Chapter 22

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weasley

And

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Zabini

Cordially invite you to the wedding of

Ginerva Weasley and Blaise Zabini

December 1st

6 p.m.

Plaza Hotel

Ceremony in the courtyard

Reception to follow in the Excelsior Ballroom

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A light sprinkling of snow had covered the ground sometime around noon on the first of December and had coated the entire city in a light sheet of ice, making everything from the skyscrapers to the streets sparkle under the sun and glitter brilliantly under the moonlight. Ginny and Blaise could not have asked for a more magical evening for their wedding. The courtyard was magically transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with magical ice chairs that stayed frozen but were warm and comfortable. Boughs of holly surrounded the courtyard, fairy lights twinkling in the snow covered tree branches.

The guests arrived and were seated. Draco and Blaise stood at the altar, gazing out into the sea of people who were waiting for the wedding to begin. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and candles magically appeared, floating in mid air. Those in the magical community smiled appreciatively at the tasteful magic picked for the occasion. In the shadows, Ministry of Magic Security frowned, thinking of how they were going to keep the spell that they had around the famous muggle hotel that was invented to make the muggle guests think that every bit of magic they saw was normal. Even worse was the thought of modifying their memories as they left the reception that evening. There were a lot of muggles at the wedding.

The curtain at the end of the aisle opened and Hermione stood at the entrance and smiled at the guests and walked down the aisle, trying her best not to trip. Her dark red dress flowed around her, her hair falling gracefully down her back. She looked stunning, but she didn't care. She was more terrified than Ginny, knowing that at the end of the aisle wasn't a man who loved her, but a man who hadn't spoken to her in weeks who she was sure she was probably in love with.

She made it down the aisle and breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the top of the aisle as the music changed. Ginny appeared at her father's arm looking more stunning than she had at the dress shop. Beaming, Ginny glided effortlessly down the aisle.

The rest of the ceremony was a bit of a blur for Draco and Hermione. During the vows, Draco stole a glance at Hermione, who looked back at him for a moment before quickly turning away.

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"We have just heard so much about the work and research that you had done at Salem that we started have our sixth year students read your studies on the effect of polyjuice potion on those who are diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. It's truly fascinating and I can only wish that you were in my class. Professor Dumbledore would have undoubtedly been quite impressed. Shame you decided not to continue with your magical studies. Never have I met such a brilliant mind."

Hermione blushed at the compliments that she was receiving from a Headmistress McGonagall, the current headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had been speaking to the aging witch for most of the evening, truly enjoying talking about the magical studies, almost regretting that she didn't continue after leaving Salem. Before Hermione could say another word, McGonagall excused herself and walked across the room to sat hello to former student who had just walked into the hall.

The band began playing shortly after dinner, and Hermione now stood in the corner, sipping wine and swaying slightly to the music.

"Hi." Spinning around, Hermione came face to face with Draco who she had been avoiding all night.

"Hello," she said in barely a whisper.

"That was a nice ceremony, don't you think?"

"Beautiful," she said breathlessly, noticing how close Draco was to her.

Draco felt the heat from Hermione's body radiating towards him, making him want to hold her as close to him as possible. He knew, however, just how uncomfortable she was, so he stepped back and decided to listen to the band, letting the silence grow between them.

"Well," said Draco, grabbing a small pastry from a passing waiter, the holidays are a bit rough. I should ring my mother, check on father. Every year I just try to get from day to day until it's the New Year."

Hermione nodded, her eyes never meeting his. "A lot of suicides this time of the year."

The both nodded.

"So, Hermione, how have you been?"

"Fine."

"And Julian? How is he? Are you still seeing him?"

Hermione turned and looked at Draco. He could have sworn her eyes were pleading with him. "Draco..."

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

"Alright. Is it because of what happened?"

Hermione's eyes clouded with anger and something else that Draco couldn't quite figure out. "Draco, I said I don't want to talk about it."

She turned to walk away and he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him. "Why can't we get pass this? I mean, are we going to carry this thing around forever?"

"Forever," said Hermione incredulously, "It just happened. Well, like, a few weeks ago, but it's not as if its been years!"

"It happened five weeks ago."

Hermione stared at Draco disbelievingly. Draco ignored the look and dragged her across the back of the ballroom to the terrace and shut the doors.

"You know how a year to a person is like seven years to a dog?"

"Yes," growled Hermione, making sure that her irritation was visible.

Draco let go of her arm and threw his hands up. He stared at Hermione, as if expecting her to understand what he was trying to say to her.

Looking at him, Hermione just sighed, "Is one of us supposed to be a dog in this scenario?"

"Yeah." Draco looked at Hermione again, wondering if she understood what he was getting at.

"And who, may I ask, is this dog?" Hermione crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently.

"You."

A look of horror spread over Hermione's face. "I am! I'm the dog?"

"Yes."

"I'm the dog?"

A few people who had tried to step onto the terrace were now staring through the curtains of the doors and saw Draco and Hermione staring at each other. Hermione looked back and let out what Draco thought was between a scream and a grunt and flung open the terrace doors and marched back into the ballroom. Draco followed her across the room and out into the hallway. Hermione kept walking swiftly before she stopped abruptly, causing Draco almost fall on top of her. She spun around and glared at Draco.

"I don't see that, Draco," hissed Hermione, poking her finger into his chest, making him take steps backwards. "If anyone's a dog, you are the dog. To you, this is something that just happened and you think you can say 'Great! It Happened! Now let's get on with it, we'll go back to the way it was, like what happened didn't mean anything!' "

Hermione had backed Draco against a wall, her eyes filling with tears that she wasn't ready to shed.

Draco closed his eyes, not quite knowing what to say. "Hermione, I'm not saying it didn't mean anything, I'm just saying why does it have to mean everything?"

"Because it does! And you should know that better than anyone because the minute it happened you walked right out the door!"

"I didn't walk out, I..."

"No, you're right." Hermione stepped back, arms crossed, tears freely spilling down her cheeks. "More like sprinted out the door."

"Why are you crying? We both agreed that it was a mistake!"

"The worst mistake I ever made," sobbed Hermione.

"It's always the same, it's always the same. The minute you make love with someone the expectations start." He was still leaning back against the wall, his head tilted up towards the ceiling. He couldn't stand to look at Hermione. Not when she was crying.

"First of all, I am not 'someone.' Second of all, I don't expect anything from you, okay?"

Draco shook his head and matched Hermione's glare. "Bullshit. You expect me to know how to behave with you now!"

"You don't have to behave any way with me now," screamed Hermione, forgetting that beyond the doors in the hallway, her friend's were celebrating the happiest day of their lives.

Raising his voice, Draco marched away from the wall. "Fine, FINE! But let's get one thing straight," he said, his fists clenched at his sides. "I didn't go over there that night to make love to you. That's not why I went there. But what was I suppose to do? You looked at me, just like you are now, with those big weepy eyes, pleading, 'Don't go home tonight, Draco, hold me a little longer, Draco,' what was I to do?"

"What are you saying? That you took pity on me?" Hermione wiped her eyes, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. "Fuck you," she spat out. And without sparing a second, Draco felt the distinctive feel of a palm slapping him across his cheek. Hermione gasped, and ran back into the ballroom, Draco at her heels.

Just as she stepped back to the party, Blaise saw the two of them walk back into the ballroom and he grabbed his wand and muttered 'sonorous.'

"Attention everyone!" The entire ballroom quieted down, and a spotlight suddenly appeared on Hermione and Draco. "I would just like to propose a toast to Hermione and Draco." Glasses of champagne appeared in everyone's hand. Ginny joined her new husband up on the dais and smiled down at the two people who at that moment wanted to be anywhere but in the spotlight.

The entire room turned to face them, smiled plastered on their faces, glasses raised. Hermione had never felt so ill in her life. Draco made a mental note to kill his friend after he got back from his honeymoon.

"To Hermione and Draco. If Ginny or I had found either of them remotely attractive, we would not be here today!" The room erupted in laughter and cheers. As the noise began to die down, Hermione tried to make her escape when one of Ginny's friends grabbed her by the arm and brought her to the middle of the dance floor. This was by far the worst day of Hermione's life.

Ginny was still up on the dais, her back to the crowd.

'Oh no,' thought Hermione as Ginny's bouquet sailed in a graceful arc towards the throng of single women gathered on the dance floor.

'Oh no.' Hermione watched the bouquet and her heart stopped. It was heading directly for her. Heads turned, including Draco's, to watch her. For a moment she thought about just letting it drop to her feet...but at the last moment, she held out her hands and caught it.