POV: Hermione... Harry and Ginny's Wedding. Play the song lovers! 😘
My droplets of the deepest sorrow of my throes were raining upon me again...
Staring at myself in the vanity mirror, mourning my misery as I stood here in my Witch's fashion forward 'Maid of Honor' dress, inside of the women's lavatory of the newly extravagant hotel, located here in Godric's Hollow... where Ginny and Harry were just announced as husband and wife to our Wizarding World...
The wedding was splendidly beautiful and picturesquely sentimental. There wasn't a dry eye in the entire chapel of Godric's Hollow, that Harry's parents had also wed in, so many years ago... It was everything you could imagine it would be, knowing the love of the newlyweds... I'd never seen Harry and his Ginny, so happy in all the years I'd known them. And my soul couldn't be more happy for them...
Nevertheless, my heart bled, knowing what a love like theirs felt like. And this Love that I had in my heart wasn't for Ginny's brother... My love ached for Draco every single moment of my beating heart.
I hadn't been able to stop myself from crying, since that last night I had with Draco on my birthday. I covertly hid my agony of losing him during the day, somehow finding the strength to get out of my bed the next... and sobbing myself to sleep every night for the past month...
"Hermione? Are you in here? Ah, there you are!" Luna inevitably found me in my state of grief.
"What's the matter? Did the Nargles steal your shoes from your table, like they did mine?!" Luna guessed at my tears and I looked down at her feet that was bare. I laughed and explained, "oh, no... no, I'm not crying because of my shoes. I'm crying because I lost something, someone else..."
"Well, don't you worry. Whatever you lose, always finds a way of coming back to you," Luna softly spoke her divine wisdom, handing me her sky-blue handkerchief.
I blotted my eyes, giving her back her kind offerings, and pulled myself together, with a deep sigh...
Luna coated her arm around my shoulders and cast more of her words of charm, "let's dance the night away, and if that doesn't work, there's still plenty of champagne!" I smiled shaking my head yes and made our way back into the reception.
The music was overflowing the dark ball room, that was marvelously lit with fluorescent lights dancing about to the rhythms of the love songs, that every witch and wizard was enjoying. I witnessed the loving couples swaying romantically, which included many familiar faces from Hogwarts, our Professor McGonagall to whom was The Headmistress of our academic achievements in Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was engaged with a wizard of her stature, I hadn't ever met before nor heard of, and I could see the love in their eyes that they had of one another... Even dear ole Hagrid and Madame Maxine were now married and showing their love to us all.
Love surrounded me constantly, dammit...
"You wanna dance, 'Mione?" Ronald asked sneakily coming up from behind me, taking ahold of my waist.
"I guess," I groaned as he escorted us to the dance floor. He circled me into his arms and held me closely to his body, swaying us gently together. I felt my tears reemerging and I closed my eyes, trying to dream of what I truly wished for...
For Draco to be here, holding me in his arms.
The more I let myself feel the music, the more I believed Draco was the one I was dancing with. Ronald became Draco in an instant, in my memories and the pain subsided for the next three minutes.
"I love you, Hermione..."
I could hear Draco's ardently sexy voice, repeating in my thoughts reserved only for him. Feeling him touching me and tasting him inside of me...
My dreams were fading as I heard the voices of Ginny and Harry joining us, causing me to comeback to my reality, and opening my eyes...
"You two are adorable!" Ginny gloated in her wedding gown to us. "You're next!" Harry nauseatingly spewed, with an over exaggerated wink at us, making me want to vomit... And the two newlyweds restored to their kissing under the crystal chandelier, that was hanging above us on the dance floor. "I can't wait, babe," Ronald whispered in my ear... and I rolled my eyes in fury, looking out into crowd of lovers, seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sweetly dancing, which brought a soft smile to my face. Then noticing George, who had been out of rehab for a week now, still unbeknownst to the rest of the Weasley's of his whereabouts this past summer, and lovingly dancing with his new girlfriend, Bexla. My eyes were drawn to Luna and Neville Longbottom rekindling a romance it seemed, as I saw them staring into each other's eyes adoringly.
I severely sighed, trying to hold myself together in the midsts of this love fest... when suddenly, I felt as if someone were watching me? My hunch was right on point... I gazed out into the hallway of the double door entrance leading to the lobby, when a guest was staring at me from across the room... a mirage of my love, peering around the corner and simultaneously moving away, playing tricks with my mind, as if he wasn't really there at all? Or was he?
I pushed Ronald off of me, and headed towards the exits to where I thought I saw, My Draco...
I made the corner to where he was fixated on me with anger... but no one was there?
It must've been my imagination... I'm losing my mind and going mad, I just know it...
I turned back around, reducing myself back to my mental suffering and feeling cripplingly beaten from my heart sickness... When I accidentally bumped into a another guest, "Excuse me... I'm so sorry," I apologized making eyes with the seasonably witch, that blatantly had been conjuring youthful spells to keep her younger looking, than she actually was... she was clothed in rich dapper robes of black, and a high collar around her neck that was inner lined in a gun metal silver. Her shoes were bewitchingly high heeled, over her constellation designed stockings. Her long hair was streaked with black and white thick strands, tightly twisted into a French knotted braid atop her head. Blasted Porlock spit... she looked EXTREMELY telling, thinking to myself that I knew her? Maybe?!
"Quite alright, dear... you know, you've completely broken his heart," The elderly witch addressed to me. And my eyes practically popped out of their sockets
"Pardon me?" I fished for clarity...
"You know, this is the best wedding I think I've ever been apart of!" She yelled louder and I realized I had misunderstood what she said. Or did I? She mischievously narrowed her eyes at me, behind her forest green framed, cat eyed glasses. And turning away from me gliding over to the exits to make her leave...
Who was that?!
I raced back after her and yelling in pleas to speak to her again. She wheeled around to face me, and gave me a smile as I asked, "Ma'am, Excuse me... but could you tell me your name? I feel as if... as if I've met you before?" I evaluated in my speculations, studying her profusely... and catching my breath.
She cocked her head to the side with a clue significantly sparking in her mint colored eyes, that I was right on, in my tracks to getting to the bottom of who she was... What was she playing at?!
"You shall meet me, again... if you make the right choice, my darling," The Witch mysteriously said with an obvious Orphic meaning...
If I make, the right choice...
And she disapparated, before I had the chance to pry her with more questions.
Who was that?! Oh this was going to drive me mad! She was almost, nostalgically similar to Narcissa Malfoy? Maybe I could get a peek at Ginny and Harry's guest list or ask them about her?
I journeyed to the large sign-in plexiglass picture frame guest list, that included a moving picture of one of Harry and Ginny's engagement photos... and their guests magically signed around them, in an epic white ink from the ostrich quill provided. For them to always remember, who celebrated their love on their wedding day.
I scanned every single name repeatedly, virtually hurting my damn eyes and giving me a frantic dilemma headache...
"Uhhh!" In my anxious anticipation, I found the name of a witch written in old Wizarding English, that sounded exceedingly familiar... and a name that didn't have any connections to the Weasley's family or their extended family and friends, that I had already known who they were...
'Druella Rosier'
I put my finger underneath her name, feeling a revelation surging my intelligence that this was her... and soon thereafter, to my surprise and without warning, the name disappeared from the clear plastic, as though she had written her name in invisible ink!
"'Mione?! Where've you been?! Harry and Gin just cut their cake! Hurry!" Ron shrieked in a panic, interrupting my thoughts, and pulling me back inside the reception.
He let go of me, of course, immediately bee lining to the free offerings of cake. He never said no to a free meal... oh dugbogs, he loved nothing more than getting something for free.
I stood in the back, watching the crowd in their joys of having their cake and eating it too...
"Here, babe. I saved you a piece!" Ronald intruded on my space, again, offering me a piece of Harry and Ginny's wedding cake, that I refused to eat and he ate my dessert for me... then continuing in his triumphant ways of knowing how to annoy me...
"This will be us here in three weeks at The Burrow, won't it 'Mione?! I'm so glad we were able to move the date up and still have all of our vendors supply the same wedding, that you had been planning for us in the spring! This ended up being much better... and I know Mum and Dad are so excited... 'Mione? Are you listening?"
I had completely blocked him out. Thinking of my own worries... I'd learned to do that by our third year at Hogwarts. I nodded and spoke a soft "Yes." It's pretty funny, how before the infamous weekend I had spent with Draco, I couldn't even get Ronald to discuss us getting married?! Now, since my return, it was all he could talk about...
"Who's ready to catch the bouquet?!"
I heard Ginny yell with glee and all the unmarried witches came to the center of the dance floor shouting with excitement. And I was reluctantly dragged by Luna to join in the ridiculous tradition.
"One... two... three!" Ginny yelled and threw her bouquet up over her head. The bundle of white crystallized flowers flew into the air and was aiming directly in my vantage point. Dammit...
and guess who caught it...
"Oh! Hermione! Oh, wonderful! That's so true!! Because you're next!" Ginny excitedly congratulated me with a hug, and her chosen wizard photographer took a picture of us together.
Ronald came right over and kissed my cheek, "That's supposed to be good luck, babe," he informed me and I looked at him with a forced grin, quickly turning my head away in trying to hide my tears.
I cried the entire night, not being able to sleep, knowing what I had lost... and knowing, what I was disastrously gaining. I had made the biggest mistake of my life, letting Draco go.
And now, it was too late...
I was marrying Ronald.
And there was nothing I could do to change it.