Lucius Malfoy sat in his library, poring over an ancient rite of resurrection. He read it carefully, pondering each line.

"The father shall rest upon his eldest male offspring before a group of his peers, and shall sire within him a child as the basilisk is conceived within the rooster. But unlike the basilisk, the child shall grow not in an egg, but within the son's body, and so shall it render him lifeless upon it's birthing."

He loved Draco, and would kill anyone who brought him harm. But he also loved his Dark Lord, and he had a duty to bring him back.

"Draco won't live forever anyhow," he decided. "and dying this way will be the most honorable death I can give him. The rites are simple, I will do it at the next Death Eater meeting. A year from now, my son will be gone, but Voldemort will be with us once more."

*****

Draco raced his broom across the soft blue of the skies of his twenty-first summer. He loved the freedom of flight, the breeze in his face and hair, the joyful rush of acceleration, and the way his feet felt without the pressure of the ground.

His heart soared as joyfully as his body, a glimmer of delight in his eyes.

"Draco, " Lucius told him. "come down. It is time we were going. The meeting starts in ten minutes."

Draco felt a twinge of disappointment at having to land. But his father's word was law, and he would not disobey it. He loved his father and would do anything for him, no matter what.

To Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy had alwaysbeen a loving and dedicated father. No son could have asked for a better dad.

*****

The Death Eaters began to arrive at Lucius Malfoy's home ten minutes later, just as Lucius had said.

"Come," Lucius invited, leading the gathering down the hall and into Draco's bedchambers. "Tonight is the night of our Lord's ressurection."

"Father?" Draco asked, his eyes full of innocent curiosity.

For the briefest moment, Lucius considered not going through with the plan. But if loyalty to Voldemort demanded this, he would offer nothing less.

"Trust me, Draco," he whispered."you shall not be harmed."

Draco did trust Lucius, then. He made no struggle as his clothes were removed, folded, and set aside. The kiss was the first sign that something was not right. He looked at Lucius in shock, but still said nothing, fearing he might disturb the ritual.

Lucius lowered Draco onto the bed, covering the younger Malfoy's body with his own. Lubricating himself with a bit of spittle, he pressed the thick knob of his member against his son's opening.

Now, at last, Draco began to protest. He struggled beneath Lucius, thrashing wildly about. Then Lucius thrust in and all the bonds of father and son were broeken forever in two.

Draco loved Lucius less and less with each thrust of the older man's body into his own.

"I am so proud of you, my son," Lucius told him, "You shall be the vessel of our Lord's return."

"Great Lord Slytherin, Lucius, what are you doing?!"

Lucius Malfoy did not acknowledge his wife's horrified demand any more than he did his son's sobbing pleas.

Narcissa raised her wand, turned it upon Lucius. Several Death Eaters rushed her.

The door openned at five more Death Eaters, latecomers, arrived.

Amongst the late arrivals was Severus Snape. He knew that his true nature would be revealed if he acted. He also knew that he could not simply sit back and watch as his one of his students was used against his will.

"Petrificus Totalus."

Lucius Malfoy lay, petrified, atop Draco. A few Death Eaters rushed at Snape, but he grabbed Narcissa and Draco and with a preset portkey, swept them off to Diagon Alley.

-Chapter Two-
Sympathy and Symphony

"Harry," Hermione shook her head. "I really wish you'd asked me first. There's just no way I can make it to the concert tonight. I have to study."

"Hermione, classes haven't even begun yet. You, um, like me don't you? I mean, you're not going out with Filch or something are you?"

He was teasing her, and Hermione knew it.

"Oh, heavens to Merlin, no way!"" she made a rather comical face of disgust at the thought that soon had them both laughing.

"Harry," Hermione decided to be up front with him. "Look, we're friends, and we're always going to be friends. I don't want to be the girlfriend or wife of someone famous. I want a simple life, not one where my every action is judged by gossipers and the Press."

"What about Ron?" Harry suggested.

"I've thought about it," Hermione admitted."But I don't know just yet. Hey, you'd better run. Perhaps you can find someone else to take to the Banshees concert tonight?"

Harry decided he knew just the person to bring. He headed down to the pub and went inside.

Hagrid was sitting at his usual table. At the counter, Snape retrieved two butterbeers. He brought them to Hagrid's table and sat across the table from the half-giant.

""She's still in tears, Rubeus," Snape was telling Hagrid. "What that poor woman saw...what that man was doing to her son... it broke her heart. And to think I was once friends with a man like that. I feel dirty even having known his name."

"Best advice I can offer is try an' cheer up that son o' hers," Hagrid replied. "Course, I ain't no expert, but I bet most o' her cryin's 'cause 'er little boy is hurtin'."

"He's not so little, Hagrid," Snape replied. "I mean, 'e's already graduated from Hogwarts."

"Mebbe so," Hagrid nodded, taking a swig of butterbeer. "But there ain't no such thing as a mum who don't see 'er son or daughter as ''er little boy or girl no matter 'ow old they may be."

Snape gave a nod, then turned. "Potter," his snide comment was cut off as he noticed the concert tickets. "Ah, just the thing to cheer up a distraught young man," he smiled."Give them to Hagrid."

"Wait," Hagrid beamed. "I 'ave a better idea. Why not 'ave yer young man attend with 'Harry?"

Snape smiled, not entirely unpleasantly, and gave Harry a look that would have frozen a Norwegian Ridgeback.

Hagrid's enthusiasm warmed Harry to the idea, but Snape's glare made him wonder just who he was going with.

"Come on," Snape told him. "You *do* want to help don't you?"

Harry decided it was pointless to complain and followed Snape.

*****

"He has to be very careful," a mediwitch at St. Mungo's told Narcissa while Draco batted away the house elves who were trying to help him into his street clothes. "The ritual was supposed to impregnate him, and the rape was stopped before insemination could occur. The spells that were cast are still in effect."

Narcissa merely nodded. Her marriage was gone, her son had been raped, and it had been Draco's own father who had done the terrible deed.

"In here," Snape's voice said from the corridor.

Narcissa turned as Snape lead Harry into the room.

"What is Potter here for?"

Harry was about to protest when he saw the change in the woman's demeanor. Her nose was no longer held up in the air, and her shoulders were slumped, as if in defeat.

He remembered Snape's conversation with Hagrid and realized that they had been talking about the Malfoys.

" Draco," Narcissa told her son, who had taken to sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing. "Harry Potter is here. He wants to take you to a show tonight. Isn't that nice of him?"

Harry expected some scathing remark, but all that he got was the tiniest nod. He was so taken aback by this total change in Draco that he reached out to brush away a tear.

"Expelliarmus!" Narcissa hurled Harry across the room, then rushed to help him up. "I'm sorry, Harry. Lucius, he... he...."

Snape put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What I am about to tell you never leaves this room." He waited a moment for Harry's nod, then told Harry all that he knew.

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-Chapter Three-
The Other Side of Snape

Harry felt his insides churning as Lucius's crime was brought to light. His nausea was matched only by his shock. Until now, he'd believed that Lucius Malfoy doted over his son. And by the look on Draco's face, until now that probably had been true.

The young Hogwarts graduate, like Harry, had believed Lucius Malfoy, while far from a good man, was at least a devoted father.

The crime Lucius hadcommitted upon Draco had taken Draco completely by surprise. Unable to cope with it, he'd gone into shock.

Harry felt his own world turn over and Snape held Narcissa and stroked her hair. It was an act he'd never have thought Snape capable of. yet as he watched, it seemed so natural.

"I left Draco with him," she sobbed. "He wanted to go to the store with me, but I made him stay home. It's my fault he was... "

"No, Narcissa, it wasn't." Snape assured her. "You can't be held responsible for your husband's actions."

"Please, do not call that man my husband," Narcissa warned. "He won't be for very much longer. Oh, Severus, what am I going to do?"

Snape gave Harry a cautionary glare. "If you tell anyone about this, Potter..."

A moment later, the most adorable kitten in the world was sitting in Narcissa's lap, playfully batting at her hair.

For the first time since she'd found Lucius on top of Draco, Narcissa's lips show the merest hint of smile that did not yet reach her eyes.

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-Chapter Four-
All Friends Old And New

The sweet shoppe in Diagon Alley had a selection that would make any young witch or wizard's mouth water.

Harry was trying to chose between a chocolate frog and an almond roll call, a curious candy with a clever spell that caused it to shout out comedy lines by famous wizarding Stand Ups like Laughing Jack Smiley and Bobbin' Bill Jones, when Ron and Hermione walked in.

"Harry, it's the most amazing coincidence," Hermione was grinning like a winning Quidditch tean captain. "You won't believe where Ron is taking me tonight."

"How did *you* get tickets," Harry blurted out. "I thought..."

"Fred and George got me a set," Ron replied. "They're sponsoring the show, you know."

"You mean the audience is going to be eating stuff provided by Fred & George Weasley?" Harry asked, his eyes widen.

"Ron nodded. "Yeah. I wonder if the audience will have more fun watching the band or the band will have more fun watching the audience. "

"So, did you manage to find someone to bring to tonight's show?"

Harry nodded, then looked over at the corner of the store,where Draco was quietly sitting by himself, apparently fascinated by a tile on the floor.

"Malfoy?!"

"I was going to ask Hagrid," Harry admitted. "But when I found him, he was talking with Snape about how Dtraco had been hurt. So, the two of them kinda talked me into trying to cheer Draco up by taking him to the concert."

Hermione looked over at Draco. "Well, he does look like he needs a spot of cheering up." she admitted. "What happened to him?"

Harry wanted to tell them, but he'd made a promise. "He'll tell you when he's ready." He paid for some chocolate frogs and headed for the door with Ron and Hermione, passing Draco on the way. When the fair-haired wizard did not follow him, he stopped and went back.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"You've got your friends now," Draco replied, sounding hurt. "You don't need me anymore."

"You need me," Harry reminded him.

"Look, stop with the petty pity," Draco shot back, loudly. "you only feel sorry for me because that worthless creep who calls himself my father fucked me and nearly knocked me up."

A dozen or so heads turned to see who it was who was saying these unpleasant things.

A few of them had pity in their eyes as they left to continue shopping in Diagon Alley while others wore looks of disgust on their face as they made their way back to Knockturn Alley.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Five -
Scars Without and Scars Within

The news of Draco's defilement spread quickly throughout Diagon Alley. As Harry drew the sobbing, broken wizard into his arms, Draco buried his face in the other boy's chest, averting his tear-streaked face from onlookers, avoiding the pity he both loathed and craved.

Professor McGonagall walked alongside Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore was sucking on a lemon drop, his eyes both serene and sad.

"Albus, how can you be so calm?" McGonagall was asking. "You know what that spell can do?"

"I also know that Lucius Malfoy failed to impregnate his son." Dumbledore assured her.

"The spell is still in effect, Albus," McGonagall reminded him. "Draco can still get pregnant."

"Not with the same child," Dumbledore smiled. "I wouldn't worry too much about the after-effects of that spell, Minerva. Young Malfoy might even find it to be a blessing some day."

*****

"Shh.." Harry soothed, "Draco look at me."

Draco continued to avert his gaze, so Harry placed a hand under his chin and lifted the once proud face to look into his silver eyes once more.

"Draco, you're going to be fine. You've been hurt, but you'll pull through."

"You can't know that," Draco sobbed. "they think that I'm not pregnant, but I know better. Mom warned me when she thought I might like girls that I should use a condom because even if I don't come, some sperm could leak out. I just know that's what happened to me."

"No, it didn't, Draco." Harry assured him. "I know it didn't because of this."

Harry pushed the hair from his forehead and pointed to his scar. "If you were pregnant, you'd be carrying Voldemort so I would have felt it right here. My scar doesn't hurt, so you're not pregnant."

"The Harry Potter Pregnancy Test," Draco sulked.

Harry found it impossible not to chuckle at the remark, then broke into laughter stopping quickly when he realized that this might upset Draco.

To his relief, Draco was laughing, too. The blond wizard's laughter was a delightful relief as his own renewed laughter mingled with it, until some unbidden memory of what had befallen him wrought sobs once again from Draco's heart.

*****

Mr. Borgin was polishing one of the many cursed items which adorned the shelves of his shoppe as Lucius Malfoy walked toward the shop. Quiely, he penned a note:

Lucius Malfoy is here at Borgin and Burkes.

Then, he addressed the envelope to the Aurors and sent it on it's way.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Borgin," Lucius said, adopting a cheerful air which he dropped when the other man failed to acknowledge him. "I have a need to sell a few items that ...."

"Not interested," Borgin cut him off sharply.

The door openned again as two Aurors walked in.

"Lucius Malfoy," one said. "You're under arrest for the rape of Draco Malfoy." The Auror's professional demeanor took on a look of disgust.

"I am a pureblood and a aristocrat," Lucius growled. "You have no right to arrest me!"

"Shut up, you filthy bastard," the older of the two Auror's told him. "When those in Azkaban learn of your crime, the Dementors will be the least of your worries."

Borgin watched as the Aurors escorted their prisoner out of his shop. Then, he set to work disinfected the spot where Lucius Malfoy had just stood.

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-Chapter Six-
Love Songs For A Slytherin Heart

Ron searched the crowd in the main lobby of the Singing Wizard Theater. The theater had no assigned seating arrangements, and he wanted himself and Hermione as near to Harry and Draco as he could manage.

He didn't know what to make of Draco, now. He believed the young man had been raped by his father. But that didn't make Draco an ally. If truth be told, Ron was sure if anything, it would make Draco even worse of an enemy. Now, he would trust no one, and he would strike to kill no matter who approached him.

*****

Draco stood by Harry and stared, blankly, into the crowd as Harry searched for Ron and Hermione. His mind was clouded over by all that had taken place over the past few days. His father had turned on him. He had lain there, screaming and begging for the pain and the humiliation to end as his father fucked him in from of a crowd of at least a dozen Death Eaters. Some part of his mind tried to reach in to that place where he now was, to tell him that he was safe and that his father would never be able to touch him again. He vaguely remembered saying something about it to somebody that afternoon, when he had, just for the merest moment, broken through just long enough to catch a glimpse of a world he knew could not be real before settling back into the safety of his own mind.

"Ron," Harry called over the noise of the crowd. "Hermione! Over here!"

Ron finally heard Harry. He lead Hermione over to where Harry and Draco were standing.

"He looks really out of it, Harry," Hermione noted, eyeing Draco with a look of concern. ""Maybe we should be bringing him to St. Mungo's?"

"He doesn't need to be institutionalized," Harry replied. The doctors who were treating him seem to feel he's better off out here."

"Ah, Harry, so good to see you again."

Harry turned and was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore standing there.

"I'm quite fond of these shows," Dumbledore told him. "Lots of spirit and enthusiasm. Something I strongly encourage in good people."

Dumbledore's attention switched to Draco and his expression turned grave. "You're safe now, Draco." he said, not sure if the pale wizard was even hearing him. "Soon, you'll have a new family," at this point he winked at Harry, smiling at Harry's confused expression "and everything will be all right."

The doors openned and Harry found himself being swept into the main auditorium along with his companions. An usher recognized Harry and pulled them to the front, finding seats in the front row for the five of them.

Draco felt himself being moved quickly along. Where, his mind wanted to know, was he now, where things were so crowded and it was so noisy.

A new noise began, a steady rhythm that Draco on some level recognized as music. It reached toward him, the steady pulse of the music like a lighthouse, guiding him through the mists of hismind. Through those mists, he saw the boy sitting beside him.

~You're with Harry Potter,~ some part of his mind told him. ~You're safe. He won't rape you. He won't hurt you.~ Then, unbidden, ~But, I wonder if he'll make love to me?~

Harry didn't notice that Draco was leaning on him like a contented kitten until the song ended.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Sevem-
The Backstage Party

The Banshees played their closing number, "My Baby Left Me For The Potions Master", a song most of the audience found rather curious, then took a few bows as the curtains fell.

"A love song about Snape," one concertgoer remarked to a friend he'd made at the concession stand. ""Can you believe it?"

As the crowd was starting to dissipate, a member of the band put her hand on Harry's shoulder."Harry Potter," she smiled at him. "The band and I are having a backstage party. Why don't you and your friends come on back and just hang out with us for a bit?"

Harry considered saying no, just taking Draco home. But something in his mind told him that the continued presence of a cheerful atmosphere would stop Draco from retreating back into his shell too soon.

"It sounds like fun." he agreed.

*****

"I was under the impression that you two were enemies," an attractive band member with green and pink hair told Harry, her gaze on Draco, who had both arms wrapped around Harry's left arm and was leaning on his shoulder.

"We used to be," Harry admitted. "Things have changed. He's been through a bad experience and I've been trying to help him get past it."

"And now you're in love with him."

"I'm not sure, yet." Harry admitted. "But I think I might be."

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Eight
Love's Healing Touch

"Harry?"

Harry was startled to hear Draco's voice as they headed for Narcissa's apartment in the carriage he had rented for the evening.

"Yeah, Draco,"A weight had lifted itself from Harry's shoulders as soon as Draco hadspoken.

"Did you really mean that back there," Draco asked. "Are you really in love with me?"

"Yes." The answer came without hesitation. Harry offered no reasons, no excuses. He didn't have any. He didn't need any. Having been given the chance to see Draco in a whole new way.

This was the same boy who had bullied his classmates at Hogwarts. The same boy who had made Neville Longbottom the victim of all too many mean practical jokes to count. This was the boy who hated Muggles, and who took every chance he got to call Hermione 'Mudblood'. But he was also the boy whose father had betrayed and raped him. The boy whose every ounce of pride and dignity had been shattered by Lucius Malfoy's most shameful act. The hubris was gone, and behind the walls that wealth and false dignity had erected, Harry found the young man he had begun to love.

Harry leaned forward and pressed his lips to Draco's, fingers caressing Draco's face as they savored their first kiss as the coach went by Narcissa's apartment and stopped at Harry's place instead.

In that kiss, Draco found all the love his father had never shown him. In Harry's arms, Draco found the warmth he'd been denied for so long. And, in Harry's bed, Draco found tenderness and ecstacy in a realm he recently believed was governed by pain.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Nine-

An owl pecked at Harry's front door the following afternoon. He'd seen Draco off late that morning, each of them reluctant to part company.

Hermione and Ron were visiting, each curious to know what Harry had done to cheer Draco up so much.

Harry, being polite, said nothing. His private moments with Draco probably would have stayed private, if it hadn't been for the mail.

Amidst the "Thanks For Attending Our Party" letters from The Banshees, and the letters from Hagrid and Harry's former classmates, there was a red envelope.

"Harry," Hermione gasped. "You've got a howler."

Harry picked it up and looked at sender's address.

"Narcissa Black..."

He was confused for a moment, then realized that Draco's mother had gone back to using her maiden name. He started to open the envelope, but it leaped out of his hands...

"HARRY POTTER! HOW *DARE* YOU SEDUCE MY SON? AFTER WHAT HE WENT THROUGH... I CAN'T *BELIEVE* YOU'D DO SUCH A THING. I SUPPOSE YOU FORGOT HE COULD GET PREGNANT?! SHAME ON YOU!"

The letter formed a tidy little origami fist and punched Harry right in the nose, knocking him out of his chair.

He hardly noticed. He was too busy mentally kicking himself. As Narcissa had expected, he had, indeed, forgotten the possible consequences of his night with Draco.

"Harry," Hermione admonished. "You took Draco to bed... after he's just been raped? What if you'd reminded him of it? What if you caused him to retreat back into himself and never come back out? Don't you realize the damage you could have done?"

"Of course I do," Harry told her. "But last night, neither I nor Draco were thinking of such things."

Another knock at the door stopped Hermione from making any replies.

Harry openned it.

Narcissa was standing there with Draco in the grip of one hand, and a piece of paper in the other. Shoving her way into the apartment, she didn't waste any time explaining her presence.

"He's pregnant." she told Harry, shoving the results of the pregnancy test into Harry's hand.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Ten-
Draco Malfoy-Potter

Harry watched as Narcissa paced the room. Her eyes were full of fear, and anxiety and he realized that she was afraid that the spell had been fullfilled.

~It must terrify her,~ he thought, ~to think that Draco might be carrying Voldemort. That the child inside him is slowly draining his life force. I should reassure her. But would she believe me?~

He decided to take a chance.

"It's not Voldemort," he told her.

Narcissa spun around, her eyes flashing in anger. "What?! What was that, little Wizard? Did you say something to me? After you knocked up my son? After you sentenced him to death?"

"He's not going to die," Harry told her.

"No, of course he isn't," Narcissa shot back. "Of course the baby's birth splitting him open isn't going to kill him."

"He could have a c-section," Hermione offered, helpfully.

"Since when is it any of your business," Narcissa asked. "And speaking of business, I believe it is time we get to it." She clapped her hands and a house-elf appeared, carrying a pile of suitcases.

Another knock on the door startled Harry. He went to it and found himself face to face with Arthur Weasley.

"Oh, good," Narcissa half-smiled at him. ""You're here. Well, then, let's get started, shall we?"

"Started on what?" Harry asked. "Would you mind telling me what it is you expect us to be doing?"

"Getting married, of course," Narcissa replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Arthur Weasley noticed the stunned expression on Harry's face. "Harry, my boy," he said, taking him aside. "I know that you and Draco love each other. I was at the concert myself. Thought it would be a good idea, given it's sponsors. Yes, you spent a lot of time in the past disliking each other, but your parents were the same way, and once they saw past each other's masks and faults, they became the most inseparable couple Hogwarts ever saw. Now, there is one problem. The Ministry requires that for a wizard to take a wife, his family must be present. No other wizarding family can stand in, unless there are absolutely *no* blood relatives.'"

Harry barely had time to realize where this was going when his Aunt and Uncle came flying out of the fireplace followed by what seemed like about two hundred pounds worth of Dudley.

"Potter," Uncle Vernon looked around, disapprovingly. "I just want to make it clear that the only reason your Aunt, your cousin, and I are here is to marry you off and be done with you."

"Fine by me," Harry replied. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Now," Uncle Vernon said, fixing his tie. He didn't want to be attending a magical wedding, but if he had to, at least he would look presentable. "Where's the bride?"

Harry was trying to work out an explanation when he noticed Draco was missing.

"The bride is in the other room, getting dressed for the wedding," Mr. Weasley explained, cheerfully.

The door swung open, and Draco emerged, wearing what Harry guessed had been his mother's wedding gown and a beautiful veil.

Petunia, who had kept an air of contemptuous silence so far, let out a gasp as Draco's appearance registered in her mind.

"He's a guy!"

Vernon peered more closely at Draco. "You little shit," he swore. "Not only are you a wizard, but you're a queer as well!"

"At least I'm not a foul-mouthed pig," Harry snapped, glaring at his uncle.

"I'm not going to stand by and watch some fag wedding," Vernon cursed, his face redder than Harry had ever seen it.

"So, what are ya marryin' him for anyhow," Dudley asked Draco. "He get ya knocked up or something?" Something about the change in Draco's expression told him that he'd got it right and he felt his own eyes widen. "Mum! Dad! Harry got this guy pregnant!"

"I might have know your lot had males that get knocked up," Petunia grumbled. "It explains where there are so damned many of you."

"Mr. Dursley," Hermione tried to reason, "Perhaps you should..."

"Mind your own business!" Vernon shot back at her.

"ENOUGH!"

The shout startled evreyone and drew their attention to Narcissa, who was standing there, looking like a demon having a conniption.

"This wedding will take place, and you *will* witness it," she said, glaring at the Dursleys and making it very clear that there was to be no argument about the subject.

Harry watched as the Dursleys cowered and nodded, too terrified to argue.

"Now," Arthur Weasley prompted, "let us begin. Harry, you stand here, and Draco, stand beside Harry."

Harry and Draco took their places as someone else knocked at the door.

Dudley automatically answered.

~Uncle Vernon's got him trained better than a henpecked house elf.~ Harry thought to himself.

"I trust we haven't missed the wedding," Professor Dumbledore smiled as he entered the apartment along with Professor Lupin and Professor Snape."I must say we have been looking forward to it all day."

"Mr. Moony would like to state," Professor Lupin said, cheerfully, "that he is quite pleased to be attending Harry Potter's wedding."

"Well, well, Mr. Potter," Snape was actually smiling. "It would seem that you're actually doing something right for once."

Arthur Weasley looked to Dumbledore, as if offering to allow him to officiate the ceremony. The old man smiled, then gave a nod to indicate that he thought Mr. Weasley was the best man for the jobl

Beaming with pride at Dumbledore's approval, Arthur Weasley began the ceremony once again.

"Now, do you, Harry James Potter take Draco Malfoy to be your lawfully wedded spouse?"

Harry knew he'd better answer quickly. The sooner the ceremony was over and the Dursleys were back home, the sooner he'd be able to relax.

"I do." He said, immediately.

Arthur Weasley caught on quickly, and turned to Draco. "And do you, Draco Malfoy as your lawfully wedded spouse?"

"I do," Draco agreed.

"I now pronounce you husband and husband," Arthur Weasley declared. "

"My son is a Potter now," Narcissa sniffled, happily.

Snape pulled a tissue out of thin air and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Severus," she smiled, tearfully.

"Well, now that that's over, I demand that you send my family and I home at once." Vernon told nobody in particular.

With a strength Harry had not expected from his former Potions teacher, Snape dragged all three Dursleys into the fireplace. "Dursley House!"

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley had the merest second to register what was happening when the appeared in their own fireplace, Uncle Vernon getting a parting kick in the rump which he was sure had come from the hook-nosed man who'd sent them home in the same manner a bouncer might rid a fancy dress party of a particularly rude gate-crasher.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Chapter Eleven-
-The Surprise At The Reception-

"It's a pity your Aunt and Uncle didn't want to stay," Dumbledore told Harry. "They're going to miss out on the cake."

"Cake?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Surely," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "you didn't think we'd let Harry Potter's wedding go by without a proper cake!"

The cake that appeared on the table looked so beautiful that Harry and Draco both felt they should take a moment to enjoy how nicely it had been designed before it was cut.

"It looks spectacular," Harry said, appreciatively.

Draco nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Whoever made this must be a culinary genius."

"I'll tell Dobby and Winky you liked it," Dumbledore beamed. "

"How is Winky?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Oh, she's doing quite well," Dumbledore assured her. ""She's never been one for total freedom, but she's recently found a situation that gives her both total freedom and a lifetime bond with a very nice family."

Hermione looked crestfallen. Surely Winky hadn't sold herself back into slavery?

"What happened?" She asked, fearing the answer would be something that she did not wish to hear.

"Dobby proposed to her," Dumbledore smiled, then looked over at Draco who was toying nervously with a bouquet of flowers that had just appeared in his hand. "It would seem that the bride is about to toss the bouquet."

Hermione was about to get into the crowd when Dumbledore tapped her.

"Let Narcissa catch it," he suggested, eyeing Snape to let her know just whom he planned to make sure caught the garter belt.

Hermione's eyes widened from a combination of reacting to Dumbledore playing matchmaker and Draco wearing a garter belt.

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-Chapter Twelve-
The Bride's Bouquet and the Garter Belt

"Toss it carefully," Lupin chuckled, as Draco gave the flowers a wondering glance. Where hadthey come from. And more to the point, why now? His mind supplied the answer to that one. The Dursleys. Whoever was giving Harry and his new husband these gifts did not want the Dursleys to ruin them.

Draco rolled his eyes and threw the flowers over his shoulder.

Dumbleore gave his wand a quiet tap that went unnoticed by all, and the flowers landed in Narcissa's lap.

""Looks like you just might end up with a new step-father," Harry told Draco as he knelt to remove Draco's garter belt. "

Draco felt Harry's chin against his leg as Harry removed the garter belt with his teeth. "

We'll see who it is just as soon as I toss this over my shoulder." Harry wiggled the garter belt at Draco.

"If you toss it to Dumbledore, you're sleeping on the couch."

"I can't help who catches it," Harry protested, smiling nonetheless as he tossed the garter belt over his shoulder.

There was a gasp and Harry was almost afraid to ask where it had landed. Slowly he turned, hoping Lucius Malfoy had not come in just in time to catch the garter belt.

The scene that caught his eye almost made him laugh out loud.

The garter belt was sitting right on top of Snape's head.

Full aware of what was expected of him, Snape snatched the garter belt off of his head and placed it upon Narcissa's leg.

And as Harry watched the gentleness that Snape used to place that delicate circle of ribbon and silk, he realized that his former Potions Master was in love.

"Well," Dumbledore said, after Snape and Narcissa had left to spend some time together, "I think that went well. Don't you, Harry?"

"Sure," Harry agreed. "But I wish Hagrid had been here. "

"I'm afraid Hagrid had some rather pressingbusiness he needed to attend to." Dumbledore explained. "Something about a wedding present."

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-Chapter Thirteen-
Hagrid's Wedding Present

"Well, I think we should be on our way," Dumbledore announced. "Harry, Draco. I think you'd better come along."

Taking Draco by the hand, Harry followed Dumbledore out of the apartment.

Professor Dumbledore climbed onto his broomstick and motioned toward a slightly larger broomstick, an old Jalopy with ""Just Married " signs hanging from it that made Harry and Draco both smile.

Climbing on the old Jalopy, they followed Dumbledore until they got to a large field where Hagrid was standing along with McGonagall.

"'Ello there, Harry. Draco. Nice to see the both o' yeh. I been spending all morning working on a very special weddin' present just for the two o' yeh."

"Um, that's very nice, Hagrid," Harry looked around, half expecting to see a gift wrapped skrewt somewhere around the clearing.

"Oh,um... I got it here somewhere," Hagrid searched his pockets, then smiled. "Oh, yeah... Here it is."

He handed Harry a small key. "Congratulations," he told the confused wizard. "Oh, and um.. one more thing. Just a little something to go along with that key I gave you."

He gave a nod to McGonagall who cast a reveal spell.

Instantly, a large beautiful house appeared in front of them. Harry stared at it. It looked exactly the way his parents house had looked.

"Hagrid, how did you...?"

"Well, now that I been cleared, I can use magic again," Hagrid explained. "And I had a little help from Professor McGonagall and a few others who wish to remain nameless."

Harry picked up Draco and carried him across the threshold. Then minute he had planted both feet inside, he felt the the sudden downpour of rain. He looked down, but there was no puddle. The only things getting wet were himself and Draco.

"I think I have a pretty good idea who those nameless helpers were." Harry announced as the rain that was falling on him cleared up.

"Well,I think it's time we were off," Dumbledore told McGonagall and Hagrid as he watched Harry kissing Draco in the doorway of the young couple's new house.

END PART 13