A/N: Sorry, guys! I know this chapter is a bit later than usual. I've been very busy with school this passed week. The good news is that chapter 4 is already written, but it won't be published until I've written most of chapter five.That why, if I ever don't have time to write one week, the chapter will already be pre-written! Bam!
Cappygal116- I absolutely love your recap of the story! Don't worry, it will only get better as the chapters keep coming! Thanks for being such a great reviewer.
Love-is-everything- Love your review! It rocks! Keep reviewing:-)
BuckNC- I'm not angry with you, I just think it's rude of you to freak out on me because I chose to write something a little less original for a challenge. I truly do appreciate your previous reviews, but I think your reaction to this one has been quite overdramatic. It's alright if you take me off your favorite authors list. I'll still be here writing. I'm not going to cry myself to sleep about it or anything. Sorry.
Quidditch7- Awww thank you! I'm glad that you think that the chapter is well written, because I've been trying to improve upon spelling and grammar errors. It's still not top notch, but it's better. In this chapter, your Lavender and Seamus questions shall be answered, and there will be more on what Hermione saw in a couple chapters.
Violet snicket- Thank you for being so amazingly kind. This story is going to move on and nothing's going to ruin it for me because I still have reviewers like you who understand and enjoy it. Hopefully this chapter makes you think, because that's what it's really all about.
Angellwings- I always try to stay creative, even when working with a popular genre. I'm so excited that you still think it's creative! I was a little late on updating this time, but I usually do it about once a week.
The End of a New Life by MyKonstantine.
Chapter 3: A Nightmare within a Dream
"Of course we were going to get married even if this law wasn't around." Lavender giggled to the young women around her. Ginny Weasley, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Hannah Abbott and Luna Lovegood were attached to her every word. After all, tomorrow was Lavender's big day.
Hermione couldn't believe her fate. She was stuck at a bloody hen party in Hogsmeade for one of her old Hogwarts roommates because of this law. Lavender and Seamus were so young, Hermione thought, but then again, she was thinking in muggle terms. Many people married young in the wizarding world.
"We've been together for over a year and we love each other." The bride-to-be continued dreamily. "I couldn't let anything happen to Seamus just because he's half-blood."
Hermione wanted to scoff, but she held it back. Lavender and Seamus gave in to this new decree too easily. It was just an excuse for Lavender to get hitched!
She could see it now. Lavender skipping down the aisle in an over-beaded bridal robe with her new scrawny Irish husband in tow, looking for all the attention she could get. Hermione couldn't help but let out a little snicker.
"What's the matter, Hermione?" Ginny inquired from across the table in the private back room of The Three Broomsticks.
Oh Merlin! She looked like a fool! She had to cover this one up quick!
"Oh, nothing! I was just thinking about.. our days at Hogwarts." That was a brilliant lie from one brilliant witch, Hermione concluded to herself. "We had some amazing days there." She turned now to Lavender, chalking it all up. "I remember you and Seamus at the Yule Ball."
Lavender smiled. "Yes! Of course! And you with Viktor Krum!"
"Tell me," Padma asked rather quietly, "Are you and Viktor still as friendly as you used to be?"
"Viktor and I lost touch a long time ago. I wrote to congratulate him on Bulgaria winning the Quidditch World Cup last year, but he didn't get back to me. He's busy, I guess. Besides that, we haven't really spoken since I left Hogwarts with Harry and Ron."
"Jealous, I bet." Parvati injected. "That's an awful shame, though. Hermione Granger and Viktor Krum's wedding would be world renowned! What a fine match!"
"Do you have any ideas yet, Hermione? You only have five months left!"
Oh no! Now all this wedding babble had turned toward her. She felt like a deer stuck in headlights. She didn't know what she wanted, so she obviously couldn't let anyone else know. Avoid the question. Just avoid the question!
Next to her, Ginny gave a sympathetic smile. Hermione gave Ginny a look of shear pain, but she was still glad that Ginny understood how strange this was for her.
"I have three months, actually." She told the group as they sipped their fancy drinks. "I'm considered a special interest case."
"That's lovely!" Lavender squealed.
Hermione faked a weak smile. She didn't know what the hell was so lovely about it.
"You'll be fine, Hermione." A dreamy voice spoke out. Luna's mystical tone was the only thing that could make her truly smile. "Being who you are, you could marry any man you wanted to."
"Of course! I mean, Harry Potter is your best friend!"
"Harry? No!" Hermione immediately glanced sadly toward Ginny. Hermione had never been attracted to Harry, but she knew that Ginny had never stopped being attracted to Harry. They still talked often, but nothing had ever happened between them. They were still afraid.
"Harry Potter sends out a behavioral-magical shockwave that is not in conjunction with Hermione's." Luna stated as if it were plain as day.
"Yeah, their auras are completely different." Lavender shot this comment to her Divination obsessed friend, Parvati.
Luna shook her head. "It's not quite the same." However, nobody seemed to hear her.
"Well, you have other friends too." Hannah sighed. "What about Ron?"
"Urgh! Let's not talk about my ex-boyfriend!" Lavender snapped.
"And my horrible Yule Ball date!" Padma added.
"Who is my brother so there's no need to insult him unless you want to get hexed!" Ginny said quickly and sarcastically in the same cruel tone of voice as Lavender and Padma.
Hermione was the only one who laughed.
Goodness, she hated hen parties.
"It was the only possible way. I guess we would've gotten married later if it weren't for the law, but I dunno. We've only been together for a little over a year." Seamus spoke to the young men around him. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom all laughed it off. After all, tonight was Seamus' last night of freedom.
Ron and Harry couldn't believe their luck. They were at a stag party, fully equipped with lovely witches at Dean's home in London, with all their old roommates. They couldn't believe Seamus was already getting married.
"Well, I love her, and I guess that's what matters." Seamus shrugged. "She wants to make sure nothing happens to me because of this law."
"Remember when you and Lavender first got together?" Dean asked Seamus.
"Yeah." Seamus smiled. "Once I got out of St. Mungo's after the war she fucking jumped on me. I had liked her for a while, but I guess she was more vocal about it."
Harry laughed. "I wish I had been there to see that."
It took a while for the other men to realize why Harry and Ron weren't there. All they could do was raise their eyebrows in agreement and feed the awkward silence.
"I think you two are going to do fine together." Neville assured Seamus. "I know the situation is tough, I'd hate to be in it, but at least you have a solution at hand."
Dean grunted. Neville's face reddened as he apologized for talking about it. The men had almost forgotten that Dean was half-blood as well.
"It's no big deal, mate." Dean replied. He took a long swig of his drink. "I have options. If all else fails, there's always Parvati."
"Have you been dating?" Harry inquired with knitted eyebrows.
"Not exactly." Dean blushed. "Let's just say we know each other intimately."
Seamus snorted into his beer. "If that's what you want to call it." Dean gave Seamus a very angry hand gesture.
"Well, I expect Parvati would want to be married once her best friend is married." Ron shrugged. "You know women, always wanting their children to grow up together and such."
"Who said anything about children?" "Nobody, mate. Nobody."
"What about Hermione?" Seamus asked. "What's her deal?"
Harry and Ron exchanged frightened looks. They both knew Hermione, and they both knew that she would be very unhappy if she knew she was discussed casually while the boys watched naughty witches at a stag night.
"She's working to find a way to abolish the law." Harry told the boys. "She's got meetings all over the Ministry and she's been doing research all the time."
"Sounds like Hermione." Neville said, shaking his head.
"But who's she going to marry if it doesn't work?"
"She hasn't really told us, but I think that's her personal business." Ron grunted. "She'll marry however she wants and we'll all be damn happy for her and her bloody husband."
"But who do you think it will be?" Seamus pushed the issue.
Ron slammed his drink down on the table. "Oh, lay off it!"
"It was just a damn question, Weasley!" The Irishman shot back.
"Ron's right." Harry almost swallowed his Adams Apple when he gulped. He obviously did not want to start trouble with the two very hot-tempered wizards. "We haven't a clue. Hermione is going to do what she thinks to best, and we just have to hope all goes well."
"As long as she stays safe, it's fine. Nobody wants to see her in Azkaban." Neville nodded, his head starting to lob about.
Ron grimaced. "It's not going to come down to that." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. There was no way any harm would ever come to Hermione Granger with her friends by her side.
"Why do you say that, Weasley?" Dean teased. "Are you going to marry her yourself?"
Ron didn't actually answer. He shook his head disapprovingly, rolled his eyes, chugged down the rest of his drink and said "I'll kick your arse myself, mate. I'm going to get another drink."
That was all the men ever said about the law or marriage. When Ron returned, the conversation had returned to lighter subjects like Quidditch and dung bombs. The talk occasionally ceased so that the slightly inebriated men could watch the scandalously dancing witches in front of them.
Goodness, they loved stag nights.
The wedding was just as Hermione imagined it. Almost every Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff student that Lavender and Seamus had ever known sat in the audience. Many were dressed in their house colors, but it was hard to tell what colors outweighed the others.
The red brick wedding hall was massive and fully embellished, including a crystal unicorn fountain. Fairies flew above the aisles, covering everyone in glimmering silver fairy dust. It was bright and sparkly and a bit overdone. This meant that Seamus had let Lavender do all the planning.
It only managed to get a more ridiculous when the music began. Parvati and Padma Patil walked down one after the other in identical short, strapless lavender dress robes with a large neon pink flower on the side. Though normal for them, the amount of makeup they wore was just too much. Compared to the rest of the people at the wedding, they looked as if they were going out for a night on the town. Hermione couldn't even tell them apart, and she had a feeling that most of the others couldn't either.
Then it was time for Lavender's grand entrance. She strutted down the aisle with her hair in bouncy blonde curls. Her dress robes were also unusually short for a wedding. It wasn't beaded all over the place like Hermione had expected, but covered in lace instead. The three women looked more like prostitutes than a wedding party.
Lavender took the hand of Seamus, who Hermione believed was wearing his old dress robes from the Yule Ball. Skinny bastard.
The rest of wedding moved smoothly except for an ill fairy who kept coughing on the right side of the hall, causing a large pile of fairy dust to build up on the floor. When Lavender and Seamus were pronounced husband and wife, the smug look on Lavender's face was just as Hermione had imagined it.
Maybe she should have been better friends with Lavender in school, she thought. Then maybe she would have had better luck in love these days. Maybe someone who loved her would take away her worries and marry her to save her from the Ministry if she were more of a girl like Lavender.
Then she took another look at the bridesmaids' dresses. Hermione was definitely better off the way truly she ended up.
The reception was held in the next room over, which was just as elaborately glamorous. This time, the fairies weren't allowed into the room. Apparently, Lavender's aunt had been under the malfunctioning fairy during the ceremony and was very disgruntled. This gave Lavender's father no choice but to make the fairies stay in the entrance hall.
It was in the reception hall that Dean Thomas stood proudly next to his best friend, telling the comedic and somewhat embarrassing story of how Seamus and Lavender came to be.
"Sharing an apartment with Seamus has been an experience I will never forget. Let's just stay that their new home will always be full of a certain kind of excitement." Dean made a subtle gesture which made the younger audience snicker.
"The last thing I need is the mention of their sex life." Hermione shivered in her seat.
"I walked in on them while I was staying over one night." Ron admitted, his face turning red as he spoke. He looked as if he was going to vomit. "Just be thankful that you're not getting mental images."
Hermione was immediately sorry that she had made a comment to begin with, but it gave her something with which to annoy Ron for the rest of the day. It was almost too simple.
"Lavender looks much darker than Seamus. She must be tanning." She commented as the hall watched the new couple dance. "Tell me Ron, does she look tanner when they're beside each other naked, or is it just the white dress?"
Ron grimaced. "Let's not get into this."
"But you've seen Seamus get into lots!" Hermione cooed back.
"Alright!" Ron's yelp turned a few heads, so his next words came in the form of a whisper. "I'm putting up the white flag! You win! Stop bringing it up!"
Hermione smirked in satisfaction. "I think that panic made your hairline recede a bit."
"Someday, I'm going to get you back for this."
The hours came and went faster than the guests had hoped. Hermione had found the time to bump into such familiar faces as Professor McGonagall, Katie Bell, Susan Bones, and Colin Creevy. With many of these people she chatted for lengthy periods or even shared a dance.
Unfortunately, she also had the displeasure of seeing Cormac McLaggen with his date, Cho Chang. It was a very uncomfortable moment for both Hermione and Harry. Ron wasn't as uncomfortable as he was outraged.
"I didn't know you're friendly with Seamus, McLaggen." Ron accused. "Just come for the celebration then, have you?"
Cormac gave him a smug smile. "Everyone who was anyone in Hogwarts is here. Naturally, I was invited."
"Fancy that." Hermione sighed in a bothered tone. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but Cormac didn't seem to notice her annoyance.
Cho gave Hermione the fakest smile Hermione had ever seen. "Well Hermione, it's good to know that nothing's changed and you're still running in the same circles." She gave a quick glance to Harry and Ron. "We've got to go visit with the Patils now. Nice seeing you again!"
Without another word, the couple hurried away from them, leaving Hermione and Harry completely speechless.
"Twits!" Ron grunted. "They deserve each other."
By this time the night was dwindling down and most people were either drunk or exhausted from mingling. There were only a few people who seemed to have energy. Seamus, though a bit tipsy, seemed to be raving mad when he came over to them.
"Have you seen Lavender?" He continued to search around the room even as he asked them.
"Come to think of it, I haven't." Harry answered. Hermione hadn't seen her either. She had been doing so much that she had even lost track of the bride.
"I can't seem to find her anywhere in the building. Do you know if she went outside for anything?"
"I dunno." Ron shrugged his shoulders. "How about we give the grounds a look around?"
Seamus nodded furiously. "She's probably just out there having a grand old talk with a friend and she lost track of the time. Let's just get her back inside for the last dance."
Ron, Harry, and Seamus began to walk toward the nearest exit to the building, but one thing held Hermione back. Her bladder.
"I'm just going to go in the ladies room and then I'll join you!" She called out, turning toward the door leading out into the Entrance Hall.
The entrance hall was silent except for a few mysterious people whispering in the shadows. Hermione could almost make them out by the light of all the fairies, but not quite.
Once she entered the bathroom, she forgot all about the wedding guests in the entrance hall quite suddenly.
Lavender stood in front of the mirror with a rip in her white dress robes, poking at a large bruise covering the right side of her jaw.
"Lavender!" Hermione gasped. Lavender hurried to cover the bruise with her hand, but Hermione pulled her fingers away from the mark. "What happened?"
"Oh, it was so embarrassing!" Lavender cried out. "My dress got snagged on a chair and I fell into a table and hit my head!"
"And nobody came in here to help you?"
"They just didn't notice, I guess."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. It was odd to think that the bride could fall face first into one of her guest's tables and nobody would notice. Plus, even if she hadn't initially gotten attention, Lavender would have made a scene and gotten the attention of everyone. That's just how Lavender did things.
"Are you feeling alright?" Hermione examined the bruise. It was much too round to be from the corner of the table. "Should we go to St. Mungo's and have that jaw checked out?"
"No! If I tell anyone what happened then-" Lavender stopped short.
"Then what?"
Lavender's eyes scanned the room shakily, lingering just a bit too long on the corner of the wall to her right.
"I dunno.." She held back the tears in her eyes. "The guests will all laugh at me. It'll ruin my wedding."
Hermione knew that this wasn't helping Lavender at all. In fact, her presence seemed to be making Lavender more distraught by the minute. The best thing she could think to do was avoid curiosity and help Lavender feel well again.
"Well, we can fix that bump and your dress with a few simple spells and nobody will ever know that you took a fall."
Lavender's eyes grew bright. "Do you promise you won't tell a soul?" Her words seemed a bit too desperate to be normal.
"I promise."
It was with those words that Hermione moved around Lavender, saying a handful of spells that she had used many times before to fix things and heal bruises. She felt a little guilty covering up the fact that something had obviously happened here, but she couldn't ruin Lavender's wedding day.
"Well, Seamus is looking for you so you two can have your last dance of the night." The brunette witch informed the blonde bride once she was finished.
"Right then." Lavender looked at herself in the mirror one last time. "I should go out there."
Lavender ruffled her dress, puffed out her chest, and began strutting out of the bathroom. Suddenly, she stopped as if she had hit a brick wall and turned around.
"Hermione."
"Yeah, Lav?"
Lavender looked as if she was about to cry once again. Something was obviously getting to her.
"You don't think I'm some sort of mudbl- I mean, muggle lover who only married Seamus because I wanted the attention, right?"
Hermione whirled around to look Lavender right in the eyes. "I would never think that!"
"Okay."
Without another word, Lavender spun around once again and rushed out of the bathroom to find her new husband.
The plot thickens.. DUN NA NA! Don't fear! All will be revealed in due time!
And now, a short poem/rap!
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Were the characters true?
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