Weddings, as they exist today, are complicated, messy affairs that do little more than rob all those who attend of time. No one enjoys dressing up in ridiculous suits and dresses and having to make small talk with the bride's roommate's ex-boyfriend. Women have been told far too often that the day they wed should be this spectacular, glorious, perfect day and that anything less is unacceptable and will make for an unhappy marriage. So they plan. And they revise. And they continue planning and revising, until the original plan is not worth the expensive, embossed stationary it was written on and the process begins again. Instead of simplifying, many couples pass the stress (and a lot of money) on to a third party, the wedding planner, whose job it is to make all the arrangements and coordinate the various personnel needed for the rapidly expanding event. A guest list that, at one point had been a manageable fifty or so, has quickly ballooned to triple that amount, including people who, while taking no part in the wedding, seem to think that they have the right to request that no red meat be served, even though the other hundred and forty-nine guests rather enjoy a good steak. Then comes the big day, where, despite all the planning (both on the part of the wedding party and the highly paid consultant) nothing seems to go right. Dresses, which when tried on months ago, fit perfectly are suddenly too small or too large, people seem to go missing and despite all the current weather conditions bear no resemblance to what the forecaster called for, whatsoever.

Indeed, it is often said that rain is the Goddess of Love's way of spitting in the face of these overly choreographed monstrosities. It should be noted that the previous sentence is an opinion, not because the actions of the Goddess are in doubt, but because no proof exists one way or the other, that the woman claiming to be the modern day Aphrodite, is in fact, divine.

Bronwen O'Riley is a perfectly pleasant women, residing and working in Las Vegas at a small wedding chapel that has a remarkably low rate of divorce among it's patrons. The building is located just off the Strip and is squeezed between a gas station and a gun store. Pictures line the entryway, dating back to the founding of the business in 1925, containing many a happy couple as they are pronounced 'Man and Wife' by a woman who looks suspiciously by Bronwen's twin sister. The proprietors attribute their success to the sense of union they bring to each and every ceremony.

"We aim to remind our customers that a wedding isn't just about the Bride and Groom." Eric O'Riley, Bronwen's husband/business partner/keyboardist points out. "A marriage is a union, Bride and Groom are no longer two people who love each other, but are now one complete entity. But even more, the two families are united by their children. This is how we view marriage, the bringing together of two people, two groups, two ideas and when they leave us, they are one."

Whether or not modern weddings have lost the plot and have become more monster than matrimony is a matter of opinion, but if having the correct opinion were based on success, than the O'Riley's would certainly be correct.

Harry knew that it had only been a few days since he had been on vacation, but this was by far the best time outside of Hogwarts he had ever had. The Dursley's could get away with treating Harry like an indentured servant while no one was checking on them, but now that Daphne and her family had moved next door, they were forced to treat Harry civilly. Not that he was spending much time with them, now that he had someone to hang out with, Harry was spending his time with Daphne. Their wedding was schedule for the 1st of July, just over two weeks from now. Having to explain the Dursley's that he was engaged was not something that Harry had been looking forward to, but he had been hoping to at least do it on his own terms.

You know, from behind a locked door.

Instead, Paul had made it quickly clear that he wouldn't be leaving the house on that first evening without Vernon and Petunia knowing just what would be expected of them regarding the upcoming nuptials. The wedding that Harry and Daphne had planned was very minimal, Daphne's family were coming, including both of Maggie's parents and Paul's mother, two uncles and one aunt as well as three cousins. Tracey would be coming, and there were a couple of others, including Professor Dumbledore, who Harry had invited.

Harry's list was much smaller, and wouldn't have included the Dursley's at all, except that tradition dictated that a member from both the bride and groom's family be present at the ceremony. Hermione and Ron were coming, as well as the entire Weasley family. Harry had invited the rest of his dorm mates, but so far had received word that only Neville would be attending, and of course Sirius and Remus would be there. All in all, there were about thirty people attending, small enough that the ceremony would be held at the Greengrass' new house.

Aside from getting out of the Dursley's sight, spending time with Daphne allowed Harry to feel as if he were contributing something to the wedding, even though most of the planning had been completed for some time. Despite living together for the last nine months, both Harry and Daphne were struck by just how real this was all becoming. It's one thing to talk about a marriage and another thing completely to be finalizing the guest list. But they were taking it in stride, joking about how best to make Ron pay for his months of abandonment, sitting next to Tracey or as far away as possible from Maggie.

And when all the planning and talk of dresses and flowers became too much for Harry, Paul would pull him from the conversation and the two would go wander about the house and speak of other, manlier things. Harry told Paul of how he had been chosen to the quidditch team, some of the many adventures that he had been involved in over the years, of inflating his aunt the summer that he had first met Daphne and Paul. In return, Paul had told Harry of his work, how he had become involved in such a lucrative, albeit illegal, business, of his time at school and some stories of Daphne from her youth. They had discussed many things, and on this day, their topic was the house they were now living in.

It was a rather dreary day and Daphne was doing her summer Runes work, while Maggie and Astoria were out. Harry and Paul were in the game room playing their fourth game of billiards of the day. One of the first things that Harry had noticed about the house, was that there was no magical modifications to it.

"Well, there are a couple of reasons for it." Paul had answered when asked. "Truthfully, we only moved here for safety. Now that the Dark Lord is back, the manor wasn't safe, so we decided, essentially, to go into hiding. But with all the events going on, instead of moving out of the country, we decided to hide in the muggle world. It's not perfect, but since the people looking for us look down on muggles, they won't have any contacts in this world. If they want to find us, they'll have to work for it"

Guilt was the first feeling that Harry reached for, but Paul, who Harry had come to realize was excellent at reading emotions from people's body language, put a stop to that.

"Don't feel guilty Harry. This is something I've been planning for since the moment I started laundering money. In my job, Harry, I've worked for some people who have used their money to buy their way out of charges that would make you sick. I've helped people accused of the worst crimes you can imagine and while I pride myself on my skills, it doesn't make me infallible and I've been preparing for the day that either the government or a former client comes after me or my family."

"But why not fight?" Harry found himself asking. He was a Gryffindor, bravery was something he had in spades, and more often than not, bravery meant fighting. Paul chuckled a bit as he line up a shot on the seven ball. Smoothly stroking the cue, the offending ball was swiftly deposited into the side pocket. "Because Harry, I'm not a fighter. Remember, knowing a lot of spells doesn't make someone fit for combat. I don't have the instincts or the power to be an effective fighter. What I am good at is covering my tracks, so that's what I've done. We'll be living completely without magic until this is over, and that's not a bad thing. I've wanted my children to have an appreciation for what muggles can do and I have to say, I think I've done pretty well."

He lined up another shot, but this time the ball refused to go into the pocket, and Harry surveyed the table to find a shot. He was still learning, since prior to this summer he'd never seen, let alone played billiards before. He enjoyed the game, while strategy and thinking ahead had never been great strengths of his, with billiards it seemed easier than when chess pieces were critiquing you. His stroke wasn't as smooth or sure as Paul's, but Harry's next shot sunk the 4 ball easily enough.

"Ok, but why this house? If you're trying to hide, staying next to me can't be the best option right? Voldemort knows where I live, but he can't get to me, what's protecting you?"

"You mean besides my camouflage?" Paul watched as Harry sank another ball and waited for the cue to stop moving on the felt top. "Would you believe that you are?" Harry seemed to hesitate and his next shot bounced of the rail, left of the corner pocket. "The Headmaster was kind enough to extend the area covered by the wards that protect your relatives."

"How is that possible, I thought that the wards only worked where my aunt lived?" Paul took two quick shots, pocketing two more balls. "I don't profess to know the intricate details of the wards, but because this property will belong to you and Daphne, I guess as long as the wards stand on your Aunt's house, they'll stand here."

Harry was caught very much unaware by this revelation and his choked cry of surprise caused Paul to scratch his next shot.

"I didn't mean to alarm you, Harry, I thought you knew. Since weddings cost very little in the wizard world, the customary gift from the bride's family is a home, or plot of land. This just happens to work well for us because of the current times. I understand you probably didn't see yourself living on Privet Drive once you graduated, and if you wished to sell the property once you have no more use of it, it does belong to both of you."

"Th-thank you." Harry stammered. This was...a lot, but at the same time, one of the nicest things he'd ever received. Paul studied Harry, his future son-in-law was quite interesting. He was noble, almost to a fault, and exceptionally self-sacrificing. His major fault seemed to stem from a lack of confidence, something which was correctable, and Paul intended to help Harry in that area.

"Harry," He said, walking over to the boy and placing a hand on his shoulder. "When I told your godfather that I would protect my family, including you, with everything in my disposal, I meant it, I know that what you and I consider defense are two different things, but perhaps if we understood each other better, we might be able to protect our family better."

"I don't know that I understand, are you offering to teach me...the things you do?" Harry asked.

"If you want." Was the reply. "What I can offer is you is information, what you do with it is, of course, up to you."

"I think I'd like that, but I don't know what I can offer you." Paul smiled warmly.

"How about you help us acclimate to our new surroundings, and we'll take it from there."

Harry smiled. "I can do that. Was there something in particular wanted to know about?"

"Well, those mini-records, the shiny ones; how do they work?"

Daphne was glad that Harry was getting along well with her parents, partially because her own interactions with the Durlsey's had been so poor, but also it allowed her to see Harry more, an undeniable plus. When they were at school, their studies always seemed to dominate any conversations they had. It was a safe topic, one that wouldn't require any great personal truths or secrets to be revealed and it was a nice conversation piece. 'Oh, potions is so difficult' or 'why can't transfiguration move on already, I've already learned that'. But now that they were mere days away from their wedding and that they rarely weren't spending time with each other, that topic just couldn't suffice.

They had been working on an essay for History of Magic, well, Harry was working on it, Daphne had finished and was helping her betrothed. They had this unspoken understanding, that until both had finished their work, the other wouldn't move on. So when she wasn't looking over Harry's shoulder, Daphne was laying on her bed, either watching him or perusing her books. Normally she might have tried reading an issue of Witch Weekly, but with all that gossip rag could do was speculate on her wedding and the last thing that Daphne wanted was more talk about her nuptials. Honestly, how people could believe that the Queen would be attending was beyond her.

"There!" Harry triumphantly exclaimed. "Done!" Daphne got up and grabbed his parchment off the table he was writing on and began to read over his work.

"You got Ug the Unreliable and Urg the Unclean confused...again." She corrected, pointing out his mistake. It wasn't that he'd confused the individuals, but the years in which their had started their rebellions. "You have been taking this class since first year, right?" Daphne asked, sarcasm and mirth lacing her voice.

"Yes." Was Harry's dejected reply.

"And you remember that this was on the exam back then, right? You realized that this essay was to help you remember the old material, right?" Daphne prodded, both metaphorically as well as digging her elbow into Harry's back.

"In my defense, I was a bit preoccupied before our finals back then. Quirrell was trying to steal the Philosopher's stone, so pardon me if I couldn't focus all of my attention on a test!" It had started as a joke, but only after the words were out of his mouth did Harry realize what he had said. He hadn't told Daphne about his 'adventure' at the end of their first year, after all, there were enough rumors going around, many of them suspiciously near the truth, that he didn't feel it was necessary.

"I still can't believe that Professor Quirrell would try and steal the Philosopher's stone." Daphne opined.

"Well, he was working with Voldemort." Harry pointed out. There was a pause. Daphne wanted to ask about what had happened. Ever since Harry had told her about the Chamber of Secrets, she had realized that the rumors about her boyfriend were probably true, but she didn't know just how much of the legend of Harry Potter would remain under scrutiny. Her problem was that Harry, when pushed, tended to retreat and shut down. But he had brought it up, so there was a small chance that he would be willing to share, and Daphne decided that this would be her best chance to learn about Harry's legend for a while.

"Harry, I'm sure you know that there are many rumors about some of the things you've done, and I...I was hoping you'd be willing to tell me about them. I don't need to know every little thing, but...I would love to know the truth."

"All right. What do you want to know?"

Harry's answer was sure and swift. Daphne was taken completely by surprise.

"I figured that either we're past the stage where we keep secrets from each other, or it's just around the corner. So what would you like to know?"

"Everything." Daphne said, smiling at how much trust Harry was putting in her. "But you're right, we shouldn't be keeping any secrets from one another, so let's both share until we've got none left."

And so they did. Minutes became hours, which became days and before anyone was really prepared for it, July1st was upon them.

It was strange, Harry thought, that as the ceremony grew closer, the more sure and relaxed he felt. July first had started off very tense for the boy, he hadn't been able to eat more than a small bowl of Cheerios on account of his nerves. The night previous, he had cleared a major hurdle, by meeting Daphne's extended family, everyone from both Paul and Maggie's family had come, and Harry had acquitted himself well, he thought. Paul's mother, Ann, had even given him a formal approval. In fact, everyone had seemed rather impressed with him, everyone except Erin. She was the youngest of the family, at only nine, and was Daphne and Astoria's cousin via Paul's brother, Darren. She didn't seemed too impressed with him, and outright told him that he wasn't good enough for her cousin. At this point, her father, stepped in and apologized for her behavior, saying that long distance travel always made her grouchy.

For the majority of the day, Harry was relegated to greeting the arriving guests, and since most of them had arrived the night prior, this was a very sporadic process. Sirius and Remus were the first to arrive, though Sirius had to come as Snuffles, whenever he was able, he'd transform back and joke around with his godson. Hermione quickly wrapped Harry in a strong hug upon arriving, she seemed to be having a good summer and was happy to see her best friend, even though they'd only been apart for a couple of weeks. The Weasley's arrived with a minimum of fuss, Molly was still threatening Fred and George with some punishments that Filch would have loved if they misbehaved.

"Please mother, we've enough sense not to ruin Harry-kin's big day."

"Besides, we've really not had time to properly plan anything."

Had they left it there, Molly would probably have let sleeping dog lie.

"Unlike Ron's wedding."

"That is, of course, assuming he can find someone to marry him."

People continued to file into the house and while Harry knew (and had invited) most of the guests, there were a few that Paul had to introduce as they were friends and/or teammates of Maggie. When Gwenog Jones arrived, Ron and Ginny very nearly ran away from Harry to follow the famous witch, who paid them absolutely no heed and went off to find Daphne, whom she had baby sat for when she was just out of Hogwarts.

The ceremony was to take place at three, and the reception at five but by two-thirty, the only ones who hadn't shown up were Dean (who was on vacation with his mother), Seamus (who according to Neville wouldn't be coming) and the Dursleys (who had told him that they'd be in their seats at three, but not a minute earlier). Many of the guests had noticed that the Dursley's weren't present, which was a strike against them and by the time they arrived and took their seats (at three on the dot) they received many a disgusted look. Thankfully, for the Dursley's, Daphne began her walk down the aisle right on time and all focus fell to her.

Now, their wedding couldn't be called traditional by any stretch of the imagination, but Daphne had insisted upon a few elements that were customary among old, pureblood families. Her robes were one of these elements and it took Harry's breath away the moment he saw her in it. It was white velvet, with fleur-de-lis of the palest gold he had ever seen embroidered throughout. The bottom portion was very much like a muggle wedding dress, but the upper portion had full sleeves and a collar that covered most of her neck. Her hair was straightened and she wore very little make-up, just a little gray eye shadow that made the icy blue of her eyes project and hypnotize. Harry was not the only one to fall under her spell, as throughout the audience, more than a few men were having to raise their jaws from the floor and a larger number of the women were cursing that someone so young should be so beautiful- or that her husband could be Harry Potter.

One moment she had just stepped into his line of sight and the next Harry was holding this angel, his angel's hands as they shared one last look as anything other than husband and wife.

The rest of July seemed to pass by much slower than the whirlwind that had preceded it, but Harry and Daphne both relished the opportunity to take things slow for the first time in their relationship. By the end of what was without a doubt the greatest month of his life, Harry was able to celebrate his birthday with his new family. Hermione, and Ron had sent gifts, as they couldn't be there in person, Sirius, who was staying with the Greengrass', had been able to deliver his in person, and he had received letters wishing him well from Tracey, Neville, Fleur, Dumbledore and Viktor. It wasn't an extravagant evening, but it was more fun than Harry had ever had on Privet Drive, and by the time he had returned to his room at Number Four, arms laden with gifts, he was worn out and looking forward to a good rest. He placed his gifts on the bed and quietly made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. It wasn't until he had returned and was clearing off his bed did he notice that something was new. Beneath the other letters he had received that day, there was a new one, at least, Harry didn't remember it from earlier, clearly addressed to him and laying neatly at the bottom of his pile of gifts.

Harry Potter

This was all that was written on the envelope, in neat, flowing script. Harry picked it up and easily slid the flap on the back open. Inside was a single sheet of parchment, upon which was the same elaborate writing.

Harry,

Although you do not know me, and by the time you receive this letter, I will be long gone from this world, please know that I owe you a debt that I am incapable of paying. The best I can attempt is to try and pass on my knowledge. What I am going to teach you is both similar to, yet vastly different, from the the magic you are accustomed. They are related, intertwined fields, yet they are, at the same time, both superior and inferior to each other. If this seems a bit overwhelming, I apologize, but I arranged for more letters to be sent via an intermediary, and my books have been moved into your vault at Gringott's, these will be instrumental if you are to understand what I will be teaching you, alchemy, the basis for magic as you know it.

Humbly Yours,

Nicholas Flamel

(AN: Sorry this is late. School's been really tough this quarter for some reason and while I've had parts of this written for a while, I'm not too happy with it, but for the sake of getting to things that I actually want to write, I'll post it and let come what may.

In the spirit of fair warning as well as a bit of a teaser, I will be using some elements from FullMetal Alchemist, notably, equivalent exchange and the definition of alchemy. Maybe transmutation circles, but that is about it. No characters will be crossing over and the process for creating a philosopher's stone will be different. Not exactly sure what it will be, or even if it matters, but it won't be the same as FMA. Hopefully this doesn't scare too many people away, and who knows, maybe it will even excite a few people.

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed my last chapter, words of encouragement/ego boosting are always accepted. I do hope everyone will enjoy this chapter, and please wait for the next one, it won't be as long a wait, this I promise.