Just Around the Riverbend

Sorry this took so long. I had to open our pool this summer, and it hadn't been opened in nearly three years. Ended up having to drain all of the water, and start over. I nearly got electrocuted by a shop vac getting out water and leaves, and I've been swarmed by honey bees, wasps, bitten by a horse fly, and nearly attacked twice by butterflies. Not a good week, I'll say...

angeles
HarryGInny4Eva
Voracious Reader
april
Jennifer
hairsprayX12
Labibliographe
alina
Labibliographe
lilashannah
margaritama

I enjoyed all your reviews. This chap is a mish-mosh, and I wasn't too pleased with it, but a transition was necessary. Next is the Celebration.

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Hermione and Janine’s travel was going to take much longer. Hermione was advised against Apparating and Flooing in this advanced stage of her pregnancy, and Janine was a Muggle. So, the only thing left for Lucius to do was to put the ladies in a hired car. He had known the driver for years, and had always had the pick of cars when he called upon the man. His services had been needed for arriving in style over the years, as well as similar transportation for Narcissa when she was in the far stages of her pregnancy with Draco.

Robert waited at the gleaming car as Hermione waddled slowly down the driveway, her mother walking slowly beside her. Hermione had been given the Lady Malfoy signet ring, which would allow her to fully pay for any purchase she made in the wizarding world, and charge it straight to his main Gringott’s vault. Hermione had staunchly refused at first, but after some gentle persuasion from Lucius, she had reluctantly agreed. It would be hers, after all, in a short time anyway.

The drive to London was a quiet affair, as Hermione had nodded off after a few minutes on the road. Her mother smiled at her, and carefully arranged her daughter so that she would be comfortable in her soft seat. One of the beauties of riding in a magically altered car was that no matter what the road looked like, the ride was perfectly smooth. Hermione wouldn’t have to worry about smacking her head against the window.

They arrived in London without too much fuss, and Janine woke her daughter. Hermione stretched sleepily, and gathered up the small purse she’d brought with her, and awkwardly started out of the car. It took a gentle, but strong pull from Robert to actually get her and her bulk out of the bloody thing.

“Merlin’s ghost!” she gasped, slightly winded. Janine looked amused.

“You wizards certainly have colorful swear-words.” She chuckled.

“Any liquored up Muggle can swear, but to truly understand the art of epithets, one must have a magical constitution.” Hermione said waftily. Her mother threw her head back and laughed. Even Robert gave Hermione a smile.

~~

Several shops and aching feet later found Hermione nearly in tears with frustration. The dresses she had tried on either didn’t fit or she didn’t like. She was a fat fraud, and she hated it. And to top it all off the baby could feel her frustration and was wriggling up a storm. Normally a nice belly rub from Lucius could calm the unborn sprite, but at the moment her blonde beau was nowhere to be found.

She and her mother sat at a small Muggle restaurant in Kent, and her mother was gently encouraging her daughter.

“You just haven’t found the right one, yet, curlicue. When you find the perfect dress, it will almost speak to you…” Janine said, nibbling at her chip afterwards. Hermione pushed a bit of salad around her plate.

“I feel like such a cow.” Hermione whimpered.

“You’re not a cow, love. I do know the feeling more than you realize. But what you don’t see is the way that Lucius looks at you. Even this morning I saw it in his eyes. He thinks you’re beautiful.” Janine replied.

“Maybe we’re just not looking hard enough…” Hermione said, viciously stabbing a cherry tomato.

“Well, I think I saw a bridal shop a few shops down. Perhaps we could try a bit of Muggle fashion?” Her mother said conspiratorially. Hermione, given a bit of hope by the prospect, sat up a bit straighter.

Hermione and Janine entered the store with high expectations. Hermione waddled a bit behind her mother, and the shopkeeper, a rather hip-looking young woman with a streak of fire-engine red through her black hair, greeted them warmly. This was definitely a change for the better. The magical shopkeepers greeted them with barely contained hostility, borderline sneering at Hermione for the lack of wedding band. Sure, she wore her engagement ring proudly, but she didn’t sign ‘Mrs. Malfoy’ just yet.

“We’re looking for a wedding dress.” Janine said. The shopkeeper smiled.

“Which of you lucky ladies is getting married?” she asked. Janine blushed a bit.

“My daughter.” She replied, motioning towards Hermione. “Do you have maternity dresses?”

“We’ve got all sorts of dresses. I can find the perfect match for anyone! Some say it’s like magic!” she said, and winked at them. Hermione and her mother shared a look, but then followed when the lady beckoned them to the maternity section.

There were dresses in every color of the rainbow, and even colors in between. Some dresses sparkled with sequins and beads, others shimmered with the soft satin material they were sewn with. There was lace, taffeta, brocade, silk, satin, even soft Egyptian cottons and simple polyester. It seemed that there were dresses for every budget and style.

Hermione was drawn to the traditional white dresses, with their puffy skirts and elegant necklines. The shopkeeper, who they were later told was named Vera, happily pulled down specimens for Hermione to try on. But for some reason, Hermione wasn’t satisfied with some of the dresses they were trying for her.

This one was too short, that one was too long. This one showed too much cleavage, that one looked like a nun’s outfit. This one was too sparkly, that one was too plain.

But neither Janine nor Vera were impatient with Hermione. Janine was actually happy her daughter cared about what the dress looked like. Vera knew it was an important dress to find.

Hermione was exhausted. She was hungry again, her feet were swollen and aching, and she was sure the baby was using her uterus as a bouncing house.

“I’m tired, mum. Let’s just try on one more dress, and if I don’t like it, we can try again.” Hermione said softly. Janine took pity on her daughter, and tenderly stroked her curls.

“Very well, curlicue. One more, and we’ll hit the road. I’m sure that Robert has been waiting a while for us.” Her mother said with a wink.

Vera heard them, and stared hard at the dresses before her. The girl had a simple, but elegant style. She wanted to show off a bit of that motherly décolletage without being obscene. She wanted a bit of sparkle without looking like a disco ball. She wanted a bit of flare to the skirt without looking like a muffin. Hmm….Maybe this one?

Hermione was gently helped into the dress, and Vera smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in the luxurious fabric. When Hermione turned to face her reflection in the mirror, Janine and Vera saw her face light up.
The gown was floor length, and bedazzled with beautiful little beaded flowers and tiny sparkling sequins around the bottom of the skirt. The sleeves came nearly to her elbow, but dropped sharply at her shoulder to attach to the bodice right under her arm. The bodice was nearly heart-shaped over her chest, and the back of the dress dipped low. The dress draped perfectly over her belly, making her baby bump look quite lovely.
She didn’t even realize she was crying until her mother gently wiped the tears from her face with a soft handkerchief. Hermione turned to Vera, who had a misty expression on her face.

“We’ll take it.”

~~

John stood awkwardly as the tape measures and pins poked and prodded. His arms were getting a bit tired from being held out, and he’d never seen so many fabrics in all his life. But Lucius seemed at ease within the shop, even seemed to know what he was doing.

Lucius’ robes were deep green, the color of…er…what was it? Slithering? Anyway, the robes went well with Lucius’ coloring. The lapels were wide, and made of black satin. There were broad, engraved silver buttons on the outer robes, and there was an elegant scrawl design in silver around the hem and sleeves. He was wearing a black satin vest under the shirt, and a crisp white dress shirt under that. Then he had a deep green cravat at his throat.

The trousers were much more fitted than the tuxedo pants of Muggle design, and tucked neatly into tall, leather boots.

John’s robes were much simpler, with him just being a witness. They were a deep, flowing blue with touches of silver at the neck and hem, and he also wore a black satin vest and white dress shirt, and his cravat was blue. He rather liked the boots. They were comfortable.

He jumped as the magical measuring tape rolled in on itself and disappeared with a pop.

“Christ on a bicycle!” John mumbled. Lucius lowered his arms, and looked over at his Muggle companion.

“Everything all right, John?” he asked. John shook his head as the sales clerk helped him out of the heavy robes.

“Just not used to all these magical bits and bobs. Such everyday things that can be accomplished with the flick of one of those wands.” He said. The clerk tilted her head, looking at John strangely. “I mean….take these robes for example. If we’d had them made where I live, it would have taken weeks, if not months to be finished.”

“A benefit to not being Muggle.” Lucius commented gently.

As the sales clerk moved to the back to put John’s robes into an apparel box, she whispered casually to another clerk in the women’s section, who in turn murmured softly to the lady she was fitting. This woman spoke in passing to a couple she knew, and in the matter of an hour, half of people of Halloway Lane thought that Lucius Malfoy was up to his old tricks again, and had seduced a Muggle into the Magic world to torture and kill him.

A few people even followed them around, including a young witch by the name of Gertie Tsepa, who fancied herself the next Rita Skeeter. She had written a few articles for the Prophet, and hers were the most-read of all the other fledgling reporters that had emerged to try and replace the woman who had been sentenced to three months in Azkaban for vicious libel, and had been ordered to never print another story again. Gertie had spoken to Rita several times, taking notes from the woman. Skeeter had even bequeathed her acid-green Kwik Kwotes Kwill to Gertie, saying she no longer had use for it.

She was on the verge of breaking a big story, and she knew it! Lucius Malfoy was up to something, and this poor defenseless Muggle was probably his next target. As the two disappeared into a rather well-known restaurant, Gertie ducked into the nearest alleyway. A few moments later, a small bumblebee emerged from the alley, and flew in through the door the next time it opened.

~~

Daisy knelt down at the fireplace, and threw a pinch of powder onto the flames.

“Grimmauld Place.” She said, and stuck her head into the flames when they turned green. “Harry? Harry are you there?” she called. She tilted her head slightly and looked around the flame-distorted library.

“Daisy?”

She looked over at the doorway to see Harry coming in through the door, buttoning his nice dark robes.

“Hey, Harry. Can you talk? I got something real important to tell you.” She said. Harry, curious as to what the little half-blood had to say, pulled up a chair and sat near the flames.

The story didn’t take long to tell, but it was clear that it made Daisy nervous. Good.

“I thank you for telling me, Daisy. I had hoped he was gone for good, but it seems he just can’t stay dead.” He said the words automatically, for it is what the boy would have said.

“I just didn’t want to take you by surprise. Tom and Phelan are sure he’ll try something at the celebration.” Daisy said. She saw Harry’s eyebrow twitch, and he looked furious, but a moment later the look was gone, so she wasn’t sure it wasn’t just a distortion of the fire.

“Who’s Tom?” he asked, his voice slightly strained.

“Tom Rowan. He’s one of my friends from Slytherin, Harry.” Daisy said. Harry nodded, and promptly squashed the presence of the boy in his mind, laughing at him for his unfortunate Muggle name.

“Ah. Well..I thank you again for telling me, and I’ll be sure to keep a lookout at the Celebration. It wouldn’t do for the Dark Lord to pop up at a party for his death, now would it?” Harry asked with an uneasy laugh. Daisy smiled.

“Okay. I’m glad I told you, Harry. I’ll see you in a couple days.” She said.

“Bye.” He added with a wave, and when her head disappeared, he cursed loudly. He’d have to kill that meddling little bitch, and her fucking werewolf. Then he’d kill this Tom-child just for the hell of it.

He’d bathe the front steps at Hogwarts in blood.

~~

Daisy’s next step was to attempt to floo her cousin. But, to her dismay, one of the house-elves said he was out for the day, getting robes for the wedding ceremony. She was so happy for Hermione and her cousin. She only hoped that her and Phelan’s wedding would be good when she graduated. Hell, with the way things were going, she just hoped they lived that long.

She would have waited to tell him when he got back, but she had Transfiguration that afternoon, and she hadn’t studied much for the test they were having. After receiving a very dismal grade, she’d spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding Phelan, and completely forgot about Lord Voldemort.

~~

“We should have the ceremony as soon as possible. I think it would be fantastic to appear as man and wife at that Merlin-forsaken ‘Celebration’ you insisted on dragging me to.” Lucius argued.

“I didn’t insist on dragging you anywhere. You didn’t want to let me go alone, and I wanted to go support my friend in his hour of need. I don’t object to a quick ceremony, Lucius, but the Celebration is in two days!” Hermione returned irritably.

“I can have us an appointment with a Ministry Official within the hour!”

“It’s eleven at night!”

“Tomorrow, then.”

“Lucius, I-”

“Do you not want the wedding to happen?” Lucius asked her, his fine blonde brows knitting together. Hermione’s eyes widened, and she took one of his hands in hers.

“That’s not it, Lucius. I love you. I do want to be your wife. I just…haven’t gotten a chance to ask Harry to be a witness yet.” She said softly.

“We’ll ask him now. I’ll floo over and extend the invitation.” Lucius replied, pulling his hand gently from her grasp. Hermione sighed.

~~

Lucius tossed a pinch of floo powder into the grate, and the fire flared emerald.

“Grimmauld Place.” He called into the fire. The floo flared again, and he leaned a bit closer to the heatless flames. “Mr. Potter?” he called out. There was a few moments of silence, before he could hear footsteps.

“Mr. Malfoy. What a pleasant surprise. Is there anything I can do for you?” Harry’s voice came through the flames, slightly distorted by the crackling of the flame.

“I need to ask you something, Mr. Potter, and I was wondering if I could ask you in person? Is it all right if I step through?” Lucius asked.

“Of course! I’ll just step aside.”

Lucius emerged from Harry’s floo a few moments later, and brushed a bit of soot from his Floo robe. Harry was standing aside, dressed in fine charcoal robes with a green button-up underneath. He was taking a drag from a cigarette as Lucius stepped through, and held the smoke for a few moments before blowing out a few smoke rings in Lucius’ direction. Lucius cleared his throat, and waved the smoke away.

“Mr. Potter, I know this is a bit short notice, but Hermione and I were wondering if you would consent to be a witness in our wedding ceremony.” Lucius said without preamble. Harry’s green eyes showed no change of emotion, but he tilted his head slightly.

“When is the wedding?” he asked.

“Tomorrow.” Lucius replied. Harry hummed a bit, before taking another puff of his cigarette. As the smoke exited his mouth, he inhaled it through his nose. Lucius watched, fairly fascinated, before Harry exhaled the pale smoke.

“Of course. I’d do anything for Hermione.” Harry said, and gave a small smile. Lucius seemed to be relieved.

“Good, good. Floo to the Manor at about three tomorrow. I’ve got an appointment with an official to be at there at about five.” Lucius said, and turned back to the floo.

“What should I wear?” Harry asked. Lucius turned back to him, and looked him over.

“Dress robes.” And when Harry nodded, Lucius threw a handful of floo powder onto the grate and disappeared in a flash of green. Harry sneered. “An unpleasant distraction and a deep temptation to act. But if I have learned nothing in this body, it is patience. I will take my action at Hogwarts, and not a moment before.” He growled, his eyes going crimson.

“Mr. Potter? Who are you talking to?” His eyes faded back to emerald as he turned to see Bella standing in the doorway, in nothing but an apron and slippers. He smiled at her, and she blushed.

“No one. Is supper ready?” When she nodded, he finished off the cigarette and flicked the butt into the fireplace.

~~

Lucius paced back and forth in the drawing room, annoying the Ministry official to no end. It had been a last-minute call for him to come here. He was supposed to have the day off. But no…let Lucius Malfoy call and he would be called in.

Draco stood on the other side of the Official, in dark grey dress robes. Lucius had asked him to stand as another witness, and Draco had been honored. Harry stood beside Draco, and Draco was creeped out by the calm confidence exuded by the former hot-headed Gryffindor.

John stood near the door in his new robes, waiting to escort his daughter from the doorway to the place where they had set up the Official’s stand. Everyone looked up as Janine rapped on the doorway. John took a deep breath when his daughter emerged, and they heard Lucius make a strangled noise. She was beautiful. She walked with her father, who looked Misty-eyed the entire time, and took her place beside her groom.

The ceremony itself was rather anticlimactic. There was an exchange of pre-determined wedding vows that, while beautiful, felt stuffy and unnatural. Then there was an exchanging of the rings. Their wedding bands were simple silver rings, and her wedding band fit neatly against her engagement ring, and she proudly wore them both.

After all was said and done, all of them gathered in the dining room for a feast the elves had been working on all day. They were excited for the Master to get himself a Lady. He had been much more pleasant with Mistress Hermione around, and to boot they got to look forward to a new baby! Master Draco was grown now, and the elves were looking forward to the pitter patter of little Malfoy feet.

The house-elves seemed to be averse to Harry. They couldn’t quite put their little clawed fingers on it, but something about the young man creeped them out. Everyone seemed it shrug it off as an elf thing.

After all of the commotion was over, the food put away, and the guests gone, Hermione and Lucius retired to their bedroom, where they spent their first night as Husband and Wife reaffirming their love for one another. Over, and over, and over…

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Long, but choppy. I hope to have a few reviews, and I'll see you guys in a couple days. I've got so much planned, I just need to put it down on paper...I mean in digital format....you get the drift...

If you'd like to see Hermione's wedding dress: http://www.newmommyteesandjeans.com/i/princessgown500.jpg