Chapter 42: In Which Popcorn and Weddings Are Pondered

It wasn't until the corn began to pop that it occurred to Hermione that perhaps this was not the best food to eat when someone upstairs was sleeping. Fortunately, being a witch, she was able to muffle the sounds with a few waves of her wand.

She decided to go with her sweet popcorn mix (although the garlic-butter mix came in a very close second). A little butter, sugar, and cinnamon, with a pinch of salt, graced the fluffy white mass in the bowl.

She settled onto the couch to watch some TV. Maybe a decent movie would be on. While flipping though the channels she came to Celebrity Wedding Spectacular and decided to watch a few minutes.

Which was all she could stand. Yuck! How can these morons do this? Who spends four hundred thousand pounds on a wedding for a marriage that won't last five years? What is wrong with these people? Ohhh… that cake is really cute. Flip. New channel. Too much of that and I'll be wanting my own specially trained doves that will sing whatever our wedding song is while flying over head after the vows.

So, why didn't you ask him what kind of wedding he wanted?

Because you don't know what you want, but you do know you don't want to hear, 'I thought we'd just fill out the forms and take them to the Ministry.'

So what do you want? The TV flipped back to the Celebrity Wedding Spectacular. But this time she watched critically, with an eye for how things looked, the way the colours blended, and how the flowers complimented each other.

I want calla lilies. White and black calla lilies. And I want my dress. I want my dad to give me away.

Your dad won't give you away. He and mom will complain about it being a paternalistic gesture that indicates women are property. Maybe if I ask nicely? Pigs might fly, too, but it isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

She noticed the bridesmaid gowns, and although she loved Ginny dearly, there was only one person she wanted standing next to her when she got married, and she was fairly sure he'd object to being put in a bridesmaid gown. An image of Harry in some fluffy, pink taffeta monstrosity flashed through her mind and she started laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?"

She jumped a good three inches when Snape spoke. She was fumbling with the remote, trying to shut the TV off when he joined her on the couch. He smoothly sat down, dressing gown billowing slightly behind him, and grabbed the remote.

"What dirty little secret are you keeping here?" She felt a blush rise to her scalp when the announcer started talking about million pound plus weddings.

She could see he was enjoying her embarrassment. He very carefully turned to face the TV, ate a few pieces of popcorn, watched the show intently, and then said, "Merlin, who wants a ring that big? You'd need a team of House Elves just to carry your arm around. Who is Shaquille O'Neil, anyway?"

By the time he was asking about O'Neil she had composed herself. "That was a lot of questions. I was laughing at the idea of Harry in a bridesmaid gown. As I'm sure you figured out I'm watching some trashy TV show called Celebrity Wedding Spectacular. Apparently Mrs O'Neil wanted a ring that big, and I think he's an American sports star."

"Why were you envisioning Harry in a bridesmaid dress?"

"Because as much as I love Ginny, when it comes down to it, he's the one I want to stand beside me when we get married. I stood up with him when he and Ginny were married."

"So you want a real wedding then?"

"YesIdo." Her words were very fast.

"You seem bothered by that."

She shrugged. "I guess. I don't think you'd want a real wedding, and I don't want to pressure you into anything, but we'll only get married once, and I don't want to miss my chance at a real wedding, so I'm kind of conflicted. The more I think about it, the more I really want it. I looked at wedding dresses today, and for the first time it really clicked. I want the fantasy. I want the white dress and the flowers and the cake, and… and all the stuff I never thought I'd get to have." As she said it she realized that she had always wanted it, and all that had kept her from 'knowing' what she wanted was her fear of never having it. She was staring right at him, trying to read his reaction, using all her Gryffindor courage to not keep piling on more words to break the silence.

For the first time since they started dating he was aware of how very young she was. Severus scooted closer to her and cradled her head against his chest. "If you want a wedding, we'll have one, on one condition…" He let the silence fill the room. Her dread rose with each second. What on earth could he want for a condition?

Finally he said, "The cake will have a lemon filling."

She punched him softly on the arm. Then she smiled up at him, beamed up at him. He didn't think he had ever had that much unadulterated happiness targeted at him in his life. "You've got a deal." She kissed him.

He stroked her hair, and said, "Now, let's get you to bed. I want to try my hand at that new spell of yours."