All rights go to J. K. Rowling
The Great Hall had been decorated similarly to the Yule Ball, that seemed to have been held aeons ago. There was a large banquet table running along one of the sides of the room, many circular tables were dotted around the room, surrounding the dance floor and creating an area to mingle. Where the teacher's table would normally be situated was a table covered in photos of memories made at Hogwarts and photos of those everybody lost in the war. Music was playing from an unknown source and people were grouped in their various gathering of friends, nobody was dancing so early in the evening. Everyone stopped talking and turned slightly as they heard or saw the doors open, to see who the new (and late, as the reunion had officially started only seconds after Draco had walked in) addition was. Collected gasps could be heard as they saw who entered.
Hermione walked forward with her head held high and her arms swaying by her sides, in a regal and elegant manner. Her side plait dangling over her shoulder and just touching her dress. The dress she had chosen to wear on this occasion was one that she had not released yet, a beautiful black halter-neck dress with an open back. It was long, and hugged her figure very nicely, opening up and allowing more movement on the lower part of the dress, which would allow her to dance with her husband. The material she had chosen was one that she had to enchant to get it just right, if you looked close enough one would notice that the bottom of her dress shimmers slightly, hiding the green flames that would be revealed and come to life whenever she twirls.
The women looked at her in envy, she looked fabulous and as if she hadn't aged a day, whereas the others in the room had subtle but tell-tale signs of ageing. Hermione smirked slightly as she heard her maiden name being whispered around the room. The whispers must have reached the Golden Duo, as Hermione could see a group of redheads and one jet black haired person move through the crowds towards her. Hermione looked behind her at Mel and Markos, both of whom dress in Gryffindor colours. Mel was wearing a red lace short sleeved dress that came down to her knees and had a gold ribbon in her hair. Markos was wearing a red shirt and gold tie underneath a black blazer, accompanied with black trousers and shoes. Both of them beamed at someone in front of them before running towards said person. Hermione shook her head slightly in amusement as she saw them run towards the first of the Weasleys to emerge, George Weasley - Pranking God.
Hermione caught the eyes of her best friend and started to walk towards her, but before she could to anything a grinning Ginny Weasley tackled her. Shooting her best friend an apologetic smile, she turned to face her old friend who appeared to have tears in her eyes.
"Hermione!" Ginny squealed, and then came the flood of questions. "How are you? Where have you been? What have you been doing for the past 15 years?"
"Woah! Gin, calm down. I just got here and I've already been attacked twice." Hermione raised an eyebrow and her hands in mock defence.
Ginny looked a bit sheepish, and pulled Hermione into another hug. "I'm sorry. I just missed you so much."
Hermione smiled slightly. "I missed you too."
"Did you miss me?" Hermione heard from behind her. Hermione grinned before spinning around and throwing herself at The Boy Who Lived.
"Of course!" Once she took a step back, she looked Harry up and down. "I'm surprised you're still alive. Merlin knows you wouldn't have lived past first year if it wasn't for me." She turned to Ginny. "You've done a good job, Gin, not a new scratch on him."
"Well, it hasn't been an easy task. At times, I myself have wanted to kill him and my brother."
"I'm sure." Hermione smirked.
"Someone call Malfoy, I think we need to hold a smirking contest." Harry joked. "That smirk could give his a run for his money." Harry looked behind Hermione and grinned even more. "Don't you think, Ron?"
Hermione's smirk faltered a bit and it became a small, slightly sad smile, before she turned around and faced Ron, who stood there smiling at her like a mad man.
"What? No hug for me?" Ron asked, after a long pause, teasing her slightly.
Hermione stepped forward and gave him a hug, it was awkward on her side but he didn't seemed to notice. Ron didn't let go, and the hug went on for much longer than she would have liked. Hermione rolled her eyes and glared at her husband slightly, as she could see Draco laughing his head off at her discomfort with Blaise, fortunately Harry and Ginny could only see the back of her head. Hermione coughed slightly, hinting that Ron could let go now.
"Now lets see that smirk." Ron stated as he stepped backwards.
"Only if there is something worth being smirked at." She replied, causing Harry and Ron to raise an eyebrow each. She turned to Ginny. "What have I missed in your life? 15 years must be full of interesting stuff."
Ginny smiled smugly as she held out her left hand, displaying the engagement and wedding rings Harry had given her. The engagement ring had a band made of gold, with a large diamond in the middle, surrounded by smaller red ones. "Harry finally grew a pair and asked me to marry him about 2 years after you went to Australia. We got married about a year after that. We did send an invitation to you in Australia but the owl came back after it was unable to find you there." She frowned slightly.
"You should have seen how beautiful Ginny looked that day. I am definitely the luckiest man alive, the dress she was wearing looked amazing on her." Harry inputted.
"Which dress was that?" Hermione asked as she raised an eyebrow, she was interested to know who else out there had good designs, business wise they could do a joint line. However, deep down she knew her interest was because she had got even more competitive over the years.
"Oh this fabulous designer who goes by J.G, she's incredibly popular in the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds, quite an achievement. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the women in here were wearing one of her designs. I don't know if she's branched out to Australia but while you're here you should definitely look at some of her stuff. I'm wearing one of her dresses right now." Hermione smirked, which did not go unnoticed, and looked a bit smug as she saw Ginny twirl in one of the purple dresses she'd designed that complimented Ginny's hair perfectly.
"Bloody hell, that smirk is scary." Ron commented. "If I didn't know any better I would say you were Malfoy. Seeing the competition would be well worth it."
"What was worth smirking at in that sentence, Hermione?" Ginny questioned. "Has J.G branched out to Australia?"
"Yes, J.G has branched out to Australia. Pay no attention to the smirk, it's just something I found funny." Hermione waved her hand in dismissal. "What else have I missed out on? Any kids?"
"Three kids. James started Hogwarts this year, he said he's enjoying it but he's having a real problem with the Malfoy girl says she is too much of a know-it-all for her own good." Hermione raised an eyebrow and told herself to have a chat with James Sirius Potter later.
"Remind you of anybody?" Ron elbowed her playfully in the side. Hermione motioned for Ginny to go on.
"Albus is 9 and Lily is 7. Lily and James get up to all sorts of trouble but Albus is a bit more timid and tries to stay out of any drama." Harry smiled sweetly at his wife. "What about you? What have you been up to? And where did you get that dress? It is absolutely gorgeous." Ginny gestured at Hermione's outfit.
"Slow down Gin. One question at a time... This is, in fact, one of J.G's designs."
Ginny frowned. "I didn't see it in any of the shops or catalogues."
"That's because it is part of the next fashion line-"
"So how did you get it?" Ginny's eyebrows furrowed even more, she was genuinely confused and to be honest she felt a little jealous too. What connections did Hermione have to get this dress?
"Ginny," Hermione drawled as she smirked with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "If I told you, you were wearing one of my designs, would be able to answer that question?" Hermione waited for the answer, but before anyone could reply someone bumped into the back of Hermione and almost had red wine spilt down her. She turned to face a disgusted Astoria Greengrass.
"Watch where you're going Mudblood." Astoria snarled.
Hermione sneered at the pureblood before her. "Charming, Astoria. I see not being able to snatch your Dream Guy did wonders to your personality." Hermione batted her eyes and sighed dramatically as she said 'dream guy', before returning back to the sneer. "Fortunate for Draco, isn't it? I would hate to seem him stuck with someone like you."
"Oh, piss off Granger. I don't see you with anybody, not that anybody would want to be with a Mudblood."
"You really have to come up with a better insult than that." Hermione raised her eyebrows before looking Astoria up and down. "Pity one of my pieces had to be seen on such a piece of trash." Astoria and the others gawked at her. "Now do me a favour, lets see those long legs of yours and that fabulous dress of mine walk far away from me." Hermione motioned for Astoria to shoo. Astoria stood there for many seconds, taken aback by the Gryffindor Goody-Two-Shoes' blunt behaviour, before she finally started to walk away.
"Hermione, when did you learn to snap back like that?" Harry asked.
"Working in the fashion world means putting up with a lot of divas. You learn how to talk back." Hermione replied nonchalantly.
Ginny shook her head slightly. "You're J.G."
Hermione nodded. "It stands for Jean Granger. A way to remember my mother and my last connection to my family."
The cogs were turning in Ginny's head. "If you're J.G then that means you've been in the UK for over 14 years."
