"Love Almost Lost"
Chapter 18 Flashback
A/N: Normal disclaimers apply as usual. As usual I would like to thank all of those who have read and all of those who have reviewed, you are what keeps me going. This chapter is a bit different than the others I have done as it is obviously a flashback, hence the title. It's Hermione reflecting back over everything that had occurred, from the time they had finished school until the present time. It's a bit of a whirlwind recollection, but then Hermione always had a quick mind. I hope you enjoy.
Hermione thought back to how busy the last few months had been, as she sat on the balcony of the beach house overlooking Acapulco Bay. She was just finishing her second bottle of butter beer when she noticed the beginning of a beautiful sunset. So much had happened between then and now, she really couldn't believe all the amazing things that had taken place in such a short amount of time.
They had officially finished school and finally graduated. For the most part everyone did well on their N.E.W.T.'s and final exams, and Ron had been so right about his mum, when she found out about the engagement, she had burst into tears and hugged them both so tightly she was in danger of suffocating them. She also repeated her offer about them staying at the Burrow until that time Grimmauld Place was ready for human habitation, which turned out to be about three weeks before Harry's 18th birthday. Dumbledore had notified him by owl post that all was ready for him to move in when he was ready.
Harry decided that two weeks before his birthday would be the perfect time for him and Hermione to move in, as it would give them time to get all of their belongings and such brought over and arranged. One evening, Harry and Hermione, along with Ron, got together and decided to celebrate both Harry's birthday and them moving into their new home by having a combination birthday/ house warming party. That was going to be an event in itself. They had sent out invitations to anyone and everyone they could think of: former teachers, schoolmates, Order members, Aurors, several Ministry of Magic officers, and many assorted friends.
Hermione had moved in with Harry when he took up residence at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. They had discussed it very seriously and felt it was the most convenient thing to do since they were going to be getting married soon anyway, and it didn't make sense for her to stay at the Burrow when Harry had this huge house that would soon be hers too. She really enjoyed spending time with Harry, especially the time they spent being close and doing some serious snogging, however, they knew not to go too far, they both wanted to wait until they were properly married. They wanted their first time to be very special, and what couldn't be more special than one's wedding night. She really did enjoy spending her time with Harry, but she still felt awkward living in the same house with him before they were married. Even though both of them were of age, she was concerned about what their friends thought, but more importantly, she was concerned with what their friends' parents thought.
Harry, being the gentleman that he was, respected Hermione's feelings and he assured her there wasn't anything to worry about, that he would never ask her to do anything against their agreement to wait until they were married. He told her that he was fine with waiting until they were properly married and there were plenty of separate rooms she could stay in. She thought that was very sweet of Harry and it took a great deal of worry off of her
On July 31st, Harry's 18th birthday, everyone that had been invited made their way to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. When a guest entered the house they could not believe their eyes, for many of those invited were very familiar with this house prior to its complete refurbishing, and even Harry and his friends had learned about the house in their fifth year. There was absolutely no resemblance at all to the house they had come to know a number of years before.
Now the house was so bright and clean, with no musty, moldy odors, the walls were beautifully painted or papered, and any traces of the dark inhabitants who had lived there before had been completely erased. As part of the refurbishing, and as an early wedding present, the headmaster had one of the larger rooms turned into an exact copy of the Gryffindor common room, which included their favorite couch by the fireplace.
The party was a very enjoyable affair, as there were many rooms set up with tables full of several varieties of food, and there were also bottles of butter beer on ice in large tubs, and chilled containers of pumpkin juice as well. Harry greatly enjoyed getting together with old friends and acquaintances. He had even requested that everyone not bring gifts, considering he was one of the richest wizards in his world, there was no need for them to get him anything. A night of camaraderie was present enough. He took people around the house, showing them the wonderful renovations that had been done to it and they just couldn't believe how beautiful the house was now. Dumbledore and his associates had worked miracles fixing the house up, and Harry couldn't express himself enough to the headmaster just how grateful he was.
Even though the party was well behaved and orderly, Harry and Hermione weren't alone until 1:00 a.m. when the last guest left. She knew he'd told everyone not to get him anything, but he was her future husband after all. She couldn't let his birthday pass without getting him something. She had stopped by a shop in Diagon Alley one day and had a wizard jeweler make her a ring for Harry. It was white gold, a slightly wider than normal band, and engraved with ancient rune symbols that translated into a declaration of eternal love. It had been expensive, but she used some of the money from her inheritance. After all, Harry was worth it.
As they both prepared for bed in their respective rooms, Hermione was a little nervous about the ring. She hoped Harry wasn't upset she got him something after telling everybody else not to. During the party she had sneaked into his room and left the ring, in its box, on his pillow along with a birthday note explaining the gift. As she sat on the edge of her bed she heard the familiar knock and bid him to enter.
She stood and approached the door as he entered. It wasn't until she was almost face to face with him, in the dim light, that she saw the tears on his face. She started to speak, but he gently placed his fingers against her lips. She just stood there looking into his emerald green eyes. She reached up and brushed away his tears. He finally calmed himself and told her that his tears were those of happiness and that the ring was beautiful. He asked her if she would do the honors and handed her the ring. She gently picked up his left hand and slid the ring onto his finger.
Once this was done, he took her into his arms in a gentle embrace and kissed her softly. She kissed him back and they lingered but a few moments and then separated. They gazed into each other's eyes and declared their love to one another, then he let go of her, bid her good night, and turned to leave as he had done every night since they had moved in. He respected her feelings, and in doing so lived up to the promise he'd made about waiting until they were properly married before going to the next level in their relationship. As she watched him move towards the door, an overwhelming feeling of loneliness came over her, causing her to think how nice it would be if he would stay. She was surprised when he stopped in his tracks and turned with a surprised look on his face. Then she realized she hadn't thought those words, she had actually uttered them.
He returned to her and again took her in his arms. He looked at her lovingly and reminded her of the promise they had made to wait until they were married. She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and explained her request for him to stay was not an invitation to be physically intimate. She just wanted him to be with her so she wouldn't be alone any more. He softly kissed her on the cheek and told her he would be glad to keep her company. They gently released their hold on each other and climbed into bed. He lay on his side facing away from her and she cuddled up behind him with her arm draped over his chest. T he comforting warmth of her being so near was quite overwhelming, that all he could do was think how nice this was and that there wasn't anything wrong with it at all, really. Almost instantly they fell asleep.
Not long after his birthday, Harry started experiencing these strong feelings, feelings he thought he had put away last year. But, unfortunately they seemed to have resurfaced and they would need to be dealt with.
Harry knew, since he had turned seventeen last year, he'd never have to return to Number 4 Privet Drive ever again. Once he came of age, it made no difference whether he returned there or not, because when Harry became an adult the magical protection of his mother's sacrifice was complete, which actually wasn't a problem since he had already destroyed Voldemort. Also, he had his own house, so it wasn't like he was in need of a place to live. However, he was experiencing this overwhelming urge to return to his aunt and uncle's house, to pay them one more visit, and finally let them know how he truly felt about the way he was mistreated while he lived there. Also, while there, he could make sure he hadn't left anything important behind from the last time he was there.
On the day he prepared to go, Hermione approached him and asked if it was okay if she went with him. He noticed a quite unusual look in her eyes, but he said he didn't mind her coming along. They apparated right to the front door of Number 4 Privet Drive and rang the doorbell. His uncle answered the door, and upon seeing who was standing there in front of him, the color instantly began rising in his face. An instant later Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley had come out of the kitchen to see who was at the door. When they saw Harry and Hermione standing there they both went pale. His aunt attempted to put her arms around Dudley to protect him, but it was quite an impossible task.
His uncle asked him why the hell he was there, that he thought they were finally free of him last year when he had come of age. Harry couldn't tell him the true reason he was there, so he used the second reason there for his excuse. He needed to make sure he had gotten all of his things. Uncle Vernon told him to hurry up, do what he had to do, so he and Hermione could get the bloody hell out of his house. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon had used a very vulgar, derogatory muggle term to refer to Hermione, which caused Harry to completely lose his temper.
In an instant, he had his uncle pinned to the wall with one hand, and in the other was his wand, pointed dangerously close to his uncle's face. Fighting to keep control, he told his uncle in his most icy voice that this young woman was the brightest witch to come along in over a century, and happened to be his fiancé. He also told his uncle that he had killed many a witch and wizard to protect this young woman, and if he didn't apologize he would curse him beyond recognition. Uncle Vernon mumbled something that sounded like an apology, but his uncle was so frightened he had lost the ability to talk coherently.
At this point, Harry took the opportunity to unleash all his years of pent up frustrations out on the Dursleys and told them exactly what he thought of them. After the severe telling of, all the Dursley's were huddled up against the wall, shaking in terror. They knew he was of age and was free to do magic as he saw fit.
Hermione approached Harry to make sure he was okay. He said he was. At this point, she gently cupped his face with her hands, gazed deeply into his eyes, and planted an immensely deep, passionate kiss on him just to aggravate the Dursley's, especially Aunt Petunia. Then she announced to everyone, in a firm voice, that it was her turn for payback. Harry couldn't believe the anger, the rage, and the contempt that was coming from one female. He could actually feel the rage radiating off of Hermione. He never knew she felt this strongly about how the Dursleys had treated him, but it shouldn't have been a surprise to him, considering how deeply she cared for him. He was also surprised to hear that she knew quite a few colorful words, and knew perfectly well how to use them. He wondered what book she had got them out of. When she was finished she walked back over to Harry with a wicked smirk on her face, which he couldn't help but return, and not to be outdone he placed his hand gently on the back of her neck and kissed her quite passionately, just for good measure of course. She told him they should probably go on and get his stuff.
Arm in arm they went up to Harry's old room, and in short order retrieved what he needed and left Number 4 Privet Drive for the last time. His final memory was the Dursleys, huddled up against the wall, quaking in absolute terror. He bloody well loved it.
Everything now turned to preparing for the wedding. Hermione was overwhelmed by how much help they received from all of their friends. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley helped her search for a dress, while Fred and George assisted Harry in acquiring the finest dress robes for the ceremony. Tonks and Luna worked on picking out the bride's maids dresses.
Hermione walked up to Mrs. Weasley one day and told her she would volunteer to go to Diagon Alley and help her pick out a dress. She looked at her curiously and asked why she needed a dress. That's when Hermione told Mrs. Weasley that her Matron of Honor had to have a new dress too. Mrs. Weasley couldn't believe it. She began crying and gave Hermione one of her famous hugs. She was so honored to be in the wedding.
Everything was progressing wonderfully, until one day they realized they didn't have a place to actually have the wedding. They had been concentrating so much on other things that a place to have the wedding had completely slipped their mind. They were expecting a huge turnout of guests. There were going to be all of their friends from school, teachers, Aurors, Ministry officials, and assorted Order members. Where would they find such a large enough place to handle so many guests?
Professor Dumbledore stopped by one evening for a visit as he had heard of their dilemma in needing a place to hold their wedding. He looked at both of them, his blue eyes sparkling brightly, and told them they've always had a place to have their wedding, that it had always been at their disposal. He told them it was only fitting that they have their wedding in the Great Hall at Hogwarts Castle. They thought for a moment and realized the headmaster was right. It was the most appropriate place. It only made sense to hold it at the place they had spent so much time together falling in love.
Finally, after all the planning and arrangements, their wedding day arrived, the last day of September. Hermione had never been happier in her life. The Great Hall looked spectacular as the entire hall had been decorated with red roses. She thought that there must have easily been thousands of them. Later, she found out all of the flowers had been courtesy of Professor Sprout.
Her Bride's Maids, Ginny, Luna, and Tonks, all looked stunning in their sky blue dresses, and Mrs. Weasley, as Matron of Honor, was absolutely beautiful in her blue gown. Not to be out done, Harry and his groomsmen, Neville, Fred, and George, looked quite dashing in their royal blue dress robes. Even Ron, the best man, looked quite handsome in his new outfit.
The ceremony was very moving and was performed by Professor Dumbledore himself. They had both agreed the honor of walking Hermione down the aisle would go to Hagrid. Harry and Hermione had asked him the day before and he was so moved, it took them nearly an hour to stop him from crying. They even bought him a new suit for the occasion.
After the ceremony, and all the pictures, came what turned out to be an amazing reception. There were tables and tables of delicious foods, butter beer, pumpkin juice, and all kinds of wonderful desserts. There was also the beautiful wedding cake, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley. Harry and Hermione were simply amazed at how many people had turned out for their wedding.
One of the main highlights of the evening was the throwing of the bridal bouquet. All of the single witches queued up behind Hermione. As she stood facing away from them, she gave the bouquet quite a high toss. When it finally came down, the lucky one to catch it was Luna Lovegood. For whatever reason, after she caught the bouquet, Luna walked over to Ron and took his hand in hers. He turned bright red, but continued to hold her hand. Who would have thought?
People really started to enjoy themselves when the band started to play. They had really been looking forward to dancing. Even though Harry was still quite self conscious about it, Hermione had convinced him to dance with her. She knew he really loved her if he had agreed to do that. He really wasn't too bad, but he did prefer the slower dances. Hermione, come to think of it, liked the slower dances too, for obvious reasons.
Yes, Hermione thought, everything had turned out wonderfully, these last few months.