A/N: All wands, weapons or whatever else you may be carrying must be left nowhere near your computer before you read this chapter. This is for the safety of the author. Seriously, this was a tough chapter to write. I made Oliver out to be a real jerk (sorry Oliver fans, if there are any for this story). This is another flashback chapter. Spaz141: You might want to have a tissue at the ready.
Chapter Nineteen: What I'd Be Without You
I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I'd be without you
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
(God Only Knows-Beach Boys)
"Have you gone completely insane?!" Ron shouted at him.
Harry winced at the loudness in Ron's voice. He was recovering from a hangover, a bad one as a result of seeing the woman you love fly off in a plane to marry another man.
"Ron, be quiet!" Harry grabbed his head.
Ron grabbed his hair in frustration. "What is wrong with you two? Why are you both so stupid and stubborn?"
"Ron, Ron calm down," Ginny shoved Ron out of the way and looked at Harry.
"Harry, are you sure you guys are doing the right thing?" she asked him.
Ron still ranted and raved in the background.
That was how his morning started off. He managed to kick Ginny and Ron out of his flat and on their way to Heathrow to floo to the States. Her wedding was tomorrow and the more Harry thought about that, the more the ache inside him began to swell. He sought solace in the one place he always felt comfortable at.
Hogwarts.
But as soon as he walked in the doors, he was flooded with memories of her.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Dumbledore's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "I thought you'd be on your way to stop a wedding."
"Huh?" Harry asked, more than a little startled.
"Miss Granger's wedding is tomorrow, is it not? Why are you standing here?" Dumbledore asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't think…" Harry began but the old wizard cut him off.
"Oh, I see. I know what you did. Trying to do the noble thing by making the world a safer place," he sighed. "Such is the life of the tragic hero."
Harry shut his mouth and looked away, awkward.
"Walk with me, Harry," he said and motioned to the castle grounds.
Dumbledore sighed an old man's sigh. "Long ago, a young man came to me with a similar predicament. He had lost those who were closest to him and the wizarding world was in the middle of chaos." He walked over to the edge of the forbidden forest and stood over a small patch in the snow. "Yet, love is an amazing thing. Through times of hatred and evil, it can bloom in the darkest of times." He pointed down and Harry followed to a small green sprout sticking out of the snow. "But, it's a fragile thing and can be so easily lost. For this young man, had fallen deeply in love, but he, too, had his reservations. But I told him, that love is what we were fighting for. If we gave up on that, we might as well toss our wands aside and let darkness overcome us. We never know what the future holds, but living our lives to the fullest makes everything worthwhile in the end."
Harry knelt down and touched the delicate sprout. "What did he do?"
"He married the young woman," Dumbledore smiled, "and they were the happiest couple I'd ever known." A sad look came over his face. "But like I said, you never know what the future holds. They were murdered a few years later. But love is an amazing thing. Within that tragedy, love survived. It survived through their child, a son, just a year old." Harry looked up sharply at Dumbledore, who smiled kindly at him. "Now you tell me if my advice to that young man was worth it."
Harry sent off a letter with one of the school owls before taking off for his flat. The letter would reach her tomorrow morning at the earliest, late tonight if he was lucky. He had sent it through the Owl Express. He rummaged for a duffle bag in his closet then set it on his bed, tossing whatever he could into it then he took off for Heathrow.
"I'm sorry, sir. But the next floo to the East coast of the states isn't until tomorrow at ten a.m.," the wizard behind the counter explained.
"Ten o'clock will be too late. Please, please are you sure there aren't any floos?" Harry pleaded.
"Sir, you've had me check three times already. Now, like I said before…"
Harry pulled the bangs off his forehead and shouted at the man. "I'm bloody Harry Potter, and asking you for a favor," he pulled the name drop but the wizard merely rolled his eyes.
"If you're Harry Potter, I'm bonny Prince William." The wizard walked off in a huff.
Harry sighed and banged his head on the counter in defeat.
"Excuse me sir," a voice came from behind him. It was a janitor. "Excuse me but I couldn't help but overhear your predicament. There's another floo to the States that's still open."
"Really?" this was music to Harry's ears.
"But it's connected to the west coast, Los Angeles, I think. But you could try a floo from there." the janitor said. "I could get you in there if you'd like."
"Could you? Thank you so much."
The janitor went behind the counter and fiddled with some of the drawers before pulling out some floo powder. "Here you go," he said, handing it over to Harry. Harry reached into his pocket to pull out some money but the janitor waved him off. "No charge. It'd be my pleasure…Mr. Potter," the janitor winked. Harry smiled and gave him the money anyway.
"Keep it for you," he said then ran through the gate.
*****************************************
"Hermione, hurry! We're going to be late for the rehearsal dinner!" Oliver said from behind the door.
Hermione opened it and rushed out into the hallway. "Okay, okay. Let's go." They hurried into an elevator. They had just reached the restaurant in the lobby when Hermione stopped in her tracks.
"Blast! I forgot the bridesmaid's gifts in my room."
"I'll go and get them," Oliver said, "you go in and sit down."
Moments later he opened her hotel room door and found a tawny Express owl sitting on her bed, a letter tied around its leg. Oliver removed the letter and the Owl disapparated. The front of it had Hermione's name written on it, in handwriting that was vaguely familiar. Oliver opened the letter.
My Dearest Hermione,
I'm hoping this letter reaches you in time. I've had a chat with an old friend that opened my eyes. You were right. There's never going to be a time when the world is completely at peace, but I know that my life would be if you were by my side. I'm asking you, Hermione. Don't marry Oliver. Call off the wedding. Stall if you must, but I'm on my way there as you read this. If you still love me and if you believe that there is still a future for us, then wait for me. I'll be there as soon as I can.
With all my love,
Harry
Oliver crumpled the letter in his hand. Rage washed over him. He walked over to the phone and dialed out.
"Father Duprey? Yes, this is Oliver Wood. Yes, yes, I am ready for tomorrow, but a slight problem has come up."
Oliver walked back into the restaurant, gifts in his hands as he sat at the table.
"Thank you honey," Hermione said. "Did you find everything okay? You were gone quite awhile."
"Yeah, everything's fine but I got a message at the front desk from Father Duprey."
"Is everything all right?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah everything's set for tomorrow, but a small emergency has come up and he was wondering if we could start the ceremony an hour earlier. He would be most indebted to us."
*****************************
Harry sat in a terminal at LAX, waiting, jittery, anxious. He couldn't sit still. He did end up having luck here. There was a floo available that would take him to New York and from there he could connect to other floos. The only problem was that he'd had to wait a few hours. Harry looked at the clock on the wall.
5:45 a.m.
He would be cutting it close. Really close. The floo opened at 6 am, 9 am on the East coast. Then he would take a floo to Boston, he would be there around 9:30, that left him with 30 minutes to find the church and stop the wedding.
******************************************
Ron paced back and forth across the room. The wedding was supposed to have started already but Hermione wasn't ready.
"Well, she got here a little late," one of the groomsmen said.
"She must have really liked that," replied the best man. "She's just running a little behind. Besides, people are still showing up. I hope everyone got the message."
Ron thought it was a little fishy that the wedding was moved up an hour. With all the planning and preparation it took for his own wedding, he wondered why the priest would ask them to change their plans. It just didn't seem right.
He was trying to think of a way to talk to Hermione before the ceremony. This wasn't right. He knew his two friends loved each other madly, but were too stupid and stubborn to drop this game. Someone was going to pay dearly for this: Hermione, Harry, Oliver. It wasn't going to be pretty. How could Harry just let her go like that? How could Hermione say yes to Oliver?
"Could I have a moment alone, fellas?" Oliver's voice broke Ron's thoughts.
They all consented and left the room but Oliver stopped Ron. "I wanted to talk to you, privately."
"What about?" Ron asked.
Oliver took a long hard look at Ron and sighed. "I know you're not happy about this wedding, and that you're doing this because Hermione asked you to." Ron opened his mouth to say something but Oliver held up his hand. "I know that I will never be as good as Harry for Hermione, in your eyes, and I know you wish it were him instead of me." Ron looked away. "But I love her, Ron. More than anyone else in the world. I would do anything for her. I also know that you're more than a little mad at me for uprooting her and moving her here away from her family and friends. But I want this for her, us. A new beginning for her, I want to bring peace into her life, one she hasn't known for a long time. I only want to make her happy."
Ron looked at Oliver for the longest time. He was about to say something to him but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," Oliver said.
The door opened and Ginny poked her head in. "Ron, could I have a word with you?"
*****************************************
Harry stumbled a little out of the floo at Logan.
9:35 a.m.
He was okay, he still had 25 minutes. But to his dismay, there was a long line of people waiting to exit the terminals, moving at what seemed like a snail's pace. Harry had another problem as well. He had never been to Boston before and had NO idea how he was going to get to the church. Was it near? Far?
The solution presented itself as he walked out into an alley where all the other witches and wizards were exiting. Yellow cabs lined the streets, wizard cabs, mini versions of the Knight Bus. Harry ran up to one of them.
"North Church, please," he said to the driver.
The driver smiled at him. "Granger-Wood wedding huh?"
Harry looked down at his watch.
9:45 a.m.
*********************************
Ron watched as Hermione walked down the aisle looking absolutely beautiful. Well, not as beautiful as his wife did on their wedding day. He swallowed the lump in his throat, praying silently that Hermione would come to her senses. He shot a glance at Sirius and Lupin in the pews, they, too, had looks of anticipation on their faces.
Various scenarios played through his head on how he could stop this wedding. Drop to the ground in convulsions. Kidnap the bride and run off.
But even if he did stop the wedding, what would happen then? Harry wasn't here. Harry was in London. If Harry wanted to stop this wedding, he would've done it already. Where did that leave Hermione?
Alone and heartbroken on her wedding day?
Was it even in his right to do this? He was Hermione's best friend, too.
***************************************
Harry watched in horror as traffic in front of them came to a complete standstill, horns honking all around.
"Bad accident ahead," the driver explained looking front. "Even I can't squeeze this cab around this mess."
Harry swore and sat back in his seat thinking.
"You could probably walk from here," the driver offered. "We're not too far away."
Harry shot himself forward.
After receiving directions he paid the driver and tore out of the cab, sprinting down the street. The snow began to fall lightly as he cut across the park, hurdling over the benches. He could hear the church bells tolling. He was close now.
When he was younger, his Aunt Petunia had a shelf that not even Dudley could touch. But when everyone was away and left Harry alone, he would pull up a chair, stand on it and stare at the objects. They were mostly delicate ceramics of animals and of some people in various poses, but there was one that stood out. Harry's favorite. It was a musical snow globe. Harry would very carefully bring this one down and set it on a counter. Inside the globe was a beautiful woman, a princess, dressed in a flowing white dress. He would wind up the knob at the bottom and watch as the princess twirled in the falling snow around her to the tinny music that played.
This was the sight that greeted him as he reached the church. He skid to a halt across the street. He saw a crowd of people lined up at the entrance of the church, laughing and talking to one another. Then a swell of cheers as a bride and groom walked out of the church. Harry looked down at his watch.
10:00 a.m.
Hermione's wedding should've started, but this scene looked as if it had just ended. Maybe it was a different wedding?
But his stomach dropped when he saw the most beautiful thing in the world he had ever seen.
Hermione in her wedding dress.
She looked radiant and happy, everything a bride should be on her wedding day. She was laughing and smiling, talking to the well wishers that lined the stairs. Flashes of a camera went off every once in awhile.
Harry died inside.
He quickly ducked behind a tree when Oliver looked in his direction. Did he see him? Harry peeked out from behind the trunk. Oliver picked up Hermione and swung her around, set her down then gave her a deep kiss in front of the crowd.
The pain was so great inside Harry that he was numb.
She chose Oliver, he thought sadly. She didn't wait for me.
Harry hid until the last of the guests left the church then he walked across the street. Standing in the doorway, Harry looked inside the deserted church at the altar ahead of him. He bent down and picked up a few flowers that were left by the flower girl on the floor. He sat down in one of the pews and stared blankly ahead of him. Then he slumped down, hands in his face as he silently cried. She didn't wait for me.
If you should ever leave me
Well life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows
God only knows what I'd be without you
God only knows what I'd be without you
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