January 1st 2001, 5:10 pm
What the fuck am I doing? Am I really standing outside of Malfoy Manor, getting ready to burst through the gates and entering the biggest society wedding of the year and ruining it while quite possibly making an utter fool of myself in front of some of the most important people in the wizarding world along with my friends as my audience to boot? It would seem so.
You know you will never forgive yourself if you don't do it so just gather up all that Gryffindor courage and get it over with, I thought to myself. I walked towards the two guards stationed at the gate and brandished my invitation at them (good thing I had kept it). They looked at me funnily but opened the gates anyway and let me through. I was sure they recognized me and were wondering what the hell was going on. The wedding was suppose to be taking place outdoors—in the garden to be exact. It took me a few minutes but I finally found it. It also had a gate but no guards were there. That meant I could just waltz in. There was a gigantic tent protecting the guests from the cold and snow so at least I would be warm when I got in— I was currently freezing my butt off despite using several warming charms. I had apparated out of my place without putting on extra clothing (only finding time to grab some warm knee high boots and put them on) and then I couldn't apparate directly onto the Malfoy grounds because of protective wards so I got as close as possible and had to walk the rest of the way. It took me ten minutes in awful wind but I was thankful that the snowfall was light.
This was it. All I had to do was push open the gates and walk in. Steeling myself, I did just that. The gates made a loud noise as they opened and at the sound of my not so graceful entrance, every head turned in my direction. The place was dead quiet for a moment before everyone started to talk and point at me.
"Is she mad?" "What on earth is she doing coming here like that?" "What is she doing here? "Is that Hermione Granger?" "Hermione? I thought you were sick and not coming so why are you here"?
Those were just some of the exclamations coming my way (the last one from a confused Ginny) and I was seriously considering turning around and getting the hell out of there when a smooth voice stopped me.
"Miss Granger, would you care to explain why you have so rudely interrupted my son's wedding?" Said Lucius Malfoy.
"I do believe I was invited Mr Malfoy." I replied calmly while feeling anything but.
I was nervous but nothing was going to stop me today. I had to stay and fight for what I wanted.
"I'm quite aware of that but one does not simply arrive to a wedding halfway through the ceremony and dressed...such as yourself." He trailed off,gesturing towards me and looking rather uncomfortable.
Who could blame him. I looked downright pitiful. My hair was even worse than usual—it was in a messy windblown pony tail with lose strands sticking up all over and it also had bits of melting snow. I was dressed in an over sized blue sweater and faded black jeans as well as my boots on my feet. My face was also pink from the snow and my eyes were red and puffy from all the crying I had indulged in. So yes, I was definitely not dressed for a wedding.
"I know that but I wasn't planning on coming you see. It was a rather last minute decision so do forgive my tardiness and state of dress." I said unabashedly. I really didn't care what he or anyone else thought of me at the moment.
I continued before he could interrupt me again.
" I won't be staying long anyway. I just came to speak to Draco and I'll leave when I have done so." I rushed out while avoiding looking at said persons face and focusing instead on his father who looked incredulous. I couldn't quite bring my self to look at Draco just yet—I was scared of what I would see if I did.
"Surely you jest Miss Granger—you barge in here and interrupt things just so you could speak to Draco? What is so important that it could not wait?" He asked in annoyance.
"I assure you Mr Malfoy, what I came here to speak to Draco about is of the utmost importance to me and it cannot wait for another moment to be quite honest, so if you please, I would very much like to do what I came here to." I replied a little rudely. He was wasting my time.
I couldn't postpone the inevitable anymore. I had to face Draco. Turning my head away from his father, I sought him out. There he was—standing up front—in all his handsome glory, next to his intended. I walked down the grassy aisle until I was about five feet from him. Again I had to resist the urge to flee—he was looking at me—his face a mixture of emotions. Confusion, interest and a bit of fear were all present. My poor boy—I was torturing him.
The place was quite save for the howling wind. Everyone was completely captivated by my actions.
I took the few remaining steps until I was directly in front of him. Only inches separated us. I didn't want to look at Astoria—she was innocent in all this so I focused my entire attention on Draco.
"Draco." I began, my voice an unintentional throaty whisper. At the sound of his name coming from my lips in that tone that I had used so often when we were making love, I saw a spark of the old flame ignite in his eyes. The look on his face...I can tell he's recalling those moments and it fills me with an uncontrollable want. My mouth is suddenly dry and I forget to breathe for a few seconds. Calm down you silly fool, I mentally chide. Clearing my throat, I began again.
"Draco, I'm sorry for coming here like this and ruining your day—it was never my intention but less than am hour ago I had an epiphany and I knew that I just had to see you right away. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least come here and try to fix things." I said imploringly.
"What are you trying to say exactly?" He asked cautiously.
"I'm trying say that I'm so so very sorry for giving up so easily—for not fighting for you. For us. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time but I can see now that I was wrong. I wish I had listened to you but I was scared and confused so I just acted on impulse. I've been regretting it ever since but I couldn't find the courage to find you and tell you how I felt because I still held on to the notion that I had done what was right for the both of us. I just need you to know how I feel and I know I have no right to even hope but if there's even a small chance for me to make things right between us...If there's any chance at all that you will forgive me—I need to know. I need to know if you will allow me back into your life." I said tearfully.
Was that hope I saw flash across in his eyes? It came and went too fast for m to be sure.
"I think we need to go and talk about this privately." He said warily.
I was all for it—this was really not something that I wanted to doing public. Narcissa Malfoy had other ideas.
"Wait just one minute, what in Merlin's name is going on here and why must you leave your wedding ceremony to speak privately with her for?" She asked snobbishly.
"Yes, Draco, what's all this about? I have a right to know if it affects our relationship." Astoria agreed nervously.
"Listen, mother, Astoria, this is between Hermione and me." He brushed them off and took my hand and started to lead me away. We had only managed few steps when his mother spoke again.
"I can't believe this. Lucius, it's her. She's the one who Draco wanted to give up everything for—the one who he had been seeing for all that time." She exclaimed in shock.
Fuck. Why did she have to go and say that? This was not how I envisioned our relationship being revealed—I should have expected it though. People were bound to figure it out with me showing up and behaving the way I did. Now everyone was staring at us and our clasped hands with sudden enlightenment on their faces.
Then there was an explosion of sound as everyone started flinging questions and accusations at us.
"Is this true Hermione?" Asked an astonished looking Harry.
I found that my mouth wouldn't open so I just nodded miserably. His mouth fell open and Ginny gasped loudly. Ron looked like he was bout to collapse from the shock. This was so bad and it could only get worse.
"Everyone please be quite and let me get to the bottom of this." Roared Lucius Malfoy.
"Son, is it really true what you mother is saying? Is miss Granger the girl who you were seeing back then? Is she the one who you fancied yourself so in love with that you wanted to throw away your future for her?" He demanded.
Draco then looked him straight in the eye and answered.
"Yes." He said clearly and unashamedly.
As if to emphasis what he was saying, he gripped my had even tighter and pulled me closer. How could he be so brave and calm? I wanted to be swallowed up by the floor I was so embarrassed. That's because he loves you too much to care about anything or anyone else I though with a war feeling in my chest. I felt better right away—knowing that he loved me and that I had his support meant everything to me.
"You cannot be serious. Of all people, her? She's not...she cant...It's not right." Lucius spluttered.
"I'm very serious father and I don't know what you mean by that last bit. What's not right? Do you have a problem with Hermione?" He asked coldly.
Lucius looked flabbergasted. He knew very well that Draco understood what he meant. Draco was just playing dumb to get back at him for speaking rudely about me. He opened his moth to say something but thought better of it.
Astoria came to life then. She came forward and stood in front of us. She looked so confused and upset. I felt horrible about what I was doing to her but it couldn't be helped.
"Have...have you been seeing her for all this time? Since we've been engaged I mean?" She asked softly.
"No, Astoria. You know I wouldn't do that. Hermione broke up with me when I told her about my parents wish for an arranged marriage to you and we've been apart ever since." He told her kindly.
"Is that true?" She asked me next.
"It is. I would never see Draco behind your back, you have to understand that and about to today...You have no idea how sorry I am for what I've done to you. It's just...I had no choice. I had to see Draco before it was too late and this was the only way. I'm sorry." I told her sadly.
"Oh. So I take it you came here to try and get him back right?" She said calmly.
"It sounds kind of bad when you put it that way but yes, that was my intention. I at least wanted him to know where I stood even if he chooses to marry you anyway." I said shamefacedly. Who comes to a wedding to get the groom to take her back? I did apparently.
"You know you don't have to take me back right? You can still marry Astoria or do whatever it is that you want. I t would serve me right for letting you go in the first place." I told Draco nervously.
He looked alarmed but before he could say anything, Astoria spoke u again.
"Oh no. There's no way the two of us are getting married now. I know you never loved me Draco and don't take this the wrong way but I never loved you either. I liked you sure but there was always something stopping me from feeling more. I guess I always knew that their was someone else already in your heart—I could sense it but you never said anything so I just let it go. Anyway, I didn't want to love a man who didn't love me in return and I 'm not even sure that I could love you. We're just not right for each other. I mean we we're only getting married because our families wanted us to. That's no way to start a relationship. Was I excited to be marrying you? Yes. Who wouldn't be but after a while the excitement and novelty of the whole thing would have worn off and we would have been two people stuck in loveless marriage. I don't know about you Draco but that's definitely the life I want for myself. You've actually saved me from a lifetime of regret by coming here and interrupting things, Hermione." She said bravely. It couldn't have been easy for her to say all that and in front of her parents and so many people no less.
"What are you saying dear?" Asked a woman who could only be Astoria's mother.
"I'm saying that I call off this wedding and that I give Draco and Hermione my full support." She told her mother.
"But why?" Shrieked Mrs Greengrass.
"Because I don't want to marry Draco anymore. I also have a lot of admiration for Hermione and Draco and I want them to be happy together. They deserve it." She said and threw a smile in my direction.
"This is ridiculous. You don't know what you're saying." Her mother ranted.
"Your mother's right Astoria dear. You and Draco will be getting married. Isn't that right Draco?" Mrs Malfoy added.
"No mother. That's not right. Neither of us want to marry each other so can you just let it go?" He pleaded.
"No I can't let it go. Why don't you want to marry Astoria?" She asked him.
"Because I don't love her mother. " He replied with frustration.
"Why don't you love her? Or why can't you grow to in the future? She's a great girl, stunning,bright and comes from a good family. Anyone would be lucky to have her so I ask you again, why don't you love her? " Mrs Malfoy pressed.
"Because she's not Hermione!" He blew up. She had pushed him too far.
Everyone oohed at his answer.
"Wh-what do you men by that?" She stammered.
"I mean that I can never love anyone who isn't ' Hermione. She's the only one for me. It's simple really." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"How can you say such a thing? How could you possibly lover someone like her?" Said an infuriated Lucius Malfoy.
"Why do you keep speaking about her as if she's lesser than you? It's because she's muggle born right?" Draco Asked his father angrily.
Lucius didn't answer but he looked even angrier.
"Let me tell you something father, this muggle born girl here who you clearly have no respect for—saved my life. It was the first weekend of our 7th year back at Hogwarts and I was losing my mind. I didn't even want to live at times it was so bad. I felt like I had nothing or no one to live for at the time. Everyone at school either ignored me or looked at me like I was trash—even my former friends shunned me—people who are here today. So I had no friends, a dark mark on my arm which I hated more than anything and my family's reputation was in the gutter. I had nightmares every night and I couldn't sleep and I hated myself for all the horrible things i had done and said in my life.. Things were so bad and it was only the first week back. You cannot imagine how I felt—no one cared enough to notice either. Or maybe they did but just didn't care. Hermione was the only one who noticed—she knew something was wrong from the beginning. She found me crying my fucking eyes out one day and instead of laughing at me or judging me or running away— she stayed and offered my help. She offered help to someone who had tormented her for years—to someone who had fought on the Dark Lord's side in the war. She believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. She saw something in me worth fighting for and she fought until she found it—she found my good side and brought it out and made me into the person I am today. Hermione did all that—even when she didn't have to. When she found me I was broken beyond compare but she put me back together, piece by piece with her kindness, friendship and later, her love. She's a good person—an amazing person. If you can't see that—if you can't respect that—it's your loss. In case you haven't got it through your head yet either—I'm not going to give her up this time. Not now, not ever. She's my everything and nothing will ever change that." Draco said with feeling.
Just when I think it's not possible for me to love him more, he goes and does that. I was truly blessed to have him.
"He really does love Hermione." I heard Ron say in awe.
"Yeah." Agreed an equally awed Harry.
"That was beautiful." Sniffed Ginny.
"So you mean to go through with this? You chose her over your family?" Lucius asked Draco in a clod tone.
"I don't see why I can't have both but if you force my hand then yes, I will chose her." Draco said defiantly.
"How could you Draco?" His mother screamed.
She rounded on me the next second.
"You! This is all your fault. You left him, you gave him up! If you had just stayed away none of this would be happening and Draco would be married to Astoria right now. Why did you have to come back into my son's life?" She positively screeched.
This was too much. Enough was enough.
"I had to come back because I love your son more than you can imagine! My decision to let him go was the worst of my life but I did it for you and your husband. For your happiness. I loved Draco enough to let him go—so that he could be with his family where he belonged. I hated my self for what I had done. You have no idea of the agony I felt—the first few days were pure hell for me—I was consumed by pain and loss. I regretted it everyday but yet I did nothing because I still thought that I was right for giving him up. You made it clear to him that you would never accept someone like me into your family and I thought that my friends would also be mad at me for being with Draco. That was a year ago and things were a lot tenser between them back then and I was scared that they would see it as a betrayal. I didn't want to be away from Draco but I felt trapped. I wanted him but I didn't want to hurt my friends and I didn't want him to hurt you so I just took the cowards way out and gave up." I said all that in a rush.
I turned to my friends then.
"Guys...I'm so sorry for not telling you about us but you heard what I just said. I knew none of you liked Draco and that we all had a bad history with him so I just expected the worst. Looking at how you all get along now...I should have given you more credit. I'm sorry." I said with remorse.
"We understand Hermione. We probably would have reacted badly had you told us a year ago anyway so you were right. We support you one hundred percent now though. Don't we? He asked with looks at Ron and Ginny." They both nodded.
"Thank you so much guys. It means the world to me to her you say that." I said sincerely.
I returned my attention to Mrs Malfoy.
"Where were we again?" I asked offhandedly.
"Ah yes. I was talking about giving up on us. You must be wondering what changed my mind right? It's simple really. I knew that I would never be happy without Draco. He held my heart in an iron grip and it would always be so. No one else stood a chance. Even though I had wanted to believe otherwise for a time—that was when I hadn't seen him for months after our break up—deep down inside I always knew. Then Draco came to work at the Ministry and I had to endure the pain of seeing him around but knowing that he wasn't mine anymore. It was so hard and I tried desperately to avoid him but we still saw each other sometimes. There were even a few run ins between us which became really intense before we would com back to our senses. We didn't do anything but we could have. That was when I knew for sure—Draco still loved me every bit as much as I loved him. The last time we spoke or had any contact at all before today was in November. I was ashamed of my behavior and had resolved to stay away from him—it was over between us—I had no right to want him despite the fact that we still loved each other. Then a week later, the wedding invitation came. It wasn't easy for me to deal with but I had to accept the fact that I had lost. As the days went by and the wedding drew closer I became more and more upset. It was no a concrete fact—he would b a married man and I would lose my one shot at true happiness. It was a frightening though—I couldn't t bear it. I was at home crying for all that I had lost when I realized that I didn't have to lose anything. Not if I didn't want to—and I didn't wan to. Despite all my best efforts I wasn't ready to let go—I couldn't if I tried. I made up my mind to come here and fight form my love—consequences be damned. If you all really loved us you would accept our relationship...If not, we would have each other and that would be enough for me. After going a year without Draco in my life, I couldn't face the possibility of that being the norm. It would have destroyed me. He was all that I needed—he was my forever and I would do anything to get him back. Even come here and make a fool of myself. I was being incredibly selfish to come here and ruin things I know but it had to be done. There was no other way and I had to get him back. It was a simple as that. So there you have it, Mrs Malfoy. I came back because your son is the love of my life— he has made me happier than than I ever thought possible. He made dreams that I didn't even know I had come true. I had a taste of what perfection was and I foolishly gave it up. Not anymore though—I finally have my life back and I will never let it go." I said with treas streaming down my face.
Draco pulled me into a hug then and I was a runny nose, crying mess but I was far past caring. After a year, I was back in my favorite place in the whole world—Draco's arms.
There was a short silence after my little outburst. Everyone was in even more shock I supposed. Finally Mrs Malfoy spoke.
"So this is it then? The two of you have decided to be together no matter what?" She asked in defeat.
"Yes." Was Draco's simple reply.
"You keep my boy happy young lady. I can see that the two of you truly love each other and I have no right to stand in the way of that." She said to me with the smallest of smiles.
"I will, Mrs Malfoy, always. Thank you for understanding." I said and gave her a weak smile.
"Oh none of that Mrs Malfoy nonsense anymore. You can call me Narcissa from now on. If I understand correctly, you're also going to be Mrs Malfoy some day soon so it will be quite confusing for us don't you think?" She teased lightly.
Draco chuckled and I blushed furiously.
"Thank you Mother." Draco said warmly.
"Anything for you my dear." She told him.
"So you will be going along with this nonsense,Narcissa?" Luscius Malfoy drawled.
"I'm wiling to do anything for my son's happiness and so should you Lucius. Miss Granger makes him happy and I have accepted that. You should as well." She said with hope in her voice.
"He may do whatever he want's. I won't say a word but don't expect me to hold back when all this blows up in his face." He sniffed.
That was about the best we could hope for from him and Draco must have agreed because he nodded his thanks at his father.
Now that everything had been cleared up, it was time for us to leave.
"I guess we should go now." I said very quietly to Draco.
"We should." He agreed.
There was one thing I wanted to o before we left though. I went towards Astoria—letting go of Draco's hand for the first time since he had took it.
"I don't know how I can ever thank you for being so kind and gracious. So many people would have kicked up a storm and rightfully so. Again, I'm so sorry." I told her gratefully.
"Hermione's right. You've been really good about everything even when you didn't have to. I'm sorry for putting you through this." Added a shamefaced Draco.
"Don't worry about it. It was the right thing to do—anyone could see that. I just want to two of you to be happy." She said sweetly.
With that done, I said goodbye to my friends (promising to give detail later) And Draco hugged is mother. We then (holding hands) walked as fast as possible out of the garden without actually running.
"Let father deal with the guests,he was the one who wanted this whole wedding in the first place." Draco said with a smirk.
I laughed—my first carefree laugh in a year.
We were out of the garden and through the gates within seconds.
Not caring who saw—for I was sure everyone was looking through the gates at us—Draco picked me up off the ground with ease and I wrapped my legs around his waist. We then kissed like there was no tomorrow and it felt like coming home.
A/N: Well there you have it, the big reveal and reunion all in one! To all of you who might have a problem with Hermione crashing the wedding, like my dear reviewer: lilyflower49, I'm sorry if I upset you by my decision to take this route but I hope I wrote it in such a way that didn't seem too bad :)
This was actually the first chapter I started working on, (things had to be changed and reworked for it fit the story as it went o but the general outline remained the same) so I always intend for it to happen this way. I had originally planned for the wedding scene to stand alone as a two shot but I merged it with another idea and came up with this story.
There will most likely be one more chapter and then the epilogue.
Thanks to all of my reviewers and I hope you continue to do so until the story ends. :)