Title: Life is…

Author: Tigergirl

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I do own Harry Potter. I own any original characters you don't recognize, especially Casey. She's been my original character since about 2004/2005.

Summary: Harry couldn't have picked a better wife-to-be than Casey Malfoy. Too bad their parents don't see it that way. But will the two families see eye-to-eye when a rare disease threatens silence the wedding bells?

CHAPTER ONE

Someone once said life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself[1]. It feels like I've spent most of my life doing both.

Twenty-one year old Harry Potter finished mixing his paints and turned around to walk back to his canvas. He was in the mood to paint today. As he dipped his brush into the paint, he found himself thinking back on how he got to where he was.

At age one, he had done what no one else could. He had survived the Killing Curse. It had been cast by a vengeful dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort. His parents had, for whatever reason, been spared and knocked unconscious. That night, he became the Boy Who Lived, the most famous figure in the wizarding world.

Harry made a face as his brush stroked across the canvas. The Boy Who Lived. He loathed that title. Thankfully, his parents had raised him to not let it all go to his head. He grew up simply as Harry Potter, a resident of Godric's Hallow.

Harry smiled as his gaze went past his canvas and to above the fireplace where there were a few non-moving photo frames. His gaze fell on one photo in the center. It was a picture of him and a woman with dark blonde hair. She had her arms wrapped around his neck from behind and a playful smile on her face as she leaned her head against his. Because it wasn't a moving photograph, the image didn't show the soft kiss they had shared before the picture was taken.

Her brother Draco had taken the photograph. Yes, he was dating a Malfoy. Casey Malfoy was Draco's twin sister. Oh, he remembered their past well.

And I'm looking forward to the future, he thought as he felt the ring in his pocket.

As he moved on to a new color after washing his brush, he thought back on how he had first met Casey.

/…/

Harry was a Potter. Casey was a Malfoy. Both families knew each by reputation and the occasional passing by in Diagon Alley. It was on the train that he found himself sitting in a compartment alone. The door slid open and Harry looked up from the window. He had half-expected to see his best friend Ron, but instead it was a short, blonde girl with robes already on.

"Mind if I sit here for a moment?" she asked, politely.

Harry nodded. She smiled before stepping in and sliding the door shut behind her. She walked over and sat down across from him. The two looked at each other in some weird staring content for a while. Then she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.

"Messy brown hair…round glasses…you, sir, must be a Potter," she said with a playful smirk.

Harry decided then that he would play along. After all, it was a long train ride. He leaned forward on his own knees and gestured as he spoke.

"Gray eyes…blonde hair…nice but expensive robes…you must be a Malfoy," he smiled.

The two were able to hold it in for about five seconds before they cracked up. After calming down, Casey was the first to speak.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Casey," she said, reaching her hand out.

Harry never even hesitated to reach across and shake her hand.

"Harry."

The two sat and chatted for a few minutes before they heard a knock on the door. There was a familiar silhouette in the doorway.

"Casey? Are you here?"

Harry had to hold in a groan. He recognized the voice of Casey's twin brother, Draco. The two wizards had met on several unfortunate occasions. Casey let out a quiet chuckle directed at him before speaking up.

"I'll be out in a minute, Drac. Just meeting a new friend."

Draco seemed to accept this and walked away. Casey turned back to him and smiled.

"I better go before he comes back and blasts the door open. I'll see you on the inside, Leo."

Harry quirked an eyebrow as Casey stood and made for the door.

"Leo? What makes you think I'll be sorted into Gryffindor?" Harry asked with a small chuckle.

Casey turned around with her hand on the door handle.

"What house do you think I'll be in?" Casey asked in return, not actually answering his question.

Harry smiled and answered honestly.

"Hufflepuff."

Casey barked out a laugh before sliding the door partially open.

"See you at the Sorting Hat, Harry."

He admitted it later to himself that he had really loved hearing a Malfoy call him by his first name. Especially when it was a female Malfoy.

/…/

Harry chuckled as he switched brushes to one with a smaller brushed tip. Like her brother, Casey had been sorted into Slytherin (which had been his real prediction). Despite the animosity between the two houses, the two had secretly become friends.

Over the years, they found that they helped each other a great deal. Casey rocked at Potions; he stunk worse than a dung beetle. Casey was weak in Defense; Harry excelled at it. They helped each other with going over the basics and then improving on the weak points in each subject.

Halfway through fourth year, after he had been dating Ginny Weasley for a few months, Harry had finally taken on the most serious challenge of his life. He asked Casey out.

/…/

Most everyone was inside at the ball celebrating the school champions. Harry had not seen Casey at the ball but he knew just where he could find her. Carefully evading the professor patrolling the grounds, Harry made his way down to Hagrid's hut.

As he came closer, he spotted Casey's figure by aid of the full moon. She was jogging back and forth from one spot to the other. Lumbering along beside her was Fang. Harry had almost let it slip more than once to Hagrid the real reason as to why Fang had lost some weight recently.

"Casey!" Harry called.

Casey looked up and waved as he approached. As he got closer, he saw that Casey was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a light jacket with a hood.

"I thought I would see you at the ball," Harry said, stopping in front of her.

Casey snorted while dropping her hand to scratch Fang's ears.

"You know I hate that scene. I barely make it through the balls my family drags me to," Casey reminded him.

Harry chuckled. He agreed with her. He hated the social balls that his family attended, too. However, this was a school ball in support of the Triwizard Tournament champions, including Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts. And his best friend Hermione had begged him to come.

"Ginny broke up with me," Harry blurted out.

Casey raised an eyebrow at him before cracking a smile.

"I know. Even we dungeon dwellers occasionally get a piece of the gossip. If you don't mind me asking, why did you break up?" Casey asked.

"Ginny realized she liked me better as a friend. And I realized that I liked someone else," Harry confessed.

"Oh?" Both eyebrows rose. "And who's that?"

Harry stepped closer so Casey could see his emerald gaze more clearly.

"You."

Casey's eyebrows shot up while her eyes went wide. She turned her head to the side while rubbing her ear. Then she stared at him again.

"Did you just…?" she started.

Harry nodded his head.

"And you're absolutely…" Nod again.

"Oh." Another nod. In agreement.

Casey shifted her gaze upward while mumbling something in French. Harry found she did this often when confounded by something. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, Casey dropped her head back down and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Is that your own Gryffindor way of asking me out?"

/…/

Harry chuckled. He remembered well how red his face had burned. Thankfully, Casey had taken pity on him and stepped forward to hug him. She had agreed to give it a try with a confession that she had been a little jealous of Ginny. However, if her brother found out, he was going to be the one to handle that fire.

Draco had found out Casey was dating someone, but not who it was. Even her best friend hadn't a clue as to who it was. Sadly, both had found out about a year later.

/…/

It was the first night back from Winter Break and they were really happy to see each other again. So happy that they had forgotten to put up their usual locking charm on the door and alert charm for the hallway. They had been catching up for the past hour.

Now they were making out on the window ledge with Casey partially on his lap. They never heard the voices in the hall or the opening of the door. However, they did hear the loud gasp. They broke apart to find two familiar Slytherins staring at them.

Blaise looked a tad confused while Draco had shock and horror down. He seemed to put two and two together quickly as he saw how close they looked.

"Soeur [Sister]?"

Casey stood up from the ledge and stepped back from the ledge. Harry followed her example.

"Frère [Brother]?"

Draco took in a deep breath before speaking.

"Est-ce votre petit ami [Is this your boy friend]?" Draco asked.

Casey answered in the affirmative. Draco took a deep breath before lunging forward to yank Casey away. He pulled her over to a side of the tower where he started hissing something to her in French. She listened for a few minutes before she joined in on the very heated debate.

Harry stared in mild fascination. The two were putting up quite an argument against each other. He guessed he really only had to worry when one or both of them pulled out a wand.

"Potter."

Harry jumped. He hadn't realized Blaise had slid over to stand beside him. Harry turned his head. He tried to remember the last time he had heard the other Slytherin speak. Third year? First year? He was normally very quiet. Not shy. Just quiet.

The Slytherin kept his gaze on the two arguing Slytherins. He seemed more interested in watching them, He spoke again in his quiet tone.

"Are you Casey's boyfriend?" Blaise asked.

Harry knew from past conversations with Casey that Blaise was her absolute best friend. So he knew honesty was the best policy right now.

"Yes," Harry answered.

If Blaise was surprised by his answer, he didn't show it.

"How long have you been dating?"

"About a year now."

Blaise made a noise in the back of his throat before finally turning his head to look at the Gryffindor. His eyes flashed.

"Do you love her?"

Harry's eyebrows dropped and he turned his head to look at Casey.

The blonde witch was incredibly smart and never hesitated to offer to help him understand Potions better. She was beautiful, but she wasn't the girly girl type or narcissistic. She was fierce, compassionate, and not afraid to speak her mind.

A smile lifted across his face.

"I do."

Blaise looked sharply at him. He obviously hadn't been expecting such an answer. A small smile flitted across his face, but was gone when Harry blinked.

"Piccola pantera [Little panther]."

The two squabbling blondes stopped when Casey slapped a hand over her brother's mouth. She jerked her head to the side, ignoring the hands slapping at her arm. She brought her other hand up to smack him sharply on the cheek. This shushed the wizard's struggles.

"Mi piace [I like him.]"

Casey's smile lit up the room like the Weasley twins' fireworks.

/…/

Harry paused in his painting to take a break. He wandered downstairs for a drink. As he trudged slowly down the stairs, Harry continued his current thought process. Casey had translated for him later that night after the four had parted ways. It turns out Blaise was fluent in Italian and, naturally, Casey had learned the language since he was her best friend.

Blaise had told Draco flat out and in plain English that he approved of the relationship. After a few more shared words of the French language with his twin sister, Draco had reluctantly agreed to give him a chance.

Over the next few months, the two had grown even closer. Draco and Blaise had even covered for Casey a few times. Sadly, all good things had to come to a head eventually. Right around the same time he had accidentally let it slip in a letter to his parents, Draco "Big Mouth" Malfoy had mentioned Casey's boyfriend to theirs. Both sets of parents wanted to meet their child's girl/boyfriend.

Right around this time was the annual family day at Hogwarts. It was always a Thursday and Friday in which classes were all cancelled. Muggle-born students were able to go home for the long weekend if they so choose.

If anything else, Harry remembered that day very vividly. Especially when it was Casey and Draco's godfather that found out first.

/…/

"Come on, Casey. They're all waiting downstairs," Harry encouraged her.

From her seated place at the top of the stairs, Casey crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.

"Hellllll no. My brother got us in this mess. He can damn well get us out of it," Casey replied.

Harry flashed a reassuring smile before walking up the few extra steps to sit down beside her. He reached over to grasp Casey's hand in his. Her face melted into a small sad smile.

"It'll be okay, Casey. We got through your brother and best friend finding out at the same time," Harry reminded her.

Casey chuckled while grasping her boyfriend's hand.

"In any case, we might want to bring Madame Pomfrey with us. In case of any sudden breakouts of heart failure or fainting. After all, we're coming out to the whole school, too," Casey pointed out.

"I'd be more worried about the hexes and curses. My mom's got a fiery temper on her and dad is an Auror," Harry said with a grimace.

Casey opened her mouth to reply but a throat clearing behind them stopped that. They both snapped their heads around to see the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. Professor Snape stood with his arms crossed over his chest while looking down his long nose at them.

Casey smiled weakly.

"Hi, Godfather."

Harry snapped his head back to face Casey. He was suddenly worried of a severe case of whiplash.

"Godfather?! You never told me that," Harry protested.

Casey shrugged.

"You never asked."

Harry opened his mouth to say something when the Potions Master reached down and pulled both teens up by the back of the robes by their necks. He leaned down so his face between both of theirs; to which they both refused to turn their heads to look at him.

"Casey Alexandria Malfoy, please tell me your boyfriend is polyjuiced to look like Potter as a prank."

Casey grimaced. "I would, but that would be lying. And I happen to know you always carry Veritaserum."

Professor Snape let out an almost inaudible sigh.

"As much as I'm enjoying this three-ring circus, I believe both your families are waiting downstairs," Professor Snape said.

Casey turned her head with a playful, innocent smile.

"I don't suppose you would go downstairs and tell them you can't find either one of us," Casey said.

Even Harry was giving her a disbelieving look. Professor Snape released both of them but then lowered his hands to push them both forward.

"I endured five hours of interrogation with Lily Potter last weekend. You're going downstairs and telling them, even if I have to drag you by your ears."

Harry was still giving her the disbelieving look as they walked down the stairs to the Great Hall. Casey shrugged.

"It was worth a shot."

Harry snorted.

/…/

Harry entered the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. He opened the fridge and paused to consider his options before selecting cranberry juice. He wandlessly and wordlessly summoned a cup safely from the cupboard.

He poured half a cup of cranberry juice and returned the bottle to the fridge. He thought back to what had happened when they entered the Great Hall with Professor Snape. Turns out they didn't have to call both families together.

The Headmaster had already done that.

/…/

Casey and Harry stared at the Headmaster as he clapped a hand on a shoulder for each of them.

"You just know everything, don't you?" Casey accused him.

The Headmaster chuckled. "I only see what there is to see."

Casey shot him a dirty look while Harry hid a blush.

"Now I believe you have something to tell your families."

Headmaster Dumbledore stepped aside to let the two pass. The two families were sitting (very reluctantly) at the same round table. Professor Snape now stood in the background with a knowing smirk on his face. Draco sat with his smirk and arms crossed over his chest.

The two stood in front of the table with a shared nervous look at each other. It was Narcissa Malfoy who spoke first.

"Casey Alexandria, I thought we were going to be introduced to your boyfriend. There's no need to bother Mr. Potter," Narcissa lightly scolded her daughter.

At the same time, James Potter had stood up from the table to come over and throw his arm around his son's shoulders.

"Hey, son. Come tell us about this great girlfriend of yours. I thought we were going to meet her," James told him.

Harry smiled weakly.

"You've actually already met her, Dad. You and Mom," Harry explained.

Harry could see the dawning in his mother's eyes and the tensing of the Malfoy parents. Especially when Lucius Malfoy tightened his grip on his cane. The Malfoy Lord abruptly stood up from his place at the table. He rounded around the table to come stand by Casey with his hand firmly grasping her arm.

Because he was standing close enough, Harry was able to hear what Mr. Malfoy hissed in Casey's ear.

"We will talk about this later, Casey Alexandria."

However, Casey refused to be deterred. She turned her head to glare at the hand tightly holding her arm. Then she turned her gaze upwards to her father's face.

"No. We're going to talk about this now. I, for one, would feel infinitely better knowing that a Potions Master and Auror are within hearing range for this conversation."

His daughter's tone had obviously surprised him. Looking over Casey's shoulder at the Headmaster, Lucius released her arm.

"Mother, Father, Godfather…I believe you know Harry Potter. He's my boyfriend and we've been dating since Fourth Year."

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had lit up like a spark while Mrs. Malfoy brought a hand up to her mouth. Draco was still grinning like an idiot and Professor Snape was shooting him (Harry) a disapproving glare.

Harry felt his father's arm fall back from his shoulders. His own mother looked equally as shocked. Suddenly, his father's arm came back up to his shoulders and he shook him lightly.

"Ha Ha. That's a great joke, Harry. You'll have to tell me later how you talked Malfoy into this one," James laughed.

However, his laughter died when Harry shoved his arm off. He turned and gave his own father a serious look.

"Casey's telling the truth. I asked her out after the Champion's Ball in Fourth Year. We've been dating since then," Harry said with a strong, powerful voice.

He could already hear whispers starting in what was now a very quiet Great Hall.

/…/

The most amusing part of that night, Harry thought as he reached the top of the stairs, was the near end. The two teenagers had talked in front of their families about what they liked in the other. One of Casey's likes had been that Harry had helped her decide what career field she wanted to go into.

Upon hearing this, "Big Mouth" Malfoy had spoken up again and demanded to know what career his twin was going into. Her answer had resulted in James Potter dropping in a dead faint and Narcissa Malfoy pulling Casey aside while speaking rapidly in French. He much preferred his father's reaction.

Harry sat back down at his easel and began painting again. It was late when he finally finished his art. He sat back in his seat, admiring the work in silence.

He nearly jumped out of his skin with a pair of arms came around his neck. They came down to rest across his chest as a chin rested on his shoulder.

"It's beautiful, Harry," a familiar voice whispered.

"Thank you, love," Harry said, patting Casey's arm gently.

He took Casey's hand in his and admired the simple yet beautiful silver band resting on her ring finger.

"I have great news," Casey whispered in his ear before placing a kiss on his cheek.

She took her arms down and allowed Harry to turn around and stand. Casey stood with a glowing smile on her face. She wore regular muggle clothes in the form of clean jeans, a t-shirt and zippered jacket with a hood. No one would have guessed what Casey's profession was.

"Okay, Auror Casey. What great news are you dying to tell me?" Harry asked.

Casey clasped her hands in front of her. She first held them up to her bright smile before bringing them down to her middle.

"We found her," Casey answered.

Harry's face lit up. Now he understood why Casey looked like she was going to sizzle up into the air like a muggle firework. He stepped forward and pulled her into a warm hug.

"That's wonderful!" he exclaimed.

Harry pulled her away just to pull her back to give her a kiss. Casey threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back without hesitation. They broke apart when it was starting to get hard to breathe. Now they both had bright smiles and glowing red cheeks.

"She's the cutest little girl, Harry. Even cuter than her photograph," Casey chuckled.

Harry brought his hands up to hold Casey's face.

"I bet her father was happy to have her back," Harry told her.

Casey nodded.

"He was over the moon. We were so happy to reunite them," Casey said.

That's what Harry loved about his fiancée. She was a great team player.

"I'm surprised you're not out celebrating with the team," Harry commented.

Harry knew he should suspect something when Casey used that same smile she had once used on her godfather.

"They're coming here, aren't they?" Harry asked with a knowing look.

Casey nodded as she pulled Harry's hands down so she could dance away. She moved around over to the bathroom.

"They'll be here in an hour. I need to wash my hair and you look as though you're in need of a shower…dear."

Harry chuckled. He was glad Casey was so straightforward with her honesty.

"Hey Casey."

Casey turned around with her body partly in the bathroom doorway. She raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"What's the girl's name?" Harry asked.

Casey grinned.

"Isabella."

END OF CHAPTER ONE

[1] Quoted from George Bernard Shaw

Author's Note: I hope everyone has enjoyed the first chapter. I am writing this on a sort-of trial basis. That means I want to see how it goes as I write it. I'm posting this first chapter to see what others think.