Walking Hand in Hand

"Walking Hand in Hand"

by Elske

She was dressed all in white, a tiny veil over the top of her head. Her dark curly hair swirled, flowing down her back, an sharp contrast to the pure white of her gown. She had a smile on her face, a look of blinding happiness in her eyes as she smiled at the man standing opposite her. He wore black robes, the fanciest dress robes he'd ever had in his life. He looked regal...tall, handsome, red- haired, wonderful, as he stared back at the woman, a similar joyous, loving look on his face.

"And do you, Penelope Clearwater, take this man as your husband?" Professor Dumbledore intoned proudly. It wasn't often that he got asked to perform wizarding weddings, a task he enjoyed. Sending people forth to a life of happiness together gave him a sense of blissful happiness. That and the guarantee of lemon-drop flavored wedding cake at the party to follow the ceremony.

"I do," Penelope intoned, a sweet smile on her face.

"And I pronounce you wife and husband. You may kiss the groom," Dumbledore said, quickly moving out of the way as Penelope stepped forward, into her new husband's waiting arms. A sort of collective muffled cooing issued from the small audience as the pair kissed.

"I can't decide whether to cry or be sick," Oliver whispered to Percy, poking him in the shoulder.

Percy refrained from saying the reply that was on his lips; he merely turned and shot Oliver a look. Now was not any time to get into that kind of discussion, not with an entire audience full of people watching. Oliver grinned, his eyes widening, and he said nothing more, just kept holding the bride's bouquet for her while she was otherwise occupied.

The audience erupted into mild applause as the happy couple finally finished their kiss. Dumbledore smiled protectively over them. "I give you...Mr and Mrs Weasley!" With an dramatic gesture of his hands, the Hogwarts Great Hall shifted from its former solemn ambiance to that of a great ballroom - complete with a shiny dance floor, little tables, and a giant yellowy wedding-cake, complete with little miniature bride-and-groom figures which waved happily at all the audience.

"Erm...Penny? Everyone's staring at us," Ron murmured, blushing a bit, looking around at all the staring eyes, nervously smoothing out the invisible wrinkles in his dress-robes.

"They're supposed to, love...that's what happens at weddings," Penelope said in return, grinning.

"Yes, well...what do we do now?" Ron wondered innocently. Penelope laughed and reached up, tilted his face down, and kissed him as the wedding guests applauded.

"Must be nice," Percy said to Oliver in a rather sulky undertone.

"What?"

"That..." He gestured to his brother and Penelope. "Having people applaud when you kiss."

"I'll applaud when you kiss me, if you like?" Oliver replied, an innocent expression on his face.

"No...I'd like to think you'd be a bit preoccupied," Percy whispered back, looking around to see if anyone was watching.

"I probably would be," Oliver said, grinning, about to reach out and prove exactly how preoccupied he would be... Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the band striking up the first dance. All of the assorted wedding guests clustered around the dance-floor, watching Ron and Penelope dance the first dance together. They kissed again, when the song was finished, which inspired more cooing and applause. And then the band started into the second song and the wedding guests began to join the newlyweds on the dance floor.

Oliver, grinning, opened his mouth, about to ask Percy to dance.

"Oi! Perce!" One of the twins ran up, taking Percy by the shoulder. "Get over here and mingle, I refuse to face Aunt Polly on my own."

Percy turned his head, casting a sad glance at Oliver as he permitted Fred-or-George to lead him away.

The other man sighed, winding his way through other happy dancing couples, wanting to find a corner to hide in until he could have his Percy back. But sadly, that was not to be.

"Oliver Wood? Is that you?" A bright voice called out across the ballroom, causing many heads to turn and look in his direction. "Oliver Wood! The famous Quidditch player?"

"Yes!"

Oliver moaned, burying his head in his hands, as he was mobbed by a group of fans. Some of them he even knew from his days at Hogwarts...others were strangers. Fame...he hated it. Which was one of the reasons he was planning to retire from the professional Quidditch circuit. Stop travelling, settle down, spend the rest of his life with the man of his dreams. It was a good plan...one that never failed to bring a sort of gushy happiness to him every time he thought about it, as evidenced by his rather giddy sudden smile.

"Can I have your autograph?"

The little voice of the small curly-haired girl snapped Oliver out of his reverie. "My autograph?" he said, kneeling so he could be on eye-level with her. "Are you a Quidditch fan?" Oliver asked with a smile.

The little girl grinned and nodded, holding out a piece of paper and a pink quill, looking up at him with awe in her eyes. Oliver, laughing, gave her his autograph, quite amused at the shade of shocking-pink it turned out. "Here you go, love," He said, handing her the parchment.

She grinned and ran off across the ballroom, happily waving the autograph and showing it off. Oliver watched her go, another giddy sudden smile on his face. He liked children, he always had. Meanwhile, across the room, Percy was surrounded by his more obscure relatives, all turned out for Ron's wedding.

"Ironic, that...that the youngest Weasley brother was married first!"

Percy grinned at that. "Yes, a little," he said, thinking about it. His brothers...his older brother Charlie was still having trouble finding nice girls in Romania, his brother Bill was out on the dance floor with...with Ron's friend Hermione? That was interesting. Fred and George had no trouble finding nice girls, it was keeping them that was the problem.

"You'll be next, Percy." His aunt Polly told him with an air of confidence. "I promise...next time we'll be here, dancing at your wedding."

Percy smiled a small smile, eyes lighting up with an inner irony. Normally...normally he would have smiled and demurred. But...but, well...things were different today. "I hope so, Aunt Polly. I really do," he said, smiling.

Back on the other side of the dance floor, Oliver managed to free himself from the fans, and found a lovely hiding spot near the cake and punch. He poured himself a glass of punch and watched the little miniature Penelope and Ron on top of the wedding cake, happily dancing around in time to the music.

"Yes...lovely. Lovely. Will you excuse me for a minute?" Percy said to Aunt Polly, a smile on his face.

"Of course, dear," Polly gushed, and turned to talk to George- or-Fred.

"Wonderful," Percy breathed, as he strode out onto the dance- floor and found the happy couple, tapping his brother on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" He asked innocently.

Ron whirled around. "Percy! No, I'm sorry!" He said, grinning, as he clung possessively to Penelope. "You gave her up a long time ago!" He laughed.

Percy laughed too. "Yes, I know. And now I need to talk to her, may I?"

Ron nodded, still laughing and shaking his head as he stepped away to let Percy pull Penelope into his arms.

"Perce, dear...what is this?" she wondered, adjusting her rhythm automatically to match Percy's steps.

"I've had this idea...a crazy plan, but I need your help." He leaned his head down, whispering the idea into her ear.

Penelope laughed when he was done. "Of course I can help," she said, smiling. "It's an honor."

"Wonderful," Percy breathed, reaching into his pocket and slipping one of the rings out and into Penelope's hand.

"Any time, Perce...any time," Penelope said, grinning, as she slipped out of his arms and crossed the room, in search of her husband.

The band played a few more dances, and then stopped for an intermission. Dumbledore silenced everyone with a wave of his hands. "Gather around, everyone," he said with an air of authority, and everyone listened.

"This is an old Muggle wedding tradition," Penelope explained as Ron helped her to stand on top of the bench. "Whoever catches the bouquet...will be the next one to get married." She wobbled a bit in her heeled shoes as she turned around so she wouldn't be looking at the guests, but Ron was there to steady her.

"Ready?" Penelope asked, holding her flowers in one hand and her wand in the other. A smile on her face, she whispered a spell under her breath, throwing the bouquet over her head.

It landed, as planned, directly in the hands of Oliver Wood. The Quidditch player looked down, shocked, at the flowers in his hands. At the flowers, and the single gold ring that fell off, into his hands. He looked up, casting an incredulous glance at Percy, knowing that this had to be his doing.

Percy smiled a dazzling smile, holding up his hand, pointing to a matching ring. "Will you?" he mouthed the words, soundlessly. Oliver smiled back, the same kind of sweet smile that Penelope was wearing earlier, and winked at his lover...soon to be his husband.