Chapter twelve: All in white, with flowers in her hair

The time had come. In less than an hour, Hermione would become a part of the Malfoy dynasty and the future Queen of the Southern Kingdom. Contrary to the preceding evening, Hermione now felt a bit fluttery.

Draco's state of nerve was even worse. He couldn't believe that he would have her as a wife. He dreamed of her the moment he saw her in the woods, his fairy, his nymph. He thanked all the Gods, old and new, that she would have him. He would have pursued her, even if his father hadn't needed James' help. But he was lucky, love had decided to help him and so Hermione fell for him as fast as he had for her. He was eager to pass the ring onto her finger to make sure that she couldn't reconsider.

Theo and Blaise, who helped him into his full attire as a knight, seemed to sense his doubts.

'Stop fidgeting!', Theo told him. 'She won't flee, she's in head over heels for you!', Blaise added. Draco let out the breath he didn't know he held. 'Are you sure about that?', he couldn't help but ask.
Theo and Blaise looked at each other and started laughing. 'A simple "yes" would have sufficed you morons!', Draco told them, sans real anger in his voice.

The group that followed the couple to church wasn't very large as most guests waited already inside the holy building.

Draco and Hermione, both riding their respective horses, were leading their little group of family and friends. On the way to church, peasants, workers, merchants and children all stopped in what they were doing to watch the royal couple pass by. Merry shouting and good wishing followed them wherever they went. Flowers were thrown on their way and more than one girl came up to Hermione to offer her a self-plucked flower.

She took them all and held onto them. They would be her wedding bouquet. The well-wishers sometimes came up to Draco or Lucius to offer congratulations or even a small present. Those were thanked for and gathered inside a bag both King and Prince carried tied to their saddles.

Even though the sun didn't shine brightly, Draco couldn't help but think that his personal sun was shining right beside him. When he saw her coming down the steps into the castle's court, he thought his heart would stop. She was so beautiful in her white gown. The dress really wasn't fanciful, all to her image, but the details such as the stitching and the fabric were delicate and stylised. On top of her light veil, she wore a crown made of flowers. She was breath-taking and that was what he told her when he helped her mount her horse.

As they arrived at church, Draco helped her to dismount and held her a moment longer than was necessary in the air and in his arms. The group entered the church in the order they arrived in, with the couple to be wed entering first and their family and friends following after them.

The ceremony was simple and straightforward: rings were exchanged and vows were said as the priest held their joined hands enveloped in his stole. Then, a more secular ceremony began: as the new mistress of the castle, Draco gave Hermione the keys to her new domain, which she thanked him for and tied them at her waist. Draco then gave her a purse full of silver pieces that represented the money he would give her to manage her domain. She thanked him for this as well and gave it to the priest, as a symbol of the alms she would give the church and thus her people. At last, Draco untied his cloak and shed it onto her shoulders as a symbol of his protection and care.

At last, Draco was allowed to kiss his bride. And when he did, all the assembled guests and family broke out into cheers.

The Great Hall of Malfoy Castle was buzzing with action, laughter and the clattering of forks and knives. Everyone was light-hearted and in a good mood. Draco and Hermione were seated in the middle of the grand table that faced the entrance to the Great Hall. Draco's family to his right and Hermione's family to her left. As was tradition, Draco had cut Hermione's meat on his plate, before placing it on hers, ready to be eaten. This was another way to show the people seeing them that he would take care of her needs.

Hermione felt a bit self-conscious through this ritual. She was at the centre of everything Draco did and everybody could see it. Although it made her quite proud, it also left her feeling as though she weren't capable of caring for herself and that was just what she told Draco.

'Patience, my love', he told her, 'I promise I won't do it without your consent in the future, but this needs to be done. I think we Malfoys are a bit more conservative in this regard.'

Hermione nodded. At least he wouldn't do it without asking in future.

'There is one other tradition that you will have to endure this evening', Draco told her with a twinkle of mischievousness in his eyes.

'And what would that be?', she asked him, sensing that it was to do with their wedding night.

Draco's grin spread into a full sized smile: 'I won't tell you, it's a surprise.'

Seeing that Hermione wasn't too akin to experiencing his "surprise" he added, 'every Malfoy bride has been where you are now, Hermione. And they survived.' He finished his sentence with a wink and then held his drinking cup in front of him. Hermione understanding his gesture, took her own cup and clinked it with his before drinking more of her wine.

After the eating came the dancing and more laughing. The day had been stressful in the beginning, but she delighted in every minute of it.

Sometime well after midnight the music stopped. Slowly, a chorus of voices intoned a sing song of "to bed, they go". Hermione had been dancing with Lucius and stood now a few steps away from her husband. Suddenly, Lucius grabbed her and lifted her in the air. Soon, several other Malfoy men followed his example and she was lifted by all of them and taken out of the Hall in the direction of the family wing, where their new rooms were situated. She was first shocked and a bit frightened, but when her eyes found Blaise's, she knew she had nothing to fear and that this was "the surprise" Draco had mentioned. Speaking of which, her new husband followed her slowly surrounded by quite a lot of women who were trying desperately to kiss him or otherwise garner his attention. But he pushed them all gently aside and kept his eyes on her form.

Then, eventually, they arrived at their quarters and, after entering the room, the men put her gently down on the bed. Lucius was the last one to go, after kissing her forehead and murmuring 'welcome to the family Hermione'. At long last, they were alone.

Here I am again... After this chapter there will be a last one and then the epilogue. I was quite right with my 15 chapters, yay! I'll try really hard to write them as quickly as possible. Work has been maddening: when several projects need to be promoted and administrational struggles keep getting your timing all tumbled up, you're slowly driven into madness! All hail to public service... XD