A/N: This story may never end. It keeps getting bigger in my head. But we're getting there! Thanks to everyone who's taking this journey with Harry and Hermione! And a special thanks to those who reviewed! It only takes a few seconds and it really brightens my day!
Sorry for the delay in updating. Real life can really get you sometimes!! And I'll admit, there was a serious drop in reviews and it hurt the self-confidence a bit. But, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
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Now that my mother's little visit is over, we're preparing for Ron and Luna's wedding. It's in three days and tensions are running high. Planning two big weddings is quite a chore. Even if Ron and Luna wanted a small wedding, there's no such thing in the Weasley family. Small to them is huge to others and that's just with immediate family!
Currently, we're sitting around Ron and Luna's kitchen table getting those last minute details out of the way.
"Flowers?" I ask.
"To be delivered at the Burrow at 10," Luna replies.
"Dress?"
"Locked away in my father's attic."
"Something old?"
"My great-grandmother's pearls."
"Something new?"
"My gown … and our baby," she says as she places her hands on her stomach.
"Good one! Ok, something borrowed?"
"Your earrings. Thanks by the way."
"No problem, and your something blue?"
"My garter is blue."
"Perfect. Ok, what else?" I think out loud.
"Good luck, mate. If this is how a small wedding goes, I'd hate to see your affair to remember," I hear Ron say as he once again begins to wallop Harry at chess.
"You get to do it twice, Ron. Twice," Harry counters.
Ron mutters something and then makes a huge move against Harry. "But I'll always beat you at chess."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not beaten yet! Ladies, how's it going over there?" Harry calls.
"Just fine, sweetheart. Thank you!" I reply, hoping that neither of the boys will get in the way. "Ok, so, we're all meeting over here at 11, right?"
"Yeah. We'll decorate, we'll get ready, we'll do each other's hair and we'll see if we can spot a 5-eared Miskinip. They're native to this area, you know. They're rare, but extremely good luck if you see one on your wedding day."
I nod quietly, hoping that I was making a convincing face. "Ok, we can do all of that. Harry and I have the rings. The candles are in the attic here. Is there anything we're forgetting?"
"Not that I can think of, but if something comes up, we'll fix it. This will be a perfect day. I can feel it in the wind," Luna tells us.
"Luna, we're inside," Ron says, obviously confused and not intending to hurt her feelings.
"Oh, Ronald!" she giggles. "Of course we are!" And with that she heads towards the kitchen.
"Mental, that one. I used to think no one could beat Hermione in that department, but you've met your match in that one. I love her dearly, but she's mental," Ron says, shaking his head.
"Ok, well, I'm going to go tell her bye. She's probably snacking. Then we should get going since I've got some work to do in the library," I say as I stand up.
"Tell her bye for me as well, please," Harry says, barely looking up from the board. He looks likes a bomb technician that is trying to decide what wire to cut. Once he finally makes his move, Ron gets a look of conquest on his face and I know it's over. I walk to the kitchen and share a cookie with Luna before leaving.
After the adventures we've been having, it's nice to just have a peaceful day. It is so relaxing to finally get back to my library.
I love my work, there's really no getting around it.
When Madame Pince asked if I would take the position now that she was moving to France and taking the Librarian job at Beauxbatons, I was honored!! She joked that I probably knew the library at Hogwarts better than she did. And she was probably right.
Now, as I sit here and continue to inventory the Restricted Section (wondering if Harry, Ron and I have returned everything we borrowed), I think of just how right my life has become. I'm happy with my job, I love my fiancé, I've got a wonderful family, and supportive friends, and I've got a wedding to plan!!! And in true Hermione Granger fashion, all those happy thoughts come crashing down under the weight of the pressure of this wedding.
I instantly grab a quill and some parchment. I need to make a list.
Invitations, we'll need those. Vows, we still need to write those. Finalize the guest list, plan my shower, authorize whatever Ron and Sirius have planned for Harry's bachelor party, convince Ginny not to go overboard for my bachelorette party ….
Why haven't I done any of this???
I quickly put away my inventory and survey the library. It looks better than it has in years, so I lock up and run home.
There's too much to do!!
I grab a handful of Floo powder, jump into the fireplace cry out "The Potter flat!" and am whisked home.
Harry is seated on the couch, working on lesson plans when I burst from the flames.
"Harry! Why are you just sitting there??"
"Hermione! What's wrong?!"
"The wedding! Do you know how quickly it's approaching?!"
"Mione, I think you're overreacting, just a bit," Harry says, with that fear in his eyes that I've come to recognize. It's that look that says, "Oh Lord, here she goes again and I don't want any of that energy coming at me in a negative way!"
The man defeated Voldemort, played dozens of death-defying Quidditch games, and lived through the Tri-Wizard tournament ... but he can't handle his fiancée. Sad.
"I am not overreacting!" I scream. After a pause, I figure I could be pushing the envelope, just a bit. "All right, I am. But it's not without just cause, Harry. We've got so much to get done and time is slipping away!"
"It's ok, love. We're going to be ok. And this wedding will be beautiful. You'll see. Now, come over here and sit on the couch and let's talk."
Harry leads me to the couch and I take a deep breath.
"Good. Now, what's first on your list?"
"Well, we need invitations," I tell him.
"Great, I've got tons of catalogs, right over here," he says as he reaches over the arm of the couch and produces 5 different invitation catalogs. "I had about 20, but these 5 supply invitations that can go by owl post or by Muggle mail."
I beam. Just when I began to think that Harry didn't care about this wedding, he went and proved me wrong. I hope he never stops surprising me (like this, that is).
"Can we go through them now?" I ask like a little girl.
"Of course."
Harry hands me the first catalog and we begin to peruse them. There sure are a lot of ... unique invitations out there.
Now, no offense to any brides who like the unique or the off the wall, but we were really looking for more traditional looking invitations. Some of these fold out into strange shapes, some look like modern art type deals with splotchy colors and one (I kid you not) briefly turns into a town crier and screams the wedding information at the guests. I'm guessing those are just for magical guests.
Now, some invitations are very cute as well. Some have Disney characters and some have cowboy themes. And then, as I'm almost ready to give up hope ... there it is.
"Hermione," Harry whispers.
"That's it," I reply.
We're both staring at a wonderfully simple invitation that has a castle at the top of a hill and a princess with her prince, riding their horse towards the castle.
"It's us," he says.
I just nod dumbly.
"And I can just see it, Sunday, February 14, 2000, our names, Hogwarts -"
Suddenly, I scream.
"Hermione! What's wrong?" Harry asks worriedly.
"Harry! We can't get married on that date!"
"Why not? It's Valentine's Day?"
"And it's a Monday!"
"Huh?" Harry goes to check a calendar and sure enough, February 14, 2000 is a Monday.
"Oh," he quietly replies.
"It's all ruined! I don't want to get married on the 13th!"
"Now, hold on! What's wrong with Monday?"
"What's wrong with it?" I repeat incredulously. "It's a Monday!"
He's still staring at me with that look from school, meaning he's got no clue where I'm going with this.
"Harry, it's a Monday ... in a school?"
"Oh! You're worried about classes!" he yells triumphantly. Yes, just like school days.
"Well, of course I'm worried about classes!"
"Mione, look, you know I hate to use my fame, but don't you think that we could get Dumbledore to cancel classes that day? I mean, it is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's wedding day!"
I can't believe I'm going to say this. "Do you think he'd do it?"
Harry instantly stops. "Wait, the great Madame Granger is allowing? She'd close her library that day?"
"I would and I will if Dumbledore will allow us! Can we go see him now?" I ask as I stand up and head towards the fireplace.
"Well, maybe we should at least announce ourselves before we go sliding into his office," Harry says, catching my arm before I can dig into the Floo powder.
"Fine, fine," I whine. "You're the one that still slides. I can land," I mutter as I wait.
Harry bends down and calls for Dumbledore's office. After a brief chat, he's crawling back and beckoning me to follow him.
Within an instant, we're back in the office we spent more time in than the average student should.
"Harry! Hermione! How wonderful to see you both. Now, what is this favor I can do for you?" Dumbledore cries with open arms.
"Professor! It's all my fault! I wasn't paying any attention," I begin wailing as I fling myself into his arms. Both of the men in the room knew I was upset because I had reverted back to student Hermione Granger and called Dumbledore "Professor." Ever since we began working at the school, he insisted we call him Albus when not around students.
"Miss Granger!" he calls me, hoping to snap me back to attention. "What on earth is the problem?"
"I scheduled the wedding on the wrong day!"
"It's not on the 14th?" he asks.
"Well, it was supposed to be, but that's a Monday and we can't just have a wedding here because classes will be taking place!"
"No they won't," he says simply.
"No?" Harry asks.
"Of course not. When you had asked me if you could hold your wedding here on Valentine's Day, I looked at the day. I noticed it was a Monday, so I cancelled all classes."
"You did that for Harry?" I ask, wiping my eyes.
"I did it for both of you. Besides, I'd like to think of Harry Potter's wedding day as a bit of a holiday. Why shouldn't the students have the day off? We should be celebrating happy occasions after such a dark time. As long as you won't mind some curious eyes."
"Well, of course the great Potter wedding is going to attract attention," I concede.
"Yes, quite right. For if you don't mind me saying so, this is history in the making. Students should want to be a part of this!" Dumbledore tells us.
"I don't know if it's history," I say. "It's not like we're royalty or anything."
"Well, that's where you're wrong, for several reasons, Hermione," Albus begins.
"You see, we've known for some time that Harry is a direct descendent of Godric Gryffindor, but what was not known to either of you was that Gryffindor was a king."
I can't believe what I'm hearing.
"Now, these traditions died away long ago, but believe me when I say that this is a royal wedding. Gryffindor was the greatest king the magical community has ever known. That is why Hogwarts flourished so. Why do you think the mascot is a lion for the Gryffindors?"
I instantly blush.
"You always thought it was the name, didn't you, Hermione?" he asks.
Dumbly, I nod at Albus.
"Don't be ashamed of that assumption. It makes perfect sense, especially to a Muggle-born who wouldn't know that far into the past. No offense, of course!" he quickly adds.
"None taken, Albus. We can't change what we are, only what we make of it."
"Well spoken, Hermione, well spoken indeed. Now, is there anything further you need me for?"
"I don't think so, Albus. Thanks so much for your help," Harry says, shaking Albus' hand.
"It's my pleasure, Harry. And Hermione, if you ever have another panic attack about the wedding, just remember to breathe. And consider what happened at Harry's parents wedding. Sirius thought he forgot the rings up until 2 minutes before the ceremony. Luckily I had them the entire time. All things will work out fine." He winks at us with that look that always told me he was just as full as mischief as Harry.
"Ok, well, thank you so much, Albus. We'll be talking to you soon," I say with a quick hug.
Harry follows me to the fireplace and we're spinning back home. I land gracefully first and instinctively prepare to catch Harry, but today he actually lands correctly.
"So that's how you do it!" he exclaims as he takes a step forward. He smiles at me and then continues, "Ok, invitations, check. Date confirmation, check. What's next?"
"Well, we're going to need to write our vows. Do you know what you want to say?" I ask.
"Um, I have no idea. But I've only been to one wedding in my entire life and that was when I was 8 and there was no baby sitter for me that day."
"Oh." I'm not going to go there right now. Bloody Dursleys. "Well, would you want traditional vows? Or would you rather write your own?"
"Mione, when have we ever done things conventionally? Let's write our own. Merlin knows we've always done things our own way!"
"You make a good point," I tell him. "Ok, you have one week to write your vows."
"I have wedding homework?" he whines.
"Yes. Now, what else will we need to take care of?"
"Well, let's finish up the guest list. Then we'll order the invitations."
"Good plan!" I grab some parchment and begin to write our list. "Ok, on my side there's Mum and Dad, my aunt Rachel, my Grandma Ruth and her sister Betty. That's probably about it. Oh, and my mother. That's 6."
"No one on your mother's side?"
"Nope, her parents have both passed away and she had no siblings. My grandfather's sister never liked me anyway, so I'm done."
"Ok, well, my only family is the Dursleys and we know how we feel about them. So, that leaves Sirius, Remus and Tonks, and the Weasleys for my family. Ok, total there's Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, Julienne and Joseph, Charlie and Sarah (and baby by then), Percy and Penny, Fred and Angelina, George and Alicia, Ron and Luna, and Ginny. Wow! That's 20 right there."
"I expected that. So, how about friends? Neville, obviously. And Seamus agreed to DJ, so we should invite Dean as well. Lavender and Parvati. Colin will be there taking pictures. We should probably invite Padma and Dennis as well. Would you like to invite Oliver Wood?"
"I'd like that. That way my first Quidditch team can be there."
"Is there anyone else?"
"No, but we should probably leave empty space for the students that sneak in," Harry proposes.
"It feels so weird to think that strangers will want to come to our wedding."
"Maybe we should invite the 5th years and up since we went to school with them. That will just cover our bases."
"Harry, I can't believe that you're suggesting inviting all these people."
"I know, but we owe a lot to all those that fought with us, so maybe this is a way to say thanks: inviting them to the party of the century."
I laugh. It's nice to see Harry excited about this.
But I still have to mention it.
"Harry … what about the press?"
"What about them?"
"Well, you know the press will want to be there."
"Well, it's not their wedding, so they can just butt out!" he says harshly. I know he's not snapping at me. But I just feel bad putting him through it.
"Harry, do you honestly think the press will stay away just because we ask nicely? You know they'll be trying to hang from the rafters."
"We'll have Dumbledore set up wards."
"Which I have no doubt he'll do. But do you think that will stop them from trying? Harry, what if someone gets hurt in the crossfire?"
"Hermione, don't you think you're overreacting … again?"
"Not this time Harry. I just want this day to go off without a hitch."
"And it will. How about a compromise? No cameras in the Great Hall, but we'll do a few photo ops for our adoring fans after the ceremony, ok? If that doesn't appease them, then tough."
"That's fair. Thank you, Harry."
"Anything for you, Mione. Anything. So, anything else?"
"Well, for now. I still have to approve Ron's ideas for your bachelor party and convince Ginny that I don't want a night of raunchy strip clubs."
"Good luck with that."
"I think I'll need it," I say with a roll of my eyes.
And as we cuddle on the couch, and more plans race though my head for the upcoming weddings, I realize that Harry really would do anything for me. I am the luckiest woman on the earth. And this wedding will be beautiful no matter what because it comes from our love.