The Marriage Law

Chapter 16

The weeks leading up to Hermione and Draco's wedding seemed to be flying by. Christmas, which had been extremely eventful, had come and gone. Draco and Hermione had spent the week leading up to Christmas and Christmas Eve at Hermione's house. There, Draco had gotten to know her family and they had informed her parents of their impending marriage. Naturally, they had at first been abhorred at the fact that their daughter had been forced into an arranged marriage, and to a boy they knew had bullied her all through their schooling. Thankfully, they didn't know the full extent of Draco's dark past. (Hermione had never told them of the wizarding war.) They calmed down when they realised that believe it or not, their daughter seemed more than happy with her match. The thing was, it was apparent to everyone that Draco and Hermione were in love. After that, the Grangers and Draco divided their week between taking Draco to experience Muggle holiday traditions and working on the wedding.

On Christmas Eve, the family went to midnight mass and, upon coming home, sat around the fireplace (which Hermione's parents had been all too happy to let her magically procur a fire within.) Mugs of cocoa in hand, they exchanged presents. Hermione couldn't help feeling disappointed when she opened her parcel from Draco and found several books which she had been wanting. While she was certainly grateful that he had taken the time to pick out the books he knew she had been itching to read, she hadn't been able to stop herself from raising her expectations of getting an u ber romantic gift from him. She had given him a gift that she knew he would appreciate both for what it was as well as for the effort it had taken for her to give to him. Inside a card addressed "For my Love," she had placed a gift certificate for a lingerie shop. She had penned a note saying, "Pick out what you would like to see me wear on our wedding night." It had been difficult for her to buy such a thing, knowing how she was about intimacy at the moment. Fortunately, Draco recognised what a major step this had been for her. This, combined with her inability to complete mask her disappointment at his gift for her, caused him to chuckle privately knowing what he had in store for her.

Later, when they had some privacy, he procured a small box which he presented her.

"What's this?" She asked curiously.

"The rest of your gift," he grinned eagerly.

Opening it excitedly, she gasped when she saw what was inside. There lay a pair of beautiful earrings.

"They're a family heirloom," Draco explained softly. "Meant to be given to a bride from her husband on their wedding day. I didn't want to wait."

"They're absolutely stunning!" Hermione gushed. "But...are they green or red?" She inquired, brow puckered in confusion.

Draco laughed. "Being a Slytherin family heirloom, they are, of course, emeralds. I charmed them however, to reflect our unity. They are neither red nor green, yet both at the same time -- just like us," he finished softly, staring at her like someone seeing the sun for the first time. Hermione felt tears well in her eyes as she leaned up and kissed him.

Following Hermione's Christmas tradition, they then went to the Weasleys for Christmas Day. It was a bit awkward this year, given how Ron and Hermione had not yet resolved their differences. Fortunately, Astoria was spending the holiday as well, because once she and Ron had discovered how horny the other was, they suddenly began getting along quite well, having found common ground. Everyone else was grateful that they constantly had a reason to demand that the couple "get a room." The Weasleys may have been one of the most accepting families around, but even they could only stomach so much of Astoria's presence.

As soon as Hermione and Draco had arrived, Draco had immediately given a heart-felt apology to all of the Weasleys for the way he had behaved in past years. That, along with testimonials from Harry and Ginny had been enough and Draco had slowly begun to build relationships with the other resident-red-heads. The rest of the holiday had past in a happy blur filled with snowball fights, Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking, and plenty of laughter. Any spare time was spent furiously making wedding arrangements. All too soon, it was time to return to Hogwarts with a little over a month until the wedding.

That month flew by. Draco and Hermione were overwhelmed with trying to make everything perfect for their big day. Right in the middle of it all was Theo's marriage to Luna. As usual with Luna, it was incredibly unusual, albeit beautiful. Luna wore a bright yellow dress, and there were sunflowers everywhere. Theo looked dashing in his tuxedo -- and appeared to be in a happy daze as he watched Luna waltz up the aisle. There was a collective gasp when Theo unabashedly initiated a passionate kiss when the presiding Ministry official stated that he may kiss the bride. It was clear that this offbeat couple would live happily ever after.

Two weeks later, it was Hermione's and Draco's turn. McGonagall had arranged to have a special potion prepared that would allow Hermjone's parents to be able to see through the glamours around Hogwarts. They had taken a portkey and had arrived to be greeted by Hermione with a bucket and some aspirin. Once they had recovered from their rocky arrival, they had immediately thrown themselves at Hermione, and then into preparations. Her father had volunteered to go see if he could be of any help in last minute preparations in the hall, though Hermione secretly suspected that he just wanted to see if he could catch any magic being performed, and her mother accompanied her to get her ready.

Getting Hermione ready turned out to be quite a feat. Her mother, Parvati, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley all had different opinions on how her hair and makeup should be styled. Finally, Luna set everything right in her quiet, perceptive way. All she did was quietly ask Hermione what she thought, yet it brought the other four women up short. Abruptly, they all burst out laughing.

"Very true Luna, I guess Hermione's opinion matters too!" Molly laughed.

"Yes my dear, what do you want done?" Her mother asked her, looking at her fondly through teary eyes.

"You know I'm no expert on this stuff, but I would like simple but elegant. Just don't forget to use plenty of de-frizzer on my hair!" She laughed.

At that, they all descended on her in a storm, but somehow, they complimented each other instead of getting in one-another's way. Parvati set to work on her makeup, Ginny wrestled with her hair, Luna secured her jewelry and garter, her mother sat holding her hand and chatted with her to soothe her nerves, and in a stroke of genius, Mrs. Weasley performed anti-sweating charms on Hermione, and anti-wilting charms on her bouquet. When they were done, Hermione donned a half-up half down hairdo that was sleek and shiny. The part that had been swept up was held together by combs inlaid with crystals and pearls. The free-falling pieces were in ringlets. Her makeup was extremely subtle, capturing her best features and enhancing them, and somehow seemed to hint at the silver pattern that covered her dress. She looked absolutely stunning. When Ginny held up a mirror so that she could see herself, the sight took Hermione's breath away.

This was her? She had never felt so beautiful in her whole life. The Yule Ball didn't hold a candle to this. She looked like a bride. The overwhelming sentiment however, was that she couldn't wait to show Draco. Looking up at the most important women in her life, she thanked them profusely.

They had her ready in record time, and a very good thing that was, because it was time to begin. Hermione stood up carefully, mindful of the fact that her legs felt as though they had turned to jelly. When she exited the room they had been getting ready in, she found her father waiting for her. Embracing her mother and her friends, she watched them hurry off to take their places at the top of the stairs descending into the entryway where the wedding procession would begin. (They had rearranged the Great Hall, where the wedding would take place.) When they had disappeared around the corner, she turned to her father and asked,

"Are you ready?"

"Are you?" He replied seriously.

"Actually, I think I am!" She said with a nervous smile. "Scared out of my mind, but ready."

"Then we're off!" Her father replied. "I love you Hermione," he added. "And so does that boy, I can tell."

Giving her father a hug and a watery smile and privately thanking Mrs. Weasley for her quick thinking charm work, Hermione began walking arm in arm with her father to the staircase. This was it. She was getting married.

Ouuuuu...;)