"Do you, Harry James Potter, take Ginevra Molly Weasley to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death do you part?" Kingsley Shackelbolt smiles at the crowd in front of us.
"I do." Harry and Kingsley share a smile before Kingsley turns to me, a content look on his face.
"And do you, Ginevra Molly Weasley take Harry James Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death do you part?" I look into Harry's eyes, trying my hardest to find that spark from when I was eleven, but it isn't there. There are no butterflies in my stomach, no knots in my stomach, no labored breathing, only an empty feeling in my bones, and the weight of an uncertain future.
"I…" I turn to the audience, my family and friends. Now that everyone's here, I notice that the faces looking at me aren't familiar at all. Granted, there are some faces that I know, but even most of those are of friends that I do recognize are our friends.
"I…" my voice wavers. I look to my family, a whole red-headed blob in the front seats, my mother front and center. She's not dabbing her eyes, or blubbering into the arms of my father, she's just sitting there with a small smile carved into her cheeks. My eyes travel across the freckled faces, but I don't see anyone who looks, purely joyous. I scan the rest of the faces, and I see similar results. I don't see the radiant emotions that I have at the past weddings held here at the Burrow, instead I see… expectancy? Everyone in this room expects me to marry Harry. I'm expected to drop my life for what Harry wants me to do, and I know, from experience, that that is what Harry wants me to do.
It was right after the war, when McGonagall was offering school years to students who wanted to finish their education at Hogwarts. I had told Harry that I wanted to go back to school, I hadn't learned anything academic my sixth year. It would be two more years until I would graduate, and he was insistent that I should just drop out. He'd said that there was no need for academics, what with him being 'The Boy Who Lived… Twice', that I could get any job I wanted. We argued for weeks about it before I caved in and we compromised. We decided that I would double my workload, twice the classes all advanced, so I could graduate in only one year. My marks that year were terrible, I barely scraped the bottom of the bowl, but with Hermonie to help me study, I got E's and O's on my N.E.W.T.S. After I graduated Harry proposed, and like any teenager madly in love with her Hogwarts Sweetheart, I said yes. After the post engagement fog wore off, which was about five and a half days, I took one look at my ring and this feeling of impending doom started pushing on my head, so much so that I kept pushing the wedding back, finding every excuse I could, until I couldn't anymore.
Which brings me back to my current predicament. My eyes are still searching for any pair of eyes that could offer me anything else but expectancy and I find just that in twin pools of liquid mercury. I feel none of my previous feelings, instead I now feel calm, and relaxed.
"Ginny…" Harry whispers to me, his voice doing that thing that I can't stand. He's gritting his teeth, his voice taking on a whine-like tone.I realize that my pause is too long and that I'm still not looking at Harry. Instead, I'm staring down Draco Malfoy at my wedding, in front of my family and friends,avoiding eye contact with my fiance, still hesitating to say 'I do'.
I invited him here, it caused such a row between Harry and I.
"WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT INVITING DRACO BLOODY MALFOY?"
"WHY NOT?"
"HE WAS A DEATH EATER, GIN! A BLOODY DEATH EATER!"
"NOT BY HIS CHOICE, AND YOU STOOD UP FOR HIM PERSONALLY!'
"I DON'T CARE! IT'S MY WEDDING! IT'S NOT HAPPENING!"
"EXCUSE ME FOR WANTING TO INVITE THE MAN WHO SAVED MY FIANCE'S LIFE!"
"WELL, WITH SOUND REASONING LIKE THAT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL INVITE VOLDEMORT! YOU WERE ACTUALLY CLOSE TO HIM IN HOGWARTS!" My face darkened, I could actually feel the change.
"That, was a low blow, Potter." I spat his name with so much content that I sounded just like Malfoy himself.
"Gin, I'm sorry! Invited him if it makes you happy." He brought me to his chest and ran his fingers through my hair. Needless to say, I didn't think he'd show up.
Draco looks at the exit, back to me, then the exit again as I muster the courage to look back at Harry. He's angry, His nostrils are flaring and his cheeks are burning from embarrassment. I take a deep breath in.
"I… don't. I really don't." I drop Harry's hands as an astonished gasp fills the yard. A chair scrapes against the charmed stone floor and I see Draco open leave the tent. I run after him with my dress hiked up. We run down the drive, around the Burrow, and to the apparation point. Draco wraps an arm around my waist and I put my hand on his chest. Harry runs up to us, a wild look in his eyes.
"Ginny, don't go, I love you!" I shake my head, and say two words to Draco.
"Do it." With a loud CRACK we were gone. My name is Ginny Weasley, and I just left Harry Potter at the altar for Draco Malfoy.
A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, I will be writing longer chapters. I can't promise when I'll update the story, but I will make a huge effort to do so! Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!
