Albus gave his Great-Great-Aunt (er, was this one called Charis?) what was hopefully a final hug and made to turn around and head back to his table, but she managed to grab his hands in hers and had begun softly patting them yet again. Eyes threatening to spill tears, she told him once more how handsome he looked and how much she just adored weddings. Although he appreciated the sentiment, Albus didn't think the woman had a clue how he actually looked, given that she was mistakenly staring about four inches to the left of his head as she spoke to him. Her oversized glasses clearly doing nothing at all for her eyesight at this point.

He was beginning to think he would be eating his dinner while standing in the middle of the room with his ancient relative pinching at his cheeks and reminiscing about all of his cousins' many weddings. While the lady meant no harm with her ramblings, he really would rather get back to his table where he belonged. He scanned the room, searching for another excuse to leave when he saw his father walk up behind his great-great-aunt and clear his throat.

"Callidora! How lovely to see you!"

Ah. So she was Callidora. So close.

"Albus!" the old woman smiled, turning to look at Harry. "I've been meaning to talk to you all night!"

Possibly because it was his son's wedding day or possibly because he remembered his own frustration on his wedding day to talk to and appease the many Weasley relatives, Harry played into her confusion and nobly took on the role as a stand-in for Albus.

Albus grinned at his dad from behind his Great-Great-Aunt Callidora, clasped his hands out in front of him, and mouthed a 'thank you' to his dad. Harry smiled back, before assuming the part and pretending to be his middle child for the rest of the discussion.

Free at last, Albus quickly moved toward the walls and snaked around the outermost part of the room to avoid any other kin who might be eager for more conversations. He quickly thanked Merlin that Callidora's eyesight was as poor as her memory and was grateful for the first time ever that his father was the spitting image of him. Or he supposed it was actually the other way around. He reached the main table at last and looked up to see Scorpius making his way to sit beside him with bright eyes and a smile to match on his face.

"Albus, have I ever told you that I love your family."

"Yeah, it's come up once or twice now, I think," he teased. "You know that it includes you now, don't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose it does," Scorpius said, his smile stretching ever-wider as the realization dawned on him. "I'm part of the Great Potter-Weasley Clan now, aren't I? Wow. Gosh. This is just the most exciting thing!"

He stood from his chair abruptly. "I'm going to go hug someone related to you-well, and me-again now I think."

"I know I'll never be able to quite match your level of enthusiasm for making small-talk with a hundred different old people in a single night," Albus said with a small shake of his head, "but I suppose it is rather nice to have so many people here who want to celebrate with us. Who support us. Though I suppose some of them are probably just here for the cake. I mean, that's all that's keeping me here right now," he added.

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Only staying for the sweets. See, my boyfr-I mean, my husband (Albus felt giddy as he said the word)-is abandoning me just to talk to some old witches and warlocks. It's quite tragic." Albus sighed and looked up at Scorpius, who was still standing.

"Well, that is quite sad. No, really. I'm not being sarcastic at all. I have so much sympathy for you," he teased. "But I really do want to go see them. Only for a little bit, though, I promise."

"Fine. You're probably going about all this much better than I am. We really should thank them for coming. And if I'm being honest I just want to stay by your side right now, so I suppose I'll come, too," he said, standing. "It's just a bit exhausting, you know?"

"Nope. Sorry. I can't say that I do." Scorpius laughed. "I love them, each and every one. I think I'll make a family tree with all of their faces on it to hang above the fireplace," he said, half-joking.

"Scorpius, love, we don't have a fireplace."

"Right. Well then, we'll put it on the refrigerator until we move somewhere a bit nicer, how's that?"

"That sounds lovely actually. Really lovely."

"Are you joking? You, Albus Potter, would want a family tree plastered with all your relatives' faces to hang in our home?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Not something I'd have necessarily done on my own, but it sounds like it'd make you happy to see everyday. So, yeah. I would," he replied, reaching for Scorpius's left hand with his right and stepping closer to him. "And it's Potter-Malfoy now, by the way, get your facts straight." Albus moved in and ever-so-briefly kissed him, before leaning back and looking at Scorpius with what was probably a rather soppy smile on his face.

"Oh no, not even my facts are straight now!" Scorpius cried in jest, sliding his arms around Albus's lower back and pulling him in close.

"That's all right by me," Albus said, a smirk quickly overtaking his soppy expression. He reached up and around Scorpius's neck to bring his face to his, his lips to his, and kissed him as long and thoroughly as he could until the grin that had been threatening to break across his face all the while finally managed it. He smiled against Scorpius's lips and then pulled back and looked up at him.

"What? What are you grinning at? Have I done something grin-inducing?"

"No," Albus laughed, "well, yes, actually. If I think about it, it actually is all your fault. You just married me. And I'm really happy about that, you know. And I can't quite stop grinning every time I think about it. And I don't think I want to do anything but just look at you right now," he said, his voice now an almost-whisper. "As horribly cheesy as that might sound," he added, a definite pink tint spreading across his cheeks.

"Oh, come on. You know I love cheesy."

"I do," said Albus, for the second time that day. He stood beside Scorpius, and hand-in-hand they walked back into the crowd. And when his fingers occasionally grazed the (wonderfully) new band of gold wrapped around Scorpius's finger, Albus knew there was nothing that could possibly dilute his beaming expression.