Epilogue
Draco was late.
He accidentally overslept that morning; and he had exactly ten minutes to get to St. Mungo's before his shift started.
His last shift.
After sleepless nights of juggling his evening classes at the Wizengamot with his community service hours at the Elderly Ward of St. Mungo's, today was officially his last day, and already, Draco was feeling a little bit nostalgic. He had actually grown quite fond of some of the patients he'd been assigned to care for, and he'd certainly be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he also grew close to his supervising Healers over the last two years.
He was genuinely going to miss them.
The somberness of Draco's mood must have been transparent on his face, because when he finally arrived in St. Mungo's that morning and rushed to the Nurse's station to prepare for his rounds, his supervisor (a kind, motherly Healer in her forties named Estelle) smiled at him and gave him a knowing look.
"Now, I could be wrong here but...Today is your last day, is it not? Shouldn't you be happy that you'll finally be done with us and this dreary, smelly place?" She teased, handing him the list of his duties for the day.
"Yeah, kid." Lewis, another Healer (a robust-looking wizard in his thirties), commented as he looked up from his clipboard and gave Draco a good-natured grin. "What's with the long face? After today, you'll finally have more time to spend with that girlfriend of yours. Haven't you been neglecting her by being so busy all the time?" He kidded.
Draco flushed at his words and leveled him with a deadpan glare.
"I have not been neglecting my girlfriend." He grumbled.
Laughing at Draco's disgruntled expression, Estelle tutted in disapproval and swatted Lewis lightly on the head as she passed him on her way to the Healer's station. "Oh honestly. Don't tease him like that, Lewis. You know how crazy he is about that lovely girl of his."
"Well of course he's crazy about her. She's a veela after all." Lewis quipped back, giving Draco a knowing wink.
"It's not like that at all." Draco rolled his eyes at their teasing before he slipped himself into a pair of white nurse robes. "I was just thinking about how I'm going to miss this place. To be honest, I...really enjoyed working here with you all." He admitted, flushing in embarrassment at the fond smiles they gave him.
"Aww...Isn't he sweet? Can't we keep him, Estelle?" Emma, another Healer who was in her early twenties, said as she cooed at him and turned to Estelle. "Maybe you can talk to the Ministry and ask them to extend his sentence with us for another year? I'm going to miss having someone so cute and handsome to ogle all day while I'm doing my rounds." She added.
Draco nervously moved away when she tried to pinch his cheeks, causing the rest of the Healers around them to laugh.
"I'm not so sure Draco would want that. He has a lot of plans in the next few years." Estelle pointed out, crossing her arms and giving Emma a chastising look. "And you should probably keep your hands to yourself, Emma. You remember what happened the last time you tried to tease him like that."
Emma winced at her words while everyone else around them chuckled at the memory.
"Well, how was I supposed to know his girlfriend was Aria Potter?" She grumbled, though her lips were curled upwards into a smile as she glanced back at Draco and gave him a playful wink. "Or that she was an insanely possessive veela who likes to visit him unannounced from time to time?"
"She says she's sorry for hexing you, by the way." Draco drawled, stifling a smirk.
Emma pretended to make a face at him.
"I'm sure she is." She huffed.
"You really need to read the newspapers a bit more, Emma." Lewis snorted, shaking his head at her antics before turning his attention back to Draco. "Speaking of newspapers, I read from the Prophet this morning that the Wizengamot will be releasing the results of the Bar Examinations today. Have you seen your results yet?"
"Not yet." Draco admitted, wincing to himself as he began assembling an array of healing potions and medicinal salves on his tray. "They'll be sending the results via owls this afternoon, so I'll probably only find out whether I passed or not as soon as I get home."
"What are your plans after?" Estelle asked.
"Well..."
Draco paused and fidgeted when all three Healers turned to stare expectantly at him.
"...I was hoping to work as a Junior Prosecutor for the Ministry. I actually already received a provisional job offer, but whether I actually get accepted is contingent on me passing the Bar Examinations first." He told them.
"I wouldn't worry so much about that." Emma cajoled lightly as she walked past him on her way to her first patient. "We've all seen how hard you've worked and studied in between your shifts these last two years, so we're absolutely sure you passed."
Draco sighed as he slipped on a pair of gloves and attached his nametag to the front of his robes.
"I hope so." He mumbled.
"Relax, sweetie." Estelle chuckled and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "You know, maybe instead of being so focused on your career all the time, you should make other plans. You are nearing that age, you know." She teased.
"Nearing that age?" Draco echoed, blinking uneasily at her.
"The marrying age, sweetie." Estelle giggled at his reaction and gave him a thoroughly amused look. "Twenty years ago, wizards your age would be married by now — probably already expecting their first child. What exactly are you waiting for anyway?"
Draco's eyes widened and he sputtered a few times as he tried to think of an appropriate response.
"Th—that is, I—"
Estelle noticed his anxious grimace and left, still chuckling to herself as she proceeded down the hallway to begin her rounds. Unfortunately, Lewis picked up on where she had left off and continued to give Draco a serious look.
"Estelle's right, you know. I'm thinking even big celebrities like Harriah Potter have a time limit. You take too long and she just might decide not to wait anymore. I should know. My wife almost left me because I took too long to propose to her." He told him, nodding solemnly.
Draco just smiled awkwardly at him, unsure of how to answer.
To his relief, he was saved from the need to respond when the door to the Nurse's station swung open, and a smirking Hannah Abbott, decked out completely in her Junior Healer robes, strode over towards them.
"Don't pressure him like that, Lewis." Hannah tutted, giggling as she stopped beside the cabinet of healing potions behind Draco and began to rifle through its contents. "Draco and Aria were already mated since we graduated from Hogwarts. That means they're practically married already. And besides, knowing Aria, she's not the type of girl to just wait around for Draco to propose." She remarked.
"You're right about that." Draco said wryly.
Hannah turned to him and gave him a curious look.
"But speaking of your better half—"
She ignored the indignant glare Draco gave her and went on.
"—how is Aria these days? She's been so busy lately that I haven't had the chance to catch up with her."
"You don't know half of it." Draco snorted at her words and began scanning through the list of patients that Estelle had given him. "If we didn't live together, I doubt I'd be able to see her during the weekdays with all the missions she's been assigned lately. She's the 'darling' of the Ministry right now."
As the words left his lips, he couldn't prevent a small scowl from forming on his face.
Draco thought about how Aria had been coming home late to their flat for the last couple of days, and the only times Draco got to interact with her was in the mornings. He had never been more thankful for their joint decision to sell his flat a few months after graduation, followed shortly by him moving into Aria's flat in Westminster instead. Given how busy they both were in the last two years (with Aria's Auror Training Program and Draco taking evening classes at the Wizengamot in between his community service shifts), he wasn't sure how he could have handled not seeing her during the weekdays — even if it was for fifteen minutes at a time (when he made her breakfast, stole a quick cuddle from her while she was still asleep, and kissed her sleepy, blanket-wrapped form on their bed just before he headed off to St. Mungo's).
He was broken out of his thoughts when Lewis clapped him lightly on the shoulder and grinned at him.
"If she's the 'darling' of the Ministry, then maybe you can use that to your advantage. You know, get her to pull a few strings to get that dream job of yours."
Draco laughed at his suggestion but shook his head. "I could, but I'd rather save that as a last resort."
Before either Lewis or Hannah could say anything else to tease him further, Draco took advantage of their momentary distraction to levitate his tray and quickly set off to get started on his patient visits for that day.
A few hours later, Draco realized that the Healers must have let slip to his patients that this was his last day at St. Mungo's, because a lot of them kept congratulating him and mentioning to him how sad they were that he was leaving. They also thanked him for his hard work in taking care of them during the last two years and wished him well in his future endeavors.
His last (and favorite) patient in particular — an elderly witch in her 90s who strongly reminded Draco of his late grandmother — actually cried when he told her that he would be leaving. It was only when he promised to visit her as often as he could that she eventually let him leave the room, but only after he also promised to invite her to his wedding in the future.
By the end of the day, after Draco finished saying goodbye to all of his patients and he hung up his St. Mungo's uniform for the last time, he was a little embarrassed to admit to himself that he got a little teary-eyed too, especially when Estelle, Lewis, and the rest of his supervisors surprised him with a cake and a small goodbye celebration after his shift. It was late afternoon by the time the celebration ended, and after everyone wished him luck and Draco finished thanking all of them for their time and patience, he finally signed the official release papers Estelle handed him and slowly made his way to the elevator that would take him down to the main lobby of St. Mungo's.
Draco was surprised when he saw a certain dark-haired veela, wearing an impressive set of Auror robes, waiting patiently for him in the reception area when he got there.
Her back was turned to him and she was talking animatedly with Hannah, so she didn't notice him at first, but when Draco cleared his throat and both women spun around to face him, Aria's features immediately lit up into a smile.
"Hey you."
She rushed into his arms, linking her hands around his neck and greeting him with a warm, eager kiss on the lips.
"Hey yourself." Draco hummed appreciatively, blinking his eyes open when Aria pulled away; though she kept her arms wrapped intimately around his neck. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what are you doing here? I thought you had to work late tonight."
She shrugged. "I did; but I managed to convince Robards to let me take the rest of the day off. I think I earned it after two weeks of overtime anyway."
The longer he stared at her beautiful face, the more Draco couldn't help himself; until he eventually gave in and pressed another quick kiss against her smiling lips.
"How was work?" He asked.
Aria grumbled at his question and rolled her eyes. "Tiring as usual. I really just wanted to get out early and see you." She arched up on her toes and tilted her chin so that her lips were inches away from his; and Draco chuckled when he saw the familiar way her wings suddenly poked out from below her shoulders and fluttered happily at their closeness. "So...Congratulations. You are now officially acquitted of all charges. How does it feel?" She teased.
"It feels good." Draco smirked as he leaned in, pressing his mouth against hers before he answered. "But...does that mean you won't have to punish me anymore...Auror Potter?"
"Oh you're far from done with your sentence under me, Malfoy."
"I look forward to it, Potter."
"Ugh. You two are still as obscene as ever."
At the sound of Hannah's half-disgusted, half-amused voice, they broke apart instantly. Aria looked horrified as she whirled around, hastily retracting her wings back beneath her shoulders in embarrassment.
"Hannah, I'm so sorry! I forgot you were there—"
"Yeah, I know. You two forget about everyone else the minute the other walks into the room." Hannah giggled at their sheepish expressions before she shook her head and began to head back towards the elevators. "Anyway, my break's almost over so I'm going to head back. Expect to receive the wedding invitations sometime this month, okay? I'll have Pansy owl them to you." She called out to them over her shoulder.
As soon as she was gone, Draco turned to Aria and gave her a nonplussed look.
"Wedding invitations?" He asked.
"Hers and Theo's wedding." Aria rolled her eyes at his obtuseness. "Apparently, he proposed to her a few days ago, and she's already set a wedding date. She was just telling me about how busy she's been lately planning out their wedding."
"And let me guess." Draco drawled, smirking to himself and shaking his head. "She hired Pansy as her wedding coordinator, didn't she? Does she have a death wish?"
"Well, Pansy is the best at her line of work."
Aria laughed when Draco just made a face at her. She linked her arm around his, intertwining their fingers together, before beginning to lead him towards the hospital exit.
"How was your last shift today?" She asked curiously.
"It was...good. I'm actually going to miss working here." He admitted.
Aria sidestepped them around a group of star-struck witches who had congregated near the hospital entrance to stare at her. She hesitated and stopped them a few feet in front of the doors.
"I have to be honest." She bit her lip, turning to give Draco a slightly sheepish smile. "There's actually another reason I got off work early today to see you."
Draco turned to look at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Aria's lips twitched upwards into a grin as she glanced at something over his shoulder, prompting Draco to follow her gaze. His eyebrows arched up in surprise when he saw a smiling Narcissa and Andromeda hurriedly making their way towards them. Andromeda was holding a squirming pink-haired Teddy in her arms and as soon as the trio reached them, Teddy squealed and held his hands out to Aria, who giggled and lifted him up into her arms.
Narcissa and Andromeda both bent down and greeted Draco with an affectionate kiss on his cheek.
"What are you all doing here?" Draco blurted out when he finally managed to recover from his shock.
"Isn't it obvious?" His mother smiled at him, reaching over and fussing with his collar. "We're here to celebrate, darling. And we're here to take you to dinner."
"Celebrate?" Draco flicked his cautious gaze back and forth between Narcissa and Andromeda in confusion. "Celebrate what, exactly?"
"Your last day of community service, of course." Andromeda answered cheerfully as Aria passed Teddy back to her. "And let's not forget that other thing."
"...What other thing?" Draco shifted his gaze from Andromeda back to Aria. "You'll have to fill me in on this one, Potter, I'm completely lost here."
With an exasperated sigh, Aria rolled her eyes at him and finally reached into the pocket of her robes, pulling out a thick, white envelope.
"This came in the mail for you this morning just after you left."
She waved it up into the air; but as soon as Draco recognized the official seal of the Wizengamot printed on the back of it, his eyes widened and he felt all of the blood rush out of his face.
"Did you open it already? What did it say? Did I fail? Do I have to retake the bloody exam? I knew I messed up on that last essay question, I should have cited my sources more carefully—"
Aria laughed and leaned up again, interrupting his panicked barrage of questions by giving him a kiss on the cheek. She eventually pulled away and pressed the envelope encouragingly into his hands.
"I didn't open it. I assumed you would want to." She told him.
Draco bit his lip and stared uneasily at the letter.
After a long moment, he looked up, suddenly feeling even more nervous when he saw four pairs of eyes — Aria's, Narcissa's, Andromeda's, and even Teddy's — all watching him closely.
"Ugh. I feel like I'm going to be sick." He grumbled.
Aria narrowed her eyes at him and gave him an impatient glare.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, stop being so melodramatic and just open it already, Malfoy!" She snapped.
"Open it already, Malfoy!" Teddy echoed, squealing loudly and clapping his hands.
Ignoring the way Narcissa and Andromeda both giggled at Teddy's outburst, Draco closed his eyes, took a deep inhale of breath and finally ripped the envelope open. As he scanned hastily through its contents, he noticed how all three of the women beside him stilled as they focused their gaze on his face and waited for his reaction.
Draco waited for a few seconds for the racing in his heart to calm down before he finally let out the breath he had been holding and looked up, meeting Aria's wide green eyes. When she bit her lip and stared anxiously at him, Draco shrugged and slowly allowed one corner of his lips to quirk upwards into a smug smirk.
"I passed."
"Of course you did, you prat!"
Aria let out a high-pitched squeal anyway, inadvertently drawing the attention of everyone nearby when she jumped at him, throwing herself into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist. Narcissa and Andromeda both smiled affectionately at the scene, watching as Draco laughed and caught Aria easily in his arms. He lifted her up, silencing the rest of her excited rambling with a long, affectionate kiss.
He continued to hug Aria tightly against his chest as he set her back down onto her feet, and when he eventually felt his mother, Andromeda, and even Teddy close in and envelope them both in a warm, tight hug, Draco's eyes stung, and he felt his chest constrict with so much heartfelt emotion that he thought it was going to burst.
This was his life now; and he couldn't be happier.
A loud, blaring ring suddenly caused everyone to look up.
Draco paused in the middle of his efforts at trying to entertain Teddy by making magical sculptures out of his food. He glanced to his left, watching as Aria grimaced in apology before quickly reaching into her robes and pulling out a small, rectangular device.
"Is that a muggle cellphone?" Across the table, Andromeda looked up from her plate and watched as Aria fiddled with the strange contraption. "Goodness, I haven't seen one of those since my husband passed away." She mused.
"It's a muggle cellphone, but it's actually been tweaked to run on magic. Robards handed it out to all the Aurors a week ago, claiming it's a more efficient way to get in touch with us." Aria flinched when the cellphone rang again, causing her to glance down briefly at it before sighing and pushing her seat back from the table. "I'm so sorry but I think I have to take this. May I please be excused for five minutes?"
Narcissa waved her concerns away and gave her a reassuring smile. "Take as much time as you need, dear. We'll just be here, after all."
Aria smiled back apologetically at her before she stood up, ruffling Teddy's hair playfully as she passed his high chair on her way to the lobby of the restaurant. As soon as Aria was gone (and after making completely sure that she was too far away to hear them), Draco immediately turned to Narcissa and gave her an expectant look.
"Were you able to speak with Blaise this morning, Mother?" He asked anxiously.
Narcissa's blue eyes twinkled at his question.
"Of course, darling."
"And?"
Draco resisted the urge to glare at her, annoyed at the way she was obviously teasing him.
She chuckled at his impatient reaction. "He says that the transaction went exactly as you expected it would, and that he'll even pick it up himself tomorrow morning. So you needn't worry so much."
"Oh...Okay, then." Draco swallowed and allowed his shoulders to sag with relief. "I'm sorry; I don't mean to be so anxious about all this. It's just...I really want to surprise her and I want everything to be perfect—"
"And everything will be perfect, sweetheart." Narcissa assured him, her lips twitching with fond amusement as she watched Draco squirm in his seat. "You've been planning this for weeks, I'm certain everything will be fine. Don't stress so much about it; you're only going to cause Aria to suspect you even more."
"Oh let him be, Cissy." Andromeda giggled at Draco's fidgeting before turning to Teddy and offering him a bite from her steamed vegetables. "I think it's adorable, really. It builds up the romantic anticipation of it all."
Narcissa chuckled in agreement.
She took a small sip from her glass of wine before giving Draco an inquiring look. "When exactly do you intend to ask her anyway?"
"Soon."
Draco blushed under their beaming smiles and grumbled to himself before averting his gaze. "Obviously, it can't be this weekend since we'll be in France to attend the wedding of her two best friends and it wouldn't be right to ask her then; but...soon. I'll do it when we get back and everyone's excitement over Weasley and Granger's wedding dies down."
"Before you do that, there's actually another thing I would like for you to give to her, Draco." Narcissa turned to Andromeda, giving her sister an expectant look. "Were you able to bring it with you, Andy?" She asked.
Andromeda nodded and reached for something inside her purse. "Hold on, I have it right here."
"What are you both talking about?" Draco flicked his gaze back and forth between the two women, but when neither of them answered him, he sighed and turned his attention to Teddy instead. "Do you know what's going on, Ted?" He asked.
Teddy just grinned and answered his question by blowing a raspberry at him.
"My thoughts exactly." Draco laughed.
His curiosity was eventually addressed a few seconds later when Andromeda reached out and placed a long, rectangular box made of velvet on the table in front of him. Draco stared at it for a minute, before he lifted his wide-eyed gaze and blinked at Narcissa across the table in confusion.
"Mother?"
Narcissa's eyes were slightly glassy.
She smiled at him and reached over, carefully opening the box to reveal an intricate silver necklace encrusted with diamonds along its chain. At the very center of the necklace hung a beautiful, black opal pendant with the Black family insignia engraved at the center.
"This is one of the last few remaining heirlooms of the Black family. It once belonged to your great great Aunt Dorea, actually, but she decided to let it pass on to another Black lady instead of keeping it with her when she got married. We actually thought it got lost during the war — but Andy and I discovered that it was stashed away in your Aunt Bellatrix's vault. She must have stolen it for herself somehow." Narcissa sneered at the thought and shook her head.
She turned to Draco again, her features softening into another smile as she gently pushed the necklace across the table towards him.
"We want you to give it to Aria. She is a Black too, after all. The last remaining one of us, actually." Narcissa said softly.
"Aria is also Dorea's granddaughter and the legally appointed heiress of the Black family through Sirius, so we thought it would be more fitting for her to have it." Andromeda added, smiling at the stunned look on Draco's face.
"Thank you. This is..." Draco reached out, smiling to himself as he allowed his fingers to trace gently over the necklace. He swallowed the lump in his throat and gave both his mother and his Aunt Andromeda a small smile.
"She'll love it."
He wanted to say more, but Aria chose that moment to walk back into the restaurant from the connecting lobby; so he snapped the box shut and hastily shoved it into his robes just seconds before Aria sat back down into her seat beside him.
"I'm sorry that took so long." She reached over and took a sip from her glass of wine before looking up and giving them all a curious smile. "What did I miss?"
"Pretty necklace!" Teddy shrieked at her, clapping his hands and giggling in his high chair.
Draco's eyes widened and his gaze flicked to his mother's in horror.
For a few seconds, neither of them seemed to know how to react, and when Aria turned to him, Draco frantically tried to come up with something to say. Thankfully, Andromeda managed to divert Aria's confused expression when she reached over and gave Teddy an affectionate kiss on the top of his head.
"Yes, sweetie. That lady awhile ago did have a pretty necklace didn't she?" She cooed, ruffling his pink hair.
To Draco's relief, the bewildered look on Aria's face quickly melted away. She smiled at them and gave Teddy a piece of pie from the table before turning her attention back to her dinner. After a few minutes, however, Aria paused and looked up again, frowning when she noticed the strange expression that lingered on Draco's face.
"Is everything okay?" She asked worriedly.
Draco immediately shook the expression away and smiled at her. He placed his hand on top of hers, giving her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
"Everything's perfect."
Draco was still a little groggy when Aria pulled him out of bed that morning and dragged him off to where they were supposed to wait for the special portkey that would take them to Ron and Hermione's wedding venue.
Since the wedding was to be held in a privately rented chateau in France and Aria was the Maid of Honor, she had to be at the venue a day before all the other guests arrived so that she could assist Hermione with any last minute details. In other words, Draco had no choice but to endure the company of the entire Weasley family, as well as Hermione's overzealous clan of wide-eyed muggles, for a whole day, and night, before the actual wedding began.
To their credit, Bill and Fleur (but Draco didn't really count her as a Weasley anyway) were actually quite pleasant to talk to; and Charlie mostly kept to himself (when he wasn't talking about dragons), so Draco didn't really mind their company. It was Percy and his wife Penelope whom Draco found insufferable with all their negative sentiments against him and his family, followed closely by Ginny (who still liked to poke fun at him and called him a slimy ferret whenever Aria wasn't looking).
Draco wanted to hate George Weasley out of principle, simply because of his history with Aria — but even Draco had to admit that it was difficult to dislike him; especially since it was actually George who went out of his way to engage Draco in conversation whenever he felt out of place with the other Weasleys, or even saved him whenever Ginny or Percy (or even Ron) started making fun of him in front of everyone.
Molly and Arthur Weasley weren't actually horrible either, but Molly tended to smother Draco with too much food and Arthur kept asking him so many questions about the different fields of magical laws he's studied that Draco didn't really enjoy spending too much time with them either.
Thankfully, Aria never left him alone with any of the Weasleys for too long, and when the rest of the wedding guests finally began to show up the next morning, Draco was finally able to go off on his own and mingle with their old schoolmates.
He was a little surprised that the ceremony didn't last long.
Unlike the traditional pureblood weddings that Draco usually attended (those tended to last about two hours, at least), Weasley and Granger decided to pattern their wedding after a more casual, muggle-style ceremony. To that effect, after the entourage entrance and the bridal march (Draco made a note to himself to tease Aria about how she got all sniffly and teary-eyed while watching Hermione walk down the aisle in her wedding dress), Ron and Hermione immediately proceeded to exchange their wedding vows in front of everyone. After that, they exchanged rings, signed their marriage contract, and the Minister proceeded to announce them as husband and wife.
By late evening, when the wedding was finally over and all the guests were enjoying dinner out on a beautifully-decorated garden terrace that overlooked the chateau, Draco found himself sitting at a round table with Blaise, Morag, Neville, Zach, Greg, Theo and Hannah. Astoria (as Greg's date) and Demelza Robbins (as Zach's) were also seated at the table with them. Draco was in the middle of a conversation with Neville and reaching across the table for his glass of wine when a loud blast of music suddenly caused him to look up.
Everyone turned to watch as the wedding entourage finally made their entrance into the reception area.
Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley came in first, hand-in-hand, as the ringbearer and flower girl. They were closely followed by the bridesmaids (which consisted of Ginny, Luna, and, surprisingly, Millicent Bulstrode) and the groomsmen (Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, and Percy Weasley). The last pair to enter before the Bride and Groom themselves were George Weasley and Aria, as the Best Man and Maid of Honor. When Ron and Hermione finally entered the reception area and walked through the wedding arch, hand in hand, all of the guests stood up and welcomed them with cheers and a warm round of applause.
"This is such a beautiful venue." Hannah said dreamily, turning to Theo as everyone around the table sat back down into their seats. "I'm tempted to hold our own wedding in a place like this. What do you think?"
Theo rolled his eyes and took a sip from his wine. "Hannah, I already told you. I don't particularly care for wedding details, you just tell me when and where to show up and I promise I'll be there, tux and all."
At the disgruntled glare Hannah gave him, Theo flinched, while all the men around the table burst into hearty snickers.
"I don't know why women make such a big deal about weddings anyway." Morag pointed out, rolling her eyes as she leaned back against her seat and crossed her legs. "It's such an outdated concept."
Demelza frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
Zach groaned under his breath, wincing and burying his face into a bewildered Demelza's shoulder.
"Here she goes." He mumbled.
Morag ignored his reaction and went on. "The whole idea of marriage itself has always been such a patriarchal concept. Did you know it actually originated from the idea that women were the property of men? It was mainly just a way to consolidate property between families and to treat the reproductive ability of women as another resource to be bartered."
"And I don't suppose the whole monogamy thing that comes with marriage doesn't turn you off either?" Blaise chimed in, grinning obnoxiously at Morag from across the table.
"Well that too." Morag shrugged at him and made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "But it's just...the whole idea of spending an entire year planning for such an archaic ceremony — not to mention spending ridiculous amounts of money on it — is just ridiculous."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Morag!" Hannah scowled and leveled Morag with a particularly menacing glare. "It's my wedding and my bloody reproductive ability; so I get to decide however extravagant I want the damn thing bartered—"
All of the men at the table, including Theo, had to stifle their laughter behind their hands; but Hannah barely paid them any attention and went on.
"—besides, you don't see me making wise-ass comments about your ridiculously hedonistic, polygamous lifestyle, do you? You're practically more famous than Aria is these days with how many times you're mentioned in those gossip tabloids! So shut up and let me enjoy my wedding planning in peace." She huffed.
Morag smirked at her and shrugged, inclining her head at Hannah in acquiescence.
From where she sat beside Greg, Astoria looked up and distracted Hannah from the way all of the men were still laughing by giving her a reassuring smile. "Speaking of wedding planning, I heard you hired Pansy as your coordinator too, Hannah? I swear, she's an absolute godsend. She's the one who's been helping me organize all the details for my wedding; and I don't know what I'd do without her."
As Hannah gushed and began talking animatedly with Astoria about her wedding suppliers, Zach shook his head and turned his attention to Neville.
"I still can't believe Pansy's a wedding coordinator, by the way." Zach told him, giving him a consoling grin. "With all the weddings she's been planning lately, you're lucky she hasn't been hinting at you about wanting to plan her own." He teased, causing Neville to wince and offer him a sheepish smile.
"Oh she's hinted, believe me." He admitted.
"Frankly, I'm more surprised that Granger actually trusted Pansy enough to be the coordinator for this wedding." Draco remarked privately to Neville after everyone turned their attention back to their dinner. "Especially given their history back at school."
He and Neville both glanced over to where Pansy, with a clipboard in her hand, was currently busy watching over the musicians as they began setting up their instruments on the small stage at the center of the reception area.
"It's a fitting career choice for her, I think. It makes her happy." Neville smiled to himself before turning his attention back to Draco. "Speaking of career choices, I spoke to Aria awhile ago and she told me you just got accepted as Junior Prosecutor at the Wizengamot. Congratulations, Draco." He grinned.
"Oh, uh...Thanks." Draco colored slightly and cleared his throat by taking another sip of his wine. "Congratulations too, by the way. I heard you just completed your post-graduate course in Herbology. Are you planning to teach at Hogwarts?" He asked.
"Eventually, I suppose. But Pansy and I just bought a place up in Chelsea, so I'm actually planning to take a short break. We've been thinking of doing some traveling around Europe for awhile. Pansy's even planned out a very detailed 6-month itinerary for our trip already." Neville answered, wincing to himself.
Draco snorted at his words and gave him a sympathetic smirk. "Good luck with that ."
Neville looked as though he was going to say more, but Pansy chose that exact moment to bounce over to them. She grabbed Neville by the hand and hauled him up, smiling at him as she dragged him over to the dance floor. As soon as they were gone, Draco was just about to ask for another glass of wine when Blaise suddenly plopped himself into the seat that Neville had just vacated. He glanced cautiously around them before he gave Draco a wide grin and discreetly slipped him a small, velvet box under the table.
Draco paused. "Is this—?"
"You're welcome." Blaise answered cheerfully before gesturing to a nearby attendant to bring them another glass of wine. "I picked it up this morning. The jeweler had just finished setting the stone in. It took a bit longer than usual, but then again, your specifications were pretty intricate."
"Thank you, Blaise."
Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly shoved the small box securely into the inner pockets of his coat. As his fingers wrapped around the box, he felt his stomach flip-flop a few times; and he swallowed nervously, forcing himself to shove the feeling aside.
Unfortunately, Blaise noticed the expression on his face and gave him a knowing smirk.
"What's wrong? Are you having second thoughts?" He teased.
"No, it's not that." Draco quickly shook his head and gave him an anxious look. "You don't think she'll say no, do you? I mean, I don't think I could handle that—"
Instead of answering, Blaise ended up cutting him off when he burst into amused laughter.
"It's not funny, Zabini!"
"Seriously, Malfoy."
Blaise scoffed as he took two glasses of wine from the attendant that approached their table and handed one of them to Draco. "You two are already mated, so you're practically married already. Just ask her and get it over with so you can stop with your melodramatic worrying already."
"I am not melodramatic!"
"Whatever you say." Blaise snorted and took another sip from his drink. "You owe me, by the way. My mother found the damn thing in my pocket last night and got all excited. It took me hours before I was able to convince her that it was actually yours."
Draco snickered at his words. "You're lucky Luna wasn't the one who found it."
"Luna did find it, actually." Blaise answered wryly, smirking to himself. "But for some reason, she knew right away that it was meant for Aria and that I was just keeping it for you."
Draco's glass froze halfway to his lips and he blinked at him.
"How the hell did she—"
"Because she knows everything, that woman." Blaise grimaced to himself and pretended to shudder. "It's a little scary to be honest; the way I can't seem to hide anything from her."
Draco smirked at him. "Then she'll do you some good then, Zabini. You should keep her."
To Draco's astonishment, Blaise's features softened at his words; and there was a smile that lingered on his face as he looked up and glanced fondly over to where Luna was standing with the rest of the wedding entourage by the dance floor.
"Maybe I will."
Blaise had spoken the words so quietly that Draco almost didn't hear them, but he did, and he had to stifle another smirk when Blaise hastily looked away, pretending to busy himself with adjusting his bowtie.
"Anyway."
He cleared his throat and reached over, clapping Draco lightly on the shoulder. "Good luck; and let me know how it turns out. Oh and it goes without saying that I expect to be your Best Man, by the way."
Blaise didn't wait for Draco to respond before he stood up and made his way over to join another group of their former schoolmates sitting around another table.
A few minutes after Blaise left, just as Draco was tuning out Hannah and Astoria's ongoing conversation across the table about wedding dresses, everyone suddenly looked up again and watched as George and Aria slowly made their way over to the small stage in the middle of the reception area. When they had everyone's attention, George and Aria both raised their wands and cast a Sonorus charm over themselves before they turned to address the crowd of guests.
"If you would all kindly look to the dance floor, I believe it's about time for our newlyweds to share their first dance as husband and wife." George grinned widely.
"Everyone, let's all give a warm round of applause to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Aria added, smiling before she began clapping her hands.
As everyone broke out into loud cheers and applause, a happily glowing Ron and Hermione slowly made their way over to the very center of the reception area. The lights around them dimmed, and the spotlight shifted to focus directly on the newly married couple, illuminating their slow, romantic waltz along the dance floor.
Eventually, a few of the other members of the wedding entourage were called to join them. Draco could only sit back and scowl (desperately trying to control his jealousy) as George and Aria began waltzing together, not too far from where Draco was seated.
Unfortunately, the more Draco watched them, the more his jealousy only seemed to intensify; and it wasn't long before the feeling became so strong that it managed to filter through their mate bond. As soon as his feelings reached Aria, she paused in the middle of her conversation with George and stiffened.
Draco winced at the exasperated look she gave him over her shoulder. He hastily averted his eyes, scowling sullenly to himself as he lowered his gaze and stabbed at the uneaten slice of cake in front of him.
He wasn't all that surprised when he heard her teasing voice in front of him a few minutes later.
"You know, I just realized...I never did get to share that dance with you back at the Yule Ball two years ago."
Draco looked up, scowling even more when he noticed that Aria had sat down into the seat beside him and was giving him a lazy, half-grin.
"Care to dance?" She asked cheerfully.
Instead of answering, Draco scoffed at her and looked away, pretending to busy himself with his glass of wine.
"Where's your ex-boyfriend?" He drawled back, and no, he absolutely did not hear the petty huffiness in his own voice as he spoke. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to waltz with you for as long as you want."
That annoyingly smug, infuriatingly adorable grin never left Aria's face as she shrugged at him and pointedly flicked her gaze back to the dance floor.
"Unfortunately, I think George would much prefer to dance with his very lovely, very pregnant wife for the rest of the night." She mused.
As soon as he registered her words, Draco snapped his head up and followed her gaze, staring in surprise at the sight of George Weasley leading Angelina Johnson around the dance floor. When George smiled at Angelina and pulled her close, gently twirling her around, Draco finally saw Angelina's unmistakable baby bump through her gown, and he felt like an idiot.
Draco tore his eyes away from the dancing couple and glared irritably at Aria.
"I knew that." He snapped.
Aria smirked at the embarrassed flush on his face and held a hand out to him, giving him another imploring smile.
"Dance with me?" She asked again.
And since he had never really been able to deny Aria Potter anything — especially not when she smiled at him so beautifully like that — Draco finally stood up and allowed her to pull him towards the throng of other slow-dancing couples along the dance floor.
It was almost instinct the way they automatically melted into each other, and Draco didn't even hesitate to pull Aria closely against him, wrapping one of his arms around her waist while his other hand took hers, intertwining their fingers together. As they began to waltz in time with the slow, romantic music, Aria leaned her head against his shoulder, pressing her face against his neck.
Draco couldn't resist turning his head and giving her a tender kiss on her cheek.
"You look beautiful by the way." He murmured, sliding his gaze down to admire the peach-colored gown she was wearing. "I was half-expecting Granger to throw you out in the middle of the ceremony for taking so much attention away from her."
Aria laughed and rolled her eyes at his exaggerated remark.
"You are so full of it, Malfoy. This gown is hideous on me, I'm even beginning to think Hermione made me wear it on purpose." She lifted her head and looked up at him, giving him an unimpressed glare. "And besides, I'm not even in my true form right now."
Draco smiled back at her, his eyes gentle as he reached up and caressed her face.
"I think you're beautiful in whatever form you're in." He said softly.
Aria blushed at his words.
His solemn, admiring gaze didn't waver, however, and eventually, the disbelieving expression on Aria's face faded away, and she smiled at him.
She leaned up, pressing her lips against his in a deep, intimate kiss that had their tongues teasing and lazily enjoying the familiar taste of each other. They were both flushed with arousal and slightly out of breath when they broke apart, but before Aria could pull away, Draco leaned in again, capturing her red-kissed lips in another hungry kiss.
A few minutes later, when they finally managed to pull away from each other, Draco shook his head to himself and let out a breathless laugh. As Aria slid her hands up his chest and linked them around his neck, Draco closed his eyes and bent down, pressing his forehead against hers.
"I love you."
Aria's smile widened and she leaned up, playfully nuzzling his nose with hers.
"I love you too."
When Draco didn't say anything and just pulled her closer against him, kissing her neck, Aria looked up again, turning her head slightly to the side to stare at something over his shoulder. She was strangely quiet for a long time after that, and eventually, Draco's curiosity got the better of him and he pulled slightly away from her so he could try to follow her gaze.
"What are you looking at?"
"Look at them."
Aria waited until Draco saw Ron and Hermione dancing a couple of feet away from them; the newly wedded couple looking so blissfully in love and completely engrossed with each other that they obviously weren't aware anymore of anyone else around them.
"They look so happy, don't they?" Aria smiled wistfully to herself. "And they have their whole lives ahead of them together."
"What's up with that face, Potter?" Draco chuckled as he reached up and took her by the chin, gently turning her head so that she was staring back at him with her big, beautiful green eyes. "We're happy too, aren't we?" He teased.
Aria arched an eyebrow and pretended to give him a dubious look.
"And you're sure that it's going to stay that way forever? Knowing us?"
Aria spoke in a teasing voice, but there was a strange anxiousness and vulnerability in her expression that Draco recognized — even without having to feel it through their mate bond. And after being together for two years, Draco knew Aria well enough by now that he understood exactly where her fears were coming from.
He wanted to promise her that everything was going to be alright.
That nothing bad was going to happen anymore.
That he loved her more than anything and he wanted to build a family, a future with her.
That she had absolutely nothing to be afraid of, because soon enough, they were going to have a happy ending of their own.
But, as Draco smiled and carefully reached his hand inside his coat, clasping his fingers tightly around the small velvet box in his pocket, he reminded himself that there was a better time and place to tell her all that.
So instead, Draco just shrugged at her and answered Aria's question with a simple, solemn nod.
"I do."
Aria's eyes softened and she bit her lip as she stared intently at him, studying the expression on his face.
"You promise?"
Draco smiled again and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers in another kiss.
"I promise."
~Fin~
Notes: You can read the missing explicit scene between Draco and Aria from the previous chapter under my account (same username) on AO3. It happens the night before their graduation party. ;)
In my head, Draco and Aria get married, have two beautiful children (Scorpius and Lily — and yes, Lily eventually manifests as a veela lol) and they live happily ever after. But feel free to imagine their happy ending however you want. Btw, I'm sorry if I wasn't able to include Aria's POV in the Epilogue, but for some reason, everything just seemed to flow much better from Draco's.
Thank you all again so much for your love and patience! You're all so lovely and awesome and I wouldn't have been able to finish this without your support! Please continue to stay safe and healthy and I wish you all the best!
Until next time, peace, love and all that! :D