Part Ten

There was a great buzz of excitement in the marquee. Ron was standing at the front wearing the same dark red robes as his best man, Harry. He looked somewhere between elated and a little bit nauseous. Another chair had been conjured at the back row where Draco was reluctantly sitting, feeling extremely uncomfortable. The band began to play soft music as the flower girl and the page boy made their way down the aisle. Victoire was throwing red and white rose petals on the ground and grinning at her parents, while Teddy – whose hair was now turquoise – was carrying the wedding rings on a small cushion and trying his very best not to trip over his own feet.

'So that's my cousin Teddy...' Draco thought to himself.

Then came the bridesmaids, wearing red dresses and both carrying small bouquets of white roses. They both had their hair done up in a knot behind their head. Ginny looked beautiful, and Luna looked almost normal – Mrs. Weasley had eventually convinced her to take off her radish earrings. Then came the moment that Draco had been dreading. Hermione's appearance was met with smiles, quiet gasps and whispers of how amazing she looked by the guests. Her father escorted her down the aisle, grinning from ear to ear, while Hermione blushed slightly at all the attention, her heart threatening to burst through her chest.

'Calm down,' she told herself. 'You're doing the right thing. You are supposed to be Mrs. Hermione Malfoy... I mean, Weasley! Mrs. Hermione Weasley! Oh God... okay, you can do this. Just breathe deeply and smile. Pretend that whatever went on in Ginny's room never, ever, ever happened. You are marrying the right person. Draco is the right person... I mean, Ron! Ron is the right person! Oh Merlin, why do I keep doing that?'

She was so caught up in the fierce internal battle going on inside her head that she didn't even really notice that she was standing at the front with Ron, or that the wizard performing the ceremony had started talking. She wasn't listening at all, but looking up at Ron beaming down at her. She tried to smile but he just looked so happy, which made her feel like the single worst human being on the planet.

"Do you, Ronald Billius, take Hermione Jean to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," said Ron, grinning.

Hermione didn't think it was possible to feel any worse than she already did right now.

"And do you, Hermione Jean, take Ronald Billius to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

A deafening silence followed that went on forever. The whole world seemed to be holding its breath. Everything stopped moving for those few long, brutal seconds. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Draco standing up to leave, no longer able to watch. She couldn't lie anymore, she just couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry, Ron," she whispered, shaking her head. "But I – I just can't do this. I can't keep lying to you. I can't – I can't keep lying to myself. I'm so sorry."

She pulled off her engagement ring and put it in his hand. Ron looked completely stunned, standing like a wide-eyed statue, and his ears had turned scarlet. Hermione turned and walked quickly back up the aisle towards Draco, who stood entirely frozen. She stopped right in front of him and looked into his eyes. There were gasps and mutterings from the guests that neither Draco nor Hermione could really hear. She smiled up at him – her special smile, a smile that spoke volumes, a smile that filled him with warmth and happiness, a smile that she only had when she looked at him. Neither knew what to say, but it didn't matter. It was like they already knew what the other was thinking. Everything else seemed to fade away. It was just the two of them, his Hermione and her Draco...

And then reality came crashing back. Several things all seemed to happen in the space of a few seconds. Draco felt someone grab him by the hair and knuckles hit his face. He fell, his head hitting the ground hard, but before he could even comprehend what had happened he received a hard kick to the stomach, winding him. He tried to reach for his wand but Ron, who was bigger and stronger than him, pinned him to the ground and punched him in the face again. Draco knew his nose had been broken and he could feel warm dripping down his face. Strong hands then wrapped around his neck tightly, making it impossible to breath. The screams and yells from the guests sounded as if they were coming from miles away. All he could see was the hazy image of Ron's livid face looming above him, screaming a string of swear words.

"No, Ron!" Hermione cried. "Stop it! Get off him!"

But his hands only tightened around Draco's neck. Draco knew he was about to pass out and he was feeling too weak to free himself. Ron was blinded by an intense rage. How could Malfoy dare to turn up here, at his bloody wedding, and steal Hermione from him? He wanted to kill the stupid little git, but suddenly he felt something tug on his ankle and, before he knew it, he was lifted high into the air. Hermione rushed over and knelt beside Draco, who was coughing and spluttering on the ground.

"LET – ME – DOWN!" yelled Ron, his face turning violently red as he hung upside down in midair.

"Not until you calm down!" shouted Harry, his wand pointed at him.

Draco was gasping for breath, his vision was blurred, his head was pounding and his face was covered in blood. He could see a fuzzy shape that he knew to be Hermione leaning above him and saying something, although he couldn't hear a word. Other fuzzy faces were above him now, and he felt himself being lifted up before everything went black.