A/N: This brings us to the end of book 2. I know things snowballed here, and I tossed a couple ideas around for another chapter to be stuffed in here, but nothing really fit.

Chapter 23

Ron Weasley fidgeted in his black dress robes. He was so nervous he wanted to sweat, but he knew that he had to stay calm. This wasn't made easy since he bloody hated being in these robes. Nothing could happen to his appearance. Or else, well... he didn't want to think about it.

"Look here, Mr. Weasley. You will not act like a buffoon today. You will be present where you need to be present, and you will keep you appearance impeccable. If you even think about eating with you normal set of manners and show up at the end of the aisle with food staining your dress robes I will hex you so badly Harry won't speak to me for a month. Are we clear?"

While Ron had a strong distaste for Harry's fiance, soon to be wife, the woman still scared the hell out of him. It was made even worse by the fact that whenever she spoke to him, she still sounded like his old defense professor. He felt nervous. Who'd have thought that he'd be someone's best man so soon after becoming of age? The worst part about Emily's threats was that Harry told him Emily didn't even give a toss about the ceremony. She just cared about the bonds. But this was also some sort of politcal move apparently.

He looked around him and saw the faces of hundreds of people. Every single big name in the wizarding world was here. Hell, even the entire Order had showed up. The finest food, the most extravagant decorations, even the venue looked amazing. Ron knew that this was the very beginning of Emily's plans. When Harry invited him to go dress robe shopping months ago, he had thought it was going to be a simple affair. But as soon as the two men made it to Madame Malkin's, Harry had given him a look and said, "You know you're the best man, right?"

"What?!"

"Well, I thought it was obvious. Who else was going to do it? Hermione?"

"Harry, mate, your girlfriend and I, well, we don't really get on all that well. Maybe you should pick someone else."

"Look mate, its either you or Draco Mal-"

"I'll do it."

Harry had given him a smirk and the two had entered the establishment. Of course, Harry had already picked what style of robes he had wanted for his groomsmen, they just needed to be fitted. It was Emily who had decided on the material. Ron could tell the set of robes that were being adjusted on their body had to be rather fancy. They flowed almost on their own free will and he noticed even Madame Malkim refused to touch them.

"Harry, what are these made out of?"

"Er, you don't really wanna know, Ron."

"Nah, course I do, what is it?"

He watched his friend grimace. "Living shrouds."

"What the bloody hell is that?"

"They're made from dead lethifolds, mate."

Ron's eyes opened as far as they could go and he almost knocked the poor seamstress down in his hurry to get the dangerous, carnivorous beast off of his body.

"Are you mad, Harry? Those things eat people alive by covering their bodies and suffocating them, and you've got the bloody thing on like its a winter shawl."

"I know what they do Ron. I came across one in Florida, back in the states. Scared me out of my wits. But these are dead mate. They won't hurt us."

Ron didn't stop, though. "But that doesn't explain why your using it as clothing. Its a class five dangerous beast. What is the point of wearing it to a wedding? Hell, what's the point of you wearing it to YOUR wedding?"

Harry sighed. "Because this whole thing is about status. Using a class five beast as piece of clothing will, somehow, flaunt Emily's status above everyone else. Look Ron, I'm not much of a fan of it either. But at least you only have to deal with a dead lethifold stitched with acromantula silk. The inside of my robes are lined with Nundu fur."

Ron's mouth dropped. "Are you taking the piss?"

"No, being completely serious. Emily took a day trip to Africa to pick the pelt up a week ago."

Ron stammered an apology to the seamstress and returned to his position in the shop in the fitting area. "She must've paid a fortune for it. Its the most dangerous creature alive, after all."

Harry smirked while looking straight ahead. "I don't think she paid for it, Ron. Which means that its probably only the second most dangerous creature alive."

Even now, the very idea that Emily Riddle went out and skinned a nundu gave him a cold shiver. After all, its not like you can cast the killing curse on it. There were loads of creatures that the killing curse just can't handle. To use the curse on a muggle or wizard was quite simple. You just needed to use enough magic to cease all biological functions in their bodies. It takes a bit of extra force against a witch or wizard due to their magic, but since magic isn't inherently tied to their body's function, its not much of a difference.

But a nundu. That thing is on an entirely different classification. It'd be like trying to use the killing curse on a dragon. The magical power to stop that thing from living is unimaginable. Ron couldn't fathom how she did it, but he saw the very fur on his best mates robes that day and knew she'd done it somehow.

"And that's the woman I threw a killing curse at." He murmured to himself. Ron couldn't claim that he was chummy with Emily, but the two had mended some fences recently. The woman had given a formal apology for Lucius Malfoy's actions in delivering the diary to his sister. That had never been part of her plan. After an explanation, Ron understood that the diary was a magical version of Emily, but not the real Emily.

So lost in thought, he didn't notice Hermione nudging him until she got a bit more forceful and accidentally clipped his ribs. "Oomph, wazzat?"

"Ron, its time, look. You're the only one not in place."

Sure enough, Ron looked to the end of the aisle to see everyone in their places but him. "Thanks, Hermioine." He rose and made his way to his spot near the center of the aisle next to his best friend. Harry gave him a pointed look while he was on his way.

"Saw you zoning out over there. Had to make a few gestures to Hermione to get you up here."

Ron grinned, "Thanks for that. Glad you didn't have us do some fancy procession that all those swots Emily conned in to being her bridesmaids have to put up with."

"Yeah well, she told me that it was my decision, and I figured you blokes would be happy to keep it simple."

A few moments later the light music changed its tune and slowly twelve different women made their way slowly down the aisle. Emily's bridesmaids were all pureblood daughter's of prominent families between the ages of fourteen and twenty. Emily had wanted to go up to sixteen, but insisted that her number had to match the amount of Harry's groomsmen. Her husband, who generally kept to himself, didn't have many to choose from. He had Neville, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George, Percy, Cedric, Oliver Wood, Victor Krum, Draco, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. Emily insisted he invite Victor and he was surprised when the famous seeker said yes. He had obviously been grasping at straws to fill in space and Emily subtly urged Draco to offer up his two cronies to help.

When Emily had urged him to find more, he told her that he'd ask Hagrid and Dudley if they'd like to volunteer. She had raised her head, sniffed at him, and then walked away. As if she'd share the limelight with a muggle or a stupid half breed. She didn't bring it up again after that. They had almost gotten into a row when Hagrid's invitation to the actual wedding was brought up.

"No, Harry. We aren't going to have some half-breed giant at our wedding. It will look bad."

"It'll look bad? Are you being serious. I don't care what it looks like, Hagrid's my friend, and he's going to be there if he wants to be."

"No, he will not."

"If he's not invited, consider my RSVP canceled as well."

"Don't be stupid, you're the groom." She scoffed at him.

Harry stared at her. "Then I think you should know what I'm getting at."

Emily immediately changed her tune and relented after that. She was still so used to walking all over people that whenever Harry put his foot down on an issue, he had to stomp, otherwise she didn't notice. A fault she was working on, she promised him. As the last of her bridesmaids took their place, she took a deep breath, her cue was about to arrive. She felt somewhat nauseous, clearly something she had eaten recently disagreed with her.

Harry remembered their arguments over some of the wedding plans with a sigh. There had been a handful of such hiccups in the past month, but they were finally here. This was it, the stage was set, and he knew his lines by heart. But he was also paranoid that something was going to go wrong. Emily had assured him that Voldemort wouldn't be showing up, and if she did, it would be alone. Bellatrix's wounds went far beyond life threatening and though she hung on by a thread thanks to the blood of a unicorn, she had a terribly long road to recovery.

Finally the music changed to the standard wedding march and the gazes of hundreds of guests turned to look down the incredibly long grass aisle to see a young woman in a beautiful deep crimson set of dress robes start walking down the aisle. Harry smiled, Emily certainly wouldn't wear a pure color like white. She was far to bold for something like that, even if it was what most would expect.

Harry watched his fiance walk down the aisle, but he noticed something was amiss. It was only when Emily had covered half the distance that Harry understood and his smile was turned into a soft chuckle. Emily was moving double time. She took two steps to the beats of the music where she was only supposed to take one. He wasn't sure if she was just that eager to get to the vows part, or if she was just in a hurry in general.

Even though it sort of looked like she was speeding down the aisle, she never lost the sense of grace she gave off. She held her head high and had an almost stern look on her face. The music which had been tailored to the length of the walk was cut off halfway due to her pace and even the bonder was slightly off kilter.

"D- ahem, Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

Harry completely zoned out on the man speaking and focused completely on the woman before him. She gently huffed, whispering "Can you believe they expected me to crawl along a hundred and twenty meters at that pace? Not today."

The bonder paused, possibly overhearing the woman's words, before realizing that this was probably the most important bonding of his life and quickly resumed his rhetoric. He couldn't lose focus even if the groom and bride wanted to whisper sweet nothings to one another.

"You kept it stylish."

"Thank you, love."

The minister cleared his throat and Harry took this to be the time for him to recite his vows, but Emily suddenly put a finger to his lips. She had the freedom to speak her vows without anyone to over hear. Such things were private, and no one was meant to hear them other than the bonder and he was under oath to never speak of the things he heard.

"Harry Potter, I don't wish to speak to you of things you already know. But in the hear and now, you know all that I am and all that I have been. So I will speak to you of things that have yet to come. Today you shall become one with me in as close a manner that you can. You will finally be tied to me as I am tied to you. I promise to love you. I promise to keep you safe and keep you pure. I will protect you from the worst that I am, and share with you the best of me. We shall never part, and should death take you, I will follow, because even though that void is what terrifies me more than anything else, to greet that nothingness with you, is far more bearable than to face life here without you."

Harry's mouth dried up instantly. He couldn't even believe his ears. Emily had, under a magical oath, declared that if he died, she would follow him. He opened his mouth and could only close it. He lost the ability to speak. He was almost panicking, and did the only thing he could think of to remain calm. He leaned towards Emily and kissed her on the forehead. However, he did not break the contact. He remained there, soaking in her presence, allowing her to simply be with him and help him find his center.

After what felt like an age, he pulled away from her and opened his mouth to speak his own vows. "Emily Riddle, we've been through hell together. Most of it, was totally your fault. But it was the road through hell that lead us to the city of gold we find ourselves in. Things weren't perfect, and they never will be, but as long as we stay together, it will always be a journey worth taking. I promise to love you. I promise to walk with you, through the good and the bad. I will protect the best that you are and forgive the worst that you can be. And death will never lay a hand on you, because we both know its too scared."

He completely threw out his rehearsed lines, and responded to her vows in kind. As for her last vow, there was no need to respond, he knew she would never let him die. She was Emily Riddle, almost Potter, and she was capable of anything. She knew it too.

Once he finished, he saw her let loose a rare smile. One of her giddy childish ones, one that she was apprehensive to display after seventy years of life. He knew that he'd made a good choice with his impromptu changes.

The bonding was done soon after that. With a wave of his wand, the bonder pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and the two made their way back down the aisle and into the Malfoy manor where the reception was going to be held. This was where Emily was supposed to start digging her heels into the rest of the populace, but Harry couldn't help but drag her off to a side corridor.

"You are aware that the bond you just made could severely bite you in the arse, right?"

She pecked him on the cheek. "If you ever end up dying Harry, it will be a moot point. If someone succeeds in killing you, it will mean I am already dead."

"Or, with the precautions you've taken, bodiless."

"In that case, with the precautions we've take, then we'll both be fine, just... inconvenienced."

"Alright, just wanted to make sure you were aware."

"Of course, now, let's go greet our guests. You, Mr. Potter, are my arm candy for the evening. I need you to make me look good."

"In those robes, I don't have to do much. I love you in red, have I ever told you that?"

Emily laughed in a light, sultry tone. "Oh please, you love me in anything, and you love me more in nothing."

The two of them stood in front of the entrance for half an hour. Each greeting was swift, normally a simple congratulations and a thank you. However, Emily dragged out the conversations somewhat when it was an important figure. Eventually the two of them made it to the main hall, which had to be expanded beyond its already massive size to fit the six hundred guests that had been invited. Thankfully only about half of the guests chose to use the entrance that the newly wed couple stood at, with the other half entering through two other doorways, situated around the massive room.

Lunch was the first order of business. Then came dancing. Harry had originally told Ron that he had to make a toast at some point during the meal, but Emily laughed at him and told him that not all muggle traditions were held up in the magical world. Ron was happy to hear that, he told Harry he hated the idea of saying something so important in front of hundreds of people.

The dining experience was the same as the Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year, though the menu's were far more extravagant. There were four different pages to it, front and back. The drink selection was limited however, elven wine, pumpkin juice and butter beer. Harry ordered his food and a glass of butter beer, but after a few bites of his steak and kidney pie, he noticed his butter beer glass only held water. Thinking this was some sort of fluke, he vanished the glass and ordered again. Happy to see the correct beverage appear, he was similarly shocked when it suddenly became water. He turned to his wife.

"I know a switching spell when I see it. What did you do to the drinks?"

"Poison."

Harry snorted in amusement, then contritely said, "That's not funny. What did you do?"

Emily smiled at him. "Nothing harmful, just a pinch of a certain potion, no one will be the worse for wear, I promise."

Harry once again vanished his drink, before ordering another butter beer. "Then it shouldn't matter if I have some." Harry tried to quickly down the drink, but this time, instead of the complex movements of a switching spell, Emily just vanished his glass, making the contents splash on his lap.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're a dick, Emily. What did you do?"

Emily sighed before leaning close to him. "Its a simple forgetfulness potion Harry. Anyone who drinks it and knows who I truly am will soon forget. With the existence of an actual Voldemort, it will be simple for people's memories to fill in the blanks."

He looked at her, aghast. "What is it with you and fucking with other people's memories? I knew you had to be plotting something when you told me to invite the Order here. 'On the off chance Voldemort does appear at the wedding, it would be best to have some extra security.' It sounded like bullshit then and obviously its bullshit now. What will you do when the Order fails to contact Snape and he destroys you know what?"

Emily frowned. "It's not really messing with memories Harry. They are forgetting one fact, my identity. Their feeling towards me won't change, though they will probably grow warmer to me as they don't know me too well, the only reason they dislike me is because I am who I am. As for my certain... possessions, they are no longer in my control. They are as good as lost to me already. I will be making one more soon enough, and I have you for the interim. In doing this, I will erase the last of my opposition, Harry. It will no longer exist against me, but against this new threat. The only ones who won't partake of the potion are you and I, as well as Lucius Malfoy."

"What about your followers in Azkaban?"

"They've already been dealt with."

"That sounds, ominous. Bellatrix and Voldemort?"

"Once I kill Voldemort no one will believe that raving lunatic of a woman."

The two of them cut of their conversation as loud foot falls someone's approach. Rubeus Hagrid's large form took up their view.

"Happy Birthday and congratulations Harry. I must say, I didn't expect your wedding to be happening so soon."

Harry smiled, noticing Hagrids rather large glass of Elvin Wine. "I'm happy you could come, Hagrid, Emily and I appreciate it."

At this, Hagrid took one look at Emily, gave a huff and completely ignored her as he said goodbye to Harry. "And what exactly is the dosage for half-giants to forget something, Emily?"

"I'm not too sure if the potion even works on giants, to be honest. Still, its not like the man will say or do anything. Without Dumbledore to cover his ass, the man's a coward."

Harry bristled at that. "Hagrid loved and respected Dumbledore more than anyone else I know. Please don't talk about him like that."

Emily shrugged her shoulder's but didn't try to continue the conversation. Soon enough, the food was cleared and Emily and Harry rose to start the dancing. "Tell me, Harry, have we ever danced in public before?"

"Not that I recall, no. Well we did dance in that muggle park one night, but I don't think anyone was around."

"A first, for us, then. The first of as many things that we can fill the rest of our lives with." The dancing was slow, but after the first song, other couples joined in and the music eventually grew in tempo. Emily refused anyone's offer's to dance, and she refused Harry's invitations for him. "You vowed not to leave my side, after all. Can't have you breaking it so soon," she joked.

The next hour was a blur for Harry, countless faces passed his view as Emily and he twisted and turned. He swore he even saw a young woman with rather shocking silver hair. He meant to ask Emily if she had invited any Veela, but the image slipped his mind after a few minutes. Odds are one of Fluer's family members had shown up. Harry had invited all of the contestants of the Triwizard tournament.

Finally the two of them made their way back to their table to rest. Emily would have been happy to continue dancing until dawn, but she could see that Harry was beginning to tire. His feet were also sore enough to where she could feel the tenderness through their connection. The two of them sat for another hour as guests continued to come up to them with congratulations. Harry knew the potion was working as eventually more and more Order members came to greet them as well. They all treated Emily rather frostily, but there was no open hostility.

"Congratulations Harry, Emily." The strained smile of Ginny Weasley was directed at them. It was obvious the girl was doing her best to appear happy for the newlywed couple.

"Thanks, Ginny."

"Yes, thank you very much, Ginevra. We appreciate that you were able to come, though it was such a shame you couldn't be a part of my bridal party."

The young red head tilted her head slightly, all the while holding the same smile. "Sorry, its just that we know each other so little, I didn't wish to take the honor from another of your friends. After all, it was all Harry could do just to match them with his number of groomsmen."

Emily had opened her mouth to speak again, but Harry gently laid a hand on her thigh to get her to stop tormenting the girl. Emily gently bade her goodbye while she entwined her hand with her husband's.

"Well, Harry, I think your parents would be proud." Sirius was not as collected as Ginny, rather he was most definitely sloshed. It was a marvel that the man sounded coherent while speaking. "As for you Mrs. Potter. I know we've never really gotten along well, but we're family now. No reason we can't leave the past in the past."

"I am delighted to hear that, Mr. Black. I am overjoyed to be considered part of Harry's family." Emily intentionally said Harry and not Sirius as she wanted it to be clear she honestly didn't care what the man thought of her. But the man was far too inebriated to pick up on it.

"Excellent, you two are more than welcome to come visit my place at any time. I'll remove the wards keeping your wife out, Harry. The two of you should come by one night for dinner.

As his godfather left, Harry let out a sigh. "You can't hate him forever for one little comment, you know."

"Watch me." She huffed. "The man went and got plastered at my wedding, not something I can condone."

Harry lowered his tone to a whisper. "He watched the son of his two best friends get married to the woman who killed them. Are you surprised he started drinking?"

Once again, Emily didn't answer him with words, but she did nod her head at his comment.

Soon, the daylight was drawing to an end. Emily who had been full of energy the entire day, finally leaned her head against his shoulders, softly asking him if he was ready to leave.

"Harry, I think its time we left. Are you ready?"

"Sure, where are we going?"

Emily smiled at him, "Just home. I didn't plan anything special. We'll be together, and we'll keep to ourselves for a week or so. No interruptions. Even if Voldemort walks into the ministry, Lucius won't bother us. If he does, I'll turn his son into a eunuch."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"Not at all."

Harry laughed lightly before standing up out of his seat. He offered a hand to his wife, before scanning the room for Lucius Malfoy. Harry stared at the man long enough to catch his eye and nodded at the man to let them know they were leaving. The man returned the gesture and Harry walked with Emily to one of the Floo places in the manor.

In a flash of flame the couple exited the grate and were finally home. Emily wasted no time in making her way to the bedroom and Harry was hot on her heels. Before Emily could enter, however she was stopped by her husbands hand holding her wrist.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just one tradition I'd rather not throw out."

And with that, he scooped his wife up and crossed the thresh hold to the bedroom. He carried her straight to the bed and laid her gently on its surface, before climbing on top of her. They were both still fully clothed in the attire for the evening, but Harry only had eyes for her face.

She asked him softly, "Do you have any regrets?"

"A hundred or so." He replied with a small smile. "But not a single one would I take back, as they led me straight to you."

A/N: Thanks for reading, guys. I appreciate it. 2.5 will start of at the same moment this one ended. First sentence will be "But not a single one would I take back, as they led me straight to you." So, we'll be diving straight into it. I'll start it up soon and who knows, might even get the first chapter out by tomorrow (though don't hold your breath, I only have one day off this week to make up the time I called out when I busted my leg.) Anywho, I will see you wonderful people later.