Chapter 5 The Wedding

Harry woke up very early, cuddling Hermione. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Slowly he eased out of bed, so as not to disturb her. A glance at the clock showed that it was half past five. He stood and stretched, making hiss way to the desk and switched on the lamp. Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, he started a list of the places that they needed to go to before the wedding. First Gringotts, that might take awhile; Madam Malkins, for Hermione; school supplies; a jewelry store for rings; a store to by a bag like his for Hermione; a baby store; and a wand maker. There was nothing wrong with his wand, other than it shared magical cores with Voldemort's and wouldn't work properly, so Harry thought he should get a second wand as a backup.

By the time Harry finished his list it was half past six. He grabbed some clothes and headed for the bath. Twenty minutes later a showered and dressed Harry woke Hermione. As she headed into the bath, he grabbed his money pouch, his new bag, and his new dress robes and left the room. Stuffing his robes into his bag, he headed downstairs and into the kitchen, upon entering he froze. The kitchen had been completely remodeled, with all new muggle looking appliances of stainless steel, oak cabinets and granite counters. It looked sleek, clean and modern. Dobby and Winky stepped out of their room, grinning at the look of surprise on Harry's face.

"Does Harry Potter sir like what Dobby and Winky have done to the kitchen?"

"Yes, it's bloody brilliant."

"Would Harry Potter like breakfast now?"

"That would be wonderful Dobby and thank you, but don't wear yourselves out redoing all the rooms in one day, take you time." Harry sat down and Hermione came into the room, looking just as surprised at the room as he had been and sat next to him as Dobby served them breakfast. Harry asked Winky to wake Moony and Tonks. She was off in a flash. Harry and Hermione finished eating by the time they arrived in the kitchen. They to were surprised at the room. Harry pushed them to eat quickly. So much so that Moony remarked "Someone seems to be in a hurry to change his life and get married." Harry blushed and said "Well someone has to show you how it's done, since you seem afraid to do this yourself." All of them were laughing by then. Finally they left Grimmauld Place and apparated to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Passing thru to the courtyard, Moony pulled out his wand and tapped the wall, where the archway opened to reveal Diagon Alley.

"Where to first" asked Tonks.

"Gringotts."

They made their way to the bank, where inside they were met by Griphook, who showed them to an office. Here sat a small goblin at a desk.

"Ah Mr. Potter, welcome, my name is Sharptooth and I am the goblin in charge of your account. Please feel free to seek me out for all your banking needs."

"Thank you" said Harry.

"Please have a seat and we will begin." He waited until they were all seated and continued "We first need to cover all of your inheritances. The Potter, the Black, and Dumbledore's. From your parents and the Potter family estates, you inherited two hundred million Galleons in cash, the estate of Godric's Hallow, which is the Potter ancestral home, and a property in Ireland that has a castle on it, and various business shares. As to your aunt and uncle's home, as well as your uncle's sister's home, you are the sole survivor to both. Both homes have been placed on the muggle real estate market, with number 4 receiving several bids. On your behalf, we sold that property for three million pounds. I need to know if you would like the money transferred into Galleons or placed into a muggle bank that we know of. It is run by a squib and we have worked with him on several occasions."

"I think I want it in the muggle bank and I would like Hermione's name placed on all of my accounts as we are getting married this afternoon."

"I offer you my congratulations in finding happiness with all your sorrows. I take it then that you would like for me to handle Ms. Granger's transactions and the selling of her parent's home?" Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded yes.

"That would be appreciated. Just place the money from the sell into the muggle account from her sell and Aunt Marge's, and can you please make sure that there is nothing left in the homes, just place everything in storage for us to go through later."

"That has already been done, now I understand that you have been informed of your inheritance from Sirius Black." Harry nodded. "Then we need not review that. As to Albus Dumbledore's estate. He has named you his sole heir. Before his death, he liquidated almost all his assets, except for some business shares which added to yours, gives you a substancial portfolio. You inherit another five hundred million Galleons as well. I have prepared a list of the companies in which you have shares, the highlighted one are the companies that you have controlling interest in." He handed the list to Harry, who sat stunned at the amount of money he had. A glance at the list showed that he had controlling interest in The Daily Prophet, Florish and Blotts and Magical Menagerie. He passed the paper to Hermione, who seemed to be memorizing it.

"Now is there anything else that I can do for you?"

"Yes. First, Bill Weasley gave me an endless money pouch that draws from my vault. I would like another for Hermione. I also would like to draw up a will, leaving everything to Hermione and if she dies before I do, then it will be split in half between Robert Ian and Raven Ione Mackenzie-Potter and that they are under the guardianship of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. I would like my trust vault to be used by Robert and Raven until they come of age, with a set amount of twenty thousand Galleons, to be renewed each year, with their tuitions, for Hogwarts, paid from the main vault.

"Everything will be taken care of. I will contact you when the documents will be ready for you signature. Do you require anything else?"

"No, I think that covers it, if I do think of anything, I'll let you know." Griphook returned with a small red velvet bag and handed it to Hermione, who seemed reluctant to take it.

"It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Potter and again my congratulations on your marriage."

As they left the bank Tonks remarked "Blimey Harry, you have to be the richest wizard in Britain, Europe even. If I didn't love old Wolfie there I'd snatch you up, no offence Hermione."

Hermione didn't say anything; in fact she looked very angry. Harry was afraid he knew why. He turned to face her and said "There is nothing you can do about it, what's done is done. You're going to be my wife, mother to my children and I have the right to take care of all of you the way I want to. I might not win against Voldemort, but I'm going to try, so there's no need to be angry or to yell at me like I know you want to." Now she looked like she wanted to cry. Harry pulled her into a hug and whispered "Please don't cry. This is a happy day, so try to smile." Releasing her, Harry said "Now, why don't you and Tonks go over to Madam Malkin's and find something to get married in while I take care of a few things. We'll meet in front of Florish and Blotts in an hour, alright?" Hermione smiled and nodded. "Good, now go buy whatever you want, however much you want."

"Come on Hermione; let's go spend a lot of Harry's money. He won't miss it" said Tonks laughing, grabbing Hermione's arm and walking away together.

"Where to now, pup" asked Moony, grinning.

"Jewelry store."

Moony lead the way to a small, but elegant shop, just past Gringotts. Inside they found that the shop keeper was a goblin. Harry requested to look at wedding rings, the shop keeper showed him a tray, explained that they were magical bands that when placed on the finger the ring would shrink to fit, so that they could never come off. Only the death of one could break the spell on them. Harry bought two simple gold bands, with 'friendship and love' engraved on them. Handing them to Moony, they exited the shop, where Harry saw across the street a shop that had magical luggage. In there he found a bag similar bar to his for Hermione and a magical trunk that held a room that served as a wardrobe. It was large enough to hold his, Hermione's and the twins' stuff. Both were shrunk down and placed in his bag. Leaving the shop Harry looked up and down the street looking for a shop.

"Moony, I need to find a wand maker since Ollivander is missing."

"There's one down this way, but it's very expensive as the wands are made specifically for the person purchasing it."

They made their way down the street and went into the most elaborate shop that Harry had ever seen.

"How may I serve you" asked a quiet voice. Harry looked around and saw an elderly wizard coming from behind a curtain.

"I need a wand."

"My wands are very expensive. The wood, magical core and gem are matched to the individual, so no one else can use them. Depending on what elements are used that will determine the cost, since some of my objects are rare."

"Price is no object."

"Then let us begin. Please close your eyes and do not open them until I give you leave."

Feeling rather silly, Harry did as he was told. A few minutes passed before the shop keeper told him to open his eyes. Floating in front of him were two sticks, a white feather, a piece of skin, an emerald, and a diamond. The shop keeper reached up and placed everything into two piles on the counter. A stick, the white feather, and the diamond in one pile and a stick, the skin and the emerald in the other.

"I must say, I have never had this happen before. It would seem that you have a choice of Holly, White Phoenix feather and a Diamond or Holly, Basilisk skin, and an Emerald."

"How much for both and how long will it take?"

"Five hundred Galleons for both and about ten minutes to complete them." Harry pulled out the money from his pouch and watch, in fascination as the wizard made the wands. First the sticks were shaped into wands, each carved with whatever the magical core was, in his case, one had a phoenix in flight, and the other a snake coiling around the wand. Then the gems were ground into powder and the wand sucked it into its self thru a small hole in the bottom and then the cores went in and the hole magically sealed themselves. The shop keeper explained that the gems would reform around the cores, making it harder to snap or break them, as well as boost his power some. As Harry took the wands, both glowed very brightly before dimming, just to prove that they indeed worked.

As they left the shop and were heading to meet the girls, Moony asked "So do you mind telling me why you need a second wand, since your original seems to be working just fine?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, only that Voldemort's and mine share the same magical core, from the same phoenix. They won't duel properly."

"Then it's good that you now have two backups, although I have never seen anything like what I saw in that shop." They found the girls still at Madam Malkins, paying for their purchases and there were a lot of them.

"Did you buy out the shop Hermione" teased Moony. She stuck her tongue out at him and said "No, I didn't and here" handing him a large package.

"What's this?"

"New dress robes for the wedding."

"I don't need them."

"Yes, you do, because it's my wedding and I say that you do so no arguments."

"Yes Mame" Moony answered meekly. Tonks started laughing hysterically and Harry trying not to as he handed Hermione her new bag, which earned him a smile and a hug. The rest of her packages were shrunk down and went into her bag.

At Florish and Blotts, they grabbed their school books. Harry grabbed the newest edition of Hogwarts: A History after he saw Hermione glance at it. He also grabbed a book on becoming an animagus. It had been in the back of his mind to see if he could transform into an animal. After there were stops for parchment and quills, potion supplies, and owl treats. It was then that Harry realized that Crookshanks had died in the attack of Hermione's parents and that she had no pet. He noticed that she was looking around and had stopped briefly if front of a large black owl before moving on.

"How much for the black owl" he asked the shop keeper.

"Thirty Galleons."

"I'll take it" and paid for the owls and treats.

Hermione kept telling Harry that she didn't need an owl, even when she accepted the cage. Harry was smiling at her and asked "So what are you going to call him".

"Zeus" she said so quickly that Harry knew that she had really wanted the owl and he laughed. "You prat" and hit him, joining in the laughter.

"Now where" asked Moony chuckling.

"Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and then a baby store for stuff for the twins" answered Harry. Lunch was fun as Moony and Tonks were trying to give the younger couple advice on marriage, while Harry and Hermione snorted into their food, until Hermione mentioned that they might follow their own advice and take the plunge themselves, which shut Moony up. After lunch they made their way back thru Diagon Alley and decided to stop and see Fred and George.

"Harry, Hermione how nice" started Fred.

"of you to grace us"

"and to come to our "

"humble shop."

"Can we interest"

"in some harmless pranks"

"for your up coming "

"Headship at Hogwarts?"

"No thank guys; I have plenty of prank material left from my birthday. We just stopped to say Hi."

"Hermione, are you doing alright" asked Fred with concern. She gave him a radiant smile and answered "I'm fine, Fred. Harry's taken care of everything." They seemed surprised with her response.

"Harry, can we see you in the back for a moment" asked George.

"Uh, sure" and followed the twins in back.

"Alright Harry, what's going on? You two are up to something."

"What makes you think that?"

"Harry, you are looking at two masters of the game. We know when something is up" answered Fred.

"Alright, alright. Hermione and I are getting married at three o'clock in Amos Diggory's office. You two want to come?" They both nodded. "Fine, but no pranks or jokes, promise?" They gave their word and for once Harry actually believed them and they left the room. Saying goodbye to the twins, Harry didn't have the nerve to tell Hermione that the twins were coming to the wedding. Tonks led them to a magical baby shop, which according to her had everything from newborns to five year olds. Hermione went crazy. Harry had never seen her like this. She was picking out furniture, clothes, shoes, bottles, nappies, toys, books, and everything in between. Tonks was almost as bad. The two of them took over the shop and Harry and Moony stood out of the way, for fear of being trampled.

Moony leaned over and muttered "I'm blaming you if she wants one" and Harry burst out laughing at the image of Tonks brow beating Moony about wanting a baby. Watching Hermione with such joy on her face made Harry glad that he was a part of the reason. Finally Moony said that they needed to leave, that the girls showed signs of slowing down. Harry and Moony started shrinking the packages as soon as they were wrapped other wise they would never get out of there.

They made it to the Ministry with ten minutes to spare, after going thru security. They split into boy and girls to change in the restrooms. Harry finished first and went to stand in the hallway. Moony soon joined him, wearing his new blood red robes.

"Nervous yet" he asked laughing at Harry, who looked like he was running in a marathon. Harry didn't answer him, just asked his own question in a strangled voice "You still have the rings?"

"Yes, I still have them" answered Moony still laughing as Tonks came out, making him stop suddenly and stare at her. She looked beautiful in robes of lilac and had morphed her hair blond. Harry started grinning and leaned over to Moony and said "Close your mouth, you look like an idiot." But Moony acted like he hadn't heard Harry and then Tonks came over and kissed him, bringing him out of his stupor. Laughing Harry turned his head and saw Hermione, standing there nervously. She was wearing ivory colored robes and her hair hanging down her back, in waves instead of being bushy. She looked beautiful. He went over took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Ready?"

"Yes" and they made their way toward Mr. Diggory's office, where Fred and George were waiting, wearing their dress robes and carrying flowers for the bride. Answering the look on Hermione's face, Fred answered "We made Harry tell us what was going on."

"And if he hurts you, we'll hex him into the next century, after you have finished with him of course" said George, handing her the flowers of lilacs, pink roses and baby's breath.

"Thanks guys and I will. Thank you for the flowers, I forgot all about them" said Hermione, giving each twin a kiss on the cheek. At that moment the door opened they all went in. Mr. Diggory told Harry that the record of their marriage would be magically sealed and that only he and Hermione could open it. This was done so that their marriage couldn't be confirmed on record for his enemies to find out. They could still tell everyone they wanted, but the proof was sealed. A copy would be sent to his vault for safe keeping. With that said and Moony, Tonks and the twins around them, Harry and Hermione stood in front of Amos Diggory and were married, exchanging rings, where Hermione saw the engraving and smiled.

"You may now kiss the Bride."

Harry leaned in and kissed Hermione gently on the lips. It felt like all of the twins' fireworks had gone off in his head and heart.