Author's Note: About to leave for vacation and remembered I never posted the last chapter! Never fear, here it is! Again, thank you to everyone who has read this story and reviewed it. If you haven't left a review yet, this is the end! Please let me know what you thought, give suggestions, anything. I love hearing from everyone.
Also, please note the date on the chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 21
September 2001
Hermione pulled a pile of parchment from the desk in her den. She cursed herself for not taking better care of the Daily Prophet and Quibbler scraps she had kept, marking important events in her life. Several of them had jagged ripped edges and folded corners. She heard the shower turn on from the bathroom in the master bedroom and decided she had some time to sift through them as Ron showered before she had to get ready to leave.
Today was a big day. Today the Boy Who Lived would marry the youngest member of the Holyhead Harpies in history. After over a year of being engaged, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were finally going to be married. Hermione could recall her mother swooning over the royal wedding of Charles and Diana in the muggle world and it was easy for Hermione to compare this wedding to that one. Since the end of the war, Harry had been an even bigger star then he was growing up, and much more accessible. People fell over themselves to get a look at him wherever he went, often stopping him to ask for autographs and photos. He had turned into a bit of a Gilderoy Lockhart now that Hermione thought about it, only not as vain. Thinking it would be easier to appease the masses than shut them out completely, Harry and Ginny had agreed that the wedding ceremony itself could take place on a public stage. "Just for show," Harry had told everyone. "The Minister thinks there might actually be riots if they can't be involved." This, of course, led to extreme teasing by Harry's closest friends. Even Hermione had had a comment or two over the course of the year.
The formal ceremony, in which Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley crew would be part of, was going to take place in the very center of the HolyHead Harpies quidditch stadium. Since TVs didn't exist in the magical world to broadcast the wedding, it was concluded that this was the best option. When Harry and Ginny had broken the news of the event's location, they received almost as bad of a reaction as when they announced their engagement. Mrs. Weasley had thrown a fit, insisting that the ceremony be a private affair. After much pleading, consoling, and promising that the reception could be held at the Burrow with just close friends and family, Molly conceded and the planning began.
Hermione picked up the top piece of parchment, smiling back at the beaming faces of Harry and Ginny's engagement photo that had made the cover of both the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler. It was hard to believe that they had gotten engaged over a year ago when the events of that day would forever be fresh in Hermione's mind.
She closed her eyes as she remembered that day. Harry and Ginny had announced their engagement over dinner with the entire Weasley family at the Burrow. Thinking they were much too young, Harry was nineteen and Ginny a mere eighteen, both Arthur and Molly Weasley hadn't been too pleased. In her anger at her parents, Ginny had let it slip that Hermione had recently taken a visit to Azkaban to see Draco Malfoy, a secret the friends had shared a few weeks prior. Ron had practically imploded with the news, becoming enraged and being forced to leave the group before he said or did something he would regret. In her effort to go after him and explain herself, Hermione had been struck with another familiar fuzzy feeling in her head and was suddenly filled with every memory she had forgotten about Ron. The rush of knowledge was too much to bear and just as Hermione was about to faint, Ron had grabbed her and apparated them to her flat. Once it was established that she was ok, Ron learned that Hermione's plan had worked and that she remembered everything Draco's curse had made her forget. Shortly after Harry had found where they had disappeared to, they returned to the Burrow and shared the news with the rest of the family. It had been the distraction that Ginny and Harry had needed and a reminder that life was too short to take things slow just for the sake of taking things slow.
Hermione set the parchment aside and picked up the next, frowning at the sight of the mugshot of Draco Malfoy. The article was dated a few days after the evening that her memory came back, announcing that the infamous wizard had died in his cell in Azkaban. Hermione had been right all along, Draco's passing would break the magical hold he had on her. She had guessed that it had finally happened, but seeing it in writing had confirmed it. Despite her joy at having her memory back, she was still saddened by Draco's death, which was a hard emotion to explain to anyone who found her weepy in the days following the news. She wasn't gloomy that he was dead, she was sad that he had to die in the end, sad that he had brought this upon himself, sad that, in essence, the war had claimed another life. Hermione never took death lightly, especially after seeing innocent bystanders and friends perish before her eyes. Part of her even felt like Voldemort himself needn't had to die. If only his childhood had been different, she thought, she probably wouldn't be sitting where she was today, maybe she'd never even been born with magical powers. Perhaps everything happened for a reason.
Not wanting to think of such a sad memory on this day, she went to the next piece of parchment. There on page four, much smaller than Harry and Ginny's, was her own engagement photo. Hermione ran her finger over the smiling face of Ron, laughing slightly as the people in the photo looked adoringly at each other. Last December, Ron had finally proposed. They were visiting her parent's new home, a sprawling ranch on a few acres of land in the countryside. Ron had suggested taking a walk around the property and they did so hand in hand. They were a good distance from the house when it began to snow and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started to recall every memory with her that had truly been a life changing moment for him. "And that was when I really fell in love with you," he had said, turning to face her, taking both of her mittened hands into his. "It's what kept me fighting. What will keep me fighting until the end of time. We're both realistic, we know there will be rough times ahead, but I honestly can't imagine going on without you, Hermione. You're the only one I want to fight with and make up with. Wake up to and start a family with. Hold you in my arms when you cry and laugh alongside you whenever necessary."
Hermione remembered exactly how he looked in that moment, so much more like a man of twenty-one-years-old and less like the boy she had grown up with. Different yet the same and she still loved him with everything she was. His piercing blue eyes were filled with nervousness and she had a feeling she knew what was coming next. When he let go of one of her hands to reach into his coat pocket, pulling out a small black jewelry box and flipped it open to reveal a simple yet elegant pear shaped diamond ring, her suspicions were confirmed. "Oh Ron," she had gasped as he lowered himself down onto one knee, the newly falling snow sticking to his bright red hair.
His proposal was sweet and plain, but she loved it and would cherish that moment for the rest of her life. "Hermione Jean Granger," he had started, his voice cracking slightly. It was rare that Ron became emotional like this, but when it came to her and how he felt about her, all bets were off. His emotions triggered her own and her eyes filled with happy tears. "Will you do me the greatest honor any man, muggle or wizard, can have by becoming my wife?" Finding that she couldn't really speak, she squeaked out a yes as she nodded fervently. He pulled her mitten off to slip the ring onto her finger and then stood to kiss her and as he did, just like every kiss she received from him since Draco's spell had been broken, she was overwhelmed by the smell of new parchment, freshly cut grass, Ron's shampoo, and something new-clean crisp snow.
Hermione could smell Ron's shampoo now as the shower stopped and the door to the bathroom was opened, the smells of his shower drifting into the flat. With a happy sigh, Hermione sifted through a few more pieces of newspaper, fingering the locket around her neck as she did so. A few headlines announced the birth of new Weasley children, George's engagement, Harry's promotion at work, and Arthur Weasley's retirement.
"What are you doing? We're going to be late and my mum will have our heads," came Ron's voice from the doorway of the den. When Hermione looked up she saw him in nothing but his underwear, towel drying his hair which clung to his forehead. She raised an eyebrow, gathered the newspaper clippings, and stood.
"Just packing a few things," she sing-songed, placing the pieces of parchment into one of the many boxes that filled the room, much like the rest of the flat.
"Packing can wait. We have plenty of time before we move," Ron reprimanded her, but she wasn't really listening. She practically floated to him, kissing his lips squarely.
"I love you," she told him, smiling and keeping eye contact until he smiled back and repeated the words.
"I love you too, but we have a wedding to get to, remember?" he asked her, stepping aside so she could pass him and head into the bedroom where her bridesmaid dress was being magically held in the air near her dresser so it wouldn't wrinkle.
Hermione looked over her shoulder at her fiancé, noting his incredulous look. She winked at him before starting her own wedding preparations and spoke sweetly. "How could I forget?"