Together

September 14th, 2000, Grimmauld Place

Hermione woke up, completely satisfied. She yawned, and stretched. Getting up, she dressed and ate a quick breakfast before heading to Grimmauld Place.

Once there, she spotted a shirtless Sirius sitting deliberately in front of the fireplace.

"Hullo dear," he said, smiling as she walked over. "Would you be so kind as to inform me where my favorite shirts are?" He grinned, and pulled her onto his lap. "I may just have to extract the information if you won't volunteer it."

"You may have to," Hermione agreed.

He grinned, and kissed her.

***************************

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" Harry yelled, upon discovering Sirius and Hermione in the library in the afternoon. Ron was standing behind him, trying not to giggle.

"Look mate, it's done. They're in love," Ron explained. Harry glared at him.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ron," he pointed out, glaring at Ron. He turned back to Sirius and Hermione, who were sitting on a chair together, looking sheepish. "How long."

"Harry--"

"HOW LONG!" Harry yelled.

"Five years," Hermione said. "Well, more like six months, since Sirius disappeared five years ago... But that's not the point. We've been together since the summer before fifth year."

Harry breathed, in and out, for a long while. "I have to go," he finally said.

"Harry, please!"

"No, Hermione, no, Sirius, I HAVE TO GO!" He stormed out, evidently fuming.

Hermione, Ron and Sirius glanced at each other. "Oh, dear," Hermione said, snuggling back down into Sirius. "He's not going to get over that soon."

"Uh-huh," Ron said, leaning up against a bookcase. "It's going to be a long road to acceptance."

"Well, DUH, Ron," Sirius replied, looking worried.

Ron walked out of the room, looking a little apprehensive, but relief was written on his face, too.

Sirius glanced at Hermione. "Harry's going to be really, really mad," he said. "And for a long, long time."

Hermione looked at him dryly. "Sirius. I've known Harry longer than you have. He was mad at himself for five years because he thought it was his fault that you... disappeared. And now that you're back, and he knows..." She shrugged. "He's not going to be very pleased with either of us. One can only hope he'll get used to it."

"'Get used to it'?" Sirius asked.

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm not going to break up with you just because he isn't happy with me. What do you think I am? A woman, or a mouse?"

"Woman," he said, grinning. "Definitely." He kissed her, and she started giggling.

Ron poked his head back in. "Honestly, you two," he said, trying to hide a smile. "Get a room!"

"GET RON!" Hermione yelled, leaping off Sirius' lap and running after her friend, wand outstretched in her hand. She yelled a tickling hex and hurled it out of her wand at him. He fell over, bent double, laughing.

"That's... ha ha ha ha... not... ha ha ha ha ha... fair!" he gasped in between laughs. He tried to glare at her, but couldn't through his laughter.

She grinned, and Sirius walked lazily up behind her. He didn't notice Bill leaning in the doorway to the hallway. "Now, love," he drawled, every inch of him acting like his seventeen-year-old self. "Is that really kind?" He pulled out his wand, and flicked it at Ron. "Finite incatatem," he said, smiling. "Now, don't be teasing Hermione anymore, as you've seen what she can do, now that she's not underage anymore." Ron's mouth opened. "Ah! No, that falls under teasing. And no, that was not done then. That was to be waited for." He glared slightly at Ron, who was smirking at his blushing face. "Oh, shut up Ron," he said, irritated. Sirius turned, and went up the stairs to find Buckbeak.

"Really, Ron," Hermione scolded, following her boyfriend.

Ron looked at Bill. "What'd I do?" he asked his older brother.

"Date her, Ron," Bill replied, helping his brother up, and brushing a strand of hair off of his face. "Date her."

"Well," Ron said, walking with him to the living room, "I thought he was bloody dead! We all did! Especially-- Bloody hell!" His voice trailed into a whisper when they reached the doorway of the living room.

The reason for Ron's much quieter tones was that on the couch were Harry and Ginny Harry seemed to be over his anger since he was kissing Ginny most profusely.

"Bloody hell," Bill agreed, quickly leading a stunned Ron away from the living room. They entered the kitchen a few moments later and sat at the table with the rest of the Weasley clan: Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Charlie, and even Percy, who had repented of his sins once Fudge had acknowledged Voldemort's second rise. "Guess what?" he asked his family, grinning.

"What?" Fred asked, sipping a butterbeer.

"It finally happened!"

"What? You finally kept a girlfriend for longer than two weeks?" Charlie asked, eating a sugar cookie.

Bill sneered at him. "No. Harry and Ginny finally got together!"

"HA!" George crowed. "I KNEW IT!" The rest of the family grumbled. "I WIN THE BET!"

"Don't be so smug," his twin told him, handing over fifteen Galleons. "You were the long shot, by all means."

"Well," George said smugly, taking his winnings from everyone except Bill, who had been chosen as the Weasley Family (Branch 78954.3475) Bet Moderator for this particular bet, "you people all bet on them being in school. I knew that Harry had that crush on Cho Chang, the Seeker for the Tornados, and that Ginny didn't stand a chance until he knew that she..." he glanced at his Mum, who was holding a wooden spoon threateningly "...wasn't very nice," he finished a bit lame, but uninjured.

"Anyway," Bill said, pulling his wand out and tapping the counter. "Volumen apparere!" A scroll appeared out of thin air. "Deponere finite!" he said, and the writing at the top of the scroll, Bet Pending, changed to: Bet Finished. "That's finished." He looked at his mum. "Hey Mum, what's for dinner?"

****************************

Hermione and Sirius drifted down to dinner around the time Mrs. Weasley was ready to scream it at them. They sat down on opposite ends of the table, one at the head of either end, and started talking with the members of the Order down by them. Hermione was seated, to her great pleasure, with Professor McGonagall and Ginny. Sirius was sitting with Remus and Harry, the latter occupied with staring dreamily at Ginny.

Back at Hermione's end of the table, she and Ginny were discussing the afternoon, and Professor McGonagall was very politely eavesdropping.

"So, when he stormed out of the library, he came into the living room," said Ginny, ignoring her twin brothers who were mimicking her from across the table and next to her. "And he sat next to me and started telling me how much of a shock it was and how soon it was, and at first I wasn't really listening, since he was kind of sitting on my foot that I had on the couch and it went numb." At this, a snort issued from McGonagall's direction. "But," Ginny continued, glaring at her former professor, who looked back innocently, "after a while I moved away my foot and started listening. And I was nice and everything, and suddenly he looks at me and goes, 'You're the only one who understands, Ginny,' and he leans over and kisses me!" A loud bray of laughter came from George, followed shortly by a yelp, as Ginny had poked him sharply in the side with her fork. "And a few minutes later I hear this 'Bloody hell!' from the doorway, and I opened my eyes and Ron and Bill were standing there, and after a few seconds, Bill just led Ron away." She blushed. "And then we just, well, stayed there until Mum came in, wooden spoon flying, telling us to help her with dinner."

Professor McGonagall snorted into her soup audibly.

Ginny cast a freezing eye on her. "What, may I ask, is so funny, Professor?" she asked coldly.

McGonagall's mouth twitched at the Weasley Matriarch-to-be. "Nothing, child," she said, pinching her lips shut to hide a laugh. "Nothing."

"Good." Ginny put a spoonful of lobster bisque into her mouth.

At the other end of the table, Sirius and Remus were discussing Sirius's name being cleared.

"So, when you walked out of the veil in the middle of the department of Mysteries, they still didn't pardon you?" Remus asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Sirius said, doing a sexy eyebrow thing at Hermione. Remus smiled at his friend's happy face.

"I don't remember the last time I saw you so happy," Remus said, smiling at his friend.

Sirius thought about this. "Maybe when I escaped and saw Harry. Maybe when I learned that Pettigrew," he almost spat after saying the name, but stopped when he saw Molly glare at him for daring to sully her clean floors, "was dead. Maybe when James and Lily --may they rest in peace-- named me Godfather over everyone else." At that, he looked rather smugly at Remus, who simply rolled his eyes.

"I knew you were going to be Godfather," Remus said, obviously annoyed at this subject, which was getting old. "So stop being so bloody smug!"

"Ahem!" Harry coughed, looking at his Godfather and honorary uncle. "What're you two arguing about?"

"Oh, about Remus's jealousy of my obvious superiority," Sirius remarked loftily.

Charlie Weasley, who was four seats down to Sirius's left, let out an extremely audible snort at that remark. "Oh, yeah," he said sarcastically, grinning from ear to ear. He looked remarkably like the twins. "Right. Obvious, it is."

Sirius ignored this below-him remark. "So, Harry," he started, "have you heard from your aunt and uncle lately?"

Harry shrugged. "I had a letter from Aunt Petunia last week. First one in about a month. The divorce went through, and she and Lisa had fun in Italy over summer break, and Lisa's going to primary school this year." Vernon and Petunia Dursley had filed for divorce three years before, citing irreconcilable differences. Vernon moved in with his sister, Marge, and Petunia changed her name back to Evans and took her young daughter, and moved to an apartment in the city. Dudley, torn, moved to Edinburgh, and rarely talked to anybody in his family. Earlier in the summer, Petunia went on a tour of Europe with her three, almost four, year old daughter.

"Wow." Sirius raised his eyebrows expressively. "That's great that you and your aunt are friends now."

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry said, shrugging. All of a sudden he jerked, and glared at Sirius. "I'm not talking to you!" he said, still a bit angry.

"Why ever not?" Sirius asked innocently.

"You know why!" Harry said, turning back to his soup.

Sirius plastered a look of shock over his features. "I have no idea why!" he said to Remus, who looked confused.

Hermione walked up the table and bent over by Sirius's ear, whispering something. He grinned, and she kissed him. When he glanced over at Remus, he had to cover up a laugh.

"What was that?" Remus asked, in complete shock.

"Oh, Hermione was just telling me that she was going home for the evening," Sirius said, ignoring the obvious implication of the question.

"No, Sirius," Remus said, twirling a steak knife at him. Damn Molly for setting the table for every occasion every single night.

Sirius eyed the knife. "I think I'll let someone else tell you..." He started to get up when Remus grabbed his shirttails.

"No, Sirius," he said, pulling Sirius back into his chair. "Tell me. Now."

"Well, it all started five years ago..."

*********************************

"And so," Sirius said, two hours, three room movings, and a bottle of brandy later, "when I... came back, we just started up where we left off. I love her and--"

Remus cut him off. "You what?" Remus said, shocked.

"I love her," Sirius stated firmly.

"WHAT?"

"LOVE, MOONY!" Sirius yelled.

"Good," Remus said, taking a swig of his brandy. "As long as you love her, I suppose it's fine."

"What?" Sirius asked, stunned to see his friend accept this so easily.

"Well," Remus said, a bit sheepish, "you remember that night when we were going to have that fancy dress dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you asked Hermione to help you pick out clothes, and after a while I went upstairs to dress, I heard all of this giggling, and I went to see. Now, since I'm a werewolf..."

"You are?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

Remus glared at him. "Yes, Padfoot. Anyway, I rarely use my ability for evil, or, in this case, snooping, but this time I decided to. Use them, that is. But this time I did, and I saw you and Hermione kissing. On your bed. Kissing on your bed. But I made a point of having some really loud, yet slow footsteps. By the time I made it to your room, she was sitting up, and you were asking about shirts from your closet. Your closet is gigantic, have I ever told you that? You could fit the entire Weasley family in there for days!"

"Probably not," Bill said, eating the sandwich he had prepared for himself. He had come to sit in the room with them after thoroughly disgusting the women in the kitchen, who couldn't believe that after he ate about half his bodyweight at dinner, he was still hungry.

"Why not?" Remus said. "There are like, ten of you!"

"Not really," Bill said. He put down his sandwich. "You see, we're only Branch 78954.3475 of the Weasley Clan."

"Branch what?" Remus asked, shocked.

Bill sighed. "Well, I'm not going to explain fully, but there are a whole lot of us. 3475 indicates which branch we are out of the branches living. 78954 indicates how many have been recorded in The Big Book of Weasleys."

"How many branches are there currently?" Sirius asked, curious.

Bill frowned, and counted something on his fingers. "Only thirty-five hundred, currently. But once one of us gets married and moves out, that's a new branch. Charlie, Fred, George, Percy and I aren't branches since we aren't married, even if we don't live at home anymore. But in five months, when Percy gets married, that'll be a new branch."

"But Percy hasn't proposed to anyone yet," Remus said, interested.

Bill raised a finger. "Yes, but that's the amount of time I've given him in my bet. Hopefully I'm right, otherwise I owe somebody fifteen Galleons." They stared at him, and he blinked at their astonishment. "What? So we bet on things. We aren't perfect! Plus, it's a good way to get some cash flow in the Weasley family. At least, in this branch."

*****************************

September 15th, 2000, The Kitchen, Grimmauld Place

"Ok, so we're agreed," Arthur said. "Mum's going to be the Monitor this time, all right?"

"Ok," said all the Weasley children.

"I'm going to say... within a week of Christmas. Either way, before or after," Ron said, writing his bet down on the Official Bet Scroll.

"Hmm..." Percy said, stroking his chin. "I'm going with November, a week before the twenty-eighth." He wrote down the dates on the scroll precisely.

"I'm going with January, anytime after New Year's," Charlie said, scrawling his bet down.

"We're going to double-bet," Fred said, putting an arm around Ginny's shoulders. "And we're going with the first week of March." Ginny wrote down their bet on the scroll and passed it to her dad.

"I'm going to guess the third week of February," Arthur said, scribbling his guess on the scroll before passing it onto George.

"Hum-dee-dum-dum..." George said. "I think I'll go with," he looked smug, "Valentine's day." He wrote his guess down loftily, and passed it on to Bill.

Bill grinned. "I'm going with the first two weeks of October," he said, laughing to himself. He refused to say anything else, and gave the scroll to his mother.

Molly looked solemnly at her brood. "You have until one week before the soonest time period starts to change your bet. Otherwise," she shrugged, "you're out of luck." She tapped the scroll with her wand, and it vanished to the secret hiding place she had come up with when they had started this, back before Bill was born. "May the best man or woman win. Shake hands, please." The betters shook hands with each other, and exchanged phrases like 'I'm going to win', 'Sorry that you have to lose', and 'See you at Grinngotts the day after you lose'.

************************

October 8th, 2000, Hermione Granger's Flat

Hermione sat on her couch, curled up, with her boyfriend's arms wrapped around her. She sighed contentedly and put her left hand up on her cheek. There was a cool band of metal on it.

She pulled her hand away from her cheek and looked at it. There was a platinum band with a large diamond embedded in it with two others on each side on her ring finger. She looked up at Sirius's face; he was smiling down at her.

"So," he said, moving so that she was sitting up, looking at him, "what do you think?"

She glanced at the ring, and ran her index finger over it. "I really like it," she said. "Does it mean what I think it means?"

He grinned. "Of course." He slipped off the couch, and knelt. "Now, I'm only going to ask this once, 'cause I'm old, and I shouldn't be kneeling; it's bad for my knees. Will you, Hermione Granger, marry me, Sirius Black?"

She laughed, and dragged him back onto the couch. "Of course," she said. "I love you. Come here!"

************************

Hermione and Sirius flooed to the Burrow later that afternoon. They stepped out of the fireplace, laughing at a joke Sirius had told.

"How the heck do you always manage to floo at the same time?" asked Ginny, who was standing at the kitchen counter, rolling some cookie dough.

Hermione glanced at Sirius, and they laughed. "I don't know," she said, as her fingers intertwined with his.

Ron walked in the room. He had taken his and Hermione's breakup well as if he had known subconsciously that he had never been the first in her heart. It was actually Harry who had gotten mad for a while when Sirius and Hermione announced their relationship a week after his return. In his anger, he turned to Ginny for support, and they were dating now. Ron, it seemed, had been contemplating breaking up with Hermione for a while now, as he was in love with Luna Lovegood. "Hey there, 'Mione, Si," he said, snatching an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. "How's it hangin'?"

Sirius laughed at this. "Actually, quite well-- oof!" he exclaimed, Hermione had shoved him, laughing.

"Really," Hermione said, arching an eyebrow at him, "Sirius, darling, I love you, but please, no innuendo with Ron. He'll never figure it out!" She ran from Ron, who was chasing her, trying to tickle her.

Sirius leaned up against the wall, laughing his head off. "That... was... so... funny!" he gasped. Hermione ran around the other corner and hid behind him.

Ron was close on her heels. Sirius held his hands out and stopped him. "Whoa, now mate, you can tickle her anytime else, just not when she's hiding behind me. I have a legal obligation to protect her, as she's my fiancée."

Ron stopped, and grinned. "Fiancée? That's great mate!" He slapped hands with Sirius while Ginny squealed and hugged Hermione, jumping up and down. Ron stopped suddenly, frowning dejectedly. "Damn," he said. "I lost. Oh, well." He went back to being happy.

"You're getting married, you're getting married!" Ginny chanted, holding Hermione's forearms, jumping up and down. She didn't seem to mind not winning her and Fred's bet.

Fred and George walked in. "What's all the hubbub?" Fred asked, crabbily.

"Don't mind him," George said cheerfully. "He's just put off because his date canceled on him." He looked at the scene in front of him. "So, what's going on?"

"Hermione's getting married!" Ginny squealed.

George immediately imitated her and started jumping up and down. "OH MY GOD!" he yelled, still a joker. "YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED! OH MY GOD!"

Hermione turned on her dry, 'shut-up' gaze on George. "George," she said, walking over and smacking him, "shut up."

Fred laughed. "Well, George, neither you nor I won, so don't be a prat."

Molly Weasley walked in the front door with her frazzled husband and two older sons. "What's going on?" she asked, setting her brown grocery bags down on the counter.

Hermione thrust her left hand at Mrs. Weasley. "I'm getting married!" she said, biting her lip in anticipation of Mrs. Weasley's answer.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius, who backed up, eying her nervously. "Are you planning on taking good care of our Hermione?" she asked, eying him critically.

"Yes, Molly," he said, slipping his arm around Hermione's waist. "I'd be stupid not to."

"Yeah, you would," Bill said cheerfully, slapping him on the shoulder. "'Cause we'd beat the shite out of you if you didn't."

"Really?" asked Sirius, acting dumb.

"Yeah," Bill said. "All seven of us. Of course, the boys would be manually beating you up, and Ginny would be putting her Bat-Bogey Hex on you." He smiled widely, and pulled out a bottle of 'J20' juice and twisted the cap off, taking a swig from the bottle.

"Well," Sirius said, smiling. "Now that I've been threatened, let's celebrate!"

Bill raised his hands against the celebration. "WAIT A BLOODY SECOND!" he yelled. They stopped. He grinned at his family smugly. "Looks like I won. You've got five hours to hand over my winnings, thank you." He put his hands down. "You may now go back to celebrating."

**************************

They did, indeed, celebrate. The party wasn't complete, however, until Harry arrived, casting a critical eye over his friends, girlfriend, and Godfather.

"What's going on?" he asked, slightly suspicious.

Ginny ran over and whispered something into his ear. "What?!" he exclaimed. He walked over to Sirius, and stood in front of him for a moment. Then he hugged his Godfather, and grinned at him. "You've finally been tied down," he said, grinning. "Amazing." He turned to Hermione. "Great job, 'Mione!" He grinned, and hugged his best friend.

Hermione giggled. She turned to Sirius and hung onto his shoulder as she laughed. He patted her head, trying not to laugh himself.

Hermione grinned at Harry. "Well, Harry," she said. "Does this mean you aren't mad anymore?"

Harry grinned back. "Of course not! Why would I be mad when my best friend and Godfather are getting married?" He laughed. "Besides the obvious reasons, of course."

*************************

Hermione paced in her apartment. How in the world had she agreed to a huge wedding? She frowned, remembering how her mother and Mrs. Weasley had cornered her when she was tired and drunk and forced into letting them throw a large wedding.

"Damn," she muttered. "No more alcohol for you, Hermione."

"Really?" a fascinated voice said, behind her. "Why ever not?" She whipped around, and saw Sirius leaning up against her fireplace, grinning mischievously.

"Because," Hermione started, "my mother and Mrs. Weasley have forced me --us-- into a large wedding."

"Is that so bad?" he asked, walking over to her, his eyebrows rose inquisitively.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're on their side!"

He laughed. "I'm on no one's side," he said, "apart from yours and mine. Except when you're being unreasonable, of course. Besides," he added, "I don't care where or how we get married, just that we do."

Her mouth twitched. "All right, fine," she muttered, giving up. "I'll have a big wedding. But," she glared at a photo of the Weasley's, "I refuse to have it in Westminster or St Paul's."

"Damn," Sirius said, hiding a laugh, "and I've just reserved a spring spot at St Paul's."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha," she said sarcastically, moving into his arms.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "Oh, well. I suppose I could cancel. The Queen won't be happy, though." To make sure she didn't make a sarcastic response, he leaned down and kissed her.

***************************

October 13th, 2000, Diagon Alley

Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley walked into Madame Malkin's on their search for a wedding dress.

"Welcome," Madame Malkin said, beaming at her prospective customers. "How may I help you?"

"We're looking for a wedding dress," Hermione said, smiling. "And I'm going to need it ready rather soon, as the wedding is in a week."

"A week!" Madame Malkin clapped her hands together. "Well, let's get started then, shall we?"

Hermione tried on gown after gown, all afternoon, until she found one she liked. It was a simple dress, with an Empire waist and puff sleeves. The satin under dress was covered with a beautiful flower-patterned lace, and the puff sleeves were made up entirely of that lace. The skirt had a two-foot trail and it completely covered the tips of her toes. It had a square bodice, and had seed pearls sewn on the edges of the bodice. The matching veil was made of the lace that covered the dress, with seed pearls sewn on the edges.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and twirled around, gasping at the beauty of the dress. "I think that this is the one," she said to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. She turned to Madame Malkin. "How much?" she asked, fingering the fabric.

"Well," said the clothing seller, "it is one of the more expensive ones..."

"How much?" Hermione pressed.

"Nine hundred Galleons," Madame Malkin admitted.

A voice echoed in Hermione's head: Spend however much you want, I've got enough for eighty weddings, trust me. Hermione smiled. "I'll take it," she said firmly.

Ginny's mouth dropped open. "Hermione!" she exclaimed.

Hermione simply smiled and went to change. When she came out wearing her normal clothes, she went over to the cashier and looked over the bill. She pulled her wand out and flicked it at the area that read "signature" and a name scrawled itself untidily on the paper. Ginny peeked over Hermione's shoulder to see "Sirius Black" before Hermione handed the bill to Madame Malkin.

Ginny cast a suspicious eye at Hermione. "Did Sirius say you could use his bank account?" she asked, eyebrow quirked.

Hermione pursed her lips at her, rolling her eyes most expressively. "Yes, of course," she said.

"By the way," Ginny said, "where is Sirius today?"

"Oh, he's down at the Ministry with Mr. Weasley, Remus and Harry getting his name cleared," Hermione responded nonchalantly.

"Excuse me, dear," Madame Malkin said, "did I hear you say Sirius?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, "Sirius Black. That's my fiancée."

Madame Malkin made a surprised sound and then smiled. "Well, have a nice day then!" And she handed Hermione her dress bag.

They left 'Robes for all Occasions', and went to floo back to Grimmauld Place, happy to have accomplished such a task on the first try.

************************

"So, Hermione," Sirius called from the opposite end of the table, "how much was the dress?"

All conversation stopped. Tonight it wasn't the whole Order, just the Weasleys, Harry, Luna Lovegood, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and Remus. And they were all looking at Hermione.

"NinehundredGalleons," she muttered unintelligibly.

"What was that?" Sirius asked sweetly.

"Nine hundred Galleons," Hermione said louder, staring at her fiancé slightly defiantly.

Sirius nodded, and sipped a spoonful of his soup while the rest of the room's mouths were unhinged with shock. "Well, then," he said. "That's not much. I mean, you didn't have to skimp or anything." He looked at her with a frown on his face. Obviously he was being serious, Sirius style. "I thought that I had told you to go all-out, and that I could afford it." He frowned again, irritated.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed. Sirius looked at him. "That's an exorbitant amount!"

"Not really," Harry said. The unhinged ones turned towards him. "Well, when Sirius was... gone, I was his heir. I had access to all of his former monetary funds. He has quite a lot." Harry grinned. "I rarely used it, except to maybe buy a new broomstick or something."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his Godson. "Really?" he asked. "That's where my emergency if-I-ever-get-married-in-Gretna-Green money went then, eh?"

Harry looked puzzled. "What do you mean? That's what your account was for?"

Sirius laughed. "That was one of many, actually," he said. "My main account has about thirty times that amount in it."

"You mean to say," Harry said, multiplying something on his fingers, "that your main account has thirty million Galleons in it?"

"Only thirty?" Sirius asked, frowning. I thought it would be more. Oh, well." He shrugged. Everyone stared at him, amazed at his nonchalance about money. "What?" he asked defensively. "When you grow up rich, it's not much to worry about. I've got loads, and it doesn't really matter to me, since that's all I ever knew," he grinned, "until I started Hogwarts, and then was convicted under wrongful circumstances."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, and started to clear the table. "Nice, Sirius," she said, taking his plate and smacking his arm. "Very smooth."

*********************

October 21st, 2000, The Small Dressing Room Across The Hall From The Ballroom

The ballroom was filled to the brim with guests. The Weasley family was in the second row, and all of the children had brought dates. Bill was with Fleur Delacour, Charlie had brought a Romanian witch, Percy was with Penelope, Fred was with Hannah Abbott, George had brought his girlfriend, Padma Patil, and Ron was with Luna.

Sirius was standing by the altar, wringing his hands nervously. Remus was the best man, and Harry was a groomsman along with Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Meanwhile, Hermione was in the powder room that was right across from the ballroom, adjusting her veil. Ginny was standing behind her, smiling.

Hermione's mum, Jean Granger, was also standing behind her, crying. "Oh, Hermione," she said, sniffing. "You look beautiful!"

Hermione smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, mum!" she said, smiling. She hugged her mother and tried not to cry, as it would mess up her mascara.

Mrs. Weasley leaned in the room. "It's time," she announced.

Hermione stood up, and adjusted her skirt. Examining herself, she nodded and went to stand by the door with her father as her mother went to sit down. Her bridesmaids were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, and Ginny was her maid-of-honor. Lavender and Parvati had already gone through the door, and Ginny gave Hermione a reassuring smile as she went through the doors.

Hermione heard the march start, and the doors swept open. Her father, Frank Granger, took her arm and they started down the aisle. She saw Sirius standing at the end, beaming at her.

Her father leaned over. "You know," he said, "if you change your mind, there's an exit right over there." He pointed to the side door, grinning at his daughter.

She rolled her eyes as they were almost to the end of the aisle. "As if, Dad," she said. She smiled at him, and he handed her over to Sirius. With her hand tucked into Sirius' arm, they walked over to the altar and faced the minister.

The minister eyed them, and cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved," he said, "we are gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to join together in holy matrimony this man," he gestured towards Sirius, "and this woman," he gestured towards Hermione. He looked at Sirius. "Do you, Sirius Orion Black, take this woman, Hermione Anne Granger, to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others until death do you part?"

Sirius grinned. "I do," he said, and Hermione slipped a platinum band on his left-hand ring finger.

"Do you, Hermione Anne Granger, take this man, Sirius Orion Black, to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others until death do you part?"

"I do," she said, and Sirius slipped a cool band of platinum over her left-hand ring finger.

"Then, by the power invested in me by the Church of England and the Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Sirius leaned down and kissed his wife sweetly and tenderly. When he pulled back, he took her hand in his and they faced their family and friends and took their first steps as man and wife into their life together.