Forbidden Shadows (Dramione)

chapter 2

When Hermione walked into her building she was immediately attacked by Cher. "Hermione! You're finally here!"

"Sorry Cher, I lost track of time with the kids. What is it that you need?"

"That's okay. Anyway, Greengrass wants us to meet her for lunch at noon." Cher glanced at her watch. "Which is now, so let's go." The girls disapparated away to meet Astoria.

The girls ended up in the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione spotted Astoria and tugged Cher to follow her. Astoria pulled Hermione into a hug and stuck her hand out to Cher. After Cher shook Astoria's hand, they all sat down at a booth.

"I'm so glad that you guys agreed to meet me today. I was hoping to ask you a question about the wedding."

Hermione was the one who spoke next. "Okay, go ahead."

"Well I was thinking, since this wedding is going to be so big I was wondering if you wanted to stay with me at my manor until the wedding."

Hermione looked over at Cher. Cher looked like she wanted to puke. Rich purebloods like Astoria sickened Cher.

Before Hermione could get a word in, Cher spoke. "Look Miss Greengrass-"

Astoria interrupted her. "Please, call me Astoria."

Cher rolled her eyes. "Look Astoria, Hermione and I have a lot of work to do. Between all of the weddings and her volunteering, we barely have any time for ourselves."

Astoria raised an eyebrow, "Volunteering?"

Hermione cut in before Cher could say anything rude. Sometimes that girl just didn't know how to hold her tongue. Hermione explained to Astoria all about her volunteer work at St. Mungo's. Astoria's eyes widened at all the work Hermione did.

"Wow, I didn't realize how much you did. I'm sorry."

Hermione laughed, "What's there to be sorry for? I love what I do. I have one more wedding that I promised to do but after that I guess I can move in. I can assign the small weddings to Cher and the larger weddings will just have to wait. Cher won't have to move in because she needs to take care of the other weddings and other important things. I'll move in as long as I still get to do my volunteering."

Cher shot Hermione a look that clearly said, 'What the hell are you doing?' Hermione shrugged at her friend.

"Oh Hermione, thank you! Of course you can still do your volunteer work. I now know how much it means to you. When do you think that you'll be moving in?"

"Well, it'll have to be after I finish the wedding I'm currently doing. The wedding is in a week. If you want, you can come to see my work in action."

Astoria's eyes were dancing. "That would be wonderful. Would it be okay if I brought my parents to see it as well? You see they're coming to help with the wedding and they're dying to see your work."

"I assume that it would be fine. Do your parents know that I'm going to be doing the wedding? You know a muggleborn?"

"Oh Hermione, don't be silly! When I told them that you were the best in the business they said that they didn't care if you were a house elf." All three women laughed at this.

Hermione looked down at her watch and grabbed Cher. "Astoria, it's getting late. We'd better be off. I'll see you soon!"

For the next week Hermione worked tirelessly on the upcoming wedding she was doing. It was the wedding of her good friends Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott. It was a large wedding mostly because of Hannah's side. Neville had his grandmother and his friends. Whenever she got the chance she would go to lunch with Cher and Astoria to talk. Most of the time they wouldn't even talk about the wedding. All the rest of Hermione's time was taken up by her volunteering. She barely got any sleep that week.

Today was the day. It was Neville's wedding. Hermione took a quick shower and changed into nice clothes. Not only was she the wedding planner but she was also invited. She wore a tight black dress that was sleeveless. It was not strapless. The dress went just under her knees and she had black high heels. She grabbed her small glittery black purse and her wand. She apparated to the venue Neville was getting married at.

It was outdoors and beautiful. Hannah had picked it out and Hermione absolutely fell in love with it. She ran into Hannah's dressing room and was shocked with how beautiful Hannah looked. "Oh Hannah, you look amazing. Neville might just faint when he sees you."

Hannah ran to Hermione and pulled her into a hug. "Oh Hermione, you're the greatest. Thank you for everything. This is the most wonderful thing you could've ever done for me. Thank you. This is the happiest day of my life."

Hermione felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. "Hannah you are amazing. Now come on. The wedding starts in five minutes." Hermione led Hannah out to the waiting room and left her there with her father as she walked outside to check on everything else. Hermione spotted Neville and ran over to him. She pulled him into a hug.

"Are you ready?"

Neville's eyes were wide with fear but he was smiling. "I'm about to marry the girl of my dreams. Can you believe it Hermione? Me? I'm marrying the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He glanced over at her. "Besides you of course." Hermione laughed so hard that she had to clutch her stomach.

"Neville, I love you. I'm so happy for you." The music began to play. "The wedding's starting. Good luck!" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran off to make sure that everything was going according to plan.

When the bride and groom said 'I do' and kissed, it was time for the reception. Hermione made sure that everyone was doing his or her job. She was in the middle of inspecting the food when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see averypregnant Ginny Weasley. There was dead silence for about a second when suddenly both girls screamed.

"Ginny! I haven't seen you in forever! You're huge!" Hermione received a murderous glare from Ginny after that comment. "I mean the baby is huge. Let me touch him." Hermione felt a soft kick and she burst out laughing.

Hermione again received another tap on her shoulder. This time when she turned around she saw a man with green eyes, messy black hair, and a lightning scar on his forehead. "Harry! I missed you!"

Harry laughed, "You never have time to visit us anymore Hermione. You're always working."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his comment. "Harry, I love my job. Besides, you know that I can't give up my volunteering."

Harry gave her a sympathetic smile. "You need to rest Hermione."

"Harry, I'll be fine."

Ginny rejoined the conversation, "Harry, let's go congratulate the newly weds. See you later Hermione!"

Hermione kissed her friends goodbye and went back to inspecting everything. It all needed to be flawless. "Hermione!"

Hermione turned around and saw Astoria Greengrass approaching her with an older couple, which she assumed were Astoria's parents. She hugged Astoria and held her hand out to the older couple. Once they were all acquainted Hermione decided to speak.

"I'm Hermione Granger. It's a pleasure to meet you both Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass. I hope that you enjoyed the ceremony. I assure you that Astoria's will be flawless."

Astoria's mother was the first to speak. "Everything was lovely dear. Oh and please, call me Genevieve. I can't believe that you did all of this. It's absolutely amazing. That's probably why they call you the best in the business right?"

Hermione blushed, "Thank you so much. I assure you that Astoria's wedding will be amazing. I'll be moving into her manor soon enough and everything will go into place."

Hermione continued to converse with the Greengrasses until the reception was over. She kissed all of her friends goodbye and made sure that everything was in order before she left to her flat.

She threw off her shoes and started the bath water. Once the tub was full she took off her clothes and relaxed into the pool of water. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. That's when she realized. I'm meeting Astoria's fiancée tomorrow.