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Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I tell you! All the characters, places etc. belong to JKR.
*** HAPPILY EVER AFTER?
*** Ron, Ginny, Seamus and Lavender had booked a suite at a top Wizarding hotel in Melbourne for their stay in Australia. Actually, it had been Seamus who had book the hotel, due to some of his connections at work. Strangely, a lot of the people at the hotel seemed to know Seamus, even though he claimed he had never stayed there before. The evening that they arrived in Australia, Ron and Lavender decided to do some sight-seeing, leaving Seamus and Ginny alone in the hotel suite. Seamus lay on the suite's couch, reading a magazine when Ginny emerged from her room. She sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's so quiet without Ron and Lav," she commented. "Yeah," agreed Seamus, putting an arm around her shoulders. Ginny winced. "What is it?" "Nothing," Ginny said quickly, but Seamus wasn't convinced. He pushed up the sleeve of her purple Muggle T-shirt to reveal several large bruises on her upper arm. "Ginny where did you get those bruises?" he demanded. "I fell over at work," she said shortly, pushing her sleeve back down. "It's nothing." "I didn't think falling over could do that to you?" "Well, obviously it can," Ginny retorted. She moved away from Seamus, a worried look in her eyes, somewhat like a small animal that's being pursued. Seamus looked at her, and shook his head. "Fine, Ginny, be like that. If you don't want to tell me you don't have to." Ginny pursed her lips. She brushed a stand of red hair from her eyes and opened her mouth as if about to speak, but closed it again, obviously deciding not to. She rose from the coach and with one last look at Seamus, she walked briskly into the bathroom. A couple of seconds later, the hiss of water from the shower could be heard. Seamus stared at the door for a few minutes, as if the wood could give him the answers. Finally he could take it no longer and he stood and strode purposefully to the bathroom door. He was about to knock on it what he heard a strange noise from inside. Pressing his ear to the door, he listened carefully. The strange noise from inside was the sound of Ginny's sobs, muffled by the continual hiss of the water. The sound of her crying was almost painful, and Seamus turned away from the door, not wishing to hear any more. He collapsed back onto the couch, trying to think how on earth Ginny had got those bruises and why she was currently crying her eyes out. "Draco, what is the meaning of this?" demanded Padma, as Draco removed the blindfold charm he had place on her. She gasped in amazement. "Where are we?" she asked, looking around at the urban scenery in utter delight. "On top of the Sydney Opera House. Don't worry, no-one can see us - there are countless charms up around the place to stop Muggles," he told her. He held her arm and turned her round to reveal a red and white chequered blanket laying on the 'floor' with what looked to be a gourmet picnic set out on top of it. "What's the special occasion?" she asked as her boyfriend led her over to the blanket. They sat down, and Draco poured out two flutes of champagne in silence. "You are," he replied, handing her one of the glasses. He held her hand across the food and smiled almost shyly. "Would you be offended if I told you that you were scaring me?" Padma asked, giggling nervously. "No, because I'm scaring myself," Draco admitted. "Strawberry?" he asked holding up a golden plate of the aforementioned fruit. Padma took one, but didn't eat it. Instead, she stared at it, rolling it between her fingers. "Draco, what's going on?" she asked earnestly. "Don't lie to me, please. Just tell me the truth." Draco said nothing, instead he put down his champagne flute and rose to his feet. He dusted down his navy robes and held out his hand. "Stand up," he instructed. "I have something to show you." Confused, Padma accepted his hand and got to her feet. "What is it? And I've just realised almost everything I've said to you tonight is a question, so I'm going to be quiet now." "Do you remember how we met?" Draco asked quietly, as they looked out at the breathtaking night time view of Sydney. Padma took his hand and stood next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm assuming the first time we spoke properly." Draco nodded. "It was at the end of a Prefect's meeting. You were pining over Hermione and I told you to get a life, though I was probably a bit more eloquent." "You were," agreed Draco. Padma looked at him suspiciously, her dark eyes burning with an intense curiosity. "This is leading to something, isn't it?" she whispered. "I can't think what, but it is... oh, Draco!" As she had spoken, Draco had dropped to one knee, still clutching her left hand. "Oh. My. God," she whispered. "I spent ages trying to think of a way to ask you to marry me, Padma. But I couldn't quite find the words. It's like... you defy words. You... defy everything. You could probably do a hundred times better than me, but for some strange reason, you're with me. I feel I know you so well. you don't judge people, and I know money and things like that don't impress you, so all I can give you is me." "You got it wrong," whispered Padma slowly. "You could do a hundred times better than me. Of course I'll marry you." "You will?" asked Draco weakly. "Do I have to repeat myself?" asked Padma, tears starting to fall down her face. "No!" said Draco quickly. He got to his feet and wrapped his arms around Padma, his face flushed with pride and immense shock, Padma's tears of happiness falling onto his shoulder. The final of the Quidditch World Cup was held just three days later. During the three days between the semi-final and the final, both Harry and Hermione had become increasingly agitated. It was an unspoken agreement between the two that they would tell the others about their marriage after the match, no matter what the outcome. The day of the match dawned bright and sunny, and there was a feeling of immense tension in the England mansion. Oliver, who was the unofficial house chef, even burned a pot of tea. How exactly he managed this feat was beyond even Hermione. Until then none of them had actually known you could burn tea. The stadium was buzzing with excitement and the atmosphere was almost electric. England had reached the World Cup finals for the first time in thirty years. They were to play Germany, who were also ranked as one of the best teams in the world. England hadn't beaten them for ten years. There were a lot of hopes (and money) resting on the result of this Quidditch match. Hermione had chosen to sit in the top box for this match, if only because she was feeling ill. It was probably nerves, she reckoned. Plus all those male journalists in the press box with the intense Australian heat? Not something she wanted to experience. Again. The match itself was incredibly fierce. It was a strange spectacle to behold, especially from the top box, where Hermione had a view of the entire pitch. Half the spectators were decked out in red, gold and black and the other half in red, white and blue. The players themselves all had looks of extreme concentration on their faces. The German Beaters were terribly aggressive, and Hermione was sure that Padma had at least three broken ribs. Up in the air, Harry was circling the pitch. He was gripping his broom so hard his knuckles were white. Out of the corner of his eye, he could she the German Seeker, Jana Schwartz, following, albeit discreetly. She was a wiry your woman who had magicked her hair so that it was the same colours as the German flag. About ten metres or so below him, the game was in full swing. Ed, England's Captain was almost knocked off his broom twice. Nathan seemed to be enjoying himself, though, hitting the Bludgers towards the Germans with almost his full strength. Harry knew that Nathan never used his full strength when hitting the Bludgers as he tired easily doing this. Getting tired during the World Cup final was not something that anyone, least of all Harry, wanted to do. His eyes scanned the pitch for the Golden Snitch. Harry could hear the commentator say something about the current score, and although Harry didn't absorb this information completely, he knew the two teams were too close for comfort. He could see the German Seeker more clearly now, and she was definitely following him. She wasn't even bothering to hide it any more. There was only one thing to do that Harry could think of... About an hour into the game, Hermione saw Harry go into the Wronski feint. She knew for a fact it was the feint because of the look on his face. There was only a subtle difference between his 'feint face' and his 'I've-seen-the-Snitch face', but Hermione could distinguish between them. To her dismay, the German Seeker pulled out of the dive just metres from the ground. Harry didn't. A/N: Ooh... a cliffhanger! Hehe. I've been planning that for a while! (P.S. Chapter Seven will be posted on Friday). Here's a thanks section for Chapter Five:
Review, Flame, Whatever. silverphoenix |
Happily Ever After?
By: silvernatasha
***COMPLETED*** The sequel to 'So What Now?'. After seven years at Hogwarts the gang are ready for the real world, but is the real world ready for them?
Rated: Fiction K+ - English - Romance/Humor - Harry P., Hermione G. - Chapters: 21 - Words: 50,369 - Reviews: 458 - Favs: 74 - Follows: 9 - Updated: Oct 31, 2002 - Published: Mar 20, 2002 - Status: Complete - id: 669417
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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