Love Thy Enemy

CHAPTER 46: Toasts and Announcements









“How did you manage all this without me knowing it?” Hermione asked from her seat at the head table as she looked around the room. A tall, four tiered cake covered in red and white poinsettias sat on a table in the corner and she thought it too perfect to cut.







“You’ve been preoccupied with the pregnancy and it was easy enough to schedule appointments while I was out handling other business. Do you like it?” He asked.







“I love it, Lucius. It’s absolutely perfect.” The staff cleared away the dinner dishes and filled the glasses with champagne. Everyone but Lucius and Hermione’s glasses at any rate, they were served milk.







Harry stood and fussed nervously with his tie as he cleared his throat.





“Um, hello everyone, I’m Harry Potter.” He needn’t introduce himself; everyone in their world knew exactly who he was. “Hermione is probably the person I love most in the world next to my own wife. She has been my close friend and surrogate sister since we were eleven years old. I will not say that I was thrilled when she was first married to Lucius. I had spent almost two years arresting them for dueling in public and had born witness to many an altercation between the two of them and I never thought they would overcome their pasts in order to make a go of it. You can’t imagine my amazement as I watched the two of them fall in love. Hermione and Lucius may the future hold nothing but joy and happiness for the two of you. I hope that you will always remember what you have overcome and know that if you can survive a past like yours and still be in love, then you can overcome anything. To Hermione and Lucius!” Harry raised his glass. “Blessed Be.”







“Blessed be!” The room echoed as they drank. Harry was all too happy to return to his seat as Lucius stood.







“First off I would like to thank everyone for coming and for helping to keep this event a surprise for my bride. I am not a man who is comfortable expressing his feelings in private so it is especially difficult for me to do in public, but for her I will.” Lucius looked down at his wife briefly and winked. “It would be stupid of me to stand here and try to pretend that everyone in this room is not aware of my past, so I will not disrespect you by ignoring the truth of it. I was to put it simply, livid when the court ordered me wed to a muggleborn bride. Especially given the stipulations that came with the marriage decree. I expected a life of constant misery and discomfort. Instead what I found was a friendship that grew slowly but offered comfort and companionship. I began to understand the errors of my past and to put to rest a lot of baggage that had followed me over the years. None of that would have been possible without Hermione. Her forgiveness and acceptance gave me permission to move on, to change and to become a better man. We still debate most issues, though she draws her wand on me rarely, but I am the happiest I have ever been. So, to my love, mother of my unborn child and light of my life…..blessed be.”





“Blessed be!” The crowd applauded when Hermione stood and threw her arms around Lucius’s neck.





The cake was cut and served and Lucius danced with his bride. He was standing off in the corner with Potter, Weasley, Shacklebolt, Longbottom and a couple of other wizards chatting while Hermione led a small group of women upstairs to see the nursery.





“Care to tell me why you are toasting tonight with milk?” Harry asked.







“Hermione won’t let me have anything to drink until after the baby is born. It’s punishment for showing up at your house pissed I think.” Lucius shrugged slightly.







“Wait, I didn’t hear about that! No one tells me anything that happens when I’m on tour. Sometimes I wish I never made the team!” Ron grumped.







“It wasn’t that big of a deal really. Lucius showed up at the house drunk after Hermione hadn’t spoken to him for a month.” Harry said, and then he smirked slightly. “He was dressed in his old deatheater costume and was talking to himself in the back yard, that was pretty funny.”







“What? You were out in public dressed as a deatheater?” Shacklebolt asked in amazement. Lucius was embarrassed and glared at Harry.







“I wasn’t intending to go anywhere, and I only ended up at Potter’s.” Lucius said.







“So you wander around your house dressed like that then?” Longbottom stammered the question.







“No, I wasn’t in a very good place that night…..I missed my wife and had consumed almost an entire bottle of fire-whiskey.”







“Oh how I wish I could have seen that!” Kingsley said laughing. Harry smiled and snapped his fingers. Several photographs appeared in his hand that he happily showed everyone. One of Lucius sitting on his sofa, another of him standing in the backyard looking confused and a couple of him talking with Hermione.





“When did you take these?” Lucius asked, he couldn’t recall photos being taken.





“You were busy.” Harry shrugged. Suddenly Ginny Potter broke through their little circle of conversation and hugged Lucius tight.







“Oh my goodness Lucy, those pictures are amazing! I never dreamed you were so talented.” Lucius hugged her back awkwardly and looked at Harry questioningly.







“Um, thank you I think. Will you stop calling me Lucy please?” He asked, pushing her away from him.





“You are welcome, and no, I will call you Lucy for the rest of your life, get used to it.” She laughed.









“Fantastic.” He said tightly. It was annoying, but he actually kind of liked the Potter chit so he figured he could overlook it for her.







“And our baby will get to call you Uncle Lucy!” Ginny smiled.







“Your baby? Are you….”







“Yes! In July your little one will have a friend!” Harry blushed and accepted the pats on the back and congratulations.





“Well, looks like next year will be quite busy, doesn’t it?” Kingsley was smiling, pleased with how perfectly everything had worked out. “What pictures are you talking about Mrs. Potter?”









“Oh! Hermione just showed us the nursery, and Lucius had drawn all of the pictures when he was a boy. They are amazing, truly amazing!” She gushed.









“I had no idea you were an artist.” Harry said.









“I’m not, it was a hobby in school, Hermione is making more of them than they deserve I assure you.”







“I want to see them!” Kingsley said, allowing Ginny to lead him, as well as the remaining guests upstairs and into the nursery.





He stood and listened to their guests make a fuss over his talent while Hermione showed everyone around the room. He ignored the praise for the most part and simply focused on the woman he loved. If those doodles made her happy, then he was pleased to suffer the embarrassment of having them on display.









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He sighed in relief when the last of their guests were gone and he was able to crawl into bed with his wife and pull her close against him. He kissed the back of her neck and pressed his arousal against her bottom.





“I love you, Lucius.” She said softly. She took his hand and pressed it against her naked breast, encouraging him to cup and knead the fleshy globe. “It’s our wedding night you know.”





“I know.” He growled softly, sucking on the back of her neck as he flicked his thumb over her sensitive nipple. He let his hand glide down over her softly curved stomach and between her thighs to stroke and fondle until the evidence of her own arousal poured forth to anoint his fingers.





“Lucius, please, now.” She whimpered, pressing her bottom back against him. He adjusted their bodies, instructing her to bend her top leg and pull it up towards her chest as he slid into her slowly from behind. Her hand came up to cup the back of his head and hold him as he thrust slow and steady inside her. It was slow, easy and tender between them.







“I love you too.” He whispered into her ear just before she tightened around him in orgasm and he followed her into the sweet nirvana of release. He lay there for a long time still embedded inside her as he whispered again and again how much he loved her. Hermione smiled softly and drifted into sleep wrapped in his arms and secure in the knowledge that Lucius loved her.