way upstairs to Ron's bedroom. "Hermione, you're bouncing this morning. Either Ron has finally made a move on you, or you have found out something about the Horcruxes," laughed Harry as he sat down on Ron's orange bed, waiting for him.
"What was that?" asked Ron, appearing after having finally finished breakfast.
"I was just starting to tell you what I'd discovered about the Horcruxes," said Hermione impatiently. "I started out by reading 'Hogwarts: A History' again." Ron groaned and slapped his forehead.
"Where I discovered lots of useful information," continued Hermione, looking pointedly at Ron. "For instance, the sword is not the only known relic of Gryffindor. Did you know the Sorting Hat was his too? But I don't think that can be a Horcrux because it helped you in the Chamber of Secrets didn't it, Harry?"
"Yeah," pondered Harry. "It helped me get the sword and destroy another Horcrux. Besides, it's always been stored in the Headmasters study where the sword now is, so I think we can rule that out."
"There are a number of books about Gryffindor and his descendants - all of which I've read - and I've spent many hours creating a family tree. If my calculations are correct, there is only one remaining blood descendant of Godric Gryffindor still alive. The families often got into duels and wars with the descendants of Slytherin, so they tended to get wiped out. One of the biggest and longest running battles saw the Bruce family fight the Longshanks for control of Scotland. Also another interesting descendant was Ernest Slobbergut who managed to create the world's only …"
"Hermione! Get back to the point! Who is it?" yelled Ron.
"Oh, yeah, it's … you, Harry."
"Me?"
"Harry! You've got to be joking. Hermione you're taking the …"
"No, I'm not, and don't swear, Ron. Harry is the only other person on record to be able to wield Gryffindor's Sword, and do you really think it is a coincidence that Harry's family lived in Godric's Hollow?
It's my guess that Voldemort had planned the perfect Horcrux for his sixth and final one. I suspect he hoped to find something of Gryffindor at Godric's Hollow to give him a complete set of the Hogwarts founder's relics - and he was going to create it by killing the last remaining heir of Gryffindor.
But you survived, Harry. The Horcrux wasn't created. So unless he's been back since, which would be foolish of him, I agree with Dumbledore's assumption that no relics of Gryffindor became Horcruxes."
Harry had mixed emotions. He was thrilled that Hermione had traced his family back to Godric Gryffindor. However, she had also confirmed that they were all dead, so he still had no true family. Also he was frustrated that she hadn't added anything new to his Horcrux knowledge.
"Rowena Ravenclaw is trickier to trace," continued Hermione. She never married nor had children, so has no blood relatives. In fact, she appears to have been about as exciting and deep as Lavender or Parvati, except she was considerably more intelligent. The only thing mentioned about her is her wand, which she commissioned from the original Ollivander's in Diagon Alley. So I've drawn a blank there. It's incredible; there are endless legends written about Merlin; whole sections in Hogwarts a History about the other three founders, but nothing meaningful about Ravenclaw," ended Hermione in frustration.
I've not had much success with R.A.B. either. There are no centralised wizard death records like Muggles have, so I've had to read old newspaper reports;
Rasputin Ardarms Bonehead was a known Death Eater who was killed by Aurors after he flooed into the Ministry Of Magic by error. However, reports indicate he was part Troll and had trouble remembering his name let alone writing it, so we can rule him out.
Roland Allan Bent was a Ministry accountant who was convicted of telling a Death Eater how to get into the Ministry's finance department on the proviso that the Death Eater would wait until he was on holiday before attacking! Trial reports suggest Bent was a pathetic weakling so it's unlikely to be him.
Other than those two, the only details I have are about a dozen names of wizards and witches reported missing or dead by their families. But I've not been able to find anything about them and none of their names are recognisable."
"Wow," whistled Ron as Hermione drew a breath. "You found all that out?"
Hermione allowed herself a satisfied smile and turned to Ron before continuing: "Next I researched Tom Riddle's early life, before he called himself Voldemort. We know he left Marvolo's ring in the old Gaunt house, so do you think he left a Horcrux in Riddle Manor? We know it is important to him, as he stays there frequently and chose the graveyard nearby to return to his body."
"Yeah, I'd thought about that as well - but that's where Nagini is, and I don't think he'd keep two Horcruxes in the same place," countered Harry while Ron continued to look at Hermione with a mixture of admiration and astonishment.
"Well, if you want to discount that so quickly, then fine!" Hermione continued in a huff. "Next, Hogwarts was probably the most important place to Riddle, but Dumbledore's memory of Riddle trying to get a job at Hogwarts years later, makes me think he didn't leave a Horcrux there while he was still a student. Having said that, I still think we should check out that trophy. The one he won for special services to the school."
"You mean when he set that dirty great snake on Myrtle. You don't think he could have used Myrtle's death to create the Horcrux in the trophy do you?" asked Ron.
"No!" answered Hermione firmly. "Firstly, the trophy was awarded for capturing Hagrid, after Myrtle died, and secondly Riddle didn't kill her, the Basilisk did."
Ron opened his mouth as if to protest, but thought better of it as Hermione continued. "Also, as you suggested Harry, I checked out the records of the orphanage. Although it closed many years ago following the vicious murder of the elderly matron in charge, I think that the building remains intact. What is most surprising is that it is in the middle of some prime development land in a highly desirable area of London. Neither the Muggle Land Registry nor any Estate Agents in the area seemed aware of its existence, and in fact got very confused when I mentioned it.
My guess is that Voldemort killed the matron and created a Horcrux and then hid it in the Orphanage. He probably used Hufflepuff's Cup, as the date of the matron's murder was during the time he was working in Borgin and Burkes . I'm betting Voldemort cast the Fidelius and Muggle-repelling charms on the property so it would not be demolished and turned into Muggle housing." Hermione paused and took a very deep breath.
"So, I've got no idea where Slythern's locket is, but I'm pretty sure that Hufflepuff's cup is concealed in the orphanage and it's possible that something of Ravenclaw is in the Riddle Manor," Hermione concluded, looking very smug. Apart from an occasional "Wow!" from Ron, the room had lapsed into silence as Ron and Harry stared incredulously at Hermione.
"Wow, Hermione. Wow, Wow! I could kiss you!" continued Ron, before turning bright beetroot and covering his face in embarrassment. Had he been looking, he would have noticed Hermione's expression turn from smug to hopeful then to a deep blush as Harry caught her eye, grinning.
"But you've no idea who RAB is yet though?" Harry neatly turned Hermione's blush into a grimace.
"Well not precisely, but it's not like I've done nothing …" she grumbled looking pointedly at Ron.
Wanting to end the resulting silence, Harry announced he needed to get back to the Dursleys before they locked him out for the night and that he would be returning for his birthday party in one week.
As Harry left Ron's room, he wasn't too surprised to find Ginny silently giggling on the landing floor, holding an extendable ear. Harry kissed her gently before whispering, "You should have seen the look on Hermione's face, though." By the time Ginny had regained control of the ensuing giggles, Harry was walking back up Privet Drive.