The remainder of the journey progressed smoothly. Astoria found Draco was fairly easy to converse with. For his part, he seemed delighted that she was actually talking with him instead of maintaining a stream of, "Do your work, Malfoy", "Shut it, Malfoy" or "If you speak one more sentence about Quidditch I will curse you into the next century, Malfoy" or similar threats in response to his attempts to talk to her at work.
Astoria refused to eat too much so her dress robes would still fit her properly when they arrived at the wedding (which Draco was kind enough to say was unneccessary, though he agreed with the philosophy nonetheless) and they pulled up at exactly thirty minutes prior to the beginning of the ceremony. It was set in a tiny white church in the country, with the reception hall being in large white tents on the grounds from directly after the ceremony til the send-off later that night. The church, as with many wizarding buildings, was deceivingly small from the outside, but inside held three hundred fifty to four hundred people, depending on the size of the people.
Once they had handed their vehicle off to the valet, Astoria lead them rather hurriedly to the front of the church, where families and their guests were given priority seating. Glancing quickly around she was pleased to note that the guests she had requested to sit with during the reception had not yet arrived for the ceremony. She hastily sat (looking graceful, of course) and motioned Draco to do the same. Good manners dictated they would not turn their heads to the back of the church whilst the guests were still trickling in, and as they were located at the front, Draco should not notice that his least favorite people had been invited until later.
It hadn't occurred to Astoria to care when she discovered Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger had been invited to the wedding, but the realization had very much pleased her when it became necessary to exact revenge on her date, who thought he had too easily gotten the best of her. It wasn't a surprise, really; Jacob was marrying Alicia Spinnet, Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and it was only to be expected that Alicia would want to invite her friends from the team, plus Hermione, who from what Astoria had been able to tell had always been friends with Alicia.
It worked quite well to her advantage now though.
She realized Draco had never even bothered to ask who her cousin was or his fiancee, and it apparently occurred to Draco as well as his eyes widened slightly when the music began and her cousin walked up the aisle, beaming from ear to ear but looking nervous as well. Astoria supposed on her own wedding day she would be nervous, too, though at this point she could hardly imagine finding a man she liked so much she wanted to live with him for the rest of her life.
"That's your cousin?" he muttered to her. "Jacob Fairfield? I didn't know you were related to him."
"Yes, well, we pureblood families are nearly are related to one another," she said, drawling slightly, with a smirk that would have made Draco's father proud. Draco scowled at her and she was internally quite gleeful to have prompted the raction. Draco's blood was as pure as it got, as far as blood went that was, although it didn't matter that much to her. She knew it mattered to him, however, and treating him like he was ignorant of the fact was sure to get on his nerves. That was the goal of the day, anyway, to be as vexing in a civilized manner as possible until Draco was forced to yield victory to her.
"And that's who he's marrying?" hissed Draco in a whisper as Alicia, beaming, came striding up the aisle on the arm of her father.
"Yes, doesn't she look lovely?" Astoria said, ignoring Draco's attempt at snobbery.
"He's pureblood and she's-"
"Oh for goodness sakes, Draco, get over it!" snarled Astoria under her breath while smiling broadly to give the appearance she did not wish to strangle her date then and there. "I would've thought after the end of the war, your stupid prejudices-"
"I have no prejudices, just the pride of the Mal-"
Astoria had had enough. Pulling her wand very slightly from the inside pocket of her robes she pointed it at Draco discreetly and hissed, "Silencio!"
Instantly sound ceased to come out of Draco's throat, though his lips still moved. When he realized what she had done he looked beyond infuriated; he grabbed for his own wand but the look Astoria flashed him said clearly he was going to find himself dateless unless he began to behave.
From that point on the wedding ceremony progressed smoothly. Astoria had looped her arm through Draco's both to keep up pretenses of actually wanting to be there with him and secondly to prevent him reaching for his wand again - just in case.
After the ceremony, through which Draco maintained his silence, into which he managed to insert considerable moody stoniness, the auditorium was vacated from the back to the front, which suited Astoria quite well. It would prolong her little...surprise...just a little longer. Draco had immediately taken out his own wand at the end of the ceremony and removed her silencing charm, looking positively mulish by that point.
Astoria insisted it was polite to remain in their seats until nearly the entire church had been vacated, claiming her family status warranted it, though in reality that was complete bollocks and she just didn't want Draco to see most of the guests, given that he would probably instantly dislike them. Finally, they left the church and walked to the reception tents. The rest of their table was already seated, and Astoria felt devilishly pleased with herself Draco's eyes nearly buggered out of his head, and not in a good way, at the sight of who their company was to be.
"P-Potter?" he spluttered, looking thunderstruck and horrified. "And Weasley - God, Astoria - what-?"
"Don't ask me, darling," she said sweetly. "I expect it's because Potter's a national sensation. Everyone wants him at their weddings."
It wasn't true and she knew it, but she knew that mentioning Potter's fame and celebrity was the fastest way to get Draco seething and since that was the goal, it seemed like a good idea.
Astoria took his arm and attempted to pull him into a seat beside her own. This he refused, glaring murder at the other members of their table. Astoria shrugged, took her own seat and nodded congenially at Potter, Weasley, Weasley and Granger, as well as the fourth couple, who she had not known would be here but was certainly a welcome surprise...
"And Lovegood?" Draco hissed at her, his eyes narrowed. "Loony Lovegood? The bloody insane little-"
Harry and Ron both stood up, looking furious, while Ginny and Hermione's eyes narrowed. Luna, however, looked perfectly serene. She turned to her date, a distant-eyed, shrewd-looking fellow who looked rather like a vulture, and expressed some interesting sentiments.
"This is Astoria Greengrass, Rolf, dear," she said in the sing-songy voice she so often used that suggested she was not on the same planet as everyone else. "She was in Ravenclaw, too, you see, and she seems to have brought Draco Malfoy for her date. I am surprised, I thought she didn't prefer selfish pricks, but I have been wrong before."
Beside her, Draco's fists narrowed with fury while Astoria tried to restrain a snort of laughter.
"D'you want us to bloody his pointy nose for you, Luna?" asked Weasley, whose hand had been plunged into his robes at the first sign of trouble.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have a big problem with that at all," added Potter.
"Ron, not now!" hissed Granger, looking nervous. "This is Alicia's wedding!"
"Yeah, and it's going to be Malfoy's funeral if he doesn't watch himself!" snapped Weasley. He seated himself slowly at Granger's insistence, eyes narrowed mistrustfully at Draco.
Astoria sighed and turned her attention to the other women.
"I'm most dreadfully sorry about the behavior of my date. I hope we can start this over."
She held out a hand first to Granger, who shook it, doubt clouding her brown eyes slightly, then to Ginny Weasley, whose suspicion she really hardly bothered even to hide. Lastly she offered a hand to Luna, who declined it very politely, given that Astoria's fingers were covered in codswops, and she would prefer not to. Astoria decided against being offended, given that this was Luna Lovegood, and instead took Luna's genuine smile as a sign that this was not at all personal.
Draco still had not taken his seat. He stood with a magnificent scowl on his face, hands curled into fists, muttered something about finding the lavatories and stalked off. Astoria couldn't help smirking a little; at this rate, Draco would be admitting defeat before dinner had even been served at this rate.
Waiters came round serving cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Astoria selected hers calmly and proceeded to maintain civil, if idle, chat with Hermione and Ginny for several moments. Ron and Harry had sunk into their seats, the former's hands shoved deep into his pockets, looking highly disgruntled. Luna was deeply involved with her date in a conversation which Astoria neither cared about nor could really decipher and thus decided to ignore.
After a few minutes Draco had still not returned and an uncomfortable silence settled over the white clothed table. Hermione began to fidget with the lace hem of her dress while Ginny and Harry had taken to sending each other what must to them have been meangingful glances. Ron seemed to be fascinated with the small photo of Alicia and Jacob on their table, prodding it with his wand, turning the bride and groom's hair all different colors so they scowled angrily at him. The nature of Ron's mood, however, was like a boiling pot - it could only go so long unattended before it exploded. This description fit Ron very well and at length he jabbed his wand so hard into the little photograph that it exploded, leaving Alicia and Jacob fleeing with a squeal out of the frame.
"This wasn't an accident," he declared suddenly, levelling Astoria with a threatening glare - and pocketing his wand rather reluctantly, on cue from sharp-eyed Hermione.
Astoria sipped her cocktail. "I beg your pardon?"
"This. Not an accident. How could it have been? Malfoy somehow gets seated with Potter? Anybody in the wizarding world knows next to Dumbledore and You-Know-Who there never were two people who loathed each other more."
He glowered at Astoria who looked thoughtful. Hermione looked nervous, Luna looked up with semi-interest and Ginny for her part looked like she quite agreed with Ron.
"Actually," Hermione piped up, despite her anxiety, never able to let misinformation be accepted as truth. "Dumbledore didn't loathe Voldemort. Voldemort might've despised him, because he was afraid of him, but I think Dumbledore only ever pitied-"
Ron turned stony eyes to her and she quickly stopped talking, turning a deep shade of red. She was a pretty girl, Astoria thought, but she should get her reactions under control. She was as easy to read as the books she was reputed to so love.
"Anyway..." Ron overemphasized the word. "Fess up. What's going on? Is this some grand plot to get back at Harry for something, Greengrass? You better tell us the truth, too."
Hermione gave a tiny groan at his lack if diplomacy and the whole table seemed to hold its breath waiting for her reply.
Astoria set down her glass, wiped the corner of her mouth with her napkin, and sat back in her chair.
"As a matter of fact, you're right - well, partially," she said calmly. "I am trying to get back at someone for something-"
Ron made a growling noise in his throat and Ginny's fingers tightened protectively around Harry's arm. Hermione, however, hissed, "Let her finish!" and presently Astoria did so, as though she had never been interrupted.
"But it isn't Harry. It's Draco."
This statement was met with silence, as each Gryffindor contemplated possible ulterior motives for apparently trying to undermine your date, and Luna softly sang the Hogwarts school song under her breath, tapping a beat that definitely did not belong to that song on her date's arm. Rolf for his part had been studiously constructing a tower out of his fruit using toothpicks to hold them together, and Luna stopped singing long enough to coo over it before picking up the words to the British national anthem sung to a Spanish dance tune.
"Er...why exactly do you want to mess with your own date?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"Namely, because he's a pompous prat, but also to teach him a lesson that there are things money can't buy."
Astoria smirked, and the table got the distinct impression she was alluding to herself.
"Well, right on!" said Ron, a new appreciation for Astoria filling his eyes. Harry glanced at Ginny; they seemed to come to a mutual conclusion about the genuine nature of Astoria's opinion and both shrugged.
"So what d'you need us to do, then?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time. It seemed easier to speak somehow knowing now she wasn't there to make him look foolish or, possibly, kill him.
"All you have to do is get along with me," said Astoria. "I'm going to largely ignore him to talk to you - he'll hate that, of course. Being ignored is something he's not used to, especially by someone he's been trying to impress for far too long now."
She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Think you can do that? Never mind, you're all intelligent, I'm quite sure you can. Oh, look-"
She glanced over her shoulder to discover Draco stalking toward them, almost tipsily, bearing a fresh cocktail in one hand and several more likely in his blood.
"Here's the man of the hour now."
Astoria smiled sweetly at Draco as he seated himself uncertainly beside her before grasping her hand so firmly between his own it seemed unlikely he would ever release it.
"Sorry, just been to use the loo," he muttered, looking down at his plate.
Astoria's smile widened. "It isn't a problem, Draco. I was just asking Harry some things about his life. He hadn't quite answered my last question yet though - Harry, how do you keep up with all the calls for interviews, all the attention, after winning the war all on your own?"
Draco almost choked.
Astoria's smirk could not have been more smug or wide.
Ron burst into odd convulsions that seemed to be laughter while Ginny thumped him on the back. Harry on the other hand looked quite thoughtful and serious as he pondered the question, playing along.
"It's quite hard, you know. Being the chosen one and all that..."
Draco picked up his drink and took the whole thing in one magnificent swig.
The little devil in Astoria could not be happier.
Haha. We'll see how much Draco really likes Astoria by how much Potter-worshipping he'll put up with for her...