A Season of Preparation

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

The first day after the Holiday was perfectly normal, but the second day was a bit odd. Classes were mostly the same as ever, but as the students walked in and out of the classroom, the girls glared at Hermione. She was going to remark upon it at dinner, but Viktor took her hand and leaned close.

"Young vitches are upset."

"They've been giving me angry looks all day. Do you know why?"

Minerva leaned behind Professor Sprout's chair. "Isn't it obvious?"

Both Hermione and Viktor shook their heads.

"What could we have done to make the girls so angry?" asked Hermione.

Professor Flitwick looked over. "It's as plain as the ring on your finger. Up 'til now, Viktor has been quite the eligible bachelor, you know."

The rest of the table laughed at the look on Hermione's face.

After Hermione and Viktor's engagement was fully acknowledged, time in the classroom dragged. Whether it was due to the lovely weather or the length of the school year, things were dreary. The students spent much of the time looking out the windows. For a full day, she masked the windows so that one could not see outside, but then the students looked stupidly at her as their minds obviously wandered. She had to admit defeat and fix the windows.

Every day there was a request from a magazine or newspaper for details about the wedding. Some were quite insulting, asking Hermione how she had caught one of the greatest Quidditch players ever known. One or two simply asked for information about the wedding. Those she forwarded to her father, begging for help. Severus's sent a note in response, waxing eloquently about his wife's skill in dealing with the press. Hermione rolled her eyes, but was grateful she didn't have to deal with it.

Planning a wedding should have helped the time pass, but it only added to the stress.. Yet here Andromeda proved to be worth her weight in gold. Hermione was already fond of her stepmother, but she fell in love with her all over again during the spring. Early on, there were Owls containing pictures of floral arrangements or swatches of color arrangements. House elves would arrive with soups or pastries to taste. They would stare carefully at Hermione to gauge her response and then disappear.

Every time Hermione read in a bridal magazine or book that there was some detail that needed to be considered, she sent a panicked Owl to Andromeda. Within hours, a return Owl always came, filled with soothing words and suggestions that had already been worked out. Hermione's only task was to select her favorite from two or three choices she would have loved.

The only thing Andromeda failed at, if it could be called failure, was the wedding dress. She'd made agreements with Gladrags and Madam Malkin's to have dresses sent to Hogwarts. During the last week in April and first week in May, Hermione would receive a courier box every other day. The most beautiful dress robes, gowns and frocks were in the boxes, and Hermione thought they were all amazing. Yet none of them was what she pictured when she imagined standing next to Viktor in his dress robes. She picked the best of the lot, and hoped Andromeda wouldn't know how disappointed she was. It was a gorgeous dress, after all, and Hermione knew she would be lovely. It just wasn't the dress.

None of that mattered when she spent time with Viktor. The only time of day that didn't drag endlessly were the few precious hours they spent together. They spent sunny afternoons walking together by the lake until it was time for dinner. Although a few of the young witches still frowned, most students waved and giggled at them.

They ate dinner together, conscious of people watching them frequently. Afterwards, they went to one of their offices or the other, grading essays and assisting students that came to their classrooms. Afterwards, they walked through the hallways, patrolling for students who were in the wrong places as the various curfews went into effect. They ended at Hermione's door, where Viktor would kiss her until she was sure her shoes had melted.

"Why don't you come in?" she asked. "You know I want you to."

"I vait so many years, vhat is few more veeks?"

"You know I'm not inexperienced."

Viktor shrugged. "Nor I, but I vish for no chance of students catching us or of interruption for school emergency."

"Won't that be the case next year, anyway?"

"Next year such things exist, but not vhen ve first come together. I vish for first time together after ve belong to each other completely, vhen ve haff time to learn full mystery of loff for each other. First time vill be magic." He pressed his forehead to hers as he whispered the last bit.

There was some validity to that position, but it was hard to just kiss him on his way. "Good night, then, Viktor. I can promise that I'll be thinking of you."

His response was a sultry chuckle. "And I of you, loff. I think long into night of you."

* * * * *

Luna finally responded to Hermione's frantic letters. The house is coming back together nicely. I understand that you will have a true honeymoon, spending a month touring Europe and meeting Viktor's family. I can guarantee that the house will be waiting for you the day you get back.

"When we get back?" Hermione shrieked loudly enough for many students to hear.

Viktor picked up the letter. "Ah, is perfect."

"I wanted to be married from my cottage! All of my plans were with that in mind."

"No, bride is married from father' house. We all agreed on that, even vhen Potter suggests it be from his house."

"When did this happen?"

"Vhen ve eat after you accept proposal."

She thought back to that day, and vaguely remembered some small spat between Severus, Teddy, and Harry while she had been daydreaming. She hadn't been so forgetful since... well it had been a long while. Perhaps she could be excused, given the events of that day.

"So I'm to be married from my father's house?"

"Is tradition."

"Yes, I recall."

* * * * *

Final exams, that last hurdle to cross before the wedding, eventually came. Hermione enjoyed proctoring exams, watching the students like a hawk as they wrote out their answers. Sometimes they looked at ceilings, as though the answers might be written there, and occasionally they looked at her and frowned, as though hoping the answer would scroll across her forehead.

Hermione and Viktor stayed up late at night, grading exams so they would be done long before the wedding. It might therefore have been weariness, or it might have been exhaustion. At any rate, on the last morning, Hermione was proctoring a second year charms exam. Ernest Montague was working hard on his exam, occasionally looking up and mouthing words to himself. Hermione walked past him, not noticing that he was starting to swish his wand as he did so.

She heard Viktor yell her name and turned in curiosity. Then she felt strangely light, and then the world went dark.

* * * * *

The bread smelled so good. She took a deep breath of it, and then her stomach growled. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in the room designated as hers in Andromeda's cottage. She sat up and thought about it. She had no idea how she got here, or indeed anything beyond that instant in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

Some clothes were laid out, waiting for her. She got up, put them on, and made her way downstairs. The smell of baking bread got stronger and stronger, until she thought Andromeda could hear her stomach growling.

As she walked into the kitchen, she saw that Andromeda was wrist deep in dough, while the children stood at the other end of the table and watched. Another woman stood near Andromeda, and the two witches appeared to be in deep discussion.

Suddenly Beatrix piped up. "Hermione is awake!"

Andromeda suddenly straightened up and wiped her hands on a damp towel so that she could hug her. Hermione was amazed to see just how enormous Andromeda was. The children crowded around, too, wanting hugs, making Hermine feel very loved.

"Hermione, this is Viktor's mum. She's showing me how to make the bread."

Hermione was pulled into a warm hug. "Yust call me Mama, dear."

"All right," said Hermione, who was being drowned out by the shouting little ones.

"Quiet, children," said Andromeda, "I told you that you could stay here just until Hermione woke up. Now you must go play while the grown-ups talk."

"I want to talk!" said the little girl.

"It's just wedding stuff, Bea," said Teddy.

"You can tell me everything later," said Hermione.

"Can we have cookies, mum?" asked little Evan

"You may each have one," said Andromeda with a smile.

When the children left, Andromeda returned to her dough. "This is the bread made by the mother of the bride three days before the wedding. Anya is showing me how it's done."

"Furst is good enough," said Viktor's mum.

"Perhaps," answered Andromeda, "but I want it perfect for Hermione and Viktor's day. Hermione, she added, "The remains of breakfast are under that towel over there. Help yourself. The kettle has been warm all along, so either coffee or tea is also ready."

"Thank you, Andromeda," answered Hermione. "How did I get here?"

"Your father was at the school for O.W.L.s, you may recall, and when he saw the spell hit you, he insisted on bringing you here, and you had a nice long sleep of two nights. Then Anya came, and we're finishing your plans." The bread went into the oven at that point, with Anya declaring it was indeed perfect.

Severus wandered in and, after greeting Hermione, looked at his wife in concern. "You're not overstraining yourself, are you?" He looked at Hermione. "It's twins, you know."

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't realize. I wouldn't have asked for so much help."

Andromeda pulled out a chair and worked herself into it. "Nonsense," she said. "It was pure pleasure for me to work on your wedding, and I promised the Healers that I would put my feet up afterwards until the babies come. But a daughter doesn't get married every day, and I'm determined that we shall do things right."

"Should you be resting?" Hermione was worried, now.

"I'll rest here, and we'll have a bit of tea while the bread bakes, and after it comes out, we'll go into the lounge. Severus is sure to make me so comfortable there that I'll need to move every ten minutes."

"It's just to take care of you," said Severus.

"What you can do for me right now, Severus, is get that notebook that has all my pictures and swatches in it."

A/N: I had intended this story to be completely posted by now, but for some reason, this one chapter kicked my butt. I apologize for making everyone wait.

Thank you, everyone, for reading, and for your kind reviews. Thanks, especially, to Blue Artemis, for being my beta reader and my companion in all of this.