Erased But Not Forgotten

Chapter 15

Pleasant Surprises and Lingering Memories

"I can't believe it, we're finally getting married!" Hermione exclaimed for about the fiftieth time that morning. Despite the repetition, Liz and Rose both smiled. All three brides were in the bathroom performing their basic morning rituals, waiting for their dresses to get back from the dry-cleaners.

"Rose, are you okay?" Liz asked tentatively. She could tell that her best friend was out of it, she seemed to be concentrating on a particularly tough problem, and it almost looked like she was having second thoughts. "Is someone getting chilly toes?"

Shaking out of her daze, Rose looked at Liz inquisitively. "What?"

"You've been out in your own little world all morning," Hermione pointed out. "Are you worried about the wedding or Jul?" Just when Rose was contemplating her answer, the doorbell rang.

"Saved by the bell!" Rose exclaimed with a grin. With a snap, she was down the stairs and opening the door.

"Did she Apparate down there or is she really that fast?" Hermione rhetorically asked Liz as they followed her down the stairs at a much slower pace. Liz just shrugged, smiling; they may never know.

As she reached the door, Rose caught a glimpse of plastic-cover white fabric. "It's our dresses!" she yelled back at Hermione and Liz who were now running down the stairs in anticipation. She grinned and opened the door to one greatly hindered Harry Potter.

"Harry!" she squeaked and promptly slammed the door shut in his face. For one fleeting moment the thought, 'Its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding,' flash through her mind, forcing her to act.

"Rose! What the hell!?!" Liz inquired as she met her on the landing. Suddenly Rose was very dizzy as she realized that Harry wasn't her groom, Jul was. Leaning heavily against the door, she slowly opened it again to the very confused Harry.

"I-I meant to do that!" she said, nodding and waving her finger at Harry in a way that distinctly reminded them of Captain Jack Sparrow, when she met the inquisitive looks she was getting. Harry grinned and Hermione giggled insatiably, while Liz looked at her in a very inquiring way.

"But why?" she asked finally.

"My dear Elizabeth," Rose replied, imitating a British pirate again as she came over to throw an arm around her best friend's shoulders, "I thought we'd agreed that you wouldn't attempt to understand my logic as a safety precaution as there's a likelihood that your brain will explode from thinking too hard!" Liz continued to look at her questioningly.

"So for anyone who doesn't speak Rose," Hermione added with a smile, "that means she has no idea and it was totally random."

"I like to think of it as…spontaneous!" Rose retorted with a grin, setting them all off into fits of tear-producing laughter. Only when they all regained the ability to not only breathe but also to look at each other without bursting out laughing again, did Harry speak up.

"I bring wedding finery for the three Mrs. Evil Jenyuses-to-be!" he stated with a grin, making the girls laugh as they started to hum their "theme song". Grabbing their dresses from Harry's arms they all flew back up the stairs into Roses' room, leaving Harry to follow, grin firmly set on his face.

When he was about halfway up the stairs, he heard a shriek that was most definitely from, not Rose, but Hermione.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked calmly as he reached the bedroom

"This isn't my dress!" she shrieked hysterically, gesturing towards the white gown. "I was supposed to be wearing my mother's wedding dress! This is not her dress!"

Harry just grinned. "You can thank your husband-to-be for that," he said delicately, smile never leaving his face.

"Ron!?!" she exclaimed, clearly confused. It was really quite amusing to see the usually composed bookworm get so flustered.

"Yes, Ron," Harry repeated, "he paid for it. Rose, Ellie and Liz picked it out and Ron paid for it; as a wedding gift. Do you like it?"

Hermione gaped at the white gown for a moment. The dress was strapless, something her two best friends knew she'd never admit to loving, the bodice unadorned except for a shoe-string tied strand of fabric at the hip.

"It's perfect," she whispered, smiling. "Give him this next time you see him," standing up on tiptoe she kissed his cheek, "from me."

Harry blushed. "I don't think it'll be quite the same coming from me," he commented, and Hermione giggled.

"There's more," he continued after a moment, causing Liz and Rose to both quickly check that their dresses where indeed the ones they had picked out. Harry grinned before handing each of the brides a small white box and a pink bag with 'Victoria Secret' emblazoned on the side. Peeking into the bags, all three girls burst into another fit giggles as they opened the boxes. They contained everything else that would complete their something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

Sifting through the contents of her box, Rose found her old necklace from the Harvest Moon Ball (charmed from emeralds and rubies to diamonds and sapphires), the diamond chandelier earrings she was borrowing from her sister Ellie, and her new lace garter from Victoria Secret was in the bag (as well as a few things for the honeymoon afterwards). As she dug deeper, she was caught off guard by a little ring box that was in there too.

"What is this?" Rose mused to no one in particular, taking it out and setting her jewelry aside.

"I noticed that you needed something blue," Harry answered quietly as Rose opened the small gray box. Inside was the long-forgotten aquamarine engagement ring.

"Harry, this is beautiful," Rose gasped, causing Liz and Hermione to turn and look at it too. As they caught sight of the familiar jewel they both shot Harry confused, slightly angry, looks, but he only had eyes for Rose.

"You shouldn't have," she continued, beaming up at him.

"It was just something I've had for a while now, I figured you should have it…after everything," he replied, smiling but the sadness gathering in his emerald eyes was inevitable.

"But still, there's obviously a lot of money in this, Harry. I can't possibly accept a gift like this." Rose tried to shove it back into his hands, but he wouldn't let her.

"I never told you that I was engaged once, did I?" Harry said suddenly, causing Rose to shake her head in agreement and Hermione and Liz to gawk at him, wondering what he was playing at. "Well, to say the least, it didn't work out between us; some guy she used to like came back saying he loved her and she loved him too, well this was our engagement ring and when she left she gave it back to me. Well, I always kept it thinking she may come back, so I'm giving it to you. I'm letting go of that hope…" His voice nearly broke near the end of his brief tale and it left his eyes shining with restrained tears.

"I want you to have it know," he said with a finality that stated the subject was closed. At last, Rose took the ring out of its case and slid it on her right ring finger, her left currently occupied by the simple silver banded diamond engagement ring from Jul.

As soon as she pushed the cool metal onto her finger, her head began to spin. Images of the aquamarine ring sliding onto her wedding finger, of Harry, grimy and covered in dirt from working in the shop with her dad, pulling her in for a kiss after replacing it on her finger, flickered across her vision. She found herself in Harry's arms, no longer stuck in visions of forgotten memories, as they all looked at her worriedly.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Hermione, ever the practical one, inquired.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied, shaking the images out of her mind's eye as she stood up on her own, throwing Harry a grateful smile.

"Okay then! Harry!" Liz said suddenly, smiling radiantly, "Time to go! We need to beautify ourselves!" Both Hermione and Harry grinned, and even the still shaky Rose cracked a smile.

"Okay, okay," he surrendered, smiling as he raised his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "But can I at least kiss the brides?" he added hopefully with a sly grin.

"Oh, very well!" Hermione retorted with a matching grin. She pulled him in for a brief kiss, as did Liz; but when he reached Rose, they were all a little uncertain what to do.

"For old time's sake?" he suggested in a low voice, still smirking slightly, but more innocently.

Instead of answering, Rose just stepped forward and pulled him by the front of his shirt to her, kissing him soundly. Of course, as soon as their lips touched, the familiar fireworks started going off like Independence Day in their heads. Within a few moments, they mutually pulled back, fully aware of the sparks that really shouldn't be there. Without another word, Harry turned and Disapparated.

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yeah so i know, i promised this would be the wedding scene...and it's not. IM SORRY!!!! honest! grr, it's just really hard to work up to, so yeah ur getting this as a timekiller till i actually get the end all typed up and posted. hopefully! i'll get it done by the time skool starts (damn highskool, why do you come so soon!!!!) so hopefully i'll at least get the next chpt up (which better be the wedding or else i'll have to wonder what kind of drugs they got me on! lol :P but yeah so i promise to update soon...much sooner than my last update! lmk what you think of this and all the rose/harry angst!!!! REVIEW!!! thanx and luv to all those who do!!!

ps. yes i did change her ring from an Neptune's Garden topaz to an aquamarine, hermione's is now a NGtopaz and Liz's is now a mercury mist topaz. i have pics if you want to see the jewelry and the dresses! jsut review and lmk and leave ur email address cuz i can't get them on my profile :( srry, but yeah if you wanna see, lmk!!!!! much luv to all who review..which i would sincerely appreciate since i am feeling rather lonely and my story is suffering greatly from lack of motivation...PROVIDE MOTIVATION POR FAVOR!!!!!!!! gracias! (wow i actuallly remember something from spanish!!lol)