A Business Affair

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Chapter Forty-two: Epilogue: Wedding Bells


"Harry, Harry, Harry!"

"What?"

"Harry, I'm gettin' married t'morrow!"

"I know, Ron."

"I'm happy!"

"I know, Ron."

"An' ya know what?"

"What, Ron?"

"You, you, you're the bes' friend a guy could have."

"I know, Ron."

"An' ya know what else?"

"What? ... Ron? Ron?! Oh crap, Pansy is going to kill me."

***

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked cheerfully, trying to suppress the grin off his face as he watched his best friend, who was standing over the sink, gripping the edges to stop himself from falling over.

"I feel like there's an elephant in my head," he moaned.

Harry laughed, and Ron glared at him. "Well, I've got something to help," he said, and Ron looked up hopefully. "Hermione lent me a potion or two in preparation for this."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a potion bottle and handed it to Ron, who downed it readily.

"Better?"

Ron shook his head and blinked hard. "Yeah, thanks, mate."

Harry moved forward and looked in the mirror with Ron, patting him on the shoulder. “You ready?”

Ron took a breath and managed a shaky smile. “Were you this nervous when you married Ginny?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I was just glad I wasn’t dead.”

Ron laughed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. Harry reached for his wand and tapped Ron on the head, fixing it. “Don’t do that,” he warned. “Pansy spent forever trying to fix it.”

Ron stared at his reflection for a moment before turning to face Harry. “Are you happy, Harry?”

Harry paused, thinking. “Yeah, Ron, I think I am.”

“And you’re not upset about everything that happened?”

Harry shrugged. “It all worked out for the best.”

Ron laughed and turned around again, leaning toward the mirror. He paused again and looked up at Harry’s reflection. “You’re not going to marry Malfoy, are you?”

Harry laughed and slapped Ron on the back. He opened his mouth to respond and then paused. “And why does that matter to you?”

“Well,” Ron said slowly. “I just wanted to know. I mean, you’re not going to have kids, are you?”

Harry laughed again. “Well, if I was, I wouldn’t tell you before my husband, would I?”

Ron looked uneasy for a second. “You’re just kidding, right, Harry?”

Harry just shrugged. “I don’t know. Can guys have kids?”

“No,” Ron said firmly. “Er, I don’t think so. But you’re not, right?”

Harry just smiled and shook his head, putting his arm around Ron’s shoulder and steering him to the door. “Don’t worry about it, Ron.”

“But, Harry—“

“Let's go get you married!"

“Harry!” Ron shouted as Harry led him outside to be wed. Harry didn’t answer, just smiled mysteriously.

Secretly, he didn’t know if he and Draco would get married and have kids. He liked kids, but he didn’t think it was possible to have them, plus he’d rather not go through pregnancy. If they did end of wanting a child, they would adopt. As for marriage, it was too soon, though definitely not out of the question.

They walked outside to where at least a hundred chairs were set up on a large field. The warm August sun beat down overhead as Ron walked to the front where the priest stood. Harry stood beside him as the best man and smiled as he watched how nervous and excited Ron was.

He looked out into the audience, his heart jumping as he saw a platinum blond head sitting amongst the rest. Draco smirked at his boyfriend when they locked eyes momentarily.

The eye contact was broken, however, by the arrival of Pansy. She looked breathtaking in a long, white dress that trailed along the ground behind her. Everyone stood as she walked down the aisle to the traditional wedding march.

As Harry watched her procession, he couldn't help thinking that things couldn't be better. He and Ginny had finally gotten a divorce, though it had taken awhile due to her unwillingness. Harry had finally convinced her it was worth it and she had agreed, that and a few hundred-thousand galleons.

The divorce had been a messy one and the papers had pounced on it like a cat on a mouse. For a while, Harry hadn’t been able to go one day without seeing his names in the paper. He hated being on display again, like he was something to be gawked at and scrutinized.

After a while, the publicity had died down, though Harry had a suspicion that Draco had something to do with it.

Ginny took all the opportunity to beat Harry as possible. She used her influence as his wife to get more press coverage, and had the honor of telling them herself who he was seeing instead. That had been a fiasco. He and Draco had been followed around for weeks with reporters documenting their every move.

Harry had the feeling they wanted the pictures more to see what was going on than making him out to be a cheating ass. It made Harry happy to think that Ginny’s plan had backfired.

He had moved out of that horrible little flat and into Draco's large house in the country. They still fought but it was more of a habitual thing. Harry found that he loved Draco more than he had ever loved Ginny.

Harry was finally happy. It had been a long time since he’d felt completely free. He could come home now without the fear of a huge fight over where his shoes were, though that was partly due to the fact that the House Elves moved his shoes before he could stop them. He found he was constantly searching the house for them.

He was inclined to get rid of the House Elves, and it didn’t help that Hermione was adamant about it. He intended to talk to Draco soon about it, but he knew how much he liked having them on. Harry didn’t suppose it would be easy to teach Draco how to do things himself, let alone the Muggle way.

Harry was still playing Quidditch and the team was in the finals of the World Cup this year. Harry said it was all due to Draco's influence. Michael and Tara turned out to be significant assets to the team.

Michael had approached Harry sometime after Draco and he were together and explained everything; the plan to break Harry free from Ginny while helping him find someone else. Harry had been angry at first but after learning all that Michael had done, was actually quite grateful. Draco had been a bit harder to convince, but in the end, his happiness of being with Harry won out and Michael was forgiven.

Harry had heard that the “break-up” between Michael and Ginny had also involved a few things shattering against walls and the next day at practice, Harry had offered him a wet washcloth to clean the cut on his hand. Michael told Harry that Ginny had been furious with him, as was to be expected, when he basically told her he’d used her for her husband’s happiness.

Harry had laughed and replied that he didn’t think she would like that. Michael had agreed. He and Ginny had parted, Ginny angry and Michael relieved.

The ceremony was soon over and the reception began. Harry had wandered over to the bar to get a drink when Draco appeared by his side. He grabbed the drink out of Harry's hand, ignoring the glare he received in return.

"I want you sober for tonight," Draco said, setting the drink to the side and smirking at Harry.

Harry pouted for a moment but soon gave it up. Draco smirked at him and slid an arm around his waist, kissing him lightly.

"Don't worry, you won't regret it," he whispered, and Harry smiled.

"Hey, have some decency!"

Draco rolled his eyes and stepped back from Harry as Ron's voice cut through them. He turned around to see Ron standing behind them, a huge grin on his face.

"So how does it feel, Ron?" Harry asked, ignoring his friend’s words.

"Being married? It's great! Dunno how I'm gonna like her rule of no drinking, though," he said with a slight frown, and Harry laughed at him. Draco just rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you'll manage," Harry said reassuringly, grinning. They turned as they heard someone calling Ron from the other side of the field.

"Whoops, I have to go, the wife awaits!" He took off in the opposite direction, still grinning ear to ear.

Harry laughed as he watched Ron disappear into the crowd. Ron and Pansy had a good chance of success, he thought. They worked very well together and Harry had a suspicion that Pansy might be able to keep Ron out of trouble, though Harry wasn’t sure how.

He saw how happy Ron was with Pansy as they stood together by the cake, laughing. Harry smiled and sighed happily. He knew Ron deserved this after everything.

When he and Ginny had broken up, she had gone to Ron, in tears and yelling. Ron had been forced to admit what he knew, which admittedly wasn’t much. She had screamed for quite a while until Pansy had shown up and blasted her across the room. Pansy wasn’t one to trifle with, Harry found out.

After that, Ginny hadn’t spoken to Ron and it had been several months. She refused to be in the same room with him, which was difficult for the family. The Weasleys, however, accepted Harry as still part of their family. Harry was glad and even happier when they accepted Draco as well, though Draco said he would never do such a thing. After the initiation he received from the twins, Harry was sure he was telling the truth, but he was confident that in time, he would come to love the Weasleys as Harry did.

Harry smiled as he looked around the reception. There were so many happy couples. Beside him, Draco was only watching him. After a moment’s pause, he moved closer once more, moving in to lick the shell of Harry's ear. Harry’s eyes widened at Draco’s action and he tried not to look suspicious. He knew Draco was trying to goad him into something and knew that Draco knew the best way to do it.

"You know, Harry," Draco whispered in his ear, his hot breath washing over it, “there’s something I've always wanted to do."

Harry didn't get to find out what that was, though, as Hermione and Blaise appeared in front of them. Draco scowled at them and once more stepped back from Harry.

"Harry, isn't this just lovely?" Hermione asked, looking around at the well-decorated field. Tiny illuminated, hovering faeries flitted around the field as dusk began to fall around them.

"Yeah, it's great. Reminds me of your wedding," Harry replied, looking around him as well. Hermione smiled at him fondly, knowing that he was finally happy.

"Well, we have to go say hi to Ron and Pansy," Hermione said, noticing Blaise's growing impatience. She gave Harry an amused smile as they walked away.

Harry watched them walk away, a contemplative smile on his face. After everything that had happened, what he’d found out about Blaise’s part in the whole thing, he actually had more respect for him. He decided that he wasn’t as bad as he once thought. He knew they were happy and he was glad Hermione had found someone like him.

Draco sighed and turned once more to Harry. He grabbed his hand and Harry looked up at him.

"Fuck, Harry," he said, “let's just get out of here."

"We can't, they're about to throw the bouquet."

"So? Let's go now while they're distracted!"

Harry sighed but couldn't help smiling at Draco's valiant efforts to get him to leave. Draco slid his arms over Harry's shoulders and looked at him seriously.

"If you come with me now, I'll let you top," he said with a suggestive eyebrow raise. He knew Harry couldn't resist that. He rarely let him top so this was a golden opportunity.

Harry was silent for a moment as visuals played in his head. Draco smirked at him as he stood there. There was a yell and seconds later a bundle of red and white roses landed in Draco's arms.

"Let's go," Harry said, tossing the bouquet to the ground and grabbing Draco's hand, dragging him through the crowd and away.


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A/N: Well, we’ve come to the end. Yes, I do realize it is Sunday, but turns out I won’t be online next week. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read along with me every week since last August and those newcomers who’ve only just discovered the fic that is ABA. I thank everyone who has reviewed along the way and encourage those who’ve never told me their opinion to speak up now :) I will say this, I am considering doing a few supplemental chapters (like the Ginny/Michael confrontation, etc), but I make no guarantees. Hopefully, we can be satisfied with this. And no, no sequel is planned. Lastly, I hope you have enjoyed because I certainly have. It made my Monday’s a little brighter throughout this year. Perhaps I will have to find something for next year. I suppose this is it. So, for the last time on this fic, I ask you to please review! :)