The Wedding in the Pensieve

The Wedding in the Pensieve

"Harry, I have something that I think you would like to see."

Harry peered over the side of the Pensieve that Dumbledore was leaning over, curious to see what was inside.

"As I am sure you might have guessed, Harry, I was a guest at your parent's wedding. Beautiful day, simply splendid. I thought it might be nice to show you, considering...." Dumbledore trailed off, but he did not have to finish his thought; Harry knew what he was thinking. Peering into the elderly headmaster's thoughts would be the only way Harry would ever be able to see his parents.

Harry leaned into the Pensieve and let himself fall through the little window. He landed roughly on his back and hurried to his feet; he did not want to miss anything important. He looked around and saw a blur of vibrant colors, all moving about excitedly. Harry fixed his glasses so that they sat on his nose correctly and the guests came into focus. He looked around at the faces of wizards and witches young and old, trying to pick out some that he recognized.

As Harry was about to head off into the crowd, he caught a glimpse of red hair and quickly turned around. Sure enough, there was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, attempting (unsuccessfully) to hold a conversation with a somewhat flustered looking couple and keep their five children in line. Causing the most trouble were two youngsters, no older than a year, who were incessantly wiggling, apparently trying to free themselves from their parents' grips; Harry assumed that these two must be Fred and George.

Harry turned his attention, however, from the young Weasleys to the couple that they were talking to. They were quite a bit older than Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and they seemed to be dressed in muggle clothing. Harry walked a bit closer so that he could hear their conversation and hopefully confirm that they were who he thought they were.

"So, Muggles! Golly, what a shock it must have been when your daughter got her letter! But you seem to be adjusting well to all of this. Now, do tell me, what are Muggle weddings like? I am quite interested in Muggles, you know. Study them quite some bit in my free time. There's an opening in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department in the Ministry of Magic, you know. I applied as soon as I heard. What can you tell me abou--"

"Authur! Do you think that you could stop harassing Mr. and Mrs. Evans long enough to help me with the children? They're yours too, you--George Weasley! You put that toad down this instant!" It seemed Mrs. Weasley had put the twins down during Mr. Weasley's conversation, because on of them was now squeezing a rather large toad. Mrs. Weasley summoned it away from him and let it drop, well out of his reach. George pouted and began to wail.

"Oh good heavens. I swear, Authur, these are the last! No more children! We can't afford any more and I don't think my sanity can take much more either!" Mrs. Weasley began comforting George as Fred waddled towards another toad. Harry chuckled to himself and moved on.

Harry walked by Professor Dumbledore who was deep in conversation with Professor McGonagall. He stopped briefly to listen to their conversation.

"Beautiful day for a wedding, don't you agree, Minerva?"

"Yes, it is quite beautiful. Who would have thought that those two would have ended up together? She could not stand him for the longest time. She kept begging me to move him to another house so she wouldn't have to see him in the common room."

"Yes, yes. But it has been my experience that children of that age act as though they hate being around one another when, in reality, they cannot stand to be apart."

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to say something but was quickly cut off by a loud wail. Everyone in the immediate area looked in the direction of the cry. Harry himself had to lean around a few people to see what the cause of all the commotion was. When he finally got a glimpse of what the problem was, he laughed.

There in the middle of the crowd was Hagrid, his face buried in a tablecloth that was being used as a handkerchief. A few people were trying to console him, but to no avail. After a few minutes, Professor Dumbledore had finally managed to get through the crowd to Hagrid. He put a hand on Hagrid's massive forearm to get his attention.

"There, there, Hagrid. It will be all right. This is a wedding; it is supposed to be a happy time."

"I know, it's jus' they're o'ly youngin's. They jus' left Hogwarts an' now they're gettin' married."

Harry was about to laugh when he heard another laugh that chilled his blood. It was a loud, booming laugh, reminiscent of a dog. He turned his head sharply in the direction of the familiar laugh and sure enough, there stood his godfather. He looked young and handsome, just as he had in the wedding photos that Harry had back in his room. Of course, Sirius was his father's best man, how could he have forgotten that? Harry felt the muscles in his chest contract and his eyes burn. It was almost as though Sirius was still alive.

"Hagrid! They may be young, but they're in love; what more could one ask for?" Sirius had made his way over to Hagrid and clapped him on the back. He let out another barking laugh and went on. "I can only hope that I find a girl whom I love half as much as James love Lily. And I'd better find her soon, I want our kids to grow up together, just like James and I."

Hagrid gave another wailing howl, which caused Sirius to give another barking laugh. Harry turned his head; he did not want his godfather to see him cry. It took him a minute to remember that Sirius could not see him. This was a memory; it had already happened.

He turned back towards Sirius and the others and stood still. It was as though he was looking in a mirror. Right there in front of him was his father, a mere year older than he was now. James grinned widely and strode towards Hagrid and Sirius.

"Crying again, Hagrid? How many times do I have to tell you; if Lily and I weren't completely sure that we wanted to get married, we wouldn't. Come on now, chin up." He gave Hagrid a big grin and turned to Sirius. "I need you over there, mate. Bit of a problem with my robes." They both excused themselves and headed of in the direction of a small tent. Harry quickly followed.

They entered the tent and James almost collapsed. Sirius rushed to his side.

"You all right there, Prongs?"

"Yeah, fine, just nervous as bloody hell. What if she changes her mind?"

"She won't, mate."

"But what if she does? And is this really the time to be getting married? I mean, with all that's going on, you know?"

"Right now, more than ever, we need something like this to lift our spirits. You don't see it mate, but everyone else does. When you two look at each other it's like you drift away, like you both know that there's nothing lese that's more important than what you two have right now. And that's a bloody beautiful thing. We all need that small slice of beauty right now so that we know what we're fighting for." Sirius moved and put his hands on his friend's shoulders. "I know it's what's been keeping me fighting."

James and Sirius hugged then went on getting ready for the wedding. Harry was not sure, but he could have sworn that he saw his father and godfather wiping tears from their eyes.

Sirius and James both pulled on black dress robes, much like the ones that Harry had worn in his fourth year. They each spent a few minutes making sure their robes were on straight then left the tent. Harry left after them, trotting along behind them to keep up. As they walked, Harry realized that the actual ceremony must be about to begin. He joined them at the front of the crowd, all of whom were now sitting in their seats, talking quietly among themselves. Harry noticed that several people were crying--including Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid--and that several others looked on the verge of tears. Harry also noted that there were a good number of people from the Order attending the wedding. He could pick out the Longbottoms, and Moody, and several other people from the picture that Moody had shown him last year, though Harry could not remember their names.

As Harry scanned the crowd, however, he could not spot Dumbledore. He was looking over the crowd for a second time when he heard James speak behind him.

"Thank you, again, for doing this for us, Professor."

"No, no, it's my pleasure," answered Dumbledore's voice. Harry looked around and saw that Professor Dumbledore was standing where a minister would in a muggle wedding. Harry smiled and wondered why he had not expected this.

At that moment, beautiful music started playing. Harry looked around Dumbledore and saw that an enchanted harp was serenely playing Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major." No one else seemed to be watching the harp, however, so Harry shifted his eyes to the object of everyone else's attention. A beautiful girl, no more than eighteen, was slowly proceeding down the center aisle. She was wearing dress robes of powder blue, which instantly reminded Harry of Hermione. When the girl reached the front she took her place opposite James and Sirius as everyone looked towards the back once more.

Harry heard a collective intake of breath as Lily came into view, and it was no wonder. She was wearing elegant dress robes of white, and it looked as though her train was being carried by fairies. Her beautiful red hair was swept up into an elegant twist of curls atop her head. She was caring a bouquet of white roses that seemed to be twinkling serenely. More white rose petals seemed to be magically raining from above, and a few caught in her hair. As Lily progressed, Harry realized that she was staring unblinkingly at something behind him. He turned around and noticed that James was returning her stare. His mouth was slightly open and he did not seem to be breathing. As Lily reached the front and they joined hands, James slowly began to regain his breath.

"Friends, family, on the behalf of Lily Evans and James Potter, I would like to thank you all for coming here today. It is not often that we see a love that is so rich, so pure, as the love that these two share; and to see this love united and bonded for the rest of time is equally as rare. But today we all will bare witness as these two choose to devote themselves to each other; mind, body, and soul.

"In these times of darkness, it is hard to know which way to face, where to turn. Lily and James offer us a ray of light, a beacon of hope that steadily guides as we struggle on. It is this light that gives us the strength we need to continue to fight.

"It seems such a short time ago that I first met Lily and James. I could see at once that they both would grow to be great in whatever they chose to do, and as we can all attest to, they have. And now, they have decided that they would like to do great things outside the walls of Hogwarts, and they have decided to begin with this wedding.

"James, do you swear that you will protect Lily with your life, provide for her with all your being, care for her with all your soul, and love her with all your heart for as long as you shall live?"

"I do."

"Lily, do you swear that you will protect James with your life, provide for him with all your being, care for him with all your soul, and love him with all your heart for as long as you shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you have the rings?"

James turned around and took the rings from Sirius' outstretched hand. He handed them to Dumbledore.

"These rings are a symbol of the marriage that we are creating here today. They are a symbol of love and trust, and they are a symbol of the union formed by marriage. They are also one of the few symbols we've adopted from muggles." Dumbledore gave a small chuckle here. "By putting this ring on the other's finger, you are committing yourself to them. That said, Lily..." he handed a ring to Lily, who put it on James' left ring finger. "James..." Dumbledore handed the second ring to James, who put it on Lily's left ring finger. "You may kiss the bride."

The whole crowd burst into applause as James and Lily kissed. Harry even started clapping as he brushed the tears from his eyes. When he looked at Sirius, he noticed that he, too, had been crying.

What followed was a chaotic series of pictures and congratulations. Harry soon gave up trying to follow his parents and instead sat at one of the nearby tables and watched. After a few moments he heard Dumbledore in his ear.

"The rest of the wedding was much like this, quite difficult to keep up with."

Harry turned and faced Dumbledore, who smiled at him.

"So, Harry, do you think you're ready to return to present day, or would you like to stay here a bit longer?"

In truth, Harry would have loved to stay watching his parents' wedding forever. He knew, however, that that would never be possible. So, instead, he turned to Dumbledore and said, "I think I'm ready to go back now."