"In Real Life"
In real life I'm waking up alone
It's one more night you didn't make it home
And one more time you won't pick up the phone
I rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. 3 o'clock in the morning... and his side of the bed was empty. It's not like it was the first time; I'd barely seen him for the past two weeks. He's always so busy working, and often he stays in the office until the early morning hours, or so he tells me anyway. Draco Malfoy really isn't fooling me, I can smell the perfume as soon as he walks through the door.
In real life you never bring me flowers
When you're here it's only for an hour
I'm getting used to being on my own
I really figured something was up the day that I was walking through Diagon Alley and Andrew Johnson said, "Astoria Malfoy! How did you like those flowers that Draco bought you?" I told him they were lovely, but I never got any flowers. My husband doesn't buy me flowers, I hardly even see him. I'm almost used to it now, the loneliness.
Because in real life you're not what I thought
Real life, this isn't what I want
Guess things aren't always what they seem
I can remember back to Hogwarts, when I would stare after the blonde god in the corridors and every time I was with Daphne and he talked to me a little bit. I was so obsessed with him back then and I held the man on a pedestal. It turns out that he's a jerk, and an adulterous fool. But everyone seems to think that we're still in a happy, loving relationship. What have you been telling them, Draco?
But in my dreams, I'm waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
The only time I'm ever happy anymore is when I'm sleeping and can fall into that dream world I've created over this past year. As soon as I finally drift off, I wake up in my dream to Draco lying next to me, smiling and kind, instead of icy cold. I dream that he takes me out on romantic evenings and to dinner parties. In my dreams, he is giving me beautiful bouquets and we're sipping champagne together. And most different from real life, is that I get kissed sweetly, and told that it's always going to be this way.
In my dreams, you're standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
Then I wake up and realize, realize this is real life
Real life, this is real life
Real life, real life
Real life, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, oh
Real life
Draco always stands with me in those dreams, as my defender when I'm in trouble. Miraculously, my husband loves me and of course I love him too. But the time always comes when I have to wake up. When I have to return to real life. In real life, the bed is almost always empty beside me, cold as a tomb.
In real life it doesn't always work out
People fall in love and then they fall out
Hearts can break and never make a sound
One day, I figured that his mistress had broken it off with him. Ha, serves you right. People fall in love and then the other person will drop off the face of the planet. I know what that's like. It's how our relationship has been, but I've never said a thing because hearts can break without as sound.
Because in real life you're not what I thought
Real life, this isn't what I want
Guess things aren't always what they seem
A week after he stopped seeing the other woman, I realize that he isn't as strong as he once appeared to me. I thought he was one of those men that never ever cries, but when I walked down to the kitchen that night, I found him drinking a bottle of Firewhiskey, tears pouring down his face, and not from the searing pain as it went down. I tip-toed over to the man I had once loved and put an arm around him. This isn't what I wanted: a husband who needed me to comfort him over a broken heart. I never thought I'd see Draco Malfoy with such a pained expression on his face, guess people aren't always what they seem.
But in my dreams, I'm waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
And in my dreams, I was awoken with an enormous bouquet of roses and a kiss, tears wetting his cheeks. We drank champagne and talked about everything and how much we were in love. I prayed and prayed that it was what it would always be like.
In my dreams, you're standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
Then I wake up and realize, realize this is real life
When I began to cry, he stood with me and kissed away the tears, whispering words into my ear. We were so in sync in the dream, but when I woke up, the bed was empty and he was back in the kitchen, choking down another pint of Butterbeer. I decided I couldn't stand it anymore. So the next morning I told him I wanted a divorce. He sighed and agreed with me, finally admitting to all of his failures as a husband.
Just when I thought this was all real life could be
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah
Somebody came along and made my dream reality
I'd been a newly single woman for six months, and so far every new guy I'd dated had been just as bad as Draco. I couldn't help but wonder if this was what every guy was like. He and I would talk once a week, we now had a sort of friendship. It was a little awkward at first, but after a while we were glad of the weekly meetings where we could vent about our lives. On our six-month divorce-ary, we met up in the Leaky Cauldron. He was early and I saw him sitting at the bar with a vaguely familiar man.
"Astoria, this is Dean Thomas, he was a Gryffindor. I work with him now in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." That's why he looked familiar. Mr. Thomas had helped me with my Transfiguration in my fourth year, his sixth. He smiled at me and stayed the whole time, which would've annoyed me if he hadn't boosted our conversation. After Draco left, Dean stayed and we talked for a while. I liked talking to him so when he asked me out on a date I of course said yes.
And now in real life, waking up to roses
Champagne, kisses and I know it's always, always
Gonna be, gonna be this way
Dean Thomas and I had been dating for one whole year. I remembered that the second I woke up and smelled the roses he'd given me the night before on our date. He was so sweet, he still blushed sometimes, and so did I. The date had been so romantic. He took me out into the country where we sat in a grassy field on a blanket and gazed up at all the stars. There are so many of them, I never realized that until that moment. At one point he leaned over and kissed me, and whispered how my eyes sparkled more than the sky. I laughed because I knew just how impossible that was, the proof was winking down at me.
We drank champagne and danced around barefoot in the grass. I was dead drunk by the end of the evening, but I still remember most of it. I remember leaning against him and hearing his heartbeat speed up everytime I laughed or talked, I remembered how he kissed me so sweetly right after... He told me he loved me! That I had nearly forgotten. Though we'd been together for a year, he'd only just told me that!
So as the sun rose up higher and higher into the sky, reaching new places in my bedroom, I laughed as I remembered that this is how it's always going to be for us. Dean loves me and I love him. It's never, ever going to change.
In my dreams, he's standing right beside me
Two hearts finally colliding
When I wake up, I realize, realize this is real life
This is it. The Day. I've been dreaming about this since I was ten years old. I always had that perfect man who loved me with all his heart standing next to me, but it wasn't until two years ago when his face finally became clear. My Dean Thomas is standing here beside me as the minister pronounces us husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Dean Thomas.
In just a few hours, our hearts will really be joined together as one, we've been waiting. We both knew it would be special, and we love each other enough that it's been worth it. It wont be either of our first times, but it will be with each other. And tomorrow when I wake up, I wont need those dreams anymore of the mystery man who gives me roses, and drinks champagne with me, and kisses me ever so sweetly. Because I now have Dean and he has me...
Forever
and
Ever.