A/N: Thank you all so much for everything. This is the last proper chapter (although to be honest, the epilogue may be just as long as this chapter), and I am sort of very emotional. It's crazy how writing a silly little fanfiction about two of your favorite characters can escalate to this. There will be far more of this heartfelt shit next time when it officially wraps up, but for now, just thank you.
Also, I posted a Narcissa/Lucius one-shot called "The Arrangement" a couple weeks ago for Ollivander's Challenge. It's not romantic or fluffy, but here's the obligatory self-promotion because I'm selfish.
Warning: This chapter (and the epilogue, for that matter) has little to no plot. It is literally shameless fluff - probably worse than cotton candy. Be prepared to brush your teeth vigorously after reading.
Disclaimer: I can't even afford a smart phone, okay? I am broke. BROKE! So basically, not J.K. Rowling.
"Her Last Night as a Granger"
20 June 2003
As the clock struck eight o'clock, Ron and Hermione had just begun their habitual Friday evening post-dinner sofa cuddle. Usually, this was a relaxing way to unwind after the work week. However, tonight wasn't just any Friday night.
"You're sure your mum's got everything under control at the Burrow?" Hermione asked, for what must have been the tenth time in under an hour.
"Even if she didn't, you know she wouldn't let you do anything more," Ron replied patiently, rubbing her arm as a means of comfort. "Just think - it'll all be done with in twenty-four hours."
"Done with?" Hermione asked skeptically, turning to face him and scrunching up her nose in disapproval.
"You know what I mean," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "The frivolities and all that. Then we get to the good stuff, yeah?"
"We do, don't we? The rest of our lives are nearly here," Hermione said with a smile.
"Oh," Ron said slowly. "I was just talking about the two weeks in Italy, but I suppose-"
Hermione cut him off with a playful smack on the arm. "Ouch," he said, feigning injury. "Why am I marrying you again?"
"Mostly for the sex, I expect," Hermione teased, burrowing further into his side.
"Yes, that's right," Ron replied matter-of-factly. "And for the tea. Great tea and great tits."
Rather than scold him as she normally might have, Hermione collapsed into a fit of giggles. Even Ron's ridiculous teasing seemed wonderful tonight - the night before their wedding. Ron joined in her laughter, digging his fingers into her sides and tickling madly.
"Ron!" Hermione shrieked, batting her hands about until she was able to get a firm grip on his shoulders. Then, using every ounce of her strength, she pushed him back so that he was lying flat on the sofa. There was no doubt in her mind that he went a bit easy on her during their play fights, but she still felt a sense of triumph as she straddled his stomach and began poking him incessantly. He did not relinquish in his tickling of her sides, even as she pinched and twisted his nipples.
After a few moments of intense concentration broken only by the occasional breathless giggle, Ron shifted a bit too far to his left, and Hermione overcorrected. The next second, they came toppling down to the floor, Ron half on top of Hermione, laughing maniacally and still grabbing at each other.
"I've got you now," Ron growled playfully, dragging her hands away from his stomach, which they'd been punching lightly, and pinning them above her head. Hermione bit her lip in concentration as she attempted to fight back; eventually, she managed to bring one of her legs around his waist and, quite literally, kicked his arse as hard as she could.
"Oi! Are we seven years old again?" Ron teased, loosening his grip on her hands. She wriggled them free from his grasp and brought to his hair, tugging his face closer so that she could bring his lips to hers. He obliged happily and deepened the kiss.
"Ugh, really? Can this not wait til tomorrow?
Hermione and Ron reluctantly broke apart and sat up to face Ginny, who was standing in the kitchen tapping her foot, accompanied by a sheepish-looking Harry entering the doorway behind her.
"Hello, prats!" Ron said cheerily as he stood up and offered a hand to help Hermione to her feet. "Come to collect me, have you?"
"Unfortunately," Harry replied with a bit of a grimace. "Do you need a moment?"
"We're just fine," Hermione said primly. "Would the two of you like something to drink?"
"Got any rum?" Ginny asked, flopping down into the nearest chair at the table.
"Tea it is," Hermione said, scowling at Ron as he sniggered.
"Mum wants you at the Burrow at ten tomorrow," Ginny told Hermione as she began to fix the tea. "She wants plenty of time to doll you up."
"I don't understand how it's going to take four hours," Ron remarked as he sat between Harry and Ginny at the table.
"That's because all we've got to do is make sure you've showered," Harry said knowingly. "They've got this whole ritual thing they've got to do."
"It'd be nice if you added cologne to your list," Ginny said, leaning away from Ron and contorting her face dramatically.
"I do wear cologne! Just because I don't bathe in it doesn't mean I don't," Ron replied, a bit defensively. "And I smell very nice, don't I, love?" he called to Hermione.
Hermione smiled to herself, privately reflecting that she far preferred his natural scent to his cologne anyway. "Of course you do, darling," she replied, turning around to face her friends. "I do request that you comb your hair for the ceremony, though, as adorable as you are with bed-head."
Ginny snorted, and Harry looked torn between laughing and choking on his own vomit at this remark. Ron, as usual, looked positively affronted at being called adorable. Hermione appeased him by crossing the room to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"You'd think I was some sort of teddy bear, the way you go on about me," Ron grumbled after she pulled away.
"Of course not, my big, strong Auror man," Hermione replied with a wink. Ron pulled a face at her, and she responded by planting a smacking kiss on his mouth before returning to the counter to pour the tea into four cups.
"You two are mental," Harry remarked affectionately, though he was resting his head in his hands as though he had some sort of headache. Hermione rolled her eyes at him pointedly, but he predictably ignored her.
"And to think, this time tomorrow they'll be mental and married," Ginny added, smiling at Hermione as she distributed the cups of tea.
"Well, it's about time," Harry continued. "They've been acting married for the last decade."
"Save it for your toast, will you?" Ron grumbled good-naturedly.
"Oh, I've got plenty ready for my toast," Harry laughed. "There's nice anecdote about the fate of a certain Viktor Krum figurine, for instance-"
Hermione burst into laughter. "Oh, Ron, you didn't-"
"Shut up, Harry," Ron said, his cheeks rapidly turning red. "I was fourteen!"
"Well, if that's no good, there's a few other instances I could use," Harry said fairly. "Not all of them would be appropriate given the company, mind you."
"I'll have you remember that I gave you a lovely, heartwarming toast when you decided you just had to marry my sister," Ron told Harry sternly.
"Had to?" Ginny cried indignantly, reaching over to bop Ron on the head.
"Well, you decided you had to marry Hermione," Harry pointed out.
"Oh, you won't embarrass him too badly, will you?" Hermione said reasonably.
"Yeah, you just don't want me mentioning the canaries," Harry told her dismissively.
"Canaries?" Ginny said interestedly.
"It's nothing," Hermione replied hurriedly, though both she and Ginny knew by the look on Harry's face that he fully intended to tell her later.
"Nothing my arse," Ron scoffed. "I've still got scars from that," he added, further piquing Ginny's interest.
Hermione reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze in apology; he squeezed right back, because it had all been forgiven ages ago.
"Anyway," Ginny said after a moment, "everything's just about set at the Burrow. Mum's been running us all around like mad as usual, though she's taken pity on Fleur and Audrey for the time being, what with their little ones and all. Not to mention Fleur's not exactly mobile at the moment, being so far along with the next one. Anyway, we haven't left much for tomorrow, so everything should run smoothly."
"Should being the key word in that sentence," Hermione remarked.
"It will," Ron said confidently. "If anyone tries to ruin our wedding, one of us will hex them to oblivion anyway," he told Hermione with a grin.
"That we will," Hermione agreed.
"But remember," Ron said seriously. "If everything goes to shit, we can always elope."
"Sure, but Mum would kill you," Ginny pointed out.
"So we'd go into hiding until we had a kid to distract her with," Ron continued sincerely. "No matter how angry Mum gets, she wouldn't leave one of her grandkids an orphan."
"Does it ever scare you how thoroughly he's thought this through?" Harry asked Hermione through his guffaws.
"I'd expect nothing less," Hermione said with a smile. "Ever the strategist, isn't he?"
The group's collective laughter was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Oh, that'll be my mum. Will you get it, Ron?" Hermione asked as she began to clear the teacups from the table. Her mum had wanted to spend some time together before the wedding, and Hermione had agreed immediately - she didn't particularly fancy being alone for the night, and it seemed like the perfect time for a visit with her mum.
Ron followed her directions without argument. "Hello, Mrs. Granger!" he greeted cheerily as he opened the door.
"Ah, you're still here, dear?" Mum asked distractedly, giving him an affectionate pat on the cheek as she moved past him, dragging an inordinate amount of luggage behind her.
"We've just come to bring him to the Burrow, Mrs. Granger," Ginny said sweetly.
"Oh, good, good," Mum continued, dropping her bags by the sofa and crossing the room to kiss Hermione on the forehead. "Hello, dear, I'm sorry I'm late. Your father was intent on keeping me with questions about tomorrow; you know how he hates to be unprepared."
"That's quite alright, Mum," Hermione said. "We're just finishing up."
"Good, good," Mum repeated, taking the empty seat at the table and letting out a deep breath.
"Are you okay, Mrs. Granger?" Ron asked concernedly.
"Oh, yes," she said with a gracious smile. "But you know, lots of excitement. Big day tomorrow and all that. Have you any tea left, Hermione?"
Hermione nodded and poured what was left of the tea into a new cup for her mum, who downed most of it in one sip.
"So we ought to get you back then, Ron," Harry said, breaking the momentary silence. "Your mum'll be here soon otherwise."
"Right. Just let me get my bag," Ron said, standing and retreating toward the bedroom.
"Does Molly need anything done?" Mum asked Harry and Ginny.
"No, we're ready," Ginny replied kindly. "And to be honest, I don't think she'd dream of asking you to do anything."
"Oh, that's ridiculous," Mum scoffed.
"That's Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "Sorry, love," he added to Ginny as an afterthought.
"It's not as though you're wrong," Ginny told him with a laugh. "There's a reason Weasleys have a reputation for being ridiculously stubborn, you know."
"It's a good job Hermione's joining your family, then," Mum said, her eyes twinkling - she seemed to have relaxed some since she'd arrived, much to Hermione's relief.
"Oh, she'll fit right in," Ginny replied with a laugh.
"Lovely," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.
"What's lovely?" Ron asked as he reentered the room, setting his bag on the floor as he moved to stand next to Hermione.
"Your fiancée's stubborn streak," Harry said.
Ron let out a bark of laughter. "Lovely, indeed. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have one of my own."
"At least you admit it now," Hermione said with a smile.
"Only because you made me," Ron teased, tapping Hermione on the nose with his pointer finger. She wrinkled it in response and gave his hip bone a jab.
"Alright, enough," Ginny cut in. "Let's get going. We don't need Mum getting cross with the groom, do we?"
"Alright, alright," Ron said. "I don't know why we've got to follow this stupid tradition anyhow."
"Oh, but I'd have kicked you out either way," Mrs. Granger told him apologetically. "I'm afraid I'm in need of some girl time tonight."
"You'll have plenty of time to be disgusting tomorrow, anyway," Ginny added, rolling her eyes. "We'll see you at ten then, Hermione?"
"We'll be there," Hermione affirmed, turning to kiss Ron lightly on the mouth. "And I'll see you at the end of the aisle."
Ron grinned widely and pulled her into a full embrace. "I love you," he murmured into her ear.
"I love you, too," Hermione replied softly. He pulled back a moment later, and she smiled against his lips as he leaned in to press one more lingering kiss to her mouth.
With a last wave, Ron was ushered out of the flat by Harry and Ginny, having opted to apparate around the corner rather than floo in Mum's presence. Hermione set about doing the dishes the non-magical way, a small smile plastered to her face.
"Do you think the two of you will be able to keep your hands off each other long enough to actually perform the ceremony?" Mum asked casually.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "We aren't that bad, Mum."
"Well, yes you are, but you're getting married tomorrow. It's only to be expected," Mum said reasonably. "Just do those the magical way, will you? I don't mind. I've got some things I want to show you."
Hermione turned to eye her warily, but Mum only smiled sweetly and stood up to make her way to the sofa, retrieving a small bag from her luggage on the way. Hermione followed after setting the dishes to clean themselves with a flick of her wand.
"I thought it might be fun to go through my wedding album," Mum continued, pulling a thick book out of her bag. "And I've brought your baby book as a backup, as well."
"Sounds lovely, Mum," Hermione laughed, settling in next to her on the sofa. "Where shall we begin?"
Mum opened the wedding book to the first pages and laughed immediately at the sight that greeted her. "Oh, here we've got me getting ready for the ceremony. You can see Nana in this one, fussing over my hair."
"I suppose that's what I've got to look forward to tomorrow morning," Hermione sighed.
"Yes, but you'll have two mums fussing," Mum pointed out. "And several sisters-in-law, I daresay. I adore the Weasley family, you know, but they certainly do like to be involved, don't they?"
Hermione laughed. "That's a nice way to put it."
"You'll be glad for it though, I imagine," Mum remarked. "You won't have to lift a finger tomorrow, until Ron puts that ring on."
"I really wouldn't mind either way," Hermione said, reaching over to turn the page of the album. "Oh, your dress was so lovely, Mum!"
"Thank you," Mum replied. "It's a bit more conservative than yours, I suppose, but long sleeves were in style back then."
"It's a similar cut to mine, though," Hermione pointed out.
"I don't think I'll ever forget the day we picked yours out," Mum remarked with a smile. "It was like you grew up right before my eyes, dear. Granted, you've been grown up since you were about ten years old, but nevertheless."
Hermione chuckled. "I think I know what you mean. It's a whole different feeling, knowing you're getting married versus standing there in the gown."
"And just you wait til tomorrow," Mum said knowingly, turning a page of the album. "You can see here how very nervous I was."
"I'm not nervous yet," Hermione said thoughtfully. It was true - she was very excited, of course, but she hadn't really had the time between all the preparations to be properly anxious about the thing.
"I wasn't until about an hour before the ceremony," Mum said. "Though to be honest, I was mostly just afraid I'd trip on the train of my gown!"
Hermione giggled. "I got one with a short train specifically for that reason."
"Always thinking ahead, of course," Mum smiled affectionately. "It's more of an excited nervous that you'll feel, anyway, if you're marrying the right man."
"Which I definitely am," Hermione said as her thoughts turned to Ron - the way he'd smile at her whenever she'd mess with his hair, the bleary way his eyes would flutter open first thing in the morning, the look he'd given her after the first time they'd...
"You really are, dear," Mum remarked, drawing Hermione out of her reverie. "Oh, here we go, some pictures of the actual ceremony!"
"Oh, look at Dad!" Hermione pointed. "It's hard to imagine him actually having that much hair!"
Mum laughed jovially. "Yes, I get a kick out of that now. I think this one is my favorite, though," she said, turning the page. "This one was taken as I was walking down the aisle."
Hermione studied the positively gleeful expression on her father's face with a smile. "That's really quite adorable, isn't it?" Mum remarked softly.
"It's so lovely, isn't it? How happy he looks," Hermione replied, tracing the edge of the photo lightly with her fingertips.
"Yes, and it helped my nerves to see him looking at me like that," Mum said, a far-away look in her eyes. "Of course, you'll know just what I mean tomorrow."
Hermione smiled and turned another page in the album. "Is that from the vows, then?" she asked, pointing to a shot of her parents facing each other with intent, sincere expressions.
"Yes, we wrote our own," Mum remarked. "That was fairly nerve-wracking itself, of course. But you and Ron are following some sort of script, aren't you?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Though actually...we did write our own. We just didn't share them with anyone."
"Oh?"
Hermione blushed. She hadn't told anyone about their plan for fear of being teased, but she knew her mum would understand. "We read them out to each other last night, and we'd written them down so we can have them, you know, long beyond tomorrow."
"Well, that's a lovely idea," Mum said emphatically. "You've always been a rather private couple."
Hermione snorted. "Hardly. We didn't learn how to keep to ourselves til we were eighteen."
"That's right, you had your first kiss in front of Harry, didn't you?" Mum commented.
"And the second in front of Ron's whole family," Hermione said, blushing at the memory. "And we used to row quite publicly, as well. Harry saw them all, at the very least, and we regularly had a sizeable audience."
"But you don't row so much anymore, do you?" Mum asked.
"Not really," Hermione said thoughtfully. "We bicker, you know that, but it's harder to get properly angry with each other now. Most of our rows were the result of unresolved sexual tension, you see."
"Which is something you can resolve now, of course," Mum remarked with a smirk. "I don't know that I'll ever forget the first time I realized Ron was a regular overnight guest here, either."
"Mum!" Hermione groaned. "That was more than three years ago!"
"Well, it's not often I'm greeted in the morning by a handsome young man in his pants," Mum said in a falsely innocent tone.
"That's your son-in-law, you know!" Hermione scolded, rubbing her face with her hands exasperatedly.
"Of course it is," Mum placated."Aren't I allowed to be happy for you, dear?"
"I'd prefer you'd keep all references to Ron's underwear out of this conversation," Hermione grumbled, hastily turning the next page in the album so as to change the subject. "Have we moved on to the reception, then?"
"It appears that way," Mum said. "Oh, here's our first dance."
Hermione chuckled. "You look quite uncomfortable, don't you?"
"Don't tease; you will, too," Mum insisted. "It's not a lot of fun, trying to dance when everyone's watching. Have the two of you chosen a song to dance to?"
"Yes, it's an instrumental piece composed by a German wizard," Hermione answered. "I suggested it, but Ron agreed. Neither of us particularly wanted anything too sappy, but the piece we chose sounds beautiful on the piano without any ridiculous words to go along."
"That sounds lovely," Mum said. "It suits you."
"Yes, and I couldn't have Ron giggling during the thing," Hermione said. "Wizarding love ballads tend to be a bit...over the top, to say the least."
"Well, they are in our world too," Mum said fairly. "Ah, and here's the cake we had! Purely decadent, let me tell you; I've been dreaming about this cake for the past twenty-five years!"
The two women passed the next hour or so looking through the albums Mum had brought, laughing and chatting amicably. Hermione particularly enjoyed the stories from the early years of her parents' courtship and marriage, and Mum delighted in recounting Hermione's childhood in detail. Eventually, they realized it was nearly eleven, and they must try to get some sleep before the big day. Hermione transfigured the sofa into a small bed, much to Mum's amusement, and began to tidy the flat and set everything out for the morning to avoid any unnecessary hold-ups.
"When do you suppose you'll move out of this place?" Mum asked as Hermione bustled about in her small kitchen.
"Oh, I don't know," Hermione said distractedly as she placed the now-clean dishes in the cupboard. "Not until we're ready to have kids, I suppose. The rent here isn't too expensive, so we'll be able to save up once the wedding's done with."
"How long do you suppose you'll wait to have children?" Mum asked casually, though Hermione saw right through her.
"A couple of years," Hermione replied vaguely. "Not too long, but not right away."
"Well, I'm ready to be a Nana anytime, dear," Mum said with a smile. "You know, your dad and I are going to start cutting back our hours at the practice over the next few years. We aren't quite ready to retire yet; we're still a bit young, but ever since Australia, we've been thinking how lovely it would be to have more time to travel and all that. So I suppose we ought to thank you for that - and we could, you know, since we'd be available to babysit."
"Let's focus on the wedding first, Mum," Hermione said firmly. "Speaking of which, I think we're all set for morning."
"Do you have everything ready to go? Your gown?" Mum asked.
"Ginny's got it at the Burrow," Hermione replied. "You can keep all your luggage in her room until after the ceremony as well, by the way."
"Yes, it certainly wouldn't do to leave it here, would it?" Mum said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to interrupt your wedding night, dear."
"I haven't decided yet, you know," Hermione remarked conversationally.
"What's that, dear?"
"Whether you or Ron's brother George is worse," Hermione said. "Honestly."
"Oh, I'm allowed to tease," Mum said dismissively. "Now, get your sleep, dear. We need to be ready to make you a Weasley tomorrow."
"I suppose we do," Hermione said with a smile as she crossed the room to embrace her mother. "Good night, Mum."
"Good night, love," Mum responded with a kiss on the cheek. "Alarm set for seven-thirty tomorrow, yes?"
"Yes," Hermione affirmed, double-checking the lock on the door as was her custom before making her way to the bedroom. "Good night!"
Hermione got herself ready for bed quietly, following her routine as she always did. First, she attempted to brush through her hair so that washing it in the morning wouldn't be hopeless. Then, she brushed her teeth and washed her face. Finally, she stripped off her clothes and chose her favorite nightgown to sleep in. Tonight, however, she performed her routine more slowly than usual - though she wasn't entirely sure why until she finally settled into bed and remembered just how much she hated sleeping alone. She'd grown accustomed to falling asleep with Ron's arm draped across her stomach. At first, adjusting to sleeping in the same bed had been a bit of a challenge, but they'd long since been used to it. Now, it felt wrong for either of them to sleep without the other one.
After tossing and turning for what must have been a quarter of an hour, Hermione gave it up for a bad job and began to rummage on her bedside table. When at last she found the piece of parchment she'd been looking for, she flicked the lamp on and settled into a seated position to read it - Ron's vows to her.
It was written in his familiar script - sloppy and loopy, though this time he'd made a bit of an effort as far as legibility went, perhaps due to the nature of the words themselves. There was an imprint about halfway down the page that was no doubt left by a teacup, and Hermione traced it fondly. It was so very Ron, which only endeared it to her more. With a happy sigh, she let herself read the words on the page, replaying them in her head as they'd sounded coming out of his mouth the night before:
Hermione: It's hard to figure out anything to say that you wouldn't already know. You know that I love you, and you know that I can't wait to marry you. It's a good thing we aren't doing this in public, isn't it? So anyway, where to start...well, we both know I didn't like you right away, which is fine since you didn't like me either. But saving you from that stupid troll was the best thing I've ever done - never mind that it was sort of my fault in the first place. Anyway, I just don't know how Harry and I could have got through life without you. We'd have been dead a thousand times over without you there to save our sorry arses. But see, you know all that too. And you also know how bloody stupid I was when I started to like you as more than a friend, and how happy we both were when we finally got our heads on straight - in the middle of a fucking war, no less, but we did it and now we're here and we're getting married. Anyway, I thought it'd be nice if I told you some stuff that I don't think I have before, since you know all the basic "I will love you til the end of time" shite without me trying to put it poetically.
Okay, so first I want to tell you about the first time I wanted to kiss you. We were fifteen, that summer at Grimmauld Place before Harry got there. You'd just arrived a couple days previously, and we'd spent the whole time talking about everything that was happening and how worried we were and all that. Eventually we were talking in circles, so we decided to play chess to take our minds off it. I dunno what was different about that game versus any other, but I almost lost. You looked so ridiculously pretty sitting across from me with your concentration face on, fifteen-year-old me could hardly handle it. That was the first time I actually realized that I wanted you to be more than just my best friend that's a girl, and it scared me shitless. I'm not gonna lie, I'd definitely had a couple of wet dreams about you before then, but I figured that was just because you were a girl with actual boobs and at that point that's all that mattered, you know? I've never been happier to be wrong. Anyway, I thought for sure you'd hex me if I tried anything, but now I'm just sorry it took us another three years. Seriously, Hermione, the number of times I wanted to kiss you between that time at Grimmauld Place and when we actually did in the Room of Requirement is insane. When you told me that you'd liked me since our fourth year, I could have kicked myself, because I could have kissed you that first time and you would've let me. It doesn't matter anymore, since I get to kiss you for the rest of our lives now, but back then...practically apocalyptic, let me tell you.
I also want to tell you about the first time I realized I wanted to marry you. Well, you were there, I guess - I told you right away, after you'd been there for me after a tough raid. Remember that? That was the first time I told you, anyway, or maybe the first time I let myself use the word marry. I knew you were it for me before then, though. I don't really know when I figured it out. It's sort of always been that way, you know? Even when we were in school and being stupid, I knew I wasn't gonna be happy with someone who wasn't you. I definitely knew by the year on the run, even if I was an idiot for most of that. But we've talked about all that, too. We talk about everything now, don't we? Anyway, by the time we actually got together I knew it was gonna be for good. We could've got married the day after the war, as far as I'm concerned, but I'm sort of glad we waited. We've got real lives now, and we can start a family soon. I can't wait for us to be a proper family.
This is probably the most I've ever written, isn't it?(I blame you for telling me yours took up nearly a foot of parchment.) And I have yet to actually vow anything, haven't I? I guess what I've been trying to say with all of this is that you really are everything to me. I think I may have told you when I proposed (I'm not sure though, the whole thing was pretty much word vomit in my memory), that you make everything in my life better, and I think you make me a better person too. I don't think I'd be the same me if you weren't here. This sounds so sappy when I write it, doesn't it? Again, it's a good job we aren't actually writing our own vows for the wedding because George would be taking the mickey out of me something fierce about now. I'm sort of worried I'll fuck it up, even with a script, so I'm just going to remind you now that I love you more than anything and that I promise I'll never stop, even when we're eighty years old and you're nagging me to clean my fake teeth. How's that for a romantic image? Anyway, I can't wait til we're married, and I really can't wait until our wedding night...I'm going to shag your brains out, just so you know. Definitely can't say that in the actual vows!
So lastly, I guess I want to say that words are probably never going to be enough to tell you how I really feel, but I like to think that you know anyway because you feel it too. I think that we both feel it whenever we're together. I sort of wish there was a spell I could do to make you see exactly how I feel, because I don't think I'll ever be able to describe it to you and then we could really be sure that we're feeling the same thing. But also, I don't think we need that, because you're good with words and everything you've said to me over the last few years really makes me believe that you love me just as much, and that's really the most incredible feeling.
You're the most beautiful, amazing, clever, determined, brave, and kind person in the entire world, Hermione Jean Granger. Let's work on changing that last name now, yeah?
I love you,
Ron
Hermione wasn't surprised that she was nearly in tears by the end of her reread. She'd been a blubbering mess the first time Ron had read it to her, because it was just so very him, and she absolutely loved him for it. He really could be sweet when he wanted to be, however much he hated the word "adorable."
She brought the piece of paper to her lips and kissed it, feeling only mildly ridiculous at the action, then laid it carefully back in its place on her bedside table. Out of curiosity, she glanced over at the table on Ron's side of the bed, and noticed the copy of her vows wasn't there - he must have taken it with him tonight. That thought made her smile widely, and at last she felt ready to go to sleep, if for no other reason but to make the time fly faster until she could see Ron again - because the next time she saw Ron, he would be waiting at the end of an aisle to become her husband. The next time she saw Ron, she would become Hermione Weasley, and she could think of no better thing in the world.
A/N: Ready to throw up from the amount of fluff yet? Fair warning - it only gets sappier in the epilogue. Be prepared.
Thank you all again. I may be posting some behind the scenes stuff this week on my tumblr, so keep an eye out for that if you're interested. I love talking to all of you, so please feel free. See you all next time:)