The Dress.
Ginny Weasley deliberately stayed out of the way as her fiancé, Harry Potter, got himself ready for a wedding. And not just any wedding, but Hermione's wedding. Harry and Ron were due to attend the actual wedding ceremony, which would be a private affair, before attending the large party being held at Malfoy Manor. Although Harry and Ron weren't the only members of Ginny's family attending Hermione's wedding, and while they were the only two attending the actual ceremony, virtually the rest of the family were attending the party. Even Ginny herself had an invitation to the party. She just sorely doubted that she would be attending.
In the last few weeks, since the incident at Blaise Zabini's hotel, Ginny felt as though her entire life was falling apart, and she couldn't help but blame Hermione. If only she'd sold her the wedding dress then all of this could have been avoided. But instead, Ginny was left looking like the unreasonable one.
She'd been totally shocked when Harry had finally returned from Zabini's hotel and informed her that their wedding was on hold. It hadn't mattered how much Ginny had pleaded and tried to explain her actions, Harry wouldn't be budged. He hadn't gone as far as to call off the whole engagement, but it was clear that there would be no wedding any time in the near future. Although to be honest, unless she could somehow get back into his good books, Ginny doubted if there would even be a wedding at all.
Although the situation hadn't been helped by the fact her entire family had learnt what had gone on, and not one of them had supported her. Instead they'd all rushed to get back in contact with Hermione, hence their presence at the wedding party later that day. And of course since her family weren't afraid to voice their opinions, they'd all let her know that they thought she was the one in the wrong, not Hermione. It didn't matter how much she'd tried to explain the situation, no-one would listen to her point of view. No-one seemed to care that she'd found the perfect wedding dress, and thanks to Hermione, it would never be hers. In fact, thanks to Hermione she might not be getting married at all.
"Bloody cow," she muttered to herself, cursing the day Hermione had came back into her life. If only she'd stayed away then everything would be just fine with Ginny's life. True, she might not have found the perfect wedding dress, but at least she would still be looking forward to her wedding.
Ginny's thoughts were interrupted by Harry entering the room and informing her that he was going. Her fiancé was looking incredibly good looking in his smartest dark blue suit, and she couldn't help by tell him so.
"Thanks," Harry replied with a slight smile. "Have you made a decision about later?"
"I don't know," Ginny admitted with a sigh.
She knew the best way to start and put things right with Harry would be to accept Hermione's generous invitation to her wedding celebrations. However, that would mean apologising to Hermione, and even though all her family had told her to do just that, she didn't know if she was ready. In fact, she wasn't sure she would ever be ready to apologise, and quite honestly she didn't think she had anything to apologise for. She'd made Hermione a fair offer, and it was her overreaction that had caused all the subsequent problems. Hermione could have simply accepted her offer to buy the dress and all this could have been avoided. She would have been happy to attend Hermione's wedding, but not when she was wearing the dress that should have been Ginny's.
"I've left the invitation on the mantelpiece," Harry said with a sigh. "It's got the port-key coin inside the envelope. If you do decide to come, the coin will deliver you to Malfoy Manor."
Ginny nodded as Harry swept from the room, on his way to pick up Ron before they headed off to the wedding ceremony. While the wedding party was being held at Malfoy Manor, the ceremony itself was being held at a small chapel in the nearby wizarding village.
With Harry gone, Ginny wandered upstairs and poked through her wardrobe for something to wear in case she did decide to attend the party. Picking out a dress, she laid it out on the bed and sat looking at it for at least half an hour as she tried to make a decision. She knew Harry would be thrilled if she turned up at the party, and she knew it would go a long way to getting things back on track, but she didn't like the idea of being the one to back down. Especially as in her eyes, she'd done nothing wrong.
Ten minutes later she still hadn't decided what to do about the party. However, as the time ticked closer to the start of Hermione's wedding ceremony, Ginny found herself grabbing her bag and leaving the house. Summoning the Knight Bus, she travelled to the village near to Malfoy Manor, and from there it was easy to find the small, picturesque chapel, where Hermione would be getting married right at that every moment. Sliding behind a large tree opposite the chapel, she watched and waited until the doors opened and a beautiful looking Hermione, and her gorgeous husband, emerged, followed by their families and closest friends.
The dress was even more stunning than Ginny remembered, and as she watched Hermione and Draco posing for pictures outside of the chapel, she felt the jealousy rise up in her. It should be Harry looking at her in the adoring way Draco was doing to Hermione. It should be her everyone was admiring in the dress, not Hermione.
Knowing full well that she couldn't tolerate seeing Hermione in her dress, Ginny knew she couldn't attend the wedding party. Even if it made things easier with Harry, she wouldn't be doing it. Instead she was going to go home and drown her sorrows. However, before she left, she spotted a horse drawn carriage pulling up outside of the chapel and watched as Hermione and Draco climbed aboard. In a whirl of confetti, thrown by the guests, the newlyweds trotted off, presumably in the direction of Malfoy Manor, while the guests started to disappear into thin air, having clearly apparated away to enjoy the wedding party. Once everyone was gone, Ginny also apparated away, only she wasn't off to celebrate, she was off to curse the new Mrs Malfoy and the trouble she'd caused by refusing to sell Ginny her dream wedding dress.
Hermione and Draco's wedding ceremony was extremely moving, and Harry thought he understood why it was so private as the couple had written their own vows and things had gotten pretty emotional. He'd certainly never seen Draco so open with his feelings before, and he could understand why he might not have been as comfortable revealing his feelings in front of a big crowd.
After the ceremony, Hermione and Draco had taken a horse drawn carriage back to the manor, where they'd arrived at the party in style, while everyone else had used portkeys to get to the manor. The party was being held in the grounds of the manor, and a lavish feast had been laid on for the masses of guests who had gathered to help the happy couple celebrate.
"I can see why Ginny was so taken with the dress," Angelina Johnson, George's wife, remarked at the table where the Weasley family had been seated. "It's stunning."
"It's beautiful," Fred's girlfriend, Alicia Spinnett, agreed. "And I can understand why Hermione didn't want to part with it. She looks gorgeous."
"No wonder Malfoy can't keep his eyes off her," Fred chuckled.
"Or his hands," George added with a smirk.
"What about Ginny?" Molly asked Harry in a low voice. "Is she coming?"
"Hermione was kind enough to invite her, but I don't really know if she'll show up," Harry admitted. "If she does show up, I do think she will have to apologise. But the trouble is, I still don't think she can see what she did wrong. She still thinks she was in the right, and it was Hermione causing trouble by refusing to sell her the dress."
"It's her loss," Molly said with a sigh. "And if she's not careful, she's going to lose someone very special."
"I'm sorry Molly," Harry said. "I do love Ginny, but I can't marry her unless she grows up."
"And rightly so," Molly agreed, giving Harry's hand a reassuring squeeze. "But I want you to know that no matter what happens with Ginny, you'll always be part of the family."
Thanking Molly for her kind words, Harry let himself get caught up in the merriment of the celebrations. Putting aside his own issues with Ginny, he focused on having fun and celebrating what was surely the happiest day of Hermione's life.
When the dancing started, Harry tried to avoid the dance floor as he still hadn't mastered the art of dancing. However after dancing with her husband, her father, her father-in-law, Blaise and Ron, Hermione forced Harry onto the dance floor, warning him that he couldn't say no as she was the bride.
"Just don't blame me when you have sore feet for your entire honeymoon," Harry muttered to Hermione as she dragged him onto the floor.
"Don't worry, I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time on my feet over the coming weeks," Hermione joked.
"Hermione," Harry laughed, pulling his old friend into his arms as he tried to keep his feet away from her toes. "When did you become so naughty?"
"Spending time with these Slytherins rubs off on you," Hermione chuckled. "Thank you for coming, by the way. Having you and Ron here means the world to me."
"It means a lot to us too," Harry replied. "And thank you for inviting Ginny, even if she didn't turn up."
"I couldn't not invite her, it would have been rude," Hermione replied with a shrug. "I'm sorry she didn't turn up. It would have been nice to put all this behind us."
"If only she was that mature," Harry snorted. "She still sees your dress as the one she should have had. And until she can grow up and realise that she's the reason I've postponed the wedding, things won't be changing. I don't think you will be attending our wedding any time soon."
"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione whispered softly.
"Don't be sorry, none of this is your fault," Harry insisted. "Be happy and enjoy your day. I know that's what I intend to do."
And that was exactly what Harry did. He had the time of his life at Hermione's wedding, and when he did head home, in the early hours of the morning, he found Ginny asleep on the sofa with several empty wine bottles strewn around her. Not bothering to wake his fiancée, he headed off to bed, finally accepting the fact that despite not cancelling his wedding to Ginny completely, it was looking as if it wasn't going to happen. Ginny had been given the perfect chance to prove she had grown up, but rather than accept it, she'd drunk herself into a stupor. It was time to face up to the fact that his relationship with Ginny had run its course and they were simply not meant to be together.
After a restless night, where Harry had lain awake as his mind refused to shut down, he rose knowing what he needed to do. The previous day had clarified recent events in his mind, and he knew there was only one course of action left open to him. As hard as it was going to be, he knew what needed to be done. Steeling himself for what lay ahead, he headed downstairs to find Ginny sitting on the sofa, looking the worst for wear.
"Did you have a good day yesterday?" he asked, gesturing to the empty bottles, which were still littering the living room.
"Not really," Ginny muttered. "And I've got a thumping headache now."
"I'm not surprised," Harry snorted. He waited for her to ask how his day had gone, but when she didn't, he simply shook his head, knowing he was making the right decision. "There's some hangover potion in the bathroom cabinet. Go and get some, and then we need to talk."
"What about?" Ginny asked warily.
"Just go and deal with your hangover, Ginny," Harry insisted. "I'm not doing this when you're hung over."
Leaving Ginny with no choice but to go and get herself sorted, Harry began to tidy the mess in the living room. He then made some fresh coffee and was waiting for Ginny at the kitchen table when she returned, looking slightly better for taking the hangover potion.
"What do you want to talk about?" Ginny asked tentatively as she sat down opposite her fiancé.
"Us," Harry replied bluntly, knowing there was nothing to gain by beating around the bush. "Yesterday really put things into perspective for me, Ginny. I never thought I would say this, but we've reached the end of the line. We're over. I can't marry you."
"Is it because I didn't go to that stupid party yesterday?" Ginny hissed. "Surely you can understand why I didn't want to be there. How could you expect me to sit and smile nicely while Hermione wandered around in my dress?"
"How can you still not see how wrong you've been?" Harry cried, totally amazed by Ginny's refusal to admit she'd been wrong. "None of this is Hermione's fault."
"Of course it is," Ginny yelled. "She was the selfish cow who refused to sell me my dream dress. Given who she married, she could have gone out and gotten a new one in an instant. But no, she had to be selfish and ruin our wedding."
"The only person who has ruined our wedding, is you, Ginny," Harry insisted. "Your behaviour has been inexcusable. It was bad enough you had the gall to try and buy Hermione's dress in the first place, but then you wouldn't take no for an answer. And even now, you're still trying to dodge the blame. You've brought all of this on yourself."
"No, this is all her," Ginny retorted angrily. "Everything was great until she came back. She's ruined everything, and I won't let her get away with it. She is going to pay for ruining my life."
"No," Harry spat, his voice angrier than Ginny had ever heard it. "You are going to leave Hermione alone. If you make one move against her, I will make sure you regret it. Do the right thing and accept this with dignity. We can release a statement to the press citing our break-up as a mutual decision. But believe me, if you try and pin the blame on Hermione, I will make sure the entire world knows about your behaviour these past few weeks."
"And you think that will save your precious Hermione?" Ginny sneered. "Her part in this will all come out, and she won't come out if it looking great, I can assure you. Especially when I tell everyone how she poisoned Blaise against us, and stopped us from holding our wedding at his hotel."
"She didn't poison Blaise, he made his own decision," Harry argued. "And quite frankly, it's his choice who he allows into his hotel. And as for Hermione, she's done nothing wrong. Most people sympathies will be with her, not you. Although for your sake, I would think twice about trying to slander her name. She's a Malfoy now, and not only will her husband stick up for her, but so will her parents-in-law. If you go after her, they will ruin you, Ginny. I don't want that."
"And you don't want me either," Ginny whispered, all the fight seeming to go out of her as Harry laid out what could happen if she went up against Hermione.
"No, not know I've seen your true colours," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry Ginny, I never thought this would happen. But you've shown me you're not ready for marriage."
"And what if I prove to you that I am ready for marriage?" Ginny questioned, latching onto the slightest bit of hope she could.
"Who knows, maybe in the future we can take another look at things," Harry said. "But right now, we need a break. You need to take a long, hard look at yourself, Ginny. There is something seriously wrong with you if you can't see how unreasonable you've been over this whole dress thing."
Ginny's eyes flashed angrily, and for a moment, Harry thought she was going to start arguing yet again. However, she seemed to have second thoughts and reluctantly agreed to move back home to The Burrow. As she headed off to get her things together, Harry wished things had worked out differently, but he knew he'd done the right thing. Ginny's actions over the last few weeks had proved she wasn't ready for marriage, and he certainly didn't want to marry someone so immature. Maybe in the future things would change and they would get a second chance, but for now, Harry knew they were better off apart.