Disclaimer: I do not own anything, obviously.
a/n: hi guys, so I've been itching to write this for weeks, and since I'm kinda stuck-ish with my other ongoing story, I figured that this oneshot would refresh me.
Hope you'll like it :)
"You don't love me."
Astoria sat from across the table, looking at him seriously with a bit of indignant toughness, like she was fighting herself at the moment, and the side that she didn't agree with was winning. His wife looked at him with sad, clear blue eyes, gauging his reaction and finding the truth in his expression. The morning light hit her softly, washing her in a glow that would have made everyone say that she was as beautiful as an angel. But acceptance and resignation marred her unearthly aristocratic features, and she slumped her shoulders down, defeated.
"I... I do. I love you, Astoria." He stammered, trying to sound as if he wasn't lying, as if he was telling the truth. Usually, he was an impeccable liar, but when it came to matters of the heart- to love and such silly things- he could never bring himself to lie convincingly. Even to himself, he sounded pathetic.
Astoria stared at him with rueful eyes. Eyes that he had stared into for the past five years. Beautiful eyes, but never in the way that he found attractive. She gave him one of her winning smiles. But it was forced. Just like their relationship. Just like everything that they had shared. "Draco, don't lie to me. You know that I could always tell. You tell me you love me but I know that it's a lie. I always have. And I just recently realized that I didn't mind. I've always known that you don't. At least, not in the way that counts."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "Fondness isn't love, Draco."
"But it's enough, isn't it?" He sighed quietly.
"Is it really?" She said, smiling that sad, heart broken smile again. He hated that smile.
He kept quiet, trying to express the shame, guilt, and regret that he felt without words. This conversation came as a surprise, seeing as they had lived together quietly and without incident for so long. They never fought, never argued, slept in separate chambers, only saw each other at breakfast, but other wise had learned to live together peacefully. Years with her didn't teach him to love her. All it did was to teach him that he never could.
At first, he had been resentful. When their betrothal was announced, he was devastated. His heart already belonged to someone else. And the last thing he wanted was for something to deprive him of the light that he had just found. He wasn't willing to give up the only thing that he had gotten right in his life.
In the end, he didn't need to.
He had hated Astoria. She was the embodiment of all the things that hindered him from having what he truly wanted-from having the kind of love that he had never knew had existed. He had fought tooth and nail. Threw a tantrum, cursed his father, threatened Astoria's father, and flew into a rage. And in the end, he was still stuck with a marriage contract and a girl who he didn't even know.
When she left, he was blindsided. How could she have left him when he had done everything in his power to fight for their love? It was unfair. It was cruel. It was torture.
And he deserved it.
He was never going to be good enough for her anyway.
So with his head held high and emotions in check, he decided to hope that the girl that he was going to be tied to was someone that he could at least love half as much as he loved her. She was the perfect pureblood wife; smart, but not overly so; proper; humble; otherworldly beautiful. But after years of trying to fall for someone that he could never love in the right way, he was faced with a simple truth.
He didn't love his wife.
"I'm sorry," he said after an awkward silence. Opting for the truth; she deserved as much. "I tried, you know I really did."
"Yeah," she sighed. Still sad, but holding on to the blank mask that every pureblood seemed to carry with them since birth. "But you still don't. As much as it pains me to say this... I understand, Draco. I saw that you loved her way before our engagement was even drafted."
"Her?" He asked, confused. He studied her, and he noticed that she was turning to look at the paper again and again. Realization dawned, the stupid prophet must have featured him in another scandal. The nerve of those imbeciles. "You mustn't believe everything that stupid paper says, Astoria. You must know that despite my lack of love towards you, I would never dare cheat."
"I know you won't." Astoria smiled, "I'm talking about someone you haven't seen since a month before our marriage.
Then, it hit him.
She knew.
Astoria knew about her.
"How did you know?" He whispered, fighting to keep his emotions from lashing out. "No one knew about us."
"Maybe, but it was pretty obvious." Astoria laughed. "I used to watch you a lot, you know. I was curious about the man that my parents were trying to engage me to. I used to hope that you'd look at me back, and stare at me as much as I stared at you. But you never did. You had eyes only for her."
She gave him another rueful smile. Pouring herself a cup of tea and sipping it daintily, before continuing. "I don't know if anyone else noticed, I think Blaise did though, but you would always just sit still and gaze towards her, like you were figuring out a puzzle. Your expression would go all soft, and it looked like you forget to be indifferent every time you look at her. You'd go from stoic to angry to conflicted to resigned to longing and back to anger again. It was amusing and entertaining. And before I could process what it all meant, she started to look back at you, too."
Hearing the words- the words detailing their romance from the mouth of someone else, gave him a sense of relief. What they had was real. It wasn't something that he imagined. His wife's words were proof of that. He cringed. This was his wife telling him about seeing his love for another girl. He felt guilty that he didn't feel guilty. He gave her a sincere look, he started to look for words that were enough to declare how apologetic he was. He settled for the simplest, "I'm sorry."
"I am, too. She took your heart before I could even dream of possessing it." Astoria smiled again, but her pain was even more pronounced. He opened his mouth again, but she beat him to it. "I'm not really jealous of her- I'm jealous that you found the kind of love that I've always coveted. The kind of love that I wanted to feel with you. I'm not naïve, Draco. I know that our marriage would never be more than just a business proposal, or a friendship at best... but I hoped, you know? I hoped that we could fall in love. It was silly and childish. But when you suddenly stopped fighting and agreed to the engagement, I was thrilled. I thought that you were giving it a chance- that you were giving us a chance."
She fiddled with the paper that she had picked up, folding and unfolding the pages. He knew that her speech was not over yet, so he patiently sat as he allowed her to collect her thoughts. It was the least that he could do. Finally, she looked up at him again, meeting his gaze and smiling at him once more.
"Years later, I was heartbroken when I figured out that you were in love. But you were in love with someone who wasn't me."
He gave her a remorseful stare, still too shocked to move from his chair across from her.
She handed him the prophet with a watery smile. It had a picture of a smiling couple beaming at the cover. An familiar dark haired Bulgarian man was clutching a beautiful petite brunette's waist. They were laughing gaily together. The words, 'Wedding of the Decade' printed in big letters at the front of the page. Then, her smile faded and her unreadable expression was back. "She's back."
And with that, he was thrown by the barrage of emotions that besieged him. Memories swirled through his mind, clamoring for attention.
Her, looking up at him through dark lashes. Blushing cheeks tear-stained as she screamed at him and he screamed back with equal fervor. Both emotional, both broken.
Seeing her smile at him for the first time. Remembering feeling breathless and surprised.
Him tentatively trying to smile back at her, but always turning it into a smirk in the last moment.
Laughing together over their charms homework as they talked about everything.
Her visiting him in the Hospital wing and whacking his head for worrying her so much. That had made his concussion worse.
Him screaming bloody murder at her for disappearing for a day and a night, doing who knows what, probably something stupid and deadly, with her two bodyguards.
The way she laughed when she kissed him.
The way she knew exactly what to say and when to say it, and even when all he needed was her presence and the comfort of another human being.
The way her hand fit in his perfectly.
The first time they danced.
She looked up at him with her large, doe-like eyes, happiness so evident that he couldn't help but smile softly at her. "You look absolutely beautiful."
She blushed, skin turning pink and then she smiled bashfully. "You look dashing yourself, Mr. Malfoy."
He winked at her, earning another blush. He smirked, she was always easy to rile up, and he loved it when she was embarrassed by his attentions. "Love, I always look dashing."
"Yeah, and your ego is always the size of Australia." She snorted, but she allowed him to sweep her across the dance-floor. She smiled at him, and he almost melted. He forgot about the crowd of people watching them. He forgot about the ball. He forgot about the world. All he could remember was that she was right there in his arms- right where she should always be. Merlin, she was turning him into a pansy.
And he found that he didn't give a damn.
A few people were staring, looking at them curiously. It must have been a sight- the head boy and girl actually getting along well enough to dance. He smirked at Weasley, who was fuming a couple of meters from where they were dancing. The idiot turned beet red and Potter had to restrain him from marching towards them.
"What are you laughing at?" She asked, and he flashed her a charming smile. He smirked inside when he saw her cheeks flush red.
"All these boys are jealous of me right now. Because I'm dancing with you, and not with them. Once again, the Great Draco Malfoy gets the best of the best."
She was blushing even deeper now, turning into a shade of red - his new favorite color, he decided. Hermione Red. He loved it when she blushed like that, especially when it was him who was the cause of her coloring.
"Stop being a prat." She rolled her eyes, but he knew that she was amused. "Besides, everyone thinks that we're dancing because we're required to, as heads."
"Granger?" He said, pulling her closer, and reveling the feel of her warmth.
"Yeah?"
"How angry would you think Potter and Weasley would be if I kissed you?"
Her hazel eyes widened and she looked even more adorable. "You can't here, Draco!" She whispered furiously. "What part of a secret don't you understand?"
"But I don't want to keep you a secret."
"You can"t always get what you want." She reprimanded, but her eyes were soft. "I don't want to keep us a secret, either, but we have to."
She raised a hand to his cheeks, and he reveled in her touch. "It won't always be like this, Draco. Someday we can tell the world, but it's too dangerous right now. You know that."
"I hate that you're right." Draco grumbled. Then he flashed her a charming smile, and he wasn't able to control the next few words from slipping out of his mouth. "But I love you anyway."
Her eyes widened, and her eyes shined brightly. She smiled, making his breath hitch as she leaned in and whispered, "I love you too."
Thinking about her did great and terrible things to his heart, it was like someone had ripped through his carefully melded world, cutting through his shields and exposing the ugly, pulsing, bloody, scarlet wound that he thought was healing.
"Draco," Astoria's voice pulled him from his trance. He focused and he saw his wife looking at him with concern. "Are you alright? You look flushed."
"I'm fine," he croaked, breaking eye contact, he stared at the prophet again, barely containing his anger and sadness as he examined the headline again.
"You're not." Astoria said, stating the obvious. "Go to her."
"No." He said. "What... What we had. What I feel- what I felt for her, it's all in the past. We've moved on. There's no use in digging up things that's already six feet under."
"Is it really?" Astoria challenged, chuckling at his very obvious denial. "As I've said, don't you lie to me, Draco."
"I can't go to her." He said stubbornly, glaring at the paper. "She has her own life now. It's pretty damn obvious."
"Stop being prideful, you idiot." Astoria snapped, glaring at him with fierce eyes. "This is the same pride that made you not go after her when she left! It ruined your life once, Draco. Don't let it ruin you again for the second time."
He frowned at her, but she continued with her rant. "You can't let something like this slip by, Draco. The love you both share isn't something that you can come by twice a week. It's forever. And it's rare. She has your heart, always have, always will. Face it, you will never be happy without her by your side. Don't let your pride stop you from pursuing the best thing that has ever happened to you."
"Have you been reading those stupid sappy muggle romance novels again?" He said, trying to ease some of the sadness from the heavy atmosphere surrounding them.
"Don't insult my books." Astoria glared. "And I'm serious, Draco Malfoy. Go for her."
He sighed, reluctant to voice out something that had him stay away from her for five lonesome, miserable years. "You don't understand, Astoria. She left. How could she love me if she left?"
"You're hopeless." Astoria said, rolling her eyes. "Surely you're aware that love doesn't always express itself in the way that you want it to. It's never plain and simple, Draco. Especially with what you two had. If I recall correctly, everyone thought that if the survival of humanity depended on you two falling in love, then we'd all be doomed. Have you ever stopped to consider that her leaving was simply an act of selfless love on her part?"
"Impossible," he scoffed, not allowing himself to cling to the tendrils of hope that had suddenly materialized out of thin air.
"And this is coming from the man who has taunted her and ridiculed her for seven years just to get her attention?" His wife raised a perfectly plucked brow.
"I wasn't in love with her then!" He said defensively, frowning at the woman across him. "She was an annoying little know-it-all."
"Oh but I believe you were." Astoria chuckled, smoothing her hair. "You were a very extreme case of those kindergarten-romance things. And besides, what better way to gain her attention than to pull her figurative pigtails?"
"And I believe you got all of this nonsense off that bloody novel with a topless man on the cover?" Draco retorted, and Astoria blushed, glaring at him indignantly.
"No, I did not." She huffed, sniffing delicately and turning up her nose in the air, eyeing him snidely. "You should stop being so bloody blind and stubborn and just admit that you're still in love with her and want to go running to her doorstep right this minute?"
"I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
"You do."
"I don't."
"You do."
"Fine! I'll admit it! I'll confess that I'm still head-over-bloody-heels in-love with the fucking beaver and that I still want to sweep her off her feet and whatever romantic notion that you've come up with using that obviously deranged head of yours!" He all but screamed, and he realized his defeat when Astoria flashed him a triumphant and all knowing look. Stupid bloody annoying witch.
"Told you so," she said smugly.
Calming down, Draco let in a lung full of air, before exhaling it slowly, quelling his annoyance and filling him with fear and sadness. "But it doesn't matter."
"And why the hell not?" Astoria demanded.
"Because she didn't want me!" He hissed. "She didn't want me then, I know that she wouldn't want me now. She didn't love me enough to stay, Astoria. She left. She left me. It might look complicated, but it's simple, really. When faced between the prospect of accepting me, of loving me, of spending the rest of our days together and running away from everything that she loved, or pretended to love in my case. She chose the latter. She didn't choose me before. What makes you think that she would come back to me now?"
"Draco, that's not true!" Astoria exclaimed. Oh, how his wife was blinded by her preconceived notions of romance. Why couldn't she understand that it was painful for him to remember that and to even consider otherwise? The only woman that he had ever wanted, needed, loved didn't want, need, or love him back. Why couldn't she stop pestering him about the topic and just go back to eating her breakfast? Before she could say another word, he cut her off.
"It is. But that's not even the saddest part." He whispered, voice breaking and fighting to keep the tears at bay. "The saddest part is that she crucio-ed my heart, fed it to vultures, left me alone to suffer, confounded me, made me long for her, and come back now to taunt me with her presence when I'm finally starting to stop pining after her, and you know what? I still can't deny that I'm absolutely, irrevocably, deeply in love with that demented, torturous, aggravating witch. And there is nothing I can do but watch her move on with her life and be happy without me there. Stupid, know-it-all beaver. I could never force myself to stop loving her, despite everything. It's stupid of me, not to mention pathetic."
Silence ensued, and he was grateful for it, so he could sort out the tangled, rough, stormy mess of emotions inside him that only talk of Hermione Granger could seem to inspire.
It was a few more minutes before Astoria finally spoke up and said, "You are such a sweet, stupid, ignorant bastard." She chuckled, surprising him with her reaction. He had expected this kind of talk to be awkward, especially considering that he was talking about his intense feelings for someone that was not his wife to his wife, but it wasn't. Despite not loving her the way she wanted him to, Astoria was a friend, and a companion. He was grateful for that, despite her newly developed taste for insulting him.
"Blind. So blind." She murmured. "Tell me, Draco. Have you ever even stopped to consider that she might have left because she thought it would be easier for you?"
"Easier?" He snorted. "She damn well made my life a living hell after her departure. Easier my ass."
"You might think that, but this is Hermione Granger that we're talking about here." Astoria said. "She would die for a house elf, what makes you think that she wouldn't leave everything that she loves just so you could accept the engagement?"
"That's mad." He huffed, crossing his arms in disagreement. "She is selfless, but she knew that I would have withered without her. Probably got a kick from seeing me suffer."
"But it did work, didn't it?" Astoria remarked after rolling her eyes at him. "You agreed to the marriage, and as far as Granger knows, have been living a peaceful life since then. Tell me, Draco, would your so called Beaver have fought for your relationship if she thought that it was only going to hinder you from anything that she thought was good for you?"
"You can't leave for this god damned mission, Granger!" He screamed, willing her to see how panicked, anxious and worried he was. He scowled, trying to convey his feelings towards his brunette witch. His absolutely annoying and completely suicidal witch.
"We go through this every time I leave Malfoy! I have to go!"
"Take me with you, then." He said petulantly, blocking the doorway of the room they shared.
"No." She said, shaking her head. "Your presence is much more needed here, and this mission would be too difficult to pull of if there are two people involved."
"Then let me do it."
"No."
He hunched his shoulders, going for the cute-adorable-vulnerable idiot approach. "Hermione, don't go."
"I have to, Draco." She whispered, stepping closer towards him. She cupped his face, and he couldn't help but lean into her delightfully warm hand. Looking into her eyes, she said, "Think of all the lives I could save."
"No amount of lives are worth yours, Granger." He hissed, leaning in closer.
"That's not true." She whispered softly-sadly. "And you know it. It's the right thing to do. Dying would be an unpleasant side effect, but if it means that I could save all those lives, then I'm willing to risk it."
"Side effect?" He asked incredulously. "It's not a bloody side effect! Not if it's you!"
"It is!" She said, raising her voice. "Can't you see, Malfoy? Dying is a bloody side effect of this god damned war. Hundreds are suffering out there, and if I could at least help in the smallest way I can, then I'd bloody do so!"
"How many times do I need to remind you that your life is worth every other life in this whole Salazar forsaken planet." He said, raising his voice too, and trying to intimidate her into giving up this stupid mission.
"It is not!"
"It is to me!"
He was on the verge of hyperventilating now. Thoughts of her dying or her lifeless body floating somewhere made his breathing hitch. Thinking about never ever getting to see her, to hear her, to taste her made him want to curl up in a ball, just like every time she had to go on a stupid mission.
She touched his cheek again, and he unconsciously leaned into the contact.
"I have to do this, Draco. I'm sorry."
"Stupid, bloody, idiotic witch," He sighed. "You know I'd die without you."
"You won't." She said, smiling sadly at him.
"I will." He huffed. "Maybe not physically, but you have to know that you're the only thing that's keeping me grounded, Granger. Without you, I'd float away and never return."
"Stop being dramatic, Malfoy." She said. "But I'll have you know that that's not the same as dying."
"It is if you're not there to float away with me."
He kissed her. He kissed her like his life depended on her survival (which it did). He kissed her like she was heat in a cold winter's day; vital and essential. He kissed her with all that he had in him. He kissed her like he was trying to tell her that all of him loved all of her, and that she better get her arse back safely or he'd hunt her down and follow her to the ends of the world if he had to.
"No," he grumbled.
"Merlin, you're blind! Isn't this all up her alley? Sacrifice? She's the Queen of it, if I recall correctly. Always being on the side of just and nobleness. Is she not selfless and self sacrificing enough to feel as if the only answer would be to leave you instead of assist you in fighting for something that was doomed to end? If she thought she could lessen the hurt and pain that you would be feeling, she would have done anything, right?"
"She would." He said, pouting like a kid, and knowing that Astoria was right. "She's stupid like that."
"But you love her anyway."
"I do."
"So go to her. Listen to why she did what she did. Woo her back. Revisit the fire, rekindle the embers, whatever. Just go to her."
He nodded, sending her a grateful glance, but then reality dawned on him. "In case you've forgotten, I'm married. To you. And Malfoy men never cheat."
His wife came up to him and outstretched her arms. Confused, he hugged her, feeling her tears through his wizarding robe. They stood like that, both distraught by entirely different reasons.
"I love you." Astoria whispered. "In every way that counts. I really do, Draco."
"I love you too." He whispered back, feeling the despair and the sadness and the sorrow for everything that they had both lost and will never regain. "In the ways that matter."
"No, you don't." Astoria laughed quietly from his chest. And he felt shame again. Stabbing his already injured soul. "And that's why I'm opting to let you go."
He pulled away looking at her, confused. "What?"
She pulled out a piece of paper. Then said, in a voice that tried to be cheerful, "As much as I've enjoyed competing with a ghost for your attention, I know that I will never win. It's not worth wasting another few years of my life, plus yours, when you could be catching the witch of your dreams and I could be left alone with my romance novels. Sign here, Draco, and our marriage would be terminated."
"I thought that the agreement was for life?"
"There was a loophole." Astoria explained. "It says here that if no heirs are produced after four years, we have the right to terminate the contract."
"I won't leave you." Draco said half heartedly, knowing that this was his duty. "It's my duty."
"But I don't want to be just a duty to you." Astoria answered. "You can't be with me just because you think that it's your duty. You have your own happiness to think about. Don't let your twisted sense of responsibility hinder you from being happy, Draco. Don't be an idiot. How many times do I have to repeat this? Go to her."
"I... I don't know what to say..."
"A thank you would suffice."
"Thank you." He said sincerely, hugging her again.
"You're welcome." Astoria laughed, hiding the sorrow that she felt. She had accepted the fact that he had never loved her, and never will. But it still hurt when you know that even though you were the one that he chose to marry, you weren't the one that he chose to love. She put on a brave face as he signed the divorce appeal, effectively breaking their marriage. He was muttering incoherently, hands shaking nervously as he turned to rush out of the room.
Before he left, he turned at her one last time and flashed her a grateful smile, melting her a little inside as he shouted a thank you happily. In all their years together, she had never seen him this happy.
What she did was only right.
She was going to have to take a leaf out of Hermione Granger's page. If the other witch could sacrifice her happiness to give Astoria and Draco a chance at love, then Astoria can do the same for her. She gave her a chance. It was Astoria's turn to sacrifice.
Even if it meant letting the man she loved go.
And she couldn't help but feel a bit surprise at the pride, happiness, and acceptance that had rushed over her the moment that he confessed that he still loved the Gryffindor. Grinning quietly to herself, she pulled out out one of her romance books from her purse, but not before muttering quietly, "This is probably the best Anniversary gift that I ever thought of."
"Astoria." A familiar velvety voice said from behind her. "I heard everything. Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded, turning towards the one and only Theodore Nott. "What are you doing here, Theo?"
"I saw you at the Ministry processing the papers, and I decided that maybe you'd need someone to make sure you're okay." He explained, crossing the threshold towards her.
"You didn't need to do that." Astoria snapped, trying to keep her emotions in check again. She was prepared to have an all out emotion-fest, but the dark idiot had to ruin her fun.
"Tell me, Astoria," he whispered, looming over her in a way that should have made her uncomfortable. "Did it hurt, letting him go?"
Slap.
Astoria looked at him and then her hand with surprised eyes. Suddenly, her vision blurred and tears cascaded down her pale cheeks. Theo reached out and hugged her, enveloping her in a warmth that she hadn't felt since the last time he hugged her like this-the night after her betrothal was announced. And her emotional flood gates opened.
She cried.
And cried.
And cried some more.
And he stood there hugging her and keeping the broken pieces of her together.
It was as beautiful as it was tragic. She was broken. And he was breaking. They were both damaged, but somehow, their broken pieces fit. It was like they had to break before they could be together.
Perhaps this is what the stories meant when they called somebody heartsick. Your heart and your stomach and your whole insides felt empty and hollow and aching.
She looked up, right into his black eyes, and said, "Not as much as holding on to something that never was, and never would be, real."
"Well, he couldn't have broken your heart if you didn't love him." Theo pointed out. "In my book, it would say that you really did love him. And that's real, isn't it?"
"Yeah." She mumbled, burying her face into his shirt. "Thank you Theo, you've been a good friend."
"Not just a friends for long." He sent her a smirk, pushing her back slightly so he could gaze into her midnight blue eyes.
"I'm a newly divorced woman, you neanderthal." She said, slapping him playfully at his shoulders.
He shrugged, giving her a lopsided smile. "I've waited for you for years, I think I could wait a few more."
She smiled at him through her tears.
Maybe Draco wasn't the only one who had sight issues.
"So you're telling me that Hermione Granger is getting married?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow at his currently pacing blonde friend.
"Yes! To Viktor Bloody Krum!" Draco exclaimed. "Didn't you see the headline? And the fucking picture? I knew I should have killed that Bulgarian idiot when I had the chance."
"Did you even read the article?" Blaise questioned, sipping his tea as if Draco's life was not crumbling and falling apart. Non-contract wizarding marriages were for life. If she marries that idiot, she would be tied to him forever.
He refused to lose her just when he had hope of getting her back again.
"No, I think I deduced what was going to happen from the stupid title to the picture, you bloody git." Draco growled, trying to hatch up a diabolical plan.
"Why does it matter anyway?"
"Why does it matter?" Draco asked incredulously. "Why does it matter? Of course it matters! I've been in love with her since Hogwarts. It matters if she's about to shackle herself to some unknown bloke and leave me to pine for her again."
Blaise's indifferent expression suddenly broke out into an amused grin. "I knew it!" He exclaimed. "Pans and Daphne and practically everyone from Slytherin owes me a hundred galleons each."
"What? Why?" Draco asked, momentarily stopping his pacing to stare at his best friend in confusion.
"The Slytherin house had a running bet on when you'd finally tell someone about you fancying Granger. Almost everyone bet on dates during our seventh year." Blaise smirked. "I was the only one who knew you were thick enough to wait after actually graduating to tell us your little beaver secret."
"It looks like I just made you an entirely new fortune." Draco grumbled. "The least you could do is to help me with this debacle."
"Of course." Blaise smirked. "This would be entertaining."
Draco frowned at the Italian. "So what do you suggest I do?"
"Stop the wedding." Blaise shrugged. "The more dramatic, the better. You'll get her attention, and it would tell the whole world that you want her. Don't you want that?"
"Yeah, I do." Draco mumbled, pacing again. "When's the wedding again?"
Blaise glanced at the paper, and his eyes went wide. "It's today mate."
"What the-" Draco froze, and all the fear and dread came crashing down. "Where?"
"Granger Estate." Blaise answered. "Woah, I didn't know your little beaver was loaded enough to own one of the biggest muggle estates in Britain."
"I know where it is." Draco said. He gripped Blaise roughly and they apparated with a crack.
"Stop the wedding!" He screamed as they landed outside a gigantic white tent situated on perfectly manicured grounds. Draco ran towards the entrance, where the closest people looked at him with shocked and confused looks.
"Stop the damned wedding!" He hollered, running up the red carpeted aisle towards the couple standing before the altar. As he neared, he tripped (stupid, bloody vase of flowers) and stumbled, barely catching himself before his second most prized part of his body fell flat against the floor.
"Vot is ze meening of zis?" A heavily accented voice said from above him, and Draco didn't have the energy to look up and see what the love of his life looked like while she married a man that wasn't him.
"Shut your trap, Krum." He hissed, sitting down (he couldn't get up because he sprained his ankle), he put his face in his hands. "Before you get married, I... I need to say something."
"But ve are already married, Mister Malfoy." The Bulgarian said gruffly, exchanging looks with his equally shocked wife. Just five minutes ago, the Minister had asked for protests, and seeing the beauty and fame of his new wife, he was sure that there would be a few snags, but he hadn't expected a Malfoy dropping to his knees just before he was about to kiss his bride.
Draco meanwhile, was starting to go numb. He had been too late. It was over. Non-contract magical marriages were set in stone. It was irreversible.
He was never going to have a chance with her again.
The thought was almost enough to make him want to avada himself.
"Just... Let me say this. Let me tell Hermione everything before you steal her away permanently, okay?"
"Err... Alright, Mr. Malfoy." Krum's voice said awkwardly, and Draco stirred up what courage he had in him and threw away his sense of shame.
"Granger... Fuck, I'll miss calling you that... Hermione, first and foremost, I would just like to say that," He whispered, but it didn't matter, because he was heard by everyone who had turned as silent as can be. "I fucking hate your bloody conscience."
"Out of all the billions of people that walk and exist in this earth, you're the only one I want. The only one. I must have killed Merlin in my past life, because of all the crap that has befallen on me on a regular basis. But I think the crappiest shit that landed on me is you. Yes, you. You make me fall in love with you, want you, need you, and then poof, you disappear. Suddenly, you leave. You steal my heart and then put a bloody hammer to it and then leave with all the pieces. I shit you not, you vile, evil witch, you fucking broke my heart. Literally-okay, maybe not but it feels as if you did. But the craziest thing is, if it means that I could have you, then I'd be willing to let you break it a thousand and one times. It was only yours to break anyway."
"What I'm saying is... I love you. Every bit of you, I'll continue to love, even if you did shackle yourself to this imbecile. No offense Krum, but I hate you. Granger, all of me loves all of you. Even the stupid, annoying part that convinced herself that abandoning me to marry another girl is the only solution, much less a good one. I'm sorry. And I know I'm an idiot for not coming to your side as soon as I could have. I know it was downright stupid of me to let you leave and letting you go was a decision that's enough to make me bash my head into a rock. Believe me, if I wasn't such a coward back then, if I had understood your intentions sooner, I would have followed you to the ends of the earth and even the depths of hell if it meant that I could bring you back. I'm sorry."
"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. You made me a better person. And all that sentimental stupid crap. I know this is pointless, but I just wanted to let you know that you're still it for me. And you'll forever be my only one. You might not be mine anymore, but I'm yours. Was. Is. And will always be. I love you, Granger-I refuse to call you Krum- and no matter how many times I repeat that, it would always be real. And now that everyone thinks that I'm a proper nutter for barging into your wedding and doing a soliloquy, can I at least ask you this? Did you ever really love me?"
All throughout his monologue, he had his head in his hands, but he raised it a bit to stare at her feet. He refused to look at he in her newly-wedded glory, when it was all a reminder of how he could have been the one standing next to her right now, instead of kneeling in front of her and begging her a last assurance that what they had was real.
"You were always so dramatic." Her familiar voice snorted, but it was coming from his side. He whipped his head quickly, catching the sight of her.
In a bridesmaid gown.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
He looked up at the bride, who was not a buck toothed beautiful brunette, but a dark-haired European who was looking at him quizzically.
"Wha-" he started to say, barely registering Blaise's obscene laughter from the back of the church.
"Cat got your tongue, Malfoy?" Hermione-his Hermione, mind you- smirked.
He composed himself, as he whispered gruffly, still to shocked to articulate anything properly. "But you- wha-paper-shit."
"I'll let you get rid of the shock first." She laughed. "And to answer your question-"
"I did."
Did, past tense.
"I still do."
Still do, present tense.
"I will always do."
Will always do, future tense.
He leapt up and tackled her right then and there, still speechless, and now, also breathless. His mind was still reeling, but it was instinct that propelled him to her.
He couldn't believe that she wasn't the one who was getting married. he would have to kill Blaise for not telling him what the article said, but first, he had eyes only for his brunette beaver.
"I missed you." he breathed. "Never, ever, leave me again, okay? I wouldn't handle it, not for a second time."
She nodded, staring into his eyes, and then she got the look that warned you when she was about to unleash her powerful ranting skills, but even before she began, he leaned down and kissed her with all that he had.
Maybe he hadn't murdered Merlin in his past life, after all.
A/n: the prophet article was really about Hermione going back and hosting Krum's wedding in her parents' estate. The bride's identity was secret, so the prophet put a picture of Krum and Hermione together instead.
Hermione went to Bulgaria on Krum's engagement party invitation when she decided to leave Draco alone so he could do the right thing and marry astoria. She decided to stay there and she and Krum had become really close, hence, Hermione offering her parents' place to host the wedding.
Hated it? Liked it? Questions? Review. :))