Chapter Eight:
"Miss Granger, is it true that you will be marrying Severus Snape the following week?"
"Witch Weekly would love to know how you conned the connoisseur of potions into marrying you."
"What is the venue? Will you be wearing some age-old Snape heirloom?"
"Were you invited tonight simply because you'll soon be related to the Malfoys or is there a deeper friendship hidden beneath the surface?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed in frustration. She walked briskly, trying to recollect techniques used by the muggle royalty to escape the paparazzi. She navigated through the elite crowd and attempted to lose the persistent press members. She hurried behind a posh-looking fountain and ran into none other than Draco Malfoy, his blonde hair shining in the moonlight.
"Granger?"
"Yeah. Uh, sorry, am I interrupting?"
He gestured around himself and said, "Well, obviously. Can't the groom get a moment of peace?" He smirked. Just as she was about the leave, he called out. "I've left a portkey for you with Severus. I'm sure you'll wish you were anywhere but here as the night progresses."
"Oh. Tha-"
"So tell me, now that you've so kindly interrupted my last few minutes of bachelorhood, why exactly are you marrying him? Surely there are enough Weasleys to last you half a dozen marriages?" He scoffed.
She would have retorted bitingly a few years ago, but she merely sighed. "It's complicated."
She shuffled her feet awkwardly, at a loss for words. "Your parents must be thrilled about today."
"My mother is."
"Why? I mean, what about your father?"
"It's complicated."
She closed her eyes. She should have probably left the snarky Slytherin to himself, but something kept her there. It was just like the last time she'd met him. She'd let a bit out and then he had too, right? Maybe it would work again. Maybe that's how one conversed with Draco Malfoy. Oh well, she didn't have much to lose. Did she?
"Because muggle borns are being targeted everywhere and the… Well, he's the best person."
"The order told you to do so."
"Yes, how-"
"The war is over, Granger. It's not a big secret anymore. Do you really think Severus would attend my wedding if I was nothing but another Death Eater to him? Food for thought, huh? And while you're at it, there's your question: What about my father? Well, he's rather upset that I'm not marrying into the family of his choice. So don't ponder over his absence too much."
He strode towards the chatter and lights, paused and tilted his head. "Oh and I hear the cake is to die for. You should take a piece for poor Potter, he must be quite depressed that he didn't receive an invite." Smirking away to glory, he left Hermione to herself.
Draco Malfoy: Off the market and how!
-Rita Skeeter
Astoria Malfoy (née Greengrass), ex-student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seems to have taken Wizarding Britain by surprise. In a whirl of white veils and red roses, the Slytherin beauty married the charming Draco Malfoy last night and fulfilled the basic requirement of the Marriage Law.
Word has it that Lucius Malfoy is not too pleased with said marriage. As we had reported, Draco Malfoy was all set to marry Pansy Parkinson, but due to, and we quote, "unforeseen circumstances", the wedding was cancelled. It doesn't seem quite unforeseen to us at The Daily Prophet, though. We recently spotted Miss Parkinson getting cozy with a Spanish National Quidditch Team member at Three Broomsticks. There's definitely more than meets the eye.
Hearty congratulations to the Malfoys from our team.
Turn to page 4 for insider reveals on the Potter wedding and to page 5 to know who was hot and who was not.
Author's Note: Hello. This is a slightly shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. I've always wanted Draco to be happy after everything he's been through, so giving him the marriage he wanted seemed to be a great way, even though he doesn't really know it himself. I don't know if he loves Astoria or not. Maybe he does, and it's just a very different sort of love that we don't relate to. Or maybe he doesn't, because it's too deep an emotion or too pure an emotion for him to grasp so soon after the evils of the war. I don't know and nor do I intend to thrust an answer on you. It's going to be an open-ended sort of thing for him, I let you decide exactly where this leaves him, primarily because this is not a DM fanfiction anyway. I'll have him around, no doubt, but I don't plan to shed light on this matter. As of now, atleast.
Do you see the take-some-give-some part of their relationship, though? I'll explain it properly if you still want me to, but I tried to make it a bit more obvious in this chapter. Don't worry if you didn't get it, I'm always there to write about it. :)
Please review. xxx