TWO
The following day Hermione got out of work early. She was supposed to spend the night at Ginny and Luna's as well as a couple of days at the Burrow and she still hadn't packed. Hoping that at the last minute something - that might keep her from going - would come up, she had not gotten her things ready.
But she promised Ron she'd be at his wedding. After all, he was one of her best friends and she had to be there for him on such a special occasion. Besides, Ginny had sworn to jinx her 'till next year if she didn't go.
Dragging her bag to the fireplace, after kissing Eric good-bye, Hermione flooed to her friends' place. It was a nice two-bedroom house, which Ginny and Luna had gotten a couple of years back. They were both working at The Quibbler. Luna's father had retired and left the magazine in his daughter's hands. With Ginny's help, the publication had turned into a more serious, fact-reliable magazine.
"Hermione! How are you?" came Luna's excited voice as Hermione stepped out of the green flames. After hearing that, Ginny, Alicia and Angelina quickly came over to hug her hello.
"It's been ages!" said Angelina while crushing Hermione's bones in a tight embrace. "How are you?"
Alicia, who was good at noticing certain things, took Hermione's left hand in both hers and lifted it up so everyone could see the engagement ring Hermione was wearing.
"Well… I think she's been doing great, don't you?"
At the sight of the stone, the girls scream excitedly urging Hermione to give every detail about the proposal and, most importantly, her fiancé.
"Fred and I are engaged too, you know?" announced Angelina. "We're getting married next April."
After Hermione responded to most of their questions, minus the specific-sex-related ones, they settled down in the living room talking about Luna's wedding.
"What do you reckon the guys are doing right now?" asked Alicia, taking a sip from her cup of tea.
"I don't even want to think about it," replied Angelina quickly. Hermione looked curiously at them. She had no idea what they were talking about. Seeing her puzzled expression, Ginny informed her.
"They're having Ron's bachelor party right now," she said. "George, Fred, Charlie, Neville, Harry and, of course, Ron, started early today."
"I'd say they started since yesterday," Angelina quickly added. She seemed not very happy about Fred's participation in it.
Hermione smiled. "Really?" she said.
"They must be pretty wasted by now," said Luna. She didn't seem to give it as much importance as Angelina. In fact, she seemed amused.
"Honey, they're not just drinking," stated Angelina. "I'm sure they are just using this Ron's bachelor party thing as an excuse to go out and do Merlin-knows-what with Merlin-knows-who."
"But why did they wait so long to have the party?" asked Hermione. "With the wedding in two days?"
"I know, they should've partied ages ago," responded Luna. "But the season just ended this past weekend and Ron didn't want to do it while they still had matches to play."
Both Harry and Ron were professional quidditch players. They had signed a contract with the Chudley Cannons (Ron's all time favourite team), whose luck had totally changed since the two Hogwarts graduates had joined the team.
"Aren't you afraid that Ron might not make it on time tomorrow?" Angelina asked Luna.
"No," said Luna honestly, not even a bit of doubt in her voice.
"What makes you so sure?" wondered Alicia.
"Ron knows what's good for him…" she said looking at her fingernails. Then she added, "Plus, Molly won't let that happen."
"That's a better guarantee, if you ask me," said Alicia laughing. After a while, she added, "Anyhow, I still think it's not fair. Yours wasn't like that!" she said talking to Luna.
"Why not?" asked Hermione. She had missed it because it had been held on Eric's birthday.
"Molly was there," said Luna.
An "Oh!" came out of Hermione and they all laughed.
"Well," suddenly said Alicia. "We can still make up for it."
She stood up and headed to the kitchen. The rest of the girls, curious to know what she was on about, followed her. Alicia started opening the kitchen cabinets as if looking for something specifically. She didn't seem to find what she was looking for, though.
"I'll be right back," she said.
Right after that, she disapparated. The girls looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, having no idea where she had gone. Ten minutes later, she came back carrying limes and several bottles in her arms.
"Tequila?" said Ginny, half amused half intrigued. "What are you going to do with this?"
"You'll see…" Alicia replied. "An American friend of mine showed me how to make this wonderful drink."
Alicia quickly busied herself crushing ice and mixing the contents of her bottles. The other girls paying close attention to the entire process.
"Ladies… This is a Frozen Margarita," Alicia announced, handing each girl a glass.
They all quickly took the drinks and toasted to the bride's happiness. All of them, with the exception of Luna, carefully sipped the drink to taste its flavor. Luna, however, took a good glug at once.
"Uh… uh… uh… uh…" complained Luna with a hand to her forehead and her eyes tightly shut.
"Brain freeze!" said Alicia, while laughing her head off.
A minute later, Luna seemed to have regained the ability to speak. "This tastes good!" she said, causing all the girls to laugh.
In less than twenty minutes, Alicia needed to prepare another round of Margaritas. The atmosphere started getting a little hotter in the room. Soon enough music started coming out of a muggle CD player. All time hits from the Weird Sisters made the girls move to the beat, bringing them memories of their Hogwarts years.
After a few more drinks, Luna jumped in top of the coffee table and started to dance. She had started to drink tequila straight from the bottle.
"Well…" said an unstable Luna. "Wh… whatever the guys are do…ing…" Hermione held Luna's elbow so she wouldn't fall, "th…they're not having… as much fu…un as we are."
The Weird Sisters were soon forgotten and replaced by muggle music. Lenny Kravitz' "I'm crazy for this little lady… I'm begging for this little lady, 'cause I tell you she's so good, she's divine…" closely followed by the BackStreet Boys' "If you want it to be good girl, get yourself a bad boy…", among others kept the girls dancing and drinking until well into the night.
--- * --- * --- * ---
Not even the alcohol made Hermione sleep. Around 4 in the morning, the girls had finally fallen asleep in the living room amidst a see of empty bottles, including Ginny and Luna - they had not made it to their beds. By 7 o'clock, Hermione was already up with a bad headache and a dry mouth.
Knowing that her friends would be suffering from the same symptoms, she went to the kitchen and started concocting a potion to relieve the hang over. To help the girls make it through the day without a restful night's sleep, Hermione also added a few of the basic ingredients of the Pepperup potion.
An hour later, she woke them up and made sure they emptied the goblets containing the potion. By 9:30 a.m., they were on their way to the Burrow on Ginny's car (She, like her father, had a certain fascination for muggle's artifacts). Molly was expecting them for breakfast. When they got there, they were welcomed by the smell of coffee and freshly baked bread.
"Girls! I'm glad you're all here," Mrs. Weasley greeted, walking up to them. "And just in time, breakfast is ready!"
They all hugged and kissed Molly hello before helping themselves to eggs and bacon.
"Where's Dad?" asked Ginny, sitting down at the table.
"He went to check on the boys." The girls looked at each other and hid their giggles. "He'll be back in a bit."
Minutes later, Amanda (Charlie's wife) arrived with her two little boys, Daniel, who was 4, and Michael, who was 2. The kids went running to say hello to grandma, who covered their little faces with kisses. Just then, Arthur apparated in.
"How great to see my kitchen full of people!"
"Grandpa!" called the kids as they run to hug him. The girls stood up and greeted Mr. Weasley.
"How are the boys?" asked Molly, placing a big plate of eggs and bacon in front of him after he had sat down at the table.
"They're, uh…" Arthur looked at his wife, trying to choose the rights words, but not being able to find anything suitable, he just smiled. "They're fine." Then getting back to his plate, he added, "They should be getting in around noon, I expect."
"They'd better!" threatened Molly.
--- * --- * --- * ---
Hermione and the girls spent all morning helping Molly get the house clean and ready for the guests. Only the family and their closest friends would be attending the Rehearsal Dinner, but a larger crowd had been invited to the wedding. All of the Weasleys, Neville, Harry, Hermione, Alicia and Angelina were spending the night at the Burrow.
Now that Arthur was the new Minister of Magic, the economic situation of the family had improved considerably. They could've easily afforded a bigger house. Molly and Arthur, however, would never leave the house their kids grew up in. They were now quite glad to see their grandkids running and playing in the same backyard their father had.
At least, the Burrow was now in a better condition than before, and they didn't have to buy hand-me-downs anymore. A very handy temporary level had been added to the house to accommodate all the guests. It'd be removed after the wedding.
After lunch Ginny, Luna and Hermione were in the kitchen with Molly getting things ready for dinner when the guys finally arrived. They went straight to the kitchen - being that the center of the house. Hermione, who was pealing potatoes, took a deep breath, but didn't raise her head. Ron went straight to his bride-to-be and kissed her hello.
"What did you guys do last night?" asked Luna, looking inquisitively at him.
Ron looked at the twins. They were in the other side of the room, talking to their girls, who had walked in after them. With a small smile, Ron looked back at Luna. "I'm sorry babe, but I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Cause I can't remember a damn thing!" he responded between giggles.
"How convenient!" quickly added Angelina from the other side of the room, making them all laugh.
"Hermione!" Ron said walking to her and pulling her in a bone-breaking hug. "I'm so happy to see you." He pulled away and placed a kiss in each of her cheeks. "You sure have been playing hard to get, haven't you?
Harry was standing a couple of feet away, watching his two best friends. Inevitably, Hermione's eyes found his. He looked different from the last time she'd seen him, five years ago. All trace of the kid he used to be was gone and had been replaced by the imposing figure of a gorgeous man. The hard quidditch training he had had to endure during the last years, did wonders to his body.
Broad shoulders, firm chest, muscular arms, strong legs and a yummy behind made him look better than ever. The only things that hadn't changed were his lovely raven messy hair, his black round glasses, his gorgeous green eyes, and the scar in his forehead, which had caused him so much physical and emotional pain.
Ron pulled away and looked at her from head to toes. "You look great!"
She did look great. She was wearing her favorite blue jeans, a short light green t-shirt, and her long curls were tied in a ponytail, making her look younger. The fine dark lines under her eyes were discretely covered with make-up, but Ron didn't notice. He only thought she looked a little thinner than he remembered.
Hermione looked at her redhead friend with questioning eyes. "You've been drinking, right?"
Ron looked at his wristwatch, and then responded. "Not for the last hour."
Hermione slapped him playfully in the arm. As she did that, he noticed something shiny in her hand. To confirm his suspicion, Ron took her hand up and looked closely at her ring.
"What's this?" he said in a rather loud voice.
Right after Ron said that, everyone turned to them. Molly, who had not noticed the ring before, made a squeaking noise and ran towards her. Hermione found herself bombarded by the same type of questions Angelina and Alicia had thrown at her the day before. She now wished she'd left the ring in her purse.
"Are you engaged, dear?" asked Molly quite excitedly.
Hermione had no other choice, but to say yes. Everyone started congratulating her with kisses and hugs - everyone, but Harry. He had remained rooted to the same spot, feeling like his stomach had dropped to the floor. Knowing that he couldn't stand there all day, he followed Mr. Weasley to the backyard without saying a word.
--- * --- * --- * ---
The rest of the afternoon went by sooner than expected. The boys helped Arthur getting things ready in the backyard. Since the kitchen wasn't large enough for all of them, dinner was going to be served there. In the meantime, the girls led by Molly got dinner ready.
Finally, they all gathered for dinner. Fresh flowers had been set in the table along with the wonderful dishes Molly and the girls prepared. Ron and Luna were heading the table. Luna had her father and Ginny at her side. Ron had asked Harry and Hermione to sit next to him.
"Oy People!" called out Ron to get everyone's attention. "I want to make a special toast to my lovely girl, whom I love very much."
They all stood up and raised their glasses. Ron took Luna's hands in his and placed a soft kiss on them. After they took a sip of their glass, Luna placed both hers and Ron's down, grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed passionately his lips, making them all laugh.
For seven years, Harry and Hermione had sat together at the Gryffindor table three times a day during meals. Now that they were once again eating right next to each other, they were tense, trying their best not to rub each other's arm.
Time had also worked in Hermione's favor. Just like the ugly duckling - not that she was ever ugly - she had transformed into a beautiful swam. She had learned to take care and tame her brown hair. Her brown curls bounced naturally and looked shiny and healthy - though she had them tied in the back of her head that night. Soft curves defined her figure. Her skin had a soft glow. Just as Harry's, the one thing that remained the same were her pretty brown eyes that twinkled when she smiled.
Being right next to her, Harry could smell her wonderful scent. A scent he had never found in anybody else.
"So, you're getting married, right?" said Harry after a while. Their conversation had only gone around the usual "how-are-you-I'm-fine" polite stuff.
"Yeah," replied Hermione not meeting his eyes. She could also smell that wonderful aftershave of his, which made her feel weak in the knees.
"When?"
"We, uh… don't have a date, yet." She finally looked up to him. His gaze was penetrating as if he were tying to read her thoughts. Remembering about his Occlumency lessons, she decided not to risk it and looked away.
"Why isn't he here?" asked Harry, trying to keep his voice as casual as possible.
"He had to work," said Hermione playing with her fork. "He'll be here tomorrow, though. You'll get a chance to meet him."
"Great," he said not at all pleased. After that, they fell silent again.
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A/N: I know that some of you may be thinking that if this story is set five years after they graduated that makes it 2003 and I know that Lenny Kravitz' song came out in 2004. However, I decided to ignore that fact since I thought it fit perfectly that scene.