Sad, Beautiful, Tragic

I'd always gotten the impression that my Dad was happy with my Mum, but sometimes I guess I saw the cracks. When they'd fight they'd usually send me to stay the night with Grandma, they didn't want me to hear them arguing. Dad always said he'd been forced to listen to horrible things happening in his house and he hadn't wanted the same for us. I got lonely sometimes, in this big house now that my big sister was gone. I pretended that she got on my nerves but without her I didn't know what to do all day. She'd been at Hogwarts for a while now so I was used to it, she was like my Mum in a way because she was so much older than me. Not that Mum wasn't around; she was, just not as much as Dad and Cassie. We all have strange names in our family, Dad says it's a family tradition, naming your kids after star signs, Cassie's real name is Cassiopeia but she hates it so we all call her Cassie and my name is Scorpius, but my friends call me Scorp.

Mum works in the ministry, she's in the law department and Dad says that means she's really important and that she helps send bad people to jail. Dad stays at home more than Mum, he makes potions in his lab, he lets me help him most of the time but sometimes when he's doing something really dangerous he sends me to Grandma's or lets me go to Hogwarts so Cassie can look after me.

I'm allowed pretty much anywhere in the Manor, now that I'm 8 Dad says I can go anywhere apart from the doors that are locked, I think there are still some rooms I haven't explored, it's so big. I'm not allowed to go in the rooms on the top floor either, Dad never told me why. Dad even built a Quidditch pitch outside, he wants me to be a Quidditch player like Cassie when I go to Hogwarts because Cassie is the seeker for Ravenclaw.

My friend Albus thought my Dad would be angry that Cassie didn't become a Slytherin but he wasn't angry at all, he said he was very proud of Cassie. Dad never tries to make us be something we aren't, he says the most important thing is being yourself and not changing to make others like you more.

Today Dad was making an important potion and Grandma was on holiday so he told me to not do anything bad and find something to do until he was done. I got bored really quickly, but I tried not to go wandering because Dad said if I behaved he'd take me out to the Quidditch pitch when he was finished. Dad took ages, and I got so bored that I decided to go for a walk. When I was on my walk I passed a door on the top floor I hadn't noticed was there before, doors seemed to appear and disappear a lot in the manor. I remembered what Dad always told me when I looked at the door.

'Just remember Scorp, if you don't know what's on the other side of a door don't open it. Don't trust an object if you don't know where it's brain is.'

I knew I should have listened to Dad's voice inside my head but I didn't, something made me reach up and grab the handle of the door. I twisted it just to see if it was locked and when I realised that it wasn't and the door swung open I couldn't resist walking into the room.

At first I didn't understand what it was, it didn't seem extraordinary, it was just a bedroom, but then I looked a little closer and saw pictures of Dad with a woman I didn't know, all the pictures had the same woman in them and I had to think, did this room belong to this mysterious woman?

Cassie is much older than me, I asked Dad why once and he said that these things just happen. Cassie is in 5th year at Hogwarts, Dad says she's 7 years older than me. Cassie and me look different too. I look like Dad, my hair is blond like his and I have blue eyes like his. Cassie has brown hair, like Mum, but Mum has light brown hair, nearly blonde but not like me and Dad. Cassie has really dark hair and brown eyes, Mum and Dad both have blue eyes. Dad says sometimes kid's eyes aren't the same colours as their parents but Al says that's not true. Al says he found out in Muggle school that all kids get their eye colour from their Mum or Dad; I think he's making it up because Dad would never lie to me.

I reached up to pick up the photo of the woman and Dad, but then I heard Dad shout and pick me up.

'Scorpius!' he shouted angrily, 'leave that room alone! What have I told you about not using rooms on this floor of the manor, go to your bedroom!'

Dad didn't get angry much but when he did it scared me so I did what he said and hurried to my room. It wasn't until I got to my room I realised I'd dropped my book on my way back from the top floor of the manor, I tiptoed up to the door to grab the book and I saw Dad sitting on the bed in the room I had been thrown out of. He was holding the photograph and crying, I'd never seen my Dad cry before and it scared me so much that I ran back to my room and I tried not to think about the room ever again.

10 YEARS LATER

'Cassie, don't make me do it again,' Scorpius whined as he collapsed into a seat in front of his sister.

Cassie groaned, 'Scorp! This is my wedding, can you please just do one more rehearsal?' she gave him the big eyes that made him feel guilty so huffily Scorpius said, 'fine!' and pushed himself to his feet.

'Still can't believe someone's marrying you,' Scorpius teased getting a glare from his sister, 'thanks Scorp, now get in your place, come on, next to Al.'

Scorpius stuck his tongue out at his sister and stood next to Al who was standing next to his big brother James, 'she's so pushy,' he said under his breath.

'It's her wedding day Scorp, she wants it to be perfect,' Al said with a smile, Scorpius rolled his eyes, 'you're such a woman Al,' he said dryly.

'You're the woman in this relationship,' Al snorted, getting smacked by Scorpius which in turn got both boys a glare from Cassie.

'Ready?' Cassie asked the blonde haired girl next to her. Victoire nodded, 'Ready,' she confirmed.

'Okay, so I'll walk down here like this,' Cassie said, beginning the 4th rehearsal of the morning.

'Yeah Cass you walk down the aisle, some cheesy stuff happens, you kiss Ted and everyone lives happily ever after,' James yawned and this time Victoire turned on the boy, 'James you're 22 years old, can you not be sensible for once in your life?'

'We're bored,' James and Scorpius whined and Cassie sighed, 'well you can go and do whatever you want after the rehearsal, the wedding is tomorrow so can you please be serious for just one second!'

'I'm not Sirius, I'm James,' James joked, badly, and Cassie wasn't in the mood, 'James!' she shouted angrily.

'James, Al, Scorp,' Harry Potter said from where he'd been watching the rehearsal in the shadows, 'Cass is getting married tomorrow, just do the bloody rehearsal will you? The younger kids are behaving better than you three.'

Draco sniggered from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed next to Harry. Scorpius had huffily stood awkwardly in his spot upon been told off by Harry, 'I love how he listens to you and not me,' Draco retorted as he watched his daughter take a deep breath as Victoire told her to calm down.

'He listens to Al more to the point,' Harry said fondly as Cassie walked down the aisle and motioned for the flower girl to walk down after her. Cassie's flower girl was Roxanne Weasley, George and Angelina's little girl. Next the pageboy walked down the aisle with the rings, Cassie's pageboy was Fred, again George and Angelina's boy, they were the only children young enough, most of the Weasley and Potter children were teenagers now but Roxanne and Fred were 7 and 9 respectively.

'True,' Draco admitted, watching the proceedings, 'well at least he listens to someone; it's more than I did at his age.'

Harry laughed at that, it was so true, 'she's so much like her Mother, isn't she?' he sighed as Cassie finished the rehearsal and laughed at something one of her best friends, Jessica Longbottom, had said.

'Yeah,' Draco said quietly, a sadness falling over them, 'she looks more and more like her every day.'

'You still love her, don't you?' Harry asked as Scorpius, Al and James hurried out of the room the moment they were told that they were allowed too. Cassie was still engaged in conversation with Victoire and Jessica.

'Of course I do,' Draco admitted, his eyes not leaving his daughter, 'I miss her more every day.'

'Is Astoria coming tomorrow?' Harry asked the man who had become his friend. Draco nodded, 'yeah, at the end of the day she raised Cassie, she's as much her Mother as anyone could have been.'

'I'm sorry,' Harry said sadly, 'about the divorce.'

Draco shrugged, pushing himself off of the wall, 'I guess it was always going to happen, how can you commit to someone when you're in love with a ghost?'

'I understand,' Harry said honestly, 'but all the same I'm sorry.'

Draco nodded, 'I appreciate that,' he said truthfully, even managing to smile at Harry, when you went through what he'd gone through with Harry you couldn't not become friends.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' Harry said finally as he left the room, leaving Draco alone to watch the girls.

Cassie spun around, 'Oh Dad, I wanted to ask you something!'

Draco smiled, a real genuine smile this time, it was always genuine with his daughter, he stepped forward from the shadows, 'What is it?' he asked.

Cassie turned to her two best friends, Victoire and Jessica, the two girls she'd gone through Hogwarts with, 'Vic, Jess, do you mind if I meet you back at the manor? I'm going to go for a walk with Dad.'

'Sure,' the girls said in unison as Cassie grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around herself, 'can we go and sit outside?' she asked.

Draco would do pretty much anything for his daughter so he nodded, letting her put her arm through his and lead him out of the door of the church and into the small garden behind the graveyard of Godric's Hollow. It was fairly cold as Cassie had wanted a winter wedding and it was the middle of October.

'I have something borrowed, something new and something blue, but I don't have something old,' Cassie admitted as she drew her cloak tighter around herself, 'I asked Mum but she said to ask you, I found it odd because traditionally the bride wears something of her Mothers.'

Draco's throat went dry, he knew this conversation had been coming which was why he'd been carrying a small box in the pocket of his robes for the past 2 weeks. He looked down, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to say to her.

'Cass, I need to tell you something,' Draco said, catching his daughters big brown eyes, those eyes always made his breath catch in his throat, they were the exact eyes that her Mother had looked at him with so many times.

Cassie's face fell, 'Oh God, Dad...I'm adopted, aren't I?'

'No, no,' Draco said quickly, he sighed, 'No Cass, but Astoria isn't your Mother.'

'What?' Cassie asked quietly, almost in a whisper.

'To all intents and purposes I suppose she is,' Draco amended, 'but biologically she isn't your Mother. Your real Mother died giving birth to you.'

'She's not my Mum?' Cassie asked, still in shock, 'and you tell me this the day before my wedding?'

'I've been trying to get up the courage to tell you for weeks,' Draco admitted, something flickered in Cassie's face as her features softened, it was like she could sense the pain he was in at the moment.

'I guess I should have seen sooner,' Cassie admitted, as all the oddities started to make sense, 'I don't have blue eyes like you or Mum, and my hairs always been so much darker than Mum's, I was a Ravenclaw even though you were both in Slytherin.'

Draco nodded, staying silent, hoping she'd ask the questions and for a while she continued to work things out, 'and the age gap between Scorp and me...he's my half-brother, isn't he?'

'Yes,' Draco confirmed as Cassie came to terms with it all.

'Cass, to all intents and purposes Astoria is your Mother, she raised you-'

Cassie snorted and said, 'you know that's debatable Dad, she was never around, you raised Scorp and me.'

Draco smiled a little at this, he had raised Cassie and Scorpius and he was proud of that, in his mind it was the greatest achievement in his life, raising two kids as good as them.

'Your real Mother would be so proud tomorrow Cassie,' Draco said, his eyes getting watery, he hoped Cassie wouldn't notice but he knew she would, 'she would be so proud that you were a Ravenclaw, so proud of the fact you got an O in all your O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's. She would love the fact you work with animals at the Ministry too, she wanted to do that, she would have done it if she got the chance.'

Cassie reached over to her Dad and grabbed his hand as he embarrassedly wiped away the tears on his face; they sat on the icy bench in the dying garden in silence for a moment.

'Was she was a Ravenclaw too?' Cassie asked once her Dad had composed himself a little.

Draco shook his head, he smiled at his daughter, 'No, she was a Gryffindor.'

Cassie laughed loudly and Draco laughed with her, 'You dated a Gryffindor? Really?'

Draco nodded, still laughing, 'she was the only Gryffindor I'd ever been interested in. She was beautiful and funny, god she was so brave and so intelligent, she was the greatest Witch of our age, she got the highest grades in the year at Hogwarts.'

'She sounds a bit like me,' Cassie said quietly, wishing she'd known this Mother she'd only just discovered.

'You remind me of her every day,' Draco said with a smile to his daughter, 'you look just like her, you have her eyes, her hair, her face, and you definitely have her brains.'

'What happened to her Dad?' Cassie asked, it was the inevitable question, and it was the one that Draco knew would be the hardest to answer.

Draco sighed, glad that Cassie's hand was still in his, he took a deep breath, 'after the war I realised what an idiot I'd been for everything I'd done and I decided to get away for a little while so I went to America to a house Granddad owned in the Hamptons then. I knew your Mother from Hogwarts but we hadn't really gotten on, I was surprised to bump into her in New York but she'd gone there with the same intention as me, to get some breathing space,' Draco paused, and Cassie waited patiently, she was caught, hanging on to his every word.

'I had to convince her I wasn't a complete git anymore but I managed it and when she realised I really had changed she agreed to start going out with me, but no one back here knew about it apart from Harry, Ron , Grandma and her parents. We found out in September she was pregnant with you and you were born in April the next year,' Draco finished, hoping that would be enough for Cassie but he knew she was too inquisitive to leave the matter there.

'Yes, but...how did she die Dad? With magic these days death through childbirth is rare,' Cassie said knowledgably and Draco knew he was going to have to talk about the most painful time of his life, 'Yes, it is, and it was then too but not quite as rare as it is now. 2 in 10 women died in childbirth back then. Your Mother gave birth to you in America where the healthcare is supposed to be better, but something went wrong, it's a problem that happens during or after childbirth called 'Eclampsia', your Mother had swollen ankles and her vision was blurred which the healers said was normal for someone so young giving birth, they said it wasn't a problem and we believed them. She gave birth and held you, and we named you together, Cassiopeia after the stars, I know you hate your full name Cass but it was your Mother who decided to give you it,' Draco was aware his face was wet as he smiled at Cassie who was also crying.

'My Mother named me before she died?' Cassie asked, her voice breaking, Draco was finding this even harder now that he had seen Cassie's tears.

'Yes, she was tired so the healer put you in a little cot and I fell asleep by your Mothers bed, then in the middle of the night I woke up to hear your Mother screaming in pain, talking nonsense and having seizures,' Draco squeezed his eyes shut, he hated to think of her that way, 'if the healers had noticed it before you'd been born and they'd delivered you through a caesarean instead of through natural birth your Mother could have lived, but as it was, it was too late. The healers tried but she had 4 seizures then her heart stopped beating.'

'Dad,' Cassie gasped, still in tears, she moved closer to her Father and wrapped her arms around him, 'I'm so sorry,' she said as she cried against him. She could feel him shaking with silent sobs. They stayed like that for a little while, as the sky started to turn a pinky orange colour.

'What was her name?' Cassie eventually managed to ask as she pulled herself up to sit up straight.

Draco pulled the box out of his pocket, it wasn't very big, about the size of a photograph, but it was fairly deep, 'Hermione,' he said quietly, it was the first time he'd said her name in years, 'Hermione Granger.'

Cassie gasped, 'Hermione Granger was my Mother? The war heroine who fought with Harry and Ron? Who helped defeat Voldemort?'

Draco nodded, smiling sadly, 'Yeah, that's the one.'

'Wow,' Cassie said, shaking her head in disbelief, 'the history books say she was killed by Death Eaters in America.'

'As far as the history books and the Ministry of Magic are concerned, she did,' Draco said simply, placing the box in Cassie's hands, 'I should have given you this a long time ago,' he said truthfully as Cassie looked hesitantly at the little wooden box. It had a lion and a snake carved onto the top of it and intertwined in the snakes' tail was a D, whereas almost hidden in the lions mane was a H.

Cassie opened the box slowly, and gently took out each of the items stored inside it, 'There isn't much,' Draco admitted, 'but it's something to remember her by, I thought you could wear the earrings tomorrow.'

Cassie was silent as she looked at the items in the little wooden box, there was a ticket from platform 9 ¾ dated '1996', a ratty old Gryffindor tie and a gold bookmark decorated with the Gryffindor crest. Cassie frowned as she pulled out an old galleon, 'Dad, why is there a galleon in here?' she asked.

Draco glanced at the galleon and remembered the story Harry had told him about it, he smiled, 'Your Mother was part of Dumbledore's Army, a group of students who wanted to defend themselves in our 5th year when our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher wouldn't let us do magic. It was banned to meet with other students so the group had to be careful and your Mum was so intelligent she came up with a clever idea. She gave everyone a fake galleon that would burn and show the date of the next meeting so nobody could be followed and only members knew when the meetings were.'

Cassie seemed amazed, 'Wow, Dad how come she wasn't a Ravenclaw?'

'She was far too brave for that,' Draco said simply as Cassie put the coin back in the box and carefully took out the next object, 'Dad, is this a real time-turner?'

Draco's heart ached when he saw the time-turner, he nodded, trying to find his voice, 'she used it in her 3rd year to get to her classes, and then I think she went back in time by a few hours to save someone's life, but I'm not supposed to know about that, only a few people know. Harry told me about it after she died.'

'Does it-' Cassie began to ask, Draco shook his head, 'No, it doesn't work,' he said and there was something in his voice that led Cassie to believe he'd tried to use it more than once.

The last two items Cassie took from the box were in a sense the most personal, and Draco knew they were the two things she'd be able to pick from to use as her 'something old' for the wedding.

Draco watched as Cassie examined the red flower necklace that Hermione had worn to Bill and Fleurs wedding, so Harry had informed him. She examined the pink flower earrings Hermione had worn to the Yule Ball more closely and Draco felt like he had a lump in his throat stopping him from breathing, he remembered how he'd danced with Hermione for all of 3 minutes towards the end of the night when Harry and Ron had slunk off, he remembered how there had been a spark and then Hermione had hurried off and things had gone back to how they were between them, the hatred, the animosity.

'I'll wear them tomorrow,' Cassie said after a short silence, Draco smiled and stood from the bench, he held out his hand and helped his daughter up. Cassie put her arm through her Father's like she so often did and they began to walk back to the apparition point to make their way back to Malfoy Manor.

'I'm glad Cass,' Draco said with a smile, 'I know wherever she is, your Mother will be watching tomorrow.'

They shared one more smile before they turned on the spot and apparated back to their home.

When the next morning loomed Cassie needed her two best friends more than ever.

'Really?' Jessica had exclaimed after Cassie had relayed to her what she had been told the night before by her Father.

'No way!' Victoire had shouted, rolling over to get a better look at Cassie and nearly falling out of bed.

'It's true!' Cassie said, the three of them were lying in her king-size bed in her large bedroom at Malfoy Manor, 'my real Mother was Hermione Granger.'

'The Hermione Granger!' Victoire said, shaking her head, 'why did Dad never tell me? You know Uncle Ron always had a thing for her, Dad knew her pretty well.'

'Well,' Cassie said, 'that's the point; apparently hardly anyone knows the truth so you two have to keep it to yourself.'

'Our lips are sealed,' Jessica said quickly, 'I still can't believe Dad didn't know, Dad was really close with Harry's group of friends, I think he had a crush on Hermione when they were all at Hogwarts together.

'She was a Gryffindor though,' Victoire said, 'your Dad had a fling with a Gryffindor!'

'I know! I couldn't believe it either, but I don't think it was a fling,' Cassie said honestly as she got out of bed and stretched, 'the way he was talking about it...I think he loved her, I think he still does.'

'If he still loved her he wouldn't have married your mum, I mean Astoria, but wait, is she-' Jessica was getting confused now.

'She's still my Mum I guess, as Dad put it 'she raised you'.' Cassie said with a roll of her eyes.

'Hah,' Victoire said, 'your Dad practically raised you on his own Cass; I guess we know why she always favoured Scorp now though.'

'Yeah cause I'm not actually her daughter,' Cassie said, there were bitter undertones in her voice.

'Are you okay with all of this?' Jessica asked cautiously as she too got up from bed with Victoire following her lead.

'I'm fine,' Cassie said honestly, 'I'm glad it came out now,' she admitted as she smiled, 'and right now nothing can get me down, I'm about to marry Teddy!'

Victoire squealed, 'I know! Can you believe it? You're marrying the guy you've been dating since 6th year.'

Cassie's grin was huge as she let the girls help her into her dress; it was a beautiful white dress with lace arms and a lace underskirt, 'I'm so excited, but so scared at the same time,' she admitted as Victoire smiled at her and said, 'Cass, you're marrying the man of your dreams, what do you have to be afraid of?'

Draco Malfoy's heart was beating faster than normal as he stood at the front of the church; Astoria was on one side of him, she was there for Cassie's sake, not his, that much was clear. They'd gotten together shortly after Draco's return to England and he'd still been very much in pain, his marriage to Astoria had been fast and he'd regretted it. They'd had a few happy years, but there were lots of arguments and eventually Astoria decided she'd had enough of being second best to a ghost.

On Draco's other side stood the closest thing Teddy had to family, his Godfather, Harry, who had raised him with his wife Ginny standing proudly on his other side. Shortly after the war Andromeda had gotten very sick with dragon pox and had passed away. Harry had been looking after Teddy since his Godson was 2 years old. Harry had been one of the few people present when Hermione died, and for that reason he and Draco had connected and had kept a bond since that fateful day. As a result Teddy and Cassie had seen a lot of each other growing up; Cassie was a year younger than Teddy so they'd never been in the same year at school. Cassie, Draco knew, had a crush on Teddy since she was in 4th year, but Teddy eventually got the guts to ask her out in her 6th year. Draco had wondered if it would last but here they were nearly 10 years later and he was standing in a church and his daughter was about to be married.

'Draco,' Harry said quietly, gently placing his hand on Draco's shoulder, 'are you ready for this?'

'I have to be,' Draco replied simply, Harry smiled, 'just try not to cry, yeah?'

Draco scoffed and didn't catch Harry's eye as he said, 'Come on Potter, you know I don't cry.'

Harry grinned as Draco hurried up the aisle to meet Cassie outside the doors and walk her down the aisle, but he knew this to be incorrect. He'd seen Draco cry twice, once in their 6th year when they'd duelled in the bathroom and the second time was when the love of his life died on the day that his baby girl was born. Harry had cried as much as Draco had that day, and after something like that they couldn't go back to hating each other.

Harry glanced up to the alter where Teddy looked extremely nervous, he'd decided when he was about 14 that the look he liked best was blonde hair, a little bit spiky, and dark blue eyes, it was funny because he looked rather like Draco today with his blonde hair smoothed back. Next to Teddy was his best man who was his best friend and practically his brother, James. Teddy was a Lupin but he'd been brought up as a Potter, he was brought up with James, Albus and Lily and naturally that was why James and Al were amongst his 3 groomsmen. Harry hadn't been surprised when he asked Scorpius to be his third, Al and Scorp had been friends since they both became Slytherins at the age of 11 and as a result Teddy knew Scorpius as well as George had known Harry.

The doors to the church opened and Harry saw Teddy swallow hard, he caught Harry's eye as if desperately begging for some last minute advice, Harry smiled and looked deep into his Godson's eyes, he'd taught him legilimency which came in handy at times like this.

'Breath Ted, you're not allowed to stop breathing until Draco lifts the veil.'

Teddy grinned, and gave his Godfather a subtle thumbs up; Harry winked at him and stood with everyone else to watch the bride walk down the aisle.

Cassie looked fantastic, her dark brown curls were pinned up and her lace veil covered her face, but her huge smile was easy to see beneath it. Harry felt a lump come to his throat when he saw the pink flower earrings Hermione had worn to the Yule Ball so many years ago glittering on Cassie's ears. In those earrings and with her hair pinned up like that she couldn't have looked more like Hermione and Harry found he missed his best friend more than ever.

Draco looked both proud and scared as he walked down the aisle with his arm in Cassie's. Behind them Victoire held Cassie's train, as close as she was with Jessica, Cassie's best friend had always been Victoire. Although Victoire was a Slytherin and Cassie was a Ravenclaw they'd hit it off straight away. Harry remembered the only time they'd ever fought, they'd both had a crush on Teddy in their 5th year and when Teddy asked Cassie to Hogsmeade and not Victoire they hadn't talked in a month even though Cassie had said no because she knew how much Victoire liked him. They made up eventually, Harry had needed to shout at them a little and knock some sense into them but it had turned out for the best because Cassie was about to get married and Victoire was very happy with Oliver Wood's son, Jack, who had been in their year at school.

Victoire was wearing a pale blue dress and had her blonde her pinned up in the same style as Cassie. Walking a little behind Victoire on her right and left hand side were Jessica and Lily. They were complete opposites, both wearing the same pale blue dresses. The blue worked well for them both, Jess with her long dark brown hair and pale blue eyes, and Lily with her wavy red hair and eyes that were somewhere between green and blue. They both had their hair pinned up and were holding bouquets of flowers.

Behind them Roxanne skipped down the aisle, her black hair left down and falling around her shoulders. She looked adorable in a pale blue dress with a dark blue bow around it. A little behind Roxanne her big brother Fred carefully walked down the aisle as he held tightly onto the pillow that had two rings placed atop it.

As the group reached the altar they fanned out, taking their places. All but Cassie and Draco, Harry had good hearing and he strained to hear what was being said as Draco lifted Cassie's veil.

'You have no idea how proud your Mother would be today Cass,' Draco said, and there was something in the way he said it which broke Harry's heart all over again. Draco then took Cassie's hand, led her over to Teddy and placed her hand in his. He kissed his daughter on the cheek, whispered 'good luck' and took his seat next to Harry who noticed that the Slytherin was shaking slightly.

They watched in silence as Cassie and Teddy held hands and looked at each other. They watched as they exchanged vows, Harry was trying not to cry himself and he'd caught Draco wiping his eyes more than once. It came to that point, the point Harry knew would break Draco apart the most.

'Do you Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy, take Ted Remus Lupin as your lawfully wedded husband?'

Cassie smiled, no hesitation in her voice, 'I do.'

'And do you, Ted Remus Lupin take Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy, as your lawfully wedded wife?'

'I do,' Teddy said, grinning at his new wife.

'You may kiss the bride,' the priest said and Teddy wasted no time in leaning over and capturing Cassie's lips in a kiss. Everyone cheered and whistled as they kissed, Cassie's cheeks were pink with embarrassment and joy when they broke apart and walked down the aisle hand in hand amidst applause.

'Mrs Cassiopeia Lupin,' Harry said, shaking his head as if he still couldn't believe it, he patted Draco on the back and left the church with everyone else, to make their way back to Malfoy Manor for the reception.

Draco didn't feel quite ready to leave yet; he was still crying a little as he leant back against the wooden bench and took a deep breath, it was then that he felt it. He felt Hermione, he could smell her, it was like she was sitting right next to him but when he opened his eyes he saw nothing, he just felt overwhelming sensations and a voice whisper, 'Thank you.'

The End :D