Hello, dear readers! This was *supposed* to be the wedding chapter, but I was viciously attacked by plot bunnies demanding that I write this. They hopped off with the chapter I've started about the wedding and refuse to relinquish it. It will be next, barring further bunny attacks. If you're still mad about the delay, then blame Keith Urban because I've been dashing around the Southeast for concerts! J Hmmm… Keith or Harry? Keith or Harry… Keith wins!
Harry turned to Ginny and Ron who had told them to meet in the Common Room. "What's up?" he asked.
"Hermione, you're supposed to come with me," Ginny said very seriously. "And, Harry, you have to go with Ron. They're still working on repairing some damages to the castle and the Room of Requirement won't let anyone in. Dumbledore thought that, perhaps, it might respond to you."
"That's certainly odd," Harry said. "It lets anyone in." That it did so had caused them trouble before.
"What am I supposed to do?" Hermione asked. "I could help Harry."
"No," Ginny argued. "Professor McGonagall needs you in the Transfiguration classroom. I don't know why. She just asked me to come get you when my class finished." The fifth years had had Transfiguration as their last class of the day. Classes had resumed just five days after the attacks since most of the students and teachers who had been injured were healed by then.
"Okay," Hermione shrugged. "Let's go then. I'll see you later, Harry. Bye, Ron."
Harry followed his red haired best friend to the Room of Requirement. The hallway was deserted. "Shouldn't there be someone here to fix it if I can get in?" he asked.
"Dunno," Ron mumbled. "Maybe they want you to fix it. It's not like you'd need anyone's help. I guess the Death Eaters jinxed it or something."
Harry had no trouble getting into the room and was beginning to wonder what everyone else's problem had been just as he was startled by a roar of "Surprise!"
He barely stopped himself from hexing the two boys closest to him, "Don't do that!" he exclaimed, catching his breath. "Ron, I don't think telling me Death Eaters jinxed the room was the smartest idea. I nearly annihilated the Creevy brothers," he laughed. The blinding light of Colin's camera had only added to his self-protective response.
Dennis and Colin were not quite as amused at how close they came to being hexed by Harry Potter, but took it in stride. It was bound to make a good entry for Colin's diary of hero-worship.
Harry was soon flanked by the Weasley twins, "Happy bachelor party, little brother." George told him, handing him a tankard. "Here, have a butterbeer."
"From you?" Harry asked, skeptically. "I don't think so." He gave the drink to Dean who was the closest target.
"I don't want it!" Dean said, passing it off to Seamus.
Fred put his fist to his heart, "I'm crushed. We merely wanted to celebrate your impending nuptials with a hearty toast."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Constant vigilance with you two." As he said this, Seamus poured the contents into a potted plant that appeared just as he needed a place to dump the suspicious drink. The plant turned purple and started smoking.
Harry looked to the twins. "Hearty toast, is it?"
"Who knew butterbeer could do that to a fern?" George said innocently, shrugging.
"It's not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you giving me a bachelor party?" Harry asked Arthur Weasley as he approached.
"Any excuse will do," he answered. "Jubilance is in the air." The entire wizarding community had been celebrating non stop for days-except at Hogwarts where the students had begrudgingly tried to get back into their regular schedules.
"Especially around the Weasley house," Bill said. "Tell them, Dad!"
"Tell us what?" Ron asked.
"Oh, it's… it's nothing," he replied, giving a stern look to his eldest.
"Nothing?" George repeated. "Right. It's nothing. Dad's only been selected as the new Minister of Magic!" he exclaimed.
"I thought there had to be an election," Neville broke in.
"Well, there does, if anyone was running against him. But Dumbledore refuses to run and he selected Dad as a good candidate. No one is going to argue with him now. So, there's no competition and Dad will be Minster for real in no time."
"That's awesome!" Harry exclaimed at the same time Ron declared that it was "Brilliant!"
Arthur blushed slightly at the attention. "It's not official yet, boys."
"So, when does a veela jump from a cake?" Ron asked.
"Maybe at your bachelor party," Lupin told him. "There's a reason you guys are being chaperoned."
"That bites," Dean complained. "No girls, no strippers. The man just saved us from You Know Who. That warrants at least one half-naked woman dancing around the room."
"I won't tell Hermione you said that," Harry laughed, knowing good and well how angry it would make her if there had been a scantily clad female at his party. Her reaction would be even worse thanks to her fluctuating hormones. He realized he may have been the only one at his party who did not mind the absence of female entertainment. "Is she having a party right now too?" he asked.
Indeed, Hermione had been led to her own surprise bridal shower.
She opened the door to the classroom and called, "Profess-er?" Her tone changed to a question mid word as she saw dozens of girls from all the houses and a stack of presents. "What's going on?"
"It's your shower, of course!" Lavendar Brown announced.
"A shower?" Hermione repeated, stunned. She was not a very popular among the females at Hogwarts and had not expected any fuss to be made over her wedding.
"We can't have the wedding of the century without the shower of the century beforehand, can we?" Hannah Abbott told her, taking Hermione's hand and leading her to the front of the room. House elves had set up a table full of finger foods and another table was full of beautifully wrapped gifts.
"But," Hermione stuttered. "I… no one has ever done anything like this for me before." Even her birthdays came and went with no fan fare from her roommates. She told herself it was only because of the groom that she was getting this attention.
"That's because you've never gotten married before," Padma Patil said.
Hermione simply smiled thinking Sure, I have, to herself. She exchanged a knowing look with Professor McGonagall.
"You have to sit here," Pavarti said, pointing to an elaborate throne at the front of the room.
Hermione started laughing when she saw it, "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, but we are serious," Luna told her in her dreamy voice that sounded anything but serious. "You're the queen for a day. Or, queen for a couple of days. At least until the wedding is over."
"I can't wait to see what Professor Dumbledore has planned for the wedding!" Lavendar giggled. "I bet it will be amazing!"
"Yeah, it'll be even better than the first one," Ginny added. She gasp, and slapped her hand over her mouth. She looked at Hermione with wide eyes as she bit her lower lip.
"First one?" Luna repeated.
"I'm sorry," Ginny squeaked while Hermione looked on, dumbstruck.
"Ms.Weasley!" Professor McGonagall croaked.
"Ginevra!" Molly Weasley exclaimed, fire in her eyes.
"Oh, it's all right, I guess," Hermione patted Ginny's arm. "I mean, now that Voldemort is gone, it doesn't really matter if they know, right?" It amazed her that people still flinched at his name.
"I suppose not," Professor McGonagall acquiesced, her expression softening.
"So, there was another wedding?" Hannah inquired.
"Well, yeah," Hermione told them. "Harry and I got married almost two months ago. It was all part of Dumbledore's plan."
"So was that stuff about his relatives true?" Jessie Keith, a fifth year Hufflepuff asked.
"Oh, yes," she answered, her eyes flashing with anger at the thought of those horrible Dursleys and everything they had done to Harry through the years. "The way they treated Harry-" she stopped herself, knowing he would not want her to discuss it. "Well, a lot of things worked out at once leading us to know it was the best thing to do and the best time to do it." She was sure revealing Voldemort's plan to murder Harry via a sacrifice was not the route to take with this conversation. "We were going to set the record straight soon. Things have just been so hectic the past few days. Dumbledore really wants to give us an elaborate wedding since the first one was so rushed. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful, and it was perfect, but it was also very secretive. Even Ron's brothers weren't allowed to be there because we had to keep it a secret from Voldemort, and the fewer people who knew, the better. This time we'll get to have all our family and friends around us."
"But why did you get married before now?" Jessie asked. Like many of the other girls, she did not understand the rush since they knew nothing about the situation other than Harry's need to be emancipated from his abusive guardians.
Hermione sighed. "It's a very long story and it all was part of the plan to lure Voldemort to attack under our conditions. I don't want to get into it," she said. "If Dumbledore sees fit to explain, he will. Otherwise, maybe your kids will read about it in History of Magic."
"And there's no need to get into it now, Dear," Molly said, taking her arm and leading her to the throne. "Let's just focus on having a good time."
"I'm sorry," Ginny said again, sheepishly. Hermione smiled at her, assuring her that there was no harm done.
"Well, I'm glad you're going to have the big wedding," Susan Bones told her. "It only seems right that we all get to be there for you guys." She turned to the crowd of girls, "Okay, so was there anyone here who did not think that Harry and Hermione would wind up together?"
Ashley Timmons, a seventh year Ravenclaw, raised her hand and shyly admitted, "Me. I thought Hermione and Ron would wind up together because they argue all the time. You know… URST."
"URST?" Professor McGonagall repeated.
"Unresolved Sexual Tension," Ashley shrugged, blushing deep scarlet.
"Ewwwww!" Hermione squealed, then blushed herself when she realized Ron's mother was still standing next to her. "Ron's like my brother!" she quickly covered. "He treats me just like he does Ginny."
"Yep, he's a big pain in the-"
"Ginevra!" Molly growled. She was not as quick to forgive as her daughter-in-law was.
Deciding she would do better to keep her mouth shut for a while, Ginny went to the refreshment table to pour herself a cup of punch.
"I always knew that Harry and Hermione would be together," Luna said dreamily. She had been even more flighty since Ron had approached her at breakfast one morning and told her how happy he was that she was all right and she recovered from her injuries. The girl was simply floating around Hogwarts with a smile plastered on her pretty face while she hummed "Weasley is Our King" over and over again.
Hermione opened each present as it was given to her and a charmed quick notes quill wrote out a thank you card based on her reaction to each present. She noted that it was easier than the Muggle way.
When Hermione had finished unwrapping all the trinkets, household goods, and lingerie that she was given, Lavendar and Pavarti gathered all the ribbons and put them in a circle on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Divination!" Pavarti answered excitedly as she and the other girl sat across from one another and joined hands over the pile of ribbons.
Professor McGonagall made a soft "hmph" sound as she watched her students attempt such nonsense.
"We all have to be very quiet," Lavendar told them. "The spirits will guide us to predict your future."
"Thanks, but, we've had enough predictions, I think," Hermione told them nervously. She was not sure she wanted the weight of another prediction on her heart since some had shown themselves to be true.
"It's just for fun, sweetheart," Molly told her with a smile. Everyone fell into a hush as they watched the two girls seated on the floor. "The ribbons represent all the blessings and well wishes of your friends and family. It offers protection and a bit of fun to see what they can tell us."
"Well, it never hurts to have some protection," Hermione said. She had come to firmly believe in the wards offered by magical ceremonies.
"Shhhh!" Lavendar shushed her. "We have to connect with the spirits."
Hermione nodded, all the while remaining hopefully skeptical. She listened to the two Gryffindors hum and chant an incantation, then a white ribbon suddenly flew into the air between them and formed the number 7.
Lavendar squealed. "Oh my Merlin, Hermione! You're going to have seven children!"
Hermione's eyes bulged. "I think not," she replied, causing a fit of giggling.
"A wonderful number," Molly gushed, thrilled with the prospect of more grandchildren.
The girls started chanting another incantation and soon a yellow ribbon floated into the air and formed the shape of a fish. "Oh, that's good," Pavarti exclaimed. "You'll make your decisions wisely."
Hermione listened, wanting to believe that was possible, but then telling herself that anything could be possible or likely to happen if they set themselves up to believe it.
"Okay, now for your love life," Pavarti said, as she took Lavendar's hand again. In a few moments, a badger similar to that of the Hufflepuff symbol was floating between them. "Oooo…" said Hannah from the spectators. "That means your love life will be characterized by strength and passion."
Hermione grinned rather stupidly and tried to bite her lip to keep from looking so devilishly happy.
"Well, is it?" Ginny asked unashamed, as another moment of bravery took over, despite her mother's presence in the room.
Hermione began to laugh and hated herself.
"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're holding out on me!"
"Well," Hermione started sheepishly, "Harry is a very powerful wizard," she shrugged thinking back to the conversation she had had with Ginny at the soda shop in Diagon Alley while leading on Rita Skeeter.
Ginny and most of the other girls shrieked piercingly at this announcement while Molly covered her ears, closed her eyes, and declared, "I don't need to hear this."
"Oh, he'll kill me if he finds out I said that!" Hermione blushed, covering her hands with her face.
"Honey, he is a man," Professor McGonagall told her dryly, "I doubt he would mind so much that you're bragging on him."
"Professor!" Ginny squeaked, completely shocked by the turn of the conversation.
"Oh, he'll really kill me if he finds out I was talking about it with you and Mrs. Weasley!" she groaned, wanting to bury herself into the cushions of her throne.
Mrs. Weasley took her hands off her ears as she heard her name, opened her eyes and saw how red Hermione was and covered her ears again, "I don't need to hear this." She started humming.
"Back to the game!" Lavendar announced, helping Hermione get her mind off how embarrassed she currently felt.
"I think we've found out enough," Hermione whispered. "No one can tell Harry what I just said! Or I'll hex you. I can do it too!" she threatened through her laughter.
The next floating ribbon formed an hourglass and the girls in the room who were familiar with tradition all "Ahh"'d at the sight.
"What does that mean?" Jessie asked.
"Eternal love," Padma sighed. "Hermione and Harry are bound forever, beyond this life, and into eternity."
"Well, I didn't need a ribbon to tell you that," Hermione announced proudly with a smile lighting up her eyes.
"No, I guess you didn't," Molly agreed. "I guess you didn't."