The white fabric fell to the floor as Ginny Weasley, one excited bridesmaid, passed it over her head past her shoulders once she'd made sure her corset was tight enough. She repressed a sigh as she blinked up at the image in the mirror. That woman was not her, it couldn't be her. Hermione Granger was not one for denial but today she wasn't feeling like herself so she'd allow herself a few hours of it. She looked at her reflection in the mirror again and a frown made its way into her features. She had black mascara and a light beige shadow on her chocolate brown eyes; her lips had a rosy pink lipstick on and a little bit of lip-gloss so they shone when the light hit them. She was beautiful above all, just like she was supposed to be in a day like this, but her eyes had that empty look that could only mean sadness. No bride was supposed to be sad on her big day, but she was no common bride.
Today was the day Hermione Granger was finally marrying Ronald Weasley. She had dreamed about this day since she was thirteen years old, it had been what she had wanted up until less than a year ago. It wasn't her fault, though. It wasn't like she had planned to fall in love with Draco Malfoy, that beautiful dark Prince that was in need of a princess. A role that she was more than willing to fulfil. No one had ever expected them to be friends. They were enemies, the Golden Trio against Malfoy and his minions; the mudblood against the pure blood; the Princess of Gryffindor against the Prince of Slytherin; fire against ice. But they did become friends. After the war blood didn't really matter, what mattered was forgiveness and fresh starts. She remembered it like it was yesterday, the first time he told her how he felt about her, the first time they kissed. It's printed with indelible ink in the back of her mind.
It was New Year's Eve and everyone she had ever met was here. It was not everyday that the Malfoy's threw a party and invited everyone. Muggleborns and purebloods, it didn't matter. It was four years after the war and the Malfoys had proved that people do change for the good side.
"Hermione, dear, is so good to see you!" Narcissa Malfoy said as Hermione finally found her in the great house.
"I wanted to say thank you for the invitation. It's great to see you, too." She answered politely after receiving a kiss in the cheek from the older witch.
"Oh, nonsense. I wouldn't have had it any other way and neither would have Draco." She waved the comment off and gave Hermione a once over. "You look gorgeous, dear; want to impress a young wizard?"
Hermione flushed and looked down at herself. She was wearing a simple but effective little black dress, she had some black high heels and it was one of those rare occasions where she straightened her hair. She was wearing all black, something weird as well, so she had decided to actually use make up so she wouldn't look too dead. She thought she looked pretty but not gorgeous, never gorgeous, and having one of the most beautiful witches tell her she looked gorgeous made her happy. Her hard work had paid off.
"Um—I, uh..." she stuttered. Was she trying to impress someone? Not really. "thank you." She said, regaining her composure. "excuse me." She mumbled as she walked past the older witch and toward some of her friends.
The night passed by pretty quickly. Ron hadn't been able to come, he was spending New Year's Eve with his family; Harry was going to be late as usual and she couldn't find Draco for the life of her. That left her with Pansy, the Patils, Blaise and Seamus. If someone had told her five years ago that she'd be spending New Year's Eve with Slytherins she would've laughed and gagged at the thought but now she couldn't see it any other way.
As 12 o'clock got nearer, she excused herself and walked into the balcony that overlooked the huge garden. There she found Draco Malfoy leaning into the rail and looking very grim. She walked forward and stood next to him, her gaze went to the beautiful garden. The garden was covered in pretty lights and little balls of white fire rounded around the bushes, giving the entire place a fantasy feeling. Black and white roses were around the balcony in big vases and the marble floor was so well cleaned and polished it reflected their reflexion.
"So, what's going on?" she asked, worried.
Draco sighed and glance at her, his silver eyes meeting her brown one. She immediately knew something was wrong, but what?
"I like your hair better when it's curly." He frowned and she giggled.
"That's what's wrong?" he rolled his eyes at her question and pushed a brand of her hair behind her ear with one of his hands.
She didn't notice then how his fingertips lasted longer than they should on her cheek or how his eyes trailed down from her eyes to her lips, inspecting every last bit of her face. He had memorized that face; he even knew how many freckles she had splattered around her nose. They were so light he was sure not even Weasley knew how many there were, but he did.
"Where's Weasley?" he asked suddenly, dropping his hand.
"Ron isn't coming." she frowned a bit.
"So he left his fiancée alone? On New Year's Eve?" he joked bitterly and she hit his arm.
"What's gotten into you?" she demanded. "Besides, we've been engaged for a day. It's not like I'll die without him."
"But you should." He said after a while.
"I beg your pardon?" she exclaimed, turning to face him.
"You shouldn't be able to be a day away from him. The idea should hurt you and yet, you're here like nothing's wrong." He elaborated, exasperated. "Do you even love the guy, Hermione?"
"I—I... of course, I do!" she stuttered.
"I don't get you! You, yourself, told me that sometimes you're bored, that you feel like something's missing, that he's not always there for you." He exclaimed and she just blinked up at him, not knowing where this was all coming from. "You deserve passion and a consuming love; you deserve someone who can love you the right way! Someone's who's willing to do anything for you, someone's who's going to be there whenever you need him to be there, even if it's to go to a stupid party."
"Oh, yeah? And who's that someone?" she asked, flustered. In the back of her mind she registered the countdown. Everyone was chanting: 10, 9, 8, 7. what a way to start the year, she thought bitterly. "You?" she added, challenging the boy, no, the man in front of her.
"yes." He breathed as he grabbed her face between his hands and closed the distance between them with a kiss, just as everyone in the other room screamed: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Her mind was begging her to stop this, to put an end to this madness because she was engaged, because Draco was her best friend and best friends don't kiss; but her body wasn't listening and as she curled her arms around his neck, responding to the kiss eagerly and enjoying the way her heart plummeted against her ribcage, she realized that he was right. She had more fun when she was with him than when she was with anyone else.
"I love you, Hermione Granger." He whispered against her lips once they broke apart.
"Happy New Year." She whispered back, not knowing what to say, as a small smile tugged at their lips.
He had been right all along. Ron had been the love of her childhood, but Draco had become the love of her adulthood without her even noticing it. She loved him more than she had ever loved anyone; it pained her to be away from him or to not receive at least a letter from him everyday. She blinked back the tears that were burning behind her eyelids and took a shaky deep breath. It didn't matter, anyway. She was marrying Ron for the sake of everyone. Draco and she could never be together and Ron would never forgive her. She was still a mudblood in the eyes of many and Draco was still a Death Eater, she never thought she'd let the social prejudices ruin her happiness but she did.
She saw him as she walked down the isle, he was the first person she saw, actually; right there in the front row, wearing a black tuxedo and white shirt with a little black bow tie. The fact that he was dressed as a simple muggle made her want to cry and laugh at the same time. He kept his eyes locked to hers through the entire wedding but she wasn't able to keep his gaze for long periods of time. Instead she focused on Ronald, the man she loved but wasn't in love with. She never thought the difference between those two would represent a problem for her. Right when the moment to say the vows came, her eyes went back to Draco while Ron said his and accepted her as his wife. Her eyes started to fill with tears of heartbreak which threatened to fall when she realized his beautiful silver eyes shone with unshed tears as well.
And that's why when she said I do she imagined she was saying it to silver grey eyes, not to blue ones.