Everything was ready. The Burrow's lawn had been completely taken over by a large tent, an altar, and almost a hundred chairs. Hermione had loved Bill and Fleur's wedding so much she wanted the same type. At the moment though, the bride was standing in what used to be Ginny's bedroom with her mother, Ginny, Luna, and a very flustered looking Mrs. Weasley. The other bridesmaids, Angelina, Audrey, and Fleur, were waiting in their light blue dresses downstairs. Hermione was just having her hair tied into a curly bun by Ginny. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing the beautiful, ivory, floor length wedding gown with small shoulder straps that her mother had helped her pick out. At that moment, her mother came behind her and put the sapphire necklace on her neck. It perfectly matched her earrings.
"You look beautiful, honey," said her mother.
Hermione smiled, thinking back to when she had found her parents in Australia. … They had not been easy to find. When she had modified their memories, she had made it so they had always wanted to live in Australia, but had not specified where. She and Ron had to search most of Australia. It took almost three months. Eventually they found them in the smallest dentist office in Sydney. There they were, her mother and father cleaning teeth as if they didn't have a care in the world. Once she had modified their memory back and sorted out their confused patients, all four of them went out for lunch. It was a beautiful August day so they went for some barbeque. It was the first time Ron was introduced as her boyfriend. Her mother was thrilled and her father was smiling happily… Coming back to reality, Hermione started grinning.
Luna suddenly said, "I think it's almost time."
Mrs. Weasley looked shocked at her watch and jumped.
"My dear, the wedding starts in five minutes! We must get you downstairs!"
Ginny had already run down to organize the groomsmen and bridesmaids, as were her duties as maid of honor. She just barely had time to put on the last bit of the perfume Ron had given her in their fifth year, before Mrs. Weasley shooed her down the steps. Once Hermione had descended the steps, someone shooed her outside to stand next her father.
"You are beautiful," he said with adoration.
She blushed saying, "I love you, Daddy."
"Are you ready?"
"I've always been ready."
He gripped her arm and put it through his. The music began to play and slowly each set of bridesmaids and groomsmen went through the door down the aisle of chairs. First came Angelina next to George, followed by Audrey and Percy. Next came Fleur with Bill then Luna next to Charlie. Lastly came the maid of honor, Ginny, with the best man, and her husband, Harry. Then her cousin Phillip walked with the rings on a pillow. Finally the flower girls, Victoire and her cousin Gwen started throwing the flowers.
Then it was her turn. Her father nodded at her and they began to walk down the aisle. She saw Hagrid taking up three seats. A few rows down she saw Professor McGonagall, who had little tears in her eyes, sitting next to Professor Trelawney who they had invited somewhat against their better judgment. Over to the left looking normally moody with a girl she didn't know, sat Viktor Krum. She also saw Neville and Hannah sitting together smiling at her. On her left, Teddy sat with his grandmother. Even Mundungus had turned up sitting very far to the right looking sober to some extent. Getting to the front row she saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gripping each other's hands. Now she looked up to altar, seeing Kingsley who was officiating the ceremony. Finally she looked to his right and saw Ron. He was wearing black robes, thankfully, with no ruffles. He had a light blue flower that matched the dresses of the bridesmaids sticking out from his chest pocket. He was looking at her with pure love; a small grin was peeking out from under his nervous expression.
She was immediately reminded of last Christmas. … They were spending it at her parent's house. Harry and Ginny were back from their honeymoon and were sitting on the sofa along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Molly was insisting that she and Arthur had to leave soon, to go visit Bill, Fleur, Victoire, and Dominique then Percy, Audrey, Molly and Lucy. They had visited George and the pregnant Angelina earlier that morning. The presents were almost all unwrapped. Ron had just unwrapped his present from Harry, four tickets to a Chudley Canons game later that year (they were half-decent that year). Ron grabbed the last present from under the tree. He gave it to her. It was a small box. She slowly opened it. Suddenly, she was blinded by a bright bluish ball of light that flew and landed floating over her head. When she looked up, she recognized the ball to be from the deluminator. Then she looked back down and saw Ron kneeling and holding a golden ring with three round diamonds. Her eyes opened wide. He looked at her father, who nodded smiling.
"Hermione, I always used to try and hide my feelings for you and I know I've made a lot of mistakes that hurt you. But there is no denying it; my heart has always belonged to you. You are my second half, always showing me the right way when I turn the wrong way. I love you with everything that I am. Will stay with me forever as my wife?"
He gave a nervous half-smile. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing into Mr. Weasley's shoulder. Harry and Ginny were grinning at each other and Hermione thought she might have seen an exchange of money between. Behind her she heard her mother sobbing also. All this happened in half a second. Then she pounced on him as she had during their first kiss.
He almost fell over then pulled away and said, "I take it that as a yes?"
"Of course, Ronald!" she responded.
At this, Mrs. Weasley ran over bawling and hugged both of them.
"I'm sorry. Molly. Molly!" said Mr. Weasley coming over trying to pull her off, "Really! We must be going!"
"You're r-right, Arthur. I'm sorry. Its just my little Ronny is all grown up!" she responded trying to compose herself. "We'll come back later," she said as Mr. Weasley embarrassedly pushed her out the door…
Hermione remembered that she was supposed to go stand across from Ron so she kissed her father on the cheek. She went up and smiled at Ron. Kingsley looked at both of them, smiled, and began the service.
Most of the service was a happy blur. She just kept looking into Ron's happy eyes and was oblivious of most of the service. When it came time for the vows though, Ron took her hands and nodded his head toward Kingsley and then she knew to begin her vows.
"I promise not to get mad when you leave clothes around. I promise to root for the Chudley Canons even when they haven't won a single game all season. I promise that you will always be my king. I promise to love you with all my heart."
At the end of her vows, she heard Mrs. Weasley bawling, but she was too busy looking at Ron to care. Then he began his vows.
"I promise to not leave my clothes laying around. I promise to never get another pet rat and to always love Crookshanks. I promise to always say LeviOsa not LeviosA. I promise that you will always be the light that keeps me going. Lastly, I promise to provide for you and love you forever."
Now it was Hermione's turn to cry. She sniffled and tried to compose herself. Kingsley was saying something about sickness and health. She looked up and listened.
"…until death do you part?" asked Kingsley.
"I do," Ron responded with no doubt in his voice looking right into her eyes. She looked right back.
"…in good times and bad, until death do you part?" asked Kingsley again.
"I do," she responded grinning. Ron squeezed her hands gently.
"May we have the rings, please, Phillip?" asked Kingsley. Phillip shuffled up to the altar holding out the pillow. Kingsley floated the pillow into his hands. Hermione took the simple gold ring for Ron and placed it on his finger. Then he picked up hers and slowly, not breaking eye contact, placed it on her finger, then grinned sheepishly. Hermione grinned back.
Then Kingsley said, "By the power invested in me and Minister for Magic, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The intensity in which they now kissed was so much that Ron now lifted her almost a foot off the ground. Her arms were around his neck. When he put her back down, he looked the happiest she'd ever seen him. The crowd was cheering vehemently; many women were crying. As they walked back down the aisle, arm in arm, she caught Harry's eye and saw, with a shock that he had a tear in his eye. He gave her the thumbs up while smiling broadly. She looked over at Ginny who was definitely crying; she had a handkerchief out and was dabbing her eyes. Luna on the other hand was staring off into the distance with a somewhat pleased expression. Hermione then looked back at Ron who looked embarrassed by all the applause.
The crowd filed out behind them into the large tent on the other side of the yard. As they entered a group of bewitched instruments began to play a light, happy tune. She and Ron sat down at the head table. Since her mother and Mrs. Weasley had handled most of the decoration, she had no idea what to expect. As she looked around she saw on the white table covers a group of blue centaurea flowers. The tent had gold trimmings around it and the poles holding up the tent were gold. However, one thing about the decoration surprised Hermione. She looked up and the whole tent was bathed in bluish light from little orbs of light hanging everywhere.
Ron, seeing her amazement, said, "Those were my little touch." She kissed him swiftly on the cheek. Then suddenly, Mrs. Weasley was lifting them from their chairs and pushing towards the dance floor.
"Its time for the first dance!" she whispered. They stood together and the music began to play. Ron kept looking down at his feet to make sure he wasn't going to step on her. Every time he looked up, he grinned embarrassedly. Soon Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione's parents had joined them. Then the rest of the guests joined too. Harry and Ginny spun next to her and Ron and Ginny winked. Then she saw Neville and Hannah join the throng, Neville stepping on Hannah's feet quite often. Hermione also saw Hagrid attempting to dance with the frail, but no less energetic, Professor McGonagall.
Then they switched partners. Hermione went off with her father while Ron went with his mother. As they spun around she saw Luna doing a strange dance that involved swaying her arms around her waist. There was a man doing it with her that she could only guess was her new boyfriend.
Then they switched partners again and she was dancing with Mr. Weasley.
"Its not like I didn't see it coming, the two of you. He did talk about you a lot, as much as he did Harry. At first Molly and I thought you two were just very close friends, but then when we met you and saw you two together. Well lets just say I had to stop Molly from commenting quite often," he said with a grin. "And then Fred and George told us that you didn't go to the ball together and Molly had read that article in Witch Weekly about you and Harry, so we forgot for a while. However, when we saw you two holding hands after the battle, we knew. We knew right then, that our suspicions had been right the whole time."
Hermione smiled but before she could say anything, partners switched and she was back with Ron. Soon though, the song was over and it was time for dinner. Each of the courses was served- first the cheese, then the soup and salad, and lastly roasted chicken. Then it was time for the toasts. First Ginny stood up and tapped her glass with her wand. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand. Everyone went silent.
"My older brother, the youngest of the brothers, got married!" she began, "I remember him coming home from his first year at Hogwarts and speaking not only of Harry Potter, but of his friend Hermione. They wrote each other letters during the summer, every summer. During my third year, I became rather close to Hermione. She confided in me that she had a small crush on Ron. I was shocked when he was too thick to ask her to the Yule Ball that year. Then when she came to stay with us some summers, I was so taken aback that he didn't see how much she liked him. Then finally after the Battle of Hogwarts, amidst all the sadness, they came out holding hands. Lets just say, I gave an audible squeal. I was unsurprised when he proposed to her last Christmas. What I was surprised about was how long it took him. But now, they are married and he managed not to step on her feet during the dance. All of these I think are a great achievement and I wish them the best."
There was much applause. Hermione looked up at Ginny who grinned. Now Hermione's father stood up.
"I'm not completely used to the whole magical wedding thing so bare with me here. When I first met Ron, he and Hermione were going into second year. He seemed like a wonderful boy. I didn't see him for many more years. I vaguely remember it because, well, my memory had been obliviated by my wonderful daughter here. But when she and Ron found us in Australia, Hermione introduced Ron as her boyfriend. Then as we went off to lunch, he pulled me aside and asked me a question that I will never forget. He asked me, "Will you give me permission to have your daughter's hand in marriage?" Well, I was a little bit shocked, my memory had just been restored, but I remember saying of course. And now here we are. I am proud to have gained a wonderful son-in-law. Cheers."
Again there was much applause. Hermione saw with a shock that her father had a tear in his eye. He smiled down at her, shook Ron's hand, and sat down. Next Mrs. Weasley stood up. She had obviously been crying for a while and was trying to compose herself as she stood up.
"I-I-I met Her-Hermione whe-whe" at this she broke into tears. "I JUST LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!" Then she sat down and began to sob into Mr. Weasley's shoulder. Ron smiled at Hermione as Harry stood up.
"Well. My two best friends getting married… Who on earth could have seen this coming? From the time when she yelled at Ron at the Yule Ball to the time when he, unconscious, said her name to when they kissed in the middle of the battle. I had no idea it was coming. But on a more serious note, this is one of the happiest moments of my life. To know that my two best friends have found love and are happy. It's just a great feeling. I know that you two will be happy together and I just wish you luck in everything. I love you both. Congratulations."
Now Hermione was crying and squeezing Ron's hand so tight that he had to pry it off as they got up to cut the cake. It was a beautiful white-iced chocolate cake in the muggle fashion with three tiers and on top were little figurines- the man with red hair and the woman with brown bushy hair. Ron took his wand out and magically cut the cake he then floated the piece onto a plate and brought it and two forks into his hand. He and Hermione both took a forkful of cake and fed it to the other.
"I practiced that trick with the cake cutting for a week," he whispered to her amidst the applause. All of a sudden, the music began to play again. Some people came up to get cake; others went to the dance floor. Hermione and Ron went back to the dance floor. They danced all night, switching partners occasionally. By the end of the night, Hermione had danced with Harry, Neville, all of the Weasley brothers, Krum, and even Hagrid. While dancing with Charlie, she saw Ron dancing with his old, frail, but still very judgmental and chatty Aunt Muriel. He caught her eye and rolled his eyes. She was apparently lecturing him on his hair.
It was almost one in the morning when the guests began to leave. Hermione and Ron went to say goodbye to everyone as they left. She had said goodbye to Neville and a very tired looking Hannah right before Professor Trelawney came up to them.
"My dears, from the second you entered my classroom in your third year, I foresaw your marriage. You will have a good life together. I have foreseen it." And with that she left.
Ron looked over to her and smirked saying, "I wonder if she foresaw that she would be taking that wine glass home." They both laughed for a good two minutes.
Soon it was only family and the wedding party were left. Mrs. Weasley was taking down the tent. Luna was standing to the side taking animatedly to Hermione's parents. Hermione didn't know what they were talking about but her parents looked confused and she thought she caught the word nargle in the conversation. Harry and Ginny were sitting with Charlie, George, and Angelina. Mr. Weasley approached her and Ron.
"Are you two ready for your honeymoon? The transportation is ready."
She and Ron looked to where Mr. Weasley was pointing. There she saw a carriage attached to two large hippogriffs. Standing in front of them was Hagrid.
"I trained 'em myself. This one here's Fiercetalon and this one is Buckbeak's own kid, Witherwings. They'll be flying ye to yer honeymoon."
Then he turned to them grinning. When he saw the look of hidden terror on Hermione's face however, he added, "The carriage is bewitched to go nice and smooth. I know how ye didn't like yer first ride on one of 'em."
So together she and Ron climbed into the carriage. The whole wedding party was now standing waving them off. Then just as Hagrid told the hippogriffs to fly, it occurred to Hermione.
"Ronald, where are we going?"
He replied, with a bit of a grin, "For once in your life, Hermione, don't think about what's going to happen next. Enjoy the present."
"You're right," she said. Then she shut the blinds, as the carriage took off and she kissed him and neither of them thought about anything for a long time.