A/N: And I am finally back with something brand spanking new! I wrote this story for the Hermione's Haven Off the Beaten Path Crossover Fic Exchange. I had an awesome time writing it because it was so much fun, but I had some issues with my word count. Luckily my amazing beta, xxDustNight88 (Go read her stuff. It's amazing.), was able to help me get the word count just under the 5k maximum!
This is very much an alternate universe fic. Hermione is still magical, but I have not addressed it in this story outside of mentioning the war in her past. Oliver is still the Green Arrow, as mentioned by his past with Lian Yu and Russia. Again, this is not something I have addressed heavily with this fic. If my writing schedule allows I will be adding more to this story in surrounding pieces.
I hope that GaeilgeRua enjoys what I have done with this prompt and you all get a kick out of the humorous lines that pop up every so often.
If you enjoy the story please leave me a review!
Love always,
~starr
Ginny Molly Weasley
and
Harry James Potter
joyfully invite you to share
in their happiness as they unite in marriage
on
Saturday, the twenty fourth of June
twenty thousand seventeen
at three pm.
Hermione stared at the invitation in her hand. She knew the wedding was coming up, but she hadn't realized that it was so soon. Sighing, she threw the invitation onto the island and made her way back towards the stairs of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Oliver Queen. Quickly, she made her way up to their bedroom where she found him lying face down in the pillows sprawled out like a starfish.
She laughed to herself as she paused in the doorway to watch him for a few minutes. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the frame allowing her eyes to trail over the muscles in his back and continued trailing them down until the tangled mess of blankets disrupted her view.
He looked so peaceful lying there, a small part of her just wanted to crawl back into bed and curl beside him to drift quietly back to sleep. However, the two of them had too much to do today. They had to leave their quiet apartment in Star City and travel back to the Burrow for the wedding, which was the last thing she wanted to do.
Since she left London six years ago after a nasty split from Ron, her life had taken a much simpler path. In Star City, she wasn't known as a war hero or best friend to the infamous Harry Potter. She was just simply Hermione Granger, Civil Justice with a degree from Star City University. However, she hadn't changed all that much. She still graduated top of her class, and she was seemingly smarter than her classmates. It was nice to just be the smart one for once.
She met Oliver about half way through her freshman year in one of her Civil Justice courses. She remembered walking in and seeing him sitting in the back row with a few others, laughing and having a good old time. It hadn't taken long before she was included in that circle of friends after the professor paired them together to work on a case. It had been nice, for once, to find someone who was willing to work together on a project rather than dumping all of the work into her own lap.
A low groan coming from the bed drew Hermione out of her thoughts and her eyes followed the movements of the muscles in Oliver's back as he slowly rolled himself onto his back in the middle of the bed. She watched as he rubbed his hands over his face before stretching his arms above his head as he yawned. As he slowly lowered his hands away from his face, Hermione smiled at him and he smiled back.
"Hey you," he mumbled lazily as he sat up on the bed.
"Hey sleepyhead," Hermione laughed, pushing away from the doorframe as she walked over to the bed and took a seat in the empty space beside him. She leaned in, kissing him softly before resting her arm on Oliver's leg. She smiled softly at him.
"You were up early this morning," he replied, yawning again before leaning back against the pillows behind him.
"I couldn't sleep any longer," she laughed. "Besides, even if I would have wanted to come back to bed, someone had already taken over my side." She bit her lip to keep from smiling as she quirked her brow at him.
Oliver shrugged, "I wasn't going to let the empty space go to waste. Move your feet, lose your sleep." He stuck his tongue out at her and reached out to squeeze her hand gently. "Are you ready for this weekend?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied with a sigh. "Let's go get some breakfast."
. . . . . . .
She looked at the invitation laying on the table and sighed as she reached for it. She skimmed it over for the umpteenth time before tossing it back at the table and sighing even louder. There was a small part of her that had no desire to go. However, there was also a large part of her that wanted to go back to London and show them all that she was happy. She could tell from Ginny's letters that she was worried about her. There had to be a way to get out it. Maybe Ginny and Harry could elope! She needed to write Ginny right away.
"We don't have to go," Oliver whispered, kissing the top of head before walking over to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Hermione tipped her head up at the sound of his voice and smiled softly. "Yes we do," she laughed, "I'm the maid of honour."
"So?" he replied with a shrug taking a sip of his coffee. "You could always just say you got sick and couldn't fly overseas. Or something."
She tossed her head back with a laugh. "I don't think Ginny would like that very much. She'd either postpone the wedding or move it here."
"And that would be bad because...?" Oliver asked, trailing off as he waited for her to perk up with an answer. The look he got in response brought a smile to his face and he stuck his tongue out. This caused her to roll her eyes.
"Just wait until you meet her. Then you'll see what it's a bad idea," Hermione replied as she pushed the chair away from the table and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist to rest her head on his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in tight as he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Nuzzling his nose into her hair he felt her relax as she let out a sigh. "I'm sure it won't be that bad. I'm actually looking forward to meeting your friends," he mumbled into the top of her head.
Hermione chuckled before turning her head to look up at him. "You say that now," she replied, "but you'll change your mind when we get to London."
Oliver leaned down and kissed her softly before looking at the clock on the wall in their kitchen. "Speaking of London," he said, nodding towards the wall.
Hermione looked at the clock and sighed yet again. "I guess that means we need to finish packing."
Oliver smiled and kissed her before moving the pair of them backwards to the stairs leading to their bedroom. Hermione laughed as they almost fell up the stairs before releasing her hold of him and making a mad dash upstairs to finish packing.
. . . . . . . .
Hermione's mind seemed to be running a million miles a minute as the plane prepared for take-off. She was running through the list of things that she had to accomplish before the evening's events. It seemed as though every time she thought of said list, she added fifteen more things to it. If she would have known how much work being the maid of honour was going to be, she would have told Ginny no when she asked.
She needed to pick her dress up from the cleaners as well as gather Ginny's wedding dress from the bridal shoppe. She was even responsible for gathering the wedding rings from the jewelers. Harry didn't exactly trust Ron not to lose them, so she'd been tasked with picking up both rings.
Once they got to the Burrow, she was going to have to deal with an ambush of people asking her about life abroad and her love life. She looked over at Oliver and smiled. She was excited to show him around London, but at the same time, she was not looking forward to introducing him to her friends and her ex-boyfriend in particular. The rehearsal dinner tomorrow was going to be interesting, of that she could be sure.
"I can hear the gears turning all the way over here," Oliver said with a laugh, reaching over to take her hand in his squeezing tightly.
Hermione laughed as she squeezed his hand back and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "That's because they are working in overdrive," she whispered before resting her head on his shoulder.
Oliver laughed and kissed the top of her head before resting his cheek against the top of her head as the pilot came over the intercom.
"The skies are clear and we have been cleared for take-off. It is approximately 3:50 PM central standard time and we are expected to land in Heathrow around 5:50 AM Greenwich mean time. Please fasten your seat belts as we prepare for take-off."
"I just hope they like you," Hermione mumbled under her breath as she moved back into her seat and buckled the belt in front of her. She reached back over and took Oliver's hand as she leaned her head back against the seat before the plane took off. She could worry about it all again when they landed.
. . . . . . . .
"Hermione, if we don't leave now we're going to be late getting to the Burrow," Oliver called as he adjusted his tie in the mirror of the living room of their hotel suite. He was met with an unusual silence, so he stepped away from the mirror taking one step in the direction of the closed bedroom door. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll be out in a - son of a.."
Crash!
In a matter of seconds, Oliver was inside the bedroom and found Hermione laying on the floor just outside of the closet with her shoe a few feet away from her. He bit his lip to keep from laughing as he knelt down to offer her a hand up off the floor. Huffing, she took the hand extended to her and allowed him to help her.
"Thanks," she grumbled as she brushed her hands over the front of her dress, refusing to meet his eyes.
Oliver cupped her cheek with his hand and tilted her chin up to look at him. He smiled sweetly at her and the tension seemed to fade from her face as she returned his smile. He looked her over quickly to make sure that there wasn't any blood before he pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his lips to her temple.
"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning back to look at her once more.
Hermione nodded. "I'm alright. I just fell over trying to put my shoe on."
"Okay," Oliver replied. He allowed his eyes to travel length of her body once more. "You look amazing."
"So do you," Hermione blushed, trailing her eyes up and down his body. "Are you sure we don't have like ten extra minutes?"
Oliver smirked as he watched her crawl her fingers up his chest as he shook his head. "Nope. Can't have the maid of honour being late to the wedding rehearsal. What would the bride say?" he laughed.
Hermione rolled her eyes before pressing her lips against his for a chaste kiss. As she pulled away she slipped her hand in his and pulled him towards the door, stopping beside her shoe to slip it on with one hand.
"Maybe we do have five spare minutes…" Oliver hummed as he eyes trailed over her body as she was bent at the waist.
She laughed and shook her head. "Nope," she quipped. "Don't want to piss off the bride the day before the wedding."
Winking at him and laughing as he hung his head with a sigh, Hermione straightened back up and squeezed his hand before leading him out of their hotel room.
. . . . . . . .
"Good Godric! She does exist!" a familiar voice announced as Hermione walked through the gate at the Burrow. She paused as she waited for Oliver to close the gate behind them before saying anything to her friends. She couldn't help chuckling when she noticed the difficulty Pansy was having picking her jaw back up off the ground after catching a glimpse of Oliver.
"And she brought some arm candy," Pansy finally managed to say as Hermione and Oliver joined the group. She extended a hand to him with a smile beaming from her face. "Hello, I'm Pansy Parkinson and who might you be?"
Oliver laughed as he took the hand offered to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Pansy. My name is Oliver Queen."
"Oliver Queen," Pansy hummed before turning to Hermione and crossing her arms over her chest. "And why have we not heard anything about an Oliver Queen?"
"It's great to see you too, Pansy," Hermione remarked, offering a hug which Pansy accepted with a laugh. "I've been a tad bit busy with school and getting to know Oliver, of course."
Hermione greeted her other friends that were standing there and caught up about life over the last six years. It also gave Hermione's friends a chance to find out all the juicy details of Hermione's relationship with Oliver, or at least the details that the couple was happy to share.
Oliver kept a hand snugly placed around Hermione's waist holding her close to his side as the conversation progressed. Every so often, Hermione would curl into his embrace and rest her head on his shoulder as she listened to her friends.
So far it seemed that the fellow bridesmaids had taken a liking to Oliver. It felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off Hermione's chest and she could enjoy the rest of the trip without worrying too much about her relationship. It meant that she could focus on the whole reason she was here.
"Where's the lucky bride to be?" Hermione asked during what seemed to be a lull in the conversation.
"She should be here any minute," Luna replied. "I think Ron was bringing the soon-to-be newlyweds."
"Oh," she mumbled, biting her lip in thought gently. "Should I have offered to pick her up since the bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other before the wedding?"
Oliver studied her face out of the corner of his eye. He knew that Ron was her ex-boyfriend and he knew that things hadn't ended well between the two of them, but that was all he really knew. Ron was one of the few topics from Hermione's past that she wasn't quite ready to talk about with anyone, no matter how much she trusted them. The other was her experience being involved in the war as she explained it. It was similar to his time on Lian Yu and in Russia. There were just situations that no one else needed to think about.
Gently, he pulled her closer into him and kissed the top of her head. She looked up and smiled before returning her focus back to her friends as Pansy spoke up.
"Ron and Harry were working late, so they just swung past Harry and Ginny's flat for Harry to change. It made the most sense for Ginny just to come in with them. She's staying here tonight," Pansy replied. "We were talking about making it a bridal party sleepover."
Hermione nodded and laughed. "You know that could be fun, but my dress and clothes for tomorrow are back at our hotel room…" she began before Oliver cut her off.
"I can run back to the hotel and gather some of your stuff for you if you want to spend the night here," he suggested with a smile.
"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up brighter than all the stars in the sky above them.
Oliver laughed and kissed her softly on the lips. "Of course. While you practice walking down an aisle, I'll gather your stuff and be back in plenty of time for dinner."
"Thank you," she whispered before pressing her lips to his again. A chorus of ooos and aahs chimed in the background until the couple pulled apart.
"Ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you. I will see you all in a little while," Oliver announced before placing one last kiss on Hermione's cheek, resulting in slightest shade of pink to tint her cheeks as she watched him walk away.
"He does have a great arse," Pansy said, tossing her head back with a laugh. "Alright, Granger, he's gone. Spill the details, especially the dirty ones."
Hermione laughed and just as she was about to remark on the crudeness of Pansy's comment, she heard Ginny's voice calling at her from the gate. She turned to the youngest Weasley running towards her with her arms open wide. Hermione braced herself for impact.
"Three...two...on-" Hermione huffed as Ginny's body collided with her own, knocking the wind out her momentarily and just slightly off balance. The two stumbled a step or two to the right and to the left before regaining their stance.
"I'm so happy you are here!" Ginny practically shouted in Hermione's ear.
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Hermione assured her, squeezing her childhood friend tightly before leaning back with a smile.
Harry approached them tentatively and placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder. She turned to look at him and smiled before stepping out of the way for him to say hello to an old friend.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck with a smile. "Hello, Harry."
"It's so good to see you, Hermione. It's been far too long," he said, embracing his best friend.
"It's good to see you too. I'm sorry it's been so long. Honestly, time just got away from me with classes and everything," Hermione replied, slowly leaning back from Harry and stepping back to stand beside Ginny.
She noticed a familiar head of auburn hair walking through the gate and took a deep breath. She knew he'd be here. He was the best man after all. She just had to remind herself that Oliver would be back soon to distract from any future confrontation with her ex-boyfriend. Luckily for her, Ginny pulled her aside to join the other bridesmaids as Harry gathered the groomsmen on the other side of the yard.
"So, Hermione, was that your new mystery man that I saw leaving a few moments ago?" Ginny asked with a gleeful look upon her face as she wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder.
Hermione tossed her head back with a laugh. "Yes, that would be Oliver. I'll introduce you two when he gets back. He went to gather my stuff from the hotel so I could stay here tonight, if that's okay with you?"
The sound that Ginny made next was barely human as she tossed her arms around Hermione, squeezing her tight and shaking her from side to side. All Hermione could do in response was laugh.
"Alright ladies and gents," George announced as he walked out of the house, "Let's get this practice shindig on the road so that we can eat!"
. . . . . . . .
"Now that we know everyone knows how to walk in a straight line and can stand in their assigned spots, let's eat!" George cheered happily as they all entered the tent that had been set up in the back yard for tomorrow's festivities. He made a mad dash for the food, until he heard his mother's voice from behind him.
"George Fabian Weasley! You will wait your turn and let Harry and Ginny get their food first!" Molly shouted, waving her finger at her eager son.
George sighed as he retreated away from the food. As Ginny and Harry approached the table, he directed them in front of him rather animatedly before looking back over his shoulder at his mother with the fakest smile she had ever seen.
She rolled her eyes and ushered the rest of the bridal party to go through the line before she would allow George to start loading up his plate. She had been cooking for him long enough to know that if she would let him lead the line, there wouldn't be enough food to feed the rest of the family.
As dinner continued on, it came time for the inevitable question and answer session Hermione had been hoping to avoid. Although, she was looking forward to introducing her friends to the man who had captured her heart. She noticed that Ginny had been watching her and Oliver interact out of the corner of her eye. She also noticed the smile that Ginny had on her face as she watched them. That was until the fiery redhead disappeared from view.
Just as Hermione looked up to glance around the tent for her best friend, Ginny appeared in the seat beside her with a smile beaming brightly from her face. Hermione laughed to herself momentarily. How she thought she'd be able to make it through the entire rehearsal without the best friend interview was beyond her at this point.
"Hello, Ginny," Hermione chuckled as she turned in her chair to face Ginny. She smiled when she felt Oliver's hand on the small of her back. Leaning back, she rested her head against his shoulder. Oliver's hand slipped around her waist and found rest on her thigh.
Ginny smiled briefly before reaching for Oliver's hand. "Hi, my name is Ginny Weasley, soon to be Potter, and you are?"
"Oliver Queen. It's a pleasure to be here for your wedding," he replied, shaking her hand gently before returning back to Hermione's lap.
"The pleasure is mine to have you here to help us celebrate. I'm just glad I finally got to meet Hermione's mystery man," Ginny laughed, pushing playfully on Hermione's knee.
Hermione laughed and extended her foot to kick Ginny gently in the shin. "You would have gotten to meet him eventually. We just haven't had time to come and visit, but we're here now."
"Yes, you are and you two make a lovely couple!" Molly chimed in as she rested a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I do believe it is time for everyone to disperse for the night, my dear."
Hermione sighed and tipped her head back to kiss Oliver softly. "I guess that means I will see you in the morning. Thank you for grabbing my things for me."
Oliver pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered," You'll just have to make it up to me later."
He winked at her as she leaned forward rising from her seat. She leaned down and kissed him once more.
"I love you," she mouthed, blowing him a kiss before joining the group of ladies heading into the Burrow.
. . . . . . . .
"Friends, family, and loved ones. Welcome," the priest began. "We are gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony of a very special couple…"
As he continued to speak, Hermione took a moment to look around the tent. She was amazed at how beautiful everything looked. All of the girls stayed up way too late trying to put the last minute decorations in place so that everything looked perfect for the main event. It wasn't like any of them could sleep anyways. They were all too excited for Ginny and Harry to start their new life together.
Every so often she would catch the eye of someone in the crowd and they would smile and nod at her, then allowing her gaze to carry on to the next smiling face. That was until her sights had landed on Oliver. His steely blue eyes met hers and they both smiled. The warmth she felt on her cheeks caused her giggle softly to herself, as though she was a school-girl flirting with her crush for the first time.
She couldn't help thinking about how handsome Oliver looked in his suit with and tie. It wasn't often that she got to see him all dressed up. Something she decided that she needed to see more often.
Hermione heard the Priest begin the vows and directed her attention back to the ceremony. She pushed aside the inappropriate thoughts she was having of Oliver and forced herself to listen to the beautiful vows that her two best friends had written for one another.
. . . . . . . .
"That dress looks amazing on you," Oliver whispered into Hermione's ear, sneaking up behind her as he wrapped his arms around her slender waist. He kissed her temple softly.
She smiled and leaned back against him, sighing contently as his hands met and pulled her back flush against his body. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a few moments before turning her head to face him and press her lips gently to his. "Not nearly as good as that tux makes you look," she hummed, wetting her lips as she pulled away from his.
Oliver leaned down and kiss the top of her nose, eliciting a small giggle from Hermione before both of them turned their attention to the pictures that were being taken in front of them. "I can't wait to get back to the hotel room," he mumbled.
"Why's that?" she asked, biting her lip.
"Because," Oliver said, pausing to kiss her softly, "I can't wait to see how that dress looks in a pretty aqua pile on the floor while I have my way with you on the bed." He pressed his lips to hers again, gently brushing his tongue along the seam of her lips. Her lips parted to allow his tongue to slide over hers for a few moments.
As she pulled away, she brushed her tongue of her lips and smirked. She interlaced her fingers in his and pulled him quickly towards the house. "Who says we have to wait until later?"
. . . . . . . .
"Has anyone seen Hermione?" Ginny asked when she and Harry had re-joined the group after taking a few photos of just the two of them.
No one seemed to have an answer and basically brushed the question aside. They were all engrossed in their own conversations.
Ginny huffed rather loudly before walking away from the group and into the house to look for her maid of honour. The others looked at each and shrugged, but ultimately returned to their conversations.
Harry and Ron exchanged a concerned glance, but brushed it off. It was better to let Ginny handle it than for either of them to step into the middle of it.
As Ginny walked through the kitchen, she noticed the closet door off to the side of the room was closed. She couldn't remember a time in her life ever seeing that door closed. So she walked over to the door and took a chance on where her maid of honour had disappeared to for a few moments.
Pressing her ear softly to the door, she confirmed her suspicion and laughed quietly to herself. Ginny took a deep breath before she rapped her knuckles against the door. "Sorry for the interruption, but I was wondering if I could get some pictures with my maid of honour before we joined everyone at the party?"
"Shit!" Ginny heard the voices cry in unison before she heard the familiar sounds of clothing being pulled back into place.
She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for the door to open. A wicked smirk appeared on her face when she heard mumbled voices coming through the door before it clicked opened a minute or so later. Hermione was the first one to step out.
"My, my, my. What do we have here?" Ginny singsonged. "Hermione and Oliver hiding in the closet! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"
Hermione blushed and quickly peeked over her shoulder at Oliver, who was following close behind her, re-adjusting his tie and jacket. Ginny hadn't missed the sudden change of color to Hermione's face or the smile Oliver was wearing.
"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed. "It was more than kissing?"
Hermione brushed her hands along the front of her dress as she turned back to face her friend. She paused, taking a deep breath before painting a smile on her face. "You mentioned something about taking some photos?"
Hermione reached back and grabbed Oliver's hand as the couple walked away from the closet. As they walked, Hermione heard Ginny start to laugh. She spun on her heels and quirked a brow at her friend. "What's so funny?"
"You may want to fix the back of your dress. Unless you want everyone to see your knickers…" Ginny hummed as she walked past the couple. "Or lack thereof."
. . . . . . . .
Everyone gathered early the next morning in the Weasleys' kitchen for a delicious breakfast before they shipped the happy newlyweds off on their honeymoon. Groggily, Hermione and Oliver were the last to arrive back at the Burrow after the late night.
"Good morning, everyone," Hermione said cheerfully as she and Oliver walked into the kitchen hand in hand. As she looked around the table, she noticed the only pair of seats left available around the table were right in front of the closet Ginny had found the lovebirds in the night before.
"Good morning, you two," Ginny hummed sweetly. "I saved you both some seats." She patted her hand gently on the open chair beside her with a sweet smile on her face.
"Gee thanks," Hermione scoffed with a laugh, rolling her eyes at her best friend as she and Oliver walked around the table to take their seats.
After they were seated, Ginny leaned over to Hermione. "I just thought, in case you and Oliver were up for round two, then you wouldn't need to go too far," Ginny whispered as she wrapped her arm around Hermione and squeezed her tight.
Both girls burst out laughing, warranting a concerned look from all of their friends. However, every time either one of them tried to speak, all that came out was more laughter.
It would be a visit that Hermione, Oliver, and Ginny would never forget.