A Fated Marriage

Alright everybody here it is! A big chapter just for you guys. I hope you like it because I think it's one of my best yet. Thank you Puck'slastlove for all your help! Alright what are you guys waiting for? Read read read!

Questions

"Ouch!" Hermione whimpered as a needle pricked her.

"Hermione have you been eating? Dear you look like a walking stick." Molly observed to her right.

"Of course I've been…Ouch!" Another pin pricked her this time on her stomach.

"Hermione be a dear and turn around in a slow circle." Madam Lori said biting one end of her glasses.

"Ah!" Hermione tripped over the too long train of the dress as she turned in a circle.

"Mione do I really have to be here? I mean why can't I just wear the same thing to the ceremony and reception?" Ginny complained. Her dress was a beautiful strapless rose red that went just above her knees. Tiny golden flowers were stitched everywhere giving the garment a delicate look.

"Yes, Gin you have to…ouch!" If one more pin pricked her she was going to hex the assistant who was working on the dress. Hermione was standing, well spinning now, in a very large fitting room with both mothers, her sister, Dorian, Madam Lori, one of her assistants, Luna Lovegood, and Hannah Abbot. Hannah and Luna's Muggle dresses, which were very much like Ginny's, were already finished. Same style and cut, but they were opposite colors. Gold with red flowers. All of the robes and dresses were hanging along the wall ready and waiting for the big day. The only thing that wasn't finished was Hermione's Muggle wedding dress.

The young woman sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. The room was moving little after all the circles she did. Still she could see the dress clearly. The wedding dress was still a work in progress, but you could already tell it was going to be beautiful. Despite wearing a beautiful half made dress, being surrounded by people who loved her, and getting ready for the biggest day of her life Hermione was anything but happy.

The last days of Opening Week for Hermione and Viktor were good. It was like the kiss first Dorian first caught them in opened the flood gates. They couldn't seem to stop kissing now. Viktor out drag her to the side and give her a quick peck. Or they would break away from whatever and find a place to snog for a while. It was wonderful, but seemed like they were always getting interrupted and caught. It was more than a little bit exciting if she was honest with herself. The moments were so random and surprising that they always seemed to make her heart beat faster. The young woman wished that she was having one now rather than standing in front of a mirror. The morning she had accidentally slept in late and wasn't able to say good morning to Viktor and give him a kiss before he left for practice.

"Hermione" "Hermione" "Hermione" "Hermione" They were all talking to her. Asking questions, making judgments, making complaints, and driving her absolutely crazy. This was not the first time she seemed to be smothered. She had yet another meeting with Iris the day before and which had been very similar to this fitting. Everybody was talking to her though they didn't really seem to be listening. The whole wedding was becoming the biggest headache she had since the end of the war. She knew a lot of brides felt overwhelmed when the big day drew closer, but still it was all just becoming too much for her to handle.

"Hermione tomorrow you have the charity auction. You know the one benefitting the war orphans." Dorian reminded her.

"I thought that was next week!" She said glancing over at Dorian before stepping out of the half made dress with some help by the needle-welding assistant. She went over to a little changing room where she could put some clothes on with some privacy and still talk to everone. The exhaustion in her voice was obvious, too bad for her that nobody was really paying attention. "I've been to four this week so far isn't that enough?" She was being spread thin. At the charity events she was usually the only wife to show up. Apparently they weren't a big deal enough for the others, and Christy was stuck at home since her son had caught a rather nasty cold. The bride threw on a pair of faded jeans and a woman sized Bulgarian team jersey.

Hermione stepped out of the changing room and gave Dorian a pleading look. "Dorian please, I can't do another one. This is too much! The wedding is right around the corner and I need this little thing called rest. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it but it's essential to living and staying sane." Hermione sat on a couch next to Luna and Ginny on her other side sitting in a chair.

"I know you feel like it's a bit much, but I promise this will be the second to last thing planned for the week. And I made sure there was only one photo shoot, one interview, and one fashion planned for next week." The manager said handing the girl a cup of tea. He then turned to Molly and Mari and Lori to talk about something about the dress.

"Hermione you know that I am very happy to be a part of your wedding right?" Luna said in her dreamy voice. The bride to be nodded her head wondering what was about to follow that sentence. With Luna you could never fully be sure. Still Hermione was honestly glad that she had become friends with the younger girl. She was a bit odd, but it was a good kind of odd that had grown on the lioness. "To show my thanks I got you this." The blond held up a bracelet with a blue rose charm on it. Hermione took the gift with a smile.

"Thank you Luna. That was thoughtful of you." She said with a deep sincerity.

Ginny took the charm in hand and examined it closely. "Why did you give her this? Gifts are supposed be given on the day of the wedding, not before Luna."

"It Muggle tradition. The bride needs to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. If I wear this it will be both new and blue." Hannah and Ginny looked at Luna who smiled just a little.

"I wanted to do research on Muggle weddings so that I could be of more help." She then began to explain Muggle traditions to the other two, as Hermione drifted off in thought. She was starting to think of ways to somehow escape and sneak away in time to see Viktor while he was still on lunch. She had not been able to do so and it was starting to upset her. Lunches were what she looked forward when she had hard mornings. This was one of those mornings. Well now it was one of those afternoons. Even if she left now she would only just make it time to have a few minutes with Viktor. The mothers and Dorian finished talking to Madam Lori about what Hermione had no idea, but at the moment she didn't really care.

"Hermione what did Viktor say about the fitting the boys had yesterday?" Mari asked.

"I really don't know. I was pretty much asleep when he came home and got into bed. And he woke up early this morning before I had a chance to even say good morning." Hermione said absently. She had no real desire to know how the boys fitting went. As long as it happened and she didn't have to deal with it. Viktor was really being true to his word when he promised that he would deal with all the things on the men's side of the planning. And when he had the time he helped her as much as possible with the rest of the wedding.

"Hermione…how do you know vhen Viktor vent to and left the bed?" Mari asked slowly looking up from her cup.

"Hello? They live together. They're young. They're obviously shagging." The red head girl said with a small wink to her best friend. There was dead silence in the room. Hermione stood frozen in pure horror as she felt all eyes stare at her in shock or admiration. Suddenly the room was filled with more commotion than she cared for.

"Hermione I thought that you would save yourself for the honeymoon!" Molly said.

"We haven't…" She attempted to protest.

"Vell I guess it is not too bad. You do have children soon." Mari was smiling. Grandchilden.

"Will you please stop…"

"Are you pregnant? How far along are you? We might have to make the dress a little bigger for the wedding." Madam Lori was eyeing Hermione's stomach carefully. Hannah was a bright pink and staring very hard at her lap. And Luna just looked amused.

"I swear I'm not…"

"Now ladies it really isn't something to fuss over. Love can often take over them moment. I remember this one time when me a Jacob had this romantic night out…"

"WILL EVERYONE PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!" Hermione stood up suddenly and shouted at the top of her lungs. "I can't keep doing this." First she looked at Madam Lori. "One more fitting after this. And it had better take less than an hour." The mothers were next. "I love how you two are trying to help with the wedding. But you seem to have forgotten that this is something being forced upon me and Viktor. Just being married is going to make my dreams and goals in life much harder to achieve. Children are not going to help things get any easier, so can you see how being reminded of those future children might be more than a little upsetting to me." Ginny was the next victim of Hermione's minor meltdown. "Ginny…just shut up. Please. Sometimes the things that come out of your mouth are just too much."

"Hermione I know you're under a great deal of pressure…" Dorian tried to say, but Hermione just ended up rounding on him instead.

"And you. You were one of my few allies in the beginning, and now I wonder if you may be trying to kill me. You plan all these events I have to attend without even asking me first. NO MORE! I want you to cancel all of ones you have planned from now until I get back from my honeymoon. And then you have to ask me before you promise that I'll be anywhere." The girl grabbed a light jacket she had worn and without saying anything else she apparated away from the chaos around her. She ended up in front of a nice white door with a welcome sign. She knocked loudly and waited for an answer.

The person who answered took one look at the girl and frowned. "Something tells me you're not here to talk to my husband." Christy said leaning on the door frame. Hermione shook her head.

"I need to get smashed. And quickly. Do you know anywhere I could do that?"

"Lev! After you're done with lunch call my mum and tell ask her to watch Donald I need to go out today. I probably won't be home until late." Before her husband could say anything Christy had her arm around Hermione's shoulders and was walking briskly down the street. "Come on. My brother owns a pub just a little ways away from here. We can go there eat some chocolate, drink some liquor, and you can tell big sister Christy what's going on."

They entered the Bottom Bottle Pub and sat down. A taller very handsome male version of Christy walked up to the table with a smile on his face. "Well if it isn't my elusive little sister. What can I get you Chris?" He asked.

"Two shots of whiskey, Eric, and bring the bottle." She said with a smile.

"Alright. I'll be right back." Eric walked off quickly to get the requested drinks. Christy reached across the table and put her hand on top of Hermione's.

"What happened to you girl?" She asked quietly.

"Christy it was awful! Needles kept pricking me. They kept asking me questions. I didn't get to see Viktor at all today. I got a little dizzy. And I yelled at everybody." All the words came gushing out at once .

"Okay…" Christy wasn't sure if she should ask more or not. Thankfully Eric came with to shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey. "Thanks." Christy said to her brother. "Okay so you yelled at everybody. Don't worry about it much. I'm sure it they deserved it." She put a full shot glass in Hermione's hand. "You're under a lot of pressure right now, and you're feeling a bit over whelmed. All brides feel like that at some point."

Hermione stared at the glass before downing its contents in one go. "Yeah, but this is becoming way too much." She poured herself another glass and downed that one go. "I mean they just don't seem to get it. Mum and Mama talk about the wedding and grandkids. It kind of hurts. They don't even care about mine and Viktor's fate as long as they get babies in the end." Her words were laced with bitterness.

Christy stared laughing as she finished the last of her second glass. "Hermione I hate to tell you this, but a good ninety-seven percent of mothers are like that. You should have seen my own mother when I got married. She was practically naming our unborn children before Lev and I even announced our engagement. And they weren't even very good names." She said filling the glasses again. "What has Viktor done about everything?" She asked. Hermione couldn't help but smile a little thinking about her fiancé.

"He's been wonderful. The other day when I was stressing over what would be served at the reception he took all the menus and threw them away. Than he helped me make a whole new one. It was actually kind of fun. And he's handled everything on the men's side of the wedding. I can't help, but feel a little guilty about it. I know he has the first game to worry about. I doubt the wedding helps at all."

"Don't worry about it. In fact just sit back and count yourself lucky that he does that. Lev thought it was enough to show up in a clean shirt and help eat the cake." Christy's mouth curved into a frown.

"Really? That's it?"

"Really. To this day I hang it over his head whenever we get into big fights." Christy waved Eric over. He came with a smile, "Eric we're going to need some chips, more drinks, and oh anything with chocolate."

"And how exactly are you pay for this my dear little sister?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you remember that one time you brought that American girl home when mum and dad were on holiday? It would be quiet shocking for them to find out what you two did in the kitchen."

"Chris that was ages ago."

"And their bedroom."

"Chris…"

"Or the backyard."

Eric crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his little sister. "This is blackmail."

Christy smiled sweetly, "I call it a sister's purgative." They stared at each other for a long moment before Eric sighed and scratched his head.

"Chocolate?"

"Chocolate!" Christy smiled as her brother walked away. "You know I love my brother dearly, but ordering him around like that never gets old." The older woman filled both glasses to the top and raised her own in a toast. "Here is to life's challenges. May we find the strength to get past them." Hermione raised her glass in turn.

"And to family. May all of our loved ones continue to be happy and healthy despite how much they annoy us." They tapped the glasses together and started talking about other things. The afternoon came and went. They finished off all the food that was brought to them and another bottle of whiskey. It was late into the evening when Valko and Kamen found Hermione and Christy laughing they're butts off.

"And then he says 'That's right. A tuna fish.'" Christy finished saying with laughter. Hermione dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.

"A tuna fish! Oh my god…fish!" Hermione was struggling to breathe. The bothers looked at one another more than a little worried before approaching the young witch.

"Hermione. I think it is time for us to take you home." Valko said gently. Hermione looked at him and launched herself toward him. She enveloped him in a tight hug and snuggled her head into his chest.

"Viktor! I can't believe you're here! How did you find me?" She said softly though her speech did have a slight slur to it. Kamen came to his brother's rescue quickly. He gently pried his almost sister in-law from the bewildered man and helped keep her steady. Eric came over quickly with the protective eye of a bother.

"Excuse me? Remove your hands from that girl right now, please." He said sizing the brother's up. He wasn't about to let strangers bother or take advantage of anyone in his pub.

"You do not need to vorry. Ve are family." Kamen said struggling to keep the swaying half-awake Hermione from falling over.

"Yeah? Well until you can prove it I can't let you touch or take that girl anywhere. So let her get back in the chair and leave." The Krum bothers looked at one another. Their mother had only told them to find Hermione and make sure she got back to Crystal Air safely. They hadn't even thought of the possibility that they might need to prove they knew her. Thankfully at that moment Lev came in to save them both from answering a lot of difficult questions.

"Eric. Vhere is my silly vife?" He asked. The Qudditch player was still in his practice clothes meaning he came straight from the training field to find Christy. "She said she vould be out for the day, but she has not come home yet." He looked down at his wife and sighed. "How could you let her get this like this?" He lifted her up bridal style and glared at his brother in-law. Eric just shrugged.

"She blackmailed me. Do you know these two guys?" He asked pointing toward the brothers.

"Those are Viktor's brothers. They are going to be Hermione's," Lev tried to point to the brothers and hold onto his wife at the same time. "Brothers too pretty soon. Their mother probably sent them to get her vhile Viktor finished up with practice. He vas a late so he had to do a lot of laps to make up for it." That was good enough for Eric. He went back behind the bar to help the new batch of people who came in. Lev nodded his goodnight and carried Christy outside the door. Hermione looked up at Kamen and smiled.

"Viktor! Why are you here silly? And what did you do to your hair?" She asked now clinging to Kamen. Both of the brothers smiled a little at the girl's antics and together they got out of the pub and to Crystal Air without much trouble. They were trying to trying to get Hermione to let go of Kamen when Viktor came out of the fireplace only to stop and stare at the slightly awkward scene before him. Hermione was holding very tightly on to Kamen and Valko was gently trying to pull her off.

"No no no no no!" The girl was yelling holding on for dear life. "Don't take me from Viktor."

"Hermione this is not Viktor."

"Valko, she is hurting me."

"Do I even vant to know vhat is going on?" Viktor asked. He wasn't in the best of moods. First he slept in and was the last to arrive to practice. And to make it worse Hermione hadn't been awake like usual. For the first time in a while she had slept in without telling him to have a good practice. Than he couldn't seem to concentrate on catching what was thrown his way. At lunch he waited and waited for Hermione to show up, but he didn't remember she had a fitting until after he was being yelled at by the Coach about arriving to practice on time. The rest of the practice just went downhill from down there. He had to do more laps than anyone else after practice and he lost his favorite pair of black gloves at some point. All in all a very bad day. And to top it off he arrived home to see the girl he was falling in love with clinging to his very own brother.

"Viktor is not vhat it looks like." Kamen said. Hermione's whipped around to look at her betrothed and immediately tackled him. She reeked of alchole and she was acting very different from normal so it didn't take Viktor any time to figure out his girl was drunk. Valko, being an opportunist, threw Viktor a small vial. It was the first thing that he caught with ease all day.

"It is a Sobering Up Potion. She vill be back to normal in seconds, but it von't help vith the hangover she vill have in the morning." Both brother's waved their good-byes and made a very quick escape. Viktor looked at the vial and debated how he was going get Hermione the potion. The logical solution was to hand it to her explaining what it was. However he wasn't the world's most logical person. That title belonged to the woman in his arms. The Seeker opened the bottle and poured its contents in his own mouth. Steadying Hermione with one arm and raising her chin giving her the potion via kiss. It worked in seconds just like Valko said. Her grip loosened, she stood up straighter, and her eyes cleared. It took a moment for her to take in her surroundings, but other than that she seemed perfectly fine.

"Welcome home." She said quietly wrapping her arms around him once again. "How was your day?" Hermione really didn't want to know how she got back home or what she did in the time she spent with Christy at the pub. None of that really matter now. No, all she wanted to do was be held by Viktor and forget about the entire day.

"It vas horrible." He told her while walking them both over to the couch. He sat down and settled Hermione on his lap. The soft glow of the moonlight through the windows behind her gave the girl an almost heavenly look. "I learned something today though." His hand played with a loose strand of her hair.

"And what is that?"

"I learned it is very hard to have a good day vithout seeing your smile first thing in the morning." A smile appeared on Hermione's lips and in her eyes at this response. "How vas the dress fitting?" He asked smiling back. Hermione's smile slipped and she sighed into his shoulder. Rather than push her for an answer he just pulled her close. Time passed like way for a while in silence. They were both lost in thought neither really wanting to talk about their own day, yet both wanting to ask the other questions.

"Tomorrow I thought maybe I would take Radko to see you at practice. He begs me to take him every time I go over to visit. We can have a picnic. And we'll watch you guys. Maybe you can let him fly with you." She said her head still resting on his shoulder.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"I yelled at our mothers, Dorian, Madam Lori, and Ginny today." Hermione admitted looking up to see what his reaction would be. Viktor just raised an eyebrow. "Needles. Grandkids. Shagging." She flopped against him with no further explanation. There was more silence until Hermione felt Viktor's body start to shake underneath her. She looked back at him to see his hand firmly placed over his mouth as he tried to fight the laughter. She raised an eyebrow and he couldn't it back. His laughter was deep and full. He stood up with her in his arms and spun around.

"Do not think even my father has yelled at Mama." He kissed her once and set her back on the couch. He got on one knee and looked at her thoughtfully. Carefully he removed the engagement ring from her finger he fell silent. He had been planning on doing this in a much more romantic setting, but right now was perfect. Because it was on this day that he realized that he needed her smiling face to make his days brighter. It was this evening that he felt like they were a real couple at last. What was more natural than comforting the one you care for after they had a hard day? And it was at that moment he found out that Hermione had the guts to take on even his own mother. It may sound silly, but when he was a young boy his father said to try and find a woman who was strong enough speak her mind no matter who she was speaking to. Yes, now was the perfect time. "Hermione. Vill you marry me?"

The lioness was more than a little confused at the moment. First the laughter, then the spinning, and then the proposal to the man she was already going to marry. "Viktor the wedding is just…" She was cut off by one of his fingers to her lips.

"No. I vant to know if you vill marry me. I know I have made you promises in the past, but I never felt the moment right was to ask you. I vasn't sure how I felt about you. So please imagine that the law does not exist. Just that ve have been together for a little over two months. And although it is sudden I am here asking for your hand." He took a deep breath and licked his lips before he could continue. Who would have thought it was so difficult to ask you fiancée to marry you? "You are smart, beautiful, loyal, loving, confident and full of spirit. You have seen a lot of evil and sadness, but you can still smile. And it is a smile that makes me vant to smile. You are more than I could ever deserve. I vill try and become a man you can be proud of. A man who you feel can protect you. I vill be the kind of man who can keep that smile on your face. So I am asking you again: Hermione Granger vill you marry me?" He held the ring up and waited for her to say something. A deep kiss and happy tears were all the answer he needed.

A/N: Okay please please please tell me what you thought of this chapter. Heads up the next chapter is the big day! It's going to be epic. I promise you that. ^^ Okay see you guys in the next chapter.