Hi again! Been trying to keep it as real as possible for y'all...hope ya still like it! I'm getting to the technicalities of everything soon...like who else is betrothed? I thought I'd take some time on the H&H issues first. In this chapter: some of the plans for the wedding, in which Hermione and Ginny go wedding shopping! And...we find out why they can be publicly engaged, while others will probably elope!
Another A/N: Normally, I'm not a HHr shipper...but I thought it would be interesting. Actually, I sorta stole the premise from Christy January...She's been gracious enough to not hate me! ;-)
Disclaimer: Hm...nope. Still no.
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"What about pink?" Hermione made a face at the bridesmaid's dress that Ginny held up.
"No, I've never liked pink. What about baby blue? Or lilac? That would be pretty," she said, moving along the rack to the cool-colored gowns. "What about this one?" She held up a plain dress with a drapy neckline and a blue-to-purple gradient.
"That's pretty. I like that one," Ginny said approvingly. Hermione took down the number on the dress's tag and moved on to the maid of honor's dresses.
"Okay, Gin. Which one do you like?" Ginny thumbed through the dresses, then found a dress. She held it up, then said,
"So, have you thought about where you want to have the wedding? Have you and Harry talked about that at all?" Hermione took the number off of the tag of Ginny's dress.
"Well," she said, "I was thinking of having it at Hogwarts, but," Ginny made a face and Hermione stopped. "What? You think that's a bad idea?"
"Well," Ginny said gently. "I mean, who would want to get married in a school?" Hermione thought that Ginny was wrong. She was sure that Harry would love to get married at Hogwarts. He had expressed to her many times that Hogwarts was the only real home he had ever known. She could see herself and Harry, standing in front of the preacher, on the rolling lawns of Hogwarts, about to say their vows. She said as much to Ginny. "Whatever you think is best, I suppose. It's not my wedding."
"...but you wish it was," Hermione finished for her. Ginny sighed.
"I'll deal with it, but right now, you're going to be as good as a sister, and I couldn't be happier!" Hermione heard the false enthusiasm in Ginny's voice and sent her a look that told her as much before moving on to the flower girl's dress.
--
"So how did your parents react when you told them?" Ginny asked. They were sitting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor, the day's decisions laid out on the piece of parchment in front of Hermione.
"They were pretty shocked. I think they accept that this is what I want though. I explained to them that I could still have my job, and Harry his, and I think they're pretty excited that they might have grandchildren soon. I don't think they're too happy that I'm getting married so young, but I'm of age and there's nothing they can do, since it's a Wizarding wedding."
"And you're sure that this is legal?" Hermione just gave her a look. "Well," Ginny said simply, "I wouldn't want to go through all this and suddenly find out that it isn't legal and that we did all this for nothing, you know."
"Relax. I did all the research. It's perfectly legal."
"Allright, allright. I believe you."
"Good." Hermione had a distinct feeling that, for all Ginny's reassurances, she still desperately hoped that Hermione's engagement wasn't legal. She couldn't blame her. If Hermione was in that position, she would feel the same way.
"The flowers next!" Ginny said, laughing at the anguished look on Hermione's face. Hermione's very tired feet were propped up on a chair across from her, trying to provide a bit of rest and comfort. "Just kidding. We'll do the flowers another time. Besides, getting all the dresses picked out is a big deal. Now you just need to pick out the tuxes, the flowers, the place, date, time, reception place, caterer, place setting, music,"
"Okay!" Hermione shouted. "I get it!"
"But," Ginny said, soothingly, "most of those don't take too much time. I mean, obviously you're going to have to get samples of place settings, but for the flowers, you just need to go to the florist and pick them out. The caterer, well, you get to test the food first, so that's not all that bad. The tuxes, they'll all be the same, so all you need is the shirts, vests, and ties. Place, date, and time aren't bad. I think that the big chore is putting it all together. They're not really big jobs on their own, but getting them together is another thing." Hermione groaned.
--
"Listen, Harry. Are you absolutely sure you want to get married this young? I mean, what about our Auror training? We were supposed to go through together, remember?" Ron had sat Harry down the following day, after Harry had owled him and told him the news. They had met for lunch then went back to the Burrow.
"I've already told you, I'm sure." He was getting a tiny bit frustrated. Ron had been asking questions like this for the past hour. He couldn't blame him; he knew that Ron loved Hermione. If it had been him, he would've tried everything to persuade Ron to break the engagement. "Besides, she's already picked out the dresses. She owled me a couple of hours ago."
"Women, eh?" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I suppose Ginny went with her?" Harry nodded. "Raving lunatics, the whole lot of them."
"Well, she said something about wanting to 'get started early'. You know Hermione."
"And you're absolutely sure that this is legal?" Harry just gave him a look.
"Hermione and I did all the research. It's completely legal, since we're of age in the Wizarding world. Since this is a Wizarding wedding, there's not much that even her parents can do. According to the Ministry, if we're old enough to 'exercise our own discretion with our spells' we're old enough to marry." Harry said. Ron looked at him skeptically. "Look, I didn't say it."
"No, that's true," Ron said, his voice rising a bit, "but you did propose to your best friend." Harry could see where this was going.
"Look," he said, with a touch of impatience, "it was the only way. Would you rather have me marry Pansy Parkinson?"
"Yes," Ron pouted. Harry stood up.
"If you're not going to be happy for me, maybe I should leave." Ron stood too.
"Maybe you should."
"I don't know why you're being such a baby about this."
"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you." Harry saw that Ron's ears were going red.
"Shouldn't you care about her happiness too? It's not always about you!" Harry shouted.
"Yes it is!"
"If you're not going to be happy for me, at least be happy for her! She's my fiancee!" The word sounded funny coming from him. "And," he added as an afterthought, "she's my best friend."
"Oh really?" Ron asked, scathingly. "Then who am I?"
"I wish I knew," Harry said, then stormed out.
--
Hermione laid on her bed, thinking. Something didn't add up. She had first realized it when Ginny had been asking her about the legality of the engagement. She got up, hurried to her bookshelf, and grabbed her Wizarding encyclopedia off of the shelf. She thumbed through the pages until she came to the section about engagements and weddings. "Aha!" she muttered.
Wizarding betrothals
In Britain, when a witch and wizard are betrothed by their parents, the engagement must be upheld. If the engagement is broken (i.e- one of the betrothed proposes to or marries another), a fine must be paid. Although this seems like an "easy way out", the fine is not a small one. As of 2002, the current sum stands at 350 galleons.
Hermione gasped. 350 galleons? She had wondered why they hadn't eloped, but where was he going to get the money? She knew that his parents had left him some gold, but she had no idea how much. She didn't have much either, but at least she could offer to pay some of the fine. Would he be able to afford it?
"Hermione! Someone's here to see you! He's in the living room!" her mother shouted up the stairs.
"Coming, Mum!" Hermione put the book back on the shelf, checked herself in the mirror, then headed downstairs. Before heading into the living room, she smoothed down her shirt and checked herself in the hall mirror again.
"Harry!" she squealed, a huge grin spreading over her face. She walked over to him and gave him a hug, then sat down next to him. "What are you doing here?" He smiled back at her.
"Well, I have some very good news for you."
"And what would that be?" He pulled out a piece of paper.
"This," he said, handing it to her, "is the good news." She unfolded it and her jaw dropped. A marriage license.
"But," she said, astonished, "how did you get this? Didn't you have to pay a fine?" Harry smiled.
"Not exactly." Harry grinned. "Old Scrimgeour owed me a favor."