The Binding

Hermione watched the Daily Prophet every morning, checking to make sure there was nothing about her or the twins; she was surprised when it was the Friday of the wedding and so far, nothing had been posted.

The twins had picked to have the wedding on a Friday, so that they would only have to close the shops for two days on the weekend and still get a little bit of a honeymoon.

Fred and Hermione had found a small cottage in the hills of Ireland to run away to while George and Angelina decided to stay home since the girls were still so young.

A few days before, Hermione had found flats to wear and had gone back to Madam Malkin's to have her magically hem the dress. The dress she chose was a simple and flowy aline with lace sleeves that reached her elbow. Angelina had decided on a form fitting sleeveless corset dress that showed off her curves, but synched her together enough to hide her post baby stomach.

Angelina and Hermione used the twins old bedroom at the burrow to get ready. Not only was it convenient to keep the babies in for breast feeding, but it also had easy access to the bathroom that was across the hall.

Both women decided to wear their hair up; Angelina had her black hair in a sleek bun, while Hermione's had curls flowing out around her head with tendrils framing her face.

Hermione found herself nauseated and she wasn't sure if it was nerves or the baby. It wasn't that long ago that she threw a fit over the fact that Mrs. Weasley wanted her and Fred to get married and have children so soon, and now, here she was doing that exact thing she swore she wouldn't.

Things sure had changed in such a short time. She had counted it as a blessing that Fred had asked her hand in marriage so soon. If he had waited, she might have ended up too damaged to carry her own child.

She still wanted to travel and have a career of her own, but those things could wait. She knew it was now or never with being able to carry her own child. The itch she had to start her career so soon had diminished quite considerably when she found out.

She already loved the baby and she knew Fred did, too. She knew how badly he wanted a family and she felt blessed to be able to create one with him. Sure, it was much sooner than either ever expected, but she had learned that everything happens for a reason and fate had its weird way of making okay in the end.

They decided to have a small wedding party, only consisting of the twins and Lee(who would be standing between them), Hermione, Harry, Angelina, and Angelina's cousin Aalijah.

Harry would be walking Hermione down the aisle on her left before standing next to her. Angelina's father would be walking her down the aisle on her right. The girls would walk down together, their arms linked, in between the two men.

The tent mimicked the Memorial Ball's 'Starry Night' theme. White glowing pumpkins were dispersed throughout the tent by the pond; some as bases for the table arrangements, others floating in the air above the guests heads. Yellow and dark blue roses and calla lilies filled the tent, with white hydrangeas to break up the color.

The twins chose midnight blue dress robes with yellow waistcoats and ties for the men and Angelina chose a moonlit yellow flowy dress for her cousin, Aalijah, that reached her knees and had rouching over the bust.

XxXxXx

"I, Angelina Roxanne, choose you, George Fabian, to be my husband. You are my best friend, my lover, my teacher, and my pupil. Together, we will laugh, play, cry and hurt as one. May God watch over us and give us guidance as we walk hand in hand down the path of happiness and sorrow, and be the adhesive that binds our hearts as one.

"I present this ring to you as a symbol of our union, of faith and love, patience and endurance, and forgiveness, until my last breath. If you would have me, I will be your wife for all times..."

XxXxXx

"I, George Fabian, choose you, Angelina Roxanne, to be my wife. I will love you, protect you, cherish you, and respect you. I will always be faithful and honest. Not only in this life, but long after our souls have left our vacant shells and this physical world has become a distant memory.

"I present this ring to you as a symbol of our union, of faith and love, patience and endurance, and forgiveness, until my last breath. If you would have me, I will be your husband for all times..."

XxXxXx

"I would like to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. George Fabian Weasley!" Minister Shacklebolt exclaimed after George and Angelina had sealed their vows with a kiss.

Everyone clapped and cheered as they exited down the aisle and to the back of the tent.

"It is with great pleasure that Fred and Hermione have asked me to complete a soul binding ceremony for them. Before I have them seal their vows, I will seal their binding." He looked at the two. "Are you ready?"

The two looked to one another and nodded, holding out their left arms and grasping each other's forearms in the same manner an unbreakable vow is done.

"Will you share yourselves freely and generously with each other, making time to be together?"

"We will." They answered, together.

"The first binding is thus made with dark blue, symbolic of Water, that your love may flow and fill you to your depths." A dark blue rope shot out of Minister Shacklebolt's wand and wrapped itself around their clasped arms.

"Will you each seek to ease the other's pain and suffering, sharing laughter and joy?"

"We will."

"The second binding is thus made with green, symbolic of Earth, that your love may be wise and nurturing, and your happiness abundant." A green rope shot out of his wand, weaving into the dark blue one.

"Will you strive to keep your romance alive through daily actions and words of encouragement?"

"We will."

"The third binding is thus made with red, symbolic of Fire, that your love may be bright and passionate." The red one, too, shot out and wrapped itself around the other.

"Will you both help each other to grow in spirit and wisdom?"

"We will."

"The fourth binding is thus made with light blue, symbolic of Air, that your love may be as limitless as the sky, and filled with spirit." The last rope entwined within the other three.

"You two may now make your vow known."

Hermione and Fred locked eyes and together, they said, "We swear by peace and love to stand, heart to heart and hand to hand. Mark, O spirit and hear us now. Confirming this our sacred vow."

Their chests started to glow gold, a warm feeling humming inside of their ribcages. The gold shone brighter before a small gold orb floated out from each of their chests and into the others.

When Fred's light disappeared into her chest, she felt love and affection like she never had before. She could tell by the look in Fred's eyes that he could feel it, too.

"You are now bound together, your two lives joined by love and trust into one life. Once your love is consummated, an infinity symbol will appear on the inside of your left wrists… let it be the physical manifestation of your binding. Please release your arms. Hermione, you may now begin your marriage vows."

Hermione's eyes locked on Fred's and she began.

"I found you in the midst of a very rough time in my life. You were the strength that helped me through it. For this, I am grateful.

"At times I needed a shoulder to cry on, or a kind ear to listen to my thoughts. You lent me your shoulder, and you listened to me without passing judgement. For this, I am grateful.

"When I'm scared, you make me feel safe. When I'm elated, you share in my happiness. When I have questions, you answer them and ease my doubts. For this, I am grateful.

"Whenever I've needed you, Whenever I've needed a friend, You've been there... to show me unconditional love. And for that I love you... with all of my heart, and all of my soul.

"I give you this ring as a promise. I promise to encourage your creativity, even if it means that my hair might turn blue. I promise to always allow you time with George, no matter how destructive you two might be. I promise to never stifle your colorful personality, even when you decide dancing down the street in the middle of the day is a great idea. Please accept this ring as a token of my promise and my love for you." She slipped the band into Fred's finger and smiled at the man who was grinning like an idiot.

"Leave it to Hermione to write a book for her vows…" Fred said aloud, making everyone laugh. "Luckily I had planned on that and wrote my fair share as well... can't be outdone now can I?"

Hermione laughed. "Oh, Fred!"

He gave her a cheesy smile. "Today is mostly an ordinary day…. the sun rose, babies were born, people slept in and we just so happened to be getting married... but the not-so ordinary part is how we are making promises to each other for the rest of our days, no matter how ordinary or unusual they may be.

So I promise to always laugh with you and to never go to bed angry… even if it means I have to chase you around the flat as you stomp off with your hands on your hips. I promise to comfort you in times of sorrow, even if it means I might have to miss a quiddich game on the wireless. I promise to always listen to what you have to say, even when we don't see eye to eye, and to remember love is saying 'I feel differently' instead of 'you're wrong'…no matter how good it feels to be right. I promise to not stifle your thirst for knowledge, no matter how long you make me wait in the second hand bookstore… but most of all, I promise to love you, under any circumstance; happy or sad, easy or difficult, through the sunshine and through the rain for the rest of my life.

With this ring, I make these promises to you. Take this as a symbol of my love and devotion to you, my one and only love." He finished, slipping the ring onto her finger.

"Well, after those interesting, yet extremely specific vows, I would like to say… Fred, you may now kiss your wife and seal your vows."

Fred gave her a grin and wiggled his eyebrows as he grabbed her and tilted her backwards. She gasped and he used it to his advantage, kissing her deeply. Catcalls, clapping, and cheers could be heard all around and when he finally placed her upright, she could feel her face burning as they turned to the crowd.

"I would like to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Gideon Weasley."

XxXxXx

Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?

I guess that we were once

Babe, we were once

But luck will leave you 'cause

It is a faithless friend

And in the end when life has got you down

You've got someone here that you can wrap your arms around

So hold on to me tight

Hold on to me tonight

We are stronger here together

Than we could ever be alone

So hold on to me

Don't you ever let me go

There's a thousand ways for things to fall apart

But it's no one's fault

No it's not my fault

Maybe all the plans we made might not work out

But I have no doubt even though it's hard to see

I've got faith in us and I believe in you and me

So hold on to me tight

Hold on, I promise it'll be alright

'Cause it's you and me together

And baby all we've got is time

So hold on to me, hold on to me tonight

There's so many dreams that we have given up

Take a look at all we've got

And with this kind of love

What we've got here is enough

So hold on to me tight

Hold on, I promise it'll be alright

'Cause we are stronger here together

Then we could ever be alone

Just hold on to me

Don't you ever let me go

Hold on to me, it's gonna be alright

Hold on to me tonight

They always say we were the lucky ones…

Fred and Hermione stood in the middle of the dancefloor, wrapped around in each other while their song played.

"You look beautiful today, Mrs. Weasley." Fred said as he leaned his forehead against hers.

She shook her head, laughing. "That sounds so weird." She told him as her eyes focused on his.

He scrunched his nose. "It does a bit, doesn't it? That's Mum's name."

"It is." She agreed.

"Alright, love. You look beautiful today, wife."

She bit her lip, grinning. "And you look extremely dashing in those dress robes, husband."

He hummed in delight at the title and brought their clasped hands in to rest against his chest. The light from the dance floor bounced off his wedding band and caught her eye.

"I have to say, that ring is completely doing it for me." She mentioned, her eyes locked on the platinum band.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Who would have thought that Hermione Granger would be turned on by something she had once called a life sucking finger shackle… are you planning on enjoying sucking the life out of me?"

Her head fell back as she laughed. "You heard that, did you?"

The night before Bill and Fleur's wedding, Ron had mentioned that maybe they should do the same, in case they didn't make it through the war. Hermione had no problem voicing her opinion loud and clear.

"I think the whole house heard it. You offended Fleur; she thought Bill might get cold feet after hearing that." Fred grinned.

"Oh! Don't be dramatic… I was young and never wanted to get married young… not that I'm not still young… I never saw myself getting married at twenty, but things change." Hermione explained.

"I know that life isn't what either of us thought it would be… hell, you've given up so many of your dreams… but I hope you can still be happy in the life we're making for ourselves… I know I will be." Fred's brow creased and she saw the uncertainty on his face.

"Fred… I haven't given up any of my dreams… some of them have changed and others… well, they're just in a different order than before.

"I was thinking about that earlier today. I can have a career and we can travel at any time in our lives… but, we can't have our own child at any time. I know we can adopt… and I still want to at some point, but I wanted to be able to experience pregnancy… I want to have that bond… feel the baby.

"Everything is happening like it's supposed to. If you didn't feel the urge to marry me so soon, I would have never known about the scarring and I would have never been able to experience all of this. Don't think I am not happy or that I'm disappointed, because I am not. I love you more than anything and I can't wait to see where life takes us. I am ecstatic to have a life together and to call you mine… you're all mine and no one else can have you. That's what that ring symbolizes. I find this extremely satisfying… I don't know if it's the binding or my hormones or if I just want to be selfish, but I am so happy, Fred. You make me that way." She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips.

"You are so incredible… how did I get so lucky?"

Hermione shrugged. "I dunno… Karma must have a thing for handsome redheads…"

Fred laughed. "Like you?"

Hermione's forehead hit his chest, hiding her blush. "Should have thought that one through…" She said, laughing into his chest.

"Ahem…"

The two turned to see Harry standing there, realizing the song had finished and a new one started.

"May I cut in?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"You alright still? Do you need a break?" Fred asked her.

"I'm fine, Fred." Hermione answered, giving him an encouraging smile.

Harry gave them a weird look and took her hand, pulling her toward the middle of the dance floor.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked her.

She shook her head. "It was nothing. I had just mentioned my feet hurt." Hermione felt guilty lying to Harry. She knew she couldn't keep lying to him.

"I guess you two are truly stuck together now, yeah?" Harry asked, a small smile on his face.

She laughed. "Yes… but-"

"Listen Hermione… I don't know if this is the right time to do this or not, but you seem to be really happy now and I thought that this would be a great wedding present." Harry let the words tumble out of his mouth; all of them a bit jumbled and rushed.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

He stopped dancing and reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling put a small, black satin bag. He uncinched the bag and held it open for Hermione to peer in. As her eyes caught a glimpse of the stone, she gasped and covered her mouth.

"I thought you left it…"

"I lied. I couldn't leave it after what happened to Ron." Harry explained.

"Why haven't you told me? Have you been seeing him?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice quiet.

He shook his head. "I haven't used it. I wanted us to use it together before I chucked it. I haven't told you because I didn't feel like you were ready. It would have ruined any progress you've made if I brought it up before."

Hermione's eyes left the stone and connected to his. "Can we use it now?"

He nodded. "We use it now… just this once… and then I truly get rid of it."

"Let's go!" Hermione urged, grabbing his hand and heading toward the tent exit. She didn't let go until she has pulled him to the burrow, up the stairs, and into Ginny's room.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked.

She nodded.

He reached into the cinched bag and gripped the stone in his hand. Hermione linked her arm in his and waited for Ron to appear.

There was a blur of something that was in the shape of a body, before the features became more pronounced and Ron materialized, translucent.

"Hermione?"

"Ron." She stepped closer and looked up at him.

"You look beautiful, Mione."

Hermione's eyes welled up. "I miss you. I'm so sorry… it should have been me…"

"No, no. Don't get worked up. It isn't good for the baby." Ron said, cutting her off.

Hermione gasped. "How did you know?"

"Baby? What baby?" Harry spoke up. She had almost forgotten he was there.

Ron turned his head to smile at him. "Hello, mate."

"Hermione is pregnant?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded, giving Hermione a crooked grin. "I know, because I can see you."

Hermione's lip quivered, tears staining her cheeks.

"None of that, love. I've seen what you've gone through. Don't you dare start feeling guilty now." The see-through Ron told her.

She took a deep breath and wiped at her cheeks. "Why did you have to go?"

Ron shrugged. "Things happen. I'm happy where I am now. Don't cry over me."

"I just miss you." Hermione said, chewing her lip.

"I miss you, too." Ron turned his head, looking at Harry. "You taking good care of my sister?"

Harry nodded. "Trying too, but you know how she is. Thinking about proposing soon… what do you think?"

Ron shrugged. "She could do worse, I guess." Ron said, grinning. "You know that even if I said I was against it, Ginny would still do what she wanted."

Harry snorted. "She never did listen to you."

"Nope. But, seriously… I think it'd be great. You have my approval, mate." Ron told him. "Thank you for letting me talk to Mione one last time." He added. "I miss all of you, but I'll be watching… don't be an arse to my sister now."

Harry laughed. "I promise I won't be on purpose… can't promise I won't slip up occasionally."

"Fair enough…" Ron answered and turned back to Hermione. "I love you. Enjoy your night, Mione. I'll miss you."

Hermione shook her head. "No, don't leave! I'm not ready for you to leave yet."

Ron chuckled. "You'll never be ready, love."

Hermione's tears started again. "I love you and I miss you."

Ron winked at her before turning to Harry. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye, mate."

"Take care of the girls." Ron told Harry.

"Will do."

Ron gave another lopsided grin and with a wave, he disappeared as Harry dropped the stone back into the pouch.

Hermione cried into her hands and Harry pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Harry." She managed to say between sobs.

"No problem… hey, it's okay… calm down. Let's sit." Harry told her and steered her toward the bed.

"My parents…" Hermione mentioned.

"No." Harry cut her off. "It isn't healthy to do this and I can't have you heartbroken on your honeymoon."

"But, Harry…"

He shook his head. "Remember how much the Mirror of Erised affected me? I won't do that to you. The stone will be gone by morning."

Hermione sniffled and wiped her cheeks. "Please don't tell anyone about my pregnancy, Harry. We're waiting to tell the family."

Harry smiled. "I can't believe you're pregnant, Hermione. I would have never thought you would have forgotten to use the spell." He teased.

Hermione laughed. "For your information, it was planned, Harry!"

Harry looked taken aback. "You planned it? I wasn't aware you wanted children so soon…"

"I didn't, but Bellatrix had other plans…"

Harry really looked really surprised at that statement. "As in Lestrange? What does she have to do with it?"

XxXxXx

"Where'd you two run off to?" Fred asked as they entered the tent. Noticing Hermione's blotchy face, he closed the gap between them and held her to him.

"What happened, love?"

"Harry just gave me my wedding present." Hermione explained.

Fred steered her to an empty table to sit down. He pulled out a chair for her and sat in front of her.

"What was it? What'd he do?"

Hermione gave him an amused smile. "He didn't do anything to me. He let me see Ron again."

Fred's eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean?"

"He kept the resurrection stone. We saw Ron. I talked to him." Hermione explained, her smile becoming wider.

Fred felt his anger rising. "Harry brought him back on our wedding day? Why did he think it was a good idea to upset you? Of all days he could have done this!"

Hermione placed her hands on his arms. "It's okay. Ron's okay. He isn't angry about us… and he knows about the baby… I didn't even have to tell him. He already knew."

Fred searched her face. "Are you okay? All of this isn't good for your condition."

Hermione smiled. "I'm great. I can finally let go of the guilt. And it's not a condition, Fred. It's a baby."

Fred looked at her for a moment before sighing and dropping his head. "Why didn't I get to see him?"

Hermione frowned. "I'm sorry, Fred. Please don't be upset. Not tonight." She stood and turned to sit on his lap. "I love you. Let's just enjoy the night… and the weekend. It'll be nice getting you all to myself."

A grin formed on his face. "I'm looking forward to it."

Hermione kissed his nose. "So, when can we get out of here and finish the binding?"

"Now would be good." Fred mentioned.

"Well," Hermione said standing up, "we better go say our goodbyes, then."