A/N: Sorry again for the wait. There’s probably going to be a week between all updates from now on. School is becoming a great pain than I anticipated. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 7 “ Everything Right is Wrong Again
“Wake me when it's over, touch my face
Tell me every word has been erased
Don't you want to know the reason
Why the cupboard's not appealing.”
- “Everything Right is Wrong Again” by They Might Be Giants
----
Harry poked his head into the silent room, eyes scanning the lavishly decorated dressing room until they fell upon the young bride, facing away form him, standing awkwardly in her gorgeous white dress looking into a full length mirror.
“Knock, knock,” Harry said softly, stepping in quickly as Hermione turned, startled, but relieved at who it was.
“Merlin, you gave me a fright, Harry!” She held a hand to her chest dramatically. “I thought you were Ron!”
“You know very well that Ron is too bloody nervous right now to try to find a way to sneak into your dressing room, much less conveniently come when there is no one else here.” Harry gave her a sympathetic look, walking up to her and gathering her into a hug. She accepted it gratefully and he could feel the tension in her body as she clung to him.
He pulled back, holding both her hands and spreading them out, looking her up and down. “You look beautiful.”
She blushed, looking down at her dress. “You’re sure it’s alright?”
Harry shot her a look that simply said ‘Are you kidding me?’
“So what are you doing here? Come to tell me that Ron’s drunk again?” She raised an accusing but playful eyebrow.
“100% sober, I assure you,” Harry said firmly. “At least we’re assuming that the throwing up is because he’s nervous and not drunk.”
Hermione looked horrified. “He’s sick?” She glanced worriedly to the door. “Should I go see if he’s ok?”
“That’s someone else’s job, Hermione.” He reached up and pulled her chin down so that she was looking at him. “I’m here to make sure you’re okay.” He held her gaze for a moment, not even needing to use Legilimancy to see that she was terrified. “You are ok, aren’t you?”
“Truthfully?” He nodded. “I’m scared out of my mind.”
Harry straightened up, looking smug. “We’ll it’s about time. We had all figured you were going crazy.”
“What?” she asked, shocked.
“Hermione, it’s normal to be nervous at your wedding! Everyone is! It’s a big step.” He came up right next to her, laying both hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated a moment before it all came spilling out. “What if we fight too much? What if he’s forgotten the rings? What if our kids hate me? What if Ron stops loving me? What if I get fat, or ugly?”
Harry held up a hand to stop her, looking slightly amused, but mostly concerned. “Okay, number one, I have the rings, so Ron did not forget them, and I promise you I won’t. Number two, you and Ron fight, yes, but think of it as a trademark. And think of all the times you’ll be able to make up after fights.” She blushed red at that comment. “Number three, it’s not possible that your kids will hate you, you are way too loveable, clever and good to have that happen. Number four, Ron loves you for who you are, not what you look like. He’s liked you since you were a bushy haired first year, remember? Number five…Ron will never stop loving you, Hermione.”
She was in tears by this point, her bottom lip trembling as she gazed at him. “How do you know?”
“Who’s your best friend?”
She cracked a smile. “You.”
“Would I lie to you?
“N-no…” she hesitated. “But how can you really know?”
“Well, I’m Ron’s best friend, too.” Harry cracked a smile now, thinking of the upchucking groom who was anxiously pacing back in forth on the other side of the castle, waiting for his bride. “Believe me, anyone who knows Ron knows that he worships the ground you walk on and gets happier just because you’re in the room.”
She sniffed pathetically and Harry reached forward again to hug her.
“Thanks,” she whispered in his ear.
“Love you, ‘Mione. Be good to him.” Harry pulled back, looking at her seriously. “I’ll always be here for both of you, no matter what happens.”
She gave him a watery smile and a small nod. He let go of her and quietly exited the room.
-----
Harry finished off the quick note, sending it away with Hedwig before turning back to Draco who continued to pace the room irritably.
“Stop being so bloody nervous,” Harry chided him, coming out from behind his desk and checking again to make sure the door was shut. “Remus will know what to do.”
“Who else is here?” Draco asked suddenly, sounding suspicious.
Harry rolled his eyes. “No one you’d care about.”
The Slytherin’s face still didn’t change and Harry rolled his eyes, sitting down in the nearest chair. “You need to start trusting people, Draco.”
“I’d like to see you trust easily after all the shite I’ve been through.”
Harry had his eyes closed, a headache already coming on. “I’ll take your word for it,” he muttered sarcastically.
----
Dobby rushed to the door as a soft knock was heard and remembering Harry Potter’s instructions he let the young women in.
She had a dark blue cloak around her shoulders and as she took off the hood, Dobby couldn’t recognize her. He had thought that maybe the nice Miss Hermione Granger or Ginny Weezey would have been coming, but apparently Mr. Harry Potter had made new friends.
“Is Harry here?”
She had an American accent and long, curly brown hair. Her nose also stuck up in the sort of way Dobby’s old Mistress Malfoy’s did.
Remembering his master’s instructions, Dobby made a little bow and was polite. “Mr. Harry Potter is busy right now and asked that I let you wait in the dining room for him.”
She looked surprised and Dobby started to worry. “He was expecting me?”
Dobby felt very confused by the women’s tone. “Please wait here, Miss. Dobby will be right back.
And he rushed out of the room, hoping he was doing the right thing.
----
Emily smirked at the retreating house elf, wondering what exactly Harry was pulling if he knew she had been coming. She sighed, bored already. Her afternoon at the Weasley’s was highly entertaining, but she was still determined to spend more time with Harry before she had to leave England.
As she scanned the room, her eyes fell on a discarded letter that had been left on the kitchen table.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she glanced around to make sure the hose elf was still gone, and went over and picked it up.
A thrill of glee went through her as she read it and she quickly shoved it into her cloak as the distressed house elf came running back into the room.
----
“Do you have any idea what it takes to prove that someone wasn’t under the imperious curse?” Draco argued as Harry flipped through a few more books on his shelves, looking unconcerned.
“Remus knows,” he said absentmindedly, trying to find the entry Remus had shown him about Court procedures with unforgivables. He tossed the book aside, reaching for another one. What good were all these books if it took him forever to look through them?
“I do to!” Draco complained. “It’s impossible! You have to go through hours under Veretiserum coupled with requiring at least two people to vouch for you-“
“Which you have,” Harry reminded him.
He could sense Draco’s glare, but it was short lived as Hedwig flew back through the window, looking worn out after her quick delivery. Harry and Draco both rushed to the window and as Harry reached for the note, the door creaked open behind them and they both turned, startled.
It was just Dobby.
“Mr. Harry Potter, sir? You is telling Dobby to let the young women wait in the dining ro-“
Harry waved a hand impatiently. “Yes Dobby. Just lead her in there and tell her I’ll be there in a few moments.”
Dobby looked like he was actually going to argue, but he simply smacked himself in the head and left, shutting the door behind him.
Harry turned to see Draco looking at the space where Dobby had been with keen interest. He turned to Harry with a curiously raised eyebrow. “My father always said he gave Dobby clothes for loosing an enchanted diary. You seem to always have interesting stories to tell, Potter.”
Harry bit back a chuckle as he untied the note from Hedwig’s leg. “Yes, Dobby is quite an interesting story.”
----
Dobby closed the living room door after leading the young women in and pointing her out a seat to sit in. He was still very nervous that something had gone wrong, but he was following orders, and Harry Potter always knew what he was doing.
He ran down the hallway again as he heard another soft knock and, remembering his orders, opened the door just enough to poke his head out and see Miss Granger standing there, looking even more distressed than Dobby.
“Dobby?” What are you doing here?” Miss Granger asked. She looked as if she had been crying recently and Dobby wanted to go back and ask Harry Potter if he could let just one more person in, but he didn’t want to disturb Harry Potter any more.
“Dobby is helping Mr. Harry Potter, Miss. Mr. Harry Potter is very busy man.”
“Yes, yes I know…” she hesitated, trying to see into the house. “Is Harry here?”
“Mr. Harry Potter is not here right now, Miss.” How Dobby hated lying! He had a desire to iron his hands again but settled for biting his bottom lip very hard.
Miss Granger looked even more sad at that statement and also a bit confused. Dobby felt very much the same. Miss Granger was always so nice to him. He hated making her sad. But Mr. Harry Potter’s orders were to be followed explicitly, and he didn’t want anyone else in the house. Maybe it would all turn out for the best…he hoped.
“Oh….Oh, I see.” She took a step back, looking lost and alone. “Well, thank you Dobby.”
And without another word she turned and fled back up the walkway and down the darkening street.
----
“Just floo right to Remus’ office. He’s got it empty for you and he’ll meet you there in five minutes,” Harry rambled off the instructions, getting out his pot of floo powder and holding it out to Draco as they stood in front of the fireplace in Harry’s office.
Draco was starting to look a little green as he took some of the floo powder.
“It’ll blow over quick,” Harry reminded him. “Remember how much pull I still have as the bloody boy-who-lived.”
Draco managed a quick smile of thanks before he stepped into the flames and was gone with a giant ‘whoosh!’ leaving Harry alone in the room.
Harry took a deep breath, heading out the door. One down, two to go…
He ran into Dobby in the hall, the elf looking quite distressed about something. “Dobby! Is she in there?” He asked softly, pointing to the living room.
Dobby could not seem to find words, just nodded and ran back into the kitchen. Harry thought his behavior odd, since Dobby only acted like that when he hadn’t done something right, but to Harry it looked like everything was going just as planned.
He opened the door to the living room to see Ron sitting in an overstuffed armchair, head in his hands, his small pack on the floor beside him. He looked up quickly when he heard Harry enter and Harry sighed upon seeing the tear streaks running down Ron’s face.
“Oh Merlin, Ron…” Harry whispered, seeing Ron’s heartbroken state, “I’m so sorry.”
“’S my fault,” Ron sniffed, wiping at his eyes, looking furious with himself, but completely distraught at the same time. “I shouldn’t have kept such a large secret from her.”
Harry cleverly moved around to the other side of the room as if going over to grab some chocolate frogs. As he passed the door that connected to the adjoining dining room, a small wave of wandless magic unlocked it and it slid one or two inches open.
Continuing on his track, he grabbed two frogs and tossed one to Ron, trying to get him into the mood of one of their regular talks where Ron would say more if he knew it was just him and Harry.
“You’ve told me so often how much you love her, Ron,” Harry said, choosing his words carefully.
“More than anything,” Ron admitted, smiling a bit, an expression which darkened almost instantly as his thoughts trailed off. “This is too much though. There’s no way she’s going to forgive me for this one.” He turned to Harry. “She had her arms around her stomach, Harry. She thought I was going to hurt her baby!” He looked so lost and confused, a feeling Harry was starting to get from what Ron was saying. “If she thinks that of me…” he shook his head. “No, I’m not going to be able to get out of this one that easily…or at all.”
“Hermione’s not prefect, Ron,” Harry reminded him. “Everyone’s got something in their past that they’re hiding.”
Ron shook his head again, staring at the pictures that lined Harry’s mantle. “Not Hermione. I don’t think she knows the meaning of the word ‘mistake’.”
“She loves you, Ron,” Harry reminded him, firmly. “I’ve heard it out of her mouth too. Any couple who has shared as much as you have won’t let something like this tear you apart forever, especially not with a child on the way.”
Ron didn’t say anything. He was now facing away form Harry so he couldn’t see his facial expression.
“Maybe right now she’s regretting the fight as much as you are,” he added for good measure.
Ron snorted. “I doubt it. Wish it, but doubt it.”
The sound of a chair scrapping the ground sounded quietly from the adjoining room and Ron’s head flew over to the door, his eyes wide.
“What was that?”
Harry acted oblivious, though anyone within the room had most obviously heard that sound. “What?”
“That noise…from the dining room.” Ron shot him an accusing look, taking a few steps toward the door.
“What noise?”
“There was a noise!” Ron pointed towards the door.
Harry shrugged, taking a seat on the chair facing away from the door, staring to open his chocolate frog. “You’re getting jumpy, Ron. Sit down. There wasn’t a noise.”
Ron looked at him suspiciously for a moment before rushing over and throwing open the door before Harry could stop him.
Harry heard him gasp in shock and leaned forward, thinking his plan was going right according to schedule. “I have to tell you, Ron, she’s as blameless in this as you, and you know it.”
He was surprised that neither of them had moved and Ron’s voice sounded like barely controlled rage.
“She is deceitful…scheming and devious.”
Harry blinked twice. “Excuse me?” He started to turn and saw Ron walking towards the other door, stopping by Harry, looking down at him with as much rage as Harry had ever seen.
“And you…you are false as a friend,” he sneered.
“Ron, what…” Harry looked up at his friend, bewildered why Ron was treating Hermione and him with such contempt-
“Good evening, Harry.”
The euphoria drained out of him as he heard the voice as cruel as Satan’s speak from behind him. He whirled around to see Emily Lennon standing where he had thought Hermione was, a twisted smile gracing her perfect features and a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.
“So tell me, dear friend,” the title dripping with sarcasm as Ron spoke to Harry, “do you mind telling me what exactly she is doing here?”
Harry felt like a fish for the number of times he closed and opened his mouth without saying anything. Finally, after looking back and forth between Ron and Emily a few times, he said simply, “I really don’t know myself.”
Ron didn’t seem to pick up on Harry’s confusion, and was just now blinded by his own rage. “I suppose you’ve been planning this from the beginning then?”
Ron was making no sense, even for Ron. “Now just a minute, Weasley-“ Harry started, quite as annoyed with Ron now as Ron was with him.
“The act at the party, the romance in America? Quite a devious plot.” Ron’s face was growing red.
“We’ve never planned anything!” Harry shot up, annoyed with Ron being so dramatic and accusing towards Harry of all people.
“Except marriage, of course,” Emily cut in, walking up to the both of them, the only one who still seemed to be enjoying herself. “Remember, Harry? We were engaged for almost two weeks.”
“Well I don’t know why you broke it off,” Ron said quickly before Harry could speak. He glared from Emily to Harry. “You seem perfect for one another.”
He reached down, grabbing his bag before racing out of the room, giving neither of them a backward glance.
Harry stared at the swinging door for a moment before Emily finally spoke.
“I seem to have come at a bad time.”
Harry turned to her with disbelieving eyes and saw her giving him a puppy dog face, her head titled slightly as she gazed at him.
Blowing out a tired sigh, he simply collapsed in the chair behind him, hoping that Draco had at least gotten to Remus’ alright.
One out of three wasn’t so bad…
…wait, yes it was.
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A/N: Next a nice long chapter with Harry and Emily and finally answers about why they got together, why he loved her and why he broke off their engagement.