The Wedding
The days counting down to the wedding seemed either much too slow, like at the start of December when the 25th seemed to be ages away, or go super fast, like the week before the wedding. The last week went by in a rush, somehow there were a million and one things that had to be sorted all of a sudden. The photographer owled to say he had double-booked and couldn't be at the wedding, but could be there the next day if they could possibly hold off the wedding until then? Luna crumpled up the parchment after reading the letter aloud to Ginny and Hermione and tossed it in the fire. All three of them were curled up in armchairs by the fireplace in the Burrow's living room, mugs of hot chocolate balanced precariously on the sides of their chairs rapidly cooling, or, in Hermione's case, hovering efficiently at elbow height, revolving slowly over a tiny blue flame that kept it at a perfect drinking temperature.
"Hmmm have we asked Perfect Poise photographers yet?" Luna asked, chewing on the end of her quill, staring at the long list of names in front of her.
Hermione leaned over and frowned at the list. "Yes, I owled them yesterday, remember? They're all booked up until February. What about Mirage? Or Grindal and Sparks'?" she suggested as Luna crossed off another name from the list. Ginny shook her head and reached for her drink and took a sip, then grabbed her wand and warmed up her drink, glaring at Hermione as she plucked her own from the revolving fire and sipped the perfect tasting drink.
"I got owls from both those companies today" Ginny told Luna "Both are fully booked, sorry." Luna nodded and crossed another two off the list. She sighed and soon the list followed the previous parchment into the fire. She sat and watched it burn for a few seconds with glazed eyes then blinked and glanced back at Ginny and Hermione and looked vaguely annoyed. "I really need to get this sorted you know" she said and got up, knocking her hot chocolate off the chair in the process.
Hermione flicked her wand over the broken mess and it promptly disappeared, not leaving even a stain. Luna smiled in thanks and wandered off to find a new mug. Ginny sat in thought for a long time, staring vacantly at the fire. "Oooh I've got it!" she suddenly said, clapping her hands together. Both Hermione and Luna jumped at her sudden outburst, causing Luna's second cup to smash on the floor. "Colin Creevy!" Ginny said, smiling. "You've invited him to the wedding, and you know that he's just trying to start up a new photography business. Well, why not hire him for the pictures? It will be cheap pictures for you, and a great start to Colin's career. Your wedding has been mentioned in the prophet and in the Quibbler - of course - so if Colin sells them the pictures he'll be happy! He'd be so pleased that you asked him Luna, you really should." Ginny said imploringly. Luna nodded and said she'd owl him straight away.
They got an owl back the next morning saying Colin would be delighted to be the official photographer for their wedding. With that sorted, they could get on with planning the reception and seating plans. Luckily, everyone got on very well and so there were not too many complications deciding where everyone was going to sit, much to Luna's relief.
Finally Christmas arrived, and with it mountains of snow. They had decided to have both the actual wedding and the reception at Hogwarts, which was the largest place they could think of, and also the least expensive and safest. So they all travelled on the Knight Bus to Hogwarts on Christmas Eve, and arrived, much to Ron and Harry's delight, in time for dinner. They had a warm welcome at Hogwarts, and soon everyone was feeling at home among the few students who had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas. "Just like old times Harry!" Ron said heartily as he shovelled heaps of food into his mouth with Hermione watching disgustedly. She leaned over to him "Ron, if you continue to eat like that, you wont fit into your suit tomorrow." she said sweetly. Ron instantly turned a nasty shade of green and pushed his plate away. Fred was sitting next to Ron and grinned and caught Hermione's eye. "That was such a cheap shot" he said "mentioning 'ickle Ronniekins' wedding to him while he's so nervous. Next you'll be saying that Luna will run off with the best man." he said, grinning evilly. Ron went from green to white and excused himself quickly, probably to check he could still fit into his suit, and Luna hadn't run off with Harry. Ginny grinned at Hermione and they left together to go to the guest rooms where they were staying. They were sharing a room in the East Wing of the castle, the coldest part in Ginny's opinion. "Why do the guest rooms have to be in this part of the bloody castle?" she grumbled as an icy breeze swept past them, making her shiver. Hermione grimaced in agreement and huddled into her cloak. She turned as she heard her name being shouted and Harry jogged up to them and flashed Ginny a quick smile and turned his attention back to Hermione. "Hey, you seen the new books they've got in the Library?" he asked, in an oh-so-subtle 'come to my room' request. Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione, who grinned back and mouthed "men" before grabbing Harry's hand and walking off, leaving Ginny alone on the draughty corridor, feeling quite neglected from coupledom. She sighed and headed back towards her room. On the way she passed a very, very nice looking guy, all dark and handsome, who smiled sexily at her. Ginny smiled back in a slightly confused way.
"Hey Ginny" Mr Dark&Handsome said. Ginny frowned. "Do I know…. Oh my god! Dean Thomas!! You've changed so much!" Ginny gushed, looking him up and down again. She hadn't seen him for a year, but hadn't really looked at him for the last three, not since she started dating Draco. She realised he had said something while she had been staring. "I'm sorry…what?" she asked. so very cool Ginny, look at you go! she thought sarcastically.
Dean smiled. "I said, I'm sorry to hear about Malfoy turning out to be a complete bastard, you two seemed to be great together…you…you're not still with him are you? Not now he's turned to You-know-who?" he asked cautiously, studying her face.
Ginny hesitated a second before shaking her head and answering. "No, I'm not with him any more. We split up at the end of my 6th year - when you all graduated. He went to join Voldemort with his father, so we split up."
Dean frowned. "That must have been hard, after all his talk of changing, he turns back to his old ways." Ginny shrugged and kept her face blank. She obviously couldn't tell Dean the truth, but she hated lying like this. She decided to change the subject. They spent the next half hour talking about life after Hogwarts and how things are going. They got on to the subject of work and Ginny told him all about her studies for Healing and how nervous she was about the upcoming exam. She asked him what he did now. Dean grinned. "I'm an Unspeakable actually." he said and laughed at her surprised expression. "I know, it's odd isn't it? Totally ruins your social life, I hardly go out at all up until now, when I got the invite for Ron's wedding. Wouldn't miss it for the world." he said. "And here's the man himself!" He was looking over Ginny's shoulder at Ron approaching them with a dazed expression on his face. He reached them and slumped against the wall. "Oh hi Dean, glad you could come." he said vaguely, looking slightly ill. He gave them a smile that ended up more like a grimace. "Well, I s'pose I should go to sleep now…big day tomorrow…" he said, a terrified look in his eyes. He wandered off to find his room and Ginny giggled. "Bless him! He's so silly. Anyway, I guess I should be going as well, so goodnight Dean." she said and smiled at him. Dean smiled back. "Night Ginny" he said and kissed her cheek and walked off. Ginny watched him go with a mixture of emotions.
She walked to her room and went in, seeing Hermione wasn't back yet, so she ran a bath and had a long soak, mulling over her confusing feelings. Dean was so handsome, and seemed like such a great guy. He was interesting, and had an exciting job. He was obviously keen on her. So what was wrong with her? Shouldn't she want to see him again? Get to know him better? well I do! she thought he's so nice, I really do want to see him again. But what about Draco? Have I given up on him? Of course you have! He's a mean, cruel, evil bastard who doesn't deserve your love! Whereas Dean…
Ginny sighed and got out of the bath and pulled on her nightdress. She climbed into bed and replayed the conversation she had had with Dean. He really was nice. Yes, she would definitely want to get to know him better…
But when she fell asleep her dreams were filled with cold silver eyes, silently telling her she was betraying him.
Ginny awoke so the sound of Hermione's shower-singing in the bathroom and winced as her friend hit a high note, very out of tune. Hermione's singing is definitely not a welcome sound any time of the day, especially not at half past eight in the morning. Ginny reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and stumbled over to the mirror and cringed when she saw her reflection. Her hair was a total mess after a night tossing and turning, and there were dark circles under her eyes. "Great" she muttered, reaching for her wand. After a series of complex spells she finally got her hair to look sleek and shiny, and nodded in satisfaction before turning her attention to the horrible circles under her green eyes. Hermione came out of the bathroom, towel round her head and smiled at Ginny. "Good morning!" she said, uncoiling the towel from her head and rubbing her hair with it, sending water droplets all over Ginny. "Oops sorry Gin! By the way, when are you going to get changed?" she asked.
Ginny shrugged. "Dunno… whenever you are I suppose. We're meant to be going to Luna's room at ten for breakfast and to get her ready. It's nine now, so I think we should probably start getting ready now, we've only got an hour."
Hermione stared at Ginny in horror when she heard this and grabbed her wand and started to turbo-dry her hair with hot air, the towel laying discarded at her feet. "I knew I should have got up earlier! I thought we would have more time!" she muttered hysterically. Ginny just rolled her eyes and got changed into her bridesmaid dress, careful not to crease it. She then fixed her hair and make-up, attacking those dark circles vigorously while Hermione rushed around, frantically dumping half a bottle of Sleek-easy's on her head. Finally they were ready and made their way to Luna's room down the corridor to help her get ready.
Two hours later they were waiting in an anti-chamber outside the Great Hall, all three looking nervous. Luna's dad was with them, telling Luna how beautiful she looked. Music from the Great Hall suddenly started up and Luna jumped and went pale. Her dad took her arm firmly and steered her towards the door, ushering Ginny and Hermione in front of them. The door opened and Ginny took a deep breath and stepped in, side by side with Hermione, and walked up the main aisle, Luna and her dad a few paces behind.
Draco had managed to get a day away from his family today, much to his relief. His mother was spending Christmas day with her sister-in-law, and his father was busy terrorising mudbloods. So he found himself leaning against the wall of the Great Hall at Hogwarts under an invisibility cloak he had 'borrowed', waiting for Ginny to come in. he knew she was going to be a bridesmaid, and he couldn't resist the chance to see her again. He knew how cut up she would have been about that letter he sent her in the summer, he hadn't heard from her since. Not that he expected to really. He really wanted what was best for her, and that meant being as far away from him as possible. The worst thing he could do would be to show himself to her today, or contact her again. Yet he couldn't resist coming to this wedding, just to see her, one last time. That was what he told himself, he would stop thinking about her after this, he would move on. His thoughts were interrupted as music started to play and the doors of the Great Hall opened wide, and in walked the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Ginny was wearing a simple dark green dress, cut stylishly. It brought out the green in her eyes, which sparkled with happiness. Her fiery hair was piled up on top of her head in curls, with a few tresses of hair loose, framing her face. She took his breathe away and he suddenly felt a surge of longing and loneliness so strong it became almost a physical pain.
It took all of his self-restraint to stay where he was through the whole ceremony with Ginny standing so close and looking so stunning. He watched her every move, studying all the ways she had changed since he last saw her. That had been well over a year ago now, the summer before last. He saw her catch the eye of a good-looking man sitting near the front and saw them exchange smiles. Draco's blood ran cold. Had she found someone else? He studied the man carefully, and finally realised it was Dean Thomas. He recalled that Ginny had dated Thomas for awhile before she started dating him. Draco's face darkened. He wanted so curse Thomas right now, make him sorry he had even looked at Ginny like that. But Dumbledore's eyes flicked towards him and Draco reluctantly took his hand out of his pocket and let go of his wand. He scowled at Dumbledore - the man could see through invisibility cloaks obviously. He knew too damned much.
Draco lingered awhile after the ceremony finished, but soon left, feeling that he couldn't trust himself to be in the same room as Thomas any more without something unfortunate happening to him. He saw Ginny walking straight over to the pathetic excuse for a man as soon as she had congratulated her brother and Lovegood. He noticed Thomas whispering in her ear and smiling at her, and Ginny giggling back, eyes all lit up and happy-looking. He couldn't stand it, he didn't want to watch this any more. So he stormed out, a few people looking around curiously as the door of the Great Hall seemingly opened and then slammed shut by itself. She deserves to be happy he thought, then angrily told himself to shut up because she should have been happy with him, not Dean bloody Thomas. He stalked out of the castle and across the grounds to Hogsmeade, where he would be able to apparate away. He was conscious of Dumbledore's eyes on his back the whole time and when he reached the gates he turned to see Dumbledore standing on the steps by the door, watching him. The old wizard raised a hand and turned back inside. Draco suddenly felt he had passed some sort of test. He shook his head and disapparated.