Disclaimer: I own nothing from J.K. Rowling's wonderful world.

Chapter 1

The entire hotel was bustling with last minute wedding preparations. The flowers were late, the catering crew were having their own share of drama, and the mother of the bride was once again drunk out of her wits, despite dawn having just cracked moments ago.

Meanwhile, Astoria was staring at her reflection in the full length mirror. Her flowing wedding gown looked like it was made for her, even though it was her mother's. Her dark hair twisted in a bun on top of her head with two free ringlets on either side of her face.

If anyone saw her, they'd be shocked at her sour expression. Understandably it was early in the morning, but it was her wedding day. Everyone knew she had been obsessed with making her dream wedding come true since she was five years old.

Over the last week, things had shifted in her relationship with Draco Malfoy. He was always flippant and hardly ever present during their conversations. She understood the difficulty in dealing with the media regarding his involvement in the Battle of Hogwarts, but Astoria had been so taken aback by his quick proposal that she hadn't had time to dissect his intentions at the time.

She was beginning to think this wedding wasn't about her at all, but about Draco maintaining his presence in the Wizarding community. He never said he loved her; he only looked at her with adoration once when they first met at Hogwarts, but never again after that.

There was a knock at the door, startling Astoria out of her reverie. "Come in." She squeaked. The door opened and her sister's head peeked in. Her face went from cautious to stunned.

"Oh, Astoria!" Daphne exclaimed, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. She strode over to her sister and took her hands, taking in her sister's full figure. "Oh, you look beautiful! He's going to be knocked right off of his feet." Astoria remained silent as she turned back to the mirror, tilting her head to the side with a knitted brow.

There was a clatter of metal right outside of the bride-to-be's room. Daphne's jaw dropped and she rushed over to the door. She peeked her head outside. Astoria didn't budge from her spot.

"Daphne?" Her sister turned around and closed the door with a wide-eyed look of guilt.

"It's nothing at all!" She exclaimed. "Just the silverware." When Daphne saw the absent expression on her sister's face, she straightened up. "Astoria, is everything all right?"

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Her eyes were fixed on the dress her mother had insisted she wore. Her mother had been in tears when Astoria mentioned wedding dress shopping, raving about how Astoria was her only hope for grandchildren, much to Daphne's annoyance. Astoria felt the pressure on her shoulders to walk down the aisle, but she wasn't sure if she could be married to someone who wasn't present in their marriage.

"You know how mother can be." She placed a hand on Astoria's shoulder. "I'll tell you what, we can burn the dress when it's over." Daphne grinned, but that just seemed to upset her sister more.

Astoria fell in a heap on the floor, looking like a pile of snow. "I can't do this." Tears started streaming freely from her eyes. Her chest felt like it was being crushed by an invisible weight.

Daphne knelt down to her sister's side. "Hey, what's this all about?" She brushed the lock of free hair out of her sister's face. She lifted Astoria's face to level with hers with her index finger.

"I can't marry Draco Malfoy." She brushed the tears from her face and sniffed. "We're not in love." Her heart sank at the admission. She had never said the words out loud or even thought very much about them. "I just can't do this, Daphne."

"Cold feet is supposed to be pretty normal." Daphne cooed in an attempt to ease her sister's emotions. Astoria shook her head furiously.

"My feet aren't the problem." Her eyes begged for her sister's understanding. "It's my heart." Daphne's shoulders slumped. She had been in her sister's position before she revealed her own secret to the family. "How am I supposed to go out there like this?" Astoria cried out.

"You won't." Daphne reassured. Astoria looked up confused. "We're going to Apparate out."

"I can't go anywhere in this?" She grabbed a handful of wedding dress and shook it in frustration. "And mum put a charm on it so I wouldn't have it altered for the wedding."

Daphne stood up and started pacing the room. "I've got it!" She locked the door and revealed her escape plan to Astoria. There was a glint of hopefulness in her sister's eyes, but after a moment it disappeared.

"There's something else..."

Hermione shuffled through the papers on her desk looking for the blueprints for Hogwarts 2.0. She had been working as a temp at a contracting agency in Diagon Alley the summer after the Battle. She wanted to do whatever she could to make sure that the place she had learned everything would be restored to its former glory.

"Granger, go on lunch before you start something else." Mr. Dippet, her boss, ordered. He was always saying how she was the hardest worker he had ever encountered. He became agitated when she was consumed by the deeds and neglected her health. She had missed far too many lunches this summer, resulting in a weight loss he deemed unhealthy.

"Sir, I just need to find-"

"They'll still be here when you get back. There's a lovely eatery just round the corner. You won't even have to walk very far." He put his fist atop the papers she was shuffling through and gave her a stern look.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, sir." She collected her things and turned on her heel. The office wasn't particularly stuffy, but her hair still stood up in strange places.

Diagon Alley was busy, but not overly crowded. The school year wouldn't start for another two weeks. Many of the shops that had been forced to close during Voldemort's reign had reopened. Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's was at its usual buzz. Hermione smiled and walked inside the doors, met with a strange smell.

"Hermione!" She was lifted off of her feet and spun around before she could apprehend what the smell was.

"George! Please!" He placed her back on the carpeted floor with a grin on his face. "What's that smell?" It was starting to make her nose itch. George flicked his wand at a cauldron in the corner and a lid flipped on top of it.

"Testing a new product." He offered no further explanation, but led her into the shop. "Stopping by the Burrow tonight? After you finish ripping out your hair at Dippet's, of course."

"I have a lot to finish first. I haven't even started packing." Hermione mentally scolded herself. She had a list of things to finish this summer and not enough time to complete them.

"You were offered a position at the Ministry, yet you're going back to Hogwarts?" George leaned against the counter where Angelina was ringing up another customer.

"I don't want to be an Auror." Hermione stated simply, before becoming more serious. "How've you been, George?" The redhead nodded in reply. It hadn't been long since Fred's death, but he had been determined to keep his shop running if not just to make sure the little ones had a reason to laugh.

Hermione squeezed his forearm and gave him a sympathetic smile. They had all lost loved ones in the War, but Hermione couldn't begin to understand how hard George was taking things. He had lost a part of himself.

"I just stopped by to say hello." She readjusted her bag and looked around. "Can you give Ron my love?"

"I'm not going to snog him," George turned up his nose teasing Hermione, who frowned at him. "But I'll pass along the message." They hugged goodbye and Hermione struggled to squeeze her way out of the shop.

When she had made it out, the air was crisp. She stopped by the eatery that Mr. Dippet had mentioned before. While she stood in line, she noticed two older witches pouring over the latest issue of Witch Weekly. Ordinarily Hermione could ignore it, but on the cover was a familiar face.

Draco Malfoy was on one side of the cover with a disappointed look. There was a split down the middle and on the other side was a girl who looked like she still belonged in school with a small smile across her face.

"Left at the crack of dawn, she did!" One witch gossiped.

"I heard she was having an affair!" The other said.

"Wouldn't be surprised. My cousin was a guest. She said the bride's room was a disaster! Even the curtains were ripped to shreds!"

"Ma'am? Are you gonna order anyfink?" Hermione jumped when she realized she was being addressed. She quickly put in her order and waited. She checked her watch and determined she would just have to eat at her desk.

Her thoughts drifted from Hogwarts to the Witch Weekly cover. The amount of harassment the Trio received from the press was astonishingly annoying, but at least none of them had been left at the alter. None of them had decided to get married right after the Battle either.

Hermione remembered hearing from Ginny that Malfoy had proposed to Astoria Greengrass, a student who was just 16 years old. "What a git!" Ginny had said, but Hermione couldn't help wonder if there was something more to Malfoy's proposition. She had never even seen the two together before the news broke out.

Of course, she thought it was irresponsible for all parties. Astoria wasn't even out of school, and Malfoy had a lot of his own issues to sort out, like his father going to Azkaban.

Hermione couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Astoria had left him at the alter. Education came first, always. Now all Hermione had to do was convince Ron of that.

A/N: First story on fanfiction! Things will get more interesting, guaranteed!