Disclaimer: Own nada!
Author's Note: Okay, so I finished this chapter in between from 10 to 11 am, lunch, making dinner, and took time from sleep. I now have it finished officially on Christmas Eve (1:00 am). Yeah, it was a writing marathon.
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Chapter Twenty-Seven: I – (someone sneezes) . . . I – (someone is bawling) . . . Sure, why not
The engagement party left Ginny and Harry exhausted. While the ministry just deemed Ginny back to full health, the charity party drained the couple all of their energy, at least in being social. From the engagement party that seemed for like a social zoo until the wedding, Ginny and Harry spend unthinkable numbers of hours together. They seemed so attached that even Mrs. Weasley was afraid they might be sick of each other before the wedding could happen. And that would be awful since Ginny and Harry should be married. While Ginny still wrote her weekly columns, Harry's responsibilities all rested on the shoulders of a certain Slytherin. Draco Malfoy had said he needed to extra workload to get things off his mind.
That was how Harry and Ginny were seen lounging around London and Diagon Alley often. Certainly they had some more well-wishers, but their most frequent visitors would be Lavender and Parvati since they were the one organizing the wedding since Ginny's confrontation with the ministry doctors and stranger foreign spell research team. The place to see the soon-to-be-wed was Ron and Hermione's house. It was the meeting place for all that's involved in the wedding since Hermione was the least mobile of all the people in the wedding.
"You know, I was hoping this lump of life would get out of me after the wedding. I mean, then I would have to carry it across the aisle!" Hermione complained as she gently poked her bulging stomach.
"Hey, careful with that, you have my son in there!" Ron shouted. Everyone laughed when Hermione glared at her husband. It was an argument that happened whenever the discussion of the clothing at the wedding came up. "If you really don't want to walk down the aisle as the matron of honor then don't."
"Watch it Weasley!" Draco Malfoy retorted. "Just because you aren't the best man don't get so riled up about it. Hermione is allowed to complain about her figure. Besides, you're not the one carrying the 'lump of life' so shut your trap!"
The conversation always went towards that direction. As a result of some strange bet between Harry and Draco, the Slytherin ended up becoming the best man at a Gryffindor wedding. It had something to do with the fact that Harry was playing the groom at the Malfoy-Classen wedding. Apparently Ron was slightly unhappy with that arrangement since he was Harry's best friend yet Malfoy was the best man at the wedding. It didn't settle well with common logic, then again, how many aurors had what most people called was logic anyhow?
"Alright people!" Ginny exclaimed full of laughter. "This is what, the fifth conversation about the same topic in four days? Now, can we stop acting so immature and get on with it? Lavender and Parvati still has lots to do and they only two weeks before the wedding is here." The room became silent at that reminder. Right, only two weeks to have the rehearsal, get the food ready, make sure people understood that it was going to be a Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley wedding, not a Draco Malfoy and Aurora Classen wedding. Ginny couldn't count the number of times Lavender and Parvati had came to her complaining about the stupidity of businesses.
"Right," Parvati began after the room quieted. "We have the first rehearsal on Monday of next week. That is July 10th for your calendars. Remember, everyone needs to show up for this so we can decide if we need to schedule another rehearsal. We don't want a repeat of our last year at Hogwarst – not yours, Ginny – so everyone: please be prepared. Know you speeches and whatnots pretty well." Parvati's reminder about the year of Harry's graduation made all the graduate of 1998 winced. The speeches were good if the fact that people didn't actually listened and the speakers – particularly Harry – didn't really know his speech well enough were disregarded. The prefects had voted for the Golden Boy to make the last speech since he was the key behind defeating Voldemort even if his efforts weren't as great as some.
"So Harry, this mean YOU must get your vows down to the commas and periods, got it?" Lavender said menacingly. Of the two wedding planners, Lavender was the more romantic one. If the groom butchered his vows, she would cry about how everything was ruined, but if the groom stuttered during the beginning of his speech to his wife during the reception, Lavender would have had tears in her eyes because it would be, "so romantic!" Though of course, he would have needed to know the rest of the speech fairly well.
Ginny patted Harry's leg when he started getting nervous because of Lavender's silent threat. She had to admit it was unnerving when a usually bubbly face suddenly turned dark and threatening. It was like a little girl's doll was actually a murder in disguise.
"Now, the next subject," Parvati announced. "Our last fitting would be on the 28th. That's one day before the wedding. It would be nice for everyone to show up since I think people would want to have their clothes fit at the ceremony."
"I get this feeling that we might need to alter some things, so people, go there at least fifteen minutes early or I'll be charging through your house with Unforgivables at the tip of my wand," Lavender amend. "This wedding has to be perfect."
The wedding had to be perfect. Ginny and Harry certainly deserved it. But for a wedding to be perfect, everything must not only go smoothly, but quick thinking must cover any diversions from the plan so that it does go seemingly smoothly.
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RehearsalJuly 10th came soon like all dates people were dreading. It wasn't that Harry and Ginny didn't want to get married. The problem was mainly due to people's fear of Lavender. She had made the wedding her personal project for the ultimate romantic event and no one wanted to ruin that dream for her. Right before Ginny and Harry were to apparate to the hotel in which the wedding was going to be held, Harry was a nervous wreck.
"Ginny, you have to promise me you won't let Parvati or Lavender kill me," Harry pleaded. Ginny looked at her fiancé with a wry grin. "I can't guarantee I won't mess up, but I can guarantee I won't mess up royally!"
"If you don't mess up royally I don't think they would care," Ginny replied rolling her eyes. Her two friends and substitute wedding planners had succeeded in making the entire male portion of the wedding entourage afraid of them. Harry was afraid of them for obvious reasons – he lacked the charisma in public to carry him through Lavender's empty threats. But for Draco Malfoy, the silver-tongued socialite that has been able to charm every single girl at Hogwarts during his time after sixth year, he was even afraid of Gryffindor's own smart ditzes.
"But Gin, even Malfoy's afraid of them," Harry whined. "If Mr. Confident is suffering from confidence withdrawal, do you really think I would be able to pull off a spectacular vow with those two harpies burning a four holes in my back?"
"You'll do fine Harry," Ginny reiterated for the umpteenth time since Lavender and Parvati became General Perfection and Lieutenant Precision. She wasn't sure why Harry, Ron, and even Draco let along Neville and Seamus were so afraid of her wedding planners. "Harry, remember: this is our wedding. As long as we are married, I don't have a problem with this. Quite acting like a coward or we'll really be facing the wrath of Lavender and Parvati since we will be late if we don't hurry."
That comment did get Harry to move on. During the pre-apparition process and the walk to the hall for the rehearsal, Harry kept on mumbling to himself "this is our wedding. If we get married we'll be fine. This is our wedding. If we get married we'll be fine . . ." Ginny's response was shaking her head. Since when did world famous aurors became afraid of two impromptu wedding planners? It was just a rehearsal and the event is only a wedding. It was like stumbling in the wedding would be the end of the world.
"Ah! You're here!" Lavender shouted and rushed to give Ginny and Harry a bone crushing hug. No one expected the petite girl to carry that much strength, but then again, no one expected to be as strict as a general when it came to organizing the wedding of two close friends. "We thought you got mobbed or something!" with that, Lavender shot a glare in Draco's direction. "Okay, we could start now!"
The two wedding planners ushered the couple to the rest of the group and started the giddy role of wedding rehearsal directors. It took the two and the man from the ministry to make the marriage official thirty minutes to set up everyone in their "proper" place and another five minutes to teach people how to walk down the aisle with dignity and power. It seemed as though the man from the ministry worked wonderfully well together.
Everything did seem to go as planned, but Lavender's premonition about how there would be problems had to be true. After all, she was somewhat gifted with the third eye so her divination skills were at least more trustworthy than the junk Professor Trelawney spews out on a daily basis. After nearly an hour of standing up, a surprised squeak from the row of bridesmaids interrupted the beginning of Harry's vows.
"Oh dear!" Hermione exclaimed with a frown. "This is not good . . ."
Upon hearing the usually poised woman interrupt the wedding rehearsal alerted the group that something definitely was wrong. With the fact that she was well into her pregnancy and it was normal for the contractions to start, chaos inevitably happened. Ron went into hysterics with Harry – and Hermione of all people – trying to calm him down. Thankfully, there were enough people to restrain the startled Weasley so he would regain his sanity as well as common sense.
"Ow!" Ron had started jumping around like a supercharged pixie again. Hermione's wails of pain and her rather frustrated attempts of calming her husband didn't do much to settle Ron. Ginny decided to leave her sister-in-law's side to give a good thwack to her brother. Using a spell commonly used by aurors to hold still unruly criminals, Ginny managed to lock Ron firmly on the wall.
"Now listen to me Ronald Weasly!" Ginny said sternly with her brother's eyes bulging with each second of struggling against the magical bonds and his desperate squeals trying to reach his wife. "You losing your sanity and common sense are not going to help Hermione at all. Now I know the doctors have told you how to handle the situation. Now calm down and use. Your. Head!"
The twins were right in that Ginny had the motherly authority rested within Mrs. Weasley. One lecture and all the men, at least Weasley men, managed to do exactly as she said as though they were put under imperio. When Ron did stop his struggling, which made him look like a limp Amazon primate, Ginny took off the binding spell.
"Okay, so we get her to the hospital. And take the essentials, which we brought with us everywhere since last week," Ron said trying to keep calm. "We need to flag the Knight Bus or something."
"Did that already," Draco Malfoy's voice replied as he replaced his wand in robes. "Carry her on to that thing and they are taking her to St. Mungo's right away." Everyone looked at the Slytherin in shock. How did he know what to do in a time of pregnancy issues? "You Gryffindors seem to lose you mind easily," he added when everyone seemed to stare at him. "Now, aren't you going to move Dr. Granger to the Knight Bus or am I going to have to do that?" Seeing as no one really moved, the Slytherin shrugged and walked near Hermione.
"Don't you dare get near her!" Ron threatened. "I am taking her to the hospital. You people keep practicing." Everyone present gave a disbelieving look at the poor, frazzled Weasley. Perhaps his hysteria wasn't over yet. Without bothering to ask for permission, the entire group got on the Knight Bus and went to the hospital.
At 8:03 P.M. on July 10th, Jordan Weasley was born. It was Hermione's idea to have a name where the baby could be either a boy or a girl, and to Ron's glee, the child was a boy.
And so the problems started happening. The fact that Hermione's lump shrank posed problems for the wardrobe ladies. Certainly the spell that allowed for a pregnant women to adjust, but the fact that Hermione gave birth brought about major headaches to the tailors and seamstresses.
While Parvati and Lavender were about to turn insane because of the mania due to all the last minute planning, Ginny was taking a backseat to all the activity to observe all the activity around her. When she was planning other people's weddings, she hadn't noticed how crazy everything was. Then again, all of her clients didn't have pregnant bridesmaid, a crazy family, mischievous twins whose job was to create mass chaos, and on going rivalries between the wedding entourage. Ron never liked how Draco Malfoy seemed to befriend his best friend and the fact that the Slytehrin seemed to upstage him created more friction. It didn't help when Malfoy's "I am holier than thou" attitude seemed to be more prominent in front of her brother.
"I can't wait until this wedding is over," Lavender said when the women decided to have an all girls' night right before the wedding whereas the men decided to have their bonding session – most likely Harry trying to prevent his best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law from beating his coworker to a pulp or vice versa. Hermione was dragged along unwillingly, but with the advice that having her take care of Jordan with a group of girls would be a lot better than Ron taking care of the poor baby with his fury against a certain best man.
"Yeah," Parvati agreed with a sigh. "No offense Ginny. We loved the experience of helping out with planning your wedding, but obviously this isn't our line of work." It obviously wasn't since all the male members who were part of the wedding were still afraid of the two. "That made us too high-maintenance. Ew!" Ginny laughed at her friends' comical expressions.
"Well, think about having offers coming up one after another," Ginny replied wrly. "Sometimes I want to quit too, but it was my only source of income until now."
"It was a healthy bit of income," Hermione chipped in. Since she was apart of dinner discussions at the Weasleys, she knew how Mrs. Weasley seemed a bit disappointed with Ginny's business of organizing large social events. "Besides, it certainly was fun to prove how Weasleys had class and see certain pompous people with sour faces of defeat."
"Oh right! That picture of Mr. Malfoy!" Lavender exclaimed. "I had that posted on my wall for a bit to laugh at when I had a bad day . . ."And the girls had fun night reminiscing about life before this day. Unlike a typical sleepover when they were young, everyone was sent to bed at 10:00 P.M. so they would look well rested and shine for big event.
Unfortunately, with little Jordan, things didn't go as plan . . .
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The pre-WeddingJuly 29th came too early for Hermione, Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny. Jordan's midnight demands and early morning cries not only kept his mother awake through most of the night, but the roommates all felt the effect of the baby gurgles and ear piercing cries.
"I am so sorry," Hermione said for the fifth time since everyone woke up. Breakfast wasn't even served yet. "That was one reason why I didn't want to come." Ginny and the others just waved off the excuse. It was normal for the baby to cry at obscene hours of the night and early morning, but they made the decision to deal with it.
"It's fine Hermione," Ginny reiterated. "We will look fine. Even muggle makeup could cover circles under the eyes if we had it. Don't fret. This just gives us all another lesson on being a mother."
"Yeah, Ginny. Are you planning on being one soon?" Trying desperately to maintain her dignity, Ginny tried to keep her cheeks from flaming. "You and Harry haven't done anything yet?"
"Alright, let's stop the banter since we need to get there in five minutes!" Hermione exclaimed. "I don't think the people doing the beautifying job would like the fact that we'll be late."
"Oh please don't let them be like those women at the engagement party. Honestly, it felt like a trip back to the eighteenth century or earlier," Ginny complained as everyone got their clothes and wand for apparation and in Hermione's case, calling the Knight Bus.
The process of getting ready for the wedding was longer than it took for the engagement party. Not only were the dresses more elaborate, but the hairstyles also took longer and to Ginny's expected disliked, it took longer to have subtle makeup than to have creams thickly layered on her skin. The fact that she did not sleep very well was not ignored by the make up artists. She wasn't sure if she should be annoyed by their various styles of speaking or if she should be in awe of their artistic genius.
"You look like a fairy queen, Miss Weasley!" one of the cosmeticians announced when they were done with her make up. Ginny looked at herself in the mirror. She did seem like a fairy with the pearl white dress with an outer layer that shimmered in multicolor. It seemed as though if the light hit her dress at the correct angle, she would be sounded by a rainbow aura. The pale colored makeup made her seem more ethereal. She was pale naturally so the light blush placed on her cheeks made illuminated her face. Her eyes were brought out by eye shadow that ranged from pink to blue with some green and yellow.
"Now we send you off to get your hair done!" Before Ginny could thank them, she was pushed out of the make up room and one of the artists led her to the room where the hair stylists were. When Ginny entered, her bridesmaids and matron of honor were already getting their hair put up in a uniform fashion.
"Oh my goodness!" Hermione exclaimed in awe. "You look magnificent, Ginny! Boy, let's hope Harry doesn't trip down the aisle!" Lavender and Parvati agreed vehemently by nodding their head to the chagrin of stylists. In seconds, Ginny found herself seated in front of more mirrors to observe how people would be altering her hair. With complicated weaves and braids and twists, the stylists then wounded the different strands of hair onto a metal wire, which was connected to her veil and train.
"My, you do look beautiful!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed when it was time to have the mother-daughter chat right before the wedding. Within moments, the older woman's eyes were shinning with tears. "Oh my baby girl is all grown up now!" Ginny blushed at her mother's outburst. Although it was typical of mothers to gush at their daughter's wedding, it was still embarrassing nonetheless. "Okay, I am going to stop now and go check on Harry. I hope he keeps half an eye on his steps instead of gawking at you so we won't have any injuries." With that, she left to leave time for the rest of Ginny's pre-wedding visitors.
Let's hope Harry won't trip down the aisle . . . keep half an eye on his steps . . .
Ginny shook her head at the exaggerations. She certainly did look and feel pretty, but her appearance shouldn't have that big of a change. If Harry hadn't really stuttered when she was in her normal self, the most he would do would be stuttering. Taking one look at herself, she decided that she did not beautiful, but not enough to send Harry to the hospital.
"Oh dear Merlin!" another voice exclaimed to invade Ginny's personal thoughts. "I can't believe that's the littlest Weasley standing in front of me!" Ginny scowled and turned to look at the speaker. Of course, even though Draco Malfoy was civil to her, he still lacked the skill to not offend the Weasleys in any way by speech. Which probably explained why he wasn't with Harry at that moment.
"Not the youngest. The youngest would be Jordan," Ginny replied with humor.
"You'll definitely send Potter into a shock," the Slytherin continued. "We Malfoys know what beautiful and sophisticated. And you, my dear, are exactly that right now. I think I may need to report back to Potter now of what to expect. So he really doesn't trip and kiss the ground instead of kissing you."
"Is this why you came? To spy on me?" Ginny asked tilted her head. The movement made some jingly sound and it was the she noticed there were tiny bells on her veil.
"Actually, your brother was about to skin me alive and then pick me apart muscle by muscle, bone by bone and you future husband is acting like he's about to end his life any moment. So I was sent over for the health of your brother and your fiancé by Remus and Sirius." Ginny's eyes widened with worry. She hadn't thought about Harry wanting to back out of the wedding. Their case seemed highly likely since everything was rushed.
"Don't worry your pretty little redhead," Draoc Malfoy continued softly. "He's just nervous, like you probably. It's natural. Besides, the only matter he was raising his blood pressure over what you backing out. Which reminds me, I was sent by the order of King Harry Potter to get a sample of the Lady's handwriting to prove to him that she still wants to marry him." Ginny raised a delicate eyebrow in disbelief. According to Aurora, a Malfoy with dramatics was not exactly a very trustworthy Malfoy.
"A sample of my handwriting?" Ginny asked. "Is this a weird ploy to get Harry all worried because you now have a sample of my handwriting and probably could create a letter telling him the exact opposite?"
"No," Draco replied too innocently and too rapidly. "Your brother would probably kill me if I had done that and quite frankly, I still have a life goal which I haven't fulfilled." The teasing gleam in his eyes disappeared and Ginny felt some of her own joy turn into neutral feelings, if not sadness.
"How are you doing?" Ginny asked softly. If nothing had happened in the spring, this would have been his wedding, his glorious day where he would be wondering about his bride. Ginny and Harry would be the ones teasing Draco Malfoy, not the other way. It must be hard to have one mission and one threat take away your fiancée, Ginny thought to herself.
"No need to worry, Little Weasley," the Slytherin replied equally quiet. "Part of your wedding present is to get Aurora back. I suppose it's for selfish reasons as well, but I figured we would both benefit. Now, I am sure she must have complained about my stubbornness and my spoiled childhood since all Malfoys get what he wants and I want her back whether she likes it or not." Ginny wasn't sure if that obsession was healthy, but at least he still had faith. At least there still were people who were still holding on the belief that Aurora would be back when the time comes, or at least Draco would drag her back.
"Was there any particular reason you are calling me by various versions of my last name all of the sudden?" Ginny asked with a frown. "I thought Aurora and I had drilled it in your head that weasel wasn't a compliment and saying Weasley derogatively would result in serious pain?"
"Well, I only have this last few hours to do so before you become Mrs. Potter," Draco replied matter-of-factly. "It's my last few minutes of fun. Pothead was for Potter while we were at Hogwarts. Now we have to be civil because we work together so once you are a Potter, I would need to spend my precious time trying to create a new way to mock you name which I could spend chasing after a certain someone."
"Draco?" Remus and Sirius's heads popped from the door. "Did you get Ginny to write that damned sentence yet?" Sirius asked. "Honestly, Harry's was worse than James when he married Lily. I think it had something to do with the fact that the brides were redheads."
"Just give me a second and I'll write the note," Ginny replied shaking her head. Draco handed her a small piece of paper and a pencil. "Here."
"Can you believe she thought I would be playing a joke on poor Harry?" Draco asked Harry's former guardians in disbelief. "She thought I was going to play a joke on Potter on his wedding day!" With all four chuckling, the incoming bridesmaids and matron of honor kicked the men out of Ginny's room.
"What are you doing here?" Lavender asked, ghastly white for a moment. "The wedding is about to start and you three are chatting with Ginny?" Before Lavender could continue, Draco pushed the two older wizards out whispering for them to not get on the nerves of Lavender and Parvati and just do exactly as the wedding planners say.
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The wedding was spectacular as expected. The outside lighting was perfect for the ethereal feeling. When the ceremony started, it was nearly sunset and as the ceremony started, the sunset had hit Ginny's dress perfect way to create a rainbow that surrounded her. The flower girl's, Bill's part veela daughter's sporadic showers of petals that actually maintained the fact that Ginny had flowers falling around her all the time contributed to the midsummer feel when the fairies flourished. She walked down the aisle with her father on her side with the poise and confidence practiced the afternoon right before Jordan's birth. Neither forgot their vows and to Lavender's joy, Harry managed to be romantic and mess up his vows.
However, like the premonitions before, the wedding had a few glitches. Harry did trip over his own feet when it was time for the married couple to march down the aisle. He didn't actually fall to the ground since many people had expected that reaction from him that five pairs of hands came to his rescue.
For the reception, Draco had left early because of his personal plans since an owl invaded the party with a note. But Ginny didn't mind, as long as she still had the chance of getting her best friend back. On the other hand, she never had much time thinking about Draco leaving early since other guests kept her occupied. Friends and family shared feelings of relief as they are "finally married." The few press allowed at the wedding were stupid enough to get confused about who was actually getting married and felt the wrath of both sets of Weasley twins with the younger set becoming closer to being the heirs of the W.W.W. empire.
As for the fateful wedding night, it shall end with – they had fun. Draco managed to give them their secret gift of a rather frisky nightgown and lingerie set for Ginny. Ginny's reaction was to blush furiously, but Harry was torn between wanting to throttle his coworker or be happy that the other had the nerve to do something he wouldn't have done until after the honeymoon.
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Does it end here? Well, I suppose I shall have an epilogue sometime later. Maybe I would have something completed when I get back. You never know. But just in case, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed and stuck by me as I complained.
To tell you the truth, this chapter seemed rushed. I may rewrite it and separate it into two chapters or something. Pre-wedding day and wedding day.
I have no time to personal thanks – I'll post them up when I get back from vacation. But thanks all!