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• Inspiration Setting Things in Motion Getting to Know the Grangers Initial Preparations Final Preparations and Bon Voyage A Year in Mexico, Part 1 A Year in Mexico, Part 2 A Year in Mexico, Part 3 An Unexpected Friend and Ally Joy and Sorrow Life Goes On Healing A Very Long Week Revelations Reactions Tales of Two Horcruxes Picking Up the Pieces Training Ron A Call to Arms (and Legs) Potter's Army Information, Both Useful and Disturbing Summer's End An Eventful Beginning Fall Term Part 1 - Happy Birthday Hermione Fall Term Part 2 - Many Things Are Revealed Fall Term Part 3 - On to Halloween Wedding Bells Romantic Interlude The Hogwarts Challenge The War Comes to Hogwarts Where It All Ends Epilogue
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Chapter 27, Wedding Bells

A portkey to Grimmauld Place, followed with a floo trip into the Ministry of Magic and the young couple was soon stumbling out of the floo bank into the atrium.  This late at night the large hall was deserted except for Croaker, who was waiting there for them.

“I have a challenge for you if you’re interested,” the small man began, forgoing any sort of greeting or other nicety.  “How would you like to try to destroy a Dementor?”  Harry and Hermione looked at each other in amazement, then turned back to the old wizard.  Harry motioned him to explain.  “Don’t ask how, because I won’t tell you, but we’ve tracked down a group of Dementors and have them trapped in a magical holding pen.  We can’t keep it up forever, it just takes too much magic.”  He turned to Hermione.  “Miss Granger, a few months ago you asked what would happen if the two of your Patroni attacked a Dementor together.  Now is your chance to find out.”

Hermione considered for a moment.  Having experienced the horrible creatures first hand, being nearly been kissed by the lake during her third year, she had no compunction about destroying them in any way possible.  She looked over to see Harry awaiting her thoughts on the offer.  She could tell that he was willing to do it, but wouldn’t pressure her into it if she had a problem with it.  She nodded firmly.  “Let’s give it a try.”

Croaker made no response but to whirl and stride across the atrium.  The two students followed him past the Fountain of Magical Brethren to the outgoing floos on the opposite side of the hall.  After three more floo journeys, which Hermione guessed were primarily to hide their movements, they stepped out of a small cottage on the edge of a forest.  Just inside the trees they could see a clearing, lit up by the glow of a magical field.  Even at this distance they could feel a chill in the air, and an uneasy sensation began tugging at their minds.

“How close do we need to get,” Hermione asked nervously.  She knew that it would be more difficult to produce a happy memory as they came more under the influence of the soul-sucking creatures.  Unlike Harry, she had never produced a Patronus in the actual presence of a Dementor.  Harry reached out to take her hand, and she immediately relaxed a bit as a warm feeling of love flowed through her.

Croaker motioned them forward but as they approached the clearing Harry put out his hand for them to stop.  “This is as close as I was the time by the lake,” he stated firmly.  “Are you still OK?”

Hermione nodded, forcing herself to remain calm.  As long as Harry was holding her hand it was keeping the horrid feelings at bay.  Croaker looked back and forth between them and the restraining field, clearly surprised that the younger Harry had managed to direct his Patronus to disperse a group of Dementors from this distance.  By now they were close enough that they could see individual shapes.  Five or six of them were gliding around, appearing to be biding their time until the wizards maintaining the magical field were overcome.

The two students nodded at each other and drew their wands, Hermione’s in her left hand and Harry’s in his right.  With her eyes locked with his it was no effort for Hermione to find a happy memory.  She chose the morning of her birthday.

“Expecto Patronum!”  In unison they called out the incantation and together a gleaming pair of lions sprang from their wands.  They hesitated for a moment, looking at their creators as if awaiting instructions.  “Attack one together!”  Harry shouted, and Hermione repeated the instruction a half beat later. The silvery shapes whirled and bounded away, covering the distance to their foes in seconds.

It was an incredible and awful sight.  As they reached the first Dementor they pounced on it, one going for the throat and one for the body, just as their namesakes would attack their prey.  In the blink of an eye the Dementor was ripped to pieces, emitting a horrible screaming noise as it faded away.  When it was over there was nothing left but the fragments of a shredded black cloak.

Now the remaining Dementors in the restraining field flew into a panic, hurling themselves against the magical barrier.  It was to no avail.  Just as with the first, the lion and lioness dispatched them with gruesome efficiency, the horrible shrieks giving witness to their destruction.  In less than a minute from the time they had first been summoned, the field was cleared.  Now the pair of silvery predators calmed down and nuzzled each other briefly, as though checking to make sure their mates were unharmed, then turned and trotted back to the onlookers.

“Good work,” Harry said to his lioness, reaching up to pat it on the nose.  Hermione likewise congratulated her lion, marveling at the tingly feeling of the solid yet not solid fur.  Then the two students stepped back and their protectors faded away into mist.

Croaker was speechless.  From the shadows of the trees some other Unspeakables staggered into view, the strain of holding the evil creatures at bay in the magical field evident on their faces and in their movements.  They too, were unable to find words to describe what they had just witnessed.  Finally Croaker motioned them back to the cottage, and Harry and Hermione joined hands once again for the return journey to Hogwarts.

-oooOOOooo-

Back at Potter Manor, December 22

“Well, that was certainly the dramatic high point of the term,” Hermione commented wryly as she flipped through the last few pages of the notebook.  “The rest of it seems pretty tame by comparison.”

“Actually, I would have preferred a nice, peaceful, boring Halloween myself,” returned Harry with a small shake of his head.  “I enjoyed November – nothing but classes, studying, quidditch, training.  You know, the kind of nice, normal things that are supposed to happen at Hogwarts.  At least that’s the way I’ve heard it was before we showed up.”  Hermione smiled and gave him a friendly punch on the arm, then closed the notebook and snuggled up under his arm and pulled it around her.  They were back on the couch in the parlor in front of a nice warm fire.

“Well, we did have one more Dementor hunting outing with Croaker,” Hermione pointed out.  “And he’s told us that we should expect one or two more before they’re able to persuade the remaining ones to leave people alone.  And we had the news from Hagrid about the giants – that was good.”

“No kidding,” Harry agreed.  “While it’s too bad that they keep killing themselves, I guess it’s better than having them attacking us.”  Hermione nodded.  Although she regretted the death of any intelligent or semi-intelligent being, and she felt bad about the persecution that she believed forced them to behave so violently, her encounters with Grawp had been terrifying, and he was rather gentle and friendly by giant standards.  She would hate to have to go against a normal giant intent on killing her.  So the report that they had received from Madame Maxime through Hagrid had been most welcome.  Voldemort’s agents’ attempts to recruit the remaining giants had met with the same result as Hagrid and Maxime’s earlier efforts.  Some of the giants had seemed willing to listen, others had disagreed, and it had led to a battle where they killed each other until the dispute had been forgotten.  After three such attempts, the Death Eaters had given up.

“Bill and Fleur aren’t too happy about their lack of results, though,” Harry reminded her.  The erstwhile curse breaker and his new wife still hadn’t found the location of the last Horcrux.  Bill was putting a positive spin on it, however, saying that they now knew several more locations where it wasn’t.

“The Hogsmeade visit went off just fine,” Hermione pointed out.  “And it was a good training exercise for the PDA.  We learned some things that we need to do better in case of an actual attack.  We definitely need a better way to communicate quickly.”  She leaned to the side and twisted her head back to smile at him.  “And then of course there was the Yule Ball.”

-oooOOOooo-

McGonagall had announced at breakfast on the last Saturday of November that there would be an opportunity for students to go into the village that day.  It was deliberately timed with no advance notice for security reasons, and no owls were permitted to be sent out that day.  The Hogsmeade shopkeepers themselves only learned about the visit when the carriages arrived at the station and throngs of eager students descended upon them.

They quickly adjusted, however, and enough food and butterbeer magically appeared at The Three Broomsticks to satisfy everyone, as well as a seemingly unending supply of sweets at Honeydukes.  The hit of the day was the grand opening of the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, in the building formerly occupied by Zonkos.  Fred and George had a buy-two-get-one-free sale which the students eagerly took advantage of, much to the eventual dismay of the heads of houses and other professors back in the castle.

The evening before the visit, Harry and Hermione had summoned the elite members of the PDA to the Room of Requirement to inform them of the planned activity and discuss possible attack scenarios and how they would respond.  Their primary goal would be to get the students back to the castle as quickly as possible, and Harry distributed several portkeys for that purpose to each member.  When activated, these would deliver any students who were touching them directly to the Hogwarts gates, without needing to wait for the carriages.  There some PDA members and some of the teachers would set up a defensive position to cover them as they passed through the wards into the protection of the grounds.  Two locations within Hogsmeade were designated where PDA members would assemble to cover the evacuation and possibly fight back – Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack.

The plan was that Harry or Hermione would alert the PDA of an attack by means of their pendants, and the members would then quickly move to whichever of the three positions they had been assigned.  They also let everyone know that even in the event that there was no attack, they would have a practice drill near the end of the visit.  From this drill they had discovered that pre-assigned positions were a mistake.  The PDA was scattered throughout Hogsmeade, with some members near their designated position, but some much closer to another one.  Quite a few of them ended up running past each other in different directions.  They definitely needed more flexibility in their response strategy.

Aside from that small problem, which was itself valuable information, the Hogsmeade visit had been a resounding success.  In addition to The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, and the twins’ joke shop, Gladrags was a very popular destination, as many of the students, particularly the older girls, needed new dress robes for the Yule Ball. 

To give them an additional opportunity to acquire the necessary garments, McGonagall had invited Madame Malkins to come to the castle on the second Sunday of December with several enchanted trunks full of a wide variety of selections.  In any case, by December 20, the actual day of the Ball, everyone was reasonably satisfied with their attire.

Hermione and Harry were happy that this year the Yule Ball was on the last weekend of the term, rather than on Christmas Day as it had been three years earlier, as they were looking forward to spending Christmas at home – their first ever together in their own home.  Of course the main topic of conversation for the weeks preceding was who was going with whom.

Ron’s situation was gradually resolving itself.  Hannah, realizing that she didn’t stack up with Lavender and Susan in one of the areas that was most desirable to Ron, had given up the battle for his affections.  She was instead going with Ernie Macmillan.  Luna, who had still been unable to get him to pay any attention to her, had rather made quite an impression on Justin Finch-Fletchly during their dancing at the Halloween Party.  She had accepted his invitation to be his date, but only after assuring him that she would actually be clothed this time.  Daphne had never been interested in a serious relationship with Ron, preferring merely to tease him from time to time.  She agreed to go with Blaise Zabini, although more to keep him out of trouble than from any affection for him.

Thus it came down to Lavender and Susan.  Ron’s preference would have been to keep things up in the air and not officially attend with either of them, but they refused to accept that.  A compromise was finally reached where he would escort one of them to the Yule Ball and the other would be his date for Valentine’s Day.  A quick drawing of cards from a Tarot deck determined that Lavender would accompany him to the Yule Ball.  While the blonde Gryffindor was pleased that she would have the first shot, the Hufflepuff girl was quite satisfied to have him for the more romantic holiday.

Ginny was still struggling with the reputation she had acquired at the beginning of the term, and had planned to hold off on dating for a while longer.  She therefore turned down all of the eager guys who had asked her out, reasoning correctly that their intentions were suspect.  She was surprised, therefore, when she received invitations from both Dean and Colin, and even Neville.  These she did consider, because she knew she could trust all of them not to pressure her to go too far.  On the other hand, she had prior relationships with two of them, which in both cases had included heavy make-out sessions, and which she did not trust herself to resume just yet.  She therefore accepted Neville’s offer, knowing that this most honorable Gryffindor would understand that they would be going ‘just as friends’, and wouldn’t push her for anything more.

On the other hand, Hermione was well aware that Neville hoped for more than mere friendship with the petite redhead.  She was nearly moved to tears when Neville sought her out and pleaded with her to teach him to dance better, so that he might avoid a repeat of his last Yule Ball evening with Ginny where she had suffered from having her feet repeatedly stepped on.  Harry, knowing he had nothing to be jealous about, had no objection, so Neville spent an hour in the Head Suite every night for a week dancing with Hermione.  Eventually he became comfortable enough with the idea of holding a girl closely that he was able to calm down and manage to keep his feet to himself.  Harry switched off with him as well, each learning by observing the other, so that both boys improved their dancing skills.

The ball itself was like a dream come true for Hermione.  She felt like a princess in her new dress robes and the sapphire necklace and earrings Harry had bought her for her birthday.  Her gown was a sophisticated off the shoulder design, cut low in front to show off a bit of cleavage but not indecently so. Once again, like at the previous Yule Ball, a side of Hermione Granger was on display that most of the school had never imagined existed.  As professors her parents were of course also present, and her mother nearly passed out when she saw her outfit for the first time.  ‘Hermione!  Are those real?  That necklace must be worth at least fifty thousand pounds!’  (In fact, Emma had underestimated the jewelry’s value, if anything.)  Her father, after his initial shock wore off, merely shook his head at how grown up his little girl had become.  And of course the look of pride and loving affection in Harry’s eyes had been priceless.

Although she spent most of her time with Harry, the two of them did share some dances with a few of their friends.  While Harry took a turn with Ginny, Hermione danced with Neville and her shy housemate related that things were going as well as he had hoped and thanked her for the dancing lessons.  On this night at least, Ginny was his, and she was paying more attention to him than she had in years.  Hermione sincerely hoped that things would work out for him, since she personally thought that he would be better for her than any of the other boys she had dated (she excluded Harry from this consideration, of course).  She knew, however, that Ginny was still swayed by excitement and glamour, and tended to view him more as good old reliable Neville.

-oooOOOooo-

“That was perfect,” Hermione sighed as she leaned back into Harry’s embrace (back on the couch in front of the fire at Potter Manor).  “Exactly the way I had wanted it to be the first time.”

“Really?”  Harry wondered.  “You wanted to go to the first one with me?”

“Of course.  I told you that this summer.  When I first got those dress robes I would hold them up in front of me and imagine dancing with you.  I was so much hoping you would notice I was a girl that year.  I spent more time planning that outfit, with the hair and the makeup, than I ever have in my life, either before or since.”

Harry just shook his head in wonder.  “Unbelievable.  I had no idea.”

“You do know that lots of girls daydreamed about going to that ball with you, don’t you, if for no other reason than that you were a champion?” she continued.  “Pretty much every girl in third, fourth, or fifth year.  I know for sure that Ginny, Parvati, and Katie were desperately hoping you’d take them, and Lavender would have gone with you if you’d asked.”  Harry said nothing, continuing to shake his head, and Hermione smiled and wriggled up against him.  “My dear sweet clueless Harry.”

“I always thought you’d wanted Ron to ask you,” Harry admitted.

“Back then?  No way.  I wanted nothing to do with him that year,” she responded.  “Last year, yes, after I’d given up on you.  But at that time I was upset with him over the way he refused to speak to me most of third year, and then he wouldn’t believe you about the tournament at the beginning of fourth year.  Then he made me so mad with the backhanded, insulting way he finally did ask me.  What I said to him that night about asking me first?  I was just so furious over the way he treated me, like I was some kind of traitor for going with Viktor instead of with him, that I was yelling anything that came into my head.  By that point I would have gone out with almost anyone instead of him.”

Hermione shifted them so that Harry was leaning back against the arm of the couch and she was in front of him, lying back to rest her head under his chin.  She reached down and moved his hands under her jumper and the tank top she wore beneath it, onto her bare skin.  He took the hint and slid his arms up and crossed them over her chest to embrace her more intimately, with his right hand holding her left breast and his left hand cupping her right.  She sighed happily.  Most guys might get slapped for being so forward, but she relished having him hold her like that.

“You do know that Ron never was interested in me that way, don’t you?”  She felt Harry shrug behind her as though he wasn’t quite convinced.  “I finally figured it out.  I was so certain that the way he was so jealous of Viktor meant he had feelings for me.  And sometimes he even acted jealous when you complimented me.  It actually had to do with his insecurities.  You know how at times it was obvious that he was jealous of you?  Well, for the most part, as long as there was something he had that you didn’t, or was as good at as you, he was fine.  Since he was always taller than you, always beat you at chess, and got as good of grades as you, he could accept the other things you were better at.”  Privately, Hermione suspected that one of the reasons Harry had been mediocre academically was that he didn’t want to show up Ron.  “It was a real relief when you both got the same number of OWLs last year.”  The small twitch she got from him with that comment helped confirm her suspicions, but she ignored it and continued.

“With me, I was far superior to him academically, but he always counted on me being as hopeless as he was, or even more so, from a social standpoint.  Remember how angry he got when Ginny told him I had snogged Viktor and he hadn’t ever kissed a girl?  He couldn’t deal with that and behaved beastly toward me until he got Lavender to start sucking his face off.  Then we were somehow even again.  So, when socially inept Hermione Granger got asked out by world famous quidditch star Viktor Krum, he completely lost it.  Even though we never went out again, he freaked out every time I mentioned Viktor, or got a letter from him.”

“That may have been part of it, but he could have also fancied you, right?” Harry countered.

Hermione considered this briefly.  “No, I don’t think so.  Look, you had a crush on Cho.  When they announced the Yule Ball, the first thing you thought of was asking her to go with you, right?”  Harry agreed.  “But it never once crossed Ron’s mind to ask me, until the day Fleur turned him down and he was desperate.  And even then it was, ‘Hey, Hermione you’re a girl!  You could go with me’ like it had just then occurred to him.  That’s not something you’d say to someone you had any feelings at all for.”

Harry was silent for a moment while he considered this, then shrugged again.  “I don’t know, maybe you’re right.  It does all fit.”

Hermione decided to move the conversation in a different direction.  “So, what do you think would have happened if we had gone to the first ball together?  How would things have been different?  Let’s say Viktor hadn’t asked me, and when Cho turned you down I had offered to be your partner before Ron managed to put his foot in his mouth.”

“I probably would have fallen for you as soon as I saw you coming down the stairs the night of the ball,” Harry declared fervently.

Hermione put her arms on top of his and hugged them more tightly against her chest.  “You say the sweetest things,” she purred.  “But at least at first, I would think we would have agreed it was just as friends, like the way you went with Parvati.”

“Well, I’m sure I would have enjoyed myself more.  I wouldn’t have felt as uncomfortable dancing with you as I was with Parvati.”

“At least Ron wouldn’t have called me a traitor if I were with you instead of Viktor,” Hermione added.  “I suspect he still might not have been happy about it, but he would have kept it more to himself.  On the down side, I wouldn’t have become as good of friends with Viktor.”

“You still would have ended up in the lake for the Second Task though,” Harry insisted.  “Only you would have been my most precious thing instead of Viktor’s.”

Hermione smiled and patted his arm.  “Perhaps.  But even so I think the last two tasks would have turned out the same.  You still would have stopped to rescue Gabrielle.  And I don’t think I could have spent any more time helping you prepare for the tasks than I already did.”

“I would have been less confused about my feelings for you over that summer,” Harry mused.

“But do you really think we would have fallen in love then?” Hermione wondered.  “Remember, you were only fourteen.  I’d hate to think that we might have dated for a while and then broken up.”

“Either way we still would have been best friends,” Harry decided.  “I needed you too much for it to be any other way.  Even when we weren’t always getting along last year we never stopped caring for each other.”  Hermione nodded her agreement.

“So, fifth year,” Harry continued.  I don’t think you could have possibly have supported me more in fifth year than you did.  I certainly might have been more pleasant to be around, though.”  Hermione nodded vigorously and Harry winced.  He had behaved rather petulantly most of that year.  Having a girlfriend certainly couldn’t have hurt.  “But I wonder,” he went on.  “Do you think I would have listened to you more about Occlumency, or about Sirius?”

“In the end, you did listen to me about Sirius,” she quickly pointed out, before he could start brooding about how Sirius might still be alive if only …  “And I’ve changed my mind about your Occlumency lessons with Snape now that we’ve learned how to do it properly.  I don’t think you would ever have learned it from him, no matter how hard you tried.  I think he was deliberately making it impossible for you to learn.”

Harry was quiet for a bit as he pondered that statement and thought more about that year.  Then he muttered.  “Cho wouldn’t have joined the DA.  And Marietta wouldn’t have been able to betray us.”

“I don’t know,” Hermione countered.  “Cho might have.  If she really had her sights set on you, she wouldn’t have considered me to be any competition.  And she still would have wanted to find out about Cedric.”

“Well even so, I know who I would have kissed under the mistletoe that Christmas,” Harry declared firmly, “and it wouldn’t have been her.”  He punctuated his assertion by pulling Hermione even more closely to himself.  Hermione responded by leaning her head back on his chest and smiling.

“Well, in the end it doesn’t matter,” Harry concluded after a brief silence.  “We’re together now, I love you more than I ever would have thought possible, and in a few days we’re getting married.”

Hermione’s breath caught briefly and a warm glow filled her inside.  “I can’t believe it’s almost here,” she whispered.

“Nervous?”

“I’m nervous about the wedding, in terms of whether everything will go the way it’s supposed to, all the details, and so forth,” she admitted.  “About marrying you?  Not at all.  How about you?”

“I’m not too worried about everything going right.  After all, the two most organized women I’ve ever met are planning it,” he teased, causing her to smile and relax a bit.  “As for getting married, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

Hermione twisted around in his arms so that she was facing him and rewarded him with a passionate kiss.  Then she snuggled up with her head pressed against his chest and a huge smile on her face.  Finding his hands now on her back, Harry absently began to rub her shoulders with one hand, while he pulled the other out from under her jumper and started running his fingers through her hair.  Soon she was purring contentedly.

“Ready for bed?” he finally asked.

“I don’t know, I can’t imagine anything more comfortable than the way I am right now,” Hermione demurred.  Harry leaned down and whispered something into her ear and she gasped, then squirmed as his suggestion caused goose bumps to break out all over her skin.  “OK, I’m convinced,” she replied breathlessly, and she quickly rose and led him up to their bedroom.

-ooOoo-

December 25

“Nervous?”  Emma and Hermione were sitting down together in the same parlor three days later on Christmas day.  Her parents had joined them at the manor for the holidays, and the two of them were now going over the wedding details.  Each Granger woman had her own pad of paper, filled with notes and to-do lists.  Emma had noticed Hermione biting on her lower lip, and recognized the habit, which Hermione had undoubtedly picked up from her.

It had been a delightful Christmas, Hermione and Harry’s first together in their own home.  On Christmas Eve the four of them had made their way to the small church in Godric’s Hollow, then returned to the manor to open presents.  During her lessons with Flitwick on enchantments, Hermione had tried to enchant cell phones to work at Hogwarts, intending to give one to each of her parents and one to Harry for Christmas presents.  Unfortunately, that had proven unsuccessful, as all the magic in the castle created some sort of magical field that interfered with the signal too much. 

As an alternative, she had begun working on enchanting mirrors to communicate like Sirius and James had done, but they weren’t ready yet.  Instead, she had enchanted two clocks, modeled after the Weasley family clock with hands showing the status of every member of the family.  (She had also made a third for the Weasleys, to replace the original which had been lost when the Burrow was destroyed.)  The one she gave to her parents had four hands on it, one each for Dan, Emma, Harry and herself.  The one she gave Harry had only two, but she pointed out when he opened it that there was plenty of room for more, when their children arrived.

That comment had caused some interesting reactions.  Harry had given her such an intense look of love that it made her knees go weak.  Emma had beamed delightedly at the implication but Dan had gone pale.  This reaction, of course, led to plenty of teasing by the two Granger females who couldn’t resist the opportunity to have a go at the male in the family.

Hermione had insisted that Harry wrap up the emerald pendant that he intended for her to wear on their wedding day and give it to her again as a Christmas present, hoping that he wouldn’t be tempted to buy any more expensive jewelry for her.  He had compromised by having matching earrings made, which she accepted graciously.  He had wanted to also buy her a sports car, but she pointed out that it would be better to wait until she had someplace to actually drive it (and the time).  He agreed to hold off until her next birthday.

“More anxious than nervous, I think,” Hermione replied to her mother’s question.  “I’m the same way with exams – even though I know I’m prepared and everything is under control I just can’t help fretting about it.  Harry asked me the same thing the other day.  He, of course, says he isn’t.  He’s probably right, too.  He’s been in so many stressful situations, and he’s always managed to stay under control and not panic.  Hanging around him has made me better at it.  At least I don’t freak out about the small things any more.”  She turned and cocked her head at her mother, raising an eyebrow slightly.  What about you?”

Emma, who had been chewing her own lip, knew that her daughter had caught her out and returned a sheepish smile.  “Well, this is the first and only time I’ll plan my daughter’s wedding.  I think I’m entitled to a bit of anxiety of my own.  I admit I certainly never thought I’d be doing this so soon.”  Hermione started to respond but Emma waved her off.  “I know, you’re a lot older than it appears.  Otherwise we’d never have agreed to having our eighteen year old daughter marry a boy who’s only seventeen.  But even if you’re actually what, nearly twenty now?” Hermoine nodded.  “It still would seem too young to us except for the fact that the two of you have matured far beyond your years.   Don’t worry, we’ve both accepted it.”  Hermione relaxed and Emma smiled at her daughter.  “Now, let’s go over these plans.”

-ooOoo-

“Nervous?”  Dan and Harry had retreated to the sunroom to stay out of the way of the women and their planning fervor, and Dan thought that Harry was looking remarkably calm for a boy who was getting married in two days.

“About getting married?”  Harry shrugged.  “Not really.”

“I was an absolute wreck the day before I married Emma.  At the time it was the scariest thing I’d ever contemplated doing.”  Dan admitted.  “But I guess your life has been somewhat more eventful than mine.”

“Yeah, facing a troll, giant spiders, a basilisk, Dementors, a dragon – and that was just my first four years.  Not to mention all the times Voldemort has tried to kill me,” Harry replied.  “Not that I’d ever want Hermione to hear that I compared marrying her to any of those things,” he added with a grimace.  This got a chuckle out of Dan, and he promised to keep that between the two of them.  “I don’t know, for some reason I don’t find the idea scary at all.  Maybe it’s because I’m so sure that it’s what I want to do.”

If there had ever been a ‘right answer’ that a young man could give his soon-to-be father-in-law to that question, Dan decided that this was it.  But it was still his fatherly duty to offer some advice.  “I know I don’t need to say all the usual things, Harry, about taking care of my daughter and keeping her safe and always loving her.  I already know, and have seen, that there’s nothing that’s a higher priority for you.  And I also know that there are things that you have to do that will put her in more danger than I could have imagined.  But we both know that there’s no way that she’ll let you keep her out of it to protect her.”  Harry nodded solemnly to all of these statements. 

“So my advice for you is for later, when you finally get a chance to live your lives together.  And that is that love is more than hugs and kisses and warm fuzzy feelings inside.  Lots of couples have that, but their marriages don’t last.  Because you have to live with each other every day, and that’s the bigger part of loving someone.  You and I both know that Hermione is not the easiest person in the world to live with.  But that’s the challenge in any relationship – accepting each other’s faults, helping them change the ones they want to change, and together coming to understand what those are.  Each person needs to be willing to do things they don’t want to do because it’s what is best for their partner.  That’s the kind of love that lasts.”  He reached over and clapped Harry on the shoulder.  “Fortunately, from what I’ve seen I don’t think there’s anyone better able to love Hermione like that than you.”

-ooOoo-

“Nervous?”  It was the day before the wedding, and Ron and Ginny found themselves alone at the Birmingham house for a few hours.  They were sitting at the kitchen table and Ron was eating everything in sight.

“Bloody terrified,” Ron confessed.  “I’m scared I’ll mess up somehow.”

“All you have to do is hold onto the rings and give them to Harry at the right time,” Ginny teased, trying to relax him.  “And even if you lose them all you need to do is say ‘Accio Harry and Hermione’s wedding rings.’”

“No I can’t, not in front of all those muggles.  I think that’s what I’m most worried about, being in a ceremony with all the muggles watching,” Ron confessed.

“Well, in that case tell Harry and he can Accio them wandlessly and nonverbally.”  This got a small smile out of him.  “And besides, no one is going to be looking at you anyway, once the bride enters the room.”  Ron relaxed a bit more and turned to look at Ginny.

“So what about you?” he inquired.

“What do I have to be nervous about?  All a bridesmaid has to do is walk down the aisle and look pretty.  I think I’ve got that covered.”  Ginny punctuated this by sweeping her beautiful long red hair dramatically back over her shoulder, then grinned and added.  “And the other bridesmaid is part-Veela so even if I looked like a troll, who would notice?”

“I mean, how do you feel about …?” Ron began hesitantly.

“You mean will I be wishing that I was up there marrying Harry Potter?  Sure.  Half the girls at Hogwarts probably wish the same thing.”  Ginny shrugged, then turned serious.  “What you really mean is have I gotten over him,” she continued.  “Not completely, but I’m able to deal with it.  Fleur has helped a lot.  She’s made me see that everything’s not about me.  There are hundreds of girls our age who fantasized about Harry Potter like I did.  Only one of them was lucky to have him become best friends with her older brother.  Only a couple of them were lucky enough to even go out with him.  There are only one or two other girls in the world that he cares for as much as he cares for me.  One of them happens to be his soul mate.  As much as I wish it had been me, I can’t deny that he’s happy about it.” 

She sighed and looked down at the table.  “If it had been anyone other than Hermione it would have been a lot harder to take.  But no one, including you and me, understands him better than she does.  And no one loves him more than she does.  Perhaps I could have, if I had a chance.  But she was the most important girl in his life long before he even thought about me.  Once they decided to move those feelings in a romantic direction, no one else had a chance.”  She looked up at Ron again and rubbed away some of the moisture that had collected in her eyes.  “So yeah, I’ll be OK.”  Ron responded in a way that he would never admit to anyone else in the world.  He put down the biscuit he had been eating, moved closer and hugged his little sister.

-ooOoo-

Saturday, December 27

“Nervous?” Hermione had just come out of the shower, and stood looking at herself in the mirror.  Already her heart was beating faster than normal, and she suspected it would quicken even more as the day went on.  This was the day she was going to marry Harry Potter!  Harry moved up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them, then bent down to kiss her on the back of the neck.

“More excited than nervous, I think,” she decided.  “Everything’s as ready as it can be, and I just need to relax and enjoy it.”  She reached up and took hold of his hands and moved then down around her waist and hugged him to herself, leaning back against him.  She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, then opened them and smiled at him in the mirror.  “And I’m definitely planning to enjoy it.”

After standing there in his arms for a minute she disengaged and turned around, putting her hands on his chest to push him away.  “Now you can’t watch me get dressed this morning.  I have a special pair of knickers for today and you don’t get to see them until later.  And don’t forget to wear the pair I got for you.”  Hermione had been amazed at what you could find in mail-order bridal catalogues.  She had bought Harry a very brief pair of satin underwear, dark green in color.  For herself she had picked out a tiny thong.  She had considered ordering it in dark green also, but worried that it might show through her white gown, so she selected a pale green color instead.

Harry grimaced.  “There’s hardly anything to that.  It’s even smaller than the swimsuits you make me wear.”

“That’s the whole point,” Hermione replied with a seductive smile.  “Every time I look at you today I’ll remember what you’re wearing and think of what we’ll be doing tonight.”

Harry swallowed hard.  “OK, now I’m nervous.  That’s the only part of this whole thing that I’m worried about.”  Hermione stopped pushing him and took his hands in hers, giving him an encouraging smile.

“You’re worried that the first time might not be that good for me?”  Harry nodded.  “Well don’t,” she insisted.  “No matter how it goes, it will be wonderful because I’ll be making love to you.  And even if I don’t orgasm the first time there’s always the second, third and fourth times.”  With a mischievous gleam in her eye she added, “And then we can try again tomorrow.” 

She giggled at the look on his face that was generated by that last comment, and spun him around and pushed him the rest of the way out of the room, still in a daze.  The she returned to her dresser and pulled out the special knickers, which were not much more than a couple of small triangles of light green silky material.  She pulled them over her legs and into position, turning to admire how good they made her look both from the front and the back.   Then she pulled on a tank top and a pair of sweatpants that she would wear until it was time to put on her wedding gown, and went down to join her family for breakfast.

-ooOoo-

Planning this wedding had been at the same time incredibly complicated and remarkably simple.  The complicated part was figuring out how to integrate the muggle and wizarding aspects into a single occasion.  The simple part was that things like colors, flowers, food, and decorations were literally a snap for a house elf.  Whenever Emma or Hermione found something in a book or catalog that was exactly what they wanted, they showed it to Minnie and she replicated it easily. 

In the end they had decided to have a small muggle ceremony in a church, to which Hermione’s parents could invite their relatives, friends, and neighbors, and then they would perform the magical vows in a different location.  Once that decision had been made, things were greatly simplified.  When she learned of this plan, Minnie informed Hermione that Lily had done something similar, and that she and James had been married in the little church in the village.  The elderly cleric there remembered James and Lily, and when he learned that Harry was their orphaned son, and that even though he didn’t live in the area any more he wanted to be married there in their memory, he immediately agreed to perform the ceremony.  The Saturday after Christmas was not a busy time in the church schedule, so the timing worked out to their advantage.

Getting the guests to the ceremony was somewhat trickier.  In the invitations Emma frankly confided that in the wake of the bombing the previous summer, they were still reluctant to return to the area where they had lived, so Hermione’s wedding would be taking place near where the groom’s family was from.  In fact, the groom, whom Hermione had met at boarding school, was quite wealthy, having inherited a large sum of money.  Unfortunately it was because his parents had died when he was an infant, and he thus had little remaining family of his own.  In light of all of this, the guests were instructed to meet at Gatwick airport where a private jet would take them to the village where the ceremony would be held.

The jet had been arranged by Kingsley Shacklebolt, using his political connections as assistant to the Prime Minister.  A retired RAF pilot who had flown insertion missions for the SAS had formed a private flight service for use by industry executives who wished to travel secretly to confidential meetings, and he was well-known for his discretion.  When the wedding guests were dropped off at a private airstrip somewhere in Wales, they were ferried to the village of Godric’s Hollow in a luxury bus driven by Kingsley himself.

Relatively few members of the wizarding community attended the ceremony.  Headmistress McGonagall represented Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix.  Dean, Justin, Colin, and Dennis, the muggleborn members of the PDA, and Seamus, Hannah Abbott, Su Li, and Tracey Davis who were of mixed blood, each with at least one set of muggle grandparents, were honored to represent their fellow students.  Padma Patil was also determined to attend the wedding of her now close friend Hermione, and any difficulties she had fitting in were readily ascribed to cultural differences.  There was no keeping Arthur Weasley away from the muggle ceremony, although it was necessary for him to use a muggle wheelchair instead of his flying carpet, and Molly accompanied him. 

At the church, Molly and Arthur sat in the second row, just behind Remus and Tonks who took on the role of Harry’s parents in the ceremony, joining with Dan and Emma to give the new couple their blessing.  Padma and Tracey were alert in the row immediately behind Molly, just in case.  Padma was among the best students at casting nonverbal silencing spells, and her wand was easily concealed in the folds of the sari she wore.  As it turned out, Molly’s outward reaction was limited to a few tears, which were not at all out of the ordinary at a wedding.

Hermione had chosen green and blue as the principle colors for the wedding decorations, and Ginny and Fleur, her two attendants, were arrayed in gowns of deep emerald green and sapphire blue respectively.  In fact, Ginny reused the strapless bridesmaid dress she had worn at Fleur’s wedding, and Fleur borrowed the similar dress Gabrielle had worn (magically altered to her larger size), with color transfiguration spells applied.  Ron and Bill, as Harry’s two attendants, were dressed in black tuxedos with shirts that matched the dresses of their respective partners.  Harry’s shirt was white, with green trim.

With forty or so guests on Hermione’s side of the aisle, and just over a dozen from the magical world on Harry’s side, it was a cozy gathering.  When the music began, the Granger friends and relatives were impressed as an extremely pretty red haired girl came down the aisle first as the maid of honor, only to be followed by one of the most beautiful women they had ever seen as the matron of honor.  When Hermione appeared, however, jaws dropped.

Many of these people had not seen Hermione since she was eleven years old, and the rest only brief glimpses during the summer, as she had not spent more than a week at home at any one time since the summer before fourth year.  Somehow the shy, bushy-haired, bucktoothed little girl had been replaced with the lovely, poised, confident young woman with long flowing curls and a perfect smile who now glided down the aisle on Dan’s arm.  How could she have possibly changed so much in a little more than six years, they asked each other? Hermione, of course, saw none of this, her attention focused solely on the green-eyed, black-haired young man waiting for her at the front of the church.

Hermione’s gown was stunning – simple, yet elegant.  A perfectly fitted bodice featured a wide V-shaped neckline that spread to the ends of her shoulders, which combined with a low V-cut back to bare most of her upper torso.  The bust was flattering with just a touch of cleavage, and displayed the dazzling emerald pendent to perfection.  From her hips the satiny fabric flowed gracefully out into a short train, with lacy detailing along the seams and around the edges.  As Hermione reached the front of the church she saw Harry’s eyes taking her all in, dropping from her bust down to linger briefly at her hips and she knew he was remembering her tease from the morning.  She gave him the slightest smirk when his gaze returned to her eyes to let him know she noticed, and his lips curled slightly in response as they turned to face the altar.

As she heard the words of the reading from 1 Corinthians 13 – Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love – her thoughts turned to the similar words of a twelve year old girl to an eleven year old boy as she hugged him before he went off to face a deadly foe.  Friendship, bravery, and … she had lost her nerve before she could finish it.  The word ‘love’ was not something twelve-year-olds are comfortable saying out loud.  Her mind pondered the parallels between those two triads of words.  Faith was inherent in friendship – you trusted that friends would be there for you.  Hope could be a part of bravery – it was certainly easier to perform an act of courage if you could hope that some good would be accomplished by it.  But in the end they were all tied together in love.

Finally it came time for their vows and they turned to face each other and clasped hands.  As each of them looked deeply into the other’s eyes, down into their very souls, they fervently pledged, “I take you Harry/Hermione, to be my husband/wife from this day forward.  To join with you and share all that is to come.  And I promise to love you and be with you faithfully as long as we are given life together.”

Ron came through with the rings.

While the muggle wedding guests wondered why Harry’s friends didn’t stick around for the reception, the observation somehow quickly slipped from their minds.  Dan and Emma were marvelous hosts, taking Harry and Hermione around to visit with each guest individually, where they all gushed over how much Hermione had grown, and commented on what a charming young man she had found.  After several hours the newlywed couple kissed their parents goodbye and made their exit, from which they quickly apparated to Potter Manor.  There they went back six hours in time, napped for a few hours, Harry changed into formal wizarding dress robes, and finally they went down to greet their wizarding guests as they returned from the church along with all the other invitees who had not attended the muggle ceremony.  These included much of the Hogwarts staff, all of the PDA from the summer, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, and Director Hammer, Chief Auror Robards, and several other trusted Aurors who had become friends with the young couple.

As they gathered once again in the ballroom, Harry and Hermione climbed onto the platform, turned to each other again and took their magical vows.  Clasping their left hands, so that each had their fingers touching the other’s wedding ring, they raised their wands in their right hands and touched wand tips while they recited the incantation.  A burst of white light brighter than any wedding ceremony in recent memory temporarily blinded their audience, and then it coalesced into a brilliant glow that clung to each of them for several seconds until it gradually diminished.

Having already endured several hours of wedding reception, the newlyweds were relatively subdued, spending much of their time with their arms either linked together or wrapped around each others’ waists, with smiles that lit up the room.  They danced the traditional first dance with each other, and Hermione one each with Ron, Bill, and Remus while Harry reciprocated with Ginny, Fleur, and Tonks, but relatively few after that.  Once again they considerately greeted each of the guests and even patiently allowed Molly to fret that they had rushed into this and bemoan that they were growing up too fast.  Hermione even managed to refrain from pointing out to Molly that she and Arthur had been married during their seventh year, although Ginny did not.

At long last they were ready to leave, only this time the entire crowd gathered to watch them depart.  With a shrunken bag under each arm, they waved once more, activated a portkey, and vanished to thunderous applause.

During their visit to the Yucatan in August, the great wizard Ah Kinchil, whose power rivaled Dumbledore’s, had created for them a portkey that would take them from Great Britain to Coba, and there they found their Mayan friends waiting to greet them.  With the six hour time difference it was still mid-afternoon there, even though for Harry and Hermione’s internal clocks it was well after midnight.  Their Mayan hosts were very understanding, and after some time for visiting and congratulations, and another sumptuous feast, they were led to an ancient marriage chamber that had been readied for them.  Here their close friends Mayahuel and Ekahau took them into separate side rooms to prepare them.

Hermione was first bathed by Mayahuel in a hot, scented bath, and then the Mayan witch brushed her hair and perfumed her with a jasmine fragrance.  Fleur had taught Hermione several Veela spells to be used for this occasion, the most important a localized pain suppression charm that would negate the pain from the tearing of her maidenhead without hindering the sensations in the surrounding area of her body.  Another was a stamina spell for Harry – she smiled to herself as a little tingle rippled down her body while thinking she might use that one later.  A contraception charm completed the spellwork.

When she was ready, Mayahuel gave her a quick hug and pointed her to a different door before she smiled and withdrew.  The central chamber consisted primarily of a large round bed covered with flower petals and furs, and as Hermione entered this room, completely naked, Harry likewise entered from the other side.  For a moment each drank in the sight of the other, hearts pounding.  The tension was broken as Hermione giggled when her roving eyes noticed that Harry was obviously very happy to see her.

They quickly embraced, their mouths attacking each other as their bodies attempted to maximize contact everywhere possible.  As they fell into each other’s arms on the impossibly soft bed, Hermione was infused with the knowledge that this went beyond kissing, beyond touching, this was a joining, figuratively and literally – physically, emotionally, spiritually, magically.

This was their first time going to bed when they were both naked, and they took their time to enjoy each other.  As their explorations became more intimate they finally melted into each other  - ‘and the man and woman joined together and became one flesh’.  It was everything Hermione had dreamed it would be, and more.  It was magic.

-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-

• Previous
• Inspiration Setting Things in Motion Getting to Know the Grangers Initial Preparations Final Preparations and Bon Voyage A Year in Mexico, Part 1 A Year in Mexico, Part 2 A Year in Mexico, Part 3 An Unexpected Friend and Ally Joy and Sorrow Life Goes On Healing A Very Long Week Revelations Reactions Tales of Two Horcruxes Picking Up the Pieces Training Ron A Call to Arms (and Legs) Potter's Army Information, Both Useful and Disturbing Summer's End An Eventful Beginning Fall Term Part 1 - Happy Birthday Hermione Fall Term Part 2 - Many Things Are Revealed Fall Term Part 3 - On to Halloween Wedding Bells Romantic Interlude The Hogwarts Challenge The War Comes to Hogwarts Where It All Ends Epilogue
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