Muggle Wedding (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 3)
Title: Muggle Wedding (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 3)
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: After the Flaw; previous chapters
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: Muggle weddings can be such a hassle
Notes: I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Antaeus / Previous Chapters / Wizengamot
"I already know you're a wizard, Ted."
Hermione Caroline Granger's hands tightened as she shot a quick look over at her fiance. Ted could only stammer, "You... You do?"
"Well, yeah," said Danielle Wheeler, Hermione's friend and roommate. "What about it?"
"I... I'm sorry, I have to get my bearings," Ted said quickly, looking back and forth between the two women. "I... Was it that obvious?"
"Yeah?" said Dani as if talking to a three-year-old. "You're a wizard, I'm a healer, Hermione's a sorceress. What does that have to do with the wedding?"
"Oh..." Hermione Caroline mumbled, then her eyes lit up as she caught on. "Oh! No!"
It had been a year since Ted Lupin had proposed to Hermione. The "wedding date" was only a year away, and Dani had become more than a little concerned about the couple's relationship. For all of the goings on about how much she missed "Her Ted" when the two had been temporarily broken up, Dani was expecting a little more talk from her in the last year about the festivities. When Dani's older sister, for example, had gotten married three years ago she couldn't shut up about it. If she wasn't planning the minute details of the bridesmaids dresses or the invitation list, she was mooning twenty-four seven about her future husband and their copious future bouncing babies. Dani had been preparing herself for more of the same from her roommate.
Hermione, however, seemed uncomfortably secretive about the whole thing. Not at all concerned about her dress, what size of a wedding party they'd be inviting. Not even where the reception was going to be held. Dani was starting to wonder whether Hermione was having doubts about the whole thing.
So now, as the three sat in Dani and Hermione's new flat, where the two girls had moved following their second year of university, Dani was wondering why they had asked to talk to her, in private, in the first place. Were they calling it off? Were they eloping?
Was one of them gay?
"Yeah, I know you're a wizard, Ted," Dani repeated. "But if you're telling me this because you're planning some sort of magic-themed wedding, then we're going to have some words..."
"No, no, not like that," said Ted. "Well, not technically--"
"If you think I'm dressing up as Liv Tyler, I might have to revoke my maid of honor license," she continued. "The last thing I want is a bunch of geeks swarming around me all night asking to accept their One Ring. I get enough of that online, thank you..."
"No, we're not going to have that kind of a wedding," Hermione insisted. "It's going to be really simple. Well, kind of simple. Or something."
"Then what is it?" Dani asked. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I told you..." Hermione said, then just sighed and turned to her fiance. "Ted, I think you might as well just show her."
"Like a Band-Aid, yeah," Ted said with a chuckle. "Quick and relatively painless." He stood up from the futon, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a narrow wooden stick.
"What is that supposed to be, a wand?" Dani smirked as Ted looked around the sitting room. "Are you a LARPer, Ted? Should I be terrified?"
"Not exactly," Ted said nervously. "What do you think, Hermione?"
"Ummm, I don't know," Hermione replied, looking around the room. "How about... Oh, how's this?" She stood up and hopped over to Dani's glass shelving unit, pulling a round, orange candle from eye level and tossing it to her roommate.
"Hey, watch it!" Dani said as she juggled the candle, nearly dropping it. "You almost hit me in the face."
"Sorry," Hermione shrugged, sitting back down beside Ted.
"What's this all about?" Dani asked, looking at the candle blankly.
"You can do this, right?" Hermione asked Ted.
"I think so," said Ted. "I haven't done anything in front of a Muggle before."
"What did you call me?" Dani asked, more confused than ever.
"Hold it real still, alright?" Ted said, pointing the stick at the candle. "I don't want to hit you."
"Hit me with what?" Dani asked, starting to feel panicked. "What are you OH HOLY SHIT!!"
Dani flinched back in terror. One moment she was holding the candle, the next there was a small bird hopping around in her hand.
"Ohgodohgodohgod," Dani babbled, climbing up the back of her chair as the baby chicken dropped onto the coffee table between them.
"She's freaking out," Ted said nervously as Hermione stood up and ran to her roommate.
"Dani, calm down..."
"Whwhwhwhwhwhwh..." Dani was at a loss for words. All she could do was point at the bird currently hopping around her magazines and empty soda cans, her eyes wide with shock, as Hermione grabbed her arm.
"Dani, please--"
"Whwhwhwhwhatdidyoudo?"
"Hermione, this was a bad idea, I'm sorry," Ted said, quickly pointing his stick at the chick, causing Dani to cry out again as it instantly transformed back into the candle. "I should call Arthur or Harry or someone..."
"Not yet, Ted," Hermione said, her eyes never leaving Dani's terrified face.
"I can at least get Gran to toss together a Calming Draught."
"In a minute," Hermione insisted, and, taking both of Dani's shoulders, looked her straight in the eye. "Dani, Ted's a wizard."
"A...A... w-w-w-w-" Dani stuttered, and Ted wondered if she had even blinked since he did his little spell.
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "He's a wizard. He can do magic."
"Magic?"
"Yeah."
Dani sat in stunned silence, looking between Ted, Hermione, and the candle that was now rolling back and forth along the table. Presently, she stood up and began pacing back and forth, her hands grabbing her dark hair in manic concentration.
"Ted's a wizard," she said from behind her arms.
"Yes."
"And you're a sorceress."
"No, I'm not."
"Am I a Healer?" Dani asked herself, stopping suddenly. "Did I get sucked into a video game?"
"You're not--" Hermione sighed. "Dani, please calm down."
"Ow!" Dani yelped, holding two black hairs between her fingers. "That hurt. Right, so I'm not dreaming...."
"You're not dreaming!" Hermione insisted, pulling her roommate to the couch. "Sit down? Please?"
"What happened to the chickie?" Dani asked helplessly as she was convinced to sit down between Ted and Hermione. "What happened to it? Where'd it go?"
"You know, I never thought to ask," Ted said thoughtfully. "That's one hell of a philosophical question, actually..."
"Hermione, what's happening?"
"If the chick didn't exist before I cast the spell, where did it come from?" Ted mumbled. "Where'd it go? Was it ever really alive?"
"Ted, not now," Hermione said shortly before turning back to Dani, both hands in hers. "Dani, magic's real. Witches and wizards have been in the world for thousands of years."
"And... And you're not one?" Dani asked uncertainly.
"No, I'm not," said Hermione. "But Ted is. So were his parents. Jean is, too, and so are Ron and their kids..."
"Your sister? But--"
"It's not all blood," Ted explained. "Some witches and wizards are born into Muggle families. Jean was one of them. So's my friend, Edmund. LittleGreenMan?"
"Muggle?" Dani asked. "What's that?"
"It's what we are," said Hermione.
"Normal?"
"No, not really," Ted said carefully. "Professor Bateman explained it the best: Muggles are called Muggles because witches and wizards had to come up with another name for them. We can't say 'human', because that would imply that we're not human. Because we are, we are human. And we can't say 'normal,' because that would imply that either we're abnormal or you're, um, inferior. So we just call non-magicked people 'Muggles' because we can't come up with a better term."
"Ted went to a school for wizards and witches," Hermione explained. "Professor Bateman was one of his teachers."
"School?" Dani asked. "So, it's, like, taught?"
"No, you're either born with abilities or you're not," said Ted. "Hogwarts is just a school that teaches us to refine our natural abilities, or to learn about other aspects of the magical world. Look, Dani, I know this is a lot to take in--"
"Nooo, you think?"
"And there's still a lot more to tell you," he continued. "A lot more to show you. But... Dani... we need to know if you can keep a secret. A big secret, obviously. Probably the big secret. The biggest one there is. If you can't--"
"Dani, you're my best friend," Hermione said. "Things are going to be changing for me a lot after I get married. I've had to tell a lot of half-truths about my family my entire life, and I'm going to have to tell a lot for the next few years... Hell, probably for the rest of my days. Especially when Ted and I have children. But I don't want to lie to you if I don't have to. So I have to know, can you keep a secret? From your family, from the rest of our friends, from everyone?"
Dani's mouth hung agape. "I... I don't know..."
"You have to know," Ted said intently. "You have to tell us, Dani. Can you keep a secret? Look deep inside yourself. If you can't, we need to know now to take the proper measures."
"Proper... Proper measures?" Dani said, her face paling. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
"No, no, of course not!" Ted replied with a shocked laugh, and started digging through his book bag. "No, Dani, it's... Okay, let's just put it this way. You've seen The Matrix, right?"
"Yeah?" Dani said nervously as Ted pulled out a small box.
"Then think of it like this," he said. "We're offering you a red pill and a blue pill. Take the blue pill, I make a call, and we make sure you forget this conversation ever took place. We go on with our lives as friends, but we'll have to give you half-truths about what I am, what I do for a living, about who Hermione's sister is, all of that. It's completely safe, completely painless, and I guarantee you won't know any better."
"And..." Dani swallowed. "And the red pill?"
Ted looked at Hermione, who was smiling as he opened the small case, revealing a pendant, a simple silver chain with a small, clear crystal.
"Take the red pill," he said with a grin, "and we show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
---------
"Nervous?"
"I am when you start staring at my neck like that."
"Your tie's crooked."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," said Harry Potter, grabbing Teddy Lupin by the shoulders and turning him face-to-face.
"You just fixed it five minutes ago," Teddy sighed as Harry fiddled with the black bow tie around his neck.
"Well, you moved your head," Harry explained. "Made it all... wonky."
"You hear that, Ted?" said Jack Pearson, stretched out on the sofa of the small church lounge, his own tuxedo jacket was thrown haphazardly along the back of the couch. "No more turning your head. Ever. Makes things all wonky."
"Yeah, it's not too late, you know," Teddy warned. "I can get Gavin in here. I reckon he'd love to best man instead of you."
"Whatever," Jack snorted. "Jenn'd be on him all night if he even glances at the Maid of Honor the wrong way. He's better off as an usher as I'm free to look at her as much as I want."
"One look at Dani's cleavage and you'll be on the floor," Teddy said. "I've been out to drink with her enough to know she's got a strong right hook and isn't a fan of being drooled on."
"Are you sure this is how I'm supposed to wear it?" Jack asked, ignoring Teddy's warning and fiddling with his cummerbund.
"I'm sure," Teddy and Harry replied in unison.
"I feel weird, not wearing dress robes to a wedding," he continued. "Mind you, I'd rather wear jeans and a t, but this is just trading in one uncomfortable penguin suit for another."
"No, this is infinitely more uncomfortable," Teddy said with a sigh, flinching as Harry tugged the tie tight.
"Yeah, well, she'll have you out of it soon enough," Jack chuckled. "God, I can't wait for the ceremony to be over, I could use a firewhisky."
"No firewhisky," said Harry, straightening up and nodding appreciatively at his work around Teddy's neck.
"They don't have firewhisky?"
"Muggles don't have firewhisky," said Harry. "Nor do they butterbeer or pumpkin juice. We'll be served one glass of champagne, and then soda and watered-down church tea for the rest of the night. That's all. Not until the party at Ron and Herm--and Jean's tomorrow afternoon."
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered.
"You knew the drill, Pearson," said Teddy, turning back to the mirror and quadruple-checking himself. "Hermione has friends from Bristol and Headington out there who don't know about us, plus her cousins have husbands and wives that are just as clueless."
"But even if there was only one unauthorized Muggle, it would be the same thing," said Harry. "Statute of Secrecy. You know it."
"Yeah, yeah, I know it," said Jack, standing up. "I just wish I'd be allowed more than one drink."
"It's good policy," said Harry. "The Alcoholic Uncle story's brilliant, and I think Caroline's friends will be alright with it. It's going to be hard enough not to slip sober; the last thing we want is anyone getting snockered and saying something that they shouldn't say."
Teddy chuckled. The Alcoholic Uncle story, Charlotte Granger's idea, suggested that Andi Tonks's non-existent son, Lars, was a raging booze hound who turned a new leaf after accidentally backing over his dog six months previous. Now a tea-totaller, "Lars" still firmly believed he was one drink away from falling off the wagon, and insisted that even the temptation might be enough. Because of this, Andromeda requested that the reception be non-alcoholic, and both Teddy and Hermione Caroline reluctantly agreed, provided that they were still allowed a champagne toast.
"Lars," of course, would fail to attend the wedding or the reception, citing a pressing last-minute engagement that forced him to Sweden, and the Grangers, Lupins, and Potters would only be able to shrug helplessly if anyone asked for a beer or a glass of wine, explaining that they hadn't purchased any, and it was too late to open the bar.
"Speaking of Secrecy," said Harry, looking in the mirror with Teddy, "that the hair you're going with?"
"It's what I've been going with for the last year," Teddy said. "It looks alright, right?"
"Looks fine," said Harry with a nod. "Your dad had the same color hair. Suits you."
"It does match, doesn't it?" Teddy asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photograph. "I just sat down one day and cleared my mind, and that's what came up. I figure it's the closest thing I have to my natural hair color. Very Zen, you know?"
"Very Zen," said Harry, looking down at the photo of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. He hadn't been there on the day the picture was taken. Very few people had been, considering the circumstances. It showed the then-happy couple grinning widely and waving at the camera, Remus in a dark gray dress robe and his new wife in a simple white dress and sporting blazing pink hair. They stood in a small room, most likely an office of some sort, and the Ministry official that had presided over them was doing his best to avoid the camera, lest he be forever associated with a werewolf wedding.
"You're going to keep this hidden, right?" Harry asked, still feeling a knot in his chest twenty years after he had last seen the couple together, cold and lifeless in the Hogwarts Great Hall. "I'm not going to say you can't carry it with you, Teddy, I'd never argue that. But I just want to make sure that no Muggles see any moving photographs tonight."
"I know, Harry," said Teddy, tucking it back into his pocket. "It's not going anywhere."
"Good," Harry said with a nod. "Oh, and one more thing?"
"Yeah?"
"In a few years, do you mind throwing some gray in there?" Harry asked, running his hands through his own untidy black hair, which was starting to show his first gray hairs at the temples. "Maybe thin it down on top, give yourself a little more forehead? You know, give us non-metamorphs some peace of mind?"
Teddy, who knew he could look twenty-one forever if he so chose, laughed and shook his head. "That's a joke, right?" he said to Harry. "Once we start hitting thirty, thirty-five, you know Hermione's gonna give me some dark looks if she thinks I'm not keeping up with her."
"Well, it's a long way off, I suppose," Harry said with a shrug.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've been thinking of some widow's peaks," said Teddy, instantly growing them as he gazed into the mirror. "You know, kinda like Nicholson or Slater in their heyday. Make things a little more convincing, and still get me some good roles."
"I'm not asking you to go full Patrick Stewart, or anything," Harry said. "But that should be fine."
"You know, I absolutely love it when you talk about people I've never heard of," Jack said sarcastically as Harry and Teddy both laughed.
"Oh, get off it, Jack," Teddy said, his hair shifting back to its normal length as he glanced at the clock. "Put your coat on, it's almost time."
"Look, I don't even know why we're hiding it, anyway," Jack said as he stood up and pulled his jacket from the back of the sofa. "As soon they see who you two invited, our cover's blown."
---------
"He has a condition," Victoire Weasley explained quickly. "Very rare. Please don't stare, it makes him uncomfortable."
"Yeah, tha's righ'," Hagrid mumbled at the three staring Muggles. "A condition. Very uncomf'erble."
Hagrid's sullen demeanor seemed to break the spell, and the female Muggle blinked as if coming out of a trance. "Now, now, Johnny," she said, tugging the hand of the gape-mouthed little boy. "It's not polite to stare."
Johnny, ignoring his mother, went right on staring, but was able to walk backwards as she dragged him from the cloudy June afternoon and into the church. Chris Granger, Hermione's cousin, had known Hagrid's secret since the double wedding almost twenty years ago, and could only shrug apologetically to the half-giant as he followed his wife and son inside.
"Sorry about that, Hagrid," Victoire said, turning back to their interrupted conversation.
"'S'alright, Vicki," said Hagrid morosely, absently rubbing his cheek stubble. To prove just how much he had wanted to be here, Hagrid had actually shaved off his beard and cut down his long, unruly hair. It would be odd enough seeing a man of Hagrid's... stature at the wedding, but another thing if that man was carrying a beard that screamed Wild Man. However, he had only done the cut only an hour ago, and there were already signs that it was coming back. Victoire assumed that if his beard wasn't back to full strength within twenty-four hours it would be pretty close.
"They're glad you're here," she said, patting him on his large arm. "It wouldn't have been a wedding without you."
"Well, I s'pose," Hagrid said, his blush showing more than normal now that Victoire could actually see his cheeks. "But I also s'pose we could say the same 'bout you. You were soundin' like yer weren't wantin' to be here."
"But here I am," Victoire said with a firm nod. "Someone had to keep you company. Besides, even if I sit in the corner with Ron and Hermione all night, at least I get free cake."
"Oh, now don' go on like that, Vicki," Hagrid said, patting Victoire on the shoulder so hard that she had to stabilize herself against the church wall. "I reckon Teddy and Caroline'll have plenty of boys here that'd love to dance with a pretty girl like you."
"Thanks," she said, her blush coming close to matching Hagrids. "But finding boys to dance with isn't the problem."
"No, I s'pose it isn'," Hagrid said. "So, Stymphalian Birds, eh?"
"Oh, yeah," Victoire said quickly, grateful for the subject change. "I thought they were, at least. It was the only thing that made sense, even if it didn't make any sense at all."
"I reckon makes as much sense as any," Hagrid said. "Not many things can take down a flock of Gorynyches, and from everythin' that were said about 'em from when they was around they'd do the trick right quick. And there weren't anything lef' behind?"
"Nothing that we could find," Victoire sighed, leaning against the church wall. "The dragons were gone, the feather was gone, all the dung and downed trees were gone. Someone had even siphoned all of the dragon blood that had splattered everywhere. Every drop."
"Amazin'," Hagrid said with a shake of his great head. "Simply amazin'. If it's true, and there are still Stymphalians left out there... I'd love ter get my hands on one. They'd make right interestin' lessons, wouldn't they?"
Victoire, whose stomach churned at the Prophet headline (Giant Knife-Throwing Bird Filets Hufflepuff Class), struggled hard to find a reply that wouldn't upset the Care of Magical Creatures professor. Thankfully, she didn't need to think long as Hagrid's attention was quickly diverted to the four approaching the church from the street.
"I'll find James and Albus when we get in," said Hugo Weasley, a tall skinny boy with red hair, to his parents as they climbed the cement steps. "They probably beat us."
"I'm sure they did," said his father. "But we're not sitting with them. We're Grangers today, remember? We'll sit with the Potters at the reception, but for the wedding we're on Caroline's side. Hey, Creature People."
"Hullo, Ron," said Hagrid. Ron Weasley, lanky with red hair that matched his son's in color (but beginning to thin along the brow like his own father's), took hold of Hagrid's ham-sized fist and barely flinched in its grip.
"You made it," said his wife, Hermione Jean, embracing Victoire in a hug.
"I made it," Victoire replied as the two separated. "Which is more than I can say for you. What was the holdup?"
"Oh, it was... urgh... it was Rose," Hermione grunted as Hagrid gave her a rib-cracking hug. "She took so long getting herself ready, I never thought we'd be leaving."
"Mum, I was downstairs at least five minutes before you," said thirteen-year-old Rose Weasley, clad in a simple blue sundress with her hair, brown like her mother's but not nearly as curly, pulled behind her in a ponytail.
"Well, what can I say?" Hermione said, proudly displaying a light grey combination that Victoire associated more with a high-end business meeting than a wedding. "I only have one sister, and she only has one wedding. I have to look my best."
"You look lovely, both of yeh," said Hagrid with a grin.
"You look good yourself," said Rose, sizing him up. "The stubble's nice. Very suave."
"Yeah, well," Hagrid said with a wave of his hand. "My giant blood won' let me keep it fer long. Grows back quick, ye know?"
"How're you holding up, Hagrid?" asked Ron. "You been able to, you know, cover?"
"I think so," Hagrid replied grumpily. "Not a fan of these here canes, though...."
"Yes, I know," said Hermione as Hagrid held up a metal crutch. "But it's common for Muggle acromegalics to use canes as they grow taller. Their legs have difficulty supporting them."
"Jus' glad its only fer a day, is all," said Hagrid. "I love these two ter death, but I reckon I'll be makin' my escape after the ceremony."
"No one will hold that against you, Hagrid," said Ron. "You'll still be over tomorrow?"
"Course I will," said Hagrid.
"So'll Maman and Dad and Matilda," said Victoire. "They couldn't make it this afternoon."
"That's fine," said Hermione. "I don't think Teddy was expecting any other Weasleys beyond Arthur and Molly and us. You'll be a pleasant surprise."
"Are Ted and Caroline going to be there tomorrow, though?" asked Rose. "Aren't they going to be on their honeymoon?"
"Well, I imagine they'll make a brief appearance before leaving for Japan," said Ron. "To pick up their real presents, and all..."
"Are we going in soon?" Hugo groaned, trying to loosen his tie. "I want to sit down."
"Yeah, we're going in, we're going in," Ron said, motioning the Weasleys inside. "See you two inside."
"Save me a seat?" Hermione asked her family. "I'm going to see Caroline before we start."
"Can I come, too, Mum?" Rose asked as the door closed behind them. "I haven't seen her dress yet..."
Hagrid shook his head in wonder at the closed door. "They're gettin' big."
"Yeah, I know," said Victoire. "Hugo and Matilda and everyone are starting Hogwarts this autumn, and I'm officially getting old."
"I went to Hogwarts wit' You-Know-Who, so don't start wit' me about gettin' old," Hagrid smirked. "So, anyway, what happened when yeh found out everythin' was cleaned out? What'd the Ukrainians say?"
"Nothing we wanted to hear," said Victoire. "Charlie and I were lucky, we only got a tongue-lashing from the officials. Told us we were wasting their time. Luna and her crew, though... They got kicked out of the country. Didn't have the right permits to be there, and had to pay a really heavy fine. They're lucky they didn't get prison time, the Ukrainians said, but I suppose they didn't want to start an international incident."
"That's a load of bull," Hagrid snorted indignantly. "Lovegood weren' doin' no harm to anyone, and she weren' breakin' any Secrecy laws. It's a free border between countries, innit?"
"Not around the Ukraine, I guess," said Victoire. "They've closed up since their dispute with the Russian Ministry four years back. The only reason me and Uncle Charlie got off light was because of Ukraine's connections with the Romanian dragon preserve."
"Hmm," Hagrid said, his bushy brow furrowed. "Yeh think there's more to it, too, don' yeh?"
"There has to be," said Victoire. "There's no reason the Ukrainian Ministry wouldn't know about those types of creatures being brought across the border, or to at least not be concerned about that kind of illegal trafficking. And, sure, Luna may have been there without a permit, but she's also a respected journalist, and Uncle Charlie's in good standing with their Creatures department. Any other government would have accepted their word that something was amiss and investigated further. There's no reason for them to have blown us off as quickly as they did. It felt like they were hiding something. I mean, we're talking about dragons and killer birds within spitting distance of Muggles and wizards, for God's sake..."
"Shh, shh, shh," Hagrid said quickly, putting his fingers to his lips and tipping his head towards the street, where Hermione's cousin, Elizabeth, was approaching with her husband.
"Hello, Victoire," said Elizabeth as the couple scaled the steps. "Hi, Hagrid."
"Hullo, Liz," Hagrid said.
"He has a condition," Victoire repeated wearily as she saw the look on the husband's face. "Very rare. Please don't stare, it makes him uncomfortable."
---------
Charlotte Granger sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes as she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" her youngest daughter called out.
"Pass me a tissue, will you, dear?" Charlotte asked the maid of honor as the door opened.
"Um, sure," said Danielle Wheeler uncertainly, handing the box to Charlotte. "Can't guarantee we have much left, though," she added, looking at the growing pile of wadded-up Kleenex littering the floor.
"Hello," Hermione Jean Weasley said, her own daughter slipping in behind her before she closed the door.
"Hey, sis," said Hermione Caroline, sucking in her breath as Charlotte and Dani tugged at the waist of her dress.
"Glad you're finally here, dear," said Charlotte, motioning to a side table. "Get that comb, would you?"
"Sorry," said Hermione Jean as she picked up the silver hairpiece, "Rose took so long to get ready--"
"Sorry," Rose mirrored, "Mum took so long to get ready--"
"Well, you're here," Charlotte said as the other women laughed. "It's supposed to go in her hair, but we've been wrestling with this darn corset for the last ten minutes..."
"We would have been... nngh... done with it a five minutes ago," said Caroline as Dani gave another yank, "but they both keep looking at me and getting all misty. Really breaks their concentration."
"You're a witch, aren't you, Jean?" asked Dani. "Couldn't you just... hrgh... magic this thing together?"
"Oh, don't worry, dear," said Charlotte, waving off Jean. "We'll be just fine, we're almost there."
"You look lovely," Rose sighed, leaning against the door and looking up and down at Caroline's dress, which gave the Weasley girl a paradoxical impression of peasant elegance. I wonder how many fantasy films went through her brain when she came up with her design, Rose thought at the sight of Caroline's Renaissance-inspired outfit and knowing that, in the end, her aunt pulled it off stunningly.
"So how are you feeling?" Jean asked quietly as she stepped up on a small stool and began trying to find the right position in Caroline's hair for the jeweled comb.
"Oh, just brilliant," Caroline said with a shaky laugh. "My knees are going to be bruised in the morning from all the knocking together, and I feel like my skirt's the only thing holding me up right now. Ted's the actor, I'm the one with stage fright. I know he'll give a lovely soliloquy and blow everyone out of the water, but as soon as I get around to my vows they're going to completely disappear from my head and I'll look like an idiot in front of him. Otherwise just fine, thank you."
"You're too hard on yourself, Aunt Caroline," said Rose. "You'll do fine."
"Yeah," Dani agreed, "you look like an idiot in front of him all the time."
"Don't listen to her," Jean said with a wink, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "I think that should hold."
"Looks lovely, dear," said Charlotte, leaning back to look at Caroline's hair, where the jeweled comb was now nestled in her blond curls. "And I think... Yes, I think we're done here."
"And we're early, too," said Dani, who stood up and stood beside Charlotte and Rose to get a full look at Caroline's dress in all its glory. "They're not expecting us for, what, three, four minutes?"
"Looks like," said Charlotte, barely glancing at her watch before turning back to her daughter. After a few moments, she gave another great sniff and started waving her hand in front of her face. "Dani, hand me another--"
Dani smirked and held the box of tissues in front of her.
"Well, as long as we have the time," said Jean as her mother dabbed her eyes (Rose, who was looking a little wet herself, reached over and grabbed another from the box), "and as long as everyone's here, I think a pop quiz in order."
"A what?" Dani asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"That's Jean," Caroline sighed. "Always the Ministry official. Do we have to?"
"Well, I just want to make sure everyone's on the same page," said Jean. "With you and Teddy living together, things are going to be difficult. So, Teddy's employment...."
"He's an actor, of course," said Caroline recited with a roll of her eyes. "Who's working with a troupe that spends a lot of time touring small towns. The pay's not great, and they're usually private functions, like schools and community groups, so I can't bring friends and family to see him. But he loves what he's doing."
"Good," said Jean with a nod.
"Oh, but he's actually asking the Ministry for permission to get some acting jobs in London," Caroline continued. "Muggle jobs. He promises to stay with one look the whole time, no magic at all, but he figured it might help with the cover if he occasionally CAN allow Muggles to see him. That's alright, isn't it?"
"That's another department than mine that'll make the final decision," Jean replied. "Although I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be approved, at least with some supervision, but I'm not going to answer for them."
"Alright," Caroline with a shrug. "I just thought--"
"I said it should be fine," Jean insisted. "But I'm not going to pull any strings. It wouldn't be fair to push it ahead of other requests."
"I wasn't asking that," Caroline said quietly.
"Danielle," Jean continued unheeded, "if anyone asks about your Muggle Charm?"
"Oh, my turn," Dani said, taking a deep breath. "Right, um, wedding party gift from Caroline because I'm the Maid of Honor and because I'm awesome?"
"Well, one out of two isn't bad," Jean smirked. "Mum, photos?"
"Same as before," Charlotte said. "Stills only. Except this time I have to make sure to only display pictures of Caroline and Ted that have his Muggle hair color. Right?"
"Right," Jean replied with a nod, turning back to Caroline. "What else?"
Caroline sighed impatiently. "If friends come over we let Jareth out for the night. No wands or magical equipment where Muggles can see them, no Expansion Charms on the house or on the car."
"And the pictures?"
"God," Caroline grumbled. "No moving pictures, no pictures of Ginny in her Holyhead gear or Hagrid or Buckbeak or anything that would lay any suspicion on witches and wizards. Look, I know all this already, you don't have to treat me like I'm just a Muggle."
"I don't mean to," said Jean. "I just wanted to make sure that--"
"Mum and Dad have been teaching me to hide you for the last twenty years," Caroline said shortly, "I think I'll manage hiding Ted, too."
Dani and Rose looked at each other uncomfortably as Jean's face reddened.
"She'll be fine," Charlotte said carefully in the tense silence that followed Caroline's outburst. "Hermione, honestly, she's wonderful at this, I haven't heard her slip up once, ever."
There was a quick tap on the door, which opened a crack. "Is everyone decent?" called Dan Granger from the other side.
"Come in, Dad," said Caroline. Dan did as asked, and a wide grin grew on his face as he saw his daughter in her dress.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked, his own voice shaking with nerves about giving away his youngest.
"I think so," Caroline replied, glancing at Jean.
"Can I have a minute alone with her?" Jean asked quietly, and something in her voice caused Dan's smile to slip.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, looking to his wife.
"It'll just be a minute," Jean said to her father. "Please?"
Dan looked over to Caroline, who nodded slightly. "Sure," he said carefully. "I'll be right outside when you're ready, okay, Carol?"
"Alright," Caroline replied as Charlotte gave her one last tearful hug before heading out to the main area of the church.
"Go save me a seat, alright, dear?" Jean asked Rose, who nodded and left with Danielle Wheeler close behind.
"Make it quick," Danielle said as she left. "I'll let the others know that you're being held up. See how long the organist can vamp."
Dan Granger took one last cautious look at his two Hermiones, then closed the door.
Hermione Caroline held her breath as Hermione Jean idly looked around the room, collecting her thoughts. She had seen flashes of what George Weasley called "Know-It-All Granger" on occasion, the one who heard a fragment of inaccurate information and quickly proceeded to re-educate the speaker with what quickly became a lecture. It didn't happen nearly as often as it did when they were at Hogwarts, Ron or Harry would quickly counter, but Caroline had still been on the receiving end of more than one "correction" in her twenty-one years, and felt one coming this time, as well.
"Look, I'm sorry," she said quickly, hoping to head it off at the pass. "Jean, I didn't mean to snap, seriously. It's just that... I'm getting married, and I'm really stressed out, and I'm starting a new job as soon as Ted and I get back from our honeymoon, and I'm still trying to process what he did for Mr. Finnigan without tearing my hair out. And everyone's crying and making me even more nervous that I'm going to screw up. You know me, I'm not a big crowd person, the whole idea of getting up in front of all of those people, even if they are all friends and family, is seriously making me regret that second piece of toast that I forced down this morning and--"
"I've been a horrible sister."
The words that Hermione Caroline Granger thought she heard from her sister's mouth were so different than what she was expecting that she had to re-think it over and over to make sure she processed it right. She continued to stare at Jean, who seemed to be studying the wedding bouquet in order to avoid her eyes.
"What?" Caroline replied. "No, Jean, I didn't mean it that way! I mean, I completely get why you're quizzing us. You're with the Ministry, it's your job to make sure that we don't reveal ourselves. I got short because of the wedding, but that doesn't make you a bad sister, not at all!"
"But it does!" Hermione Jean said helplessly. "Caroline, I should know these things! I should know how hard you've worked to keep our identities secret, I should know that you get stage fright, I should know what to get you for Christmas every year without asking Mum and Dad for a list because I'm your sister! I should know these things, and I don't!"
"Jean, you don't--"
"Hermione, please," Jean said, sounding on the verge of tears, "just listen to me. It's been eating at me forever, and I didn't even know it, so please..."
And Caroline quieted down, partially because she was asked and partially because her sister so rarely called her by her first name. To her friends, to Ted, she was Hermione, but to all her family, and their family, she would always be Caroline. To hear her sister say it....
"When we found you in Australia," Jean said quietly, falling into a chair, "Ron, Kingsley, and I, it was... Well, it was a shock, obviously. But from the first time that I put you on my lap, the first time you smiled at me, I knew that I could love you as my sister. And that I would do everything in my power to help raise you. Hell, Ron even suggested that we pretend you were ours, in case Mum and Dad took things badly when we restored their memory."
"But they didn't," Caroline said, pulling up a chair beside Jean's.
"No, they didn't," Jean said. "I promised you then, promised myself then, that I would be there for you. That entire seventh year at Hogwarts I kept running the plan of my life through my head, all the options that I could muster. At one point I even talked myself into taking a break in my career plans because I wanted to help Mum and Dad raise you until you were old enough for school. Even after they convinced me that they could handle you, I still wanted more than anything to balance my career, my relationship with Ron, and you. And in the end... In the end, I guess I balanced my life by making my Muggle sister as unimportant as I could."
"That's not true at all," Caroline said, putting her hand on Jean's leg. "You've been there. You've been at holidays, and you've come over a lot--"
"But that's not enough," Jean said, the tears flowing now. "Caroline, how often have we spent time with each other? Without Mum and Dad, without Ron and the kids? How often have we had more one-on-one time than, God, then just happening to pass by each other in the kitchen at Christmas while everyone else is in the dining room? How often have I acted more like an aunt or a second cousin than as a sister? How often have I treated you like you're from a different family, one that Mum and Dad just happened to start after I was already gone?"
"But, Jean, you've been busy," Caroline said. "With what you're doing at the Ministry... It's huge! I mean, I know how busy you've been, especially after Rose and Hugo were born..."
"I can't use that as an excuse," Jean said, shaking her head. "Mum and Dad ran a business while they were raising me, and ran it while they were raising you, and they did wonderfully. I see you at Christmas and Easter and the occasional picnic, but I've never... I never took an afternoon to take you to the zoo or the cinema or to Diagon or Hogsmeade. I never just came over to watch cartoons with you after school or to help you with your homework. I've never even invited you to lunch or tea or even called you just to talk to you and to ask you about your day and I should have because you're family and I love you! But I haven't, not once, and that's why I'm a horrible sister."
"You're not," Caroline insisted, now taking Jean's hand, feeling the tears close herself. "God, without you I wouldn't even be here right now. Forget sitting down and talking to Ted for me; I'm saying I wouldn't even exist if you hadn't protected Mum and Dad from Voldemort. I would never have been born if it weren't for you, and how many sisters can say that without sounding completely creepy?"
"I want to do better," Jean said, squeezing tight. "I have to do better for you. I remember you when Ron was cradling you on that first day, and I hate myself for not being with you as you've grown up. You've become a remarkable woman, Hermione Caroline, and I missed it. That has to change. I won't shut you out, not anymore."
"You think I'd actually let you?" Caroline said, her smirk breaking through her own wet cheeks. "With Rose and Hugo going off to school and no one but Ron keeping you company? You'd go insane."
Jean laughed despite herself, and the two sisters, separated by nineteen years, ten thousand miles, and two extremely effective Memory Charms, stood and embraced each other.
"I love you, you know that?" Hermione Jean Weasley sobbed.
"I know," Hermione Caroline Granger responded as the two separated. "I love you, too. And there's nothing I want more than to spend more time with you."
"Oh, God," Jean said as she put her hand on Caroline's blotchy, makeup-smeared face. "I've made an absolute mess."
"Well, I guess they'll have to wait a few minutes more," Caroline said, turning back to the mirror and digging through her makeup case. Jean looked over Caroline's shoulder into the reflection, biting her lip in thought, then shook her head.
"Oh, what the hell?" she said, opening her purse. "No one's looking that'll care."
"What?" Caroline asked, turning around, but smiled as Jean pulled out her wand and tapped Caroline's face twice, once on each cheek. Caroline felt a slight tingle, and when she looked back in the mirror she saw her face was, if anything, even more unblemished than it was before she had started crying. That pimple on her chin that had been giving her nightmares all week, for example, was completely gone, as were the bags that had been growing under her eyes from lack of sleep.
"Magic's nice sometimes," Jean said with a shrug. "Okay, so when you get back from Japan we'll have to set a date. I'm taking you to Diagon Alley, buying you lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, and getting you a housewarming present."
"I'd like that."
"There's a great shop called Flourish & Blotts," Jean explained. "They have dozens of books that will help you with your transition from Muggle to Wizard life."
"Books?" Caroline asked with an arched eyebrow. "For a housewarming present?"
"Maybe some potion books?" Jean continued. "We can get you a cauldron and a potion kit. Or a few robes?" She sighed in resignation at Caroline's disbelieving stare. "Oh, alright, you just want a broomstick, don't you?"
Caroline's eyes widened. "I can have a broomstick?"
"Just so long as you promise to keep it hidden," Jean smiled.
"You're serious?"
"You'd be amazed how lenient Ministry laws become once you're married to a--oof!"
"OhIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" Caroline said as she nearly tackled Jean in a huge hug.
"So I gathered," Jean said, laughing now. "Just promise you'll be careful, alright? Harry and Ginny have already volunteered to give you lessons, but Mum and Dad would never forgive me if you break your back. Or mine."
"Oh, sorry," Caroline said, releasing her sister. She was absolutely glowing now, her smile making her closer to nine than twenty-one.
"It's fine," Jean said, readjusting her grey suit coat. "So, shall we get you married?"
"We shall," Caroline said, taking a deep steadying breath as the two left the room, an anxious Dan and Dani standing on the other side.
"Are you ready?" Dan asked the two sisters. "Everything alright?"
"Everything's great," said Caroline, giving Jean a quick smile as Dani practically sprinted to the main hall to let everyone know that the bride was ready to start.
"I'll see you afterwards," Jean said to the two Grangers, then returned to the chapel. A few heads turned to her as she walked down the outside aisle, sitting down between Charlotte and Rose just in time to watch Teddy Lupin walk his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, to her seat in the front row. Ron, sitting on the other side of the pew, leaned over Hugo and Rose and gave Jean a tap on the knee and a questioning look.
Later, she mouthed to her husband, then turned back to the main aisle to see Harry and Ginny Potter walk down the aisle and take their seats beside Andromeda, followed soon after by Danielle Wheeler and Jack Pearson, who joined Teddy, now beaming as much as Caroline was minutes ago, and the priest at the front of the chapel.
The organ music shifted its tune, and the congregation as one stood and turned to the back of the chapel. Hermione could see the backs of many recognizable heads, including most of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on her side of the aisle. There were also some heads and faces that Hermione didn't recognize, and assumed that they were friends of Caroline's from school.
Across the aisle, Hermione glanced at Harry, Ginny, and Andromeda, along with James, Albus, and Lily Potter. Ginny gave her a quick wave before turning to the back. She could see many of Teddy's Hogwarts friends, as well as members of his surrogate family, including Arthur and Molly (Ginny, a Muggle Studies student at Hogwarts, had done her best to dress the Weasley grandparents in Muggle formalwear, and they both turned out passable), Neville and Uri, Dudley and Susan with their eleven year old son, Evan. Seamus and Lavender stood beside the Dursleys. Hermione and Ron, along with the Potters and the Longbottoms, had been visited by Seamus Finnigan a few days back, where he told them about the possible threat on their safety, as well as what Teddy had done for the mission. Like her sister, Hermione hoped that little Teddy would keep out of danger as much as possible, but unlike Caroline, Hermione understood that sometimes the average wizard had to put himself or herself in danger more often than the average Muggle. Had to take more risks. It was just their way of life with the power that they held.
At the back of the chapel, standing beside Victoire, was Hagrid, already scruffier than when Hermione had spoken to him outside fifteen minutes ago. She noticed with some satisfaction that he was leaning on the two aluminum canes provided by the Ministry as camouflage but, like everyone else, lost her train of thought as she watched her father escort her baby sister down the aisle.
Caroline looked just as pale with nerves as she had when she was in the dressing room, but seemed to breathe easier when she saw Teddy at the end of the aisle. She looked over to Charlotte and Hermione Jean and gave them both a nervous smile. Jean replied with a reassuring wink, and Charlotte responded with a sniff as her waterworks had begun again. Hermione's view was briefly blocked as Ron reached past Rose and Hugo with a handkerchief, and when she turned she saw that he was giving her an understanding grin.
"I think you need this," he whispered to Hermione, who quickly noticed that her own face was once again wet with tears.
"Thank you," she said, taking it and wiping her cheeks as the congregation sat down and the priest began to speak.
Welcome to our world, sis, Hermione Jean Weasley thought happily as she watched Hermione Caroline Granger become Hermione Caroline Lupin.
Antaeus / Previous Chapters / Wizengamot
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: After the Flaw; previous chapters
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: Muggle weddings can be such a hassle
Notes: I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Antaeus / Previous Chapters / Wizengamot
"I already know you're a wizard, Ted."
Hermione Caroline Granger's hands tightened as she shot a quick look over at her fiance. Ted could only stammer, "You... You do?"
"Well, yeah," said Danielle Wheeler, Hermione's friend and roommate. "What about it?"
"I... I'm sorry, I have to get my bearings," Ted said quickly, looking back and forth between the two women. "I... Was it that obvious?"
"Yeah?" said Dani as if talking to a three-year-old. "You're a wizard, I'm a healer, Hermione's a sorceress. What does that have to do with the wedding?"
"Oh..." Hermione Caroline mumbled, then her eyes lit up as she caught on. "Oh! No!"
It had been a year since Ted Lupin had proposed to Hermione. The "wedding date" was only a year away, and Dani had become more than a little concerned about the couple's relationship. For all of the goings on about how much she missed "Her Ted" when the two had been temporarily broken up, Dani was expecting a little more talk from her in the last year about the festivities. When Dani's older sister, for example, had gotten married three years ago she couldn't shut up about it. If she wasn't planning the minute details of the bridesmaids dresses or the invitation list, she was mooning twenty-four seven about her future husband and their copious future bouncing babies. Dani had been preparing herself for more of the same from her roommate.
Hermione, however, seemed uncomfortably secretive about the whole thing. Not at all concerned about her dress, what size of a wedding party they'd be inviting. Not even where the reception was going to be held. Dani was starting to wonder whether Hermione was having doubts about the whole thing.
So now, as the three sat in Dani and Hermione's new flat, where the two girls had moved following their second year of university, Dani was wondering why they had asked to talk to her, in private, in the first place. Were they calling it off? Were they eloping?
Was one of them gay?
"Yeah, I know you're a wizard, Ted," Dani repeated. "But if you're telling me this because you're planning some sort of magic-themed wedding, then we're going to have some words..."
"No, no, not like that," said Ted. "Well, not technically--"
"If you think I'm dressing up as Liv Tyler, I might have to revoke my maid of honor license," she continued. "The last thing I want is a bunch of geeks swarming around me all night asking to accept their One Ring. I get enough of that online, thank you..."
"No, we're not going to have that kind of a wedding," Hermione insisted. "It's going to be really simple. Well, kind of simple. Or something."
"Then what is it?" Dani asked. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I told you..." Hermione said, then just sighed and turned to her fiance. "Ted, I think you might as well just show her."
"Like a Band-Aid, yeah," Ted said with a chuckle. "Quick and relatively painless." He stood up from the futon, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a narrow wooden stick.
"What is that supposed to be, a wand?" Dani smirked as Ted looked around the sitting room. "Are you a LARPer, Ted? Should I be terrified?"
"Not exactly," Ted said nervously. "What do you think, Hermione?"
"Ummm, I don't know," Hermione replied, looking around the room. "How about... Oh, how's this?" She stood up and hopped over to Dani's glass shelving unit, pulling a round, orange candle from eye level and tossing it to her roommate.
"Hey, watch it!" Dani said as she juggled the candle, nearly dropping it. "You almost hit me in the face."
"Sorry," Hermione shrugged, sitting back down beside Ted.
"What's this all about?" Dani asked, looking at the candle blankly.
"You can do this, right?" Hermione asked Ted.
"I think so," said Ted. "I haven't done anything in front of a Muggle before."
"What did you call me?" Dani asked, more confused than ever.
"Hold it real still, alright?" Ted said, pointing the stick at the candle. "I don't want to hit you."
"Hit me with what?" Dani asked, starting to feel panicked. "What are you OH HOLY SHIT!!"
Dani flinched back in terror. One moment she was holding the candle, the next there was a small bird hopping around in her hand.
"Ohgodohgodohgod," Dani babbled, climbing up the back of her chair as the baby chicken dropped onto the coffee table between them.
"She's freaking out," Ted said nervously as Hermione stood up and ran to her roommate.
"Dani, calm down..."
"Whwhwhwhwhwhwh..." Dani was at a loss for words. All she could do was point at the bird currently hopping around her magazines and empty soda cans, her eyes wide with shock, as Hermione grabbed her arm.
"Dani, please--"
"Whwhwhwhwhatdidyoudo?"
"Hermione, this was a bad idea, I'm sorry," Ted said, quickly pointing his stick at the chick, causing Dani to cry out again as it instantly transformed back into the candle. "I should call Arthur or Harry or someone..."
"Not yet, Ted," Hermione said, her eyes never leaving Dani's terrified face.
"I can at least get Gran to toss together a Calming Draught."
"In a minute," Hermione insisted, and, taking both of Dani's shoulders, looked her straight in the eye. "Dani, Ted's a wizard."
"A...A... w-w-w-w-" Dani stuttered, and Ted wondered if she had even blinked since he did his little spell.
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "He's a wizard. He can do magic."
"Magic?"
"Yeah."
Dani sat in stunned silence, looking between Ted, Hermione, and the candle that was now rolling back and forth along the table. Presently, she stood up and began pacing back and forth, her hands grabbing her dark hair in manic concentration.
"Ted's a wizard," she said from behind her arms.
"Yes."
"And you're a sorceress."
"No, I'm not."
"Am I a Healer?" Dani asked herself, stopping suddenly. "Did I get sucked into a video game?"
"You're not--" Hermione sighed. "Dani, please calm down."
"Ow!" Dani yelped, holding two black hairs between her fingers. "That hurt. Right, so I'm not dreaming...."
"You're not dreaming!" Hermione insisted, pulling her roommate to the couch. "Sit down? Please?"
"What happened to the chickie?" Dani asked helplessly as she was convinced to sit down between Ted and Hermione. "What happened to it? Where'd it go?"
"You know, I never thought to ask," Ted said thoughtfully. "That's one hell of a philosophical question, actually..."
"Hermione, what's happening?"
"If the chick didn't exist before I cast the spell, where did it come from?" Ted mumbled. "Where'd it go? Was it ever really alive?"
"Ted, not now," Hermione said shortly before turning back to Dani, both hands in hers. "Dani, magic's real. Witches and wizards have been in the world for thousands of years."
"And... And you're not one?" Dani asked uncertainly.
"No, I'm not," said Hermione. "But Ted is. So were his parents. Jean is, too, and so are Ron and their kids..."
"Your sister? But--"
"It's not all blood," Ted explained. "Some witches and wizards are born into Muggle families. Jean was one of them. So's my friend, Edmund. LittleGreenMan?"
"Muggle?" Dani asked. "What's that?"
"It's what we are," said Hermione.
"Normal?"
"No, not really," Ted said carefully. "Professor Bateman explained it the best: Muggles are called Muggles because witches and wizards had to come up with another name for them. We can't say 'human', because that would imply that we're not human. Because we are, we are human. And we can't say 'normal,' because that would imply that either we're abnormal or you're, um, inferior. So we just call non-magicked people 'Muggles' because we can't come up with a better term."
"Ted went to a school for wizards and witches," Hermione explained. "Professor Bateman was one of his teachers."
"School?" Dani asked. "So, it's, like, taught?"
"No, you're either born with abilities or you're not," said Ted. "Hogwarts is just a school that teaches us to refine our natural abilities, or to learn about other aspects of the magical world. Look, Dani, I know this is a lot to take in--"
"Nooo, you think?"
"And there's still a lot more to tell you," he continued. "A lot more to show you. But... Dani... we need to know if you can keep a secret. A big secret, obviously. Probably the big secret. The biggest one there is. If you can't--"
"Dani, you're my best friend," Hermione said. "Things are going to be changing for me a lot after I get married. I've had to tell a lot of half-truths about my family my entire life, and I'm going to have to tell a lot for the next few years... Hell, probably for the rest of my days. Especially when Ted and I have children. But I don't want to lie to you if I don't have to. So I have to know, can you keep a secret? From your family, from the rest of our friends, from everyone?"
Dani's mouth hung agape. "I... I don't know..."
"You have to know," Ted said intently. "You have to tell us, Dani. Can you keep a secret? Look deep inside yourself. If you can't, we need to know now to take the proper measures."
"Proper... Proper measures?" Dani said, her face paling. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
"No, no, of course not!" Ted replied with a shocked laugh, and started digging through his book bag. "No, Dani, it's... Okay, let's just put it this way. You've seen The Matrix, right?"
"Yeah?" Dani said nervously as Ted pulled out a small box.
"Then think of it like this," he said. "We're offering you a red pill and a blue pill. Take the blue pill, I make a call, and we make sure you forget this conversation ever took place. We go on with our lives as friends, but we'll have to give you half-truths about what I am, what I do for a living, about who Hermione's sister is, all of that. It's completely safe, completely painless, and I guarantee you won't know any better."
"And..." Dani swallowed. "And the red pill?"
Ted looked at Hermione, who was smiling as he opened the small case, revealing a pendant, a simple silver chain with a small, clear crystal.
"Take the red pill," he said with a grin, "and we show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
---------
"Nervous?"
"I am when you start staring at my neck like that."
"Your tie's crooked."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," said Harry Potter, grabbing Teddy Lupin by the shoulders and turning him face-to-face.
"You just fixed it five minutes ago," Teddy sighed as Harry fiddled with the black bow tie around his neck.
"Well, you moved your head," Harry explained. "Made it all... wonky."
"You hear that, Ted?" said Jack Pearson, stretched out on the sofa of the small church lounge, his own tuxedo jacket was thrown haphazardly along the back of the couch. "No more turning your head. Ever. Makes things all wonky."
"Yeah, it's not too late, you know," Teddy warned. "I can get Gavin in here. I reckon he'd love to best man instead of you."
"Whatever," Jack snorted. "Jenn'd be on him all night if he even glances at the Maid of Honor the wrong way. He's better off as an usher as I'm free to look at her as much as I want."
"One look at Dani's cleavage and you'll be on the floor," Teddy said. "I've been out to drink with her enough to know she's got a strong right hook and isn't a fan of being drooled on."
"Are you sure this is how I'm supposed to wear it?" Jack asked, ignoring Teddy's warning and fiddling with his cummerbund.
"I'm sure," Teddy and Harry replied in unison.
"I feel weird, not wearing dress robes to a wedding," he continued. "Mind you, I'd rather wear jeans and a t, but this is just trading in one uncomfortable penguin suit for another."
"No, this is infinitely more uncomfortable," Teddy said with a sigh, flinching as Harry tugged the tie tight.
"Yeah, well, she'll have you out of it soon enough," Jack chuckled. "God, I can't wait for the ceremony to be over, I could use a firewhisky."
"No firewhisky," said Harry, straightening up and nodding appreciatively at his work around Teddy's neck.
"They don't have firewhisky?"
"Muggles don't have firewhisky," said Harry. "Nor do they butterbeer or pumpkin juice. We'll be served one glass of champagne, and then soda and watered-down church tea for the rest of the night. That's all. Not until the party at Ron and Herm--and Jean's tomorrow afternoon."
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered.
"You knew the drill, Pearson," said Teddy, turning back to the mirror and quadruple-checking himself. "Hermione has friends from Bristol and Headington out there who don't know about us, plus her cousins have husbands and wives that are just as clueless."
"But even if there was only one unauthorized Muggle, it would be the same thing," said Harry. "Statute of Secrecy. You know it."
"Yeah, yeah, I know it," said Jack, standing up. "I just wish I'd be allowed more than one drink."
"It's good policy," said Harry. "The Alcoholic Uncle story's brilliant, and I think Caroline's friends will be alright with it. It's going to be hard enough not to slip sober; the last thing we want is anyone getting snockered and saying something that they shouldn't say."
Teddy chuckled. The Alcoholic Uncle story, Charlotte Granger's idea, suggested that Andi Tonks's non-existent son, Lars, was a raging booze hound who turned a new leaf after accidentally backing over his dog six months previous. Now a tea-totaller, "Lars" still firmly believed he was one drink away from falling off the wagon, and insisted that even the temptation might be enough. Because of this, Andromeda requested that the reception be non-alcoholic, and both Teddy and Hermione Caroline reluctantly agreed, provided that they were still allowed a champagne toast.
"Lars," of course, would fail to attend the wedding or the reception, citing a pressing last-minute engagement that forced him to Sweden, and the Grangers, Lupins, and Potters would only be able to shrug helplessly if anyone asked for a beer or a glass of wine, explaining that they hadn't purchased any, and it was too late to open the bar.
"Speaking of Secrecy," said Harry, looking in the mirror with Teddy, "that the hair you're going with?"
"It's what I've been going with for the last year," Teddy said. "It looks alright, right?"
"Looks fine," said Harry with a nod. "Your dad had the same color hair. Suits you."
"It does match, doesn't it?" Teddy asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photograph. "I just sat down one day and cleared my mind, and that's what came up. I figure it's the closest thing I have to my natural hair color. Very Zen, you know?"
"Very Zen," said Harry, looking down at the photo of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. He hadn't been there on the day the picture was taken. Very few people had been, considering the circumstances. It showed the then-happy couple grinning widely and waving at the camera, Remus in a dark gray dress robe and his new wife in a simple white dress and sporting blazing pink hair. They stood in a small room, most likely an office of some sort, and the Ministry official that had presided over them was doing his best to avoid the camera, lest he be forever associated with a werewolf wedding.
"You're going to keep this hidden, right?" Harry asked, still feeling a knot in his chest twenty years after he had last seen the couple together, cold and lifeless in the Hogwarts Great Hall. "I'm not going to say you can't carry it with you, Teddy, I'd never argue that. But I just want to make sure that no Muggles see any moving photographs tonight."
"I know, Harry," said Teddy, tucking it back into his pocket. "It's not going anywhere."
"Good," Harry said with a nod. "Oh, and one more thing?"
"Yeah?"
"In a few years, do you mind throwing some gray in there?" Harry asked, running his hands through his own untidy black hair, which was starting to show his first gray hairs at the temples. "Maybe thin it down on top, give yourself a little more forehead? You know, give us non-metamorphs some peace of mind?"
Teddy, who knew he could look twenty-one forever if he so chose, laughed and shook his head. "That's a joke, right?" he said to Harry. "Once we start hitting thirty, thirty-five, you know Hermione's gonna give me some dark looks if she thinks I'm not keeping up with her."
"Well, it's a long way off, I suppose," Harry said with a shrug.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've been thinking of some widow's peaks," said Teddy, instantly growing them as he gazed into the mirror. "You know, kinda like Nicholson or Slater in their heyday. Make things a little more convincing, and still get me some good roles."
"I'm not asking you to go full Patrick Stewart, or anything," Harry said. "But that should be fine."
"You know, I absolutely love it when you talk about people I've never heard of," Jack said sarcastically as Harry and Teddy both laughed.
"Oh, get off it, Jack," Teddy said, his hair shifting back to its normal length as he glanced at the clock. "Put your coat on, it's almost time."
"Look, I don't even know why we're hiding it, anyway," Jack said as he stood up and pulled his jacket from the back of the sofa. "As soon they see who you two invited, our cover's blown."
---------
"He has a condition," Victoire Weasley explained quickly. "Very rare. Please don't stare, it makes him uncomfortable."
"Yeah, tha's righ'," Hagrid mumbled at the three staring Muggles. "A condition. Very uncomf'erble."
Hagrid's sullen demeanor seemed to break the spell, and the female Muggle blinked as if coming out of a trance. "Now, now, Johnny," she said, tugging the hand of the gape-mouthed little boy. "It's not polite to stare."
Johnny, ignoring his mother, went right on staring, but was able to walk backwards as she dragged him from the cloudy June afternoon and into the church. Chris Granger, Hermione's cousin, had known Hagrid's secret since the double wedding almost twenty years ago, and could only shrug apologetically to the half-giant as he followed his wife and son inside.
"Sorry about that, Hagrid," Victoire said, turning back to their interrupted conversation.
"'S'alright, Vicki," said Hagrid morosely, absently rubbing his cheek stubble. To prove just how much he had wanted to be here, Hagrid had actually shaved off his beard and cut down his long, unruly hair. It would be odd enough seeing a man of Hagrid's... stature at the wedding, but another thing if that man was carrying a beard that screamed Wild Man. However, he had only done the cut only an hour ago, and there were already signs that it was coming back. Victoire assumed that if his beard wasn't back to full strength within twenty-four hours it would be pretty close.
"They're glad you're here," she said, patting him on his large arm. "It wouldn't have been a wedding without you."
"Well, I s'pose," Hagrid said, his blush showing more than normal now that Victoire could actually see his cheeks. "But I also s'pose we could say the same 'bout you. You were soundin' like yer weren't wantin' to be here."
"But here I am," Victoire said with a firm nod. "Someone had to keep you company. Besides, even if I sit in the corner with Ron and Hermione all night, at least I get free cake."
"Oh, now don' go on like that, Vicki," Hagrid said, patting Victoire on the shoulder so hard that she had to stabilize herself against the church wall. "I reckon Teddy and Caroline'll have plenty of boys here that'd love to dance with a pretty girl like you."
"Thanks," she said, her blush coming close to matching Hagrids. "But finding boys to dance with isn't the problem."
"No, I s'pose it isn'," Hagrid said. "So, Stymphalian Birds, eh?"
"Oh, yeah," Victoire said quickly, grateful for the subject change. "I thought they were, at least. It was the only thing that made sense, even if it didn't make any sense at all."
"I reckon makes as much sense as any," Hagrid said. "Not many things can take down a flock of Gorynyches, and from everythin' that were said about 'em from when they was around they'd do the trick right quick. And there weren't anything lef' behind?"
"Nothing that we could find," Victoire sighed, leaning against the church wall. "The dragons were gone, the feather was gone, all the dung and downed trees were gone. Someone had even siphoned all of the dragon blood that had splattered everywhere. Every drop."
"Amazin'," Hagrid said with a shake of his great head. "Simply amazin'. If it's true, and there are still Stymphalians left out there... I'd love ter get my hands on one. They'd make right interestin' lessons, wouldn't they?"
Victoire, whose stomach churned at the Prophet headline (Giant Knife-Throwing Bird Filets Hufflepuff Class), struggled hard to find a reply that wouldn't upset the Care of Magical Creatures professor. Thankfully, she didn't need to think long as Hagrid's attention was quickly diverted to the four approaching the church from the street.
"I'll find James and Albus when we get in," said Hugo Weasley, a tall skinny boy with red hair, to his parents as they climbed the cement steps. "They probably beat us."
"I'm sure they did," said his father. "But we're not sitting with them. We're Grangers today, remember? We'll sit with the Potters at the reception, but for the wedding we're on Caroline's side. Hey, Creature People."
"Hullo, Ron," said Hagrid. Ron Weasley, lanky with red hair that matched his son's in color (but beginning to thin along the brow like his own father's), took hold of Hagrid's ham-sized fist and barely flinched in its grip.
"You made it," said his wife, Hermione Jean, embracing Victoire in a hug.
"I made it," Victoire replied as the two separated. "Which is more than I can say for you. What was the holdup?"
"Oh, it was... urgh... it was Rose," Hermione grunted as Hagrid gave her a rib-cracking hug. "She took so long getting herself ready, I never thought we'd be leaving."
"Mum, I was downstairs at least five minutes before you," said thirteen-year-old Rose Weasley, clad in a simple blue sundress with her hair, brown like her mother's but not nearly as curly, pulled behind her in a ponytail.
"Well, what can I say?" Hermione said, proudly displaying a light grey combination that Victoire associated more with a high-end business meeting than a wedding. "I only have one sister, and she only has one wedding. I have to look my best."
"You look lovely, both of yeh," said Hagrid with a grin.
"You look good yourself," said Rose, sizing him up. "The stubble's nice. Very suave."
"Yeah, well," Hagrid said with a wave of his hand. "My giant blood won' let me keep it fer long. Grows back quick, ye know?"
"How're you holding up, Hagrid?" asked Ron. "You been able to, you know, cover?"
"I think so," Hagrid replied grumpily. "Not a fan of these here canes, though...."
"Yes, I know," said Hermione as Hagrid held up a metal crutch. "But it's common for Muggle acromegalics to use canes as they grow taller. Their legs have difficulty supporting them."
"Jus' glad its only fer a day, is all," said Hagrid. "I love these two ter death, but I reckon I'll be makin' my escape after the ceremony."
"No one will hold that against you, Hagrid," said Ron. "You'll still be over tomorrow?"
"Course I will," said Hagrid.
"So'll Maman and Dad and Matilda," said Victoire. "They couldn't make it this afternoon."
"That's fine," said Hermione. "I don't think Teddy was expecting any other Weasleys beyond Arthur and Molly and us. You'll be a pleasant surprise."
"Are Ted and Caroline going to be there tomorrow, though?" asked Rose. "Aren't they going to be on their honeymoon?"
"Well, I imagine they'll make a brief appearance before leaving for Japan," said Ron. "To pick up their real presents, and all..."
"Are we going in soon?" Hugo groaned, trying to loosen his tie. "I want to sit down."
"Yeah, we're going in, we're going in," Ron said, motioning the Weasleys inside. "See you two inside."
"Save me a seat?" Hermione asked her family. "I'm going to see Caroline before we start."
"Can I come, too, Mum?" Rose asked as the door closed behind them. "I haven't seen her dress yet..."
Hagrid shook his head in wonder at the closed door. "They're gettin' big."
"Yeah, I know," said Victoire. "Hugo and Matilda and everyone are starting Hogwarts this autumn, and I'm officially getting old."
"I went to Hogwarts wit' You-Know-Who, so don't start wit' me about gettin' old," Hagrid smirked. "So, anyway, what happened when yeh found out everythin' was cleaned out? What'd the Ukrainians say?"
"Nothing we wanted to hear," said Victoire. "Charlie and I were lucky, we only got a tongue-lashing from the officials. Told us we were wasting their time. Luna and her crew, though... They got kicked out of the country. Didn't have the right permits to be there, and had to pay a really heavy fine. They're lucky they didn't get prison time, the Ukrainians said, but I suppose they didn't want to start an international incident."
"That's a load of bull," Hagrid snorted indignantly. "Lovegood weren' doin' no harm to anyone, and she weren' breakin' any Secrecy laws. It's a free border between countries, innit?"
"Not around the Ukraine, I guess," said Victoire. "They've closed up since their dispute with the Russian Ministry four years back. The only reason me and Uncle Charlie got off light was because of Ukraine's connections with the Romanian dragon preserve."
"Hmm," Hagrid said, his bushy brow furrowed. "Yeh think there's more to it, too, don' yeh?"
"There has to be," said Victoire. "There's no reason the Ukrainian Ministry wouldn't know about those types of creatures being brought across the border, or to at least not be concerned about that kind of illegal trafficking. And, sure, Luna may have been there without a permit, but she's also a respected journalist, and Uncle Charlie's in good standing with their Creatures department. Any other government would have accepted their word that something was amiss and investigated further. There's no reason for them to have blown us off as quickly as they did. It felt like they were hiding something. I mean, we're talking about dragons and killer birds within spitting distance of Muggles and wizards, for God's sake..."
"Shh, shh, shh," Hagrid said quickly, putting his fingers to his lips and tipping his head towards the street, where Hermione's cousin, Elizabeth, was approaching with her husband.
"Hello, Victoire," said Elizabeth as the couple scaled the steps. "Hi, Hagrid."
"Hullo, Liz," Hagrid said.
"He has a condition," Victoire repeated wearily as she saw the look on the husband's face. "Very rare. Please don't stare, it makes him uncomfortable."
---------
Charlotte Granger sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes as she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" her youngest daughter called out.
"Pass me a tissue, will you, dear?" Charlotte asked the maid of honor as the door opened.
"Um, sure," said Danielle Wheeler uncertainly, handing the box to Charlotte. "Can't guarantee we have much left, though," she added, looking at the growing pile of wadded-up Kleenex littering the floor.
"Hello," Hermione Jean Weasley said, her own daughter slipping in behind her before she closed the door.
"Hey, sis," said Hermione Caroline, sucking in her breath as Charlotte and Dani tugged at the waist of her dress.
"Glad you're finally here, dear," said Charlotte, motioning to a side table. "Get that comb, would you?"
"Sorry," said Hermione Jean as she picked up the silver hairpiece, "Rose took so long to get ready--"
"Sorry," Rose mirrored, "Mum took so long to get ready--"
"Well, you're here," Charlotte said as the other women laughed. "It's supposed to go in her hair, but we've been wrestling with this darn corset for the last ten minutes..."
"We would have been... nngh... done with it a five minutes ago," said Caroline as Dani gave another yank, "but they both keep looking at me and getting all misty. Really breaks their concentration."
"You're a witch, aren't you, Jean?" asked Dani. "Couldn't you just... hrgh... magic this thing together?"
"Oh, don't worry, dear," said Charlotte, waving off Jean. "We'll be just fine, we're almost there."
"You look lovely," Rose sighed, leaning against the door and looking up and down at Caroline's dress, which gave the Weasley girl a paradoxical impression of peasant elegance. I wonder how many fantasy films went through her brain when she came up with her design, Rose thought at the sight of Caroline's Renaissance-inspired outfit and knowing that, in the end, her aunt pulled it off stunningly.
"So how are you feeling?" Jean asked quietly as she stepped up on a small stool and began trying to find the right position in Caroline's hair for the jeweled comb.
"Oh, just brilliant," Caroline said with a shaky laugh. "My knees are going to be bruised in the morning from all the knocking together, and I feel like my skirt's the only thing holding me up right now. Ted's the actor, I'm the one with stage fright. I know he'll give a lovely soliloquy and blow everyone out of the water, but as soon as I get around to my vows they're going to completely disappear from my head and I'll look like an idiot in front of him. Otherwise just fine, thank you."
"You're too hard on yourself, Aunt Caroline," said Rose. "You'll do fine."
"Yeah," Dani agreed, "you look like an idiot in front of him all the time."
"Don't listen to her," Jean said with a wink, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "I think that should hold."
"Looks lovely, dear," said Charlotte, leaning back to look at Caroline's hair, where the jeweled comb was now nestled in her blond curls. "And I think... Yes, I think we're done here."
"And we're early, too," said Dani, who stood up and stood beside Charlotte and Rose to get a full look at Caroline's dress in all its glory. "They're not expecting us for, what, three, four minutes?"
"Looks like," said Charlotte, barely glancing at her watch before turning back to her daughter. After a few moments, she gave another great sniff and started waving her hand in front of her face. "Dani, hand me another--"
Dani smirked and held the box of tissues in front of her.
"Well, as long as we have the time," said Jean as her mother dabbed her eyes (Rose, who was looking a little wet herself, reached over and grabbed another from the box), "and as long as everyone's here, I think a pop quiz in order."
"A what?" Dani asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"That's Jean," Caroline sighed. "Always the Ministry official. Do we have to?"
"Well, I just want to make sure everyone's on the same page," said Jean. "With you and Teddy living together, things are going to be difficult. So, Teddy's employment...."
"He's an actor, of course," said Caroline recited with a roll of her eyes. "Who's working with a troupe that spends a lot of time touring small towns. The pay's not great, and they're usually private functions, like schools and community groups, so I can't bring friends and family to see him. But he loves what he's doing."
"Good," said Jean with a nod.
"Oh, but he's actually asking the Ministry for permission to get some acting jobs in London," Caroline continued. "Muggle jobs. He promises to stay with one look the whole time, no magic at all, but he figured it might help with the cover if he occasionally CAN allow Muggles to see him. That's alright, isn't it?"
"That's another department than mine that'll make the final decision," Jean replied. "Although I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be approved, at least with some supervision, but I'm not going to answer for them."
"Alright," Caroline with a shrug. "I just thought--"
"I said it should be fine," Jean insisted. "But I'm not going to pull any strings. It wouldn't be fair to push it ahead of other requests."
"I wasn't asking that," Caroline said quietly.
"Danielle," Jean continued unheeded, "if anyone asks about your Muggle Charm?"
"Oh, my turn," Dani said, taking a deep breath. "Right, um, wedding party gift from Caroline because I'm the Maid of Honor and because I'm awesome?"
"Well, one out of two isn't bad," Jean smirked. "Mum, photos?"
"Same as before," Charlotte said. "Stills only. Except this time I have to make sure to only display pictures of Caroline and Ted that have his Muggle hair color. Right?"
"Right," Jean replied with a nod, turning back to Caroline. "What else?"
Caroline sighed impatiently. "If friends come over we let Jareth out for the night. No wands or magical equipment where Muggles can see them, no Expansion Charms on the house or on the car."
"And the pictures?"
"God," Caroline grumbled. "No moving pictures, no pictures of Ginny in her Holyhead gear or Hagrid or Buckbeak or anything that would lay any suspicion on witches and wizards. Look, I know all this already, you don't have to treat me like I'm just a Muggle."
"I don't mean to," said Jean. "I just wanted to make sure that--"
"Mum and Dad have been teaching me to hide you for the last twenty years," Caroline said shortly, "I think I'll manage hiding Ted, too."
Dani and Rose looked at each other uncomfortably as Jean's face reddened.
"She'll be fine," Charlotte said carefully in the tense silence that followed Caroline's outburst. "Hermione, honestly, she's wonderful at this, I haven't heard her slip up once, ever."
There was a quick tap on the door, which opened a crack. "Is everyone decent?" called Dan Granger from the other side.
"Come in, Dad," said Caroline. Dan did as asked, and a wide grin grew on his face as he saw his daughter in her dress.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked, his own voice shaking with nerves about giving away his youngest.
"I think so," Caroline replied, glancing at Jean.
"Can I have a minute alone with her?" Jean asked quietly, and something in her voice caused Dan's smile to slip.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, looking to his wife.
"It'll just be a minute," Jean said to her father. "Please?"
Dan looked over to Caroline, who nodded slightly. "Sure," he said carefully. "I'll be right outside when you're ready, okay, Carol?"
"Alright," Caroline replied as Charlotte gave her one last tearful hug before heading out to the main area of the church.
"Go save me a seat, alright, dear?" Jean asked Rose, who nodded and left with Danielle Wheeler close behind.
"Make it quick," Danielle said as she left. "I'll let the others know that you're being held up. See how long the organist can vamp."
Dan Granger took one last cautious look at his two Hermiones, then closed the door.
Hermione Caroline held her breath as Hermione Jean idly looked around the room, collecting her thoughts. She had seen flashes of what George Weasley called "Know-It-All Granger" on occasion, the one who heard a fragment of inaccurate information and quickly proceeded to re-educate the speaker with what quickly became a lecture. It didn't happen nearly as often as it did when they were at Hogwarts, Ron or Harry would quickly counter, but Caroline had still been on the receiving end of more than one "correction" in her twenty-one years, and felt one coming this time, as well.
"Look, I'm sorry," she said quickly, hoping to head it off at the pass. "Jean, I didn't mean to snap, seriously. It's just that... I'm getting married, and I'm really stressed out, and I'm starting a new job as soon as Ted and I get back from our honeymoon, and I'm still trying to process what he did for Mr. Finnigan without tearing my hair out. And everyone's crying and making me even more nervous that I'm going to screw up. You know me, I'm not a big crowd person, the whole idea of getting up in front of all of those people, even if they are all friends and family, is seriously making me regret that second piece of toast that I forced down this morning and--"
"I've been a horrible sister."
The words that Hermione Caroline Granger thought she heard from her sister's mouth were so different than what she was expecting that she had to re-think it over and over to make sure she processed it right. She continued to stare at Jean, who seemed to be studying the wedding bouquet in order to avoid her eyes.
"What?" Caroline replied. "No, Jean, I didn't mean it that way! I mean, I completely get why you're quizzing us. You're with the Ministry, it's your job to make sure that we don't reveal ourselves. I got short because of the wedding, but that doesn't make you a bad sister, not at all!"
"But it does!" Hermione Jean said helplessly. "Caroline, I should know these things! I should know how hard you've worked to keep our identities secret, I should know that you get stage fright, I should know what to get you for Christmas every year without asking Mum and Dad for a list because I'm your sister! I should know these things, and I don't!"
"Jean, you don't--"
"Hermione, please," Jean said, sounding on the verge of tears, "just listen to me. It's been eating at me forever, and I didn't even know it, so please..."
And Caroline quieted down, partially because she was asked and partially because her sister so rarely called her by her first name. To her friends, to Ted, she was Hermione, but to all her family, and their family, she would always be Caroline. To hear her sister say it....
"When we found you in Australia," Jean said quietly, falling into a chair, "Ron, Kingsley, and I, it was... Well, it was a shock, obviously. But from the first time that I put you on my lap, the first time you smiled at me, I knew that I could love you as my sister. And that I would do everything in my power to help raise you. Hell, Ron even suggested that we pretend you were ours, in case Mum and Dad took things badly when we restored their memory."
"But they didn't," Caroline said, pulling up a chair beside Jean's.
"No, they didn't," Jean said. "I promised you then, promised myself then, that I would be there for you. That entire seventh year at Hogwarts I kept running the plan of my life through my head, all the options that I could muster. At one point I even talked myself into taking a break in my career plans because I wanted to help Mum and Dad raise you until you were old enough for school. Even after they convinced me that they could handle you, I still wanted more than anything to balance my career, my relationship with Ron, and you. And in the end... In the end, I guess I balanced my life by making my Muggle sister as unimportant as I could."
"That's not true at all," Caroline said, putting her hand on Jean's leg. "You've been there. You've been at holidays, and you've come over a lot--"
"But that's not enough," Jean said, the tears flowing now. "Caroline, how often have we spent time with each other? Without Mum and Dad, without Ron and the kids? How often have we had more one-on-one time than, God, then just happening to pass by each other in the kitchen at Christmas while everyone else is in the dining room? How often have I acted more like an aunt or a second cousin than as a sister? How often have I treated you like you're from a different family, one that Mum and Dad just happened to start after I was already gone?"
"But, Jean, you've been busy," Caroline said. "With what you're doing at the Ministry... It's huge! I mean, I know how busy you've been, especially after Rose and Hugo were born..."
"I can't use that as an excuse," Jean said, shaking her head. "Mum and Dad ran a business while they were raising me, and ran it while they were raising you, and they did wonderfully. I see you at Christmas and Easter and the occasional picnic, but I've never... I never took an afternoon to take you to the zoo or the cinema or to Diagon or Hogsmeade. I never just came over to watch cartoons with you after school or to help you with your homework. I've never even invited you to lunch or tea or even called you just to talk to you and to ask you about your day and I should have because you're family and I love you! But I haven't, not once, and that's why I'm a horrible sister."
"You're not," Caroline insisted, now taking Jean's hand, feeling the tears close herself. "God, without you I wouldn't even be here right now. Forget sitting down and talking to Ted for me; I'm saying I wouldn't even exist if you hadn't protected Mum and Dad from Voldemort. I would never have been born if it weren't for you, and how many sisters can say that without sounding completely creepy?"
"I want to do better," Jean said, squeezing tight. "I have to do better for you. I remember you when Ron was cradling you on that first day, and I hate myself for not being with you as you've grown up. You've become a remarkable woman, Hermione Caroline, and I missed it. That has to change. I won't shut you out, not anymore."
"You think I'd actually let you?" Caroline said, her smirk breaking through her own wet cheeks. "With Rose and Hugo going off to school and no one but Ron keeping you company? You'd go insane."
Jean laughed despite herself, and the two sisters, separated by nineteen years, ten thousand miles, and two extremely effective Memory Charms, stood and embraced each other.
"I love you, you know that?" Hermione Jean Weasley sobbed.
"I know," Hermione Caroline Granger responded as the two separated. "I love you, too. And there's nothing I want more than to spend more time with you."
"Oh, God," Jean said as she put her hand on Caroline's blotchy, makeup-smeared face. "I've made an absolute mess."
"Well, I guess they'll have to wait a few minutes more," Caroline said, turning back to the mirror and digging through her makeup case. Jean looked over Caroline's shoulder into the reflection, biting her lip in thought, then shook her head.
"Oh, what the hell?" she said, opening her purse. "No one's looking that'll care."
"What?" Caroline asked, turning around, but smiled as Jean pulled out her wand and tapped Caroline's face twice, once on each cheek. Caroline felt a slight tingle, and when she looked back in the mirror she saw her face was, if anything, even more unblemished than it was before she had started crying. That pimple on her chin that had been giving her nightmares all week, for example, was completely gone, as were the bags that had been growing under her eyes from lack of sleep.
"Magic's nice sometimes," Jean said with a shrug. "Okay, so when you get back from Japan we'll have to set a date. I'm taking you to Diagon Alley, buying you lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, and getting you a housewarming present."
"I'd like that."
"There's a great shop called Flourish & Blotts," Jean explained. "They have dozens of books that will help you with your transition from Muggle to Wizard life."
"Books?" Caroline asked with an arched eyebrow. "For a housewarming present?"
"Maybe some potion books?" Jean continued. "We can get you a cauldron and a potion kit. Or a few robes?" She sighed in resignation at Caroline's disbelieving stare. "Oh, alright, you just want a broomstick, don't you?"
Caroline's eyes widened. "I can have a broomstick?"
"Just so long as you promise to keep it hidden," Jean smiled.
"You're serious?"
"You'd be amazed how lenient Ministry laws become once you're married to a--oof!"
"OhIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" Caroline said as she nearly tackled Jean in a huge hug.
"So I gathered," Jean said, laughing now. "Just promise you'll be careful, alright? Harry and Ginny have already volunteered to give you lessons, but Mum and Dad would never forgive me if you break your back. Or mine."
"Oh, sorry," Caroline said, releasing her sister. She was absolutely glowing now, her smile making her closer to nine than twenty-one.
"It's fine," Jean said, readjusting her grey suit coat. "So, shall we get you married?"
"We shall," Caroline said, taking a deep steadying breath as the two left the room, an anxious Dan and Dani standing on the other side.
"Are you ready?" Dan asked the two sisters. "Everything alright?"
"Everything's great," said Caroline, giving Jean a quick smile as Dani practically sprinted to the main hall to let everyone know that the bride was ready to start.
"I'll see you afterwards," Jean said to the two Grangers, then returned to the chapel. A few heads turned to her as she walked down the outside aisle, sitting down between Charlotte and Rose just in time to watch Teddy Lupin walk his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, to her seat in the front row. Ron, sitting on the other side of the pew, leaned over Hugo and Rose and gave Jean a tap on the knee and a questioning look.
Later, she mouthed to her husband, then turned back to the main aisle to see Harry and Ginny Potter walk down the aisle and take their seats beside Andromeda, followed soon after by Danielle Wheeler and Jack Pearson, who joined Teddy, now beaming as much as Caroline was minutes ago, and the priest at the front of the chapel.
The organ music shifted its tune, and the congregation as one stood and turned to the back of the chapel. Hermione could see the backs of many recognizable heads, including most of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on her side of the aisle. There were also some heads and faces that Hermione didn't recognize, and assumed that they were friends of Caroline's from school.
Across the aisle, Hermione glanced at Harry, Ginny, and Andromeda, along with James, Albus, and Lily Potter. Ginny gave her a quick wave before turning to the back. She could see many of Teddy's Hogwarts friends, as well as members of his surrogate family, including Arthur and Molly (Ginny, a Muggle Studies student at Hogwarts, had done her best to dress the Weasley grandparents in Muggle formalwear, and they both turned out passable), Neville and Uri, Dudley and Susan with their eleven year old son, Evan. Seamus and Lavender stood beside the Dursleys. Hermione and Ron, along with the Potters and the Longbottoms, had been visited by Seamus Finnigan a few days back, where he told them about the possible threat on their safety, as well as what Teddy had done for the mission. Like her sister, Hermione hoped that little Teddy would keep out of danger as much as possible, but unlike Caroline, Hermione understood that sometimes the average wizard had to put himself or herself in danger more often than the average Muggle. Had to take more risks. It was just their way of life with the power that they held.
At the back of the chapel, standing beside Victoire, was Hagrid, already scruffier than when Hermione had spoken to him outside fifteen minutes ago. She noticed with some satisfaction that he was leaning on the two aluminum canes provided by the Ministry as camouflage but, like everyone else, lost her train of thought as she watched her father escort her baby sister down the aisle.
Caroline looked just as pale with nerves as she had when she was in the dressing room, but seemed to breathe easier when she saw Teddy at the end of the aisle. She looked over to Charlotte and Hermione Jean and gave them both a nervous smile. Jean replied with a reassuring wink, and Charlotte responded with a sniff as her waterworks had begun again. Hermione's view was briefly blocked as Ron reached past Rose and Hugo with a handkerchief, and when she turned she saw that he was giving her an understanding grin.
"I think you need this," he whispered to Hermione, who quickly noticed that her own face was once again wet with tears.
"Thank you," she said, taking it and wiping her cheeks as the congregation sat down and the priest began to speak.
Welcome to our world, sis, Hermione Jean Weasley thought happily as she watched Hermione Caroline Granger become Hermione Caroline Lupin.
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