Author's Note: This is my very first fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it. The chapters are turning out to be quite short, so I'm trying to fix that. Please review, I would love to know what you think.

Disclaimer: I play with JK Rowling's toys.

---

Silence hung thick in the kitchen. With Ron and Harry both gone, how was anyone to be sure that they would get back in time for the wedding. Flitwick had made it clear to both Ron and Hermione that once the wedding was set in motion, it had to be seen through in a timely fashion. Apparently wizarding weddings had a timetable—Hermione was still trying to puzzle this one out. Perhaps the charms were too strong to be kept going for an indefinite period of time. Their wedding had been scheduled to start at 1pm, and fifteen minutes had passed since then. They still had inside of an hour to make sure all was well.

"Professor? What happens if Ron doesn't come back soon? What if he's delayed?" Hermione looked at Flitwick, hoping he could answer her every question.

Flitwick glanced over his shoulder at the door, seemingly hoping that Ron would walk through announcing his readiness. When nothing of the sort happened, he sighed and said, "We'll worry about that when it comes down to it, won't we, Miss Granger."

At that news, Hermione paced wildly around the table, her hands wrinkling the front of her dress. Ginny hurried over to take her hands, to save at least some of Hermione's favorite ball gown dress robes thing. The two girls huddled together, Ginny looking furious; Hermione was trying to shake back sobs.

Seconds passed, then minutes. The ticking of the clock was the only sound that seemed to echo off of every cabinet and windowpane.

Suddenly, with a crash of emerald light, Harry stepped out of the fireplace. Hermione jumped around, looking wildly at him, willing him to speak some news of her fiancé, or at least what was going on.

Harry looked wildly out of breath, and a bit pale. "Ron is coming. He's splinched himself. He's fine." Harry looked pointedly at Hermione, who was now leaning on the table for support—between the stress of planning a wedding and the utter calamity of a missing groom, she looked ready for a vacation to Bora-Bora. "In the meantime," he continued, "We'd best keep going with the wedding, get ready and stuff."

"Right." Ginny straightened up and took Hermione by the hand. "We need to get outside. I suppose Ron will be Flooing?" She looked at Harry for confirmation. He nodded. Dragging Hermione behind her, Ginny headed outside, toward the back of the garden, where she and Hermione would wait before coming up the aisle for the ceremony.

Hermione's face was still pale. "Do you think that he could have backed out?" She enquired of Ginny, clasping her hand so tightly that Ginny's fingernails were turning blue.

The thought had not occurred to Ginny before this. She knew Ron could be indecisive and nerve-wracked, but for him to leave Hermione at their wedding? That would be unthinkable. Still, it would make sense for him to get back as soon as possible, and he didn't seem to be coming through the fireplace at all.

"Hermione, wait here," Ginny demanded. "I'll be right back." As fast as she could, Ginny ran back toward the house. She had to make sure that this wedding would be going through unscathed.

"Harry!" Ginny rounded the doorpost into the kitchen, nearly screaming. "Harry, he isn't running, is he?" Harry looked up, rather lazily. He didn't seem at all perturbed by this series of events. In fact, he looked as though he could care less.

"Oh, you know Weas—Ron," he said. "He'll probably be considering the possibility right now. Splinched, right."

Ginny looked horrified. "But the wedding has to start any minute," she said.

Flitwick looked up from where he had been sitting at the table and examined his watch. "This is true, Miss Weasley," he said. "We have exactly ten minutes to begin the ceremony. If Mr Weasley doesn't show up within three, we'll have to take other measures."

"What are these other measures?" Ginny asked. Things were not looking good for this day, although it had started with so much promise.

"Well," Flitwick looked suddenly nervous, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "According to bylaw 34.5a of the Wizarding Marriage Contract, if the groom does not appear within the time specified within the contract of his marriage, the groom's second, that is, the best man, is required by a binding magical contract which he entered into when he agreed to secondship to step in for the groom."

Ginny and Harry looked at each other. "Does…does that mean what I think it does?" Harry asked in a quavering voice.

Flitwick squeaked. "Yes," he said. "And most unfortunately, there is no way around this law. Historical reasons, you know." He looked ready to duck under the table to escape the dark looks emanating from the two younger wizards.

With a rustle of ruffles and stamps of feet, Hermione burst through the door. "WHERE IS RONALD?!" She nearly screamed, "AND WHY AM I NOT MARRIED RIGHT NOW?"