On Marriage

Chapter Eleven - Wedding Plans

Dumbledore agreed quite happily to perform the handfasting and, as it turned out, the date that Severus and Hermione had chosen was scheduled to be a busy day for Ministry weddings. Three were taking place at Hogwarts alone: Hermione to Severus, Hannah Abbot to Ernie Macmillian, and Daphne Greengrass to Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin who had left Hogwarts two years earlier. After a brief consultation with all of those involved, Dumbledore announced that there would be three separate ceremonies, followed by a large reception in the Great Hall for all of the newlyweds.

"Trust Albus Dumbledore to turn any event into cause for mass celebration," Severus had growled after the announcement had been made, but Hermione was somewhat heartened by the news. At least it gave her the comfort of knowing she would have the opportunity to spend some time with the people who mattered the most to her, on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life.

Hannah Abbot, upon hearing of the package Hermione had received from her mother, was kind enough to take the wedding magazines off of Hermione's hands. She and Ernie were apparently planning the Wedding To End All Weddings, and doing it Muggle-style. While she cringed inwardly at this news, Hermione was not at all sorry to see the glossy magazines disappear into Hannah's school bag. And she made a mental note to thank the Headmaster for planning three separate ceremonies. Three brides or, rather, three Mother-of-the-Brides trying to plan one common ceremony was a scarier thought than anything else Hermione could come up with..

Her own mother had accepted the news of the handfasting with a surprising amount of grace. She still insisted on going dress shopping, which Hermione agreed to submit herself to with the understanding that Ginny would come along and that after spending time in Muggle London, they would then visit a specialty shop in Diagon Alley. Ginny had already managed to procure a pamphlet from the Diagon Alley shop and there was a picture of a very simple, but very pretty gown that Hermione couldn't wait to see.

Wedding Dress Day, as Ginny had taken to calling it, came a little sooner than Hermione was prepared for. She and Ginny flooed to the Leaky Cauldron from the Headmaster's office shortly before the shops were scheduled to open, and barely had enough time to order a mug of hot chocolate apiece before Hermione's mother arrived and hauled them out to the street. Ginny chuckled when she saw the neatly written list of shops that Margaret Granger pulled from inside her pocketbook.

"Now I know where you get it from," she whispered to Hermione as they headed down the street to the first of the shops. She was awarded with a tight-lipped, already tired looking, glare.

By the time they stopped for lunch five hours later, Hermione was positively frazzled. Even Ginny looked worn out, and she hadn't been the one who'd spent all morning being shuffled into and out of voluminous gowns of satin and tulle by people she'd never met before. Margaret Granger seemed a bit put out that Hermione had nixed every one of the gowns she'd been coaxed into trying on, always siting some frivolous-sounding complaint - the lack of sleeves, the shape of the skirt, the use of color. ("Who in their right mind would wear a wedding dress with scarlet accents?" she had asked at one point. "You'd think the dress designers, at least, would remember what a white gown is supposed to signify.")

"If I see one more iridescent bead or sequin today, I might just scream," Hermione groaned, sliding into a booth at the restaurant they had chosen. Her feet hurt, her hair was in disarray from having removed her shirt so many times and she was fairly sure she had almost put her shoes on the wrong feet when she'd gotten dressed at the last store.

"You're right, sweetheart," her mother sighed, sounding more than a little defeated. "Maybe we should spend some time looking at bridesmaid's dresses since Ginny is with us."

Ginny looked sharply up from her menu, her expression that of a deer caught in headlights.

Hermione fought the urge to chuckle at her panic-stricken friend, instead shaking her head at her mother. "What good will it do to look at ten thousand bridesmaids dresses before I've chosen a wedding dress? We could choose something only to have the style be all wrong later."

"We haven't seen anything at all that didn't make you scowl," Hermione's mother countered. "I'm beginning to think you never will choose a gown."

"There's still a shop on Diagon Alley," Ginny suggested hopefully.

"True," Margaret Granger conceded, finally opening her own menu. "We'll look there first." Ginny sagged in visible relief.

The saleswitch in Diagon Alley was surprisingly helpful, Hermione thought. At least she knew about the absurd Ministry law and didn't feel the need to comment on Hermione's age, as most of the salesclerks in the Muggle shops had when she'd asked about bridal gowns instead of party dresses. She led Hermione first to a rack of some of the most popular wedding robes. Given the ages of the brides in recent months, most of them were quite fashionable in design.

"Did you have an idea of what you were looking for?" she asked when Hermion summarily dismissed a section of Muggle-inspired creations encrusted in beading and lace.

"Somewhat," Hermione replied, digging the picture that Ginny had found out of her pocket. "I'm not sure if the style will suit, but it's got to be better than...that." She waved a flustered hand in her mother's direction. Margaret Granger had pulled what looked like a puffed-sleeve, Civil War-era gown from the rack and was holding it up for Ginny's inspection. Ginny had flushed and seemed to be trying to find a polite way to saying that it looked horrid.

"Ah," the saleswitch smiled knowingly. She took the proffered picture and led Hermione to another rack of gowns. "Try this one," she suggested, pulling one from the group and ushering Hermione to the fitting rooms. "Don't worry about the size. It will refit itself when you put it on."

Hermione disappeared behind the changing room curtain, thankfully alone, and began to disrobe. She slipped into a wedding robe, which was made of the softest ivory silk she'd ever seen, and felt it reshape itself around her.

"Oh!" she gasped, looking at herself in the fitting room mirror.

"It's lovely, dear," the mirror crooned. "Looks like it was made for you."

"I agree," Hermione said, turning around and looking over her shoulder so she could get a look at the back of the dress.

"Did you find something, sweetheart?" Margaret Granger asked from the other side of the changing room curtain.

"Yes," Hermione called happily. "My wedding dress!"