A/N: Countdown to the end. Second to last Chapter. Once again, please review and please visit the poll on my homepage.
Draco Malfoy did not care about flowers. He did not care about place settings. He did not care about tablecloths or chairs or the shape of the tables or anything. Yet, there he was again trying to form an opinion on everything. Nicole had come to help but Astoria insisted on him giving an opinion on every single decision there was to be made. Therefore, when Nicole went home for the evening, he slid over to Astoria.
"You know we don't need any of this, right? I could and would marry you tomorrow without any kind of flowers or anything."
"I know." Astoria was distracted, trying to figure out a charm that was supposed to charm a napkin to fold into a rose. So far, the roses she'd made looked alright, but they were nowhere near as pretty as the one in the picture. If done correctly, the charm would cause the flower napkin to wave in an imaginary breeze. Hers kind of flopped about feebly.
"Really. Bugger all this, we could sneak away and get married right now and nothing would change." That caught her attention, that and Draco gently taking the stack of napkins away.
"But don't you want people there?" Draco sighed.
"There is a reason we invited every single person either of us knows, and it's because I want every wizard in England to understand that you are mine. That being said, I'm sure that with some persuasion we could easily make the front of the prophet. Are you considering it?"
"No. I want to marry you Draco. I want to do it right. I know you think everyone wants me, but I am very aware of how many women there are who would love nothing more than to marry you. I want there to be absolutely no doubt that you are entirely off the market."
"I was entirely off the market the second I met you Astoria. If you don't know that at least then I have not been doing my job properly. I" he leaned down and kissed her,
"Love" he kissed her again, this time a bit longer,
"You." Both Draco and Astoria were suddenly very happy that they'd decided to examine the samples from Draco's home.
~~~~Delicate~~~~
Astoria was regretting her decision to move the wedding up. The Healer hopeful she was training was a very tall girl named Penelope. Penelope was a bright girl with a lot of questions, meaning that Astoria had to break everything down for her. Although Astoria was fond of Penelope, and thought she'd make a great healer, she was consistently leaving work late due to the added schedule.
One evening, after a long day at work, Draco and Astoria were walking through Diagon Alley to meet with a baker to choose the flavor and design of their wedding cake.
"Cake, is something that I am very good at." Draco boasted, as the two of them strolled casually.
"I hope so. You said you wanted a chocolate cake, so he's going to give us more chocolate than you've ever had."
"I'll bet you that I've had way more chocolate cake at home." Draco took a second to notice Astoria stop cold, with a worried expression on her face.
"I never even thought about that." Astoria said suddenly.
"About what?" Draco asked. They had clearly thought enough about the cake.
"What about, you know, where are we going to live?" Draco stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Then, ever so slowly he said,
"In the manor?" Draco looked concerned. Astoria frowned. She had been trying to be careful not to start an argument, but she was confused.
"Not eventually. Now. When we get married. Where are we going to live?"
"In the manor. In the West Wing. My mother's been bugging me forever to bring you to begin redecorating but I thought we could do it after the wedding, together." Astoria opened her mouth to respond, but then realized they had arrived.
'We're speaking about this later." She said, trying to keep her voice light. They walked in, and immediately her nose was filled with the scent of baked goods.
"Welcome!" The baker looked very different from how Astoria imagined. She'd pictured a round and jolly old man. This man was tall, with muscular arms. He looked more like a HitWizard than baker. Rather than smiling, he nodded to them.
"You have a design in mind." It wasn't a question. Astoria stepped forward, towards his counter.
"This one over here wanted to go with his colors in school, and I said that we couldn't represent one school and not the other. So our colors are green, powder blue, and silver and he wanted, you know what, you tell him."
"It's tradition in my family to have a snake on the cake, and since the Beauxbatons crest features two wands, I wanted to have a snake clutching a wand."
"But tasteful." Astoria added. The cake maker studied them for a bit, not saying anything. Then, he nodded.
"First, we do flavors. Then, we do design." Draco and Astoria nodded, and followed the baker as he led them further into his shop. Aside from the pretty little cakes in his bakery he had several larger cakes on display, including one that made Astoria pause.
"This is so pretty" she sighed. The cake was deceptively simple. It had alternating layers wrapped in ribbon or surrounded with flowers. However, as she looked closer, she saw that both ribbon and flowers were made of edible materials.
"Astoria?" She was jolted out of her observations to see Draco standing next to a table with a large grin on his face. On the table, there were little squares of cakes in all different flavors. They were all variations on chocolate cake, more than she'd ever seen before. They were separated by country, and then by type of cake.
"Are there any countries you know you don't want cake from?" Astoria looked at all of the samples. She thought that if she tried one of each from each country, she would end up eating an entire cake by herself. Draco looked excited, but she personally thought it wasn't prudent.
"What are the best three countries for chocolate?" she asked the baker.
"In my opinion, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy." Astoria smiled.
"Then let's just try those." With a wave of his wand, samples from other countries began to put themselves back onto shelves. He then walked them over to the Italian chocolates.
"Now, let's begin with Italy. Here we have a molten cake. Melted chocolate inside the cake will fill your mouth with chocolate at every bite." When Draco bit into it he looked like he was in heaven. Astoria had to admit, she hadn't liked the sound of the cake. But, instead of being gooey, the chocolate inside was smooth as it filled her mouth."
"Now, water. Make sure you rinse the taste out of your mouth." Astoria did as she was told. It was a bit disappointing to go from chocolate to water, but she made sure it was done. Waving his wand about, the baker kept things moving.
"Here is a red velvet cake." This one she did not like as much, although she normally loved it. Compared to the molten cake it was slightly disappointing. She rinsed just the same. The baker took her through cake after cake. Some, like the double chocolate almond cake, were so good she wanted more. Others, like a chocolate crepe cake, were disappointing. When they had finally gotten through all of the cakes in Italian chocolate, they started the process again in Switzerland, and then in Belgium. Once they took their first bites of Belgian chocolate, Astoria knew what Draco was going to want.
"We'll have a cake in these." He said, as soon as they'd had their first cake. The baker laughed at that, startling Astoria. In the hour and a half they had been there so far, he hadn't even smiled.
"You have very expensive taste sir!" He said, smiling. Draco smiled back.
"Of course I do. What about it then?"
"Belgian chocolate is almost all hand crafted, not processed, that is why the taste is so pure. It is also why it is very, costly."
"That is no problem." Draco said, smiling. Astoria wanted to argue, but she knew there was no point. Even if Draco hadn't already loved the cakes in Belgian chocolate, she knew that hearing that it was expensive would persuade him to want it.
"How many flavors can we choose?" Astoria asked.
'That, dear, depends on your design. Let's go." Suddenly the baker was all business again. She had to wonder if he was just going to be like that with her. He led them at a brisk pace towards a large sketchpad, where with a wave of his wand quills of all colors of ink presented themselves.
"Typically, people like softer colors for cake, is that something you would want?" He asked. Astoria nodded before Draco responded. She looked up at him and he shrugged his indifference.
"Very well." He nodded again.
"Round cake or square cake or did you want the cake itself to be shaped like a snake."
"I rather liked the idea of the snake wrapping itself around the cake." Draco said. Suddenly, the baker seemed inspired.
"Of course!" He said, picking up a quill that was in a pot of soft gray in. He began to design the cake quickly. The cake itself he left blank, simply drawing four tiers of a round cake. However, over it he began to draw an elegant snake. It was thin enough to look like a ribbon at first. It wound its way around the base of the cake and then wrapped itself up and around each tier before arriving at the top. Its head was nestled around the top layer of the cake, and in its mouth it lazily gripped a wand, which hung out and down. Across the cake.
"Remind me of your colors dear?" Astoria did as she was asked, and watched as the baker waved his wand. Quills of different ink colors began to work furiously on his sketch. There was so much movement that Astoria couldn't even see what was going on until, suddenly, they put themselves back.
The cake was beautiful. There were six alternating layers. Every other layer was either blue or green. The layers with green were a green base, with white curling wisps that Astoria realized were tiny snakes. The blue layers were actually white, with a vine pattern in powder blue that was eerily similar to that in the Beauxbatons crest. Around them all the snake was silver, each scale detailed. The wand was silver as well, and rested gently on the cake. From the end it produced small green and blue sparks. The drawing was so vivid Astoria almost wondered how a cake could look anything like it.
"Yes, now." The baker nodded, distracting her from her thoughts. Next to her, Draco looked incredibly pleased.
"Let's talk flavors. Two for the alternating layers. One for the snake and the wand. One for the top tier, which I assume the two of you plan on sharing." Astoria hadn't thought of it, but it sounded nice.
"Do you have any preference?" Draco asked. Astoria blinked back at him, unsure what he was asking. He evidently took it as a no, turning to the baker.
"How about a molten chocolate for the snake and the wand, and a chocolate wine cake for the top." Astoria smiled. Molten chocolate had been his favorite, and the wine cake was hers. She thought it was sweet of him to choose her favorite for the top.
"Then, how about velvet cocoa cake and chocolate ginger cake for the other layers. I feel like most people will like one of those." Astoria was almost surprised to find herself agreeing, but then she felt bad. Draco was a lot of things, but he was very aesthetically intelligent. She imagined that with Narcissa Malfoy as a mother it would he hard not to be.
"Very good. If that will be all, I will need to experiment with this right away. You, sir, have given me quite a challenge." The baker smiled again, but Astoria instantly felt bad.
"If it's too much trouble, we could change the design." The baker scoffed.
"If I can't accept a single challenge, why do I even bake." He asked.
"No, no. There will be no change. This cake" he paused to point to the image
"Is the cake you will have at your wedding." With that, it was done. He raised an arm and guided them they emerged, Astoria felt fuller of chocolate than she ever had in her life. Next to her, Draco wore the largest smile.
"Bring me to more things like that. Have we finalized the menu for sure? I think we need to try everything again, with some cake, to make the best decision."
"I can't believe you want our wedding cake made with Belgian hand-made chocolate." Astoria giggled.
"I can't believe you wanted to compromise on the design. That cake is beautiful." Astoria rolled her eyes.
"That cake is impossible. That man is going to almost kill himself to create it."
"Then he'll have died for a worthy cause." Draco laughed, before leaning down to kiss Astoria.
"Let's go home." Draco said it with a smile, but Astoria stepped back.
"About that. We're really going to live in the manor?"
"Astoria, where did you think we were going to live?"
"Are your parents moving out?"
"Why? We have our own wing."
"You keep saying this like it makes a difference!" Astoria was getting frustrated. She was fond of Malfoy Manor, and realistically she knew it had to stay in the family, but she hadn't expected to live there for years.
"I don't think you understand." Draco said, shaking his head. Less than an hour later, Astoria found herself in the West Wing of the manor.
She had never been there before. Malfoy Manor was comprised of the main wing, then a west and east wing. The main wing was very large, as she already knew, but she'd assumed that the other wings were merely additions. As she looked around the entrance to what was to be her home, she realized she was mistaken.
The west wing of the manor was very elegant, although it had clearly not been used in a long time. As Astoria explored it, she felt more and more ridiculous. The west wing had its own grand kitchen and formal dining room. Like the rest of the manor it was three stories not including the basement ballroom or the attic area which connected to all three wings. It had an office. It had several bathrooms. It also had nine bedrooms, including a master suite. It took them almost half an hour to walk through it, and it would have been longer if Draco hadn't kept Astoria from looking around too much. When they finally arrived back at the front he raised an expectant eyebrow.
"Don't be so smug." Astoria didn't have anything else to say. He'd been right.
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you, when are you going to start moving your things over?" The question caught Astoria by surprise. She'd almost forgotten that once she was married her things had to go with her.
"Have you already started?" She asked, curious. Draco smiled down at her.
"I've moved a few of my things. But I don't have nearly as far to move as you do. My mother brought it up at dinner yesterday because you're going to want to be moved before the wedding day. Once we leave after the wedding you won't want to come back and have to move."
"Why won't you tell me where we're going?" Astoria asked. Draco laughed.
"The point of a surprise tends to be surprising the other person Astoria."
"Please?" She tried, widening her eyes and pouting a bit. Draco's response was to laugh.
"No. But, I've thought of something." He then grabbed Astoria gently by the hand and led her gently back through the manor.
"Now, this will be our bedroom." The room was a bit dark. The wallpapering was a deep gray, and the furniture was all dark wood. Although Astoria liked the room, it wasn't somewhere she could see herself living. She turned to Draco to tell him as much but he beat her to the punch.
"Obviously, it doesn't really suit either of us. The wing is ours to do with as we please. My mother has said that if we come up with a plan for the wing, she can see to it that it's decorated and ready for us by the time we arrive." Draco walked forward as he spoke, until he opened a side door.
"This will be your closet. Mine is on the other side." He pointed to another door. As he moved around, Astoria imagined herself living there and waking up to Draco every morning. The thought made her feel warm and soft on the inside.
Draco opened his closet but Astoria had already walked into hers. The bedroom was much larger than Astoria's back home, but she'd expected that. She hadn't expected, however, the size of the closet that was apparently just for her. It was literally the size of her bedroom at home, without any windows.
"Why two closets?" Astoria asked, once she'd stepped outside. She hadn't expected Draco to come back towards her and as a result she almost mowed him over.
"When this place was built ladies gowns were very large and took up a lot of space, and a Malfoy woman would own many different gowns. The separate closets were practical. Mine is smaller." Astoria went to look, sliding past Draco and across the room to open the door.
"This is what I'd expect." It was still huge. Maybe not quite as large as her room, but still huge.
"I'm not sure we need two huge closets." Astoria was thinking out loud. Draco laughed from somewhere behind her.
"We might as well though. What would we need with the extra space?"
"A nursery." Astoria had been thinking aloud and hadn't meant it, but at her words Draco began to choke.
"I'm sorry, what? Is, did we, did I miss something?" Draco looking at her with such concern it made her burst out laughing.
"In the future. I think it would make a nice nursery. It's worth thinking about, unless you have something to tell me about."
"Oh, of course." Draco looked a bit sheepish, which made Astoria laugh again.
"For now, let's just move your things into the bigger one with mine. If we do need the extra space we'll use it."
"Alright." Draco said. He opened the next door and Astoria made her way into the bathroom. It was massive, although Astoria had come to expect that. There was a large tub that reminded her of the ones in the 7th year girls' bathroom at Beauxbatons, only bigger. It was almost a small swimming pool. There was also a shower, again much more spacious than it needed to be. It was beautiful. The marble was salt-and-pepper and gorgeous. Looking at it, she realized how she wanted to room to be decorated.
"I know what I want to do in here." She said, as she emerged from the bathroom. Draco lay back on the bed.
"We need a new bed." He said, laughing.
"We need new everything." Astoria sighed, flopping down next to him. But it's going to be amazing when it's done. As Astoria began to tell him her ideas, her mind was racing. More than anything, she wanted to begin to redecorate the wing. It was hers to do with as she pleased, and although she admired the elegance of the wing, if she was going to live there she was going to make it warmer. Before she could though, she would need to explore it.
The next day, she packed up all of her wedding planning materials and brought them to the manor, along with some of her clothes. After putting her clothes up in the closet, she spread her wedding materials across the old dining table. From then on, she decided, all of her planning was going to be done there. That way, if she needed a break she could explore and design another aspect of what would soon be her home.
~~~~Delicate~~~~
"What about flowers dear?" Narcissa asked one day as Astoria and Nicole poured over books. Astoria had finally decided how she was going to seat everyone. While she knew she and Draco had wanted to invite as many people as possible, she hadn't actually realized how many people that was. She'd invited her entire year at Beaubatons, Ulysses and everyone who'd been in that wedding, the families of all of her bridesmaids, her extended family, and several other people. Draco had invited his entire year at Hogwarts including those individuals he had disliked the most, most of the people he knew in London, all of the pureblood families, and several other people. Overall, their wedding audience was almost two hundred people. Seating them had been a challenge, but Astoria had finally conquered it. However, next was the problem of the centerpiece at the reception.
"You don't think I need something more, fancy?" Astoria asked. Narcissa smiled and sat down.
"No. Lately everyone does favors and little gifts and edible things. I think something classic would be beautiful."
"What about orchids Astoria? You like them and we couldn't fit them in your bouquet. Powder blue orchids with healthy green stems in a glass vase tied with silver ribbon. Simple. I like it, it's very you." The more Astoria considered it, the more she liked it.
"That sounds lovely." She said, still thinking about it.
"We could put little silver stones in the vase around the flowers. I like it." However with that decided, the conversation took the turn Astoria had wanted to avoid.
"Astoria, when are you going to choose your dress?" Narcissa asked. Astoria realized at once that it was probably the reason she'd entered in the first place. Astoria opened her mouth to respond that she'd get to it when her planning was done, but Nicole cut in quickly.
"Please don't be angry Astoria, but we all booked you an appointment to find a dress. It's tomorrow, when you get off work. We're going to find our dresses and your dresses. Daphne and Catherine are coming even, and I have Chloe and Anya's sizes." Astoria sat back.
"Oh." She sighed, not having anything else to say.
"We did it for you. There are three weeks Astoria. You should have had your dress a month ago."
"Why? They can alter it when I get it. I just, there are so many other things for me to worry about." Astoria sighed.
"It won't feel like you're marrying him until you get the dress Astoria." Astoria didn't have a good response for Narcissa's words.
Thus, the next day Astoria found herself standing in the middle of a room as Daphne, Narcissa Malfoy, Catherine, and Nicole looked through Paichelle's boutique. Astoria was not surprised Nicole had insisted that her friend design Astoria's dress. She didn't mind either, as so far all of the gowns she'd tried had been beautiful. It had taken her two dresses to identify her bridesmaid's gowns. Most of her bridesmaids would wear them in a beautiful silvery blue, and for Chloe she'd chosen a lovely green that she knew would suit her features.
It had been difficult for Astoria to choose between Nicole and Chloe for her maid of honor. Chloe had been there for Astoria more times than she could count, but recently Nicole had been very prominent in her life. Then, Draco reminded her that if Chloe had never tracked him down, they might never have reconciled. To her surprise, when she'd tried to explain it to Nicole, Nicole had laughed. According to Nicole it was 'obvious' that Chloe would be Astoria's maid of honor.
With her bridesmaids' dresses chosen, Astoria had tried on dress after dress. Several had been stunning, but none of them felt right. She was beginning to suggest coming out another day when Michelle Paisley herself walked in.
"You're so pretty." She said, as Astoria stood in a gown. The tail of it reached the floor and dragged a bit.
"But that dress is all wrong. It's too much. I have the perfect one." The small witch disappeared. It was silent in the shop for a bit, until she came back with a gown. Without letting anyone take a good look at it she shoved it towards Astoria's hands to change.
When Astoria came back out, she didn't even make it to the pedestal. She made it right until her eyes met the mirror. Then she stopped. The dress wasn't large. The bottom was simple and flowy, with only a sight train. The top was ruched, with a slight beaded pattern. As she moved, the beads glistened by themselves. The dress wasn't that amazing. But on her, it looked perfect.
"This one." She said, before anyone had even commented. Their opinions were irrelevant. She knew Narcissa Malfoy had been right. This was the dress she was going to marry Draco Malfoy in, in less than three weeks.
"It's perfect." Everyone agreed.
A/N: Seriously, please go to the poll!