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Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had set a deadline for Draco. Find a suitable bride before the end of summer, or they would arrange his marriage. Find an unsuitable bride, and he would be disowned.
Of course, after the war they were not allowed to spout pureblood rhetorics anymore, but their undercurrents of maintaining the ancient traditions were undeniable.
Draco had practically left it to the very last minute to ask his girlfriend to marry him, frightened that it would scare her away. He told her the situation he was in. He told her he didn’t mind if she needed time to respond, he would gladly give up the estates. He told her he didn’t really care if she didn’t want to get married at all, as long as he could be with her.
She had just let him speak his thoughts and simply hummed to herself.
“I knew something was troubling you, so many wrackspurts following you about… A summer wedding would be nice, don’t you think? And I wouldn’t worry about your family, the Lovegoods have always kept to the ancient traditions…”
He could kiss her.
Well, in fact he did.
And a bit more besides.
Dear Mother and Father
I would be honoured for you to meet my fiancé at your earliest convenience.
Draco.
They stepped out of the floo and into his ancestral home hand in hand. Draco’s whole posture seemed to change; from the relaxed way he carried himself when she was beside him, his spine snapped up straight and tension creeped into his shoulders.
“Mother, Father, I believe you have already met my fiancé, Luna Lovegood.”
A stunned silence descended upon the room, and it was then that Draco noticed that his Luna’s smile was not directed to his parents but rather to the delicate figure standing to one side.
“Luna, Draco,” she said, moving towards them and kissing them both on each cheek.
“Pansy?” he returned, puzzled. She gave him an exasperated look, arching a perfect brow, and flicked her hair towards his mother.
Ah.
So this would be the more ’suitable’ witch they wanted to promise him to. Shame that he already knew Pansy was in a committed relationship with Hermione Granger and they’d had dinner as two couples just last week.
A smirk curled the corner of her lips as she stepped away from them, squeezing Luna’s hand as she did so.
“I thought we could take tea in the conservatory,” said his mother stiffly, leading them through the double doors to settle for tea.
“Oh! This is a much nicer part of the house than last time I was here,” commented Luna in her dreamy tone.
Over the years of their platonic and then their romantic relationship, Draco had come to appreciate just how much Luna could play into her own character and wield it to her advantage. A reputation for being air-headed meant that she could - and would - say anything she wanted. In reality, she was one of the most quick witted and intelligent people he had ever met. It was just that she didn’t really care what people said, but was more concerned with what people meant.
She liked to put people in situations where there was no polite or pre-prepared response they could fall back on, and this would allow her to deduce how they really reasoned. By that same logic, she was able to put them at ease by reacting calmly to stressful situations. That wasn’t what she was doing here though.
Bringing up her captivity at the manor within a few minutes of what would undoubtedly be a very difficult meeting, placed her exactly where she wanted to be; in control of the conversation, and therefore in control of the room.
He doubted his parents had understood what had just happened and how the balance of power had shifted away from them. Pansy had though, and she lifted her teacup delicately to cover her smirk.
Narcissa coughed delicately. “The Malfoy Manor is very large, Miss Lovegood,” she replied, as if to a child.
Luna hummed. It was a hum that meant she had just made up her mind about something. Draco was on edge with anticipation.
“And so nice of you to invite Pansy, it's lovely to see a familiar face,” she continued, tipping her head to the side. It sounded off-handed, as if she had completely missed the point of Pansy being present.
She hadn’t. She was just waiting to see their reaction.
“I was unaware Miss Parkinson was already acquainted with you,” cut in Lucius, scowling.
“Oh yes! I’d say we were friends,” she replied, smiling warmly. Well, that wasn’t a lie, and the smile on Luna’s face was genuine and warm. But it meant that the Malfoy’s secret trump card was potentially compromised. Lucius pressed his lips together in annoyance.
“Indeed. And which house were you in, Miss Lovegood?”
“I was sorted into Ravenclaw, although most of my friends at school were Gryffindors in the end.”
“Not Hufflepuff?” Sneered Lucius.
“Oh no, I’m sure it would have been nice but I don’t do so well underground you see, you always do tend to find more nargles there. Oh! I almost forgot, I brought the latest copy of the Quibbler for both of you to thank you for having me today.” Narcissa could barely handle touching the paper with its garish colours and upside down print. Lucius took one glance at it and placed it away from him on the table.
“That is very kind, Miss Lovegood,” replied Narcissa, implying the exact opposite if not a little confused.
“Shall we get to it? Miss Lovegood, I am sure you appreciate the position Draco is in; he is the sole heir for two of the most important wizarding families in England; the Blacks and the Malfoys…”
“Hmmm I thought Teddy Lupin was the most recent of the Blacks?” she cut in sweetly, again intentionally misinterpreting without sarcasm or malice.
“His line has been estranged,” replied Narcissa curtly.
“Actually mother,” spoke up Draco for the first time since arriving. “As Lord Black, I reinstated Aunt Andromeda about a year ago, and as the eldest surviving Black she is Lady Black. The title passes to Teddy on her death, as Luna said.”
Draco absolutely relished the expressions of his parents as the news dropped. Pansy barely suppressed a squeal of delight.
“Draco you have no authority to do so —”
“I think I did actually, it's all official of course.”
“Why did you not say anything!” growled his father with a thunderous look. The kind of look that would make him physically ill when he was a boy, but now, sitting next to his Luna, who was calm and radiant and so in control, he saw it for what it really was. An ugly threat. He knew his father only had one card in his arsenal, and that was disinheritance. And his witch didn’t care. Therefore, neither did he.
Draco shrugged. “It never came up,” he said simply. “Besides, that’s not what today is about, is it?”
“We will talk about this later,” soothed Narcissa, although he could tell the strain she was under to keep her composure.
“Miss Lovegood, Draco is expected to uphold the traditions that have underpinned British wizarding society for centuries. This country is built on ancient traditions that of course must be respected throughout the generations, and we want nothing but the very best possible match for our only son.”
Luna smiled dreamily at Narcissa.
“Oh but we follow all the ancient traditions, Mrs Malfoy. I did say to Draco though, I’m surprised you are so keen on following them, given what has happened lately,” she told them.
“It is because of what has happened lately that we are even more concerned with maintaining our ancient traditions lest they die out.”
“Oh I quite agree,” smiled Luna, taking a sip of her tea.
“And you are not part of the Sacred 28, are you miss Lovegood?”
“Oh no! What a silly little book! It shows families that have only bred with other wizarding families so of course the Lovegoods would not enter it - we have bred with the fae on more than one generation. Draco tells me the Malfoys are though, which is odd given your own Veela heritage.”
Lucius’ face went red and Narcissa couldn’t hide her shock quickly enough.
“Huh, I guess it makes sense with all the white-blond hair going down the line and the French origins,” said Pansy thoughtfully.
“I can assure you there is nothing but pureblood wizardry in our line!” spluttered Lucius.
Luna hummed thoughtfully. “I tend to find that wishing something does not always make it so.”
“Do you have any muggles in your family?” interrupted Narcissa, moving the conversation on with rather less tact than she usually exhibited.
“I don’t think so - father tells me we’ve always been a little too odd for muggles! But perhaps in future that won’t be the case,” replied Luna, unperturbed.
“And do you have a family tree at all, miss Lovegood? Has your family even been around for very long? The Malfoys came over with William the Conquerer himself!” sneered Lucius, recovering from his shock and trying to once again hold the upper hand.
“Oh yes! I have heard! That's lovely for you. It is a shame of course that you do not follow the British traditions yourselves, but I suppose you brought French ones with you.”
“What do you mean Luna?” asked Pansy, trying to hide her absolute delight at the way the conversation was going.
“Well the Lovegoods have been in Britain for thousands of years and so follow the ancient traditions. I’m sure you have it all written in your library - Draco tells me you have many books there!”
Luna gently rose from her seat and turned to leave the room as if it were a foregone conclusion they would all go to the library to verify her words. There was some tutting from Draco’s parents but he didn’t care - instead he stood, took Luna’s hand in his and led her to the vast collection.
Luna dreamily lifted her wand and said a locating spell, pausing to think of key words. When she did they were not in English at all which caused Lucius and Narcissa to exchange confused glances.
A flurry of books rumbled to hover in front of the witch from the very back of the library. She cocked her head to one side, reading the titles and gently touching several books, guiding them to the reading table.
She opened one and then beckoned everybody over.
“See, right here is some of our history if you are interested. But surely we should be looking at the marriage ceremony itself? I’d like to get it right of course!” she said, beaming at her audience.
Lucius coughed. “Miss Lovegood, these books are in ancient runes!”
“Oh yes! I learned runes along with modern english growing up - it is important to know your own history, do you not think? Did you not take Ancient Runes while at school?”
“No,” snapped Lucius.
“Hmmm it is a pity, isn’t it? I often think it should be taught from first-year along with some of the old songs of the land. I feel we’ve all drifted from our roots and I am sure all the muggle-borns would connect so quickly to the traditions! Hermione agrees of course - she’s teaching Ancient Runes and Advanced Arithmancy and is trying to get the headmistress to consider it. I’m sure she’d help you out so you could read these if you asked nicely…”
“There are such things as translation spells,” ground out Lucius, clearly choosing to ignore the quip about asking a muggleborn to teach him about his own history.
“They lose something in the translation I always think, but I’m sure you can use your imaginations to fill in where there might be gaps,” she replied, casting the charm on one of the books. The translation in English appeared in the air above the open page.
Luna flicked through the book, the name ‘Love-Good’ and ‘Good-Love’ and all sorts of variations on the name flickering in the projected English translation. Draco turned slightly to observe his parents, who were not even trying to hide their shock anymore.
“Ah here we go! These are our marriage traditions - I am so glad you hold with the ancient ways.”
There was a tense silence as five pairs of eyes skimmed the text.
“Father and I have already made arrangements for the summer solstice of course,” broke in Luna, drawing Narcissa and Lucius’ increasingly horrified attention away from the text and back to her, “but we would like to know how many people you’d like to attend? The central ceremony would only be close family and friends as it is important to have love magic with no reservations. It would be up to you if you wanted to be part of that.”
Luna started conjuring light images of various circles of small, faceless, figurines in a field, completely engrossed in what she was creating.
“Luna, what does it mean that all participants in the ceremony must be in their purest form?” asked Pansy calmly, reading off of the translation charm and herself intrigued by this way of doing things.
“Oh without any clothes of course! It gets a little chilly when there is a wedding on the winter solstice, like at my second cousin’s one, but it is very pleasant for a summer wedding.”
“No. No, absolutely not! This is… barbaric! Draco you cannot possibly be thinking of attaching yourself to this—this—”
“Why not? Luna’s line is as pure as ours and has been in this country for far longer than we have, and they are very traditional. I’ve met your terms - you can still choose to disown me, as is your right, but we will be going ahead with the wedding.” Draco had put on his bored, nonchalant voice when speaking to his parents. It was daring to be so dismissive towards them and inside his heart was beating wildly. Luna somehow knew and reached out to squeeze his hand.
Despite it all he did still love his parents. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to lose them over this, but he had lived for years for them rather than for himself. And Luna, with her kind, inquisitive eyes and her endless curiosity had healed wounds he didn’t know he had. She felt like home to him. And he couldn’t care less whether that home had feather or muggle mattresses.
“I think,” started Pansy, choosing her words carefully, “that it is really forward thinking for the Malfoys to embrace a family that not only was on the opposite side of the war, but also has been a steadfast constant on this land for thousands of years. And arguably mixing fae and veela blood would create potentially incredibly powerful offspring. It would definitely be a much talked about union.”
Draco caught the slight glimmer to his mother’s eyes. Pansy had just allowed her to think about the possibilities of twisting this to their advantage.
“Oh!” gasped Luna, her gaze going slightly misty as she seemed to fix on a distance far away, “yes… yes I think… I believe… the Lovegood line is matrilineal and would give us a Lovegood girl first. The Malfoy line … isn’t too strongly veela…but it will compel… yes, I think a Malfoy boy would be second. With enough love magic we may be able to continue both lines.”
She seemed to zone back into the room, blinking slightly and smiling up at Draco. His heart seized with the image of a little girl and a little boy running around them with untamed hair, dirty knees, and soft smiles.
“Alright,” declared Narcissa suddenly. “We can work with this.”
Matching smirks spread over Pansy’s and Draco’s faces.
The summer solstice. The longest day of the year, auspicious for a long and light marriage, especially for a couple who wielded unicorn hair wands. The festivities were to start at dawn; the first rays of sunlight chasing the nightly mist from where it clung onto the grass, the calls of the birds welcoming the morning light. The core of the wedding party gathered around a ring of trees - trees that had been planted hundreds of years ago, equally spaced in the perfect centre of a circular meadow. Carefully cared for by generations of Lovegoods, the trees stood proud and strong, their upper branches intermingling in the sky.
Before entering the circle of trees, each person had to shed their clothing in order to return to their purest, most natural form. Some did so with no issue and not a little pride - Blaise, Harry, Ginny, George, Charlie. Fleur, effortlessly beautiful, did not seem to be affected at all, and held little Victoire’s hand as they walked in. The little girl chattered up to her “mummy, mummy, look at the trees, they are so old and beautiful and so many birdies!”
Others seemed to be more unnerved - Neville, both Malfoys, Susan, Theo, Dean Thomas, Michael Corner, Parvati, and Padma. Lavender held her little Rose protectively close to her chest offering nervous smiles to her friends.
Both Hermione and Pansy tittered at the beginning but found their courage and proudly stripped off, striding in with their heads held high.
Ron and Greg could only get through it by trying to laugh it off.
Xenophilius Lovegood, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Bill, Andromeda, and a smattering of Lovegood cousins seemed to have no problem shedding their clothes and stepping into the soft grass of the circle, not even pausing their conversations while doing so.
Teddy, his hair blond for the occasion and bouncing on his toes in the excitement of going to his first wedding, was already planning on making certain clothes disappear before people could get back to them. The idea might have been George’s, but what good are children when they can’t ‘accidentally overhear’ plans such as that? Especially Marauder children who needed to be appropriately steered.
Inside the circle, Draco and Luna stood in the centre. In the first light of dawn, there was no mistaking that the colouring of the Malfoy men's, striking white blonde hair and porcelain features matched that of Fleur’s. The Lovegoods, by contrast, all had long dirty blonde hair, shining a soft gold in the rays of light, and a healthy reddish tinge to their skin.
As dawn gained strength, the ceremony began.
“I’d like to thank you all for coming,” came Xenophilius Lovegood’s voice, “I am excited to be present at such a ceremony, and for my own family no less. It is truly auspicious to have so many people of muggle, wizarding, veela, and fae descent all in one circle. To have children, adults, parents, grandparents and soon-to-be parents.” His eyes danced over Parvati’s swollen stomach and he smiled. “Truly, to be blessed with all these different powers is the most beautiful gift we can give to a couple bonding on Solstice Day.
As this day rises we will have the bonding vows - the start of a new day and a new journey, the expansion of a new family. We will then weave our own magic into the circle here for a happy and long marriage, and leave to allow the new couple to absorb all our blessings. At sundown we will find one another here again and weave our magic once more for perseverance, for overcoming hardships, for lasting through the night. Luna and Draco will then spend the night, short as it may be, bathing in our magic.
May all your wishes be pure, may your love be strong for both our Draco and our Luna. Remember to love well; freondlufa gesælþ! Let us begin!”
Hermione stepped forward, in front of the couple. “Welcome,” she said, “I am honoured to guide us through this most beautiful ceremony. I will now seal us into the wood circle.” She waved her wand and all noise from the outside seemed to bleed away. “I believe Luna and Draco have some things to share with us before they are bonded.”
Draco nodded, not taking his eyes away from his bride.
“My Luna. You are everything I never knew I needed. You are one of the strongest, most intelligent people I know. After the war, I was so lost - I hated who I'd become and found it difficult to reconcile with my changing beliefs. You told me then that I had simply grown out of my old self. That stuck with me, the simplicity of how you saw the world, of how you saw me. I had simply grown, and in following you, in learning from you I have grown even more over the course of our relationship.
Your infallible kindness even in the most difficult times, and your nurturing patience have filled me with love and hope for the future. In the darkness of my life you brought in the light, and you get brighter every day I see you.
Luna, I cannot wait to continue growing by your side and basking in your smiles. I vow to look after you - even if you don’t need it, to nurture you and our family, to hold you through any hardship, to listen when you speak, to build a home together. I have learned about Muggle wedding vows and I would like to quote part of that here; my Luna, I vow to love you for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part and beyond.” Draco’s voice broke at the end of his speech, a tear slipping down his cheek, his eyes never leaving his bride.
“Thank you my dragon, that was lovely,” said Luna softly. “I always knew you would be special to me. It was unfortunate that at school you were always surrounded by wrackspurts, but I waited for the day they would fly away and allow you to think and see clearly once again. The war was hard, but the kindness you showed me even then, in the food and water you would sneak to me, showed what a wonderful man you could be.
You were finding yourself for a long time, but a caterpillar must dissolve its old self in order to become a butterfly, and I have never seen an aura as pure as yours when you made your metamorphosis.
In our time together you have brought so much happiness and pleasure into our life. A kind of peace and tranquility I think we had both been looking for. Sometimes I lose track of the details day to day, but when you are near me, you take these up effortlessly. You do not think of yourself as a kind man, but you learned empathy, sympathy, and self love so thoroughly that your heart has become as kind and pure as any I have ever seen.
I quite like the muggle vows too! So Draco, I vow to love you, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part and far beyond.”
There was a sniffle from one of the gathered party, and a beautiful silence where many hearts beat together.
“Draco, Luna, by my magic and my wand, I bind you together in this sacred place at this sacred time, in the presence of your most loved ones. Luna, do you consent wholly and freely to be bound in matrimony to Draco Lucius Malfoy?
“Yes.”
“Draco, do you consent wholly and freely to be bound to Luna Lilie Lovegood?”
“Yes.”
“May all who witness this binding know that a new family has been started here today.” Hermione waved her wand and tendrils of golden light burst from it to wrap around Draco and Luna, shining brightly where their hands met one another.
Draco had a feeling of warmth all over - a feeling he recognised as his love for Luna - and he felt it expand to encompass his bride. Not A moment later, a fuzzy, warm feeling spread across his skin, giving him goosebumps and he knew, without being told, that it was Luna’s love for him. He was in awe of the magic they had created together, and couldn’t seem to look away from Luna’s bright eyes.
“Now I will rejoin the circle, and we each take turns to cast our charms for love and prosperity over the couple. The trees will maintain our charms for the newly weds, and we will leave to allow them to soak in our offerings.”
One by one the guests sent charms of love and light and well wishes into the circle. Narcissa added one for fertility, Lucius for important standing and wealth. Teddy and Victoire, too young to control their magic, simply said what they wished upon the couple and willed it to enter the circle too - namely lots of friends and biscuits. Little Rose Weasley observed silently with large eyes from her mother’s arms and sent a loud kiss into the circle from her. Andromeda wished much laughter, Pansy for consistency, Harry for peace.
As the last person wove their magic into the circle, they all stepped out, and the trees wove their branches tightly together to seal the couple in.
Some time later, as the sun was rising steadily in the sky, Draco and Luna emerged, a euphoric glow about them, and pulled on simple purple robes. Narcissa had food, tables, and chairs delivered to the meadow, where guests had started arriving. They would be together all day basking in the sunlight, living the longest day with family and friends.
Having decided to embrace the ancient traditions, Narcissa Malfoy did not do things by half; all the food was auspicious and traditional, but still of the highest quality befitting a Malfoy. There was music of course, both traditional French and English tunes, and the wine was of the finest elf quality. Molly Weasley shouted herself hoarse reminding everybody to cast sun-blocking charms to avoid getting burnt. The children ran wild and played throughout the meadow, and eventually took naps in the shade of the outer circle of trees. The couple laughed and danced and ate and drank the day away.
As the sun dipped, slowly families started disappearing, and the Malfoy elves could be heard cracking in and out of the clearing with tables, chairs, parasols, picnic blankets, left over foods.
Shortly before the sun touched the horizon, late into the twilight, the only ones left were those who had been there at the dawn, and once again they stripped and entered the circle. Teddy had to be awoken and was yawning and rubbing his eyes. Victoire was asleep in her father’s arms, but little Rose lay wide awake in Ron’s after having had several very restful sleeps during the day.
“We come together,” started Hermione, stepping towards Draco and Luna, “to cast our magic into the wood circle once again. Even in the brightest of marriages there are difficult hurdles and moments of darkness. We can help Draco and Luna navigate these with our charms once more.”
She stepped back into her place. “Draco, Luna, I guide my magic to wish you confidence when you feel you lack it, compromise when you disagree, and temperance when faced with extremes.” Her charm spun up from her wand and settled over the branches of the trees and over the couple.
Courage, perseverance, patience, strength all followed. Rose sent another kiss into the circle, which brought many smiles into the circle.
Teddy spoke up when it was his go. “When I find things hard, Grandma says that I should ask for help. So I hope you can ask for help too,” he said, nodding his little head.
Luna smiled widely at that. Yes, asking for help was not something that came easily to her husband.
As the last person spoke, everybody took a step back out of the circle, and watched as the branches once again knitted themselves together, sealing the newlyweds in.
In the morning, when dawn broke, they unwound themselves, and the new couple emerged into their new life together.