Hey everyone! Here's the second part of this little story. I think I'm going to use this as a base for another separate and longer story, so tell me what you think. Thanks to all the reviewers who reviewed the last chapter.
Hermione watched the array of features pass across the girl's face from behind the white veil. One moment she would be beaming wide and full, like nothing in the world could ever go wrong ever again, and the next she was frowning, most likely in doubt. Emotions played across her face such as happiness, relief, disbelief, uncertainty, and fear. And who could blame the girl for the mix of giddiness and trepidation? After all, today was her wedding day. Yes, today was the day Ginny Weasley would get the one thing she always wanted; Harry Potter as her husband.
"Oh Merlin, I'm so nervous," Ginny whispered to herself, although loud enough for Hermione to hear.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Hermione said in a calming tone. It was, after all, he duty as Maid of Honor to keep the Bride relaxed.
Ginny watched as Hermione smoothed out her white sterile dress and their eyes met in the mirror Ginny was standing in front of. She smiled at the dark haired girl. "I'm so glad you're here Hermione, I don't know what I would have done without you." Hermione smiled at the redhead. Of course Hermione was here, on this very day, because she was dependable. She was, and would always, be there for her friends. Old steadfast Hermione, she thought bitterly to herself.
"You look very beautiful, Ginny," Hermione said with a forced smile. It seemed everything she'd been doing for the past six months had been forced. After Harry had told her he was engaged to Ginny that fateful day in the hospital wing she had lost the will to do anything. It was hard for her to wake up in the morning and find that they were still so in love, it was hard to watch them, and it was hard to talk with them. Hermione could barely bring herself to eat, sleep, breathe, live or take notes (and she had been lucky on that one - school had let out two weeks after the disastrous news).
"What if it's all wrong, Hermione?" the redhead voiced her doubts, "what if we're not meant for each other?"
"But you are meant for each other," Hermione corrected quickly. It was one of the many assurances she had programmed herself to say if such a question was voiced by one-half of the happy couple. Others included: You love each other very much; You two are a perfect match; I couldn't be happier…so on and so forth. Usually it only took one of these certain sentences to quite their doubts.
Ginny nodded her head in agreement, "I do love him very much, you know?"
Hermione stared at her blankly from the mirror, "Yeah, I know." At times like these it almost broke her heart to hear such words from Ginny, because then she felt extremely guilty for loving her fiancé. Hermione often had to remind herself that she had loved Harry first, only, when Harry opened his eyes to the world around him, he had seen Ginny first. In fact, Ginny was the only one Harry saw.
There was a knock at the door and Ron walked in. "Hey Gin, you look beautiful." He kissed his sister on the cheek as she thanked him. When they pulled apart Ron looked over at Hermione. "Erm, Harry wants to talk to you, Hermione." Ron was the only one who knew of Hermione's little secret, and although he tried to comfort her to the best of his abilities, it was rarely helpful.
"Thanks Ron. I'll be right back Ginny." She excused herself and walked out the door. She knocked on the door that was right across the hall from Ginny's and turned the knob when she heard a muffled voice telling her to enter. The first thing she saw was Harry sitting in a chair on the far side of the room. He looked a bit flustered but glad that it had been her who walked through the door. Hermione's stomach immediately twisted in a knot when he got up and walked towards her.
"Please help me," he said, "I can't trust Ron to do anything right." He pointed to the spot on his neck where a slightly crumpled bowtie lay limply around his neck. Hermione laughed lightly as she grabbed for the black piece of clothe, smoothed it out, and began to tie it in it's complicated form. Once she was done she smoothed it out and the jacket that lay across Harry's broad shoulders.
"There you are," she said with another forced smile.
"Thanks Hermione," he paused, "for everything."
She rolled her eyes. "Please Harry, I'm just the girl on the sidelines making sure everything goes according to plan."
"Yes it all has to be planned with you, doesn't it?" he asked a bit bitterly.
"Excuse me?" Hermione didn't know why Harry had just turned his back to her or spoken to her so rudely.
After a few moments Harry faced her again with a smile on his handsome face, "Sorry Hermione, I guess I'm just a bit scared."
"There's no reason for you to be scared, Harry," she reassured him, "you're getting everything you ever wanted. Some people aren't as lucky as you." She silently took pity on herself, for she was one of the many who would never experience pure happiness.
"I know people aren't as lucky when it comes to matters of love. What I'm saying is that…what if I really am one of those people, and I just don't know it? And now I'm making a huge mistake which will only make me more unhappy!" He turned his back to her again and crossed his arms.
"What exactly are you saying Harry?"
There was long pause before Harry answered. "What if I'm not meant to be with Ginny? What if I'm meant to be with someone else and I don't know it yet? Or I haven't met her yet?" He looked to her, confused and distressed. "You always had the right answers, Hermione. Please tell me something to make this nagging feeling go away."
Hermione quickly recognized this as her moment of opportunity. The moment that was made for her to jump in Harry's arms and profess her love for him. This was the moment that belonged to Hermione entirely. And sadly she watched as that moment slipped through her fingers, for when she looked at Harry she realized that he really wanted an answer that would make everything okay.
"Contrary to popular belief, Harry," she laughed slightly, "I do not have all the answers. I'm not here to tell you how things are or how to live your life. I'm just your friend. I've never been minutes away from an alter, so I really wouldn't know what to tell you about this certain situation. All I can tell you is what I see. What I see and what I know, is that you and Ginny love each other very much. There really couldn't be anyone more perfect for you than she." Except me, she added silently.
Harry looked at her with a blank expression. "Is that all you can tell me?" he asked, with, what Hermione thought to be, a hint of expectation in his voice.
"That's all that needs to be said," she declared softly. He nodded his head and turned towards his own mirror.
"Thanks Hermione, you really did a great job on this tie." He brushed imaginary dust from his shoulders and turned to her. "I guess it's about time I got out there." As if on cue, Ron came through the door. "Ready Ron?"
Ron didn't expect such a question the minute he walked though the door, so he was slightly taken back. "Err…" he looked to Hermione for an answer and she nodded her head, "yeah."
Harry grabbed Ron by the arm and together they walked out of the dressing room. Ron passed her one more questioning look before he disappeared around the corner, leaving Hermione alone in the room.
Hermione watched sadly as Ginny walked down the isle, smiling happily in her pale gown. She did look rather beautiful with her fiery hair contrasting greatly with her innocent attire. Mr. Weasley kissed her on the cheek once they got to the alter and shook Harry's hand firmly. Hermione watched in dismay as Harry took his bride by the hand as the minister began to preach.
She was not unaware to the sympathetic glances Ron was sending her way from the other side of Harry, but she tried her best to avoid him. If she saw the message relayed in his eyes she was sure to break down. If she looked up she would see that he was trying to plea with her, as if say, "You love him. Do something!" But she couldn't do anything. Not with the bride standing right next to her.
"If anyone should have any objections to the union, speak now, or forever hold your peace." The priest's voice echoed throughout the cathedral and Hermione looked up for the first time throughout the whole sermon. This is it, she told herself, this would be the last chance to say anything. She could feels the words bubbling up into the back of her throat. She opened and closed her jaw several times. She could feel the words choking the life out of her. Hermione saw Ron in the background nudging his head slightly to the side, pleading her to speak the truth, Harry's eyes met hers. They were alive and sparkling a vivid green. Hermione pressed her lips together in a thin line and the priest continued.
Another missed chance, she thought gloomily to herself. That's all that life seems to be made of, she added. Hermione then thought back to the very first time she had seen Harry on the train. She thought of how many mistakes and missed chances she'd come to make from that time to the present. She wondered when her life had stopped being a life and had turned into a string of continuous chain of bad choices.
"I now pronounce you man and wife!" proclaimed the old withered man. "You may kiss the bride." And as Harry leaned in to pull away Ginny's white veil and kiss her tenderly on the lips, Hermione saw her own fate sealed. She knew that she would never love another man as she loved Harry. Hermione saw her own Prince Charming ride off on a white horse into the sunset, only another princess was riding with him while Hermione sat up in a high tower, watching them disappear into the horizon. And as Harry placed one chaste kiss on Ginny, Hermione let one lonely tear fall.
"You're so utterly, completely stupid!" Ron whispered fiercely into Hermione's ear as they both swayed gently to the music. The wedding had ended an hour ago and since then the whole congregation had moved to the reception hall. "Why didn't you tell him? Your last chance was in the dressing room, or at least when the priest asked, and you didn't do anything!" He shook his head. "I knew I should have spoken for you. Just come forward when the priest asked and said, 'Yes because Hermione Granger loves Harry Potter and they belong together.' Why didn't I? I'm so stupid!"
"Ron, please stop babbling." Ron snapped his mouth shut. "I know that I should have told him," Hermione confessed, "but it wasn't something he would have wanted to hear."
"How could you have known that?" Ron exploded loud enough for the dancing couples close enough to turn and glare. He lowered his voice, "What if what you had to say was exactly what Harry wanted to hear and you let him down?"
Hermione turned them around on the dance floor so they could have a clear look at the newly weds. "Look at him Ron. Look at them. They're so in love! When you're that in love with someone you don't want to hear that your best friend is in love with you!" Ron laughed.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Hermione laughed with him.
"And you know, sure it hurts that he's not with me but he's happy, and that's all that matters to me."
"You, Hermione Granger, are either very compassionate and giving or mad and in need of a good stay at St. Mungo's." They both giggled recklessly. "Either way you're my best friend, my sister, and from now on I'll take care of you."
"Thanks Ron, it's good to know that someone will be there for me."
"Just imagine how much fun we'll have growing up! We can party all night and, as the muggles say, paint the town red. And when we get older and we haven't found anyone to marry we can just marry each other without commitment and still have fun, and that way people won't give us those looks."
"What looks?" Hermione giggled.
"You know, those looks, the 'Oh, you're not married yet, poor thing,' looks." Hermione laughed loud enough for people to turn their heads. "And then," Ron continued, "when we are married we'll get those other looks. The look that asks, 'How can they be so happy and carefree yet married at the same time?' But you see they won't know that we're just two friend that are married to avoid those looks!"
Hermione laughed. "You are a genius, Ronald Weasley."
"I'm so glad you finally see that, Hermione. To think, all those years at Hogwarts, and you doubted my intelligence."
Hermione continued to laugh, "And what happens if you do find someone you want to marry?"
"Well, you can come live with us. You'll always have a place with me."
"Thanks Ron, you truly are my best friend."
"Yes I know," he said smugly. Hermione took one last look at Harry dancing closely to the new Mrs. Potter before Ron spun her around fast and dipped her until she thought she'd hit the ground. Her laughter echoed throughout the hall and some people turned to witness the girl in one of her happiest moments.