Disclaimer: I've tried to brew Polyjuice Potion today just to take up the shape of JK Rowling. But then I remembered that some of its ingredients are only found in Snape's private storage room. Bugger… and here I thought I'll be able to claim that Draco Malfoy's mine. (SERIOUSLY, I'M NOT JK!)

A/N: Just a little depressing fic that formulated from my depressing life. And I am immensely bored here at home so BAM! Here is the end product. I've been on hiatus for ages and it's kinda refreshing to start writing again. Although, I must warn you, my new fics and updates will be infrequent. Oh, by the way, treat this new fic as a treat for all of you since it's Halloween! Though, I must warn you yet again, there'll be a twist.

Do ignore my grammatical errors. I have no Beta Reader to proofread this and I'm kinda hungry while typing this.

Anyway, on with the story. I have numerous at the end so keep reading 'til the last a/n.

Do enjoy!

Title: Married Today
Author: 2booklover4
Language: English
Form: One-Shot
Genre: Romance/Tragedy
Rating: T, just to be safe
Warning/s: I'm warning you beforehand to ready your tissues because I can assure you, some of you might be crying so damn hard after reading this whole story.
Ship: Draco/Hermione
Summary: Hermione Granger was married today. And no, it wasn't an ordinary one.

Married Today

Hermione Granger was getting married today. And no, it wasn't an ordinary one.

At first, it might seem as one to an onlooker. The weather was so fair today; the birds were almost singing with so much joy. Despite the location, it was so beautifully designed, courtesy of her soon to be mother-in-law. It was simply designed, but its simplicity made it all the more stunning. Everything was decorated with her most favorite flower: tulips.

The guests in the whole ceremony were only a selected few. Her parents were present. The whole Weasley clan was also there to witness their Hermione become someone else. Even her best friend, famous Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were there to support her.

A few people came from her soon-to-be husband's side. It was not surprising, in actuality. He was, after all, coined as one of the most notorious Death Eater of the fallen Voldemort until he had this surprising miraculous change of heart the summer before their seventh year. His mother was present, beautiful and gentle as always, contradicting the adjectives she used to think about her. His best friend was also there, as loyal as ever, to finally see his best mate marry the love of his life.

And his father… Blast him but if ever Hermione saw him just a feet away from their wedding, she would kill him.

Without mercy.

"The Minister is here, Hermione," Harry whispered to her.

The brunette, too disoriented to answer, looked at her best friend and nodded. She smoothed her black dress, removing any creases that had formed from her constant fidgeting. Hermione also removed invisible lint on her shoulder before warily watching as the Minster walked slowly towards the front, regarding her with sympathy in his eyes.

She looked away with a scowl. 'No time for sympathies,' she thought, willing herself not to cry. 'No time for sympathies.'

"All rise," the Minister proclaimed. There was shuffling of feet as everybody stood up.

And then, the wedding had started.

Hermione tuned out the Minster. She had been in weddings countless times before and she had somehow memorized every word uttered by the Minister.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, standing stiffly beside her. She looked up, pale as a ghost, and offered her a smile. "Do smile, please. He wants you to smile on this very special day."

Unwanted tears gathered at the corner of her eyes and she couldn't help but to loathe her groom-to-be. This wasn't her dream wedding. This wasn't what they had planned. The song that they had chosen together should be played as she marched towards him. An impeccable white dress made from the most renowned seamstress would sew her bridal dress and she would wear it, not some black, simple dress she had blindly donned prior to the wedding. And no, she did not want grave, solemn faces on their wedding day staring back at her. Everybody should be rejoicing! They had, after all, seen this coming. They were in love. Truly, undoubtedly, genuinely in love. She loved him with her whole heart and him in return. True, they had a rocky start, what with all their past history and such, but they made it through. And the obstacles were worth it.

But not this obstacle. This was too much. Too darn much.

"I-I can't," she cried, a tear slowly slipping down from her face. "I hate him, Harry."

Harry's emerald eyes grew glossy with tears. "I know," he said, his smile unwavering. "But he loves you, nonetheless. He told me countless times, you know."

Her bleary eyes stared unfocusedly at the Minister, still droning on and on about marriage and such. She couldn't absorb anything the Minister was saying. All she could focus on was him. Him.

Him inside a casket.

Him buried six feet under the ground.

Funny. She was getting married in a cemetery. She, like any other woman in the whole world, had imagined her dream wedding. And they agreed to be married in a hill that held a special place in their hearts – the same hill where they shared their first kiss.

The same hill where he confessed he loved her.

The same hill where he proposed to her, asking her to be his wife.

"He's supposed to be here, Harry," she sobbed, tears continually flowing down from her eyes. If she were sobered enough, she could see that everyone in her wedding day was crying already. "H-he promised me. Draco promised."

As soon as she accepted, they had planned. And oh, how blissful she was. Here was she, engaged to the man she loved the most, and now they were planning a beautiful future for the two of them.

But they were in the midst of a war. And in a war, anything could happen.

And that had happened.

She knew she shouldn't have left him go that day. There was this feeling of foreboding in her heart once Harry and the Order told her of the plan.

"He's our only hope, Hermione," Harry had told her that day once she started to heave guttural sobs. "He's our only hope for this darn war."

A bait. That was what he should be. A bait for the Dark Side, make them believe that he had turned his back from the Light Side and confess to them the deepest secrets of the Order of the Phoenix. And then, once the Death Eaters and Voldemort believed him, the Order would arrive and capture them.

She thought it was noble. For him to agree. But she also thought he was being an idiot. Because it also meant he could die that day.

"I'll be back to you, 'Mione," he had said, giving her a loving kiss. "I promise. And then, we will be married. And then… we'll have that Quidditch team I want, right? Those little imps with blond, curly hairs, and huge, owlish silver eyes."

She was too hysterical to answer him. And he, Draco Malfoy, merely gave her a kiss of assurance.

They had no idea it was his last goodbye.

"I know," Harry said, patting her hand for comfort. He allowed a tear to slide down from his eyes as he stared at his best friend. "And I know that he's sorry."

Their plan had gone smoothly. The Dark had believed him and they immediately rushed to where he was.

"They were desperate," Harry had told her. "They were desperate to win and they'll grasp anything they think will help them in this war."

And thus, they were caught off-guard when instead of expecting a remorseful Draco Malfoy, they were greeted by a few chosen members of the Order. Nay, they did not plan on having the Second War yet. It was too early. The-Boy-Who-Lived was not yet ready. Therefore, this battle was merely to incapacitate and dispatch as much Death Eaters as possible.

It somehow slipped off their minds that there would be a big possibility that a lot of their members would also receive the same faith, too.

"Your ring, Miss Granger," the Minister had said, eyes softening upon staring at the distraught girl.

Hermione slowly slipped off her ring, his engagement ring for her, and gingerly gave it to Harry. The-Boy-Who-Lived gave her a watery smile and she tried to return it.

All she was able to do was to release a painful sob.

A very dark curse. That was what they had told her when they returned back to Grimmauld Place, Draco Malfoy nowhere in sight.

It was a very dark curse, bestowed to him by none other than his father, Lucius Malfoy.

"It was his punishment," a distressed Harry Potter had told her that day. "It was his punishment for loving you."

"Do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take this man, Draco Lucius Malfoy, as your husband?"

She continued to cry as Harry slipped her engagement ring into her left finger.

"I-I do."

The dark curse, apparently, had slowed his death. And Harry Potter was beside him when he breathed his last words.

"He told me," Harry started, gathering a Hermione in disbelief into his arms, "that he was sorry he broke his promise. He told me that he will love you despite his death. He told me he still wants to marry you, Hermione. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He's sorry."

She had cried hysterically that day. Hermione even opted to throw things, relieve her anger, and the Order member had let her, tears in their eyes as they watched the Golden Girl crumbled… broke.

"How could you? How could you?" she had cried as soon as exhaustion took over. Hermione had fallen down on the floor, scratches and wounds visible on her body, because of the things she had broken. But she was too grief-stricken to care "You promised. I-I love you so much. How could you? Why?"

Her anguished cries were all that was heard in the whole Order Headquarters.

"And does he, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take Hermione Jane Granger, as his wife?"

Harry reached for her face and brushed off her tears. Even he had tears in his eyes as he regarded Hermione, eyes soft with pain, sympathy and love for the brunette in front of him.

"He does."

They all thought that she would cancel their wedding. That since her fiancé had died, they would all forget about his proposal and just move on.

Imagine their surprise when she had adamantly told Narcissa Malfoy that they would continue their wedding no matter what.

"He said he still wanted to marry me," she murmured so softly, it was almost inaudible. "He said he still wanted me and I… I want to marry him still, Narcissa. So no, we will not cancel our wedding."

Narcissa, who had started crying that time, enveloped her poor soon-to-be daughter-in-law in her arms. "We will make it through," she had assured her once Hermione stared crying in her arms. "We will make it through and I'll always be beside you, Hermione."

"And now, I present to you, man and wife."

There was no kiss… kiss to seal their future. But there was a light breeze, so light it was only Hermione who felt it. And despite her tears, she wistfully smiled. She knew it had been her Draco who had kissed her.

Harry then had turned Hermione around for the small crowd to see. And they, despite of the tears in their eyes, clapped heartily for the brunette. And they knew, even though he was not there, that Draco Malfoy, wherever he was, was looking at her with such love in his eyes.

They finally achieved what they had longed for.

They hadn't bothered about the 'til death do us part' bit. Because even though he died, they all knew that the love in her heart for him, only him, would never, ever waver.

Hermione Granger was married today. And no, it wasn't an ordinary one.

A/N: In case you are wondering, yes, I'm crying right here in front of the computer after writing this fic. I know, it's kinda unusual, yeah? I mean, getting married to a dead guy! But that's 2booklover to you. I have these bizarre imaginations, those little buggers, that won't leave me alone until I typed them in the computer.

I've read countless fics about Hermione marrying another guy or Draco marrying another girl and this story just came into my mind… Kinda creepy. But it was downright depressing for me. Poor, poor Hermione. Somehow, I have this knack of killing off Draco, yeah? Just look at '11 Things'. *laughs sheepishly* But no worries, dearies. My love for our favorite bigoted ferret will never waver. Fan girl's honor. Haha.

Now, do tell me what you think. I've been craving for reviews for months! Oh, flames are very welcome. Curse me all you want for killing Draco Malfoy yet again and making poor, poor Hermione Granger all alone. But lovely reviews will be greatly appreciated.

So that's all! Ciao for now!

With love,
(square root of 4)(cook – c + b)(opposite of hate + r)(16/4)

P.S.

I just want to thank all those who reviewed the first chapter of 'Only a Pretense'. Also those who favorited and story alerted. Even those who favorited and author alerted me. I'm still open for anyone who wants to be my Beta Reader. My grammar, I am sad to say, still needs some fixing. A LOT OF FIXING. So any good soul out there… *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*