A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much again for checking this out. It means a lot! Just like my first fanfic, I'll write the date on which the next chapter will be published, so please check it. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter! 

March 2004...

"....as your loving husband, for better or worse, through sickness and in health, till death do you part?" Kingsley asked. 

"I do." She smiled at him. 

As he placed the ring on her finger when Kingsley asked him to, he couldn't help but look at the guests. 

She still wasn't here. 

But it's not like she was going to change his decision. 

"Draco....." Kingsley started but he wasn't paying attention to that. After one last look at the guests, he turned back towards his love. ".....loving wife, for better or worse, through sickness and in health, till death do you part?" Kingsley repeated.

"I do." He smiled at the brunette witch in front of him. 

Kingsley began waving his wand in an intricate pattern, chanting the binding spell. As he finished, the crowd stood up and began clapping.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you Mr and Mrs Draco Malfoy. Draco, you may kiss the bride." Kingsley smiled at the newly-weds. 

Draco lifted her veil, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed his wife. She too wrapped her arms around his neck as the clapping continued. 

Everyone came towards the couple to congratulate them. Draco smiled as he saw his wife hugging her bestfriend. 

"Congratulations, Draco." He turned around to see his mother standing there. She hugged him tightly and he kissed her cheek. 

"Thank you, Mother. Where's Father?" He asked her. 

"He's just coming. He told me wanted to talk to the Minister for something urgent." Narcissa said. "I can't help but notice that you were looking at the guests again and again during the ceremony." 

When he didn't say anything, she added, "Meet me during the reception, Draco. I want to talk to you about something important." 

He looked as she walked away from him. He perfectly knew what she was going to talk to him about, and he didn't know how he felt about that.  

After a few moments, he approached his wife, and she hugged him tightly. As she pulled away, she kissed his cheek. "I love you, Draco. I love you so much." 

He smiled at her, and kissed her forehead. "I love you too, Astoria."

 (A/N: Yes, yes, this is a DRAMIONE fanfic. This was the reason why I said that in the prologue. Please do not stop reading this just because Dramione hasn't started yet.)

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"I thought you will be happy for me, mother." Draco shook his head. "I thought you liked Astoria."

"I am happy, my dragon." Narcissa smiled at him. "And, I like Astoria as well, she is an amazing girl. Don't think that I am not happy for you two. But, just tell me this. Why were you looking at the guests again and again? Were you-"

"I thought she would be here. I wanted her to be here, on my special day. She used to tease me, you know, saying that she will be laughing when I will cry while saying my vows. And now? She was, I mean is, really important to me. I thought we were..." Draco faltered.

"Oh Draco." She placed a hand on his cheek. "I know she is special to you, but it's been years, Draco. It's been five years. You couldn't even search for her, nor let anyone else search. It seems like she doesn't want anyone to find her."

"Or she doesn't want to see me again. I told you how she acted a few weeks before our eighth year ended And then, that letter..." He sighed. "Anyways, this is a happy day. I don't care about her, nor do I want to talk about her. Let's go, the reception has started."

Narcissa nodded, and she and her son, made their way to the Manor. Just before they could enter, she grabbed Draco's arm. "You are happy, right?"

He nodded. "I am. I love Astoria so much, mother. She is wonderful...And she was there for me every time."

"But so was she." Narcissa muttered but Draco didn't hear her. With a smile, she watched him enter the Manor. She loved Astoria, truly, but she couldn't help but wonder where the girl who had left her son actually was. 

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Four months later...

He was in the library, reading her favorite book.

Her.

Funny, how it has been five years and he still remembered her likes and dislikes, her favorite book, favorite flower, favorite constellation, everything. And then there was she, who seemed to have forgotten not only about their promises, their memories, but also him. 

Draco didn't know whether or not he cared about her, whether or not he still missed her, but most importantly, whether or not he wanted to see her again. 

Who was he kidding? Of course, he cared about her, he still missed her and he sure as hell wanted to see her again.

He would have done anything in his power to search for her. But he couldn't, all because of that stupid promise.

Promise... Draco sighed. What had changed? We made so many promises, why did you break them? 

Why did you forget about them?

Why did you leave me?

He slowly picked up the letter from the table in front of him. He had lost count of how many times he had read this letter ever since he had found it in his bag. 

Dear Draco

You might not be expecting this, and believe me, neither was I. But, I had to do this. And so, I had to write this letter to make you understand why I had to do that. 

I can't tell you much right now as I have to go somewhere, but I promise you, one day, I'll tell you everything. That is, if you would be willing to listen. 

I have made many mistakes in my life, but this one, it has to be the major one. It also played a huge part in whatever I am about to do. And, I need you to accept my decision. 

I can't do this anymore, Draco. 

I want to give up, but I am trying my hardest not to. Believe me, if you knew what had happened, you wouldn't even want to be in the same room as me. Maybe that's why I don't want to tell you just yet. 

Maybe I have a hope that you will forgive me.

I know you will feel angry, sad or maybe even guilty when you read this letter. But I want you to know that it's not you, it's me. It's not anyone else, it's just me. 

And I... I have to take the responsibility of my actions. 

You remember you promised me that you would do anything for me? Then I want you to do this one thing. 

Please do not search for me, nor let anyone else do the same. I wouldn't have taken this decision if I had wanted to be here. Please understand that. 

I promise I will tell you everything, one day. And, if you even tried searching for me, you won't succeed, Draco, because I won't let that happen. I won't allow myself to be found either by you or by anyone else. 

I hope you-

Draco dropped the letter. He couldn't read it anymore. It didn't matter how many times he had read this, he would never accept her decision. 

He had a hope when he had sent that invitation to her. Hope that maybe, she would come back. But that didn't happen, and if he was being honest, he had expected that. 

No matter how much he hated her decision, he couldn't disrespect it. He couldn't break the promise he had made to her. 

He won't break his promise, even if she had already broken hers. 

"Draco?" He turned around to see his wife walking towards him. He stood up from the couch and kissed her. 

"How is Daphne?" As he asked this, he made a mental note to visit his sister in law soon. He hadn't seen her ever since she had married Michael Corner two months ago. 

"She is good, but she was missing Michael. He just left last week for an Auror mission, and would be back in a few days, I guess." She smiled, but it faltered when she saw the letter lying on the floor. "Were you reading it again?"

He nodded. "I don't know why. I think... I think I just wanted to see if I could respect and understand her decision now. It's been years and I still cannot accept the fact that she..."

Astoria sighed. Just as she was about to bend down to pick the letter, he grabbed her arm. "You should not do this. You can just accio it, you know." He led her towards the couch. "Come on, sit down."

"Draco!" She huffed. "I am a month pregnant, not hurt. I can easily pick it up. Don't underestimate me."

Draco chuckled as she sat down on the couch. He knelt down in front of her, and took her hands in his. "I am not underestimating you, Tori. I just care about you, and love you." 

"You are being bloody overprotective." She muttered. "Draco... I just... I wanted to ask you if you are happy? You are, right?" 

"Of course, Tori." He smiled at her. "Why won't I be happy? I love you and," He placed his hand on her stomach, "Our baby. You both are my world." 

"It's just that people still talk about, you know... And that you just married me because she left and now you are starting to regret that decision." She sighed. 

"If people think that, then they are mad." He told her. "I love you, Astoria, and I certainly didn't marry you because of that reason. I married you because I love you, and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Those people don't know anything, and please, don't listen to them." 

Astoria nodded. "I am trying my hardest not to. Anyways, we should go the Manor now, Narcissa and Lucius would be waiting for us. You don't want your mother to get angry, do you?" 

He smirked and held out his hand to her. "Of course not. She threw all the apples that were there in the kitchen the last time I was late for lunch." 

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Two months later...

"How are you, ferret?" Draco looked up from the file to see Harry entering his office. He closed the file as his ex enemy sat down. 

"I was quite happy before you came here." He smirked. "What brings you to my office, Saint Potter?" 

"What? Can't I just visit my best mate now?" Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "We have been best friends for six years now, Draco, you should be happy to see me." 

"Don't push it, Potter. I can barely tolerate you. Salazar knows how Potterette manages to be with you." 

"Are you always this nice, Draco? Or am I really special to you?" Harry smirked at him. "Anyways, how is Astoria? Ginny said that they both were going to meet tomorrow for lunch." 

"First of all, stop calling me Draco. It's Auror Malfoy to you." Draco scowled at him. "And, Astoria is good. She was telling me about her lunch with Potterette in the morning. She is awfully excited to meet her friend. How is Potter Junior by the way?"

"His name is James, ferret. Oh, that reminds me, you and Astoria have to come to our house this weekend. It's James first birthday." Harry smiled. "Also, I had to inform you something. Robards had an idea for us, the Aurors. He talked about that idea with Kingsley, and he liked it."

"What is the idea?"

"According to him, we all should work in pairs. And, not just us, the Aurors all over the world should work in pairs. But, the thing is, all the Aurors here will get a partner who's not working here. The pairs haven't been finalized officially yet, but I know who will be working with whom." Harry stood up. "I should probably go now."

"Thank Merlin you won't be my partner then. But, if my partner will be an annoying or insufferable idiot, I will not hesitate to hex him or her." Draco said. 

"Oh, I think she will hex you before you even get the chance to point your wand at her." Harry muttered, but Draco didn't hear him. He walked towards the door, and looked over his shoulder. "Just so you know, Draco, your partner works for the Australian Ministry." And left the office.

Draco sighed and used his wand to close the door. Australia...Hmm... Wonder who will it be, he thought.

Despite the fact that he knew it could be a person he had never heard about before, he couldn't help but think about her.

Maybe, just maybe, she would be his partner.

Meanwhile...

"Harry, I can't do this. Just choose someone else, I am sure Kingsley will understand." His best friend said as soon as he picked up her call. 

"Merlin, Hermione, is that you way of greeting me?" He chuckled. "And why can't you do that? Why can't you be his partner? It's just a bloody programme."

"We both clearly know why I can't do that." She told him. "Please, Harry, you have to help me, I am your best friend."

"Sorry, no can do, 'Mione. You will come here tomorrow, and work with him for as long as this programme goes on. You can't say no." Harry said. "I need to go back to my house now, I will talk to you tomorrow."

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Next day...

Draco keep fidgeting all the way to his office. Wait, why was he going to his office again? Right, he had to do his work until either Harry or Kingsley called him. 

Should I go to Kingsley's office to see the list of pairs? No, I can wait for a few minutes. But what if he doesn't call me today? But why wouldn't he call me? 

What if I don't get a partner? Or worse, what if my partner is her boyfriend? I can't stand someone talking about her when it's been years since I last saw her. 

Draco felt like smacking his head as soon as that thought came. But what would he do if she would be his partner? 

There was one percent chance that she would be his partner. He didn't know if she worked for the Australian Ministry, or if she even was an Auror for that matter. 

But, even if she was, why would she be his partner? She would probably be Harry's partner, they were best friends. 

It isn't too late to just go back now, he thought. But he wouldn't know who his partner was if he went back. 

"To hell with this." He muttered and pushed his office's door open. No sooner than he had removed his cloak, that he saw his chair turned away from him. 

He narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. He would have taken another if he hadn't noticed someone sitting on his chair. 

Who the hell dared to sit in his chair in his office even before he came here? You don't do things like that and expect him to not do anything. 

Wait until Kingsley heard about that. 

"Potter, if it's you, then you better get up now, otherwise-" He stopped when he noticed that person's hair. 

Brown hair. 

Did Potter change his hair colour yesterday or something? But he doesn't have long hair. Oh wait, Astoria has brown hair as well, but she was at home when he came here, so...

Luckily, he didn't have to wait for long to get the answer. But that didn't stop him from gasping as soon as the chair turned around. 

It had been a long time since her hazel brown eyes had met his silvery grey ones. 

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 2600+ words. Hope you guys liked it. I know there were a lot of time jumps, well basically just two, but anyways, I don't think anyone was interested in reading what happened during those months. Do tell me your views on the first chapter. Random question: Do you like Astoria Greengrass? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you! 

Next chapter on 2/8/20(Sunday). 

Until next time.