Harry and Flamia arrived at the Burrow just as the guests had begun to gather. Even though the invitation had been entirely sincere, Harry immediately felt somewhat out of place—after all, how would Molly Weasley behave? She had once treated him like a son, but now… All he could do was hope that she possessed tact and simple common sense.
However, his awkwardness was soon replaced by wariness. Perhaps not everyone would have noticed it, but there were A LOT of Aurors around, not even counting the numerous members of the Order of the Phoenix… And what made Potter wary was not the mere fact of their presence—it would have been foolish to hold such an event without protection—but the fact that some of their faces were hidden beneath hoods. And the boy was certain that he knew one of those "wanderers," and knew him rather well…
"Ah, Harry, there you are! I kept wondering when you two would show up!" his best friend interrupted his thoughts about the mysterious figure. "Well, impressive, isn't it?"
It was not entirely clear what exactly Ron was asking about. There were plenty of impressive things. One could begin with the appearance of the Weasley family. Those whom everyone was accustomed to seeing in worn robes could outshine even the Malfoys that day. Moreover, there were so many guests that one might have thought the celebration was being held by the Minister himself. Especially since there were many foreigners among them, particularly French people, which was hardly surprising—the Delacour family was highly respected in their country.
But Ron was not boasting about his own new dress robes, or even about how he looked beside Luna Lovegood, whose image for the day had clearly been created with Fleur's help… The Burrow! Amid the atmosphere of the approaching noisy celebration, it was not immediately noticeable how much the timeworn home of the Weasley family had changed: in place of the crooked old building stood a kind of magical tower, the adjoining garden could rival royal parks in perfection, and even the old sheds had now given way to palace-style outbuildings…
"Er… Hello, Ron! I don't even know what to say! ."
"Well, tell me what you think of our estate. Not bad, right?"
"I think if the Malfoys saw this, they'd drop dead from envy on the spot!"
"Well, that's the idea… Not the Malfoys, of course! It's only a pity that none of this will last long…"
"Let me guess: the twins' work?"
"Who else's! McGonagall, by the way—she's here too, in case you didn't know—said she couldn't even imagine how something like this was possible! According to her, even Dumbledore would hardly have been able to cast such an illusion! And Fred and George spent only a couple of hours setting it up! I can imagine how long they worked on inventing it…"
His speech was interrupted by the appearance of the creators of the masterpiece themselves, who did not miss the chance to try another joke on their brother. As a result, for several moments he turned… into Severus Snape! The effect did not last long, but it gave certain people certain ideas…
"You know, Fred, it's a pity we haven't achieved a stable effect yet!"
"You're right, George, Ron really suited the noble locks and the proud hooked nose of the great Terror of the Hogwarts Dungeons!" The twins, surrounding Ron from both sides, rolled with laughter, teasing him and easily dodging the spells he fired in an attempt to take revenge. "All right, that's enough! You were praising us just a moment ago! Besides, we wanted to help you earn a little extra—if we achieve a more or less lasting effect, just imagine: the opportunity to experience life in Severus Snape's skin! And that's only the beginning: we're planning to release an entire series of products that will allow people to turn into one of the professors or even Dumbledore himself! Though it's probably better not to mess with the old man… Oh, Harry, you're already here! And I see you haven't been wasting any time!"
"Oh, come on, Harry! Was it really worth making such sacrifices just so our dear mum would stop using you as a house-elf?" George was clearly asking for trouble. And he got it…
"George, don't you think you've already crossed every possible line? Flamia is my girlfriend, and I demand that you treat her with due respect!" Although Potter said it in a cheerful voice, the warning in his gaze was unmistakable: calm down, or this will not end well!
"What are you talking about? We had no intention of insulting this heavenly creature! We simply hoped to see the Boy-Everyone-Talks-About doing physical labour again…"
He really should not have ignored the voice of, among other things, the sponsor who had helped establish their shop, and also the person whom he himself supplied with his jokes. In the end, he was defeated, so to speak, by his own weapon…
The time before the ceremony passed unnoticed. Harry became involved in conversations with the Weasley brothers, all of whom were present… Bill did not fail to ask whether Flamia was related to the Delacours… As for her, Ginny's company was enough, especially since, despite everything, she was afraid to move too far away from Harry.
And so, at noon everyone was called to a specially prepared area. Nothing unusual, everything quite like the Muggles… at first. Apart from the obvious differences in clothing, for ordinary people a marriage ceremony was simply a beautiful ritual… Among wizards, however, a true wedding was held only between people who genuinely loved one another. After all, they made a magical vow to remain faithful to each other until the end of their days, and it was not without reason that one of the lines of the vow went: "And even death shall not part us"…
But then the ceremony came to an end. Everyone rushed to congratulate the newlyweds, with Molly Weasley being particularly enthusiastic. Harry even had the sinful thought that perhaps she was singing their praises so extravagantly because of him, since according to rumours, only recently she had been doing everything she could to dissuade her son from such a decision… But that already smacked of delusions of grandeur, from which Harry did not suffer, and so he returned to studying the security arrangements for the event, since he still could not believe that HE was here..
"Harry… You do promise that our wedding will take place, don't you?" Flamia pulled the boy away from his thoughts.
"Of course, darling! Though I don't particularly want to invite this many people…"
"Of course, my love! To be honest, I don't really understand why there are so many people here… As though everyone had been deliberately gathered together for something…"
"I hope it doesn't lead to bad consequences…"
"You're thinking only about bad things today!" And the girl used the universal method of improving one's mood: a kiss…
The celebration lasted for a very long time. Harry was even surprised that anyone could celebrate for so many hours… And where did people find the strength? Although that was easy enough to explain—everyone wanted to seize their share of happiness and joy during such a difficult time… But all good things came to an end. And so this celebration was drawing to its conclusion. Just as at a Muggle wedding, the bride began throwing the bouquet. Tonks was lucky—this time she did not trip or drop anything… Then the newlyweds used a portal to depart on their honeymoon, and the guests were already preparing to leave when suddenly…
"DEATH EATERS! THERE ARE MANY OF THEM! THEY'VE SURROUNDED US!.."
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