A/N – As always this story is finished and in total it has ten chapters. Just as a warning for those who might not like it - there are a few chapters in the middle of the story that are quite racy, and there is a few mentions of sex throughout the story.
In the small back room of a picturesque chapel, Hermione Granger stared at her reflection in the long floor length mirror, unsure of how she looked. Hermione was wearing a long, white wedding dress that was too old fashioned for her liking, but her future mother-in-law had begged her to wear the dress that was a family heirloom.
"You look lovely, Hermione." Molly Weasley, Hermione's future mother-in-law, gushed.
Hermione smiled weakly as she tried to hide the nerves that had been plaguing her all morning. In less than half an hour Hermione would be a Weasley and she was dismayed to find the thought made her feel queasy. If it wasn't for the fact it was her wedding day and she was due to head down the aisle in ten minutes, Hermione would be having serious second thoughts about marrying Ron Weasley.
Hermione did love Ron, but even she had to admit their relationship wasn't as fulfilling as it could be. To be honest Hermione thought they were only getting married because it was what was expected of them. Ever since they had become a couple, amid the end of the war, it seemed to be a forgone conclusion that they would get married and start a family.
The prospect of starting a family with Ron was something else that unnerved Hermione. Ron came from a pretty big family and Molly seemed convinced that all her children should provide her with multiple grandchildren, something Molly's daughter, Ginny and her husband Harry seemed more than happy to oblige her with. The couple were currently expecting their first child and they had made it clear they were planning on having plenty more children. Hermione did want children, but only a couple at most and certainly not yet. Hermione's career at the Ministry of Magic was taking off and she was already one of the most senior people in her department, despite still being in her mid-twenties.
Shaking her head to brush away her negative thoughts, Hermione turned around to look for Ginny, who was her bridesmaid. Hermione frowned when she realised she was all alone, sometime in the last few minutes Molly had left along with Ginny. Wondering where the other two witches had gone, Hermione began to head for the door to see if there was any sign of them outside. However, before she'd gotten halfway across the room the door opened and a sombre looking Molly and Ginny returned with Hermione's best friend, and Ron's best man, Harry Potter.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked as Harry shut the door firmly behind him.
"Sit down, Hermione." Harry said, making sure his friend was sitting before he handed her a folded piece of parchment. "This arrived a few minutes ago. I'm sorry, Hermione."
Hermione unfolded the parchment and stared disbelieving at the scrawled message from Ron.
Harry, I can't do this. Tell Hermione, I'm sorry. Ron.
"Don't worry, Hermione. I've sent Fred and George to look for Ron." Molly said, reassuring Hermione that the wedding would go ahead. "I'm sure this is all a complete misunderstanding and we can sort everything out."
Hermione didn't respond to Molly, instead she blinked away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes and re-read the note from Ron. The more she read the note the angrier she became. Ron hadn't even had the guts to call of their wedding to her face, he had ended it with a quick note. And even then he hadn't even bothered to write to her, he'd sent the message to Harry and made him deliver the bad news.
Hermione re-read the note several times before crumpling it into a ball and throwing it into the nearby bin. Standing up she smoothed down her dress, before heading in the direction of the door.
"Hermione, where are you going?" Ginny called.
Hermione didn't reply as she stormed out of the room and disappeared from view. Harry, Molly and Ginny shared a worried look, before taking off after the bride. Spotting her dress disappearing round the corner they ran to catch up with Hermione and find out where she was going. Harry, Molly and Ginny followed Hermione all the way to the chapel, where everyone was waiting for the wedding to begin.
"What are you doing?" Harry grabbed hold of Hermione, just before she was about to enter the room.
"Letting people know they've wasted their time." Hermione replied, pulling out of Harry's grasp.
Before anyone could stop her, Hermione had pushed open the doors to the chapel and entered. Everyone present turned to stare at the bride, who was standing motionless at the back of the room.
"The wedding's off." Hermione announced, just before she pulled her wand from the thigh holster she was wearing and dissapparated with a loud crack.
At Hermione's announcement pandemonium reined in the small chapel and Molly had to quickly take charge. Once the guests had been sent off home, Molly gathered her family around to issue instructions. She sent a few of the boys to go and help the twins find Ron and she set everyone else on finding Hermione. Molly was determined that the day wouldn't be total disaster, and that Ron and Hermione would get the happy ever after they deserved.
Hermione landed in the centre of the honeymoon suite she had booked for her and Ron. The suite was in an expensive wizarding hotel and it was where they had planned on spending their wedding night, before leaving on their honeymoon the following morning. Hermione had visited the room earlier that morning and it contained all their luggage for the honeymoon, and the wedding night.
Summoning their large suitcase, Hermione dumped the contents onto the bed. Finding a pair of jeans and a top, Hermione practically tore her dress off and threw it to the floor. She then yanked her hair out of the neat hairstyle it was in, letting her wild curls free. Hermione wanted no reminder of the fact she should currently be getting married, not skulking around the honeymoon suite on her own.
As she grabbed the clothes off the bed, Hermione caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped what she was doing. Looking down at herself she grimaced at the sight of her sexy underwear. The lacy cream set barely covered her body and Hermione had worn them in the hope that they would get a positive reaction from Ron and maybe their wedding night would be a bit more exciting than their normal love life.
Sex with Ron was dull, and in Hermione's opinion their love life needed spicing up. In the early days of their relationship she felt it was understandable that the sex wasn't the best, after all they were both inexperienced when they got together. However, experience didn't bring about the excitement and passion that Hermione craved. Ron wasn't interested in trying anything new, the most adventurous he got was letting Hermione be on top, and even then it was only when he was tired and he wanted her to do the work. He also wasn't interested in doing anything outside of the bedroom, the couple of times they had started to get passionate in another part of the house he had insisted they move to the bedroom before things progressed.
Turning back to the bed, Hermione picked through the clothes, finding several more revealing lingerie sets. Hermione actually had a bucket load of sexy underwear for the honeymoon, in the hope that it would do something for Ron. She had tried sexy underwear before, to no avail, but this lot were a fair bit more revealing and she had been hoping they would do the trick and spice up their love life.
Not wanting to look at the skimpy lingerie any longer, Hermione pulled on her jeans and top and began stuffing her clothes into the suitcase. Anything that belonged to Ron she left behind, whether or not he got it back wasn't her concern. For nearly ten minutes Hermione packed her case, gathering everything up that she had in the suite. Hermione was just zipping the case up when there was a knock on the door and Ginny entered the room.
"There you are." Ginny said, sounding relieved. "We were worried about you."
"There was no need, I'm fine." Hermione replied, casting a lightweight charm on the suitcase before picking it up.
"What are you doing, Hermione?" Ginny asked, picking the discarded wedding dress up and draping it over a chair.
"I'm leaving." Hermione answered. "I'm going to go and get my things from the flat, then I'm going to get out of your brother's life."
"Don't be like that, Hermione. Ron's just got cold feet, he'll come round." Ginny pleaded, not wanting to lose Hermione as a sister-in-law.
"I don't care if he does come round, he's blown it." Hermione scoffed. "Ron and I are finished."
Without saying another word, Hermione once again apparated away. Ginny stared at the spot where Hermione had been standing for a few minutes, at least this time she knew where to find her friend. Turning to leave, Ginny set off to get her mother and husband so they could talk some sense into Hermione, before she left Ron for good.
"Please just think about this, Hermione." Molly pleaded with Hermione as the brunette witch gathered her belongings and magically packed them into several cases.
After Ginny had spoken to Hermione she had rushed off and returned to Hermione and Ron's flat with Harry and Molly. When they arrived Hermione was already packing and she refused to stop as the three tried to talk her round.
"I have thought about it." Hermione told the older witch. "And I'm going."
"Where are you going to go?" Harry asked, knowing she had no family apart from the Weasley's. After the war the memory charm she had performed on her parents had proved irreversible, meaning they were still in Australia totally unaware they even had a daughter.
"I'll go to a hotel for tonight." Hermione shrugged, not bothered where she was going, just as long as she was nowhere near Ron. "I'll find somewhere permanent, when I return from Italy."
"Italy? You're still going on your honeymoon?" Harry asked, totally shocked by the idea.
"I paid a lot of money for the holiday, so yes, I'm still going." Hermione answered.
"You know, I could come with you." Ginny suggested. "I'm not sure you should be alone."
Harry shot his wife an annoyed look, before turning to Hermione to offer a better solution. "Or you could leave Ron's ticket and we could talk to him and he could follow you out there. Maybe then you'll sort everything out."
"Ron's made his position perfectly clear." Hermione snorted. "He doesn't want me and after today I want nothing more to do with him. He totally humiliated me today, leaving me like that was a horrible thing to do."
"At least give him a chance to explain." Molly cried, unhappy that Hermione was giving up on Ron. "I'm sure there's an innocent explanation. Please, leave his ticket."
"No." Hermione shook her head as she zipped up the last of her cases and gathered them together. "I'm not leaving Ron's ticket. I don't want him there, or anyone else. I want some time alone."
"So that's it?" Molly questioned as Hermione picked up her bags. "You're just walking out on your relationship with Ron. You're throwing away years of happiness, because of one little setback."
"Ron was the one who threw away our relationship." Hermione retorted. "He left me on our wedding day. I suggest you look at your precious son if you want someone to blame for this mess."
Molly looked stunned at Hermione's words, but before she had a chance to respond Hermione disappeared once again. For the third time that day Hermione had apparated away, only this time no-one chased after her, they finally left her alone to come to terms with what had happened.