A Wonderful Fortuitous Love

63. Revelations

"Sad thing is, you can still love someone and be wrong for them."  

- Elvis Presley 

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 "I can see you're working hard."

Draco had been watching Natalie, who was surrounded by eight men all holding different bouquets of flowers. For the most part, she was going on hysterically about how, no, yellow roses were not what she ordered, and no, sunflowers only belonged in a field not a wedding, and no, she couldn't have lavender because her brother was allergic.

Draco tore his attention from the old bird, letting his gaze rove across the hundred or so other strangers in the Hopkins' garden, each with some kind of decorative material in their hands, and then finally his attention rested on Blaise.

Draco stood from his bench. "I'm working plenty hard at observing," he answered.

"I know exactly what you were doing. You were trying to think of an excuse to postpone the wedding again, weren't you?"

"Please," he scoffed.

"Draco. I'm your best friend. I know these things. And you can't keep doing this to them! What was your excuse last time?"

Draco chewed the inside of his mouth. "That I wanted longer to get to know Ophelia properly as a person," he recited.

Blaise nodded. "And the one before that?"

"Oh, come off it," he snapped. "You're sounding like my mother."

"Because you're being a git!" he said back just as heatedly. "I don't know if you've noticed, but people are actually devoting their time to this wedding. You can't keep putting Ophelia through this –"

"Somehow, I don't think she cares."

"And why might that be?"

Draco gestured over by the hedges, where the new, muscular and sweaty gardener was trimming them. By his side was Ophelia, nodding along as he spoke and laughing awfully loud with her hands on her chest, frequently flicking her hair. As both Slytherins watched, she pretended to drop her floppy hat, and as the gardener bent to reach it she used his momentary distraction to glance at his butt.

Draco looked back at Blaise with a 'do you see now' expression. Blaise clucked his tongue. "Okaaay..." he said slowly. "I didn't realise she was flirty."

"Tell me about it," Draco drawled.

"Alexis is nothing like that with you."

"Lets not talk about her today."

"She fancies you," he teased. Draco gave him a look that made him clear his throat before continuing on. "But yes, what was I saying? Right. There's still Natalie who's about to rip all her hair off over this wedding. And your parents. Have you considered them?"

"Look, these past seven months have been hard, okay? I don't want to do this anymore, it's not like our family needs the bloody reputation back anyway. The whole wizarding world wont stop saying 'thank you for saving us all from Death Eaters, we won't forget this, forgive our mistreatment, blah blah blah'. Sometimes I think Potter should have kept his trap shut about my involvement that night."

Blaise stared at him closely for a moment, then commented lightly, "You're more of an arsehole today than usual."

"Thank you, dear friend."

"I'm serious. You're making things harder than they need to be. If you don't want to marry her, say something to your mother. Merlin, Hermione was nowhere near this difficult when she was preparing her wedding."