AN: Well guys, this is it: the "season finale" if you will. I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read and review this, I really liked to hear your opinions. And a special thanks goes out to two close friends of mine who endured all my nagging whenever I'd come down with another round of writer-block and who helped me finish and clean up this story with their input and comments; Rianne and Lucero. Thanks girls! And now, you'll hopefully enjoy this final chapter!

Chapter nineteen: Of Clouds and Light

She looked at herself in the mirror, nervously trying to make her hair do what she wanted it to. It was far too bushy even though she had charmed it flat every half hour so far today. Ginny chuckled and looked over her shoulder into the mirror as well.

"Well at least I look decent today. I like your choice of colour. This dark blue is very elegant. And it suits Luna and me well," she mused. "Don't worry. You look perfectly lovely. If every man in the room isn't jealous of Ron today, then something is terribly wrong with the fabric of reality."

She ran her fingers through Hermione's hair, combing out a last knot. Hermione however was still not convinced. "It's just...I'm nervous. What if something goes wrong?"

"What could go wrong? Mum and me arranged everything, Ron was here first thing in the morning double-checking everything that could be checked, your dress fits, your make-up looks fabulous and so does your hair, so stop messing with it."

"But what about the other things," Hermione said doubtfully. "What about the Aurors, the magical boundaries, the safety spells..."

Ginny stopped smiling for one second. "There's a man from the Ministry downstairs, talking to mum. Tonks is taking charge of the safety measures today and there are at least two Aurors at every entrance, not to mention that half the people on your guest list are Aurors."

Hermione bit her lip and moved so she could look out the window. The storm that had been raging the last few days had quieted down, but she felt a knot in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with wedding jitters as she looked at the dark and looming clouds.

"It's just...that he's still out there. Voldemort, I mean. Even on a day like this, he's still out there. Not only that, he's in everyone's minds. Not a single person here can forget that, least of all me."

Ginny sighed and moved closer to Hermione. "Hermione, I know it's hard, but try to let that go just for today. You ought to be worrying about caterers, cakes, the reception and guest lists. You need to be asking if your bouquet has arrived, not whether Death Eater protection has been set up. You're allowed one worriless day of happiness after everything you've been through."

"I know that, but I can't help thinking that, even if today goes smoothly and without worries, after today it will all go back to normal, all back to looking over my shoulder and running when I hear footsteps I don't recognise. It's a good thing that we thwarted Voldemort again, but think about how angry he's going to be, how much viciousness he's going to put into revenging himself on me or you guys."

"Naturally he's going to be angry and of course he's going to look for revenge. But we've handled him before and we can do it again if he attacks. But he won't today, not here and not now. Besides, after today you will never have to face him alone. Remember, Ron will be there, you know. I can hardly imagine him leaving your side once he finally gets that ring on your finger. He'll stick to you like gum to the bottom of your shoe."

Hermione finally cracked a smile and looked at Ginny gratefully.

"Speaking of Ron..." Ginny continued. "How about you put on that necklace he gave you before you insult the groom on his wedding day."

Hermione groaned and hid her face in her hands. "The necklace! I forgot to pack it, it's still at home–"

"It's right here. Ron handed it to me just now."

Hermione reached for the box in Ginny's hands and opened it, letting her fingers slide across the smooth and cold surface of silver, circling the gems carefully. She lifted it to her neck and wrestled with the clasp for a second or two, but once the necklace touched her skin, she felt calm en sure.

She reached for the mug of tea Molly had left behind and took a small sip. It'd gone cold already but it was better than drinking champagne or wine this early on in the day. Sighing heavily, and trying unsuccessfully to resign herself to that fact that she wasn't allowed to help, she got to her feet again and wandered through the room. She hated being in a position like this. Everyone else had something to do and she was only allowed to sit and wait. She had to calm her nerves down, she knew. But her worries wouldn't listen to reason, it seemed, so in the back of her mind she kept seeing images of Death Eaters invading the ceremony.

She opened the door quietly and peeked out. She could hear Molly somewhere in the building talking very sternly to a timid little man, probably the Ministry man Ginny had mentioned. Luna had disappeared right after breakfast and Ron was probably in some other backroom getting his proper robes on.

Ginny softly grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her back inside. "You're not going anywhere. You'll spoil the surprise! No-one is supposed to see you."

"But I feel so helpless like this. There is so much that needs to be taken care of and I'm just sitting here doing nothing while I could make myself useful. I'm good at protective spells."

"You've had enough stress lately, let others take care of things for once. I mean, what with everything concerning Malfoy, the ritual, Ron's jealousy, the spell yesterday...You never told me how that worked out, by the way."

"It was alright. McGonagall was the one to cast it in the end. She thought it was best if someone experienced with it had a hand in the ceremony. At least he's safe now. No one can harm him as long as I keep my mouth shut. To think it was Ron's idea..."

"Well," Ginny said, shrugging her shoulders, "sometimes he does have good plans. But a Fidelius Charm isn't something you cast every day. I think it's a sign of just how much he trusts you to let you be Malfoy's Secret Keeper."

"He didn't have much choice," Hermione said dryly, but with a smile on her face. "I don't think anyone else would have jumped up at the opportunity. And even if they had, I could hardly ask someone else to do it. I started it so I should also finish it."

Someone knocked on the door and a male voice asked "Are you ladies decent in there?"

Ginny opened the door to reveal an empty doorway. "Ha ha, George," she said mockingly as she looked around, trying to spot her brother.

But it wasn't George who popped into vision seconds later. "Sorry, had to use a Disillusionment Charm to get here," Draco mumbled through a layer of fabric as he tried to take off his cloak.

Immediately Hermione's almost cheerful face sank into a sea of worried frowns again. "What's happened? Are you okay?" she asked nervously.

Draco shook his head as he pocketed his new wand. "Some faith you have in me. I can actually take some care of myself. Thought I'd come and congratulate the blushing bride before she became a wife."

Like a punctured balloon, Hermione released her breath with a hiss and sank into a chair. She had to stop reacting like this to everything.

"It's nice to see you again," Hermione breathed, slowly regaining her sense of humour. "Especially because I haven't seen you since last night which must, of course, feel like years to you now that you're in solitary confinement. How do you like your flat?"

"It's not bad," he conceded. "I still have to get used to the limited room and I have to remember to wear a disguise when I go outside. But there are enough Muggles out there I can steal hairs from for some Polyjuice, so I'll be alright. Just as long as I don't have my dirty dishes dancing their merry way out of my kitchen window, I should be fine. I will just have to get used to living more like a Muggle."

"It's only because we want you to be safe. McGonagall thought it was best for you not to use magic too often. But indoors should be fine as long as it's household magic."

He nodded silently and his content smile faded slowly into a more serious frown. He walked over to her and took her hands in his. "I haven't really thanked you properly for everything you have done for me. You took care of me when I came into the hospital and treated me like you would anyone else, which I can imagine must've been hard on you. Then you found out what happened to me and you even came to my rescue. And now you'll keep my secret with you forever. I don't like accepting help, but I suppose that I wouldn't have made it without yours. So thank you."

He reached into his robes and handed her a velvet pouch. She felt speechless as the weight was dropped into her hands.

"Draco...I can't accept this...I was only doing my job-"

"You were being a Gryffindor, that's something different entirely. Consider it a wedding present for you and the Weasel- for you and Ron. Take him on holiday or something. Merlin knows you've caused him enough worry and stress lately. Of course...if you want to change your mind you can still ditch him and come with me and we'll spend this money together," he tried with a grin, lifting the pouch back up from her hand a few inches.

"Draco...We've talked about this..."

He smiled, something she felt looked highly uncharacteristic on his face. But the fact that she realised he was only teasing her lifted her spirits immensely.

"So, accept the money and go on holiday. You've earned it."

"I suppose..."

"Well then," he said heartily, turning away from Hermione and pulling his face back into a more serious expression. "Now, if I want to mingle among the other guests before the ceremony starts I'd better take my 'medicine'. Anyone got a cup I can borrow?"

Hermione quickly cast a Scorgify on her mug of cold tea and handed it to him, as he unscrewed the top of a little vial filled with a greenish mud-like substance. He took a hair from a matchbox from his pocket and dropped it in the cup with the potion. Apparently this particular Muggle had a disgusting aftertaste, because he had to press his hand against his mouth to stop himself from throwing up over the hem of Ginny's dress.

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked away as he shrank in his robes in the middle of the room, turning into an unfortunately spotty-faced teenager with a sunburnt nose.

"Good luck ladies, I'll find my way to the hall myself."

"Wait, I'll join you. I'm looking for Harry and he's probably downstairs with my mother," Ginny said hurriedly as she turned to Hermione. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own for a few minutes?"

She nodded and waved them away. "Go on, go organise something. I'll just sit here biting my nails until you give me something to do."

She realised full well that Ginny followed Draco because she still had some doubts about him, but she could do with a few moments of solitude. As the door closed quietly behind them, Hermione turned back to the mirror and admired how the necklace completed the picture.

She had never been one of those girls who dreamed of a fairytale wedding, or of a prince charming. A white picket fence had never even crossed her mind. But now that she was about to step into a life which included them all, though perhaps in different shapes than the books described, she realised that she was actually looking forward to all of them.

She looked out the window again and the dark clouds were still there. But, she supposed somewhat more at ease, there would always be dark clouds on the horizon. They still had a long way to go before they'd win this war but in the mean time she was entitled to her happiness. This thought surprised her, but just this once she'd let it slide. She'd try and give herself over to this new way of thinking because, after all, it was her wedding day.

With one final look in the mirror, now content with the image that greeted her back, she decided to take at least some control of this day. She grabbed her bouquet from the vase near the door and marched out as well as she could with a few feat of veil tailing her.

Trying not to let her dress make too much noise as she walked, she made her way down the stairs, hurriedly going past the door from where she could hear Ron's voice complaining about the tightness of his bowtie, and found herself in front of two huge oak doors blocking her way into the hallway ahead.

Ginny, who was talking to Harry a small way away, started and sprinted over to her. "Do you want Ron to see you?" she asked as she pulled Hermione into a small side chamber. Over her shoulder, Hermione could see Harry giving her a thumbs-up, acknowledging that she looked beautiful, before Ginny almost body-slammed her against the wall of the small room.

"I know you don't like sitting idle," Ginny panted, taking the bouquet out of her hands so she could rearrange some of the shaken petals. "But you told mum and me we could organise everything. So let us organise and stay out of sight till at least Ron has passed into the Hall. I was just about to come and get you, you know."

Outside the room, Hermione could hear Harry greeting his best friend in a louder voice that usual, an obvious sign to the girls to stay inside. They waited quietly until the two of them had moved into the hall were the guests were and then emerged, looking slightly dishevelled.

Hermione ran one more hand through her hair and fidgeted with her dress as Ginny did the same. The door behind them opened and Luna came in, with that same dreamy expression on her face as always.

"I suppose it's nearly time then," Hermione said, her voice somewhat more quiet than usual.

"Well, everyone is inside. Ron's probably in place right now so I guess it won't be long."

The two closed doors in front of her seemed to grow with every second that went by, waiting for the beginning. Ginny squeezed her hand encouragingly and smiled.

"You've faced Death Eaters and Dark Lords, so you can face my brother at the end of this hall."

Hermione laughed now. "I know I can. It's your mother I'm not sure I can face. She keeps bursting into tears every time she sees me. And she can't stop pinching my cheeks."

"And you're not even a blood relative," Ginny grinned darkly. "Just imagine how she's been treating Ron all day. But don't worry, she can't rush out of her seat now anyway."

Through the heavy wooden doors they heard the soft muffled sound of music striking up.

"I think that's our cue," Ginny whispered.

Hermione nervously tried to flatten her bodice once more and straightened the skirt of her dress repeatedly. Ginny tapped her fingers against her hands, causing her to stop.

"Take the flowers and take a deep breath…" she instructed, "and follow us in ten seconds. Nothing's really going to change, you know. You won't change because of this."

Hermione nodded silently, gripping her bouquet as if it were a lifejacket. Ginny nudged Luna softly, breaking her trancelike humming and together, the two girls opened the doors and walked through them.

Hermione was momentarily blinded by the white light that greeted her and she feverishly counted back from ten as she kept her eyes locked on Ginny's and Luna's receding backs. They almost seemed to vanish into the light that flooded the hall. She cast one more nervous glance over her shoulder. But she trusted that, at least today, she would be perfectly safe.

As she reached zero, she straightened her back and started to walk forwards, passing the benches with guests slowly but confidently. Ahead, she could see Ron waiting with a smile on his face. The last weight of the day now finally lifting from her shoulders, she smiled back and continued on into the light.

Thanks for reading!