5. A Dream?
Aunt Betty could hear all the way to the hallway that Charles and Sally were arguing. Trying to find out what the problem was she headed towards Hermione's bedroom. When she was a few feet away from the door, it suddenly opened. Charles came out dragging Sally along. Aunt Betty quickly realized something was wrong.
"Sally… Charles dear… what's the matter?" she asked walking after them.
"Not now Betty," responded Charles in a cold tone. He knew just how nosy his mother-in-law could be and was not in the mood to be a gentleman with her.
Still, she followed them, walking at a prudent distance but with her eyes and ears wide open. Sally tried to send some sort of sign for help to her mother, but Charles tightened his hold on her arm to keep her from doing it.
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"…No matter what you say, Hermione. You're not going to convince me." Harry was beginning to lose his patience. He knew perfectly well Sally had sent Hermione to talk him into leaving. "I don't even know why you're helping her. She doesn't deserve it!"
Just then, Charles and Sally - closely followed by Betty - came into view.
"So… you are here!" said Charles, looking from Harry to Hermione.
"See!" quickly added Sally to keep Hermione or Harry from saying anything. "I told you, but you didn't want to believe me."
"Well…" seeing them there was not good enough for him. "I still haven't heard them confirm it."
Hermione opened her mouth to ask what was happening. Seeing that, Sally quickly took the lead.
"I'm really sorry Hermione, but I had to tell Charles." At that moment, Sally wished she could send mental messages to Hermione. As she was talking, Sally was moving her hands exaggeratedly, hoping that would tell her cousin that she was supposed to follow along. "He was staring to get horrible ideas about me and…"
Charles, however, quickly intervened to keep Sally from managing things her way. He wasn't quite convinced that she had in fact told him the truth.
"Let me deal with this," Charles said to her in a strong voice. Then, talking to Hermione, he continued. "Sally tells me you have… something to do with…" He pointed a hand towards Harry, "…Harry."
Hermione's mouth fell wide opened. She turned towards Sally, an accusatory look on her face. To keep Hermione from saying anything contradictory, Sally quickly spoke.
"I know you made me promise, but I had no other choice. I just…"
"I told you to stay out of this!" interrupted Charles in a stronger tone.
Hermione was surprised to see Charles taking that attitude. She had always seen him as a gentleman with perfectly polite manners, especially towards women. Charles' eyes were sparkling with anger. Hermione realized that somehow Charles was beginning to suspect something was going on.
Knowing Sally very well, it dawned on Hermione's mind that Sally had lied yet again. Hermione looked down. She just didn't know what to do. She felt she was being nailed to the wall with no way out.
Slowly, she turned towards Harry. His face wore the same look of shock as Hermione's. He had also guessed what had happened, but he remained silent. Seeing that neither Harry nor Hermione denied a thing, Charles thought that perhaps Sally had said the truth after all.
"You don't deny it? So, I reckon… everything else is true as well," he said slowly.
Hermione closed her eyes, feeling trapped in a big mess. She didn't even want to know what else Sally had said, what other lie her selfish cousin had alleged to save her own ass.
"If it is," Charles went on. "…then there's no need to do things this way. Running away like this, in the middle of the night, as a couple of outlaws…" Then, walking toward Hermione, Charles added, "You deserve better than that."
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Charles quickly interrupted her. "I really think your parents would rather you do things the right way."
"Charles…" Sally tried to intervene, but quickly closed her mouth. Charles shot her a killer look that told her to be quiet.
Wanting to get to the bottom and see if in fact Hermione was the one who had been seeing Harry, Charles decided to push things one step further.
"As a matter of fact… it's my duty - since now I'm a member of the family - to see that you do things the way they ought to be done." Hermione looked at Sally, but Sally quickly looked away. "So… I'm not going to let you go with Harry… unless you two get married."
"What?" Quickly questioned Sally, voicing what Hermione's throat couldn't articulate. "Are you insane? You can't do that! You have no right…"
"I thought I told you to stay out of this, dear." If Charles had expected someone to argue his decision, he never thought that person would be his wife. Sally's reaction only made his doubts rise up again. What reasons could Sally have to get so upset at the idea of Hermione and Harry getting married?
"Besides," Charles continued, pushing Sally aside. "I do have the right to demand it! Hermione's in my house. She's my responsibility, even more now that she's a member of my family. What kind of man would I be if I let something like this happen? I'm sure Hermione's parents will thank me for intervening."
Hermione was speechless. She could not believe Sally had gotten her in so much trouble. But she was also surprised to see Harry's reaction. He had not spoken a word. His face remained expressionless. It was almost as if he was enjoying the show.
"If you two want to be together, I can make things easier for you." Then, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder, he added, "You know that my uncle, the judge who married me, has not left yet. I'm sure he wouldn't mind performing another ceremony, say… tomorrow morning?"
"But Charles…" said Sally. The last thing she wanted was to see Harry tied to someone else. She hadn't meant for things to get this far.
"Quiet!" Placing his free hand on Harry's shoulder, he pulled him closer. "I see you two have no complains, right?" But he didn't really give them a chance to answer. "We'll get everything ready for a lovely ceremony, worthy of my dear cousin, to be celebrated first thing tomorrow before Sally and I leave for our wedding trip."
Charles let go of them and for a few seconds looked into Hermione's eyes, waiting to see if she would say something, anything that could make him confirm that Sally had made up the whole thing. Hermione, not being able to hold his gaze, simply looked away.
Betty, who had witnessed the whole thing from a distance, walked up to Hermione. "Oh dear, another wedding! This is fabulous." She hugged Hermione, but didn't even look at Harry. "We need to send a note to your parents immediately!"
"No!" replied Hermione firmly.
Charles looked quickly at her, thinking that finally Hermione was going to speak up.
"That's not necessary. I don't want them to miss their conference. It's something very important for them."
Sally sighed in frustration.
"But sweetie… this is important too!" said Sally. "I'm sure they'd like to be present at your wedding."
"Don't worry Betty," Charles intervened. "We'll just arrange the legal ceremony. Later on, our lovely couple can celebrate a religious ceremony in London with all their family and friends present."
As if Charles' words had sealed the whole thing, Betty pulled Hermione into a one-arm hug and started leading her back to the mansion. Charles follow them, grabbing hold of his wife's hand, not giving her a chance to look back at Harry, who simply turned around and walked away.
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Sally had tried to talk to either Harry or Hermione since the moment she got out of bed. Charles, however, had glued her to his side, preventing her from doing it. Finally, at about nine in the morning, he sent Sally to Hermione's room to help her get ready for the ceremony, which was to take place at ten o'clock.
"You're still here!?" said Sally in a surprised tone after opening the door to Hermione's room. Sally had hoped Hermione would've left already.
Hermione, who was standing by the window, rolled her eyes at her, but remained silent. Seeing that Hermione wasn't in a good mood, and especially not wanting to turn her on, Sally changed her attitude and walked closer to her.
"Charles wanted me to offer you one of the dresses I bought for my honeymoon so you can wear it at the ceremony," she said. "But you don't really want one of my dresses, do you?" asked Sally in a concerned voice.
Hermione could not believe Sally worried about giving up one of her precious new dresses. She shook her head, amazed to see how frivolous her cousin was. Sally took that as a no.
"Good," she said sounding relieved. She then turned around and started pacing the room. "Hermione… you're not going to go through with this, right?"
Hermione was about to ask her what it was that really worried her, Charles finding out the truth or Harry marrying someone else, but decided not to. Looking back out the window, se replied, "Don't worry. I'm sure Harry's gone by now."
"Are you sure?" Sally asked quickly.
"I saw him walking towards the exit after last night's meeting," she answered without looking at her cousin. "You should be thankful he didn't contradict you." Then meeting Sally's eyes, she added, "I knew he wouldn't stay around to see what else you'd come up with."
Not wanting to start arguing at that moment, Sally left the room, after quickly informing Hermione that the ceremony was to take place in the library at ten o'clock.
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At ten minutes to ten, a soft knock on Hermione's door brought her out of her thoughts. Seconds later, Hermione opened the door to find Charles holding a small bouquet of white roses.
"For you," he said. "For the ceremony."
Hermione took the flowers from his hands and moved aside so he could step in. Seeing that she remained silent, Charles talked again. "Are you ready? I thought you were going to wear one of Sally's dresses." He said looking at her. "Not that this one isn't good, of course," he quickly added.
Hermione was wearing a simple lilac cotton summer dress with small daisies. She looked up at him expressionless.
"Of course, the bride has the right to make people wait."
Hermione turned around. Her mind was not processing things. It seemed to her that she was seeing herself in a dream and that all she needed to do was pinch her arm to wake up. Then, she felt Charles hand on her shoulder.
"Hermione," he said in a soft voice. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" She looked up at him and locked her brown eyes in his gray. "Is there anything I should know?"
She could just end everything at that very moment. She could just tell Charles the truth and put a stop to all of Sally's lies. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Simply, she looked away for a few seconds.
"It's time." She said walking to the door.
"Alright then," Charles said following her and offering his arm out.
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The door to the library opened. Hermione, arm-in-arm with Charles, slowly walked in.
The only decoration added to the room was a vase full of fresh flowers, which provided a nice smell. Some of the few people left in the mansion were present to witness the ceremony. Behind the handsome wooden desk, the judge smiled at her. Sally and her mother were standing to the right side of the desk. To the left side, Harry was waiting.
It took Hermione a few seconds to realize Harry was there. If Charles weren't holding her, she would have fallen to the floor. Her knees suddenly weakened. She hadn't expected Harry to be there. She thought he'd be gone already. She had seen him walking towards the exit the night before.
The idea of running away came to her mind, but again, Charles was holding her and pulling her forward.
Finally, they reached the desk. Hermione took a quick look at Sally. Clearly, she was as surprised to see Harry there as Hermione was. Then, she felt Charles placing her hand in Harry's.
Slowly, Hermione turned to look at Harry. He looked at her only for a few seconds then turned to face the judge, still holding her hand. The ceremony started as Hermione's mind was twirling with so many thoughts.
This was a dream. For Merlin's sake, this had to be a dream! She couldn't marry Harry. He was just his friend. She admitted to herself she had once fancied him. Then again, who wouldn't? He was a gorgeous man and time had only done wonders to him.
Still that was no reason to marry him. She should stop this whole thing. Let everyone know who Sally really was. Just then, Hermione turned to her left. Charles, Sally and Aunt Betty were there.
Aunt Betty was smiling happily at her, pleased to witness the wedding of her niece.
Hermione then remembered how sick her aunt had been just a couple months ago. Her heart had almost given up on her. Miraculously, the doctors had been able to bring her back. After that, they warned the relatives not to give her any reason to be upset if they wanted her to live a while longer.
Within seconds, images of Mrs. Granger blaming Hermione for the death of her loved sister invaded her mind. She couldn't do that. She couldn't be responsible for something like that.
Just then, a soft pull at her hand brought her back to reality. Everyone was looking at her. Apparently the judge had talked to her, but she hadn't heard him.
"Miss…" said the judge to get her attention. "Do you, Hermione Jane…" he started to repeat the question, but Hermione interrupted him.
"Yes, I do."
"Do you, Harry James Potter, take Hermione Jane Granger as your lawful wedded wife?"
"I do," he replied without looking at her.
"With the power invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife," said the judge, though Harry and Hermione didn't seem to process his words. It wasn't until he added the final words that they looked at each other.
"You may kiss the bride."
Harry turned to face Hermione. The seconds were tickling away, but the newlyweds wouldn't even dare come close to each other. Sally was about to extend her hand to keep them for going on, but Charles, noticing that, quickly grabbed hold of her arm and squeezed it thigh.
Harry, seeing that quick interaction between the two, decided to defy Sally by doing exactly what she didn't want him to do. Slowly, he started closing the distance between him and Hermione.
Suddenly, Hermione's mind was invaded by his wonderful aftershave. Unconsciously, she closed her eyes as Harry's lips covered hers in a sweet, closed-mouth kiss.
Even when he had dreaded this moment just a few seconds ago, Harry found out that her lips actually felt great. They were so soft and silky, he felt the need to taste the flavor of her mouth, but just as he was staring to intensify the kiss nibbling at her lips Aunt Betty's fake cough stopped him.
Hermione opened her eyes wondering if what had just happened had actually taken place, but was not given too much time to think it through. Her aunt encircled her in a hug as she congratulated her.