Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 11

The wedding ceremony went as beautifully as expected. Everyone said "I do" at the right time, no one interrupted, and the parents cried. Fleur's dress was almost as beautiful as her and Bill looked as handsome as ever. While the ceremony went on, the two of them looked at each other like they were the only people in the entire world despite the large crowd that sat before them. While I sat beside Harry, I continued to notice that he wouldn't stop staring at Ginny and it almost made me feel as though I was intruding on a moment between them when I noticed their lingering stares.

Only when it was declared that the pair was man and wife did everyone make a sound. As the two kissed, the entire congregation began to cheer on the newlyweds as the ceremony came to an end. The first person to rise from their chair appeared to be Auntie Muriel, who made it well known that she wanted to find a table to start eating as soon as possible. Only moments after did Bill and Fleur begin to walk back down the aisle and toward the area where the reception would begin. After they were off, everyone else began to move around and I found myself surrounded by so many people that I was not familiar with.

"I guess we ought to find out where we are supposed to be," Harry suggested.

"I hardly think it matters where we end up," I said. "Just look at all the people – no one will think twice about where we're 'supposed' to be."

Ron and Hermione were making their way over toward us and we all met and decided that we should hurry up and find a table while people were still standing around. If we were to get a table together, we needed to move fairly fast. As we began to walk, I noticed that Hermione looked as though she had been one of the many that had started crying during the ceremony.

"It was completely beautiful, don't you think?" Hermione asked us, as we were moving.

"Fleur looked marvelous," I said with sincerity. "But I was a bit disappointed in how short the ceremony turned out to be. All that time it took to prepare for the event and it hardly lasted twenty minutes."

"That's how a lot of weddings work," Hermione shrugged.

"Everyone knows that the party after the wedding is the best part anyway," Ron said.

"Well, it isn't like we've been to a lot of weddings," I said about Harry and me. "Not like the Dursleys fancied bringing us anywhere we didn't have to be."

"The reception should be lovely," Hermione said. "You just wait – you're going to love it."

We ended up finding a table all together by the time we made it to the next tent. I guess we hadn't put enough thought into how enormous the tent really was and that it would clearly fit all of us under it without any trouble at all. When we got in there, I began to scan the room to figure out where Neville had run off to, but I quickly found him next to the two people with the brightest robes in the room – the Lovegoods, of course.

"Can't say I've seen Neville look that pleased in a while," Hermione admitted as she looked over toward where I was looking. "I think Luna will be good for him."

"When did he start fancying her anyway?" Ron asked from across me. "I don't remember that really happening."

"Well, it isn't like that happens all of a sudden," I said. "I guess that it started to happen when we started the DA. But you can't tell him that – he won't hear of it. He thinks that no one notices the way he acts around her."

We quieted down when Neville became closer, but I couldn't stop thinking about how happy I was for him. The way that he looked at Luna brightened up the room and it warmed my heart to know that my dearest friend could find someone as wonderful as her. She may not know it yet, but she managed to capture his heart in a way that no one ever could. For once, he would finally be able to be happy about something in his life.

That's when it hit me.

What if something happened to him while we were on this journey? He finally had someone that he cared about and now he would have to leave her behind to come fight a battle that he didn't necessarily need to be a part of. But was it really my place to decide what was best for him? It wasn't as though he were a five-year-old child that was incapable of making his own decisions.

I did my best to avert my mind to other things when the music began to play for Bill and Fleur's first dance together as husband and wife. Everyone began to step into a circle around the dance floor as the watched the couple moved elegantly around the area together. As they moved together, I began to wonder if I would ever have this experience. While it had been offered to me before, I knew that it wasn't realistic to think about it at the time. However, with all that was happening, I hardly thought that anything was really realistic to put into perspective about my future (and my being seventeen years old might have put things into perspective as well).

But I still had to wonder if I would ever be able to have something this normal happen to me. And what about Harry? Ron? Hermione? Any of us, to be honest, had to be considerate about what we were going to be facing soon. There was no promise that we would make it another week, let alone make it long enough to see wedding bells.

For now, this would just have to do. I was happy for Bill and Fleur, honestly. Even through this mess that the world was going through, they were able to find each other enough time to be joined together in a ceremony.

When their song came to an end, another one began and others made their way onto the dance floor. When I saw Mrs. Weasley standing off to the side smiling at her newlywed son, I felt the need to go over and speak with her.

"I'll be right back," I told Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

Without another word, I stepped away from the table and made my way over to Mrs. Weasley. When she saw me coming, I noticed that she looked a little worried.

"Is everything okay?" she asked me.

"Everything's fine," I smiled at her. "Mrs. Weasley, I know that you've put a lot into this wedding and I just wanted to tell you that you did an excellent job – the wedding is perfect."

"T-thank you," she said, her voice cracking a bit.

She had never looked so touched in her life as she stepped over to give me a hug. I don't know what it was exactly that sent me over to tell her this, but I knew that it was something that she needed to hear. Mrs. Weasley always did everything she could to help the people around her and I never thought she got the recognition she deserved. Just this once, I wanted her to know that someone – even if it was just me – appreciated what she had come up with for her son and his new wife.

From over her shoulder, Mr. Weasley had a smile on his face that told me that I had done something right. When she separated from the hug, Mr. Weasley stepped over toward me and put his arms around me as well.

"Thanks," he said. "She really needed that."

"Well, she did do a wonderful job," I said.

"She did, didn't she?" he said. "I just hope now that she can calm down for a bit. Heavens knows she could go for a break after all the panic of preparations."

He finally stepped out of my hug and gave me another smile and then looked over to his wife. He held out his hand toward her and she took it gladly.

"Would you care for a dance?" he asked her.

"I thought you'd never ask," she smiled.

The two then walked away from me and made their way toward the dance floor. Looking at them dance together made me smile because of how happy they looked together. Even after all they had been through together, the spark of their relationship was still there and nothing could have made me happy for them.

When I stepped back over toward the table where I had been before, I noticed that Viktor Krum was now in our company. However, he looked nowhere as pleased as he had when he first arrived. Rather than a smile on his face, he now had a scowl as he looked forward into the crowd of people that were on the dance floor. It appeared that they had been talking about something before I had arrived, but I must have just missed it.

"Where did Hermione and Ron go?" I asked Harry.

"Ron asked Hermione to go and dance," my brother told me.

I raised my eyebrow and Harry smiled. There was no need in saying what we were both thinking. It was about time that Ron made some sort of move, but I – and Harry too – suspected that Viktor Krum's presence had something to do with that.

When I looked around on the dance floor, I saw them both moving about slowly as the song played on. Ron didn't see me, but Hermione managed to catch my eye and I gave her a wink. Her face went a little pink, but I could tell that she was as happy as ever with Ron dancing with her.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him as Viktor continued to stare out into the crowd with a look of distaste.

"Not at all," Viktor said as he abruptly stood up from his chair.

When the Quidditch player had exited hearing range, I sat down next to Harry and raised an eyebrow.

"What did I miss?" I asked.

"It was Luna's father," Harry said. "Apparently the sign that he's wearing on his necklace is the symbol of Grindelwald."

When I looked over at Mr. Lovegood, I noticed a small symbol that dangled on his chest. From this distance, it only appeared to be a triangle.

"Grindelwald…" I thought, trying to remember who that was. "I've heard that name before…wasn't that the wizard that Dumbledore defeated?"

"The very one," Harry said. "And apparently he killed a lot of people that Krum knew…I guess that he figures that Mr. Lovegood is mocking him."

"Knowing the Lovegoods, I hardly believe that," I said as I looked over at them. "I'm sure that it is just a misunderstanding."

"I thought the same," Harry admitted. "And I've found out who that Gregorovitch bloke is…"

"I'm sorry, who?" I asked.

Harry just looked at me as if the name would suddenly ring a bell, but I had no idea who he was talking about. If I had heard that name before, it had left my memory long ago.

"You haven't been hearing that name?" Harry asked as his eyes shifted around to make sure no one else was listening.

"You've been hearing a name?" I said, suddenly concerned. "From…him?"

I didn't dare say Voldemort's name out loud with this many people around. Even though I knew that people wouldn't be focusing in on our conversation, I didn't want to risk people hearing his name and suspecting anything odd from us.

"You haven't?" Harry asked.

"Not that I've noticed," I admitted. "Do you think it's important?"

"I'm not sure, but I guess that he's looking for him," he said.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"He's a wand maker," Harry said. "I remember hearing about him during the Triwizard Tournament when they were inspecting our wands – he was the one that made Krum's wand."

I suddenly remembered that we had seen a vision of Voldemort torturing Ollivander for information not that long ago. What was Voldemort trying to do? It couldn't be an accident that he was searching for people who made wands.

"What do you think he's looking for?" I asked. "A new wand?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," my brother admitted. "Think about what happened with my wand on him when we were making our way here – he must be searching for something more powerful."

"Is there such thing as a more powerful wand?" I asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Neither have I," Harry sighed. "I reckon we could talk to Hermione about it – maybe she's read up on something like that."

"Maybe," I sighed.

There really wasn't too much more to discuss on the topic since we had no more information than that. I had so many questions to ask, but I knew that none of them could be answered if we didn't know what Voldemort could be looking for. All that I could guess was just what we discussed – a more powerful weapon to use. But what could that be? What could be more powerful than a wand that specifically chose you?

When I looked back at Harry, I noticed him staring off to where Ginny was dancing with Lee Jordan. To be honest, I hadn't even realized that Lee had shown up to the wedding, but it wasn't like it made much of a difference. Even though I trusted him, I knew that it was best to keep my identity from as many people as possible tonight.

"Are you really done speaking to her?" I asked.

Harry looked at me and then back at Ginny. It was obvious that he missed her more than I knew, but I still had to ask.

"Ron doesn't want me to talk to her," he said. "He said that it's messing with her head."

"And when did he become in charge of who she can and can't speak with?" I laughed.

"But he's right," Harry said.

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"It isn't right that I lead her on like this," he said. "Our relationship can't go anywhere as long as…You-Know-Who is in the picture…it's too dangerous."

I knew what he meant, but that didn't make it any easier. Ginny was a smart girl and I knew that she understood that as much as any of us did and I was sure that it wasn't any easier on her than it was on him. Regardless, it was too dangerous for them if he didn't want her to get hurt. If Voldemort had any reason to believe that Ginny meant something to him, he would attack her in order to find the two of us.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"As long as she's safe, it'll be okay," he sighed. "That's all I can ask for, really."

He stared off toward her for a few more seconds before turning away.

"Well, enough of this – it's making me miserable," Harry said with a small laugh. "I'm going off to go find some food."

I nodded as he stood up and made his way over toward a waiter that held some food in his hand. As he began to bite into a sandwich, Neville and Fred stepped over to speak to him.

Just as I was about to start looking around for him, I noticed George making his way over toward me with a grin on his face that made me miserable that I had to act like I was a mere relative of his. Why did he have to be so damn charming?

"You're looking awfully lonely," George said with a smirk.

"Great observation," I said with a pointed smile.

I looked away from him and over toward the crowd of dancers that were moving around the floor with such ease. I was distracted at how well Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were dancing when I suddenly noticed George staring at me.

"May I have this dance?" George asked with his hand out toward me.

For a moment, I didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if this was something that was forbidden. After all, we would simply appear as cousins that were dancing at a relative's wedding. Was that really so odd?

"Just one, cousin," I said with emphasis.

"As you wish," he said with a wink.

He took me by the hand and escorted me toward the dance floor. As the slow song began to play, he placed one hand on my waist and held the other in his hands. We moved throughout the floor in a slow pace as everyone else was around us. For a moment, I just wanted to forget about everyone else in the room, but I knew better than to do that. I had to know my surroundings today and I couldn't let myself slip. It might have been easier to enjoy this moment if I didn't feel the stare of Vector Krum standing out in the crowd.

"He's staring," I said softly.

"Who is?" George asked as he casually began to look around as we continued to dance.

"Vector," I said. "He won't look away."

"I guess that he fancies you as much in this form as he does your own," George said with a scowl that he attempted to hide from me.

"Do you think he knows?" I asked, suddenly frightened.

It wasn't like he was looking at me in any sort of longing. The one Krum twin was staring at me as though he recognized me. Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but it was making me incredibly uncomfortable. If he recognized me, there might be a possibility that he wasn't the only one.

My eyes scanned the room until I found Harry sitting at one of the tables talking to a pair of people. The one man's face I didn't make out, but I recognized the one woman as Auntie Muriel. Judging by the look on Harry's face, they weren't having a very pleasant conversation.

"I can't tell," George said as he tried to look over at Vector without him noticing. "But how could he have figured it out?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "I'm probably just thinking into it too much.

For the remainder of the song, we both remained silent. I didn't really want to exit the floor when the song came to an end, but I was afraid that Vector was paying too much attention to us for me to get away with another dance. Although my appearance was supposed to make me seem like a cousin to everyone else, I couldn't be sure that it was fooling anyone. But how could a harmless dance give anything away? There was no way that Vector could read into something as innocent as that to make my true appearance shine through. But, to be safe, I figured that I might as well find somewhere to sit down.

"Stay away from Auntie Muriel," George said as he noticed where my eyes were lingering. "Barny is already trapped – there's no getting him out of there now without endangering our own sanity."

We found a seat next to where Fred sat with some of the French girls that had come from Fleur's side. It wasn't really a surprise that Fred had run off to speak to these women – they were absolutely gorgeous.

"Oh, and zis must be your twin," one of the girls said when they saw George sit down.

"The one and only," Fred said. "It's too bad that he didn't get as good of looks as me."

"Keep telling yourself that," George winked.

Fred continued to flirt with the girls as I stared over to where Harry was sitting. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I feared that something was off when I saw the look on Harry's face. Even though this wasn't his real face, I knew that something was wrong. It wasn't as if he was just having a casual conversation with the woman because he looked completely horrified with what was coming out of her mouth. The man that sat nearest to Harry had the same look and I suddenly recognized who the man was – it was Elphias Doge. While I wasn't really that familiar with him, I remembered that this was the man that had written Dumbledore's obituary in the paper.

"Abigail," George said next to me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine," I said quietly as I continued to watch my brother and Auntie Muriel.

I continued to look over at them until someone suddenly stepped in my view and blocked where I was staring. It only took me a second to comprehend who it was standing in front of me.

"Hello…Abigail, was it?" Vector asked.

"Oh…right, yes," I said. "And you're Vector Krum…"

"Could I have a word with you?" he asked.

"About what?" I asked, maybe a little quicker than I intended.

I noticed that George was staring over at Vector with a sudden look of concern. I didn't have to hear his words to know that he was thinking along the same lines as me. Why did Vector want to speak with me specifically? Had he unmasked my disguise?

"It'll only take a moment," Vector said.

"Fine," I said.

I stepped over toward Vector and away from Fred, George, and the French girls. Part of me knew that I would regret leaving their company, but I knew that it would be even more suspicious if I refused to speak with him.

Once we were a little ways away from where we had been, Vector spoke up.

"I can't shake this feeling that we've met before," he admitted.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"You seem so familiar to me," he said.

"I've only just met you today," I lied. "But maybe you saw me in passing before...I was at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament…perhaps you saw me there before?"

"It's not just that," he said. "You remind me of someone…"

"Oh…?" I said nervously. "I hear that a lot – I guess I just seem like one of those people."

"Emily Potter," Vector said. "Do you know her?"

"Um…you mean one of the Potter twins?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly. "I don't know her personally, but I've seen her around school."

"We used to talk, the two of us," Vector said. "And you remind me a lot of her, but I can't figure out what it is that makes me think like that."

"Maybe it's because I'm ginger," I suggested. "But I am a relative of the Weasleys, so…"

"It's not that," he said.

From behind Vector, I saw Harry stand out of his chair and begin to walk away from Auntie Muriel and Doge. That alone was enough for me to try to end the conversation as soon as possible with the man that stood in front of me.

"Well, I have no idea what made you think we were alike," I shrugged. "But I guess I'll see you around."

He looked like he was about to say something else, but I stepped away from him before he had the change to utter another syllable. Even though I was slightly concerned that he had put a connection between my disguise and my true self, I knew that Harry had just heard something that mattered much more that Vector Krum suspecting anything about me.

My brother walked away from the table in a daze, as if confused about something that he just heard. Not wanting to waste time, I stepped right over to him and made sure that people were out of earshot when I spoke up.

"What happened?" I asked.

He looked up at me and opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, but nothing came out. It was as if he was incapable of speech.

"Harry," I lowered my voice. "What did you hear?"

"It's just…" he started. "Dumbledore…"

"What about him?" I asked. "What could Auntie Muriel possibly have to say about Dumbledore?"

"A lot more than I could ever say," Harry said slowly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "It's just…I feel like we never even knew the man…the stuff she was saying…I had no idea…"

Our conversation was brought to a sudden halt when I noticed a large silver object coming through the canopy and into the tent where everyone stood. It only took a moment for the rest of the congregation to notice it and everything grew silent as people began look at it. When the dancers separated and made room for it, I noticed that it appeared to be a Patronus that took the form a lynx, but I wasn't sure who it belonged to until it opened its mouth to speak.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

My mouth dropped open and I looked over at Harry in fear of the words that echoed the voice of Kingsley Shaklebolt.

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