Chapter 10: Enchanted Rose Question
The rouged petals shimmered as Neville entered Hermione's office, noting how she regarded him with a warm, tender smile as she circled the desk to greet him.
"Hey." She pecked his lips chastely, fingering a petal on the flower curiously. "What's that you've got there?"
In answer, Neville held out the plant to her, dropping down to one knee and also holding a ring box aloft. Understanding dawning, Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth in astonishment.
"Hermione Jean Granger Weasley, Madame Minister, will you marry me?"
Hermione's eyes shimmered even more brightly than the rose, the light catching her unshed tears. She beamed warmly, lovingly, even as her heart raced, trying to work up a response. She hadn't been expecting this.
When nothing happened for a moment, Neville shrugged. "It's all right if you put it off for now. I was just..."
"Yes, I will." Hermione's voice pinged in a whisper.
Neville broke out smiling. "What?"
"Yes." she said again, nodding her head firmly. "Yes." Then, inspired, she reached for her purse. "Let's get married right now."
She guided her confused fiancé down into the bowels of the Ministry, entering the chambers where the Wizgamot was convening. The wigged jurists stood for her at attention. Hermione approached Dennis Creevey, their head.
"Your Honor, I would like to take this man as my husband, if you please."
Dennis scrambled to conduct the ceremony. Neville helped Hermione put on the engagement ring and they exchanged improvised vows. Standing before the judge, Dennis declared Neville and Hermione husband and wife, and they sealed their marriage with a gentle kiss.
Of course, Hermione also wanted to conduct a traditional church wedding. Their friends went into a tizzy over the news that they were engaged. They didn't have to know that the nuptials had already commenced. To Neville and Hermione's great surprise, Molly Weasley offered them the Burrow to host the ceremony.
Hermione gaped at her ex-mother-in-law. "Molly, I don't want to feel like you have any obligation towards me."
Molly just smiled at her tenderly. "You were married to my son, dear. And I've always thought of you as another one of my children. Besides, it's him I'm more mad at." She needn't identify Ron.
Sensing something in her eyes, Neville decided to preemptively ask for one condition: "I beg of you, be kind to Luna, Molly. And Ron, too." His voice held a plea, but his eyes held a warning. And Molly Weasley noticed. She nodded.
The wedding was held on a lovely spring day. Hermione's parents had passed away from cancer a short time ago, so it was left to Harry to give the bride away. Passing golden bands to each other, Neville and Hermione exchanged vows - planned this time - with Hermione's saved for last.
She beamed at her groom adoringly. "You waited forever for me. And we've come a long way to get here. Well, no more waiting. I love you. I know it might seem simple, but I love you." She took a deep breath and confessed with conviction, "I love my husband."
Two minutes later, that statement was no longer premature.
At the reception, Neville and Hermione received Ron and Luna warmly, the latter holding their toddler daughter in her arms. They would be married in the fall. Taking her ex-husband aside, Hermione spoke with him privately.
"I forgive you," she cleared the air once and for all. "And for all that's happened between us, I don't regret being with you when I was. We were meant to be friends, even married for a short time... but nothing more." She was secretly glad that she and Ron had never gotten pregnant; a child would have made the upheavals all the more complicated. She peered up into his face. "Do you regret being with me?"
His answer was immediate. "No." He gave her an easy smile. "You could do a bloody lot worse than, Neville. You already have," and he gestured at himself self-deprecatingly.
Hermione smirked, glancing in Luna's direction. "Treat her better," she implored softly.
"I will," Ron murmured low. He then sent her a lopsided grin. "Luna's pregnant again. You'll be godmother? And Neville as godfather? No one better."
Hermione beamed, very touched. "Of course." Smiling gently, the former couple shared a chaste kiss goodbye. And the newlyweds then left for their honeymoon.
Hagrid was off exploring with Grawp for the season - a sabbatical, he termed it - and had graciously offered Neville and Hermione his cabin as a place to stay for their first night before their trip. There, kissing hungrily, husband and wife undressed each other, Neville unclipping Hermione's hair so that her brown locks cascaded down her shoulders in ringlets. Falling back onto Hagrid's more-than-big enough bed, Neville and Hermione made love, consummating their marriage. The marriage they should have been in all along.