Title: Passion and Marriage
Author: Julian-Juliana
Rating: T (mentions of sex and a couple of curse words)
Pairing: Theodore Nott/Hermione Granger; Draco Malfoy/Astoria Greengrass; mentions one-sided Draco/Hermione
Summary: One-Shot. The inner musings of Draco Malfoy after his best friend, Theodore, informs him he's marrying Hermione Granger.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Emmalyn, Samantha, Matthew, and Amirah.
A/N: This just came spilling out over the weekend. There's not really a solid plot here, but I do feel there is a message or a meaning that can be taken from the story. It also contains those weird, fancy names for the made up next-gen kids I loath seeing in Harry Potter fics. :) Please enjoy. Read and review!
"Monsieur Malfoy, your eleven o' clock is here," his receptionist informed through their intercom.
"Send him in." Draco hurriedly wrote his signature on the parchment in front of him and placed it inside the folder next to it. When closing it, his office door opened and in came Theodore Nott.
"Theodore," he greeted with a warm smirk and got up from his seat. He and his friend met in the middle of the office and embraced each other, patting each other on the back. "How are you, old mate?"
"Good. I'm excellent, actually," Theodore said, surprising his friend.
"Theodore Nott excellent? Notify the Prophet, we have a headline. Do tell what's got my old friend returning to England and wasting no time in calling me? Last time we saw each other, you were bent on never coming back here."
"Do you blame me?" Theodore asked as they walked towards his desk. He took the seat across from Draco and continued, "With all that happened?"
"Not at all. I'm merely surprised but pleasantly so. You do look excellent, Theo." Draco paused and situated himself comfortably in his chair, leaning back and clasping his hands together. "So tell me what brings the prodigal friend back home. It can't be the weather."
"Most certainly not," Theo chuckled and then cleared his throat and rested his elbows on his knees. "No, I uh…Draco, I'm getting married."
If that wasn't a shocker to Draco….
The blond's eyes widened and his jaw slackened, hundreds of questions running rampant in his mind. He picked an appropriate one and asked, "Really?'
"No, I'm joking. Yes, really."
"I'm sorry." Draco shook his head and managed a smile. This was great. Better than. His mate was getting married and moving on from what happened years ago. The bitterness and fury had left his friend and in place was the old Theodore Nott before he married Daphne Greengrass twelve years ago. "This is amazing. Congratulations." He offered his hand and Theo shook it firmly.
"It is amazing, isn't it? She's amazing and, mate," Theodore said, "I want you to be my best man…again. The wedding is-"
"You've already set a date?" Draco balked.
Theodore sighed and nodded his head. "In two weeks. Tell me you can schedule in a quick ceremony."
"Of course I can, Theo...but forgive me. This is more than I can wrap my arse around. I haven't seen you in seven years. Haven't heard from you in three, and the next thing I know, you're showing up and telling me you're ready for another go in two weeks, no less. What does Blaise have to say about this?"
"He doesn't know yet. I haven't told him. Look, I barely got here, Draco. I'm literally shaking of the portkey right now. You're the first person I wanted to see about this. I haven't even seen my woman."
"I worry, is all." Draco threw his hands up in the air defensively and stared critically at Theodore. "You were rather adamant about never marrying again; however, I suppose I'm happy you found someone to trust again." He paused. "You do trust her, I assume."
"More than myself."
Another question bubbled up inside Draco, and he asked, "Who is she, this girl that's got my mate on the brink of reciting poetry and smoking rose petals?"
Theodore's expression turned somber and he inhaled slowly. His brown eyes shifted to analyze the thick puffs of snow falling behind Draco outside his window that overlooked Diagon Alley. Interlacing his fingers, he softly reminded, "Remember how we were raised, Draco? Remember the lies our parents told us? Even after the war and we were ever so glad the Dark Lord didn't win, we still clung to tradition in fear of change. We married who we were supposed to and did our duty our fathers arranged for us. For some of us, it worked out." Theo offered Draco a knowing grin. "For myself, not so much. My marriage with Daphne was a nightmare. We did everything imaginable to fix our problems. To keep it together for Emmalyn, for her parents, and for my father."
"You don't have to explain to me why you and Daphne hadn't worked."
"I just want you to understand why I chose differently this time. I chose this woman because of my wants and my desires. I was still afraid to go after her but not cowardly enough to stop. I'm thirty-three. I'm too old to be frightened of what my father will say and what my friends will think when I tell them I'm marrying a Muggle-born."
Draco sucked in sharply and narrowed his eyes at his friend. Frowning, he stiffly got up from his chair and turned to face the window, his hands interlocked at the base of his spine. "Theodore," he said coolly, "though my prejudices against them aren't as severe from when I was young, I cannot stress enough that marrying one would prove futile. Their customs are not like ours."
"Exactly," Theodore replied, "and I know. I'm familiar with the world she grew up in. I met her parents, already. I know why she is the way she is. What's even more important is that she knows me. She knows I have the Dark Mark and sees through that. She has forgiven me, and I love her. With or without your blessing or presence at the ceremony, we will marry."
Draco glared down at the few bustling shoppers down on the powdery-covered cobblestone streets. They must be risking death getting the best Christmas deals in the shops. Such commoners, they were, like the woman Theodore wanted to marry. His best friend deserved better. No, the best. Yet, he tried thinking of a more suitable witch and no one came to mind. The ones almost appropriate were married and with children old enough to contemplate Hogwarts.
"What does your father say about this arrangement?" he asked testily.
"He doesn't know. He won't until after the wedding. He'd only cause a scene, and Hermione and I are much too old for such nonsense."
"Hermione!" Draco whirled around and pressed his palm to his desk. "Have you lost your mind? She's…"
"Perfect."
"A Weasley."
"Hasn't been for five years. When we officially met, she introduced herself as Granger."
"Yes, but those children of hers…"
"She is nothing but kind and cordial to Emmalyn, and I have returned the favor. I'm comfortable with her children and they know their mum is remarrying. As for my daughter and Rose, they are much too alike to ever be proper friends. Regardless, it's not like Hermione and I rushed into this. I asked her to be mine a year ago."
"You're not thinking clearly."
"Things have never been plainer." Theodore ran his fingers through his hair and scratched the back of his neck pensively. "The wedding is happening. Here's the address." He pulled out a crisp white envelope and slid it towards Draco. "All I ask is for you to stew in silence during the ceremony. You can do whatever you want after."
Once Theodore left the office, Draco opened the envelope and pulled out the wedding announcement. It was an ivory card with silvery-blue cursive. The design was simple and inexpensive and unlike the announcements Daphne owled many years ago to her wedding guests.
Pursing his lips, he tapped the bottom edge of the invitation on his desk. He then looked at his wedding band and thought of his lovely wife Astoria who was pouring all of her energy in saving their marriage. Their first counseling session was that evening at five. Theodore was wrong about his earlier assumption. Though he and Astoria married twelve years ago and were still together, they somehow lost their spark along the way. They hadn't much to begin with, to be honest. Their marriage was one of convenience and respect to traditions. Prior to their matrimony, he fancied another and she was eyeing Adrian, but both obliged to their duty and married. Eventually, their legal and intimate friendship morphed into a courteous and romantic love around the time Scorpius arrived. A few years later; however, the passion lessened and they both feared resentment was starting to build. They had married so young and did so without proper love.
Deep inside, Draco felt another part of his childhood was robbed by marrying so young, and he reckoned Astoria sympathized. Nineteen and naïve and cooperative, she pushed away her wants and marched down the aisle for sake of archaic customs.
Many like him who married young and later regretted the decision, remedied the situation by divorcing, dating around a bit, and later remarrying. Draco refused to do this. His relationship with Astoria was not like Theodore's and Daphne's where it couldn't be fixed. His marriage was repairable. He loved his wife once. Maybe not at the beginning but somewhere down the road, he had loved her like he had loved Hermione Granger.
Oh, yes, he too fell victim to the witch's charisma and beauty. During his late years at Hogwarts, he admired and yearned for her from afar. Following the war, his feelings refused to cease, but watching her with Weasley and eventually marrying him persuaded Draco to let go and follow through with his parents' wishes.
Hermione never knew of his feelings, and Draco never lamented that fact. But, blast, his adoration for her had consumed him. Theodore wasn't wrong in labeling the witch perfect. Indeed, his mate deserved that, and she deserved happiness. They were more than simply compatible.
Two weeks later, he found himself standing beside Theo in a remote chapel half-buried by snow, problematically located in the Swiss Alps. In front of his mate stood Granger with a small bouquet of white orchids. Beside her was Ginny Potter. Aside from Hermione's children sitting in the front pew, she was the only Weasley family member in attendance.
Hermione looked fetching in her white gown, though, he had heard through the grapevine it was Ginny's. Something borrowed, indeed. The sleeves were sheer and off the shoulder, and the style subtly mimicked a mermaid design.
The bride's loveliness was mesmerizing, but Astoria was sitting in the second pew next to their son. Since their first counseling session, their relationship improved only marginally but enough for him to know he didn't fancy the idea of starting over with someone else when this rut they'd dwelt in could be broken.
The minister called for the exchanging of rings and instructed Theodore to kiss his bride. The couple kissed and applause broke out and echoed sharply through the chapel. The newlyweds parted and waved at their guests. Hermione blew a kiss to her children and even Emmalyn as Theodore pulled a cigarette lighter from the inner pocket of suit. He wiggled it at his new wife with a smirk and exclaimed, "To the honeymoon!" She laughed and touched the lighter, and they disappeared.
The guests lingered behind, taking the time to chat and catch up with one another. Ginny struck up a seemingly friendly conversation with Astoria, and Potter was shaking hands with Blaise for some reason or another. Emmalyn was attempting to fix Rose's impossible hair which broke free from its bun sometime during the ceremony, and Hugo was accepting a piece of chocolate from Scorpius with a grateful grin.
A year later, Draco entered the busy abode of the Notts via Floo with his wife waddling behind. After her, Scorpius followed who quickly sprinted away in search of another person his age. Astoria inhaled slowly and closed her eyes dream-like and moaned, "I'm hungry, Draco. Do you think Mrs. Nott would be terribly offended if I had two buttered rolls instead of one?"
"I doubt she'll even notice," he muttered in amusement and soaked in the festively decorated dining area where Christmas dinner was about to be served. In front of the fireplace sat Emmalyn and Rose. Emmalyn's face scrunched in determination as she braided her stepsister's wild ginger hair. Scorpius sat in front of Rose and stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes. She rolled her own at him and said, "Boys."
Hugo came through the kitchen door with chocolate smears around his mouth and a buttered roll in one hand. He hid the pre-dinner snack behind his back and scooted sideways towards the other kids. As for Draco and Astoria, they situated themselves comfortably at the dinner table where his pregnant wife bashfully dug into the cheese and crackers plate displayed in front of her. She shoveled the appetizer into her mouth and moaned.
A few minutes later, Theodore entered the room looking like he hadn't a proper night's rest in months. In his arms was his two month old, swaddled son earnestly nursing on a bottle. He sat down at the head of the table and greeted Draco with a nod. "Happy bloody Christmas," he mumbled.
"Happy Christmas," Astoria muffled and then blushed, grabbing her napkin to hide her mouth as she chewed.
"Where's Hermione?" asked Draco.
"I'm here. I'm here," she announced and sat herself next to her husband, her arms occupied with their two month old daughter. She gently bounced the baby in her arms and said, "Happy Christmas, everyone. Shall we eat?"
The food was served, but the hosts were unfortunately unable to fully enjoy their meal as the two switched off holding their additions. Needless to say, Matthew and Samantha Nott were not planned. Draco even assumed Theodore and Hermione made a mutual agreement at the beginning of their marriage in retiring from parenting more children, yet it seemed fate had other plans.
Draco dabbed a napkin at his lips and stole a glance at his wife's belly. Two months after they decided it was fine to start making love again, Astoria began eating everything and started visiting his office during the day. She'd bring packed lunches and proposition him for coitus.
The passion returned.
The naughtiness of shagging his wife at the office was thrilling, but then she got word from her healer that her carnal and hunger cravings were due to pregnancy. After Scorpius, they agreed he was perfect and more than they could ever hope for. To allow more children into the world would be tiresome and unnecessary. A Malfoy hadn't a second child in six generations, but this baby was almost ready. She didn't give a flying fluff that her parents were apprehensive, and her brother was a jealous snot. She was coming, and they better be bloody prepared.
Draco fancied the name Amirah, but Astoria thought it tasteless.
Theodore and Hermione leaned towards each other and kissed, and it was hard to miss the pure joy in the couple's face. Their future would be anything but simple, Draco mused, but their pasts hadn't been picturesque either. It was a miracle they were able to create a new life with bits and pieces of their former ones and make it work.
A week ago, Theodore and Hermione had their first wedding anniversary, and Draco knew a lifetime more were to come. In a couple of months, he and Astoria would celebrate their fourteenth. As much as he was pleased with his mate's new family and lovely wife, nothing felt better than knowing he and Astoria made it this far.