A/N ~ Okay, let's clear something up here. Hermione is not pregnant, nor has she ever been or ever will be. At least in my fics, in a reflection of my personal views she will not be having children. I apologize to anyone who really wants Herm to have kids. But it's my fic and I can write what I want. Sometimes. Occasionally the characters take over, but Herm doesn't want kids either, so it's ok. And she used a birth control spell, she isn't pregnant now, she was just having a chocolate craving, mainly due to the fact that I wanted chocolate and it was 1 am and I couldn't find my Easter candy. Oh, and no she wasn't pregnant at the end of the chapter either, she was just PMSing. Geesh people, why do you always expect the worst? Ok now that that awkward lecture is done let's move on to the story.
Disclaimer ~ The disclaimer from the previous chapter read: None of the characters belong to me, they all belong to the god like J. K. Rowling. Please don't sue, I have no money, just lots of Easter candy. That holds true for this chapter although my supply of Easter candy is diminishing due to the fact that I found it after I posted and ate lots of it causing me to stay up 'till about 4 in the morning. Fun fun. Zippo came the closest to decoding it. He got all but JlOEC, decoded, and that part was hard, mainly because no one had any idea what I was thinking when I wrote it. So congrats! You may pick something to be in the sequel. Anything at all. But I warn you, if you want Herm to be pregnant very bad things will happen, we covered that already.
Chapter 16
Graduation
Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table between Harry and Ron. She was gripping Harry's arm so tightly that he was afraid that she would cut off his circulation. She mechanically walked up to the podium at the front and gave her speech as Valedictorian. She couldn't even remember what she said, she was so nervous. Then her mentor and friend, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy headmistress walked up to the podium to give a few last words to her class.
"I don't think that we've had a more intelligent and talented young lady as our Valedictorian since Lily Evens graduated. I admire and respect Hermione and the rest of her class more than words can describe. Although," she said with a wry smile, "I don't think I've handed out more detentions since James Potter and his friends were here. Things will certainly calm down after this class is gone. And I have one more thing to say before I wish this class well, I would like to announce my engagement to fellow Hogwarts professor, Remus Lupin." The crowd was instantly on their feet cheering. They silenced immediately however as Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.
"I would like to say that I admire this class a great deal. They have been by far one of the more interesting classes that I have had the honor of teaching. They are the children from the first Voldemort War, and have survived the second. I hold them in the highest esteem and wish them well in their new lives."
And then those seven words.
"I give you the class of 1997!" Dumbledore said throwing out his arms. Suddenly the Great Hall was covered in multicolored confetti. Everyone was cheering and screaming and hugging each other. She hugged all her friends before being pulled into Harry's embrace and kissed. They had graduated. Gradually the hullabaloo died down and everyone surrounded Minerva demanding to see the ring.
Hermione gave her a big hug and said, "Okay, why didn't we know about this?"
"Remus just asked me before the ceremony." Minerva replied excitedly. "Oh honey, I didn't mean to intrude on your graduation, I just had to tell everyone."
"This is wonderful." Hermione said, brushing off Minerva's apology, "Now, when's the wedding? Where's it going to be? Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Hermione giggled with anticipation. In the mean time Harry was over talking with Sirius and Remus.
"So I guess you weren't kidding when you were telling James and me that you thought our new Transfigurations professor was cute." Sirius said clapping Remus on the back.
(A/N ~ how do guys act when they find out someone is getting married?)
"Borrowing a book." Harry said grinning wryly at his teacher and friend. "No wonder you were mad at us that night. I know that it's not fun to be interrupted in the middle of a date with your girlfriend."
"Yeah, well." Remus said before submitting himself to his friends' abuse.
After a grand party and banquet Harry and Hermione were left sitting alone out in the gardens. Hermione had slipped her shoes off and was playing with them with her feet and looking at her hands. Harry touched her cheek and she looked up. She smiled warmly at him. He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her. Minutes later he broke the kiss and took her hand in his. Harry looked at her.
"Hermione, I've been in love with you for years. And this year I've learned how wonderful it is to love you and have you love me back. Every time I hold you in my arms and kiss you I wonder how I possibly could have lived without you. And I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be able to wake up with you in my arms every morning and I want to be able to love you constantly. You have been my best friend and now you are the love of my life. I can talk with you about anything and now we can kiss and make up as well." He smiled. "What I'm trying to say is, Hermione, will you marry me?" He pulled a small blue box out of his robe. He opened it and there was a silver band with a star shaped sapphire on it. The sapphire was surrounded by diamonds.
"Oh, Harry of course I'll marry you." Hermione breathed as he slipped the ring onto her finger. She flung her arms around him and started kissing him.
(A/N ~ We'll leave the two of them alone for now. Yea! That came out well. Okay, I stole shamefully from Hermione Weasly Granger and from Lori. I admit it. Now moving on)
The next day Hermione and Harry went to tell Hermione's parents. Her mother was thrilled, a little apprehensive about Herm marrying so soon out of school, but very happy for her daughter. They immediately went off to start making wedding plans.
Hermione's father came over to Harry and said, "Could I talk to you for a minute." They went out side and started walking around the Granger's huge yard. "Now," He said, "What makes you think that you deserve my little girl."
Harry responded instantly. "I don't deserve her, no one deserves an angel like her. All I know is that I love her and I don't think that I could live if I were separated from her. She is essential to my life as the air that I breathe. And I know that she feels the same."
Mr. Granger took a deep breath. "Well, I guess that this means that my little girl is getting married. I'm glad it's you Harry. You're a good man, and I know you'll take care of her."
"She can take care of herself as she's proved time and time again. I'm just glad I get to be there with her." Harry responded.
Harry and Hermione left the Grangers to go announce their good news to the Weasleys, Remus and Minerva, Sirius, and all their friends from school. When they arrived at the Weasley home Ginny ran out and hugged Hermione and Harry. "I heard, I heard." She said grinning. "I'm so happy for you both."
"Ginny, however did you find out? The only people we've told are my parents." Hermione said sounding surprised.
"You'd be surprised how fast news spreads in the Wizarding world." Bill said as he and the rest of the Weasley family came out of their house. "Hullo, Harry, Hermione. I understand Congratulations are in order."
"Won't you please come in and tell us all about it." Arthur said kindly motioning towards the door.
"One last thing," Hermione said as they walked into the Weasley home. "You all seem to know the rest, Ginny, will you be a bride's maid at my wedding?"
"Of course." Ginny said, squealing with delight. "I'm honored that you would ask me."
"Well, you are one of my best friends, other than Harry and Ron of course, and I don't think either of them will look good in a lavender dress." Hermione and Ginny both giggled at that picture.
Harry and Hermione told the Weasley family their wonderful news and Hermione and Ginny planned a bit more of the wedding, making another date to get everyone together to plan on, and Harry and Ron talked for a bit. Ron would be Harry's best man of course. Their next stop was Minerva McGonagall's house to tell Remus and Minerva.
Harry and Hermione stood on the front porch of Minerva's grand Victorian style home waiting for the door to be answered. The door was opened by a man in a black suit. Minerva ran down the stairs and with Remus close behind.
"Hermione, Harry! We heard. Congratulations! It's in the Daily Prophet already. We thought you'd be by sometime today." Minerva cried as she finally got to the ground floor. "Here, lets go sit down and have some tea and you can tell us all about it. James, please serve tea in the blue sitting room in a few minutes." The man in the black suit disappeared. Harry stared, stunned at his former teacher. Her hair was out of its usual bun on top of her head and was loose instead. It was incredibly long, reaching almost to her knees. Instead of her usual black robes, Minerva was wearing dark amethyst colored robes, tied with a silver cord. She reached out and took Hermione's hand and led her away, both of them chatting eagerly about their upcoming weddings.
"Now of course you'll be my maid of honor," Hermione said. "I was thinking lavender dresses, and lilies of the valley for my bouquet. What do you think."
"Oh it sounds lovely." Minerva said smiling. "I would like you to be one of my bride's maids as well. I'm was thinking about going towards silver for the dresses. Oh, this is going to be so much fun. Now we have two weddings to plan." They walked into the parlor, planning while Remus was giving Harry some valuable advice.
"Don't interfere. Just let her do all the planning, let her have the perfect wedding. When she asks your opinion, give it to her, but if she doesn't agree, be willing to accommodate her wants. She's been planning her wedding day since she was five, so don't screw it up for her."
"Where did you learn all this?" Harry asked. "As I recall, you've never been married either."
"I was there when Lily was planning her wedding. Learn from your friends, or in your case your father's, mistakes.
Harry smiled as they walked into the parlor and sat down to tea with the loves of their lives.
The End
A/N ~ Ok, I think that's how I'm going to end it. The first chapter of the sequel should be up soon. Maybe tomorrow if we're lucky, most likely in a couple of days. I enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please Review. And yes. I stole outrageously in this chapter. From all my favorite fanfic authors, mainly Lori actually. Oh, and this is a direct order, I'm going to put it in big letters so no one will miss it.
GO READ THE STORIES BY LADY SACHIKO BARTON!!!! THEY ARE VERY GOOD AND WORTHWHILE TO READ!!!! AND IT WILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING FOR MY SEQUEL.
Oh, and I'm warning you now. There will be a plot to the sequel, and not everything that happens is related to this story. There will still be lots of fluff, but there will be a conflict and plot and all that fun stuff. And it will also take a bit longer to get the chapters out because I'll be back in school soon and I won't be able to type at 1 in the morning or spend all day at the computer. It will be better once school's out, I promise. Oh and yes, Harry will graduate in 1997. He was born in 1981, so he graduates in 1997. The years in the book aren't the same as in real life. (who need real life anyways, we've got fanfic)
On a side note, I was just watching The Sound of Music and has anybody else noticed that the nuns at the beginning are a lot like the teachers at Hogwarts. The Reverend Mother is a lot like Dumbledore. She keeps an open mind and sees things how they really are, not how people tell her they are. The one nun who doesn't like Maria is kinda like Snape, and one is like McGonagall, she likes Maria, but doesn't think that she is an asset to the abbey and says that she's always in trouble. And a couple of the others are like other teachers. Is it just me or what. Watch The Sound of Music and tell me. I really think that I'm on to something here. Ok it is one in the morning so I have strange theories, but I do my best writing at this time of night. Oh well. Now on to the Thank You's.
Thank You to my faithful readers who have lasted to the end ~
Zippo ~ Well you win the disclaimer contest. You got all but the last bit, which was, just lots of Easter candy. But that was kinda hard. Congrats. Pick something that you want to happen in the sequel and I'll try to work it in there.
Mel Potter ~ Than you very much for reviewing.
Brokenflower ~ You signed in, doesn't that mean that pigs should be flying or something. Oh, there goes one now. I'm shocked. Hehehe. Yep, I got your mail. And thank you, but it's not as usual, maybe for goddesses like Cassandra Claire or Lori wonderful stories are as usual, but not for me.
Kyle L. ~ No, she's not. And there isn't anything you can do about it except make her have a baby in your own fic.
Ginny Malfoy ~ I'm already ahead of you hon, He obviously does, and y'know what I said about not everything being the same as in this story, I'm going to tell you a secret Draco and Ginny are going to go out in the sequel Don't tell anyone ok. I really like the whole fire and ice kinda thing. Hehehe. I think it could work.
Laticia ~ Well thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
Mireva and Cristina ~ all hale the good ship H/H.
Sarah ~ No, chapters 13 and 14 were crap and shouldn't have been written. They were bad and I should remove them and do a rewrite. Except I don't have time so they are stuck here for the time being. (I am a perfectionist and therefore rather hard on myself, I didn't really like chapters 13 and 14.) 15 was okay though.
Michi Yuy ~ Well welcome to fanficdom. I'm glad my story didn't scare you away. I like to thank all my reviewers if you've noticed and I love getting new reviews, especially when the reader likes the story. Yes, may the good ship H/H forever sail the seas of ff.net. Yeah, I rather liked the twist of making their relationship like J/L. It's probably been done before, but I think I thought of it by myself. ::pats self on the back:: Corinne Cassandra has a big head. (Have you ever noticed that it's a lot of fun to talk in third person? Hehehe)
Ok and all my friends are gone, so they don't get thank you's. And now I have to go post.