Yay, next chapter! Thanks for reading, guys.
Parvati sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around. Her sister was supposed to have the day off today to help her move in! Where was she anyways?
Her Mum and Dad were at one of the cafes, getting some breakfast for take-out. That was relatively new for their well-to do family- take out breakfast, that is. But things had changed a lot in the past few years. She and Padma had...gotten so distant from each other. Padma had finished school early and had gotten a job straight away with this Vita Corporation. Parvati had stayed on at New Hogwarts, and had just gotten a job last week with Witch Weekly. Yeah, she was only an assistant, but you have to start somewhere, right?
Parvati sat on the front steps of the cottage, frowning. Padma was...different, lately. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she was different. The two girls had always been wildly different from each other. Padma was their parent's favorite, of course, since she was so smart and all. Parvati was constantly getting into trouble for her muggle short skirts and wild makeup. And her grades.
Parvati looked around again, frowing. It wasn't like Padma to not show up. She was always on time, even a bit early, when meeting up with their parents. Parvati glanced back at the cottage. It was a little two story home that she shared with Hermione, Susan and Daphne.
Parvati furrowed a brow as she saw Hermione walk out of the house two doors down, hastily pulling on a rumpled robe. She was grinning like a loon, and hands tugged her back inside. Parvati's eyes widened as the arms wrapped around her, tugging her in just a bit. Whoever was snogging her was doing a good job of it, she mused. Parvati hid a smile as Hermione stumbled away from the house, and walked off in the opposite direction.
Hermione had a boyfriend, eh? That was a new development. She pouted. Padma should have told her straight away! Padma checked her watch, and looked down the street once more. Where was she? She'd knocked on the door a couple of times already-
The door opened behind her, and she stood quickly, turning around. Her smile faded as she saw an unfamiliar boy wearing a pair of muggle boxers and a white t-shirt. They froze as they saw each other.
"Uh...Hi." The boy said, sounding a bit unsure of himself. He bent down to pick up the newspaper (the Hogsmeade Hail) from the stoop. "Just...uh...one second."
He ducked back inside quickly, and moments later, Padma came to the door, a bathrobe thrown on. Padma's brows raised as she noticed that her sister wasn't wearing anything underneath the robe.
"Parvati! What are you doing here!" Padma asked shrilly, looking around.
Parvaiti looked at the boy, and then looked at her sister. "Mum and Dad are at the cafe, picking up breakfast. You know, you should probably get dressed."
They let her inside, and Parvati looked about the place. It was rather untidy, and Padma's books were piled up all over the tea table. She raised a brow as she saw boy's clothes all over the place, and a few pairs of his shoes by the front door.
"So...who are you?" She asked, getting straight to the point. "And how come I haven't heard of you until now?" She looked pointedly to her sister.
Padma blushed. "This is my boyfriend, Mark. Mark Owens."
"Nice to meet you Mark. So, you live here?"
"Uh...well...um..."
Padma tilted her head. "You didn't go to Hogwarts...but you haven't an American accent either..." She looked at her sister sharply. "Don't tell me that he's an Australian! That would explain why he's so cute! Why didn't you tell me?"
Mark started to laugh, and shook her hand. "Nope, Lived here in Scotland my whole life. Excuse me." Mark went upstairs to get dressed quickly. Padma fidgeted under her sister's gaze.
"Imagine, my sister a scarlet woman!" Parvati giggled. "Mum's going to be so pissed off!"
"Parvati, please don't tell her..."
"They're going to be here any minute. How long have you two been dating anyways? It has to be serious, for him to be living here. Is he older?"
"We've been dating for almost a year." She paused. "And he's actually a little bit younger than us." She went up the stairs, leaving Parvati to her thoughts. The girl glanced around the room and flicked her wand, tidying things up a bit. Their Mother and Father would not be happy with the mess.
Just in time too, Parvati could hear them talking as they approached the house. She opened the door just as Mark was walking down the stairs. "Mum, Dad, Parvati will be down in just a minute."
Mark froze as he saw the two adults, smiling weakly at them. He was wearing a pair of muggle jeans, and a hastily tucked in muggle shirt. Their Father was wearing a set of fancy looking robes, while their Mother wore an indigo Sari.
"Who is this?"
"Mark, Padma's boyfriend." Parvati said with a relish.
Mark shook their Father's hand just as Padma came down the stairs. Their Mother wouldn't allow him to shake her hand.
"I'm Mark Walker, nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Patil."
"Padma...I'd like to talk to you, please." Their Father said quietly. They went into the kitchen, and Mark glanced around the house, and then at Parvati.
"So...Padma tells me you've got a job at Witch Weekly...that's great!"
Parvati nodded, and glanced to her Mother. She was staring at the boy with a frown.
"What is your surname, young man?"
"Uh, Owens."
"A muggleborn?" Mrs. Patil said with wide eyes, bringing her hand up to her chest. "Dear me!"
"Uh...actually..."
"WHAT!" They could hear Mr. Patil yell suddenly. The man threw open the door, his face red with anger. "PARVATI, you are NOT living here with some MUGGLE!"
Parvati's jaw dropped, and she looked at Mark. Then she looked to her sister, who was in near tears. Then she looked to her parents. Her Mother looked like she was about to faint, and her Father, pop a blood vessel. She quickly looked away from them, and back to Mark, who was looking worriedly at Padma.
She came to a quick decision.
"You know, I think I'll get a place of my own. I wouldn't want to cramp Padma's and Mark's space anyways. I bet Lavender will want a roommate." She said flippantly. Honestly, her parents were so old fashioned. Good news was, she wasn't the black sheep of the family anymore!
Her Father sputtered, and their Mother started to cry."PADMA PATIL, CONSIDER YOURSELF DISOWNED!" Their Father roared.
The two of them walked out of the house quickly, away from the muggle and his germs.
Parvati held out her manicured nailed hand to Mark once they left, smiling at him. "Nice to meet you Mark. Now, have you got any brothers?"
Padma pulled her twin into a hug tightly, crying and laughing at the same time. "Don't ever change, Parv."
At the petname, Parvati gave her sister a small smile. Padma hadn't called her that in years. She just hugged her sister back.
Harry tucked carefully weaved the strands of dried grass together, adding the dried berries in here and there. A circle of female elves surrounded him, copying his moves. One of the smallest elves leant forward, watching him with wide eyes. "So you is tucking in the berries betweens the weaving?"
"That's right!" Harry said brightly. "And weaving your leaves together like this will make for much sturdier clothes. Now, I want all of you to practice, practice, practice. Winter will be coming up soon, and I don't want any of you to get sick." He said, watching Tippy come over, wearing her new dress.
Harry had helped her make it. He'd wanted to give her a new dress outright, but she wasn't having that. So she'd made it herself, with just a bit of help from him. She'd used the fallen leaves from the oak trees to make a colorful dress, her dark red roses adorning her dress as always. Harry did notice that she'd done her best to clean up, and wore shoes made out of buckskin.
"You look very pretty, Tippy." The other elves nodded their agreement, all smiles for their favorite elf.
"Thank you Great Harry Potter sir."
"Are you ready to go to the Ministry?" He asked.
Tippy nodded, albeit a bit nervously. "Alright. We're going to floo in, so let's go to the fire, shall we?"
They approached the bonfire in the camp, and Harry withdrew his pouch of floo powder from his robes. He picked her up. "It's easier if you just go with me. Now, be careful, and hide your face in my shoulder. One Tippy did that, Harry threw some powder in the fireplace and yelled. "Ministry of Magic!"
They reappeared in the grate in the Ministry atrium. Harry set Tippy down, brushing the soot from his robes. Tippy did the same, watching him as he did so. People stared at them openly as they passed. Most were used to seeing house elves, but never one dressed the way she was, or walking right alongside Harry Potter, instead of walking behind him, like any proper house elf should.
Harry knocked briskly on the door labeled as Madam Umbridge's. Her Secretary had nearly gone into cardiac arrest at the sight of him, and had let him in without a word.
"Yes?"
Harry opened the door, and the slimy smile that the woman had been wearing dropped instantly. Her eyes fell to the elf at Harry's side.
"Mr. Potter." She said, her voice saccharine sweet.
"Madam Umbridge." Harry returned politely. He looked down to the elf at his side. "This is my employee and friend Miss Tippy. She says that you took 12 Galleons, 8 sickles, and 7 knuts from her and her family last week. Is that right?"
The woman leant back in her chair. "Elves don't own property. They certainly don't have any money."
Harry frowned. "There are no laws that state that."
"There certainly is!" The woman said, and summoned a thick dusty tome, and began to read.
"For Magical Creatures, Class B, which include Goblins, Centaurs, and House Elves, by the way, are not allowed to carry wands, own more than the clothes on their back, and do not own any physical property such as their home, money, and other items of value. To own such things mean that they broke the law, and will be executed on sight."
Harry's brows rose.
"This was written in 1281." The woman said primly, closing the book with a dull thud. "So, if you are paying these...elves and centaurs of yours, not only will they be executed, you and your little company will be closed down for good." A happy little light entered her eyes.
"I see. Well, for your information, the elves do not get any of that money themselves." Harry lied blatantly. The Goblins had to have a loophole in one of their treaties because they certainly owned quite a bit of money. Anyways, Goblins and elves didn't even need wands to do magic.
"Oh?"
"They all put the money in Vita's funds at the end of the day. It keeps our business going. It is purely a business arrangement- they volunteer their time, and we allow them to do this." The elves kept all of their money- they didn't give a cent to Vita, no matter how much they'd offered at the beginning.
"And they are beginning to think above their station, as a result." The woman said frostily. Thwarted, yet again!
"Well, maybe they should." Harry said.
Madam Umbridge stood, trying to look imposing. It didn't work, considering Harry was just a bit taller than her.
"Listen to me, you punk kid, you're not fooling anyone with that smile of yours and all those articles in the paper. Sure, you might be popular, but who do you think you are?"
Her lip curled as she looked him over. "I just see a kid with a bad hairdo and horrible taste in muggle clothing. You haven't even gotten a shave yet, have you?"
Harry frowned at her, squeezing Tippy's shoulder as she looked like she was about to speak up in Harry's defense.
"Ma'am, you are the last person that should be talking about fashion. If I do not have a deposit of 12 Galleons, 8 sickles, and 7 knuts by the end of the day from you, I will publish this in all of our newspapers. No one treats any of my employees or friends this way. No one. Yeah, I might be a punk kid, but I'm the punk kid that works with the company that owns the Daily Prophet and a large share of all the other newspapers in this country."
With that, they left the office, making Umbridge rethink her strategies for a bit.
"Kit has some balls." Shep said, reading his copy of the Hogsmeade Hail.
"Who knew the runt had it in him?" Franz said with a grin. They were taking their lunch break while their packs were working on the latest of Draco Malfoy's projects- a theatre on the corner where Knockturne Alley and Diagon Alley met. A sign posted on the outside of the building had Vita's name on it, and below, had Shep's and Franz' names as the contractors. Shep and Franz were pretty proud of that sign.
"I'd really love to give it to that Umbridge woman. I'd just want to sink my teeth into her on some full moon and see how she likes being one of us half breeds..." Shep said darkly.
Franz laughed softly at this. "This Umbridge is not very well liked- how is she able to stay at this Ministry of Magic anyways?"
"Money, and lots of it."
The two men read for a bit more, and Shep lowered his paper. "Hey...you hear that Draco fellow and Miss Lovegood are getting hitched?"
"They're just puppies." Franz scoffed. "Much too early for marrying. You think she's up the duff?"
"Nah, didn't smell it on her. Saw her the other day, when she brought cookies and snacks for the pups."
"She's a sweet one, and sweet on the eyes too." Franz said with a wolfish grin.
"She's our boss too, you know." Shep said chidingly.
"Wonder if they got together over business planning meetings and do it d-"
"Franz, you're one sick wolf. Yeah, those pups might be good lookin', but they're still pups."
"Hey, you got a thing for Kit." Franz said with a leer. "Is that any different?"
Shep looked away, blushing a bit. "Everyone thinks Kit is hot. That's different."
Luna hummed as she had her notes and plans spread about her. She was in the middle of planning her wedding. Draco had wanted something fancy, at Malfoy Manor, in their ballroom, like all of his family had done. He also wanted to hire a wedding planner, a caterer, and all sorts of things. Luna wasn't having any of it.
Luna had decided to have the wedding in Hogsmeade, at the ground's gates. It seemed fitting, since that allowed for everyone to be there. She wanted it to be a winter wedding, with brilliant white snow as their backdrop. It would be in early December, specifically on the fifth. That's the day that Luna predicted on her charts to be the best
Harry and Neville, of course, would stand at their side, as part of the wedding party. Draco had mentioned casually to the two of them that it could easily be turned into a double wedding, but Neville shot that down quickly. They would have their wedding in their own time- this day would be just for Draco and Luna. Harry agreed.
Neville was planning the flowers, of course, and Harry was making the guest list and helping the elves with planning the food arrangements. She was sorting through the arrangements- Draco had insisted that the wedding be announced in the Society section of the Daily Prophet, which meant that it would also be published in their other papers as well. Which meant interviews and reporters.
They hadn't made the news public yet, but they would soon. Perhaps it would distract everyone from this business with the Ministry. Umbridge was still trying her best to keep the elves from performing in Diagon Alley and in Hogsmeade, stating that there was some such law that kept them from doing so. The group was trying their best to fight her on this.
Luna sighed sadly, looking all the notes and plans, shaking her head. When she'd been little, had always imagined that her Father would walk her down the isle. She felt a bit saddened by this. Draco's Mother wasn't going to be there either- she would have been a great help for all this. Probably would have done her best to take it over, too. Luna fiddled with her pen thoughtfully, looking up at the sky.
"Daddy...Mummy...I'd really like some help."
After a moment of silence, the wind picked up suddenly, making her notes scatter across the dried leaves and grass. As she hastily picked them up, she found a drawing that she'd forgotten about. Her wedding dress. Dirt was smeared across it, but in a strange pattern, and Luna's eyes widened, and a smile spread on her face.
Harry was woken with a kiss, and he opened his eyes. "Hello Luna."
"Good morning Harry." She bounced up and down in the bed. "Come and help me! I've got a lot to do today!" She tugged him out of the bed.
"What are we doing?" Harry asked sleepily, glancing back to the sleeping boys in their bed.
"Collecting materials. For my wedding dress."
Harry was wide awake at this, and grinned widely. "Lead the way."
As the two of them walked through the forest, Harry spoke to her quietly. "Are you nervous? About the wedding? It's a lot sooner than we had all planned, you know."
Luna shrugged, picking up a few stray unicorn hairs from a branch. "December 5th is best. I know all of you were kind of looking forward to a spring wedding, but the charts say it would be best for Draco and I." She paused, smiling at Harry. "Perhaps you and Neville will have a spring wedding?"
Harry looked away, blushing. "We're in no hurry to get married."
"Because you practically are, already. I know the only reason Draco and I are getting married is because, well, everyone expects us to. He's the Heir of a powerful pureblood house, and he needs an Heir of his own. Yes, we love each other, but we don't need a paper to tell us that."
Harry frowned, and Luna went on. "You and Neville, however, are both heirs of your Family, but you are not pressured as much to marry, since you are both Male. While you are able to have children together, potentially, it's just..."
"Not done that often." Harry finished for her. "I know. I just...don't want to do things because people expect me to. I've had enough of that over the years."
"I know." Luna said simply.
December Fifth arrived. For a couple of weeks now, all of the papers had been reporting about the Wedding between Draco and Luna. Magicals and Muggles alike were lined up in Hogsmeade, for a chance to see the wizarding marriage. Mixed in the crowd were happily crying house elves. Traditionally, marriages in the wizarding world were performed within the privacy of the couple's own home or garden, usually with just their close friends and family about.
It had snowed just a few days before, and a thick blanket of brilliant white snow laid on the ground. The main street of Hogsmeade had been cleared, and muggles and magicals alike were standing by for the procession. At the gates of the Forest grounds, stood a line of Centaurs, standing proudly with their heads high.
Albus Dumbledore had been nice enough to volunteer as the officiate. He was standing in the middle of the gates, looking rather serene in his twinkling blue robes. Harry and Neville stood on either side of Draco, who was a nervous wreck. He didn't show it, of course, but he was. Draco was wearing soft grey robes in suede and velvet. He watched the pathway with some trepidation.
All three boys inhaled sharply with anticipation as they saw the elves begin their procession. Tippy was in front, wearing a cobwebby dress with white roses on her shoulder. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, and she looked very pretty. Some of the house elves watching started to cheer for her. House elves were never usually in a wizarding ceremony, and it was quite a surprise. Cameras from the newspapers started to go off.
Behind her were two smaller elves, dancing about, scattering flowers onto the snowy cobblestone street. They were wearing similar dresses to Tippy's. Then...Luna arrived. She wore a white-grey gown, with a webbed veil. Her blonde hair had been grown out with a spell for the occasion, finally returning it to the length it had been when the four of them had just been children.
The skirts trailed after her on the street, and she held a bouquet of winter flowers in her hands. Harry felt his hands shaking as the girl approached. Luna was beautiful. She approached the three of them, and Harry and Neville took a slight step back, allowing Luna to step forward with Draco.
Hagrid burst into tears at this. Loudly.
The reception was fun, with lots of drunken dancing, toasts to the bride and groom, and crying from crushed fans. Still, the wedding and the reception was a hit, and everyone had fun.
While the wizarding world celebrated the wedding of Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy, there was woman that was taking advantage of everyone's preoccupation with the wedding. She sat in her office, filling out some paperwork with a nasty smirk on her face.
"We'll see who's in charge now, Harry Potter." She said, her quill quickening with anticipation
So...what did you think? Please review...