{MMM}[May '04 MP] vindicated {draco; open}

Magical Midlothian Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland | 4th May 2004
hope dangles on a string, like slow-spinning redemption
winding in and winding out, the shine of it has caught my eye
and roped me in, so mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated, I am vindicated

As she made her way up the steps of the museum, arm-in-arm with her husband, it was difficult to believe the night was actually upon them. She and Roslyn had worked tirelessly for the past few weeks leading up to the Fifth Annual Ministry Fundraiser Gala, doing their best to ensure everything was in order and [hopefully] would go as smoothly as possible. Astoria had been exhausted at the end of each day, but in the best possible way: for the first time in a long time, she felt useful and accomplished.

Tonight she wore a velvet one-shoulder navy-blue gown with a coordinating wrap for her shoulders; the only jewelry she wore consisted of a pair of chandelier earrings and – of course – her engagement ring and wedding band. It was their first public event as a married couple.

She could tell that Draco had been at least somewhat anxious about tonight (though he did well to hide it) – most of the time it was because he was concerned for her but, for once, she thought it might actually be about himself this time. Astoria could hardly blame him: he was still adjusting to his job at the Ministry in the aftermath of the cataclysmic war (and answering to someone he’d used to bully, to boot) and despite this he’d still agreed to attend a public Ministry function (and she was fairly certain he’d otherwise prefer a quiet evening at home) – solely because he knew how important it was to her, and how hard she’d worked for the event to be possible.

Glancing over at him now, she caught him taking in the scene around him – she didn’t see any of his obvious signs of disgruntlement, which was a starts.
“Well, then – how did we do?” she asked with a knowing smile, the ‘we’ referring to her and Roslyn.

If his own wife hadn’t been one of the hosts of this event Draco undoubtedly would have sent his regrets (or simply not responded to the invitation at all), but as she was he felt rather compelled to attend. The museum was larger than he had expected, subsequently fitting more witches and wizards than he had hoped. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been quite so anxiety-inducing if the night didn’t fall so close to the anniversary of the culmination of the Second War, but he supposed that was how these annual fundraisers went.

It was surprising, too, that so many had turned up, what with the ‘Malfoy’ name attached to it. Maybe Astoria was right – people would come around, in time. Or maybe it was morbid curiosity; people wanting to see if this was just another example of the Malfoy family throwing their money at a problem to try and make it go away. It only occurred to him to worry about that now, with several pairs of eyes on him – or perhaps on his wife, it was hard to know for sure, what with her looking like that.

Draco turned his head to survey her himself (again) and he returned her smile. “Very well, I’d say.” He squeezed Astoria’s forearm gently where they were linked, then turned his attention back to the room briefly. “Rather a crowd,” he added. “Who knew so many people were interested in old books,” he joked – he was quite aware that, not unlike himself, most of the attendees would be here out of some sort of obligation to be here, morally or otherwise. “Perhaps I’ll bid on something myself,” he smirked smally.

Roslyn had always favored red. It matched her complexion and brought out the teal in her eyes. The swath of long burgundy fabric trailing behind her, flickered to life as it glimmered and swayed, akin to red flame as it licked her heels. She felt like it contrasted rather well against her cohorts. Satin versus velvet, burgundy versus navy. Both off the shoulder, though hers had a mermaid silhouette, and Astoria had shoulder wrap. Her friend looked rather wonderful (they could be called that now, maybe? After spending such a long time coordinating it all she felt like they could at least refer to each other as such)

Malfoy could definitely pull of formal wear, though, she mused, as she followed the pair with her eyes. "S'cuse me." she offered the gentleman in front of her a smile smile, before making her way towards the Malfoy couple. She was rather proud of all they'd been able to accomplish together and genuinely wanted to share in the moment with Astoria, before the night got hectic and everything started in earnest. "You should." the cheeky reply, once she'd made it close enough to be heard, as she grinned impishly at Astoria. She'd never been familiar with Malfoy, always remembering him as a small blond spoilt little brat - although a cute one - who always wanted to mess with Weasley in particular and Potter and Granger by default. Politics and war aside, she definitely didn't know him enough to judge him.

Considering Astoria consented to marry the man, she supposed he couldn't be that awful, and figured she was willing enough to give him a chance. "Roslyn Hayes." she introduced herself, smiling, even as her eyes lit up once she glanced at Astoria. "You look lovely." she complimented, grinning, as she took a look around and sighed. "I'm hopeful we should see quite a bit of bidding." she added, teal gaze roving over the glittering and greatly dresses witches and wizards.

“Very well, I’d say.”

He returned her smile and she returned his forearm-squeeze. Astoria knew that he felt – and saw – the eyes of the attendees on them, whether critical or curious or other. So far there were fewer meeting the ‘open hostility’ threshold than she had ventured to expect, which she counted as a ‘win’ in her book. In any case, Astoria made a conscious effort to ensure her resting expression was a pleasant and approachable one.

“Is it really such a shock? Considering you went and got yourself married to one of those people,” she teased in response to his comment about the books. “And about the bidding, I daresay—”

“You should.”

Astoria blinked, caught mildly off-guard, but recovered herself quickly when she recognized the voice that had become so familiar over the past few weeks.
“I quite agree,” she continued instead, with a congenial wink at Roslyn as the older woman introduced herself to Draco. He knew who she was – in name, at least – as Astoria had told him about her over the past few weeks of their working together.

The brunette dipped her head politely at the subsequent compliment.
“Thank you, as do you – burgundy is very much your color.”

She nodded in silent agreement, casting her gaze over those gathered in the grandiose hall.
“Which do you suppose will ultimately go for the highest price?” she asked Roslyn curiously. She was reasonably sure that her new friend knew each and every one of these tomes from cover-to-cover, and it never ceased to fascinate Astoria how much money people were willing to spend on material items of interest.