Hey guys. Yes. I do suck at promises. This is why I shouldn't keep them. Sorry for the long break again, but this time I have a ligit reason…lots of drama going on. Ah well. I'm in the mood to type an epic chapter so here goes. Hope you love it ((: and I'm sorry its soo long.
Niharika xx
"Hermione…wake up…" Hermione woke up, hearing someone's voice, obviously bored, asking her to get up. She pretended to be asleep, wanting to see Ginny's reaction to her not waking up, "Hermione seriously…" Hermione felt a small smile on her face and thanked heavens she was asleep on her side, facing away from Ginny, "Seriously…growing old here…" Hermione chuckled, and quickly realized her mistake. Ginny realized it too, "HERMIONE! GOD you've been awake this WHOLE time and you couldn't even bother to…WHAT?!" Ginny screeched in reaction to Hermione's laughter.
Hermione sat up and hugged her best friend, who tried to scotch away from her, a joke, "Aww Gin no need to be so upset, it was a joke." Hermione aimed a cheeky smile at Ginny, who cracked, and smiled back at Hermione.
"Hermione. You have to get ready. It's your wedding day." Hermione froze. She had honestly forgotten that today was the day. She had forgotten about her excitement from the previous night. She'd forgotten about her irritation about not being able to see Draco for 24 hours before the wedding. She had forgotten sitting around with her mother, talking about wedding night lingerie, one of the most, scratch that, the most embarrassing night of Hermione's life.
She turned to face Ginny, who was smiling widely, "You ready?" Hermione rolled her eyes. Is anyone ever ready for the biggest day of their lives?
Draco's eyes opened with a snap the morning of his wedding. He sat up, and a slow smile spread across his face. This afternoon, he thought, I'm going to get married to the love of my life, and be with her forever.
Draco felt a girlish squeal rise in his throat and turned to bury his face in his pillow, to squeal his heart out. He sat up after a few minutes, glad that none of his guy friends had seen that. In fact, he was glad nobody had seen that. He heard a thud, and turned around, to see Willy and Periwinkle sitting in the doorway, the ringbox on the floor next to them.
Periwinkle had taken to staying at Draco's house, with permission of Hermione, as this would soon be his new home. They had arranged living plans, and had quickly agreed that Hermione would be moving into the Manor, and her apartment would be up for sale. It had already been sold, pretty quickly, to a lovely old muggle lady who had had her eyes on the apartment for years. Hermione had sold it to her, and was spending her last night as a single lady in her apartment, which would be the little old lady's tomorrow.
Draco picked up the ring box and put it on the dresser, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He heard the doorbell ring and ran down the stairs in a flight of happiness. He opened the door enthusiastically, only to be let down by seeing Harry, Ron, and Erik. He had known he would not be able to see Hermione until the wedding, but for some reason, it hadn't registered in his head.
"HAPPY WEDDING DAY!" the three guys said in unison, in a sing-song manner, Erik enthusiastically, Ron in an embarrassed way, and Harry in an irritated way, making Draco smile. They were all so different from each other, but some how, they had ended up the best of friends. How it had happened, he would never know.
"Ugh. Ginny. I think you've done enough make up for one wedding…" Hermione was getting irritable, Ginny had been working on her face for almost 2 hours, and she hadn't even seen it in the mirror. She had no idea whether she looked pretty, she didn't know if she looked ugly, she didn't know if she looked like a raccoon. All she knew was that she regretted asking Ginny to do her make up.
"Oh shut up Hermione. It's your wedding day! There are going to be pictures around forever and ever. You want to look gorgeous!"
"I want to look gorgeous, but I also want to look like a HUMAN." Hermione looked up at Ginny, who was scowling down at her.
"You will look HUMAN. You'll just look sexier than before. No need to get your knickers in a twist…" Ginny said, before finally closing her make up box, "I'm done anyways…"Ginny said, and walked out of the room to put her make up stuff away.
Hermione took a deep breath and turned in her chair to look into Ginny's giant mirror, and gasped. Looking back at her was a woman, who was 1000 times prettier than Hermione had ever looked. Even though her hair was a scrunched ball on top of her head and hadn't been tended to, even though she was wearing a spagetti top and boxers, she looked gorgeous. There was a hint of rosiness in her cheeks and a deep look to her eyes, which didn't look smoky. Her eyes had a silver glow about them, thanks to Ginny's expertise eye shadow, and her eyelashes looked lusher than she had ever thought imaginable.
Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes, "DON'T YOU DARE!" Hermione turned with a start to see Ginny standing in the doorway with a whole other box of supplies; hair products.
"Don't I dare what?" Hermione asked, realizing it didn't make any sense.
"Don't you dare CRY. I spent HOURS on that face and if it messes up, so help me, I will MURDER you." Ginny said, walking into the room and dumping the box on the table behind Hermione. Hermione chuckled and turned around.
"Ginny?" Hermione said quietly. Ginny turned and looked down at Hermione, "Thank you." Hermione said, and smiled up at Ginny, who smiled right back.
"You cant say thank you to the ones who love you. All you can do is appreciate what they do and NOT MESS UP YOUR FACE." Ginny said, with a cheeky smile. Hermione chuckled, then sighed, as Ginny got to work on her hair.
"Erik its enough." Ron said, irritated and lay down on Draco's bed.
"No it's not! This is his WEDDING day. He has to look perfect!" Erik said, pulling out the box of hair gel for the 100th time.
"Seriously Erik. Sometimes I wonder whether you're a guy or girl…" Ron chuckled, and sat up on the bed to keep watching.
"Erik. Can you PLEASE stop," Draco said, "The smell of the gel is CHOKING me." Draco said, his words nicely accentuated with a cough.
"Suck it up," Erik said with a shrug, "It's not everyday you get married. And, also, I happen to LIKE the smell." Erik said, giving Draco a sarcastic look, inviting him to challenge the statement. Draco rolled his eyes and sat there, letting Erik play with his hair.
After a while, they heard footsteps on the stairs, and then, soon after, Harry walked through the door, his arms full of sodas. He took one look at what was going on and sighed, "You're STILL doing his hair up? This is stupid Erik. You spent less time yesterday actually at the bachelor party." Harry rolled his eyes, and, before flopping on the bed, handed Draco the soda. He handed one to Ron and placed Erik's on the table and then flopped onto Draco's bed.
"Shut up Harry. This is a stressful situation!" Erik said. Harry rolled his eyes, and decided against challenging Erik on that, and just let him work on Draco's hair. Ron gave Draco an apologetic smile before getting up to go to the bathroom.
Before long, the three boys heard a scream from the bathroom. Erik dropped the can of hairspray, which was almost empty, Draco stood up so quickly that his chair toppled backwards, and Harry jumped up so he was standing on the bed. Harry already had his wand out, pointing at the bathroom. Draco began to pull his out but was stopped by Erik.
"Don't you dare fight. I just got you looking perfect!" Erik whispered harshly. He gave Harry a look, meaning calm down, before walking towards the bathroom. He kicked open the door, only to find Ron standing at the sink, staring at the back of the bathroom door, a look of horror on his face.
Erik walked inside and shook Ron, "WHAT?" he yelled into Ron's face. Ron lifted his arm and pointed at the back of the bathroom door. Erik turned around and closed the door a little bit to see what it was, "What are you talking about?" Erik said, irritated.
"THAT!" Ron said, pointing at something on the back of the door. Draco looked at Harry, who looked equally confused, and Harry shrugged. The two boys walked towards the bathroom. Soon enough, all four boys were bunched up in the bathroom.
Draco turned to see the back of the bathroom door, only to see a skimpy little lace dress. He raised his eyebrows, shocked that that was in his bathroom, but trying to figure out the reason Ron was afraid. To be honest, Draco really liked the dress. He started to imagine Hermione in it, then froze, thinking that that was probably what the dress was for. Draco felt a light blush flow up to his cheeks and looked at Erik accusingly. He wasn't the only one.
"Erik what the hell is that?" Harry asked, his voice shaking in fear. Ron nodded vigorously, his eyes wide. Draco looked at Erik as well, only, he found the situation amusing. Nobody would've expected grown men to be freaked out by a sex outfit. Most people assumed it was what men thought about.
"It's from a muggle line called 'Victoria's Secret'. They have the best wedding night lingerie and I figured that Draco and Hermione would need one." Ron mimicked vomiting into the sink, and Harry turned bright red. Draco felt his neck heat up and tried to look away from the lingerie, but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off it, "Draco doesn't seem to mind it!" Erik said, watching Draco.
Harry and Ron turned to Draco with amused expressions, with a hint of disgust. Hermione was, after all, their best friend. Draco smiled guiltily at his friends, all of whom laughed.
Erik rolled his eyes and begun to walk out of the bathroom, "Honestly, I thought you were screaming at the spider over there rather than lingerie…" Erik muttered under his breath, loud enough for Ron to hear. Draco and Harry smiled at eachother, waiting for the reaction.
Ron had gone pale, all the colour having drained from his face, "Sp-sp-sp-sp-spider?" he choked out. Draco's shoulders were shaking with laughter, and Harry was doubled over. There was no spider on the door, but Ron ran for his life and got up on the bed. Erik laughed along with Draco and Harry, before slapping Ron on the back.
"Never, ever, interrupt me when I'm fixing someone's hair." Erik said. The four boys laughed for what seemed like hours, they laughed so hard that Draco couldn't breathe, that Harry's stomach hurt, that Ron and Erik were crying. Erik lay on the bed and kept laughing while Draco stayed standing, not wanting to damage his hair.
Once they were done laughing, Erik stood up and wiped his eyes, "So Draco, let's move on to your outfit."
"I don't think this is going to work…" Hermione said warily, looking at the white wedding dress that Ginny was holding up. Hermione was wearing a corset and her undies, holding her hands up, for Ginny to slip the dress over her head. All the while, trying not to upset the make up and the hair. Hermione hadn't looked in the mirror since she had taken a peek at her make up, so she had no idea what she looked like, but, after seeing her make up, she completely trusted Ginny with the look.
"Yeah you know," Ginny said, bunching up the dress and holding it high, "Maybe we should've worn the dress AFTER the make up and done the hair after…but…that would've gotten hairspray on the dress. So no. This way is good." Ginny said with a smile, "Ready?" she said, and held up the dress.
"Ready." Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. Ginny pushed the dress onto Hermione. Hermione angled her neck so that her face and hair wouldn't touch the dress. It took a whole five minutes, but Hermione finally made it through the dress. Ginny took a step back, and Hermione realized she had tears in her eyes, "Ginny you okay?" Hermione said worriedly and took a step towards Ginny.
Ginny shook her head, "I'm so happy for you. That's all." Ginny smiled up at Hermione, who hugged Ginny.
"Thank you Ginny." Hermione whispered and Ginny squeezed her tighter.
"Uhm Okay," Ginny said and cleared her throat, "I'm going to go downstairs and call Draco to ask how it's going with them." Hermione smiled at Ginny, and felt a pang of jealousy that Ginny would be closer to Draco's voice than she would be.
"Okay then," Hermione smiled until Ginny left the room and then walked over to the window. It was hard to think that in a few hours she would actually be married to the guy she was in love with. It was even harder to think that the guy she was in love with was Draco Malfoy. The same guy she had hated her whole school life, the same guy who she had punched, the same guy who Moody had turned into a ferret. She chuckled at the insanity of the situation and started up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. She smiled and took in the sunlight, wondering what Draco was doing at that very moment.
Harry and Ron were downstairs, welcoming in the guests. The wedding was in an hour. Erik was sitting on Draco's bed, watching Draco fix himself up in the mirror.
Draco was extremely nervous. Nobody knew what to do at a wedding. All you could do was imagine. What if he tripped? What if his voice cracked? What if there were people from the Ministry there to register their marriage? What if Hermione's side didn't like him? What if his side didn't like Hermione?
"Don't worry about it Draco." Erik said. Draco hadn't realized he was saying all that out loud. He turned around to look at Erik, "I wont tell anyone. It's normal pre-wedding jitters." Erik said and smiled at Draco. Draco smiled back at Erik and walked to sit down on the bed.
"How do you know?" Draco said quietly. He had a feeling that he could trust Erik with anything. Sometimes Draco even forgot that Erik was a muggle. Erik looked at Draco with a look of sympathy in his eyes.
"Because, even if they don't like someone, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you and Hermione love each other, and that you guys are going to be together forever." Erik smiled at Draco who smiled back. At that second the phone rang. Erik got up and answered the phone.
"Hello?" Erik said. He heard a reply and smiled, "Yeah we're all ready, how's Hermione?" Draco's head snapped up, "Oh good. Are you guys on your way?" Erik smiled again and winked at Draco, "Oh you're already here? Where?" Draco felt his stomach turn. Hermione was somewhere in the house, all he had to do was find her, "Oh okay cool, I'll stop by, See you in a flash." Erik said and hung up the phone. He turned to Draco, "They're here!"
"Where?" Erik looked at Draco and gave him a look.
"Don't even think about it. You can't see her till the wedding. Just stay in here. I'll be right back." Erik walked out of the door and left Draco alone in his room. Draco stood up and shut the door, which Erik had left open. He then walked back to his bed and lay down on it, not bothering about his hair.
He thought about how crazy his life was at the moment. He was getting married to a girl who he had hated most of his school life, and somehow, she had become the love of his life. The fact that she was somewhere in this mansion had brought back butterflies in his stomach, good butterflies. This was what it was going to be like forever. It'd be the both of them, alone, in his manor. Draco smiled to himself, suddenly impatient for the wedding to be over.
Hermione sat down on the bed, her heart pounding nervously. They were in, what was once, Lucius's and Narcissa's bedroom, which was now a guest room. Hermione had only been in here once, and it had been one of the scariest things in her life. She looked around the room; it was dark and metallic green, typical Slytherin. Ginny had left the room to go to Draco.
The Idea that Draco was only across the hall from her had her stomach doing back flips. She wanted to badly to walk across the hall and have him wrap his arms around her. 24 hours really is too long to keep two people apart, she thought, Maybe it should just be that the bride and groom don't see each other for like a few hours…
As she was thinking about this, the door opened. Hermione looked up, expecting to see Ginny, but instead saw Erik, looking handsome in a tuxedo, smiling at her. She beamed up at him and stood up to give him a hug.
When she was less than two feet away from him, he took a step back and held his hands up in surrender, "Are you sure you can hug me? I don't think Ginny would like that too much…" he said and smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and hugged her best friend.
"It's so good to see you!" Hermione squealed. Erik pushed her away and rolled his eyes.
"Right. Sure. What you really mean is 'I'm so happy you're here, what's going on with Draco?' right?" Hermione laughed and hugged Erik again, who she could feel laughing next to her, "Draco's okay by the way. He's just as anxious to see you as you are to see him." Hermione smiled at her best friend.
"Thank you." Erik made a hand gesture, as in to shoo away her appreciation.
"You better be thanking me. He's such a baby. Good luck with him, " Hermione laughed, "And Anyway, what you should thank me for is saying that you looked beautiful," Hermione rolled her eyes, "which you do" Erik smiled and kissed her on the forehead, "I have to go now. Draco's going to need some restraining. I don't think Ginny's a great enough force to keep him from charging over here." Erik rolled his eyes and Hermione laughed.
"Don't underestimate Ginny. She'd probably just whip out her wand and bind him to the bed." Hermione rolled her eyes and Erik chuckled.
"Yea you're probably right. Love you," and with that, he left the room, leaving Hermione all alone. She walked around the room, not wanting to sit in the same place in fear that she'd start freaking out. She walked over to the mirror, and imagined Narcissa Malfoy standing in front of it, brushing her long blonde hair. After all, Hermione had nothing against Draco's mother, as she had been cool enough to lie to Voldemort, and saved Harry's life.
Nobody had been in this room since Lucius had been sent to jail, so the mirror was covered in dust, so thickly covered that Hermione couldn't see herself. She so badly wanted to reach out and wipe the mirror, but that would've gotten her hands dirty, which she couldn't stand to do.
She heard footsteps on the other side of the door and then the door opened, and Harry and Ron walked in. The two boys stopped to stare at her, with the same expressions they had on their faces at the Yule Ball during their fourth year at Hogwarts. They looked, once again, shocked, to realize that Hermione was actually gorgeous.
Harry snapped out of his trance first, and walked over to Hermione and gave her a hug, being extremely careful not to ruin her hair or make up, or to crumple the dress. Ron snapped out of it after Harry, and seeming extremely flustered, gave Hermione a hug as well. Ron turned around and walked out of the room after smiling at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows at Harry; a question.
"Don't look at me I have no idea." Harry said, his hands raised in surrender. Hermione laughed.
"Then I wont ask," she said, and Harry chuckled.
"You look gorgeous Hermione." He said, blushing slightly; Harry hadn't always had the guts to say something like that.
"Well, hats of to your wife then eh?" Hermione said teasingly, elbowing Harry in the arm. Harry laughed.
"How long did she work on you?" he asked and flopped down onto the bed.
"Since about 7am this morning actually." Harry looked at his watch and groaned in sympathy, it was almost 7pm.
Just then the door opened and Ginny walked in, followed by the Grangers and Molly Weasley. Harry got up and walked over to Ginny, sliding an arm around her waist. The three adults stopped in unison and looked at Hermione, looks of wonder.
"Oh Ginny dear you did an exquisite job!" Molly said and turned around to hug Ginny. Hermione's mum walked over to Hermione with tears in her eyes.
"Honey, you look amazing." She said, "I'm too scared to give you a hug, I don't want to ruin anything…" Hermione chuckled and hugged her mom, who chuckled tearfully back. Everyone was quiet, and watched the mother and daughter embrace eachother; Mrs. Granger sobbing her heart out, and Hermione willing herself not to cry.
A loud, unattractive, trumpet noise broke the moment and everyone turned to look at Mr. Granger, who had a hankercheif in his hands, and tears streaming down his face.
"Oh dad…" Hermione said, walking over to her father, to pull him into a hug.
"I cant believe my little girl's all grown up." He sniffled. Hermione chuckled and kept hugging her father. Mr. Granger pulled away and cleared his throat, "I'm going to go wait outside, give you girls a minute." He said, and turned to walk outside, but not before giving Ginny a kiss on the forehead.
"I think I'll go too…" Harry said. He kissed Ginny and walked over to give Hermione one last hug, before leaving the room.
"Draco, I need to talk to you." Draco turned around from talking to Erik, to see Mr. Granger standing in the doorway. He straigtened up and walked over to his future father in law, who patted him on the back, "Erik, if you don't mind…"
"Oh of course not. See ya…" Erik said, clapped Draco on the back, and left the room, leaving Draco alone with Mr. Granger. It was silent for a few seconds before Draco offered a seat to Mr. Granger, wanting to be polite.
"Thank you very much Draco. I need to have a word with you about my little girl." Draco smiled at Mr. Granger, he knew this would be coming sooner or later, "I love her very dearly, and I want her to be okay. So I'm here to warn you. If you ever hurt my little girl like you did before, I will make your life miserable." Draco flinched at the venom in his voice. Draco was expecting this, but it still hurt to know that Mr. Granger held a grudge against him for hurting Hermione before.
"I'll look after her with all my heart Mr. Granger. I love her dearly and I will never do anything to hurt her ever again as long as I live." Draco said. Mr. Granger continued to look skeptical, "Honest!" Draco said, causing Mr. Granger to crack a smile.
"I know you love her a lot Draco. That's the problem. She's landed herself in hospital because of you. And she's been down because of you. And I know she loves you a lot too. But I don't want to ever see my little girl go through that again. You don't have any children, you don't know what its like to have to sit back and watch them get hurt…" Mr. Granger choked up a little bit at the end and Draco walked over to sit down next to him. Draco put an arm around his future father in law.
"I know a lot better than you'd expect Mr. Granger. It hurt me as well to see Hermione like that, but you're right, I cant possibly know what it feels like to witness your child going through that. And I promise again, that I will not let anything happen to her." Mr. Granger blew his nose and looked up at Draco.
"Yeah I know you wont," he said and stood up. Draco stood up alongside him, "Thank you Draco, and congratulations," he said and held his arms out to Draco. Draco smiled and walked into them, hugging Mr. Granger, "Anyways, I better get back, show's on in about," he checked his watch, "5 minutes. I gotta walk that girl down the isle. Good luck Draco." He said and walked towards the door.
"Thank You Mr. Granger." He said and smiled at him.
Mr. Granger walked to the door, and turned around while he was halfway out the doorway, "By the way Draco. You can call me Pa," and with that, he shut the door.
Draco smiled after him, "Pa…" he whispered under his breath, and felt a smile break out on his face. He flopped onto the bed, and looked at the clock. If only 5 minutes could go by faster.
Hermione was alone in the room with Ginny, her mom and Mrs. Weasley having gone down to take their seats. Hermione was sitting on the bed, rocking back and forth, nervous. Ginny was sitting across from her, watching her. Any minute now, Hermione's father would be walking in to lead her down the isle. Draco was already downstairs; they had heard him go downstairs, and just that little sound of his voice had made Hermione's heart jump.
After a while, Ginny sighed, "For god sakes Hermione calm down! It's a wedding, not the battle against Voldemort. And as I recall, you were a lot calmer then…" Hermione looked up at Ginny, putting as much venom in her voice as she could.
"Shut up Ginny. Not all of us can be like you…" she said. Ginny rolled her eyes and stood up to start pacing.
"Hermione, I was just as nervous as you are. I just…well I hid it. So don't get the feeling that I'm judging you…I'm just nervous myself…" That caught Hermione's attention.
"Why are you nervous? I'm the one getting married here…" she said, a nervous laugh escaping her throat.
"Why I'm nervous? Because you're my best friend! That's why…" she said, stopping in front of Hermione, "I want to make sure you're going to be okay…and that's hard to do when your best friend is marrying the infamous bouncing ferret!" Hermione laughed, and Ginny chuckled along.
Just then the door opened and Hermione's father stepped in, "Showtime."
Draco was standing at the alter, nervous. Erik, Harry and Ron were standing behind him. He couldn't even turn around to give them a wink, or a smile, because there were so many people just sitting there watching him. He felt as if he was on stage, as if he was supposed to pull out his wand and perform a trick. They weren't just watching him, most of them were talking ot eachother, but they were all facing his directiong. And to top it off, most of Hermione's side was sizing him up, and two girls from her side had actually wolf whisteled him. He had smiled nonchalantly, but was feeling extremely uncomfortable. He wished he was in the audience in a comfy seat, not being put on show. But then you wouldn't be getting married to Hermione now would you? A small voice said at the back of his head.
Draco chuckled to himself. Suddenly the music started, indicating the start of the wedding. Draco straightened himself out, and tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. He watched Ginny gracefully descend the stairs.
The music for 'Here comes the bride started', and Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs. At the sight of her, all the butterflies dissolved, and he felt a huge smile break on his face, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.
After her father had come into her room, everything had gone by in a flash. Ginny had quickly slipped under her wedding dress to place a garter on her upper thigh, and then run out of the room with her bouquet, before Hermione could argue. Her father, who had coolly ignored the inappropriate garter placing, had taken her arm and led her out of the door, so that they were standing at the top of the stairs. Ginny had handed her a bouquet, winked, and gone down the stairs as the music started.
Hermione's breath had started to come in unevenly and her father, letting go of her hand, stood in front of her, with both hands on her shoulders, "Hermione listen to me," she had looked up, "You're going to be fine. Draco loves you. And I know you love him. Just think about Draco and you'll make it down the stairs just fine. I can assure you he's just as nervous as you are, and as soon as you see each other, you'll feel absolutely fine." Hermione smiled at her father and hugged him. Just then the music for 'Here comes the bride' had come on and she had jumped, "That's our cue pumpkin."
"Don't let me fall," she whispered to her father, who chuckled, took her arm, and started to lead her down the stairs.
The place looked amazing. They were descending the spiral staircase that led to the garden out back. Magic had definitely been used in this place, which must've mesmerized the muggles; even Hermione was having trouble concentrating on her footing, she was too busy admiring the place. The bushes around them were draped beautifully with periwinkle and silver sashes, the pathway made of rocks was shining, and the whole area was lined with flowery vines, which draped beautifully right behind the alter.
The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had volunteered to perform the ceremony, and right in front of him, was Draco. Hermione felt the air whoosh out of her body at the sight of him.
He looked amazing, and, just like her father had said; her nerves had vanished at the sight of him. Suddenly, she was feeling impatient, and as if it was taking too long to get to him. He was looking back at her, with a similar emotion in his eyes, and a gorgeous smile on his face that was making Hermione weak at the knees.
She was so distracted looking at him, that she stumbled over something. Her father had held her up so that nobody noticed, but Draco had, and she could see his shoulders shaking from laughing. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him playfully and he smiled back at her. As if her body had complete control of her, her face broke into a smile right back at him.
They reached the alter and her father placed her hand in Draco's, "Look after her Draco," he said, his voice thick, before he rushed to sit down next to Hermione's mum, who took his hand in hers. Hermione turned to look at Draco.
"Hi," he whispered to her, sounding out of breath. His staring at her was making her feel uncomfortable.
"Hi yourself," she whispered back.
"Nice stumble," he whispered back, and winked at her. She rolled her eyes and was about to answer when Kingsley's loud voice interrupted her.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, Kittens," he said, causing the crowd to chuckle. Hermione looked in the direction the crowd was looking to see Periwinkle and Willy standing behind Hermione, with little kitten tuxes on, Periwinkle with a periwinkle bowtie, and Willy with a silver one. Hermione smiled at the cats and turned to Draco, who winked at her.
Kingsley continued, "It is my great pleasure to welcome you all here today, to celebrate the union of these two lovely people, Draco Lucius Malfoy, and Hermione Jean Granger. God always smiles at a bond of love as true as the one between the two of them, and, even the two of them met as a product of a stupid law, it had an amazing result." Hermione chuckled along with everyone else (except the Muggles who of course, looked confused) and looked at Dolores Umbridge, sitting in the first row, with a clipboard looking extremely irritated.
"Let's proceed to the vows." Kingsley said, and, with a wink at Hermione, took a step down from the alter to stand with Ginny, "We shall start with Hermione." Hermione gave her 'audience' a small smile and, ignoring Ron, Harry and Erik's evil smiles, and Ginny's glares at them, recited her vows.
"All my life, I searched for my prince. I became skeptical when I was about 10, thinking I would never find the one. There were so many people in the world, that, I had no idea where I would start. Then, I went to school, and met these wonderful boys, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter. They had an arch-enemy throughout our years at school, Mr. Draco Malfoy," everyone laughed, including Draco, "I, along with them, hated his guts. He was arrogant, and rude, and he thought the world of himself, and I detested him for it," the crowd laughed harder, and Draco gave her a look, as if he was saying is this going anywhere? "We went through so much during our years at Hogwarts, including this one time when I punched him in the face, which was incredibly satisfying," Draco chuckled, and Ron and Harry whooped, causing the crowd to chuckle. Once they quietened down, Hermione continued, "Many years later, I re-met the infamous Draco Malfoy, under some weird circumstances I'll admit, and just like before, he caused me a hell of a lot of trouble," Hermione felt a smile creep up on her face, "But somehow, I fell in love with him," the crowd 'aww'd' and Hermione heard her mother and Molly Weasley blowing their noses, "I searched my whole life to find my prince Mr. Malfoy. And somehow, through all the stupid things, I found you." Hermione choked up at the end, and the crowd applauded.
Draco smiled at her, with tears in his eyes, and Hermione felt tears in her own. She could hear Ginny sobbing quietly behind her, and she could see Harry handing Erik a handkerchief, his own eyes swimming in tears, and she could see Ron, who's eyes were bright red, and wouldn't allow himself to cry.
Kingsley Shacklebolt cleared his throat again, causing the crowd to go silent, "Now, Draco if you will…" Kingsley said, his own throat choked up with tears, "And please try not to make us all cry…" Draco chuckled, and so did everyone else, before he cleared his throat.
He was looking at Hermione, right in her eyes, with so much love that she felt tears well up in her eyes even before he had started speaking, and when he did, she felt her heart inflate into thousands of pieces, "I never thought I would fall in love. Honestly, I never did. I never believe in love, I just believed in attraction, and liking people. At school, I had always been the guy who didn't care much about anything. I didn't think love existed, so I never bothered being nice to anybody, and that drew in many enemies for me, despite the other things." Draco cleared his throat, "There was this one group of people, who I hated a lot more than the rest of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were an inseparable trio and I think, deep down, I was jealous, I never had friends that I could trust the way those three trusted each other. We always went out of our way's to hurt the each other, and I enjoyed it so much." The crowd chuckled and so did Harry and Ron, "However, many years later, I met this girl, under weird circumstances I'll admit," he said, saying the exact thing that Hermione had said, causing her face to split into a smile, "She was, well, stubborn. She liked to read, and she was cranky. But at the same time, she was gorgeous, she was funny, and somehow, she managed to capture my heart," there was a romantic sigh from the crowd, and Hermione heard Kingsley sobbing quietly, making her chuckle, "She's amazing, and she has proven to me that there is such thing as love. She made this pessimistic boy, become a lover, and an optimistic one at that too. I had no idea that it was possible to ever want to be with someone this much, or miss them when they're not around. And that's the reason why I'm marrying you. Hermione Granger, you turned my life right way up, and even though you will always be the girl that broke my nose," Hermione chuckled tearfully, and she heard Harry blow his nose, along with her parents, and the Weasleys, "I love you with all my heart, and I cant wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
The crowd applauded again, and everyone's sobs were louder. Hermione heard many people blow their noses, the loudest one coming from the back, where Hagrid was sitting with his brother Grawp. Hermione smiled at them and looked up into Draco's eyes, "I love you too," she whispered to him, and felt a tear escape her eye. Draco's hand came up so fast, and with his thumb, he wiped away the tear. Hermione wanted so bad to jump into his arms and hold herself to him, but then, Kingsley Shacklebolt got back up to his position, his eyes red and puffy, but a wide smile on his face.
"That was beautiful, and I can assure you, I haven't cried like that in a long time. Let's proceed to the rings." He said, his voice cracking on the last word, causing people to chuckle. Draco turned around to get the ring from Harry, and Hermione felt Ginny nudge her back. She turned around to get the ring from her, to see Ginny's eyes red and puffy.
"Aww, hun, are you okay?" Hermione whispered teasingly, causing Ginny to scowl at her. Hermione chuckled and turned back to face Draco, who was standing there already, ring box in hand, which was periwinkle. Hermione looked down at hers, which was silver, and smiled.
Hermione went first, opening the box and placing the ring on the second finger on Draco's left hand. Draco, smiling, did the same thing. Harry, Ron and Erik whooped, causing the tearful crowd to smile once again. Kingsley rolled his eyes and continued, "Now, for the I do's." Hermione felt her stomach flip, this was it.
Kingsley turned to Hermione, "Hermione Jean Granger, do you, take this man, Draco Malfoy, to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?" Hermione took a deep breath,
"I do." She choked out. She smiled at Draco, who was tearing up.
Kingsley sniffled and turned to Draco, "And do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take this woman, Hermione Jean Granger, to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?" Draco straightened his shoulders and took both of Hermione's hands.
"I do." Hermione felt tears stream down her face, probably ruining her make up.
Kingsley's voice sounded constricted as he choked out the rest, "Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Draco took a step forward, took Hermione's face in both of his hands, and kissed her fully on the mouth. Hermione kissed him back, and heard the crowd applaud, and heard the three boys whoop, and heard Ginny sob, but ignored all that, because she was home.
Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and led her from the alter, getting hugged by a wave of people. Everyone was hugging them, and congratulating them. When they had finally escaped the crowd, they ran into Hagrid at the back. He pulled them both in for a hug that made Draco feel as if his back was breaking. When Hagrid put them down, after pats on the back, which knocked Draco to his knees, Draco led Hermione up the stairs into the Manor. The rest of the guests were going into the ballroom where they would be eating dinner and dancing. As they walked up the stairs, hand in hand, the crowd clapped. Draco heard Kingsley announcing that they were going to the ballroom before he got upstairs and into the closest room he could find, which happened to be a small spare room.
Draco pushed Hermione against the wall and kissed her, her neck, and her nose. Hermione giggled and kissed him back, then pushed him away. Draco chuckled and looked down at Hermione, a big smile on his face. Hermione was smiling just as wide back at him. She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging herself to him, and he hugged her back.
"Ah I missed you," she said into his chest. He sqeezed her tighter, not wanting to admit that he had missed her more than she could possibly imagine.
"Sorry to cause the trouble Mrs. Malfoy," he said, smiling cheekily down at her. Her head snapped up, her eyes wide.
"I cant believe we're ACTUALLY married!" she whispered loudly, and he laughed.
"It's no big secret Mrs. Malfoy…" he said, chuckling, although he was feeling the exact same way. He felt a sting on his upper arm as Hermione smacked him, "What was that for?" he said.
"Stop calling me that!" she said, blushing furiously. He chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"Yes Ma'am." He whispered into her hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down, so that their foreheads were touching.
"Don't call me that either," she smiled and he chuckled back, "I heard you were cranky all day. Is that true?" Draco rolled his eyes. She was teasing him. Of course she was. It was so…Hermione.
"I wasn't cranky," he said, looking down at her. She raised her eyebrows and he gave in, "Fine I was a bit cranky. I just thought it was unnecessary that we had to be apart for a whole 24 hours! And I couldn't even hear your voice, which made it worse. I just heard updates from other people which made me insanely jealous." He huffed, and sat down on a rocking chair that was in the corner. Hermione giggled and followed him, sitting down on his lap.
"I know exactly what you mean," she said quietly, while stroking his hair, "Eurgh who killed your hair?" she said, pulling her hands from it. Draco chuckled then rolled his eyes.
"Erik did. I think he used a whole can of hairspray to do it." Hermione chuckled and kissed his forehead.
"That's so Erik. Don't worry, you can get back at him on his wedding day." She said, laughing, and Draco laughed along. They sat like that for a long time, talking, before they heard someone calling out on the other side of the door.
The door flew open and Ginny stood in the doorway with Harry. Ginny took one look at them and her face cracked into a smile, as did Harry's, "Aww you guys that's adorable," she said with a smile and took a step inside. Draco stood up carefully, carrying Hermione, who did not like being carried. She thrashed at him, and he, chuckling, put her down, "It's time for you guys to come into the ballroom." Ginny said, and, grabbing Harry's hand, walked out of the room. Hermione held her hand out to Draco, who smiled and took it, and he started to lead her out of the room.
The main ballroom was down the other set of stairs, which led right into the ballroom. Hermione held on to Draco's hand and he led the way feeling extremely happy, "Hermione?" he asked feeling slightly nervous.
"Mmhmm?" she replied, looking around the house. Draco realized that this was her first time in this part of the manor and chuckled, causing her to look at him, "Yes?"
The nerves came back and Draco tried to swallow them, "Are you going to be…you know...happy?" he muttered, hoping she didn't hear him, which was a lost cause. He knew her well enough to know that she didn't miss a single thing.
He turned towards her, and her face had softened, "Of course I am." She said, and squeezed his hand. He squeezed her hand back and she laughed. They had reached the staircase and she hooked her arm through his, "You ready?" she said, and he laughed.
They walked down the stairs, into the ballroom, which erupted into cheers and applause at the sight of them. Kingsley's voice boomed over all the noise, "I am proud to present, for the first time. Mr. Draco Malfoy and his wife, Mrs. Hermione Granger-Malfoy!"
Draco turned to see Hermione's face split into a wide smile, and smiled. He led her to the middle of the dance floor for their traditional, first dance. He watched Hermione's expression change from one of happiness to one of horror. She looked up at him with panic in her eyes.
"Draco! I cant dance!" she whispered loudly, and Draco had to restrain himself from chuckling. He hadn't thought there was something that Hermione couldn't do.
"Well don't worry," he whispered back, "I can." And with that, they danced. Draco led them both and felt extremely proud of himself when he saw Hermione's expression go from nervous to ecstatic. He twirled her around, unaware of everyone watching, only aware of the smile that had spread across his wife's face, hoping that he could keep it there forever.
When the dance was over, Hermione's father came to take over, and Draco danced with Mrs. Granger, who was smiling and crying the whole time they were dancing, talking about how happy she was and thanking him for being the perfect person for her daughter.
Draco danced the whole night, with Ginny, Penelope, Molly Weasley, Andromeda, George's wife, Percy's wife, Fleur, Charlie's girlfriend, Lavender Brown and many more women before he finally got back to Hermione.
After they had danced together one more time, Hermione stopped, "Draco I'm exhausted can we sit down?" Draco snickered and led her to her seat, and sat down next to her, finally becoming aware of how tired he himself was. Hermione ordered her food, and Draco, who wasn't hungry at all, watched everyone.
All the guests were laughing, either sitting at tables eating or dancing, when he spotted, across the room, someone who he hadn't expected to see ever again for the rest of his life.
"Draco, is that Cornelius Fudge?" Hermione said, apparently looking at the same thing he was.
"I think so…should we go say hello?" he said warily. He had never actually liked Mr. Fudge all that much, even though he had brought along many privileges for Draco during his childhood. Hermione shrugged in response, which Draco took as a no, and kept looking around. Hermione's food arrived, and she began to eat, chatting with Draco
"Hermione who're those people?" Draco said, gesturing towards the group of girls who had wolf-whistled him before the ceremony; they were looking at him again.
"Hmm?" Hermione said, and looked up at who he was gesturing to. Her expression darkened as she realized they were checking him out, "Ignore them. Those are my cousins, they're horrible. They used to call me the ugly one, and now one of them is a prostitute, so I don't care much about them." She shrugged and continued eating. Draco laughed, trying to imagine under which circumstances Hermione could ever be ugly, when the chair next to him scraped. He turned to see Cornelius Fudge sitting down next to him. Hermione started to cough, out of shock, and Draco, smiling nonchalantly, patted her on the back.
"Mr. Fudge it's so good to see you," Hermione managed to choke out, while gasping for air. Draco had to restrain a chuckle.
"Oh you too dear. You too Draco! It's been far too long. I hope you don't mind, I saw your wedding announcement in the Daily Prophet yesterday and I just had to swing by. After all, it's a miracle you guys actually got married after everything that happened in the past." Draco smiled at Mr. Fudge, and nudged Hermione to make sure she didn't do anything rash. After all, the last thing Mr. Fudge did in office was make Harry's life miserable.
Just then, Kingsley Shacklebolt walked up and glared at Fudge, "What are you doing here Cornelius? I told you you weren't allowed to come." He said in his deep voice. Fudge swallowed loudly.
"I'm sorry Shacklebolt. I just had to see it, and it was beautiful," Kingsley didn't let up.
"No I'm sorry Cornelius. You've seen it, now I suggest you go before I call authorities.
"No really Kingsley it's okay-" Hermione began, shocking Draco, but she was cut off by Fudge.
"No no Ms. Grage- I mean, Mrs. Malfoy, it's quite alright, Shacklebolt is right. Congratulations you two," he said, and with that, he got up and left.
"Well that was weird…" Draco muttered and Kingsley chuckled.
"Damn right it was…" Kingsley said, winked, and walked away, leaving the two chuckling. Right then, there was the sound of a spoon tapping glass and they turned around to see Harry on stage, to make the best man's speech. They had decided against making Erik do it as he had known Draco for a shorter period of time. Everyone quietened down as Harry took a deep breath to begin.
"As you all know, Draco and Hermione weren't always this…friendly shall we say. There was a time, when all they wanted was to see each other dead. Now I've known them both for a long time now, Hermione more than Draco, and I have to say, from what I've seen, they were made for each other. Congratulations you guys." He said, and walked off the stage.
Draco smiled and clapped along with everyone else, for the first time ever, feeling as if he belonged.
Once the guests had left, Draco and Hermione walked upstairs, hand in hand. Periwinkle and Willy were already in the library, sound asleep, and had been since they had checked on them an hour previously.
They got to Draco's room, and he flopped onto the bed, "Oh my god I'm exhausted!" he said, taking off his tie.
"Ha-ha me too. Try wearing a corset for 5 hours," Hermione chuckled and walked into the bathroom, listening to Draco chuckle on the bed. She shut the bathroom door behind her and began to hyperventilate.
She knew what they were going to do. It was wedding night, of course they were going to do it, but why was she so nervous? It wasn't as if they hadn't done it before. She turned around to lean against the sink and felt her breath catch.
Hanging on the back of the door was a slutty, skanky little dress from Victoria Secret. Hermione pulled it down off the hanger and saw a little piece of paper float to the floor. She bent down and picked it up.
Hey Hermione, this is for you since we knew you wouldn't have anything to wear for the big night, if you know what we mean. Enjoy ;] Love, Ginny and Erik.
Hermione was going to kill them both later. She turned around and put the lingerie on the counter and looked in the mirror. She had to admit, Ginny had done an amazing job. Her hair still looked perfect, despite all the dancing. Ginny had left little ringlets going down her shoulders and down her back, and the majority was nicely pinned in a half ponytail, her veil pinned to the clip. The veil, which felt like air, went all the way down to the middle of her back. Her dress, was strapless, and was tight until her hips, where it flowed out perfectly. It was beautiful. Her make up was still intact, and she had white gloves that went all the way up to her elbows.
She carefully pealed off the gloves and put them on the counter, which was bigger than her bed. She unclipped her hair, letting it flow everywhere, and feeling immediate relief. He hair flowed gracefully down to her shoulder blades. Then came the hard part. She carefully pulled the dress off, careful not the get any stains on it, or damage her makeup. She untied her corset, and took in a tasty breath of air, feeling a slight sting of pain as her stomach expanded. She pulled off her current undergarments, and pulled on the lingerie. She took of her shoes and placed them on the counter next to her dress, suddenly feeling inches shorter. She looked in the mirror and shivered. It was the kind of dress that was embarrassing to look at on a mannequin. She carefully ran her hands through her hair and, taking a deep breath, opened the bathroom door and walked outside.
Draco was shirtless, under the covers, and Hermione was pretty sure he wasn't wearing anything under the blankets. He was reading a book but turned as the door opened, and put the book down. She had the satisfaction of watching his mouth pop open a bit, as he looked her up and down, stopping on her chest for a few extra seconds. He looked up into her eyes and blushed, and picked up the book again, to look nonchalant. The only problem with that was, that he was holding the book upside down.
Hermione restrained a laugh and went to lie down under the covers on her side of the bed. She heard as Draco closed the book and put it down on the nighstand. She felt a shiver as his arms wrapped around her waist.
Suddenly he spun her around, so that she was pressed up against him. He looked into her face for a few seconds before kissing her long and hard, getting more and more urgent. Before she knew it, her dress was on the floor and so were his boxers.
Hermione turned on her side as Draco switched off the lights. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and hugged her from behind.
"I love you Mrs. Malfoy." He whispered, and kissed her shoulder, before he fell asleep.
Hermione pulled off her wedding ring as he fell asleep and examined it. She felt grooves on the inside of it, and lit her want to see what it was. It was writing.
I love you Mrs. Malfoy
Hermione put the ring back on her finger and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Hey sorry it was so long. It's not over yet, so keep checking ((: