"Actually" she said, leaning forward slightly "I think I could move to Romania"
His face suddenly brightened immeasurably "you'd do that?"
"Well, the way I see it, I can do my job anywhere there's a hospital, it won't be forever and I can always use the floo network to visit people back here. Plus, it's a country I've always wanted to visit, if I can get a job in the on-site hospital, I would be happy to move there"
"Are you sure?" he asked, looking slightly disbelieving, she nodded, his face split into the biggest grin she'd ever seen him wear "Hermione, you're amazing!"
He didn't stop smiling after that, assuring her that he would get her a job on the reserve come hell or high water. He paid the bill at the end of the meal, despite all her fervent protests, and walked her back to St Mungo's. As they walked, they developed what Hermione termed a 'coping strategy' for the next five years.
"We also need to set a date for the wedding" he said, it seemed to cost him effort just to say the word 'wedding' and Hermione remembered just how much he loved his bachelor lifestyle. At least she had planned to get married eventually; of course this would all be more complex now as there would be the child from this marriage to think about. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Molly's already taken care of that, if you're free on the 29th of July, that's the date she wants"
"What about what you want?"
"I want to reduce the amount of stress this is going to entail by as much as possible, if Molly wants to take the reigns a little, I'm more than happy to let her"
"Well, I'm fine with it but say something if she takes over too much, ok?"
"I will, at the moment, though, it's not too bad. She consults me on all decisions; I can ask her to write to check with you too, if you like"
He shook his head "No, that's fine, if you don't mind, I am perfectly happy to stay out of the wedding plans"
"If you want, that's fine. I think Molly's just overjoyed that someone's letting her be in control of their wedding"
Charlie looked confused "well, who's planning Ginny's wedding?"
"I am" she replied smiling, "somebody's got to and apparently, that's what being Maid of Honour entails"
There came a supremely awkward moment in which they had to part ways at the hospital doors. A hug or kiss on the cheek would have been a little familiar but a handshake would be too formal. They stood for a second, just looking at each other. Hermione was biting her lip, trying not to laugh; eventually she cracked and just hugged him.
"I'll write" he promised she nodded and gave him a smile and a small wave as she turned through the doors.
That Saturday, Hermione was woken unreasonably early by Ginny, who had grabbed her shoulders and was shaking her vigorously.
"What?" groaned Hermione, opening her eyes a crack
"You've got a day off today, right?" asked Ginny, excitedly
"Yes" Hermione said Hermione shortly; she had handed in her 2 weeks notice only the day before. It hadn't been a pleasant conversation.
"Are you sure?" her boss, Heather, had asked, frowning at the paper
"Absolutely"
"But you've always said how much you enjoy your work here"
"I do but with the marriage law-"
"Your fiancée made you do this?"
"No, of course not" Hermione had shocked by the very idea, she couldn't imagine Charlie ever trying to pressure some one into doing something they didn't want to do "but it's easier for us both, I can work from anywhere, he can't"
"But will it make you happy, Hermione?" Heather leant forward; studying Hermione's face intently for any doubt, Hermione concentrated hard on making sure none was visible. She just nodded; she wasn't 100% sure if it was the right for her either but it had made Charlie so happy and it really would be easier.
"Good" said Ginny brightly "we're going shopping" Hermione groaned and pulled her pillow back over her head "Oh no you don't" Ginny's tone never faltered in its incessant cheeriness "I said we'd meet Susan in the Leaky Cauldron this morning so we can't be late. Besides, Madame Malkin has had a cancellation so we can go and get our dresses today and get that out of the way"
Hermione sat up and looked a little nauseous "Oh God"
"No, it'll be fun, you'll see" Hermione didn't look convinced "anyway, you're my head bridesmaid, so you have to come" Hermione gave in and got up, ignoring Ginny's smirk
They met Susan in the Leaky Cauldron and almost ran, at Ginny's insistence, to Madame Malkin's store. Hermione noticed that, though always smiling and polite, said little to Hermione and kept glancing at her.
Hermione found a dress for Ginny almost instantly – she had a talent for picking out things that suited other people. Ginny had turned her nose up at it initially but, once she saw it on, she refused to try any others. It did look beautiful on her, strapless and bright white will a full skirt. With her fair skin, pretty face and long copper coloured hair, Ginny looked as though she had stepped straight out of a fairytale. Hermione couldn't help the faint pang of envy she felt as she looked at Ginny in the dress. Really, she thought, being friends with somebody like Ginny wasn't any good for her self-esteem.
While Ginny was changing back into her clothes, Hermione had the chance to talk to Susan quickly. She had to know why Susan was being so distant with her so she set out by being as pleasant as possible, hoping to lure an explanation out of her.
"When's your wedding, Susan?" she smiled
Susan looked at her sharply "the 19th of July" there was a pause, Susan seemed to be fighting an internal battle, she lost "Ron told me about you and him" she burst out,
Hermione jumped slightly "What about me and him?"
"That you two were in a relationship"
Hermione would have laughed if not for the tense expression on Susan's face. "Susan, it barely qualifies as a relationship. We kissed once but after the war was over we realised that everything we'd felt for each other had been kind of in the heat of the moment. We're still good friends but neither of us has thought about the other in a long time, nor are we likely to."
Susan smiled, properly this time. "I didn't want to sound like I was claiming my territory" she explained "but I don't know how to feel about Ron yet, but the whole marriage would be a lot harder with a 3rd person in it"
The rest of the day passed without a hiccough, they found a dress for Susan and Ginny and Susan picked out their bridesmaid's dresses, pale green and lilac respectively.
Hermione found it far more difficult to find a dress for herself. This was probably because she wanted to look as pretty in her dress as Ginny and Susan had in theirs. As far as she was aware it would take more than a dress to do that, a miracle maybe. So dress after dress was tried on and she didn't really warm to any of them. Eventually she bought the 15th dress she tried on; Ginny swore that it looked fantastic on her. Hermione wasn't so rue, it was a gorgeous dress but she didn't think she really did it justice.
She had assumed, rather naively, that their shopping trip would end there. Of course, they then needed shoes, jewellery, outfits for the wedding receptions (for their own weddings and others) and countless other things. Ginny and Susan talked Hermione into buying several new outfits to cope with some of the extremes of weather that Charlie had described.
"It's quite hot, so you'll need some summer clothes" said Ginny, rifling through the sale rails
"Not all the time" argued Hermione, "Romanian summers aren't much hotter than ours and Charlie says that it rains a lot during the summer."
"What about the winters?" asked Susan
"Then the temperatures can go as low as -6oc and it snows from about December to about March. Charlie wrote and told me that in January they can have as little as 2 and a half hours of sunlight" Hermione slipped into her easy swallowed-the-textbook tone, she didn't notice the others gawping at her
"Two and a half hours?" breathed Susan incredulously
"Charlie never mentioned that" said Ginny, wide eyed "Oh Hermione you poor thing"
Hermione looked bewildered "why?" she asked
"That's even worse than it is here, it'll be so depressing" Ginny breathed
"I'll be fine" Hermione shrugged, "I'll learn to cope"
Even so, she did let them push her into buying a Warm winter coat and boots and some thermal underwear.
The final shop was, for Hermione at least, the most awkward by far. Ginny insisted that all three of them buy new lingerie, night dresses and a variety of other things Hermione didn't even know the names of. Ginny laughingly said that the many galleons worth of satin, lace and silk would help them to perform their 'wifely duties'. This made Hermione blush to the roots of her hair and Susan squirmed uncomfortably.
As they entered the shop it was clear who was most at home. Within minutes Ginny had a basket full of things for herself and began looking for things for the other two.
"Ginny" Hermione whispered uncomfortably, glancing at the sales assistant by the fitting rooms "I'm not sure I can afford all of this after everything else today"
"Of course you can" Ginny grinned "Charlie's paying, he sent me his Gringott's cheque book this morning and told me to make sure you didn't spare any expenses"
"But that's not fair on him" Hermione sounded indignant "It's his money and he's not getting anything out of this"
"Hermione, chill out" said Susan "If he's sent you the chequebook it's because he wants you to use the money. He won't suffer for it; it'll barely make a dent, being a dragon tamer is a very lucrative career"
Hermione tried to contain the smile that was fighting to break out "I know, and it's really sweet of him but I don't want to feel like I owe him anything"
"Hermione" Ginny grasped her firmly by the shoulders "first of all, you gave up everything here to let him stay in Romania, at this moment in time he would do literally anything to make you as happy as he is" Hermione sighed, Ginny took her momentary silence to press on "and secondly, who says he won't get anything out of it?" she brandished a baby pink teddie, made of silk and satin.
Before Hermione could protest, she and Susan were being pushed into the fitting rooms. Ginny continued to throw various different things over their doors, each pair of knickers lacier and each bra more revealing that the last. At Ginny and Susan's insistence Hermione did buy most of it. She refused point-blank to buy some of the racier items but still (to her utter confusion) found herself paying for 7 silk bras, 12 pairs of knickers in silk and lace, 2 Basques, 3 teddies and (for whatever reason) a pair of stockings.
It could have been worse she mused, critically eyeing the pile on her bed. Most of it was fairly tasteful but the thought of wearing it in front of anybody, especially Charlie made her cringe. Thankfully she was saved by Ginny who burst into the room and flopped dramatically onto the unoccupied bed.
"I hate getting married" she moaned
A/N thanks for all the lovely reviews - I know this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter but let me know what you think!
