Hermione nearly dropped her book when she heard the feet pounding up the stairs accompanied with familiar shrieks and accusations. She groaned as she put it on her bedside table and stretched her muscles, preparing for what was to come.
"Your face looks like it caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork!" Ginny screeched.
Hermione was stunned as to why she would be yelling something at her, but then Sirius shouted back, "If you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid."
"SHUT UP! You'll never be the man your mother was."
Silence filled the house as Ginny stood in the doorway, fuming, waiting for his next attack. Just when she thought he was going to come up the stairs to kill her best friend, Hermione heard roaring laughter from downstairs. She couldn't help but join in as she remembered Mrs. Black's portrait.
"You win this round, Weasley," she heard him chuckle from down the stairs.
"I'd better have," she whispered menacingly under her breath as she turned to finally face her best friend.
Hermione smirked at her, "Trouble with the husband?"
"Husband my fantastic arse," Ginny scoffed as she collapsed onto her bed. "Why in Merlin's name did this have to happen to me? I mean, I didn't even want to get married in the first place, but with the husband being Sirius? Could it get any worse?"
"Gregory Goyle? Draco Malfoy? Mundungus Fletcher? Sturgis Podmore? Lee Jordan?" Hermione listed off, knowing each one was another verbal slap to the face of her insensitive friend.
"I see your point, but still. I don't want to be married!" she screeched.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'm not too happy about having to marry my ex-professor, either, but I have to do it. If you want to know why, just go ask your designated husband about the twelve years of his life after two of his friends were killed."
She flinched, "I forgot it was Remus you were marrying."
"Clearly," Hermione rolled her eyes.
Ginny sat down next to Hermione, "What do you think about this whole thing?"
Hermione gave her a look, "Are you serious?"
"Not yet, but soon enough I will be Mrs. Sirius," she winked.
Hermione snorted, "Maybe you two will be good together after all."
"The only thing good we will do together is make love. I've heard he's a wild lover."
Hermione laughed. That was one image she hadn't needed to visualize, but it was quite hilarious when she did.
[BREAK]
"Why must you aggravate her even more? Can't you imagine what this feels like to her?" Remus asked, rubbing his temples.
Sirius glared at him, "Feels like to her? What about me?! I wasted away in a cell in Azkaban for twelve years, and now I have to get..."
"Married. You can say it, Padfoot. The word won't kill you."
"Doing it might," he mumbled.
"What's that?"
"Nothing!"
Remus chuckled, "Nothing my sometimes fuzzy arse! Now, tell me!"
Sirius laughed, "You're like a first year. I swear, sometimes it's almost as if you took lessons from James."
The name of their deceased friend sobered them quite fast. They stared at the ground for a moment before looking at each other. Sirius asked, "Will it ever get easier to say his name?"
"Only if we actually start talking about it," Remus sighed.
Sirius grinned again, "If you're telling me to grow up about marriage, does that mean you're okay with having to marry Hermione."
Remus grunted disapprovingly, "Only to keep her safe, Pads. I respect her. Even you can't deny that she's bloody brilliant! Besides, it's not like I was going to get married anyway, and I'm not exactly living up the single scene myself. I have nothing to stop me."
"Except that she used to be your student. She's also Harry's best friend."
Remus sighed and ran a hand over his face, "He can't be taking this well."
"Well, we're not exactly sunshine and pixies ourselves," Sirius pointed out. "Besides, I think he's more disgusted with you having to marry Hermione than being angry with me marrying his ex."
Remus furrowed his eyebrows, "How can that be?"
Sirius regarded him sadly, his grey eyes bringing down the mood faster than a buzzing snitch, "I may be the kid's godfather, but we all know that he really looked to you like the father figure. I'm more like the awkward uncle who likes to have fun."
"Be that as it may, he's not very happy with either of us. I don't think it just has to do with our parental positions in his life. We should probably talk to him."
"Preferably without Ron present. That boy has a head full of rocks impervious to logic. I nearly lost my voice screaming as much at him."
They shared a laugh as the girls came down the stairs.
Hermione looked at them both for a moment, Ginny walking toward the door uncaring, and asked, "How much do you two care about the details of the wedding?"
They shared a look and Remus answered, "We hadn't really thought much about it."
Ginny snorted, "What a surprise."
A million red hot retorts popped up on Sirius' tongue, but he choked them back after an apologetic glance from Hermione. There was no reason he could think of to make her angry. He actually liked Hermione. Instead, he just sat in silence.
Remus ignored her and told Hermione, "As long as it's not a big wedding, I could care less what you decide."
Hermione looked at Sirius and he shrugged, "Make it big. I've got the enough of the Ministry's monetary compensation to cover it."
She gave him a nod, looked at Ginny, and walked out. Ginny's brown eyes glared at him, "You know, I thank you both for saving Hermione and I from the former Death Eaters because of this law, but...you know what I can't stand about the both of you? How much pity you both seek! At least Remus has enough respect for himself to do it discreetly, not to mention how he was actually beginning to understand that we don't hate him because he's a werewolf. You, Sirius, make me physically ill. Do you think you're the only one who's had a rough life?"
He held up his hand, "Before you finish your rant, may I remind you where I spent-"
"Twelve years of your life. I know. That's my point. We all know. The whole bloody world knows. Give it a rest already and use the years you've got here, outside of Azkaban, to do something," and with a flick of her red hair over her shoulder, she stomped out.
Remus gave his friend a sidelong glance, "She has a point."
"I know," Sirius growled. "That's the problem."
The werewolf just smiled.
[BREAK]
"What colors do you think?" Ginny asked, sitting on a box of veils.
Her bushy haired friend ran her hands through her hair, "I don't know. Strapless or not?"
"Whatever you want."
She groaned and fell back into a mountain of fabric, "Why is this so difficult?"
Ginny laughed, "Was it supposed to be easy?"
"I guess not. Nothing is ever easy when it comes to us. Still, it would have been nice," Hermione sighed.
"Would you two like anything?" Fleur Weasley asked, coming in to see her sister-in-law and her friend.
Hermione shook her head, "No thank you. I think we're going to head home, actually. We've done enough work for today."
Fleur laughed, a musical sound, and nodded, knowing they didn't get anything done. After all, that was her job. She'd enjoyed her wedding so much, she'd decided to make a living helping people have weddings close to the amazing affair she'd had.
She only hoped those two could work it out.
Yeah...I hate this chapter. I'm beginning to hate this story, but I promise I will continue until it is done. I won't abandon it.
Next chapter : they get married...both of them