It was early in the morning at the Weasley household. Y/n slowly awoke in the small bed he and Hermione were sharing together. One of his arms was around her waist, the other on the back of her head as it and her torso lay on top of Y/n's own, their legs intertwined.
Y/n looked to the window to see that the sun was only just beginning to rise but the sounds of pots and pans downstairs told him that Mrs Weasley was already very much awake.
Y/n placed a kiss down on Hermione's forehead before carefully moving to extract himself from the bed without somehow waking her up. He crossed over Ginny's bedroom that was dimly lit by the ever-growing sunlight hitting the drawn curtains. Reaching a set of drawers he picked up his wand from them and opened up Hermione's bag.
'Accio clothes.' He thought to himself pointing the wand inside the bag and soon a fresh set of clothes flew out of the bag and onto the floor.
Y/n put Hermione's bag back down now and changed into his fresh set of clothes before quietly heading down the stairs.
When he arrived in the Kitchen he could see Mr Weasley sat at the table eating his breakfast while Mrs Weasley cooked her own.
"Good morning." He quietly said to them.
"Morning Y/n." Mr Weasley gave him a smile before popping some egg into his mouth.
"Good morning dear. Let me just finish making my own breakfast then I will get started on yours." Mrs Weasley told him.
"No need Mrs Weasely, I will lighten your busy load and just have toast today." Y/n said.
"Are you sure you don't want anything more filling dear? It's going to be quite the busy day..."
"With a wonderful spread that I am more than sure will fill me later on." Y/n politely stopped her. "If you would like to do something for me, could I trouble you and Mr Weasley to wake up Bill and George when you are both finished?"
"Bill and George?" Mr Weasley asked.
"Bill is going to very busy today Y/n." Mrs Weasley told him.
Y/n just smiled. "Naturally, but I promise that this will be worth it." Y/n assured them.
Mr Weasley who had just finished his breakfast got up from the table. "I'll go wake them Molly. I trust whatever it is Y/n needs them for is important."
Y/n just gave Mr Weasley a nod and buttered his toast as he watched him leave to wake the boys. It was about 10 minutes later when both Bill and George trundled tiredly down the stairs.
"What's this all about?" George yawned as he Bill and Mr Weasley entered the kitchen.
"Dad said you wanted to see us?" Bill addressed Y/n sounding more awake but still looking very tired.
"Yes, I am sorry to awaken you both so early." Y/n started.
"It's fine, need to be up early to get ready anyway." Bill brushed it off but George looked like he could fall asleep at the table.
"I think I will start with you Bill." Y/n said taking out his wand. "If you could sit in the chair in front of me." Y/n instructed.
"What are you going to do to him?" Mrs Weasley asked cautiously as she saw Bill sit down first.
"With some effort, a bit of complex magic." Y/n answered and he looked at Bill.
Despite their trust in Y/n, there was a trace of unease in Bill's expression. Y/n's eyes looked all over the scars left by Fenrir Greyback during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, marring Bill's once-handsome face. He knew Bill was able to remain confident on most days, but on a day like today he figured Bill might feel a little self-conscious about his appearance.
Y/n focused with intention as he used all of his knowledge of advanced transfiguration. It was delicate work, but he knew it would be worth it if he could get it right. The others watched waiting to see what Y/n was doing but shortly they all let out gasps and Bill looked a little alarmed by their responses.
"Is everything alright?" He quickly asked.
"Everything's looking great." George grinned.
"But that's..." Mr Weasley said impressed.
"Oh Bill.." Mrs Weasley began to tear up before she grabbed him, hugged him and let out a sob placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Here." Y/n said next as he waved his wand and produced a mirror. "Let me know what you think."
Bill took the mirror and hestiantly lifed it, in it's reflection he saw his own face but only now his skin was smooth and unblemished, just as it had been before the attack. His features were restored, not to some idealized perfection, but to the way they had been, a reflection of his true self.
"My face...it's..." Bill uttered as he brought as and to touch his face.
"I am afraid it is not permanent." Y/n told the Weasleys. "The scars are still there but I have used some advanced transfiguration to cover them up for today. Thought your big day should have you looking your best." Y/n explained.
"I..I don't know what to say...Thank you Y/n. Seriously." Bill said still in shock.
Y/n just nodded and turned to George next. "I think I might be able to do something temporary about that missing ear of yours but it will only be a cosmetic you understand, you will still not be able to hear out of it."
"Even that would be great Y/n." George said grateful for how much effort was putting in for his family.
Y/n pointed his wand to the hole where George's ear used to be and had to focus harder than he had with Bill, It took some time but soon a fake ear that looked like his old one began to cover over the hole on George's side.
"There we are."Y/n said putting his wand away looking satisfied with his work. "Now you are both ready for today."
"Y/n, I can't ever thank you enough for this." Bill said seriously to him.
"Neither can I." George agreed. "I'd offer you more shares in the shop but you won't take them."
"I do not need any thanks." Y/n smiled. "I was happy to help."
"You've been a good friend to this family Y/n." Mr Weasley said to Y/n gratefully as he put his hand on his shoulder. "If you're ever in need of help just ask, we'll always be there to help." Mr Weasley told him.
"Y/n." Mrs whispered, her voice choked with happiness, and tears spilled down her cheeks as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "You've given me back my boys."
Y/n hugged her back, feeling a deep warmth in his chest. "It was the least I could do, Mrs. Weasley. They deserve to be happy today."
Mrs. Weasley pulled back slightly, wiping her tears with the corner of her apron. She looked over at Bill, who was now smiling confidently, and at George, who was already joking with his dad, his spirits lifted. "You've made this day perfect, Y/n." she said, her voice full of gratitude.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon now and Y/n, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were standing outside the great white marquee in the orchard, awaiting the arrival of the wedding guests.
"I still can't believe you managed to make it look like he has his ear." Ron said look at Y/n's transfiguration on George.
"It is only for today." Y/n said.
"Well you'd better leave quick before mum keeps you around full time." Fred joked.
"At least I'm not stuck drinking that foul stuff again like a certain someone." George said.
Harry had taken a large dose of Polyjuice Potion and was now the double of a redheaded Muggle boy from the local village, Ottery St. Catchpole, from whom Fred had stolen hairs using a Summoning Charm. The plan was to introduce Harry as "Cousin Barny" and trust to the great number of Weasley relatives to camouflage him.
All five of them were clutching seating plans, so that they could help show people to the right seats. A host of white-robed waiters had arrived an hour earlier, along with a golden-jacketed band, and all of these wizards were currently sitting a short distance away under a tree, Y/n could see a blue haze of pipe smoke issuing from the spot.
Behind Y/n, the entrance to the marquee revealed rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet. The supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedgerow. Y/n was rather uncomfortable. The summer sun was beating down upon them and his dress robes felt hot and tight.
"When I get married." said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes. "I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body-Bind Curse on Mum until it's all over."
"She wasn't too bad this morning, considering." said George. "Cried a bit about Percy not being here, but who wants him? Oh blimey, brace yourselves...here they come, look."
Brightly colored figures were appearing, one by one, out of nowhere at the distant boundary of the yard. Within minutes a procession had formed, which began to snake its way up through the garden toward the marquee. Exotic flowers and bewitched birds fluttered on the witches' hats, while precious gems glittered from many of the wizards' cravats, a hum of excited chatter grew louder and louder, drowning the sound of the bees as the crowd approached the tent.
"Excellent, I think I see a few veela cousins." said George, craning his neck for a better look. "They'll need help understanding our English customs, I'll look after them..."
"Not so fast, Your Holeyness." said Fred, and darting past the gaggle of middle-aged witches heading the procession, he said, "Here...permettez-moi to assister vous." to a pair of pretty French girls, who giggled and allowed him to escort them inside.
"Git." Ron and George said in unison causing Y/n and Harry to chuckle.
George was left to deal with the middle-aged witches and Ron took charge of Mr. Weasley's old Ministry colleague Perkins, while a rather deaf old couple fell to Harry's lot.
"Wotcher." said a familiar voice as Y/n stayed by the marquee and found Tonks and Lupin at the front of the queue. She had turned blonde for the occasion.
"Professor Lupin, Tonks. You both look wonderful." Y/n smiled at them and gestured for them to follow him.
"Sorry about last night." Tonks said in a whisper as Y/n led them up the aisle. "The Ministry's being very anti-werewolf at the moment and we thought our presence might not do Harry or you any favors."
"It is alright, I and Harry understand." said Y/n, speaking more to Lupin than Tonks. Lupin gave him a swift smile, but as they turned away, Y/n saw Lupin's face fall again into lines of misery. He did not understand it, but there was no time to dwell on the matter. Hagrid was causing a certain amount of disruption. Having misunderstood Fred's directions he had sat himself, not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat set aside for him in the back row, but on five seats that now resembled a large pile of golden matchsticks.
While Mr. Weasley repaired the damage and Hagrid shouted apologies to anybody who would listen, Y/n hurried back to the entrance to find Harry and Ron face-to-face with a most eccentric-looking wizard. Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, he wore a cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck but Y/n did not notice it.
"Xenophilius Lovegood." he said, extending a hand to Y/n. "My daughter and I live just over the hill, so kind of the good Weasleys to invite us. But I think you know my Luna?" he added to Ron.
"Yes." said Ron. "Isn't she with you?"
"She lingered in that charming little garden to say hello to the gnomes, such a glorious infestation! How few wizards realize just how much we can learn from the wise little gnomes... or, to give them their correct name, the Gernumbli gardensi."
'Most certainly Luna's father...' Y/n thought to himself.
"Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words." said Ron, "but I think Fred and George taught them those."
He led a party of warlocks into the marquee as Luna rushed up.
"Hello, Y/n! Harry!" she said.
"Er...my name's Barny," said Harry, flummoxed.
"Oh, have you changed that too?" she asked brightly.
"How did you know..." Harry asked.
"Oh, just your expression." she said.
"Hello again Miss Lovegood." Y/n greeted her now.
Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow robes, which she had accessorized with a large sunflower in her hair. Once you got over the brightness of it all, the general effect was quite pleasant. At least there were no radishes dangling from her ears.
Xenophilius, who was deep in conversation with an acquaintance, had missed the exchange between Luna and Harry. Bidding the wizard farewell, he turned to his daughter, who held up her finger and said, "Daddy, look...one of the gnomes actually bit me!"
"How wonderful! Gnome saliva is enormously beneficial!" said Mr. Lovegood, seizing Luna's outstretched finger and examining the bleeding puncture marks. "Luna, my love, if you should feel any burgeoning talent today...perhaps an unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaim in Mermish do not repress it! You may have been gifted by the Gernumblies!"
Ron, passing them in the opposite direction, let out a loud snort.
"Ron can laugh." said Luna serenely as Y/n and Harry led her and Xenophilius toward their seats. "But my father has done a lot of research on Gernumbli magic."
"Really?" said Harry, who had long since decided not to challenge Luna or her father's peculiar views.
"Are you sure you do not want to put anything on that bite, though?" Y/n asked a little more worried.
"Oh, it's fine." said Luna, sucking her finger in a dreamy fashion and looking Y/n and Harry up and down. "You both look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear sun colors to a wedding, for luck, you know."
As she drifted off after her father, Ron reappeared with an elderly witch clutching his arm. Her beaky nose, red-rimmed eyes, and feathery pink hat gave her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo.
"...and your hair's much too long, Ronald, for a moment I thought you were Ginevra. Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet. And who are you two?" she barked at Harry and Y/n.
"Oh yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny." Ron said pointing to Harry.
"Another Weasley?" Auntie Muriel said. "You breed like gnomes. Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely been boasting?"
"No...he couldn't come..." Ron lied.
"Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Not as gormless as he looks in press photographs, then...and who's this one."
"Allow me to introduce myself...I am Y/n Grindelwald." Y/n said holding out his hand.
"Grindelwald..." Auntie Muriel said not taking his hand. "So you are friends with Ronald too then..."
"Yes ma'am." Y/n said sensing a slight bit of hostility towards him. It had been a while since anyone had shown him such an emotion.
"I've just been instructing the bride on how best to wear my tiara," Auntie Muriel shouted at Harry. "Goblin-made, you know, and been in my family for centuries. She's a good-looking girl, but still...French... Well, well, find me a good seat, Ronald, I am a hundred and seven and I ought not to be on my feet too long."
Ron gave Y/n and Harry a meaningful look as he passed them.
"If she continues to behave like that she may not live to see one hundred and eight..." Y/n joked to Harry who laughed.
When next the three met at the entrance, Harry and Y/n had shown a dozen more people to their places. The marquee was nearly full now, and for the first time there was no queue outside.
"Nightmare, Muriel is." said Ron, mopping his forehead on his sleeve. "She used to come for Christmas every year, then, thank God, she took offense because Fred and George set off a Dungbomb under her chair at dinner. Dad always says she'll have written them out of her will... like they care, they're going to end up richer than anyone in the family, rate they're going..."
Y/n however had been looking around when his eye's gaze was caught by something that made them stop.
It was Hermione who came hurrying toward them.
"You look Beautiful..." Y/n said to her.
Hermione smiled. "And you look rather Handsome." She said and the two shared a kiss.
Hermione was wearing a red-colored dress with matching high heels, her hair was sleek and shiny. "Ron's Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree, I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said. 'Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"
"I might just kill that woman by the end of the day..." Y/n said.
"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone." said Ron quickly.
"Talking about Muriel?" inquired George, reemerging from the marquee with Fred. "Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided. Old bat."
Hermione looked at George and noticed his ear. "But George it's..." She started surprised.
"You can look to your boyfriend for the answer." George grinned. "Said he wanted us to look nice for the wedding."
"Us?" Hermione asked.
"I used some transfiguration to cover George and Bill's scars for today." Y/n said now.
He felt Hermione kiss his cheek. "That was very kind of you."
"It is Bill and Fleur's wedding. They will want to have nice photographs." Y/n chuckled.
" I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, he was a right laugh at weddings." Fred said now.
"Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" asked Hermione.
"Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end." conceded George.
"But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party." said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his..."
"Yes, he sounds a real charmer." said Hermione, while Harry and even to everyone's surprise Y/n roared with laughter.
"Never married, for some reason." said Ron.
"You amaze me." said Hermione.
They were all laughing so much that none of them noticed the latecomer, a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows, until he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his eyes on Hermione, "You look vunderful."
"Viktor!" she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate to its size. As she scrambled to pick it up, she said. "I didn't know you were... goodness ...it's lovely to see...how are you?"
"K..K...Kr..Kru..." Ron stuttered.
Y/n just slinked his arm around Hermione's waist now. "Mr Krum. I did not know you would be joining us today." He said calmly.
"Fleur invited me." said Krum, eyebrows raised.
Y/n, who had no grudge against Krum, Held out his free hand towards him. "It is nice to see you again. I hope you have been well."
Krum took his hand and both shook. Harry, feeling that it would be prudent to remove Krum from Ron's vicinity, offered to show him his seat.
"Your friend is not pleased to see me." said Krum as they entered the now packed marquee. "Or is he a relative?" he added with a glance at Harry's red curly hair.
"I'm glad you can be civil with him." Hermione said quietly to Y/n.
"Well the Yule ball was quite some time ago now, and besides I have you all to myself today when it comes to dancing." Y/n said. "I have no ill will towards Mr Krum and I trust him enough to keep his hands to himself."
"Y/n!" Hermione whispered.
"Come on we'd better get our seats." Ron said having recovered now,
Ron, Y/n, Hermione, Fred, and George came hurrying down the aisle with Harry who had seated Krum joining them.
"Time to sit down." Fred said. "Or we're going to get run over by the bride."
Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Harry noticed that Y/n and Hermione were holding one another's hands as Ron had started going on about Krum.
A sense of jittery anticipation had filled the warm tent, the general murmuring broken by occasional spurts of excited laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives, Mrs. Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of amethyst-colored robes with a matching hat.
A moment later Bill and Charlie stood up at the front of the marquee, both wearing dress robes, with large white roses in their buttonholes. Bill's face was clean, to those who did not know him well they never could have guessed he had been attacked just over a month ago. Fred wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of giggling from the veela cousins. Then the crowd fell silent as music swelled from what seemed to be the golden balloons.
"Ooooh!" said Hermione, swiveling around in her seat to look at the entrance.
A great collective sigh issued from the assembled witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur Delacour bouncing and beaming. Fleur was wearing a very simple white dress and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow. While her radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it beautified everybody it fell upon. Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual, and once Fleur had reached him, She immediately looked shocked and put a hand to his face as a few tears leaked from her eyes. Bill just smiled at her and nodded his head towards Y/n and Fleur looked around to see Y/n smile and return a nod of his own.
"Ladies and gentlemen." said a slightly singsong voice, and with a slight shock, Y/n saw the same small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral, now standing in front of Bill and Fleur. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls..."
"Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely." said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. "But I must say, Ginevra's dress is far too low cut."
Y/n silently chuckled as he caught Ginny glancing around, grinning, and then winking at Harry.
"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle..."
In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpetlike sounds from the back of the marquee told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his own tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs. Hermione turned and beamed at Y/n, her eyes too were full of tears.
"...then I declare you bonded for life."
The tufty-haired wizard waved his wand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiraling around their now entwined figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, the golden balloons overhead burst, Birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their songs and chimes to the din.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" called the tufty-haired wizard. "If you would please stand up!"
They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly, he waved his wand again. The seats on which they had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped themselves around small, white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth around it, and the golden-jacketed band trooped toward a podium.
"Smooth." said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped up on all sides, some bearing silver trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, others tottering piles of tarts and sandwiches.
"We should go and congratulate them!" said Hermione, standing on tiptoe to see the place where Bill and Fleur had vanished amid a crowd of well-wishers.
"We'll have time later." shrugged Ron, snatching four butterbeers from a passing tray and handing one to Harry, Hermione and Y/n. "Let's grab a table...Not there! Nowhere near Muriel..."
Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, glancing left and right as he went. By the time they had reached the other side of the marquee, most of the tables were occupied. The emptiest was the one where Luna sat alone.
"All right if we join you?" asked Ron.
"Oh yes." she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."
"What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?" asked Ron.
"Do not be an ass Ronald." Y/n sighed.
The band had begun to play. Bill and Fleur took to the dance floor first, to great applause, after a while, Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, followed by Mrs. Weasley and Fleur's father.
"I like this song." said Luna, swaying in time to the waltzlike tune, and a few seconds later she stood up and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her arms.
"She's great, isn't she?" said Ron admiringly. "Always good value."
But Viktor Krum suddenly dropped into Luna's vacant seat with a scowl on his face he said. "Who is that man in the yellow?"
"That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours." said Ron. His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation.
"Will you dance with me?" Y/n asked holding out his hand to Hermione now.
She looked taken aback for a moment, but pleased and took Y/n's hand as they got up and vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor.
"They are still together ven?" asked Krum, momentarily distracted.
"Er...Yeah." said Harry unsure what to say.
"Who are you?" Krum asked.
"Barny Weasley. Ron's cousin." Harry said and they shook hands.
"You, Barny...you know this man Lovegood vell?"
"No, I only met him today. Why?" Harry asked.
Krum glowered over the top of his drink, watching Xenophilius, who was chatting to several warlocks on the other side of the dance floor.
"Because." said Krum. "If he vos not a guest of Fleur's, I vould duel him, here and now, for vearing that filthy sign upon his chest."
"Sign?" said Harry, looking over at Xenophilius too. The strange triangular eye was gleaming on his chest. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald's sign."
"Grindelwald...You mean Y/n's great uncle...the Dark wizard Dumbledore defeated?"
"Exactly."
Krum's jaw muscles worked as if he were chewing, then he said. "Grindelvald killed many people, my grandfather, for instance. Of course, he vos never poverful in this country, they said he feared Dumbledore...and rightly, seeing how he vos finished. But this..." he pointed a finger at Xenophilius..." this is his symbol, I recognized it at vunce. Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Durmstrang ven he vos a pupil there. Some idiots copied it onto their books and clothes, thinking to shock, make themselves impressive until those of us who had lost family members to Grindelvald taught them better."
Krum cracked his knuckles menacingly and glowered at Xenophilius. Harry felt perplexed. It seemed incredibly unlikely that Luna's father was a supporter of the Dark Arts, and nobody else in the tent seemed to have recognized the triangular, runelike shape.
"If you have such a...dislike for Grindelwald then why did you never take it up with Y/n a couple years ago?" Ron asked joining the conversation now.
"Because I vos a guest in Hogvarts and could not cause trouble. I did not like him at virst, especially with Her-my own-nee's liking of him...but he proved himself to be very different from his relatives...I respect only him in vat family." Krum said gruffly.
"Are you...er... quite sure it's Grindelwald's..." Harry asked now.
"I am not mistaken." said Krum coldly. "I valked past that sign for several years, I know it vell."
"Well, there's a chance." said Harry. "That Xenophilius doesn't actually know what the symbol means. The Lovegoods are quite...unusual. He could easily have picked it up somewhere and think it's a cross section of the head of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or something."
"The cross section of a vot?"
"Well, I don't know what they are, but apparently he and his daughter go on holiday looking for them..."
Harry felt he was doing a bad job explaining Luna and her father.
"That's her." Ron said, pointing at Luna, who was still dancing alone, waving her arms around her head like someone attempting to beat off midges.
"Vy is she doing that?" asked Krum.
"Probably trying to get rid of a Wrackspurt." said Harry, who recognized the symptoms.
Krum did not seem to know whether or not Harry was making fun of him. He drew his wand from inside his robes and tapped it menacingly on his thigh, sparks flew out of the end.
"Gregorovitch!" said Harry loudly, and Krum started, but Harry was too excited to care, the memory had come back to him at the sight of Krum's wand. Ollivander taking it and examining it carefully before the Triwizard Tournament.
"Vot about him?" asked Krum suspiciously.
"He's a wandmaker!"
"I know that." said Krum.
"He made your wand! That's why I thought...Quidditch..."
Krum was looking more and more suspicious.
"How do you know Gregorovitch made my vand?"
"I...I read it somewhere, I think." said Harry. "In a...a fan magazine." he improvised wildly and Krum looked mollified.
"I had not realized I ever discussed my vand with fans." he said.
"So...er...where is Gregorovitch these days?"
Krum looked puzzled. "He retired several years ago. I vos one of the last to purchase a Gregorovitch vand. They are the best although I know, of course, that you Britons set much store by Ollivander."
Harry did not answer. He pretended to watch the dancers, like Krum, but he was thinking hard. So Voldemort was looking for a celebrated wandmaker, and Harry did not have to search far for a reason, It was surely because of what Harry's wand had done on the night that Voldemort had pursued him across the skies. The holly and phoenix feather wand had conquered the borrowed wand, something that Ollivander had not anticipated or understood. Would Gregorovitch know better? Was he truly more skilled than Ollivander, did he know secrets of wands that Ollivander did not?
"This girl is very nice-looking." Krum said, recalling Harry to his surroundings. Krum was pointing at Ginny, who had just joined Luna. "She is also a relative of yours?"
Ron's hand tightened into a reactive fist.
"Yeah." said Harry, suddenly irritated. "And she's seeing someone. Jealous type. Big bloke. You wouldn't want to cross him."
Krum grunted as Harry felt Ron's eyes upon him.
"Vot." Krum said, draining his goblet and getting to his feet again. "Is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?"
And he strode off, leaving Harry and Ron to take a sandwich from a passing waiter and make his way around the edge of the crowded dance floor. Harry wanted to find Y/n and Hermione, to tell them about Gregorovitch, but both were off dancing out in the middle of the floor. Instead he just watched Ginny, who was now dancing with Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan, trying not to feel resentful about the promise he had given Ron.
Y/n and Hermione were slow dancing together as the band played slow songs for couples to dance to.
"It was a lovely ceremony." Hermione said as her hands lay on his shoulder and her head rested on Y/n's chest.
"Yes, it was indeed." Y/n agreed his own hands were on Hermione's waist.
"What you did for Bill was very kind Y/n." Hermione said now.
"It really was nothing." He said. "They look happy." Y/n indicated to Bill and Fleur who were smiling at one another as they danced too.
"Do you ever think we will get married?" Hermione asked as they slowly moved together.
"Yes. I think we will..." Y/n said.
"You do?" Hermione asked raising her head from his chest.
"I...have been giving it a lot of thought recently." Y/n admitted as he felt his chest tighten. "It is rather hard not to given today." He indicated to the wedding. "All around us people seem to be getting married. Professor Lupin and Tonks, now Bill and Fleur. One cannot help but think of their own future in such a time, and in my own, I cannot imagine it without you by my side."
"Y/n..." Hermione began.
"We have been lovers for several years now, known each other for longer. There is no one else I could share my life with at this point after all we have been through together, You have been there for me at my lowest points and I will certainly be there for your own. As of now, we face a hard task ahead of us...But one day when all of this over...when there is finally peace... I want us to be together like Bill and Fleur, like Professor Lupin and Tonks, Like...Mr and Mrs Weasley."
"Y/n are you..." Hermione started again and Y/n looked at her eyes to see tears forming in them.
"There are things I would like us to do first however. The first being getting your parents approval." Y/n began as the tears began to leak out of Hermione's eyes. "I would not feel right if they were not there after all. I do have one person's approval however..." Y/n said and he took out a small box from a pocket inside his tuxedo.
Hermione gasped. "Is that..."
Y/n opened the box to reveal a beautiful golden ring.
"My Grandmother was very fond of you Hermione and I believe that is why she left her own engagement ring to me before she died." Y/n took the ring out of the box now and looked once again into her eyes as both love and nerves filled him. "Hermione Jean Granger...Will you Marry me?"
Hermione said no words however as she threw her arms around Y/n's neck and pulled his head down into a deep loving kiss that he returned.
"May I take that as a yes?" Y/n asked when they pulled away.
"Of course it's a yes!" Hermione laughed and then sniffled as tears continued to fall down face.
Y/n smiled and took her left hand slipping the ring onto her ring finger.
"I think we should wait a while before telling the others, we do not want to spoil Bill and Fleur's big day." Y/n said.
"I Agree. Let's just enjoy the moment." She said and Y/n wiped her tears now.
Harry just sipped his butterbeer as he stared ahead of him, barely noticing what was going on around him, and did not realize that Y/n and Hermione had appeared out of the crowd until they drew up two chairs beside him and sat down.
"I simply can't dance anymore." she panted, slipping off one of her shoes and rubbing the sole of her foot.
"I quite enjoyed myself out on the floor." Y/n said with a smile.
"So did I." Hermione smiled back.
"At least one of us did..." Harry said.
"Where is Ron?" Y/n asked Harry noticing that one of them was absent. "Do not tell me he is trying with one of the Veela."
"No he's gone looking to find more butterbeers." Harry said.
"It's a bit odd, We've just seen Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked like they'd been arguing..." Hermione dropped her voice, staring at him. "Harry, are you okay?"
Harry did not know where to begin, but it did not matter. At that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
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