Please read the authors notes at the beginning and end of this chapter!

A/N: Hey everyone!! I decided to start a new story, and I'm really excited about this one. A fresh new start for me, so to speak. I know I should be working on Take Me or Leave Me right now, which I will, but I was really eager to start this. I'm just going to give you guys this one chapter, and then I'm going to finish TMLM since there are only two chapters or so left, and then come back to this and History of Magic. So, please read and Review!

The Back-Up Plan

Prologue:

Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley watched as the bride glided down the aisle to her husband-to-be with a look of pure love and adoration on her face. Hermione smiled at the sight, somewhat envious of what two of her best friends had, and wished that she had someone that would look at her in the same way. Harry and Ginny were so young, yet they knew exactly what they wanted from their lives, and that they wanted to be together.

Hermione's mind started to drift off to the past relationships she had had, and thought about whether or not they had had some potential to lead to something more, like marriage.

First was Viktor Krum. No, there was no way that could have led to anything more. She had been so young when she met him – only 14 years old. As sweet as Viktor was, his Quidditch schedule would have been a major problem, and Hermione did not want to worry about a long distance relationship. Also, she suspected that Viktor might have gotten a little bored with her, considering that he was used to having different beauties on his arm every week.

Then came Ronald. As Hermione looked across the altar to where Ron was standing next to Harry, she shook the thought away. The two had gotten together after the war, and although she had felt secure and loved during the relationship, she wasn't quite sure if she was in love with him. Ronald had been sweet and kind towards her, but she hadn't felt any spark or that sexual tension that tended to ooze from couples that were truly physically and emotionally attracted to each other. The two had mutually decided to take a break, and after a month of awkardness, were back to being best friends again.

About a month after that came Nicholas Huntington. His family was of noble and pure blood, and had never really let Hermione forget it while they were dating. They went out for two years, and had even gotten to the stage of betrothal, until Hermione found him in bed with a prostitute. Needless to say, that caused quite a bit of scandal in both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, and the bloke fled to some foreign country without so much as a goodbye. These events had occurred within the last couple of weeks, and although one part of her heart said that men were scum, the other part longed to be loved.

Hermione's attention flew back to the ceremony in front of her, and quickly handed Ginny Harry's wedding band.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride!" The minister said, and Hermione watched as Harry and Ginny shared a passionate kiss and proceeded to walk back down the aisle.

Ron met Hermione at the altar and tucked her arm under his, and followed the newly married couple down the aisle.

"You okay?" Ron asked discreetly.

Hermione looked at him. "Yeah, why?"

"You seemed to have spaced out during the ceremony."

"Oh. I was just thinking about Harry and Ginny and how happy I am for them." Hermione lied.

"Ok, well try to have fun tonight. It's their wedding reception. And who knows, there might be a hot guy here looking to go home with a bridesmaid tonight."

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed in a whisper, slapping his arm.

"Calm down! I was just kidding." Ron said with a smirk on his face, as he led her into the next room where the reception would be held.

Hermione rolled her eyes. The two sat down at the head table, each on either side of Harry and Ginny.

"Congratulations, you two! I'm so happy for you." Hermione said, squeezing Harry's arm.

"Thanks, Mia. I can't believe that it has finally happened," Harry replied.

"Did you see your aunt and uncle and Dudley?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't expect them to come, and I sure as hell didn't want them here, but I just sent them an invitation to be polite."

"Yeah but you should go and greet them, just to be polite."

"I will," Harry said. "After I've had a whole load of champagne and am utterly wasted."

"Harry James Potter, you are not going to get wasted on our wedding night." Ginny reprimanded.

"I was just kidding, Gin. Don't worry." Harry replied, somewhat scared.

"It is now time for the bride and groom's first dance." The lead singer of the band announced.

Harry and Ginny stood up gracefully.

"Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter!"

As the newlywed couple stepped onto the dance floor, the band started playing.

"Everybody wants to be loved

Every once in a while

We all need someone to hold on to

Just like a helpless child

Can you whisper in my ear?

Let me know it's alright

It's been a long time coming down this road

And now I know what I've been waiting for

And like a lonely highway, I'm trying to get home

Ooh, love's been a long time coming.

"Others may now join the couple on the dance floor," The singer said.

"Would you like to dance, Hermione?" Ron said, holding out his hand.

She nodded and took his hand.

You can look for a lifetime

You can love for a day

You can think you've got everything

But everything is nothing when you throw it away

Yeah, then you look in my eyes

And I have it all, once again.

It's been a long time coming down this road

And now I know what I've been waiting for

Just like a lonely highway, I'm trying to get home

Ooh, love's been a long time coming.

Hermione rested her head on Ron's shoulder, trying not to feel depressed. It was supposed to be the happiest day of her best friends' lives, but she couldn't help it. She felt as if she would never have what they had. She didn't think herself pretty or sexy. She was still the bookworm Granger that she had been at Hogwarts. Her hair had been tamed and had become more manageable, but she thought herself as plain, and didn't think that there was any one else out there who could be attracted to her.

Tears started to fill her eyes, but she quickly tried to wipe them away.

No Hermione. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Hermione reprimanded herself.

Ron pulled back slightly to look at Hermione's face. "Hey, what's wrong, Mia?" Ron asked, concerned.

"It's nothing. I'm just being silly," she said, wiping her tears.

"It's not nothing. You are the strongest person I know. If you're crying about something, I need to know what it is so I can help you fix it."

"I just – I can't help but think that I'll never have what Harry and Ginny have."

"What? How'd you figure that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I'm just being silly."

"Mia, listen to me. You will fall in love with someone and you will get married to that person one day. Hell, I don't even know if I'm gonna have that. With all my failed relationships? I'd be lucky to stick with a girl for a month!

"How about, we make a deal? In the next couple of years, by the time we're 25, if we both haven't married someone yet, we'll marry each other. We love each other, we can make it work. What say you?"

Hermione smiled through her tears. "Deal." She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder once more.

A/N: Ok, so there it is! It's kind of short, but then again it's only the prologue. I know that people usually make this "deal" when they hit 30 or 40, but I wanted to make the characters younger in this story. And let's just say that since they turned adults at 17, they go into this panic mode a lot earlier than us mere Muggles do, if you get what I mean. Please REVIEW! : )

Oh and the song is called "Long Time Coming" by Oliver James.