Amour

THE BIG DAY

McGonagall entered 12 Grimmauld Place to tumultuous brouhaha as the last minute preparations were taking place in full swing. Everything was ready at Hogwarts and she had come to check how things were back at the bride's house. And she saw that the bride herself was the least anxious amongst everyone; the Weasley family, led by the maid-of-honour, was turning the whole place upside-down, travelling back and forth from this house to the venue to get everything ready. McGonagall supervised them for a while, then decided to check up on the groom as well. She apparated to Chatsworth castle and the scene was completely different; the house was eerily silent and not a soul was to be seen, as apparently Mrs.Reynolds and Mr.D'onfrio were at Hogwarts helping with the preparations as well. She went towards the faint sound of music playing and opened the door to Snape's study to find him playing his violin with his eyes closed- an epitome of calmness and composition. But he was on edge as even the gentle tread of McGonagall's heels disturbed him and he stopped short, looking up in surprise. "Shut up Minerva."
"I haven't even said a word!"
"Yes but you were formulating a sentence to make me feel easy. I don't need it and it's physically painful to see you trying to come up with words of consolation."
She seated herself on an armchair and watched him; he smiled but not fully and the way his eyes darted from here to there, she could understand that he was nervous too on the inside. But he wasn't one to show it but had been playing, simly to distract himself from his fear. She smiled to herself and began,"So - it's the big day, then!" Snape quitely put down the instrument and asked over-casually,"What big day?" McGonagall scoffed,"The Wedding!" He rolled his eyes,"Two people who currently are in a relationship and have been in one for some years now, are about to attend church, have a party, go on a short holiday and then carry on living together. What's so big about that?"
"Don't you dare ruin this for Hermione! She's very excited. Turn this snarky attitude of yours way down."she scolded,"Heaven knows how that girl tamed you down to tie you in a bond for life. Obviously she has changed you a lot for the better but this is the end of an era. There's more to come. It changes people- marriage."
"Um, no it doesn't."
"Well, you won't know, 'cause you have always lived alone."
Snape looked down and mumbled,"Well, so have you. You're hardly an advert for companionship." McGonagall chose to ignore that, knowing it was his nerves talking,"Trust me. Marriage changes you as a person, in ways that you can't imagine."
"As does lethal injection."Snape smiled pointedly. "Oh come on now Severus, you are not seriously comparing weddings to narcotics! Though marital bliss may be like being under the effect of some drug. If you've found the right person, you know..."McGonagall was blabbering on when Snape rolled his eyes and observed,"Anyways, haven't you got things to do?" "Oh no, I think I've got plenty of time-" But Snape pulled her up and pushed her out,"I'm sure they are missing you at Hogwarts. Go make yourself useful instead of badgering me." He closed the door on her and turned to sigh. He looked towards the tuxedo hanging over the chair and ran his hand over the smooth material. He took a deep breath of courage,"Right then.".................................................
The girl behind the counter at Pizza Hut blew out a big bubble with the gum she was chewing as a man walked in. She had seen him before when he had appeared one night; very awkward and totally out of place in weird black robes, asking for a large pizza and a coke. The delivery boy had called him 'bonkers' as soon as he had left but she found him rather curious. She had noticed him because of his stunning sexyness, even though he wasn't really on the young side; there was a certain kind of attractiveness for a matured man, she guessed, and his silky baritone had made her stutter nervously while she deliberately requested him to repeat his order. Today however, he was fully dressed in a tuxedo, black again and with a red boutonnière, hair brushed back with shiny shoes and cufflinks and he approached her in a hurry. She realised he was dressed to impress. "The same as last time?"she asked with a smile. "Ah, yes, but a personal sized one, thank you."he replied, surprised that she remembered. As the kitchen oven tinged, she watched him hanging by the front desk with a nervous demeanor. "Going to a wedding, are ya?"she asked conversationally, wondering what could bring him to a pizza joint if he was really on the way to a wedding ceremony; she was trying to unfurl the mystery around this dapper gentleman a little. "Yeah."
She saw his face colour slightly, probably someone on his mind who made him happy and she realized that maybe he was too shy to admit that it was his own wedding. She was surprised to find herself a little jealous while guessing who could be the lucky girl. He just offered as an explanation,"There's a girl waiting for me and she said she was hungry." Hearing this, her heart just felt so light and as he took up the packet and strolled out, she wished she could find someone who cared for her just this way.....................
"Okay, let's disappear."George revved the engine and hit the invisibility booster as soon as Snape came out of the shop and boarded the Ford Anglia, parked at a deserted alley. They were in the air once again, en-route to Hogwarts, while the others had floo-ed there directly. Ron adjusted his bow-tie readying himself for the conversation they were about to have. "Prof-Mr. Snape,"he turned around from his shotgun position towards the back where Snape was seated beside Harry. He was met with a raised eyebrow from Snape. "During the next minute, forget that you were ever my professor or I was your student. I speak now only as your bride-to-be's friend and wellwisher. I know we should've had this conversation before or maybe it should've been between you and someone of your own age, but I care for Hermione and it's never too late to say it. So I think it's my duty..."he mumbled the last few words as Snape's brow arched further up in a way that said:"What are you getting at Weasley?" "Anyways, what I wanted to say was- if you ever hurt Hermione in anyway, if you even think about breaking her heart, I'll find you and I will kill you."he puffed up his chest, giving away the fact that it took a lot of his courage to say this. Snape glanced at Harry and he was trying hard to conceal his smirk- as per instructions from his friend no doubt- and was looking serious as well. "That's quite a threat, Weasley,"Snape drolled,"But rest assured, that is the last thing I wanna do. Hermione means everything to me and I would die rather than let anything hurt her, let alone myself." The two of them seemed satisfied and George let out a low whistle to break the awkward silence. "Is the minute over? Are we back to being ex-professor-ex-students again?"Snape asked. "Yeah."Ron replied. "Good. Mr.Weasley, how dare you threaten me?"Snape asked in his sternness but only in a mocking way. There was a pause where all of them stared at each other and then burst out laughing....................................
Hermione sat fully dressed in the Headmistress's office. She was nervously nibbling on the last silce of pizza that her soon-to-be husband had bought for her, picturing him pacing anxiously a floor down and she couldn't control the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She had been left alone to deal with her nerves and mostly people were finding their seats or taking care of the last-minute details. There was a light rap and Lupin stuck his head in through the door. "You look...gorgeous, Hermione."he commented and she smiled. He came and hugged her and Hermione realised he was completely sober and had infact taken the trouble to straighten up for her big day. "I have a little something for you, from Severus."He handed her a box and she opened it to find an elegant tiara and a note from Snape that read: This belonged to my grandmother. It could be your 'something old'.
Hermione fixed it on top of her head and looked at herself in the mirror. "Are you ready to go?"Lupin asked. "Be right there."she replied and he closed the door behind him, standing right outside. Hermione still observed her reflection as the enormity of the change in her life dawned upon her. She felt herself getting a slight panic attack; she couldn't tell if she was extremely elated or terribly frightened but she knew the only person sharing her anxiety was waiting downstairs. She rang his phone. "What's wrong?" She could feel his fear of anything going out of order, through the phone. "Nothing. I just received your gift."she tried to sound as breezy as possible to help ease his tension,"And it's beautiful." He audibly relaxed,"I'm glad."
"Is everyone there?"
"Yeah, mostly. Your aunt-uncle and cousin just arrived- Arthur floo-ed them in. They are taking their time to get used to their surroundings."
"And the Malfoys..?"
"Uh, no. No show."
"Darling, I'm so sorry..."
"It was a bit of a punt asking them anyway...."
There was a pause where Hermione exhaled loudly,"So...it's finally happening!" "Yes." The line was quite for sometime after which Hermione asked,"What?"
"Nothing."
"I know that silence. What?"
"Seriously, it's nothing."
"A little bird told me you were nervous."she smiled to herself.
"I am not...ugh, I guess I am. Aren't you?"
"Of course. But I guess, it's a happy kind of nervousness. I'm really very excited!"She didn't know whether she was successful in easing his tension, so she added, telling more to herself,"Severus, it's gonna be fine." Just hearing his name out of her mouth did wonders to him and he took a long composing breath,"Come down here quickly and it will be.".............................................
"Harry! Where's your bridesmaid? Emergency announcement, I repeat, this is not a drill. We have a groomsman with a missing bridesmaid. Oh sorry, that's me!"Ginny had a last frenzied display before finally calming down and taking her position next to her husband. With the cue of the violins that started playing, George escorting Caroline, Ron-Luna and Harry with Ginny walked down the corridor and took their positions respectively at the left and right wings of the dias that had been erected at the entrance hall. The actual cermony was taking place at the entrance hall because so many people had arrived to witness the historic event so more people needed to be accommodated, and a wider display at the juntion of three corridors was to be set up and so, the arrangements were thusly made. Snape stood up and turned around, his gaze eagerly travelling to the very end of the corridor to where the stairs started, his hands being wiped inside his pockets repeatedly. Then Hermione appeared at the top of the marble staircase, her arm hooked through Lupin's and every other thought left his mind. He could just gaze, wonderstruck, at the woman walking down towards him. This sight was met with many 'oohs' and 'aahs' and a general murmur of appreciation. Her gown was the most brilliant he had ever seen, with a flared trail behind, the tiara fitting in well over the veil and she took each step carefully in her stone-studded heels. Hermione didn't look up till she was halfway down but when she did, she saw her fiance give her the most ecstatic yet childishly delighted grin she had ever seen and a wide smile split her face. Warmth rushed to every nerve-end of her body and her eyelids bowed in shyness from his unbreakable gaze; she tried to cover her eyes with her long lashes, blushing profusely. She again looked up at him when she reached his side and he maintained his gawky smile. Her eyes travelled past him and there was Draco Malfoy, dutifuly at his position as bestman and as she raised her brows in pleasant surprise, she could actually see his smirk turn to a genuine smile. She turned to kiss Lupin's cheek. "Good luck, my dear." "Thank you Remus."
Snape extended his hand to help her up on the dias and she continued to hold onto him as the reverend began. He squeezed her hand and she looked up at his face; he was stealthily glancing at her and she blinked to tell him that everything was allright and how happy she was. His lips curled to tell her that he was happy too. After the magical bond were put on them, binding them for life and the rings were exchanged, it was their turn to say something. They turned towards each other, and held each other's hands. "When I was growing up, I didn't have a normal life or a regular family like everybody else, and I always knew that something was missing. But now I'm standing here today, knowing that I have everything I'm ever gonna need...And now, here we are, with our future before us, and I only wanna spend it with you- my life, my love, my Prince. I love you, I always have, ever since I can remember, and I always will."Hermione smiled, with tears shining at the corners of her eyes. Snape gave a smile and began,"I thought this was going to be the most difficult thing I ever had to do and after what we've had to do, that's saying something. But when I saw you waking down the aisle, I realised how simple it was. I had turned to you for help at my most vulnerable point and instead I found everything I had always been looking for. You are the person I was meant to spend my life with. Hermione, you're so beautiful. You're so kind, you're so generous. You're so wonderfully weird. Everyday with you is an adventure, and I can't believe how lucky I am. When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I can't wait to share my life with you forever." They barely heard the declaration 'I now pronounce you husband and wife' that they joined their lips together, followed by light clapping and cheers (and also wolf-whistles from Ron). They broke the kiss and gazed into each-other's faces. A single drop of tear had escaped Hermione's eyes but Snape quickly wiped it away with his thumb. "No, don't you start now, 'cause if you cry then I'll cry too and we don't wanna do that now, do we?" She heard his voice was choked and she hastily controlled the emotions welling inside her. "Okay."she whispered back and smiled. He pulled her flush against his body, not giving a care in the world and they engaged in a longer, more passionate kiss that reached them to an absolute bliss.