Harry Potter and the Dark Lord's Servant

Chapter 4 - Percy's Wedding

The large doors to Aviar School of Sorcery opened slowly. Damien and Professor Dawsey entered the large school, holding bags in their hands. Dawsey closed the door behind him with his left elbow and set down the bags and cage he had been holding. It had been a wonderful sunny Wednesday afternoon, and they had been out the whole time in Mayfair at Edgewood Lane, the wizarding "mall" a few miles from Sunbury, to buy Damien's new school things, which obviously seemed to be many.

"You didn't have to buy all these new things," Dawsey said, wiping his sweaty forehead. The large heat from outside seemed to seep in through the doors and windows.

"I just bought a few new things," Damien said, putting down the bags he held and scratching his dark red head of hair.

"A few things?" Dawsey said. He picked up one of the bags that had been filled to the brim he had been holding and looked inside. "New ink, new parchment, new books, new robes..."

"What?" Damien said. He also was starting to get hot even in the large room. "All those things are needed."

"And that's only the first bag. I swear that you think galleons grow on trees." Damien rolled his eyes, wiping his forehead. Dawsey pointed to the medium-sized eagle owl in front of him. "And what about this owl?"

"Needed." Damien went over to the owl's cage and put a finger in, which the owl nipped at affectionately. Damien smiled at it. This was the one owl that seemed to beckon him in the Owl Emporium back at Edgewood Lane. It had spread out its white-, black- and gray-feathered wings and fluttered them, as if to say, "Pick me! I'm the one!" She then let down her wings to her gray-feathered body, as if knowing I would pick her. And he did.

"And what do you call him?" Dawsey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I call her Serenity," Damien said, taking his finger out of the cage. Dawsey looked into another of the bags and pulled out a necklace. It had a regular chain and a serpent on the end. It was a silver serpent in the shape of an "S". Dawsey looked at it for a moment.

"And this?" Dawsey said. Damien took the necklace from his hand and put it on. "A necklace?"

"It looks cool," Damien said, trying to ham it up. Dawsey wasn't amused.

"It wastes money," Dawsey said, picking up some of the bags. "Let's just get these bags upstairs before I remember the final balance of used money." Damien let out a short sigh and picked up the last two bags in one hand and Serenity's cage in the other. The both of them walked forward to the marble staircase in front of them and up the stairs.

*****

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, trying not to fall while in his tuxedo. Ron stood before him, also in a tux, fixing his collar and bowtie. Harry looked around at the Castle de Amore. It didn't lie when it said castle. The place was huge with pillars almost as large. The plain-colored walls had little cupids drawn on them that moved all around. Down from the ceiling hung a medium-sized chandelier, which hung a little ways down from the ceiling.

"Come on guys," Hermione said from around the corner. When she came around they saw her in a beautiful pink dress, which extended down to her ankles. She wore her hair up in a bun, which brought out her eyes, and wore small, no heeled pink shoes. "They are gonna start anytime now and we're going to lose our seats."

They rushed down the hallway Hermione had come from and stopped at the third door down. A sign on the door said "Mr. Weasley and Ms. Clearwater" with "9:15 A.M. to 10:00 A.M." under it. They opened the door and went to the door on the right in front of them. Percy stood with his best men in the front, nervously awaiting the start of the wedding. The room was packed with relatives and friends of both parties. They moved to some seats in the front row next to Bill. Some of the chatter died down after a while and the wedding started.

As the processional started, Ginny walked down the aisle in her flower girl outfit, a beautiful pink, silk dress, looking as cute as ever. As she walked down the aisle she spread flower petals down it. When she came down to the last row she went to the right side and sat down on the edge of the front row. Exactly when she sat, Penelope and her father started down the aisle, hand in hand, with her bridesmaids behind her. People commented her long white dress as she passed.

As they got to the altar, the bridesmaids went to the left side of the altar. Penelope's father pecked her on the cheek and stood along with the best men: Fred, George, and Charlie. Penelope turned and stepped up to Percy, who had been waiting at the altar, and took his hand. Then they both turned to the minister and the processional stopped. All of the people in the congregation stood.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Holy Spirit be with you," the minister said.

"God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them," the congregation said and sat. A reading was quoted from the bible by the minister which Harry clearly didn't understand but still said, "Amen," at the end with the rest of the congregation.

"In the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have come together to witness the marriage of Percy and Penelope, to pray for God's blessing on them, to share their joy and to celebrate their love," the minister started. He went on but harry tuned him out for a moment. He looked around him. Among the people he knew, he saw Mrs. Weasley crying her eyes out yet not making a sound. After a few minutes of looking around, Harry tuned back into the minister, who was still speaking.

"Percy and Penelope are now to enter this way of life. They will each give their consent to the other and make solemn vows, and in token of this they will each give and receive a ring. We pray with them that the Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen them, that they may fulfill God's purpose for the whole of their earthly life together." The minister paused, cleared his throat then started again.

"First, I am required to ask anyone present who knows a reason why these persons may not lawfully marry, to declare it now." The congregation stayed silent.

"The vows you are about to take are to be made in the presence of God, who is judge of all and knows all the secrets of out hearts; therefore if either of you knows a reason why you may not lawfully marry, you must declare it now." They both shook their heads. The minister told the congregation to stand and they stood.

"Who gives Penelope to be married to Percy?" the minister asked.

"Her mother and I," said Penelope's father and he sat in the front row.

"Percy, will you take Penelope to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?" Percy took a deep breath and gulped.

"I will," Percy said boldly, smiling at Penelope.

"Penelope, will you take Percy to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?" Penelope smiled at Percy for a second and turned back to the minister.

"I will," Penelope stated, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Will you, the families and friends of Penelope and Percy, support and uphold them in their marriage now and in the years to come?"

"We will," chanted the congregation and they sat. The next ten minutes were a blur to Harry as somehow he fell asleep. Hermione looked over to see him sleeping and nudged him awake. Harry looked into the program and noticed he had completely missed the Collect.

"Percy and Penelope, I now invite you to join hands and make your vows, in the presence of God and his people," the minister said. Percy and Penelope faced each other and took one deep breath together. Percy started his vows first.

"I, Percy, take you, Penelope, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law; in the presence of God I make this vow." Another tear slid down Penelope's face as Percy finished. She took another deep breath and started her vows.

"I, Penelope, take you, Percy, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law; in the presence of God I make this vow." Percy smiled at her. They turned back to the minister who in turn looked at them.

"Heavenly Father, by your blessing, let these rings be to Penelope and Percy a symbol of unending love and faithfulness, to remind them of the vow and covenant which they may have made this day; through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen." Charlie took out both rings and handed one to each of them. Both rings held a small diamond in them, with Penelope's being bigger. Percy turned to Penelope, holding the ring.

"Penelope, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honour you, all that I am to give to you, and all that I have to share with you within the love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." With that, Percy slid the ring on her fourth left finger. An audible whimper of tears was heard from Mrs. Weasley. Penelope took a deep breath and started.

"Percy, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honour you, all that I am to give to you, and all that I have to share with you within the love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." With that, Penelope slid the ring she had on Percy's fourth left finger. They both turned back to the minister who smiled back at them.

"In the presence of God, and before this congregation, Penelope and Percy have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by giving and receiving of the rings. Therefore, I now proclaim that they are husband and wife, wizard and witch. You may now kiss the bride." Percy and Penelope then took each other in their arms and passionately kissed. As they kissed, they seemed to float a little off the ground. When they finished, they were still floating and they walked on air back down the aisle, waving to their families. Harry smiled at them as they passed. That was the first wedding he had ever seen in his life and it was wonderful.

*****

"To think that Percy was the first to be married in our family," Bill said at the reception. "And I thought I had it good with the ladies."

"Aww...shush your bloody mouth, Bill," Charlie said.

"What are you so mad about?" Bill asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I had a girl right in my grasp about a month ago, but she got transferred to this other dragon group in Bulgaria."

"Cheer up," Fred said, helping himself to some cake. "The perfect witch will come to you."

"Yeah," George said, "And I think I found her last year."

"Are you sure it's you she wants and not me," Fred said. "I do have the flair that women want. The good looks that astound them."

"We're twins you know," George said, "If you look good then I look good."

"Think whatever you want," Fred said. "I still say I have the looks." George nudged him in the side and Fred rolled his eyes.

"I am so proud of you," Mrs. Weasley said, her face drowned with tears. She was sitting next to the large cake with the two floating people on the top of it.

"Thank you, Mum," Percy said.

"And you," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to Penelope. "You can call me mother-in-law from now on." Penelope smiled and thanked her. Penelope's parents came over and hugged her and congratulated them both.

"What a beautiful wedding it was, don't you think?" Hermione said, taking a sip of her drink. They sat on the other side of the room, looking at everyone else.

"Yeah, it was okay, for my first one," Harry said, sighing. "What about you Ron?"

"I still can't believe he went through with it," Ron said. "Percy isn't the type to do this kind of stuff."

"Get over it, Ron," Hermione said. "Percy got married. It's done. There's nothing you can do about it." Ron sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ron picked up his fork, dug into his piece of cake and stuck it in his mouth. Suddenly a piece of cake hit him square in the nose. "What?" He looked over to see Fred snickering. Ron took up a piece of cake and threw it his way, but someone passed in the way. It was Percy. There were gasps all over the room. Percy then turned to Ron, anger on his face.

"FOOD FIGHT!!" Percy declared loudly and threw a piece of cake in no particular direction. After a few moments, everyone was throwing cake everywhere. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat under a table, occasionally throwing a piece or two when popping out.

"What a cool turnout for a cool wedding," Harry said as a piece of cake hit him in the face. The three of them laughed out loud and dodged more pieces of cake.