Pepper and Eir make their way outside, smiling fondly when they see Teddy and Victoire chasing one another, before they're greeted by their men at the back door. Steve and Tony are openly gaping, leaving the women to preen under their stares.

Tony is the first to break out of his speechlessness, snapping his mouth shut and smirking rather smugly as he offers Pepper his arm. "My lady," he purrs, causing Pepper to laugh and fix his black bow-tie before smoothing out a wrinkle or two on his tux.

Steve finally snaps out of his own bubble, slowly shutting his mouth as he smiles at Eir. He, too, offers his arm that Eir takes with a grin. "You can never stray for too long without the plaid, huh," she chuckles, side-eyeing him in his dark charcoal gray suit with a plaid undershirt.

"At least I can pull it off," he replies. "Even Tony was surprised."

"Yes, well, I'm really not," Eir grins as she ogles him once more. "You look really good."

Steve laughs, turning a bit to press a kiss to her temple. "Says the woman who's showing more skin than I can handle at the moment," he murmurs.

Eir laughs openly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as her cheeks burn red. Her reaction catches Tony and Pepper's attention, both of them narrowing their gazes on Eir rather suspiciously before Eir forces an innocent smile at them. Before Tony or Pepper can ask what that was all about, George appears in a rather fancy blazer jacket that's been left unbuttoned, a white undershirt, and some black slacks.

"Ladies. Gentlemen," he greets them with a mock bow. "Aren't we lot looking rather dashing and gorgeous this evening."

Tony and Steve huff a laugh while Pepper and Eir grin simultaneously. "Thank you, George," both women say. "At least someone complimented us."

"What?! We.. complimented.." Tony trails off, brows furrowing before smoothing out and a roguish grin makes a presence. "Pepper, honey, you look-"

"Stuff it, Tony," she deadpans which causes Eir to cackle.

Tony pouts and George steps in while offering both his arms to Eir and Pepper. "Hermione called me an usher. I'm to usher you to your seats so shall we?"

"We shall," Eir nods, letting go of Steve's arm and moving to take a stand at George's left elbow while Pepper latches on to his right.

Tony's pout deepens and Steve chuckles before clapping his friend on the back. "Suck it up, Stark, and let's go get our seats."

They follow in George's steps until they hit the spot where the wedding's to take place, the chosen spot looking very different than it did that morning. The Weeping Willow with it's pinkish white petals sway in a light breeze, the arch standing tall right before it. The man known as Kingsley Shacklebolt- or the Minister of Magic- is standing beneath the arch in all his yellow and black robed glory with a nervous Ron Weasley in a black and white tux.

There are two groupings of white wooden chairs- at least fifty or more on each side of the makeshift aisle- and Steve briefly wonders what happened to the small wedding. The grass beneath their feet is a rather vibrant and healthy looking green, white petals scattered over the grass of the aisle that the bride is to walk down.

Since Ron and Hermione have no wedding party standing up with them, everyone is immediately seated whenever they show up. Most of the Weasley's are seated on right side of the aisle- witches and wizards in muggle wear and robes finding their seat as the minutes dwindle down. George ushers them to the second row on the left side of the aisle, he muttering to them that they're sitting behind Hermione's parents, Ginny, and Harry. As they're seated, long metallic rod sparklers are produced from George's inner pocket before he hands them to Pepper, Eir, Tony, and Steve- telling them that once they're held up in air to make an arch for the newly wedded couple's exit, someone will magically light them.

Pepper seems excited by the idea and happily takes her seat. Since Eir is the one to have known Hermione longer, they give her the aisle seat followed by Steve, Pepper, and then Tony.

As they're seated and waiting for the wedding to start, more and more people are taking their seats. One person in particular catches Steve's attention- a witch with dark wild curls tied off to the side at the nape of her neck, a pen and pad in hand while an antique looking camera levitates near her head. Frowning at the witch's presence- a witch who appears to be a reporter that is standing on the groom's side without taking a seat- he bumps his knee with Eir's. "Who's that," he murmurs softly so only she can hear.

Eir turns to follow his gaze, brows furrowing in confusion before she figures out who it is. Turning back to Steve, she leans toward him to speak lowly. "That's Romilda Vane. She's a reporter for the Daily Prophet."

"Okay," he drawls. "Why does Hermione have a reporter at her wedding?"

Eir grins, shrugging a bit. "You read the newly recent books I purchased, yeah? The ones about the war that nearly destroyed our school and the heroes of that day?" At his his nod, Eir grins wider. "The Golden Trio, love. Two out of the three of them are tying the knot to each other so, of course, there's going to be reporters."

Again, his gaze darts back to the lone reporter. "I only see one."

"There's another one somewhere," Eir tells him. "There are two main newspapers in the Wizarding Realm- the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler- and instead of having them possibly ruin the happy day, Hermione invited two of their reporters here." She's glancing over her shoulder now, eyes searching for the second when she finds her. "Ah, there's the other," she nods discreetly which causes Steve to turn in his chair to see. "The pretty yellow blonde with curls down to her waist, that's Luna Lovegood. She's a bit on the eccentric side and now writes for her Father's paper. She's a good friend of the Golden Trio which is why she's seated and not Romilda."

"I see," Steve chuckles as he faces forward again. "Bad blood?"

"Bad blood," Eir nods. "Romilda was in Gryfindor just like Ron, Hermione, and Harry, and Romilda had a bit of an infatuation with Harry one year. She tried slipping him a love potion that was hidden in chocolate but she caught Harry at a bad time, and he ended up giving his chocolate to Ron." Steve grimaces and Eir has to bite her lip to stifle her laughter. "Hermione and Ron weren't an item at that point but Ron was a bit loopy on the potion and Hermione's never forgiven Romilda for doing that even though the potion was meant for someone else."

"I can see now why she's standing in the back."

"Exactly," Eir smothers another laugh.

Before she and Steve can start up another conversation, she sees Harry and Ginny quickly take their seat next to Mrs. Granger and a hush falls around them. The sound of violins fill the air, a song that Eir is not familiar with but stands nonetheless with the other guests. Everyone turns to face the end of aisle and Eir gasps aloud when she sees her friend.

Sure, she saw Hermione in her dress upstairs as they were getting dressed but it's a whole different vision when she's walking down the aisle with her father on her arm. Along with Hermione's brilliant jeweled dress, she wore a simple silver necklace with a dangling diamond. She smiles brilliantly at what Eir could only guess is Ron and holds a beautiful bouquet of white orchids with a mixture of purple, pink, and yellow petals, and purple tiger lilies dangling from the bottom.

As Hermione and her father slowly marched down the aisle, Eir beams proudly at her friend and even offers her a wink when Hermione catches her gaze. All too soon, Mr. Granger is giving his daughter away to her soon-to-be husband and taking his seat by his wife in front of Eir. Ron and Hermione join hands, beaming at one another as the guests all take their seat.

Kingsley is smiling proudly at the two before him, spreading his arms wide as he looks out upon the guests. "Friends. Family. I would like to welcome you as witnesses to the magical binding of Mr. Ronald Weasley and Ms. Hermione Granger."

Eir zones out after that, one ankle tucked under the other as she leans a bit away from Steve. Though as Kingsley's voice drones on, Eir's left hand mindlessly wanders until she's gripping Steve's hand and tangling their fingers together. When she feels pressure on her hand, she chances a look at Steve and finds him smiling fondly at her before he turns his attention back to the wedding taking place.

Eir gives Kingsley, Hermione, and Ron her attention once more only to find Kingsley with his wand out and a ribbon of magic slithering around Hermione and Ron's clasped hands- the ribbon of magic traveling upward to circle their forearms.

"Do you, Ronald Weasley, promise to stay faithful to Hermione? To love and encourage her through her endeavors for the rest of your life?"

"I promise."

"And do you, Hermione Granger, promise to stay faithful to Ronald? To love and encourage him through his endeavors for the rest of your life?"

"I promise."

Hermione and Ron stare and smile at one another as if they're the only two there, the magical ribbon tying them together glowing a bright gold before vanishing into their skin.

"Then by the Power granted to me by Merlin and all my ancestors- yada, yada, yada," the wedding guests all chuckle at this, including the bride and groom- the groom who looks to be near tears. "I now pronounce you man and wife. Go on, son. Kiss the bride."

Ron doesn't need to be told twice, he immediately reaching up and gently cupping Hermione's face in the palm of his hands before gently pressing his lips to her in the most chaste, yet intimate kiss that Eir has ever witnessed.

Everyone is immediately on their feet- clapping, cat calls, and wolf whistles encouraging the newly wedded couple. Eir is smiling brightly, clapping and whooping for her friend before she feels herself being pushed towards the aisle. Looking up at Steve, he rolls his eyes before hooking his thumb over his shoulder and singling out Tony.

"He's excited for the sparklers."

"Of course he is," Eir laughs.

She doesn't move any further until she sees others with their sparklers moving to line up down the aisle- she quickly noticing that the only ones with sparklers being family and a very select group of friends that she recognizes from their Hogwarts years. As she finds her spot in the line, Steve hands her a sparkler and she notices Pepper and Tony eagerly take their place on the other side of Steve. When she catches George's gaze, he nods and holds his sparkler up so she quickly does the same. When everyone catches on and hold up their sparklers out at an angle to make an arch- someone magically ignites them.

Once more, Kingsley speaks. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Ronald and Hermione Weasley."

The newly wedded couple stand side-by-side, raising their clasped hands up in the air when cheering commences once more and then they're off walking together beneath the sparks of red and gold.

..

..

Eir, Steve, Tony, and Pepper soon find themselves standing outside the tent where the wedding reception is set to start soon.

"That was quick," Pepper comments. "Lovely, but fast."

"What can I say," Eir grins. "We'd rather party than be seated for an hour or more of talking."

"I like it," Tony nods. "Your kind have the right idea."

Steve rolls his eyes all in good humor while Pepper and Eir grin. Soon enough, Eir nods towards the tent entrance and the foursome make their way inside.

Pepper is the only who has yet to see inside yet when the foursome finally enter, they're all left slightly gaping in the awe. The tent walls have a maroon glow to them, the chandelier lit brightly from it's center of attention. The paper lanterns are lit as well, glowing softly as to illuminate their floral vintage designs, and floating freely yet slowly up above.

Round tables are scattered about along the inside edges of the tent, Ron and Hermione's main table in the middle of the back wall and spaced from every other table so they're everyone's focus. The tables and chairs are draped in white, maroon ribbons tied around each of the chairs.

The center pieces catch Eir's attention, three uneven glasses sitting atop a circular mirror. Yellow glass gems fill the bottom of each glass that then is filled with water and a single orchid with a red tint to it's petals is submerged with a single lit candle sitting above it. Petals are scattered along the mirror's surface as well as a few more lit candles.

But the thing that has caught everyone else's attention- the thing that has Steve tugging on Eir's hand- is the ceiling. The ceiling of the tent which has been enchanted to mirror that of the night sky, stars twinkling so close yet so far with wisps of clouds floating above.

"Come on," Eir grins. "Let's go take our seats."

"B-but the ceiling," Tony stammers. "It's the-"

"Night sky," Eir cuts him off. "I know. I've seen magic like that before- powerful stuff- and I've only known one person to be capable of that," she says as she takes Steve by the hand and leads him to their designated table. "But since that wizard is dead, I can only assume his successor is here and enchanted the ceiling for Hermione since it was one of her favorite things about the Great Hall when we were in school."

The first part of the reception is the dinner, which of course only happens after the wedded couple is introduced to them once again. And since this is a wedding for a pure-blood and muggleborn, there's a bit of a difference than what the muggles or Hermione grew up to know.

After the dinner, it's going straight into the party and music, and there will be no Maid of Honor or Best Man speeches. There will also be no tossing of the bouquet or slinging of the garter which Tony was a bit bummed about.

When Eir finally finds their table, it's two tables away on the right from Hermione and Ron's table, and George and Charlie are seated with them. When they take their seats, Pepper and Eir are seated next to each other with Tony at Pepper's other side and Steve at Eir's. George is seated next to Tony and Charlie next to Steve.

They make small chit-chat for a bit before an announcer somewhere introduces Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Weasley, and then they're going crazy by clapping and cheering for the happy couple.

As the newly wedded couple take their seats, menus magically appear in front of each guest with three dinner choices. Platters of champagne are levitating around the room, Charlie immediately plucking glasses off and passing them out around their table while the others try to figure out what they want to eat.

"What are you getting," Eir mumbles, nudging Steve with her elbow.

"Steak and steamed veggies," he immediately replies. "You?"

"I'm torn between the chicken and roasted salmon in lemon herbs," she answers. "I don't know what to get."

"Ditto," Pepper sighs. "The chicken and salmon sound good right about now. Tony, what are you getting?"

"Steak, obviously."

Eir snorts, eyes roaming the menu and she tries to make her decision but she just can't. "Hey, Pep, you pick one and I'll pick the other. We'll be vultures and pick off each other's plate."

Pepper huffs a laugh and Eir assumes she took it as a joke so she's quite shocked when Pepper suddenly hums and agrees. "Deal. You get the chicken and I'll get the salmon."

"Deal."

Their table has gone oddly quiet and when both ladies peer up, Tony, Steve, Charlie, and George are all staring at them. "What," Eir feigns innocence. "Don't judge us just because you didn't think of it first."

The men chuckle and not so surprisingly, it's Tony who breaks their laughing streak first. "So, uh, when do we order? I'm kind of starving."

Eir rolls her eyes with a small smile and it's George who tells him how to place his order. "You see that small round circle beneath Ron and Hermione's name? The thing that looks like a speaker?" When Tony, Steve, and Pepper find said speaker, they nod. "Right, well, what you're going to want to do is speak your name and then say what plate number you want." Three pairs of eyes dart up to George very suspiciously and when they don't make a move to do as he said, George huffs and picks up his menu. Watch." Clearing his throat, he puts the menu right before his mouth. "George Weasley, plate three," he announces clearly, picking out the steak and veggies.

As he sets down his menu, said plate of steak and veggies appear from thin air right before him.

"I love magic," Tony breathes in awe before excitedly picking up his own menu. "Tony Stark, plate three."

Just as George did, Tony sets down his menu and watches as seconds later his plate of food appears. There's a sharp intake of breath from Eir's left and when she turns to Steve, he's staring slack jawed at Tony eagerly cutting into his steak.

"Go on," Eir tells him. "You know you're eager to order now."

Steve's slack jawed expression quickly turns into a sheepish smile as he, too, places his order for the steak and veggies. Eir continues to watch his expression as it shifts into something that appears like child-like glee when his food appears before finally giving Pepper her attention. Though when she turns to Pepper, she laughs as she sees a plate of salmon already sitting in front of Pepper.

"Mmmm," Pepper hums around her fork, eyes closing in what Tony would call a food-gasm. "You really need to try this," she says once her eyes are back open and staring at Eir. "It's so good!"

"Yeah yeah," Eir huffs a laugh. "You could have waited, like, five more seconds," she grins before she orders her own plate of chicken.

..

..

Eir and Pepper are conversing between one another, sipping the last of their champagne and letting their stomach settle with the food they've finished minutes before. They're chuckling about how Charlie and George conspired with Steve and Tony to get themselves more food from the house elves who had been hired to cater to the wedding, and who had been stationed in another tent on the other side of the Burrow.

Apparently, the house elves adored Steve's charming self and gave him whatever he wanted while the other three had to mooch off of Steve's new-found adoration from the elves.

During their dinner, there had been a constant line of people waiting to greet and address the wedded couple as they ate, and it was only after Eir had finished her food did she see a lull in the greetings. She thought about giving them time to actually enjoy their food and eat but it seemed that they were done as well.

When no-one made a move to address the couple, Eir figured she'd give it a shot. Turning to Steve, she leans in to murmur, "I'm going to go congratulate the couple. Want to come with?"

Steve, who had been talking to Charlie about dragons, shakes his head. "N-no, I'm fine. Tell them congratulations for me, will you?"

Eir quickly nods, pecking his cheek before standing and smoothing out the skirt of her dress. With as much skin she's showing, especially her inner forearms, Eir is surprised that no-one has been caught staring at her arms given her past.

She easily makes her way up to Ron and Hermione's table, Ron's eyes quickly latching on to her but instead of seeing his usual malice, there's something akin to amusement when he sees her. "Oi, Banning! Come here," he quickly waves her closer, Hermione's form slightly shaking from laughter as she shakes her head in amusement at her husband.

"Yes," Eir's lip twitch.

"How did your table get seconds? I'm blimey starving and the elves won't give me more food! Can you believe that?! It's my wedding and they refused me!"

"It was all Steve," Eir answers him with a laugh. "Apparently even the house elves can't resist that old school charm." Ron pouts, his arm resting lazily on the back of Hermione's chair. "But if you want, I can get Steve to go round up something from them. Of course it'd have to be after Charlie's done talking about his work in Romania." She shakes her head fondly. "I swear, it was a bad idea to sit Tony and Steve with your brothers."

Ron laughs, shaking his head fondly as well, Hermione smiling all the while that her friend and husband could actually hold a conversation now. "No, it's fine. I'm sure there will be some left over after the party is done."

"Yeah." The conversation lulls for a bit before Eir seems to snap out of her mind, eyes widening as she looks at the two of them. "Congratulations, by the way," she laughs. "Steve says congrats as well. That's what I meant to tell you two when I walked over here but, well, Ron started talking about food."

"When isn't he," Hermione snorts.

"Oi!"

Eir and Hermione laugh, Eir fidgeting from foot to foot when she realizes people are now making their way towards the wedded couple's table again. "Well, I better go," she tells them. "Let's see if I can get Steve to dance with me tonight."

With a wink and smile, Eir leaves Hermione and Ron's table but instead of going straight back to her own, she gets side-tracked by a platter of floating champagne. Though as she reaches for a flute, there's a harsh bump delivered to her left shoulder from the side.

"Oops," a voice coos sickeningly sweet.

Eir bites her tongue to keep from blurting out something sarcastic and plasters on a smile to tell the intruder not to worry about it but the second she makes eye contact with the person, her smile thins. "Romilda," she deadpans in greeting.

"Banning," she greets back with a forced smile though her eyes tell a different story. "I'm surprised you were invited."

"Really? I'm not," Eir grits out through clenched teeth as she feels herself go tense. For some reason, she and Romilda were never compatible in school and it seems they still felt the same way after all these years. "After all, Hermione is one of my best friends."

"Yes, well, she's a silly muggleborn. She's excused."

"Excuse me?!" Eir's form goes even more tense, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Are you really calling the bride a silly muggleborn? Why are you even here, Vane?"

"I was invited, of course. I'm here to cover the wedding of one of our world's mightiest heroes." She practically swoons and it doesn't take a genius to know her gaze quickly darts to Ron. She might have been infatuated with Harry at one point but somehow, that infatuation moved on to Ron and hasn't budged since then.

"Don't you mean two of our heroes," Eir huffs, crossing her arms over her chest, cocking her hip to one side and arching her eyebrow as if challenging the witch. She doesn't care about not making a scene anymore. Romilda just pissed her off and as an act of revenge, Eir knows which button to press. "After all, I still don't see why your presence was required. Ms. Lovegood is very capable of covering the wedding and making an excellent column out of it. I can't say the same for you, though."

Romilda's eyes widen, the tips of her ears reddening in her sudden anger. While Romilda might be a Vane, she's also vain and thinks her work far more superior than any other. "Oh, what do you know, you filthy deatheater?!"

Eir smirks triumphantly, letting her arms fall to her side. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not marked. Therefore, I am not a deatheater."

It took a while but eventually, Steve and Pepper and surprisingly Natasha drilled it into her head that she's not a deatheater nor an ex-deatheater. She's just Eir- an amazing and talented witch.

Romilda squawks in outrage and in a move that Eir hadn't been thinking on too much, because they are in a room full of people, she produces her wand while taking a step back and points it in Eir's direction. Luckily for Romilda, Eir's wand in currently sitting in the inside pocket of Steve's jacket but unluckily for Romilda, Eir doesn't need it. "Finite Incantatem!"

Eir doesn't know what Romilda intended to do but since she wasn't wholly concentrating on just Eir, the cancellation spells cancels quite a bit around them. Several platters of levitating champagne crash to the floor, glasses shattering and gaining everyone's attention. Even the music is cut off.

"There," Romilda sneers. "Now everyone can see you once again for what you truly are. A deatheater."

Eir's smirks forms into a full blown smile, her hands coming up to rest on her hip. "You were saying?"

Romilda's eyes dart to Eir's forearms, the witch even going as far as gripping Eir's left wrist and yanking her arm forward. "W-what.. how.. what did you do?!" She has the audacity to snarl in anger. "Glamour charms don't stand a chance against the cancellation spell!"

"Do we have a problem here?" Hermione's controlled voice rings loud and clear in the silence of the party. When Eir peers over her shoulder at her long time friend, she finds Pepper, Tony, and even Steve flanking the silently fuming bride.

And right away, Romilda is quick to hide her anger. "Of course not, Hermione. We're just catching up."

"Really," Tony scoffs, the anger clear in his glare that's directed to where Romilda is still gripping Eir's wrist. "That grip you have on my sister says otherwise."

Eir blinks rather owlishly, surprised at being called Tony's sister that she misses the pleased smiles of both Steve and Pepper at her reaction. Romilda hastily lets go, taking a step back and holstering her wand before leaving her hands at her sides. "No.. no. It's just a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding or not," Hermione's cool tone lets everyone who knows her that she's barely holding onto her temper. "You were here to take pictures and enough gossip for your so-called column. You were not invited to harass my guests," she states matter of factly.

Romilda's facade instantly drops, her hands coming to rest atop her hips as she sneers at those before her. "Gossip," she huffs. "You better believe that the Prophet will report how Gryfindor's beloved Princess consorts with deatheaters."

Hermione goes tense, her eyes blazing as she takes a threatening step forward. It takes Eir stepping in Hermione's line of vision and Pepper's hand on Hermione's shoulder to stop her as well as the words that flow from Pepper's mouth.

"Actually, you can't." All eyes dart to Pepper, the strawberry blonde smirking quite mischievously and shrugging nonchalantly. "What? It's not like it's going to stay mum when she takes her first mission." Tony and Steve share a look, talking mentally before they shrug and relax, and they eye Pepper so she knows she can continue. With her smirk turning into a triumphant innocent smile, Pepper turns back to Romilda. "Eir Banning is officially signed up under the Avengers Initiative. Any type of slandering of said Avengers and those under contract will result in a very expensive lawsuit for the losing party. You wouldn't want to be out of a job and bankrupt, do you?"

Hermione relaxes under Pepper's hand and soon enough, once Eir's wrapped her mind around Pepper's word, Romilda is faced with five smug smiles. Face growing hot in anger and embarrassment, she stomps her foot rather childishly. "Fine then! I'll be sure to tell my readers what a bore the wedding was and how horrible the hosts treated their guests."

"You do that," Hermione reaches forward, looping an arm with Eir's. "I'm sure Luna will write a far better column and make sure that your boss gets a copy of all of our memories to see how his columnist acts at such events. Now get out. You're ruining the bride's happy vibe."

Romilda squawks in outrage yet again but before she can speak, Ginny and Fleur practically appear from thin air with their arms crossed over their chests and block Romilda's path. "I believe the bride has spoken," Ginny comments. "Now leave before my sister-in-law unleashes her inner Veela on you."

Romilda's gaze suddenly darts towards Fleur, color suddenly draining from her face. Jaw clenched in anger, Romilda huffs before turning on spot and marching out of the reception with Ginny and Fleur behind her just to make sure she leaves and doesn't come back in.

Hermione makes a motion with her hand, the music suddenly blaring once more before Eir turns sheepish as she faces her friend. "Herms, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- she just.."

"It's okay," Hermione's hands fall on Eir's shoulders, keeping Eir in place and angling her friend to face her head on. "Romilda gets under my skin, too. You don't need to apologize." Steve finally comes to stand at Eir's side, his arm snaking around Eir's waist. "Now go on. Enjoy the rest of the night and I fully expect to see the lot of you," her gaze quickly darts up to Steve before trailing over Pepper and Tony, "-on the dance floor soon."

Eir closes the gap between herself and Hermione, hugging her friend tightly. "It's going to take a miracle to get them out on the dance floor, just so you know, but I'll still try."

"As will I," Hermione murmurs next to her ear, pulling back and beaming at Eir.

Hermione is quick to rejoin her husband and assure him that all is well while Steve guides Eir back to their table that is now empty with Tony and Pepper following. It's only when Tony finds them all drinks and passes them out does he finally ask what's on his mind.

"So Fleur is a Veela, huh?"

Lips twitching in amusement, Eir nods as she sips her champagne. "Only half, though. She doesn't fully shift but she is scarily protective."

"I have the sudden urge to test her abilities."

"Please don't," Pepper groans. Eir and Steve laugh at Pepper's predicament with Tony before Pepper gives up on distracting Tony and asks a question of her own. "So what did that woman want and why did she cause a scene?"

"Romilda Vane is a hateful bint who holds a grudge against all ex-deatheaters," Eir shrugs as if saying what could I do. "My presence here and the fact that I attacked her writing capabilities set her off and she wanted to show everyone here just exactly who and what they were dealing with. Too bad for her I have the Queen of Asgard on my side."

"Oh man," Tony suddenly comes out of his metal musings. "I hope someone got her reaction on camera. That was just awesome."

..

..

Several champagne flukes later, Eir and Pepper are giggling uncontrollably with Steve watching on very amused. Tony, surprisingly, isn't as tipsy as the ladies and is greatly enjoying the fact that he's not going to be the one to wake up hungover the following morning.

In between being plied with alcohol and not so subtly passing gossip to her equally tipsy friend, Eir forgets her mission to get Steve on the dance floor. But luckily for her, Hermione hadn't.

As the current song playing comes to an end, the crowd on the dance floor starts to trickle back to their seats when a new melody doesn't take it's place. Instead, Hermione takes a stand by her husband at the table and presses the tip of her wand to her throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends," her voice is loud and clear as if she were speaking through a megaphone. "I know it isn't customary during a wizarding wedding for any type of speech to be given during the reception but since I am muggleborn, well I'm going to change things up a bit."

Family and friends chuckle at her words, everyone now paying close attention as to what the bride has to say.

"There is no subtle way of saying this so will Mr. Rogers and Ms. Banning please get their arses out on the dance floor?" There's a very feminine whoop that comes from the table Steve and Eir are sitting at, Steve laughing with his face pressed into the palms of his hands as Eir is the one cheering, and the other guests chuckling at Hermione's choice of words. Pepper and Tony eventually pull Eir and Steve out of their chairs and nudge them onto the dance floor, Steve blushing at being the center of attention. "Steve, Eir promised she'd get you out on the floor but since she got a bit carried away with the champagne, well that mission fell to me." Steve tries to glare at Hermione but he ends up laughing again and shaking his head in amusement at her. "Now, if you've been paying attention, the music selection is a mix between muggle and wizardry. And believe it or not, I found the perfect song for the two of you."

Hermione's smug grin turns to someone on the other side of the room, music once more filling the air once she gives the signal. As the low sound of crickets chirping and a slow pace of an acoustic guitar fills the air, Steve sighs and gathers a giggling Eir in his arms, letting her wrap her arms around his neck. His hands fall down to her waist and it all feels a bit childish but with the way Eir's glassy eyes are sparkling up at him, he's very glad Hermione called them out to do this.

"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds.
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn, and dream of what I need.
I need a hero."

Steve and Eir crack simultaneous grins as they sway from side to side, Eir's head falling forward so her forehead rests on his left shoulder as Steve's hands move from her hips to clasp together at the small of Eir's back.

"I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night.
He's gotta be strong, he's gotta be fast,
and he's gotta be fresh from the fight."

"Hermione really did find the perfect song, eh?"

Steve's chest rumbles with laughter as Eir then turns her head to the side so her cheek is now pressed to his shoulder, her own arms coming down to wrap around Steve's waist. "I think she did this on purpose."

"Oh, she did. I wanted to dance with you sometime tonight but I didn't know if I could drag you out here on my own. You are a bit shy especially when around new people."

Scoffing, Steve turns his gaze down to Eir. "I am not shy. If I was shy, I'd have serious performance issues when I'm helping saving the world."

Eir giggles uncontrollably for a second, Steve grasping Eir's hands in his own before taking a step back and letting one hand drop, and using the other to twirl Eir away from him before bringing her back so that her back rests against his chest. With her skirt billowing out around her legs with the twirl, Eir throws her head back and laughs as a couple of flashes go off around them just as Steve nuzzles the side of her face from behind. As she quickly glances around, the wizard photographer Hermione had for the wedding is snapping a few shots of them as well as Tony who had pulled out a camera from Merlin-knows-where.

"Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasies,
somewhere just beyond my reach there's
someone reaching back for me.
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat,
isn't there a superman to sweep me off my feet?"

Again, Steve moves to twirl Eir though when she comes back to him they're chest to chest, one arm moving down to hold her waist while his free hand holds one of hers, and then dips her back gracefully.

"Why, Mr. Rogers, you do have some moves."

Steve laughs again once Eir's settled back on her feet and in his arms, the two of them swaying peacefully to the music. From his peripheral vision, he sees that other couples are starting to join them on the dance floor and when he takes a moment to look at them, he realizes he knows some of them. Pepper has managed to wrangle Tony into dancing as well as Ginny and Harry, Fleur and Bill, Hermione and Ron, and various other couples.

Eir's head lands back on his shoulder, her face turned towards he crook of his neck as his chin rests lightly against her head. "Have I told you lately how much I love you," she murmurs into his neck. Steve hums in acknowledgment though Eir doesn't know what he means by that. "I do, you know, love you."

"And I love you, too," he murmurs contently, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.

They continue to sway to the most cheesiest songs they've possibly ever heard but Eir finds it quite soothing and that it sets just the right atmosphere for what she's about to tell him. "You saved me, you know?" Steve tenses against her but she continues to plow on and not let him interrupt. "If it hadn't been for you walking into my life, I'd probably have adopted numerous cats and became a hermit once more, and I'm so grateful for you and all that you've done. So just.. thank you."

"It's a two-way street, darling," Steve finally manages to speak. "We saved each other. Anyone who knew me would have said that I was okay before I met you but something always felt like it was missing. It wasn't until I met you and subtly bribed you into becoming my friend that I truly felt alive. Well, meeting you and then finding out you were a witch and you finding out I was Captain America," he laughs. "Finding out each other's secret identities was quite a relief."

Eir grins against the skin of Steve's neck, pulling back just enough and straightening up so she can look him in the eye. "Ditto."

Leaning forward, Eir closes the gap between their lips, keeping the kiss sweet and honest given the audience they currently had but pouring just enough emotion into the kiss so Steve knows exactly how grateful she is to have him.

"I need a hero.
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light."


Ugh. I well aware the ending was abrupt and.. suckish but fear not! There's an epilogue which will be posted tomorrow :) And, of course, it's somewhat cheesy. I just really like happy endings, okay?!

When ever I get my fic ideas, it always starts with a song. I listen to my iPod and then a certain song will stick out and BAMM!, I have my fic and I start planning chapters. For this particular story, I listened to "Holding Out For a Hero" by Ella Mae Bowen. It's a remake of the original and yeah, you just really need to listen to it. I always thought the song was cheesy/hilarious but the remake of it, it's just so amazing!