Ante Meridiem

Dawn of the twenty-ninth of June was heralded by a clap of thunder. Harry Potter woke up, put on his glasses and groaned. During the night he had been too hot to sleep and had gotten up to open the window. Rain, falling at just the wrong angle, was pouring slantways into the bedroom and onto Harry's legs. The curtains Ginny had chosen, now limp and pathetic, flapped wetly and the carpet was several shades darker where it was absorbing a puddle of rainwater. With a squelching noise, Harry got up and closed the window. Great. Wet sheets.

"Morning."

A dressing-gown-clad Ginny had appeared in the doorway, bleary-eyed but smiling. She bounced the baby on her hip and dragged the back of her hand across her eyes. "He wouldn't settle down. I've been up since five." She kissed the little boy's dark hair.

"It's t-t-tempting to put a Silencing Charm on him," yawned Harry, peeling his wet pyjama shirt off and dropping it in the nearby laundry basket.

"Daddy's only joking. He doesn't mean it," Ginny whispered in her son's ear, then looked coolly at her half-dressed husband. "I might put a Silencing Charm on you," she threatened. "You snore so loudly it's no wonder you never hear him in the night!" She watched Harry pull on a fresh shirt from the wardrobe and sighed. "Can't you stay home with him today? Do you have to go to work?"

"Yes," said Harry, grabbing some dark-coloured robes off the hanger. "At least I have the afternoon off," he pointed out. "Plenty of time before the wedding at three."

"Poor Hermione," said Ginny, peering outside at the rolling grey clouds which hung heavily over Godric's Hollow. "She was so hoping for good weather."

James hiccupped and began to wail again, and Ginny grimaced.

"There's no need for that," Harry said quickly, swooping on James and catching him up into his arms. "You're just hungry, aren't you? Come on, breakfast-time!"

"Did you have an accident, Harry?" asked Ginny suddenly, eyeing the wet curtains and carpet next to Harry's side of the bed. "What is that?"

"Nothing," said Harry quickly, pulling out his wand and using a speedy Hot-Air Charm before Ginny could tease him about it.

The three Potters went down to the kitchen and Harry strapped James into his highchair. He bewitched little toy dragons and hippogriffs to chase each other round James's head; the baby gurgled with laughter and reached chubby hands up to grab them.

"Toast, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"It's okay, I'll do it," Harry said quickly. "You sit down and rest."

Ginny was capable of executing a perfect Wronski Feint on the Quidditch pitch, pulling her broomstick up mere inches from the ground. She could cast a Bat-Bogey Hex so powerful that anyone within five metres of her victim could find themselves with green winged creatures flying out of their noses. She could, and often would, cheer Harry up after a difficult day at work so that within five minutes of walking through the front door, he would be crying with laughter. But Ginny was a hopeless cook. If it was possible to burn a cup of tea, Ginny would.

Harry laid the table around his wife, who was now composing a quick note to Hermione to say she would be along to help with the wedding preparations as soon as possible, and buttered the toast.

He mashed up a banana and gave it to his one-year-old, who did not seem to mind the unappetising mush. "What are you writing?" he asked Ginny, leaning over to see what she was writing.

"Go away, nosy," she laughed, giving him a push.

Suddenly, a large commotion erupted in the small kitchen. Harry turned in time to see James brandish his plastic spoon far too exuberantly. A glob of mashed banana soared through the air and spattered Clyde, the family barn owl's left wing.

"Honestly, you take your eyes off him for one second!" shouted Harry, as Clyde ricocheted madly off the walls, hooting angrily.

James whooped with laughter until his mother wrenched the spoon from his grasp, then he changed his mind and burst into stormy sobs instead. Harry struggled to catch Clyde, eventually resorting to throwing Owl Treats into the corner to distract the agitated owl from zooming around the room at high speed. Harry caught Clyde, cleaned his feathers of any trace of banana, and tipped half a box of Owl Treats on to the top of the fridge to pacify him.

"Merlin's beard," laughed Ginny, trying to calm James down.

"I need a cup of tea after that," Harry gasped.

The young couple exchanged glances and laughed; James, seeing his parents smiling, stopped crying and held out his arms to be picked up.

Crack.

A loud popping sound disturbed the Potters' domestic bliss, and Ron materialised in the middle of the kitchen.

Ron had never observed the normal custom of politely knocking at their door and neither Harry nor Ginny really minded, but at the loud noise, James started crying again. "For goodness' sake, Ron!" Ginny said, exasperated.

"Are you alright, mate?" Harry asked, after glancing twice at his best friend's pale face. Ron looked positively queasy.

"What if I do something wrong?" Ron choked out.

Harry understood immediately, and clapped Ron on the back. "You won't," he said reassuringly. "Nothing will go wrong." He noticed that Ron had neglected to shave that morning; his chin was covered with red stubble, and it made him look unkempt and ragged.

"It's not like you have to do much," Ginny said unhelpfully. "You just have to stand there in dress robes and say 'I do' when you're told. Oh, and try not to screw up your vow."

"Merlin's beard," gulped Ron, his eyes wide and traumatised. "Everyone's going to be watching-"

"You love Hermione, don't you?" said Ginny, releasing James from his highchair. Ron nodded. He sunk weakly down into a chair pulled up at the table. "Then it'll be easy," she said brightly. "Here, maybe holding a baby will help."

She unceremoniously dumped James into his uncle's lap. Ron, who was usually very good at making his many nieces and nephews laugh, stared at James as though he had grown another head.

"Can I go into the office with you, Harry?" he asked hopefully.

Harry laughed. "You can't work on your wedding day, mate!" he said. "Have you also forgotten that you left the Auror office three years ago to work with George in the shop?"

"Oh," said Ron glumly. "Yeah."

He stood up suddenly, passed James back to his sister, and Disapparated without another word.

"We really must teach him to use a door," said Ginny.

"I hope he's alright," Harry said. "Hermione will kill him if he gets cold feet."

"Any bride would," Ginny pointed out, and grinned. "You're lucky I sent you reminder owls every ten minutes on our wedding day."

"Yeah. Lucky," Harry bit a corner off his slice of toast and raised an eyebrow. "Not only did I turn up," he said. "But I was on time. I seem to recall you were half an hour late. You could have done with a few 'reminder owls' for yourself."

Ginny laughed carelessly. "Make sure you're home from the office with plenty of time to spare," she said. "You're the best man. You can't be late today either."

"Don't worry," said Harry. "I doubt work will be too busy."

"Your dress robes will be laid out on our bed," said Ginny. "Get changed and Apparate to the hotel. That's where everyone's getting ready before going to the church for the ceremony."

"Have a good day," Harry said, bending down to kiss his son on the head. "And I'll see you later."

He kissed Ginny goodbye, picked up his briefcase and Disapparated.

Meanwhile, several miles south, Hermione was just waking up to the ringing of her alarm clock. She automatically reached an arm out for Ron, but only found a crisp pillow-case and empty sheets.

"Wedding!" Hermione gasped, sitting up suddenly. She sat there for a few moments, listening to her alarm go off, feeling excitement fizz through every inch of her body. She was getting married today.

Nervily, Hermione rolled over and turned her alarm off, checking the clock. It was half-past eight in the morning. There was so much to do and double-check. Hermione and her parents had arrived at the hotel the night before, whilst Ron had gone back to his parents' house. He had initially wanted to stay in Harry and Ginny's spare room, but the idea of a night trying to sleep with a restless one-year-old in the next room had quickly put him off.

Hermione jumped out of bed and threw open the curtains. The sun was feebly trying to break through the typical clouds of the English summer, and Hermione took a minute to silently pray the weather would brighten. She hurried over to the hotel desk containing a sewing-kit, a hairdryer, April's issue of Which Wedding, Witch? magazine, and her notepad entitled Weasley-Granger Wedding Plans. She was just scribbling find emergency umbrellas at the bottom of her extensive to-do list when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," she called, throwing a hotel dressing-gown over her pyjamas.

Mrs Granger entered carrying a breakfast-laden tray.

"Mum," Hermione greeted her mother with a smile, taking the tray from her.

"How do you feel, darling?" Mrs Granger asked.

"Fine," Hermione said briskly. "Great."

It was rare that she felt nervous or unsure about anything so how could she put into words the butterflies in her stomach or the lump in her throat?

"Make sure you eat a good breakfast, love," Mrs Granger said fondly. "The guests start arriving just after lunch and we have the morning to get ready."

"I will, Mum," Hermione promised.

"Well, I won't keep you," said Mrs Granger, giving her daughter a brief hug. "Your father and I are just in the next room if you need anything."

"Thanks," said Hermione, as the door closed behind her mum.

She spent the next hour eating breakfast and calling her Muggle relatives in Australia who could not attend the wedding. In a way it was a blessing they lived so far away because they would not have been able to come to the wizarding reception and she may have offended them. Hermione enjoyed a hot bath, washing her hair twice and using three times as much soap than usual.

Wrapping herself in a white fluffy dressing-gown, she sat herself down at her desk. She ripped a page of parchment out of her notebook and fished a quill out of her suitcase. Halfway through writing a note to Ron, she heard a tapping on the window. Looking over, she saw Clyde, the Potters' owl, perched on the windowsill. There was letter tied to his leg. Hermione fell of her chair in her hurry to let Clyde in.

She quickly scanned the letter in Ginny's curly handwriting: Will be with you as soon as I've dropped James off at my parents' and gone to Madam Malkin's for our dresses. I think the shop opens at ten. G x Hermione glanced at the clock, which read quarter past ten.

There was a loud popping sound; Hermione turned round to see Ginny flop onto her bed, clutching two long, wide packages on hangers. "I've been up for hours," she gasped. "It feels like I've run all over the place."

Hermione grinned at her; Ginny jumped up and threw her arms around her. "But, more importantly, how are you?"

"Great," said Hermione, then she made a face. "I don't really know what to do with myself, if I'm honest."

"Don't worry, I'm here," laughed Ginny. "We have witches from that posh hair place in Hogsmeade coming soon, don't we? Parvati will be along soon to do our makeup too. You'll be rushed off your feet soon, trust me."

Hermione smiled. "Luna offered to do my makeup, but I asked to decorate the reception room with Neville, Hannah, George and Angelina instead."

"Wise decision," Ginny smiled. "You might have ended up with lime-green eyeshadow and magenta lipstick otherwise." She shrugged. "At least you're not short of willing volunteers."

"Have you seen Ron this morning?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," said Ginny, thinking it best not to worry Hermione by telling her the truth about the state she had seen Ron in. She had not seen him at The Burrow either when she left James with her mother.

"I was just about to send him a note," said Hermione, nodding towards the desk.

"He'd like that," said Ginny quickly, and caught sight of Clyde hopping around on the armchair. "Oh, I thought I might beat the owl." She laughed into the story of James' and Clyde's antics that morning and Harry diving around the kitchen trying to catch him.

Hermione laughed.

"Coo-ee!" said Mrs Granger, popping her head round the door. "Oh, hello, Ginny!"

"Hi, Mrs Granger," said Ginny brightly.

"Darling, two ladies have just appeared rather suddenly in our room," she said, sounding a little bewildered. "They gave your father quite a shock as he was changing at the time-"

She opened the door a little wider to reveal two women, who were obviously magical, both wearing shocking-pink robes. The taller woman had a tower of egg-yolk-yellow curls balanced n top on her head and the dumpier of the two was sporting a complicated lilac up-do upon which an ornamental dove was dreamily flapping its wings. When they saw Hermione, they bustled past Mrs Granger, exclaiming delightedly about what a beautiful bride Hermione was going to be when they were done with her.

"I'll leave you to it then," Mrs Granger said weakly, but no one seemed to hear her.

"Is there any reason why no one is bothering to hide magic round here?" Ginny asked in Hermione's ear, as the two hair-witches set up their equipment and made themselves quite at home. "Bit of a bummer if we were all arrested by the Ministry on your wedding day."

"You remember Anthony Goldstein in our year?" said Hermione, looking surprised. "The Ravenclaw. His family own this hotel, didn't you know? They've split the whole place in half; one side for Muggles and one side for wizards and witches. The Muggles never know, of course – and we've been given a discount from Anthony."

"The fame from saving the entire wizarding – and Muggle – world has to be advantageous sometimes," smiled Ginny.

She sat down in the chair the dove-adorned witch was offering her, and wondered how much she trusted these witches to let them loose on her hair, given the state of their own.

The tall hair-witch poured almost an entire bottle of Sleakeazy's Hair Potion into Hermione's bushy hair and gleefully rubbed her hands together. Ginny took a deep breath and pulled her ponytail out. She prayed she would still have hair left on her head once they were finished.

Thank you for reading this first chapter!

I really hope you enjoyed it – if you did (or didn't), please leave me a review to let me know!