Harry had pretty much tuned Ginny out as she gushed with Lavender over how amazing the wedding would be. Instead, he pondered just how much the lavish wedding his fiancée was planning was going to cost him. Or he was until Ron nudged him in the ribs and directed his attention to the door behind the reception desk where Celeste had disappeared into moments before.
"Why do I feel as if I know that bloke?" Ron asked as a tall, devastatingly attractive dark-haired wizard strode out from behind the reception desk and headed in their direction.
Harry also felt as if he knew the wizard, and it took him a couple of moments before he placed him. The wizard in question was a former Slytherin, Blaise Zabini. Zabini had been a friend of Malfoy's back in their school days, or rather he was by the time they left. Harry couldn't recall them hanging out much in the early years of Hogwarts, but by their final few years they had seemed pretty tight.
"Zabini," he informed Ron, just as the wizard in question reached them.
"Mr Potter," Blaise greeted formally. "I'm afraid Celeste has some other business to deal with, so you are left to deal with me."
"You?" Ron questioned as Ginny and Lavender ceased their conversation and started to pay attention to what was going on. "You work here?"
"No, I don't work here, I own The Nymph," Blaise answered with a chuckle.
"It's a beautiful place," Harry said as Ron could merely gape at the former Slytherin in shock. "And your staff are excellent. Celeste has been most helpful."
"I am very pleased to hear that," Blaise replied.
"We were about to discuss wedding options," Ginny added, giving Blaise a dazzling smile. Even though she was going to be married, she did like a bit of a flirt with attractive wizards, and Blaise Zabini was certainly attractive. "Will we be discussing it with you, instead?"
"No," Blaise replied bluntly. "There is nothing to discuss. We will not be hosting your wedding."
"You what?" Ginny questioned in bewilderment.
"If it's a time issue, we know we might have to wait," Harry said. "We understand you only have limited availability, and I'm sure you're very popular. But we are happy to wait. We're not after getting married next week."
"It really doesn't matter when you want to get married, it will not be taking place here," Blaise insisted.
"You can't stop us getting married here," Ginny hissed, her shock wearing off and anger starting to take its place.
"Since I own the place, I can do what I want," Blaise snorted.
"I will not let you get away with this," Ginny raged. "I will go to the papers and make a fuss. I will ruin your business."
"You go right ahead and run to the press, I will simply tell them why I refuse to allow you to get married in my hotel," Blaise replied with a carefree shrug.
"And why is that?" Ron demanded, jumping to his sister's defence. "Because we're former Gryffindors? You can't discriminate against people like that, Zabini."
"I couldn't care less what house you were in at school," Blaise scoffed. "In fact one of my best friends is a former Gryffindor. And in fact, she is the reason I can't allow your sister to use my hotel for her wedding. I will not allow someone who has disrespected one of my best friends to make use of my hotel."
"I haven't disrespected anyone," Ginny argued. "I don't even know who this friend of yours is."
"I'll give you a clue, she's the witch whose wedding dress you tried to buy last week," Blaise said.
"What?" Harry questioned with a frown at the exact same time Lavender cried Hermione's name. "Hermione? What does she have to do with anything?"
"I'm confused here," Ron muttered.
"How surprising, you haven't bothered to tell your fiancé and brother what you did," Blaise remarked with a derisive snort.
"I didn't do anything," Ginny protested.
"That's not the way Hermione tells it," Blaise retorted. "According to Hermione, you showed up out of the blue at her house after seeing her dress in the bridal shop and tricking one of the staff into giving you her address. You then tried to get her to sell you the dress and refused to take no for an answer. I do believe you even called her selfish for not giving in and selling you the dress. Then when Hermione asked you to leave because you refused to accept that the dress wasn't going to ever be yours, you threatened her. A threat she took so seriously she not only removed her dress from the bridal shop, but felt the need to secure it at the manor."
"No, no, no, this is all wrong," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Ginny isn't trying to steal someone else's dress. She saw the perfect dress when she was out shopping with Lavender the other week."
"She did, but the dress belonged to Hermione," Blaise insisted. "And if you don't believe me, either ask your fiancée, or ask the witch she was with."
"Ginny?" Harry asked, turning to his fiancée at the same time Ron asked Lavender to back his sister up.
"It's really not as bad as he's making it sound," Ginny protested weakly.
"The dress did belong to Hermione?" Ron asked, his focus still on Lavender.
"We didn't know that at the time," Lavender admitted. "We saw the dress, but the woman who runs the bridal shop told us it was already sold."
"So why wasn't that the end of it?" Harry questioned. "If the dress wasn't available, why not just forget about it and find another one?"
"There isn't another dress, Harry, this is the one," Ginny insisted passionately. "I will never find another dress I love as much as this one. I have to be married in it."
"And this is how you carried on with Hermione?" Harry questioned in disdain. "It's bad enough you sought her out and tried to steal her dress, but to not take no for an answer is inexcusable."
"She could buy another dress," Ginny argued.
"As could you," Blaise pointed out. "Especially since Hermione already owns the dress. Why should she give up her wedding dress just to suit you?"
"Don't," Harry ordered his girlfriend, holding up his hand to stop any more protests coming from her lips. "Nothing you can say can justify harassing Hermione and trying to get her to sell you her dress. The second you discovered the dress wasn't for sale, that should have been the end of it. This should never have been an issue."
"Sadly it is an issue, and because of it, I cannot agree to you using the hotel," Blaise said, actually feeling sorry for Potter as it was clear he'd known nothing of his fiancée's bad behaviour.
"It is still discrimination," Ginny argued.
"This is my hotel, I have the right to refuse entry to anyone I want," Blaise pointed out. "I could have you removed right now, if I so desired."
"You have not heard the last of this," Ginny hissed. "I will not be treated this way."
"I think maybe it's time you learnt that you can't always have everything you want," Blaise said in steely tones. "First, you seem to think you had some sort of entitlement to Hermione's dress, and now you think you're entitled to hold your wedding here, even if it's not what I want. You need to take a serious look at yourself."
"Are you just going to stand there and let him insult me?" Ginny cried, turning to Harry.
"From where I'm standing, he's got a point," Harry replied. "I don't know what gave you the right to think you could turn up on someone's door and demand they sell you their wedding dress. And I don't know why you think you can argue against the owner of the hotel when he says he doesn't want your business."
"I don't believe this," Ginny snapped, turning to her brother in search of back-up. "You're with me on this, aren't you Ron?"
"Actually, I agree with Harry," Ron admitted. "You were out of order with Hermione. You need to apologise."
"She's actually in the restaurant, I'm sure I could arrange a meeting," Blaise offered.
"Over my dead body," Ginny stormed. "Her selfishness had ruined my wedding. First she denies me my dream dress, and then she drips poison in the ear of the wizard who owns the hotel where I want to be married. Hell will freeze over before I apologise to that bitch."
"Now that is enough," Blaise interrupted angrily. "I will not have you standing here insulting my friend. I want you to leave my hotel before I have to call security."
"I'm going, but believe me, you haven't heard the last of this," Ginny stormed, turning towards the door and only stopping when she realised no-one was following her. "Well?" she demanded of the others. "Are you coming?"
"No," Harry answered. "If Hermione is here and she's agreeable, I would like to see her. I want to apologise for your behaviour, but most of all I just want to say hello. I had no idea she was even back home."
"Or getting married," Ron added.
"She's only just come home," Blaise said. "And I'm sure she would love to see you both."
"This is unbelievable," Ginny yelled as she turned on her heel and stormed from the hotel.
"I'm sorry about that," Harry apologised with a wince as his fiancée made her escape from the hotel. "I had no idea what had gone on."
"It's done now," Blaise said with a shrug. "I'm sorry I had to be harsh, but Hermione is our friend and Daphne and I just couldn't allow your fiancée to get married here. And I know none of this is your fault, but I do think it would be wise if you could keep her on a tighter leash, at least where Hermione is concerned. If she approaches her again about the dress, Draco will not be happy."
"Draco?" Harry echoed. "Draco Malfoy?"
"Oh," Lavender cried as she put the pieces together. "That's who Hermione is marrying. That's what you meant when you said she'd moved her dress to the manor. You meant Malfoy Manor."
"Indeed I do," Blaise confirmed. "Do you still want to see Hermione?"
"Of course we do," Harry answered instantly, before turning to Ron and giving him a hesitant look. "Don't we?"
"Yeah, we do," Ron confirmed with a nod.
"Why don't you go through the bar," Blaise suggested, giving them directions to the bar. "I'll go and grab Hermione, and probably Draco, and you can have a drink together and clear the air."
Thanking Blaise for his assistance, Harry, Ron and Lavender followed his directions to the hotel bar. Ordering drinks they sat down a corner booth, which would give them some privacy, and considered the fact their old friend was about to marry their former enemy.
"Ginny never mentioned this," Ron remarked.
"She didn't know," Lavender snorted. "I asked her earlier about what had happened when she went to see the owner of the dress, and when she revealed it was Hermione, I asked about who she was marrying, and Ginny had no idea."
"You knew what she was going to do?" Ron asked his girlfriend, sounding slightly accusing.
"I knew she was going to go and see the witch who owned the dress, but I assumed she would be sensitive," Lavender protested. "I thought she would make polite inquiries into buying the dress and if the answer was no, she would walk away with dignity."
"You genuinely thought the dress might be for sale?" Harry asked.
"Ginny said she was going to offer the owner twice what they had paid for it, for some people, that might have been enough incentive," Lavender said. "But I never for one minute thought she would be so stubborn and refuse to take no for an answer. And I certainly never thought she would threaten anyone over the dress, least of all Hermione."
"What shocks me the most is that even now, she still doesn't seem to be able to see what she's done wrong," Harry said with a sad shake of his head. "She still seems to want the dress."
"What shocks me the most is that Hermione is marrying Malfoy," Ron remarked. "I did not see that one coming."
"Are you okay with it?" Lavender asked warily.
"I am perfectly fine with Hermione getting married," Ron assured his girlfriend as he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "We were over a long time ago. I'm just shocked by her choice of husband."
"I'm not," Lavender chuckled, clearly more at ease now Ron had reassured her. "Unless he's changed, Malfoy was always smoking hot. Plus, they always had that forbidden love, sexual tension thing going on in school."
"They liked each other in school?" Ron asked, horrified at the idea as he thought Hermione only had eyes for him back in Hogwarts.
"No, I don't they let themselves think about each other in that way," Lavender said. "But you have to admit, when they clashed sparks always flew. If they weren't both so stubborn, I think things could have gotten interesting in school."
"I guess we'll find out their story soon enough," Harry said.
"If Hermione agrees to see us," Ron cautioned.
With Ron's note of warning hanging in the air, all they could do was sit and wait and see if Hermione would come and meet them, or if her recent experiences with Ginny had frightened her off and she wanted nothing more to do with any of them.