Hermione and Ginny both were more accepting of Harry and Ron watching over them for the rest of the week after discussing it with their Veelas, but the girls did think that having Harry and Ron with them at Ginny's wedding dress appointment was a little much.

"I seriously doubt they would attack us in such a public place," Ginny muttered as they walked through the doors of the salon.

"Says the girl who was attacked at quidditch practice," Ron argued.

"Hush you two!" Hermione said in an exasperated tone. "This is supposed to be a happy day!"

After checking in at the desk, the four of them immediately went to the dress racks. Ginny had decided to go to a muggle shop first, to see what she liked before going to a wizarding shop with the rest of her family.

"Are you sure that your Veelas won't come trying to find us?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I didn't tell them where we were going," Ginny said with a shrug. "Didn't want Blaise trying to sneak a look at the dress."

Ginny and Ron soon both wandered off after Ron found a dress that he wanted to show his sister, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the dress racks.

Hermione heard Harry sigh and she looked over to see him slowly walking through the dresses, his hands in his pockets and a sad look on his face.

"Harry," She said quietly. "What's wrong?"

He looked up at her and gave a sad smile. "I just thought that when I'd be seeing her in a wedding dress, it would be when she was walking down the aisle to me, not someone else."

Hermione chewed on the inside of her cheek, unsure of what to say. She reached out and took one of his hands from his pockets, giving it a squeeze and saying, "You still love her, don't you?"

"Of course I do," He answered quietly. "I love her with all of my heart. But I've come to terms with the fact that she's been fated to be with someone else. It's just hard sometimes to know that I'll never get her back."

She sighed and pulled him in for a hug, letting go after a few seconds. Before she could say anything, Ron and Ginny came around the corner.

"Come on, they're ready for us!" Ginny said excitedly, oblivious to the sad look on Harry's face.

Hermione laughed as Ginny practically bounced after the consultant, who led the four of them to a room with a platform in front of it.

"Alright, so I'm going to take your measurements and then grab your undergarments, and then grab a few dresses for you!" The blonde consultant said with excitement.

While the measurements were being taken, Ginny and the consultant went over what style of dress that Ginny wanted. She was primarily wanting to try on mermaid-fitted dresses, and even mentioned wanting sleeves at one point on them.

"She has to be covered from head to toe," Ron interrupted after a few minutes.

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave him a smack. "Let her choose her own dress."

Ron scowled at her before leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Fine, just...no cleavage showing."

Ginny rolled her eyes this time and the consultant laughed as she said, "Don't worry, we get a lot of protective brothers here. I have a good idea of what you want though and already have some dresses in mind, so I will be right back with the undergarments and then the dresses!"

The consultant disappeared around a corner and Ginny sighed, looking at the other three in the chairs in front of the platform. "You know, it's awfully nice being in a shop where no one knows who we are."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, looking around. "Though I have to admit, being in a wedding dress shop is a little unnerving."

Hermione and Ginny both laughed at that. Ron nodded in agreement with Harry though and said, "I'm surprised you didn't want mum here, Gin."

"I'll be taking her on the next appointment, I just wanted to get a feel for this myself," Ginny explained. Then she crinkled her nose and said, "Besides, mum would try to put me in a frilly princess gown, and that's not what I want."

"Will the next appointment be in a muggle shop too?" Ron asked curiously.

Ginny shrugged. "I'm not sure. If it is, mum and dad are not going. I can't trust dad to not ask them all sorts of questions about it and making them uncomfortable."

Everyone grew quiet when the consultant came back to leave the slip and corset bra that were supposed to go under the dress before disappearing off into the racks.

Ron stared at the two pieces of white clothing and asked, "Please tell me those go under the dress?"

Hermione laughed. "Yes, Ron. They're to help keep the structure of the dress."

The two boys gave her a confused look and she shook her head. "Nevermind, you wouldn't understand no matter how I try to explain it."

"I'm sure we can just use magic to do whatever those two things are supposed to do," Ron said.

"Yes, but we're in a muggle shop so we can't do that here," Ginny retorted.

Ron scrunched his face at her and Ginny returned the gesture. Hermione laughed at them as she said, "Gin, I'm surprised Blaise hasn't insisted on using that designer they used for our Halloween costumes."

Ginny shrugged. "I told him that I would use her as a last resort."

Harry and Ron gave the girls confused looks before Harry spoke up. "What do you mean, designer?"

Ginny shifted her weight and obviously didn't want to answer, so Hermione turned to him and said, "Well, Draco and Blaise both decided to use this designer named Diantha to make our Halloween costumes. I was having so many problems trying to decide what I wanted to be, so Draco just took the decision out of my hands, which I'm kind of happy for."

"He did a good job too," Ginny chimed in.

"Yeah, we saw," Ron growled slightly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Stop that. Remember, happy day?"

Ron huffed. "Only because she's my sister."

The consultant suddenly appeared with a few dresses draped over her arm. "Alright, are we ready?"

Ginny nodded eagerly and the two women disappeared into the changing room, leaving the other three sitting outside in silence.

"Can't believe she's getting married," Ron said under his breath, ending the silence. "And to a Slytherin of all people!"

He looked over at Harry and said, "I always thought she would be getting married to you."

Harry didn't say anything in response and Hermione smacked Ron as she scowled at him. "Can we not talk about this right now?"

"Well, what else should we talk about?" He asked in a frustrated tone. "We're in a wedding dress shop, surrounded by wedding dresses. Why can't we talk about Ginny getting married?"

"Because that's not what you're wanting to talk about," Hermione answered. "You're going to have to shut up about that particular conversation because none of us want to discuss it right now."

"Well fine, how about we talk about your getting married to Draco?" Ron replied angrily.

Hermione gaped at him. "You are such a prick, Ronald!"

Harry stood up then, grabbing Ron's arm and pulling him up. "I think we're going to just go outside. There's a deli across the street; we'll just hang out there until you two are finished."

Ron was about to protest but he was silenced by a glare from Harry. Hermione simply nodded at them and turned her attention back to the closed door to Ginny's stall, crossing her arms against her chest angrily.

Her mood was instantly lifted as soon as the door opened and Ginny walked out happily, eager to show off the wedding dress. She instantly noticed that it was just Hermione sitting there and looked towards the doors where she saw Harry and Ron leaving the store.

"What happened?" She asked, giving Hermione a confused look.

Hermione shook her head. "Your brother was being a prat and Harry decided that it would be best if they weren't here right now."

Ginny nodded in understanding and gave a twirl of her dress. "What do you think?"

Hermione smiled as she looked at Ginny. The consultant put her in an ivory-colored lacy mermaid dress that hugged her hips and had the long sleeves that Ginny suggested. The neckline was beautiful, hanging off her shoulders and revealing her collarbone and neck while still coming into a sweetheart neckline. There were buttons lining the entire length of the back of the dress and the train stretched out a few feet behind Ginny.

"It's absolutely beautiful, Gin!" Hermione exclaimed as she stood up and went to get a closer look. "Can you raise your arms though?"

Ginny pulled her arms up and they could only reach about to her head. "Not really, but at the same time I'm sure it'll be alright. I absolutely love the train!"

She looked over her shoulder at the consultant who fluffed out the train as she spoke, "This is a chapel-length train, and can easily be bustled so that you don't have to worry about people stepping on it or it getting dirty."

Ginny looked at herself in the mirror, suddenly fidgeting with the dress. Hermione saw her pulling on the sleeves and the sides of the dress, trying to smooth folds that weren't there.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked, giving her a concerned look.

Ginny looked at her in the mirror and then turned to the consultant. "Can you give us a moment, please?"

The consultant seemed caught off guard but nodded and disappeared around the corner, leaving the two girls alone.

"Everything alright?" Hermione asked, stepping onto the platform to stand next to Ginny. "You seem really nervous."

Ginny bit her lip and ran her hands over the dress again. "I just really like it."

"I really like it too," Hermione said, walking around the dress slowly. "It looks really beautiful, and it has everything you wanted."

"Yeah..." Ginny trailed off, turning from side to side.

Hermione looked at her friend. There was a very nervous energy that Ginny was giving off, and coupled with the expression on her face, Hermione knew there was something really wrong.

"Hey," She said, taking Ginny's hands. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

Ginny looked at her for a few moments before looking down at the ground. "I think I'm just nervous, I don't know..."

A sudden yell caught their attention and the girls looked up just in time to dodge a spell aimed at them. Hermione whipped out her wand as Ginny scrambled into the dressing room to grab hers.

There were two figures in dark robes on the other side of the store, their faces blurred by the bright lights behind them.

A flash of green was sent towards Hermione and she ducked out of the way before yelling, "Stupefy!"

Ginny immediately came out of the dressing room with her wand drawn and shot off a few curses of her own. Hermione caught sight of Harry and Ron on the other side of the people attacking them, and the two figures moved so their backs were to each other.

A shot of red went past them and hit the mirror behind the girls, shattering and sending glass flying everywhere. Another flash of green went toward Ginny and she quickly moved, firing off a quick flash of red in return. The girls both defended themselves against the barrage of red and green that came their way, sending off just as many as they received.

After a minute of chaos, one of Ginny's spells finally made contact and one of the attackers went down. The second attacker quickly reached down to grab the other, and with a loud crack they both disappeared. Hermione yelled in frustration as Harry and Ron ran over to the girls, worried looks on their faces.

"Did you see them?" Harry asked quickly, looking between Hermione and Ginny.

"No, the sunlight was behind them!" Hermione yelled. "How did they find us?!"

Ron had pushed past the other two and went to Ginny, wrapping her up in his arms and holding her there. Ginny didn't seem to mind as she buried her head into Ron's shoulder, shaking slightly.

"They didn't hit either of you, did they?" Ron asked, looking at Hermione.

She shook her head and then looked around. "We have to get the Ministry out here to fix this."

Harry already had his stag Patronus cast and was talking to it, relaying instructions and then sending it off. The stag ran out of the store and disappeared, and Harry turned back to the other three.

"Ginny, go get changed," He started, before turning to Hermione. "I don't know how good Draco and Blaise's range is as far as you four being able to feel each other's emotions, but I would recommend sending a Patronus to them and let them know we will have to meet in your manor."

Hermione nodded and Ginny disappeared into the dressing room. Hermione cast her Patronus and said to it, "Draco, we were attacked at the dress shop. We are all alright, but Harry says we all need to meet at our manor. We will be there shortly."

She sent the otter off and went in to help Ginny out of the dress. Ginny was completely silent as she struggled with the top buttons on the dress until Hermione pulled her wand out and ran it down the length of the buttons before undoing the zipper.

"Thank you," Ginny said quietly.

Hermione nodded and stepped out of the room, the adrenaline of being attacked finally leaving her. Exhaustion replaced it and she sank into one of the chairs, staring off in front of her.

"Hermione?"

She looked up to see Ron making his way over to her. He sat down in the chair next to her and took her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

She opened and closed her mouth, unable to find the words. She didn't honestly know if she was alright, since they had just been attacked again and they survived without getting hurt. Looking around at the damage, it finally sunk in and her chest tightened as it hit her.

Her arms started to shake and she leaned forward, putting her head in her hands as she felt Ron's hand on her upper back.

"We'll be leaving soon, just take some deep breaths," He said, rubbing her back gently.

She nodded and tried to slow her fast-beating heart, closing her eyes as everything started to swirl around her. She heard the door open and felt someone grab her hand and pull her up into a hug, realizing it was Ginny. The two girls held each other for a few moments, both of them shaking.

They only broke apart when Harry came back and said, "Ministry officials have arrived; I've let them know what happened so we can go now. You'll have to apparate Ron and I with you."

Hermione  nodded  and  reached  out  for  Harry's  hand  while  Ginny  took  Ron's,  and  the  four  of  them  disapparated.