cleverness: (laughter)
Hermione Granger ([personal profile] cleverness) wrote2014-08-30 01:17 pm

and to this day, when everything breaks, you are the anchor that holds me

As the sun began to deep from its early afternoon high, birds chirped as they flew through the woods, lingering around the Nook and watching curiously as people gathered from around the city. Flowers bloomed from the branches, uncharacteristically bright and large for the season, aided by a touch of magic. Not far from the house, a small babbling brook snaked through the fields, giving pets and wildlife alike the chance to run around and splash in a bit of water. The wedding decor had been designed to blend into the countryside, tables held up by tree trunks, and shade overhead provided by the stretch of vines and blossoms. The scent in the air was subtle and sweet, light floral mingling with the smell of baked goods wafting from the buffet table. At the end of the table stood a large cake, with white frosting and decorated with orange blossoms and clementines. If one looked closely enough, they would notice that one of the fruits was different than the rest, painted a subtle gold, and occasionally flying around the cake with a rapid beating of delicate wings.

The wedding was a small and intimate affair, meant to be more of a celebration than a formal occasion, and guests mingled with wine and cheer before the time came for the ceremony to begin.


Ron had felt as if he was going to lose his breakfast for most of the day. The truth was, he'd barely eaten at all that morning, anxious about the late afternoon ceremony. In some ways, it reminded him of ages ago, of his first Quidditch match as Keeper back at Hogwarts, his stomach was in knots, he felt peaky, and without realizing it that morning, he'd been so distracted by his own thoughts that he'd idly managed to cast a spell that left a small raincloud lingering over his head for nearly an hour before he managed to rid himself of it.

He knew that he was mental for it, for being worried about any of this. He and Hermione had been together ages now. They loved each other, and this was the next thing. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with that bloody amazing woman, but there was still the slightest bit of worry that she'd think better of it— of him— and tell him to sod off. He hadn't had thoughts like that, when it came to Hermione, in ages, but somehow it'd all come flooding back in the hours before the wedding.

Even standing there, waiting for her to walk down the aisle, he tried to push those thoughts away, tried not to look too nervous, like his stomach didn't feel like a crumpled bit of parchment. At least, if it all went sour, he only really knew a handful of people who'd turned up today. And Charlie wasn't George or Ginny, so he wouldn't give him too hard a time about it.

But the thing Ron didn't expect, standing there feeling like he might pass out, what he hadn't prepared himself for, was how she looked when he finally saw her. Because once he finally saw Hermione in her dress, walking toward him, this bloody amazing woman who'd chosen him when she could have had anyone, all the worry melted away. The parchment uncrumpled itself, and he was left grinning so hard he couldn't imagine ever being this happy again in his life.


All throughout the morning, Hermione's heart fluttered in her chest. Even as she listened to the guests mingling in the distance, there was something about the day that didn't feel quite real, even as she worked on zipping her dress and arranging her hair just so. While she had asked a guest or two for help on occasion, Hermione spent most of the morning preparing on her own, letting the enormity of everything that had led her and Ron to this point sink in. She had known, practically since their first year at Hogwarts, that Ron was a person whom Hermione would spend the rest of her years standing alongside. But the depth of what they felt for one another, the deepening of those emotions as they bloomed into something deeper and intangible, was something she never could have anticipated all of those years ago.

Now, she couldn't imagine wanting a single day away from him. As Hermione gazed in the mirror, she noticed how it softened her appearance. Her cheeks, dusted pink even without the help of blush. Quietly, she stole a moment to peek through the window, where Ron and Charlie were speaking in the distance. Everything about the day felt right. Everything was coming together, the final missing pieces of the puzzle.

By the time she made her way to the aisle, Hermione was already beaming, fingers trembling as they held onto her bouquet. Petals of light pink and orange lined the path she took, guests turned their heads to rest upon the bride, and sweet woodwind music played in the distance — but in the moment, Hermione only had eyes for Ron. As she came to a stop across from him, she reached a hand out to lace with his own, and silently murmured, I love you.


Ron had spent hours the day before trying to put the right words together, even though he knew that he was rubbish at that sort of thing. Reports, papers… mostly he just tried to get out of doing them, but this wasn't something Ron wanted to skive off. It was more important than almost anything.

In the end, he'd come up with something, and he'd written it out on a bit of parchment that he'd folded up and put in the pocket of his jacket, but he'd begun to think he wouldn't need it after all.

"Hermione, you've been my best friend, my teacher, my soul mate. You've managed to put up with me for over a decade now, and if you were going to think better of it, I s'pose you would've done it by now. Sometimes— right now, especially— I can't believe I've gotten this lucky. I love you, Hermione. You've been making me a better person since we first met, all those years ago as kids. And I promise that— that I'll keep working at it for as long as we're together, which is the rest of our lives, I hope. I promise we'll keep learning from each other, and that I'll always be there.

"A long time ago, I got lost, and it took a little ball of light to bring me back to you, to bring me home again. But I promise to never leave again. You're my home now, and you always will be."


As Hermione listened to Ron speak, she felt her chest grow tight and her eyes mist over, but she did her best to take the whole moment in, committing every detail to memory. The bright blue of Ron's eyes, as clear as the sky above. The way his hair caught the sunlight. The gentle brush of the wind as he spoke, grass waving merrily in the distance. She ducked her head for only a moment, smiling to herself, knowing that she could never forget the way that her heart felt right then, full to burst.

"As a child, I had always been somewhat of a precocious little thing. I knew how to consume books as though I was breathing air, and I kept my nose buried in them, day after day, like they were my entire world. But from the moment that you entered my life, Ron, you showed me that there was so much more to the world than what I could learn in the shelves of a library. You taught me the value of friendship, you showed me what true bravery meant. And what you taught me, above all else, is about love. What it's like to grow together, and what it's like to feel as though there's another person in the world who completes you. Who makes your world whole. Who shows you, every day, how life can be lived to its fullest.

"You say that you feel like you're lucky, but I feel like I've been the fortunate one to have found my soulmate so early in life. And I can't wait to spend the rest of that life with you."

Trembling hands relaxed as Hermione watched Ron slide the ring onto her finger, and she glanced up with a soft laugh. His warm arms wrapped around her, and Hermione pushed herself onto her toes, hand curling against his chest as she pressed her lips to his.


[ gathering for ronmione wedding! let us know if you're requesting ron, hermione, or both! tag in and be merry. ♥ ]
deluminate: (pic#7567644)

[personal profile] deluminate 2014-10-01 08:22 am (UTC)(link)
Ron knew that he probably talked about Hermione quite a lot too, but couldn't help a smile anyway at Elle's words. It wasn't that he thought Hermione didn't talk about him at all, but this was the first he'd heard someone say so in Darrow. It was probably because he hadn't had a chance to meet too many of Hermione's friends until now.

"None of the bad bits are true, I swear," he replied.
deluminate: (pic#7567671)

[personal profile] deluminate 2014-10-01 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
"That's rubbish," Ron replied without hesitation, "It's not the magic that's evil, it's the person using it. It's not fair, blaming all magic."

He'd seen enough Death Eaters to know that was the case, people who might've turned bad even if they were Muggles. Though, Ron supposed there were a few evil bits of magic. Unforgiveable curses, mostly.
thefourthone: (Default)

[personal profile] thefourthone 2014-10-01 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, it's in Jersey." A fact that the rest of New Jersey was not really happy about, but Steph secretly thinks they're just jealous. Most gargoyles (and murder) per capita in the nation, take that!

"Maybe we're related somehow," Steph finally says with a nod. "Or it's a weird alternate universe thing. Or our moms were abducted by aliens and we're clones that were scattered around the world to do...evil alien stuff. I dunno."
beyondtheblonde: (guess you never can tell)

[personal profile] beyondtheblonde 2014-10-01 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ooh," Elle says with a little shudder, "I hope not. I am way too busy for evil alien stuff. They gotta give a girl a head's up for that! My schedule is packed solid." Already she thinks she likes this one better. She's got a good sense of humor and a good attitude about something is undeniably bizarre. At this point, Elle's pretty sure there just aren't any answers and all she can do is keep rolling with it, hoping for things to work themselves out.
beyondtheblonde: (too busy loving my name up on that list)

[personal profile] beyondtheblonde 2014-10-01 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Elle laughs, waving a hand at him. "Ah, that's what they all say," she tells him, grinning. "But I believe all the good bits, too. Sounds like she's landed herself a pretty great guy." If nothing else convinced her, the way he smiles would have done it. She knows that look. She's seen the way people look when they're in love and think about each other. Maybe she's just an optimist, but she believes this is one for the ages.
ghost_holder: (I'll make you suffer)

[personal profile] ghost_holder 2014-10-01 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Exactly," Aggie says, burying a twinge of guilt. She'd been the bad person using magic to harm people but it's not exactly something she wants to discuss on a day as happy as this.
pointzerothree: (you're the finest thing that I've done.)

[personal profile] pointzerothree 2014-10-02 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah," Eduardo says softly, smiling a little to himself at that. He hasn't given it a lot of thought before now, maybe because it's difficult not to think of the two of them as having always been together, but she's got a good point. There aren't even that many people in Darrow, all things considered, who came from somewhere else. The odds of the two of them both showing up here, being from the same world and from a time that made sense to both of them, have got to be astronomically slim. But here they both are, happily married in spite of that. It's reassuring, in a way, to know that people can have that, though short of their first showing up on the island, he and Olive have done all of their universe-changing together. He looks at her for a long moment, taking a small sip of his drink. "Like if it could happen for them, it can happen for other people, too."
beyoncepadthai: (mindy 13)

[personal profile] beyoncepadthai 2014-10-02 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
"You're just now remembering?" Mindy asks, eyes widening though she tries really, really hard not to judge. Elle's the kind of girl to throw herself into college events and social life infinitely more than Mindy ever did, though, who knows how much reading of the Harry Potter books she would have had time for. But still. "They were pretty much my childhood, Elle. I mean, kind of. I don't think that I started reading them until I was in college, but. Major deal."
driven_as_hell: (pic#6934053)

[personal profile] driven_as_hell 2014-10-03 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
"No, of course I don't mind," Emmett says, hands resting at her waist. "This was a beautiful wedding." It's not like they're both strangers, anyway, though he's really only met Hermione the once. Even if they had been, he doesn't think he would have turned down going with Elle. "Thank you for inviting me."
floozyfacade: (positive) (she kicks and bucks)

[personal profile] floozyfacade 2014-10-03 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"Like it could happen for us." Olive's happy the possibility exists for all of them, she really is. But it's what it means for her own future that matters most to her. Things might be different back where they're from, but it can work. Wherever they end up, they'll figure it out. She used to be much more pessimistic about that. Now she's more certain of the truth of it, and there's peace in that. It leaves her free to enjoy the moments they have instead of counting them, and to focus on the rest of her life instead.
survivesitall: (Default)

[personal profile] survivesitall 2014-10-04 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)

Immediately Elena wishes that she hadn't said that, her intention wasn't to worry Hermione. Then again, there are things she wants to tell her friend that she hasn't yet, but today's not the place. "It's not that, it's more... He's a bit of a loner. Likes his pack, so to speak."

beyondtheblonde: (maybe I'm doing something right)

[personal profile] beyondtheblonde 2014-10-04 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Close enough," Elle says, waving her hand, because college is still part of adolescence, sort of. "No, I mean, I kind of knew, but I didn't really think about it. So you're, like, a fan. Oh, my God, that makes so much sense. Oh, but you can't tell them!" She knows there are people here from books and stuff, but it has to be so disconcerting to hear that from somebody. She'd way rather keep it from people. Well, maybe not. They probably have a right to know. But still, it's just so awkward, at the best, and a wedding is no time for existential questions of free will.
beyondtheblonde: (better jobs and bigger rings)

[personal profile] beyondtheblonde 2014-10-04 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, it's nothing," Elle says with a shrug. She smiles, tugging at his collar, pleased that it really does feel pretty casual. She worried a little about the weight implied by an invitation like this, but it doesn't feel to her like any pressure at all, and she's pretty sure Emmett would tell her if he felt otherwise. Like, 85% sure. "I just like an excuse to get you dressed up and dancing with me."
pointzerothree: (pic#1073777)

[personal profile] pointzerothree 2014-10-06 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah," Eduardo says, smile fond. For the moment, he's not considering any alternatives, anyway. Years ago, before they were anything more than close friends, he'd felt certain that, one day, he would have to give her up, that she'd go back to her home and family where she belonged, and he would be alright with that. A lot has happened since then, though, and while he wouldn't want to keep her from them, he's pretty sure the two of them belong with each other, too. It feels naïve to say something like they'd always find each other, but it's nice to think that, whatever happens, they could always wind up together again. "I mean, we've been pretty lucky so far."
pointzerothree: (pic#1073739)

[personal profile] pointzerothree 2014-10-06 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sure plenty will," Eduardo says, nodding. "At least of the people who aren't from here." It's the sort of thinking he hears more often than not from other people like Hermione and himself, who came from somewhere else entirely. It's not exclusive to them, but there are enough of them that even if it were, he thinks what Hermione is putting together would do well, and as it is, it could branch out even further. "There are probably even some Darrow natives who'd go for it, too."
driven_as_hell: (pic#6934053)

[personal profile] driven_as_hell 2014-10-06 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
It's admittedly a little strange. Even someone like him, who spent far more time studying than socializing or even reading for pleasure, couldn't have entirely missed the pop culture phenomenon that was the Harry Potter series, and he knows enough to know those are the characters she's talking about now. First and foremost, though, she's a friend of Elle's, maybe eventually a friend of his, too, and Emmett really doesn't want to get hung up on that, especially when everything about her and all of this is so clearly real.

"Seems like it worked out well for you two," he says, his own smile soft in turn. "Both showing up here, too."
driven_as_hell: (pic#6934053)

[personal profile] driven_as_hell 2014-10-06 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, and you know you're pretty much the only reason I can get this dressed up, right?" Emmett asks, his tone teasing, though it's pretty true. He got by before, but clearly not very well, in that regard. Elle really went beyond doing him a favor when she bought him that suit, and still he doesn't know very much about that sort of thing. "So you have yourself to thank for that."
survivesitall: (interested)

[personal profile] survivesitall 2014-10-06 01:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"It is lovely out here," she says, in part acknowledging Hermione's words and in part changing the subject. "Absolutely suited the wedding and the day. I love it."
deluminate: (pic#7567644)

[personal profile] deluminate 2014-10-07 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"I reckon it's the other way 'round, really," Ron said, because he still routinely boggled at just why Hermione was even with him sometimes, though he'd grown beyond the doubt of his youth. There'd been a time when he'd thought that Hermione might prefer Harry instead, but he'd realized that was a mental thing to think a long time ago.

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