A Love Without Time (Remus Lupin)

Fifty-Seven.

We were in and out of the Burrow for the next few weeks helping put finishing touches on Bill and Fleur’s wedding. Molly was frantic, and in private she expressed to me she thought Bill was too young to get married, to which I reminded her that in three years he will be 30, and that we were both much younger than him when we got married. Fleur isn't much older than we were, but technically even she is older than we were.
   
They got married on August 1st, the day after Harry turned 17. We were there for dinner but the Ministry showed up so Remus and I took Lily and left. The Ministry has been very Anti-Werewolf lately. So we didn't want to ruffle any feathers for Arthur and his job.
   
The next day we made our way there early because Bill had asked Lily if she would be the flower girl. She looked so darling in her little pink dress and her curled pigtails bounced as she bunny hopped around the room excitedly.
   
One day I would show her how it's really done.
   
Fred and George showed up looking better than the groom in their dragon skin suits. But they had brought one for Bill with them so he would look just as good as his brothers once he was all done up and ready to go.
   
Fred had had enough of Molly's bossing and acting frantic. He said when he got married he was putting a full body bind on her until the entire thing was over. I couldn't wait to watch all of the kids start growing up and getting married. After last night I know George and Lyanna are heading down that path. He said he was only thinking about her during a near death experience. That was true love.
   
Fred, George, Ron, and Harry ushered in the guests. Harry was disguised as the red-haired boy that worked at the shop down the street. They were showing all of the guests to their seats. I was upstairs helping the bride and bridesmaids get ready with Hermione.
   
When all of the guests arrived, we all took our seats. Ginny looked gorgeous in her gold bridesmaids dress. Fleur really wanted to put her bridesmaids in pink, but decided not to so it wouldn’t clash with Ginny’s hair. A few rows in front of me I hear the Weasley’s Auntie Muriel scoff and say, “Ginevra’s dress is far too low cut,” to which no one replied. 
   
Then it was time for the reception to start, and us guests stood aside as the tent was transformed for us. The seats on which we had all been sitting on rose into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and countryside.
   
Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped together themselves around small, white-clothed tables. Which all floated gracefully back to Earth around it, and the golden-jacketed band trooped toward a podium.
   
It was getting dark when the dancing started after we all ate dinner, and after everyone had been dancing for a good moment and everyone was hopped up on butterbeer, or firewhiskey, or champagne. George and I were at a table catching our breath from dancing, and George had Lily on his lap, when I said, "Ginny is driving Harry nuts in that dress she's got on. He keeps staring at her."
   
"What?" asked George. He sounded very confused.
   
I chuckle at his reaction. "I'll explain it to you when you're older."
   
"Ginny is certainly growing up, isn't she?" he replies with a sigh in his voice.
   
"She is," I agree, nodding. "She's beautiful, too, truly."
   
"I always knew I'd have to fight off all the boys that came after her, I knew as soon as she came home. I was 3, so I don't really remember much, but I do remember her being a toddler, always following Fred and I around. She was so cute."
   
I place my hand onto the back of his neck, smiling as I say, "You're the best big brother. I've always thought so."
   
That was when Lyanna came over to us asking to speak to George alone. So I took my toddler back on the dance floor to dance with her while they talked. Remus joined us, and we were having a great time.
   
After the song a silver Lynx came running across the field. Someone sent a message. Fred and I watched as it stopped in the middle of the dance floor and spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
   
“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.”
   
Everything seemed to be fuzzy and slow. Harry and Hermione jumped from their seats and drew their wands, and Fred next to me did the same, so I copied them. Harry and Hermione threw themselves into panic mode when we heard somebody scream. Guests started to Disapparate around us, which meant one thing: the protection charms on the Burrow were now broken.
   
Remus told me that I needed to get Lily out of there. I tried to hand her off to one of her older siblings, but I could no longer find them. Or Harry, or Ron, or Hermione. That could only mean one thing, Bradley and Lyanna left with the three of them. I had to take Lily home myself. So I did. I got us out of there as quickly as we could. We waited about a half hour for Remus to return to us.
   
"Everyone is okay," he said, "Once they figured out that Harry had gone, they left."