Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Harry Potter or anything from the magical world. However, I own the plot of this story!

Chapter Twenty Two

The date of the wedding was the twentieth of December. Hermione was now four and half months pregnant and it showed. News had gotten round and, as she predicted, it had been all over the news. She was just glad that Malfoy wasn't still around to insult her about it. She had gotten a bit of hate mail though from Harry Potter crazed girls. Harry had begged her to let him send something back, but after a heated argument about it, he gave up.

Now, as Hermione let her mum and Mrs. Weasley adjust her wedding dress, she thought over everything that had happened, and the sudden thought that she wasn't good enough for Harry crept into her mind. After all, he'd saved the wizarding world and depending on your point of view, had saved the muggle world as well. How could she ever compete with that?

She ran her hand over her stomach and just by doing that, she answered her own question. Of course she was good enough for him. He may have performed the tasks, but like he always said, where would he be without her. She was pulled out of her own thoughts by her mothers voice.

"You look absolutely stunning," she whispered, a single tear making its way down her cheek.

"Thank you…" Hermione replied. Mrs. Weasley pulled her into a hug.

"I can't believe you're finally getting married!" she sobbed, happily. "It seems like only yesterday you, Ron and Harry were getting on the Hogwarts Express for the very first time."

"Yes…I remember that too…" Mrs. Granger added. Hermione looked between the two sobbing women and smiled.

"Stop it, you're making me nervous…"

"Well, dear, if you weren't nervous I'd have to say that you were completely insane!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed. Hermione laughed and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Give us a twirl then," Molly said, nodding her head in approval as Hermione did so.

"You look wonderful."

----

Over. Under. Over. Under. Through. Shit…Harry tried for the umpteenth time to do up his tie, with little success and yanked it away from his neck, swearing. Ron was standing by the mirror with a look of amusement on his face.

"I'm glad you find it so funny," Harry scoffed, not looking at his best friend.

"Nervous?" Ron asked.

"What do you think?" Harry asked.

"I think you're bloody terrified," Ron replied, as Harry yanked the tie away from his neck again. "Here, let me do it mate. You'll have the tie in shreds if I let you continue." Harry dropped his hands to his sides and let his best friend, and his best man do up blue tie for him.

"Thanks," he mumbled when Ron was done.

"Don't mention it." Harry grabbed the blazer that was hanging over the chair beside him and stopped when he felt Ron grab his wrist.

"Look, mate, just calm down a little. I know you're nervous and Hermione probably is too, but you're both made for each other, nothing is going to go wrong and the two of you are going to be officially married by the end of the day with the rest of your lives ahead of you and two lovely little kids on the way," Ron soothed. Harry nodded, took a deep breath and slipped on the blazer. Fred and George suddenly appeared at the door.

"Come on you two-"

"-priest is waiting-"

"-and so are your guests." Harry looked at Ron, then the twins, ran his hand through his hair and followed them out of the room, towards the Alter. Ron stood to the right, closest to Harry and the two Weasley twins stood beside him, grinning. Harry licked his lips nervously and occupied himself by counted the flowers engraved on the wall opposite until he heard the wedding march being played on the organ.

Hermione had begged for a muggle wedding, as it had been what she always wanted, before she knew she was a witch, and Harry agreed.

Looking away from the wall, he was greeted by the sight of everyone standing and looking as the bridesmaids made their way down the isle. Lilly and Ginny looked stunning, Harry had to say and they both smiled at him as they passed to stand on the left side of the Alter. When Harry looked again he saw Hermione being led down the isle by her dad. All his fears evaporated then and there and he smiled at her, wishing she wasn't wearing the veil so that he could see her smile at him too.

For Hermione, the walk up the isle to the Alter seemed to take forever, but finally, there she was, standing in front of him. He lifted up the veil and smiled at her, receiving a warm smile back. Taking her hand in his he waited for the priest to begin.

"We are gathered here today, to witness…"

----

"Mr. Potter, do you take Mrs. Granger to be your Wife?" the priest asked. Harry looked at Hermione.

"I do."

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protecther, forsaking all others andholding only unto her?"

"I do."

"And do you, Mrs. Granger take Mr. Potter to be your Husband?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protecthim, forsaking all others andholding only unto him?"

"I do."

As they said their vows, the couple swapped rings.

"Wedding rings are an outward and visible sign of an inward spiritual grace and the unbroken circle of love, signifying to all the union of this man and this woman in marriage," the priest said.
"I Harry James Potter, take thee , Hermione Jane Granger to bemyWife- to have and to hold, in sickness and inhealth, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore."
"I Hermione Jane Granger, take thee Harry James Potter, to be my Husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore."

The wedding went on for little while longer, as prayers and poems were read out, but finally, the priest said the seven words Harry wanted to hear.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Leaning forward, Harry did as he was told and heard the wedding bells ringing. Everyone went outside, and pictures were taken, to be given to them when they were ready and obviously some of the wizarding newspapers would have copies of the moving photos. Although it was snowing, no one wore coats over their suits or dresses.

Just as they were about to leave, Hermione stood at the car door, looked over at the crowd, smiled and threw her bouquet of flowers high into the air. Lilly caught them before anyone else had actually registered what was going on and then blushed a deep crimson. After she had explained to Ron what catching the brides bouquet of flowers meant, Ron pulled her towards him and kissed her.

----

Harry tapped his glass for silence and everyone in the hall stopped talking.

"I would have prepared a speech, if I though it would have made any difference," Harry announced. "But as we all know, I'm not that good at speech's so, before I make a fool of myself, I'll actually hand you over to someone who may have the emotional range of a tea spoon, but who actually took time to prepare a lovely speech for us all." Harry sat down and looked up at Ron who was now standing next to him.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would first like to thank you all for coming today and helping to make Harry and Hermione's wedding such a memorable and special occasion. Personally, I wish you'd all stayed at home and made my job less nerve wracking." Everyone laughed at this point.

"Having never been a best man before, I was a little perplexed and wondered how I was going to go about it," Ron admitted. "But I've known Harry and Hermione for about nine years now, and we've been to hell and back together, so I'm sure they'll forgive me if I make a fool of myself or embarrass them. If not, I'll send over my new address from Canada as soon as I can." Everyone laughed again and Harry smiled up at his best mate.

"I'll never forget the first time the three of us met on the Hogwarts Express, and although I want to go into details, I know I'll probably bore you to death, so I won't do that. I must say though, that Harry and Hermione complement each other very well. Hermione is ambitious, industrious, highly-motivated and loves a challenge. And Harry is that challenge." He waited while the laughter slowly died down and then continued.

"I think I should complement both the bride a groom right now, as I've been told by a certain bridesmaid that if I don't, she'll have my head. First of all, Hermione. You look absolutely stunning and I'm glad to have ever been your friend, although I must admit, the nagging about homework made me want to strangle you. However I didn't, which is just as well, as I'm sure you've made Harry the happiest man alive today. And now, joking aside, Harry is a very special person to me. He is a true friend who never ceases to amaze me with his kindness and generosity. He has listened to me through many a crisis. He gives without any thought of reward. He is a super guy and a role model of a friend. And yes, we've had our differences…but it's nothing Hermione couldn't sort out with a few hexes and some very intense screaming." Everyone laughed and someone dropped their glass. Ron called over to them.

"Don't worry, I didn't like the wine that much either. Anyway, to bring things to a conclusion, I'd like to thank you all for your attention. And let me just say that if you've enjoyed listening to this speech as much as I've enjoyed making it, then all I can do is offer my sincere apologies. To the bride and groom, may their happiness be complete and their marriage long and prosperous," Ron finished, raising his glass.

"To the bride and groom!"

----

"This next song is to the bride and groom!" Seamus announced from the DJ box, looking at Harry and Hermione. He led her to the dance floor, smiling and she let him twirl her round until he was holding her close against him. Everyone gave them a few moments alone to dance, before other couples began to join them on the dance floor, swaying slowly to the music.

"I love you," Harry whispered down to her, resting his cheek on her head.

"I love you too," Hermione replied, pulling him closer. The song stopped while another started and by the fourth dance, Hermione had been stolen politely from Harry by her father, who was now swirling her round on the dance floor.

"I know that I haven't seemed too happy lately, but it's hard for me to accept that the little girl who used to sit on my knee has finally got a life of her own. I've given you away now, and I know I'm not going to get you back," he said, softly, tears threatening his eyes. "But I want you to know that I love you, Hermione, as does your mother and all we want is for you to be happy." Hermione looked up at him, surprised by what he'd said, and then kissed his cheek.

"Thanks dad, I love you too, and don't worry you haven't lost me. You're not going to get rid of me that easily."

"I don't doubt that for one second."

----

Harry opened the bedroom door to find Hermione sitting on the side of the bed, looking at a photograph. He closed the door quietly and walked over to her, kneeling down so he was level with her face.

"You alright?" he asked. Her eyes flickered up to his and she smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Do you…do you remember this photo?" she asked, spinning it round in her hand. Harry took it off her and smiled.

"Yeah…that…that was at Christmas a couple of years ago. Why do you ask?" Hermione looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers and Harry didn't think she would answer.

"That was when you liked Cho Chang…and…and when you liked Ginny," Hermione replied. She waited a few seconds before looking up at him. "Why do you love me Harry?" This question took Harry completely by surprise and he was too stunned to answer.

"Because…because you're my best friend. You're always there for me a-and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with for the rest of my life than you. If this is about you thinking you're not good enough for me then I think you're being stupid. This," Harry said, holding up her hand with her wedding ring on. "This," he ran his hand along her stomach. "And this," he held up the door key from her bed-side table. "Should be more than enough to tell you I love you." Hermione looked up at him.

"I love you too," she whispered.

"I know you do," Harry replied, kissing her. As he pulled away, he lifted up the t-shirt she was wearing and kissed her stomach.

"And I love them too," he stated. Hermione smiled at him and lay back down on the bed as he climbed over her to do the same. Switching off his light, he turned round to face her.

"Night, Hermione."

"Night, Harry."