Marriage of convenience (Draco x Astoria)

1- The engagement

This story was written before the publication of Deathly Hallows and the Cursed Child, thus it doesn't follow some canon events.

This is a translation of my original story "Matrimonio de conveniencia", please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes.

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Draco Malfoy never thought his life would take such an intense turn. Just a week before, he believed he had his entire future written and assured: he would finish his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, take charge of a proportional part of his family's businesses, and in a few years, he would marry his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson.

The first two things on his list had already been accomplished; a year ago he had graduated with excellent grades, despite the problems caused by the repercussions of the war, and now he was fully dedicated to learning everything he needed to one day replace his father at the head of the Malfoy companies.

The topic of the wedding was the one that had completely changed. Not that he was going to remain single, far from it. In fact, the date of the marriage had been brought forward. The big difference was that his future wife was not Pansy, but a complete stranger: Astoria Greengrass.

The reason for this sudden change of mind was that the famous Astoria was neither more nor less than a future countess. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had not been able to resist this sudden temptation and had decided to marry their only son to the highest bidder.

Draco had tried to reason with them, saying that Earl Greengrass was surely of muggle descent, since wizards had no noble titles, but Narcissa Malfoy had already taken it upon herself to look through the old Greengrass family tree, and had found out that the earldom was achieved in the Middle Ages by August Greengrass, who had managed to fool one of those stupid muggle kings into believing that he was going to be faithful to him. After obtaining the earldom, August had betrayed him to his enemies, and handled the situation with such cunning that he had managed to preserve the title for his descendants. For this reason and many others, Earl Greengrass was one of the most influential aristocrats in the United Kingdom.

Draco thought about all this as he traveled to the earl's castle in a carriage that he himself had sent them. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy talked about the advantages of that match, but he did not share their enthusiasm.

Although he had always known that he would marry out of interest, he had thought that at least they would let him choose the woman with whom he should share the rest of his life.

It's not that he loved Pansy, that was out of the question. He admired her, yes, and respected her, but he was not in love with her, nor did he think that was important. At the end of the day, what mattered was the purity of her family's blood. But that didn't stop him from feeling uncomfortable at the sudden change of plans, after all, he had never met Astoria before.

He remembered her older sister, Daphne, who had been his classmate, but he never had paid attention to Astoria or heard about her father's title. How had the Malfoys known about that? And why this rush about celebrating the wedding?

The carriage passed through the stone walls that surrounded the Greengrass 's vast grounds, but they still had a long way to go until they reached their destination.

Draco then remembered when he had invited Pansy to the ball that had been held during the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone had thought he liked the girl, but in reality, he had just done what was expected of him. Was there anything more appropriate than courting the jewelry magnate's daughter? His parents had been pleased, and hers even more so.