Hermione was glowing. Ginny came round to the flat shortly after Hermione had returned home, she had obviously helped Ron plan the whole thing, and she was to excited to wait for an invitation when Ron told her Hermione had said yes. A quick owl to Luna, and she was also round in a flash. Hermione's happiness radiated onto all of them; the next couple of hours were full of smiles, laughter, and conversation. While they were doing their make up and hair, they chatted away about wedding dresses, colour schemes, locations and food choices. As dresses, skirts, shirts, and everything in between was being thrown between them and tried on in Deborah's bedroom, Ginny made the conversation a little more heated with a devilish glint in her eyes. The hen party, male strippers, lingerie and the wedding night.
"Weddings are a great place to pick up people, you know Dee." Ginny raised her eyebrows at Deborah, as she was getting dressed. "If you were interested in any of the groomsmen, we could arrange it so they would be your usher. You could sit next to each other at the top table." Ginny continued, she seemed to be half serious and half joking, while she was wagging her brows at Deborah.
"I've told you all, no more set ups! Plus, wouldn't it be tragic if all I remember of Hermione's wedding was trying to get someone to fancy me?!" Deborah smirked back. "Also, surely most of Ron's groomsmen will be your brothers? I'm not sure that would be the best idea?"
"Oh come on Dee! Are you telling us you wouldn't like to spend the day on the arm of Charlie, or was it Fred you had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on?" Hermione chirped up, and now all three girls were looking at her with knowing grins on their faces, as Deborah stood, taken aback and blushing.
It was a well known fact at Hogwarts, an initiation almost, that every girl - and some of the boys - would have a crush on at least one of the Weasley siblings during their time there. Arthur and Molly had just created the perfect set of children, each sibling different from the last, talented in different ways, they all looked good in their own style but with the same fiery red hair. Deborah hadn't been blessed with attending Hogwarts at the same time as either Bill or Charlie. One of the older Hufflepuff girls had told her that the stands at Gryffindor quidditch matches were full, because half the girls in the school would want to watch Charlie ride his broom 'just to feel something'. And half the girls in his year had taken Care of Magical Creatures, just so they could have one class with him. Percy was quieter, and more studious than any of his siblings. The girls, and boys, who would spend most of their time in the library would often sneak shy and adoring looks at Percy while he was studying or patrolling the halls. Braver students might even leave the library a little bit too late after curfew, just so Percy would catch them and give them a stern telling off. Ron managed to have a small following too, he would always put this down as girls trying to get to know the 'Chosen One' through him. But when he became the Gryffindor keeper, they all noticed there were a few girls cheering a little bit too loudly when he made a save, and girls eager to come to the after parties just to speak to him. Then there was Ginny, the absolute powerhouse. She turned the head of most of the boys in school, and would seem to attract more young ladies than her older brothers, but nothing turned her head from Harry. She adored him.
Now, for most of the girls around Deborah's age, it was Fred or George. After their third year, they were easily the most popular guys in the school; they were hilarious, intelligent, charming, and if you flirted with them, they would flirt right back. As they got older, they got better looking, boyish charm turning into rugged good looks. By the time they had left Hogwarts, they had earned quite a reputation. George was more laid back, and Fred always seemed like a big ball of energy. Although she was on the quieter side, Deborah found herself harbouring a one sided crush on Fred. During the DA meetings in 5th year, there were a couple of flirty comments, a few practise duels, and then him and George flew out of Hogwarts surrounded by fireworks. And like the fireworks, her feelings for him disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She had seen glimpses of him at the Battle of Hogwarts, she had held Ginny while she cried to her and Hermione, wondering if her brother was ever going to recover, but he did. She hadn't really thought about those feelings again. Until now.
During one of their more drunken sleepovers, they had been gossiping about 'The Weasley Effect', when Luna let slip that her Weasley crush had been Ginny. She was so embarrassed by her drunken slip up that Ginny took her into a tight hug and made Hermione and Deborah reveal their Weasley crushes. Hermione insisted a little too strongly that Ron was hers, so Ginny pressed her again after a couple more drinks. Sheepishly, Hermione revealed that she may have gotten a little too flustered over Charlie, when she was at the Burrow the summer after second year. But she had only ever truly loved Ron, of course. Then it was Deborah's turn to spill the beans. At first she claimed to not like any of them. Ginny mocked anger, dramatically proclaiming that Deborah thought herself too good for a Weasley. So after a couple more shots, and more of Ginny's nagging, she confessed, thinking it would be forgotten in the morning.
She thought they had all forgotten. She realised now, with her three friends looking at her suggestively and grinning, that they hadn't. "Hermione's wedding is not an opportunity to set me up, besides Fred probably doesn't even remember who I am." Deborah moaned.
"But Dee, if you want to get your leg over, Fred is your only solid option. All my other brothers are taken, and Charlie is just a closed book when it comes to relationships!" Ginny smirked. "I can make sure Fred knows who you are by the end of tonight."
"You can't say that about your brother, Ginny!" Luna piped up.
"What? Mum keeps bothering him about being single, Ron pokes fun at him for having a dry spell, and George says that wall hit his head so hard that it knocked out all his charm and ability to speak to women." Ginny paused at the end of her sentence, seeming phased by the memory of Fred's near death experience. She quickly recomposed herself, "All he needs is someone to get him back in the game, a quick once over from Dee could do the trick!"
Deborah was a bit stunned. "Ginny, just because I'm single doesn't mean I'm here to sleep with someone 'to get them back in the game'. I don't want a one night stand, I'm looking for a relationship. That's what I deserve." She tried to keep her composure.
Hermione put her arm round Deborah's shoulders. "See Ginny, this is why I stopped you setting them up last year, Dee is looking for love and Fred isn't." Ginny was bashful, and apologetic. She made a heartfelt apology; she forgot that behind all the laughs and tales of bad dates and even worse sex, Deborah was still a person looking for someone who makes her as happy as Harry makes Ginny. After a quick sad moment, Deborah looked down at Hermione's hand and remembered they were celebrating tonight.
She held Hermione's hand in the air and screamed, "You are getting fucking married! Let's bloody celebrate!" The tension in the air cleared and they continued getting ready. Blasting songs from Deborah's radio. Then they were ready to go. Dressed in their best going out clothes, and feeling unstoppable. Ron had booked a table at the new Three Broomsticks bar in Diagon Alley, but it didn't have a working floo network yet. They had to floo to the Leaky Cauldron, and take a short walk down the road to the new bar.
"Are we ready for a good night?" Ginny almost chanted, like she was doing the pep talk for a quidditch match.
Hermione beamed, Luna giggled, and Deborah sang, "Hell yeah!"
