A/N-Wow, I've turned into a really horrible updater, now haven't I? I've had this basic version on my computer for awhile, but I really don't like it at all so I was hoping to give it an overhaul. Then I had about four very long term papers to write and five finals to take (trust me, I would rather be writing fics), and I just finished everything off today, thank god. Anyway, to make up for the long wait, here's an extra long chapter. I'm still not happy with it, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting for more than 2 months...
I'm not JK Rowling, but you already knew that from the femslashyness of my stories. I do wonder though what she would think of the Hermione/Ginny pairing...
The fallout from Hermione and Lavender's confrontation was immediate and surprisingly positive. Lavender had stormed out and directly to Ron's flat, hoping to find an ally in her boyfriend. She had some success, but after probing and finding out what had provoked the attack, Ron changed his mind quickly. With his usual tact, Ron told Lavender that she had it coming after writing Hermione's mother and subsequently taunting her about it.
The ensuing argument led to their eventual break up. In the heat of the argument, Lavender had given him a choice: side with her or else. When he said without hesitation that he chose Hermione and would every time, she became enraged and broke it off with him, this time, she said, for good. Ron took it well for having just broken up with someone. He appeared almost relieved at not having to satisfy such a high maintenance girlfriend.
The other unintended side effect was that Hermione became intent upon planning the wedding. Speaking with her mother had lit a fire under Hermione like nothing else. It was either that or Lavender, but Ginny suspect the conditional approval of Mrs. Granger had more to do with it.
"What do think is more muggle-ish?" Hermione asked as she held up a powder blue napkin and an off white one. She tilted her head and squinted as if examining a work of art.
"I dunno," Ginny said as she shrugged indifferently. She honestly did not think that the color of napkins would make any difference at all in making the Grangers comfortable at an entirely miagical wedding. Hermione, though, had determined that, in that case of a tie, they should think about what would be truest to Hermione's muggle lineage.
Hermione tossed the napkins on the table in front of her and sighed.
"Niether do I," Hermione said nonchalantly.
Ginny watched as Hermione leaned back in her chair and twirled her wand absently while pondering napkin choice. With anyone else, say the well intentioned Fleur or Mrs. Weasley, this might have been pure, unadulterated torture. With Hermione, even if napkin choosing wasn't the most stimulating activity, it was nice in its own way. Hermione, though very organized and efficient at planning wedding, had been surprisingly laidback about the whole thing, for which Ginny was very, very grateful. Things could have been very stressful, but things were nice. The current situation felt comfortable.
"Let's just skip this whole thing," Ginny said, gesturing to the napkins on the table. She had no idea where the thought was taking her; it was just a split second decision.
"We can't just skip napkins," Hermione said, looking at Ginny with her 'it's so obvious' expression, "I mean I know it's mundane, but we need napkins. For one, both of our mothers would probably have a fit."
"No, not napkins," Ginny said, sitting up suddenly as though the thought suddenly came fully into focus, "everything, let's just not do the whole ceremony thing. We can go find someone licensed to do the spell. I don't know about you, but I don't need a public ceremony, I don't need any of it."
Hermione looked at Ginny as though the idea had never crossed her mind. It had, of course, crossed Hermione's mind briefly when the stresses of a life lived in the tabloids had gotten the best of her. It certainly hadn't been enough to vocalize the thought. It just seemed impossible to actually do something so impulsive without any get-together to speak of. In the Weasley family, as closeknit as they were, there was no such thing as a completely private relationship. To elope as Ginny was suggesting was unheard of, not something that anyone would even consider.
Still, that didn't mean that it was wrong, just out of the ordinary. They were certainly out of the ordinary already, what with the fact that Hermione was engaged to her ex-boyfriend's sister and the first real girlfriend of her best friend. That impulse, combined with Ginny's persuasive enthusiasm, led Hermione to make an uncharacteristically spontaneous decision.
"Alright," she said, "let's do it."
Ginny nearly bounced out of her seat with the excitement at her new revelation and Hermione's agreement. She wasn't sure what to do next, but Hermione was usually better with those types of planning things anyway.
"Now?" Ginny asked, unsure of how to go about such a spontaneous gesture of commitment, considering she had never done so before in her life.
Hermione leaned back in her chair and thought about it for a moment. She did not see how they could manage something like this at 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon. There was also the family to consider. As exciting as a secret elopement sounded, it just wasn't realistic in their situation. They would need to invite at the very least Harry, Ron, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and the Grangers. Hermione relayed this suggestion to Ginny. Ginny quickly agreed, as if suddenly realizing the potential consequences of doing something so drastic without telling her mother.
It was decided. Hermione Granger and Ginny would become the Granger-Weasley's as soon as possible.
The arrangements for the ceremony were made with incredible speed, especially in comparison to the four months that it had taken for Hermione and Ginny to start planning the ceremony in earnest. Ron and Harry were more than alirght with the quick ceremony. They had been dragged into planning by Mrs. Weasley, and they enjoyed looking at flowers and dresses about as much as Hermione enjoyed riding a broom. Both fathers tended to be laidback, and did not care one way or the other when or where Hermione and Ginny had the ceremony, especially since the girls were going to be paying for the ceremony.
It was the mothers that were the most difficult to convince.
Mrs. Granger, Hermione suspected, was still holding out hope that they would forget the whole marriage idea. She found any number of reasons she couldn't make it until about a week and a half after the decision was made. She did eventually agree to move around a few of her appointments so that she could attend the impromptu ceremony. Once it was clear that the wedding was going to happen, she actually seemed relieved that there wasn't a big spectacle surrounding the affair.
Mrs. Weasley wasn't quite so easily convinced. She, unlike Mrs. Granger was intent upon a large elaborate wedding.
"What do you mean next week?" she asked incredulously when Ginny and Hermione told her of their intentions to get married sooner rather than later.
"I mean that we want to get married next week. No fanfare. No guests besides the parents, Harry, Katie and Ron. Nothing," Ginny said. She felt the need to put emphasis on the no fanfare part, because Mrs. Weasley, though good intentioned, was all about wedding fanfare. She loved weddings almost as much as she loved nurturing.
"Why?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She appeared genuinely confused by the decision, as if Ginny had proposed that they all give up magic and move clear across the country.
"Because we don't need it. The fanfare, I mean," Ginny said, bracing herself for the argument that was sure to come.
"Well, I suppose if that's what you both want, I won't stop you," Mrs. Weasley said. Her tone clearly indicated that she was disappointed.
It was the first time in her entire life that Hermione had seen in Mrs. Weasley any resemblance to her own mother. She did the same thing, the whole subtle gulit trip thing that Mrs. Granger often did. It was unclear whether or not that was Mrs. Weasley's intended effect, but Mrs. Weasley's response did cause a small pang of gulit for Hermione. How could they disappoint Mrs. Weasley when she had done so much for them? She quickly brushed the thought aside; this was their wedding and they had to stop looking to everyone else to determine their next step.
"I don't want this to disappoint you mum," Ginny said, clearly feeling the same pang of guilt, "It would just be easier for everyone at this point to do it quietly, so we have some privacy."
Mrs. Weasley shook her head, not in a way that was really upset, but more in the way of someone trying to figure out a problem that they can't grasp.
"I just don't get it. Weddings are so special. Don't you want there to be somefanfare? A little bit of excitement and anticipation? That's part of the whole marriage experience," Mrs. Weasley said, gesturing broadly as if the room, the small plain living room was decorated for a wedding.
At her enthusiastic description, Hermione did have a small bit of doubt at having such a quick ceremony, even though the idea of a highly publicized wedding was unbearable at the moment. To assuage Mrs. WEasley's concerns, she suddenly came up with a plan.
"What about if we have it here?" Hermione asked. "We can have the ceremony at the Burrow and have a little party afterwards. That way it feels special. I have always loved this place and it worked out beautifully for Charlie and Percy's weddings."
Mrs. Weasley was more than happy about the idea. It gave her the opportunity to plan a celebration of matrimony, albeit a small one, and provided another very good excuse for a get together. Ginny found the plan, though surprising, to be perfectly acceptable. It satisfied Mrs. Weasley, and they had managed to keep the guest list and fanfare to a minimum.
It was decided then and there. Hermione and Ginny, come hell or high water, would be married at the Burrow in exactly one week.
The day that Hermione and Ginny chose for the wedding was an unseasonably warm one. Because of the unpredictable, cool October weather, the plan had been to have a small outdoor ceremony with heating spells and rain shield spells on top of the rest of the security measures that Ron and Harry had put in place. As it turned out, the weather spells were entirely unnecessary. The sun beat down on the backyard as final arrangements were being made, and a light cooling breeze rippled the leaves of nearby trees. If anything, the current weather called more for a cooling spell that a warming one, but neither was necessary.
A few white chairs formed a small aisle. All around the area, Mrs. Weasley and both the girls had added small, simple accent colors, mostly light, unobtrusive colors like powder blue and a pale, almost white yellow. The altar was decorated with enough flowers and accent colors to satisfy Mrs. Weasley, but the setup was small and simple enough to make Hermione and Ginny feel as though they were having the small, intimate wedding that they had been hoping for.
All members of the very short guest list had arrived at the Burrow. The witch performing the ceremony was a pleasant, middle aged woman named Margaret who worked with Hermione in the magical law department at the Ministry of Magic. She and the seven wedding guests mingled outside, enjoying the beautiful weather as Hermione and Ginny made final preparations before heading outside.
Hermione was doing nothing in particular for the first time in weeks. She stood calmly in front of the mirror, shifting occasionally to see how her light, simple white dress looked from different angles. A part of her could not believe that the wedding was actually happening. Another part of wondered how it had taken so long to finally marry Ginny. She had been ready years ago to make such a commitment, and now they were finally doing it.
"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked from the doorway, startling Hermione out of her reveries.
"Happy things," Hermione said as she sat down on the bed, Charlie's old bed, "What about you?"
"The same," Ginny said as she walked across the room and took a seat next to Hermione. She made an effort to be as graceful as possible; her light, airy dress made that seem like the best way to carry herself. Niether said anything for a moment, sitting in a mellow contemplative silence.
"You know you shouldn't be here," Hermione said, not as a reprimand, but simply as a thought that wandered across her mind, "it's bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day."
"If that's the case, Iprobably should not have looked in the mirror this morning," Ginny said.
Hermione laughed softly and looked down at her fingers as she tangled them with Ginny's. There was another pause. They understood each other so well that there was an understanding that words were not necessary.
"It scares me, you know," Hermione said, "it scares me how much I love you. It's always been so easy for me to be in control. Then you happened, we happened, and it's been so far out of my control and wonderful at the same time. It just scares me that I can't control this intensity. I can't imagine you not being there. I mean, you will always be there, right?"
"I'll always be there," Ginny said, tears welling in her eyes as the significance of the event began to settle in, "I can't imagine it any other way."
At seeing Ginny's genuine emotion, Hermione felt tears well up in her own eyes despite her previously firm resolution to save any tears for the ceremony itself. She leant forward and kissed Ginny out of an intense desire express the love that she could not articulate. Ginny kissed back, hoping to do the same, hoping that Hermione would understand how much she meant what she said.
When they pulled apart, Ginny rested her forehead against Hermione's. There was another lull before Ginny composed herself and stood up.
"We shouldn't keep them waiting now," Ginny said as she held out a hand to Hermione, "besides, that's the perfect last kiss as an unmarried woman."
Hermione grinned and blushed at Ginny's compliment. Years ago, she might have been embarrassed by such a comment, but living with Ginny had helped Hermione to become more comfortable and laidback with such things.
"It was pretty good," Hermione admitted with a grin.
"Let's go get married then," Ginny said, as she took Hermione's hand and led her out of the room to the waiting wedding party outside.
A/N-Well, this is not suppose to be the end, but I wanted to give some closure on the off chance that I'm away for as long as I was last time (I'm on vaction now, so I'll have plenty of time).
I considered spliting this into 2 chapters, because it is my longest chapter by quite a bit. What did everyone think of the length?
Reviews, honest and truely, motivate me like nothing else. I'm not guilt tripping you here. I'm just saying it like it is.:)