And here we are just chugging along.

It's almost that time of year again! Who is doing Nanowrimo? Anyone? yes no I don't know. Well I am, so I think if you have even just a slight idea about a story you want to write then you should do it. Last year was my first time writing like that. It's what got me to start all these fanfiction things as well. This time however I plan on finishing my original work.


A Start of Something

The time after the bridal shower proved Lavender and Ron inseparable. Hermione could not dodge them for what felt like a single moment. The office held constant reminders of lunches, sent flowers, streams of owls and memos flying by, squealed greetings, and giggled laughs.

Even in her own within her own home, what with Lavender staying in her spare bedroom, she could not escape their relationship. There were stories of dates enjoyed by moonlight. Picnic adventures at the local park. Dates even so mundane as collecting potion ingredients for household chores.

The dates didn't compare to the multitude of weddings currently happening in the wizarding world which unfortunately for Hermione, included a lot of her friends who had decided that now was the opportune time to get engaged and married.

Included in that circle of friends was Ron and Lavender who were now invited to many of the same events Hermione was going to. Engagement parties, wedding showers, bridal parties, there was no end to where Hermione would run into them next.

The plus side to all the wedding festivities was Hermione kept busy. After Astoria's wedding shower her sister, Daphne, informed her of her own impending nuptials and had pushed that she would love for Hermione to be the Maid of Honor.

Astoria's wedding came and went to Hermione's delight; her sister Daphne's, however, did not. In the middle of planning the soon to be extravagant affair several other friends approached Hermione with the wish that she would be their Maid of Honor as well.

Susan had been next to approach her just after her own engagement announcement. The question bubbled out of her with joy, and all Hermione could do was say that 'yes, of course she would be her Maid of Honor.'

Padma and Parvati had also approached her during their own wedding planning. The affair they had set out was a duel wedding with Hermione as their Maid of Honor. Hermione had never been to a traditional Indian wedding, but she knew they were longer affairs and tended to span over several days. The twins wedding and bonding ceremonies had plans to be filled with breakfasts, lunches, dinners, entertainment, dancing, and gifts.

And so, Hermione found herself going between tastings, dress fittings, registries, and venue tours for Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, and the Patil twins. She was glad her close friends had already had their weddings the year before or else she would have gone crazy with planning.

Her one saving grace through the chaos were the articles being printed in the wedding column of the Prophet. Malcolm Fredon's work kept her moving. His words spoke of mended hearts, happier moments, and families joining together from a broken war.

She currently was at her desk reading over his newest article on the Susan Bones' engagement to Ernie Macmillan. The small excerpt under a picture of the couple held her attention till her eyes voraciously scanned over his words.

Family Anew

There are not many times that news of a wedding brings out the tears of joy and happiness especially after the past few years that the British Wizarding World has gone through. This story, however wrought with the terrors of past events, carries a fine finish and joyful ending.

I speak of course of Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillan, two friends throughout school, both strong Hufflepuffs, and close friends with the Golden Trio and members of Dumbledore's Army.

With the loss her family to Voldemort's terror during the First and Second Wizarding Wars, Susan Bones became close to the Macmillan family and their son Ernie.

Though they didn't date in school, the two Hufflepuffs have made a name for their budding relationship in the years after graduating, and have shown the lengths of great loyalty and friendship Hufflepuffs have to offer. Their strong relationship a signal for more to come.

With great pleasure, the couple announced their engagement this past week to friends and family. The young remaining Bones legatee without a family now joins with the long standing Macmillan's in the Bones-Macmillan bonding expected to take place in a small privet ceremony later this Fall.

Photograph and Article by

Malcolm Fredon

Hermione put the paper down and rubbed her eyes remembering Susan's excitement and readiness to get married. Susan had been ecstatic riffling off several ideas about venues and themes. Hermione had to stop her mid-sentence letting her know that any ideas should be written down because all the weddings were starting to blend together.

Susan complied and promptly sent an owl that evening with detailed venue ideas, color schemes, and an invite list. The bonding ceremony was to be a small and featured several members of Dumbledore's Army as well as Ernie's family.

Hermione glanced over the letter with the dates Susan had proposed and let out a resentful groan. Pulling out her planner from her purse, she flopped it open on the desk to flip to the latter half of the calendar. Finger flying across the numbers, she landed on the selected dates.

Her shoulders slumped, head falling onto the open planner. There beside her finger were the words etched with ink in her own crisp handwriting.

Patil Weekend

"Arg, Susan, you could not have picked a worse time to get bonded," Hermione whined into the crook of her arm.

The twins had already sent Hermione dates for their several day wedding that would take up the whole weekend. She loved her friends she just hadn't planned on spending the entire weekend running around doing wedding things, and now with Susan choosing her bonding date the same weekend as the twins, her weekend looked even fuller.

She looked over her desk and spotted several other crinkled letters laying open. The never-ending stream of owls had her going non-stop.

The planning alone for all the weddings was keeping her schedule packed with dress fittings, tastings and the like. She thought that keeping busy would be good. hopefully put some distance between her and Lavender and Ron, but to her dismay she found herself still around them.

They shared friends. They were friends. There was no way she could avoid them.

She pushed up from her desk deciding she needed a break.

Daphne's wedding was this weekend, making her schedule a little lighter for the coming month where she would have to finalize the last minute details for both the Patil twins and Susan.

She would still be busy of course, but that business would hopefully keep her clear of the newest couple.


A Match

Hermione's first weekend free of any commitments Lavender roped her into accompanying her and Ron to an interoffice quidditch match. Ron was not participating in favor of spending the afternoon with the girls. Hermione would have not agreed to going had she known she would end up being the third wheel to her friends' budding relationship.

"Hermione!" Lavender greeted her with an enthusiastic grin and a frantic wave. "I'm so glad you decided to get out of the office for once."

"Well I thought some fresh air would do some good," Hermione said while taking a seat in the hard plastic chair. The quidditch pitch was a practice stadium for the local team. Lavender took a seat next to Hermione leaving a chair open on the end.

"Ah Hermione! I don't usually see you at these things often." Ron called out before taking his place beside Lavender. His arm draped over her shoulder in an unassuming fashion and the girl was practically preening from the attention.

Hermione rolled her eyes and drew her attention to the field. They were early so the teams were still warming up. It looked like a hodgepodge of different departments.

"Did they not have enough people to play today?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah they were short on several regulars," Ron replied offhandedly. "I hear Malfoy got invited. Should be interesting to see him play."

"Ronny could you get me something at the concession?" Lavender pleaded with her eyelashes flapping rapidly.

"Sure thing, dove." He replied with s sickeningly sweet tone. "What would you like?"

Hermione tried to keep her bile down at the saccharine talk. She shuffled her feet and adjusted her position so she didn't have to see them flirting in her peripheral vision.

"Surprise me," Lavender coyly said.

Ron grinned and got up to leave. He paused on the stairs out and turned back to the girls. "Do you want anything Hermione?"

"Oh, umm, I'll just have my usual."

"Sure thing."

He trudged up the rest of the stairs and left the girls to themselves. After a moment Hermione ventured lightly, "So, you're on quite good terms?"

"Oh I know. He's such a darling." Lavender chattered with gusto. "Loves to help and wait on me. It's very endearing."

"I bet." Hermione replied not knowing what else to say. She was silent for the rest of the time keeping her eyes on the players flying around. She spotted Malfoy's trademark hair flapping in the breeze and wondered if that's why his hair always looked perfectly windswept.

Ron came back hands full of goodies and snacks. He put down several drinks before handing Lavender a mixed green salad thing. She looked down at it with apprehension.

"I got you a salad because I remembered from back in school you didn't really care for the meats." Ron said eagerly looking to please.

"Thank you Ron," Lavender said with a forced smile and taking the bowl from his hands, "That really means a lot."

Ron then passed Hermione her a steak and cheese sub. When it passed under Lavender's nose, however, Hermione noticed the girl's eyes widen with craving. She could tell it took everything the girl had not to rip the sandwich out of Hermione's hand.

Hermione offered the girl a pitying smile before tucking into her sandwich. She hoped the miscommunication would prompt Lavender into speaking up about her lycanthropy and not just sit by and take what was without conflict, but there was not a word from the girl beside her.

The match was getting ready to start as the players filled into the formation. Hermione watched them take off her eyes drawn to Malfoy's figure yet again. She needed to stop being creepy.

Overall the match was uneventful and it served its purpose in distracting her from the cuddly couple next to her, so she was glad when they made their way down to the pitch to congratulate the winning team and talk with those they knew.

Ron and Lavender left Hermione behind once they reached the grass, so she stood to one side waiting for the opportune moment to slip away unnoticed. Unfortunately for her she never got the chance.

"Ah, Granger, fancy seeing you here," Draco called out spotting her from across a short distance. He took several even strides before he stood in front of her. His wind swept hair swooping across his forehead. "I didn't think you would be one for the quidditch matches."

"I'm not," Hermione said with her arms crossed pointedly looking away from him.

"So then what brings you here?" He asked propping his broom against his side.

A loud burst of giggles met their ears. Over in the distance Ron was putting Lavender on a broom and attempting to guide her through several maneuvers a little more advanced than her current skill level at flying.

Draco scoffed at their flirty antics, "Ah dragged along as the third wheel. How unfortunate."

"Don't mock me. I am spending time with my friends."

"I see that. How about we ditch them and go get a coffee?" He asked her in a rush. Hermione froze. "Come on Granger you need to relax a little. I hear you just never stop with all scheduling."

"Don't you start too."

"Ah so someone else has said you do too much for your friends?"

"Now you're just being a pig."

"But at least I'm a good looking pig." He smirked at her. "So the coffee?"

"I'm going to have to pass." She said trying to let him down gently. He pouted his lower lip but conceded to her wishes.

"Well, have fun with your third wheeled adventure." And then added as an afterthought, "And all your weddings."

"I will." She quirked a brow at him. "Have fun doing whatever it is you do."

"That would be writing, Granger," Draco counter back, grabbing his broom and lifting it over his shoulder.

"Of course," She said with a wave of her hand.

He laughed lightly. "Maybe I'll catch you around."

"Highly unlikely."

"Whatever you say." And with that he left her standing by herself waiting for her friends' flirting to be over with.


Annd that's the chapter for this week. I hope you all have a good weekend!