Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I tell you! All the characters, places etc. belong to JKR.
A/N: This is my longest chapter yet. I'm very proud of myself! :) I'm sure you've all been looking forward to this chapter, if only for the reactions of everyone when they find out that Harry and Hermione are married. Some of the later parts of this chapter were difficult to write, because angst doesn't exactly come naturally to me.

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HAPPILY EVER AFTER?
Chapter Seven

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Hermione almost lost her breakfast right there and then, but she didn't. She turned pale and raced to the edge of the box for a better view as mediwizards rushed towards Harry. She felt Ron's hand on her shoulder and her eyes begin to fill with tears.

Harry suddenly moved on the ground. An unearthly hush fell over the stadium. Harry sat up, then rose to his feet. Hermione raised her camera to her eye - it was easier than using Omnioculars - and she could see Harry looking rather sick. She herself was hit with a sudden wave of nausea,, but also a strange feeling of de ja vu: she was sure this had happened before.

Harry bent over, as though he was going to be sick. The game carried on above his head, and Harry coughed. Into his hand fell the Golden Snitch.

Hermione broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. She felt weak at the knees. She heard cheering break out across the Stadium as the commentator announced that Harry had caught the Snitch. Now Hermione knew why that scene had looked familiar - that was the way Harry had caught the Snitch during his first ever Quidditch match at Hogwarts when he was just eleven years old.

She could hear Ron laughing behind her, obviously recalling the same memories. "Only Harry could pull of a move like that!" she heard him cry.

Then the realisation hit her. England had won the Quidditch World Cup.

At the England mansion, a huge party was held that evening. All the close friends and relatives of the players who had come to Australia to watch the match were there, and there were probably over a hundred people there.

When Hermione wasn't glued to Harry's side, she was sat in one of the quieter areas of the mansion. She hadn't been feeling well pretty much since their arrival in Australia, and the loud music which was being played was giving her a headache.

She was joined by Parvati Patil who flopped into a chair beside her. "Are you okay, Parvati?" she asked. "You look annoyed."

"I've been talking to Padma," she explained.

"Why has that annoyed you."

"Urgh! It's all 'Draco this' and 'Draco that'. If I have to listen to another thing about him, I'm going to start believing that the Sun shines out of his ar... there you are Draco!" Parvati, blushed realising that Draco had come over to their corner. "I was just leaving." She quickly slipped out of her chair and departed, post haste.

Draco grinned and asked, "Are you okay, Hermione?"

"To be honest, no, but to tell a lie, I feel perfectly fine."

"You wanna go for a walk?"

Hermione shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Without anyone noticing, they managed to slip out of the mansion after Hermione left a note for Harry. The Sun was beginning to set, and they strolled along, talking quietly.

"Congratulations, Draco. I was wondering when you were going to propose to Padma." A crimson blush spread across Draco's cheeks when Hermione said this.

"Congratulations to you to," he said.

"For what?" asked Hermione, confused.

"Getting married," he replied casually, as though she got married every day.

Hermione turned pale. "How, how did you know?" she stuttered.

"I'm not blind," said Draco, pointing at her left hand where her wedding ring glinted in the fading sunlight. Hermione blushed, and lifted her hand so she could see it more clearly.

"We got so annoyed with everyone running our wedding for us that we just went ahead and got married. The Australian Minister of Magic performed the ceremony. It was just us, her and a couple of her relatives as witnesses," explained Hermione. She dropped her hand back to her side and asked, "So where are we walking to?" She tucked a strand of flyaway hair behind her ear and looked at him quizzically.

He shrugged and lowered his sunglasses. They had previously been resting on the top of his head. Hermione couldn't help but notice that they were a very expensive Muggle brand. No doubt they were Padma's influence. "Wherever we want." He grinned at her. "That's the great thing about having magic - we can walk as far as we want for as long as we want, then just Apparate home when we want to." Hermione smiled.

"That's certainly an interesting..." she winced, "outlook on things."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine..." she said, before another wave of pain spread across her lower abdomen. "On second thought's maybe I'm not." Shocked, Draco helped support her and they managed to get to a nearby tree where Hermione sat down in the shade. She was pale and shaking. "I really don't feel too good," she muttered.

"You don't look too good, either," Draco told her. "I'm getting you to a hospital."

"No! I don't like hospitals."

"You're in pain!"

"No. This isn't pain. The Cruciatius Curse - now, that's pain! Trust me, I know from personal experience. This is a walk in the park." She smiled weakly. "Or maybe a walk in the outback."

"That's it - I'm taking you to the nearest hospital." Dracxo knew for a fact that Hermione never talked about what had happened during their sixth year at Hogwarts, so something was desperately wrong. He reached out and grabbed her hand before Apparating to the nearest Wizarding hospital which was about ten miles away. It was actually quite near the Quidditch World Cup Stadium where they had been just hours before.

Almost the moment they arrived, Hermione fainted. They were almost instantly surrounded by mediwizards who carted Hermione off into a room out of sight. A nervous looking young witch, who was probably only a year or so older than Draco and Hermione, approached him. Draco realised she was some sort of receptionist by the way she dressed.

"Excuse me, sir, I need you to fill in some forms." She passed him a clipboard and a ready-inked quill. Draco looked blankly at the form and began to fill it in - Name: Hermione Potter...

***

Back at the mansion, the party was well under way. In one of the rooms someone, Harry wasn't quite sure who, though he suspected that it was Lavender, had set up a kareoke session. Harry was quite tempted to join in, but first he wanted to find Hermione.

There were too many people there for Harry to see her - she had this annoying ability to bland into the crowd without anyone noticing her. Harry tried a tracking spell, laying his wand flat on the palm of his hand. The wand just spun around in circles - it couldn't find her anywhere in the house. Worried, Harry began to look through the crowd, questioning people. He managed to work his way to the kitchen, where he found a note on the table with his name printed clearly in Hermione's neat handwriting.

The kitchen was the only room in the house which wasn't swarming with people. In fact, there was no-one else there.

Harry read the note and smiled. He wasn't at all surprised that Hermione had gone out for a walk. She'd do anything to stay away from large amounts of noise and/or people. In fact, he was kind of jealous.

He almost dropped the note when the fireplace suddenly whirled into action. Draco's blonde head appeared. "What are you doing, Draco? I thought you were here at the party?"

"I went for a walk with Hermione," Draco told him, looking stricken. "You have to come quickly."

"Come where? And where's Hermione?"

"We're at St. Hedwig's Hospital. There's something wrong with Hermione."

Harry paled. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I have to find someone." Draco nodded his understanding, and the fire suddenly extinguished itself. Feeling rather faint himself, Harry pushed his way through the partygoers trying to find Ron. He found him talking to Lavender, Ginny, Padma and Seamus. They were laughing at something and Seamus looked rather disgruntled.

"What's the matter, Harry? Something wrong?" asked Lavender.

"Hermione's in St. Hedwig's," he explained.

"The hospital?" asked Padma. She had visited it a few times during the World Cup due to broken bones and the like.

Harry nodded mutely. "I have to go now," he said.

"We're coming with you," said Ron, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," said Harry gratefully, and the six of them Disapparated.

At St. Hedwig's they were greeted by a distraught looking Draco. "They won't tell me anything," he said. The nervous-looking receptionist approached them, still carrying a clipboard, though this time it was a different colour.

"Excuse me, Mr Potter?" she asked quietly.

"That's me," said Harry stepping forward. "Where's Hermione."

"Room Two Eleven. She's expecting you. She won't let anyone else into until you come."

Harry bit his lip. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.

The receptionist sighed. "I'm afraid Mrs Potter has suffered a miscarriage," she told him.

Harry paled even further. "Oh, God... Hermione..." He raced off down the corridor, presumably to Hermione's room. The reactions from the others were somewhat varied.

Draco's face became almost translucent. Padma clutched his hand, looking on the verge of tears. Ginny did start to cry, and was comforted by an amazed Seamus, who kept smoothing her red hair. Lavender sat down suddenly on one of the hard chairs in the waiting room in which they were stood. She said nothing and her face was emotionless. Ron however was a different story.

"Mrs Potter?" he demanded of the receptionist. "Are you sure you got that right?"

The receptionist looked down at her clipboard and nodded. "Mrs Hermione Potter. That's what your friend put down," she nodded at Draco and then scurried off to see some other patients who had just arrived.

Ron turned to Draco. Ginny had stopped sobbing, but a solidary tear ran down her freckled cheek. Even Lavender looked up. "Ah, yes. That." He bit his lip. "I'd forgotten they hadn't told you that yet."

"Told us what?" asked Ron suspiciously, his voice surprisingly calm.

Draco blushed slightly. "Theygotmarried," he said hurriedly.

"Excuse me?" asked Ron, the tips of his ears turning red.

"They kind of... got married," said Draco, avoiding everyone's eye contact.

"They what?!" exploded Ron, his entire face becoming red now.

"I'm not repeating myself," Draco told him, still looking at the floor.

"When?" asked Lavender, standing up. "How long?"

Draco shrugged. "A couple of days ago, I guess," he said. "Hermione told me something about everyone taking over the wedding, which, by the way, they didn't like, so they just kinda went ahead and got married."

Ron 's face turned pale rather quickly, and the others looked slightly distressed at this as well. "We are such prats," he said, sinking onto one of the chairs.

"I could have told you that," muttered Draco. Even though Ron quite obviously heard him, he chose to ignore this comment.

***

Harry pushed open the door to room Two Eleven, not quite knowing what to expect. "Hermione?" he asked softly.

Hermione looked up at him. She was lying on a bed which looked as though it had been taken straight out of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. Hermione herself was pale and dishevelled. Her eyes were red and she looked as though she could fall asleep at any moment. She gave him a small smile. "Hello, Harry."

"Oh, God," Harry muttered. He sat on the bed next to Hermione and after a second of uneasy silence between the two, Harry enveloped his wife into a hug, holding her in his arms.

"Harry, I'm okay," she told him as they pulled away from each other. "They're letting me leave in a couple of hours. They gave me enough potions and stuff to make me never want to come to a hospital again!" She sniffed and lay back against the soft pillows. Harry felt a tear slide down his cheek. Hermione noticed and leant forward to brush it away. "It's okay to cry," she whispered. Harry nodded mutely.

"This is all just too surreal," he whispered. Hermione nodded.

"A few hours ago I was watching you play Quidditch," she said. "Now look at me."

Harry looked stricken. "What if this is my fault?" he asked. "What if this is all because I swallowed the stupid Snitch and frightened you?"

Hermione shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. This is no-one's fault."

Later that night, when they had returned home, no-one speaking much to Hermione, afraid that they would say something stupid or sound uncaring and when the party was over, Harry and Hermione were alone in their bedroom. Harry watched as Hermione climbed into the four poster bed beside him. "Harry, stop blaming yourself," Hermione told him, not looking at him.

Harry sighed. "I can't help it," he told her.

"Get some sleep, Harry. There's nothing either of us can do." Hermione extinguished the candles that lit the room, plunging the chamber into darkness. Within minutes Harry could hear her gentle, rhythmic breathing: she was asleep. Gradually, Harry too was consumed by slumber, though his was much more fitful...

A pain-filled, terrified scream rang through the clearing in the Forbidden Forest. This scream made Harry's blood run cold - Hermione. He and Ron sped up their pace to a run. They arrived at the edge of the clearing, keeping to the shadows as not to be seen by the many Death Eaters which were swarming round. Voldemort himself was there also, his wand pointed threateningly at Hermione who had been tied to a tree. She was in obvious pain, but was still trying to look dignified.

"Where is Harry Potter?" Voldemort demanded.

"Even if I knew I would tell you!" Hermione spat.

"Very well. Crucio."

Once again Hermione's screams filled the clearing. "Go to Hell!" she yelled at him when the curse was removed. She glared at him, as if challenging him to use the curse again.

"My sentiments exactly," agreed Harry, stepping out of the shadows and into the light.

"I see you decided to join us, Mr Potter," commented Voldemort. Ron stepped out behind Harry. "Oh, and you brought a friend. How nice."

Harry cast a quick glance at Ron, and Ron nodded very slightly to show he understood Harry's plan. Ron was to get Hermione out of her bindings while Harry distracted Voldemort. "Yes, I thought he'd like to join the party."

"Oh, really? The party has only just begun, Potter."

"I couldn't help but agree," said Harry. "Expelliarmus!" he cried, a split second before Voldemort could cast the fatal Avada Kedavra curse. Ron made a run for it, heading straight over to Hermione. He narrowly missed several curses that were sent at Harry by the Death Eaters, but managed to remain unharmed. His fingers were trembling as he tried to quickly untie the ropes which held Hermione in place. To his surprise they were Muggle ropes rather than magic ones.

Shaking, Hermione managed to get to her feet. "I'll be okay," she told Ron. "Worry about me later - we have to help Harry." Ron nodded and handed Hermione her wand which he had been carrying around since she had been taken. Hermione gave him a weak smile, and the two sixteen year olds ran full pelt over to their friend, dodging curses and hexes as they went.

"Stop!" The command from Voldemort sent the clearing into a deadly silence. Not a sound could be heard from anywhere. "This is most un-orderly. Stand down," he instructed. He turned to Harry, his red eyes almost glowing in the darkness that surrounded them. "We duel. One on one."

"Three on one," Harry corrected. "Or is big bad Voldemort afraid of three teenagers?"

Voldemort flinched slightly. Harry knew he had hit a nerve. "Very well," he said. "Three on one. First we bow." Voldemort bowed, and Hermione and Ron looked at Harry who had a frighteningly determined look on his white face.

"We can do this, Harry," Hermione whispered. She was stood next to him and she reached out and took his hand. Harry looked at her. There was something in her brown eyes that told him she was right. Ron gave him a reassuring smile. Harry nodded and dropped Hermione's hand. They turned to face Voldemort, the so-called Dark Lord, and bowed.

Harry looked Voldemort in his cold eyes before the three of them shouted the killing curse in unison; "Avada Kedavra."

Before they blacked out, the three of them had enough time to see Voldemort crumble into a pile of ashes.

Harry woke up in a cold sweat and panting. He looked up to see Hermione watching him in the candlelight, concern written across her face. "It's okay, Harry," she told him, taking him into her arms. "They can't hurt you any more." If Harry hadn't been crying, he would have noticed the same look in her eyes that she had three or so years before.

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A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. This was definitley some of the darker stuff, both the miscarriage and the flashback/dream. I was never planning on writing about the defeat of Voldemort as it happened before The Matchmakers even began. I get the feeling that Voldemort is a bit out of character, but this is my story, so I don't care! :P I believe I had a total of ONE review for the last chapter - surely you can do better than that! Go on, I dare you... review.

Here's a thanks section for Chapter Six:
ms. potter - Ginny's thing will become apparent in the next chapter. I wonder how close to your theory it will be...

Review, Flame, Whatever.

silverphoenix