Warnings for this story: It is a bit dark, though not as dark as my other story Paper Airplanes. It includes domestic abuse, smut, dark magic and most likely some non/con as well. (I know; I have a twisted mind.)

Disclaimer: JKR owns HP. I do not.

A Wedding and a Funeral

Chapter 1

Here I am. Sitting on the bench at the end of my bed. I'm already in my finest dress robes, and my hair is already gelled back the way it always is for special occasions. Here I am staring. Staring at an invitation; the invitation for the wedding I am about to attend.

More specifically; the wedding of the woman I have been in love with for years.

And no, in case you were wondering; I am not the groom. That lucky bastard just so happens to be her best friend's older brother.

Yes you heard me. I, Draco Malfoy, am in love with a woman who will be getting married to another man within the hour.

Why am I not the lucky man waiting for her to walk down the aisle you ask?

It's because I'm a coward.

No seriously, I am a coward. I was a coward when I took the dark mark at sixteen instead of going to the order. I was a coward when I watched my aunt torture the woman I love right in front of me. I was a coward during the final battle. And I was a coward when I didn't tell her how I felt when we started working together almost three years ago.

I guess I always figured that eventually an opportunity would present itself. An opportunity when I could tell her how sorry I was for everything I had ever done. An opportunity where I could finally tell her exactly how I feel.

And even after she started dating her soon to be husband I still didn't give up hope. I still figured that my chance would eventually come one day. They would break up, she would be single again, and I would be there to comfort her.

That, my friend, is why I am a coward. It is why I am not the one waiting for her at the end of the aisle. I kept waiting and waiting for my opportunity to come, instead of making my own. Instead of cornering her in her office across from mine, and telling her. Telling her that I fell in love with her the day she slapped me across the face nine years ago.

And now it's too late. In a few hours she will be Mrs. Weasley. My chance will never come.

So here I am. Wallowing in self pity. Staring at the invitation of the ceremony I am about to leave for. The ceremony where I will be forced to watch the love of my life marry the love of hers.

Why am I even attending the wedding you ask? It's a rather short answer really. The reason I am attending is because of my mother.

You see what a coward I am? I can't even stand up to my own mother and tell her I'm not going.

Oh, so now you want to know why my mother is even demanding I attend. Right? That is a bit more complicated actually. So much for the short answer.

You see, after the war ended five years ago, my father was sent to Azkaban. He confessed to the Wizengamot that he had willingly become a death eater, and even gave them inside information on other dark wizards. He gave all this willingly in exchange for my mother and I to be left out of all charges. It worked; my mother and I never even set foot in that dreadful place.

He, on the other hand, was not so lucky; he was sentenced to fifty years. I guess a few of the other death eaters inside got wind of what he had done, and exacted revenge. They bashed his head in with a stone. He didn't even last four months in there.

His death left me as the man of the house, and my mother a widow. I went straight into law school, spending two years getting my certifications before starting work at The Department of Magical Law; while my mother busied herself with charity functions, and digging the Malfoy name out of the gutter.

It was the charity functions, and donations specifically that landed my mother with an invitation to the wedding of the century. Well...second biggest anyway; the Potter/Weasley wedding two years ago was the real crem dela crem.

Anyway, back to the point. My mother is acquainted with her because of the many donations she has made to war relief efforts. They met and have worked with each other for several charities over the years while she was going through her own magical law certifications.

That's right, you heard me; we both work in Magical Law, hence the reason that her office is right across from mine, and why I myself was also invited to the wedding. She finished her certifications several months before I did of course, know it all that she is; giving her seniority over me in the office. Now don't get me wrong, we are by no means hostile to each other like we were in school; but we aren't exactly friends either. She tolerates me because she is professional in the work environment, and I avoid her because all I want to do when I am around her is snog her silly before throwing her on top of my desk.

Sorry...too much information at once and I keep getting off track. My mother is making me attend the wedding because not only is it polite to attend a colleague's wedding, but because she is trying to dig our family name out of the gutter my late father dropped us into. Because even though my mother isn't exactly friends with her, they have been acquainted with each other through various charities, and have established a mutual respect for one another.

My mother, Narcissa, is under the impression that if we are seen attending a war hero's wedding, we ourselves will be associated with the light side instead of the dark. She thinks that if other wizards see we have been invited to this wedding, that they will cease to see us as death eaters who weaseled our way out of azkaban. If one third of the golden trio can be on friendly enough terms to invite us to her wedding, we must be somewhat redeemed right?

I have to admit that my mother has a point; attending probably will help our family name earn some respect back. I just really hate using Hermione's wedding that way for our own benefit.

Shit. Did I just say that?

Fine. You caught me. The girl I have been in love with since I was fourteen is Hermione Granger. Yes; war hero, brightest witch of the age, soon to be Mrs. Dragon Tamer Charlie Weasley. That Hermione Granger.

So here I am. Sitting on the bench at the end of my bed. Staring at the wedding invitation for Hermione Granger. The wedding I am being forced to attend by my mother. The wedding where I will have to watch the woman I love give herself away to another man. A man who is brave and kind. A man who is the opposite of me.

So here I am sitting, and staring. Here I am cursing myself for being such a coward. Cursing myself for never being brave enough to tell her. Cursing myself because I never took a chance.

Cursing myself because now it is too late.

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Short first chapter, more like a prologue really. Let me know what you think. I haven't really written in first person before so i hope you like it.

TSR