The Prince and the Slave

Part 22

James leaned over to speak to his nervous son. “It won’t be much longer.”

Harry looked at his father and nodded his head. “I know.” He was currently standing in front of the Great Hall, waiting for Draco. He couldn’t believe the day of his wedding had finally arrived. He cast a nervous glance around the hall and noticed all of the people in attendance. There were over a thousand, including members from Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. He was dressed in a fine black cloth with the Gryffindor crest on the front, topped off by his crown. He always hated wearing it, as it was so heavy, made out of the purest gold.

He looked back in front of him and was greeted by a smile from Albus. It was tradition for a sorcerer to be the one to perform the marriage service. He looked down at his hands and noticed that he was rubbing them together in a sign of nervousness, so he quickly pulled them a part and tried to look out among the crowed again. His thoughts turned inward once more. This was the day. He was going to be married to Draco for the rest of his life. And not just that, but within a year he would have a child to take care of as well. He sighed, but was brought out of his thoughts by the music starting.

His gaze quickly shot to the entrance of the Hall and he gasped. Draco was walking towards him. He was wearing white, with a touch of green in places. His hair pulled back into a low pony tail with a silver ribbon holding it in place. On top of his head was the Slytherin crown. He was escorted by Severus Snape. Over the past month Draco and Severus had forged a type of bond, and Draco was starting to see Severus as a fatherly figure. Severus had been ecstatic when Draco had asked him to escort him down the aisle.

He took a look at Draco’s face and he could tell that Draco was also nervous. He wanted to gather Draco in his arms to reassure him, but knew that he would have to wait. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Draco. He walked with such a grace and when he looked closely he could see Draco’s hands trembling. He gave him a smile in what he hoped was a reassuring matter. In only a few moments, Draco was at his side. He watched as Draco turned to his father and bowed before removing his crown and handing it to him.

This was the part of the ceremony where Draco gives his father control of the Kingdom of Slytherin. He looked at his father as he spoke. “I accept the crown of Slytherin from you, King Draco Malfoy. I will rule it with as I have ruled my own Kingdom. And I look forward to you joining our family.”

Draco bowed once more to James. “Thank you, Your Highness.” Draco then turned to face Harry so the ceremony could begin. He took in Harry’s appearance and was grateful when Harry’s hand took his and gave a squeeze of reassurance. Both Harry and Draco turned towards Albus when he began speaking.

“Kings and Queens and respectable Ladies and Gentleman, it is my pleasure to reside over this union of the two great Kingdoms of Gryffindor and Slytherin. It is my honest hope that, by this marriage, our two peoples will live together in peace. It is not just two Kingdoms who are joining today, but two people as well. I have know Prince Harry Potter since he was a babe and during all this time I know him to be a brave and honorable person. As for Draco Malfoy, though I have not known him for as long, I have seen him in this short time to be very courageous. It is a pleasure to know these two.”

While Albus was continuing the ceremony, Harry was staring into Draco’s eyes. He loved the color of his eyes. He could get lost in them. No matter what emotion Draco tried to hide, his eyes would give him away ever time. It took him a moment to realize that the Hall was very quiet and he looked from Draco’s eyes to those of Albus. He saw that Albus was waiting for him, and he mentally kicked himself for not paying attention. Turning a little red in the ears and seeing the twinkle in Dumbledore’s eyes, he asked him to repeat what he just said.

Dumbledore smiled and looked from the blushing Harry to James, who was standing there, shaking his head in amusement. He looked again at Harry. “I said, do you have the ring?”

Harry felt his whole body go cold. He didn’t remember putting it in his pocket. He felt like he was going to be sick. How embarrassing. He cast a pleading look at his father, hoping to explain everything in his expression, but was shocked when his father mouthed to him silently to check his front pocket. Confused, he put his hand in his front pocket and was met with a ring. His father must have put it there. Casting his father a grateful look, he turned back to Dumbledore and showed it to him.

Dumbledore nodded towards Draco. “Please place the ring on his finger.”

Harry did as he was asked, and received a ring from Draco in return, before turning back to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked at Harry. “Prince Harry Potter, do you take King Draco Malfoy to be you lawfully wedded second. Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all other, keep yourself only unto him, so long as you both shall live?”

Harry looked into Draco’s eyes. “I do.”

Dumbledore nodded before turning back to Draco. “King Draco Malfoy, do you take Prince Harry Potter to be you lawfully wedded husband. Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all other, keep yourself only unto him, so long as you both shall live?”

Draco took a small breath and answered. “I do.”

Dumbledore smiled. “Then with the power invested in me, by the royal courts I now pronounce you Prince Harry and Draco Potter. Harry, you may kiss your second.”

Harry smiled and looked down at Draco before leaning down to place his lips on those of Draco’s. The kiss was light and sweet, such as they hoped their marriage would be. They ignored the applause coming from the crowd while they kissed, but after a moment, they had to acknowledge the world around them. They both turned, and while holding hands, walked down the aisle towards the exit. Once out of the exit, they walked into a private room and were met shortly after by Harry’s parents.

Lily smiled at the two and walked over to embrace Draco. “Welcome to the family, Draco.”

Draco smiled and hugged her back. “Thank you… Mother?”

Everyone was quiet for a moment. They all knew that Draco’s parents were now dead. And by the sound of Draco’s voice, he was unsure if it would be ok to call Lily mother. Lily stepped back and placed her hands on Draco’s shoulders and smiled. “I would love for you to call me mother.” She wiped a tear off Draco’s cheek. “Don’t cry, it’s your wedding day.”

Draco wiped another tear away. “I… Thank you.”

Lily gave one more smile. “You’re welcome.” Lily took a few steps back and nodded towards her husband.

James walked in front of Draco and also gave him a hug. “Welcome to the family, and call me father or dad.”

Draco returned the hug. “Thank you.”

When James stepped back, Harry decided he would lighten the situation. He walked up and embraced Draco and planted a big kiss on his lips. He sniffed a few times. “You can call me Harry or Husband.” He then did a fake cry into Draco’s shoulder.

Draco shared a laugh with James and Lily. Shaking his head at Harry’s antics, he stepped back and looked at him. “What have I married?”

Harry smiled. “Oh, I don’t know.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Yes, I am.”

The two were brought of their conversation by the King. “Alright, you two, we still have a reception to attend.”

Draco and Harry followed them into a new part of the castle that was used for banquets and parties. Once they arrived at the door, they waited while the King and Queen were announced. Shortly after, Draco and Harry were announced and they walked into the Hall. Draco looked around at the beautiful decorations. This was his first time in the room, and it looked as if the servants had spent weeks decorating for just this one night. He followed Harry up onto the high table and took a seat. The party began.

It was a little ways in the party when Harry stood up and asked Draco for the first dance as a married couple. Together they walked onto the floor and danced their first dance. They danced for awhile before they were interrupted by Lily, who wanted to dance with Draco. Draco danced for an hour going through various partners and Harry. Draco smiled at all the affection he got here. He danced with the King, the Queen, Severus, Sirius, Remus, and of course, Harry.

After dancing this much, he decided to take a break and went back to the head table. He was leaning back and resting when his eyes caught Harry dancing with a red headed girl. He noticed how the girl was practically all over Harry, and he felt a sort of rage burst through him. He was trying to debate what to do when a voice to his right interrupted him. He turned to see the Queen.

“That’s Ginny Weasley, Ron’s sister.”

Draco turned to the Queen. “Oh, are they good friends?”

Lily tired to repress a smile. “You could say that. If you had not come along, Harry probably would have end up marrying her.”

Draco pursed his lips and glared at the couple. He missed the grin that came from Lily. He continued to glare at Harry and watched as Ginny practically threw herself all over him. Draco didn’t know why he was acting like this. He trusted Harry, but this scene just bothered him. After a moment, his eyes locked with Harry’s and he quickly looked elsewhere. Apparently Harry caught him, since he excused himself and walked up to Draco and took a seat beside him.

Harry looked at his husband beside him. “You aren’t jealous of Ginny, are you?”

Draco scoffed. “Of course not.”

Harry tried to repress a grin and watched as Draco took a sip of his wine. “Good, she invited me to spend the night at her house in a couple of days.”

Draco spit the wine out of his mouth and over the table. “WHAT!?”

Harry started laughing, and it seemed that Lily had listened to the conversation as she was also laughing. Maybe later they would tell him the truth. Ginny was Harry's cousin and they weren't really going to be married. It only took a second for Draco to figure out he’d been had. He glared at Harry. “I hate you!”

Harry just smiled and gave Draco a quick kiss. “Well, I love you.” Draco just looked at him weird for a moment, but did not comment. Harry was going to ask him if something was wrong, but did not have the chance, as Hermione walked up. They turned to Hermione to see what she wanted.

Hermione stood there for a moment shuffling her feet. “Uh, Draco, we need to go now, to get you ready for tonight.”

Harry looked at Draco and saw a faint blush on his cheeks. It was tradition for the second of a relationship to go and prepare themselves, by washing and grooming before the wedding night. He reached over and grabbed Draco’s hand and placed a kiss on his hand. “Go on, I will be up a little later after I say my goodbyes.” He then leaned close and whispered in Draco’s ear. “Everything will be alright.” Draco nodded his head and stood up and gave Lily a quick hug before turning and leaving the hall with Hermione. Harry got up and started to bid his farewell to everyone.

Remus looked around the Hall for Harry. He had seen Draco leave the Hall about half an hour ago, but had not seen Harry leave. He scanned the hall to see where Harry was and stopped he his eyes made it over to a corner of the room. He looked closer and could tell that Harry was very red. He looked at the other person and noticed it was Sirius. He watched as Sirius brought up to fingers and jabbed them up in the air and start making scissoring motions with them. It only took a moment for Remus to understand what Sirius was talking about. He placed his hand over his head. Ah, Sirius, leave it to him. He watched after a moment how Harry ran out of the Hall, and he had a good idea it had something to do with getting away from Sirius.

He walked up to Sirius. “Sirius, what did you say to Harry? He looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel.”

Sirius just smiled. “Who, me? I was just talking to him.” Sirius could tell by the look on Remus’ face that he did not believe him, but Remus didn’t push the issue. Sirius looked at the doors that Harry had left through. A lot of things were going to change.

TBC…