Hermione strolled over to the grey bed and sprawled out next to the tall blond man. He turned over and pulled her close.
"Are you excited" she whispered.
"Yes, I heard they're going to have a large assortment of chocolate-covered fruit."
She rolled her eyes and brought a hand up to his cheek. "Oh come on Draco, humor me. It's our big day. Are you not the least bit excited?"
The corners of his mouth rose. "I am very excited my love. Although, I would've been just as excited if we had married in Italy just the two of us like we initially planned."
"Draco," she sighed. " You know how important the Weasleys are to me, and what about your mother. She adores you and I think she's finally starting to warm up to me."
Her fiance chuckled and kiss the tip of her nose.
"It's not even that big of a wedding, and the garden looks absolutely stunning at this hour."
"Alright, alright. I am a little excited to see you in your wedding dress," he conceded.
She grinned wide and sat up straight. "Thank you, that's all I need." She checked her wristwatch and tsked. "I think it's time for me to go put it on."
Hermione hopped up from the bed and strutted towards the door.
"Granger, wait–"
She rolled her eyes and halted her strut.
He walked over to her and spun her in his arms. "I am completely enamored by you Hermione, and I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am to spend the rest of my life with you." He set her down and kissed her lips tenderly. "Now, you can go get ready. I'll see you in a bit."
The older witch kept adjusting the loose curls on her head. "Oh you look absolutely lovely dear, I haven't been this emotional since Ginny's wedding."
"Mum that's quite enough, I barely managed to put her hair up. Don't need it ruined right before she walks out."
Ginny shooed her mother away and fixed the strand of hair that had come loose. Hermione's hair was in an updo with small curls hanging out loosely. Her makeup was simple, rosy cheeks, a soft shade of plum on her lips, and a bit of mascara for her eyes. Ginny added a bit of bronzer to the corners of her face to make sure she wouldn't look washed out in photos.
Hermione gazed at herself in the mirror and smiled. She felt beautiful, she felt confident. She only wished her parents could've been here for her. Hermione was never able to reverse their memories. They were still in Australia living out normal lives.
She had found her mother's wedding dress shoved away in the attic of her childhood home. With a bit of magic, she had it tailored to fit her perfectly. It was a bit dated, but it allowed her to feel like a piece of her parents were there.
"Ok, people it's show time. I have my new watch, my mom's dress, all I'm missing is…"
"Something blue I believe," Harry chimed in.
He pulled out a small box from his pocket and tossed it to her. In it was a set of baby blue diamond earrings lined with silver.
"Consider it an early wedding gift from Ginny and I. Hurry and put them on. I have a bride to walk down the aisle and I'm sure your ever-so-patient husband doesn't like to be kept waiting today."
Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand and squealed. "I'm getting married!"
Knock knock
"Do you have your dress on yet mate?"
Draco adjusted his tie and turned with a sigh. "Must you be insufferable on my wedding day?"
Blaise smirked and walked from the doorway with outstretched arms. He scooped Draco up into a hug and let out a hearty laugh. "You did it. You managed to find someone as dramatic and stubborn as yourself. I still believe she's completely out of your league and had you not threatened me I would object."
The blond groom adjusted his suit jacket and shook his head. "There's a part of me that wishes someone would. I love her Blaise, but I just don't want to drag her into my family, into my reputation."
"Draco, come on. You're a good man. That's all behind you. It's been six years since that damn war. You've helped repair the school, donated to countless causes, and you're even studying to be the blasted potions professor mate. The world is healing, you need to heal with it."
He hung his head. "Thank you, Blaise. You know you've always been a brother to me, but you know that's not what I meant."
Blaise sucked his cheek. "Draco–"
"Blaise, if we have to open that incessant box–"
"Drake, come on."
"If she pulls that blasted card!"
Blaise gripped both of his friend's shoulders. "She's not going to pull that card. You two are going to marry, you're going to have dinner with your family, and then you're going to leave for Italy. You are going to have a fantastic honeymoon that I will not want to hear about, and you're going to be a happily married couple."
Draco nodded his head.
"Alright, now let's go to your wedding."
As the band began playing Canon in D everyone stood. Draco looked down the aisle and spotted the small Weasley girl with blonde hair throwing flowers along the walkway. When she had finished he held his breath as the tune changed. He could see Potter first step out. Then, finally, he sees her. Time seemed to stand still as she first walked out. He released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. He had never and would never see anyone more beautiful than the woman he was about to marry. She paced her way up the aisle and stood across from him.
"Now then, shall we," the officiant asked.
Draco managed to separate himself from the crowd gathering to wish them their best. As he made his way to the refreshments a voice greeted him at his side.
"Goyle, well it's certainly been a while. How are you mate?"
Goyle raised a hand to clap Draco's back. "A lot better now that my squirrelly childhood friend is now married."
The groom to a sip of a flute before responding. "I haven't heard from you in quite some time. What have you been up to?"
"You know me Malfoy, trouble seems to find me no matter what."
He set his glass down. "Goyle, are you in trouble?"
"No, no I think those times are behind me now. I have your family to thank actually, your father has been helping me with some of my poor luck."
Draco frowned and leaned in closer to whisper. "You can tell me what's been happening. I wouldn't trust my father's help; everything comes with a price from that man."
His old friend nodded and looked side to side.
"Just tell me. Have you been making bets with–"
"Boys, or should I say men now? At least for Draco's sake." A woman with sleek black hair and a round face strutted towards them.
"Parkinson," Draco greeted with a dip of his head.
The woman hugged them both and kissed their cheeks in greeting. "I almost thought you had been avoiding me Drakey."
"It's my wedding day Pansy, I want to spend most of it with my beautiful bride. Speaking of which, I ought to go rescue her from a swarm of Weasleys right now."
"Cheers."
"Cheers."
The two old friends watched the groom join the bride by the large cake in the center of the room. She smiled and immediately clung to his arm. Her smile was as radiant and white as her dress. His adoration for her could be seen even where they stood.
Goyle took in a large breath before speaking."It's been a while Pans. A few years ago I would've thought you'd be the one in white."
Pansy sneered and plucked a flower off the table decoration, crumbling it in her hand. "Yes, well never say never. It's all about the big picture Greggory."
"What are you playing at?"
"Oh come off it. I'm sure you know. After all, I don't think Lucius invited you just so you could try the cake. Of course, he would never tell Draco and Draco would never tell Granger. Then again, I'm sure you couldn't say a word about it either, right? Bound by blood to your word just like Draco. Tell me, how much of your indentured servitude will result in death Greggory. "
Goyle threw back the entire flute of champagne begrudgingly. "Let's hope it doesn't result in that yeah?"
Draco was being summoned from group to group for photos. He refused to let go of his wife the entire time. People were laughing and grinning from corner to corner. Molly had just taken a photo of the four: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco. The former who had just ruffled the blond's hair and earned a small hex to his own.
"Would we be able to take a photo with our son and his bride?" A man's voice drawled.
The merry moment came to a halt as the pair of elder Malfoys joined the corner of the garden.
"Oh," Molly gasped. She brushed her dress and ushered the boys to the side. "Of course Lucius, Narcissa, go on either side."
Lucius strolled to Hermione's left side and placed a cold hand on her shoulder. She shuddered and gripped her husband's hand tightly. Narcissa went to Draco's right side and placed her hand over his shoulder. Each Malfoy held a straight face as they gazed at the camera, except for Hermione. She tried to manage a small smile for their guests.
Molly snapped a picture and winced. She counted down for a second one. Draco turned to look at Hermione before looking back at the camera. The left corner of his mouth rose slightly. Hermione noticed and her smile eased just in time for the second photo.
"Oh, that one's much better. I'll have it sent to you Draco dear after I've made a copy."
"Thank you, Molly, I would appreciate that."
"Well that was incredibly uncomfortable, I think it's time for cake," a redhead muttered.
The crowd mumbled their agreements and migrated toward the cake. Lucius held his hand on the bride to stop her. Draco noticed and stopped in his tracks.
"Father?"
"Miss Hermione, you will be joining us for our modest family dinner, won't you? It's a tradition of my wife's for each witch or wizard to whom they married to have their first meal with the family. You understand, of course. After all, family means everything to us."
Hermione stepped to the side to look him in the eye. "Of course Lucius, I would love to."
Draco clenched his teeth but said nothing.
"I think it's time for the cake," said Narcissa.
Hermione stumbled into their room at the manor. She giggled when she tripped and fell onto the comforter. Draco came in loosening his tie and taking a large swig of Firewhiskey. The party had ended and most of the guests had already left for the night. Everyone had congratulated the newlyweds and bid them well.
"Mr. & … I rather like that," she beamed. "Of course, officially I am still Hermione Granger. We'll have that changed after the honeymoon."
Draco didn't respond but started gathering her things. He swished his wand and summoned the remainder of their items from the room into the luggage at the bottom of their bed. His bride, not noticing his impatience, had closed her eyes and lay back peacefully.
"Hermione, take your bag."
He tossed the old beaded bag to her side. He worked on removing her heels and replacing them with her white trainers.
She finally sat up and removed her veil with a concerned brow. "Love, what's wrong? I thought we could just rest before dinner then pack. Why the sudden rush?"
He worked on switching his dress shoes for muggle trainers. "We need to leave. We should've left right after the wedding. We should've just flown your friends to Italy for the small ceremony like I said."
She brought a hand to his face to turn his head. "Hey, you can tell me. Whatever it is, we're in it together."
He sighed remorsefully. "Hermione," he began.
Then a knock interrupted from outside their door. The doorknob turned slowly and Draco's grip on his wand tightened.
"They're ready for you mate."
Draco sneered at his childhood friend before standing from the bed. "We'll be right there, it's not even a quarter till yet."
Goyle nodded and turned back toward the dining room.
"Draco, why did he say it like that? What is going on here? Please, just tell me."
"I can't. I cannot say anything. Not until after dinner. I am so sorry Hermione."
Draco shrunk their luggage and dropped them into her bag. He nodded and drew her in close. He ran a hand over her hair and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I promise I'll protect you, Hermione. I promise," he whispered.
Then, like a prisoner walking to his execution, he trudged out the door and she followed.
A/N: I'm excited for this story I truly am, it's been eating away at me. It's a little different than my other fics but I'm hoping that just adds to it ya know?