A/N: Here is chapter one of my story. I know there are a lot of questions to be answered, and if you have any pressing ones, please email me with them. And now, here is the chappie:

Chapter One: Getting Packed

"Hermione, have you seen my other shoe?"

Ginny was frantically searching their small two-bedroom flat for assorted clothes and turning it into quite a mess along the way.

"No, but I did find your black dress," Hermione shouted from across the room, holding up the garment. A look of relief passed over Ginny's face as she snatched it out of Hermione's hands.

"How did it get under the sink?" Hermione asked curiously, trying to hold back a smile.

"Who cares? I only have three more things to find...where on earth could that shoe be?"

Ginny dashed into her room, throwing the bed sheets on the floor in exasperation. "Argh!" she groaned, closing her eyes tightly. When had she worn it last? Oh, she would never find it; nothing in this flat was ever where it was supposed to be.

Hermione and Ginny had been living together for almost nine months, and somehow Ginny never managed to find what she was looking for. Of course, Hermione's things were all neat and organized, so she rarely had the same problem.

Ginny walked out of her room once more, heading towards the kitchen. As she opened the old icebox, she called to Hermione, "So you're staying here, then?"

A loud thump could be heard from the adjoining room, and when Hermione finally emerged, she seemed oddly flustered.

"Oh, well, I think it'd be best if I stayed here, you know, in England."

"You were invited. He obviously wants you there."

Hermione blushed at the thought of showing up at Ron's wedding, and she said quickly, "I didn't even R.S.V.P, so even if I did want to go--"

But her sentence was cut short as a loud knocking came from the front door and two figures burst in.

"Oi, Ginny! You here?" came a familiar voice.

"We're just in the kitchen, Ron."

Hermione busied herself with the dirty dishes as Ginny's older brother walked in. He gave his sister a small hug and said, "'Mornin', Gin."

"Don't call me Gin," she said shortly, trying to push his arm off of her shoulder. Ron happily obliged and said, "Alright, then. Are you all packed?"

"Nearly," came the reply as Ginny hurried off to grab one or two more things. Hermione turned around just in time to catch Ron staring at the back of her head.

"Er, nice to see you, Hermione."

"Hello, Ron," she said politely after drying a teacup. Her eyes went past him, however, to the other boy there.

"Harry!" she said cheerfully, throwing the dishtowel on the counter and running up to give him a hug, "How've you been?"

The black-haired boy had been suspiciously quiet this entire time, so it surprised her when he replied in an almost equally cheery tone.

"Good. Been a bit busy, you know."

"I heard! I haven't seen you since you left for that assignment in February. Wasn't it over somewhere in Russia?" Hermione asked inquisitively, giving him her full attention. Harry had a strong suspicion that she was putting all of her energy into ignoring the tall, blushing boy to his left.

"You know, I've been on assignment, too," Ron supplied eagerly, looking at her expectantly.

"What's it like over there, Harry?" Hermione asked while acting as if she hadn't heard Ron's comment, "Are the people any different?"

"Well, I'm not so sure. But from what I saw, they didn't seem too happy. But that might have been because I only saw them when Kingsley was arresting them, the poor bastards," Harry smiled.

"Who could blame them?" Hermione joked, "I'd be pretty ticked if you were arresting me."

"I arrested a lot of Swedes last week," Ron almost shouted in Hermione's ear. Harry could sense the tension between the two, so he said casually, "Well, I'm just going to go to the loo."

Hermione nodded understandingly and went back to washing the dishes. Ron walked up next to her and said, "So, 'Mione, what's new?"

"Nothing," she hummed.

"Why aren't you coming to my wedding?"

Hermione took a deep breath and said as calmly as she could, "I have a lot of work to do."

Ron looked bewildered as he said, "But, Hermione, it's my wedding."

"I know, but they really need me down at the bookshop. Those spellbooks won't label themselves!" What was she doing? She sounded like an old woman.

Ron watched, dumbfounded, as Hermione started to scrub at the plates furiously. After a moment of intense soaping, she dropped it into the porcelain basin and sighed.

"It would really mean a lot to me if you came," Ron said hopefully, in a sort of last-ditch effort.

"I wish I could, Ron," was all she said.

Ginny presently came dashing out of her room, carrying two large duffel bags and several smaller ones. They were imprinted with golden letters that read, "G.W." and were much too heavy for such a petite woman to carry.

She lost her balance halfway across the room and came crashing down onto the worn Oriental rug on the living room floor. Her baggage lay strewn about, and she was nursing a small scrape on her knee.

"Erm, does this belong to anyone?" she heard an all-too-familiar voice call from the bathroom. Ginny looked up just in time to see a very amused Harry holding a small, black, high-heeled shoe.

"Yes, that's mine!" she exclaimed happily, running to grab it from his rough, Auror Training-calloused hands. It wasn't until she was standing on tiptoe in front of him that she actually got a good look at his face. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, just staring at one another.

"Well," he said through a small smile, "Here you are, then."

As he handed it to her, he said happily, "Let me just ask you one thing. Is there a reason it was hanging from the light bulb cord?"

Ginny laughed and said, "Why? Isn't that where you keep your shoes?"

"Me? No, I'm more of a ceiling-fan type of guy."

She was so glad that it wasnt awkward between them.

Ron cleared his throat dutifully and said in a down-to-business voice, "Well then, are you ready, Ginny?"

"Sure," she replied, grabbing up her luggage.

"Here, lemme help you with that," Harry said, arm extended. She was wary at first, but as Ginny thought of how heavy her bags were, she gladly accepted.

The three travelers made their way over to the door, each one stopping in turn to give their goodbyes to Hermione.

"Bye, Hermione," Ginny said through a one-armed hug. Harry leaned forward and kissed Hermione on the cheek before holding the front door open. Ron only looked at her morosely before waving and departing. As Hermione slumped down in the wooden kitchen chair, she heard a lively Harry shout down the stairs, "To Paris we go! Jesus, Gin, what did you put in this thing?"

Hermione only smiled glumly and looked up at the ceiling. Merlin, why hadn't she just gone to the wedding?

'Because it would have been so horribly awkward that you would have ended up going home early anyways,' her inner voice told her.

So with that, Hermione got up and put on her coat. She decided maybe she needed a good cup of coffee, perhaps with a shot of firewhiskey in it.

A/N: Okay, I made a promise to myself to try and get these chapters out faster than I did last time. Although I know how that will undoubtedly end up, its worth a try, right? Now to respond to some of your reviews:

Queen of Greenland: Thank you so much! I try to write as well as I can, and I'm glad you liked it!

Miss Ray317: I will definitely talk about why the two couples broke up, and I think you'll like it better when its in the right context.

Harryshot: How could I NOT write a sequel?

Loves to Read: Yeah, they are meant for each other.

Luvsirius: Noice review.

SnakeEyesHannah: I love devoted fans!

Lozzie: There isn't a kid with an abusive father or a barren woman. They were simply examples used to prove a point.

ElizabethMM: CROTCH! Okay, well, Nina is NOT a French name, but it isn't Irish either, but you will see how she got her name (its roots are Spanish) in upcoming chapters. And if you read other fanfics of mine...well, lets just say that this isn't the first time I've introduced a character with the last name of Sauniere.

Jill: Yes and yes.

JamieBell: What else can you expect from me? It's like the roller coaster from hell!

BurningIce22: Is a woman's intuition ever wrong?

BrownPryde: Yeah, Nina has to go.

Nightwing 509: Okay, well, here it is.

Okay, so now all you have left to do is REVIEW! Please, they inspire me, and the faster I get inspired, the faster i UPDATE!

So make an author happy; REVIEW!!!!