Disclaimer: Of course they're not mine. I'm not that good, yet!
"You look lovely dear" said Mrs. Weasley as she watched Hermione twist in front of the mirror. She stared at her almost unrecognizable reflection as it swayed slightly beneath the silk and crinoline. "Viktor is a lucky man, Hermione" Ginny Weasley added as she fingered the hem of another wedding gown hanging nearby.
The trio of women had stepped into a muggle bridal shop to allow Hermione the final fitting before her upcoming wedding to famed Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum.
"Do you think he'll really be pleased?" asked Hermione to no one in particular. She knew Viktor to be fastidious about the way she looked, especially in recent weeks. Although he had never judged her appearance when they met during the Tri Wizard Tournament at Hogwarts, Viktor seemed progressively more obsessed as the wedding day approached.
Hermione had taken great pains of late to straighten her ferocious brown curls, and to tackle the make-up mirror every morning before work. Though she often wondered to herself, "How well does a medi-witch have to look?" She rarely made it through a day where a patient didn't ooze some putrid slime on her uniform, or come face to face with an unluckily-hexed individual who coughed vile substances into her hair. St. Mungo's was not the place for beauty pageant airs.
Viktor continued to inspect her every night before they went out, and often before he would allow them to cuddle on the couch. He made sure her appearance was "up to his standards" at every turn. She looked to her best friend for explanations.
"He probably worries about pleasing you just the same" said Ginny. "Arthur was worried I'd puff up like a balloon after we got married," added Mrs. Weasley "and you can see how long that lasted." Hermione heard the women's words, but still as she twitched to and fro in her white wedding gown she questioned Viktor's motives.
"Perhaps I'm not good enough for him. Maybe we aren't right for one another. Is he really The One?" Two weeks before the wedding is a fine time to be asking myself these questions thought Hermione as an attendant helped her scramble out of the dress.
"We'll have this ready for you well in advance Miss Granger. Or should I say Mrs. Krum?" laughed the saleslady with a twinkle in her eye. "Or should you indeed?" Hermione asked inwardly.
"Don't worry love," said Mrs. Weasley, "everything will turn out right as rain. You'll see!" "And even if doesn't," interjected Ginny "we'll be right there with you." The two red headed women embraced Hermione before walking out of the shop.
Mrs. Weasley left the girls not two blocks down the street in muggle London. "I have to be going back to the Burrow dears. No telling what the boys are getting into without me!" and with that she ducked into a dark side alley and apparated home.
"Let's go to Diagon Alley and visit Fred and George" said Ginny. The girls walked the eight blocks to the Leaky Cauldron and made their way to the garish window front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Behind the glass, a moving cardboard cutout proceeded to proclaim "W3 fulfills your glee because we understand! No better jokes for girls and blokes are smarter in the land! You too can have your own cheering section with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shout out charms! Get one (or three) today!"
Hermione laughed at the childish but comical rhyme, no doubt the handiwork of one of the fiendish red-haired doppelgangers. "I hope they're not too busy with work" she chuckled to herself. Ginny and Hermione entered the shop just as Fred (or was it George?) was demonstrating the powers of a puking pastille to a small boy with messy blond hair.
"So ya see, simply eat one en' like so" the red head said as he bit off one half of the pastille. "Then ya… hughh" he sputtered as this afternoon's lunch poured into a handy bucket. He quickly gnawed the other half before the next wave of vomit bubbled out. "An' as ya saw yuh jus' take the other part to stop. Fools yur professor ev'ry time!"
The boy ran to the back register to make his purchase as Fred wiped the vomit off the corners of his mouth. "Wassup Ginny; Hermione?" he sputtered, "Out preparing for the big day?"
"Yes Fred" they answered in unison. It was definitely Fred, he had flecks of gold in his icy blue eyes, where George had more green.
"You're really gonna marry that oaf?" cut in George while cuffing his brother on the chin. The twins play fought while Hermione wrestled with her own inner battle. "Of course we could always knock 'im off for ya Mione" they said. She flipped the thought around in her brain: "Could I get away with not marrying Viktor?" But the thought was quickly dashed as she remembered no one else had ever really wanted her. Ron had been a fleeting fancy, Harry more of a brother (and WAY off limits as Ginny's man). Viktor was the only one who really seemed to care.
"Since the wedding is only a few weeks away, I think I'll keep him. Unless you two have a better substitute." The twins grinned sheepishly and looked away. "Even they aren't resourceful enough to find another man who would take a woman like me" she thought.
"Anyway boys, we'd better be off. Hermione has to go to the florist" said Ginny aloud but whispered to the twins "and I've got to go plan her bachelorette party." The twins smirked devilishly.
As the girls walked out of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to finalize their plans, the impish doubles began forming plots of their own. Hermione would have a bachelorette party she'd never forget!
Feedback Please! This is the first introductory chapter of about 9 or 10... The next ones will be longer I promise. This is my first attempt at an actual story... Be kind, but all constructive criticism welcome!