Chapter 13 – The Wedding

June 13th dawned brightly and Harry woke up to find Ginny looking down on him. Today was the day. Harry pulled his bride down and began kissing her deeply. They were quickly losing control when Ginny forced herself to pull back.

"Harry, now behave! We have a lot to do to get ready. Tonight I'll be all yours."

Harry smiled at the thought and then had to get control of himself. He jumped out of bed and went over to check on James. The baby had fed around three, so he was still sleeping peacefully as his father stood admiring. Harry eventually tore himself away and headed to the shower. Ginny wanted to join him, but the Burrow had entirely too many people in residence for bathroom antics. She felt lucky that she had been allowed to share a bedroom with Harry for the past few weeks. Harry returned from the shower and Ginny went to take her turn. Then they gathered James and headed downstairs where Molly waited with a large breakfast to start the day.

Shortly after breakfast the catering company and party crew arrived to begin setup of the tents and food preparation. Molly and Arthur had offered to do the work, but Harry insisted that they hire out services and save the Weasleys the trouble. Molly had chafed at first, but even she had to admit that this was the easiest Weasley wedding yet, despite having the shortest timeline. The private security squad was on hand, checking over the crews and quickly confiscated two cameras that crew members had tried to sneak in with the other supplies. The florist arrived next and when Harry saw some of the arrangements that were floating by the window he was momentarily boggled. With everything well in hand, Harry, James, Ron, Arthur and the Weasley brothers spent their time relaxing in the garden watching the preparations. Ginny, Molly, Hermione and Fleur were already upstairs getting ready and Harry wondered what could require two hours of preparation time.

The wedding was scheduled to begin at noon, so at eleven Harry went to Ron's room to put on his suit. Robes were traditional for wizard weddings, but were slowly going out of fashion and Harry had opted for a more modern three piece suit in shades of blue. The special touch was a tie that Ginny had found. It was dark blue silk with a gold pattern across it. Looking closer, the pattern resolved into a sequence of miniature gold snitches. It was Harry's favorite part of the suit. Ron was going to stand with Harry in a darker blue suit of slightly different cut. They soon had themselves dressed and groomed, and made their way back to the garden as the first guests began to arrive.

At ten minutes till noon, Harry and Ron circled around to the far garden where a gazebo had been set up. The gazebo was covered in trailing vines with sparkling purple and blue flowers, under which the Ministry officiant had already taken his place. Arrayed out from the gazebo were rows of silver chairs on either side of an aisle strewn with flower petals. The setting was beautiful and perfect for the bright June day. Harry admired it all briefly, but his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Ginny as he took his place with Ron at the gazebo minutes before the ceremony was due to begin.

Finally, at the stroke of noon, magical bells rang out and Harry looked down the aisle to see Hermione leading the way in front of Ginny. Hermione wore a dress of cerulean blue decorated with crystal details at the waist. Her hair was pulled half way back, with a cascade of curls falling over her left shoulder. Harry was looking for Ginny, but he had to admit Hermione looked amazing. Looking over at Ron, Harry smiled. Ron looked gobsmacked as his eyes feasted on Hermione. As she drew closer, her gaze shifted from Harry to Ron and Harry briefly felt like an intruder at his own wedding. Then the bells changed to signal the bride's arrival and Harry's attention shifted up the aisle to where Ginny waited next to her father. She and Arthur began to move down the aisle and Harry's face settled into a huge grin. Ginny was wearing an off the shoulder dress of the palest ice blue, decorated with a pattern of crystals that began sparsely and increased as the dress flared out to the ground. Her hair was loose, but lightly curled and topped with a diamond tiara. Around her neck she wore an opal necklace that was a Potter heirloom. As she shimmered down the aisle, Harry realized his mouth was hanging open and he had to make a conscious effort to get it to close. Soon Ginny and Arthur reached the front and Ron nudged Harry forward. Arthur placed Ginny's hand in Harry's, kissed his daughter on the cheek, clapped Harry on the back and turned to take his seat by Molly's side.

Harry and Ginny turned to the officiant as he waved his wand to begin the ceremony and set in place the magical bonds they were about to commit to. They each repeated the vows on cue. Next, they presented their rings, the same two that Harry's parents had used twenty two years earlier, and the officiant wove the spell of binding over them. Then Harry placed the ring on Ginny's finger before she placed his. The officiant completed the incantation that he had begun the ceremony with and Harry felt a surge of electricity as it the bonds sealed. Finally, the words he had been waiting for rang out over the crowd and Harry took his wife in his arms and kissed her soundly. With the ceremony complete, they turned to be presented to their assembled guests as the officiant introduced Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter for the first time. Holding Ginny's hand tightly, with their best friends applauding at their sides and looking out at all their friends and family, Harry thought that this here was the reason he had fought so hard. For moments like this. For life and love, and a future for him and his family.

A short chapter to finish this story out. Thank you all for reading and also thanks for all the reviews. I have two more stories that I've been working on with this one (Creating a Balance and Family Redesigned), but I now realize that I really need to channel my energies and not write three stories simultaneously. I'm going to keep working on those. Then, when I wrap those up, I am going to take my own spin on the 19 year gap that JKR left us. I'm going to call that Life's Interlude and do my best to stick with canon and the additional details that JKR has given us. I plan on that story being a long one that not only covers the Golden Trio, but also a number of secondary characters. I hope you enjoy my other stories. Reviews and concrit always welcome. I've been writing now for about three months and have learned a lot.