Author note - This is written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition round 9. We had to use a Shakespeare play to base our story around and I got 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I have used the prompts burning and the song Titanium by David Guetta. This is my first story for the Quidditch League, so I hope you enjoy it!
Character list- Hero- Hermione, Claudio- Draco, Benedick- Harry, Beatrice- Ginny, Leonato- Arthur, Antonio- Sirius, Don John- Ron. Just for reference for anyone who has read the play.
Disclaimer - I do not own either Harry Potter or 'Much Ado About Nothing'
"Dead," spoke Arthur Weasley.
Looking upset, but not particularly grief stricken, he spoke to the gathered crowd. In the corner sat Draco Malfoy. Tears glistening in his eyes he began to doubt his actions towards Hermione. Surely no matter how much she had hurt him she didn't deserve to be dead.
Thinking it through he began to wonder whether it was his actions at their 'wedding' that had driven her to death. Trying to reassure himself, he thought that if she hadn't been so unfaithful none of this would have happened.
It was her decision to go behind his back with Ron, just days before her wedding. Just these images going through his mind made him see red, mixed with unshed tears. He truly was sorry that she was dead but couldn't see that it was anyone's fault but her own, and possibly Ron's.
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Harry walking towards him. After being together with Hermione both boys had put aside the past and had become friends. They began to realise that they were not that different after all, and seemed to have more in common than either had realised in the first place.
Coming to a stop next to him, Harry looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. He knew that no matter what Hermione had done, he would still love her and would mourn her death more than any other.
"You okay, mate?" Harry asked. In return he got a look of pure anger, so harsh it could have almost melted his soul.
Deciding to back off, Harry simply stood there and waited for the gathering of people filed out. Watching Draco's emotions begin to show through, he realised that this moment couldn't come soon enough.
Finally the procession started to move out of the tomb in which they stood. Joining the crowd, they moved out and began to split in their separate directions. Following the secluded road that lead to Malfoy Manor, the small group began to talk, although the conversation was limited.
As they arrived inside the manor, everyone set off in different directions. Draco went off to his room, such as he had been doing since the day that he left the wedding. Harry went off to see Ginny, to talk through everything that had happened. Ginny was convinced that Draco had over reacted to what had happened, and believed that it was him that lead to Hermione's death. Almost sisters, they were so close and Ginny now hated Draco.
"Harry, please!" Ginny pleaded,"I need you to avenge Hermione. Challenge him to a duel!"
Harry tried to stand his ground, trying to argue that Draco was his friend. Eventually he had to give in. Ginny would not grant Draco any lenience; Harry knew that.
As he began his route to see Draco, he met with Sirius Black. Both had the same mission, after Ginny requested it of both of them, though one certainly more willing than the other. As her father, Sirius found it impossible to turn down her request of a duel, since he agreed with that Hermione lay lifeless because of Draco's rash actions.
Together they approached Draco's room and barged in. Huddled in the corner, sat Draco. Tear stains were present all the way down his cheeks and all his emotions could be seen. Burningin his eyes, were the raw emotions of sadness and anger.
Seeing him like this made both Sirius and Harry stop in their tracks, but they both remembered their promises and stood their ground. With one look at each other Harry started.
"Draco. I-sorry- we challenge you to a duel."
The look of pure shock in Draco's eyes died down as the information began to process.
"Nothing to lose, I guess" Draco replied with a slight shrug. Following them out of the room, he picked up his wand and quickly made himself look as he normally did.
Trailing behind the other two, Draco was lead into the main hall of the manor, where a slight stage was placed for the duel to take place. Remembering the event of the duel in second year with Harry, Draco smiled until the memory was ruined by the image of Ron, stood at the side cheering Harry on. Draco began to see red again thinking of the man who ruined his relationship and was responsible for his ex-fiancée's death.
Taking his place at one end of the stage, Harry assumed his place at the other end and began to position himself for the duel to start. Before long Arthur walked in, with the other Weasleys trailing in beside him. Ginny rushed forwards and took the closest space to Harry, without actually being on stage. Sirius had placed himself in the middle of the stage, in order to referee.
Just moments before the duel was about to start, Crabbe and Goyle came around the corner. Silently they walked forward and approached Ron, where they stopped and waited.
Trying to be quiet, they kept asking Ron about the incident with Hermione. Eventually, after many questions as to whether Ron had set up the scene, he finally started talking. But instead of keeping it at a low level noise, he exploded.
"Yes, okay, you got me. I set that up. I didn't want Draco and Hermione together! It was me that she should have loved! I was not going to stand by and let her marry a bumbling idiot. She was better off dead than with him! I don't care what any of you have to say on my actions, to me they were justified and correct. That is what they are and what everyone should see them as. I saved her from a ruined future! I dare anyone to try and pin the blame for any of it on me. You can shoot me down, but I won't fall!"
Upon hearing this news Draco began his descent form the stage. The small gathering in front of him parted, to give him a clear path to Ron. The shock and surprise was shown in everyone's eyes, but anger was also evident.
"She's innocent then?" asked Draco. Ron confirmed that with a nod, his head still held high with his pride. In a matter of seconds Ron had hit the floor, with blood pouring down his face. Draco had fist had connected with Ron's nose, most likely breaking it.
Turning around, Draco headed back to the stage. He thought that since Harry had challenged him, he would still want to fight. However this was not the case. Ginny ran up to Draco and hugged him. The tears on her face made the shoulder of his shirt wet, but he didn't mind.
"I'm sorry," spoke Ginny, the tears finally stopping, " I blamed you for everything that had happened when it truly wasn't your fault. It was all Ron. I'm the one who made both Sirius and Harry challenge you to a duel. This was all my fault. I forgive you for blaming her, Draco. I really do."
Hugging her once more, he saw Harry approaching and swiftly gave him a hug too. It was the only way to say everything to each other. Clearing his throat, Sirius offered his apologises to Draco for the way that he had been treated.
"Thank you all for your apologises. I understand that I overreacted and that might have led to part of her death. But now she is innocent. If she were still alive, we would have attempted another wedding, but alas, she is not. There is nothing I can do except to try to continue. After all, I am titanium, or at least I try to be. I love you, Hermione and I always will."
Draco wiped away the tear that escaped his eye as he walked over to Ron. Pointing to Crabbe and Goyle, he gave them the instructions to take him to Azkaban. The three of them swiftly disappeared.
"Umm.. Draco," began Sirius, unsure on how to put across his point, "you see that you have been proven wrong in what has happened. You are right that you overreacted but here is the chance for you to prove that you are not a bad person. Marry my other daughter. She is almost identical to Hermione. Please Draco?"
He nodded "It is the least that I can do after all of this."
Seeing that no other action was going to happen, the group dispersed to just leave Sirius and Arthur in the hall.
"What are you doing?" asked Arthur, "You have no other daughters and certainly none who look like Hermione!"
"But what if we brought her back? You said that if she was proven innocent that she could come back. She isn't dead, Arthur. She's still alive and is paying for someone else's mistake by not having a future. Give her another chance at life. Take her to the wedding as my daughter but soon, Draco will know that it is his one true love." Sirius replied.
Arthur replied with as shrug and a slight grumble.
Arriving back in his room, Draco had found his wedding suit laid out on his bed. Wedding preparations had been happening around him, and the wedding was due to start in around two hours.
The bride was on the other side of the manor getting ready with the help of Ginny. It seemed to him that everyone knew something that he didn't. But, whatever it was, he was going to find out soon enough. Looking in the mirror, he made himself into the exact copy of what he had looked like at his original wedding.
'Stone-heart, stone feelings,' he thought.
After getting dressed, he walked out of the manor and towards the church, where his wedding would take place. Inside it had been decked out with white streamers and white flowers. Draco remembered that Hermione's favourite colour had been white as it had shown purity and goodness.
Coming to a stop at the end of the aisle he looked at the guests who were arriving. Different coloured outfits illuminated the room, standing out against the white decorations.
Faces of people looked at him with sympathy, but also with hope and joy. Today was meant to be a good day for him, even if it was with the wrong person.
Harry arrived and joined Draco at the top of the aisle. With a nod Draco knew that the wedding would be starting any minute.
True to his thought, the wedding started just five minutes after Harry arrived.
Ginny led the way down the aisle, with Draco's bride clinging on to Sirius' arm.
Smiling he thought of his first wedding and how Hermione had done that with Arthur's arm.
Joining him at the top his bride grab hold of his arm in order to make it up the few steps. They both stood facing each other, with the priest in front of them.
The priest began the ceremony and before long, it was time for the vows.
"Do you Draco promise to take this woman? To love her and to cherish her? To value the bond that you with have forever? To be beside each other always?" the priest asked.
"I do," came the reply. There was no hesitation in his voice.
"And do you promise to take this man? To love and to cherish him? To value the bond that you with have forever? To be beside each other always?"
"I do," came the quiet sweet, almost angelic, voice. She seemed to be certain of her fate, and quite accepting of it.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride!" the priest declared. Turing Draco lifted up the veil of the woman he had just married, to get a glimpse of her for the first time.
"Hello," spoke Hermione as she stood there in her wedding dress after marrying the man she loved. Draco gaped at her, dressed like an angel and stood before him as his wife.
"It's a long story," said Hermione, looking down at her feet for a second, "but now we have an eternal bond, so I should have plenty of time to explain. Now are you going to kiss me or not?"