Not Quite Dark Magic

Epilogue

"I've no idea what you're talking about, Draco." Hermione fluffed her hair and walked to the floo. "My hair is naturally like this."

Draco scoffed, and before she could throw him a dirty glance he had tossed the powder in and they were being transported to Grimmauld.

The rooms were stuffed with guests from every which way. There was little press, but with two weddings happening for four war heroes, the guest list was quite vast.

The living room on the first floor, where the majority of Hermione's happiest memories lay within the house, was enlarged to house more than three hundred people. The middle aisle had a large strip of silk that led to the front window, where it branched off into opposite directions. Flowers showered the walls, raining down from the ceiling and disappearing before they hit the ground. Lilies and roses garnished each and every entryway and stairwell.

Not long after they arrived, the guests were asked to take their seats. Draco and Hermione popped back to their assigned rooms to check on the brides and grooms.

"No, no. That's not right at all." Pansy fussed with Luna's bustle while Ginny sat with her legs thrown over the arm of a chair with a beer in her hand.

Luna looked hauntingly beautiful with a floor length gown that was cinched at the waist and accented her hips wonderfully. The back of the dress was decorated artfully with lace and her long sleeves sparkled with enchanted diamonds.

Ginny had opted for a shorter dress that served to emphasise her toned thighs. Her dress was champagne pink and backless, showing off her muscles that she had gained while training for professional Quidditch. The Holy Head Harpies were hoping to make their debut within the next three months and Ginny had embraced the sporty look. In her dress, she looked magnificent, regal and sexy.

Hermione snatched the beer out of Ginny's hands. "How many have you had?"

Ginny stood and tried to reach for it. Hermione held it above her head.

"That's my first, I swear! I just wanted something to do with my hands."

Ginny hated the idea of a large grand wedding. She would have preferred to elope with Harry, but at the protest of Molly she had agreed to it, only if Theo were joining her.

"You love being the center of attention," Pansy said, rushing over to fix Ginny's slightly mussed hair. "This is just like being on the quidditch pitch."

"As if! I have to stand and be a pretty doll."

"Only for the ceremony. On the dancefloor you can drink as much as you'd like and be as crazy and unladylike as you normally are."

Ginny pursed her lips in thought. Eventually she nodded. "Alright, fine."

There was a knock at the door. Ron peeked his head in. "Ladies, time for places." His eyes fell on Ginny. "I should have known you'd find a wedding dress to suit your style. I guess I owe Zabini five galleons"

Ginny threw a pillow at the door, but Ron had already shut it with a chuckle.

"Fucking ass!"

"Ginny," Hermione soothed, running a hand down her back, "You're marrying Harry today."

Ginny's spine straightened and the tension left her shoulders. "If I'm marrying Harry, then I can conquer anything.

---

The ceremony was beautiful, and Hermione stood arm in arm with Draco along with the rest of the large bridal party, in the center of the room while the couples stood on either side of them. They took turns exchanging their vows, with Harry's eyes twinkling and Theo needing to clear his throat much more than usual. Theo's hands and face were littered with tiny scars from his transformations, and while he normally glamoured them when out, today he stood by Luna, looking sickeningly in love and wholly himself.

Theo embraced being a werewolf. He had been able to save over half of his original pack from Voldemort's clutches, and when the Final Battle was over, he had come back and challenged the Alpha. Today he stood as leader of the largest pack in Britain, and growing. He wore his scars proud and was tired of hiding them from the media. They would have a frenzy over this, of course, as Theo's werewolf identity still remained secret knowledge even though it was wildly speculated. But Theo didn't care, he couldn't if the look on his face was anything to go by.

After the ceremony had concluded, festivities moved to the roof, which had once again been enlarged to house all the guests. Ginny stood in the middle performing wild dance moves around Theo while Harry watched on fondly from the side. Luna was chatting with some people with cameras, and by the looks on their faces the conversation was not what they were expecting.

"Bet she's talking about wrackspurts and nargles," Pansy said, taking a sip from her champagne glass. "It's her go to."

"That's too easy. It's got to be about the efficacy of parsley against malevolent banshees," Neville said.

Seamus shook his head. "She's already written an article on that and published it in the Quibbler. Surely they've managed to drag werewolves into the conversation by now."

Hermione shrugged. "Luna loves to talk about werewolves, but she'll never drag Theo's identity into it."

"It's their mistake in trying to catch her  into it," Draco said, throwing his arm around Hermione.

The roof was dazzling with its cover of stringed bulb lights that still allowed starlight to shine through. The moon was a mere sliver, at Theo's request so his pack would be able to join in later on in the night. They preferred to come late so the festivities would continue on for hours more. Hermione didn't mind. She was in awe watching as painful met wonderful in a strange collision at Grimmauld Place as she watched Harry kiss Ginny's forehead not far from the place Katie Bell had died a few years prior.

Theo and Luna danced gracefully directly through where they used to practice their spells, learning to aim contusion hexes for the heart or the brain, getting told these were the most efficient spots.

They weren't good memories, but they took up space on Hermione's head and she was fond of them nonetheless. She remembered Ginny's celebration as she finally learned to fire at a man's chest while looking in the other direction. She recalled laughing when Neville slipped on some loose water that had spilled out of an attack dummy when they were perfecting a drowning spell. It was a silly memory wrapped up in an awful circumstance and she was tired of feeling bad for remembering it happily.

Draco slammed down a shot glass in front of her. She looked up to see everyone else had one in their hand already.

"Your brain's working too hard tonight. Let's have some fun, yeah?"

He was right, and his eyes were filled with so much love that she couldn't see their haunted past anymore. So she lifted her glass in cheers and downed it before dragging the group to the dance floor.

Hermione threw her hands in the air and shimmied her hips along with the beat, laughing as Seamus and Dean broke into a dance battle and dropping her jaw when George dropped to the floor and did the worm. She danced with Draco, Pansy, Neville, Theo, Ron, Harry, Fred, Ginny and Luna so many times she lost count. Blaise and Seamus and Dean pulled her into their little own group at one point before they all joined back together again.

She danced until she was sweating and then she danced some more. They lights sparkled behind her eyes in a kaleidoscope of colors that she no longer wanted to flinch away from. Her legs ached and she continued to move, kissing Draco longer and longer as the night went on.

When the sun began to breach the horizon they were still going. Hermione's cheeks hurt from smiling and her lungs ached from laughter. Her heart was so full it overflowed into Draco's bond and he took it all in, enhanced it and sent it back.

Hermione knew at one point she thought she'd never recover, that she'd be a war torn girl forever with no one to love and nothing to look forward to.

She knew it, but surrounded by the man she loved and the people she depended on, she could no longer remember the feeling.