So this chapter is one I have really looked forward too! I had to rewrite it a few times since I didn't want to change the characters too much, but I still needed some sort of maturing tone.

HP POV

Placing his cup in the white sink, Harry quickly cast a cleaning spell on the major wash waiting. He had been sure he wouldn't use magic at home to do his chores, considering he was only a single person, but after having to work horrible long hours at St. Mungo's he quickly realized how handy magic was.

Looking around his apartment in the big city of London, Harry was quite content. The apartment was a two-bedroom, small kitchen but had a rather large bathroom with a tub. Right now, his place was littered with old newspapers, his student books and general laundry, spread across every surface. Putting on his last fresh shirt, Harry promised himself to 'actually' clean when he got back tonight. Thankfully, his shift this evening wouldn't be too dreadful since his classes were starting up again tomorrow. He simply had to say goodbye to most of his patients and finish up some paperwork.

Besides, he was pretty sure that Dean was coming to drag him out of the house – since he ditched on the boys, last Friday. Hopefully, he could sneak out of drinking his face off, manage to spend his Saturday being productive and not having to walk around with a major hangover at the same time.

Removing several old newspapers, he dug for the remaining book underneath. On top of his book lied the last letter from Jason. It had arrived a few days ago and Harry laid it out on top, reminding himself to reply tonight. Jason didn't write often, but Harry had been rather pleased when the first one arrived. For long they simply wrote about their casual day to day but soon it became more thoughtful and the friends quickly picked up where they had left at Hogwarts. Harry did politely ask how Blaise was doing, although he feared his question would soon lead towards the blond man, he had neither talked to nor seen for almost a year. Jason was smart enough not to bring it up and usually stuck to summarize Blaise's career in commercial design business. He still hadn't had the time to read the newest letter and he was annoyed with himself for not making it more of a priority. He didn't have that many people around him he could truly say was his friends and he should be better at reaching out.

As he finished packing his shoulder bag, someone knocked. The daily profit was dangling from an impatient owl, pecking at his living room window. Opening up, the scroll was thrown in and he quickly gave the brown pecker a sickle before it started attacking him. It took flight less than a second after the payment.

"Good day to you too." Harry mumbled sarcastically.

Picking up the discarded rolled up paper, he checked his watch to see if he had the time to skim it. Five minutes.

Unfolding it, Harry was suddenly glad he was right beside his couch. A pain he hadn't felt in months roared its ugly head and erupted inside his chest. An irrational feeling of betrayal sank him down and he suddenly didn't feel like going to work anymore.

On the front of the daily profit, a huge magical photograph had taken front page and familiar faces smiled at him as they quietly moved their mouths in chatter. On the left he saw Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy standing straight beside each other as they looked towards the middle of the photo. And there, in the middle stood the reason for his pain; arms linked, Parkinson had a strong grip on the pale muscular arm clad in dress robes as Harry saw his ex, smirking at the camera and returning the look of horrible adoration of the woman. A woman, whom by what Harry had read about months ago, was now expected to be called his wife. A word that sparked jealousy and bitterness through him. He knew it was completely irrational but somehow it felt like betrayal all over again.

"He isn't yours." Harry mumbled as he crushed the paper between his hands. He had no reason to be jealous. He had told Malfoy to stay away from him and he had complied. Never once had he tried to find Harry at Hogwarts or afterwards. Not once….

Throwing the paper to the side, Harry pulled himself out of the misery and got going. His shift was starting soon.

DM POV

The magical hotel room was indeed beautiful. Cherry flowers and white lilies were decorating the walls and vases, whilst a white tableclothed table was filled with small chocolates and chilled champagne. Both untouched.

Looking at himself in the mirror, you could barely tell he was tired. The cheering potion and concealing charm had worked wonders on his skin. Although he still felt like crap, it wasn't exactly a new feeling. He straightened his tie on the horrible tuxedo, Pansy had insisted he wore. Why the pureblood circle had adopted this as the newest fashion, he would never know. It was quite uncomfortable and restricting as he kept pulling on his wrist cuffs.

No matter, he would never be as uncomfortable outside as he was inside. For the last couple of months, it had felt as if he was deep underwater. For weeks after graduation, he was miserable. He missed Harry to a point where he lost interest in most anything he did. He had started working at the ministry, same floor as his father, just a different department. Work was fine. He got a fair pay for being a beginner, as it was a job he exalted. But the work held no actual meaning to him. It wasn't groundbreaking or even remotely interesting, but it was a respectable position and as he had no other idea of what to do with his life otherwise, he might as well get paid.

After a few weeks of living in a bubble, his father had insisted on hearing his plans for the rest of his future. A conversation Draco didn't feel like having. As each row turned tedious, his father had given up and simply invited the Parkinsons over. An agreement Draco truly never had thought he would find himself in, and as the day turned to night an official marriage contract had been conscripted. After that day, Draco had felt trapped under water. Mumbling was going on around him, discussing his future and he had nothing to say in the matter. He didn't care about the flowers or the food, what music played best during the ceremony or what color scheme would stand out. He simply didn't care. He stood where he was placed and never once complained.

It was only for the past twenty-four hours he had surfaced the still sea and realized what he was about to do. A monster of terror was pressuring to erupt inside him, but he kept it down. It was too late now. He was getting married in a few hours and he couldn't leave. No matter their differences, he wouldn't cause Pansy such humiliation and leave her at the altar in front of all their friends and family.

Besides, his parents were happy, Pansy was happy, and their fellow purebloods had seemed pleased by the match, so why should he be the only one to complain. Besides, it didn't really matter. If it wasn't Pansy, it would be someone else, so why spend anymore fuss. He didn't even want to think about how much money his parents and the Parkinsons had spent on this ceremony.

The sounds from downstairs became louder as though a small army was gathered to watch the blessed event.

Looking in the mirror he saw the reflection of himself sitting on the bed and the rest of the room. The clock on the wall behind him reminded him of the time. An hour left before he had to leave this saferoom.

A knock on his door sounded and Draco simply opened it with wandless magic.

"Hey." Blaise came in, looking quite handsome in his dark azure suit. That was the one thing Draco was glad about this wedding; Blaise had immediately agreed to be his best man. "Just came to see how you were doing." As the man entered the room, his bodyguard stood behind him, leaning against the doorway. He didn't seem even remotely interested in being here and Draco was certain he was only here because Blaise had forced him. Tiny pale scars were still prominent on his face and left hand, but his hair covered most on his forehead nicely.

"You look great." Blaise gave a small smile.

Draco mumbled a thanks, not even sure if that was true.

Sighing, the dark boy asked Jason to leave them alone for a while, and the tall man closed the door behind him without saying a word to Draco. He was more than sure the man still hated him for breaking things off with Harry. It would be so much fun hanging out with him and Blaise for the rest of his life.

"Going to be fun having him with you everywhere. Are you really sure you need him?" Draco tried to tease.

Laughing, Blaise sat down beside him on the bed. "And I suppose I should love having to hear Pansy nag you for all eternity?"

Smirking, the friends sat together, uncomfortable silence keeping it awkward.

"Draco, it still isn't too-"

"Blaise, stop it. I've decided." Draco silenced him with a lifted hand.

Nodding, Blaise gratefully changed the subject. "I've got my speech ready and those horrible rings they picked out, so don't worry about that." Showing him his inner pocket lining along the chest.

"Great, thanks."

The door opened once again as Jason stuck his head in. "We need to get ready."

"Thanks," Blaise got up and clapped him on the back. "I will see you down there."

Fearing his own answer, Draco nodded agreeing.

At the sound of the door closing in silence, Draco threw himself back on the bed, picking at the silken bed sheets. He imagined in only a few hours how he would have to share a bed with a woman he had grown up with. The idea was revolting, and he was even more revolted at the thought of needing help from a potion to consummate his marriage. Closing his eyes, he could still imagine Harry lying beside him well shagged. The way his hair stuck out even more than usual as Draco had run his hands through it. Sweat would have gathered on his bare chest as he tried to breath normally again. Feeling into his pocket out of habit, Draco groaned at his own pathetic attempt to reach for the piece of silver he had gotten rid of months ago. On the day of the graduation he had truly given up on seeing Harry again and had thrown the necklace into the lake, leaving it behind with everything else.

Lying for a second in self-pity was enough for the rest of his emotions to catch on.

In less than an hour he was getting married to someone who wasn't the man he still loved. A woman, no less.

Sitting up, he pulled himself together.

"Come on Draco, Malfoys don't run away… it's just a little party..." Wishing to pull his own hair out, he had to stop since he didn't have time to put it back in a slick firm style. A knock on the door interrupted his meltdown.

Getting up he opened the door with magic again.

"Draco."

Turning around he saw his future bride standing in a beautiful wedding dress. She was truly breathtaking and had he been in love, Draco was certain he would be pleased at the thought of how envious all the men would be downstairs, looking at the woman beside him. Her hair was done in a neat bun with a feather stuck between two pearls on the side.

"Pansy, why are you here? I thought I couldn't see you-"

"You can't and I'm not really here." She came in and quickly closed the door behind her. Slowly she sat down beside him on the bed and Draco was filled with nostalgia of them playing in his room while their parents were downstairs chattering.

"You look beautiful."

Smiling sadly, she placed her bouquet of pink lilies beside them.

"Draco, you know when I pictured my wedding it was almost always like this; flowers, inside a gorgeous venue, filled with people who looked adoringly at me." She began picking the petals of one of the flowers. "I thought I would be amazingly happy, and sometimes focusing on all these things made other things less important, like whom I married."

"Thanks." Draco tried sarcastically.

Pansy smiled sadly. "But then our parents seemed so intend to marry us, and things just seemed… easy. I started to imagine us together our life, our wedding, but in every single scenario you were actually happy."

Draco didn't interrupt her but continued to watch as she peeled the petals off one by one.

"I would see you being interested in our future." She started sniffling. "I honestly thought you would become excited one of these days. As if you simply needed to get away from him. Your mother told me; 'Give him some time. Any day now he will change.' But you aren't."

"Pansy…"

She gently placed a hand upon his. "Don't say it."

"We can be happy someday maybe."

Laughing sadly, Pansy shook her head. "No, I was foolish to think I could change your mind. It was always right in front of me, but I was so desperate to make a perfect couple. But we are never going to be like that. We can never make each other happy because you don't love me." She cried silently as tears fell on her dress.

"I do care-"

"But you're not in love with me, Draco." Pansy finally looked at him. "And I deserve to be with someone who is."

"I promised-"

"Doesn't matter anymore." she looked away seemingly ashamed. "You should know, I was the one who told Potter about the bet and seeing how much it hurt you, I have felt terrible ever since. I never meant to cause you pain, Draco. I just wanted what I thought would make me happy."

Draco sat for a long time, waiting for the anger to surface. He remembered all the confusion and heartache it had given him, whenever he heard about Harry. But seeing the devastating face of his fiancé, the anger somehow never came. He realized they had both been trapped in their own misery. Pansy wasn't stupid. She must have seen the uncaring and indifference on his face whenever they discussed the wedding. He never thought of how much it must have affected her, seeing him like that.

"He would have found out somehow." Draco whispered as he took her hand, stopping her from ruining more of her bouquet. Squeezing it gently, she gave him a wet smile and simply sat together. Each crying for the future they would never have.

"I love you Draco." Pansy cried. "And as much as I hate it, I can't keep you."

Taking a deep breath, she collected herself and got up. "You need to leave."

Clearly not hearing right, Draco sat, staring at her, gaping.

"But Pansy, I still promised-"

"And I told you; It doesn't matter anymore. You're not breaking your promise, because it's my decision not to marry you." She smiled sadly. "I can do better."

Chuckling, Draco finally got up. "I'm sure you can."

"Merlin, we have to tell our parents." Dragging a hand through his hair, he prepared himself for a scolding of a lifetime.

"Don't worry. You won't be here for it."

"Pansy… I can't leave you to deal-"

Shaking her pretty head, she took of her gloves. "I need to do this; alone." Taking his hand once more, Pansy cried. "Thank you, for trying to be mine."

Leaning down, Draco pressed a gently kiss to her wet cheek. "Thank you, for letting me go back."

Slowly he let go of her hand, feeling more empty than he imagined he would. But he realized by letting go, he wasn't just saying goodbye to a marriage. He was letting go of a future where he would have stayed good friends with his father, maybe getting his own children someday. Everything he had imagined his life would be like for so long, would pass by when he went the other way. But it was barely anything compared to what he could gain. So letting go, he gave a final smile to the crying woman before leaving.

Outside his room, he carefully went passed the hall where everyone had gathered already. He would hopefully be able to sneak out the backdoor of the hotel, where the staff entered. Looking back one last time he saw both their parents, toasting to their future.

For a second Draco felt horrible having left Pansy to deal with all four of them on her own. But he trusted her ability to know what she needed to do. She was a tough woman, she would be alright after the first blow was over.

Tearing his eyes away he quickly sneaked his way through the narrow halls before realizing he actually had no idea where to go. He couldn't very well go home. It would be the first place his father would tear down to the ground, trying to find him. His family and all his friends were gathered here. Should he try to find Blaise in the hall?

A cough from behind almost frightened him to death. Turning around, his godfather stood in his formal robe – looking almost identical from every day.

"Severus… I'm sorry, I have to go."

Seconds went by and his godfather seemed just as unaffected as always.

"This will be quite a hazzle for your parents." He simply reminded him.

"I know, but I have to do this."

Sighing annoyed, Severus handed him a folded note from his pocket.

Accepting- and opening it, Draco was confused as to what he was looking at. It was just an address to somewhere in London. Did Severus have an apartment there? But as he completely unfolded the handwritten note, something heavy fell out and landed in his hand.

Realization hit him as a train, and he smiled thankfully at his godfather. A real smile for what felt like the first time in months. Without another word he ran through the back door, smacking it against the wall. Running far enough from the venue, he whipped out his wand and Dissapparated from sight.

Left behind stood his godfather, sighing at the troublesome man who with no doubt had left him to deal with an enraged Lucius. A warm hand gently touched his palm as if it was uncertain Severus would allow it to linger.

"They will be okay." Remus stated with a tiny smile.

Severus silently agreed by allowing the hand in his.