Well this is it: the wedding chapter! Apologies for some of the slushiness and some cheesy lines. My sister kept making retching sounds when she read some parts but I insisted on keeping them in. There's only the epilogue to go now and then this is finished. Look out for some of my other stuff which I'll be working on after this. I've got several things planned: another long fic, a few shorter ones, including one with a very strange pairing, several oneshots and additions to War Isn't Over When It Ends and a couple of Scrubs fics as well.
Thanks to all the reviewers and people who've added this to their faves and alerts!
"Are there enough seats?" Hermione asked as Juliet helped her with her veil.
"Yes, more than enough. Hagrid's got four to himself and there are still some spare."
"Good, because my Gran can't be standing up. Oh, and is her seat at the end of a row?"
"Yes, Harry's sent everyone to the right seats. He's learnt your seating plan off by heart!"
"What about reporters? Even if most of them are being nice about us now, I still don't want any here"
"Hermione, calm down. Harry, Bernard and I have sorted everything. Today's going to be perfect," Juliet said, smoothing the veil over Hermione's unusually tidy hair, which she'd had charmed into ringlets by one of Diagon Alley's best beauticians. As soon as Harry had announced his support for the couple in the pub, Hermione and Neville had been getting hundreds of owls a day. Some were just from people apologising for being rude to them, but mostly from businesses wanting to help with the wedding in some way. They'd taken advantage of a couple of the offers, such as the beautician, which Hermione hadn't even thought about until then, but on the whole they'd stuck to their original plan.
"I know," Hermione smiled. "You've done a fantastic job. Thank you."
"No problem. I can't believe you and Nev are getting married!"
"Well, you predicted it, so you should be able to" Hermione laughed. "You told me that Nev was going to propose!"
"And remember how you reacted? You broke a teacup and then said you'd say no!"
"Then I changed my mind and said I would," Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, you were an indecisive wreck," Juliet teased. "I'm only joking," she said as Hermione opened her mouth to argue.
"Never tease a nervous bride," Hermione laughed. "Not unless you want me to cry or shout or both!"
"Sorry! Well after everything that happened after I told you, with Bernard and everything," she smiled sadly, "the way you got through that just shows how perfect you two are for each other."
"That's a better thing to say to a bride," Hermione smiled.
"Good. I really mean it too," she said. "So what's going to happen in school next year? Are you going to live together next year? And are you going to be Professor Granger or Professor Longbottom?"
"I don't know yet," Hermione said, avoiding eye contact. "Are we finished?" she asked the beautician, who was starting to pack her brushes away. "What do you think, Julie?"
"Oh Hermione," Juliet gasped. "You look beautiful! Neville's so lucky!"
"I don't scrub up too badly, do I?" Hermione laughed.
"'Too badly?' You look amazing," Hermione's mother said, stepping into the tent where they were changing. "Sorry I took so long to get here! We had to make sure Aunt Daisy didn't wander away from the organ. She'll never find it again if she does! I'm so proud of you, darling. You look just like I did on my wedding day! And Juliet, you look lovely too."
"Thanks," Juliet said, blushing. "I think I'll just go and check on Harry and Aunt Daisy and leave you two alone for a minute. See you in a bit."
"So," Hermione's mother said, "my daughter's getting married! Nervous?"
"A little," Hermione admitted. "It's a big deal, but I'm excited too. I can't wait for married life with Nev!"
"I think he's the one for you," her mother smiled. "I've had a good feeling about him ever since he sent us a letter about going to his Gran's for Christmas. Your dad's just gone to give him The Talk about looking after you, but I don't think he needs it."
"Oh Mum! Why didn't you stop him? The last thing we need is Dad scaring Nev before the wedding! And he knows not to accidentally break any important news to Bernard doesn't he?"
"Yes, he knows. I reminded him before he went in. And I wouldn't worry about Nev," her mum laughed. "I think your dad's just after a quick drink, rather than lecturing Neville. He loves that buttercream stuff."
"Butterbeer," Hermione corrected her. "I hope that's all they're doing. I don't want poor Nev to be walking down the aisle shaking!"
...
"Thanks for finding this, Bernard," Neville said, raising his glass of butterbeer.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione's father said. "I love this drink. Ever since Christmas I've been trying to find a similar one outside the wizarding world, but I haven't had any luck."
"You'll be easy to buy for at Christmas then, Neil," Neville laughed. "There's going to be plenty at the bar at the reception too."
"Great," Neil smiled. "Now, I'm meant to be giving you the scary father talk, but I don't need to tell you to treat my little girl well, do I? You've been doing well so far and I know you'll be just as good in the future."
"Of course I will," Neville said. "I'm going to be proud to call her my wife, Neil and I'm going to carry on treating her with the love and respect she deserves."
"And I'm going to be proud to call you my son-in-law," Neil said warmly. "I'd better be off to see her now. I'm sure she has some precise way she wants me to walk her down the aisle!"
"He seems nice," Bernard said, when Neil had left.
"Yeah, he is," Neville smiled. "I could have much worse."
"I have to meet Julie's father over the summer. Apparently he's this old, grumpy professor type. He's helping us with our research and if he likes me, he might help us get our findings published."
"Oh, well that's good," Neville said. "So why do you sound like you're dreading it?"
"Well, he's going to hate me, isn't he? Even if Julie hasn't told him about how I was a terrible, emotionally unstable, childish boyfriend, Jennifer will have and he's going to hate me for upsetting his daughter. Never mind that that whole incident showed me that I had to change. Never mind that I treat Julie with the respect she deserves now, not that fake charm and politeness, and that I think she's brilliant. He's still not going to like me because I made her cry a few months ago."
"Bernard, you're one of the nicest, most sincere men I know. You can make anyone like you. You've even made Hermione come round, and she's one of the most stubborn people I know. She hated you a few months ago but now she considers you a close friend," Neville said.
"Sorry," Bernard said, blushing. "It's your wedding day, and you're listening to me moan. I didn't even think about that until you mentioned Hermione."
"It's fine," Neville smiled. "I can't have an unhappy best man, can I?"
"Just don't let me mope and ruin your day," Bernard said. "I can worry about it whenever I want over the summer, but today is too important for little things like that. You're a great friend though, Nev; you comforted me on your own wedding day. Thanks for being there all these years, and thanks in advance for being there in future."
Neville smiled, although his eyes looked worried.
"You're going to be a fantastic husband," Bernard continued, "and I couldn't be happier for you and Hermione. Like Harry said, you're perfect for each other, and you're going to have a wonderful marriage."
"Everyone's seated and waiting, Neville," his gran said, poking her head through the tent flaps.
"Where's Harry?" Neville asked. Harry was the one in charge of putting people in their seats and letting them know when to start.
"He's been given the job of holding Aunt Daisy down on the organ stool," his gran said. "Total nutcase, that one!"
"Are Mum and Dad here?" Neville asked.
"Yes, they're very excited. They've had to bring an extra two Healers down, just in case something happens. They'd be proud of you if they understood what was going on," she said, and Neville was surprised to see tears in her eyes. The only emotion he'd ever seen his gran show was anger when she'd told him off when he was a child. "I'm proud of you too. When I see you and Hermione, it's just like seeing your parents when they were young. You're a good boy, Neville."
"Thanks Gran," Neville said, clearing his throat. "We'd better get going then, hadn't we?"
As Neville stepped out of the tent, he was taken aback for a moment by the way the field looked. When he'd gone in the tent to get dressed, it'd just been a plain field. His friends had obviously worked hard on it since then though, as there were flowers growing which weren't there before, all various shades of pink and red and they'd made an arch out of two leaning trees with colourful blossoms.
"It was an old multicoloured fancy dress wig," Bernard said quietly, as they made their way to the front. "Some of Juliet's best work."
Even more colourful than the flowers was the congregation. Neville's family and the Hogwarts teachers were wearing long robes of various colours and patterned capes, while the Muggles looked much cooler in the sun wearing bright summer dresses or colourful shirts and ties. Jennifer, who had brought the Slytherin Head Boy, Tom with her was bridging the gap between the wizards' and the Muggles' clothing in a red sundress and a gold cape and matching pointy hat.
Aunt Daisy began to play something which vaguely resembled the wedding march on the organ in the corner (formerly a child's keyboard, according to Bernard) and Hermione began her walk down the aisle. The rest of the colour in the field faded to grey in Neville's eyes, while Hermione's sparkling brown eyes, glossy dark hair and bright white dress became even more colourful. As she came to stand opposite him, he noticed she was wearing the bracelet he'd got her for Christmas. Taking her hand, he ran his finger along the inside where the inscription was. I love you.
The Ministry official began the service with a Muggle prayer, which Hermione had insisted on to keep her older relatives happy. Then they moved onto the vows, which they'd written themselves in keeping with wizarding tradition. Hermione went first.
"Just over a year ago, I was in desperate need of friends. I found you, and I'm so glad I did. You were one of the best friends I've ever had, and that's why I'm so happy that we've ended up falling in love. I'm sure that there's no one more perfect for me than you. That's why I'm going to do my best to make our married life perfect. I know sometimes it's going to be difficult, but I promise to do my best in every aspect of it. I love you Neville; I can't wait to start this new stage of our life together."
Neville felt choked up. He'd had no idea Hermione was going to write something like that. She wasn't usually as gushy and sentimental as that. It made him feel honoured that she could open up like that for him. Clearing his throat, he started to read his vows.
"Hermione, I've been trying to find the words to explain how I feel about you ever since I met you again last summer. I know I failed miserably when I first told you I loved you and although I did better when I proposed, I'm sure you remember that I said I still couldn't properly find the words but I'd try to by the wedding. Well, here we are and I'm sorry to say I still can't find the words to say how much I love you. I've been thinking about it though and I came to the conclusion that I'm struggling because there aren't any words that exist that could come close to helping me express the enormity of my love for you. I decided then that because I can't tell you how much I love you, I'm going to show you how much I do, every day for the rest of our lives."
"I already know how much you love me," she whispered, tears streaming down her face, "and I love you just as much, if not more, if that's possible."
They exchanged their wedding rings, which were made by goblins and were invisible until after the marriage register was signed, when they glowed gold. After a rendition of Morning Has Broken with a strangely jazzy organ part, Hermione and Neville walked back down the aisle as man and wife, hand in hand, as confetti rained down on them.
Juliet transfigured the chairs into tables, which Hermione insisted on pushing together so that everyone was sat around one big table. When the food was finished and everyone had convinced Hagrid to eat all the leftovers, Hermione's father stood up to make a speech.
"I know you said you didn't want any speeches, but I just want to tell you two how happy I am for you both. We had a few stressful situations earlier," he said, pointing at his tie, which was exactly the same colour as Juliet's pink bridesmaid's dress. "It's not a coincidence," he laughed. "But anyway, we got there in the end. I'm sure everyone will agree that it was a beautiful service and we should thank Bernard, Juliet and Harry for that." He paused, while everyone clapped. "So, if everyone could raise their glasses to Neville and Hermione."
"To Neville and Hermione," the crowd chorused.
"One more thing, before you go back to chatting and everything," Harry said. "I just want to offer my congratulations to Hermione and Nev and also to ask everyone here to do something for them. I'm sure you all saw the news of my outburst in the Daily Prophet a couple of months ago. You're all friends with our happy couple and I want you to make sure they're treated with the kindness and respect they deserve. There are still some people who might try and give them a hard time. Don't let them. Let next year be a much more pleasant one for them. Congratulations you two!"
The crowd clapped and got up to leave the table to dance to the music that had just started.
"Actually," Neville said, "we've got an announcement to make too. Thank you for what you just said, Harry. People have been much kinder to us in the past few months, although you're right: there are a few who are still pretty nasty. We want to have a child in the next year or so and we can see that some people will use that as an excuse to start giving out more abuse."
"So," Hermione said, "we've decided we're going to move to France for a few years. My family has a place in the countryside and we think it's the ideal place to raise a child, away from people who might cause us problems." She looked around the crowd and was pleased to see that Bernard and Juliet didn't look angry, although they did seem a bit upset.
"We'll still be around though," Neville said. "We'll be apparating back every month or so to visit my parents so we'll still see you all, just not as often."
The shock started to wear off after a minute or so and everyone began clapping and offering their support. Hermione and Neville were pleased. They were worried their friends would be angry with them for leaving, but they were very understanding.
The music started up again and everyone formed a circle around Hermione and Neville, who began their first dance as husband and wife against the backdrop of the sunset.
"We've done it, Nev," Hermione smiled.
"And I couldn't be happier," Neville replied. "I love you, Mrs Longbottom."
