A/N: Sorry for the wait. But here it is, finally.

Chapter Five: Weddings and Returns

Everything was white. White tables, white chairs and it even looked like the sky was cleared just for today. Needless to say, it was exceptionally beautiful.

Fleur decided that the accent colour would not be pink. Instead, it would be aqua to match the bridesmaids' dresses. And it looked prettier than I had originally pictured it.

The morning of the wedding was pretty hectic. All the women bustled in at the top of the house while all the men were downstairs. My mother was freaking out the most since she had to get everything together.

The bride was in one room while the bridesmaids' were in another. My mother and Fleur's mother, Jean-Marie were in my room and myself, Gabrielle and two of Fleur's cousins Alexandria and Daniella were packed into Charlie's old room.

After hours and hours of getting ready, the wedding was about to start. Everyone had been seated outside with the Priest, Bill and his best man, which was Charlie, standing at the front.

The pianist began to play and the flower girls started walking down the aisle with the bridesmaids' trailing behind.

To tell you the truth, it was hard for me to walk down the aisle with everyone staring at me, especially Harry. He looked at me with love in his eyes and I almost ran back into the house.

The ceremony was half and hour long and Bill and Fleur had made their own vows. They both had great and teary speeches.

But, finally it was time for the reception!

"You look beautiful, Gin," commented Hermione as we were sitting down at our table of eight. It was Hermione, Ron, Harry, myself, the twins and Alicia and Angelina.

I grinned and blushed. "Thanks Hermione."

"God, they look so happy," she sighed, looking at Bill and Fleur dancing. "I want to be that happy."

"I know who could make you happy, Hermione," said George, poking Ron in the arm.

Hermione blushed and I laughed.

"George! Fred! Let's dance!" exclaimed Alicia and Angelina.

The four of them left and now it was just Hermione, myself, Harry and Ron. The boys looked like they were in a deep discussion about something. I could hear bits of their conversation.

"...are you kidding me?!" Ron had whispered by the way his eyes were almost coming out of his head.

"…don't, you'll be sitting here all night eating cake," Harry whispered back.

"…bloody hell, Harry! She'll say no!" Ron looked in our direction then back to Harry.

Oh, so Harry wanted Ron to ask Hermione to dance. I nudged Hermione with my elbow. She glared at me.

"Ask Ron to dance," I whispered.

Her eyes widened. "No way! He'd never say yes!" she exclaimed.

I nodded towards the boys. "Ron wants to ask you, but he's too much of a wimp. C'mon Hermione, where's the Gryffindor in you?"

She glared at me and sighed. "Fine," she huffed and stood up. She walked over to Ron and Harry.

"H-hermione?" Ron stuttered.

"I like this song. Dance with me?" she asked.

I didn't think Ron's eyes could get any bigger. But then he controlled himself and nodded, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

"So, uh, Gin?" came Harry's voice from beside me.

I whipped around to find him on my left side. Gosh! When did he move that quickly? I took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, Harry?"

"Do you, uh, wanna, uhm, you see," he paused and looked at me then at Ron and Hermione then at me again.

I giggled. "Harry, do you wanna dance?"

He sighed with relief and nodded. He got up, took me by the hand and led me to the dance floor where the DJ was playing a slow song. I shakily put my hands around his neck and he put his hands around my waist. We swayed to the music.

After the song ended, I moved to unwrap my arms from his neck, but he held me in place. He grinned. "C'mon Gin, one more dance?"

I bit my lip and nodded. We started swaying to the music again. In actuality, I really didn't want to dance with Harry again. I loved Harry, gosh, did I love him. But, just knowing that he didn't want us to be together was enough to make me want to hex him or cry.

My hands started to get clammy and my throat started to close up. I couldn't do this. I pushed away from Harry. "I can't do this," I muttered and walked away into the house.

"Did you even stay for the rest of the reception?" asked a voice to my left.

I turned over in my bed, the covers rumpling beneath me. "Do we have to talk about this now? Gabrielle's here," I replied, motioning to the cot at the front of the room.

"Don't worry," Hermione said, "I put a silencing charm around us so she can't hear."

I sighed and turned back over to glare at the ceiling. I stayed quiet for a long time. "I came back outside when everyone was leaving and Fred and George set off their gift for Fleur and Bill."

"Harry thinks you're mad at him," Hermione whispered.

"I'm not mad at him per se, I just can't be near him without being upset."

"He loves you, he just can't have you in danger and that's why he broke up with you."

I looked at her. "If he loved me, he wouldn't care about the obstacles." I sighed. "I'm going to sleep now, don't talk to me."

"It's good to be back," said a voice from in front of me.

"Technically, we're not back yet," I replied.

Ron gave me a look and turned back around. "Are we all here, then?"

Hermione appeared beside me and nodded. "I was just talking to your mom and she said that if any of us leave to go off frolicking and You-Know-Who hunting, she'll make sure we were never born."

I noticed that Harry rolled his eyes beside me. "We best get on the train then," I said, and started up the steps not waiting for them to follow me.

After finally finding a compartment, I sat down on one of the seats and took out a book to read. A couple minutes later, the trio burst in.

"Guess who we ran into?" was the first thing out of Ron's mouth when he stormed in.

"Who?" I wondered out loud, tucking my book away and looking up at them.

I noticed that Ron and Harry were looking angry. Ron was all red in the face and Harry was just quiet, but you could see in his eyes that he was very upset about something. The boys took a seat across from me, while Hermione sat down beside me.

"Malfoy!" hissed Harry, fists clenching at his sides.

"What?" I asked surprised. I thought that after those chance encounters that I'd not see him again, plus after last year…well, I thought it wouldn't happen. "He's here?"

"Yeah, we found him in a compartment when we were looking for you," replied Hermione. "He was alone too."

"Oh," I said.

"But I have happier news!" exclaimed Hermione, putting on a smile.

The boys looked up as did I.

"As you know, I made Head Girl," she paused at this and the both Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. "But I found out who made Head Boy!"

"Who?" I asked.

"Ernie Macmillian," Hermione answered.

"The Hufflepuff?!" blurted Ron, with a disgusted look on his face.

"He's not that bad once you get to know him," retorted Hermione.

"When did you talk to him?"

"I was partners with him last year for Muggle Studies."

I stood up; I needed to get out of here. "I need to…pee," I said, making up an excuse. Walking out of the compartment, I realized I had nowhere else to go. I decided to just walk around.

I should've realized this was a bad idea. Everyone whose anyone knows that Crabbe and Goyle walk around the train looking for food and students to pick on. Malfoy used to do that with them, but I don't think he'd be there anymore.

So, poor little ol' Ginny Weasley was walking down the train, far off from where the trio was and guess who she saw coming towards her? If you didn't guess Crabbe and Goyle, you might be very stupid. Go see a doctor or something, mkay?

Anyways, there I was, alone and up in front of me, about 5 compartments away, was Crabbe and Goyle. Now usually I wouldn't be afraid of them, but usually I had my brother or Harry or someone by me. But, alas, I was here alone, standing pathetically still. Yep, I was going to be getting pummeled.

They were coming closer, I stayed still. Closer and closer, until…and arm grabbed me and pulled me into a compartment, shutting the doors close. A hand was placed over my mouth. Oh great, another good way to die.

"What are you doing?" hissed the voice from above me.

I looked up. Of course, it had to be him. Who else would it be? I tried to pry his hand off my mouth and say something but he stopped me.

"Shh," he whispered, his eyes focusing on the door.

We watched as the two looming figures of Crabbe and Goyle stopped outside our compartment for a moment, then continued on down the hall.

Malfoy sighed in relief and let go of my mouth. "What the hell were you doing?" he said once he released me.

I whipped around to face him. "Not that it's any of your business, but I was clearing my head. I was with the trio, afterall," I replied.

He shook his head and sat down on one of the seats; I took one across from him.

"They came in here a while ago," he said after a moment of silence.

I nodded. "Yeah, they told me after they found out what compartment I was in. They were surprised and quite angry."

He nodded. "Of course they were."

Another moment of silence; I should've left by now, but I really didn't want to return to my compartment.

"Granger made Head Girl," Malfoy commented.

I nodded. "She's really excited."

"Figures."

After a few more minutes, I stood up. "I need to head back; they'll be worried about me," I said.

He nodded and let me go. Upon returning to the compartment, I found Harry was alone. Hermione and Ron had gone to the Prefects/Heads Meeting.

Harry tried to talk to me, but he realized that I didn't want to talk to him. Looking out the window, I closed my eyes.

"Gin? Gin! Wake up!" whispered someone from above me, pushing my arm lightly.

I blinked a couple times; the figure in front of me was Hermione.

"We're here," she said. "The boys are already off the train so hurry up." She walked out of the compartment with Crookshanks at her heels.

I looked out the window; a beautiful sight. Hogwarts and the lake were stretched into my view.

"We're here," I whispered, "I'm home."

A/N:: Thank you so much for the wait. I've been really busy, but I have been working on this chapter for a while. And the characters are finally back at school, so they'll be some good stuff coming up.

Please review. I love to hear from you.

xo