Snapshots of a Wedding

SNAPSHOTS OF A WEDDING

"It's a love story. Boy meets girl, they're falling in love and an evil woman tries to separate them. She has helpers to keep them apart."

--Morten Louring

[...Something Old...]

"Cho's here."

The words repeated unwelcomingly in Ginny's mind and she stared disdainfully at Cho, who was now making herself very much at home by sitting in the empty seat that would've been Hermione's. Ginny tried desperately to calm herself down but the self-righteous look on Cho's face and the arrogance emanating from her person was irritating the hell out of Ginny and causing that anger that had finally subsided to return with a vengeance.

Hermione watched the shocked expressions appear one by one on everyone's face when they realized who had just taken a seat to the table. It wasn't a very pretty sight but Cho didn't seem too moved by the inhospitable looks she was receiving. Instead, she was engaging Septimus and Aunt Muriel in conversation while stealing a few glances in the direction of Harry, Ginny and Hermione.

Hermione looked nervously at Ginny, then at Harry who had not yet recovered from his own astonishment. Neither of them seemed to realize the group of people making their way towards them. Fred, George (who had returned for lunch), Ron and Luna was rushing over with Neville closely behind.

"Can someone explain to me what Cho's doing here?" Fred asked, looking back the table. Cho was now taking it upon herself to butter a biscuit, playfully giggling at whatever Grandfather Septimus was saying.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Harry finally answered, looking at Fred. "As you can see we're all as shocked as you are."

"So, um, no one invited her then?" Ron asked. He was staring at Hermione who was avoiding his gaze, but it was Ginny who answered.

"Not that I can recall but I have a pretty good idea how and why she's here."

Ginny pushed her way out of the circle that had formed and marched pointedly towards the table that was now buzzing with conversation. It was obvious that only the eight of them were aware of Cho's inappropriate presence.

"Um, anyone else a little worried that a fight's about to happen?" Ron asked, watching as Ginny continued towards the table.

No one voiced an answer but nodded instead, moving in one swift motion to follow Ginny.

"And then I managed to freeze the little bugger and turn him into a toad; been living like that for decades now." Grandfather Septimus laughed heartedly. "Ah, Ginny my dear, I was just talking to your friend here. She's quite a lovely girl and very humorous indeed."

"That's all good and well, Grandpa Septimus, but could you, just for one moment, excuse me and my friend," Ginny said, putting harsh emphasis on the last word and staring angrily at Cho.

"Why of course, Ginny," Cho replied cutely. She stood up and followed Ginny to a far side of the yard, causing the group that was following them to change course.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

"What do you mean?" Cho asked, smiling slightly.

"You know bloody well what I mean," she shouted, failing miserably at trying to keep unruffled. "You know bloody damn well that you weren't invited so I'd like to know how the hell you got here."

It was at that moment that Fred, George, Hermione, Luna, Neville and Harry arrived. Harry stood next to Ginny while the rest of them remained a few steps behind. They were readying themselves in case a heated argument erupted.

"Well if you must know, Ginny," Cho started, "your mother invited me."

Ginny's heart dropped and time seemed to slow down as she replayed the last ten seconds in her mind. Her mother invited Cho? She knew it. All the mishaps and the bad luck boiled down to her mother and now Cho's presence was the icing on her destructive cake.

"M-My mother invited you?" Ginny shook her head, trying to dispel her disbelief.

"Yes I did invite her." Molly Weasley appeared behind her daughter. "I thought that she would be a valuable asset to my case."

Ginny watched as her mother moved to stand next to Cho. It was one thing for her mother to say she didn't want to her marrying Harry, it was another to actually formulate and execute a plan to prevent it. All day things were going wrong and she had some inclination that it was her mother's doing, but it still came as shock to her that it was indeed all her mother's fault.

"Mother, how could you?"

"Now, Ginny, you know just how Harry's always been thought of as a lover boy." Molly fixed Harry with a disgusted glare.

"No he's not mom," Ron spoke up, walking towards his mother. "Harry's a very faithful person and you know it. Why are you trying to ruin this for them?"

"My daughter deserves better than some disrespectful ingrate!" Her voice had risen to a substantial level and it was drawing attention from everyone who had remained at the table.

"Um, maybe you should take this inside," Hermione said, stepping in between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. "You're drawing the attention of the other guests."

Ginny nodded. "Shall we continue this in the kitchen?"

Ginny didn't wait for a reply but instead lifted her robes a little to make walking back to the kitchen quickly a little easier. Everyone followed but it wasn't until they had reached the door that she turned abruptly to face everyone.

"We'll handle this inside. The rest of you stay with the guests and try and keep them occupied."

"But Ginny we -"

"Please, Ron," she pleaded with a sigh.

Ron nodded and lightly pushed Neville, Fred, George, Luna and Hermione back over to the table. Ginny, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and Cho made their way into the kitchen and closed the door behind them, preventing the rest of guests from seeing inside. For a few minutes no one spoke. Instead, Cho settled herself calmly at the table and Mrs. Weasley stood by the kitchen sink. Ginny and Harry stood in front of the table, staring from Mrs. Weasley, to Cho and back again.

"Well," Ginny finally spoke, "are you going to explain?"

"Explain what?" Molly replied, avoiding Ginny's gaze. "I already told you. Cho's here because I invited her."

"But why?"

"I invited her so she can prove what I've been saying all along: that Harry cannot be trusted."

Ginny sighed and rubbed her eyes before looking back at her mother. This was just getting ridiculous.

"Why exactly do you think I can't be trusted, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked. "All these years you've treated me like your own son. You took it upon yourself to take care of me and now you're acting like I'm some kind of vagabond. You didn't have a problem when me and Ginny first got together so why the big issue now?"

It was eerie but Harry was managing to keep his anger at a minimum and his voice soft. It wasn't that he wasn't upset (he was, in fact, greatly distressed about Cho's presence). It was just that someone needed to be calm and rational right now and it was definitely not going to be Ginny; she was fuming behind him and Harry could sense that she was more than ready to hex Cho, who was smiling haughtily at the two.

"I treated you like a son because I thought that you were respectable." Molly walked towards the table and used a chair for balance. She formed a slight smile and continued, "You were so polite and you looked out for Ron and Ginny, protected them on countless occasions. And I was happy when you and Ginny got together." Molly's smile started to dwindle. "But then I learned about how you treated Cho. How you didn't even let her know that the relationship had ended. How even after that you used her."

"Cho and I simply fell apart," Harry said, looking intently at Cho. "She knew that it was over and couldn't have expected anything to continue." Harry finally looked back at Molly. "And I never used Cho for anything."

What use could he possibly have for Cho? They had ended years ago, seven to be exact. Yet here she was, feeding Mrs. Weasley lies about how their relationship had ended and trying to get in the way. Harry couldn't fathom why she was doing it or how she was benefitting from this ploy. She certainly couldn't believe that Harry would get back together with her if Ginny and Harry didn't make it. That wouldn't happen even if he and Cho were the last two people on earth and the procreation of the series depended on it; the human race dying out would be a much preferred choice.

"Is that true?" Molly said, with an all-knowing tone.

Harry ignored her and turned to look at Cho. "Cho, you know you shouldn't be here," Harry said. "It's inappropriate."

"Why is that, Harry?" Cho asked, giving him a flirtatious smile and standing up. "Afraid I'll be a problem?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Harry responded. "It looks mighty suspicious you being here."

"Oh come now, Harry. Everyone knows what I am to you."

"And what is that?" Ginny asked. She had been quiet the entire time but Cho's smug look was aggravating her and she wanted nothing more than to beat her face in. "What importance could an insufferable git like you be to Harry?" Her breathing was becoming heavy and the grip on her wand was getting tighter.

"I serve the importance of being his true love." The words dropped a heavy silence onto the room but Cho broke it by continuing, "Harry's never been able to let me go and he knows it, even if he won't say it out loud." Cho was now stepping towards the couple and her expression was turning evil. "Harry can't keep me off his mind and he can't stay away from me. Where do you think he goes those nights he tells you he's at Auror training? Those nights are spent with me."

"That's a lie," Harry said. He was now getting angry and his fists were balled up, causing his nails to dig into his skin. "We ended years ago Cho and all this waffle you're saying is just a lame attempt at destroying my relationship with Ginny."

"Why would I need to do that when you've already done it?" Cho folded her arms. "Or you don't think cheating on your fiancé with your ex-girlfriend qualifies as ruining your relationship?"

Just then, there was a blur of red hair and the next minute Cho was being held on the ground by Ginny. All ideas of hexing, jinxing or cursing Cho had slipped from her mind and, instead, she opted for physical violence. Beating Cho senseless and sending waves of pain that only bodily harm could bring was more satisfactory than making her legs jiggle or rending her immobile. Ginny gripped tightly onto Cho's throat with one hand and punched her hard with the other, bloodying her nose with one blow.

"You - foul - evil - little - bitch!"

Ginny wrenched her arm back and punched Cho harder with each word; the sound of bone cracking echoed through the kitchen. Harry and Mrs. Weasley had been frozen in shock at Ginny's rage, not entirely sure what to do. Then, it was Mrs. Weasley who moved first; she gripped Ginny's arm and with all her strength pooled, grabbed her by her waist and hoisted her off a slightly disoriented and bleeding Cho Chang. Ginny fought against her mother's hold and continued to shout at Cho, who was struggling to compose herself and trying to sit up.

Surprisingly, Harry remained quite stable as Molly and Ginny struggled with each other. He stood staring at Cho who was looking back at him. His breathing was panicky and his voice seemed to have vanished. He swallowed hard and looked at Ginny who had seemed to calm down a bit.

"Is it true, Harry?" Ginny asked desperately. She was near tears but she wasn't entirely sure if it was from the anger or from the fear that what Cho had said was true.

Harry didn't know what to say. The memory of that night came flooding back to his mind. He was upset, he had somehow come across Cho and they had talked and ended up sleeping together. He didn't know how he could've forgotten it. He had every intention of telling Ginny that it had happened but never did. And now it had come back to bite him in the ass, hard.

Ginny continued to stare at him in utter disbelief. Cho had finally managed to stand up and had walked over to Harry. Although she was bleeding and her nose appeared broken, she was still gloating at the damage she had done. Ginny ignored her, though. Her gaze was fixated on Harry who was still rooted in the same spot and who had still not answered her.

"It's not what you think, Ginny."

Stupid, stupid, stupid thing to say! It was exactly what she thought. Patronizing her like that was only going to make her rage worse. And sure enough, the little bit of calm that had come over her disappeared. Instead, she took a few furious steps towards Harry. Any sensible person would have retreated but Harry couldn't muster up the courage to move. It might only anger Ginny more.

Ginny shook her head. "How could you?"

A tear escaped and Harry felt a jab in his chest as he watched it slide down her face. It was bad enough that he had done something to hurt her, but now he had driven her to tears. Harry was hating himself more and more by the minute.

"Ginny, I swear it was a mistake. If you just let me explain what -"

Explain what no one knew because that same second Ginny had punched Harry square in the face, causing him to stumble back as she stormed past him and flung the kitchen door open. Her abrupt presence in the garden had turned everyone's attention towards the house. They only caught a glimpse of Ginny, however, because before she took five steps, she disappeared, Apparating to only God knows where.

Shocked faces met Harry as he stepped outside with his nose bleeding and Cho behind him, bleeding as well. Hermione was the first person to move from under the tent. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened but the look on Harry's face and the satisfied expression Cho was wearing suggested that the day had just gone from bad to worse.

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Coming up... [...Something New...]