A/N: Ok, the last chapter got away from me and I neglected to introduce Emily. Well, her story is in this chapter, I promise.
Also, I knew I would mess it up and I did. I have a bit of a time-line issue. I originally said that they've been engaged for 2 days, but it's actually about 5. They were engaged for 3 when Harry woke up and then they told they're families. So, the families have known for 2. It's moving pretty fast thanks to the excitement of the mothers. Hope that clears things up!
And here begins Hermione's tribulations in Wedding World. And there's another movie quote in this one too. See if you can find it!
***
So, I'm sitting here in the Beautiful Bride Shop (a Muggle establishment, thank God!) and I'm watching Molly and Emily as they peruse the gowns. I have seen nothing in here that I like, but they insist that they can find me one. If they say so.
"Hermione! Do you like this one?" Molly screams across the room. I'll have to warn Ginny about all of this. Her mother is like an insane person now that we're here. I think she's caught up in the lights reflecting off of the outrageous amounts of sequins in here.
"It's … ok, I guess." In reality, this dress is hideous. I've never seen sleeves that poufy. And I'd be afraid of blinding poor Harry with all the sparkles, sequins and pearls on this … dress.
"How about this one?" Emily says from right behind me, startling me.
Now, this one is better, but not good. The satin skirt is pretty and I like the bodice … until it gets to the collar. Queen Elizabeth I could have worn this dress with a collar that high!!
Em seems to notice my discomfort. "Well, we could probably have that altered, you know, cut it off."
"No, let's get a dress that I like completely. I don't want to have to add or subtract anything from it. I'll know it when I see it, ok?"
"Ok, dear. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, that would be great."
"Molly! She's ready to head to the next one!"
Next one?
"I'm sorry, what?" I ask.
"Well, we're still going to Madame Paulina's Bride-to-be Salon in Diagon Alley," Molly informs me quietly.
"Wonderful! I haven't been there since your sixth year, Hermione!" Emily says. "I was so upset when I couldn't go your last year. Bloody flu."
I can only nod dumbly as they drag me from the store. Here we go again.
Once we arrive at Madame Paulina's, I can justify all the nervous feelings I've been having about magical bridal shops. It's a zoo in here!
There is material flying though the air. Dresses are sewing themselves in the far corner. Brides are running everywhere. I have never seen so much tulle in my life.
"Hello! Is this our bride-to-be?" a short and skinny old woman asks as she hurries towards us.
"This is her! Hermione, this is Paulina Beauregard. Paulina, meet Hermione Granger. She's our blushing bride!"
I wish at this point that everyone would stop calling me "their bride." I desperately want to say, "People! Not yours, Harry's!"
"Ok, Miss Hermione, let's step right over here and get started!" Paulina says as she drags me to the dressing area.
I get the feeling that the owner herself is helping me since I am engaged to the Harry Potter. I've always known why Harry shies away from all of this, but now I'm getting it firsthand. It's a bit ridiculous since I'm just any other bride-to-be, just with a super powerful, extremely famous wizard. Sure, that's a bit abnormal, but no real reason for special treatment!
First, she brings out a dress that seems to rival Scarlett O'Hara's gowns from "Gone With the Wind" for the space that this skirt takes up. I look like a handbell.
Next comes a dress that is so tight on me that I can barely walk. I feel like my ankles have been taped together. Perhaps this is a dark magic dress and it's meant to kill the bride by crushing her. Next!
Another dress was had way too many flowers on it (and smelled as such). The next one (I swear to you) was orange and glowed in the dark. The purpose? Who knows? And yet another magical gown played "Here Comes the Bride" by itself.
The last one I tried on looked like it should have come with a battery pack. It lit up! But it was a magically lit dress so it looked like someone glued the fake snow they use in malls or actual fairies on to it because it sparkled with every step. Now, I'll admit that it was a good concept …in moderation. But this was covered in them!
Everyone stepped back and oohed and ahhed at me.
"I'm a snow beast," I muttered as I found my refection in the mirror.
"No, you look like a princess!" Molly exclaimed.
Emily seemed inclined to agree. "Hermione, you look beautiful!"
"I look like I need a separate power supply! How would we explain that to the Muggle guests? I would seem like the tackiest bride ever!"
Emily and Molly are just staring at me.
"Look, Harry and I are going to set a date tonight. Can this wait just a little bit longer?" I ask, hoping a dash of the puppy dog look will get me my way.
"Ok, we'll compromise. One more store and we're done. Ok?" Emily says as I make my way into the changing room. I poke my head over the doors.
"How is that a compromise? You get what you want and I don't."
"But we won't go to anymore today," Molly interjected. It didn't go unnoticed that she added "today" at the end of that statement, but if it would stop today's proceedings, I was fine with that plan.
I changed back into my comfy clothes, giddy with the ability to breathe again.
Luckily, this last store was Muggle as well, so there wasn't quite as many off the wall dresses … just a lot of ugly ones.
But as I tried dress after dress on, I actually began to have fun. It occurred to me, I'm getting married!! I never, ever expected to get married. Since I was about 5 or 6 and had no friends at all, I began to figure that no one would ever like me. When I got to Hogwarts, I assumed the same would apply. I would become the bookworm with which no one would want to associate. And for a while, that was true. Until that one fateful Halloween in which a dark-haired, green-eyed little boy found the courage to come save the shy bookworm from being crushed by a troll. After that, my life would never be the same.
As I was thinking about Harry, I glanced in the mirror for the first time in a few dresses (I'll admit, I was barely paying attention). And then I see it -- this is perfect!
"This is it!" I cry at the same time as my stepmother (who really has become more of my mother at this point).
"What?" Molly asks from across another store. Apparently it's her job to be the dress scout and Emily's job to be my assistant.
"This is it," I repeat as I look at my reflection.
It may not quite be as plain as I had originally thought, but it was everything I wanted. It had a slightly full skirt, with a tulle overlay. The bodice was beaded with little crystal and barely pink beads that extended a bit onto the skirt. I loved it.
"You look beautiful, Hermione," Molly whispers as she walks to us.
It appears that I've finally rendered the mothers speechless.
My bridal consultant comes over with a tiara with little flowers on it and a beautiful veil. I turn and see the entire ensemble.
"I'm going to marry Harry in this dress," I whisper.
"Yes, dear. You are," Emily whispers as well.
I have no idea why we're whispering. It's really no secret after all.
"A perfect princess for the prince of the wizarding world," my consultant whispers to me.
Ok, now that was a secret!
I turn to her with wide eyes.
"Oh don't worry. I'm a witch, too. I didn't want you thinking that I was helping you just because you're Hermione Granger. But I did want to thank you for all that you and your fiancé - and friend of course - did for the world."
I am blushing big time now and the tears are rolling down my cheeks.
"You're welcome," I reply.
"You'll make a beautiful bride for that groom of yours. That dress will go great with white robes," she says as she walks away to give the mums and me some alone time.
I don't know how long we've been staring at my reflection. I never thought I'd be like this: just staring at myself. But it's all suddenly coming to me. I'm going to be a wife! Harry's wife!
"Thank you," I tell them. "Thank you for dragging me here. This is perfect. I'm getting married to Harry Potter in this dress."
Emily and Molly are holding onto each other for support at this point, holding in the tears apparently.
"Oh, let those tears out! I'm getting married!" I tell them as I pull them into a group hug.
I know that the wedding demons will surface again when it comes time to do other wedding planning activities, but for now, it's nice to have these two back.
I go back into the dressing room, sad to take the beautiful dress off, but happy in knowing that this part is done. I have my dress! It almost seems surreal.
Emily drives us back to my parents' home and we store the dress in Emily's closet. I know Harry wouldn't dare peek if we kept it at the flat, but I know that Em will guard this dress like a pit bull or Fluffy.
We share one final moment and then Molly and I Apparate back to our homes.
"Harry, I'm home!" I call.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Harry replies.
Something smells wonderful, so I'm sure he's cooking dinner.
"What's for dinner?" I ask before I get there.
"Baked chicken, roasted potatoes and corn," he says as I look at the table that has been beautifully set. "And for desert," he adds with a nod to the oven, "Pumpkin pie."
"Wow! You've been hard at work!"
"I can imagine you have been as well. How did gown shopping go?"
"Better than I expected. I mean, yeah, they were like Tasmanian devils for most of it. And I constantly felt like I was in marshmallow with all that white around me, but it went really well."
"And did you find anything?"
"Maybe, maybe not," I tease as I steal a bite of chicken.
"Hey! I saw that! And besides, I doubt it's bad luck for me to know if you own the dress or not."
"You're probably right. Would you believe we actually found it? We bought my dress today."
"Are you serious? I figured you would come home in tears and I would have to start getting all Boy-Who-Lived on them."
"No, save that for when we tell my mother."
"We're telling her?"
"Harry! I know she's neither of our favorite persons, but she did give birth to me."
"Yeah, yeah. And for the last 7 years?" he adds, his voice dripping with bitterness.
"I know. Look, it's not like she'll really care. I barely get a birthday card from the woman. Why would she care that I'm getting married?"
"Because weddings are like crack for women?"
I stick my tongue out at him. I know exactly what he's getting at. It's not like Miranda has been part of my life since my first year at Hogwarts.
Most kids have the benefit of knowing that they weren't the demise of their parents' marriage. Not me. I know perfectly well that it was me that caused the divorce. My mother couldn't handle my being a witch. She dealt with it throughout the entire first year and when I got back and told her all about my adventures (I mean, I did face a fully-grown mountain troll and figure out an extremely hard riddle left by a professor!) and about what I had learned, she snapped. She became a bit like Harry's aunt and uncle. She couldn't handle having a freak for a daughter. So, she up and left my father and I.
Yeah, it hurt at first, but Daddy and I learned how to take care of things quite well on our own and I made the decision that I didn't want someone like that in my day-to-day life.
Then, right after the beginning of my fourth year, my father met Emily. I didn't like her at first, but she was dating my father and that doesn't always bode well with Daddy's Girls. Eventually, after my father stopped pushing us, I grew to love her. So did my father. He was tossing around the "M" word after just a short time and I was actually ok with that. But there was one little problem … how would we break the family secret to her? Would she handle it well?
One night, right before I went back to school for fifth year, we had a big dinner and Dad and I decided we would tell her that night. I was tense throughout the entire. I barely ate. Then, my father told her.
"Emily, there's something we want to tell you," he began. "There's a secret we've been keeping from you and we want to finally tell you."
"Daddy, let me do it," I interjected. "Emily, when I turned 11, I got a letter saying that I had been accepted to Hogwarts."
"Your boarding school," she said, obviously confused as to where this was going.
"Yes, my school. But it's not your normal, everyday boarding school. It's … well, it's a school of witchcraft and wizardry."
"Witchcraft?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, but it's not what you're thinking. It's not a cult or anything. It's legitimate magic. I can do spells, potions, all sorts of that stuff. Now, if this makes you uncomfortable …"
"You're a witch?" she asked.
"Yes," I said quietly. I was unsure if she was ok with this or not.
"But not evil?"
"No! Of course not!" my father said, slightly indignant at the thought.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything. But you have to understand, the common opinion of witches isn't really a good one."
"I know. And I take no offense. But there are wonderful witches out there. My professor McGonagall for example. She's a wonderful woman and she can do amazing transfigurations and … sorry, I'm babbling again."
"Emily, what's your opinion on this?" Daddy asked.
"Well, I think it's brilliant! I mean, a witch! How cool!"
I let out a huge breath of relief. I could tell from her face that she meant it.
"So, is that how your father keeps the house so neat when you're not home?" she kidded.
"Oh, no. He's actually gotten quite good at that by himself. And I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school until I'm 17. So, it's all him," I told her.
"Well, it sounds amazing. You'll have to tell me all about this school. So, the friends you talk about all the time, Harry and Ron, they're magic as well?" Emily asked.
"Yes, they're wizards. Harry's an amazing wizard. He's extremely powerful already and he's only 15! Just turned 15 actually."
I could tell from the look that they shared that my father and Emily knew something that they weren't telling me. I blew it off then, but now that I think about it, they were mentally saying, "Harry again!"
"He's the one you kissed at the train station, right?" she asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"Yes, well, that was just a friendly gesture. I mean, he had a very rough year what with the tournament and all that. Plus with Cedric and -"
"Hermione, it was a simple question. I just wanted to see if I could tell who was who. Harry has the dark hair," Emily said.
"And the green eyes, right," I said. And blushed 12 shades of red because I knew I had just given away my crush, big time.
"It's ok, Hermione. I think Harry is quite attractive," she said with a wink.
And with that, we went back to dinner. I did notice though that they kept looking at each other when I would remotely mention Harry.
This marriage has been coming for a long time, and for years the bride and groom barely knew it!
"Look, if you want to tell Miranda, then that's fine. I just know how she upsets you," Harry says, breaking me from my reverie.
"We should. I mean, it's the proper thing, right?"
"Yeah, it is. But you know what that means … we have to tell the Dursleys."
"Well, one problem relative at a time," I say with a nervous laugh.
"Fair enough. Ok, let's eat, everything is ready."
We sit down and begin the delicious meal.
"So, we're going to have to give them a date soon. We can't do a lot of planning until we have the date," I tell Harry.
"Well, I've always pictured a winter wedding."
"You've pictured your wedding?"
"Yes, so what?"
"Well, you're a guy! Guys don't do that, girls do."
"What a sexist thing to say, Miss Granger! Guys can look forward to the day that they marry their soulmate!"
I can tell that although he's got a kidding tone, I have struck a nerve.
"Harry, I'm sorry. I just didn't picture you as one of those guys. You're absolutely right though. I shouldn't make such generalizations."
"Apology accepted. Besides, I needed something to help me defeat Voldemort. If I had something so wonderful to look forward to, I had more motivation to beat him."
"That makes sense. Ok, so we're going for winter. What month?"
Harry gets up to get the pie. "Well, Valentine's Day is in February. And that's almost right in between our birthdays."
I glance at the calendar, trying to figure out when Valentine's Day would be the next year.
"That's a Sunday next year. That could work!"
"Perfect then! A stereotypical wedding!" he says, cutting the pie.
"Not stereotypical, fitting. Symbolic. Valentine's Day is about love and love saved the world, so there you go!"
"You've got me convinced. So, we've got a dress, we've got a date, what else do we need?"
"Let's save that for another day. For now, let's just relax for the rest of the night," I suggest.
"I love that idea! Let's go watch some TV?"
"Wonderful."
"Ok, it's your turn to clean up!" he yells as he grabs what's left of his pie and runs from the room.
I sigh. It's like living with a child some days. I wave my wand and clean the kitchen before joining my husband-to-be on the couch.
I love the fact that this is my forever. For now, there's no insane mothers tossing more white lace on top of me, no biological mothers scowling at my marrying another magical person, no flowers, music or bridal parties to worry about. It's just us. And that's enough for me.
*****
A/N: Ok, the two quotes in the last chapter were: "Chicks dig scars" from "The Replacements." Keanu Reeves' character Shane Falco says it right before the big win. Gold stars to Lady Starlight and SmileyRhi for finding this one!
The other is from "Dodgeball" and it's slightly modified, but it's Patches O'Houlihan's line "Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge." (The 5 D's of dodgeball) I had said that Harry "Dodged, ducked, dipped, and dove" Voldy's curses and later dodged one more.