chapter 5
Today was the big day—Ron and Hermione’s wedding.
The past month had been a whirlwind of preparations, with the Weasley women at the heart of it all, cooking, decorating, and making sure everything went smoothly. Somehow, in the chaos of planning two weddings back to back, everything had fallen into place.
Ginny was the maid of honor today, and in just two days, Hermione would return the favor at her wedding.
Right now, all the women were gathered in one of the bedrooms, putting the finishing touches on their dresses, hair, and makeup—except for Mrs. Weasley, who was still fussing over last-minute details.
Ginny stood behind Hermione, carefully weaving her curls into an elegant updo. Across the room, Fleur was deeply focused on Hermione’s makeup, her expression one of pure concentration.
"You’re lucky she’s doing your makeup, Hermione," Audrey said teasingly as she adjusted her own dress. "I still don’t know how she made me look this good at my wedding."
Fleur tossed her hair over her shoulder, smiling. "Eet eez a talent," she said breezily, dabbing a final touch of blush onto Hermione’s cheek.
From the hall, Mrs. Weasley’s voice drifted in, still giving orders. "Arthur, please check on the food! And Bill—"
Fleur let out a soft laugh. "She eez handling zis much better than our wedding. She was a right state back then."
Ginny snorted. "She wasn’t so bad at ours," Audrey said.
"Yeah, right!" Ginny scoffed. "I had to polish the silverware three times for Fleur’s wedding and twice for yours! I’m still having nightmares about it."
The room erupted into laughter, though Hermione remained unusually quiet. Ginny glanced at her reflection in the mirror, noticing the tension in her friend’s shoulders.
"Hey, relax," she said gently, resting a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. "It’s going to be perfect. You and Ron belong together. And I promise, the moment you walk down that aisle, you won’t even remember why you were nervous."
Hermione exhaled slowly, giving Ginny a small smile. "You’re right. I just—I want everything to go well."
"It will," Ginny assured her. "Now, take one last look. You’re stunning."
With one final check of their hair, dresses, and makeup, the women stepped out of the room, ready for the ceremony to begin.
The ceremony itself was beautiful.
Hermione practically floated down the aisle, her nerves melting away the moment she locked eyes with Ron. He looked at her like she was the only person in the world, and by the time they exchanged vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd—except for George, who loudly declared he had just gotten something in his eye, thank you very much.
Then came the dancing, the laughter, and the warmth of family and friends. The Burrow was alive with music, fairy lights twinkling in the garden as people twirled and spun beneath the stars.
And then, it was time for the speeches.
Ron stood, tapping his glass. "Alright, alright, settle down. I know no one wants to stop dancing, but we’ve got a few speeches to get through before I can officially let Dad embarrass himself on the dance floor."
Laughter rippled through the crowd, and Mr. Weasley huffed good-naturedly.
One by one, the speakers stood—Mr. Granger, Ginny, Mr. Weasley—each sharing stories and heartfelt words about the newlyweds. Then, it was Ron’s turn.
He cleared his throat, looking down at his notes for half a second before abandoning them entirely.
"Right, so, speeches. Never thought I’d be giving one at my own wedding—Hermione, you’re actually sure about this, yeah?"
Laughter rang through the crowd, Hermione shaking her head fondly.
"But honestly," Ron continued, more sincerely this time, "I don’t know how I got so lucky. Hermione is the best thing that ever happened to me—besides my mum’s cooking, of course—"
"RONALD!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, though her eyes were shining.
He grinned before turning back to Hermione, his voice softening. "You make me better, ‘Mione. You always have. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you made the right choice."
There was a collective "Aww," followed by a smattering of cheers as Ron leaned over and kissed Hermione’s cheek.
Then, he straightened up and smirked. "Alright, enough of that—let’s get to the one we’ve all been waiting for. My best man, my best friend—Harry Potter."
Harry groaned from his seat, looking as pale as a ghost.
"I know he hates giving speeches," Ron continued, grinning wickedly. "And he looks as sick as a skrewt over there—but he still agreed to do it. Because that’s the kind of person he is."
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Just a word of warning, mate," Ron added, his grin widening. "Your wedding is in two days, which means I have a very good chance for revenge. And don’t forget Hermione’s birds."
At that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione snickered—the only three in the room who truly understood what that meant.
Ginny leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "What does that mean?"
Hermione smirked. "Oh, you’ll see."
And with that, Harry reluctantly rose to his feet, preparing to give his speech—one he knew he’d never live down.
Harry stood up, feeling a wave of nerves crash over him. He glanced down at his notes, sighed, and promptly tossed them over his shoulder.
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
"Now, you’re probably wondering why I just threw away my notes right before making a speech," Harry said. "It’s simple—no notes could possibly do justice to talking about two of the greatest people I know."
He paused, then grinned.
"I’ve heard that it’s good manners to start a best man speech by saying how surprised and honored I am to be standing here today. Well, honored—yes. Surprised? Not in the slightest. Let’s be honest—I’m marrying the groom’s sister in two days, and he’s my best man, which means he’s going to have plenty of opportunities for revenge."
A loud cheer went up as Fred and George wolf-whistled.
"I was trying to make this speech short and sweet," Harry continued, shaking his head, "but I found that I couldn’t. So, you’re all in for a long night. As for the sweet part—maybe when I talk about Hermione. But if you’re expecting me to be sweet about Ron, forget it."
More laughter. Ron rolled his eyes but grinned.
"Ron and I have been inseparable from the start. I’ll never forget the funny little redhead who asked to sit in my compartment on the Hogwarts Express, soot on his nose, and a sandwich in his hand. Or the bossy little girl with bushy brown hair who burst in later, not to introduce herself, but to inform Ron that he had dirt on his face."
Neville chuckled, and people nudged each other, clearly remembering the story.
"If someone had told me back then that these two would end up married, I’d have said they were either drunk or had hit their head. Because, let’s be honest, they argued a lot."
The audience laughed knowingly.
"To be fair," Harry added, smirking at Hermione, "Ron and I weren’t exactly her biggest fans in the beginning. She was very bossy. And we may have been a bit—uh—unkind about it."
Harry put on an exaggeratedly apologetic face, and the crowd burst into laughter again.
"But then, one day, we knocked out a twelve-foot mountain troll together and became best friends. Mostly because Hermione lied for us to Professor McGonagall."
Harry turned to McGonagall, grinning. "Sorry, Professor, but I’m pretty sure you can’t give us detention for that now."
McGonagall shook her head, amused. "I always knew Hermione was too sensible to go looking for a troll."
Another round of laughter.
"Anyway," Harry went on, "then came my second year, where I met the absolutely gorgeous Ginny Weasley, but we’re not getting into that—"
Ginny snorted, shaking her head as people whistled and clapped.
"In our third year, someone accused someone else’s cat of eating their convict-in-disguise rat. I’ll let you work out who that was."
More laughter, especially from the Gryffindor table.
"In fourth year, Ron finally realized that Hermione was, in fact, a girl."
The room exploded with laughter. Ron groaned, covering his face.
"And Hermione started going out with Viktor Krum, which completely destroyed Ron. And mate, don’t even pretend you weren’t jealous."
Ron muttered something under his breath as Hermione smirked, and the laughter only grew.
"In our fifth year, Hermione told Ron he had the emotional range of a teaspoon—something we can all agree on. Oh, and we also created an illegal defense society known as Dumbledore’s Army. Minor detail."
More laughter, followed by a few proud cheers.
"In sixth year, Ron started dating Lavender Brown—"
Lavender gave Hermione an apologetic smile, which Hermione returned with an equally warm nod.
"And Hermione, don’t pretend you weren’t jealous."
Hermione’s face went pink as the room roared with laughter.
"In what should have been our seventh year, the three of us went on the run, and Ron and Hermione stuck with me through everything. I was even present for their first kiss. And if they’ve altered the story to make it sound romantic, let me set the record straight—it wasn’t."
Ron cut in immediately. "It was way more romantic than yours, mate. Just wait until your wedding."
Harry ignored him. "Basically, Ron said something supportive about Hermione’s society for the promotion of house-elf welfare—probably in an effort to keep them from getting in the way of the war—and Hermione kissed him. Mind you, both of their arms were full of basilisk fangs at the time."
The crowd snickered at this.
"But enough with the history lesson," Harry said, smiling warmly at Ron and Hermione. "You two took way too long to get together and drove the rest of us mad with all your arguments. Seriously, even this morning they were bickering.
"Ron was struggling with his shoelaces because his shoes were a little tight, so he muttered ‘Bloody hell,’ and from the next room Hermione immediately called out, ‘Language, Ronald.’
"And that," Harry said, raising his glass, "is the perfect summary of their relationship."
Laughter and applause filled the room.
"Ron, Hermione—thank you. For everything. You’ve been there for me when I needed you most, and I know you’ll always be there for each other the same way."
Then, turning to Ron with a smirk, he added, "But mate, just so we're clear—if you ever do anything to make her cry, you'll have me to deal with."
The room erupted in laughter, Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione shook her head fondly.
"So, here’s to the bride and groom—Ron and Hermione!"
The entire room lifted their glasses, echoing his words.
"To Ron and Hermione!"
Harry lifted his glass, and the entire room joined in, echoing his words.
"To Ron and Hermione!"
As the cheers rang through the hall, the music started back up, and people returned to dancing. But Harry and Ginny slipped away, heading straight for the Burrow.
Tonight was close to a full moon, and Harry needed to check on Teddy. But when they arrived, they found him playing happily with the other children, giggling without a care in the world.
Seeing him safe and happy, Harry let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He felt Ginny’s fingers intertwine with his, and as they stood there watching Teddy play, he knew—despite all the chaos and all the history behind them—everything was exactly as it was meant to be.