DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling.
title: Let Her Go
by: The Rose in Death's Garden
written for: CheekySlytherinLass for the HPFC Monthly Fic Exchange December 2017
pairing: Abraxas/Druella
prompts: romance, "That's the problem, isn't it? It isn't that I never loved you; it's that I loved you too much."
Your own wedding day is probably the worst day to realize that you are still in love with someone else, Druella Rosier - soon to be Druella Black - thought bitterly to herself as she gazed blankly into the dressing-room mirror while her bridesmaids put the finishing touches on her hair and makeup.
Of course her thought wasn't quite accurate since it was hardly something she'd just now realized. She had only agreed to Cygnus Black's courtship in the first place in order to make her other, much less enthusiastic, suitor jealous. Abraxas Malfoy had not reacted as she'd expected, and the less interested he seemed as her "relationship" went on, the more she'd clung to Cygnus, stubbornly believing all the while that if she made her previous paramour jealous enough that he would step in and make his intentions known. Instead, he'd given up on her and allowed his parents to arrange his marriage.
Which is how things had gotten to this point. Druella, standing in her wedding dress, about to walk down the aisle and bind herself to a man that she cared nothing about.
It will be fine, she told herself as a knock sounded at the dressing-room door. I can do this. I have to do this. She really had no choice in the matter anymore.
As her father walked her down the aisle toward her future husband, who was sure to also become the bane of her existence, Druella was sorely tempted to cut and run. Upon spotting Abraxas and his fiancee in the audience, however, she steeled her resolve.
When it came time to accept the wedding vows, her volatile dislike of the man she was marrying tempted Druella to just say I don't. But then the image of Abraxas and whatever-her-name-was sitting here at her wedding, looking as thought they hadn't a care in the world, brought spite rushing to the fore and with only the slightest appearance of hesitation, Druella swore, "I do."
Before she had time to properly dread the kiss that would seal their vows, Cygnus leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips without even bothering to lift the veil.
Some of his peers in the audience booed and his brother Alphard even went so far as to call out: "Give her a real kiss!"
He was quickly shushed by his sister, who swatted him on the shoulder and hissed, "Stop ruining our brother's wedding."
The ruckus surrounding the kiss was quickly forgotten as the entire congregation adjourned from the chapel to the reception hall.
Druella performed the first dance with her new husband, as was the tradition, hoping she could plead exhaustion afterward and escape the rest of the wedding reception festivities, since she really didn't feel like celebrating.
As her husband was pulled away to dance with one of his cousins, a male voice spoke beside her in a familiar silky drawl, "May I have this dance?"
"You just can't stay away from me," Druella said sarcastically. Yet she held out her hand to accept his invitation anyway.
As he took her into his arms, Abraxas replied: "That's the problem, isn't it? It isn't that I never loved you; it's that I loved you too much."
For as the saying went: If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, you will know it's truly yours.
He knew now that he was a fool to take that advice rather than following his heart. He never should have let her go.