Part 2
Chapter 15 - Looking Forward in Hope
Ron was sitting eating breakfast in the Hogwarts great hall, his fellow fifth year Gryffindor prefect disrupting that joyful process by draping herself all over him like a cheap robe.
"Aw, Won-won, When are you going to give me a chance? We could be good together, babe..."
The voice that came from behind Lavender obviously didn't share that opinion. "Brown, how many times have I told you to stay away from my boyfriend? Do I have to take my wand to you - again?"
By way of an answer, Lavender shot out of not only the seat beside Ron but the great hall too - allowing Susan to take her rightful place and kiss her boyfriend on the cheek.
An apologetic Ron wanted there to be no room here for any misunderstandings, he considered his girlfriend to be the best thing that ever to happen to him. "Sorry love, I was going to tell her to piss off - just as soon as I had swallowed what I was chewing. I know you hate me talking with my mouth full."
"For Lavender Brown, we can have an exception to that rule. Maybe getting her face and hair sprayed with a mixture of half-chewed sausage and scrambled eggs would stop her coming back all the time."
This had Ron chuckling. "I doubt it. The only reason she stopped chasing Neville was because he started dating Parvati. Apparently the Gryffindor witches have a code where they don't steal boyfriends from each other. When the witch is from one of the other three houses though, it would seem that all bets are off."
"Well I have no intention of changing out of Hufflepuff just to stop a randy Gryffindor bint chasing after my boyfriend, so I guess that just leaves cursing Lavender until she finally gets the message. I found a new one that will seal her lips together..."
"Oh that's just cruel, how is she supposed to gossip if she can't talk?"
This earned Ron another kiss from his girlfriend. They'd been together the entire school year, with Lavender Brown's continual flirtations and ultra thick skin being the only proverbial fly in the ointment. Susan was about to give her boyfriend some news when she noticed his attention was elsewhere.
"That's Hedwig - what's she doing here? Harry never uses her to deliver mail to Hogwarts, and it's less than two weeks since we last heard from them."
Susan just smiled, having some idea what news the snowy owl might be carrying. She fed the beautiful bird some bacon while Ron read the letter Hedwig had carried, his excitement at what he was reading clearly displayed for all to see.
"They're going to be back in Britain, and Harry says he'll see us soon."
This saw Susan nodding. "I got a letter from auntie this morning, he's finally agreed to pick up his Order of Merlin, First Class. With no sign of Voldemort since his attack on York, they must reckon it's safe enough to pay us a visit."
"Did Harry mention me?" Everyone knew who that snowy owl belonged to, and Ginny couldn't wait any longer to discover the latest news about Harry from her brother. Butting in on a private conversation was nothing new, not when she needed to know something about Harry.
A frustrated Ron answered his annoying sibling. "Ginny, why would Harry mention you?"
"He sent me a Christmas present."
"I think the label said 'from Luna, Harry and Hermione' - at least everyone else's present did - and that was five months ago. After seeing what you got, I'm also positive one of the girls picked it. I've told you before, Ginny, Harry and you is so not happening - get over it."
As Ginny flounced away to the other end of the table in the huff, Ron returned his attention to Susan. "They were all pretty adamant about staying where they were, even being away for Christmas didn't put a dent in that. I wonder what's changed?"
-o- previously -o-
Sirius was laying in bed beside a beautiful woman. It wasn't the first time in his life this phenomenon had happened, though wishing he could wake up beside this particular one every day for the rest of that same life was certainly a first for the self-styled Lothario of the marauders. Claire however wasn't as asleep as Sirius thought, she caught him staring. "See anything you like?"
"If I said everything, I wouldn't be lying."
"Sirius, after the perfect day you gave me yesterday, there's no need to butter me up today. Shopping, dinner, a marvellous show and then spending the night at the Ritz - things like that can go to a girl's head you know."
"I was hoping so because there's something important I really need to tell you - and I want you in as good a mood as possible before I do."
"Oh hell, Sirius. You are married, I knew it! All the good ones are taken…"
This had the marauder smiling, though still somewhat nervously. "You've already met the only three women in my life, Claire, and I'm not married to any of them."
"You told me about Harry's parents being murdered, and you ending up in prison because of it. Surely whatever you have to tell me can't be worse than that nightmare? Unless you lied to me about that?"
"No, unfortunately every word of that is true. I think it would be much easier just to show you. Let's get dressed and I'll take you somewhere special for breakfast. I promise all your questions will be answered then."
Nodding in acceptance, Claire had a question she needed answered now. "Just how special is this place? I mean, what's the dress code?"
"This is the most special place in the world to me, and the dress code is whatever you're comfortable in. I will be wearing similar to what I was shopping with you in yesterday, whatever you have with you is fine by us."
"Us?"
"You'll see." With a morning kiss, Sirius got up and started pulling on clothes.
Reckoning that if she trusted Sirius enough to let him spend nights at her flat in Newhaven, she could trust him in this. Claire quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose top, sandals completing her simple but still stylish ensemble. She was about to ask Sirius if she would need a jacket when his arms wrapped around her waist from behind. For some reason, he started singing a country and western song.
"Country roads, take me home..."
At that, Claire felt as if a giant hook had grabbed her midriff and jerked her clean off the planet. Her head was spinning as she tried to scream - before the spinning suddenly stopped. She found herself sitting on a cool marble floor with Sirius beside her. Sirius was also the only thing she recognised - It didn't appear as if they were in the Ritz anymore, far less London.
"Claire Munroe, my name is Lord Sirius Orion Black - and I am a wizard. I'm also madly in love with you, and have been for months..."
At that, people started appearing around them and the woman Claire knew as Emma didn't seem to be happy. "Sirius, what have you done?"
She felt herself go limp after that. Next thing the bemused optician knew, she was waking up on a couch with a cold cloth on her forehead.
"Are you feeling better, Claire? I swear Sirius is a twelve year old stuck in a man's body. What was he thinking of, scaring you like that."
"Where is he?"
"Oh, he's currently getting strips torn off him by Harry and the girls. Those three are the only ones he listens too - apart from you of course. All we've been hearing from Sirius for about the last eight months or so is Claire this and Claire that. We've all been at him to tell you the truth, you certainly deserved to know, it's just his method we object to."
"So he really is a ..."
Seeing Claire couldn't bring herself to say the word, Emma helped her out. "A wizard? Yes."
"And you?"
"A dentist, Dan too. Although our Hermione is a witch, Luna as well and Harry is also a wizard. Dan and I had our own dental practice before all this kicked off, but I wouldn't change our lives now for anything. We've been very happy here."
Glancing around, Claire just had to ask the obvious question. "Where is here?"
"If you look out that window, Mount Vesuvius fills half of it. You're now in southern Italy."
A table with a tea set on it appearing beside Emma was further proof to Claire that magic did indeed exist. Emma proclaiming 'Thank you, Dobby, we'll introduce you and Winky later. Our elves have more sense than Sirius' was just something else added to the list Claire needed to ask about. As Emma helped her sit up before pouring a cup of tea, a sheepish Sirius entered the room - followed by three teens.
"Hi love, how much trouble am I in?"
"Well you're certainly in the doghouse for that stunt..." As this reduced everyone to tears of laughter, Claire was left wondering just what was so funny.
Harry was enjoying his godfather's discomfort, Sirius certainly played enough pranks on them for this to be considered some payback. "Go on Padfoot, you might as well show her everything. At least this time Claire's already sitting on the couch."
Thinking that an optician struggling to believe her eyes was such a bad pun occupied Claire's mind, and saved it from shutting down again. The man she was sure she loved had just changed into a scraggy black dog. Smiling as the animal then tried to nuzzle into her, Claire couldn't help her quip. "Why is there never a rolled up newspaper around when you need one."
Quick as a flash, Hermione, Harry and Luna all had wands out as three rolled up newspapers appeared beside Claire.
Seeing her laugh at that, Padfoot became Sirius again - though he was still trying to snuggle into Claire. "So, am I forgiven?"
"Not even close! You promised to answer all my questions, and my list is growing by the minute. You do that, and then we'll see about forgiveness." Looking around the beautiful room, Claire was seriously impressed. "And here was me thinking getting taken to the Ritz was impressive."
This at least saw Emma relaxing at how well Claire was taking the news. "Thank you, we like to think of it as home - a home you're very welcome in."
Emma and the girls then gave Claire the tour of the villa, leaving Sirius to have a chat with his godson.
"So you finally did it…"
"If she'll have me, Claire is the one. You've already reached an age where you don't really need me as a godfather, perhaps it's time to have some younger ones toddling about the villa…"
"Sirius, I will always need you in my life. You've talked about Claire so much we all knew this was coming. That she didn't run out of here screaming is a good sign, then again she's still to be introduced to Moony…" Harry had sensed the other marauder entering with Dan, hence his remark.
"Hey, I've done nothing… Sirius, what are you doing here? I thought you were planning on spending the entire weekend with Claire?"
"Oh, I think that's still Padfoot's plan. He just used his port key to bring Claire here. Poor woman went from knowing nothing about magic to ending up sitting on our floor, having been in London seconds before. I have to say, she took it well."
Dan and Remus had gotten into the habit of taking a hike after breakfast, thus they only took a moment to give Sirius grief over his actions before heading off for a much needed shower. They didn't usually have visitors to the villa and wanted to make a good impression.
Sirius though had something important he needed to say to Harry while he had the chance, and it was just the two of them. "If things go as I hope, I intend to ask Claire if she'll marry me. This will mean I can no longer be head of the Black family though, not after marrying a muggle. That places you in the hot seat."
"What will that mean?"
"Well, for a start you'll need to marry a pureblood - or Draco becomes Lord Black. Just as well we both know a young pureblood witch who would simply love to apply for the job. Of course, being the Head of the Potter family too, there would also be a vacancy for a Mrs Potter to continue that line - with no blood biased on the recipient of that position. Again, we both know an outstanding candidate who would like nothing better than to become Mrs Potter."
It was with a heartfelt hug Harry thanked his godfather for that news. The trio's dreams just took a massive step not so much toward being achievable - all three were so close now they were always going to be together - but this gave them a legal method that was steeped in respectability.
Claire reappeared, now changed into borrowed shorts and a sleeveless top similar to what the other three ladies were wearing. Harry then introduced her to the two missing members of their family, Dobby and Winky.
He was always going to have his request granted but Harry introducing them as the best two elves in the world meant an early lunch on the terrace was prepared immediately. Dan and Remus joined the company for what would prove to be an informative lunch, and of course none of them were going to resist any opportunity to tease or embarrass Sirius.
Since everyone there recognised a certain mutt was desperate for Claire to become part of their growing family, the decision to leave nothing out was unanimous. Claire's introduction to magic might well have been a portkey into the unknown but for her to stay, she really needed to know what she was letting herself in for.
As the day progressed through afternoon and into evening, so the tales being told got darker too. Murder and mayhem were almost becoming commonplace by the end. Mentioning the attack on York really brought it home to Claire just how dangerous their world was, the entire country had mourned over those losses.
"So my government is involved in this too?"
"Our ministry were left with no option but to approach them with the truth. The fact that Dumbledore had been Minister of Magic for less than a week at the time, and his ministry was also executing every guilty Death Eater they could capture, bought the ministry some leeway. That they then organised the best stonemasons in the world to help repair York Minster, and also made a large contribution to the victims fund, didn't do any harm either. I read that people were delighted by the speed and quality of the repair work, I wonder what they would think if they discovered most of the work was being done by goblins." Sirius was growing concerned. Claire appeared to be becoming more and more disillusioned with what she was hearing, and no one there could really blame her.
"Sirius, I'm sure I love you. I'm just not sure I can take all this on…"
As Sirius floundered, it was Emma who came to his rescue. "We have no intention of taking all that on either, hence why we are currently sitting in this beautiful villa. When we left you that day in Newhaven, we really didn't have a clue where we were going - other than boarding the ferry out of Britain…"
"…and finding somewhere I could buy a phone to contact you." Sirius' interruption at least reintroduced a smile to Claire's face, so he kept going.
"We were like nomads, traveling wherever Dan pointed that wonderful vehicle of his…"
Emma and Hermione couldn't hold their laughter at this while Dan pretended to be in the huff, Harry then explained their reactions to a once again bemused Claire. "Sirius and Remus were fed-up being stuck in the back for hours at a time, they magically redesigned the inside of Dan's beloved Range Rover - you could probably hold a dance in it now."
Luna was now giggling too. "It took Emma and Hermione to convince him that, far from being ruined, he now owned the most exclusive Range Rover in the world. It was touch and go though - Remus and Sirius were nearly left to walk their way across Europe."
Sirius chose to ignore that distraction and concentrate on what was important. "The only time we stayed in the one place for any length of time was when I left to visit you. It wasn't until returning from one of those visits I realised we had stayed here longer than anywhere else. We then started looking for a house here we could live in - and we've been here ever since. None of us have any intention of living in Britain until this problem is solved, we would be hoping you could join us here - permanently."
"You're asking a lot, Sirius. My work, my mother…"
"Your mother would be welcome here anytime and, as you found out this morning, visiting her whenever you wanted to wouldn't be a big problem either. As to work, we spent our time here teaching these three. They have a couple of tutors for magical subjects neither Remus nor I felt confident enough to teach them, plus Emma and Dan give them classes in subjects they don't teach at magical schools..."
Emma again tried to help Sirius, having a better understanding of what Claire was facing here. "Dan and I are still medical professionals, we're treating this as a sabbatical from dentistry. We have no idea how long it will take for the current situation in magical Britain to be fixed, or even if it will be. If it takes us spending the next couple of years here while our children become adults, well that's hardly a horrible chore. Luna is just the youngest, she'll be seventeen next September, we intend to keep them safe until that time then all sit down and see where we are by then. That will be a discussion for all the family, that same family all hopes you'll be sitting down having that discussion with us."
Claire turned to stare into those eyes she'd fallen heavily for. "All I can say at the moment is I will certainly give your offer serious thought." While this remark was met with groans around the terrace, Sirius was now the proud owner of a wide grin.
-o- present -o-
The hall had gone strangely silent, allowing everyone not already facing the doors with their jaws dropping to hear Malfoy's comment.
"So, Potter, have you decided to grace us with your presence again?"
Ron spun around so fast he could have given himself a whiplash injury, and he wasn't alone. Every pair of eyes in the great hall were now focused on the three people who were just entering the hall. The trio had gone for a dress code that was smart but casual, muggle of course. Harry's navy trousers and pale green shirt just seemed to emphasise the colourfulness of Hermione's sky blue and Luna's yellow sundresses. Considering every other teen in the hall was dressed in black robes, this colourful statement alone declared they were different.
Bumping into into Malfoy and his cronies was always going to happen, it was just their bad luck that these were the first people the trio walked into. Knowing this meeting was inevitable, Harry was prepared.
"Mr Malfoy, you have my belated condolences for your loss. We now share something in common, the Dark Lord made both of us orphans. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones to suffer that fate."
Harry had an arm around each of the girl's waists, he used one of those arms to pull Luna slightly closer for a brief and gentle kiss before returning his attention to Draco. "I know we were never friends but I'm hoping this common ground will at least allow us to work together in this situation we find ourselves in."
A cautious Draco asked the obvious question. "And just what situation is that?"
"Sirius is currently in Britain because he's getting married this weekend. Due to the blood status of his fiancee, he was forced to relinquish his position as head of the Black Family. I am his appointed heir, I was confirmed as the new Lord Black at Gringotts this morning. I know the arrangement Sirius had with you and I see no reason to change anything. If that agreement is still fine with you, let's shake on it now." Harry took his right arm from around Hermione and publicly offered his hand to Draco.
The blond Slytherin stared at the offered hand, his mind shooting back to offering Potter his the first time they met on the express. He couldn't help but wonder how different things might have been if Potter had taken his hand that day. There was a part of Draco who wanted to throw that incident back in Potter's face, and tell him what to do with his offered hand - that was the old Draco though. This Draco knew that refusing the hand that controlled your future would be the move of a petulant child - he had been forced to grow out of that mode. The only way he was ever going to get back on his feet was when he could take control of the Malfoy fortune, a fortune that was now being administered by the person who had just offered his hand.
With the entire great hall as witnesses, Draco Malfoy shook the offered hand of Harry Potter. "I think we are both different people since the last time we tried this, I know I am. I don't think our views on our magical society will ever match, but I'm willing to agree to disagree over that."
Harry returned the firm handshake. "I'll happily accept that. We have government and laws in this country, as well as established procedures already in place for when groups of British citizens want to make changes to the way we live. Those changes will never be brought about at wand point, no matter who it is holding that wand - or what changes they want to make."
Nodding his acceptance of that, Draco, Pansy, Greg and Vince continued on their way out of the hall. It then appeared as if the visiting trio were about to be swamped until Harry held his hand out in the universal sign for stop.
"Guys, be with you in a minute. There's something we need to do first." They continued on to the staff table. "Headmistress, we're hoping the Minister warned you we were coming?"
"Yes, Mister Potter, he floo-called this morning. Can I say it's nice to see the three of you back in Hogwarts, and looking so well."
"Thank you, Headmistress, our new lives suit us. Can I just say it's Lord Harry Potter-Black now, along with Hermione Granger and Luna Potter." With a nod, that was acknowledged and they were then free to join their anxiously waiting friends.
After what seemed like hundreds of greetings, they found themselves once more sitting at the Gryffindor table where Ron was first with a question.
"While it's great to see you, what are you three doing here?"
"Well, as I said to Malfoy, Sirius is getting married on Saturday. It didn't take much tweaking of the wedding date to put us in Britain at the same time as the O.W.L. exams - and my girls love their exams - so here we are."
"You travelled half way around the world to sit exams? Bloody mental!"
Since Hermione knew Ron thought places like Paris were the other side of the world, she didn't correct him over that. There was no way he was getting away with that exam quip. "It's important we sit exams, especially because we're tutored. We need to know what level we're at..."
Harry interrupted her. "...and it gets us out of wedding preparations. Trust me, exams are preferable to that."
Ginny hadn't been able to take her eyes off Harry since he entered the great hall, she wasn't alone in that though. While she had thought Harry looked good before, this version was drool-worthy. That gorgeous dark hair was longer, now touching his shoulders. Those same shoulders were broader and encased in a green silk shirt that left nothing to the imagination. Those trousers too should be illegal, he appeared to have been poured into them. With no glasses, that famous scar seeming much fainter and a beautiful tan that just completed the entire package. This was one package Ginny would just love to take her time unwrapping, even if only to discover how much of Harry's body was actually tanned.
Having listened carefully to every word Harry had said to Malfoy, Ginny thought there might actually be a way for her to do that unwrapping. She also decided to get her bid in first, before anyone else thought of it.
"Harry, if you need a pureblood to be your Lady Black, I'm available." She ignored Ron hitting his head off the table, all Ginny's attention was on Harry.
All Lavender's attention was now on Harry too, totally ignoring the beautiful witches sat on either side of him. The news of his return had swiftly drawn Lavender back into the great hall. "I'm a pureblood too, Harry, and here if you need me..." She didn't actually say as Lady Black, leaving the invitation rather open-ended - and herself wide open to being cursed by a pair of visiting witches.
Harry however only had eyes for the witches at his side. "Sorry ladies, that vacancy has already been taken. Miss Luna Potter has already done me the honour of agreeing to become my Lady Black shortly after her seventeenth birthday."
As Harry lovingly kissed the future Lady Black, it was left to Ron to ask the awkward question. With Hermione sitting smiling at the kissing couple, this gave him the courage to do so. "Are you all right with this? I thought Harry was your boyfriend?"
Smiling at her redheaded friend, Hermione gave the answer she knew might confuse their friends. "All I ever wanted was to be Mrs Potter. Harry asked me to be his wife, and of course I said yes. We're getting married in September, after I become seventeen. That idiot Fudge making Harry an adult means he only has to wait for us coming of age."
Harry was now kissing Hermione, to the total amazement of everyone watching. It was just a short kiss before Harry turned back to their Hogwarts friends. "At least Umbridge made sure Fudge got what he deserved. I hope they're sharing a cell, those two deserve to spend the rest of their lives together. Ron, I need a best man for that big day in September, you up for it mate?"
Luna couldn't help but giggle at all the chins hitting the table, she mischievously upped the ante. "Do a good job, Ron, and you might get asked again for our wedding next September..."
All three were now laughing at the confused expressions facing them.
"Two wives?"
"Yes, Ginny, and all of us are adamant there won't be a number three. I have two wonderful witches who both unbelievably agreed to marry me, that's an embarrassment of riches whichever way you look at it. So mate, you up for giving best man a shot?"
Still in shock, Ron could only nod. This had Harry reaching over the table to shake his hand while Hermione pressed ahead with plans they had already made. "Susan, I love the effect you're having on him. We always knew there was a good wizard in there somewhere, it just took the right witch to bring it out. Ron's a keeper..."
This jolted Ron out of his shock-induced stupor. "Okay, okay, way too much there. Luna's sitting her O.W.L.'s a year early, Harry's marrying two witches and, strangest fact of all, Hermione Granger just cracked a quidditch joke! Who are you three, and what have you done with my best friends?"
This had everyone laughing as Hermione came back at him. "Thanks for proving my point, Ron. What I was going to do, before being so rudely interrupted, was to ask if Susan wanted to be one of my bridesmaids - Luna obviously being the other."
A surprised and delighted Susan quickly accepted, putting Harry in to bat again. "That still leaves me short of a groomsman then, you fancy helping me out here, Neville?"
If Susan was shocked, then Neville was flabbergasted. "Me... Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure, well?"
The massive smile that illuminated Neville's face was all the answer the trio needed. While a crushed Ginny slinked away, someone else had a question she wanted to know the answer to. Figuring her former dorm mate wouldn't provide an answer without her using anything less than the torture curse, Lavender thought the younger blonde was fair game to being put under a bit of public pressure. "And what will you be doing with your nights, Luna, after these two get married in September?"
The unbelievably crass question saw deep intakes of breaths being taken all around the trio as gasps of disbelief could also be heard inside the hall. If Lavender thought she had picked on the weakest member of the trio though, she was about to discover there wasn't one. The witch Hogwarts once knew as Loony Lovegood hadn't existed since the day she became friends with Harry and Hermione - Hogwarts was about to discover that.
Luna's gaze became steely grey as she focused on the nosy witch. "Miss Brown, to my knowledge you never once spoke to me in the three years I attended Hogwarts. What gives you the right to think you can then ask me a very personal question, not even in private but in front of everyone too?"
Seeing the hostile glares coming from all directions, Hermione appeared ready to scalp her former dorm mate, Lavender started to back-pedal. "Eh, I just wanted to know..."
"I would like to know what's going to be in the charms paper we're going to have to sit shortly, I think it would be extremely impolite of me though to ask Professor Flitwick or the examiners that question - don't you think?"
"Oh this one just doesn't think, and an 'extremely impolite' won't get the message across, Luna. Explaining in language even a child could understand that Ron's my boyfriend has made no difference to her either, I've had to take my wand to Lavender to demonstrate when she's crossed the line into inappropriate - a line I'm not even sure she knows exists."
Without anyone even seeing how she managed it, Luna's wand was in her hand. "I can easily do that, and I live with two marauders so know some brilliantly wicked curses. Padfoot and Moony make the Weasley twins appear as if they're not really trying."
With the former Ravenclaw's wand now pointing right between her eyes, and no help coming from her housemates, Lavender again took the wise option and got out of there. This resulted in much laughter and even some cheering. Parvati was sitting beside Neville and shaking her head, her friend had really lost the plot lately.
"I can't believe she actually said that out loud, sorry guys. Hermione - you look amazing! You too, Luna, I just don't know you well enough to really comment. Harry, whatever you're doing - it's certainly working. While you're now hot, you've missed you're chance - I'm with Neville now."
Parvati's remarks opened the floodgates and the banter and laughter was soon flowing, the trio easily holding their own. At the back of Harry's mind though he was wondering if it was right to deprive his two ladies of this. The letters from Ron and young Abi had kept them informed of all the positive changes happening inside Hogwarts under McGonagall, you could feel the different atmosphere the moment you entered the castle. A nudge from Hermione got his attention.
"This is nice, Harry, but I prefer what we've got."
Luna had of course picked up on this too. "You know she's right - she's always right. Hermione and I would need to use our wands every day, chasing away the witches drooling over you."
"I've seen more wizards than witches with drool running down their chins, and I don't think that's because of me. You two lit up the hall from the moment you walked through the doors. Then again, you light up my life every day you are both in it…"
Parvati certainly wasn't the only one listening in, she was though first to comment. "Smooth, Harry, really smooth. Neville, Ron, I hope you're both taking notes?"
"Hey, I'll have you know Susan had me working on my charming right up until curfew last night."
Hermione was enjoying the banter and again pitched right in. "At least she's got you studying, something I could never manage."
"Susan has methods of persuasion you never tried…"
"Just because she never tried them on you, Ron, doesn't mean Hermione doesn't posses a full range of wonderful methods of persuasion. Her methods of persuasion are so good, I'm sitting ancient runes and arithmancy too at the end of the week."
"I'll say it again, who are you and what have you done with my best friend…"
Somewhat unbelievably, it was a very happy and relaxed group of fifth year students who left the great hall to go and face their first O.W.L. exam, the written portion of their charms exam.
The trio had made sure to let Abi know they would catch up at lunchtime, Abi and her family would be receiving an invitation to the Potter wedding too. Parvati had also found herself added to that exclusive list, though Lavender's name would now have a score right through it. Ginny was more of a problem however, since the rest of her family - sans Percy - were going to be invited. They would just wait and see how things settled down over the exam period, though the trio would not be staying in Hogwarts - rather returning to Grimmauld Place every night.
-oOoOo-
Ginny was in a toilet, sobbing her heart out. All those hopes and dreams that sustained her while growing up had just come crashing down around her - shattering Ginny to her core. Even when Harry was taking two wives, she still wasn't going to be one of them - that was just too cruel. No, what was really cruel was having to accept Luna would be one of those wives.
How in the name of Merlin had Luna managed that? This was the witch who was so strange, the entire school shunned her. To go from that to marrying the hero of their world, and becoming a Lady to boot, was simply unbelievable. Watching as Harry had kissed Luna was like salt being rubbed into the open wound that was her broken heart.
Ginny's sobs were interrupted by a voice outside the cubical door. This was not someone here to offer her support however, the witch on the other side of the cubical door had an entirely different agenda.
"Aw, the brave Gryffindor reduced to sobbing in a girls' loo by a loony former Ravenclaw - that's just pathetic. I heard a rumour this is how Granger became friends with Potter in the first place, when he rescued her from a toilet after a troll got in the castle. I don't think he'll be crashing into this one to stop little you from sobbing your heart out, I watched him leave the great hall with a girl on each arm and a smile on his face."
Recognising the voice, Ginny thought history just might repeat itself. This situation now had all the right ingredients of that story, Millicent Bulstrode wasn't nicknamed 'the troll' because she was petite and dainty. "What's it to you, Bulstrode? Shouldn't you be at that exam too?"
"I have more important things to do than sitting exams I know I'm gonna fail. With my father gone, I can't afford to come back here for my N.E.W.T.'s anyway. I want to leave here with at least a bit of revenge, and you can help me do that..."
"I will never help anyone hurt my Harry..."
"Ah, but that's the problem - he's not your Harry. He never will be either, not with Lovegood in the picture."
"What about Granger?"
"Please, use what little sense you have. Even in Slytherin, we couldn't miss that those two were always going to get together. Take Granger away and he would simply marry the looney. To become Lord Black, he needs to marry a pureblood. Granger is no threat to that position, it's the looney that's stopping you realising your dreams of marrying Harry Potter. Waking up beside your prince every morning, with being a Lady thrown in too..."
The crying from the other side of the door had greatly reduced since she started talking, Millecent now pushed for her goal. "You interested, Weasley, or will I leave you to continue your sobbing?"
"Harry won't be harmed?"
"It's that blonde bitch, Lovegood, I owe a beating to. I don't give a shit about your golden boy-who-lived. She made a fool of me in front of the entire school, no one does that to Millecent Bulstrode."
"What would I need to do?"
It was just as well there was a door separating the two, even Ginny couldn't have mistaken the look of evil glee on Millicent's face. Draco might now preach that the Dark Lord was the one responsible for their families no longer being with them but it was Dumbledore who ordered her father pushed through the veil of death. She would have her revenge on Dumbledore, his boy-who-lived and Lovegood too - with this stupid little bitch setting it all up. She would prove who the real Slytherin was, and the Dark Lord would reward her.
"First you need to stop sobbing and get your skinny freckled arse out of that toilet, we have plans to make..."
Chapter 16 - Making Moves
After spending some time with Abi during lunch, the trio then had the opportunity to sit and talk with anyone who didn't have classes that afternoon. Their names being added late to the exam schedule meant all three of them were at the end of the practical timetable. Susan, being a Bones was one of the first. A kiss for luck from Ron saw her set off to keep her exam appointment. That same Ron now began teasing Hermione, partly to keep his mind off his own pending exam.
"This just proves you're not the Hermione Granger I know. What happened to going through the exam paper question by question? Where is the worrying that you might have gotten a tiny part of a question wrong? Why aren't you dragging us away for some last minute practice for our practical charms exam?"
That Hermione was actually smiling at his comments told Ron he was now dealing with a totally different witch.
"That day in Diagon Alley changed all of us. What's important to me now is these two, my family and my friends. If I get ninety eight percent instead of a hundred, all those I just mentioned will still love me. I've done all the preparation work I can and certainly expect to get an Outstanding on my exam, Luna or Harry beating me though I can now handle."
"Of course, your sharing thingy - that must be really handy for exams..."
"Ron, I'm still not kissing you. What would Susan think?"
"Too true, Harry mate, and why would you want to kiss icky Ronniekins..."
"...especially when you have these two beautiful ladies at your side."
"It also came to our attention that the beautiful blonde here mentioned living with a certain two individuals..."
"...individuals Gred and I would really love to meet."
Knowing that information would soon reach the twins' ears, the trio had expected this. "Nice to see you pair again too. Behave yourselves and we just might arrange that meeting, both will certainly be at Hermione and my wedding in September. Believe it or not, we were actually thinking of inviting you two."
"Harry marrying his sweetheart, gets me right here..."
"...and we get to meet two marauders."
"You were actually thinking of inviting us?"
"...and we get to meet two marauders?"
"I don't know, Harry. Can we trust these two not to prank our wedding?"
This had Luna laughing. "You think they're gonna beat Padfoot and Moony to that?"
"Mum will make sure those two big kids don't try anything..."
"...Winky and Dobby will also ensure our day goes off as planned. Who would want to cross those two?" Harry's point was well made, causing both girls to smile. Their devoted elves would soon take care of any trouble.
Again it was a smiling and totally relaxed Ron who headed off to keep his exam appointment as the trio batted banter to and fro with his twin brothers. His friends might have changed a lot but they were still his best friends, that was more than enough for Ron.
Each of the trio aced their practical exam. There was also no way the examiners were letting them go before seeing the three most famous patronuses in the country. All the examiners were amazed as Prongs, Harry the Otter and Snorky had actually gotten stronger since that fateful day in Diagon Alley. All three teens were now almost a year older, and had also grown much closer. The trio didn't have to dig too deep for a happy memory to power their patronus charms, just thinking about the other two was usually enough.
The trio were walking over the covered bridge to the edge of the Hogwarts wards where they were going to call Dobby and Winky to take them home, well to Grimmauld Place. Ron, Susan, Neville, Parvati, Abi and the Weasley twins were all accompanying them when a voice stopped their progress. Ron was actually groaning as Ginny ran up to the group.
"Thanks for waiting. I'm sorry for earlier, it was a bit of a shock but I forgot to congratulate you three." Ginny then proceeded to hug Luna and Hermione, before offering Harry her hand to shake.
Not wanting to offer the slightest encouragement by hugging the youngest Weasley, Harry accepted her handshake of congratulations.
"Thanks Harry. I'll see you guys tomorrow, transfiguration isn't it?" A few nods saw Ginny turn and head back to the castle, leaving Ron to break the stunned silence.
"I know I'm gonna wake up shortly and find out this has all been a dream, today has just been too weird to be real."
This actually earned a chuckle from George. "You three have had much weirder days than this. Giant chess sets and the chamber of secrets are just two that spring to mind."
His twin of course backed George up. "You're just out of the way of it now, Ron. Things have certainly been quieter since these three left - though Snape is still a git!"
This drew nods from all the Gryffindors, with Neville actually offering an opinion. "We're all hoping there actually is a curse on the defence job. The thought of suffering him for another two years is enough to make you want to drop defence."
Parvati looked on the bright side. "Hey, at least potions is so much better now."
-oOoOo-
The trio had tailored their courses to their new circumstances. Herbology and care of magical creatures weren't really practical to do in their new home. The British history of magic course was a joke, so none of them had any qualms about dropping that. Divination wasn't even a consideration and astronomy didn't hold much attraction for them either. That left them studying six magical subjects: charms, transfiguration, defence, runes, arithmancy and potions.
Luna had jokingly suggested that they could also sit muggle studies but none of the pair who were raised as muggles took her up on that offer. The plan was to sit those six O.W.L.'s this summer, and then the same subjects at N.E.W.T. next year. With their non magical subjects, learning Italian and the not inconsiderable work and stress that comes from planning two separate weddings, Even Hermione agreed they had more than enough on their plates to be getting on with.
After transfiguration on Tuesday, their shortened exam schedules saw them have Wednesday off, this though had been timetabled for Harry to appear at the ministry to collect his Order of Merlin, First Class. The family had thought they were going to pop into the Minister of Magic's office and Dumbledore would hand over the award, they really should have known better.
Arriving inside the ministry at the appointed time, all eight of them were greeted by a couple of aurors and led down into the Wizengamot chamber. This was Claire's first foray into Britain's magical community and she held on tightly to Sirius' arm as her eyes roved everywhere. Living in Italy, none of them ever wore robes now - and they had made no concessions toward that wizarding tradition for today's event. It was only now becoming apparent to them that Dumbledore had arranged for this supposed quick appointment to become an actual event.
Being led into the grand bastion of wizarding tradition that was the Wizengamot chamber in their casual muggle clothing left the group feeling a bit like christians walking into ancient Rome's colosseum - they just hoped they weren't about to be fed to the lions. The public and press galleries were also packed to capacity, and every pair of eyes were focused on the boy-who-had-buggered-off-out-the-country.
"It's good to see you again, Mister Potter."
"Thank you, Minister, though it's actually Lord Black now. I was under the impression that today's meeting was going to be very low key, hence the way we are dressed. I'm sure that important fact was specifically stipulated when today's visit was agreed upon."
"For the awarding of an Order of Merlin, First Class, this is low key. Normally there would be a ball in the recipient's honour, with the ceremony being part of that evening. Since you no longer live in Britain, and have refused our repeated pleas for contact, never mind to return for this ceremony, the country was denied this option."
Dumbledore's smile just made Harry angrier. It would appear the Minister was extracting a modicum of revenge for them slipping out of the country without his knowledge, and then repeatedly refusing to have anything to do with Dumbledore's ministry. Today seemed to have been engineered for the sole purpose of causing Harry embarrassment, he certainly intended to return the favour. "Why is this the first I'm hearing about this being an awards ceremony? There was no mention of any ceremony in your letters..."
"I assumed you would research the award. After all it's a great honour to receive one. No matter, it won't take too long to run through what's required of you. I'm also sure some suitable robes can be found..."
"No."
"Sorry?"
"I said no. I have no intention of playing along with whatever you have planned here, and at no point in our correspondence was press involvement mentioned. In case you've forgotten, Voldemort is still out there - and still after me. My family has remained safe because no one knows where we are. Today you are deliberately putting them in danger to further whatever your own ends are here. If this award comes with these type of strings attached then I may have to reconsider, I have no intention of becoming the Minister's poster boy in this conflict."
The grumblings that had started the minute they walked into the chamber disrespectfully dressed as muggles had grown decidedly louder, and a lot more hostile. There was also the fact the Wizengamot wasn't used to people saying 'no' to them. The Chief Witch wanted to clarify exactly what was happening here. "Lord Black, are you refusing this award?"
"Madam Longbottom, I made an agreement in good faith with Minister Dumbledore to come to the ministry today and collect my award. In return for doing this, we would be allowed to sit our O.W.L. exams at Hogwarts. The faith of that agreement hasn't just been broken, but shattered into tiny pieces. For whatever the Minister's reasons behind this, it appears to me to have been done deliberately. At the very least, I should have been made aware of what procedures and protocols were in place for this proposed ceremony today."
This had some people nodding in agreement so Harry continued on the same theme. "I left Britain to get away from Albus Dumbledore's attempts at manip
ulating my life. He's been doing so since I was a toddler, and those manipulations continued right up until the moment I left the country, I'm not about to let him get any sort of hold over me again. I mean no disrespect to this chamber, or the people currently in it, but I will not be collecting my award today. If it is then decided by the members to remove this award from me, I will be disappointed but understand. If the chamber will excuse us, we'll be leaving."
The party then discovered the doors had been closed behind them, and there were two aurors standing guard in front of those closed doors. This led to a momentary stand-off until Sirius turned and addressed the chamber.
"I was under the impression we were invited guests here. Since when did this country's hospitality become so poor - that's poor bordering on insulting?"
It was an embarrassed Amelia Bones who stood and barked out an order. "Aurors, open those doors. Escort this party wherever they want to go, and that is a direct order."
"Thank you, Madam Bones, we shall be heading home." Harry's words left no one in any doubt what he meant by that, causing Amelia to ask a question.
"Aren't you going to sit the rest of your O.W.L.'s at Hogwarts? I've heard nothing but good reports from there, and all your friends were really pleased to see you again."
"All three of us were enjoying the experience but I think the chances of ministerial interference are now too high to justify us risking going back there again. I am now head of two families, and their safety is always my main concern."
Knowing that if Harry headed out of the country again, there was a good chance he would never return, Albus couldn't allow that to happen. He needed to act now. He had hoped to embroil Harry back into their world with an old fashioned piece of pomp and ceremony, with the young man at the very centre of it. Albus had known from the instant they had walked through those doors his scheme was doomed to fail.
This Harry bore only a passing resemblance to the boy who had attended Hogwarts for four years. The new version had walked confidently into this somewhat hostile chamber, with a witch on either arm and surrounded by his family. Even from the way they were dressed, in quality muggle clothing, was a massive clue his manipulations weren't going to work. It looked as if all of them had 'gone muggle' - Black was even marrying one - leaving magical Britain and Albus with very little to offer.
He had only accepted the bloody Minister of Magic position to keep Harry in the country, then they had all slipped away while the ministry were dealing with the York situation. Albus was now trapped in a job he hated, trapped until Voldemort was defeated. The problem with that was Voldemort had gone to ground, disappearing every bit as effectively as Harry had done. Only the target standing in front of Albus had a chance of seeing the Dark Lord surface again, and offering the ministry a chance to end this once and for all.
"My apologies, Harry. Today was never meant to turn out like this, though there was no deliberate misleading on my part. I made certain assumptions that were the cause of this whole misunderstanding and for that I unreservedly apologise to you, your party and this chamber. I publicly give you my guarantee there will be no ministerial interference with your exam visits to Hogwarts - other than to wish the three of you the best of luck with your O.W.L.'s."
The group accepting his apology saw Albus reach for more. "Do you have any other time during your visit to Britain when this ceremony could be rescheduled? I will of course ensure a copy of the proper procedure is in your hands before then, passing it on to Headmistress McGonagall would seem my best option of reaching you."
"I look forward to reading it and will let you know by letter, using the same method." With that, Harry led his family out of there - leaving behind a chamber who weren't sure what they had just witnessed. Amelia and Augusta though would certainly be having a go at getting some answers out of the minister.
As the group were leaving the ministry, Sirius offered his bride to be some comfort. "And that is why we won't be living in Britain."
"That was so intense, I felt as if I'd just dropped into the middle of a spaghetti western. All that was missing was Clint Eastwood."
This warranted a groan from Harry. "Oh great! Hermione is the good, Luna likes to play the bad, that leaves me as the ugly."
Some laughter relieved the not inconsiderable pressure they had all been under inside that chamber. "Sorry about that, folks. There was just no way I was going to jump through whatever hoops Dumbledore had prepared for me."
This found agreement from all of the group, though nothing more was said until they left the ministry. After Dobby and Winky had checked them for any tracking charms, they were popped to Gimmauld to find lunch waiting on them. Hermione soon got the ball rolling
"Do we believe him about Hogwarts or are we heading home after the wedding on Saturday?"
Harry had been running that question through his head since Dumbledore made his public promise. "There was press, a good few of the wizarding public and the entire Wizengamot there to hear him say that. For Dumbledore to then go back on his word would ruin his credibility. I think it should still be safe but suggest we wait until we've seen what the Prophet makes of that shambles today before Dobby takes us to Hogwarts."
"I'm going too!"
"Remus?"
"Sirius can't, he still has wedding arrangements to sort, so that leaves me. You need me there, Harry, just in case he decides credibility be dammed. Dumbledore is also not above getting someone else to do his dirty work for him. I'll take you there in the morning, hang about in the library and then accompany you back here at the end of the day. If you need help, a patronus message spell will have me at your side in seconds."
Rather than objecting, Harry just said thanks before throwing the next question up for debate. "So, do we go along with this award ceremony - or head home as planned on Monday night?"
It was a thoughtful Luna who aired her opinion on that. "If we head home without collecting your award, that effectively finishes us in Britain. There is no way we could even come back for a visit, never mind to sit our N.E.W.T.'s next summer."
As well as confirming she thought Remus going to Hogwarts along with their three was a great idea, Emma offered her tuppence worth. "Why don't you wait and see what this ceremony entails before making a decision? We can all go through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure there's nothing in there that would cause Harry concern."
Hermione liked that idea. "It will be tomorrow at the earliest before McGonagall can hand anything over, Tomorrow night we can check it over. Any questions or points needing clarified could then be passed back over in Hogwarts on Friday. Unless Dumbledore makes this really simple and transparent, we could easily string it along until we run out of time..."
Luna loved that suggestion. "...then they couldn't blame Harry for not collecting it - brilliant. Dumbledore is certain to leave himself room to manoeuvre with the ceremony, there will be areas of ambiguity deliberately inserted in there. We ask for clarification of every single point, and his own 'delivery system' will then work against him."
Both his girls got a hug from a happier Harry. "We give McGonagall all our questions on Friday and Dumbledore will have to answer them all by Monday - otherwise we're back home on Monday night. That works for me."
Now it was only a mater of waiting to see how the Prophet would portray what happened in the Wizengamot chamber today. It would of course take its lead from the ministry, so they may not even have to worry about this ceremony - or returning to Hogwarts. The Wizengamot revoking the award and turning on Harry would see them back in Italy after Claire and Sirius' wedding on Saturday.
-oOoOo-
Ministerial Misunderstanding Makes Mayhem of Merlin Medal Method
That headline really took the pressure off. The press weren't actually close enough to the action inside the chamber to take any meaningful photographs of the group, all of whom had left before any photographers could catch them. They'd been promised posed shots of the latest recipient of the Order of Merlin, instead they'd had to settle for taking one of a contrite Dumbledore.
His apology, and non interference promise with their O.W.L.'s, was there on the front page. There was also a plea from Dumbledore, and the Prophet, that these problems should be sorted so the delayed ceremony could be rescheduled.
After reading that, four of the group at the breakfast table in Grimmauld then headed off to Hogwarts.
Being somewhat later today, they met their friends heading out of the great hall toward their exam. Having already seen the Prophet, Ron summed all their opinions up in a few words. "Only you, Harry, only you..."
Remus left the trio to go along with their friends. He headed toward the staff table, needing permission from McGonagall to be here and use the library. It was a permission he quickly received, along with the letter from Dumbledore. That Remus cast four different detection spells at the letter before accepting it almost saw that permission revoked.
"Was that really necessary? Surely you don't think Albus would do something like that?"
"Headmistress, I think Minister Dumbledore would do a lot worse than that." Putting the unopened letter in his pocket, Remus headed for the library.
Lunchtime again was longer for the trio, their names once more being added to the end of the practical exam timetable. This saw them being approached by McGonagall.
"Lord Black, have you had time to look over the procedure for the awards ceremony?"
Not even looking up from the book he was reading, Remus dealt with that question before Harry could answer. "Headmistress McGonagall, I'm surprised at you! That letter is still in my pocket, and will stay there until we leave Hogwarts today. These three need to be concentrating on their pending exam, not getting distracted by something that could and should have been dealt with a week ago. We'll look over it tonight, though tomorrow is their busiest day - exam wise. Any discussions on this won't be allowed to eat into their revision timetable Hermione has already set."
McGonagall could hardly find fault with students studying for their exams so stormed away, all four of them knew she would have a floocall to make.
A chuckling Luna simply had to comment on that. "Moony, you're the best."
Knowing that information would soon make its way to Fred and George, Harry and Hermione were chuckling too as all three now headed off to their practical exam. With Sirius allowing Harry to share his memories of auror training, and then having him and Remus there to help all three practice what they'd learned, the trio were all confident about today. In the practical side of defence, all three were already well beyond N.E.W.T. level.
-oOoOo-
Friday saw them arrive in the castle at their more normal time, allowing the trio a chance to chat with their friends before the first exam.
Ron was raving about having a day off while they had their busiest day yet, runes and arithmancy. Harry however teased right back. "Monday though sees us sit our last exam, while you will still have another three to go. You don't finish until after your history of magic exam on Thursday. By then, I'll be lying beside our pool with two beautiful witches beside me."
That comeback was so successful, Ron just sat there stunned - causing much laughter around the table. "I think you broke him, Harry."
Hermione then got in on the act. "If he can't handle even the thought of that, how is he going to cope with seeing his girlfriend in a bikini when you come over for our wedding?"
Ron's mouth was making shapes but there was no sound coming out, his face though was just a massive grin. Susan whispering in his ear they might need to work up to that before then meant that grin was going nowhere anytime soon. Sometimes, it was good to be Ron Weasley.
Neville however had a question for Harry. "Will you be going straight home after your last exam? What I meant was will you be staying in Britain longer to collect your Order of Merlin?"
"I honestly don't know, Neville. We asked Dumbledore for a detailed account of this ceremony, what we got was anything but. Writing down all the questions we had, and all the points we wanted clarified produced a document three times the size of Dumbledore's original. If I don't know exactly what I'm letting myself in for then it won't go ahead, Wednesday was a massive embarrassment for everyone. That can't be allowed to happen again." This found complete agreement amongst their friends, and the trio knew letters would soon be getting sent from Susan and Neville - putting Harry's point of view across to their respective guardians.
It was a contented trio who set of for their ancient runes exam as Remus headed to McGonagall to pass on their response. They expected to be leaving Hogwarts later with Dumbledore's reply to their questions. Apart from the debacle Wednesday became, this week had gone much better than they'd believed possible. Hogwarts appeared a changed school, especially from their perspective.
No sniping from the Slytherins, Snape was keeping an ultra low profile - they hadn't seen him since he was sitting at the staff table their first morning - and even Ginny appeared to be getting her head on straight. Whilst the youngest Weasley still cast the odd glance at Harry, she mostly stuck like glue to Luna. This was a massive improvement in her behaviour and seemed to remove any obstacles from inviting her, along with the rest of the Weasleys, to their wedding in September.
-oOoOo-
Remus couldn't help but grin after Sirius asked him for about the dozenth time if he had the ring. "Yes I've got it, it's too late to back out now."
"Remus, I've never wanted anything so bad in my entire life. There is no chance of me going anywhere without Claire by my side. Thankfully, she has Harry there to hopefully get Claire here without her changing her mind at the last minute…"
The church elder who popped his head in to say the bride had arrived at the front of the church, and it was now time for them to take their positions, ended all Sirius' worries. He left the small room with Remus and the minister, and also with a wide grin on his face.
Claire had lost her father while still a teenager too, so there was some shared empathy there with Luna. She actually got on very well with both girls and Emma had welcomed her with open arms to their somewhat strange family. Her Mother had almost blasely just dismissed the magical problem as unimportant. Her daughter loved a wizard, Sirius was head over heels in love with Claire, Karen didn't see any problems just because her future son-in-law could perform magic. For Karen Munro, seeing her daughter accepted into this family unit was all she had ever hoped for. That the same family unit accepted her too was simply wonderful. Karen quickly became attached to the three teens, and was sitting beside Hermione and Luna as Harry led Claire down the aisle.
Both Sirius and Harry appreciated the dark humour behind the current Lord Black leading a muggle bride down the aisle, inside a muggle church, to the pureblood member of the Black family who was waiting to become her husband.
With her father having been dead for over a decade, and the Munros not being a large family, Claire's preferred choice of wedding day escort had fallen between Dan or Harry. Since Dan would soon be carrying out this same task for Hermione and then Luna, she had asked Harry. This was an honour Harry took great delight in carrying out, his smile was nearly as big as his godfather's as he passed Claire onto Sirius before taking his seat beside Karen and his ladies.
All three had certainly expected Karen to be emotional during the service but, probably thinking about their own pending weddings, Harry found himself with three crying females. That these were certainly happy tears allowed him to pass out the hankies with a smile, a smile he shared with Dan who was behind them and comforting an emotional Emma.
There were no tears from the bride or groom, neither saw anyone else in the church as the minister said those immortal words - I now pronounce you man and wife. The wedding party may have been small, Sirius had only invited the Tonks, with about a dozen or so of Claire's friends there with dates/spouses making up the numbers, but they applauded like crazy as the new Mister and Mrs Black were presented to the congregation.
As the photographer then took over and herded people into the positions he wanted, Claire tried again to discover the information Sirius was keeping from her.
"Okay, you had playing the mysterious fiancé down to perfection. I think though that, as the new Mrs Black, I at least deserve to know where our wedding reception is being held? You have no idea the amount of ribbing I've taken from my friends over this, they don't even know where they will be spending the rest of the evening."
It would have taken a broken jaw to wipe the grin from Sirius' face, that his prank was still in play just widened that smug grin. "All will be revealed shortly, Mrs Black, I'm certain everyone will love it. I think you are a very special lady, a lady who deserves nothing but the very best. Fortunately in me, that's exactly what you're getting - and this is my chance to show you that. I know you'll love it, I really pushed the boat out with this one."
After the obligatory photographs in front of the church were taken, Claire and Sirius headed into the bridal car - only the drivers of the car and minibuses knew where they were going. All Sirius would say was that they would see everyone soon.
Being a local, Claire soon sussed where the road they were on led. "Sirius, we're hardly dressed to get on a ferry - and there's not one due for a couple of hours yet."
"Oh I hope not, we need to be gone before that."
The bridal car had to edge its way through a throng of gaping locals, then Claire got a glimpse of what they were gaping at. The ocean going yacht docked where the ferry usually sat was the only thing those two ships had in common. This sleek one hundred and six foot, three decked brilliant white piece of marine sculpture absolutely glistened in the June sunshine. Even having been around boats for most of her life, the sheer beauty and elegance of this sight took Claire's breath away.
"We thought about some flags or bunting but I didn't think this ship needed them. The captain though assures me the crew can have them up in less than thirty minutes, if my beautiful wife wishes so."
"Oh Sirius, it's perfect. Won't the ferry need to come in here though?"
"Yes. That's why once everyone's on board, the captain will take us out and our wedding reception will be held while the ship cruises along the coast. We'll return phere after the last ferry has left."
Sirius found himself being passionately kissed in the back of the car, the chauffeur politely waiting until they were finished before opening the door. It was a very happy husband who offered his new wife his arm. "I think this would be the time to tell you we'll be living on board for the next month. We'll be cruising around the Mediterranean, finishing of course in Sorrento so it's only a short drive home. We start in Gibraltar on Wednesday, then it's up to us what we want to see - and where we want to go…"
Claire's eyes were sparkling but she caught something Sirius had just said. "Why Wednesday for Gibraltar? I'm sure this boat must be faster than that…"
"It is, but I don't want to get too far away until our family are all back home."
Catching on at once, Claire checked if she was correct. "You don't want to leave Britain until Harry, Hermione and Luna are finished with Hogwarts on Monday - and safely away home."
"Just married five minutes and already you can read me like a book…"
"I know how close you are to those three, it's something I certainly approve of. I think it just shows what a great father you're going to make." Emphasising her point with a gentle kiss had the crowd cheering.
Some in the crowd recognised Claire and word soon passed around that she was a local girl. The crowd had come down to the harbour to stare at the beautiful ship. Now, one of their own was the focus of their attention. The local press were there too, the Newhaven Independent photographer knew having a local girl involved in this just moved the story to the front page. He almost elbowed the official wedding photographer out of the way to get a picture of Sirius and Claire on the ship's gangway.
Claire's best friend was her bridesmaid, and on Remus' arm as they too headed from their transport to the ship. "Claire told me her new husband was wealthy - but this?"
Remus couldn't help but chuckle. "Sirius always had a taste for the dramatics, especially when there was an audience around. I have to say though, this one tops everything. Then again, you only get married once."
"He really does love her, doesn't he? Some of us have been a bit worried about Claire, and this mysterious man who she met in the opticians. This tall, dark and handsome man who use to travel halfway across Europe just to spent a few days with her. It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, then he treats her like a princess on her wedding day. I'm so happy for her."
"She makes him very happy too, and Claire has been an instant hit with the rest of us."
"Yes, Claire and Karen make this villa you all live in sound wonderful..."
Knowing what was being hinted at here, Remus wasn't offering any encouragement or invitations. "To us, it's just home."
Harry let out a low whistle of appreciation as he led both girls toward the ship. "Way to set the bar high, Padfoot."
"Harry, we don't need or want anything as ostentatious as this. What's far more important to us is that we're all together. The conversation the new Lord Black needs to have with my mum and dad is far more important than any cruise. Luna, we've discussed this - you know what needs to happen."
"I know, I just feel as if I mucked things up for you two..."
"There is no two, Luna, we're a three now. I agree a hundred percent with Hermione on this, there will be no sneaking around behind peoples' backs. This is for the rest of our lives, we need to establish how we're going to live those lives right from the very beginning. Those new lives begin in September, and we will have everything in place before then."
Catching the beautiful blonde's attention, Hermione spoke right from the heart. "Love, you know how we both feel about you - we also both know this is something you want with all your heart. Without you, Harry and I feel like there's a part of us missing. That is not something we're prepared to endure, even for the year it takes for you to become the Lady Black. September is all of our wedding day, a day I'm very much looking forward to."
"I have got rather addicted to cuddling at night, I don't think I could give that up now."
"You won't have to, I promise to look after both my wives. Let's just enjoy today, we'll sit down with Emma and Dan after we get home. I still think this will be a better conversation than me having to discuss performing a love ritual with Hermione to get a bit of Voldemort out of my head."
He now had a giggling girl on each arm. Harry was sure though they were giggling at him, knowing full well he was dreading the approaching confrontation with Emma and Dan. With this knowledge of what the immediate future held, all three were determined to enjoy today. With their stalling tactics over the award working well, it was looking ever more likely they would be returning to Italy after their last exam on Monday. That would make Tuesday a far more important day in their lives than any award ceremony, that would then be conversation day.
A lot of Claire's friends were locals too, so everyone was on deck and waving to the crowd as the yacht pulled out of the harbour. The wedding party then made its way down to a massive dining room, a room dressed with what must have been bales of white satin that perfectly matched the bride's dress. There was one table set aside for the main bridal party with everyone else being allowed to chose their own seats. With all the tables set out for six people, the trio sat beside Dan and Emma. It was a flabbergasted Karen who joined her daughter and new son-in-law at the bridal party table. Claire had said Sirius treated her like a princess, here was proof that everyone could see.
Seeing the wide smile Claire now wore was enough to tell Sirius he got today right. Now they would have a fabulous meal and then there was only Moony's speech left to worry about.
-oOoOo-
After the trio headed off to the first part of their potions exam on Monday morning, Remus handed McGonagall a copy of their latest latest points for clarification. That he hadn't received a reply by lunchtime had Remus concerned. When the trio were ready to leave Hogwarts and there was still no reply, this had the marauder on full alert.
Harry was walking while chatting with Ron, Neville and the Weasley twins. Remus was right beside him, ready to bring his wand into play at a second's notice. Hermione was behind them, telling Susan she would send some pictures of bridesmaid dresses for her to consider. Parvati was hanging on every word, knowing she too was being invited to the wedding.
As had become their new norm, Luna and Ginny were chatting while bringing up the rear.
Crossing the clock tower courtyard and entering the covered bridge over the deep gully saw Remus begin to relax. At the end of the bridge they would clear the Hogwarts wards, allowing Dobby to collect the trio.
A thud and a groan coming from behind ended any thought of relaxation. Anyone who had played quidditch recognised that particular sound, a beater's bat striking flesh instead of the bludger was quite a distinctive noise. Hermione's scream of terror had them at her side in a few seconds, even then they were too late.
Ginny was lying sprawled on the courtyard while a sobbing Hermione was lowering her wand. "There were at least two people, disillusioned and on brooms. They had Luna over the wall before I could even get a spell off, she looked hurt too. They will be outside the Hogwarts wards in seconds, then they could take her anywhere..."