I was almost blinded by the lights as I descended the stairs with my parents. The bright whites of camera flashes were making it impossible to see, leaving me to trust my instincts to lead me down the gold, holiday themed staircase adorned in patterns of blurred red and green.

I could distantly make out the voice of the announcer of the event introducing my parents and I as we made our annual entrance, but it was drowned out by the clamor of guests as well as reporters. It sounded like white noise to me, as all I could focus on was the touch of Draco coming to wrap his arm around me when I made it to the bottom of the stairs.

Maybe it was the heat of the lights, or the journalists shouting out question after question at us, perhaps it was even my nerves of the evening, but for once I couldn't process the way his touch made me feel. It wasn't as cold as it always was, but I chalked it up to anxieties.

When my mother pulled us over for a "family photo" opportunity for the reporters, my vision and mental capacity finally came into better clarity. I could finally focus on what was going on around me.

I could practically read the headlines of the next Daily Prophet: "Vitelli family welcomes Malfoy by way of marriage at annual Christmas Eve party".

From left to right, the photos taken would be of Draco, myself, my mother, then father. I had no doubt the reporters snagged some pictures of Narcissa and Lucius as well, who descended the stairs just moments before us. It added to the intensity of the marriage announcement, as Draco hadn't walked down with his parents.

I'd never be able to forget the questions I was being attacked with. "When did you marry?", "Was this arranged?", "Is this a pureblood tactic?", "Do you love each other?".

This summer. Yes. Yes. Couldn't say.

Luckily, I wasn't forced to answer any questions. My father took the liberty of answering very broadly, without much detail, before shooing off reporters with some security we'd assigned earlier.

The journalists scurried off, some snapping some last minute shots or hurriedly scribbling down whatever quotes they could gather on their notepads. I think I heard Rita Skeeter try to sneak in another loaded question before being dragged off by a large man in a black suit that my father hired.

I took the opportunity to scan over the crowd. It was a mix of faces, some of which I knew, others not. Some I liked, most I didn't.

My eyes landed on figures like Professor Slughorn and Snape, the former who was shocked and the latter who stood with what appeared to be a sly grin on his face. I don't think I'd ever seen Snape grin before. It was unsettling.

I forced myself to move along and noticed some parents of my classmates like the Parkinsons, Crabbes, Goyles, many Blacks courtesy of the Malfoys, and even Theodore Nott, senior, as well as Astoria Greengrass, which meant that Theo and Daphne had to be lurking nearby somewhere. I found some solace in that.

When the chatter and noise of the reporters died down, indicating that they'd left the building or at least the ballroom so that it was only those invited, I took a deep breath and tried to avoid interacting with my husband, but I knew it wasn't possible.

I was suddenly very aware of the constricting rings around my finger that indicated our marriage. The diamond felt heavier than usual, the band tighter than I remember it.

I wonder if his felt lighter.

"Good evening," his smooth voice filled my ears, causing my breath to hitch. Merlin, couldn't we have gone our separate ways tonight?

I craned my neck to face him, pressing my lips to a tight line. I didn't bother plastering on a fake smile like I did for the reporters. He'd know it wouldn't be real, anyway.

"Evening." I replied curtly.

I noticed his adam's apple bob up and down suddenly, like he gulped or had a sudden spike in nerves.

"You look lovely."

"I know."

His compliment was polite enough, but I wasn't in the mood for small talk. I'm sure he meant it, as well. I had been fitted for an elegant gown the night before and it was to my liking at the time. However, it was now less to my liking as I realized Draco and I had matching colored outfits.

"You always do," he gave me a crooked smile, clearly uncomfortable. I was hoping that if my responses were short that he'd get the hint that I wasn't in the mood for speaking.

"If you'll excuse me," I breathed, "I think I'm going to find Theo or Daphne."

As I turned to walk away, he grabbed my arm which caused me to halt in my tracks. I looked back at him with furrowed brows.

"So soon?" he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"It hasn't been soon enough for me."

A look of sadness passed over his eyes. They turned glassy for a moment before he shook his head, focusing his attention back on me.

"We haven't even had a dance yet. It's customary for the newly introduced spouses to dance."

"Customary, not required," I shook off his grasp.

A fleeting look of worry washed over him. "I know you're upset with me, y/n, but this is public news. We have to play nice here."

"This is me playing nice."

"I don't blame you for acting this way," his eyes were filled with remorse, "but could I at least have a dance? For tradition's sake, if nothing else."

I eyed him up and down. He had his hand extended out to me, waiting for me to take it. As much as I wanted to walk away, I knew there were eyes on us. It already looked suspicious enough that I had pulled away from him right after the reporters left, and I couldn't risk bringing any embarrassment to the family by refusing to interact with him.

I hesitantly reached out to meet his hand, our skin rubbing against each other as he gently guided me to the dance floor. At our precedent, many other couples joined us in a waltz.

This wasn't the first time we danced together, of course. There was our wedding reception and my family party some months ago, both of which I wasn't particularly excited to dance with him, but neither of which I had felt as conflicting emotions as I did now.

As we danced, I let myself riddle over how I felt about things. It was like I had two sides pulling and pushing against each other. One of them was urging me to hate him, scream how trapped I felt and never forget what he did to me and the implications it had on my life. The other was making me remember that despite what he did, he's still Draco. Still the man I developed feelings for on my own, and still the man that gave me chills when his icy gray eyes locked with mine.

When the song started to slow down, I felt Draco pull me in closer. Before, we were having more of a traditional dance with space between us, but he made the move to have me pressed against him. It wasn't uncouth, considering how many people we had around us and the type of event, but my face was practically against his chest and his neck was craned so that his was by my ear. It was rather intimate.

One of his arms was around my waist while the other held my hand, trying to hold some semblance of a dance frame. I was right; he felt warmer than usual.

"My father warned me before tonight," he lowly told me. It wasn't a whisper, but just a quiet tone so that nobody around us might hear.

"About?" I mused.

I felt him exhale deeply, his hot breath kissing my cheek. It held some anxiety in it.

"Some reporters might make this whole thing look worse than it is. I suppose arranged marriages were outlawed some years ago."

"That's exactly what it is, isn't it?" I sarcastically quipped back.

"You don't want your father being jailed, do you?"

My breath hitched. I hadn't thought of that... it couldn't be taken that seriously, could it? I was unhappy for the most part, but I wasn't being abused. This couldn't be such an offense.

"That's not funny, Draco."

"I'm not joking," his voice hardened, "I want to give you as much time and space as you need, honest to God, but we can't make this look fake."

"The reporters aren't in here, though," I reasoned, "there's no danger of word slipping out."

"You never know who might sell you out for a quick buck," he explained. "If you never want to speak to me again after tonight, I'll understand. But please, for the sake of our families, can we be civil tonight?"

I pulled back to look him in the eyes. They were pleading, which gave away that he was being honest. I knew when he was lying, and this wasn't one of those times. I doubted he would ever lie about something so horrible, either.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

He shook his head. "Nothing is more important to me than your happiness, but we should think of our parents tonight. They've done deplorable things to both of us, but we can't let something like this get out."

I inhaled deeply before slowly nodding my head. I couldn't argue with him there. A small smile graced his lips, looking pleased that we were at least on the same page willing to be kind to one another for our folks.

"We'll be expected to answer a few questions later tonight," he noted. "I can do the talking, if you don't want to."

I shook my head. "If we want it to look real, we should both speak."

The smile on his face inched larger. It was barely noticeable, but I couldn't ignore it.

"That's... perfect. Thank you, y/n. I knew you'd be okay with it, you're so kind—"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Draco, this is for our parents."

He swallowed hard, looking down as his cheeks tinted red for a moment.

"You're right. My apologies... for everything."

———

"We've actually known each other since we were children," I did my best at fake smiling to appear like I wanted to be there, "we just fell in love this school year and figured there was no time like the present to marry."

The two of us had been answering question after question for nearly half an hour. Those reporters better write something good, for what time we gave them...

"I proposed right before Christmas break. We just couldn't wait to be together," Draco elaborated, tightening his grasp around my waist. I leaned into him as if we were the happy couple we pretended we were.

"Why was there no word to the press?"

"We preferred a private wedding. We're a modern couple and decided to do things our way," Draco stated.

Wow, way to be subtle. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"It was just a small gathering of our family and closest friends," I added.

"Mrs. Malfoy, isn't it true that just last year, you were in a relationship with prominent Ministry heir Cedric Diggory?"

My cheeks nearly flushed the color of a rose. Merlin, why would they bring up Cedric? How would they even know about him? Of course they know about him, idiot, he was a tri-wizard champion and grandson of a minister of magic.

I did my best to calm myself down and nodded, nonchalantly.

"We'd decided to go our separate ways long before Draco and I were even interested in each other." Well, at least that wasn't a lie. Sort of.

The reporter turned their attention to Draco next. "And Mr. Malfoy, you've been something of an eligible bachelor, haven't you? Linked to other pureblood witches such as the Greengrass', Parkinson—"

"No need to inquire about those past flings," Draco cut off the reporter, surprising me. He turned his head to look at me instead, gazing deep into my eyes which unexpectedly sent my heart aflutter. "Y/n is my wife now and I wouldn't have it any other way. She's the love of my life and has made me a very happy man."

Please tell me you mean that.

I mean, don't mean that.

Right?

Without a warning, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against my lips.

Part of me was taken off guard and I wanted to pull back, but I couldn't deny the physical response I had to him. Merlin, how I'd missed this.

It was short lived and proper, much like our wedding kiss, except it had a tenderness to it that I couldn't put my finger on. No doubt it was the perfect photo opportunity for the front page, but I couldn't help but feel it was for more than just publicity. Some part of me hoped it was, anyway.

No, no, y/n, you're meant to be upset with him.

But how could I when he makes me feel like this?

When he pulled back, there was a look of something in his eyes, almost like... longing. There was a small smile that tugged on his lips before he turned his attention back to the reporters.

They shouted out a flurry of questions, much more intense than they had all night. Draco instead announced that we'd be returning back to the ball and would be spending time with our family and friends.

Despite the shouts of reporters still clamoring for another sound bite, Draco took me by the hand and led me back inside where I felt more confused than I had all night.

Right when I knew we were out of sight of the journalists, I scurried off for a moment to myself.

"Y/n, wait—" Draco tried to stop me, but I cut him off.

"I'm fine, Draco, go dance with the guests..."

"No, you're not fine. Please, let me speak to you for a moment—"

"Just give me a second," I breathed out. "I'm sure you have another publicity stunt you can entertain."

He gave me a blank expression, his lips slightly parted and disbelief shadowing his gray eyes before clearing his throat, pulling him out of his trance. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his black slacks and slumped slightly.

"Take all the time you need."

---

A/N: Hey y'all! The way that it looks, the next chapter will be the final. I haven't finished writing it yet since I've been busy with school, but I'm decently sure that it's ending there. Thank you for all those who read and support this book endlessly : )

It kind of hurts bringing this book to a close, but y/n and Draco deserve their love story. I think you'll like the ending, hopefuly!

Vote and comment! Xoxo.