Epilogue: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley

"So how does it feel to be a married man, mate?"

Harry clapped his hand on Ron's shoulder and shook him good-naturedly. There was no need to ask how he felt, really; his face said it all. Ron hadn't stopped smiling since leaving the church an hour and a half ago--come to think of it, he had had this same silly, lovesick grin etched on his face even before that too, from the moment he come down to breakfast this morning and declared to everyone sitting at the kitchen table in a voice loud enough for all the world to know, "I'm getting married today!!"

And the look on his face when the doors swung open and a radiant Hermione stepped in, arm linked with her father's--Harry knew he would never forget that look on his best friend's face for as long as he lived.

"Brilliant," was all Ron could tell him. Harry didn't think he had ever seen him this happy in the nine and a half years they had known each other. "Absolutely brilliant... Remind me again, Harry, why I waited so bloody long to do this?"

"Because you, as usual, didn't want to listen to any of our perfectly good advice..."

Hermione reappeared, fresh from her encounter with a circle of well-wishers that had surrounded her these past few minutes, and Ron pulled her close to him. "Berating my husband already, are you?" she said, with a stern look that Harry wasn't entirely sure was not actually real.

"Only because he deserves it."

"Well you know what they say," Hermione said, "better late than never... But you, Ginny... you make sure you don't let this one wait as long as your brother did, all right?"

Ginny laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Subtle hint noted, Hermione," Harry said, then he turned to Ginny and kissed her on the forehead--a gesture which definitely did not escape Ron's attention.

"Reckon it'll be a while before I get used to seeing you two like this," he said.

"Ron..."

Ron held his hands up in protest. "What? I wasn't going to say anything bad, Ginny! You couldn't have picked a better bloke, as far as I'm concerned." He turned to Harry. "And as for you, I'd be remiss in my duties as her favorite big brother-"

"Favorite, ha! Since when is your name Bill?"

He smirked at her and went on. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by my little sister... I know I don't even have to give you this warning, Harry, but consider it a mere formality..." He cleared his throat dramatically. "Should you ever hurt our darling Ginny, may I just remind you that you'll have seven angry Weasley men on your back--not to mention my mum, whose temper, as you well know, is far worse than all of ours put together."

Harry grinned. "Got it."

"Good." He looked at Hermione. "Erm... I know I'm not exactly well-versed in every Muggle tradition, but... isn't it about that time for you to toss your buffet?"

"Bouquet, Ron!!" Ginny corrected him. "Honestly..."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant... So, Harry, how 'bout it then, mate?"

Harry threw him back a bewildered look. "What're you looking at me for?" He did not have a good feeling about this at all. Not one bit.

"What d'you mean?" Ron said. "You're supposed to announce it... the bouquet toss..."

"What??" Harry said. "You're sending me back up there again? But, I... I just got done giving the toast not more than five minutes ago..."

"Well, too bad, your job's not done yet," Ron explained matter-of-factly. "And don't even give me that look. You're the best man, after all."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled. "Thanks a lot... I'll be reminding you about this next time I collect a favor from you..."

But Ron just grinned at him as Harry made his way to the center of the room and called for everyone's attention.

"Uh... Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention..."

Blimey, how he hated having to speak in public. Ron owed him big-time.

"It's now time for Hermione to throw her bouquet, so if we could have all the single ladies line up right in front here..."

Hermione came up to him a few seconds later, and Harry was grateful that the attention now shifted to her.

"Ready?" she said, taking one last look at the group of women who had gathered around. "All right, here I go..." She brought her arms downwards, then swung them upwards again, and the bouquet of lilies flew in the air, landing somewhere in the middle of a tangle of arms all vying for the grand prize.

Somewhere in the commotion, he thought he heard Parvati Patil's rather distinct whine, "Oh no!!! But she was aiming for me, I know she was!!"

Harry craned his neck to get a closer look at who had caught it. Eventually, the empty-handed women all cleared off one by one and he saw the lucky one who had caught Hermione's bouquet: Ginny.

"But I'm the one who's engaged," Parvati was now saying.

Ginny must have heard her too, for she caught Harry's eye and they both laughed at the same time.

In the background, the first few notes of the Muggle song Hermione had requested started to play, Sentimental Reasons by Nat King Cole. Harry watched Ron lead his brand new wife onto the dance floor, where they began to sway gently to the music--oblivious to everyone and everything else that was in the room.

Harry turned beside him to Ginny, who was watching them as well, and whispered, "Care to dance, Miss Weasley?"

She smiled back, placing her hand in his.

"I thought you'd never ask."