Adventurous Hearts Part III: Merlin's Tomb

Chapter 16: Do You Take This….







July







Lucius Malfoy stood among the ruins of an ancient temple on the side of a cliff on the Island of Skyros. It was the remains of a temple erected by ancient wizards where they could practice their magic and make their offerings to the gods and goddesses. It was coming up on sunset as he stood there in the heat of summer dressed in loose white linen trousers and shirt, a white rose pinned to his breast pocket.







From the ruins he could see the incredible blue waters of the Aegean Sea glittering in the fading light of the evening. The soft music of a harp began to play and he turned around. A small group of people gathered at the back of the temple ruins. The Potters, Ronald Weasley and his partner Stephen, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Claire and Gilford, familiar faces from the ministry and from Hogwarts, all of them looking back towards the steps leading up to the ruins.





He caught his breath when Hermione crested the stairs on the arm of Severus Snape. It was the first time he had seen the man dressed all in white, the only black coming from his shiny hair tied back at his nape. Hermione wore a long, white sundress of fine linen with a wreath of white roses sitting atop her head. She had left her hair down for him and the mild summer breeze sent the long curls dancing about her shoulders. She was barefoot, the silver anklet of writhing serpents sparkling with every step in his direction.

He felt Draco’s hand on his shoulder as they neared.





“There’s still time to dive off of the cliff.” Draco said laughingly. He couldn’t resist. He was happy for his father, and he was happy for Hermione. She had livened up their cold and lonely house since she had come into their lives. He owed her a lot for making his father so happy, for bringing him back into his life. He couldn’t believe it had come to this point, but Hermione Granger, the mudblood nemesis of his childhood, was going to make a wonderful addition to the Malfoy family.







“She looks beautiful.” Lucius said reverently.







“She’s not so bad for a mud…”







“Don’t say it, Draco, if you do I will toss you off the side of this cliff.” Lucius said. His son merely laughed.







Severus and Hermione came to a halt beside him and Kingsley stepped out from the crowd to take his place before them.







“Who gives this witch to be married?” He asked. Severus simply stood there, saying nothing.





“Sev!” Hermione whispered harshly, elbowing him in the side.







“Do I have to?” He asked.







“Yes, you do.”







“If I give you away I lose you forever.” He whispered.







“That will never happen. You are my soul mate, Severus, always.” She said as she gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.







“I give this witch to be married….reluctantly.” Snickers came from the small group behind them and Hermione leaned up to kiss his cheek lightly.







“I love you, Severus.” She laughed softly as he took her hand and passed her to Lucius.



“I love you too, Minute.” He said, stepping aside. Enough to torture myself by letting you go, but I will always be watching and god help the man if he ever makes you unhappy. He thought as he took his place to her left.







Hermione looked up at Lucius, the setting sun shining in her eyes as she smiled. He gasped, stunned every time he looked into her eyes and saw the love shining back at him, a love he had never thought to see from anyone. He smiled back, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand as he held it.





“We are gathered here today for a most…unlikely…union.” Kingsley began. “Today we witness the bonding of Hermione Granger to Lucius Malfoy. It began almost a year ago when Hermione came into my office and plain as you please told me that she, and I quote, ‘needed a deatheater’. I had no idea that when I sent her to visit Lucius I would be standing here conducting their wedding ceremony a year later. They are the perfect example of what the word forgiveness really means, to set aside another’s trespasses against you and move forward. It is with great pride that I unite these two in holy matrimony.”







The sun began its decent and cast them in a soft golden glow as they stood hand in hand among the pillars of the ruins.





“Lucius Malfoy, do you take Hermione Granger as your wife. Do you swear to love her, to honor her and keep her all the days of your life?”





“I do.” He said softly.







“Hermione Granger, do you take Lucius Malfoy as your husband. Do you swear to love him, to honor him and keep him all the days of your life?”







“Oh yes, I do.” She said smiling brightly.







“The rings?” Kingsley held his hand out palm up as Draco fished in his pocket and then deposited two platinum rings in his hand. He said a blessing on the rings, soft golden light glowing around them for a moment before he handed the smaller of the two to Lucius. “Place the ring on her finger and then recite your vows.”







Lucius lifted her hand and slid the band over her first knuckle.





“I give you this ring as a symbol of my commitment to you. It is my promise that I will always love you, that I will belong to you and no other. With this ring I seal my vow to protect you, to honor you and to always see to your care. I love you, always and forever.” He said his vows quietly, for her ears alone as he slipped the ring all the way onto her finger.







Kingsley passed Hermione the thick band with diamond embedded into it and said “Place the ring on her finger and then recite your vows”







“Lucius, I give you this ring as a symbol of my commitment to you. With it I promise to always love you and that I will belong to you and no other. With this ring I seal my vow to support you, to stand by you and honor you. I love you, always and forever.” She said as she pushed the ring onto his finger. Magic swirled around them, warmth from the rings moving up their arms to encircle their hearts as the bond between them took. People chastised them for opting to go through the rare and permanent bonding ceremony, but they wanted nothing else. As stubborn as they were they needed something unbreakable to force them to compromise.





“By the authority vested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I declare that you are now husband and wife, bound together by an unbreakable bond. Lucius, you may kiss your wife.”







Lucius smiled and pulled Hermione forward, lowering his lips to hers and kissing her gently.







“I present to you Lucius and Hermione Malfoy.” Kingsley said when the couple parted.







“Granger-Malfoy actually.” Hermione said smiling.







“Wait a moment, we never settled that.” Lucius said, his brow furrowing.







“There’s nothing to settle, it’s my name, my choice.” She said.







“No, it is now my name and it is the only one you need.” Lucius said. Draco stepped between them, a hand on each shoulder as he urged them to turn towards their curious guests.







“I think we can settle the semantics later, right now these people want to party in celebration of your marriage, not witness another of your little rows.” He said. “Now, I believe it is tradition to kiss the bride, yes?” Before Hermione could protest Draco planted a rather lengthy, rather wet kiss on her shocked lips. “Welcome to the family…Mummy.” He grinned.







“My gods, Draco, you really are just like your father.” Hermione smirked.









*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*







“Draco, what are you doing with that bottle?” Severus asked as he stood by the bar and watched his godson order a bottle of tequila and shot glasses.







“I had hoped to get my new step-mother all liquored up so she would spill more embarrassing secrets about you and my father.” Draco said.







“It’s her wedding day, Draco, don’t make it uncomfortable for her.” Severus ordered a glass of bourbon and leaned on the bar while his order was filled.







“Don’t want her to feel like you, eh?” Draco said, feeling a bit bad for the wizard. It must be horrible to see the one you love marry another.







“Very perceptive of you, young man.” Severus said as he reached for his drink, nodding at the waiter in thanks and tossing a galleon into the tip jar. Draco could see that he wasn’t really wanting company so he sat the bottle back on the bar and headed back towards the reception.





“Dance with me.” Hermione said as she flung her arm around his shoulder. “I have danced with everyone else but not with you.”







“You should be dancing with your husband, Minute.” Severus said as he tossed back the contents of his glass.







“I have, several times.” She said as she slid her hand down his arm and threaded her fingers through his to tug him with her onto the dance floor. She put one hand on his shoulder and the other was held tight in his, tucked between them against his chest. You Don’t Know Me playing softly as they danced. “You’ve been avoiding me since the wedding.”





“No, you have to socialize with all your guests, it’s expected.” Severus said.







“You are my best friend, Sev, I want you to be with me for important events but I don’t want to cause you pain.” She said.







“Don’t worry about me, Minute. I will be fine.” He said softly. He could see the unshed tears welling in her eyes.





“Severus, I am going to say this to you only one time, and then I will never mention it again. It isn’t to hurt you or to tease you, it is just so that you know and never have to wonder.” She said quietly. “I do love you. Lucius wasn’t an easy choice to make but it was the right one for me. But, had he not come into my life, if you would have asked me I would have married you. I would have happily taken your name and I would have given you a family. It seemed that you and I had our chance and we let it pass for fear that it would change things and we were so happy with the way things were that we didn’t want to blow it.” A tear spilled from her eye and rolled down her cheek. “I love Lucius, very much and I am so happy to have made the decision to marry him. But I love you too. Never forget that.”







“I never doubted that you loved me, Minute.” He said, bringing their joined hands up to wipe away the tear clinging to her chin. “You and I both know that it wouldn’t have worked, we would have made each other miserable.” He smiled at her, even though his heart ached, he would never let her know. “Now I can watch as you make Lucius dance like a puppet on a string and amuse myself at his expense.”





She laughed and then wrapped her arms tight around his neck, holding him close as she buried her face in his chest.







“I could never be happy without you.” She said.







“Then it’s a good thing I am not going anywhere for I would never want to make you unhappy.” He said as he brushed a kiss across her temple. “So how long before we begin sneaking around to shag on the sly?”







“What in the world are you talking about?” Hermione asked as she pulled back to look at Severus in confusion.







“Very funny, Severus.” Lucius drawled from behind Hermione. “If you wouldn’t mind I would like to dance with my wife one last time before the celebration is over.”







“Oh I mind, but I will just have to deal with it.” He said. He bent his head and kissed her softly. “Congratulations, Minute, you look beautiful tonight.” He said as he passed her into the arms of her husband and walked away.







~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~







I know, sad right…poor Severus. But he has a story coming! I am almost done with the new Dramione, it should go up very soon after this story finishes. Another few chapters to go!!!



The Lyrics to the song….





You Don’t Know Me by Jann Arden



You give your hand to me.

And then you say hello.

And I can hardly speak

My heart is beating so

And any one can tell

You think you know me well

But you don’t know me





No you don’t know the one

Who dreams of you each night

Who longs to kiss your lips

Who longs to hold you tight

Oh I am just a friend

That’s all ive ever been

Cause you don’t know me





I never knew the art of making love

No my heart aches with love for you

Afraid and shy I let my chance go by

A chance that you might love me too





You give your hand to me

And then you say goodbye

I watch you walk away

Beside the lucky guy

Oh you will never know

The one who loves you so

Cause you don’t know me







Oh you don’t know me

No you don’t know me