Chapter 23

She was nervously smoothing her wrinkle-less gown when a voice came from behind her.

"Wow."

She turned around to face her best friend who was staring at her with the most peculiar look on his face, like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"Did you forget that I'm a girl again, Ronald?" She laughed.

"If I had any remaining doubts, the way that you look right now would have erased them forever," he quipped right back. "You look so beautiful, Harry's a lucky bloke."

"I'm lucky," she answered softly, "but thank you."

"It's just that the sight of you in a wedding dress is a little weird."

"It feels a little weird," she echoed, "but also pretty."

Hermione hadn't really been the sort of girl to dream about her wedding day. It had just never really entered her radar except for some vague idea that once she met a special someone, she'd like to find a way to celebrate, and she'd assumed that would be a wedding, which seemed nice.

Until some of her friends had started getting married, and she was exposed to the realities of planning an extravagant wedding. At which point she had decided that she would probably never want to put herself through that.

When she and Harry became a couple, and it became apparent that it was only a matter of time before they became engaged, she began to dread the prospect of the kind of wedding that would be expected from somebody of Harry's fame, wealth, and status. The kind of wedding he had been planning with Ginny.

So, it was the easiest thing in the world to agree when he said he wanted to get married right away and with only a few friends in attendance. She was resigned to finding a simple gown off the rack. But it was amazing what money, magic, and a few determined witches could accomplish.

Lavender, Astoria, and Astoria's sister, Daphne, who was also visiting for Thanksgiving, were determined to figure out what her perfect wedding gown looked like, and get it for her. She and Leah had basically just been along for the ride. It had ended up being a fun journey.

She'd chosen a simple, long sleeved, off the shoulder white gown with a short train. In lieu of a veil she wore a flower in her hair: one perfect white lily. Her only jewelry were the pearl drop earrings she'd inherited from her grandmother Granger, and Harry's mother's ring: her engagement ring. She was barefoot given that the wedding was taking place on the beach. It was perfect.

"You should," Ron assured her, "you're more than pretty."

"Thank you. Are they ready for us?"

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath.

"Any doubts?" He asked. "Because I could totally get us out of here." She knew he was joking, but also that he'd whisk her away with a mere word, it was an incredibly selfless offer.

She smiled at him but laughed it off. "Lavender would never forgive you."

"You're right, she's more excited about this than she is our wedding, I think. She thinks it's the most romantic thing she's ever heard that Harry just can't wait to marry you."

"Sorry about that."

"Are you kidding?" He lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "This week has been the most peace I've had since I proposed. She's been so busy planning your wedding, I haven't heard a peep about mine. It's been heaven." He lowered his voice further. "I can't have another conversation about place settings Hermione, I just can't."

She chuckled and picked up her bouquet of lilies and roses from the dresser. Ron offered her his arm and they headed down the stairs of the house on the Gulf Coast of Florida which the group of friends had rented for the long weekend. Before they could step outside he stopped her, covering her hand resting on his arm with his.

"I just wanted to say before we go out there, that I know I agreed to give you away. But I'm not giving you away."

She frowned. "I don't understand."

He gave her hand a squeeze. "Just that this doesn't change anything for me. You'll always be my best friend, and I'll always be here for you."

"Oh Ron," she whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're going to make me cry before we even get started."

He patted her awkwardly. "Don't do that, if I bring you to Harry crying he might try to hurt me."

That startled a laugh out of her.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." He nodded and they made their way down the beach towards the gentle surf and the group of people standing there waiting for them.

But everything else melted away when she met Harry's eyes. They had foregone the muggle tradition of not seeing each other on the day of the wedding and she'd spent the night before in his arms. However, he'd left her in the early morning hours so they could both get ready and it was now dusk.

It seemed like it had been a long time. She felt like a silly girl, and well…a bride.

When they reached Harry, Ron kissed her forehead and then moved to Harry's side, taking his place as Best Man. And then those gorgeous green eyes were searching hers, his lips smiling and then forming the words: 'you're so beautiful.'

'So are you,' Hermione mouthed back. Harry was dressed in a simple, but new, muggle suit, the sight of which had always driven her wild. Her soon-to-be-husband was fit, and there was something about the contrast between his usual casual attire and a starched suit which was particularly appealing to her.

They joined hands and she couldn't have wiped the grin off of her face if she tried.

Vows weren't strictly necessary for a magical wedding, all that was required was a binding and a blessing of magic, but Harry and Hermione both agreed that they wanted to say something to each other. And so after the officiant's formal greeting they began.

"I'm glad I'm going first," Harry started. "Because I'm sure you have some eloquent speech planned and I'd hate to have to follow that up."

Everybody in attendance chuckled.

"I had some idea of what I wanted to say, but honestly Hermione, I'm a little overwhelmed right now, and I can't seem to remember any of it. But I don't know why I'm surprised, this definitely isn't the first time you've overwhelmed me." He licked his lips. "All I can think to do right now is just talk to you, I hope that's okay?"

It was instinctual for her to reach up and touch his cheek in reassurance.

He took a deep breath and met her eyes again. "We've never talked about this so I don't know if you remember, but it was sixth year and we were not getting along at all. I think at any given point you were about three seconds from putting a piercing charm through my heart. We were always sniping at each other and it wasn't anything different on this particular day, but I was just at the end of my rope and I snapped. I said some very unkind things to you in front of the entire common room and then I stormed out."

Hermione just nodded. She most certainly did remember that day, but she couldn't possibly understand why he'd be telling this story now. She was even more confused to see his lips quirk into a small smile at her acknowledgement.

"And then you came after me, of course you did. Part of me was so ready to have it out with you, and another part thought I should just let you hex me, but I figured either way that it shouldn't be in a corridor, so I ducked into an empty classroom. And when I turned around and saw you, I knew you were furious, but I'd never seen anything like that before. You pulled out your wand, but you didn't point it at me, You transfigured a desk into a sofa and you ordered me to sit down. By then you were crying, so I was absolutely not going to argue with you."

She huffed out a little breath but nodded again.

"Then you crawled onto my lap, and you put your arms around me, and you said: 'I won't tell you that everything is going to be okay, because I can't promise you that. But whatever happens, I'll be here with you.' And I was just so blown away by that, even though you had already given me plenty of evidence that it was true, even though I knew you were angry with me and probably hated me a little bit, I could still tell how much you cared for me. I broke down and you sat with me all afternoon, missed all of your classes to comfort me. And you were there beside me for everything that came after: 'You're not alone, Harry; we're in this together; I'll go with you," he reminded her of the various things she'd said to him over the years.

He reached up and gently wiped her cheeks and only then did she realize that Harry looked all blurry because she had been crying.

"I'll never deserve you, could never deserve the kind of love and devotion you've so freely offered me. And I can't promise you that everything will be okay, that there won't be hard times, but whatever happens, I'll be here with you. And I'll do my best to make sure we have more good times than bad, and that you never doubt my love for you. It's- I'm sorry sweetheart, but I just don't have the words to express how immense it is."

He raised their joined hands and kissed her knuckles. She let out a choked sob and reached behind her blindly towards her Maid of Honor. Leah took the hint and pressed the handkerchief and the piece of parchment she'd had wrapped around the bottom of her bouquet into her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Hermione dabbed rather uselessly at her eyes with the handkerchief and looked back at Harry who was smiling gently at her. She brandished the parchment at him.

"I did have a speech." His smile widened. "It's a really good speech, Harry, but I couldn't see to read it now even if I wanted!" She reached into his jacket and tucked the parchment into his breast pocket. "Those words are for you, you can read them later, but now I think I'm just going to talk too."

He nodded encouragingly.

"Do you remember the day I got my first period?"

Harry actually groaned.

She laughed. "I'm not trying to embarass you. I know you thought I was ill. You were so concerned for me. You chased me into that bathroom and I had to spell it out for you. That's probably the most uncomfortable conversation we've ever had, and that's saying something."

He bit his lip against a laugh and narrowed his eyes at her playfully.

"I won't go into details, for both our sakes."

She met his eyes and they both laughed.

"Anyway, you stayed with me and you made me feel safe. You always have Harry, made me feel safe and happy. And you make it so easy to love you. It's never been a burden, it's been a joy and an honor. So, I offer you the same promise you've just offered me: we're in this together. Your happiness is mine. Your disappointments mine. We share a life now, nothing could make me happier but to give you my promise to do my best by you. And most importantly, to love you with all that I have. Wherever you go, I'll go with you."

0000000000

The binding had been blessed. The wedding feast eaten. The cake cut. The toasts given. And then, at Lavender's insistence, Hermione tossed her bouquet even though Lavender and Leah were two of the only single women in attendance. Lavender's single status was a mere technicality at this point, and Leah had absolutely no interest in catching the thing, but Hermione had humored Lavender, and hoped her aim was true. She'd quietly asked Harry for some tips, but he'd pointed out that he was used to catching and not throwing.

When she'd started to feel truly distressed he'd pointed out that she really only needed to glance over her shoulder and make sure it went it the right general direction. Lavender's persistence would do the rest of the work. He hadn't been wrong and Lavender's ecstatic reaction to ending up with it had been worth the small endeavour.

The area set aside for dancing had been largely abandoned except for a few couples; Harry and Hermione in particular, who had barely been out of physical contact since the officiant had blessed their binding. In her new husband's arms it was easy to ignore the antics of some of their more drunken friends down by the water, but Hermione did absently wonder how many people who had intended to just apparate down for the day would end up sleeping on whatever flat surface they could find in their rental house.

She wouldn't begrudge them. She was already blown away that nearly a dozen of their New York friends- on top of those who had already made plans to accompany them to Florida for the holiday- had dropped everything at the drop of a hat on Thanksgiving weekend to come celebrate with them.

"I want you so badly right now," Harry murmured into Hermione's ear. He pulled her closer with the hand that was resting on her back but didn't stop swaying to the music.

Hermione rubbed his chest and nuzzled his jaw. "That's our magic encouraging us to consummate the marriage." It had been building since the binding and Hermione wasn't sure how much longer she could resist the pull.

"You know, normally I would be concerned about being pushed around by my magic, but I can't think of a single thing wrong with wanting to make love to my wife. Plus this feels fantastic and we haven't even gotten to the good part yet."

"Mmmm," she hummed in agreement. It did, it was almost like Harry's magic was seducing her, she could feel it dancing across her skin, caressing her entire body at once, it was probably the most sensual thing she had ever experienced.

"Are you ready to get out of here? Or, rather, just go inside?"

"Yes, I don't think anybody will even notice us leaving."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not at all, they're having fun. And you know I'm not particularly fond of being the center of attention. It was nice today, to have so many people make time and show up for us last minute, but I definitely don't need a big send-off. Especially because all we're doing is walking into the house, and we'll see almost everybody here either tomorrow or next week."

"Alright then, sweetheart," he kissed her neck, "lead the way."

Author's Note: Well there you go, they're married! I hope you enjoyed it. This fic is wrapping up so if there's anything in particular you'd like to see before it does, let me know (we will be returning to England for a visit before it does, don't worry) Thanks to Weestarmeggie for the beta read. Happy 2020 y'all and thanks for reading!