Chapter 34

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Weddings were apparently a really big deal in Indian culture. With the entire extended Patil family and both groom's families and their friends it was a huge wedding, and the Patils had obviously spared no expense, with a 3 day long traditional Hindu wedding as well as the civil ceremony. Harry and Hermione had been invited to the third day but Padma had written Hermione with a description of the wedding and a note explaining that the first two days of prewedding festivities were more intimate gatherings they'd decided to only invite the family to. They arrived at ten o'clock and as they were warned, were immediately directed to separate parts of the large park area. The Gryffindor boys were specifically invited as Seamus' guests while Hermione, Eloise, Elsie, Leanne and Lavender were invited to that morning's prewedding celebrations with Parvati.

Harry and the Gryffindor boys quickly took their places in the procession leading Seamus to meet his bride. Someone explained to them that this march traditionally went from the groom's family home to the bride's parents' home and then to where the ceremony would be held but this wasn't practical in more modern times when the bride and groom's families didn't live in the same village. Instead, the procession wound around the large park the long way to where they would meet the bride. As they looped around they caught sight of a similar procession led by Padma's husband's Terry Boot's family. Terry's procession had just the more traditional Indian drumming but Seamus was accompanied by violins as well though Harry didn't think that they were very well suited to the Indian style music but if the intention was to make a joyful cacophony, they certainly succeeded, and Seamus and his family seemed well pleased.

They arrived at the ceremony and Padma and Parvati were given away by their parents and grandparents. There was a long prayer Harry did not understand a word of then some ritual that involved walking around a small fire seven times. Harry tried to pay attention knowing Hermione would want to discuss it all later but it was difficult to follow since none of it was in English. He wondered how much of it Seamus and Terry understood. Had they learned the language or had the prayers translated for them or had they just been taught how and when to move and their actual responses, or was there a charm or enchantment that allowed them to temporarily speak the language. Harry wouldn't mind betting that Padma had demanded that Terry learn to understand a lot more of the ceremony than Parvati made Seamus.

There was a break between the double Indian ceremony and Parvati and Seamus's civil ceremony where most of the bride's guests disappeared and Seamus' guests were served with tea and ales. Dean explained it was to allow Parvati and her family to attend Padma's civil wedding elsewhere in the gardens. Harry spent the time with Neville, Dean and Ron, teasing the latter about finally joining the ranks of married men and questioning him how things were going.

"We're staying with the Midgen's which is probably for the best since they have more room and it's less chaotic than the Burrow. Eloise didn't think that she could handle living with us all. They're all nice and that but I've never stayed in someone else's home like that. Now I understand what Harry means about trying to keep on Hermione's parents good side even when we seem to be getting along," Ron complained.

"It's not easy, I thought it would help that Elsie's mum and dad chose me but her grandfather is the head of the house and he clearly said I was the best of the blokes they could find on short notice before Elsie was paired up by the ministry," Neville agreed sighing.

"Daniel Granger and I are getting along fairly well at the moment but I keep anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop," Harry said.

"Why don't you move out? Your house is close enough to finished to live in?" Dean asked. "I hope you're not avoiding moving in for our sake, though I will admit having the place to ourselves has helped enormously."

"It's not," Harry reassured him. "I wanted Hermione to have one full summer with her parents. She's been spending half her summers with me and Ron since she started school, and her parents blame me for that. They're glad to have us there and to get to know me a bit better, and they're going to be the only extended family my kids have so I want to be able to get along with them."

"Nonsense they'll have us Weasleys too," Ron said.

"Ron, if your mother ever considered me an honorary Weasley, and not just a potential future husband for Ginny, it ended when I married Hermione," Harry said bluntly.

"Mum's not the only Weasley who thinks of you as part of the family. Me and the twins say you're one of us," Ron retorted.

"We're Godbrothers, so that makes us family too," Neville said supportively.

"Yeah Nev, we're brothers," Harry agreed. "I don't know that I want to claim your Gran as my children's grandmother though."

Neville laughed. "She can be a bit overdemanding. She's looking forward to being a great-grandmother though," he said.

"Good for her," Dean said. "Leanne's grandmother swears she's not old enough to be a great-grandmother and Leanne isn't old enough to be married or become a mum. She's going to be disappointed in us when we do announce a pregnancy and she doesn't know about magic so we cant explain that we have to have a baby before she thinks we're old enough."

"Yeah being adults before we finished being teenager's sucks," Harry agreed.

"You always were the responsible one, rushing off to save someone, or the whole school," Dean said.

"That's not being responsible. That was getting caught up in the adventure and breaking a dozen or more school rules," Harry said laughing.

-o0o-

In contrast to the Hindu marriage rituals the civil ceremony had a very Irish feel. Dean was the best man for this part of the marriage and wore a green waistcoat and bow tie and Seamus's aunt played Irish tunes on the violin while they waited for Parvati to appear. She had changed and was wearing a traditional white wedding gown. Her hair was still up in the complicated braids she'd had it in with the gold barrettes. The vows themselves were the standard traditional English vows, neither had wanted to write their own and the ceremony didn't take long.

There was a short break before the reception started for the wedding party to take photos.

Parvarti was still wearing her white wedding dress but Padma was back in the traditional Lehenga, if she'd changed out of it for her civil ceremony at all.

Hermione warned Harry to eat lightly. "According to the menu there are eight courses so you don't want to fill up on the first couple."

Between each course there was some form of entertainment, there were the traditional wedding speeches from the fathers of the brides and grooms and the two best men as well as the grooms and brides themselves. Harry and Hermione found themselves explaining the Indian foods to their wizarding friends and warning them which dishes were likely to be spicy.

As the appetizer courses finished the twin's mother stood up and invited all the guests from non Indian cultures to get up and learn some of the Bollywood dance moves so they would be able to keep up on the dance floor later in the night. The instructors were good and made the lesson fun and not to be outdone Seamus family had also got up between the dessert courses and tried to teach the audience a basic Irish jig. Hermione enjoyed learning the new dance moves while Harry happily did his best not to embarrass her too much, and they could see Neville and Elsie laughing as they tried out the unfamiliar dance steps as well. Ron wasn't impressed but Eloise dragged him away from the table to try, telling him that the next course wouldn't be served during the lesson anyway so there was no point sitting waiting for it instead of having fun with his friends.

Harry and Hermione were exhausted from the whole day of festivities by the time they returned home but he had to admit that this was probably the most fun wedding they'd been to yet, there was no awkwardness of knowing that not all of the family wanted them there or grief at being reminded of the loss of the people he'd looked at almost as the next thing to family like there'd been at Ron and Eloise's wedding, no visible tension between the parents and newlywed couple like there had been at Dean and Leanne's and certainly none of the stiff formality that had stifled them all at Neville and Elsie's wedding. In spite of the fact that Harry knew that Parvati's parents had been less than thrilled with their daughter's choice of husband, the focus was on celebration the joy of Parvati and Seamus' and Padma and Terry's weddings and while the ceremony was unfamiliar it made an effort to include everyone. Harry was reminded of the pretty Indian Saris the twins had worn to the yule ball in fourth year, their hindu wedding dresses were even more elaborately embroidered and the separate short tops and floor length skirts were also more revealing which was a bit of a surprise since the twins always dressed so conservatively at school.

-o0o-

"So have any of these weddings given you ideas about what you would like for your own wedding next summer?" Emma asked them as they ate a late breakfast the next morning.

"Well Neville's and Elsie's wedding made me think we wanted something more casual than formal and we definitely want our friends there, and to choose which friends ourselves to make sure nobody is left out who shouldn't be. Padma and Parvati's double wedding made me think I'd like to incorporate something fun and I want it to feel like a real celebration so I'm not willing to have the whole extended family if they're going to spend the day or evening judging us for getting married so young, and Ron and Eloise's wedding also made me want to limit the guest list to those who aren't likely to start a family row during the reception. I don't want to deal with the stress of having to keep an eye on who is where so we can keep certain family members apart because they can't get along with each other and I don't want you and Dad to have to either," Hermione said dryly.

"And what are your opinions Harry?" Emma asked.

"I really enjoyed the Indian wedding traditions they seemed more joyful somehow though we didn't understand all of them, though I don't have any cultural background to include and I'm not religious, nor would I be anti a church wedding if that's what Hermione wants. I don't have any relatives to invite to the wedding at all so a big family wedding is going to be a bit lopsided but I do want something other than just a party with our friends, something a bit more special to look back on, I'm with Hermione that I don't want to have us or you spending the day waiting and watching for fights to break out or worried about trying to keep the peace, and I do want all our friends there. Other than that, I've not really thought much about an actual wedding. Whatever you and Hermione want will be fine by me.

"Do you have any friends or adults from outside Hogwarts that you would like to invite?" Hermione asked. "Is there anyone from Little Whinging?"

"No. I was never allowed to have friends in Little Whinging," Harry replied.

Emma was shocked when she heard them starting to make their guest list. She had known that they'd got married to avoid being forced to marry strangers they had nothing in common with and that Hermione had been afraid of who the ministry would choose for her and she'd met Neville and his wife Elsie who were clearly only just getting to know each other, but until then she hadn't fully realized the implications of the new law.

All their friends and classmates were written down in married couples, they were all married at the age of sixteen.

"Should we invite the Weasleys?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to invite them all?" Hermione asked.

"I want to invite Ron and Eloise and the twins and their wives, I don't care if we invite Mr Weasley, Percy, Bill or Charlie and I would really not invite Mrs Weasley and Ginny after all the fuss they made. But I don't want to offend them or cause more trouble for Ron," Harry replied.

"I don't think that we have an obligation to invite them, particularly after what Mrs Weasley tried to do with our invitation to Ron and Eloise's wedding," Hermione replied. "Are there any other adults you want to invite?"

"Remus," Harry said. "None of the other members of the order ever took much notice of us except at mealtimes and that was more for Mrs Weasleys cooking than to spend time with us."

"No you're right? Tonks was the only other person who spent time with us and I think that was because she was Sirius' cousin and had a crush on Remus but I suppose she's married now," Hermione said frowning.

"Would she have married Remus? Were they caught up in this ridiculous law too?" Emma asked.

"Tonks and Remus did get married to each other back when we did forTonks to avoid being matched up by the ministry, but I think that they might have separated. They certainly didn't seem to be together at Ron's wedding," Harry replied.

"Remus wasn't included in the marriage law because of his lycanthropy, and while a pre-existing marriage would still be accepted by the ministry Tonks was in danger of losing her job. Remus left her but she hasn't been forced to marry anyone else yet since she was already pregnant," Hermione added.

"I didn't know that. So it is Remus's baby?" Harry said.

"Yes it is, but if they don't get back together before the after the baby is born she will be rematched," Hermione said.

"So even if he loved this Tonks back, she will be forced to marry someone else?" Emma asked frowning.

"Yes, unfortunately but I don't think that Remus should have married her even if she was allowed to marry him and keep her job. He thought he was too old and too poor and too big a risk to her, and he used that as an excuse to leave at the first sign of trouble," Hermione said sighing. "I wonder who she be matched with, most of the other people her age would have already married."

"I don't know but it would be cruel to invite her and her husband if she's still in love with Remus," Harry said.

"So that leaves.

Remus

Ron and Eloise Weasley

Fred and Maude Weasley

George and Alicia Weasley

Neville and Elsie Longbottom

Dean and Leanne Thomas

Seamus and Parvati Finnegan

Luna and Anton Colbert

Katie and Eddie Carmichael

Lavender and Mattias Cadbury

What about Angelina or Oliver Wood?" Hermione asked.

"Angelina left the country to avoid having to marry a ministry match. Like Charlie Weasley, she can't come back or she will be arrested. She and Fred had just broken up when the law was announced and he was dating one of the girls who worked for him. He offered to marry her but I can understand why she wouldn't, and then Verity wouldn't marry him either after she found out he'd asked Angelina first," Harry said.

"What about Oliver? And his wife I suppose?" Hermione pressed.

"I haven't spoken to or heard from Oliver since the World cup before fourth year," Harry said.

"I'd also like to invite Padma and Terry Boot, and Lisa and Mandy Brocklehurst, they were a huge help with the research and rune circles and Lisa and Mandy don't get invited to many things with families," Hermione added.

"Yeah, that's fine by me. Have you heard anything about how their families reacted to their wedding?" Harry asked.

"No. They never said. I'm not even sure which family they're living with or if they're living with family," Hermione said.

"So that's 23 friends and our family. Is there anyone you would like to invite from Primary school?" Emma asked.

"No Mum, I didn't have real friends in Primary School," Hermione said.

Emma frowned at the list, if this was all their friends and Harry didn't have any relatives to invite she wouldn't be able to invite many of their friends and extended family without making the wedding seem more about her and Daniel than about Hermione and Harry it would also be too obvious how uneven the guest list was, she didn't want to give her family and friends a bad impression of Harry.

"The kid truly has nobody," Emma said sadly to her husband. "Other than his school friends there was only one adult on his guest list and Hermione told me later that she doesn't think he really deserves to be there either, though Harry wouldn't admit it. Apparently, his father was the only child of two only children who are all deceased, his mother's relatives dislike the magical world and his mother's only sister and her husband were abusive and his mother's parents also died before he was old enough to remember them, Remus is the only one of his father's close friends still living but Harry doesn't know him well in spite of the fact he taught at their school when Harry and Hermione were in third year. Hermione admits he was one of her favourite teachers but he really didn't bother to become a substitute father figure or even honorary uncle to Harry."

"What about his mother's close friends?" Daniel asked.

"Apparently Harry has no idea who his mother was friends with, other than one of their professors who truly hates Harry because of his father," Emma said sadly.

"Could Hermione try to find out for him? Without telling him perhaps so she doesn't get his hopes up?" Daniel suggested.

Emma frowned thoughtfully. "His parents were at Hogwarts together, Hermione said they started dating in their final year and got engaged straight after graduating. Someone at that school must be able to tell Harry who his mother's friends were. Neville's mum was Harry's godmother so was probably Lily's best friend but Hermione said that everyone who spoke about Lily said she was very popular, and friendly, she must have had other friends. I wonder why nobody has ever told Harry?

His father's friend must know, I wonder if him not saying anything to Harry has anything to do with why Hermione doesn't think much of his relationship with Harry."

"Hermione complained that he hasn't bothered to stay in touch more than once or twice since Harry's godfather was killed just over a year ago. He didn't even make sure that Harry got to go to whatever private wake or memorial they held. Apparently there wasn't a proper funeral because there wasn't a body," Emma replied.

Daniel frowned.

-o0o-

September first came and while Harry was keen to get back to school for the first time he had truly enjoyed his summer and was sad to see it come to an end. There would never be another summer quite like it. They wouldn't be returning to the Grangers except possibly for a few days over Christmas, after this year they'd be moving into No. 12 Grimmauld Place and starting their adult lives. Hermione and Emma had already booked the church and started planning the wedding for early July and as soon as they were married if not before, they'd have to start trying to conceive a baby along with most of their friends. There would be no big parties next summer like the weddings this year as a good proportion of the guests would be pregnant by the start of the summer and after that gatherings would include babies and young children.

Platform Nine-and-three-quarters was it's usual chaos, and if there were a few less students returning, it wasn't really noticeable in the melee of friends reuniting after a summer apart, parents tearfully or joyfully farewelling their children for another year and excited and nervous first years looking for someone to sit with. It was only as the train pulled out of the station and groups got organized and friends met up that people started noticing that some of their friends hadn't returned.

Hermione, and Ron had to head to the prefect meeting as soon as the train left so Harry found a seat with Neville and Eloise and they were soon joined by Dean who didn't want to be the only boy sitting without his wife. Seamus and Parvati and Lavender popped in for a visit as well, spreading the news to them about various weddings that had occurred at the end of summer and the rumours of missing students.

Most of them just nodded, accepting the news without comment, they'd found their own way out of the ministry matches and it was far from perfect but they were making the best of things but the younger students had seen the tension and the arguments as they'd settled into their marriages and had the time to make alternate arrangements. None of them were surprised that some had chosen to leave.

In spite of Ron's scathing attack on the idea of it being cowardly and un-Gryffindor to run from marriage like that, it was actually the house of the lions that had the most students not returning. Not actually so surprising when you thought about it, to act immediately and decisively, to throw yourself into a challenge without hesitation or planning out everything fully was definitely a Gryffindor trait. Harry secretly thought that at least half of Ron's anger was because his parents hadn't let him go and live with Charlie to avoid getting married like that. There were probably an equal number of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs planning to leave but those families preferred to make more thorough plans before committing themselves to action.

The professors didn't seem to pay any attention to the missing students, which Hermione thought was because they'd already known of their withdrawal from Hogwarts, but she and the other girls were concerned what the ministry response would be. So far the families leaving Britain had seemed to escape the notice of the ministry, or at least the notice of 'The Daily Prophet'. If the ministry was planning something to prevent more families from leaving, they hadn't announced it.

With the need for additional married quarters the whole configuration of the Gryffindor common room and dorms (and probably the others though Harry had no firsthand knowledge of them) had changed. The married quarters were slightly smaller but still the two rooms and private bathroom. The sixth- and seventh-year dorms had disappeared completely and Ginny was furious to find herself rooming with the fifth year girls who hadn't already married.

-o0o-

Dean was living in Hogsmeade with Leanne and flying up to the school on a broom Leanne had bought him specifically for that purpose each morning. He was eligible to eat all of his meals at Hogwarts but rarely turned up in time for breakfast and only stayed for dinner if Leanne was working late.

The first week of October he arrived one morning looking pale and shaky. Hermione wanted Harry to force him to go to the hospital wing to be checked over.

"It's okay Hermione. I'm not sick," Dean protested.

"Then what's wrong?" Hermione demanded.

"Nothing's wrong exactly. Leanne is pregnant," Dean replied.

Parvati and Lavender both squealed and congratulated him enthusiastically.

"You're not pleased? Is everything okay?" Harry asked softly.

"Yeah it's fine, as far as we know," Dean replied distracted. "It's just, it hit me all of a sudden, I don't think I'm ready to be someone's Dad!"

"How does Leanne feel about it?" Harry asked.

"Relieved more than anything. The pressure to have a baby before the law punished us for not doing our duty was huge. I know she would rather have completed her apprenticeship before having a baby, but she's come to terms with that. She says that at least now she can give her mentor a start date as long as everything goes well," Dean said.

"It will be the rest of us next year if the law doesn't change," Harry said sighing. "Hermione plans to go to muggle university next year, pregnant or not since she can't get a magical apprenticeship until after the baby."

"That's not a bad idea, Leanne's been bored out of her mind since I went back to school. She's got a part time job in a local café but it isn't what she wants to do," Dean replied.

"She could go to a college part time and still work in the café," Hermione said. "Or if she uses magic to make herself some fake O levels she might be able to get a better paying or more interesting job in the muggle world."

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.