b That 'ill be ere the set of sun /b
i A/N did you guess (see last chapters authors notes)? It was the witch's speech from Macbeth. I'm trying to incorporate the titles somewhere in each chapter (e.g. the famous trio meet again in the first chapter, it rains in the second chapter, there is much hustling and bustling in the third chapter). OK, on with the story. /i
Draco watched Rose practically float the whole way to Hagrid's hut.
He had decided to completely skip Care of Magical Creatures before they had even left on their walk. He might be a '"good guy" now, but he still thought Hagrid was a poor teacher. He'd learn more reading the book, granted, if it didn't bite his fingers off.
Draco heaved a great sigh. 'Blimey, that girl is fantastic,' he thought, absentmindedly stroking himself. 'I can't wait to see her again. She alone is worth being respectable.'
A few minutes later, he was still disappointed that Rose left, but was much more presentable. He stood up, zipped up his pants, shook the particles of dirt from his white-blonde locks and made his way back up to the castle to take a shower.
Rose had barely made it through the Care of Magical Creatures lesson (to which she had shown up with about 30 seconds to spare) without absolutely bursting. She had filled Hermione in on the complete snog session on the way to their next class, Potions.
Normally, mixing and concocting potions was fascinating to her, but she just couldn't get herself to focus on anything other than beautiful grey-blue eyes, half-lidded in passion, and thick, wet lips…
She felt a hard job in her ribs and saw Hermione motion up to the teacher, a particularly pale bloke with stringy black hair.
"Miss Westlock!" he bellowed at her, spittle collecting in the corners of his mouth. "I will not make exceptions even for new students, so get your head out of the clouds before I put you in detention."
Rose lowered her eyes and mumbled an apology.
The professor snarled and began to lecture again on the importance of following the directions very carefully. The Invigoration Draught would cause a slightly more potent reaction than the muggle drug caffeine, but a slight mix-up could cause complete insomnia and possible dementia. With a wave of his hand, the ingredients appeared on the board, and the class quietly got to work.
"Rose, what are you doing?" Hermione hissed a few minutes later, grabbing her hand for the third time. "The bicorn horns had to be powdered, not just ground, and added in small pinches!"
She looked down at her cauldron and, instead of the deep navy blue she was expecting, her draught had turned a bright pink. Rose cursed under her breath and, being a relative whiz in potions, was able to right it without Hermione's help and before that git professor noticed.
'Damn,' she thought. 'I have to get Draco out of my head! I have to get the thought of his strong hands sliding over my lower back and my bum…' She shivered and pushed the image out of her mind forcefully.
Focusing completely on the directions (and pointing out that the Potions Master had made a small error in measurement in the directions, much to Harry and Ron's delight), Rose got through the rest of the lesson with ease. Hermione was noticeably impressed and silently beamed at her friend.
Snape had insisted that they sample their partner's draught, thus the class was almost literally bouncing off the walls. Thus, he released them five minutes early, claiming that he "could no longer stand the sight of them," and the class nearly ran out of the room.
"So, that was Professor Snape, eh?" Rose asked Harry as they all nearly jogged back up to Gryffindor Tower to drop their bags off before dinner.
"Yeah. Pleasant bloke, isn't he?' Harry said sarcastically. "He is hard on everyone not from Slytherin house. Don't worry about it."
"Meanwhile, you never told us you were a genius in potions!" Ron exclaimed. "You are going to give Hermione a run for her money! Can I be your partner in our next class?"
Hermione and Rose laughed and linked their arms. "Oh, I hardly think I deserve that," Rose said. "If it wasn't for Hermione showing me how to mix a proper mud pie when we were babies, I wouldn't have a clue!"
Catching up with Ginny in the Common Room, the five of them headed down to the Great Hall. Rose immediately noticed that her favourite Slytherin was seated at the Gryffindor table again, saving them seats.
"Ah, Draco," Ron said sarcastically. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
"Shut it, Weasley," he answered in a silky voice. "I'm certainly not here to see you." He placed a chaste kiss on Rose's cheek and helped her sit down. "My girlfriend needs someone to shield her from the sheer amount of food you sputter everywhere when you eat."
Harry, Hermione and Ginny all snorted into their pumpkin juice, so true was Draco's comment about Ron's abysmal manners. Even Ron chuckled. "Good one, Malfoy, I'll have to remember that."
Fortunately, they weren't assigned much homework their first day, so their first night was spent sitting by the Common Room fire and talking. Halfway through Hermione's story of the timeturner back in Third Year, they were interrupted by shrieks coming from the direction of the portrait hole.
Looking over, Rose was delighted to see Draco walk in. She smiled shyly at him as he strode over to the couch.
"Oi, Malfoy, this is the i Gryffindor /i Common Room. How'd you get in?" asked Ron.
"I got the password off a twitchy First Year. Quite easy, really. You all should teach your little ones not to give the passwords away to strangers-no matter how dashing and handsome they may be." He shot Rose a wink. Hermione rolled her eyes and Ginny gagged. "Anyway, I've come to see if Rose would like to go for a walk and perhaps a broom ride?"
"Well, we were in the middle of a story…" Rose said, glancing at Hermione, who had her eyebrows raised in a 'don't even think about saying no' kind-of way. "But I suppose we can finish it later, yeah?"
"Of course we can," Ginny said, practically pushing Rose off the couch and toward Malfoy.
With a backward glance, she saw Hermione and Ron nuzzling noses, and Ginny and Harry biting their lips and stealing looks up toward the boys' dormitory.
'Hah, looks like they'll all be busy soon enough,' she thought with a smile.
After a tour of the Astronomy Tower, in which Draco pushed her up against a wall near the window and snogged her senseless, and a quick fly on Draco's Firebolt 2001, where Rose sat in front of Draco and pressed herself against him provocatively while he whispered in her ear, he lead her on a stroll up to what was called the "Room of Requirement" (something about a room appearing out of nowhere to fit the user's needs?).
Three little paces back and forth, and a door appeared.
Draco lead her through into a room that looked very much like the little spot in the woods they had visited earlier, except that this time the sky sparkled with stars and there was a fuzzy fur blanket in the grass.
Draco sat down in the middle of the blanket and drawled, "I though we could look at the stars. I've never been out near the lake at night before." He patted the ground next to him.
Rose licked her lips unconsciously and strolled in. It wasn't that she was some kind of wanton slut, and she drew the line at totally loosing her decency… but the notion of a topless Draco was incredibly alluring…
"This is quite romantic, Mr. Malfoy," she toyed with him. "But how can I know that you won't try to take advantage of me… all alone in the middle of the woods at night?"
But, he was no fool. With a sly grin, he teased back. "Well, I'll try to keep my hands to myself."
"You'd better not," Rose said, sitting down and straddling Draco's lap. She took his hands and placed them on her bare thighs.
What is it about him? she asked herself. This is so not me. It's like I can't get enough of him.
She stared into his eyes, which were nearly black with lust, and ground herself gently into him. He reacted immediately and nearly ripped off buttons his crisp white Oxford as he hasted to pull it over his head.
Whatever game they were playing was now over. Draco brought one hand up and twisted it into her short black hair, while his other slid further up her leg and under her skirt, pulling her closer.
Their lips met, mouths already open, and, for the next few hours, they lost themselves in each other completely.
They never did get around to much stargazing, and it was nearly 3 a.m. when Rose ambled back through the portrait hole, looking quite dishevelled. Hermione and Ginny had waited up.
"So? What happened?" Ginny asked with a wide grin.
"You didn't…. did you?" Hermione said, noticing the blush creep up Rose's chest behind her misbuttoned shirt.
"No, no… we didn't, but he is absolutely amazing," Rose sighed. "Girls, I know this sounds strange, and you mustn't tell a soul, but I think I love him!"
Ginny squealed with delight, and Hermione's eyes suddenly became watery. "Oh, honey, that's wonderful!"
"Now, sit down right here and tell us i everything /i !"
It was a late night for the girls from Gryffindor Tower, and it wasn't long before most everyone knew of Rose and Draco's relationship. Girls were jealous of Rose's luck at taming the sleek Slytherin prince, and the boys were sure to look away quickly when Draco caught them staring at his beautiful girlfriend.
The next few months passed in a frenzy of homework and last minute wedding disasters.
Harry was more than grateful when Rose managed to calm down Ginny and Hermione when news came that the special ice nymphs they had ordered were stuck in a blizzard in the Artic.
'She is a lifesaver, that one,' he though, silently thanking Merlin that he wasn't involved in any of the preparations. He had long ago offered to pay for anything and everything the girls had wanted, and, after many arguments, the Grangers has agreed to split the cost with him, and Mrs. Weasley had agreed on one condition: that she be in charge of cooking all the food.
Soon the Christmas holidays were upon them. The castle, upon Dumbledore's orders, was emptied save for wedding guests and attendants-which was not particularly difficult, seeing as how nearly every student had already for the holiday.
Despite every precaution, a few Gryffindors had found out about the nuptials and, completely oblivious o the "age factor," as Hermione called it, were ecstatic and insisted they be invited. Thus, the wedding list comprised of Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape (albeit reluctantly); the Weasleys, the Grangers, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Rose, Draco, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, the Patil twins, Colin and Dennis Creevy, Michael Corner and Lee Jordan.
The entirety of the Order of the Phoenix was invited, but certain members had to very regretfully decline because of their assignments and not wanting to blow their covers.
The Durselys, of course, were invited but didn't even bother to respond. Harry knew they weren't coming before he even sent Hedwig off with their invitation.
'Well, bugger them,' he thought ruefully. 'This is going to be the event of the millennium… Just wait until ol' Rita Skeeter finds out what we did behind her back!' That thought made him laugh out loud, drawing a strange look from Ron. He explained, and both sank into fits of laughter.
The morning of the wedding came very quickly. Rose was the self-appointed coordinator of the day, seeing as how none of the couples were allowed to see each other before the ceremony. Well, that and Hermione and Ginny were going completely nutters.
A week ago, Hermione had made a decree that she and Ginny needed to have bridesmaids and flower girls because they simply couldn't walk behind each other down the aisle, like maids of honour were supposed to do. Thus, in a flurry of taffeta and satin, Rose and Lavender had become bridesmaids and the Patil twins were the flower maids, as they preferred to be called. (Silently, Rose, sighed a great relief that she and Lavender weren't the flower maids-she'd never get over the teasing.)
Thus, dressed in a long, sleeveless ivy-green satin dress and matching robes, her short hair poofed and pretty, and her makeup done up in just right, Rose bustled over to the grooms' quarters, which were in an unused classroom on the first floor, to check on the boys.
Opening the door, she found Harry struggling with the buttons on his shirt and Draco trying to explain to Ron how to proper fix a bow tie. Stifling her laughter, she cleared her throat loudly, and all three looked up at her in surprise.
Harry and Ron said quick, desperate "Hello"s, but Draco stopped talking entirely and just looked her, his mouth open slightly.
"My dear," he said, bowing before her, "You are quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You know, it's not proper etiquette to look better than the brides," he added in a whisper while lifting her hand to his lips.
"Well, thank you. You are absolutely dashing yourself," she said with a smile. "Save me a dance at the reception?"
"If we even go," he teased quietly. She batted his arm playfully and turned toward Harry and Ron, who looked nearly on the verge of breakdowns.
"All right, you two," she said. "What can I help with?"
Ten minutes later, she stepped back to admire her handiwork.
Harry and Ron looked very sophisticated in crisp white tuxedo shirts and pants. Each worn a perfectly fixed white bow tie and a single white carnation in the top buttonhole of his black dress robes, which shone slightly in the pale light of the tent.
Harry swayed slightly on the spot before pronouncing, "Whoever said that your wedding day was supposed to be the best day of your life has obviously never been married."
They all laughed.
Mr. Weasley strode in and announced that the wedding was about to start, and Rose bade the gentlemen her goodbyes and headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, which was serving as the brides' quarters.
She pushed through the portrait hole (which had been magically enlarged for the wedding day) and gasped.
Hermione and Ginny were standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by their mothers and maids, who themselves were stepping back to admire their handiwork.
The brides dresses were such a pure white that Rose almost had to shield her eyes. Each wore a tasteful, embroidered corset over a flowing lace and satin skirt with a tiny train, and a pair of simple satin shoes. Covering their heads were white headbands with delicately stitched blue flowers and veils of white lace cascading in every direction.
Rose sniffed and wiped away tears as she walked over to the flower table and handed each girl her bouquets of white roses and ivy. "You two are the most beautiful brides I have ever seen," she gushed, once again wiping away her tears. "You are my best friends, and I love you both so much!"
"Ohh!" each girl cried as they collapsed into each other's arms.
Mrs. Granger checked her watch as the girls separated. "Hermione dear, it's almost time to go. Are you two both ready?"
Trembling a little and checking her makeup in the mirror, Hermione said, "Yes I think so. Hold on a second. Something old ok that's the engagement ring… Something new is the dress… Something borrowed is the shoes… Oh no! Something blue! I don't have anything blue!" Mrs. Granger calming reminded her that there were blue flowers in her headpiece. "Yes, of course. I knew that…" Hermione muttered.
"Well, then," Ginny said with a radiant smile, "Let's get this show on the road!"
"You may now kiss the brides," Dumbledore announced, and tumultuous applause filled the courtyard, which had been charmed to stay magically warm.
The sun was setting over the horizon, sending great big streaks of orange, pink, red and gold over the blue sky as the two couples warmly kissed before leading the small wedding party into the Great Hall for a feast and a night of dancing.
Dinner was utterly fantastic—Italian wedding soup, roast duck and a towering wedding cake at least 6 feet high, to say the least. The couples each took a turn gliding slowly across the Great Hall, then beckoned the other guests to join them, Colin Creevey snapping picture the whole time.
Harry took a small break from dancing a while later and looked out over the hall. Pavarti (or was it Padma?) was dancing gaily with Seamus, and the other twin was casually talking to Lee in the corner. A glowering Snape was being led across the dance floor by Professor McGonagall, and Harry stifled a laugh.
Tonks was dancing with both Fred and George at the same time, and Remus and Mrs. Weasley were all smiles glided across the floor.
Harry watched as Draco extended a hand to Hermione and graciously led her off in a stiff waltz, while Ron was enjoying a fun dance with Lavender. Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Harry, would you do me the pleasure?" Rose smiled at him.
"But, of course," he said, holding out his crooked elbow. The two had become very good friends since Rose had turned up for the sorting, and Harry reflected, not for the first time, how lucky he was to be surrounded by so many wonderful people on his wedding day.
That though, of course, was replaced a second later when he glimpsed Ginny (easily the most beautiful woman in the room if he did say so himself) enjoying a dance and laugh with her brother Bill. 'I'll have to steal her away to the Room of Requirement after the reception. After all, I bet that wedding dress looks better on the floor…"
He was just pulling Rose into his arms to begin their dance, when suddenly he felt a great tightness in his chest.
He gasped for breath and let go of Rose quickly. The tightness faded but left a sweeping nauseated feeling in its wake. He felt around blindly for a chair to sit in, crashing in to other couples on his way and making quite a commotion.
Finding something finally, he felt another throb of nausea.
His last sight before he passed out was Rose collapsing in the middle of the dance floor.
i A/N Hee hee evil Izzie she left you on a cliffy muah ha ha /i
