Amour

REHEARSAL

[Sorry for the late update- Durga pujas were going on in Calcutta and it is the biggest festival here! Had five very busy days...]

There was the beating of a hammer somewhere close by. Hermione stretched sleepily in bed but her eyes refused to open yet. All she could think of was someone stop that bloody guy with the hammer! She opened her eyes a fraction and got up, her messy hair framing her face. She got out of bed, stood, tottered, fell back down, forced herself up again, wobbling on her feet and made her way to the door and then squinted at the bright light that hit her face. She was still rubbing her eyes as she stumbled into the dining room and saw Ginny sitting in one of the chairs, holding her head, her hair similarly messed up. "Wakey wakey!"Snape announced as he walked in and they both grimaced. "God...Severus. Is that Sev-?"Hermione screwed up her eyes to look at him. He retained his angry expression from last night, but looked a bit amused too. "Drink this. Both of you!"he placed on the table the tray of ginger tea he had been carrying. Hermione sat down with a grunt and adressed Ginny,"Thank you...you know...for an evening." "It was awful."Ginny admitted, still rubbing her temple. "I was gonna pretend...but yeah, it was."Hermione shook her head. "What a couple of lightweights!"Snape had his hands on his hips in a chastising pose. "Can you please whisper?"Hermione urged. "NOT REALLY!"he yelled in her ear. Harry and Ron came in hearing him shout; Ron controlled his snickering by slapping a hand over his mouth while Hermione gave Snape a look of hurt betrayal. But she knew he had every right to be this way with her; they had acted so carelessly. "I can't believe you could be this careless."he said continuing her thought,"Hermione, you should've known better." "We were! Believe me, I made sure that we ate in between our drinks and we didn't even have that much to drink. Only...oh god, why oh why did I let Looney Lovegood put something in my drink?!"Hermione had her head in her hands now while Ginny sipped the scalding tea. Snape crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, but Hermione had her eyes downcast. Where is Luna anyway? I bet she isn't as hungover as we are. She is used to all the ungodly things she concocts along with her father in the Looneybin! And sure enough, Luna skipped into the room, impeccably dressed up and hair all set. "You went out drinking to celebrate, it's all well and good but how could you be such a big fool as to not carry your phone?"Harry scolded his wife. "I took my phone."Hermione's defence seemed weak in front of the deathstare her lover gave her. "But what use it was if you had it on silent mode? I had been trying to reach you all evening! You can't imagine what a relief it was to finally hear your voice."Snape passed a hand through his hair,"Before I could ask where you were, it went dead but I could immediately decipher the panic and urgency in your voice. Potter and Weasley were already with me and they helped me track your phone. Thank God they acted fast enough and together we apparated to the bar." Hermione sipped her tea while listening and understood how things had fallen into place. "And I ran in on Mr.Prickhead creeping up all over you."A look of disgust spread on Snape's face. "I don't remember- what happened next?"Hermione asked. "Oh, he was very nice. He tried to say he had no idea you were engaged and that he was very sorry. I didn't listen to any of it and of course, I had to break his arm for what he did."Snape said casually. Hermione nearly choked. He did what?! "I mean, seriously, you are a magnet for trouble. I don't know what to do...Ms.Lovegood, stop cleansing my aura!"he snapped. Luna stopped midway between her hand gestures and mutterances of mantras,"What? I was merely trying to calm you down..." "Ready to go girls?"Molly called from the door, entirely unaware of the situation inside the dining room. Snape whipped his head at Hermione,"Where are you going now? You know what, it doesn't matter. You do what you want anyways. Call me if you get into trouble again. Or don't. Whatever." He stomped out making Hermione feel really guilty indeed......................
Hermione was glad they had the remainder of that day and the next to rest. They went for a relaxing spa, then full body massages, got hair treatments and mani-pedis. Snape was back at his house and she didn't see him till he arrived at the rehearsal dinner venue that evening. She quickly checked how his mood was. "You look nice."he commented. She knew better than to be flattered by his gentlemanly-remarks, so she asked,"Are we good?" He didn't reply but gave a curt nod as guests started to arrive. She wasn't sure she was completely forgiven but knew that he wouldn't ever publicly insult her. The Weasleys and Potters arrived with big smiles and words of greetings. "Make 'groom' for Georgie."George laughed at his own pun. Hermione rolled her eyes,"What did I say was your one gift to us?" "Don't make lame jokes."George repeated her words,"But I thought that was for the wedding." Snape didn't seem amused either,"Well it's the rehearsal dinner, so rehearse it!" Ron and Harry were adding something more but Ginny interrupted,"Hermione, you gotta keep the line moving. Remember, don't give more than 30 seconds per person. You see these clowns all the time." And so it went; they smiled and greeted everyone who came,"We are glad you could make it.","Thank you for coming." etc. Hermione was surprised to see Bill and Fleur come to the party, specially since they just had a baby. "It's so good to see you!"she told Bill,"Where's Fred?" "H'apparently, babiez and weddinz do not mixz."Fleur rolled her eyes. "Are you still whining about your damn baby?"Ginny looked fed up,"Grab yourself a drink and forget about that lump of flesh for one god-damned evening!" Bill gave a look of helplessness towards Hermione while dragging his wife away, who was still shooting stare-daggers at his sister. Dame Eliana and lady Caroline also appeared with a humble entourage and the to-be-married couple were very much delighted. The Dursleys didn't make it to the rehearsal and neither did the Malfoys but Hermione still didn't give up her hopes entirely for the latter. After everyone had arrived they made their way to the bar because Lupin was sure to be found there. "Remus, you should really stop. Look after your health- for Teddy."Hermione said, forcing his glass down. Lupin looked up sheepishly and just smiled weakly, as if he had had been trying but failing. Hermione glanced at Snape once before saying,"We were thinking...I was thinking, if you would walk me down the aisle tomorrow, you know, give me away. I would really love it if you agreed." Lupin's apparent drunkenness passed and he sat up straight,"Seriously?" "Of course! You've always been like a father to me, you looked out for me and you've never hesitated to share your wisdom. Please, I don't want you to think that you are some sort of a replacement for Sirius but-" "No no, I wasn't,"Lupin's eyes glistened and he stood up,"Hermione, I would be honoured." He pulled her into a bear hug and then he gazed upon her face with such affection that Hermione felt tears pricking her eyes too. Snape put an arm around her and rubbed the side of her arm. She held Lupin's hands and said,"I hope you know how much you mean to me." "And I hope you get all the happiness in the world, my dear. You deserve it..."Lupin couldn't continue anymore as he was overcome with emotions.
Dinner went over in a breeze as Ginny had gone back to full wedding planner mode and didn't let anyone talk more than five minutes, but still, they had a good time. Hermione was discussing the fittings for her bridesmaid dress with Caroline when she caught a snippet of the conversation between the aunt and nephew on her other side. "I presume you have discussed the legal matters with your betrothed? You know, property distributions, alimony, wills and the like?"Lady Eliana was inquiring. Snape was saying privately,"Yes, we would be keeping whatever we own in one big pot and we will jointly share everything-" but Hermione interrupted,"Excuse me. What are you saying? I don't want any alimony, God forbid if it comes to that. And you have an unfathomable amount of money, I can't possibly claim-" "Hermione, whatever I have belongs to you too. Frankly, I would'nt care if you took it all. We would jointly be owners of everything that we have."
"Wait, Sev can we talk about this?"
"No. You will be my partner in life as well as everything else. End of discussion."he resumed eating and Hermione pursed her lips. She decided to drop it because she knew she had an empty arsenal when it came to arguing with him about this and certainly not in such a big decision. And anyways, she didn't even wanna think about a time where they would fight legally about alimony, because she would rather see the apocalypse than that day. She was successfully distracted by McGonagall who was wondering aloud,"Many of the professors at Hogwarts have started giving in their notices for their retirements. I don't really blame them; they want to spend the rest of their lives peacefully with their loved ones. God knows, Hogwarts would be seriously understaffed...." "I heard Neville has recently joined the apprenticeship for Professor Sprout?"Ginny asked. "Oh yes. Professor Sprout would be happy to hand over the job by the end of this year. It's a pity most of you have opted for Auror training..."McGonagall tsked................................................
By the end of the night, Hermione's head was buzzing with all the chatter but throughout the evening, she had stolen glances at her fiancé and he seemed to be quite enjoying himself, even amidst this crowd. "Gosh, I really need a long drive to clear my mind."Hermione thought aloud. "I might be able to do something about that."Snape said in her ear and excused himself to talk to Mr.Weasley. He came back and flashed her the keys to Arthur's flying Ford and Hermione grinned like a Cheshire cat. They sneaked out of the party and apparated to the garage from where they went down a highway driving the car. Hermione appreciated the silence at first but she felt he hadn't been talking to her much and she felt they couldn't begin their life together in this way. So she asked him to take the car up in the air after hitting the invisibility booster. They were in a forested area and it was quite late at night, so they didn't have any fear of some muggle happening in on them. Once they were hovering about a dozen feet above, she suggested they climbed onto the roof and lay down on their backs. "What are we doing here?"Snape seemed confused. "We're gazing at the stars. Why, haven't you done this before?"she asked. "I happen to have a roof over my head, by the grace of God."he said sarcastically. "Only someone who hasn't lied down under a beautiful canopy of stars would say such a stupid thing."Hermione scoffed. She could feel him looking sideways at her but she knew he was appreciating the beauty of the night and her company. They stayed quite for sometime, but even as the silence pressed, Hermione didn't know how to begin whatever she wanted to say. Thankfully he began,"Look, I'm sorry about last night. I overreacted, but I was only concerned for you." She squeezed his hand,"I know. It's okay. I'm sorry too." "I guess you are tired of babysitting me all the time? I'm sorry I sometimes don't act my age."she added. "That wasn't 'babysitting'."Snape retorted,"Of course I wanted you, Mrs.Potter and Ms.Lovegood to be safe. But that wasn't because I didn't believe that you couldn't take care of yourselves. But because I heard your plead and realized you needed help. So I rushed there with your friends as soon as possible. I think that's what friends do, they look out for each-other." Hermione knew he was right and her mistake of assuming he was fed up with her, was erased.
"Well, I believe, that was our last fight as girlfriend-boyfriend."he said after a while. Hermione was so animated over Snape saying 'girlfriend-boyfriend' that she didn't stop to think before asking,"Why?" Snape gave a small smile and said,"Because from tomorrow, you'll be my wife." She smiled back at him and he brought her hand close to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. "Do you think we'll still bicker, like an old-married couple?"she asked giggling. "Oh yes, surely,"he chuckled,"But it'll be envious as to how insanely happy we shall be." They were glad that everything was back to normal and that it was that easy. This taught them the necessity to always speak one's heart in a relationship and it gave them hope that no matter what troubles they might have, they could always converse in private and sort it out. After a while, Hermione observed,"Hey, do you realize that by this time tomorrow we're gonna be married?" "Yes, yes we would."he crooked up his eyebrows. "I just- I can't believe that we made it!"Hermione carried on ecstatically. "Yeah..."he mumbled. "Well... honestly ever since we got engaged I have been dreading something to..to flip you out."Hermione said on a more serious note,"Thank you so much for staying so calm during this. I mean really, it helped me stay calm." Snape arched an eyebrow up at her to refer to her and Ginny's hysterics, so she added,"What? It could'a been worse!" He laughed but then his smile gradually faded and he said seriously,"Honestly? Me too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You know I keep thinking that something stupid is gonna come up and I'll go all... well, me. Like the rude bastard that I am. But nothing has, thankfully."he said while he remembered that dream. Hermione sat up and looked straight at him,"Now that I think of it, I did notice you looked a little uneasy whenever I mentioned us as you know, 'we'. Is anything bothering you?" After a pause, Snape decided to share his dream with her; he narrated the whole thing in a way that wouldn't alarm her but he made sure she understood how shaken he was. She quitely listened to him and then he added,"I don't know if you can understand but...the way my parents's marriage fell apart, I don't want that to happen to us. Ever." "I do understand."Hermione had already foretold about this insecurity of his, but that was before he proposed. Now she looked at him a little afraid,"Do you think...Um, are you having second thoughts? About this..." Snape sat up then and held both her hands tightly,"No. I know there might be many adversities in life. And let's admit it, neither has the road been that buttery smooth for us till now. God knows what the future has in store for us and I'm terrified about it. But that doesn't scare me enough as to not do it. On the contrary, it makes me want to hold your hand and do this together." Hermione's eyes twinkled as she smiled fondly at him. He cupped her cheek with his palm and said,"There is no one else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with, other than you. You are the only one who can breathe some life into this miserable life of mine." She pulled him closer and after giving him a smooch she whispered,"Take me home before I kiss you off the roof of this car. Otherwise we would have to have our wedding at a hospital!"