Harry and Ginny both laughed loudly at this accusation. "Well, Ron and I had a chat and he formally asked me for permission to approach Hermione's family about marriage. I of course gave him a hard time before giving him my blessing. I then told him about the lunch date I setup with Dan and Emily Granger for him and Hermione and then about them having a suite in Paris for the night.
"They're fine and will return tomorrow about lunch time. Now, since we are talking about couples and stuff…Fleur, have you decided on where you want to get married at yet?"
Fleur looked at her fiancée before answering Harry. "I looked at the list you gave me and inspected a number of them, including Potter Manor, but none of them are what we are looking for. Harry, we were wondering if we could marry at Hogwarts. From the discussion we just heard, I assume that you and Ginny own the school now."
Harry and Ginny rose from their seats and grabbed Albus and Minerva before disappearing in a burst of flames and reappeared in Harry's office.
Kreacher was already in the room pouring out after dinner drinks to everyone. "Kreacher, please inform Remus and Dora that I need to speak to them immediately."
"Of course Master Harry, Kreacher will do as Master asks." Kreacher left the room and retuned a minute later with Remus and Dora in tow, both trying to straighten up their clothing.
After getting everyone seated, Harry spoke, "Remus, Dora, would you like to marry at Hogwarts sometime this summer?"
"Why do you ask Harry?" Remus asked.
"Well, Bill and Fleur asked if they could marry there at the castle and Ginny and I have discussed having a bonding ceremony for us, even though we really don't need one, and I am sure that Ron & Hermione would be interested in a wedding at the castle since Ron and Hermione are now engaged, or at least they better be, so…what do you think?"
Remus and Tonks spoke to each other for a few minutes before Dora spoke up. "We love the idea, but we have another idea. How about instead of 4 single weddings, we do a large group wedding with all four couples."
"I think it is a great idea, the castle could accommodate everyone and security would be high because of the castle itself." Albus spoke up.
"Well, let's get the rest of the family up here to discuss this. WINKY" The elf appeared "Winky, can you please ask Fleur, Moody and the Weasley Clan to come up."
"Of course Harry Potter sir" Winky disappeared a moment later.
"Harry, we should get a hold of Hermione and Ron too." Ginny said.
Harry nodded and opened the drawer to his desk and removed what Remus and Tonks recognized as a remote control. After pressing a couple of buttons, the ceiling and floor in the middle of the room opened up revealing what looked like two extra large pensieves. The one coming out of the ceiling was upside down and yet still held the silvery substance within it. With another push of the button, the office morphed into a comfortable sitting room with many couches and chairs.
Once that morphing was complete, Harry called out in a loud voice. "RON! HERMIONE! YOU BETTER BE DESCENT AND ANSWER!"
A moment later, the two large pensieves began to glow and an image began to form between the two. It was of two people sitting on a couch, holding each other while trying to fix their clothing. Soon the image cleared up and everyone in the room could clearly see Ron & Hermione.
Just as the image cleared, Fleur, Moody and the Weasley Clan all entered the room and took up seats while staring at the image of Ron & Hermione. While the room was still in shock, Harry explained what they were seeing.
"This is the latest in Goblin Communications, it is a holographic transmitter. Hermione has a smaller version which can be handheld or setup on a table for a longer conference call.
"We are currently working on including this technology into the Phoenix Pendants that we all wear. The basic charms are what allow you to speak your reports.
"Anyway, this is the largest working hologram transmitter or receiver currently in existence. Though there is one in the meeting hall and in the conference room, neither one currently works due to a lack of magic. Each one of these devices requires the equivalent of the magic contained with two hundred portkeys. Griphook wants to install a new heart stone here in Phoenix's Nest to power not only the communication devices, but also the wards, charms and other magics around here.
"Anyway I digress. I am also making sure a large one is going to be installed in Albus' Office and slightly smaller versions in all of the Professors offices for communication between themselves and eventually we hope every wizarding home in the world.
"Ron, Hermione; I first want to ask if there is anything that you want to tell the family?"
Ron and Hermione both turned crimson. Thanks to the hologram, everyone saw it and smiled at the couple.
"Yes, well…I asked Hermione to marry me earlier today and she said yes." Ron stammered out. The room was quiet for a moment before Molly burst into tears. She muttered about how she her little boys were growing up and getting married. Bill, Charlie, Percy who still needed a cane to walk, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny all rolled their eyes at their mother's antics.
"Congratulations Ron, you too Hermione; anyway, the reason why I am using this rather extensive power draining magical communication system is because Remus asked Dora to marry him and she said yes. Because there are now three engaged couples, we were wondering when you wanted to get married." Ginny said, gauging the reactions of her best friend and her brother.
"We really haven't had to think about it yet. I know that I want to marry her as soon as possible, but Hermione—"
"My mother and I spoke while my father was pissing you off in the wine cellar today. They have no problems with us getting married right away if we want. In fact my mum said that Harry had spoken about to her about the possibility of a dual wedding."
Everyone looked at Harry for a moment. Harry just smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "I know women always want to have their big wedding with the white dress and all the trim, so I thought that we should do it and who better than with Ron & Hermione.
"However, in light of Remus and Dora's engagement, it was brought up here that maybe we should have one large group wedding. Ginny and me, Ron & Hermione, Remus & Dora, and of course Bill & Fleur; that is, if you all want to marry together?"
Pandemonium broke out for a few minutes until Albus restored order to the room. After a brief discussion, everyone agreed that a group wedding was a great idea. The wedding would take place on August 6th and Hogwarts would provide the food and everything for the ceremony.
"Albus, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we would be honored if you were to officiate the ceremony and if Minerva would serve as our bonder." Harry asked the Headmaster.
"I of course would be honored to officiate the ceremony normally, but I have to decline in this case. First, since Harry is the Lord Protector of the Realm and a part of the royal family, Queen Elizabeth should be the one to officiate the wedding. I am sure that Minister Bones and Mackrack would be willing to perform the wedding bondings if you want.
"Secondly, as Harry has no other family, other than those who will be getting married or are otherwise involved in the wedding, Minerva and I would like to stand in the place of Harry's family, if that is alright with you Harry?"
"Of course thank you. I need to speak to the sovereign in a couple of days anyway so that will be fine."
Albus smiled and looked towards the others in the room. "Now, since the Lord Protector of the Realm will be involved in this wedding ceremony, there is quite a bit of protocol that must be dealt with in the planning coordination of the wedding.
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It had been almost two weeks since the four couples had agreed to a group wedding. Emily and Dan Granger were taking a portkey daily to Potter Manor after finishing with their last patients of the day. The Potter/Weasley Clan had relocated to the ancestral home of the Potters while Albus and Minerva moved to Dumbledore Manor. In the early evenings after dinner, Ginny, Hermione, Dora, Fleur, Molly, Andromeda, and Emily would discuss details about the wedding.
Most of the time, Minerva would floo over from Dumbledore Manor where she had moved into with Albus while the men would disappear into parts unknown. Most nights, Harry would head to Phoenix Nest with Remus and read over reports and do paperwork. Most of this paperwork revolved around the teams he sent out to locate Tom's Horcruxes and safe-houses.
Ron, his father, Bill, and Percy would normally head back to the remains of the Burrow and work a few hours on trying to clear out the rubble and work on plans to rebuild it one day. Because of the danger, they had agreed not to actively rebuild until after the war was over. However, Arthur and Molly had made detailed notes and plans on what they wanted to accomplish when they were ready to get started.
Dan Granger would often excuse himself to the Potter Manor Library to read a few books on different subjects. Potion's was by far his favorite subject and the easiest for him to learn since it normally didn't require any magic. Some nights Dan would accompany the Weasley men to the Burrow to help with the damage there too. After his encounter with Ron during that fateful lunch, Dan made sure to watch his tongue since Ron still hadn't forgotten, or completely forgiven him, not that he could blame him. In fact it was this stubborn streak that Dan loved, because it would take a very stubborn man to deal with his little girl.
Albus was spending many of his nights when Minerva was a way at his brother's pub, 'The Hogshead' where he would talk with Aberforth and rebuild the relationship that they had lost long ago thanks to the stubbornness that was a Dumbledore family trait. Albus learned that Abe had married and had a little girl. The little girl later married a man, Xenophilius Lovegood, and then had a daughter herself named Luna. Luna's mother, Abe's granddaughter, was killed when Luna was only two years old due to a spell that backfired when she was testing it. Luna was playing in the same room and saw her mother die. According to Abe, people thought that Luna was a little…off but was a sweet girl none the less. Many people thought that watching her mother's death had caused emotional damage to Luna, which led her to be off; Abe however knew that Luna was a latent seer. Dumbledore women, who were almost as rare as Weasley women, had the gift of sight to some degree.
Albus was floored. He had a great-grand niece who was attending Hogwarts. The one thing Albus always wanted was a family of his own, whether thru Aberforth or himself. Now, here was someone to carry on the Dumbledore bloodline. And if what Abe had said was true, her heart already belonged to a young Gryffindor whom was good friends with Harry and his friends, one Neville Longbottom.
The thought of little plant lovers with the Dumbledore Family Eye Twinkle made Albus laugh every time he thought about it, but it also made him very happy.
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During the day, Harry decided that everyone in the family under the age of 30 years old should workout out every morning in the training and weight rooms at Potter Manor. Even Charlie, who had returned to Romania long enough to pack his belongings, was now home and participating in the morning workout routine along with Bill and Fleur.
Charlie, who declined the offer to live in the Manor, was temporarily living with Fred & George in the Flat above Weasley Wizarding Wheeze's. Charlie was actively looking for a place of his own where he would have some privacy. When asked why, Charlie would always say 'Too many years living in a tent on the Dragon Preserve.' Fred and George thought it was so that he could have his long stream of women in his bed.
The week before, shortly after an order meeting, Albus approached Harry about an idea that he had.
FLASHBACK
"Harry, we know that you and Ginny are rather advanced in your studies, but some of feel that you could use some more training and certain members of the order could use some additional training as well."
"I agree Albus. What do you have in mind? Harry said, not ready for what he was getting himself, let alone the others, into.
END FLASHABCK
In the end, Remus, Dora, Minerva, Albus, Moody, Kingsley, and Molly Weasley agreed to work with and train the motley crew of under thirty year olds. Although Harry and Ginny were by the far the most advanced, they still trained with the others and enjoyed the extra practice. Remus taught advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry and Ginny absorbed the subject like a set of sponges, often times mastering the work they were given within moments. Dora taught martial arts and other forms of physical defense, which surprisingly Fleur and Bill excelled in. Albus taught the mind arts of occlumency and legilimency as well as empathy, which was a Dumbledore family power. Obviously Hermione was thrilled with these subjects but surprisingly was not the person who was the strongest in this field, that honor went to Fred and George who were already natural Occulmens. They were picking up on Legilimency quickly and were beginning to learn empathy and other Mind Arts.
Moody instructed them in battlefield magic and strategies. A good portion of this was history, which Professor Binns never taught in his classes. With Moody's first hand knowledge of the war with Grindelwald while serving as Albus' senior lieutenant, they were able to make comparisons and work on strategies to deal with the Death Eaters. This was of course the subject that Ron was the most absorbed in for obvious reasons. Besides his love of strategy and planning, Ron was also Harry's best friend and one of Harry's senior lieutenants, just like Moody was for Albus.
Minerva was not only teaching transfiguration to the group, but also working with them on their Animagus transformation. Harry and Ginny were already animagi and were helping the others with their first transformations. Harry & Ginny learned thanks to their soul bond was that there were better, long forgotten techniques that made the entire process easier, quicker, and less painful. Minerva took detailed notes on these new techniques because they were even better than what Minerva knew.
Harry and Ginny were mated pairs, meaning that whatever one was, the other was the mate. Their forms were phoenix, deer, lion, eagle, badger, snake, Hungarian Horntail, and shadow wolf. Hermione and Ron were owls and Lions, mated to each other. Fred and George were hyenas and lions as well, twins in every detail. Charlie had three forms; a phoenix, a Welsh Green, and of course a lion. His forms explained why he was good with the dragons. The only creatures dragons respected were animals of fire; other dragons and of course the phoenix.
Percy, who was working hard to regain what he lost regarding his family, turned out to have four forms. There was the Gryffindor Lion, like the others, a Barn Owl, a Weasel, and a raccoon.
Bill and Fleur were mated lions, like the other members of the family, but they also had separate forms. Bill was also a black panther while Fleur was a bald eagle, the national bird of the United States of America.
Kingsley was teaching stealth and tracking as well as weapons training. It was this subject that the elder Weasleys, Bill Charlie and, surprisingly, Percy, were well suited for. While Charlie was like a man possessed with the broad sword, Bill and Percy had a natural talent for the Japanese Katana. Hermione was a mistress with the staff while Ron was a master with the battle axes, Fred and George fell in love with daggers and other weapons of stealth such as throwing knives and stars.
While the other instructors were not a real big surprise thanks to their day jobs, the largest surprise was Molly Weasley. Molly was teaching Potions and covering potions that went well beyond NEWT level. In school, Molly Weasley nee Prewett had achieved 11 NEWTs; transfiguration, charms, potions, ancient runes, arithmancy, herbology, magical law, history of magic, defense against the dark arts, healing, and muggle studies while five months pregnant with Bill Weasley.
Molly and Arthur had married in secret shortly before Molly's 7th year at Hogwarts while Arthur joined the Auror Corps. under Alastor Moody. In April of her 7th year, Molly was attacked by some of Voldemort's supporters including a younger Lucius Malfoy. Being pregnant with Bill, Molly took her NEWTs from the hospital wing while Arthur quietly left the Auror Corps.
As an Auror trainee, Arthur knew he would not have made enough money to support Molly and the baby and so he took a job in the MLE. Even though it was low paying, it was enough to survive on for him and his little family. Thanks to Charles Potter and Albus Dumbledore, Arthur was able to buy outright the Burrow and build the first part of the home.
After having Bill, Molly intended to go to work for the Ministry as a lawyer, but these plans were foiled by Abraxas Malfoy and his son Lucius. Using their influence in the ministry, they barred Molly from ever working there thanks to evidence falsified implicating her in a love potion scandal that was actually started by Walburga Black, Sirius' mother. Molly accepted her fate and became a housewife, though secretly working on a number of projects including the Wolfsbane Potion and some spell creation for Albus and Charles.
While never getting paid the money she should have for her work, it was always enough to make sure that her and Arthur's family had food on the table, even if they didn't have enough to make sure everyone got new clothing and other items.
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It was during the first week of their training that Harry contacted Neville and Luna and invited them to join in their training. They both had been doing some light training with Luna's Uncle Abe since they returned from Hogwarts. After they arrived at Potter Manor, which was only about one quarter full, the two teens were tested to see where they were in skill level.
Neville and Luna were both on par with Ron and Hermione regarding general knowledge and talent, but Neville was a master with the broad sword, almost as good as Harry was. In fact, the people Neville would practice with were Harry, Luna, Ginny, and Charlie Weasley, who used his size and strength to his advantage. Everyone else, including Abe and Albus, were beaten regularly and easily by the soon to be Lord Longbottom.
Harry remembered that Neville's ancestor, the founder of his bloodline, was a sword master. After some gentle prodding, Neville said that his family had been graced with grace and the ability of swordsmanship.
"Neville, where in the hell did you learn this grace? I mean nothing personal, but you were always a bit of a klutz." Harry said one day after he and Neville had finished sparring as the training room repaired itself.
"About a year ago, I was visiting my mum and dad when I started getting some major headaches. When one of the healers checked me out, they discovered that I had a magical block on my power and on some memories. After discussing with it Gran, neither of us knew where this block came from and so we decided to have it removed.
"For some reason, when my parents were attacked…I repressed and placed some very strong blocks on my memories and in turn my own magic. After training with you and the DA in our 5th year, the blocks began to break down and well you know the rest.
"Luna also had similar problems like I did that same year. Her Uncle Abe removed her block about the same time I did. Only Madam Pomfrey knew the truth last year at school. We both needed regular screenings to make sure our magic didn't go wild and hurt us. I'm sorry we didn't tell you or the others, but…well I couldn't bring myself to face you and the others. You, Ginny, Hermione and Ron are my friends, and I respect each one of you I just didn't want to disappoint you."
"Neville, you are one of my best friends, we are of the same noble Gryffindor blood. We are brothers in arms and nothing you do will ever disappoint me or the others." Harry said while staring at the other man straight in the eye.
And so the group, which was officially named 'The New Marauders' grew to include Luna and Neville, who were now engaged to each other. Besides them, the Manor also played host to three more instructors; Augusta Longbottom, Matriarch of the House of Longbottom was coming by three times a week and was teaching Wizarding Etiquette, Dancing, and Arithmancy, Filius Flitwick was teaching Charms, and Aberforth Dumbledore was working with Albus on the mind arts. Luna already held mastery levels in Occulmency, Legilimency, and Empathy and was working on her telekinesis abilities and astral projection.
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It had been decided by the group to take their NEWTs early and not return to Hogwarts as students. Instead, the group would be returning as professors or assistant professors. Each of the assistant professors would teach the 1st thru 4th year classes, freeing up time for the professors to handle other matters. This was especially helpful for the four heads of houses. Hermione would teach Transfiguration, Ron would teach Charms, Neville would teach Herbology, Luna would teach Arithmancy, Charlie would return to Hogwarts and Co-Teach Care of Magical Creatures, Fleur and Bill, who would still be working for Gringotts, would be teaching NEWTs classes on wards and curse breaking, and Harry and Ginny would serve as the Lord and Lady of Hogwarts and work with Albus.
Harry and Albus met regularly with Minister Bones and discussed many matters of state. The Minister also met with her muggle counterpart at least twice a week to discuss different matters. Prime Minister Blair and his family now had a standing offer for dinner and the Bones Estate while Amelia and her niece had the same standing offer at Downing Street. Besides strengthening the bonds between the two governments, Amelia also went to work to clean out the ministry.
Thanks to the Order of the Phoenix, the MRG, and the goblins handling many of the security and police issues that the DMLE usually handled; Amelia was able to use Aurors and Hit-Wizards to weed-out corruption within the Ministry. Minister Bones was also able to put in place top notch people to run each department when the Ministry finally restarted. Since the day Amelia had become the Minister, the Ministry of Magic Building had been in a case of lockdown. Mackrack and Griphook offered office space within Gringotts Bank for the Ministry to operate from, which was gratefully accepted by the Minister. Amelia sent a small team to run what amounted to an information kiosk within Gringotts. It was staffed by some junior staffers that had already been cleared of any wrong doing. With the added protection of Gringotts, Minster Bones was not too worried about any issues on that front.
Minster Amelia Susan Bones appointed many people who were involved with either the Order of the Phoenix or the MRG to key positions in the new government. Alastor Moody was appointed Commandant of the Auror Academy, while Ted Tonks was appointed the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Percy Weasley was appointed Head of the Department of Magical Travel, which included broom regulation, floo services, portkey travel, and of course apparition testing.
Amos Diggory was appointed the Head of the Department of Control of Magical Creatures where he immediately fired the remainder of the staff and brought in people who did carry old prejudices with them. Amos also made Charlie Weasley and Hagrid members-at-large and in charge of any creatures within fifty miles of Hogwarts.
Amelia made sure that Walter Kilpatrick remained in his position as the Chief Unspeakable and Head of the Department of Mysteries. Walter had gone thru his own department and performed a major over hall of how his department worked and interacted with other wizards and witches.
Rufus Scrimgeour, after a long discussion with Minister Bones, Arthur Weasley, and Harry Potter, was appointed the Head of the Auror Office and given a short leash. Rufus might be old, but he was still one of the best Aurors in the Ministry and a damn good department head, just not a good Minister, which he wholeheartedly agreed with.
Arthur Weasley, the Vice Minister, was appointed by the Lord Protector of the Realm and could not be removed the Minister, which was fine by her. She knew Arthur would do a good job and was invaluable as one of the Minister's chief advisors.
As for the Wizengamot, with Albus' return from the dead, he retook his place as Chief Warlock. Harry appointed Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Filius, Fred and George to represent his seats on the Wizengamot. Ginny would of course represent the Houses of Potter and Gryffindor, Hermione represented the House Flamel, Ron represented the House of Azkaban, Filius represented the House of Ravenclaw, Fred represented the House of Slytherin, George presented the House of Hufflepuff and Remus, as the Champion of the House of Black, represented the House of Black.
Harry of course represented the House of Windsor and oversaw all sessions of the Wizengamot. Using his power, he ejected many of the Dark Lord's supporters and confiscated their lands and vaults. Their vaults, like those of confirmed Death Eaters, went to the Marauders Foundation, which was charged with helping out those who had been affected by Lord Voldemort. Because of these actions, the Wizengamot was slowly becoming an effective legislative body of the government again.
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Harry also met the Queen weekly. Harry normally took Ginny with him and then spent the day somewhere in the Muggle World with her afterwards. They had the Queen met at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Potter Manor, Gryffindor Castle, and Hogwarts Castle. The Queen was impressed with Hogwarts and was delighted when she was invited to the wedding.
Besides the social visits, Harry and Ginny also presented the queen with the recent history of the wizarding world. From the battles of Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore to the first war with Voldemort, Harry and Ginny spoke about everything they knew about.
The queen saw that the magical world was centuries behind the muggle and that gap was rapidity expanding. Soon it would be extremely hard to keep the magical world hidden from the muggles. Harry agreed and began to plan for life after Voldemort.