Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Hermione Granger and the Weasley Wedding ❯ Hermione's Best Friend ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9: Hermione's Best Friend

 

Ron and Hermione had Apparated to the kitchen of The Burrow. “Ron!” Hermione shrieked. “I'm not wearing any clothes!”

“Excellent!” Fred and George said as one. “Where have you two been?”

“You look like you took a tumble in the hay!” Fred commented.

“Come off it, Fred, George! Honestly! Do you think that I, Hermione Granger, would go tumbling without any clothes to put back on afterwards? I had rather hoped that you thought better of me than that! But I had better get to my room quickly before your Mum sees me.” Hermione Disapparated from the room, and didn't return for quite some time. Ron spent the time telling Fred and George what happened with Viktor.

“You have to swear never to tell Mum, though.” Ron was emphatic about it. “I'll never forgive you if you tell her.”

“We won't tell,” they said as one. Hermione walked into the kitchen at that very moment. She didn't look so good.

“All right, Hermione?” Fred asked. She nodded. “Good. Well, Ronniekins, we've got to get back to the shop. We'll be back for dinner.”

“See you tonight!” George said as he turned and Disapparated. Harry had gone back to Grimmauld Place since the crisis was over and he was preparing his things to go back to Hogwarts in another two weeks or so. The students would return the week after the professors did, all except for Ginny, who would return with Harry.

The week drug on, and finally, it was the day before the wedding. The plans had been set. There were only two matters left. Hermione still had to choose her best friend to be in the wedding, and The Unbreakable Vow of Love had been left undiscussed, as had what had happened with Hermione and Viktor. Hermione had been feeling quite irritable since that day and was ill at least twice a day. “Nerves leading up to a wedding can be something that makes one ill,” Mrs. Weasley had assured Hermione one morning, as she sat miserably with her head hanging over the toilet. She was still spending nights in Ron's room, but was often too ill or too tired for any pleasurable activities.

Ron came into Hermione's bedroom that afternoon to ask her if she would like to take one of their walks. She agreed and they walked out into the field. “You know,” Ron said gently, “we still have to do that unbreakable vow thing.”

“I already did it,” Hermione said without thinking.

Ron stopped in his tracks. “WHAT?”

She turned to look at him. “You heard me,” she said nonchalantly. “I already did it.”

“But Hermione, it was something sacred we were supposed to do together!” He looked indignant, and had practically shouted this at her. Her brow drew together in anger.

“Well it was the only way I could think of to let you know where I was when Krum had me. Would you rather have had me lay there and endure the Cruciatus Curse? He was trying to force me to take The Unbreakable Vow of Love to him! Would you rather I had done that?” Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now. The memory of that day was painful for her, even though Ron had saved her in the end. “The things he was doing to me made me realize that you were the only one I could ever make that vow to.” She sniffed. “Ron, I love you,” she whispered.

He felt bad about having yelled at her for taking the vow. He should have been glad she had done so. He knew she was having doubts about it, after all. He walked up to her and put his arms around her. He pictured her happy face when he had given her the engagement ring. “I make The Unbreakable Vow of Love to Hermione Granger.” He said it with the most conviction he had ever said anything in his entire life. He thought that that was because it was the only thing he had ever been that sure of. He knew that he loved Hermione, and that he would love her for all eternity. Never would he doubt her motives again. The sun got quite a bit brighter and their faces appeared before them. It was rather strange, looking at your own face when it wasn't in a mirror. It reminded Hermione of the time she and Harry had used the Time Turner to go back in time to rescue Buckbeak and Sirius. A shower of red sparks rained down upon them and they were pushed apart. A chain linked itself between them and attached itself to Hermione's wrist and then to Ron's wrist. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone.

“What was that?” Ron asked.

“I suppose that represents the bond we now have,” Hermione replied. They heard the dinner bell ringing off in the distance of the house. Ron took Hermione's hand and they walked back toward The Burrow. The Weasley family gathered around the dinner table. Chicken soup was in each bowl, and a plate of toast sat in the middle of the table. Mrs. Weasley chattered about the wedding the next day as everyone else ate in companionable silence. It was set to be on the Hogwarts grounds. Hagrid had been working on setting everything up and sending out invitations all week. She had sent him an invitation list three weeks ago, because the owlery contained enough owls to deliver all the invitations.

“Oh, by the way, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said looking toward Hermione, “have you chosen anyone to be your best friend yet? The wedding is tomorrow, so you'd best be sending an owl to whomever you've chosen.”

After dinner, Hermione went back outside to walk, as she was feeling under a tremendous amount of pressure about the next day. Ron followed her. “Oi, Hermione!” he called after her.

“Really, Ron, I need to be by myself for a while.” She was leaning her back against the fence, and tears were running down her cheeks. She had her arms crossed over her stomach, as if to protect herself.

“Hermione, you've got to send an owl to someone to be your best friend tomorrow.”

“I don't know who to send one to!” Hermione howled, crying even harder now.

“C'mon, Hermione, you can't stand there and pretend that everything's okay with you! I can tell that it's not. You've been acting odd ever since Krum took you away. What did he do other than the Cruciatus Curse? Did he Confund you? Did he make you believe you don't want to marry me? What? What is it?”

“He did NOT do any of those things. This has nothing to do with Krum! This has everything to do with us! If you're going to act like this, then I don't want to marry you!” She turned and ran off toward The Burrow. Ron frustrated to his wits end, Apparated to the door. “Let me pass!” she yelled, trying to push past him.

“Not until you talk to me about what's going on! You've just informed me that you don't want to marry me. That's just a little short notice don't you think?” he bellowed. Everyone was in bed, but Ron didn't give a thought to waking them with the racket they were making.

“I can't! I just can't! Please, Ron, don't ask me to!”

“Is it that you're not ready to get married? Is that what this is all about? Mum may get mad, but we can postpone it. Hermione, I do love you, and I want you to be completely ready for what we are about to do. We've already made the vow. It's not like I'm going to run off and marry someone else. I'll wait for you!”

“Spoken like a true friend,” a sarcastic female voice said from behind Ron. She walked toward them, wand pointed at them, as Hermione and Ron stood agape. Cho Chang looked from Ron to Hermione. “Poor Viktor, Ron, I can't believe you did that to him! I found him lying there. He had told me, of course, of his plan to capture Hermione and marry her. He was then going to come and visit you, Ron, and he would have brought her along as his doting wife. Unfortunately, she had a stronger will and a stronger love for you. It's too bad all that love is going to go to waste when I kill you in a moment. Won't it be sad when your parents come downstairs in the morning to find Ron dead and Hermione gone? Then who do you think they're going to suspect: Cho Chang or Hermione Granger, who is, coincidentally, nowhere to be found? Meanwhile, you, Hermione, will be put under the Imperius Curse and will marry Viktor. I was able to get him to St. Mungo's and re-grow his bones and get his face mended. Poor chap cried to me for days. I told him I would help him with his task because it would provide me with my so well-deserved revenge on Harry Potter for not waiting for me to proclaim my love for him.”

“Cho, you broke up with him ages ago. Why would he wait around for you?” Hermione asked. “He was heartbroken over the fact that you two just sort of fell apart. I would even go so far as to say he might have thought that he loved you. He was in the most awful mood for days! You can't honestly think that by killing Ron and taking me you'll make him break the vow he made to Ginny. No, indeed, I think he would much rather come after you and Viktor and rescue me before he would do that. Ginny wouldn't much like him playing the hero again, but since you and Viktor don't nearly have the powers of Voldemort, I imagine it would be quite a cinch.” This last seemed to do Cho in. Her face purpled.

“GINNY WEASLEY WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS I AM!” Cho screamed this at the top of her lungs. There was a look of madness in her eyes. Hermione was beginning to think that Cho had taken a jump off the deep end. Hermione kept the attention focused on her as Ron slipped his wand out of his pocket.

“Oh, Cho, you can never have Harry, no matter what you think of Ginny Potter. Do try to remember that they're married now.” Hermione made sure to emphasize Ginny's new last name. Ron almost had his wand all the way out.

“The whole Weasley family is a bunch of Muggle-loving, good for nothing—”

“Expelliarmus!” Ron cried loudly. Cho's wand flew across the room. By now, Hermione had pulled her wand out and had it at the ready.

“Stupefy!” Hermione screamed, pointing her wand at Cho. Cho fell to the ground, unconscious. “What are we going to do with her?” Hermione asked.

“I dunno. I suspect we'd better get Mum and Dad down here. I think Cho here belongs in St. Mungo's. She's gone mental, she has!” Ron exclaimed. But there was no need to go and get Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as they had just come down the stairs to see what was going on.

“Just what is she doing here?” Mrs. Weasley asked. “Oh, and who is she?” she added as an afterthought.

“Her name is Cho Chang,” Hermione began. “She and Harry used to date back in our fifth year after Cedric Diggory died in the Triwizard Tournament. We saw her last month in the Leaky Cauldron. I told her about Harry and Ginny getting married, and she went ballistic on us. She told me she was going to get Harry back for marrying Ginny, and she ran out the door. I didn't think she was serious. She was always very emotional, but she wasn't bad. Do you think she's under a curse?” Concern filled her eyes. She had not been close to Cho, because they were in different houses. Cho had been a Ravenclaw. She had been the Seeker for their Quidditch team. She hadn't been as good as Harry, but she was okay.

“Well, she can't stay here all night,” Arthur said. “Come on, everyone, we'll go to St. Mungo's. There will be an inquiry by the Ministry into this.”

 

Once at St. Mungo's, Cho was Enervated and taken to a room. The doctor came out shortly and informed them that Hermione was once again correct in her assumption. Cho Chang had indeed been acting under the Imperius Curse. When Hermione and Ron relayed the whole story to the doctor, he told them that he thought Viktor Krum was the source of the Unforgivable Curse. Arthur took off to inform the Minister of Magic, as the Unforgivable Curses would earn someone a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Notices would be posted first thing in the morning about the warrant that would be put out for Viktor Krum's arrest. Cho would still have to stand trial, but in opposition to Viktor. She would testify to tell what happened. It was after four in the morning when Hermione and the Weasleys finally got back to The Burrow. Everyone had gone to their prospective bedrooms, and Hermione had waited a few minutes before Apparating to Ron's room.

“You still haven't chosen your best friend,” he pointed out. She picked his wand up from his desk and muttered “Lumos.” She picked up a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled something hastily onto it. She let Pig out of his cage, and he hooted happily. She tied it to his leg and let him out of the window. “Who did you choose?” he asked.

“Ginny,” she replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “You know, I could never really choose a best friend for my wedding. She'll be perfect for the part, but…” she trailed off.

“What do you mean?” Ron asked, propping up on one elbow to look at her.

“How could I possibly choose a best friend,” she inquired, smiling over at Ron, “when I'm getting married to him?” He lifted his hand to her face and pulled her down to him for a kiss. “Let's get some sleep,” she said, climbing into the bed next to him. Both were exhausted. Hermione yawned and closed her eyes. “Oh, Ron, do you remember when you asked what was wrong with me? You know, before Cho showed up.”

“Yeah,” he replied sleepily.

“Well, I think I can tell you now that I know for sure.”

“How could you not know for sure what was wrong with you?”

“Well, I had one of the nurses look at me at St. Mungo's. She told me.”

“Told you what?” Ron asked eagerly. He was hoping she had just been nervous about the wedding for all the times he had seen her in the lavatory. It had been almost as bad as Ginny had been. That was when it hit him. “You're not—”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out. Your mum knows. I told her one morning before you were up when I was in the lavatory. She came in and told me that if she didn't know better, she would have suspected I was pregnant. I told her I thought I was. I whispered it for sure in her ear at St. Mungo's. She just shook her head at me, but she was smiling. I don't think she's too angry with us. Mothers know a lot more than you give them credit for. She's known I've been spending the night with you for quite some time, too. Well, good night.” Hermione snuggled up to him.

“Bloody hell! Good night? You tell me you're pregnant, and then you say good night?” Ron asked, incredulous at the fact that he was going to be a daddy.

“Well, I thought we were going to sleep.”

“We are,” he replied. He hugged her even closer and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Hermione,” he told her.

“Love you,” she mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.