Ron fiddled with his tie nervously as his wedding hour drew nearer. It wasn’t long until the ceremony was due to start, and the butterflies in his stomach were working double time. Everyone else looked so calm, cool, and collected, but his brain was moving twice as fast as normal, and his sweat glands were on the fritz. “Harry, how do I look?” he asked with a nervous, crooked smile.
“Dashing,” said Harry with a laugh, straightening Ron’s tie ever so slightly, knowing that Hermione normally would have done it, but given the circumstances would be unable to until it was too late. “You look good. Well, at least you look better than you did for the Yule Ball.” He remembered back to Ron’s frilly dress robes in their fourth year and he snorted a little at the memory.
“That’s not saying a whole lot, though,” chuckled Fred from the doorway, where he was perched in waiting to be told it was time to go outside.
“You look fine, Ron,” said George, “and if you don’t, you can always count on Mum to tell you.” The twins shared a bout of laughter as they knew the wrath of Mrs. Weasley quite well by now.
“True,” chirped Charlie, sympathizing with the twins. “Don’t worry, Ron. I’m sure Hermione won’t care what you look like just as long as you aren’t stark naked.”
“Or maybe she’d like that more,” roared Fred. Eyeing the look on Ron’s face he added, “Just joking, little brother,” although he clearly wasn’t.
“You lot aren’t helping!” shouted Ron, his ears turning a violent shade of red. “I’m nervous enough as it is!” He crossed his arms and turned to face himself in the mirror, ignoring them all, and trying to focus on calming himself down before he had to face the crowd with scarlet appendages.
Bill walked over and put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. “Ron, take it from your only brother with experience, weddings are a lot of stress, I’ll admit, but tonight, it’ll be all worth it. You’ll have Hermione all to yourself in Italy and the wedding won’t matter anymore. It wouldn’t matter if stampeding hippogriffs interrupted the ceremony. You both could care less, trust me.”
“In other words,” added Percy in his usual pompous voice, “relax.” He yawned and leaned back in Ron’s bed, stretching out while all the while keeping his feet of the furniture.
“That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve ever said, Perce,” said Fred, slapping Percy on the knee playfully.
“Well relaxing is about all I want to do after working all night…” Percy yawned, ignoring Fred’s slight to his intellect.
“You better not fall asleep during my wedding,” snapped Ron, clearly not relaxed by anything his brother’s had said, although the prospect of his honeymoon was quite appealing.
“I won’t,” assured Percy, though his eyes were watering as he fought back another yawn. He’d been without his family for far too long to fall asleep during his youngest brother’s wedding.
“Can someone help me?” asked Neville quietly from the corner, finally making his presence known. “I can never tie ties correctly.”
“Sure thing, Neville,” said George as he crossed the room to assist him, fighting back the urge to slip a water cannon or something else random and disruptive into the center of Neville’s tie.
“It’s almost time,” said Harry. “Do you think we should go downstairs yet?” He was trying to perform his duties as best man while keeping Ron calm, and the task was not an easy one.
“I suppose,” muttered Ron as he headed for the door. “Come on, then,” he snapped to everyone else as he stepped back to allow them all to pass him.
Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Percy, and Neville all crowded out the door, shoving past Ron to make their way down the stairs to the ceremony. “Are you coming?” Ron asked Harry once the others were all gone.
“I’ll be down in a minute, but there’s something I’ve got to do first.” Ron nodded and began down the stairs after Neville and his brothers.
Harry walked out the door once Ron was out of earshot, and stopped halfway down the steps. He bumped open a door and peered into Percy’s room and saw that it was empty save for a lone figure in white.
He rapped his knuckles gently on the doorframe and entered the room. Hermione turned and smiled at him. “You look beautiful,” he said, sincerely, not quite sure he would have recognized his friend had he not known whose wedding he was at.
“You look good too,” she replied with a soft smile. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered, excitement and fear evident in her tone.
“I know,” he said. “To think, about nine years ago, our lives were normal. I’m sorry I ruined everything…” He laughed at his crack on himself, though she didn’t seem to understand his humor.
“What are you talking about?”
“I came to Hogwarts and became friends with Ron. Ron was rude to you, you cried, we saved you from the troll, and we’ve been friends ever since. But also since then our lives have been a crazy mess!” He walked over to her and took her hands in his. “So, I’m sorry that I ruined any chance you had at normality.”
“But if you wouldn’t have befriended Ron, I wouldn’t be standing here in a wedding dress, about to make the biggest decision of my life. You didn’t ruin everything. On the contrary, you perfected it.”
Harry released her hands and wrapped her in a giant hug. “I’m happy for you both,” he said. “I never thought my two best mates would be getting married, but here we are.”
“And just think,” said Hermione, her words filled with eagerness, “in less than a year, we’ll be brother and sister!”
“Yeah,” said Harry, “but I’ve always thought of you as a sister anyway, so it’s not that big of a deal really.”
Hermione’s eyes glazed with tears, and she shook her head to clear them away. “You better go,” she urged. “The wedding is going to start soon, and I still need to get my veil on…” Her voice suddenly became slightly panicked as she looked around for her veil.
“Yeah, and I don’t want Ron to get any more worried than he already is,” Harry teased, picking up her veil carefully from a table by the door and handing to her.
Hermione laughed and Harry hugged her again. “Good luck,” he whispered in her ear.
“I won’t be needing it, but thank you.” He gave her a quick smile and headed toward the door, running straight into Ginny. She didn’t even seem to see him because her eyes were fixed straight on the pile of lace in Hermione’s hands.
“Your mother is coming with a giant bag of booby-pins!” she cried. “Get over here and let me magic that thing to your head!” Harry slipped out the door unnoticed as the girls continued their preparations.
“Bobby-pins,” Hermione corrected with a giggle as she sat down on the bed, “not booby-pins.” Ginny set the veil in her hair and said a quick spell. Hermione felt the veil cling to her curls and she took a deep breath. “This is it…”
Hermione’s mother came into the room with a bag in her hands. “Oh, it’s already been done…” she said sadly, seeing the veil atop Hermione’s head. “But it looks wonderful.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
“I’m ready when you are,” her mother added, setting the bag down on the table where the veil had been just minutes before.
“I was ready years ago,” whispered Hermione, more to herself than her mother. She stood up and walked down the stairs slowly with the help of her mother, careful not to trip over her dress, her shoes, or herself. She could hear music from the garden. All of her bridesmaids were standing in the kitchen, lined up and ready to walk out the door. When she entered the kitchen Ron’s Auntie Muriel stopped her. She held out the same crown that Fleur had worn for her wedding to Bill. “I figured we could make it a family tradition,” Muriel said, handing the crown to Hermione. “Take it,” she said sharply, shoving it into Hermione’s hands. “But I expect that back.”
“Thank you,” said Hermione. She was almost at a loss for words, and so stunned that she didn’t even notice her mother slip out the door, nor her bridesmaids begin to head out, too.
Ginny walked over and placed the crown on Hermione’s head. “Perfect,” she sighed as Auntie Muriel pushed her way past the remaining bridesmaids to get back to her seat.
Mr. Granger walked over to his daughter and took her arm in his. “All set, Pumpkin?”
“Yes, Dad.” They stood just inside the door, able to see all the other girls start down the aisle.
A different song began and Gabrielle set off down the aisle. Following her was Fleur, Maria, Tonks, Luna, and then finally Ginny. Hermione was now standing at the doorway to her destiny. There stood Ron at the end of a long, pale-blue aisle. The aisle was dotted with tiny white roses, and overhead loomed blue and white balloons that were suspended in midair. It was much like Bill and Fleur’s wedding, only this time it was her’s. Hermione sighed and stepped out of the doorway on her father’s arm. The crowd stood and there was a soft noise of approval from them all as she walked down the aisle. She seemed almost oblivious of who was in the crowd. She didn’t notice Viktor Krum watching her with jealous eyes. She didn’t see Lavender Brown sobbing silently into her lap. She didn’t even see Hagrid, even when he blew his nose loudly from the back row. She only had eyes for one person….
Ron stood at the end of the aisle and watched Hermione walk closer to him. He didn’t believe that he had ever seen her more beautiful than she looked at this moment. Her curls, her eyes, her figure, everything was perfect. Ron couldn’t stop staring at the wonderful woman before him, and she likewise couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of him.
Harry nudged Ron gingerly in the side as Hermione reached the front. Ron smiled at her and took her hand in his as they turned to face the same man who had performed Bill and Fleur’s marriage vows.
The ceremony passed with much weeping of happy tears and many cheerful words. When the rings were exchanged, there was a gentle chorus of approval from everyone in the audience. Hermione had a simple ring set with a rather large diamond with smaller diamonds glittering from around the band. Ron’s was a plain gold ring with the words ‘Faith, Hope, Trust, and Love’ engraved around it in a simple font. At the end of the wedding, Ron and Hermione kissed for the first time as husband and wife, and Mrs. Weasley let out a sob.
They turned to face their guests and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Weasley and were almost immediately engulfed by a crowd of well-wishers.
“Congratulations,” said Fred, clapping his brother on the back.
“Way to go!” called George and Charlie from a few feet away.
“Welcome to the club,” joked Bill.
Hermione, likewise, was surrounded by a group of women and girls who were hugging her and giving her their congratulations and praises.
Harry leaned over to the group of girls and pulled Ginny out by the elbow. “We’ll talk to them later,” he said into her ear. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Okay,” she said quickly, pleased to have an excuse to escape the noise. She grabbed Harry’s hand and allowed herself to be led into the house. Harry began to go to Ron’s room on instinct, but Ginny voiced a complaint. “Harry, let’s go to my room instead. There’s no sense in going to his room when I have one of my own.”
Harry nodded, following her into her small room. They could see the backyard and all of the guests still swarming Hermione and Ron. This was only the second time Harry could ever remember being in her room.
“What a day!” she cried, flinging herself onto her bed. “At least something good came out of it.”
“What’s that?”
“I have a sister now,” Ginny said simply. “I mean, I suppose you could count Fleur, but she’s not really my sister. Hermione has always felt like family to me, so it’s nice that it’s official.” She had her hair all up in curls, but it was starting to fall out, ringlets cascading around her face. “So, how are you feeling?”
“I don’t know…how should I be feeling?” He sound down on her bed beside her, not really sure what she was getting at. Obviously he was tired, much like her, but it was hard to be unhappy when your two best friends were so thrilled and obviously in love.
“I don’t know, but your two best friends just got married. Are you okay with everything?” She seemed genuinely concerned and he didn’t know why. What did he have not to be okay with? Ron and Hermione were obviously happy.
“Well, not a whole lot as happened so far. I assume it’ll be weird though, yeah,” he assessed. “But they’re obviously ridiculously euphoric right now, so I don’t know how I couldn’t be okay.” He smiled at her, trying to ease any of her doubts.
Ginny put one of her small hands on his. Her touch was so gentle that had Harry not seen her place her hand on his he wouldn’t have felt it at all. Sometimes Ginny reminded Harry of a city girl trapped in the country. He had enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure her out for some amount of years. She always seemed to understand more than what he told her and she always seemed ready to move so fast, but in a good way.
“Now, it’s our turn,” she said. “One down, one to go.”
“Yes, but the best is yet to come.” Harry kissed her softly and rested his forehead against hers. He loved the way that Ginny always seemed to be listening to him even when he wasn’t talking, like she could read his mind and hear his heart.
They had so much to talk about, yet Harry didn’t want to say anything. Before their wedding, Harry felt that it would be her right to know everything that he had learned from Dumbledore in years past, but now was not the time. Despite the fact that they were alone, everything was almost quiet around them, and there was no real chance for them to be interrupted, he didn’t want to ruin the happy day with almost business-like information.
Outside, Harry could see the chairs being peeled away to make room for the dance floor and balloons being pushed to the side to make way for tables and gifts. Hermione and Ron were now standing with Fred and George by the back wall of the garden. Ron had his arm around Hermione’s shoulders and George was saying something to them that was seemingly funny because all of them were laughing.
“Do you think we should go back?” Ginny voiced his thoughts aloud.
Harry really didn’t want to, but at the same time, he wouldn’t see Ron and Hermione until they returned from Italy, and he would have Ginny all to himself plenty more times in the future. He stood up and nodded. “I think we should, though not because I’m not enjoying myself.” He winked at her slyly as he leaned for another kiss.
Ginny laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the bed. He set her gently on her feet and she kissed him again, longer this time. In this moment there was nothing wrong because everything was too right. Harry was floating on clouds, just him and Ginny. No one else was allowed in this sacred place.
It was amazing how Harry always made Ginny’s stomach turn. She closed her eyes and ran her hands down his back, feeling every muscle carved into his shoulders. She stopped all her thoughts and was in a moment; a moment with Harry. She relaxed her entire body as he ran his hands through her hair, causing even more curls to fall out of their places. At last, she spoke, though her voice was barely able to find its way out of her mouth. “Harry, we really should go back down. Mum will come find us if we aren’t there in a few minutes.”
“Right,” said Harry, sounding out of breath. He felt like he might never draw another breath of air again. His lungs were caught in his throat, but it wasn’t unpleasant. He took her hand and pulled her down the steps behind him, feeling very much like they were back in school and sneaking back through the portrait hole well after dark. Stopping only once so Ginny could fix her hair, the two made it back to the party in near-record time, joining Ron and Hermione like they’d never even walked away.
Dream Come True by rupertgrintlover13
Chapter Notes: Okay, so I'm sorry that I've been MIA for half of forever, but I love reading all of your reviews! I promise to make a better attempt at updating more frequently, and I hope that not all of you have lost interest in the story by now. To make up for it, this chapter is filled with an intense abundance of fluff and better quality writing. I hope you like it. Enjoy!
Chapter Endnotes:
Please leave me comments. Even I don't respond right away, I promise that I read and enjoy them all and they give me fuel. Honestly, without the comments during my absence, I wouldn't have ever gotten another chapter up. So thank you so much for your support. I hope this chapter satisfies everyone because it was a lot of fun to write. Let me know if it was too much, not enough, or just the right amount of fluff.