Disclaimer: Neither the character of Draco Malfoy nor any of the other characters you recognise from Harry Potter is mine. The chapter title is from the soundtrack to the House M.D. and is sung by Ben Harper.


Waiting On An Angel.

It felt strange in its ordinariness. It was just too normal for him. Other people got married. It had never occurred to him in his childhood that he would ever be the one getting married. Even after he had proposed to Astoria it had seemed an abstract idea. Not a bad idea, just a strange one.

He had heard that Granger had married Weasley a few months ago. That had been the least surprising news since Viktor Krum's name had emerged from the Triwizard Cup. (He was a world-renowned athlete, of course he would be chosen as the one most physically apt for the trials. His subsequent attraction to Granger had been a little harder to justify.) He had been expecting it for a long time, if he was honest.

He had expected them to be married before the first anniversary of the last battle. It was clear that they had been interested in each other as far back as Third Year. He supposed Granger had applied the brakes, not wanting to rush anything. She had always been the most cautious of her group of friends. But they had married, as it had always been clear that they would.

Potter was engaged, too. To the Weasley girl, once again as expected. Draco smirked, remembering a singing 'cupid,' an embarrassed Potter and a little redheaded girl, face flaming with mortification. It had been cruel to embarrass her, to draw attention to the fact that she had sent the valentine. In all fairness, though, it had been a guess. He hadn't known that Ginny Weasley had sent it. It was her reaction that gave it away. Shameful though it was he could still find some humour in the situation.

Draco stared at himself in the mirror, glancing over his formal attire with a critical eye. His robes were icy blue, and long. He wore nothing in the way of jewellery.

At least not yet, he thought, touching his bare ring finger with his thumb.

He frowned when his eyes fell upon a lump in the chest of his robes. He reached a long-fingered hand inside the flowing material and removed the culprit.

Staring at the ring box he held in his hand, he smiled to himself. It may have felt surreal, but if this was all a dream, he was going to enjoy it.

His mind fell onto Astoria, as it always did when he was left alone with his thoughts, secreted away in some unknown part of the Manor, kept from his sight until he saw her at the ceremony. It was her mother's idea, this separation prior to their union. He himself had scoffed at the silly superstition, but for a woman who was so stoic, Astoria's mother had fallen on the romance of the idea immediately and with enthusiasm. Draco himself did not see that the idea was very romantic. It was just making him tense, wondering where she was and what she was thinking. If he could see her, he could read her face. As it was, Mrs. Greengrass had insisted.

Mrs... Now that was a soothing thought. Mrs Malfoy. No, that sounded like his mother. Astoria Greengrass Malfoy? A smile spread wider. Yes, that was better.

The door opened with a loud click and Draco jumped, startled. Lucius slid into the room but hovered by the door, either uncomfortable or unwilling to come any closer. Draco didn't try to determine which- either would make him uneasy.

In the mirror, Draco saw Lucius' sharp eyes fall on the ring box still clutched in Draco's hand. Wordlessly he held his hand out and Draco turned and placed the velvet box onto his father's palm. Lucius flipped the box open with his thumb and inspected the plain gold band inside.

"We have many of these around the Manor. Heirlooms. You could have used one of those."

"We like this one."

"Very well." Lucius closed the box and handed it back to Draco. "Are you almost ready?"

"I'm ready."

"Your mother sends her best. She says Astoria is nearly ready and you had better go downstairs now."

It didn't escape Draco's notice that his father had not included his best wishes. Lucius was not overly fond of Astoria, perhaps because he had had his hopes set on Draco marrying Pansy Parkinson. Pansy's family were more highly regarded in pure blood circles, and Draco knew that even on his wedding day, fifteen minutes before the ceremony was due to begin, Lucius was probably still hoping that Draco would have a last minute change of heart. It didn't seem to matter that he and Astoria were very happy, and that Pansy currently in a relationship with another alumnus of Hogwarts; a young man who had been in the year below them. Slytherin, of course.

He followed his father out of the door and down the stairs in silence, wondering once again where Astoria was. Somewhere far enough away from his bedroom that there would be no chance of them running into each other but close enough for her to walk comfortably, bearing in mind the tradition of insensible shoes at weddings. And it would need an en suite. The second floor main bedroom, maybe.

When he entered the main hall, he stopped wondering and stared around the room. He was not one to hand out praise without due cause, but it was spectacular. In his years, his parents had held many partied here, dinners and meetings for the elite of the Wizarding World, but this look was his favourite. Most likely this was because it was for him. His wedding. His and Astoria's.

There were flowers, purple and white hibiscuses, in stands all around the walls and a few bunches floating in the air. Chairs lined the aisle to the far end of the hall, where a raised platform stood, upon which Draco and Astoria would stand during the ceremony.

The room was brightly lit, thousands of candles hovered in the air (with magic at their disposal, the Malfoys had never seen the need for electricity.)

Lucius had drifted away somewhere. Draco didn't look too hard for him. Guests were milling around, and murmured words of encouragement to him as he passed them on the way to the platform. None of them raised their voices particularly loudly; there was something about soft lights and flower-perfumed air that persuaded people to keep noise to a minimum.

Astoria should be on her way down now. He last of the guests were sitting in their seats and the officiating Wizard was gently pulling on Draco's sleeve to move him towards the dais.

"This way, Mr. Malfoy, please," the small grey-haired Wizard said. Then, as if Draco was a child, he manoeuvred Draco to the correct position, only releasing his shoulders when he was satisfied. Draco let it slide in favour of watching the door into the room. It opened just a crack and Narcissa slid into the room, the smile on her face as happy as Draco had ever seen it. Narcissa, at least, approved of Astoria.

She caught his eye and smiled as she slipped up the aisle to take her place on the front row, Mrs Greengrass right behind her. They had only been seated a moment when the doors opened again, wide open this time, and he could see her.

Instantly, Draco smiled. It was an automatic reaction, to smile when he saw her, and because of their temporary separation and how breathtaking she was, the reaction was much more intense.

She was an angel. It was that simple. Her brown hair was piled on top of her head, exposing her smooth pale neck. She was smiling too; her eyes sparkled in her thin face. She wasn't wearing a lot of make-up, but she didn't need it.

Her white-dress was strapless, form-fitting and fell straight to the floor. It was simple, and it suited her. She was beautiful.

His inspection of her lasted until she had reached his side, and even as they turned to face the officiator, Draco was reluctant to do so, fearing that he had not memorised every detail yet. He continued to steal glances out of the corner of his eye at the women by his side. Finally he was able to turn to her again as the vows began and was immensely pleased when he saw that the smile on her face was still wide enough to rival his own.

"Do you, Draco Lacerta, take Astoria Nicole to be your wife now and forever?"

He agreed immediately, almost before the older Wizard had finished speaking.

"Do you, Astoria Nicole, take Draco Lacerta to be your husband now and forever?"

They had spoken about this moment several times before, fantasised about it, discussed what it would mean for them, but Draco was still gripped by the sudden fear that she would say no. He didn't truly believe that she would do that to him, but he couldn't stop the pounding of his pulse or the sudden shortage of breath that came on during the brief pause between the question and her affirmative answer. He released a breath and she gave him a look.

"In front of all those gathered here, I declare you bonded for life."

Draco reached for her, pulling her closer to kiss her. When she broke away, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him to her. She laughed lightly in her ear before whispering, "You really thought I'd say no? Do you know how much this dress cost?"

He joined in her laughter this time, slightly embarrassed, and took her hand to lead her back down the aisle. His father had already begun work for the next stage of the day, and was directing a group of Wizards at the back of the room to conjure tables. The whole process had been rehearsed several times, until it was as fast as it could be.

By the time Draco and Astoria had reached the end of the aisle, ten tables were set out in a perfect semi-circle, with a long head table as the straight edge. Each table was covered in a white cloth and had a centrepiece of either purple of white hibiscuses. This candles that had hovered over the ceremonial area now made their way to dance over the tables, the lights from the flames bounced off the shiny new plates and silver cutlery.

Draco sat down with his wife, Astoria Greengrass-Malfoy by his side and looked around him happily. He had some bad times in his life. He had made some bad choices, compounded and confused by even worse choices and there had been a time when he had been sure that he would never make it through alive. He had never thought he would be here.

Astoria grasped his hand underneath the table and he turned his attention towards his new wife. She was smiling still, and he was sure that her cheeks must be hurting.

He leaned over to kiss her quickly before his father stood up to begin the speeches.