"Did you hear the news?" Harry asked over the phone. It had been several months since the Vegas trip; after Natalie had snuck out of the room without Draco noticing, she'd gone to Hermione and Ginny's room to get ready. It was only when the coast was clear and Draco was confirmed to be back in his hotel room that she snuck back in to pack her things. They hadn't spoken again the entire trip, including the drive back to Seattle, neither of them wanting to acknowledge what had happened. Natalie had wondered if he even knew what had happened. The only reason she did was because of the cheap stainless steel band around her finger, and she hadn't looked closely enough to see if he'd also had one.

She and Draco hadn't spoken since then, either, which wasn't unusual. They weren't friends. That one drunken night where something had happened (although she wasn't one hundred percent what exactly had occurred) was a one-off and not something she ever intended on repeating, least of all with Draco Malfoy.

"What news?"

"Malfoy's engaged."

Her heart sunk, not because she was jealous, of course, not because she was jealous. Because Draco getting engaged (and, sooner or later, married) meant that she had to confront what had happened between them in Vegas. People may say, 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,' but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Oh, wow," she said, feigning excitement. "To who?"

"Astoria Greengrass. He told me his parents set it up, and…" Harry continued speaking, but Natalie had completely tuned out. She began mindlessly unfocusing and refocusing her camera lens, only picking up words like 'engagement party' and 'Wednesday' before her brain rejoined the conversation.

"Wait, his engagement party is in two days? Isn't that a bit quick?" Natalie wondered aloud, hoping maybe Harry could provide her with a bit of insight into the rushed timeline. She assumed that since she hadn't heard about the party (or the engagement for that matter) until now, she wasn't invited. Not that she expected an invitation, but if everyone else was going to be there, she'd be a little peeved off to not be on the guest list.

Just as he was about to answer, though, another faced popped up on her screen with the options to decline the new call or end the one with Harry. "Hold on," she said, weighing her options. "Can I call you back in a moment?"

"Sure."

She promptly hung up on Harry and answered the phone, her heart leaping into her throat a bit. "Hello?"

"Natalie, hi. I have some news, and I thought I should—"

"Harry told me," she said, cutting Draco off. "Congratulations on the engagement. Astoria's one unlucky girl to be marrying the likes of you."

He was silent for a moment, and she worried maybe she had gone too far, but he quickly eased her fears by letting out the slightest laugh. "Thank you, and fuck you. Well, I know it's a bit late notice, but we're throwing an engagement party on Wednesday. I know it's fast; we just got engaged this weekend, but my parents insisted we celebrate as soon as possible, and I was wondering if you'd like to come."

Natalie breathed a sigh of relief, followed by feeling a pit of anxiety in her stomach. "Uh, Wednesday?" she asked, pretending to be surprised by the information. "Let me check my calendar." She sat there doing absolutely nothing for a few moments before responding, "Yes, I'll be there."

"Great. Astoria'll be glad to see you—she's always liked you, for some reason or another. I'll text you the details."

"See you Wednesday," she quickly said before hanging up. She dialed Harry's number, and he picked up on the first ring. "So, that was Malfoy, inviting me to the engagement party."

"Oh, great!" Harry said. "You want to carpool with Ginny and me?"

"No—I mean, yes, I do, but Harry… there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

She took a moment to respond, looking at the ring she'd kept in her jewelry box; Natalie hadn't touched it since she'd put it in there as soon as she got home. "Can you come over?"

"So, let me get this straight," Harry said, pacing across the floor of her room. It was times like these that Natalie was grateful to live in a one-bedroom apartment; no nosy roommates could overhear her conversation with Harry. "When we left the two of you alone in Vegas, not only did you hook up, you got married?"

"I…" Natalie responded, hesitating with her words, "I think so…?"

"You think so?" he repeated in disbelief.

Natalie laid back on her bed, her head flopping onto the pillow. "Yes, Harry. I think so. I literally cannot remember any of it, but I woke up the next morning half-naked laying next to Draco with a god damn wedding ring on my finger, so I think it's a pretty strong hypothesis."

He sat next to her on the bed. "Does he remember?"

"I don't know," Natalie responded, a bit of desperation in her voice, "We never talked about it afterward; I didn't see a ring on his finger when we woke up. I had just assumed that he was ignoring it like I was, and we would just… cross that bridge when we got to it."

Harry, always one to point out the obvious, simply stated: "Well, you got to it."

Natalie hadn't meant to wear all black to the engagement party. The color dominated her closet, she had simply thrown something together, and when Harry and Ginny picked her up, Harry said it looked like she was "in mourning." She arrived at the party a little worried everyone would see it that way, but Ginny told her not to give it another thought.

"Harry's an ass," she'd said to Natalie, "Don't listen to him. You look great."

The engagement party was a formal affair taking place at the manor of Draco's parents, Lucius and Narcissa. They were from old money, and their home made that abundantly clear. Natalie, whose dads had raised her in a modest home, felt intimidated from the moment she walked through the door. She didn't have time to shake her nerves before she was greeted by Astoria, who called to her in a sing-songing voice, "Natalie! You made it! Darling, I'm so glad!" This was followed by an awkward hug and an even more awkward cheek kiss, and rather than repeat that with Draco, who had trailed behind Astoria, Natalie simply gave him a nod.

"Glad you could make it," he said in a low voice. She responded with a tight lipped smile, and focused her attention on Astoria, who simply insisted that Natalie look at the engagement ring.

"Couldn't you just die?" she asked Natalie, not really listening for an answer. "It was Draco's mother's. Lucius gave it to her when they got engaged and now they've passed it on to me."

"Hm," Natalie said, looking at the ring. "It's lovely, Astoria, really. Your dad's got good taste, Malfoy."

Draco didn't reply. Natalie took that moment to bow out of the conversation and go to get a drink; something stiff, she thought, would be best. After a few moments of sitting at the bar alone, with occasional waves from her friends who were mingling about the party, someone approached her.

"This seat taken?"

Natalie shook her head no, and gestured for Draco to sit. "No tequila shots tonight," he warned, "Astoria would be furious."

The hairs on the back of Natalie's neck pricked up. This was the first they'd spoken of Vegas at all since they'd left. She quickly swallowed the rest of her drink, letting the alcohol give her the confidence she needed to tell him what she'd come there to say.

"Draco, do you remember anything that happened after those shots?"

"We danced," he responded, sipping his glass of whiskey.

She rolled her eyes. "After that."

He shook his head. "I assumed after that we got tired and I ended up crashing in your room." Slightly panicked, Natalie grabbed his arm and dragged him to a door, opening it and swiftly shutting it behind them.

"What the hell's your problem?" he asked in a hushed tone, flipping a light switch to reveal they were in a small guest bathroom. "Why did you bring me in here?"

"Draco," Natalie whispered through her teeth, "we did more than just get tired and crash in my room."

His eyes widened. "Did we have—"

"No… Maybe. We might have. That isn't the point," she said, pulling the ring she'd kept since that night out of her pocket and showing it to him, "Draco, we got married."

He looked like he could have fainted. She wouldn't have been surprised; she remembered feeling the same way when she'd found out.

"Why did you keep this from me?" he asked, his face turning bright red. He tried to pace around the room but there was not enough space, and he ended up leaning against the door instead. "Why not tell me when it happened, so we could get it fixed?"

"I assumed you knew!" she said, defensive. "I woke up with a ring on my finger and a half-naked man next to me; I figured maybe you would also wake up with a ring and put the pieces together."

"So, what do we do? Do we have to… get a divorce? That takes so long and Astoria wants to get married in two months."

"No," Natalie said, trying to calm him down. "No, we can get it annulled." She took a deep breath before continuing, which Draco caught on to.

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming…"

"But," Natalie said, almost smiling from his prediction, "We have to go to Nevada to do it."

Reactively, Draco hit the door with his fist, immediately regretting the decision. He sat down on the floor, cradling his hand and trying to stifle his groans of pain. Natalie knelt down.

"Jesus, Malfoy, are you alright?" she asked, looking at his hand. It wasn't cut, or anything, it just looked bruised.

"I'm fine," Draco replied. Natalie looked up, meeting his eyes. They were both silent for a moment, and whether it was the adrenaline Natalie felt from getting this weight off her shoulders, or the adrenaline Draco felt from punching the door, they couldn't say, but there was a brief instant where they both found themselves leaning in.

Natalie stood up abruptly, almost stumbling backwards, and composing herself. "Are you free this weekend? For Nevada?"

He nodded.

"Good," she said, hand on the doorknob. "Then I'll see you Saturday morning. Wait two minutes before you leave; I don't want anyone to be suspicious."

Right before she walked out, she gingerly placed her ring in Draco's palm, stepped over him, and rejoined the party, leaving him sitting alone on the bathroom floor.