Chapter 27
Hermione recovered from the incident at the wedding rehearsal, explaining that it was simply a prank that the twins planned. They figured it was as much, and didn't ask any questions. Fred and George seemed to be pleased with it though, and they asked Harry to rate their entrance on a scale of one to ten. Harry gave them an eight and a half.
Afterwards everyone went back to Mr. and Mrs. Granger's house and Mrs. Granger made dinner. Mrs. Weasley offered to help and then later realized that she didn't know how to use some of the Muggle appliances. Despite that fact, the pair made a quite delicious dinner of chicken something or other and mashed potatoes. The dessert was apple pie, which Mrs. Granger admitted to not making herself, and said that it was a brand called Sarah Tee.
Later Ginny's four brothers, along with Fleur, went to stay at Bill's place for the night. Hermione's other friends and relatives went to stay at their homes, and some were staying at nearby hotels. Everyone else was sleeping in the Granger household.
The next day, which was of course Tuesday, Ginny got a chance to sleep in till ten. When she woke up she couldn't believe how fast the week was flying by, soon her brother and his wife would be off to their honeymoon and Ginny would have to return to her work. She was glad to have this little break though, and it was nice being back with her family again.
The bridal shower was at noon, and they were having it at Kathryn's house. This was the first time that Ginny had ever been to a bridal shower and she wondered what they were going to do there. Shelly said something to her about cucumber sandwiches without the crust, but Ginny hoped not because that did not sound too tasty. Muggles sure had a strange taste in food.
Normally, Ginny would be the one throwing the shower because she was the maid of honor, but Hermione wanted to plan her own and Kathryn offered to host it at her house. Ginny didn't mind because if she were throwing it then she wouldn't know what activities to plan for them to do.
Also attending was the rest of the bridesmaids, and some more of Hermione's female relatives. There was going to be about twenty people there altogether, and Ginny was sure that Hermione came up with some sort of game or activity for them to play. All of the guests were between the ages of eighteen and thirty, no children were invited and neither was Hermione's mother or grandmother.
Hermione and Ginny set off, leaving Harry, Ron, and their parents behind. Ginny held in her hands the presents she chose for her best friend. One was a joke, a copy of Hogwarts: A History, and the other was something that she picked up at some strange shop she stumbled upon one day. It was a snow globe, and inside it was a bride and groom together smiling. She charmed it so that the bride looked like Hermione and the groom looked like Ron. When you shook it glitter would swirl around, and over all it was a very pretty item that she was sure Hermione would like.
Plus, the saleswoman said that when you give it to either the bride or the groom it ensures them luck with their marriage and gives them one wish. She also went on to say that it was proven that about ninety percent of all marriages in which couples receive this as a present they stay happily married. When asked about the other ten percent she simply replied that some people were not meant to be married. Ginny accepted this answer and bought the globe, knowing that if any two people were meant to be married then it would be Ron and Hermione.
Engraved on the bottom of the snow globe was something that Ginny paid extra for. It said Ron and Hermione, with the date of their wedding next to their names, and beneath it was a quote that Ginny thought was appropriate, "Amor Vincit Omnia". That quote, of course, translates to love conquers all. Then directly underneath that quote was a message that read: "Wishing you all the love and happiness in the world- Ginny".
When they made it to Kathryn's house they were the third ones there, and they saw that there were a few decorations out. A banner swept across the wall in the parlor room, where the shower was to be held, and it read: "Congratulations to the bride". There were black and white balloons that had pictures of bells on them, and as people arrived they received a white corsage.
When everyone was there and seated Kathryn said that she had to announce something. "I bet you are all wondering what the corsages are for. For the rest of the shower no one is allowed to say the word 'wedding'. If you catch someone using this word then you get to take their corsage and pin it on yourself. Whoever has the most corsages at the end wins a prize."
There was a table of treats at the side of the room. While people were talking Ginny wandered over there to see what they had, and surprise, surprise there in the middle was the cucumber sandwiches. Ginny grimaced, and then looked around at the other snacks. There were brownies, cheese and crackers, cookies, turkey wraps, and a pitcher of lemonade. Picking up a brownie, Ginny returned to her seat next to Fleur and turned her attention back to the other bridesmaids.
Another table held the presents, on which Ginny placed hers that was wrapped in silver wrapping paper and a light purple bow. She supposed that the gift opening was to occur later, after the girls have indulged themselves in treats and little games.
"I have an idea," Shelly said to the women jovially as she began handing out pieces of paper. "We did this at my sister's wedding shower."
Some girl that Ginny didn't know interrupted her. The woman had short brown hair in a bob-like cut and a square shaped face. She looked like she was about twenty-three and she was obviously wearing a layer of make-up over her skin. "You said the word," she commented, taking Shelly's corsage and pinning it to herself.
"Oops," Shelly laughed, and then continued with her instructions. "Anyway, as I was saying, everyone take a piece of paper and at the top write Ron - Hermione. In the next five minutes write down as many words as you can think of, using only the letters from the names."
Ginny took a piece of paper and a pen, and then sat there occasionally taking bites of the brownie. Looking at the blank piece of paper she began to make words. 'Hmm... rhino, moo, noon, he, her, rim, hire, horn, me, hem, him, non, none, no, rein, ho, here...' She was sure that there were more combinations, but those were all she could think of at the time.
When the five minutes were over everyone tallied the number of words they came up with, and ironically it was Hermione who won. Ginny should have known as much, Hermione was the smartest and brightest person that she knew. As a prize Hermione received a rose scented candle and then they began with some other game ideas.
Meanwhile they were passing around a book for people to write advice in, and a disposable camera for people to take pictures with. Luckily Ginny remembered how to use one from before when her father obtained one. She smiled as Kathryn took a picture of her and Fleur, and then she began to write down some advice in the book. She gave her some hints and tips about Ron, since she had lived most of her life with her older brother, and she also wished them her best before passing the book over to Fleur.
Eventually it was time for Hermione to unwrap her gifts. Two people were put in charge of note taking, one to record the gifts and whom they were from and another to record exactly what Hermione comments about them when she opens it. Ginny agreed to be one of the note takers along with Tina. They were both handed a sheet of paper and a pen. Ginny had an idea of what a record of her comments was going to be used for, but she didn't say anything.
Hermione settled in her seat on the couch and was handed her first present to open. It was a medium sized box wrapped in shocking pink paper with a big green bow on the top of it. She read the tag, seeing that it was from someone named Randi, who was yet another relative of Hermione's. She had the same bushy hair, except for hers was black, and she seemed like a nice girl. She smiled as Hermione opened it, and then she pulled out a pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs.
Everyone started laughing at this choice in gag gift, and Hermione's face turned to a light shade of red. She held up the handcuffs with one hand and joked, "And what do you expect me to use these for?" Ginny wrote down her comment as she laughed along with the other women present.
Between laughs her relative replied, "Your honeymoon, of course!"
Hermione opened a few more gifts before she got to Ginny's, and when she opened hers she laughed about the book, and then commented on how much she loved the snow globe. Everyone took turns looking at it, questioning her on where she found such a wonderful gift. Of course she couldn't tell them about the wizard shop, but she simply answered with, "One of those little gift shops in London. I don't remember what it is called, but they sold some charming items there."
At the end Ginny read over every comment Hermione made about the gifts, and then did her duty of pointing out how these minor comments could be a 'prophesy', if you will, of Hermione's wedding night. When Ginny said 'wedding', it was the same lady who had caught Shelly on saying it who noticed, and she added Ginny's corsage to her ever-growing collection of about nine. Needless to say, she won the prize for that game.
It was not much longer until the bridal shower was over, everyone said their good-byes and went their separate ways. Hermione and Ginny returned to the Granger's house together, each carrying part of the presents that Hermione had collected. When they got there Harry and Ron, who helped them with getting the rest of the presents and then the four of them sat down in the living room, greeted them.
"So, how was the bridal shower?" Ron asked them.
"Fun," Ginny answered and then she commented in jest. "Wait till you see what Randi got Hermione for your honeymoon."
Hermione laughed and then said, "Yes, but Ginny gave me no doubt the best gift of all. I'll show it to you later Ron, it's an exquisite snow globe with a little bride and groom inside that look like us and then there is an engraving too. You'll love it."
"That's not the best part," Ginny joked. "The male strippers were wonderful. I'll be sure to hire them for my bridal shower."
Ron's face dropped and she could see that he didn't realize she was joking. He sternly replied to her, "You will do no such thing," Then he turned to his fiancé. "You didn't tell me you were going to have strippers..."
Harry stifled a laugh as he watched his friend and Ginny gave him a wink, signifying that she was only kidding. He gave her a nod in reply and they both watched as Ron's serious expression changed when Hermione said to him, "It was only a joke, there were no strippers."
"Oh," he responded, feeling stupid for believing Ginny's joke.
"Don't worry Ron," Ginny said assuring her brother who was sitting next to her. "The closest thing we got to stripping was a pair of fuzzy handcuffs."
Both Ron and Harry gave her looks, and in reply her and Hermione began laughing again.
A/N: Someone commented that my chapters were getting shorter, but all I have to say is that each chapter is exactly three pages long in size 10 font in my word document, so they are all roughly about the same length. I know the story seems like it is being drawn out, but I just have to have the whole nine yards of Hermione's wedding plans (i.e. the rehearsal, the bridal shower, etc) and besides I like you keep you all waiting for the next arrival of our beloved Draco Malfoy (I'm just evil like that). I keep saying that there are only two chapters left, but I lied there are still two more chapters ahead, plus an epilogue if you all would like one (you should tell me in your review which I know you will be writing after you finish this rather long author's note).
(continued...) More good news for my readers, I have decided to write a sequel to this. I have a plotline decided on already and I chose a title. There will be more characters included that were not in this story, along with the reappearance of characters from this one. The sequel focuses more on Draco and Ginny and less on her job. I'll put the summary for it on the last chapter of this story, but till then I just wanted to let you all know because some of you commented on how this was ending so soon.
So know that I'm done with my little note (hehe, sarcasm) to all of you lovely people, REVIEW! Gracias!