Hermione felt it was a lot easier to believe her own lie of this being a dream wedding based on love at the look on the Groom's face. His expression looked as if he was amazed, attracted to her, and maybe even a little bit in love with her.

In the back of her mind she thought (and tried to ignore so she could embrace this moment fully) 'Draco sure can act. He must have looked at Astoria the exact same way at their wedding.'

She could feel her heart fluttering like mad beneath her chest, a shy but happy smile on her full lips as she reached Lucius' side. She slid her hand into his, almost like instinct, as a blush rose on her cheeks at his scrutiny.

Whilst the wedding was taking place in a Church there was a lot of things from wizarding culture in it as well. She had Ancient Runes inscribed into the church's walls, floors, and a few on her body as well to symbolise what she wanted out of the marriage. She also knew in the written vows was the possibility of a bonding type of magic. However that was only if it was a real magic and their souls (hers and Draco-who-is-pretending-to-be-Lucius') were on the same page as it were so she had no real worries about it.

Of course if she'd known it was real and the magic would hold her to her vows and her Groom to his then she probably would have done things differently and at least warn her soon-to-be-husband.

Hermione listed to the Ministry Official, the equivalent of a Muggle Priest, as he went through the ceremony. When it came to their vows she turned to look at the Groom doing her best to imagine her dream man within that - unfortunately - highly attractive male body.

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, I hereby vow to remain ever faithful to you both with my body and in my heart. I never thought I'd ever find someone who would want me, see me for who I truly am, but then you swooped into my life like a Prince on a noble steed, and I've found the happiness I've always dreamed of. I vow to do my utmost to make you as happy as you make me."

It was only once she had finished speaking that she felt the tingling, the crackling, of magic beneath her skin and in her veins. She could almost here her vows ('vow to remain ever faithful to you both with my body and in my heart' and 'vow to do my utmost to make you as happy as you make me') being whispered in her mind and through her blood stream as it seemed to imprint itself onto her heart and magical core.

It didn't make sense though since those vows should have been worthless. There wasn't a romantic connection between her and the Polyjuiced Draco. It just didn't make any sense. What was even stranger was that she could feel the runes on her skin above her heart and that spot just below her belly as well as just above the apex of her legs now felt like they were hot and she was pretty sure that if she looked then she would see them glowing. How could this be possible?!

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Lucius knew magic when he saw it, and as she spoke the magic that filled the room was nearly suffocating. He'd had runes inscribed on his own skin long ago during his first marriage, and with the special magic surrounding them, these runes were reactivated as well. Curious to say the least, considering there was no emotional bond between the two of them ... was there?

"Lucius . . . yours forever . . . until death takes us . . . loyalty only unto you . . . "

The words echoed in his mind in the voice with which they were spoken, that of his first wife. Times had changed, but Hermione's words still reminded him of a time when his life was still simple. It opened him up, at least, to a little more emotion than he would have had otherwise.

"Hermione . . . when I'm around you, time stands still, minutes turn to days, and I'm left wondering how long it will be before time starts up once more. My loyalty to you will always be as vast as the sea and as constant as the changing of the seasons. I will be yours until death takes me, and never will I love another the way I love you."

He could see it, the panic in her eyes as magic she thought would be meaningless started to take effect. His own words swirled around in body and mind as the powerful binding magic demanded to be sealed. He wouldn't let Hermione over think this and figure it all out, not for a moment. The saying sealed with a kiss didn't come from nowhere, after all, but from magic such as this.

Right on que, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer go feel her pounding heart against his chest. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers in a tender, yet searing kiss. The magic was satisfied, becoming something that nearly equated a physical force as it bound bride and groom, tying their hearts, their very souls together.

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Hermione had been nervous as to what Polyjuiced Draco would say as far as vows went. She didn't want to know them before hand so she had given him free reign but told him she wanted whatever he said to sound as real and romantic as possible. She wanted to be able to feel as she should in the moment as if it were real.

However what came the man's mouth, a man that looked identical to Lucius, shocked her. His words were so eloquent, enchanting, and spoke of such true love that despite the fact she logically knew these words were not meant but only said, she still felt her heart stir and fall with them. Just as she placed a hand upon where her heart lay, she felt a second stir of magic but this time it came from the man before her.

Within moments she felt the magic of his vows, his magic, bind him to her and her to him, her magic joining in the process until there was no way to separate the two strands of magic even in her mind. She felt as if she was almost on the verge of realising what was going on when suddenly there was an arm around her waist, a hard tug, and then lips on hers.

She'd only ever experienced one kiss before, Ron's, and this was a whole different league. This man had so much skill, she felt so much passion that her honey brown eyes fluttered closed and she found herself melting into the kiss. At the same time her mind was quickly fumbling to point out one blaring fact: Draco Malfoy, polyjuiced as Lucius, was kissing her. It wasn't the chaste kiss either they had planned for.

She was a homewrecker.

Hermione quickly pulled away then, hand upon her chest as her heart raced and she panted. Her eyes were wide, tears coming to the corners as she felt a panic attack coming on. Their magic, and a deep ancient magic from which theirs came from, recognised them as husband and wife. That could not be possible! Draco was married himself. As far as she knew it was unheard of for anyone to be married more then once.

"What happened?!"

She gasped, her eyes seeking Lucius' desperately for information.

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The confusion and panic that Hermione was experiencing strangely amused Lucius. He knew it shouldn't, but he was a Malfoy. Everything that shouldn't amuse him, did. He placed his hands on her shoulders and slid them down to take her hands in his, nodding towards the back of the church where Draco now stood next to the door, leaning against the wall with a signature Malfoy smirk that Lucius reciprocated.

"We got married, that's what happened. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Lucius asked with a soft murmur to his voice, a questioning eyebrow arched in her direction.

"Not exactly what I expected, but I suppose whatever works . . . "

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Draco Malfoy had kissed her. Proper kissed her. All fire and heat kissed her. Deeply. Not only that but she liked it. Hell, she'd loved it and if she didn't have morals she would want it to happen again. She was not a homewrecker. She didn't split up couples, especially marriages that were expecting their first child very soon - a son. This was so, so bad.

When she noticed the Groom nod towards the back of the church, Hermione couldn't help but look. What she saw shocked her once more as she went completely still.

Draco was stood at the back of the church smirking. Draco was stood there.

'If Draco is there then who the hell did I just mar- Oh no. He wouldn't. He didn't care! I'm nothing to him. Why would he even...?'

Hermione's eyes narrowed into a glare as her gaze turned back to the real Lucius Malfoy.

"Why did you do that?!"

She hissed. She soon began to realise the enormity of her vows. She vowed to be faithful in body and heart. She could no longer touch any other man romantically or lustfully, and her heart would not fall in love with anyone else. Considering he felt nothing positive for her that meant she was now going to live a life without romantic love, she and would die an innocent maid. Fortunately her other vow wasn't so bad. Lucius previously had made it clear that her happiness was none of his concern so as long as he did not make her happy then she would not need to make him happy.

However then she remembered his vows. He vowed to be as loyal to her as seas are vast and the seasons change. So unless a huge natural disaster happened to dry up the seas and stopped the seasons he was bound to be loyal to her. She wasn't sure if loyalty included fidelity, but at least in being loyal he could not seek to harm her or have others harm her. What worried her were the next bits: he was hers until his death and that he'd never love another the way he loved her. Surely the second part was moot since he didn't love her in any way at all? The death part was rather... final but at least, she supposed, in saying he was hers until his death it probably included him being faithful. She wasn't going to be made a fool of.

Their vows had the potential to be so romantic. Especially his. Why had he said them? She was completely out of her depth and all she could think was 'Slytherins!'.

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"I'm a Malfoy."

Lucius answered, as though that was all that need be said to derive any sort of logic from his actions. With a small shrug, he held his arm out to her expectantly. They couldn't stand there all day, not without something seeming more noticeably off.

"You went behind my back, convinced my son to pose as me under polyjuice potion, and planned all this with the help of two other girls. It's very cunning, very Slytherin. I admire that."

Lucius admitted with a shrug, before tacking on with an exaggerated roll of his eyes,

"And the stubbornness reminds me of my first wife."

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He admired her Slytherin tendencies? She had Slytherin tendencies?!

With annoyed reluctance she slipped her arm around Lucius', put on as much of a happy smile as she could and walked down the aisle with her new, real life husband.

Hermione wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel at being compared to his first wife, which as far as she knew had been Narcissa.

"We're now bound together, we have strong magic holding us to our vows, and you're acting as if you've stopped a disobedient child from doing something troublesome! This was supposed to be my day. I planned it all out... This is the only thing that is remotely girly or feminine about me, and as I had it planned we weren't going to be bound to each other. If you had let your son look like you and act as if I was marrying a man in love with me then we wouldn't be stuck as we are now. As it is my heart will no longer be able to love, and I shall die without knowing what it feels like for a man to make love to a woman. You've ruined everything!"

She hissed under her breath so only he could hear, all the while looking like she was entirely happy. At least she knew everyone but Lucius and Draco would probably believe it.

"Wait. Did you do this because you found out about my vows and wanted to make sure that I never could stray and thus embarrass the Malfoy name?!"

It wasn't that she necessarily thought Lucius would stoop that low but it was the only thing she could think of that would make sense of this entire fiasco.

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Lucius sighed to himself before remained silent as he listened to Hermione's accusations. Until, that is, they stepped into the next room, at which point he pulled her aside and rounded to face her.

"You really don't understand how this type of magic works, do you?"

He asked. It was a genuine, honest question. He could tell by how she was reacting. Despite her intelligence, she didn't understand the complexity if this powerful magic, magic he had studied carefully for decades now.

He took a deep breath and rolled his eyes to the ceiling to silently debate if it was worth what he was risking to tell her. After what just happened? Oh yeah.

"When I first married Narcissa, I was still a grieving, twenty three year old that missed his first wife. I was tangled in my past, so much so that the magic that bound me to my first wife hadn't faded. Her body had moved on, but her soul had not, which meant our souls were still connected. Because of this, and another point I will soon address, my magic would not bind to Narcissa's, nor would our souls link. That is the only reason we were able to divorce in the first place.

"This kind of magic is also very picky with how it works. It will not activate unless both parties feel a positive mutual connection, whether they realize it, deny it, or are completely oblivious to it. The fact that our magic bound us together means something very significant."

With his, likely rambling, explanation put of the way, he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging to Hermione like he hadn't just told her very personal information. His expression was hard, but his silver eyes betrayed the hurt he felt from the slap the wound created by his first wife's death had endured. He knew this, which was why he closed them before he spoke again.

"Besides, the odds are I'll die long before you anyway, you'll have your chance then."

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Hermione was relieved for the respite when they eventually walked into a private room whilst the attendees began to gather their things. It was planned for the audience to line up outside by the door and throw confetti at her and what would have been Draco polyjuiced as his father as they made their way to the white horse drawn carriage parked on the road.

Of course since they were in a village that bordered both the Muggle and Wizarding world they looked like white horses by Muggles (by use of a Glamour) but to Wizards and Witches alike anyone could see they were really two white Pegasus'. It looked like a perfect fairy tale carriage and horse set-up.

However Hermione wasn't given a moment to relax as Lucius rounded on her and began talking.

"Of course I don't. No one teaches us Muggleborns the traditions, the culture, the rituals, or ancient history of magic. I can't even find any in books - apparently it must be passed on from father to son and mother to daughter, especially with the kinds of magic only existing in certain genders. How are we, Muggleborns, supposed to be able to up-hold all the values you Purebloods were so scared of loosing that you joined Tom Riddle, if there is no where to learn them? I'm lucky I knew Draco and thus knew Astoria, or what rituals I did manage to include in this wedding would have never occurred. I knew none of them!"

She explained, desperation clear in her voice. She really did hate it when she didn't know something, especially when it would help everyone - no matter blood 'type' - to get along. She really did want to know what it really meant to live in the wizarding world as a Witch. However she had no one to tell her and it never seemed quite right to really ask much of her peers in that way. Especially when it came to Feminine and Blood Magic.

Hermione then proceeded to listen to his explanation, only to go white when he mentioned they had to have some kind of positive mutual connection. The only positive thing she could think of that would be strong enough was that she did, although she'd never admit it, find the tall, broad shouldered, muscle-packed, blonde Aristocrat Wizard to be very attractive. She did like how he was more mature - although that did not take into account certain old beliefs - and his words, his language, was far more educated then most men. How could her magic even think that was worthy of establishing a connection? Whilst he was definitely eloquent, what he had said thus far to her was nothing short of negative.

Then she remembered the word 'mutual'.

'Wait. Does that mean he finds me attractive?' Now that through her for a loop.

However she had little time to dwell on that as Lucius said his last sentence.

"You're wrong. I didn't mention I'd be faithful to you, in heart and body, until your death or otherwise. I said I'd be faithful in body and heart to you. I did not mention alive or dead... it won't matter either way. Dead... Alive... I'll be bound. If we get reincarnated then even after I die I'll still be bound to you."

She whispered, the full realisation of what had happened dawning on her. No matter where she went, what happened, if she lived a thousand lives her soul - her magical core - everything that makes her who she is (regardless of her outward appearance) would be bound to this man. She'd never escape it.

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"Now you're just exaggerating."

Lucius sighed as he opened his eyes once more. Seeing how truly panicked Hermione was however, he frowned. He gasped her arms gently, knowing it would take no other action to get the young witch to look at him.

"Hermione, all magic fades. Our souls are bound by magic manifested by the runes on our bodies. Even if reincarnation existed, once our bodies parish, the bond dissolves. If it wasn't so, I would still be bound to Amil-"

Lucius stopped himself just short of saying that precious name. That wound wasn't ready to be slapped again.He took a deep breath and sighed, trying to keep the pain from his expression. The last thing he needed was to show his true colors to Granger.

"If it wasn't so, I would still be bound to her."

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Hermione looked up at him wide eyed, surprised at how gentle his grip was. She was silent as she let his words sink in and soon her body relaxed a little. She was still wary of Lucius, he had just intruded on the fake wedding she had planned and made it real, but at least such magic wasn't completely permanent.

"They really need to teach this kind of stuff at Hogwarts."

She told him, unable to stop herself from pouting just a little. There was a small silence that during which Hermione couldn't help but think about one single question that sprouted from a line of his vows.

"Why did you mention love in your vows? I went first so you would have known the magic would bind us, so why mention something that'll never happen? You can't even tolerate me, let alone like me."

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Lucius sighed with a small shrug of his shoulders. There were several things he could say to satisfy the question Hermione had asked.

"I didn't realize this was even going on until yesterday, which really isn't much time to prepare. I just . . . said the same things I had with my first wedding."

He admitted as his gaze flicked down to meet Hermione's. He really didn't know what he was saying while he spoke his vows, but hey, anything to keep up the ruse, right?

"Now, I do believe our guests are waiting on us."

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"Oh."

Hermione replied, and although her face didn't show it she couldn't help but feel a deep flicker of disappointment within her heart. She gave a firm nod when he mentioned the guests, forcing on a happy smile as she slipped her arm through her husband's once more.

She strode down the aisle and out the church doors looking like the happiest bride in the world whilst inside she felt anything but. She gave a teary eyed smile, looking like tears of joy, at her parents as they wandered close to the curb where their carriage awaited.

"I'll see you at the reception."

She whispered softly, hugging her mother and father tightly before climbing up into the carriage. She barely even noticed the confetti that had been continously thrown at the bride and groom.

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Lucius arched an eyebrow at Hermione at her response. She expected more? She may have gained a small - miniscule more like it - amount of admiration for her underhanded slinking around, but he didn't have much more to say as far as what he considered complements went.

As he walked with Hermione out of the church, his gaze found that of his son. Draco was still smirking in amusement as he held Astoria against his side, her head on his shoulder while both watched the odd couple.

While Hermione embraced her parents, Lucius looked instead to the pegasi pulling the carriage. He'd always enjoyed equines, though he hadn't ridden or anything similar since he was a young adult. After his bride entered the carriage, he followed her with a sigh to himself.

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It wasn't that she wanted Lucius to love her per say, although she knew she had to be lonely if she was even thinking that without disgust, but it would have been nice to have someone - especially man that was known as Pureblood Royalty and Senior Ex-Death Eater - wanting her as a woman. Whether it be lust or love.

Hermione couldn't help but feel sad as she sat in the carriage. If things had gone her way then Draco could have still pretended here, she could have let herself feel like a wanted and loved bride should feel, and maybe they'd even have a bit of a laugh as well. Now she was just depressed as she realised she was bound, married, and to a man who had only one good thing to say about her - that he admired her Slytherin tendencies. Apart from that she might as well be a slug's trail for all he cared and she probably was just that in the hierarchy of things to him.

What was worse was that she had been so desperate for her dream wedding that she'd planned one but it was only pretend. Fake. It wasn't real and at the end of the day it didn't feel it either. The only moment throughout the whole thing that had felt real was his vows and that kiss but even that turned out to be a lie.

Biting her bottom lip she slid the ring off her finger, letting it drop onto the seat beside her before she turned to her side, curled up against the window, and cried silently with her back towards Lucius. it wouldn't do to have him see just how broken she was feeling.

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