Chapter 14: Gorgeous

A/N- prompt used: [Object] Pearl
Word Count- 1063

Astoria smoothed over the stomach of her midnight blue velvet dress and smiled at the little bump her pregnant belly created.

Draco exited the ensuite fiddling with his bowtie. "I hate these things."

"Bowties or galas?" she asked, smirking at him through the reflection in the mirror.

"Both," he replied, grinning back at her. "You look gorgeous."

Astoria spun around with a wide grin and pulled her husband closer by the lapels of his tuxedo. She shooed his hands away and began knotting the tie for him. "So do you."

"Well, I'm always gorgeous."

She glanced up at him, her gaze dark. "Are you saying I'm not always gorgeous?"

Draco winced. "Hmm… talked myself into a bit of trouble there, didn't I?"

She finished the knot and patted Draco on his chest, a little more forceful than was probably warranted. "Just a bit."

Draco leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "You are and always will be the most gorgeous woman on the planet."

"Better. Keep talking…"

"Your dress is missing something."

Astoria narrowed her eyes, befuddled by the non sequitur. "Okay… not what I thought you'd say—"

Draco glided away form her mid sentence. He strode toward their chest of drawers where they kept their jewelry. Astoria huffed, perching a fist on her hip and glaring daggers at her husband until he turned around to face her, his right hand hidden behind his back. Astoria simply raised a contemptuous eyebrow.

He shuffled from foot to foot in a nervous manner. "Uh— close your eyes."

Astoria snorted. "I know what my necklaces look like. I was just over there a few seconds ago—"

"Just close your eyes."

Astoria stopped, curiosity outweighing her earlier annoyance. She stared at Draco for a long moment before finally doing as he said. She took a deep breath and let her eyelids flutter shut.

Astoria heard Draco take the few steps toward her, felt him maneuver her until she was facing the mirror once more. He leaned in close over her left shoulder. "Lift up your hair," he commanded in her ear. It sent goose pimples down her back.

Tori lifted her arms and pulled her long blonde hair up and away from the nape of her neck. She felt Draco's hands sneak through the gaps in her arms and heard the soft tinkling of a thin chain as he worked the clasp behind her head. A heavy pendant fell against her chest and her eyes flew open at the odd familiarity of its weight.

She gasped.

Draco dropped his head behind her frame so she wouldn't be able to see him in the reflection of the mirror as he finished hooking the clasp of the chain together. But she wasn't looking at him— couldn't look at him. Her entire focus was on the pearl pendant that rested just above her heart.

"I— how— wha—"

Draco peeked his head up over her shoulder and smiled warily at her reflection. "I thought it would look good with your dress. It used to look so good with your school robes."

Astoria whirled around, clutching her pendant firmly in her grasp. "How did you fix it?"

Draco ran a hand through his hair— he was going to be so upset when he had to fix it again before they left for the gala— and shrugged sheepishly. "Let's just say I owe a big favor to a very, very good curse-breaker." He teetered from foot to foot, searching Astoria's face for something. "I just— its just been broken for so long, lying in that drawer of yours and I couldn't— I mean… Is it okay that I did this?"

Astoria stirred from her state of shock and stared up at her husband with wide eyes. "Is it okay? Are you kidding? I'm so— this is so… amazing! When did you decide to do this?"

She watched as relief flooded Draco's features. "It was supposed to be completed in time for our anniversary, but the curse on it was stronger than the we thought."

"It took them an additional three months?"

"Well, to be fair, I had to keep bringing it home so you wouldn't notice its absence."

She was going to counter that he could have just told her his plan and then he wouldn't have had to worry about it, but… well, she probably would have told him not to bother. And that would have been a shame.

Astoria laughed as she turned back around to stare at the pendant in the mirror. She ran her fingertips over the pearls welded into the pendant and along the bottom of the chain.

This necklace that had once been her mother's had been hexed from her neck during her fifth year at Hogwarts. The Carrows didn't condone embellishments of the school uniform in their class… if you could even call that hour of literal torture they were subjected to every other a day a class. Thankfully, she was able to keep the necklace, but later found it could never be worn again. For years, she'd gone to a number of jewelers located in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley for help, but none of them could break the unwearable curse.

"Your curse-breaker must be something else," Astoria marveled, as her husband wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, meeting her gaze in the mirror. "You must thank them for me. Who was it?"

Draco cleared his throat. "Oh, uh— Bill Weasley."

"Bill Weasley?! That's—"

The Malfoys and the Weasleys had always disliked each other. The contention between the two families went back centuries. For Draco to owe a favor to Bill Weasley…

Tori slowly grinned, love blossoming in her chest. "Wow. I really must be the most gorgeous woman on the planet."

"And you always will be," he agreed. Draco smirked and turned his head to leave a soft kiss against her neck. Then he righted himself and glared at his reflection. "Now, I have to go fix my hair so we can attend this stupid gala," he growled before retreating to the ensuite toilet.

"We can be fashionably late, darling!" she called after him. "Take your time!"

Astoria smoothed her hand over the pendant and down over her small baby bump. She stared at her smile in the mirror.

Astoria Malfoy had never looked happier.