It took them nearly three hours to escape for a moment’s peace.
He had been roped into assembling a wooden altar in the garden with George and Arthur, who were interested in what it might be like to erect such a thing without magic. Ginny had been there when Hermione tried on the dress for the first time after it had been altered.
“Her head nearly blew off,” she recounted, laying spread-eagle on her bed beside Harry. For the middle of September, it was sweltering – she’d discarded her top onto the floor the moment they were alone. Not that Harry minded. “The seamstress lowered the neckline too much. Mum tried to tell her they could just get it redone…”
Harry smiled dryly. “I can imagine how that went.”
“I can’t even blame her! She looked so stressed. It seems like a lot of fuss, all this wedding garbage,” Ginny said.
He sighed. “Yeah. It does, doesn’t it?”
“At the end of the day, it’s really not about the couple getting married at all, is it? You’ve got to worry about all your guests having a good time too. I remember at Bill’s wedding, Fleur almost burst into tears when she realized they had to invite Auntie Muriel.”
Harry raised his eyebrows. “What, do they not get along?”
“Muriel doesn’t like the French,” Ginny said shortly. Then, “Say, when we get married, d’you reckon we should do something different?”
“Different how?”
“Well, we could only invite a few people,” Ginny ventured.
“Right, I like that idea. A small wedding.”
Ginny shook her head. “Bill’s wedding was small.”
“But there were nearly two hundred people!”
“It was Weasley small,” Ginny corrected. “I mean an actual small wedding, with only the real necessities.”
Harry looked up at the ceiling. “I suppose all you really need for a wedding is a bride, a groom, and a minister,” he said.
“And a witness,” Ginny added.
They glanced at each other and dissolved into laughter. “Teddy?” Ginny squeaked.
“That’s exactly who I was thinking,” said Harry.
“Ooh, he can be the ring bearer! That would be so precious. As long as we get good photos, Mum can’t be too mad about us eloping.”
Harry brushed a stray piece of hair behind Ginny’s ear, and she smiled at him. “Are you really serious?” he asked. “You want to get eloped? You don’t want a big ceremony, with all your family members, and dress shopping with your Mum…”
“You’re not really selling it that way, Harry,” said Ginny. “Of course I’m serious. I never joke about this stuff.”
“Right, I should’ve known.” Harry rolled onto his back so Ginny wouldn’t see him grinning madly at the ceiling. “Ginny Weasley never jokes about weddings.”