October 5th, 2000

October 5th, 2000

Molly Weasley tenderly looked at her little boy. No, he was no longer a little boy, she reminded herself. He was a man now. A tall, muscular, freckled twenty years old man, and today was his wedding day. But no matter how old Ronald could be, he would always be her little boy. A little boy she had given birth to.

As Molly looked at him walking away from the altar, his wife holding his arm, she could not help but remember, tears forming in her eyes. She remembered the first time he had ever said 'I love you, Mummy', she remembered how scared he had been when his malicious brothers had turn his teddy-bear into a spider. She also remembered how proud she had been when he had received his Prefect's badge.

She could also only too well remember how scared she had been when he had decided - against her will - to enlist to go fight You-Know-Who (Voldemort! she told herself) and his Death Eaters. He had fought so bravely, they all had fought so bravely. Thanks to God, her family had not suffered any loss. Percy would limp forever, but he did not complain about this, for he thought it was his price to pay for having turned his back on his family at the beginning of the war Harry Potter had ended by killing Voldemort, with Hermione's help. Ronald had managed to kill both Lucius Malfoy (his son Draco, was reported as 'missing') and Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry would always be thankful to Ron for having avenged Sirius' death.

Molly shook her head. Now was not the time to think about all that. Now was the time to celebrate Ron and Hermione's wedding. Molly lovingly looked at her daughter-in-low. She had always liked Hermione, and she had liked her even more when Hermione had taken care of Ron when he had badly been injured during his fight to death with Lucius Malfoy.

'No, no Molly! Don't think about it now!'

She looked up at her husband and could see a little tear escaping his right eye. Arthur then took her hand and they walked out of the wizard church together, following Ginny and Harry, now Mr and Mrs Harry Potter.

***

Ron and Hermione's wedding dinner was taking place at the Burrow, which had been decorated with white and red balloons and garlands. Harry and Ginny had celebrated their union at the Burrow too, though in much darker times. They had wanted to be married before Harry left to fight Voldemort. Ginny was now pregnant; the baby was due to arrive in four months and her belly now offered obvious signs of her pregnancy. Harry and her had decided that if Ginny was to give birth to a baby boy, his name would be Sirius, in loving memory of Harry's dead godfather. If Ginny was to give birth to a girl, her name would be Lily, after Harry's mother.

Ron and Hermione were standing next to the fireplace. The newly-weds were thanking people from coming, not letting go of the other's hand. They would never ever let the other go, never. They had fought so much, so hard. No one could understand or know what they had gone through together, and with Harry. They now all deserved to be happy and intended to be.

Arthur Weasley was talking with Hermione's parents, the Grangers. Mrs Granger was crying softly. Her husband was holding her by the shoulders.

"Look at her, Arthur, she's so beautiful! She's so beautiful in this white dress."

A tear rolled down her right cheek.

"I remember, when she used to put on a little white dress and 'play-wedding' as she called it. Her groom was always her teddy-bear."

Mrs Granger smiled, then frowned.

"Until... Until she was five. Do you remember how cute she was when she was five, honey? When she turned up five, the teddy-bear suddenly laid forgotten in a corner. She was then pretending she was marrying a boy she called 'Ronnie'. She was acting as if the boy was standing next to her, kissing the back of her hand when she would say, taking a deep voice, 'You can now kiss'."

Arthur was listening intently.

"Did you say Ronnie?"

"Yes. I remember asking her one day who this Ronnie was. She said he was the boy she would marry one day. I then asked her to tell me more. She reluctantly told me that the boy had red hair and that he was very clumsy. She also said that he wanted to work for the Ministry, because his father was."

"Well," said Mr Weasley, wondering, "looks like she knew what she wanted, your little Hermione: she's now the wife of a red-haired Ronnie."

They all laughed. Mrs Granger talked again.

"Then, growing up, she seemed to forget this imaginary boy, and she did not 'play-wedding' anymore..."

She sighed at the memories and looked for something in her handbag. She took out an old, crumpled photograph of Hermione. Mr Weasley looked at it.

"She was five when the picture was taken. Sorry, it's a Muggle one, it does not move."

Something clicked in Arthur's mind and he looked at the picture with insistence. It was weird, how familiar Hermione looked at five years old. He had not known her then, he thought, yet, she looked so familiar. Some funny visions of the Muggle Underground, of a blue dress, of his son at five years old, came into his mind, but, somehow, he could not put them together.

He heard someone call him. It was a voice he knew by heart.

"Dad? Dad! Daddy!"

*Daddy, I'm going to marry her one day.*

Arthur started. Where had that come from?

"Daaaaad!"

"Yes?" asked Arthur absent-mindedly.

Ron was standing next to him, very elegant in his wedding robes.

"Dad, are you all right?"

"Yes, yes, Ron," said Mr Weasley, smiling, " It's just the emotion, Ronnie."

"Come on, it's time to eat! Come, I want you to sit next to me and Hermione!"

*Can I sit there, Daddy?*

Arthur followed Ron to the table and saw a wedding present on a chair nearby. It was wrapped in a blue paper.

*Do you see that girl in the blue dress?*

Ron was slightly worried by his father's unusual behaviour. He called him once more.

"Dad?"

*Daddy, I'm going to marry her!" "... girl in blue..." "...sit near the girl in blue..." "...marry the girl in blue...*

"Brown hair," thought Arthur. "Bushy brown hair... the girl in the blue dress in the Underground had bushy brown hair. The girl sitting near Ronald had bushy brown hair."

Arthur looked around and his eyes caught Hermione smiling.

"The photograph..."

*She was then pretending she was marrying a boy she called 'Ronnie' " "the boy she would marry one day" "...boy had red hair...*

Suddenly, everything clicked into place in Arthur's mind. He turned around and saw Mrs Granger standing one metre away. In two steps he was next to her.

"Mrs Granger," he said excitedly, "Mrs Granger!"

"Yes?"

"Er... Can I borrow the picture of Hermione for a minute, please?"

"Of course," she answered, handing him the photograph, "but why do you..."

She did not finish her sentence. Mr Weasley was already talking back to his son.

"Ron!" he called. "Ron!"

"Yes, Dad?"

For a minute, Arthur saw his five years old little boy standing in front of him. He shook the memory away and gave the picture to Ron, who looked at it curiously.

"Hey," he said, "I know her!"

His face fell.

"It's Hermione, isn't it?"

Arthur did not answer.

"I know her," said Ronald. "I mean, of course I know her, Hermione's my... wife."

He smiled.

"My wife!" he thought with pride. Then he said "But, I knew her... then. I've seen her when she looked like that."

Arthur nodded his head.

"I don't remember when or when but I know... that I knew her then."

Ron's mind was then filled with visions: a little girl in a blue dress with bushy brown hair. A train...

"You've met her," said Arthur.

"When? Where?"

"When you were five, in the Muggle Underground."

Ron looked incredulous but finally smiled.

"Yes. I remember now. I hadn't recognized her until today... Until I saw this picture... How could I NOT recognize her? I've known her for nine years now."

"She was a child's memory. Something that you had forgotten but that stayed somewhere in your head. Do you remember what you told me when you saw her back then?"

Ron thought for a second, then lowered his head, still smiling.

"I told you I was going to marry her."

"Yes."

Ron looked around and smiled at Hermione. He called her.

"Ione?"

She came closer and kissed him on the lips, while Arthur walked away, looking for his wife to tell her everything.

"Yes, Mr Weasley?" said Hermione.

"Please, call me Ronnie, Mrs Weasley."

Hermione looked surprised. Ron handed her the picture.

"Would you believe me, Hermione, if I told you that one day, when we were both five years old, we met in the Muggle Underground?"

Hermione cocked her head, thinking. Ron managed to make eye-contact, and holding his wife's hands, pulling her closer to him, he told her, "Do you remember, Hermione, a red-haired and clumsy little boy who did not know what he wanted to do with his life?"

Hermione looked at her husband, slowly nodding her head, tears rolling down her cheeks at the recollection.

"After meeting you for the very first time, this boy knew what he wanted to do: to marry you. He told his father so. About six years later, when the boy, now not so little, saw you for the second time of his life - though he did not remember ever meeting you at that time - he knew that not only he wanted you to be his wife, but also that he wanted to kiss you and make you laugh and make you happy forever. By marrying you today, the boy made his dreams come true."

"It was you. It is you," Hermione stammered.

"It's me, Ione."

"Why are you calling me 'Ione'?"

"Because when you told me your name that day, fifteen years ago, I only heard the end of it: Ione."

"You're Ronnie? You're Ronnie!" she stated. "How... Why didn't I remember you, why..."

"It doesn't matter now. All that matter is that we've found one another again."

"I thought your name was Ronnie because I had heard your father calling you so." Then she added, "When I was a little girl, I was pretending I was marrying you whenever I felt lonely. That happened way too often. I married you a lot."

She laughed and cried at the same time.

"You were pretending to be marrying me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Her lower lip shook when she admitted in a whisper, "Because I had fallen in love with you."

"You were quite bossy even back then, you know. I felt on the verge of tears when I fell off my seat."

"But that was stupid of you, not to get a hold on anything," she whispered, with love in her eyes.

"Why are you always right?" He took her chin in his hand and kissing her softly, said "That day I fell in love with you too. And I told my father I wanted to marry you."

He gently kissed her cheeks and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"I love you, Ione Weasley."

"I love you Ronnie."

"And I promise that even though we'll marry only one time, you will never be lonely anymore."

"I know."

"But, Hermione, please, do something for me..."

"Whatever you want, Ronnie."

"Ione... Don't ever make me read Hogwarts, A History again." He grinned.

She laughed heartily and kissed her husband of a lifetime with all the love and passion her heart held.