A/N: Written for the QLFC Round 7 - Pairing Palooza. Team: Montrose Magpies. Word count without A/N: 2709.
Pairing: S.S Stellar Legends - Draco/Astoria.
Thanks to Lizzy for her beta work, remaining errors are my own.
The Reluctant Groom
Draco Malfoy looked in surprise at the persons sitting with his parents at the Malfoys' table. Neither Lucius or Narcissa had informed him they would be entertaining guests that day, after all.
"Mother, Father, who are they?" Draco asked.
"Ah, Draco, you have returned from… work," Lucius remarked, not hiding the disdain in his voice for that last word at all.
"Obviously," Draco said under his breath.
"Your father and I have some business to discuss with Lord and Lady Greengrass, little dragon. Why don't you go to your room for now?" Narcissa said.
Draco let out a groan, thinking 'Always with the demeaning nicknames, Mother, and in front of others, too?' Mumbling a greeting, he left the room and did as his mother asked, having learned long ago that if they didn't want to tell him what this was about, they wouldn't. And he had lost enough face in front of strangers already, so he would not get into an argument right now.
An hour later, Draco was reading one of his Auror manuals, when his mother called him downstairs.
"This would be the boy then?" Lord Greengrass said. Draco bristled. ''Boy?' He was twenty-one years old, thank you very much!'
"I can see why he's still single," Lady Greengrass added, adding insult to injury. "Well then, boy, show us."
"Show you what… madam?" Draco said, getting an encouraging nod from his mother as he used a respectful form of address.
"Your left arm, of course!" Draco saw his mother frantically nod, while Lucius only grimaced. Reluctantly he pulled up his sleeve, revealing the now faded but still quite visible Dark Mark.
"See, Cyril? Our Daphne was right," Lady Greengrass said to her husband.
"Quite. Well, Lucius old chap, you do understand that this changes things? He is damaged goods, after all." Lucius' grimace got stronger and Draco wondered if his father would speak up finally, when Narcissa indicated Draco should leave again.
Half an hour later he heard the front door open and close, and he knew their guests were gone. It was time to get some answers. Draco went back downstairs, only to be startled by the sight of his father emptying a glass of Ogden's Finest Firewhisky in one gulp.
"Mother, why were those horrible people here?" Draco asked, going for the more sober parent.
"It was for your future, little dragon. Lord Greengrass has agreed to support your career, and in return we only had to give away the Malfoy vineyards as a bride price," Narcissa said.
"Bride price? Who for?" Draco asked.
"Merlin, why couldn't I have a son with her looks and my intelligence, instead of the reverse," Lucius grumbled under his breath, adding in a louder tone, "Don't be daft, son. For you, of course."
"But… but… am I getting married then?"
"Obviously, you dimwit… the wedding will be at the summer solstice. I'm sure you'll be happy with her," Lucius said.
"But that's in three weeks!"
"Oh look, the boy can read a calendar," Lucius sneered.
"Come, Draco. Let's leave your father alone. He has had a stressful day," Narcissa said, guiding Draco out of the room. He was happy to leave, Lucius got mean when he had a drink in him. And to be honest, his own mind was reeling as well. It wasn't every day you heard you would be married before the next month had passed.
Draco went to bed that night distressed. His parents had sold him into marriage? To Daphne Greengrass, of all people? He simply could not understand why his own parents would do something like this. Daphne and he had hardly spoken a word in the years they spent at Hogwarts together, and Draco had always had the feeling that the girl felt him not even worthy of her attention.
Not for the first time, Draco wished he had any friends left. He could really use some support right now.
A week later, his mood hadn't improved any.
"Mum, must I? I don't even like her," Draco whined. Narcissa rolled her eyes.
"Yes, you must. It's not every day a junior Auror like you is promoted to full Auror, and it's perfectly reasonable for your fiancée's parents to want to congratulate you," Narcissa said, fixing Draco's tie.
"I can do it myself, thanks," Draco grumbled, pushing her hands away. "And we both know this promotion was long overdue."
"You should be thankful, little dragon. If Lord Greengrass hadn't had a word with Dawlish, you would still be waiting," Narcissa chided him.
"Yeah, yeah. Bunch of gits. I thought the War was over," Draco grumbled. Narcissa released his clothes, suddenly looking sad.
"Draco, we were all lucky enough to avoid Azkaban. People weren't happy with Mr. Potter and Minister Shacklebolt granting us full amnesty, so a little setback in your career is understandable."
"Understandable my arse," Draco scoffed.
"Language!"
"I apologize, Mother. Well, do I look respectable?" Narcissa looked her son over, a small smile appearing on her face.
"You look a perfect gentlewizard. Go, dazzle your bride-to-be with your good looks."
"Ugh." Draco stepped into the floo, calling out 'Greengrass Manor', and he was whisked away.
Dinner with the Greengrasses was weird, no other way to put it. Draco was seated at the foot of the table, directly across from Lord Greengrass. Daphne sat on his left and her little sister on his right, with Lady Greengrass sitting beside her youngest. Throughout the meal Draco tried to start a civil conversation with Daphne, but all he got from her were monosyllabic answers, if that. And on top of that he was constantly interrupted by Astoria asking him about this and that.
"Draco, is it true you work with the Man-Who-Won?" Astoria asked, leaning a bit towards him.
"No, I don't work directly with Potter. He is in a unit with Weasley and Finnigan, the Gryffindor Squad, they call it. Daphne, do you work anywhere?" Faced with silence and an icy glare, he was almost glad Astoria interrupted him another question.
"My favourite colour? Green, of course. What is yours, Daph—where are you going?" Daphne stood up without sparing him even a glance, pushing her chair back and heading out of the room.
"Oh for… Mother, Father, Daphne and I need a little freshening up, we'll be back in a moment, all right?" Astoria said, elegantly rising from her seat, adding "I apologize, Draco. Daphne has some… issues with the arrangement."
"How about those Falcons this year, eh?" Draco said to his future father-in-law, trying to lift the sudden changed mood. Lord Greengrass's expression changed in an instant from somewhat sullen to enthusiastic.
"Did you catch their last match against the Heidelberg Harriers in the European cup?" Draco hid a smile. Quidditch, the thing that could rescue almost every conversation.
"I am sorry to interrupt your lively debate, but my daughters have returned," Lady Greengrass interrupted the two, just as Lord Greengrass was detailing a particularly dangerous catch by one of the German Chasers. "Draco, why don't you join them in a walk around the garden?"
"I will, thank you, sir, madam," Draco said, rising from his seat and walking towards the two girls, who were standing near the back door to the garden.
"May I offer you my arm?" Draco offered to Daphne, but she just scoffed, turning away her head, and before he could say anything Astoria had slipped her arm through his.
"Come, Draco, let me show you the best spot to read a book, it's over there near the fountain," the young woman said, smiling brightly at him as she lead him there, Daphne following the two.
Finally, the evening came to an end, and Draco said his goodbyes to the Greengrass family. Daphne reluctantly let him kiss her hand; Astoria was more enthusiastic and Draco worried for a moment she would try to get him to kiss her cheek instead, but fortunately with Lord and Lady Greengrass standing next to them she seemed to curb her enthusiasm at the last moment.
"Well, Draco, how did it go?" Narcissa asked him once he returned.
"It could have gone worse, I guess," Draco said. "Her sister played chaperone the whole time, not that there was anything to worry about. I fear she hates me, mother."
"Nonsense. She'll learn to love you soon enough. I didn't like your father that much when I first met him, too, but we are very much in love now."
"Yes, Mum," Draco said. "May I be excused?"
"Go then," Narcissa said, smiling. As Draco made his way to the stairwell she added, "I am so proud of you, little dragon."
Despite the slight sting of her using the hated nickname, Draco was pleased.
The 'second date' didn't go much better. For some reason Narcissa and Lady Greengrass thought it a good idea to have Draco fit for his wedding robes in the company of the two Greengrass daughters, which meant Draco was the unfortunate wizard being taken from Madam Malkin's to Twilfitt and Tatting's to Johnston's Robes for All Occasions and back, all the while being forced to try on one set of robes after the other while the witches remarked about how wrong each was.
After the third round trip, Draco began to lose his temper. Was it just his imagination, or did Daphne actually look pleased at seeing him being forced to pose all the time?
"Mother, I liked that one," Astoria spoke up suddenly, just as Lady Greengrass was about to summon the shop assistant to bring them yet another outfit. "The green has a nice contrast with his eyes."
"Hmm… I suppose it does. What do you think, Narcissa, Daphne?"
"It looks amazing," Narcissa said. "Good eye, Astoria."
"I don't care," Daphne said. "Mother, I'm bored. Can we leave now?"
"Daphne! That's no way to speak to your mother in public! Don't you understand how important this wedding is to your—" Draco felt he needed to speak up, and fast, before this became a huge argument.
"Well then, we found my wedding robes! Do they match the bride's dress?" Lady Greengrass's expression changed almost instantly from disapproval to a slight panic.
"Oh, Morgana, the dress! We need to do the final fitting! Draco, you should leave now, it's bad luck to see it before the big day!"
"Until next time then, ladies, Mother," Draco said, giving them a slight bow, happy to be out of there. 'That should make Daphne face the horror of being a living doll', he thought, smirking slightly as he re-dressed in his normal clothes and left the store, leaving his fiancée behind with two panicking future mothers-in-law.
"I guess this is it, then?" Draco said, letting out a sigh. He stood in front of the mirror of his new bedroom, having moved into his own flat on Carkitt Market only the day before. Apparently getting married meant having to move out, and Lucius felt 'better late than never' was a good idea. At least with the assist of an army of house-elves and some deft wand-work it was quite possible to move everything Draco personally owned, or now would need, in just one day.
He pulled on the sleeve of his wedding robes, feeling awkward all of a sudden. They did look good on him, but was he really ready to begin a married life with Daphne Greengrass, a woman who really seemed to dislike him?
"You look lovely, dear, but you really should be going. The ceremony is starting soon," the mirror told him.
"I know, I know," Draco grumbled. By the time he came here the next time he would be a married man, a newly-wed. The large bed, big enough to fit two, was visible behind his reflection, but Draco had little hope he would get to sleep there once married. With how much Daphne seemed to detest him, he would be lucky to be allowed to sleep on the sofa in the living room.
"A Malfoy does not run away from a challenge," Draco told himself. Swallowing to get the sudden constriction out of his throat, he turned on his heel and apparated to the magic circle where the ceremony would be held.
"Finally, you're here… you had me worried you'd run," Narcissa said in a teasing tone.
"Of course not, Mother. As much as she hates me, we'll just have to make it work, somehow."
"Oh, my little dragon… she'll love you soon enough, I just know it. My little boy is so grown up..." Narcissa rushed closer to hug her son.
"Mum, you'll mess up my hair," Draco complained, but his heart was not in it. His mother really loved him, he knew.
"Did… did anyone come?" he asked, trying to look over his mother's shoulder to the seated guests.
"Gregory came," Narcissa said. "We also invited Blaise and Theo, but they had prior obligations."
'Don't want to associate with a former Death Eater, more like,' Draco thought. "Is that it?"
"I invited some of your colleagues. Ha—Potter came, as did Dawlish," Narcissa added.
Draco let out a sigh. Trust Potter to be the 'bigger man' and wish him well. One day soon he really would have to apologize to his former nemesis for all the things he did… but not today.
"And D—the Greengrasses?"
"They're in the bride's tent," Narcissa said, smiling. "Your father is making his way over to us, so I'll go take my seat. Make me proud, my darling boy."
Draco stood before the druid's altar, alone. He had rejected Gregory's offer to serve as his witness; he wasn't here by choice, so he wouldn't pull another into the rite. Any moment now Daphne would take her place at his side… and speak of the devil, there the tent opened.
Draco turned to face the altar, offering a silent prayer to the spirits that somehow they would make it work. He hoped he would not be forced into a loveless marriage just because Lucius and Narcissa thought they had to meddle, to secure his future.
He hardly noticed as his bride was brought before the druid, Lord Greengrass reciting the traditional formula that he willingly offered his daughter, then he caught his bride's eyes.
His bride's loving, sparkling eyes.
"Astoria?" Draco asked, his own eyes growing wide.
"Were you expecting someone else?" she asked in turn, a mischievous smile on her face. A little behind her stood Daphne in what was obviously bridesmaid's robes, looking miserable at being forced into this.
"But I thought that—"
"Don't worry about her, it doesn't matter she isn't that fond of you. I think I will quickly be able to fall in love with you, Draco dearest, and that's what matters," Astoria said.
"Ahem. Are we ready?" the druid prompted, causing Draco to quickly nod.
All too soon their hands were tied with a length of cloth, and the druid was guiding them through the ceremony that would ask the spirits to bless their bond.
'Love me? She will love me?' that thought was repeating through his head, until finally their hands were untied, and the druid handed Draco the bride's ring. 'Now or never, Draco,' he thought.
"Astoria, I have not known you for long, but I know you to be a loving young woman, and I thank the spirits for allowing me to prove myself to you. I swear to be a loving husband, a doting father when that time comes, and to stand besides you until the end of days," he said as he placed the ring on her hand, completely forgetting the formal vows Lucius had made him study over the past days. Judging by the wide smile on Astoria's face, this was the right decision. Draco lost himself in her loving eyes as she made her own vow, while she was presenting him with his own ring.
"Let your vows be sealed with a kiss," the druid said.
As their lips met, Draco felt what it was to truly love, and be loved. No matter how it started, no matter how annoyed he had felt, he would make this work. Astoria was worth it.