Chapter 14
“Welcome Ladies!” The owner said as she appeared out of the back. “Thank you for shopping with us today. The ministry appreciates your cooperation and as thanks for it, we would like to offer each of you some of our complimentary elf wine today while you search. The glasses are non-spill enchanted of course, so no worry about having them around the gowns. If I or my assistants can be of any help this afternoon please let us know. Happy shopping!” Everyone gathered around the woman for a glass off of her serving tray. The conversations were already so different it kind of made Mione’s head spin as she grabbed a drink.
“So how many kids do you think you’ll want, I mean more than three or just what’s being mandated?” Susan asked Hannah.
“Wine, thank the goddess. I need all the alcohol I can get today.” Lavender exclaimed.
“Agreed. Did you even see the section they have for ‘diverse’ wedding attire? Maybe two options for lehengas and a few more for sarees. I don’t think I’ll be able to find anything I even want to try on today!” Parvati answered back.
“Mum, please I’m twenty years old! If I’m old enough to marry and old enough to work, I’m certainly old enough to drink wine. Why do you have to comment on it every single time.” Ginny grumbled under her breath.
“No, no girls. This is for Aunt Ginny and her friends. We have juice in Mini’s bag. Why don’t we drink that while we look at all these pretty dresses, hmm?” Fleur told Victoire as she reached for a glass.
Hermione had to stifle a laugh as she overheard Aubrey, Angie, and Cho talking about whether a pantsuit counted as proper wedding garb, and whether it would be possible to play a quick quidditch scrimmage in one. She manoeuvred herself around the Slytherin girls who were trying to stop Parkinson from taking the whole wine bottle before she arrived back in her size section. She had looked at three or four gowns before Mrs Malfoy walked over. “That dress is all wrong dear,” the older witch said. Mione had only held up the gown long enough to look at it and wasn’t particularly interested in the dress either way. But she had a feeling Narcissa was going to find something wrong with every dress unless it was one she herself would wear. Holding in a grumble, Hermione smiled and pulled the next gown down to look at. “That one is hideous too, dear. Here, try something like... This.” Narcissa said as she selected a gown much further down the rack. It looked pretty enough but it wasn’t to Hermione’s taste at all.
“Mrs Malfoy I-”
“Narcissa, dear.”
“Narcissa, I was kind of hoping to work my way down the rack. And no offence, but I don’t really like that dress.”
“It’s not about liking it dear, it’s about what will look good on you. And, all the things on this end of the rack are cheap. The cheap cost typically equates to cheaply made dear, and you don’t want something like that now do you?” Mione grit her teeth.
“I guess I could try it on.” She answered. In all honesty, today was going to be long and tedious without the added stress of arguing with Malfoy’s mother. It was a bit early in the relationship to hate the woman anyway. So she’d try on the dresses and do her best to keep her mouth shut.
“No, no. That won’t work for Hermione at all!” Mrs Weasley declared as she joined them, picking at the offered selection. The tension rose incrementally the longer the two older women were around each other. “She doesn’t want to pay that much for something she’s going to wear once.”
“Well, she won’t be paying for it. The family vault or the Ministry will. So she doesn’t need to lower herself to wear... unbecoming robes or dresses to save a few galleons.”
“Mum!” Ginny cried as she rushed over, abruptly ending Molly’s no doubt scathing retort. “I need help deciding which dress to try on first. I was thinking something thigh-length or maybe flowy pants?” She flashed Hermione a ‘you owe me’ look as Molly left to fret over her daughter instead, and Mione went back to looking at dresses as Narcissa tried to flag down a worker for a changing room. Narcissa picked out a couple more dresses, and Hermione picked out a few she liked (as well as one or two a size too small because they were pretty). When they had all of the gowns chosen that would be tried on, they migrated to the changing rooms were some of the other girls were starting to congregate. Luckily (thanks to magic) there were enough cubicles for everyone. Hermione was between Ginny and Pansy, and all she could hear was Molly telling Gin which dresses to try first and Parkinson complaining about every option the shop girl brought her.
“Do I look like a pastry?”, “What am I a muggle?”, “You’ve gone mad if you think I’ll be trying those rags on.”, on and on it went. Hermione was close to walking over and slapping the girl.
“Pansy, your mother has tasked me with making sure you choose your dress robes today. I will allow you to choose on your own or I will select something that I know your mother would approve of. But you will not leave this shop without choosing something, so I suggest you start attempting to find one you would enjoy wearing.” Narcissa told the girl through the curtain, effectively silencing the complaining.
“How’s this one look?” Ginny asked as she stepped out into the waiting area. Hermione poked her head out and stifled a giggle at the sight of Ginny in something so... pink.
“Oh, you look lovely dear!” Molly burst out, a handkerchief in her hand as she dabbed her eyes.
“Something your Mum picked then?” Mione asked quietly while Ginny examined herself with a look of mild disgust.
“Ah-huh.” She answered.
“What is that ghastly thing you’re wearing?” Pansy asked as she emerged from her cubicle in a large ball gown.
“Not something I’ll right-wear again,” Ginny grumbled as she headed back in to change. Hermione smiled and shook her head before taking her turn in the mirrors.
“You’ve missed some buttons back here, dear,” Narcissa told her as she motioned to close them for her. Hermione nodded and examined herself. The dress was one Narcissa had chosen, very plain, but elegant. She wasn’t sure she really liked it but had to admit it was rather flattering on herself.
“I hate to admit it, but this is a rather good shape for me. Thank you, Narcissa,” Hermione added.
“Well, when you have ample free time and a knack for fabrics it does tend to happen that you have an eye for this sort of thing. But I’m glad you agree that it looks nice.” The older woman replied. Hermione nodded and went to change again. When she came back out Ginny was wearing a belted dress with a large number of lace flowers on the skirt, and a contemplative look on her face.
“That one’s nice,” Hermione told her as she looked over the feathery disaster she was currently wearing. She had a feeling Molly must have slipped a gown into her pile.
“Oh Hermione, that’s beautiful dear!” The older witch said as she fluffed up the skirt. Ginny snickered as she ducked back to change and Hermione plastered a grimace-y smile on her face.
“Don’t lie to the girl, she looks like she ran through a flock of swans.” Narcissa chided in disdain.
“I think it’s a perfectly lovely gown, Narcissa .” Molly shot back. Hermione turned to try on the next one as the women started arguing. The time ticked by and finally, after two and a half hours the girls had all found something they liked well enough to wear. It had been a tedious task, for Mione anyway. Angie and Cho had found their dresses almost immediately, while Hermione and Ginny had spent the majority of the time dissolving the tension between the Malfoy and Weasley matrons. Thankfully they seemed to be getting on a bit better, or at least with less arguing. They met back up with the boys outside and she could tell that the men were slightly more buzzed than she and the other ladies were. Narcissa looked at her son and his friends with a raised eyebrow that made them visibly gulp and tone down the roughhousing. And Hermione suppressed a giggle at the thought that the boys were acting like children once more.
Before they left the area they chose colour schemes so that the people walking as bridesmaids or best men could find something to wear. Ginny and Blaise chose a mint blue and deep red colour combo; lemon and light blue for Neville and Luna; Hermione and Draco had settled on purple and grey as a nice go-between as opposed to green and silver as he had wanted or purple and yellow as she had intended. Harry and Astoria had split it down the middle as well, dark blue for him and a muted orange/peach colour for her. The only one who didn’t seem to have a choice was Ron, who’d told Pansy in no uncertain terms that he would not be helping with planning the worst day of his life. Everyone kept snickering now that his tantrum had led to him inadvertently agreeing to a pink and gold wedding.
The group went from shop to shop after that, selecting flower arrangements, shoes, and invitation styles, losing a few shoppers as they went until only the chaperones, Harry, Astoria, Ginny, Zabini, Ron, Parkinson, Neville, Luna, Katie Bell, Lisa Turpin, Seamus, Dean, herself and Malfoy remained. For the final stop of the night, Molly and Narcissa accompanied the boys into a jeweller as the girls went into the salon to decide on makeup and hair (or at least get a feel for what they wanted). They let the hairdressers know who was getting married when and (after assuring the girls they would be able to change their decision at a later point if they so choose) went through and picked hairstyles they liked for the day. Hermione was going for a loose curls look (with plans for an up-do after the vows because she did not want to deal with all that hair while dancing or eating), Astoria and Ginny were both going to get up-do’s, and Parkinson and Luna were both getting something in between. All in all, it felt like it was a fulfilling day, and when they walked out of the salon at 7:30 that evening, Hermione felt like she actually had things put together for once.
“Granger,” Malfoy called, interrupting her conversation with Lisa and Astoria about books they recommended each other read. She walked over as each of the girls dispersed to their future spouses. She guessed it was something to do with the engagement rings since the men had come from a jewellery store, and hoped she wouldn’t get stuck with something gaudy. “My mother and I looked over our old family heirlooms a few nights ago to find something that you could wear. Obviously, most of it was cursed to keep... muggle-borns away from it. But a few of the older Black pieces seemed appropriate. I know you and Potter were somewhat close with my cousins so I hope that this is an ok selection.” He said as he showed her an open ring box. The box was a grey velvet with a deep red lining and inside was one of the most gorgeous rings she’d ever seen. It was silver with three stones, all circular cut. One large diamond sat in the middle while an emerald and a ruby adorned either side. “We had the jeweller add the standard and Malfoy family protection spells. It was my great-great grandmother’s. She was one of the only Gryffindors on either side of my family so I felt it was a good choice for you.” He added, holding out the ring box to show her more closely. She reached out and touched it softly.
“Wow. Malfoy, I... I don’t know what to say. This ring is just beautiful.” He gestured to her, and she held out her left hand for him to slide the ring on. It fit perfectly.
“Glad you like it. Mother thought you would. It’s an eight-carat diamond, and the emerald and ruby are both six carats. I remember you never wore anything very ostentatious so I had hoped this would be to your standards.” He said kindly. She looked up, noticing for the first time just how brilliant his eyes were. Kind and sincere despite everything she knew him to be, and a brilliant blend of blue and grey that brought out the colour of rain clouds. She smiled shyly in thanks before looking down at her hand once more. Malfoy closed and pocketed the ring box and scratched the back of his head before mumbling something as he left to speak with his mother and the other boys who were hiding from the girls. Ginny and the other girls were standing showing off their rings so Hermione walked over to join them. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, even Parkinson had a smile on her face. Everyone’s rings were unique and beautiful, each one fitting the other girls’ tastes (as far as Hermione knew anyway). Astoria’s and Lisa’s were the most simple. Both solitaire diamonds on gold bands. Lisa’s was a rounded square cut, dainty and elegant and she’d seen the girl caught off guard and staring at it dreamily throughout the day (since she and Katie actually had a normal engagement unlike the rest of them, she'd had her ring for a few months now). The one Harry had chosen for Astoria was equally beautiful. She knew Harry had had the ring smith do some spell work to change his mother’s old diamond a brilliant sapphire colour, and the band was inlaid with tiny diamonds all the way around as well. It was incredibly sentimental to Harry, yet elegant enough that it looked like it belonged on Astoria’s hand. Ginny’s ring was a little different from what Hermione had expected. It was a teardrop-shaped diamond, similar in size to her own ring. And the band was a knotted rose gold with small circular emeralds all the way around. From the expression on Ginny’s face, it was hard to tell whether the girl genuinely liked it or if she thought it was a hilarious choice. Luna’s was probably the most fitting ring out of all of them and looked like something she and Neville had picked out together. In the centre was an opal gem instead of a diamond, and it was set in bronze with floral leaves on either side of the main stone. Unique enough for the girl yet you could see a piece of her groom-to-be in the setting too. Surprisingly, the one who seemed most pleased with their ring was Parkinson. It was kind of an eyesore if you asked Hermione, gaudy and flashy. But then again that was kind of a way to describe the ring’s wearer as well. It was a large cushion set diamond, with tear-shaped diamonds on both sides, surrounded by even more diamonds as it moved around the finger. It looked like it could easily weigh two kilos.
“Ladies,” Narcissa interrupted the chatter as everyone ohh’d and awe’d and complemented each other’s new rings. “Molly and I are going to be calling it an evening.” Hermione was a bit startled, when did they start referring to each other in such a cordial manner? “I hope you all enjoyed our excursion today, thank you Hermione for setting this up.” A series of thanks went around as everyone said their goodbyes. They waved the older witches off before Ginny turned to Hermione.
“I would kill for some food right now.” The redhead exclaimed.
“Godric yes,” Ron added. “I feel like I haven’t eaten all day!”
“Wanna get some Chinese or something?” Astoria asked kindly. Hermoine hadn’t anticipated spending any more time with everyone tonight but she and Astoria had been getting along swimmingly today and she was more than happy to keep the train rolling.
“You know I can’t eat Chinese anymore, Stori,” Pansy whined. “How about Italian?”
“Gross. That shit is not Italian food. It's disgusting.” Zabini remarked with a shudder.
“I wasn’t aware we were continuing this...party,” Malfoy told his friend.
“Might as well, mate. Get some food and a lot of alcohol in the spirit of ‘being friends’, yeah?” Seamus added. “I could go for some pizza, anyone else?”
“Sweet Circe. If we’re having pizza or any other food that you all would consider Italian tonight, then we’re going to go to my place to have it. You people wouldn't know real Italian food if it bit you in the arse.” Zabini grumbled. Hermione shared a look with her friends.
“What the hell, I got nothing better to do tonight.” Harry shrugged. Slowly everyone else agreed and they headed to the local floo connection to get to Zabini’s place.