All right, here's chapter four for all of you. I'm glad you like the story so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit longer than usual, but there was no way I could split this in two, it's too...well, you'll see. ;) Anyway, enjoy!

Lauren

Chapter Four

Beautiful Disaster

Soft, brown curls peeked around a wooden door. It was windy and warm outside, the kind of weather that only occurred in London once every blue moon. Chocolate eyes carefully surveyed the setting in front of them and were very pleased indeed. Except for the centerpiece on table number three: it hadn't been centered very well. Perhaps Harry hadn't noticed. Perhaps he had been talking to Ron or Ginny and had been distracted. Perhaps she would just have to go correct it herself. She snuck outside, her bare feet embracing the cool dampness of the grass as she crept over to the table in question and gently slid the red vase into a center position, smiling happily and contentedly. Suddenly, she felt a pair of rough hands slip around her waist, and the grin on her face grew impossibly wider. Warm lips pressed against her cheek and then pressed softly against her ear in a whisper.

"Hermione, you're completely impossible to please. Harry worked all morning setting this up for us out of the goodness of his heart and here you are, being ungrateful and downright impossible. It's ridiculous, how could you?"

Hermione spun around, hitting his arm playfully and chuckling. Blue eyes glistened down at her teasingly as she tried to free herself from his grasp. It was, of course, to no avail.

"Ron, you know very well how grateful I am for Harry's help, it's just--you know me, I couldn't help it! It was just mocking me, taunting me ruthlessly, and I had to fix it or else it would have driven me absolutely insane!" she proclaimed, her arms flailing enthusiastically. Ron pulled her into a sweet embrace, tightening his grip around her waist. She raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck and pulling him even closer to her. She felt a small tingle up her spine--amazing, she thought, how after all these years the tingle was still so strong--when suddenly a strangled noise emerged from somewhere behind Ron. Hermione pulled back and peered over Ron's shoulder.

"Oh Merlin, get a room!" cried fiery red hair and fantastically magnificent freckles. Small hands shielded mock-fearful caramel eyes, and forth came a convincingly disturbed groan. Hermione blushed as Ron walked toward the woman, pulling her hands from her face and tickling her mercilessly until she couldn't take any more. Even after all these years, he knew the one spot that killed her every time, and there was nothing she could do about it but surrender. A pair of alarmed green eyes peeped into the garden and, falling upon the three friends, became warm and friendly. Tired but excited legs walked through a vine-covered gate to the garden, and as they came to a stop, two lean arms reached out, pulled out a chair from table number two (with Hermione watching out of the corner of her eye), and folded as the rest of his body lowered comfortably into the chair. Hermione giggled as she pulled Ron from his attack, reaching out a hand to help the poor girl up off the ground. The caramel eyes glared playfully at the blue ones, and then, suddenly, freckles met in a warm embrace.

"Oh, Ron...I'm so happy for you, for both of you, I can't even begin to tell you..."

"Ginny, don't tell me you're going to cry again, last time was enough, more than enough, you nearly scared me to death, I thought you were going to cry yourself dry."

Ginny pulled back, attempting to hide the rogue tear building up in her eye. Ron smiled at her kindly and kissed her on the forehead. Ginny grinned weakly and looked into the startlingly green eyes across from her.

"Harry, where did you come from? You scared me," she said, all signs of crying gone and replaced with girlish laughter. Harry stood up, his legs tired from all the walking around and setting up the garden he'd only finished a half hour before.

"The real question is, where did you come from? I've been looking for you all morning; you said you'd help me with all of this! I should have known though, all you Weasleys are the same! You just wriggle your way out of everything, don't you?" he said, laughing as Ginny crossed her arms defensively.

"Hey, watch it! You might want to be a bit careful with your words there, Potter, or they may get you in serious trouble." She crossed over to him, her feet also bare, her toes squishing the grass between then with every step she took, and she hugged him tentatively. Sensing her awkwardness, Harry pulled her closer to him and took in the scent of her hair. Boy, if he ever told Ron how much he loved that girl, he probably would have hexed him into the next century.

It wasn't long before the guests began to arrive. Hermione kept bustling around like a house elf, worriedly shifting chairs around and checking that the food was still intact in the kitchen (Ron had made a bad habit of sneaking in there every five minutes and sneaking tastes of everything). Ron, meanwhile, was coordinating food-stealing trips; he would wait until Hermione left the kitchen and turned the corner before he dashed in and swiped something else, making sure to cover up what he could before he dashed back out. When he wasn't being a nuisance and eating everything, he was out toward the front of the gardens, checking that the guests were all getting around all right and making sure the floating hors-d'oeuvre trays didn't crash into anyone. Unfortunately, just as he had okayed the situation and decided to head back inside, he heard a shrill shriek and the painful sound of glass shattering: Lavender had fallen into a tray of champagne, sending it and herself tumbling to the ground. He stifled a chuckle as he made his way over to assist her. She smiled up at him embarrassedly as he lowered his hand to her.

"Oh Ron, I feel ridiculous, I just...for a moment, I completely forgot where I was, and suddenly I was falling backward, and...well, I don't really remember what happened before that." She brushed herself off gingerly, her cheeks reddening at her last words. During the battles against Voldemort, Lavender had been so severely injured that at one point, she went into shock and developed a moderate case of epilepsy, and while nearly everyone learned to accept and expect her random seizures, Lavender was quite disturbed and upset by them and the loss of control over her life they caused her. Even though her medication helped her out quite a bit, sometimes, especially in times of great excitement, one was able to sneak by her.

"Lavender, it's fine, I'll just go charm up another tray. Come with me, we'll find Hermione and she can help you get straightened up a bit, all right?"

Harry was making the circuit with all the guests, saying hello to people from Hogwarts, friends and peers and teachers and their families. He was surprised how many people had shown up: the event was planned very last minute (neither Hermione or Ron thought it smart to have an engagement party so soon after the war, but in the end they decided it would be good for everyone to have something to celebrate) and the weather had been nothing short of terrible. However, somehow, it all came together quite nicely, Harry thought to himself. Quite nicely indeed. He was just taking a little walk around a pond a little ways from the garden when he felt a small tug on his sleeve, causing him to spin around rather roughly. When he saw who it was, however, he was immediately ashamed and lowered his head apologetically.

"No, it's my fault, I'm sorry," Ginny said, her breathing ragged from the shock. "I should have been more...I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that, especially when...Harry, I'm so sorry," she finished, frustrated and stumbling over her words. Harry smiled at her kindly, easing her mind a little.

"It's okay, it's...let's not think about it," he said. He turned and stood next to her, leading her forward in a walk around the pond. He wondered what she was thinking about, because clearly--from the way she approached him so--she had something on her mind. But he didn't press her; the silence was comfortable and there was no rush. Finally, Ginny looked up at him concernedly.

"It's just that, now that they're engaged, they're going to be awfully busy for the next few months--and understandably, of course, because planning a wedding takes a lot of work and time and patience, and...well. And after the wedding, they'll be in their own little lovely world, with just each other, and that's the way it's supposed to be when you're in love, which is fabulous, but...it'll just be you and me, Harry. What are we gonna do? The attacks are dying down, Death Eaters are being captured and persecuted, and even though that's great news, it...well, it leaves little to occupy our otherwise eventless lives. So now what? I'm not used to life without any sort of drama going on. I won't know what to do with myself." She took a deep breath and sighed softly. "But I digress. Ron and Hermione are happy, and I'm happy for them, but...it won't really ever be the same again, will it?" she asked rhetorically. Harry put his arm around her shoulder consolingly, and, acting through natural reflex, she rested her head on his shoulder. Harry found this show of affection a bit startling, but soon realized he didn't mind it much. In fact, he didn't mind it much at all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, and all the rest of you crazy creatures, I want to thank you for joining us today," came a loud, mischievous voice. Everyone was seated at the round tables in the gardens, and Ron stood in front of them, Hermione seated to his right, at a large table in front. Of course, at this point, Hermione was throwing him an angry glance, but he didn't seem to notice, and those who did gave a hearty chuckle. "Hermione and I were unsure about planning this--it hardly seemed like an appropriate moment in time for something so, well, celebratory and festive--but then we realized that an event like this is exactly what we all need. Each and every one of us present here today has suffered, suffered greatly, and persevered through unimaginable pain. Each of us has lost people important to us, people we'd never imagined having to live without. Yet here was are today, somehow managing to make it day by day in a world we never thought we'd ever have to live in. And it's because of that that we decided we needed to have this. It's hard thinking about happiness when all we've experienced for the past six years is terror and fear. But we all need to be happy, if only for this short moment, because it's what makes live bearable. We're all here today to be happy. To know that joy still exists. Hermione and I just want to help bring it out of all of you a little bit."

Looking around, he realized he had the entire congregation in tears, which was practically the opposite of the effect he was going for. Panicking, he looked at Hermione for help. She stood up, took Ron's hand, and smiled.

"And, if nothing else, there's tons of fantastic food, which is always a mood-lifter. Just ask Ron!"

And suddenly, everyone was in great fits of laughter. Ron looked down at his fiancee gratefully and gave her a soft peck on her forehead.

"You're amazing," he said, smiling happily.

"I try," she replied, smiling back at him and squeezing his hand gently.

"And now, about that food," Ron said, turning back to the audience. Hermione rolled her eyes, causing another chuckle from the crowd. "Everyone should eat! Merlin knows I want to," Ron said, looking at Hermione with an impish grin. Harry, who was seated on Ron's left, threw a look behind the happy couple to Ginny, on Hermione's right, grateful she happened to catch it. They both smiled, happy for the couple but still holding their earlier conversation in the front of their minds. What would happen to them?

"Ron, I have to say I'm so glad you decided to have this engagement party," said a young woman in a pale yellow dress. Her eyes were wet with tears, but there was an exuberant smile on her face that spoke volumes of gratitude. Ron watched her as she carefully dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "Everything you said earlier was right, we all needed this, and though some may not admit it, they all know it and are grateful to you for this. So thank you, so much. And I am so happy for you and Hermione, I always knew you two would be together and I'm glad to see it first-hand--it's obvious how happy you make each other, and that is quite a blessing."

"Wow, Parvati, that's really kind of you, thank you. I'm just...glad you feel that way. I'm glad it means so much to everyone, because it means a lot to me for everyone to be happy again, and it's...well, you understand. It's just good to start over again, start living life normally again, or as normally as possible. We at the Ministry are more than elated about our success in finally putting an end to the Death Eater attacks--it's been a good two years since they started, right after the defeat of Vold-sorry, You-Know-Who," he said, noticing her flinch slightly. "It's difficult imagining life without all of this horror, you know? It's just...it's going to take time."

Parvati smiled at him weakly, wrapping her arms around him gingerly and hugging him thankfully. Ron hugged back, patting her comfortingly. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

"Harry, thank you so much for doing all of this, I appreciate it incredibly, you did such a wonderful job," Hermione said, hugging him tightly. Harry chuckled, recalling to mind the sight of her rearranging the drinks on the floating trays a few hours before.

"You're welcome, Herm, you're welcome. And congratulations. I feel like even though I've said it millions of times already, I should say it again. This is, after all, a party thrown for the sole purpose of congratulating you." Hermione gave him a sarcastic look and kissed him on the cheek.

"You mean so much to me, to both of us, to all of us," she said, feeling suddenly emotional for the tenth time that evening. "Really, I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

"Hey, isn't that the same line you feed me?!?" Ron exclaimed in shock, appearing from behind Hermione with a look of mock surprise on his face. Hermione turned to him and wrapped her arms around him, turning the surprise on his face into a tender smile. Harry was about to tease them horribly for being so affectionate in public when suddenly he heard a horrible scream.

"What the--" Ron cried. He and Hermione spun around, terrified.

And down came swooshing cloaks of black with hoods of darkness. The Death Eaters had come for the celebration.