Wedding-week, August
Draco stood inside the Leaky Cauldron, sighing. It was still in the same poor condition as when he had purchased it in December, all dirty and in need of a renovation. He stroked the surface of the bar counter, the dark, once smooth wooden texture cool against his palm.
Draco wondered what he should do about the place, knowing he had only bought it to make some easy money. He sighed—nothing was ever easy, was it?
The Leaky Cauldron was the first project he had ever postponed for this long. Normally it would have been out on the market ages ago, top-renovated with shiny new furniture, floors and walls. Draco would have handed over the key to a new owner and walked away with another large amount of galleons added to his bank vault, a new project already on his mind.
And then rinse and repeat. Now, it seemed like all the air had gone out of him; he had no energy left to work on this bar. Draco contemplated selling it as is but disregarded the idea almost immediately. Financially, he had more than enough to keep the Leaky Cauldron and at least three other houses if he wanted to. Draco didn't really keep count of what he could and couldn't afford.
He let his mind wander freely, thoughts coming and going as they pleased. Draco was waiting for Ron, who was on an Auror mission in Knockturn Alley. It was Monday, and Ron had promised to fix the papers as soon as he could.
The redhead had sent Draco a Patronus the same morning, asking to meet him as soon as he got off work. Ron had never sent Draco a Patronus before, so he was a little startled when the overly excited Jack Russel terrier jumped through one painting and landed before him while he ate breakfast. But as soon as Draco heard Ron's voice, he immediately relaxed. Weasley had that effect on him.
So now he was here. Waiting.
A few minutes later, Ron burst through the door, holding the important papers high in the air.
"Hey," he breathed, stopping in his tracks before he got too close to avoid what Draco almost hoped he would have done, which was to lean in and kiss him. Instead, Ron handed him the two rolls of parchment he was holding. "Here are the papers I promised to fix. It's just a bunch of text, really, and we're supposed to sign at the bottom. We need at least one witness; I've asked Hermione, and she promised to do it."
Draco pressed his lips together in disapproval at the mention of Granger. Ron rolled his eyes.
"It's okay, Draco. She's got nothing to do with my life anymore. She won't mind." But despite the promise, Ron didn't look entirely convinced. At all, actually.
"Weasley, have you really asked her?" Draco eyed him suspiciously. Ron averted his gaze, careful not to meet Draco's eyes. No, of course, he hasn't asked. Liar.
"I will," Ron said, guilt in his voice. "I'm sure it's not a problem."
"Weasley, this is Granger we're talking about. Of course it's a problem!" Draco couldn't imagine that Hermione Granger would agree to be a witness to a wedding between her ex-boyfriend and their mutual former school enemy. Nobody sane would agree to it.
Nobody sane would agree to the marriage at all.
"Look," Ron said, now looking Draco straight in the eye, "We don't have to do this. It's just an idea. I just want you to know that if you're one hundred percent sure about this, then I will be with you all the way. I won't back out or anything. We'll fix everything, no matter what it takes." He refrained from saying I'll fix everything, though it was heavily implied.
Draco was once again hit with how utterly Gryffindor Ron still was. Self-sacrificing through and through. He was willing to have on a permanent record that they'd been married just to get Draco out of the arranged marriage with Astoria. Not thinking about himself for even a second. Draco knew if the situation were reversed, he would never do this for Ron.
Draco unfurled the parchment roll and started to read.
"This is a bit different from a regular wizarding marriage," Ron explained, pointing to the long paragraphs of text. Draco read out loud:
POP-IN-MARRIAGE: THE AFFORDABLE OPTION FOR THE YOUNG COUPLE
Dreaming about getting married but don't have the funds? Are you in love but tired of the old-fashioned marriage traditions and want a modern alternative? Well, look no further!
Aunt Stella's pop-in-wedding services offer a simple way for wizards and witches to express their love without the burden of a permanent magical bonding…
"Permanent magical bonding?" Draco's throat went dry. He looked up from the paper.
"Well, yeah," the redhead said, slightly bewildered. "Your parents haven't told you, have they? It's okay, I didn't know much about this either," he quickly added, noticing the alarmed look on Draco's face.
No, Draco's parents hadn't told him. Not what he could recall, anyway. For a Pureblood, Draco knew little about Wizarding Wedding traditions. His parents must have kept him in the dark on purpose because if he had known, then he could have found a loophole, anything, to get himself out of this.
"Well… it's some sort of ancient thing," Ron said. He started to explain everything he knew about magical bonding. People who got married were supposed to stay married until death, and to bond magic with somebody else meant, apart from sharing everything, that you couldn't get a divorce. "It's the main idea anyway," Ron said, shrugging. "It's not like people will kill you if you want a divorce; I mean, that Celestina Warbeck woman was married three times! But still, though... divorce is pretty complicated with magical bonding." Ron made a face. "Most people don't really do it. This offers a cheaper, better, and much easier process. We won't bond our magic, only sign these papers..."
Draco nodded. "And this—without the bonding—would count as a real marriage, then?"
"Yeah, exactly," Ron said. "And we can get a divorce with no problems. In a traditional wizarding marriage, you sort of have to un-bond yourself from the other person if you want a divorce, and, well, it's a whole thing. This type of marriage is nothing but paperwork, really, that's the big difference."
Well, that's not too bad, Draco thought. He could handle some paperwork; he signed papers all the time when he bought and sold properties.
Draco was beginning to relax a little, thinking this felt easier than he thought it would. But he noticed Ron looked a little nervous, and he tensed up again. Of course there was a catch with all of this.
Nothing is ever truly easy.
"It's just this little detail," Ron continued, pointing at another paragraph down below.
Draco read out loud:
This is a faster, entirely safe way of getting married. It's perfect as a so-called 'probationary marriage' if you are unsure about bonding for life. All you have to do is sign these papers and attend the obligatory five-minute ceremony at the Ministry of Magic (please note that at least one witness must be present at the ceremony).
"What detail?" Draco asked, looking at Ron over the parchment. He already knew about the witness. Ron pointed to something at the bottom of the page, written in a smaller font than the ad.
You are required to stay married to your partner for at least six months before you may apply for a divorce. The Ministry of Magic believes that six months is the minimum time for couples to decide if they want to stay together. You may visit the Ministry after six months have passed if you desire to go through the magical bonding ceremony.
Six months. Draco quickly thought it through. He could do six months. They were already shagging, so how bad could it be? "So, how complicated would a divorce be?"
Ron shrugged. "No more complicated than this is. Like I said, it's just some paperwork. Honestly, I expected it to be a lot harder—but I've read through this six times and I can't find anything. The only thing we have to do is stay married for six months. We can do that. Not dating other people won't feel like missing out if…" Ron trailed off, a blush blooming on his cheeks.
Hmm. So Ron thought about the sex and the intimacy too.
"I mean—if you want," Ron said, looking embarrassed.
Did he have any feelings, or was he just horny?
Did Draco truly have them, or was he just horny, too?
No, he wasn't just horny. He knew it, so there was no need to keep on denying it. Just looking at Ron made Draco want to be close in more ways than one. He wanted kisses and cuddles and to be held by the other wizard. He wanted to call Ron his. "I'm willing to go through this if you are," Ron said, his facial expression serious. "It's just six months, Malfoy. Not the worst thing in the world."
Draco nodded slowly. No, it was not the worst thing in the world.
But… something with this didn't feel quite right either. Pretend-dating going on very much real sex going on another fake thing? Was it something he really wanted? What did Weasley think of him, deep inside? Was Draco only a charity project for him?
"We still need a witness," Draco said. "Otherwise, this won't work."
"I'll talk to Hermione for real," Ron promised. "She might be able to help us." Draco glared at him. "Stop looking at me like that! I know she makes you nervous, but you have got to get over some things, Draco. She has moved on since the battle, so I reckon you should too. I'll talk to her tonight. Why don't you come round tomorrow, so we can plan? Rehearsal dinner's on Wednesday, right?"
Draco nodded.
"Okay, still plenty of time then." Ron gave another smile, sending soft tingles through Draco's veins.
Draco knew with only twenty-four hours to go, calling it plenty of time was a stretch. But Ron's presence, Ron's whole being, soothed him. He made him feel like things were going to be okay. They would figure it out somehow.
Ron had promised they would.
Tuesday
"Absolutely not."
Hermione Granger crossed her arms over her chest inside the small kitchen in the flat she shared with Ron and looked indignantly from Ron to Draco and back to Ron again.
"Hermione…" Ron tried for what had got to be the four hundredth time. There was a mix of complaint and desperation in his voice.
Draco had a headache.
"This is the silliest idea I've ever heard!" Hermione went on, her wild unruly hair dancing as she shook her head. "I refuse to partake in this. I'm sorry, but you will have to find another way!"
"Come on, Hermione!" Ron half-yelled to her. "He's supposed to get married this Saturday. Can't you just—please? We're running out of options here; I wouldn't have asked you if things weren't—"
"Well, maybe you should have thought about that earlier, Ron!" Hermione snapped irritably, interrupting him. She opened the door to the fridge with more force than needed and reached for a bottle of water inside. "Besides, you can't solve this—this thing!—with a pretend marriage. What would your mother say?!"
"Nothing, I hope!" Ron snapped back. "Because you will not tell her!"
Hermione made an angry sound. "She's going to find out eventually, Ron! Draco has his face in the Daily Prophet; imagine the headlines when the wedding gets cancelled because he's already married to you!" She gestured to Draco with the water bottle before lifting it to her lips, glaring at her ex-boyfriend while she drank.
"I'm not invisible, you know," Draco commented, thinking to himself that if looks could kill Granger would be an excellent serial killer. Ron opened his mouth to say something back to Hermione, but Draco's words made him close it again.
It had been a rather uncomfortable afternoon. The last time Draco had seen Granger, his anxiety had been through the roof. It wasn't now, but it was still uncomfortable. Especially since Granger had something very dangerous in her eyes, not that he was afraid of it, but everything she said had a certain anger to it, constantly threatening to break free, as if all her emotions were a dragon she spent years taming but still struggled to hold back.
"No, of course not, nobody thinks you are," Ron said to Draco while Hermione rolled her eyes and once more shook her head as if she couldn't quite believe the stupidity. Ron turned back to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione, stop being so stubborn. Just help me—us—out!"
"Honestly…" Hermione said crossly. "Absolutely not. I've already done enough for you, Ron, and that's final!" She purposely avoided Draco, turning all her annoyance toward Weasley, who scowled.
Draco already had a feeling before coming to the flat that it wouldn't work. Yet, Ron seemed so sure Draco felt like he couldn't object. In all honesty, this marvelled him. Ron seemed so mature, wonderful and brilliant all on his own, yet there were still some parts of him that seemed completely dependable on Granger. It was clear that the two were very close, and considering Weasley's (previous?) feelings for Potter, it wasn't strange. Besides, they had been together, after all. But Draco couldn't help it. He was jealous.
Ron and Hermione exchanged a few more bitter, poisonous phrases before Granger stormed off, slamming the kitchen door shut behind her.
Draco threw Ron a murderous glare, almost itching to hex him. If there was one thing Draco and Granger had in common, it was the anger Ronald Weasley could stir within them. Though annoyingly enough, it quickly disappeared when Ron put his hand atop Draco's on the table in the now silent kitchen, and that little spark between them came back. Draco had got used to it now. So all it took was a smile from the redhead, and when he smiled, Draco smiled too. They rarely showed each other affection outside the bedroom walls—Ron hadn't tried since the forehead kiss. Now he laced his fingers with Draco's like it was normal and not strange at all.
Draco wanted to kiss him. A few days had gone by since he last had done so.
Would Ron object if he reached over the table and kissed him? Would he look at him weirdly?
"There is one other person we could ask," Ron said slowly, his fingers playing with Draco's on the table.
"Who?" Draco's eyes lingered on Ron's lips. It was hard to look away from them.
"The matchmaking lady." Ron nodded eagerly. "She loves things like this, doesn't she?"