Chapter 43

Harry was a basket full of nerves, and it was Ron's responsibility — as best man — to try and ease said nerves. Since Ron had arrived at the Burrow at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning, Harry had not sat down. He paced every room he entered, and Ron found himself being asked a million questions a minute on very irrelevant things.

Harry had been calmer facing Lord Voldemort than he was about marrying Ginny.

"Are you sure you've got the rings?" Harry asked for the upteenth time, walking around Ron's old bedroom in circles.

"Yep, right here!" Ron said, patting his breast pocket. A moment of panic struck him when he couldn't actually feel the rings there, before he remembered he'd taken them out to show Harry fifteen minutes ago and left them in the kitchen. When Harry returned to pacing, Ron took out his wand and Summoned them. They flew into his hands a few moments later while Harry had his back turned.

Harry stopped and looked towards Ron again. "You don't think she's changed her mind, do you? I mean, there's a lot of pressure marrying me. I come with a lot of media, a lot of history... your dad's putting up charms as we speak to stop the media —" he started up again, making Ron dizzy.

"Will you just stop for a moment?" he all but shouted. He was sick of going back to the same conversation.

Harry paused.

"She's not going to change her mind. She comes with media, too, these days. Now, relax. George is coming back, hopefully with a large supply of Firewhisky. I think you need one. Or three."

He only needed to speak the words before George appeared in the room, carting an excessive amount of Firewhisky that was intended for the reception.

"So, thought this might do you some good?" He looked at Harry with concern, who now appeared as if he was going to be sick. "You fought and won over You-Know-Who — what are you worried about?"

"I think he'd rather take on You-Know-Who twenty times over right now," Ron said unhelpfully, patting Harry on the back.

Harry swayed on the spot.

"Have you eaten today?" George asked.

"No," Harry murmured.

"You've got to eat, mate," George said, throwing an arm over Harry's shoulder and guiding him to the door. "Number one rule on your wedding day: you can't do this on an empty stomach. I'll go talk to Mum." He passed the bottle of Firehwisky to Ron and vanished from the room.

Harry ran his fingers through his hair and groaned as he collapsed onto the bed.

Ron set the bottle on a chest of drawers and sat beside Harry.

"If it helps, I think Ginny's just as nervous as you."

Harry looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I dropped back home an hour ago to grab some stuff, Hermione said Ginny was yelling at them all. I heard it, actually. Yelled at me to get out."

Ron and Hermione's place was being used as the location for Ginny getting ready. Ron had regretted offering his home the moment he'd set foot there this morning. There was stuff everywhere, and Ginny was demanding that he leave his own house. Honestly, he couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough, but not before wishing a very flustered Hermione good luck.

Harry looked pale. "Well, this'll be a cheerful wedding, won't it? Where's the Firewhisky?"

"Not until you eat," Ron said. "Once you see each other, you'll be fine. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?"

Harry groaned again as George came back with a plate of sandwiches. "Had to nick these from the table," he said. "Mum was too caught up in other things to notice." He passed the plate to Harry. "Eat up. You've still got two-and-a-half hours."

Harry ate in silence, giving Ron time to share a very amused look with George.

But George wasn't playing. "I don't know what you're laughing at, Ronald. I bet when your day comes, you'll be a puddle on the floor from sweating so much."

Ron scowled.

"Picked a date yet?" George said as Harry continued to eat.

"No," Ron said.

"Is that going to take you as long as it did to propose?"

Ron said nothing, but grabbed the bottle of Firewhisky. "I think it's time for this," he said. "Glasses, George?"

George smirked, but left the room again, returning a few moments later with three glasses. He took the bottle from Ron and poured them each a drink.

"I think one is enough, though," he said, handing one of the glasses to Harry. "Don't want Harry, here, showing up wrecked."

Ron watched as Harry downed his drink in one hit, shaking his head afterwards. George raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that bad, is it?" George said. "I mean, I know Ginny can be terrifying at times, but… you're Harry Potter. If anyone is brave enough to marry her, it's you."

Harry shot George a look that had his smile disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Alright, no time for joking," George said. "But honestly, you're not worried, are you? I mean, you're just getting married. Nothing will change for you, will it? You live with her already, so it's not like anything's new."

"You have the rings?" Harry asked, looking at Ron.

"Yes," Ron said. He dug into his pocket and pulled them out to show Harry. "All is fine. Relax."

"I've never felt so terrified in my life," Harry groaned.

"George Weasley!" Molly came storming into Ron's old bedroom, hands on hips. "What did I tell you about the Firewhisky?"

"What?" George asked. "Ginny got them. I was just bringing them over from Ron and Hermione's place."

"Firewhisky is a sure way to intoxicate everyone before the ceremony!" Molly huffed.

"They're for the reception!" George protested.

She eyed the open bottle still in George's hand, to which he belatedly hid behind his back and grinned sheepishly.

"Some of the early guests arriving spotted them and have asked for that instead of the goblin wine we're offering. Get rid of them, George! And leave poor Harry alone."

"Alright, alright," George muttered. "But you should have seen Harry before the glass."

"George!" Molly bellowed, and George hurried from the room. Her eyes fell on Ron, who was still holding his glass.

"What did I do?" he asked. "George gave it to me."

"You better be sure Harry gets to his wedding on time!" she said fiercely. "And sober."

"It's fine," Ron assured her. "It's just downstairs. He's just… a little nervous."

"Make sure he gets there, Ronald."

"I will," Ron said.

Molly gave him another piercing look before marching from the room.

The moment she was gone, Harry asked, "Why does she seem worried?"

"Because it's Mum," Ron said.

"What if something's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"What if Ginny has —"

"For Merlin's sake, I hope this is your only wedding!" Ron stood up. "I don't think I can do this again. If I'm this bad at my wedding, please hex me. I beg you."

That seemed to silence Harry. He sat on the bed, staring at the door where George had come and gone from, and Molly had marched away from a moment ago.

After a moment, Ron said a little more patiently, "Maybe we should get dressed?"

Harry nodded.

Ron went over to the hanger where the dress robes for the wedding were. He picked up Harry's — a black and white tuxedo-like one with a matching bowtie. Ron quite liked it.

He took it back over to Harry and laid it down beside him. "Might take away the nerves if you actually dress. Then we could go down and talk to the guests. I think I saw Neville and Hannah down there already."

They dressed in silence, Harry fussing over every little detail about his attire that he could think of. Once he could fuss no more, he collapsed back onto Ron's old bed and groaned.

Ron finished doing up all the buttons on his grey dress robes and joined Harry again. He patted his shoulder. "I promise it's all going to be fine. Once everything's there, once you see everyone — Ginny — you'll relax. It's just the anticipation, not knowing what will happen."

"Easy for you to say," Harry said. "You're not getting married."

"Yeah, but one day it'll be me, and then our shoes will be reversed and you just need to repeat all this stuff I'm saying to you right now."

Harry laughed — finally.

"I'll make a list. What to say to a terrified person getting married."

Ron briefly wished Hermione was there. She'd know exactly what to say to Harry to calm him down — but it sounded like she was having her own problems keeping Ginny at bay. Why was Ginny even nervous? He'd never considered her one to freak out over something like this. In saying that, however, he'd not anticipated Harry having a total meltdown over getting married either.

Molly returned a moment later, this time with a smile on her face.

"How are you feeling, dear?" she asked Harry.

"Good," Harry said. "I'm good."

Molly's smile widened. "Oh, don't you both look so handsome!" Tears sprang to her eyes.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Ready?" he then asked Harry.

Harry nodded and they followed Molly down the stairs and into the garden of the Burrow.

The garden had been intricately decorated with small lights hovering in thin air. Roses were tied to the tent where guests already waited. Ron saw Harry stop at the sight of them.

"It's alright," Ron said, urging him forward.

Neville sat near the front with Hannah, and Dean sat beside them — all three dressed nicely. Seamus and Lavender sat on the other side of Dean, their hands entwined.

Neville and Seamus spotted Harry and Ron and waved to them.

Ron returned the gesture, but Harry was distracted. He was staring at the front of the tent, where the wizard performing the ceremony stood.

"Not long now," George said brightly, appearing beside them. "Twenty minutes and you'll all but be a married man."

"Heh," Harry said weakly, walking the rest of the way up.

"Mr Potter," the wizard said. "Hello. Welcome."

"Hi," Harry said.

"Are you ready, Mr Potter?"

"As ready as anyone can be, I guess," Harry said.

"Not long and it will all be over," Ron assured him.

While they stood and waited, engaging in idle chat (with Ron mostly doing the talking), Ron found his own nerves increasing, though he didn't know why. He was nervous for Harry, but he supposed he also couldn't help thinking about his own wedding, too. He and Hermione had avoided the topic since the first time they'd attempted to organise it.

They hadn't said anything, but there had been an unspoken agreement that they'd wait until after Harry and Ginny got married to try again. There was no point in disagreeing over it — especially when they needed to be there for their clearly more organised friends.

"How long?" Harry asked.

Ron glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes."

Harry swallowed. "You think she's ready?"

"With Hermione keeping schedule?" Ron asked. "Probably an hour ago."

"So if they're late, that could mean —"

"Mate," Ron warned. "Relax."

"Marrying me comes with a lot of responsibility!" Harry hissed.

"Which she's fully aware of," Ron said. "Besides, as I said before, it's not like she's a nobody. She's part of the Harpies — she'll be known well enough on her own account soon." He looked at his watch again. Five minutes.

The guests were piling in now, having occupied all chairs at the front. More filled in at the back, squeezing into small gaps for a good look.

"Blimey, how many did you invite? I thought it was close friends and family only," Ron asked, staring at the unrecognisable faces.

"Er, a few. They're all known," Harry said, scanning the crowd.

Ron's eyes fell on Hermione's parents, and they waved to him, probably thrilled to see a familiar face amongst a hundred unknown ones. He returned the wave, smiling at them.

"How'd you end up getting Hermione's parents here?" he asked Harry, thinking the distraction would be good.

"Your dad organised a Floo connection, I think," Harry said vaguely.

"That's good. I know that still hadn't been sorted two days ago."

Harry nodded.

The last few minutes passed in silence. Harry was in no mind to talk, getting more nervous by the second. He shifted from one foot to the other, stuffed his hands into his robe pockets, pulled them out again.

The tent was packed to the brim now. Whispers filled the small space. Ron patted Harry's back.

He was about to offer another word of comfort, but before he got the chance, music began to play.

Harry stiffened, and so did Ron. All eyes drifted to the back where Ginny would be arriving soon.

Beside Ron, Harry fidgeted with his robes. Ron should have stopped him, told him to stop, but he was suddenly distracted.

His mind wasn't even on Harry anymore.

It, and his eyes, were fixed firmly on the centre of the aisle, his mouth slightly open.

Hermione.

The most intelligent, the most wonderful, the most amazing person in his life, was there, and she looked stunningly beautiful.

Despite it not being their wedding, she'd refused to let him see the dresses she, Ginny and Luna had picked out for the bridesmaid ones, saying something about how she wanted to leave some surprise for the day considering she'd unloaded a lot of other plans onto him over the last few months.

His heart pounded in his chest. The pale blue dress suited her perfectly; her usually frizzy hair was slicked back into some weird decorative hair piece and… he really liked the dress on her.

He couldn't take his eyes off her. Even when Luna appeared, and then Ginny — the one he should have been looking at today — he barely gave either of them a glance.

It would be wrong for him to kiss her right now, but that was all he wanted to do.

His eyes followed her all the way down the aisle, and as she reached the top, she gave him a huge smile, to which he returned. He tried to wordlessly convey the message that he thought she looked stunning, but her attention had drifted to Ginny — where, honestly, his should have been, too. He'd get plenty of time to see Hermione during the reception.

Eventually, he looked toward his sister. It was the most nervous he'd ever seen Ginny since her eleven year old self had been around Harry all those years ago.

And now she was marrying him. Ron oddly felt a sense of pride swell in him at being able to witness this. Harry had felt like family for so long, but now it would be official. His best friend. His brother-in-law.

And the best match for his little sister.

Ron turned back to Harry, refraining from laughing at the slack-jawed expression the man was wearing. All sense appeared to have been knocked out of him as he stared at Ginny with an expression of pure love.

"You look beautiful," Harry whispered to her when she reached the front.

"You look quite handsome yourself," Ginny replied. Ron saw her squeeze his hands as she took them in hers.

Harry seemed to relax after that and for the first time all day, he smiled. He still looked as if he wanted to throw up, but seemed to delight in it.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley. Honoured guests, friends and family, Harry and Ginny would like to offer their thanks for coming to celebrate with them on their special day."

As the wizard began the official ceremony — all the boring stuff in Ron's opinion — he let his eyes wander back to Hermione. She was standing beside Ginny, and he was near Harry, but they were close enough for him to reach out and touch her arm.

She smiled at him as he mouthed the words you're beautiful.

She flushed with pleasure and beamed.

Oh, how he wanted this to be them, to be standing where Harry and Ginny were, holding her hands, saying vows, kissing her, and being surrounded by their family and friends as he did so.

Why did he have to continue being stupid about everything? It had started… well, it had started back in fifth year when his feelings for her had begun to make sense. When he'd understood what he was feeling and why. He'd been stupid then, and not much had changed apparently. The only thing that had changed was that she seemed patient enough to put up with his stupidity.

All he wanted was to marry her, and he'd keep saying it over and over until the day he did marry her.

The rest of the ceremony went through the traditional wizarding traditions of marriage, mixed with the Muggle ideas such as exchanging of rings and wedding vows.

Everyone clapped when it ended with a rather lengthy kiss that had Ron looking away. The guests were on their feet.

"Mr and Mrs Harry Potter!" the wizard said, and everyone clapped again.

Ron clapped Harry on the back. "See," he said, "told you it would all be fine."

But Harry appeared not to have even heard. He was grinning stupidly at Ginny, looking happier than Ron had ever seen him.

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand, and they began making their way back down the aisle.

Hermione came to stand beside him.

"Want to escort me back down the aisle?" she asked.

Ron took her hand.

When they reached the back of the tent, he wasted no time in kissing her. "I've been wanting to do that since the moment I laid eyes on you," he said. "You look so beautiful."

Hermione flushed with joy as she kissed him again. "You look alright, too."

"What a beautiful wedding," Luna said, smiling at them. "You all look so lovely."

"Thanks, Luna," Ginny replied, glowing. She was still holding Harry's hand but let go when Ron approached her to hug her.

"Congratulations," he said. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Ron," Ginny said.

Ron patted Harry's arm, grinning at him.

The next half an hour was crazy; it seemed that every guest wished to get their photo with the couple and then everyone else who was part of the wedding party. Ron had never stood in front of a camera for so long.

After a while, the chairs disappeared and tables appeared under the tent. Guests began to find places to sit at.

"Who knew weddings could be so crazy," Ron complained to Hermione, rubbing his hands over his eyes. "My eyes hurt from the camera flash."

Rather than responding with words, Hermione reached up for him and drew his mouth to hers.

"Well, that's nice," he said when she pulled away. "Do that again."

Hermione laughed, obliging to his request, and he thought she was the most beautiful person in the world. And he was going to be the one lucky enough to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Let's go in," Hermione said, smiling at him as she took his hand. "I haven't seen you all day. I missed you."

"Well, now you have me for the whole evening," Ron said, letting her lead him back into the tent they'd just exited. "We could always ditch the wedding and —"

"Ron!" But she was smiling as they sat down at a table. She looked over to where Harry and Ginny were still talking to guests. "I hope we look that happy when it's us."

"You should have seen Harry an hour ago. He was ready to throw himself out of a window. Can face the darkest wizard of all time, no problem, but getting married…"

Hermione smiled at him. A moment later, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

"You must have missed me today," Ron said.

"I just want this to be us," Hermione said, looking back over to Harry and Ginny who were now dealing with a tearful Molly. "I'm so ready."

"Me too," Ron said. "I want it to be us, too."

…

"It was such a nice wedding, wasn't it?"

Ron turned away — reluctantly — from where he was watching Hermione talking to Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, to face Neville, who'd sat down across from him. He was dressed in dark navy robes and carried a Butterbeer.

"Yeah," Ron said. "So much preparation leading up to it, though. Ginny and Harry were quite the mess beforehand."

"A lot of effort, huh?" Neville asked.

"But all worth it, I think." Ron nodded in the direction of Harry and Ginny. They were engaged in a conversation with Harry's cousin, Dudley, who'd shown up quietly and unseen.

"I think if I ever get married, though, it won't be as big as this," Neville continued. "Just a quiet place with a few close friends and family."

"Sounds great," Ron said, laughing.

Neville nodded, finishing his Butterbeer. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it. We should catch up sometime soon? You know, outside of work."

"Yeah, mate. I think that's in order," Ron said. "Now that the wedding's over, I think we'll have some time to do something else."

"But there's still yours to come," Neville reminded him. "When's that again?"

"Absolutely no idea," Ron said. "Still can't decide." On anything.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually," Neville said brightly. "Anyway, I'll probably see you around tonight. Have you seen Hannah? She was last with Lavender, but she's now back with Seamus..."

Ron shook his head, and when Neville had vanished, Ron returned to watching Hermione. She'd been up and about for the whole evening, talking to anyone and everyone, laughing, smiling, and… he jumped up from where he was sitting and approached her.

He touched her arm, and she turned to him.

"Hey, you wanna dance with me?" he asked.

She looked at him for a moment, and then smiled. "Of course."

Ron led her to the small dance floor where a few other couples were already swaying together. Percy and Audrey were among them, and had Ron not been so determined to get Hermione alone for a few moments, he might have laughed at his brother's terrible attempts to dance.

Hermione placed her arms around his neck and they began to move in time to the music. "I thought you'd never ask," she said brightly.

"I thought you were looking forward to spending the whole evening with me?" Ron said, returning her smile. "I've hardly laid eyes on you." That wasn't entirely true, for he had watched her a lot.

"Sorry, I just started seeing a lot of people who I haven't seen in a long time. Not to mention Mum and Dad feeling a bit uncomfortable."

"It's alright," Ron told her. "I just wanted one dance with you."

As they swayed to the music, Ron couldn't take his eyes off her. This wedding had made him realise just how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They were perfect for one another.

"Marry me," he said.

She smiled up at him.

"I'm serious," he said. "I want to marry you, and this whole not being able to sort it out is ridiculous. I don't care about any of that fancy stuff — the colours, what I wear, how many people come. All I care about is whether or not you're there."

She continued to watch him but said nothing.

"I just want you. And if I have to wait another six years to get there, then whatever. I don't care. Pick a date, pick a place, and I'll be there."

They continued to dance in silence for a moment. Then, still smiling up at him, Hermione said, "March."

"Really?"

She nodded. "You pick the place."

Before he responded, Ron leaned down to kiss her. "The garden by the pub was nice. Time?"

"Three o'clock. Date?"

"I don't know. They didn't have any weekend dates in March."

"Then we'll do it during the week. The twenty-first sounds good," Hermione said.

"March twenty-first?"

Hermione nodded.

Ron laughed. "Why was that so easy?"

"Because you were right — none of the fancy stuff matters. Let's get married when and where we want, and if it's just the two of us there, then that's all that matters."

Ron kissed her again, holding her very close to him. He kissed her for a long time, wishing he didn't have to stop. He liked the feel of her lips on his and her dress against his fingers. It was so soft and silky.

He held her even closer to him.

"Keep dancing with me?" he asked.

She nodded. "My favourite part of the night," she whispered.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. One of my favourites. Fun fact, my original plan had Ron actually proposing at Harry and ginny's wedding by mistake, but the timeline just never fit. I loved the idea so much, though, that I compensated a little and made him repropose. Also, this story now has over 300 reviews! Thank you all so very, very much!