"Shut your gob before I shut it for you." Aunt Muriel screeched at Ron.
George bit his tongue to keep from commenting on dear old Muriel's language. The temptation was strong, oh, so strong, but there was so much to take in. George smirked and watched Ronniekin's face bloom to a bold scarlet. The boy had never had a lick of sense. They had put on this whole farce of a wedding to help him keep his job, and he was throwing it away. Not that it mattered because he was about to land himself in much deeper dragon dung.
"I read about this dance." Hermione smiled sweetly and cast nervous eyes around the assembled crowd. "I talked the others into it. If it wasn't appropriate, it's all my fault. I didn't mean to offend you, Ron."
George took deep and even breaths to avoid laughing. Anyone that knew Hermione at all could see she was laying it on thick. To think, he'd almost begged off this charade. Fred would never have forgiven him.
Fred would have wanted to make a new firecracker honor of this. The day Aunt Muriel lost her mind. The day Hermione finally broke free.
George examined the dancers and admired their casual elegance and tactical positioning. Ron seemed to forget that other people fought in the war. Poor ickle Ronnie. He'd poked the dragon and was about to burn for it.
Luna shook her head and played with Theo's tie. The pale blue and dark grey stripes were lovely, but his plain tie tack and cuff links were boring. She passed her hand over the tack and smiled at the forget me nots that flowered in the silver. Perfect for a wedding and for the man that fought not to disappear.
She glanced up at the others and enjoyed the feeling of bliss that came from being surrounded by acceptance and like power. She had found her place.
Ron might have been a happy member of this circle once. It was a shame that the oncoming emotional storm couldn't rein in his idiocy. She looked at his rage, so evident in his aura. He would never be happy with life until he was happy with himself.
Ron had been given a gift, but he wouldn't understand until far too late.
"Hermione isn't named after a Spartan princess for nothing." Luna sighed. "He should have read the books she gave him. I don't think he much likes horses."
Hermione did her best to hold her irritation in check. Ron's rude outburst had played directly into her hand, but she didn't care so much for revenge now. Trusting in her magic had led her to a good place with a snarky ferret-dragon of her own.
"You just had to put on a show." Ron snarled. "Couldn't just be the little wren you usually are. No, you had to come to my wedding with a death eater."
"That dance was an offering from all the dancers to your house, you foolish little boy." Muriel smacked Ron's arm. "Molly did you no favors letting you carry on in ignorance and mediocrity."
"She wanted to show me up." Ron stepped closer to Hermione.
"She did that by showing up." Susan smirked and leaned back against Blaise. "We all behaved like the proper ladies we are. What's your excuse?"
"He isn't a lady." Luna looked at Ron carefully. "He hasn't the fortitude for it or the grace."
"This is neither the place nor the time for this, Ronald." Arthur Weasley joined the group. He bowed to the dancers and smiled. "Thank you for the gift. My family is honored."
"Your family is not honored." Ron sputtered. "She did this to make me look bad."
"What she and her friends did hasn't been done in over one hundred years, you imbecile." Ron's aunt glared at him. "Even then they only produced wisps of magic. What they did was glorious. You and the strumpet should be bowing down to kiss their feet."
"She's not a strumpet. She's my wife." Ron's neck bloomed a livid and harsh purple as his ears and cheeks flushed a deep maroon.
Arthur hit him with a quick silencio and shrugged. Muriel stepped up to Ron and tapped his purpling chin with her fan. She ignored Lavender's huff of outrage.
"She's nothing more than fluff and you're a fool." Muriel looked toward Hermione. "I thought you were a coltish tomboy with more ambition than talent. I was wrong. You are a lady of substance."
Hermione inclined her head to the older witch and smiled. It cost her nothing to be kind.
"It's good to see you, Auntie." Theo bowed to the older witch. "It's been far too long."
"Theo, there's a good lad." Muriel grinned. "Bring your pretty little thing and escort me to my table."
Hermione smiled as Luna passed by her. Their fingers tangled for a moment and then released. Hermione swirled her fingers and a crown of forget me nots settled on Luna's head and wound itself into the flowers already there.
"You noticed." Luna smiled back at her friend.
"I thought you might want to match your escort." Hermione shook her head as Theo looked at her oddly. The poor man had no idea how much his world was about to change.
"You'd better let him go, Arthur. He's like to explode if you don't." Muriel took Theo's fee arm and the trio departed, dignified and proper.
"Ron doesn't deserve this." Lavender glared at her father in law. "He's done nothing wrong. You should ask her to leave."
Hermione took a deep breath. It would do no good to lose her temper now. It was Lavender's celebration.
Arthur looked at the girl, at the woman, he'd known for so many years and knew his son was a fool. He'd known it before, but here, in the soft fairy lights, Hermione glowed. He watched her husband pull her close and kiss her forehead.
"I won't ask her to leave." Arthur looked at the woman his son had married. "She will always be welcome in my home."
Ron started gesticulating wildly. Arthur grimaced and knew his youngest son would not see reason. There was nothing for it. He released the silencing hex and flinched as Ron's garbled screeching broke the odd quiet.
"She's gone and whored herself out to some Death eater scum. She shouldn't be here." Ron stepped forward again and found himself facing two wands. Neville pushed him back a half step and Draco buried his wand tip in the soft flesh under his chin.
"You will not disrespect my wife." Draco pushed his and a bit more, forcing Ron to raise his head.
"Mind your manners." Neville tapped his wand on Ron's chest. "My sister can fight her own battles, but she likes to let me show off."
"Ron." Arthur frowned at his son and made no move to help him. "She just gave us a gift beyond imagining. Asking her to leave would be an insult. Our family honor is important. Far more than your bruised feelings."
"She's brought a marked death eater to our home." Ron snarled. "She wanted to hurt me."
Arthur grimaced as the rest of his children joined their discussion. Their magic soothed his frayed nerves, but the chances for an explosion of Weasley chaos increased exponentially/ Molly was trying to move the guests over to the tables. He could hear her easily as the assembled crowd watched with avid amusement.
"She's just jealous." Lavender glared at Hermione. "Ron never wanted her."
"You're right on that score, Lav." Hermione smiled at the blonde. "He didn't want me. He wanted a wife, a possession. If he'd wanted me, he would never have touched you."
"That's not true." Ron tried to pull away from Draco's wand. "Gin told me not to offend you. She told me to take care of my needs myself."
"I always thought you were a wanker." George laughed. "Turns out I was wrong. You're just an arse."
Draco and Neville stepped back as Ron turned toward his older brother. George was laughing too hard to block the hex, but the tentacles replacing his hair didn't put a dent in his humor. He shook his head and laughed harder.
"Ronald, have you lost what few wits the fates saw fit to give you?" Percy countered the hex on George. "You're destroying all the hard work we've done."
"What hard work?" Ron waved his hand at Hermione. "She did all the work."
"She's here. Mum and and Ginny made Harry ask her." Percy glared at Ron. "We all came here to support you and to help you keep your job. You just binned it all. Brilliant."
Arthur felt the rage building inside him. He'd always been a quiet man. Everyone thought Molly was the one with a temper, but they were wrong.
"Ginerva Molly Weasley, did you do this thing?" Arthur turned to his only daughter.
"They have so much between them." Ginerva dropped her eyes to the ground. "I knew she wouldn't be able to say no."
"You used the bond created by life debts for this?" Arthur felt shame slink in under the rage.
"She did what?" Harry cocked his head.
"She used you to force me to come to this lovely event." Hermione sighed. "Augusta explained it to me. All the times we fought together, all the times we saved each other, they built a bond between us. We never formally released it. We didn't know we needed to do so. I couldn't say no."
"They used me to hurt you." Harry clenched his fists. "I would never have asked, not like that."
"Don't make nice with the death eater whore." Ron snarled. "She brought Malfoy here."
"I brought my husband to your wedding." Hermione stalked toward Ronald. "I spent years twisting myself into knots trying to be the woman you wanted. All I had to do was trust my magic."
"Trust your magic?" Ron shook his head. "He'll get tired of your frigid self soon enough."
"My wife is a lady." Draco stepped next to her. "She's a treasure. I will be faithful."
"You just want to roll around in the dirt and get muddy." Ron smirked. "Fucking her must remind you of the revels. Bet you have to pry her legs apart with some serious spell work. Too bad the novelty will wear off."
Arthur felt something snap. His last tie to sanity perhaps. He found his wand in his hand and his youngest son floating three feet off the ground.
"She could call the hunt on you." Arthur felt his body shaking. "You are an unrepentant oath breaker."
"Arthur, put Ron down." Hermione approached him and patted his arm. "You don't want to do this."
He lowered his arm and looked at the woman next to him. He didn't see the hex coming at her back, but the tiny silver dragon burning it away in a flash of blue fire was hard to miss.