Hermione stared at the handwriting. The words blurred before her as her eyes focused and refocused.
She hadn't expected this. Trusting that he wasn't about to renew any sentiments about dating, she read on. And the contents of the letter left her mind twisted as it tried to understand.
Of course, Zabini had said as much. When she had met him earlier in the day, before Malfoy found her in the library. He didn't want Ginny to hate him. That lined up with the letter's scenario. It made it likely.
She set the parchment down and turned away. Why did she care?
He was not pursuing her, and none of this was urgent. She should, for Zabini, get Ginny to reconcile their friendship at the very least. Beyond that, Malfoy was right, she owed him nothing.
Malfoy loved her, and he apologised for affecting her feelings and Ginny's feelings.
Was the world ending?
What on earth happened after the Wizarding War?
Hermione shook her head. It did not matter. She was not ready to reconcile what her feelings toward Malfoy had become over the years.
Harry was home and his commotion at the base of the stairs had called her attention. She broke from her internal battle and when the scuffing didn't stop, she looked over the landing, trying to peek at the door.
"Harry?" she called down, the word echoing across the walls.
"I'm fine. Sorry. Fucking jinx has my knees locked together. And I can't get it off." Harry half yelled up at her in a strained voice.
" Finite incantatum didn't work?" Hermione started down the stairs toward him. It was so many steps.
"Nope. Dunno what this spell is, but it's like the leg locker and petrificus totalus but for your lower half. And only your knees." Harry's voice got nearer.
Hermione finally saw Harry and he was awkwardly bent as he kept his balance, his legs glued together by an invisible force. He was grasping something in one hand and letters in the other.
Hermione thought for a wild moment that Malfoy had written to Harry too; she grasped at his hand to steady him and relieved him of his letters.
"Kreacher." Harry laughed as he wobbled against Hermione.
Kreacher shuffled from the kitchen, comedically slow. Hermione thought it was on purpose and swore there was a glimmer of humour in his bulging, glassy eyes.
"Can you get rid of whatever this is?" Harry asked hopefully.
Hermione bit her lip to keep from laughing. Not at Harry, but Kreacher was struggling to keep his face from cracking in front of his master.
All the elf could manage was a shake of his head.
"Can you get me somewhere where it can wear off?" Harry groaned. Kreacher nodded and sidled closer to Harry. With a crack, Hermione heard him land on the landing upstairs as the floor creaked with their sudden weight.
Hermione locked the front door and made her way back up the stairs. She looked at the letters out of curiosity, one was adorned with curled writing and a bright yellow seal.
Curious.
It shimmered a little too, like a dusting of fine glitter.
It was sure to be another invitation to yet another ball or event to force socialisation. When she finally got to their bedrooms' floor, she knocked before entering Harry's room.
He had kept Sirius' room for himself. Though, maybe he was having issues letting go. Posters of unmoving muggle women and bikes were still plastered over the walls. But the walls were freshly rewallpapered in Gryffindor colours. Gold was intricately woven into the wallpaper and Hermione laughed at the absurdity of the visual impact.
Old meets new.
"Harry, this one's addressed to you." Hermione held out her hand with all the letters and laughed when he took them, amused at her attempt at a joke.
"I know you're trying to be funny, but there's literally one here for you." Harry said as he fanned them in his fingers, sitting on the side of his bed with his knees glued together.
"What?" Hermione thought of Malfoy's offer to send evidence via Rita Skeeter and she panicked. Harry couldn't know about Malfoy, she wasn't ready to have anyone know about this.
"I've got one too." He held out the letter with a yellow seal, and sure enough, there were two. She didn't know how she missed it. Her name was carefully written on one of them.
"What do you think it is?" Hermione asked, curious. She sat beside Harry and pushed him away as he flopped toward her where she sank into the bed. He laughed and held the letter in his hand, flipping it onto the back and then front.
"There's no return address." Harry lifted his eyebrows. "Another ball?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and broke the yellow seal. Then she yelped.
Dearest friend Hermione Granger,
You are invited to the wedding of Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom on the 13th of July.
Ps: We are accepting garden plants.
Harry laughed.
"Garden plants?"
Hermione remembered the balloon like plums outside their house when they had visited in search of information on the deathly hallows what felt like decades ago.
"Neville loves herbology, and Luna is her own type of person." Hermione giggled. She shrugged because it just made sense.
"Hermione. They didn't put where. Or what time." Harry's shoulders shook as he laughed.
"Maybe that's how they're doing their RSVP?" Hermione wondered. It was genius. Only interested people would ask for those details.
"She's smarter than you!" Harry fell back onto his bed laughing.
"She is a Ravenclaw." Hermione looked back at him. Then she groaned. "I'm all out of dresses."
Harry frowned, thinking.
"I was planning on giving this to Gin, but, she won't mind if you borrow it." Harry said slowly, as though still weighing whether he wanted to or not. Then he sighed and smiled at Hermione. "It's not like you're the first person to wear it anyway."
"What are you going on about?" Hermione frowned now, confused.
"A bunch of mum's clothes. It was saved and just like when I inherited the books and Potter fortune, they kept her things. Well, what Aunt Petunia didn't give away or donate or burn anyway."
"Harry, I can't wear your mother's -" Hermione protested.
"Oh, shut up. She'd love that my best mate was a muggle born, and she'd insist." Harry squeezed her forearm, the only thing he could reach from his collapsed position.
Hermione felt affection wash over her.
"I'm not keeping it."
"I wasn't giving it to you." Harry shrugged, rolled his eyes and grinned.
"I mean, you should still give it to Ginny." Hermione gauged his reaction. He groaned.
"Hermione. It's over. We didn't work out!"
"I heard about a conversation you had at the Vie Ball."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Then he blushed. Hermione admittedly didn't know the contents of the conversation, but Malfoy had said 'intimate'. So they must have looked more like lovers than fighters.
"How do you know?" Harry asked. He swiped his hand down his face. "Gin said she wouldn't tell."
"What happened, Harry. Why can't you both work it out?"
"It's complicated and I'm a jackass." Harry groaned.
"That was never a debate."
Harry met her eyes and grinned sheepishly. "About it being complicated?"
"About you being a jackass." Hermione giggled and fell beside him. They stared at the ceiling for a long moment, both lost in separate thoughts.
"We should ask for the rest of the details for this wedding. And probably mention we'd not need the plus ones." Hermione muttered.
"Huh?" Harry started. Then his mind caught up. "Right. Yea."
"Harry?" Hermione turned her face to look at him.
"Yea, Mione?" Harry's green eyes brightened against the Gryffindor red bed sheets.
"Thanks for being my friend." Hermione pinched his arm. Harry pretended to wince and smacked at her hand softly.
"Nah. I'm just using you to manufacture black market potions. How else do you think I upkeep the Potter fortune?"
Hermione let laughter peel from her throat and soon Harry joined in until they were both breathless.
The dress was almost a perfect fit. Lily was taller than she, so the length was a little long and she tripped over it when she walked. It had pencil thin straps that held the fabric on her shoulders. The back draped into a loose boat, the pencil straps crossing in an X as an accent. She saw too much of her sternum that made her comfortable when she looked down.
But standing before a mirror, it was breathless. She didn't recognise herself. It was a deep sea green dress that Hermione imagined went perfectly with Lily's red hair and green eyes. It's darker sheens were almost black while the light hit it in the right spots to accentuate her curves without looking lumpy.
And the dress didn't have magic imbued into it.
Using minimal techniques, she got to work shortening the hem, tightening the straps so it rose about an inch up her sternum. Less cleavage, more comfortable, more Hermione.
What she would give to have seen Lily in that dress. She was 21 when she died, and it suited her. Daring, brave, beautiful. Hermione tried so that those adjectives described her too.
Harry refused to see her alterations citing his complete and utter trust in her judgement. Plus, Hermione knew Ginny was about her height, so if she were to pass it onto her friend, shortening the hem wouldn't be an issue.
Luna wrote back with the address and to no one's surprise, it was at Luna's rook like house. Hermione swallowed the dread of being in close proximity to the Weasleys, then wondered if Ron would show up seeing as he's been reclusive since Hermione and him ended the relationship.
Deciding that she would deal with these things as they came, she occupied her time with more potions and research into muggle ingredients.
July the 13th came way too quickly, at this point, Hermione had stayed at Harry's for a month. Mostly because he gave sad puppy dog eyes at the prospect of being left alone again.
She didn't want to be alone either.
Of course July the 13th, 2004 fell on a Wednesday. Harry mentioned as he yelled across the hall that he took his Thursday off because he had no idea what to expect at the wedding.
Hermione laughed because she didn't know either. She pulled her hair into a neat bun at the top of her head and styled the strands that fell loose. She hoped some of her magic would hold through the night, her hair had a mind of its own.
She left her neck and wrists unadorned.
When she met Harry in the landing, he stopped and stared.
Hermione grinned and Harry passed his hand through his hair, giving it his signature windswept look.
"You know…" Harry said carefully, then grinned mischievously, reminding Hermione a little of Sirius. "I forget sometimes that you're a girl."
"Shut up, Harry." Hermione pushed at his shoulder then surveyed him.
He wore all black dress robes with green to match Hermione peeking from beneath his outer layer. It reminded Hermione of his Yule Ball dress robes. The green made his eyes pop. And they matched just enough that they looked like they came together, but wouldn't need each other to complete the other.
They weren't a couple after all.
Two days ago, a thimble came by owl and was accompanied by the world's shortest instructions. A port key to the wedding. Hermione slipped it onto her finger, Harry held it between his fingertips and they stood awkwardly waiting for the yank behind their stomach.
Hermione had nearly devolved into giggles when they were yanked to the Lovegood residence. They landed softly, Hermione's gown floated around her before settling in the direction of the wind. Harry's hair looked as though they came by broom.
He held his arm out, Hermione took it, and they climbed the slight slope to the circular tower at the hilltop. The dirigible plums swayed merrily in the breeze and Hermione almost thought they got the date wrong.
When they got to the crest of the hill, colours exploded into view. Flowers, magical and muggle kind, were tied and floating like helium balloons. Bright yellows, blues, greens, pinks, reds. White dotted throughout but it was perfect. Chairs, all mismatched, were scattered but facing one direction; toward an arch that combined all the flowers and seemingly attached to nothing.
Shimmering silvery material floated around the arch as though it were wearing a veil.
People were gathered in tiny groups across the space, all of whose eyes turned to see Harry and Hermione arrive and make their way down to them. Hermione giggled when she saw chains of radishes adorning the chairs, hanging like unlit fairy lights.
Glasses with swirly eyes as lenses were carefully placed on each vacant seat, some people already wore some and were pointing and giggling at each other.
Everything screamed Luna, and yet she wasn't anywhere. Nor was Neville. Harry realised this as he let his eyes scan the present bodies and he looked down at Hermione.
"Do you reckon they'd plan a wedding and never show up?"
"I wouldn't put it past them." Hermione laughed as she tugged Harry to a chair.
"Who's the best man and maid of honour?" Harry craned his neck looking at everything that was either decorations or wild nature, there was no way of distinguishing some of it.
A gentle tug pulled Harry's attention to his knee. A tiny elf had a fistful of his dress robes and was yanking at it with what looked like all her strength. She was so small, she made Kreacher look massive. She must be young.
Hermione smiled at her.
"How can we help you?" The elf's eyes widened, maybe she didn't want anyone's attention after all.
"Um, hello miss. Sir. You is wanted inside."
Hermione looked at Harry, her eyebrows lifted in surprise.
"Fuck, they actually didn't show up," Harry got to his feet and helped Hermione to hers. They followed the little elf who glanced over her shoulder fearfully at them both.
The external of the rook shaped house was the same, the erumpet damage fixed. There were no signs that the Lovegoods' lives were affected by the war.
It still felt ominous walking through the door. Ignoring the sounds of the printing press working away, Harry and Hermione ascended.
The rooms had been giving some kind of privacy by the way of room separators. The little elf pulled Harry's dress robes at his knee again and guided him around before waving Hermione upward. She hesitated a moment before she climbed, going to where she knew was Luna's room.
It was still adorned by her posters of her friends' faces, the golden chain linking the word friend repeatedly still shone brightly as though dust never settled on its surface to dull its shine. A separator blocked her view of half the room.
She heard his voice and stopped dead in her tracks. Her ears peaked.
"Luna, you're stunning."
"Draco," Luna said in her dreamy voice, ever so kindly, "I know this must have been hard, coming here. They don't know you, and you're here for me."
Hermione wondered how long he had been here. This conversation sounded new.
"This is the least I could do." Draco said in a smooth, gentle voice.
"You've done plenty." Luna's voice was amused, dreamy and floaty, but Hermione could hear the smile.
"This cost nothing. Your taste, Luna, it's very affordable. And it looks gorgeous, what you did out there." There were footsteps, the floorboards creaked. Hermione imagined Malfoy's ears pinkening with a blush and she smiled, then touched her mouth and stopped.
He paid for the wedding.
For Luna's wedding. How well do they know each other?
"Draco." Luna said gently, enunciating his name with care Hermione had never heard before that she felt warmth spread across her face at the sound. "You saved my life and remained my friend."
Hermione grappled with that information. They remained friends after the war? He saved her life?
"You saved mine." Malfoy's voice carried a similar gentleness to Luna's. There was so much missing information about Malfoy and now Hermione felt like she couldn't ignore his letter offering all the evidence to support him.
"I think Hermione's here."
The sound of her name snapped her from her reverie and her heart sped up, blood drowning any sound from reaching her ears before she forced herself to calm.
"Hi." she said weakly as she stepped around the separator.
Malfoy's eyes met her and she was surprised to see how correctly she remembered his blush and how quickly her smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Hermione." he said quietly. Hermione waved from her hip by lifting her fingers and then she looked at Luna, whose dreamy expression hid something more.
Like she planned this.