Chapter 30 - The Wedding

3.7K 94 2
                                    

Brenna spent the next six weeks working furiously on her wedding plans. She was going to have as simple a wedding as Mother would allow in the Great Hall. She decided on classic black and white for colors. Severus was pleased with this choice. He was very helpful when it cam to wedding planning except that he snuck off to Hogsmeade every couple of days and was gone for the entire day. When he came back, he would answer no questions about where he had been or what he had done all day. He was quite lucky that Brenna was secure enough that she didn't assume he was cheating on her.

Draco quit his job at the Ministry and was busy putting together a band with some musician friends. He was a little bitter when Brenna said she wouldn't hire his band for the reception, but Albus booked them for the Halloween dance. Severus asked Draco to be his best man at the wedding. Brenna asked Ginny Weasley. Soon after, Draco and Ginny began disappearing with Severus into Hogsmeade, and none of them would tell her what was going on.

When Severus, Draco, and Ginny were all missing for the entire day right before the wedding, Brenna was livid. No one but her was here to see to all the last minute details, the decorating, and welcoming some of the guests. Even Mother had disappeared by lunch. After dinner Brenna settled herself in the living room of the quarters she shared with Severus to await his return. She wouldn't be sleeping there that night to make sure that they didn't see each other before the wedding. She loved him, but she had some questions that needed to be answered before they got married. Severus walked into the room around eight o'clock that evening looking quite tired.

"Where have you been? Do you even realize all the preparations that were going on here today? I had to do everything alone!" she railed. She'd sat and held her temper long enough. Severus just smiled at her.

"I was finishing your wedding present. Draco, Ginny, and your mother were helping me because it had to be finished today."

"What could possibly be taking this long, Severus?" she asked, grateful that he wasn't doing anything obviously bad.

"I'd like to show you tonight, if you'll come with me. There's a carriage out at the front entrance for us." Severus said. Part of the reason they worked well was that her temper didn't really seem to faze him at all.

Before she knew it, Brenna was sitting in one of Hogwarts' thestral-drawn carriages trundling off toward Hogsmeade. They passed through the main gates and into town, passing the major landmarks of Brenna's childhood. They stopped in front of a new building. It was clear from the layout in front that it was some kind of store, but there was no sign.

"So what do you think?" Severus asked.

"What am I looking at?" Brenna asked.

"I took the dowry money and I bought this building. I reconverted it into an empty store. I thought you could start your own apothecary. It would give you an outlet for your gardening, give you something to do while I'm away at school, and keep you close enough to Hogwarts that I can see you regularly." Severus said.

"That's a fabulous idea! Thank you." she responded.

"There's more." Severus said, climbing from the carriage and helping her down as well. He led her through a gate beside the building. There were nearly two acres of earth behind the building. There were two greenhouses off to one side of the yard. The rest had been blocked off into beds of tilled ground with stone pathways in between. "It will be easier to run a business when you're growing the product in the backyard."

They walked through the empty ground for a few minutes as Brenna soaked in what she had been given.

"This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever given me, Severus. Thank you," she said, a tear leaking from the corner of her eye. Severus pulled her into a tight hug. "This must have taken you forever to do."

Surprisingly Pure Where stories live. Discover now