Epilogue
A couple of months later...
You are cordially invited to the combined wedding of
Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger and Harry Potter/Virginia Weasley
at Sempiterna Amor River.
Harry and Draco climbed up the stairs, two at a time. They had about three minutes to get to the ceremony and no doubt, they were running late. If it wasn't for the stupid limousine which had broken down unexpectedly...
A couple of people stopped them outside the girls' room.
"Come on," Harry said urgently. "We are going to be late." He reached out to turn the door knob.
A blonde blocked his way swiftly. It was the same blonde Draco had seen with Hermione's mother. He was told that she was Hermione's distant cousin, Rhea Morgan.
"Rhea..." Draco pleaded. The palm that was not grasping the bouquet of red roses was getting sweaty. He was perspiring in the stuffy tuxedo his mother had chosen for him.
Rhea exchanged glances with the other people. "Fine." But she made no movement to let them enter. Both men looked at her expectantly. "I'll let you go after you..."
They groaned in unison. Not this. "What do you want us to do?" Draco asked warily.
"Stand on your head and sing I'm a Little Chimney Sweep."
What!
Harry shot Draco a dirty look for the shout in his mind. The crowd started to chant their names. Malfoy...
After the silly stunt, they both straightened up and bowed to the applause. Only then did Rhea move away. Harry practically tore the door down.
Both Ginny and Hermione flushed red. They were both trying not to laugh. A lousy attempt, one can see.
They arrived at the river, sixteen minutes late. The grooms stepped up to the altar. Actually it was more of a stair. You don't expect to find an altar at the river, do you?
Who's going to give away Hermione?
Her mum, Draco replied irritably.
A sudden hush fell upon the audience. There they were, walking slowly, passing each and every bench. Hermione and Ginny with Arthur Weasley and Pulcheria Isgela. Draco's voice was caught in his throat. Sure, he had seen that wedding gown on Hermione a couple to times already. At the dress rehearsal and a few minutes ago. But Draco would never get tired of seeing Hermione dressed up.
Hermione was wearing a strapless princess line gown embellished with re-embroidered lace. The back bodice features satin covered buttons and the back skirt features satin inset with re-embroidered lace border. Not to mention that there was a semi-cathedral train. Complete with a satin shawl trimmed with lace.
Ginny had on a two piece gown with a scoop neckline and crystal beaded straps. The princess line bodice was enhanced with crystal and pearl beading with a lace-up back bodice. The waistline was curved with cording and her full princess line skirt with back pleats. The gown had a semi-cathedral train too.
They're beautiful, aren't they? Harry asked wistfully.
Draco stopped himself from nodding. Especially Hermione.
Harry shot him a look. I agree that Hermione's pretty but Ginny's gorgeous. See that red hair?
Are you an idiot or what? Draco snapped. Hermione looks better. See that dark hair?
They both narrowed their eyes at each other.
Only Hermione noticed their glares. She tried not to falter her smile as she spoke to Ginny from the corner of her mouth. "Let's speed up a bit. They look like they could kill each other." Ginny nodded and they picked up their pace, much to the surprise of their parents.
The priest was looking pretty flustered at Draco and Harry. He relaxed when he saw the brides. He started to speak and was still at the finer points of marriage when Draco gave a yawn. The other three shot him glares, especially Hermione. If looks could kill, he would probably be bleeding now.
The priest looked at Draco disapprovingly but, to the relief of Draco, skipped the rest of his speech. "You may exchanged your vows, followed by your rings."
The men held up their right palm and started to say their vow. They sounded as if they had memorised it for a week. Though it was true.
"In the name of God, I, Draco Malfoy, take you, Hermione Granger, to be my wife..."
"In the name of God, I, Harry Potter, take you, Virginia Weasley, to be my wife..."
Hermione and Ginny repeated the vows, only they changed the names and the 'wife' part. Hermione flushed as Draco helped her wear her silver ring. They had decided to keep their rings so that Hermione was still wearing her Slytherin-coloured ring and Draco was still wearing his Gryffindor-coloured one.
"You may now kiss your wife."
The number that had turned up for the wedding dinner was astounding. Well, not very, considering everyone knew that Draco and Harry had defeated You-Know-Who. You could definitely count on the reporters to be there. There was even a production company there to film their wedding and dinner - free of charge - as they planned to broadcast in on television.
There were quite a number of their schoolmates too. Cho Chang, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Weasleys, Marcus Flint, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson were some of them. Despite the fact that Draco was now married, Pansy was still tagging behind Draco, still trying to persuade him that he was marrying the wrong girl.
The Weasleys had found out that it wasn't Hermione's fault that Ron passed away and forgave her. They were not as warm to her as before but that was fine with Hermione. As long as they don't hate her.
The Malfoys were very concerned of Hermione, although Lucius showed it in a less subtle way. They wanted to know if she was tired ("You should rest, honey!"), or whether she was annoyed at somebody ("Want us to chase them out?"), or if she was hungry. Hermione smiled her thanks and quickly left to find her mother.
Her mother was chatting with Conroy Bainbridge, the officer who was in charge of the searching of missing people. Hermione quickly hugged her mother and shook hands with Conroy, to which he commented she had a firm grip. Actually, she was trying to stop herself from pouncing on him and demanding why he hadn't tried to find Pulcheria when her mother was misisng.
"Congratulations, Ms. Granger."
Hermione spun around and came face-to-face with her former professors, Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore. Out of the corner of the eye, she saw Harry chatting up a storm with his godfather, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Sirius' name was finally cleared, thanks to the Dumbledore.
"Thanks," she said, beaming. In the background, Love Will Keep Us Together by Vitamin C was played.
All three of them saw Sybil Trelawney coming up to them.
"I'm sure Trelawney would predict a happy future for you, Ms. Granger," McGonagall said sarcastically.
"Now, now, Minerva," Dumbledore chastised but made no comment to correct her. His eyes twinkled. "You better get away from here, Ms. Granger."
A smile spread across her face as she walked away. She could feel her evening gown swishing around her ankles. She had chose, with great difficulty, a classic burgundy satin gown. Diagonal silver stripes were sewed on in front with glittering accents. She spotted Ginny, in her own burgundy gown with half sleeves and a bow in the back, half-smiling, half-frowning at the Weasley twins. She looked as if she was warning them about playing tricks to the wedding guests.
Hermione started to walk in their direction when she was stopped. By her husband. She sighed with contentedness. How she loved that word.
"Why are you smiling to yourself, Granger?" Draco questioned as he pulled her in for a kiss.
Best in Me (Blue) started to play in the background. Draco led her to their dining table, where Harry, Ginny and the family from all four sides had settled down. Both Draco and Hermione smiled as he pulled a chair out for Hermione. Food was served and they helped themselves, laughing, talking and eating at the same time.
Infatuation (Christina Aguilera) came blaring from the loudspeakers. Charlie and Bill were talking about dragons with Draco and Hermione when Draco stopped abruptly, listening to the lyrics.
"I said, Ay mama, you seem to forget I'm not in love yet
Sweet talk don't win me over
But I realize big brown eyes can hypnotize..."
Draco turned to Hermione, grinning mischievously. "You picked this song, didn't you?" he queried. "I always knew you held much of an infatuation for me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't have brown eyes, Draco," she retorted. "Let alone hypnotizing."
The others who had been listening in to their conversation laughed. Suddenly, the music stopped. Hermione leapt to her feet. "Is something wrong with the speakers?" she asked worriedly.
Oh, no. Definitely not that. She noticed the Weasley twins onstage, holding a microphone each. "Sorry for the sudden stop. There has been a slight change of plans," George Weasley said, grinning.
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley are going to sing for us the next song," Fred continued, smirking. "Please come onstage to sing for us A Whole New World."
Harry gaped at the twins whereas Ginny blushed. Her face literally turned red and she gave the twins a venomous look. After much persuasion, they left the table for the stage.
"... A whole new world..."
"... that's where we'll be..."
"... a thrilling chase..."
"... For you and me."
Everyone applauded for them. The twins contributed catcalls, and were scolded by Mrs. Weasley for their behavior. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, their dates for the wedding, looked mildly embarrassed.
Harry and Ginny held a quiet conference and finally Harry spoke into the microphone. "Now, it's time for Draco and Hermione to sing At The Beginning for us."
Hermione gasped while Draco appeared to be faraway. He was lecturing Harry.
What do you think you're doing, Potter? Trying to humiliate me on my own wedding? Draco asked furiously.
Harry didn't reply, but simply smirked. "Come on, Malfoy," he said into the microphone. With lots of moans and groans later, they finally walked up slowly.
"When I get through this, I'm going to kill Harry and Ginny," Hermione muttered through gritted teeth.
"Queue after me," he said grimly as he took the microphone from Harry after sending some evil thoughts to him.
"Life is a road, and I want to keep going
Love is a river I want to keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
At the end I want to be standing at the beginning
With you..."
They finished the song to a vigorous applause. By then, Hermione's face was hot and she was lowering her head to avoid letting others see her red face.
As they were returning to their seats, Ginny stopped them. "Hermione..." she said. "Can I speak with Draco for a minute?"
Hermione turned to look at Draco, who was showing no signs of expression. She bit the insides of her mouth and nodded.
"Draco," Ginny said quietly. "I never properly apologised, did I?"
Draco said nothing.
Ginny was not about to be put off. "I'm really sorry for that night in the Mansion, and for being the cause of your breakup. I hope you both won't blame me for this." She waited with a dreaded look on her face for his reply.
At first Draco kept his silence. When Ginny finally gave up and turned away, he answered. "Don't flatter yourself, woman." Ginny whipped around and smiled, relieved, to see him smile back.
"You want to dance?" Draco asked Hermione, after all the excitement had gone down. He extended his hand and bowed formally, with a ghost of a smile on his face.
Hermione grinned and curtsied, before taking his hand. They swayed in each other arms to the rhythm of Right Here Waiting (Richard Marx).
"So, what were you and Ginny talking about?" Hermione asked, hoping she didn't sound overprotective.
"Only your husband for a couple of hours and you're jealous already?"
Hermione blushed. "I don't-"
"She was apologising."
The brunette raised her eyebrow and did not reply, appearing to be thinking.
"I've got something for you," Draco murmured. "Close your eyes."
Hermione gave him a curious look before closing them. She felt his hands around her neck. "You may see now," he said, looking satisfied of himself.
Hermione looked down and gasped. Draco had put on a necklace on her neck. The pendant was really plain but beautiful. It was just a star with a gem in the middle. Don't look down on the gem, as it could change colour every second.
Draco smiled at her. "For you."
She was afraid she'd burst into tears. Draco tightened his grip around her waist. They were so close together that their noses were practically touching.
"Draco..." a whiny voice called out from behind the blonde. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Go away, Pansy," he said, not averting his eyes to look away. "I find you unattractive."
Trust Pansy to ruin a romantic moment.
The music stopped but Draco and Hermione didn't. They continued swaying, melting in each other's eyes.
Dido's Thank You came on and it wasn't a slow song. But Draco and Hermione carried on swaying. Finally, suffering half an hour for being an inch apart, Draco tipped Hermione's head back and gave her the most passionate kiss anyone could give.
"... having the best day of my life."
The End
][ A u t h o r 's N o t e ][
OH MY GOD! It's the end! *sobs* Don't you just love the ending? *sobs*
Sorry if the wedding sound a bit weird. I sort of imagined it up. I mean, I'm only 15 and I'm not married. How am I supposed to know how weddings go? So please please please, be kind and review. I want to beat the reviews for Forced to Hate. Mind you, I spent nearly 8 hours on this epilogue alone. Don't worry 'bout my school - it's cancelled for another week. =P
Please, please, please review.
* P.S Oh, if you want a picture of their wedding and evening gowns, just email lonelyger@hotmail.com and put "Gowns" as the subject. The gowns are really drop-dead gorgeous.