Unofficial Portkey Archive

doBanner();

document.write(''); My Best Friend's Wedding

Author: lissag7

Summary: Takeoff on the Julia Roberts comedy. Harry tells Hermione that he is getting married, which causes Hermione to act in desperation, which causes Draco to sing a rather ridiculous song, which causes Ginny to get jealous and burn things...and so on and so forth. Chaos abounds.

Ships: H/Hr, G/D, some D/Hr, and R/OC

Author's Note: So, I'm really sorry if someone's already done this idea, but frankly there are so many fics that I can't keep up. Otherwise, enjoy-laugh, cry, whatever-but please, please review!

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me...sadly (sigh).

Chapter one: the Announcement

Hermione Granger was seated in a cafeteria, distractedly eating a tuna fish sandwich as she pored over some research for her latest project. Having graduated with the highest and most impressive NEWTS in Hogwarts' History, Hermione had been widely expected to take a position as a teacher or a Ministry worker. And since she and Ron had been dating rather exclusively for their last year at Hogwarts, it was similarly expected that she would shortly thereafter become Hermione Weasley.

However, to the shock and disappointment of many, Hermione was neither a professor nor a ministry worker, and she most definitely was not Mrs. Ron Weasley. A year after graduation, she and Ron had broken things off, rather nastily actually, and were just now beginning to patch up the old wounds nearly two years later. She still loved him as a friend, but the boy could drive her absolutely mad.

As far as her profession went, Hermione had found that a career behind a desk just wasn't exciting enough after years of being friends with Harry and Ron and battling Voldemort. Instead, she had almost accidentally fallen into reporting for the Daily Prophet, and she loved it more than she could have ever thought was possible.

" What's that you're looking at, Mudblood?" Draco Malfoy inquired, dragging out a chair at her table and sitting down with her, uninvited.

Hermione barely glanced at him. " Corruption in Hogsmeade," she murmured, still sifting through her notes.

Draco smiled and watched her, his eyes following as a bit of tuna fell from her sandwich and dropped down her blouse. " Ur, Granger..." A better idea seemed to strike him, and he reached toward her. " Let me get that for you--"

Still without glancing at him, Hermione pushed his hand away. " Nice try, Malfoy."

" Can't blame a bloke for trying," Draco pointed out, settling back in his chair. "Though you wouldn't have minded a year or so ago..."

Hermione sighed as her thoughts wandered back. Upon joining the staff of the Daily Prophet, she'd been shocked and dismayed to find that Draco was her editor. True, he'd been helpful in the final battle with Voldemort, but he was still a nasty little ponce and she didn't much fancy spending extra time with him.

However, after working a few months alongside Draco, she'd discovered that, along with being a nasty little ponce, he could also be quite charming. And once the banter and tension had become too much to bear, they'd carried on a brief and secret love affair. Unlike Ron, he'd proven to be quite mature about having a relationship, and even more mature about breaking up; if anything, their disastrous attempt at love had brought them closer together, and she now considered Draco to be one of her closest and dearest friends.

Not close enough to fish tuna out of her delicates, however.

Draco grinned at her now as if recognizing that she was remembering just how fond she was of him. " I don't see why our being broken up should make a difference, Granger. I'm still a man, you're still a woman." He stopped, raising a dubious eyebrow at her. " You are still a woman, aren't you Mudblood?"

Hermione was very much fighting the urge to smile. " The difference, Draco, is that you've been dating Ginny Weasley in secret for the past three months."

Draco stared at her, clearly taken aback, then glanced ever so subtly at Ginny, who was seated three tables away. Her long red hair was falling over her face, and she seemed to be deeply involved in the latest fashion article that she was writing, though every so often her gaze would wander over to Draco, and she would absently twirl her hair and smile.

" What is it about women?" Draco demanded, though he was smiling. " Can't trust the lot of you to keep a bloody secret. You're always sharing your little gossip in the powder room."

" Powder room?" Hermione repeated, arching an eyebrow. She shook her head at him. " Besides, we're hardly the ones who need to be analyzed. What is it about you and dating in secret anyway?"

Draco smiled demurely. " Apparently, I would get hexed to Jupiter if certain people-namely Potty and Weasel-- ever found out that I was snogging their little sister/ long time best friend. I can only suppose that it's because I'm not a very well-liked person."

" I can't imagine why," Hermione returned, just as innocent.

There was a mild commotion as an unfamiliar owl swept in through the window and dropped a parchment off in Hermione's lap, not bothering to wait around for a reply. Frowning, Hermione unrolled the parchment and read the letter, hastily scratched in a familiar scrawl. Draco watched her with detached interest, his eyes wandering every so often over to Ginny.

" Well?" he said finally when it was apparent that Hermione was finished.

She smiled. " It's from Harry. He wants to talk to me through the fire network at 2:00. I haven't heard from him in ages-I wonder where he is..."

Draco scoffed at this. No matter how much he and Harry had been through together, there was still no love lost between them. " Rather arrogant, isn't he? He didn't even wait around to see if you'd say yes-just assumed that you'd come running."

Hermione shrugged. " Well, he assumed right." She gathered her notebooks together and flashed one final smile at Draco. " Catch you later..."

She hurried away. Draco followed her departure and then felt himself be distracted by the sight of a certain redhead, making her way out the opposite door. He rose to his feet and followed after her.

He exited the double doors and turned the corner, searching for her. Abruptly, a hand reached out from a shadowed corridor and pulled him into its dark recesses. A moment later, he and Ginny were making out like a couple of school kids in the Astronomy Tower.

" Hello to you, too," Draco murmured after she'd finally given him time to catch his breath.

Ginny smiled coyly at him. " Hello," she said somewhat breathily.

Grinning, Draco leaned in to kiss her once more, but Ginny seemed suddenly preoccupied with something else. " Who was that letter from, to Hermione?"

If there was anything more effective than a cold shower, it was mentioning Harry Potter. Draco ran a disappointed hand through his hair. " From the infamous Boy Who Wouldn't Die. Why?"

Ginny sighed. " I was afraid that was it. Ron told me what Harry would be owling her about."

Draco frowned at this. " What do you mean?"

" Let's just say," Ginny sighed, " that things are about to get quite interesting..."

***

A short while later, Hermione found herself kneeling in front of the fireplace, anticipating the sight of Harry's head in the flames. As she waited, she self-consciously ran a hand through her hair and straightened her clothes, though she immediately stopped herself. Why on earth was she feeling nervous? It was just Harry.

As if on cue, the fire gave a sudden roar, and there was Harry's head, grinning at her. She was still taken aback by the sight of adult Harry. The mop of unruly black hair was there, and so were the familiar eyes and scar and even the same glasses which she was secretly quite glad to see he had kept, but there was no softness about his face now. He had a firm, hard jawline, well-defined cheekbones, a thick, strong neck. Still, despite all this, he was still her Harry.

" Hermione, how are you?" he asked excitedly, seeming every bit as pleased to see her as she was to see him. " It's been ages..."

" Too long," Hermione agreed, resisting the urge to run her hand over Harry's projected head. It looked so real... " I've been doing wonderful-and you?"

" Never better," Harry informed her, echoing her same words to him from all those years ago. " Actually, there's something I have to tell you...something rather important."

Hermione flushed with excitement for him. " Have they finally enlisted you as an actual Auror?"

Harry's face darkened. " No...Mad Eye Moody says that I still need more time, despite the fact that I took on Voldemort by the time I was only...but never mind. That isn't what I wanted to tell you." He met her gaze squarely. " I'm engaged, Hermione."

For a moment, she merely stared at him, not processing the words. It sounded temporarily like a bunch of gibberish, like a different language or a secret code or gibberish of some sort. But then suddenly, the words were clicking into place, and she let out a little "Oh" of surprise and tried to lean up against her desk. Instead, she missed completely and fell rather heavily on the ground.

" Hermione?" Harry inquired worriedly, apparently not able to see her anymore from his position.

" I'm all right!" Hermione asserted quickly, pulling herself back into a sitting position. " Sorry, Harry, you startled me. I fell over."

Harry was grinning at her. " Well, what do you think?"

Hermione ignored the question. " Harry, where are you? Do I know this girl? How soon is this all happening?"

" I'll be at the Burrow by tomorrow," Harry informed her, still giddy, " the Weasleys have offered their home for the reception and for wedding headquarters. As for my fiancé, well, you've never met her before but her name is Kimmy and she's the sweetest witch in the entire world. And we'll be getting married on Sunday."

" Sunday?" Hermione squeaked, then managed to more composedly repeat, "Sunday? This Sunday? Harry, have you gone mad?"

He merely laughed. " I know this is all happening rather quickly, but I'm going on extended leave to do undercover Muggle studies, and I want to take her with me. And I know that you're busy, too, but I need you to be there, Hermione. Please tell me that you'll be there?"

Hermione felt as though she'd been on the Swirling Cauldrons ride at Hogsmeade Fair for one too many rounds, but somehow, she found herself nodding. " Of course, Harry. I wouldn't miss it for the world. And congratulations."

Harry grinned at her. " Thanks, Hermione! I would kiss you if wouldn't...you know, burn your face off. See you tomorrow at the Burrow-9:00, all right?"

And without waiting for a reply, he vanished.

Hermione continued to sit on the ground, staring at the now-empty fireplace. She had the oddest sensation that someone had ripped out her heart and was dancing the Irish jig over it, though she couldn't for the life of her imagine why.

***

I thrive on reviews. Don't make me starve!