A/N: This is my first story so please don't be too mean. Feedback would be great; of course I'll just be pleased if people actually read this. I don't own Harry Potter; I just like to daydream about the characters *wink wink*. Severus and Fred are alive because I love them and they shouldn't have died. I'm not making any money and this is just for fun. If you see mistakes please let me know. This will be a slash story, as in male/male. If you don't like it then please don't read.

Moonlight glittered off the polished marble floors casting shadows throughout the room. A cool breeze brought the sweet scent of cherry blossoms in through the open balcony doors from the garden far below. The room was quiet except for the pleasured moans from the young woman on the large four poster bed and the soft almost inaudible sound of silver silk sheets moving under pale flesh.

"Sweet Merlin…" the woman gasped as the man above her sped up his administrations. He was silent as he moved and his face was masked in the darkness of the room. He scowled down at her knowing that she could not see his look of contempt. He had requested her silence at the beginning of this ordeal but of course it was just his luck that she was a vocal lover. He was pleased with himself for refusing her earlier request to turn the lights on. He did not want to have to look at her, especially if he had to listen to her.

He momentarily paused. Perhaps he was being at bit too harsh. It wasn't really her fault that he had been forced into this. She had not been overly helpful in getting him out of the situation but neither had she personally made him do it.

The lady beneath him bucked her hips up, reminding him that he had ceased to move. He sighed in frustration and restarted his movements with renewed vigor. The quicker he did his part the quicker he could be done.

He closed his eyes as he moved and tried to think of pleasant thoughts, thoughts of anything to distract him from his task.

I wonder what I should get Pansy and Blaise for their anniversary. Certainly not a puppy… Although it would serve them right for giving mother that abomination that they call a bird. It's so loud with its constant squawking and repeating everything it hears. It's really too bad that mother put it in her and father's private rooms. I certainly did not need to hear that damned bird repeating the sounds of my parents…intimate life.

The woman beneath him chose that moment to scream out as her body clenched around his in orgasm. She reached up and attempted to pull his face down into a kiss but he pulled away sharply.

"Do not think that you can take such liberties with me." He snarled darkly. He could almost make out the pout on her lips below him.

"But darling, we're married. I'm your wife and we're making love. Most couples kiss. I bet even that stupid Potter…"

The rest of her words went unheard as his body tightened up and released his seed into her. He pulled out immediately and cast a wordless spell to clean himself before heading to the bathroom. The spell had cleaned him but he still felt filthy.

He paused in the doorway to the bathroom and spoke without looking back.

"I will never 'make love' to you, Astoria."

.

Draco sat stiffly in the scalding water. He scrubbed his skin until it was beet red and then scrubbed just a bit more. He felt disgusting all the way down to his bones.

When his skin was too sore to scrub at anymore he lay back in the tub, resting his head against the white porcelain side. Briefly he wondered if the path he had chosen was worth it.

He had married Astoria earlier that day. The wedding had been large, full of people he did not know. It seemed everyone had wanted to see the event. Minster Shacklebolt had attended along with a vast number of his auror henchmen, including Weasley in his shabby robes.

"What are you doing here Weasel? This is a high class event, not a food give away." Draco had snarled to the red head in annoyance.

"Shove off Malfoy. I'm here on official Ministry business but that doesn't mean I won't hex you."

At this Draco couldn't help but smirk. His meddlesome mother had hired aurors to guard the wedding. He felt like he was going to scream at the complete insanity of it all and ended up laughing to hide his panic.

"Oi, what's so funny Ferret?" The Weasel asked as he looked at him suspiciously. Quickly Draco came up with an excuse.

"Just trying to picture you protecting anyone. The lot of us would be dead if we actually had to depend on your pathetic self to save us."

Weasley turned an ugly shade of red as his hand moved towards his wand.

"Oh there you are Ronald. I checked over by the food and I couldn't find you so I got worried. Harry is looking for you." The mudblood said as she walked up. Her robes were lavender and plain but at least they looked fairly presentable unlike her red headed partner.

Still looking a bit red, Weasley headed off in the direction that the mudblood nodded. As soon as he was gone she turned towards Draco with a fierce look in her eyes.

"One would have thought that you would have grown up by now Malfoy."

"Well one would also think that you and your worthless husband would have the courtesy to not ruin such a fine event with your despicable presence!" Draco replied quietly in a dark tone, making sure that surrounding guests didn't hear. The mudblood had the audacity to laugh at him before responding.

"That was a sad attempt at a comeback Malfoy. You used to be so much better. What happened to you?" Her tone almost had a sincere quality to it that Draco did not even want to consider. Over her shoulder he could see his soon to be bride walking towards them and sighed exasperatedly.

"Just keep that weasel out of trouble Granger."

"Ron wouldn't cause trouble if you weren't harassing him! He's grown up a lot since school ended and personally I think you should give it a try too." She huffed and then suddenly her entire appearance shifted to one of formality and forced politeness. "Oh, hello Ms. Greengrass. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Of course it is." Astoria muttered before turning all of her attention on Draco. She stepped as close to him as possible and then took his arm in her hand while leaning into him suggestively.

"Darling, I can't wait until tonight. I so look forward to finally being able to explore that delectable body of yours without clothing to hinder me." She whispered in his ear in an attempt at an alluring voice, which she failed miserably.

Draco shivered in disgust and tried to disentangle himself from her without looking too much like he wanted to be far away from her. Much to his dismay she mistook his shiver as a sign that he had found her attempt at seduction riveting, and laughed while trapping him within her arms.

Silently his mind screamed at him to get her off and away from him. At first he tried to be gentle but she would not budge so he forcefully pushed her away. He glanced around quickly to see if anyone had noticed and his eyes locked onto emerald green ones that stared directly at him. He felt heat rush to his cheeks as he backed away from the crowd, making an excuse of having to use the loo.

.

Draco had remained hidden within his room until his father arrived declaring that it was time for the wedding. His walk down to the ballroom felt like a walk to his death. Actually he would have preferred walking to his death. He blanked out during the entire ceremony, robotically speaking when it was required of him, and chastely kissing Astoria when he had to. His body was on autopilot and his mind was miles away.

I just have to remember the reasons why I'm doing this. It's my duty as the heir to marry and produce another heir to carry on the bloodline. I have to do this to uphold the family name. I can't let father and mother down… I suppose Astoria's not so bad. It could be worse. It could have been that stupid Weasley chit. She is a pureblood after all.

Well no I guess it couldn't have been that stupid Weasley. Didn't she recently marry Scar Head?

Hehehe… Scar Head… Ah I was not an overly creative child, was I? I could've called him anything when I was younger and I came up with Scar Head?

As he thought that his mind traveled back to earlier when he had looked into the eyes of said person. He couldn't decide what it was but something had seemed different about Potter. But he had only seen him for a second so he could have just been imaging things…

Draco was snapped from his thoughts as he was lead up to the room Astoria would be living in. He had refused to share his room with her, declaring that he needed privacy to work on the potions that he and Severus were creating. That was not the real reason of course, but how could he tell her that he would rather jump of the seventh story balcony than sleep in the same room as her?

Malfoy Manor was excessively large and Draco had always been proud of his home but at this point he wished it was infinitely bigger so that Astoria could never lead them to her chambers. Sadly they arrived much sooner than he wanted. She dragged him inside and then cast a series of spells to lock the door and silence the room and… remove her clothes.

Astoria stood before Draco naked. He inspected her closely and tried to figure out just why he detested her so much. She had pale skin, but in his opinion it looked more sickly than appealing. Her hair was a dull blond color and reached down to her shoulders in perfectly straight layers, which Draco found boring. Her eyes were a medium brown and reminded him beef stew which was not romantic at all. Her lips were too large for her face and had a hideous shade of bubble gum pink lip gloss on them. Her breasts seemed disproportioned with the rest of her body. She was thin and tall and just all wrong. Draco couldn't help but think that perhaps something was wrong with him…

She draped herself across the silver sheets of the four poster bed and looked at his clothes pointedly. Draco thought of her touching him and wanted to vomit. He lifted his wand and extinguished the lights in the room, leaving them in darkness. He smiled at the thought that he wouldn't have to look at her anymore.

"Hey! Turn the lights back on Drakey." Astoria whined in that nasally voice of hers.

Draco snarled.

"Listen to me Astoria. We may be married but you are never, ever allowed to call me Drakey. My name is Draco. Do not tell me what to do. I turned the lights off and I will leave them that way. I want you to remain silent throughout the rest of the evening. Your insufferable voice will not improve this situation at all."

"Fine darling, whatever you say. Just please come here?"

Draco could tell by the tone of her voice that she was not pleased but he could not bring himself to care. His task was to marry and produce an heir and he was half way through with his goal. He was really not looking forward to making a child with this banshee but he had no choice. He sighed in defeat and removed his clothes.

.

Draco shook his head sadly, his white blond hair becoming tousled. It was definitely not the path that he wanted his life to take but he didn't have a choice in the matter. He never had.

The water in the bathtub had cooled considerably and Draco was no longer comfortable sitting in the chilly water. He stood and dried himself with one of the fluffy ruby colored towels before putting on clean pajamas and skillfully combing his hair.

He tried to prolong his tasks in the bathroom but he was exhausted both mentally and physically and only wanted to sleep. He steeled himself and opened the bathroom door before walking out into the darkness of Astoria's room.

The scent of sex assaulted his nose and he felt sick again and had to suppress the urge to scrub at his skin which was still a faint pink. Astoria snored obnoxiously from the bed and Draco ran to the door and made his way to his own private chambers as quickly as he could.

Once inside he cast a locking spell on the door and climbed into his huge bed. The soft dark blue sheet wrapped around him in a cocoon. For the first time all day Draco felt safe. He buried his face in his pillow and cried himself to sleep.