Beautiful Morning

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

Hermione woke early on her wedding day. Andromeda had bustled her off to bed early the night before, claiming that she wanted her to be a well-rested bride. Yet sleep was elusive, and Hermione woke several times in the night, looking at her clock and sighing in annoyance. So once she realized she wasn't getting back to sleep and it seemed to be late enough, she simply got up.

She took her time showering, using special soaps and shampoos that would help her enjoy her special day without becoming too fatigued. After a leisurely breakfast in her bathrobe, she walked up to her bedroom and opened a wardrobe that she hadn't touched since she had come to the house the other day. The dress she was going to wear today was behind the door.

She opened the door and saw two dresses. There was the one they had decided upon, and next to it was her dress, the dress that she had dreamed of: The feel of the silk, the slim lines of it, the way the sleeves fanned out from her elbows, and the way it laced up the front. It was perfection. Why hadn't Andromeda sent it to try on? Perhaps she'd only found it recently and had forgotten to mention it in all the last minute planning they'd done over the past few days.

It had been so busy that Hermione had only seen Viktor once in all that time. He'd brought the last of her exams along with his, and they'd finished their grading together. Then they had strolled through Andromeda's garden, admiring it and getting ideas for their own at Hermione's house while stopping occasionally to make more physical promises to each other.

"Yust a few more days," he'd murmured into her hair.

"I can't believe it's finally going to happen, and yet, I can't wait," she had replied, holding him as tightly as she could.

Now today, she put on this lovely dress and thought to herself that in a few short hours, she and Viktor would be together forever. It fit almost perfectly, and the ties would adjust to accommodate the differences. There was a knock on the door, and then it opened.

"Harry and Ginny will be here soon. I was wondering if you wanted help with your dre--"

Andromeda stopped short and got the strangest look on her face.

"I'm so grateful that you kept looking. This one is perfect! How did you know?"

Andromeda leaned against the doorjamb. "I didn't. I forgot it was in there. That's my debutante dress."

"You were presented to the Wizengamot?"

Andromeda shook her head. "No, I ran away from home, and it ended up being my wedding dress when I married Ted."

Hermione looked in the cheval glass and picked at the silk. "Would you rather I not wear it?"

Andromeda crossed the room and hugged her. "No, dear, I'm honored that you would wear a dress that holds such happy memories for me."

Hermione hugged her back, but then was distracted by something in the hallway. Harry looked in the door of the bedroom and whistled under his breath. "That bad?" asked Hermione.

"You know better," he said, coming in to give her a hug and a kiss. "I definitely have something to work with when I'm asking him for money."

"What? I thought we said no bartering!"

"This is different. He's going to pay to get into the room where we have you locked up. That reminds me; I need one of your shoes."

"Harry! I'm not doing this."

"You must!" laughed Andromeda, "It's tradition."

"She needs her hair done! Get out!" Ginny wedged her way through the door past Harry and then elbowed him out of the room. "Mind you get a good price for her. If she doesn't want the money, I do. We need to repaint and furnish Lily's room. She's a little girl, not some sort of Quidditch sprog."

Harry laughed and went down the stairs while Ginny sat Hermione down in a chair. Andromeda offered to help, but Ginny said, "Mum told me to make you sit down and watch. She also said to ask if you remembered."

"She means my own wedding day," Andromeda laughed. "I was so pathetic with my own hair. I am still, truth be told."

"It looks fine now," said Ginny, who was spraying Sleakeasy's potion with one hand and brushing with the other.

"It doesn't need to be fancy today. I'm only taking part in what happens here at home, and then it's straight upstairs until the babies are born."

Hermione turned, making Ginny groan. "You're not coming to the wedding?"

"I'm sorry, but the Healers don't want me to. Severus and the children will be there to celebrate your day. I'll get to see Viktor's face when he first sees you. That's the most romantic bit, anyway."

Hermione felt a bit wistful. "You did all this work, and you won't be able to enjoy it?"

There was a sudden noise from downstairs. Ginny went to the window and looked. "Oh, no! Viktor and his brother are here! His family will be here any minute. Harry," she said more loudly, "we need more time. I still have to finish her hair before we do the veil."

Harry knocked on the door quietly to show that he had heard.

"What now?" Hermione asked, somewhat confused.

Andromeda laughed. "It's a charming tradition, actually. Harry is going to demand a handsome payment for Viktor to come in. There will be some bargaining, and the payment will be placed in your shoe. Then Harry will let Viktor in and Viktor will place the shoe on your foot."

There was a great deal of shouting and laughter downstairs. Hermione was somewhat annoyed to miss all the fun conversations. Then Ginny tugged a bit of her hair and gave her something else to be annoyed about. Then there was a lof of pounding on the stairs as part of the group came up.

"Not so fast," said Harry calmly. "I guarantee you want to see what's in that room, but you're going to have to pay. I hope you came prepared."

Viktor said something quietly that Hermione couldn't hear and there was a clink of coins. "That's an insult!" said Harry. "Hermione, you might want to consider climbing out the window if that's the best he can do."

"Is this how it is?" Viktor said.

There was another clink of money and Harry made a loud sound of annoyance. "If that's the best you can do, mate, I'm not sure she should come out."

"Vhat am I to think, Potter?" Viktor said. "Yu are one who helps me get job. Maybe you are trying to get rid of her."

There was a collective gasp, and Hermione looked up at Ginny, who was now applying Hermione's make up. "Was this all a set up?"

Ginny put the eyeliner away and then put her hands on her hips. "Would it make a difference if it was?" When Hermione didn't answer, she turned back and looked through the various choices for lip color. "You know Harry. It would kill him to keep a secret like that. Minerva really did ask him if he had any ideas for a Defense professor, and Harry really had been reading some magazine article about Viktor's retirement. Several of us asked each other how it might affect you, but then we shrugged and decided to let nature take its course."

Hermione smiled. "Nature has been very accommodating, lately." Then she ducked as Ginny tried to put her veil on her.

"That's one," said Andromeda. It was a Bulgarian tradition that three attempts must be made to place the bride's veil on her head, and Hermione wanted to honor that.

Ginny tried to put the veil on her again, and Hermione ducked it once more. Andromeda got up and walked Hermione over to the cheval glass. Then she kissed Hermione and helped Ginny settle the veil properly. They fastened it on her head with a wreath of roses. "Viktor sent these. He said they're from the town where his family lives. Oh! Now look at yourself."

Hermione looked in the mirror and suddenly couldn't breathe.

"That looks like me, but I've never looked like this."

"He won't take his eyes off you all day, and neither will anyone else."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle from the hallway. "I'm glad Ginny and I got married before this," said Harry. "You've set the bar pretty high for other blokes, Krum."

There was a knock on the door, and Harry said, "Let him in. He's earned the right."

The door opened, and there was Viktor. She'd seen him before, many times and on many different occasions. Today, he looked amazing in his dress robes. She could stand and look at him for hours. She was conscious of Andromeda and Ginny sighing romantically behind her. Severus cleared his throat out in the hallway, and the spell was broken.

"If you vould sit, I haff your shoe," said Viktor.

Ginny turned the chair they'd been using to help Hermione get ready, and she sat down. Viktor knelt down and lifted the hem of the dress. There was a scroll in the shoe. "This is for you," he said, handing her the parchment as he gently fitted the shoe onto her foot.

Hemione read it, and then looked at him. "This can't be real."

"Is real."

"It must be half your holdings!"

"Precisely. In vault in name of Hermione Granger-Krum. Just as paper says."

"But, Viktor!"

"I hold nothing back from you."

A/N: I'm trying to base some of this on what little I've been able to find out about Bulgarian wedding traditions. If I've messed up horribly, I apologize.

As always, this goes out with love to Kyria of Delphi, and I couldn't do it without the help and beta reading of Blue Artemis.