Marriage Law Madness

The Great Hall had never looked prettier. White silk banners with the Hogwarts crest stitched in silver replaced the house banners, and there were red and white roses & poinsettias everywhere, interspersed with candles floating inside crystal bubbles.
The brides had decided to enter in groups of two, since waiting for 9 brides to come down the aisle would have taken the entire afternoon. Each pair was escorted down the aisle by one of the men – Lucius escorted Hannah and Millicent, Professor Flitwick accompanied Parvati and Mandy, Fudge escorted Mandy and Cho and Severus guided his sister and Florian.

The couples lined up across the front of the room in an arc. Fudge had been as good as his word for once, and all the young couples had beautiful robes. Molly and Minerva had taken the girls to Madam Thestral’s while Lucius, Severus and Dumbledore had taken the men to Madam Malkin’s. . Fudge himself had dipped into the family vaults and bought each of the girls a necklace of bride’s pearls, and Dumbledore, Severus and Lucius had bought the earrings.

Fudge has also taken care that the rings were the best available, having each student come with him to the ring shop while the rest enjoyed afternoon tea at the Leaky Cauldron. The rings were now resting on a pillow held by little Aurora, who seemed none the worse for wear after her first transformation. Her new father still looked rather under the weather, but it was hard to tell under the grin that seemed plastered to his face the last few days.

From left to right, the couples exchanged vows and rings:

Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom
Parvati Patil and Ernie Macmillan
Professor Sprout and Angus Gardner
Florian Ratzenheimer and Michael Ainsley
Remus Lupin and Felicity Snape
Mandy Brocklehurst and Terry Boot
Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini
Michael Corner and Cho Chang

Once all the couples took their vows, the ribbon ceremony was performed. During this, Severus snuck out the back, where Minerva was waiting. She looked much as Ginny had a few evenings before. “I can’t do this. I was crazy to agree to do this!”

“You can do this and you will. Just breathe.” She took a steadying breath. Severus took a small bottle from his pocket, uncorking it under Minerva’s nose. “Breathe.” The soothing scent of lavender filled her nostrils, calming her.

They straightened up as they heard the music start. Minerva squared her shoulders and threaded her arm through Severus’s as the door opened. He walked her up the aisle and gave her hand to Albus, then sat down next to Molly in the front row.

Albus stood before the altar more nervous than he had ever been. It was worse than taking his N.E.W.T.S. or even his university Trasfiguration finals. He would much rather have faced Grindelwald again than go through this. Minerva’s hand shook in his, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him, squeezing his hand in return. They turned towards Fudge and recited their vows, then exchanged rings, circles of never ending knots. Now she knew why he had chosen the jewelry he had given her after her day out with Molly – the pendant and earrings matched her wedding ring. She slid the accompanying band onto his finger, and then Fudge motioned them to get closer to one another so he could tie the ribbon around their left wrists. Then they kissed, softly and cautiously. The ribbon binding them glowed a blinding gold, flew off their wrists and into the air; to everyone’s admiration it formed itself into a beautiful seven loop bow before settling into a shimmering mass on the table next to the marriage chalice.

“Amazing,” Fudge breathed.

The chairs and benches disappeared, and everyone spilled out into the garden for tea while the house elves set up the hall for dinner and the ball. The garden was a sight to behold, having a myriad of enchantments on every inch of it. While the grounds surrounding the rest of the castle the ground were deep with snow, the area closest to the garden was bare. Inside, the grass was green, enchanted roses bloomed year round, and it was always warm. It was the favorite spot of many Hogwarts students, to the point it was frequently crowded during free time. Today they would see the new section that Dumbledore and Hagrid had been working on, but there was also a private section that they had made as a gift for the new Mrs Dumbledore.

Albus made Minerva shut her eyes, leading her into a large expanse of grass. She heard a muttered spell; he was sealing the barrier behind them so they could have a little privacy. “Open your eyes, Minerva.” She blinked her eyes open and her jaw dropped in amazement. There was a tall tree with a two-seater swing, and on the other side of the tree there was a beautiful outdoor chess set and chairs. There was a fountain in one corner, and a large deep reflecting pool the far end. There was a smaller pool opposite the tree, with rocks and a waterfall. This one had Lilly pads, frogs, and fish.

There were climbing roses all over the stone walls, in shades of red, white, pink and cream. They were all over the fountain, too. There was a large wooden chest in the near the fishpond, which proved to contain fish food, a croquet set and a picnic blanket. He gave her a moment to savor the unseasonable warmth, kissed her softly, and then opened the barrier to admit Molly and Severus.

Albus retrieved the blanket and opened the hamper that had appeared near a hole in the wall. Spreading out the blanket, he pulled four wineglasses out of the hamper, pouring three glasses of wine and one of Chocolate milk, which he knew had been Molly’s favorite when she was pregnant with all of her kids.

There was a cheese board and a platter of grapes and apple slices in the basket, just enough to tide them over until dinner, as Albus and Minerva had been too nervous to eat all day. After their light repast, the wedding couple retired to the swing, and Severus led Molly over to the chessboard. “Do you play?”

“No, I was never allowed. I watched father play with my brothers though, so I know the basics.” Molly sounded wistful, and Severus found himself cursing her father again for not realizing his daughter’s potential.

“Sit.” He ordered in his best classroom tone. “Show me which pieces are which, and which way they move.” When she had gone over all she knew, he began to teach her the game. He decided to go to Diagon Alley after they put the students on the train tomorrow and buy her a set of her own. He, Albus and Minerva often faced off against one another, and he was sure they would welcome a fourth.

Chimes sounded a short while later, announcing the beginning of the feast, and the staff and students made their way inside.

~~~

The Yule ball had started out well, until Fred had bewitched the mistletoe to follow his stepfather around, causing every woman in the room to have to kiss him as he walked by. Try as he might, Severus couldn’t lift the spell.

“I’m going to paddle him good, even if he is of age and married!” Molly fumed.

“Severus, or Fred?” Madam Rosmerta had made her way over to her.

“Fred.”

“Well, one of your other sons is giving me fits. Did Severus tell you about the joke they played on Percy at the bachelor party the other night?” When Molly nodded, she handed her a piece of paper and said, “I can’t convince him nothing happened. He feels that he needs to marry me to protect my reputation.”

“Percy has always had a highly developed sense of honor. Do you want me to talk to him?” Molly questioned, concerned.

“What good will it do? The offer is legal – if there are no other offers, it will become final in two weeks.” Bill came over to ask his mother for a dance, as Tonks had been asked to dance by her Uncle Lucius at the moment. Molly and Rosmerta decided to enjoy the ball and made a lunch date to discuss the matter after Christmas.

Meanwhile, Severus was still kissing his way around the room when an idea came to him. He ambled over to Minerva, and on the pretext of kissing her, whispered in her ear. She laughed and pointed her wand.

They waited until Fred was standing in the worst possible spot, then they cast together. The mistletoe lifted over Severus’s head and whizzed over to hover over Fred – and Delores Eleanor Umbridge Filch.

Molly was trying so hard to suppress a laugh that Bill had to hold her so she didn’t fall over. Severus returned to her side, laughing. “This is excellent payback for the third Spellwad incident, as under current student law I couldn’t paddle them. Now to find something suitable for George.”

“What Spellwad incident?” Molly questioned him. Bill merely looked amused, obviously having heard the story before.

“You remember Minerva telling you that there was at least one in every generation? Your sons hit me with them in potions class. A weeks worth of detention didn’t make up for the fact that I couldn’t do what Dumbledore did to Minerva and she did to me. It was only the promise that kept them from scrubbing cauldrons for a month.”

Molly got a funny look on her face and whispered in his ear. He smiled sinisterly. This would be perfect revenge, and it would be even better since it was Molly’s idea.

~~~
Later that evening Minerva climbed into the huge cream marble bath, which she had filled with soft lavender scented bubbles. She slipped under the water, breathing deeply of the scent. Albus entered the bathroom, apparently intent on taking a bath himself.

“May I join you?” he asked. “If you don’t want me to, I’ll go away.” She shook her head.

“Stay. This is just as good a way of getting used to one another as any.” She modestly turned around in the tub as he undressed. It had, after all, been fifty years since she’d been with a man – and they were both nervous enough already.

He took the sponge and began to wash her back, perching on the edge of the tub. Then he picked up the magical hair jug from beside the tub, which would magically refill with water of the perfect temperature for washing her hair. Massaging her scalp, he worked in the shampoo. The smell was familiar, the same scent she had used since she was a child and had watched her mother make the herbal-based concoction.

An hour later, he helped her out of the bath and led her to their room. Selecting one of the long, soft linen nightgowns she had gotten at her shower, he waited until she finished drying herself and lifted it over her head. They had decided to take things slowly, and this first night they simply kissed one another chastely and reveled in the new feeling of falling asleep in the safety of each others’ embrace.