#challenges 101 and #30
Title: Wedding Day
Rating/Warnings: G/none
Characters/Pairing: Hermione, Ginny, Luna, mention of Harry/Ginny
Summary: It's Ginny's big day.
Word Count: 900
Registered purchases?: Both!
From her vantage point in Ginny’s room, Hermione could see out the window overlooking the orchard by the Burrow, where she had been badgered into playing Quidditch on occasion to appease her sports-mad friends and which was now set up to host another wedding. The setup and decorations so far were magnificent, a cheerful explosion of color that suited the vivacious, spirited bride, and in contrast to Bill and Fleur’s theme of pale, regal sophistication, this was unabashedly down-to-earth and still glorious, for all its simplicity.
While helping Ginny get ready, she couldn’t help becoming hopelessly misty-eyed over the impending nuptials of her best friend to the love of his life. It got to the point where Ginny had to threaten to uninvite her to the wedding if she didn’t stop looking as though she were about to cry.
“Control yourself, woman! If you start tearing up, I won’t be able to stop myself, and I just can’t turn up to my own wedding red-eyed, Hermione! Do you want to be responsible for ruining the most important day of my life?”
Her melodramatic tones had the desired effect, sending Hermione into giggles.
“But I thought you said the day the Holyhead Harpies accepted you into the team was the biggest day of your life?
Ginny pretended to consider it, pursing her mouth thoughtfully as she weighed up the occasions.
“Ginevra Weasley!” she hissed in scandalized tones, pausing in the process of braiding the bride’s hair.
“Well, I suppose you only get married once whereas I’ll be playing with the Harpies for years and years, so the wedding wins by a narrow margin,” Ginny said, tongue firmly in cheek.
“I’d tell Harry what an unsentimental wife he was getting- only I’m fairly certain he would rate Quidditch as highly as his wedding anyway. The two of you are perfect for each other,” Hermione sniffed haughtily.
“There, there, love,” Ginny consoled her with a comforting pat on the arm. “One day reading massive stuffy old books will catch on in our society and you won’t feel so left out. You’ll be at the library, searching for the latest edition of Hogwarts, A History, then just as you reach for it, someone else’s hand will close over it first, and with cross words on the tip of your tongue, you’ll look up only to fall into spellbound silence as you meet the eyes of your fellow bookworm tragic- I mean, soulmate…”
Hermione repressed a snicker at her frivolous tale- her talents were wasted on Quidditch, she ought to publish romances- and tugged a lock of Ginny’s hair pointedly. “Would you like to turn up to your wedding bald?” she threatened in turn.
“She has excellent bone structure,” noted Luna as she slipped into the room. Giving Ginny a thoughtful glance, she said, “I think you would look quite dashing with a bald head, really. Much better than I did that one time an infestation of Nargles caused Daddy to shave my head.”
“As flattering as I find both your advice about going bald, I really don’t think so. Harry would be devastated, for one. I just couldn’t do that to him.” Ginny sighed nostalgically. “He once composed a poem about my dancing red hair, you know.”
Hermione’s mouth fell open. “He did not.”
Ginny nodded gleefully. “He did! Then he got embarrassed and said it was a tribute to that shockingly awful poem I wrote him at Hogwarts, but I was only a first year, I think that’s excusable!”
“What did the rest of it say?” Hermione asked curiously. She thought she’d been aware of everything- well, mostly everything, there were some details better left a mystery when it came to your friend’s love life!- that had gone on during Harry’s wooing of Ginny, but bad poetry was news to her.
“Oh, no, you’re going to have to wait til the reception,” Ginny said with a wicked smile. “Ron needed help with his speech, so I thought I’d give him a few ideas…”
Hermione began laughing helplessly. “You are an evil, evil woman. Poor Harry! How could you do that to him?”
“He’s absolutely adorable when he’s flustered. I couldn’t resist. He’s going to go all red and fish-mouth a bit and then fidget with his glasses…make sure you get a picture of that, Luna,” Ginny instructed her.
Luna was the official camera-woman for the day, and she’d even announced her intention to make a scrapbook of memories for the happy couple. Hermione hoped she managed to stay on task and not get distracted with taking photos of the gnomes or Wrackspurts or whatever other creatures Luna was obsessed with.
“Your hair looks perfect, Gin, if I do say so myself,” Hermione announced, patting those red locks fondly. “I braided the top half securely, it should stay in place even with vigorous dancing and all. And I left the bottom half loose so Harry can admire your dancing silky red hair. Now, if you don’t need me right now, I’m just going to go see to a few things…”
With that, Hermione left to go and try Luna-proof the place. The witch was aggravatingly apt to find- or claim to find- weird phenomena in the most mundane things, but at the least she could make sure there weren’t any gnomes or such creatures around to distract her from taking pictures of the wedding.
---
Title: This is Awkward (argh, I suck at titles)
Rating/Warnings: G/none
Characters/Pairing: Hermione, Ron/Pansy
Summary: Hermione meets the new woman in Ron's life.
Word Count: 930
Author's Notes: This was written as a continuation of the above (it's on Ginny's wedding day), but it actually incorporates Challenge 30.
Registered purchases?: Both!
Hermione circulated around the marquee in the orchard, compulsively needing to be sure that everything was in order and it would all be absolutely perfect for Harry and Ginny. She would not permit anything to mar their wedding day.
A few of the servers stirred uneasily as Hermione passed by, surveying the status of the refreshments. She didn’t realize it, but there was a frighteningly intense expression on her face right then, and the tense way she gripped her wand suggested the smallest thing out of order would be dealt with harshly.
“Blimey, the bride isn’t even that tense,” one of the staff murmured in Hermione’s wake.
“Ginny’s never been the tense type,” one of her former classmates stated. “But even Mrs Weasley, the mother of the bride, isn’t being that scary!”
“We’ve catered for, what, three or four of her children’s weddings now? I think she’s settled down comfortably into the wedding process, it’s old hat to her now.”
“Well, better beware the wrath of Hermione Granger. That is one terrifying witch when she wants to be. No spilling any drinks near her, all right? She might Transfigure you into a worm and feed you to the birds.”
“If this is a pep talk,” the newest member said plaintively, “you’re doing a really bad job. I won’t be able to go anywhere near her now.”
Oblivious to the whispers of the staff, Hermione sallied forward, continuing to reassure herself that all was in place. Finally, she had a look at the time and decided she needed to get back to Ginny.
As she neared the house, a familiar redhead Apparated into view.
“Ron!” she cried out in delight.
Their breakup years ago had been a non-event, really, more a matter of realizing- once she returned after a couple months in Australia- that they weren’t suited to be together in a romantic relationship. It had been a relief to transition back to friendship, one that was a lot easier and less fraught with tension once they weren’t battling teenage hormones and repressed attraction anymore.
So it was with unaffected pleasure and ease that Hermione greeted him with a hug and kiss, hand lingering fondly on his chest as she beamed up at him.
“It’s been far too long,” she said, hearing the pop of another Apparation nearby but not bothering to see who it was, as she took in Ron’s appearance. “You look well! What have you been up to-?”
Her attempt to catch up was abruptly halted by a horribly familiar and most unwelcome voice as the person behind him moved into view and snidely remarked, "I think you should remove your hand, before I remove it for you."
Hermione looked at the dark-haired Slytherin girl with barely concealed horror. “Pansy,” she exclaimed, taking in the proprietary way she ensconced herself at Ron’s side, with his arm falling naturally into place around her waist.
“Granger,” she nodded with a thin smile. “Oh, of course, Hermione, since we’re all friends here. Although I’m not really getting a sense of welcome from you at the moment.”
“Oh, I, uh,” Hermione fumbled for words. “I didn’t realize you and Ron were…on social terms. What a- surprise.”
“A pleasant surprise, I’m sure.”
“Well, if Ron’s happy, I’m happy. For the two of you,” Hermione waved a hand between them. Ron and Pansy Parkinson! A couple! her thoughts were screaming wildly, but she was rather proud of how well she was keeping it together.
I am going to kill Ginny for not warning me about Ron’s plus-one.
Well, mostly keeping it together. It did take a while to process her friend and one-time boyfriend hooking up with a girl she’d hated for years. How did that even happen?
While she was struggling to maintain her composure, Pansy was eyeing her attire in that judgmental way females had when they pitied the poor fashion decisions of others.
“Your dress is very…old.” Despite the pureblood preoccupation with ancient family lines and heirlooms and wines and so forth, this was decidedly not a compliment.
“Yes,” Hermione acknowledged with gritted teeth. “It’s vintage.”
"Your mother lets you wear that outside?"
Ron had been helplessly looking back and forth between the two women during their tense exchange, and at this point, he finally interjected. “I’m sure Pansy meant to say that she appreciates your- your daring take on fashion trends.”
“I’m sure if I’d meant to say that, those words would’ve come from my lips,” Pansy said sweetly. At Ron’s expression, she sighed condescendingly. “Very well, dear. Oh, look who’s just arrived,” she nodded at a familiar blond head. “While we’re awkwardly reacquainting ourselves with exes, I’ll go say hello to Draco.”
Hermione watched her sashay off and then looked back at Ron, wild-eyed.
“Oh, Pansy and her sense of humor,” he chuckled weakly.
“Pansy Parkinson has a sense of humour? That's news to me. I thought she was just a raving bi-"
“Hold it there,” Ron said, sounding sterner and more serious than she’d heard him in ages. “That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about, so maybe you want to reconsider what you’re about to say.”
Hermione clamped her mouth shut, cutting off the unflattering remark she’d been poised to deliver. All right. Fair enough. It wasn’t nice to make Ron have to defend his…his girlfriend to her. She could deal with this. Smile and act pleasant and maintain his friendship til their crazy unlikely little romance fell apart and then she’d comfort him and not even say ‘I told you so’.
“So tell me, how did you meet?”
---
Word points: 900/30 + 930/30 = 61
Bonus points: 20
Total: 81 points for Slytherin
Annie//Slytherin
Rating/Warnings: G/none
Characters/Pairing: Hermione, Ginny, Luna, mention of Harry/Ginny
Summary: It's Ginny's big day.
Word Count: 900
Registered purchases?: Both!
From her vantage point in Ginny’s room, Hermione could see out the window overlooking the orchard by the Burrow, where she had been badgered into playing Quidditch on occasion to appease her sports-mad friends and which was now set up to host another wedding. The setup and decorations so far were magnificent, a cheerful explosion of color that suited the vivacious, spirited bride, and in contrast to Bill and Fleur’s theme of pale, regal sophistication, this was unabashedly down-to-earth and still glorious, for all its simplicity.
While helping Ginny get ready, she couldn’t help becoming hopelessly misty-eyed over the impending nuptials of her best friend to the love of his life. It got to the point where Ginny had to threaten to uninvite her to the wedding if she didn’t stop looking as though she were about to cry.
“Control yourself, woman! If you start tearing up, I won’t be able to stop myself, and I just can’t turn up to my own wedding red-eyed, Hermione! Do you want to be responsible for ruining the most important day of my life?”
Her melodramatic tones had the desired effect, sending Hermione into giggles.
“But I thought you said the day the Holyhead Harpies accepted you into the team was the biggest day of your life?
Ginny pretended to consider it, pursing her mouth thoughtfully as she weighed up the occasions.
“Ginevra Weasley!” she hissed in scandalized tones, pausing in the process of braiding the bride’s hair.
“Well, I suppose you only get married once whereas I’ll be playing with the Harpies for years and years, so the wedding wins by a narrow margin,” Ginny said, tongue firmly in cheek.
“I’d tell Harry what an unsentimental wife he was getting- only I’m fairly certain he would rate Quidditch as highly as his wedding anyway. The two of you are perfect for each other,” Hermione sniffed haughtily.
“There, there, love,” Ginny consoled her with a comforting pat on the arm. “One day reading massive stuffy old books will catch on in our society and you won’t feel so left out. You’ll be at the library, searching for the latest edition of Hogwarts, A History, then just as you reach for it, someone else’s hand will close over it first, and with cross words on the tip of your tongue, you’ll look up only to fall into spellbound silence as you meet the eyes of your fellow bookworm tragic- I mean, soulmate…”
Hermione repressed a snicker at her frivolous tale- her talents were wasted on Quidditch, she ought to publish romances- and tugged a lock of Ginny’s hair pointedly. “Would you like to turn up to your wedding bald?” she threatened in turn.
“She has excellent bone structure,” noted Luna as she slipped into the room. Giving Ginny a thoughtful glance, she said, “I think you would look quite dashing with a bald head, really. Much better than I did that one time an infestation of Nargles caused Daddy to shave my head.”
“As flattering as I find both your advice about going bald, I really don’t think so. Harry would be devastated, for one. I just couldn’t do that to him.” Ginny sighed nostalgically. “He once composed a poem about my dancing red hair, you know.”
Hermione’s mouth fell open. “He did not.”
Ginny nodded gleefully. “He did! Then he got embarrassed and said it was a tribute to that shockingly awful poem I wrote him at Hogwarts, but I was only a first year, I think that’s excusable!”
“What did the rest of it say?” Hermione asked curiously. She thought she’d been aware of everything- well, mostly everything, there were some details better left a mystery when it came to your friend’s love life!- that had gone on during Harry’s wooing of Ginny, but bad poetry was news to her.
“Oh, no, you’re going to have to wait til the reception,” Ginny said with a wicked smile. “Ron needed help with his speech, so I thought I’d give him a few ideas…”
Hermione began laughing helplessly. “You are an evil, evil woman. Poor Harry! How could you do that to him?”
“He’s absolutely adorable when he’s flustered. I couldn’t resist. He’s going to go all red and fish-mouth a bit and then fidget with his glasses…make sure you get a picture of that, Luna,” Ginny instructed her.
Luna was the official camera-woman for the day, and she’d even announced her intention to make a scrapbook of memories for the happy couple. Hermione hoped she managed to stay on task and not get distracted with taking photos of the gnomes or Wrackspurts or whatever other creatures Luna was obsessed with.
“Your hair looks perfect, Gin, if I do say so myself,” Hermione announced, patting those red locks fondly. “I braided the top half securely, it should stay in place even with vigorous dancing and all. And I left the bottom half loose so Harry can admire your dancing silky red hair. Now, if you don’t need me right now, I’m just going to go see to a few things…”
With that, Hermione left to go and try Luna-proof the place. The witch was aggravatingly apt to find- or claim to find- weird phenomena in the most mundane things, but at the least she could make sure there weren’t any gnomes or such creatures around to distract her from taking pictures of the wedding.
---
Title: This is Awkward (argh, I suck at titles)
Rating/Warnings: G/none
Characters/Pairing: Hermione, Ron/Pansy
Summary: Hermione meets the new woman in Ron's life.
Word Count: 930
Author's Notes: This was written as a continuation of the above (it's on Ginny's wedding day), but it actually incorporates Challenge 30.
Registered purchases?: Both!
Hermione circulated around the marquee in the orchard, compulsively needing to be sure that everything was in order and it would all be absolutely perfect for Harry and Ginny. She would not permit anything to mar their wedding day.
A few of the servers stirred uneasily as Hermione passed by, surveying the status of the refreshments. She didn’t realize it, but there was a frighteningly intense expression on her face right then, and the tense way she gripped her wand suggested the smallest thing out of order would be dealt with harshly.
“Blimey, the bride isn’t even that tense,” one of the staff murmured in Hermione’s wake.
“Ginny’s never been the tense type,” one of her former classmates stated. “But even Mrs Weasley, the mother of the bride, isn’t being that scary!”
“We’ve catered for, what, three or four of her children’s weddings now? I think she’s settled down comfortably into the wedding process, it’s old hat to her now.”
“Well, better beware the wrath of Hermione Granger. That is one terrifying witch when she wants to be. No spilling any drinks near her, all right? She might Transfigure you into a worm and feed you to the birds.”
“If this is a pep talk,” the newest member said plaintively, “you’re doing a really bad job. I won’t be able to go anywhere near her now.”
Oblivious to the whispers of the staff, Hermione sallied forward, continuing to reassure herself that all was in place. Finally, she had a look at the time and decided she needed to get back to Ginny.
As she neared the house, a familiar redhead Apparated into view.
“Ron!” she cried out in delight.
Their breakup years ago had been a non-event, really, more a matter of realizing- once she returned after a couple months in Australia- that they weren’t suited to be together in a romantic relationship. It had been a relief to transition back to friendship, one that was a lot easier and less fraught with tension once they weren’t battling teenage hormones and repressed attraction anymore.
So it was with unaffected pleasure and ease that Hermione greeted him with a hug and kiss, hand lingering fondly on his chest as she beamed up at him.
“It’s been far too long,” she said, hearing the pop of another Apparation nearby but not bothering to see who it was, as she took in Ron’s appearance. “You look well! What have you been up to-?”
Her attempt to catch up was abruptly halted by a horribly familiar and most unwelcome voice as the person behind him moved into view and snidely remarked, "I think you should remove your hand, before I remove it for you."
Hermione looked at the dark-haired Slytherin girl with barely concealed horror. “Pansy,” she exclaimed, taking in the proprietary way she ensconced herself at Ron’s side, with his arm falling naturally into place around her waist.
“Granger,” she nodded with a thin smile. “Oh, of course, Hermione, since we’re all friends here. Although I’m not really getting a sense of welcome from you at the moment.”
“Oh, I, uh,” Hermione fumbled for words. “I didn’t realize you and Ron were…on social terms. What a- surprise.”
“A pleasant surprise, I’m sure.”
“Well, if Ron’s happy, I’m happy. For the two of you,” Hermione waved a hand between them. Ron and Pansy Parkinson! A couple! her thoughts were screaming wildly, but she was rather proud of how well she was keeping it together.
I am going to kill Ginny for not warning me about Ron’s plus-one.
Well, mostly keeping it together. It did take a while to process her friend and one-time boyfriend hooking up with a girl she’d hated for years. How did that even happen?
While she was struggling to maintain her composure, Pansy was eyeing her attire in that judgmental way females had when they pitied the poor fashion decisions of others.
“Your dress is very…old.” Despite the pureblood preoccupation with ancient family lines and heirlooms and wines and so forth, this was decidedly not a compliment.
“Yes,” Hermione acknowledged with gritted teeth. “It’s vintage.”
"Your mother lets you wear that outside?"
Ron had been helplessly looking back and forth between the two women during their tense exchange, and at this point, he finally interjected. “I’m sure Pansy meant to say that she appreciates your- your daring take on fashion trends.”
“I’m sure if I’d meant to say that, those words would’ve come from my lips,” Pansy said sweetly. At Ron’s expression, she sighed condescendingly. “Very well, dear. Oh, look who’s just arrived,” she nodded at a familiar blond head. “While we’re awkwardly reacquainting ourselves with exes, I’ll go say hello to Draco.”
Hermione watched her sashay off and then looked back at Ron, wild-eyed.
“Oh, Pansy and her sense of humor,” he chuckled weakly.
“Pansy Parkinson has a sense of humour? That's news to me. I thought she was just a raving bi-"
“Hold it there,” Ron said, sounding sterner and more serious than she’d heard him in ages. “That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about, so maybe you want to reconsider what you’re about to say.”
Hermione clamped her mouth shut, cutting off the unflattering remark she’d been poised to deliver. All right. Fair enough. It wasn’t nice to make Ron have to defend his…his girlfriend to her. She could deal with this. Smile and act pleasant and maintain his friendship til their crazy unlikely little romance fell apart and then she’d comfort him and not even say ‘I told you so’.
“So tell me, how did you meet?”
---
Word points: 900/30 + 930/30 = 61
Bonus points: 20
Total: 81 points for Slytherin
Annie//Slytherin