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

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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. ♥ ]

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There's nothing that Hermione's wanted more for this day than to be surrounded with friends and watch everyone share smiles and laughter. Having worked hard to keep the feel of the wedding natural and casual, Hermione begins to breathe more easily once the reception is well under way. Nothing's blown up, the food hasn't run out, and the music continues to play in the distance, soft and fitting for the occasion.

She's abandoned her shoes long ago in favor of more comfort as she goes around to greet her friends. Kate's dress immediately stands out in the crowd, and Hermione makes her way there with a smile. "Kate," she says, smile wide as she makes her way over. "Oh, Kate, you look gorgeous. Thank you so much for coming today."

"Hey," she says with a bright smile, turning to wrap her arms around Hermione in a quick hug. Newt has disappeared somewhere -- probably to find the cake -- and she glances around for him for a second before giving up and figuring Hermione will have to meet him a little later. "That was so nice. I was totally taking notes, so don't be mad if I steal like, everything."

She's teasing, mostly because she doesn't think this is quite what she or Newt would want, but its's beautiful all the same. It has her thinking, though, about the vows and the things they're supposed to say. Kate usually doesn't have much of a problem speaking, but when it comes to the more meaningful things in life, she knows she isn't very good at them. It makes her a little nervous.

"I'm just glad that the weather decided to cooperate," Hermione laughs, her eyes still bright as she easily returns Kate's embrace. With the ceremony and reception taking place at the Nook, it's hard to remind herself that today is much more than a gathering of friends. It takes catching a glimpse of Ron for her to remember, butterflies fluttering in her stomach even now.

"But I'm sure that you'll have a wonderful wedding of your own. If there's anything I can do to help — I may have caught a bit of wedding fever," she admits, nodding at the decorations. "And a wand does make certain chores easier."

"Yeah, that's a serious benefit," she agrees with a laugh, wondering if Hermione will be willing to magic up some things for her, because it turns out that wedding planning is seriously exhausting. There's the whole thing where she doesn't want a minister or anything even remotely religious involved in the ceremony, but she also doesn't want a stranger either. So they have to find a way to get one of their friends to perform the ceremony.

And that's not even considering the food and location and all that stuff.

"You look so happy, though," she says. "You both do. I'm so happy for you guys." She misses Ron a little, too, knows he has no idea who she is, but maybe, as with Hermione, they can get to be friends again.

"It certainly helps when you're working on a tight schedule," Hermione admits, nodding with a coy smile towards the flowers that have bloomed just in time for the wedding. "Now that I've been through the whole process, if there's anything I can do to help with your special day, let me know. Charms has always been one of my favorite subjects."

With a small, satisfied sigh, Hermione sways herself back and forth, still enjoying the weight of her skirt.

"I really am happy. I always thought that the stories about weddings being the happiest days of people's lives were exaggerated. I always knew it'd be symbolic and beautiful, but now that it really is the day, I understand what everyone was talking about." Hermione blinks rapidly, laughing through the tears threatening to spill over again. "It was like the perfect way to showcase our love. Small, intimate. Right next to home."

It's interesting to Kate, the different sorts of things people want out for their wedding. Hermione had wanted small and intimate, something close to home. Kate wants a big party, something that really captures what she feels she and Newt have together. She wants people to come dressed in costume if they want, she loves the idea of having the ceremony on Halloween.

One isn't more appropriate than the other, but she knows what's better suited to her and what's better suited to Hermione. She likes that two weddings can be so different.

"I might take you up on that," Kate admits with a laugh. "Because I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding and my mom isn't exactly here to help me."

Hermione ducks her head briefly. She's not sad — she doesn't think she could muster up the emotion on a day like this — but there's still a soft ache in her chest from knowing that her family isn't here to witness her wedding day. That she never had the opportunity to consult her mother on the dress, on the decorations, on how to manage everything on such a busy day.

"I didn't know a thing about planning a wedding, either," she says instead with a mischievous grin. There's no hiding the fact that Hermione's pleased with how well everything came together. "But I'm pretty good at managing lists. And at pressuring people into making their deliveries on time. So if you need any help wrangling people..." Hermione's smile widens with a small laugh.

"Have you decided on some of the details for your wedding?"

"Some," she says, tilting her head in a considering manner. "The day and that we're probably going to ask one of our friends to perform the ceremony instead of having a stranger do it. We're not even a little bit religious, so we don't want it in a church or performed by a minister or whatever. But I think that's about where we're at right now."

Which is fine, she thinks. There's still two months, which really isn't that much time, but she thinks they can do it. Especially if she has someone like Hermione who can pressuring people into making deliveries on time, although Kate's pretty good at stuff like that, too. She's never had a problem getting pretty vocal when people disappoint her and she's definitely not afraid to put people in their place when she needs to. Still, it would be nice to have some help.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not the least bit religious, either," Hermione confesses. She imagines it might be a topic that came up at some point in their previous friendship, or perhaps it's at least obvious enough from the way that Hermione interacts with the world around her. "I've been criticized for it before, but it's not very easy for me to have faith in a higher power. I certainly believe that something exists which is greater in power and scope than any of us could imagine. But, to think that we could even begin to guess its motivations? I'm not so bold."

Hermione's smile widens. "Asking a friend to perform the ceremony sounds like a wonderful idea, though. I wish I'd thought of it, myself."

"Criticized for not believing there's some all-seeing, all-knowing dude up in the sky who basically thinks we're all dirt unless we spend our lives being boring? People need to mind their own business," Kate says and then she grins a second later and shrugs. It's possible she has strong opinions on the subject, but she knows her mom's illness would have once been called a possession, that Buck and T and Alice would have been demons, and the whole thing leaves her feeling pretty gross.

"No, this was so nice," she says, looking around again. "The ceremony was seriously gorgeous and your vows were beautiful. I think that's the part that matters most anyway."

"Criticized for being closed-minded about faith," Hermione laughs. She knows that there was a time when she would have been just as emphatic as Kate is on the matter. At the same time, she's never quite gotten over the criticism that Professor Trelawney made of her, so early in to the year. There are still undoubtedly forces in the world beyond her understanding, abilities that no one can quite explain.

Prophecy exists, even though sometimes, Hermione would rather it didn't.

"But I agree. As long as people aren't imposing their beliefs on others, there's little reason not to let people believe whatever they would believe. Anyway, let's speak of happier things. Ron's vows... he was so worried about them, but they were more beautiful than anything I could have imagined."

"You guys wrote your own, huh?" Kate asks. They had definitely been beautiful, but it's the one thing she's actually nervous about. No matter what else happens, the vows are the things she knows she and Newt will remember the most and if they write their own, everyone else is going to hear the sorts of things Kate doesn't let anyone hear. She's always been an emotional person, but she's also spent a lot of her life hiding her real emotions. That's definitely not possible when it comes to writing vows because she wants to say the right things. She wants Newt to know how much she loves him.

But the idea of saying those sorts of things in front of all their friends makes her feel kind of ill with nerves. "How long did it take you to write them?" she asks. "I've just... I've sort of been thinking about mine already."

"It didn't take me very long to get my first draft written," Hermione says with a grin. She's always been the sort of person to take a challenge head-on, and to get things accomplished as quickly as she can. "But... I definitely continued to make edits for weeks. About three days before the wedding, I decided that I didn't really want to follow a sheet of paper, that I would simply speak in the moment. Since I'd agonized over the vows for so long, I already had a fair amount of it in my head, but I didn't stick to the letter. I don't think that should be the point."

She laughs, stepping over to the closest table, not wanting to put too much strain on their feet before the dances that would round out the evening. "And, if you promise not to tease Ron about it, I actually came across him yesterday, poring over a piece of parchment. If you ask me to guess, I'm assuming he didn't finish writing his vows until last night. Or this morning. So it really depends. Whatever is most comfortable for you, I'd say, is best."

"Well, even if he just finished them this morning, they sounded great," Kate says with a laugh, because she can actually picture herself doing the same thing. Or maybe not even writing anything at all, just coming up with what she wants to say to Newt right on the spot. She's super expressive, she knows that, but she tends to keep her more personal feelings to herself, so the thought is a little daunting, but she's looking forward to it all the same.

"I don't know, whatever you guys did, it definitely paid off big time," she says, smiling. "You both look so freaking happy, I kind of want to kick you." She's clearly teasing, though, definitely pleased to see them both looking for all the world like they're exactly where they should be. It's nice to see on her friends.

"How about we hug each other instead?" Hermione says with a laugh, stepping forward to wrap her arms around Kate again. She's looking forward to seeing how Kate arranges her own wedding. Now that she's seen a few over the years, Hermione thinks that the best weddings are those where no one is overly concerned about aligning with tradition — where people pick and choose what's right for them and their relationship.

And Hermione can only imagine that Kate will nail that right from the start.

"The pressure is on, Kate Gregson," she teases. "We'll all be looking to how amazing your wedding will turn out next. I'm sure it'll be one of the happiest ceremonies any of us have the fortune of witnessing."

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

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