Draco and I walked back into the house, finding Harry and Ginny sitting at the kitchen table engaged in a game of Wizard's Chess.
"Aren't you both terrible at this game?" I asked them as I shut the door.
"Yeah, but that means we both stand a chance at actually winning," Harry said.
"Where've you two been all day?" Ginny asked.
"Can I tell them? Can I tell them? Can I tell them?" I asked jumping up and down excitedly.
"Yeah," Draco said.
"So and I Draco and I have a house," I said.
"A house of your very own? That's wonderful," Ginny said.
"Yep, it's a wedding gift from his parents so we're not actually moving until July, but still, it's exciting," I said. "And I haven't even told you the best part of it."
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's in Godric's Hollow," I said.
"You got my sister a house in Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked.
"Sure did," Draco said.
"Somebody's getting laid tonight," Ginny said in a loud whisper.
"Seriously, Gin?" Harry asked.
"What, I was talking about you," she said with a wink.
"Great, now this kitchen is uncomfortable for everyone to be in," I said. "Also, I'm guessing Ron isn't back yet. I thought he'd be here already."
"Me too! The anticipation is killing me!" Harry said.
"What is actually going on? He's been talking like that all day and won't tell me what Ron is up to," Ginny said.
"It's surprise!" I said. "I'm so excited."
"Me too," Harry said.
"Draco, do you know what's going on?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah. I'd tell you, but Hannah would probably hit me," Draco said.
"Damn it all," Ginny said.
But then, to our delight, the door opened. Ron walked inside carrying Hermione on his back. She was smiling, but also looked completely tired and her eyes were all puffy like she'd been crying.
"What exactly is going on? Harry has been being cryptic all day and I don't know what's going on," Ginny said.
"Come here, Ginny, look," Hermione said holding out her hand.
Ginny must've spotted the ring, because she bolted up from the table and dashed over to Hermione.
"Oh, my God! You're getting married?" Ginny asked.
"Yep," Ron said.
"Oh! I'm so excited for you!" Ginny said forcing them into a hug. "Why aren't you being more excited? This is exciting!"
"Well, I was crying a lot before, and you know how sometimes if you cry too much you'll make yourself sick. . ." Hermione started.
"Aw, you poor thing," I said with a chuckle. "Here, I'll make you some tea."
"Thanks," she said climbing down from Ron's back.
"Did you tell mum yet?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, we stopped by there," Ron said as they sat down at the table. "She wants us all to stop by for dinner actually."
"Of course she does," Ginny said. "And she's going to invite everyone because she's so excited because no one actually thought Ron would be able to find and keep a girlfriend, never mind convincing one to marry him."
"Do you have to be so mean?" he asked.
"Yes," Ginny said.
"But why?" he asked.
". . . Because I'm your little sister," she said, as if this were the obvious answer.
"I see no correlation between being mean and you being his younger sister," Draco said.
"That's because you're an only child," I said as a put a kettle on the stove for Hermione.
"Right. That's how our relationships work—Ron protects me from all the bad people in the world and also tries convince me that he knows what's best for me and I repay him by making out with his best friend and saying mean things to him," Ginny said.
"I did the opposite, I'm marrying someone Harry hated while at the same being as sweet and adorable as I possibly can," I said.
"I don't understand," Draco said.
"I don't either," Harry and Ron said in unison.
"Somehow I feel like we've gotten off topic," Ginny said.
"Right. . . Didn't something eventful happen today that we're supposed to be talking about?" I asked.
"I dunno. . . Your hair is in a ponytail today. Is that supposed to be eventful?" Ginny asked.
"Not really. . ." I said. "I can't place my finger on it?"
"Do you know what it was, Hermione?" Ginny asked.
She didn't answer.
"Hermione?" I asked turning round to her.
"She's fallen asleep," Ron said. Her head was down on the table, resting on head on her arms which were folded up on the table.
"Seriously?" I asked turning the stove off.
"I think you're underestimating exactly how much she was crying," Ron said.
"Apparently," Harry said.
"So what'd you do to make cry so much?" Ginny asked.
Ron reached into his bag and pulled out the red journal he'd been writing in for ages. He slid it across the table and Ginny picked it up off the table. I stood behind her as she flipped through all of the pages.
"Ron, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life," Ginny said.
"I know, right? Can you marry me too, Ron?" I asked.
"Hey!" Draco said, offended.
"Well, maybe if you filled a whole journal with beautiful words about how much you loved me, I wouldn't want to marry Ron instead of you," I said.
"Come on, he didn't even write this stuff himself. These are just words he stole from other people," Harry said.
"That's because I couldn't think of the words myself, so I had to use other people's words and I filled an entire book and even that's not enough," Ron said.
"Awww," Ginny and I said in unison.
"I can't believe you both just bought that load of waffle," Draco said.
"I happen to like waffles quite a lot, thank you very much," I said.
"Thanks for this, Ron. We will never be able to meet their expectations ever again," Harry said.
"You're welcome. That was my aim," he said.
888
When the six of us arrived at the Burrow that evening, everyone and their mother was in attendance. I hadn't seen the Burrow this crammed with people since the night before Bill and Fleur's wedding.
It was nice to dodge all the questions about my own wedding now that all of the attention had shifted on to Ron and Hermione. They were both trapped in the kitchen while the entire Weasley clan questioned and harassed them.
I managed to sit in the living room where I finally got my first look at Dartanian.
"Ginger's are the best ever, you know?" I said to Emily as she cradled him sleeping in her arms.
"Blondes are fun too. Your husband's a blond. So is your daughter," Emily said.
"You're right," I said.
"We should totally trade," Emily said.
"No, I couldn't give up my little marauder," I said motioning to Mira across the room. Tonks and Remus had brought her over and she had currently ensnared Harry in an exhausting game of peek-a-boo that he seemed to desperately want to end.
"You know, Hannah, you never struck me as the maternal sort," Emily said. "You always seemed too. . . Too self-involved to take care of another person."
"Yeah, I can understand that," I said. "But, you're like a natural born mother aren't you?"
"Not even remotely," Emily said. "Fred though, he's gifted."
"Really?" I asked. She nodded.
"He's full of surprises," I said.
"Yeah, I've noticed," Emily replied. "But I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Although, I do have one question."
"Yes," I said.
"How do you keep your arms from getting tired? I have been holding him forever," Emily said.
"I laid her down most of the time when she was first born. Now she's old enough to walk and she doesn't like being held so much which she'll regret later," I said.
"Indeed. I never want to walk anywhere. I loved it when Fred carried me around, but then he knocked me up and I grew to be the size of a small whale so that stopped," Emily said.
"You were not the size of a whale," I said.
"You're right. I said a small whale," Emily said. I rolled my eyes. She leaned close to me and quieted her voice. "But you know what I am looking forward to?"
"What?" I asked.
"I cannot wait to see Fleur get all fat," Emily said.
I laughed. "That will be worth seeing."
Mira seemed have gotten tired of playing with Harry and ran over to me. She climbed up on the couch and laid her head in my lap and rubbing her eyes.
"I just bet you're tired. I'd have had you in bed hours ago if we were home," I said running my fingers through her hair. "I'm going to have to fight you into bed tomorrow night because of this."
"I can't wait until this guy gets on a schedule. I do not enjoy waking up at three in the morning," Emily said. "Speaking of it, I'm exhausted. I'm going to go grab Fred and drag him home so I can get some sleep before Dartanian decides that sleep is for the weak. I'll see you around."
Emily stood and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. In her place, Draco walked out and sat down next to me.
"Hello, darling," he said kissing my cheek and then putting his arm around my shoulder.
"How's it going in there?" I asked.
"Oh, you know how it all goes, 'when are you getting married' and 'what kind of dress are you wearing, Hermione' and all that nonsense," he said. "Everything they'll be asking us again in a week, some of it we actually need to make decisions on."
"We know when. We almost have a where too," I said. "It's all coming into place just fine. No worries. People will get off our asses about it soon."
"No they won't. They'll nag us about it until the day we get married," Draco said. "I think we should elope."
"And then your mother and Mrs. Weasley would kill us," I laughed. "Besides, I want a real wedding. I didn't want it to be quite as big as it's going to be, but I'm willing to bend on that aspect at your parents request that your extended family be invited."
"You could invite your extended family," Draco said.
"I don't have any extended family, Draco. I have Harry and the Dursleys," I said.
"Right. For some reason I keep forgetting that," he said.
"Probably the large amount of people I surround myself with that I often refer to as my family," I said.
"Yeah, that'd be it," he said leaning over and giving me a kiss. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to invite any of my extended family. I've barely met any of them. The ones I have met I don't like very much. I don't think my dad likes them very much either. I don't know why he's invited them."
"Reputation, dear," I said.
"But I know they won't like you," Draco said.
"Everyone likes me," I said.
"You and I both know that's not true, and my family especially doesn't like you," Draco said. "And my dad's family especially won't like you. Voldemort supporters and all that."
"Why would they come to your wedding if they support Voldemort and you're marrying me who obviously does not?" I asked.
"So they can be haters—or try to talk me out of it," he said. "Or both. But I do know that they won't like you just because you're the one who helped destroy their ideal pureblood world by killing Voldemort. Also you're a half-blood so they won't like that either. Also you're a ginger and they strongly believe that gingers don't have souls."
"You're making that last bit up," I said.
"Does not matter," he said. "But it's okay, because I love you—even if you are a dark wizard killing, half-blood ginger."
"Thank you so much for that," I said rolling my eyes.
"Oh, yes. While we're on the subject of my family I do have on itsy bitsy, teeny tiny favor to ask of you. You won't like it, you'll want to say no, but remember that I love you," he said.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Please take my father with you to see Leeds Castle on Monday," Draco said. I groaned. "I know, the last thing you want to do is go trotting about the city him-."
"Draco, I would rather slide naked down a banister covered in razors blades, land in a pool of lemon juice and then have someone cover me in salt than take your father with us," I said.
"I know that since Voldemort is dead he's at the top of your list of least favorite people, but please, do this for me. We're hardly making any decisions at all about any of this and when we do decide things I have to hear about how they wish they could be more involved," Draco said.
I looked down at Mira who was now asleep and then back up at Draco.
"Do I have to?" I asked.
"No, but it would be nice if you did," he said. "You guys don't have to like each other, but you do have to accept that you're going to be in-laws one day and this is a step toward civility. You get on with my mum fine when the occasion calls for it."
"Your mother didn't try to have me executed when I was 15-years-old, Draco," I said. "I'm sorry if I still harbor some animosity towards your father for it."
"You make a fair point, but he's changed. So have you. He's going to be your father-in-law. Please try to move past it. For me?" he asked.
I sighed. "Fine. Fine. Fine. I'll do it."
"Thank you, dear," he said.
"You're just lucky that I remember how hard it was to get Sirius to call you something other than 'The Malfoy Boy' and say awful things about you and how much I just wanted him to accept you and that you now have to do the same," I said. "But remember—Sirius didn't try to kill you."
"That we know of," Draco said.
"Yeah. He was pretty angry when I got pregnant. He definitely could've killed you then—but still, you owe me," I said.
"I'll make it up to you somehow," he said reaching down to brush Mira's hair from her face. "They keep bugging me about her at school?"
"Do they?" I asked. He nodded.
"They're always like 'when's Hannah bringing the baby up to the school' and whatnot. A lot of people at school have never seen her before as it turns out," Draco said. "Although I did keep her under lock and key. She never saw much of Hogwarts except for Gryffindor Tower, the Slytherin Dungeons, and your room. It wasn't really safe to tote her about like that."
"Well, I'll bring her up for the Quidditch game in October," I said.
"Hmm, maybe not. Blaise says there'll be a lot of reporters there for The Prophet taking photographs and doing interviews for some huge exposé on Hogwarts after the war," Draco said. "I reckon they'll have a field day seeing you there, and an even bigger one if they see Mira."
I shrugged. "As much as I don't want to deal with all that, I think you should see your daughter more than once a month and if I have to bring her to a Quidditch game then so be it. Besides, I probably won't even keep her outside for long because of the cold and the high probability of rain."
"Well, it's up to you my dear," he said. "But in the mean time, we should probably get her home and into bed. I'll get her up in the morning so that when you put her to bed tomorrow she's not a monster."
"You're a sweetheart," I said.
"Oh, wow. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to breathe air," Hermione said as she and Ron finally escaped from the kitchen.
"I didn't know my mother could hold a hug for that long," Ron said. "Anyway, Harry, come here."
Ron plopped down on the couch next to me and Hermione took a seat on his lap. Harry walked over and sat on the coffee table across from us.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Harry, Hannah, we have something really important to ask you guys," Ron said.
"And it's going to be slightly unorthodox," Hermione said.
"Go for it," I said.
"Hannah I want you to be my best man," Ron said.
"And you to be my maid of honor, Harry," Hermione said.
Harry and I exchanged glances.
"Huh?" Harry asked.
"I know, completely weird right, but it kind of makes sense," Hermione said. "After all, Hannah, you and Ron have been best friends for ages, and no offense, but Harry in the grand scheme of things, Harry's always been a more dependable friend than you."
"Just because you say 'no offense', does not mean it's not offensive," I said. "However, your argument is valid."
"So you'll do it then?" Ron asked.
"I guess so. I mean, it's not like I can say no to you guys," Harry said.
"And you won't have to wear anything weird like that. Hannah will wear a bridesmaid gown and you'll wear a regular tuxedo. You'll just sort of switch places in regards to where you'll be standing basically," Hermione said.
"And Hannah gets to give my speech—nothing embarrassing," he said.
"Oh, Ron, that request is just out of the question," I said shaking my head. "I already know. I'll start it off with a little anecdote about how when we were nine and we running through the woods that night and you wet yourself when-."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. . . Some stories should be left untold," he said. "And I did not wet myself."
"Sure you didn't," I said.
[Chapter title credit to Beat Crusaders for their song "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight."]
