𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘

ACT TWO, CHAPTER TWO
the wedding.

THE ASPECT OF Ron, Harry, Venus, and Hermione leaving got realer and realer every day.

Penelope knew that they had to go. It was the only way that they could stop Voldemort, since his Horcruxes basically ensured that he couldn't die unless they were destroyed, but her selfishness didn't want them to go, especially Ron. She didn't know how she could possibly survive Hogwarts without him, months without him — but Penelope guessed she had to learn.

All she wanted was more time. But that couldn't happen.

The atmosphere of the house was tense. Everyone could tell that something between those four was going to happen eventually, and Harry, Ron, Venus, and Hermione were separated in doing tasks for the wedding intentionally by Mrs. Weasley, who definitely didn't want the four of them departing on their journey. Ron and Penelope had been paired up together on their tasks, however. Even Mrs. Weasley could see that the two of them needed more time together.

Fleur's parents and sister swiftly arrived at the house two days before the wedding, yet they seemed to steer clear of Penelope despite her talking to Bill and Fleur. Penelope sort of got it, she guessed — her last name struck fear across the Wizarding World. She had even suggested to Mrs. Weasley to not be at the wedding because of the stares she would get, but Mrs. Weasley was quick to tell her that she was being silly and that she would be there.

Harry's birthday also came and passed before the wedding. They had a large dinner outside with everyone plus Remus, Nymphadora (who Penelope was very glad to see — she had been worried about her since Moody's death), Hagrid, and Charlie Weasley, who Penelope had met for the first time since he lived in Romania. And Penelope had to say Charlie was fucking cool. Also, the Minister came and gave Harry, Ron, Venus, and Hermione things from Dumbledore's will — Penelope could only assume it was things to help them on their quest.

Finally, it was the actual day of the wedding. Penelope had been upstairs getting ready with the rest of the girls. She had situated herself in a pretty emerald green dress and silver high heels with her curled hair cascading down her back, and she was wearing silver jewelry that Nymphadora had let her borrow. Hermione was wearing a floaty lilac-colored dress with matching high heels, and Venus was wearing a sparkly sky-blue dress with tan high-heels. Her, Hermione, and Venus decided to leave, however, when Ron's Auntie Muriel came upstairs and started to comment on everything.

The three of them made their way out to the marquee, where Ron and Harry were standing since they were helping show the wedding guests their seats. Behind them, the entrance to the marquee revealed rows of golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet. All of the supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had secured a large amount of golden balloons over the exact spot where Bill and Fleur would tie the knot. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedges. Penelope was just glad she didn't have to wear dress robes like the boys — there was nothing like wearing a dress on a hot summer day.

Harry didn't look like Harry, though, and that was intentional. Since they didn't want anyone asking Harry about anything, he had taken a large dose of Polyjuice Potion. It had been made with hairs from a redheaded Muggle boy from the local village, Ottery St. Catchpole, which had been retrieved by Fred from a Summoning Charm. They were now introducing Harry as Cousin Barny and trusting in the great number of Weasley relatives to camouflage him. Venus had even been instructed to stay away — it was public knowledge she was dating Harry, and they didn't want anyone to think that she was either cheating on Harry or that Harry was disguised.

Venus was breaking the rules, because she instantly gravitated to Harry's side.

"Wow," Ron said once his eyes set on Penelope in her dress. "You look incredible."

Penelope smiled. "Thank you. But I'd have to say, your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree that much. We met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said some shit about this color being too Slytherin-y for a wedding — like, no duh, I'm a fucking Slytherin. Didn't comment on my mother, surprisingly."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "She said to me, Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born? and then, Bad posture and skinny ankles."

Venus then added the mean thing that Muriel had said to her.

"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone," Ron responded, reaching out and taking Penelope's hand.

"Talking about Muriel?" George asked, emerging from the marquee with Fred. "Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided. Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at weddings."

"Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" Hermione questioned.

"Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end."

"But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party," Fred voiced. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhiskey, 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," Hermione cut in over Harry's laughter.

"Never married, for some reason," Ron stated.

"Huh, wonder why," Penelope added.

All of them were laughing so much that note of them noticed the latecomer. It was a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows. They only noticed him when he held out his invitation to Ron. He then looked at Hermione.

"You look vunderful," the man said.

"Viktor!" Hermione shrieked, dropping her small beaded bag which made a loud thumping noise. Penelope held in her laughter as Hermione, a blushing mess, scrambled to pick it up. "I didn't know you were — goodness — it's lovely to see — how are you?"

"How come you're here?" Ron inquired as he glanced at Krum's invitation.

"Fleur invited me," Krum answered.

Harry then showed Krum to his seat. Meanwhile, the six remaining members of the group outside the marquee decided to go inside so they wouldn't be yelled at by anyone. They hurried down the aisle and approached Harry, who had just finished showing Krum where his seat was.

"Time to sit down or we're going to get runover by the bride," Fred announced.

Penelope, Ron, Harry, Venus, and Hermione all took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. She was excited to see that Charlotte and Elijah had made it to the wedding and were sitting in the row with them. Penelope gave them a small wave before placing her and Ron's interlocked hands in her lap.

A new sense of jittery anticipation filled the warm tent, and the general murmuring was broken by occasional spurts of excited laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked up the aisle together, smiling and waving at all of their relatives. Mrs. Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of pretty amethyst-colored robes and a matching hat.

Bill and Charlie were at the front of the marquee a moment later. They were both wearing dress robes with large white roses in their buttonholes. Fred wolf-whistled at them and there was an outbreak of giggling from Fleur's Veela cousins. Then the crowd went silent as music swelled from what seemed to be the golden balloons.

Penelope turned around to look at the entrance. There was a great collective sigh from everyone as Monsieur Delacour escorted Fleur down the aisle. Fleur seemed to glide in her simple white dress and she seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow. Ginny and Gabrielle (Fleur's little sister) were both wearing golden dresses. Once Fleur had reached Bill, he looked like he had never met Fenir Greyback.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a singsong voice began, and Penelope recognized the small man as the one who had presented at Dumbledore's funeral. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls . . ."

"Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely," Auntie Muriel whispered, but it was quite loud. "But I must say, Ginevra's dress is far too low cut."

Ginny glanced around with a grin, winked at Elijah, then quickly faced the front again. Penelope let out a quiet laugh at the sight of Elijah's face turning a bright pink. She was honestly left wondering why those two were tip-toeing around each other for so long.

"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle . . . ?"

In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpet-like sounds emitted from the back of the marquee, which was obviously Hagrid and his table-cloth sized handkerchiefs. Penelope just had a small smile on her face the whole time. This entire event was just beautiful.

". . . then I declare you bonded for life."

The tufty-haired wizard waved his wand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur, making a shower of silver stars fall upon them and spiral around their now entwined figures. Fred and George led a round of applause, and the golden balloons they had created overhead burst. Birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their own songs and chimes.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the tufty-haired wizard called. "If you would please stand up!"

All of them did (with Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly.) The wizard waved his wand again, and the seats they had sat on rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished. They now stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles that showed off a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. A pool of molten gold then 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 black to earth around it. Finally, a golden-jacketed band trooped towards a podium.

"Smooth," Ron approved as the waiters came around, bearing trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, firewhiskey, tarts, and sandwiches.

"We should go and congratulate them!" Hermione exclaimed, standing on her toes to see the place where Bill and Fleur had vanished among a crowd.

Ron shrugged. "We'll have time later." He stopped a nearby waiter and passed seven butterbeers to everyone — Penelope, himself, Harry, Venus, Hermione, Charlotte, and Elijah. "P, cop hold, let's grab a table . . . not there! Nowhere near Muriel—"

All of them held onto each other as Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, glancing left and right as he went. Most of the tables were occupied by the time they had reached the other side of the marquee. The emptiest was the one where Luna Lovegood at alone.

"All right if we join you?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes," Luna replied happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill andFleur our present."

"What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?"

Penelope rolled her eyes and elbowed him harshly, ignoring his wince as she grinned at Luna. "Hi, Luna."

The band started to play. To great applause, Bill and Fleur took the dance floor first. Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor a while later, followed by Mrs. Weasley and Monsieur Delacour.

Luna started to sway in time to the waltz-like tune. "I like this song."

A few seconds later, she stood up. Luna glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, waving her arms with her eyes closed.

"Ah, Luna," Charlotte said. "Always a good time with her."

"You've never spent time with her in the common room, though," Elijah revealed. "We've had some . . . interesting conversations."

Viktor Krum then dropped into Luna's vacant seat, a scowl on his face. "Who is that man in the yellow?"

"That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours," Ron answered. He then looked to Penelope. "Come and dance."

"Oh, I'm in," Penelope agreed. "Come on, Hermione!"

Penelope grabbed Hermione's hand as Ron started to drag her onto the dance floor. However, she must have started a train by Hermione grabbing onto Venus, Venus grabbing onto Charlotte, and Charlotte grabbing onto Elijah. They then joined Fred, George, Ginny, and Lee Jordan on the dance floor, and their group was definitely the life in the party. Penelope was sure that she had never had more fun as she danced with her boyfriend and friends. She felt all her worries start to drift away as she just danced and laughed with everyone. Penelope didn't know how long she had been dancing, but Ron suggested that he would get butterbeers, so she moved her dancing with him to Fred and George to wait. Hermione, Venus, and Charlotte all left to go join Harry by a pillar.

Suddenly, everything stopped, and the world seemed to go in slow motion. Penelope stopped jumping up and down and her smile slowly slipped off her face as she watched something large and silver — a Patronus — fall through the canopy over the dance floor. The gleaming lynx landed gracefully in the middle of the floor and opened its mouth wide.

"The Ministry has fallen," the loud, deep, and slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt announced. "Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Penelope's mind went fuzzy. She pulled her wand out of her dress and looked around. There was only one destination on her mind — Ron. Somebody screamed, and she pushed her way through the panicking crowd. Remus and Nymphadora were casting shield charms. It was extremely hard to find Ron through everyone, especially all the Weasley's, but she finally found him rushing towards her with a panicked expression.

"Penelope," Ron breathed out, placing his hands urgently on her waist.

"I know," she replied, tears starting to shine in her eyes as she took his face in his hands. "You have to go. I know."

Even through the panicking crowd, it was just the two of them. Just Ron and Penelope, a couple that had fought against all odds. Penelope stared up into the blue eyes she loved so much and gave him a watery smile.

"Be strong, be safe, and be careful," she instructed. "If you come back to me all fucked up, we're going to have a serious talk."

Ron let out a choked laugh through his own crying. "I will come back to you, P. I promise."

"Big promise."

"And I'm not going to break it."

Penelope pulled his face down, kissing him hard. "I know you can do it. Make me proud." She let a tear fall down her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you," Ron responded instantly. "I love you — so, so much, Penelope."

She smiled sadly and noticed Hermione, Venus, and Harry rushing up behind him, so she kissed him once more. "Go. Good luck."

And in within the span of a second, the four of them were gone, taking Penelope's heart with them.

☆ 彡

summarized some things in here or else it would've been like 30,000 words long and I did not want to deal with that