A Little Help from a Snake // Tomarry

69: The Party for the Bonding Ceremony

Reposted: January 29, 2022

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I had so much fun writing this chapter. Enjoy!

Summary: Yes, this is the sixty-ninth chapter. No, they are not bonding yet.

News of Harry's bonding spread rapidly over the next several weeks and by the end of July, practically nothing else was being talked about. Even the Ministry stepped in to lend a hand, although Harry could see it was a blatant attempt to smooth things over from falsely imprisoning Tom and Remus. Nevertheless, they accepted the help. The Ministry took care of reserving the Muggle church and putting up charms to deter Muggles who came too close.

As per Tom's suggestion, purple was the theme color for the party, but there were also shades of blue mixed in. So the hangings were deep plum and royal blue in color, the tablecloth a pale lavender. When Tom first saw the setup, he had to clench his fists to stop from flailing his arms again. At least until he was back home and could do it in private. Harry had thought he looked absolutely adorable.

Now Harry stood with his friends as they watched guests enter and mingle with others.

"I can't be the only one thinking of the Yule Ball," said Tracey. Her hair had been straightened for the occasion so it fell just past her elbows.

"Definitely not," Harry agreed. "Good news, though. I don't think I'll be stepping on Tom's feet when we dance."

"Good. Because my feet are aching just thinking about our dance."

"He couldn't have been that bad," Draco said.

"Bad enough," Harry and Tracey said together.

Luna and a man Harry assumed was her father came drifting into the room, both wearing yellow robes. Luna's eyes scanned the crowd and lit up upon landing on the Weasleys. Then she ran forward and embrace Ginny from behind. Ginny started but beamed when she saw who it was.

Tracey nudged Harry, who turned back around in time to see Sirius approaching with Minister Fudge.

"Hello," said Harry neutrally.

"Good to see you, Harry," Fudge said, shaking his hand. "And Miss Davis and Mr. Malfoy."

"Good evening," Draco replied. Tracey dipped her head slightly.

"I'm sure you're very excited tonight," Fudge went on to Harry.

"Extremely."

"Yes, yes. Tom is a charming young man. I was just speaking with him. Terrible what he went through."

Somewhere off to Harry's left, a camera flashed.

"Yes," he said. "He had a difficult time sleeping at first."

Fudge had the decency to look ashamed. "If I hadn't been so eager to listen to Dumbledore, I could have avoided this altogether."

"It was a tense time for us all," Harry said.

"Indeed. Well, I hope we can put this behind us now. We know better than to get too ahead of ourselves."

The reporters had moved on now. Dipping his head, Fudge excused himself and left.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Finally. I had been trying to get away for the past fifteen minutes."

"Yeah." Harry didn't want to talk about Fudge. "Anyway, I'm gonna go find Tom."

He squeezed through the throng until he found Tom chatting with a couple wizards he didn't recognize.

Tom, looking as handsome as ever in velvet black dress robes, smiled when he caught sight of Harry and excused himself from the two wizards. "Hi."