Lucius and Hermione were sitting in Lucius's office at the Manor. The pair were supposed to be going over some Ministry business, but Hermione's mind was elsewhere. Instead of concentrating on what Lucius was saying, Hermione's mind was on her upcoming wedding.
After making a decision about the ceremony and celebration, Draco and Hermione had set the date for the wedding as the last week of February. The couple had then booked an exclusive hotel as the venue. For the ceremony itself they'd booked the roof garden of the hotel, and for the celebration party they'd booked a large ballroom which opened out into the exquisite gardens of the hotel.
Both the ceremony and the celebration were almost planned, with the help of Kathleen and Narcissa. Kathleen had actually done the bulk of the organising, but Narcissa had been a great help when she'd not being at the school. Together the three witches had organised the perfect wedding and celebration.
The only problem was with the person conducting the ceremony. So far Draco and Hermione hadn't found anyone to marry them. Hermione still wanted a private ceremony so her father could witness the event. They had spoken about just disguising him for the ceremony at the hotel, but it just wasn't practical. Hermione didn't want her father to have to hide, just like she wasn't going to hide behind her Dark Lady persona. Then there was the fact whoever married them would be finding out her true identity, and she had to be able to trust them. Draco had suggested that they just hired a Minister and after the event they obliviated them, or if necessary they could even get rid of them. Hermione however, wasn't happy with either option. While she had no problem with getting rid of people in her way, she didn't want her wedding day to be tainted. In years to come she didn't want to look back at their wedding and remember they'd either obliviated or disposed of the person who had married them.
"Something tells me we're not going to be getting very far." Lucius remarked, shutting the file he had opened and drawing Hermione's attention back to the present.
"Sorry Lucius." Hermione smiled apologetically at her right hand man.
"It's fine." Lucius smiled back at Hermione. "It's perfectly normal for you to be distracted with the wedding coming up."
"If we don't find someone to conduct the ceremony soon, there won't be a wedding." Hermione sighed.
"My offer's still open." Lucius told the young witch.
As Minister for Magic, Lucius was fully qualified to conduct a wedding ceremony, and he'd offered his services to the couple. Both Hermione and Draco had been grateful for the offer, and they knew it would eliminate problems with Voldemort, but neither were totally happy with Lucius marrying them. As father of the groom they would both rather he was just witnessing the ceremony, rather than conducting it.
"We appreciate it." Hermione told Lucius.
"But it's not what you want." Lucius nodded understandingly. To be honest even though he'd made the offer, he would rather just sit back and watch his son get married.
"It's not, but we might have to resort to that." Hermione admitted. "Especially since I want my father to be there."
"There is another option." Lucius offered. "I've been looking into it, and almost anyone can become licensed to conduct a wedding ceremony. And with me being Minister, I can quicken the process up and ensure everything goes through smoothly."
"So all we would have to do is find someone we trust, someone father wouldn't mind confiding in." Hermione mused.
"If you find someone let me know." Lucius said. "Although even with my influence, I'll need a good few weeks to get all the paperwork done. If this is the route you're going down, you'll have to make a decision quickly."
Hermione nodded and thanked Lucius for his suggestion. After deciding they would try another day to go over the files Lucius wanted Hermione's opinions on, the brunette witch headed home. When Hermione had left for the Manor, Draco had been doing some work of his own but when she arrived back at the penthouse, Hermione found her boyfriend sprawled on the sofa with his eyes closed. Kicking off her shoes, Hermione tiptoed towards her boyfriend and crawled onto the sofa with him. Draco didn't react as Hermione settled herself beside him as she thought over what Lucius had just told her.
It was over half an hour later that Draco's eyes finally opened and he found Hermione lying snuggled up beside him. Dropping a kiss onto the top of his fiancée's head, Draco smiled at Hermione as she looked up at him.
"Hey. You should have woken me." Draco said. "I didn't expect you back so soon."
"We weren't getting anywhere." Hermione answered.
"Are you still worrying about the wedding?" Draco questioned his fiancée as they sat up on the sofa.
"Actually, I think your father has solved our problem." Hermione replied, before telling Draco what Lucius had told her.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Draco asked.
"Actually I do." Hermione nodded. "What do you think about asking Severus?"
"I like it." Draco replied thoughtfully. Severus had always been there for him personally, and he was one of Hermione's most trusted Death Eater's.
"I think father will approve as well." Hermione said. "Of course, before we talk to Severus we'll have to talk to him first."
Draco nodded and the couple made plans to go and see Hermione's parents the following evening. If they got Voldemort's approval to talk to Severus, they would then speak to him and bring him in on the secret of Voldemort still being alive.
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Hermione was in the bedroom when she heard the floo network sound. Moments later she heard Draco greeting their guest, and the voice of their former Potions Professor soon reached her ears. Hermione let the two wizards talk for a few minutes as she finished getting ready. Since she was at home her glamour's weren't necessary, but she'd just had a shower and was sorting her hair.
When Hermione left the bedroom and entered the front room she found Draco had already given Severus a drink. While Hermione greeted Severus, Draco poured her a drink and handed it to his fiancée.
"I'm assuming this invitation isn't just so we can have a drink." Severus remarked as everyone settled down.
"We do have an ulterior motive." Hermione told the older wizard. "We want to ask you a massive favour."
"We want you to conduct our wedding ceremony." Draco said.
Severus gaped at the couple for several moments, before he found his voice. "I don't understand. How can I conduct the ceremony?"
Hermione explained about what Lucius had told them, and his promise to ensure all the paperwork would go through as quickly as possible.
"I'm very flattered, but I still don't understand why you want me to do this." Severus said. "Why not just find someone who conducts wedding ceremonies?"
"A couple of reasons." Hermione answered. "Firstly, I want to get married as myself, not The Dark Lady. For that to happen, we need someone we can trust. Someone who knows who I am."
"I'm sure Lucius could buy someone's silence on that matter." Severus retorted. He knew there was something else going on, but he just couldn't work out what.
"I'm sure he could." Hermione nodded. "But we actually want you to conduct two ceremonies. The main ceremony is going to be fairly private with just close friends and family, but we want a ceremony before that. A ceremony my father can attend."
"Excuse me?" Severus's mouth dropped open and he looked at Hermione as though she was crazy. Her father had been dead for a good few years, so how on earth did she expect him to attend her wedding.
"I guess we should explain." Hermione chuckled at Severus's shocked reaction. "I'm sure this will come as a shock, but I'm about to tell you the real story of my father."
For the next half hour Severus sat in shocked silence as Hermione explained everything that had happened with her father since his return to full strength at the end of her fourth year at Hogwarts. Severus was totally amazed that Voldemort was still alive, but he could definitely understand the reasons behind the decision. Even now he knew there would be problems within the Death Eaters if they knew The Dark Lord was still alive. With Voldemort in the picture there was no way they would respect Hermione as their leader, she'd only been able to establish herself because people believed her father was dead.
"Now do you understand our problem?" Draco asked Severus. "Only someone we truly trust can do this."
"And what does your father think of this?" Severus questioned Hermione. "Is he alright with you telling me his secret?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Hermione smiled. "He wants to see you, if that's okay."
"Yes." Severus nodded. "I'd like to see him."
"We'll have to go to him." Hermione explained as she walked over to the fire and unlocked the floo network. "He's not up to making visits."
Severus got up and once Hermione had given him her parents address he disappeared into the emerald flames. When he arrived at the Riddle's house he was surprised to find Kathleen standing in the middle of the room. Severus knew her as a fellow Death Eater, but he'd had no idea she was married to Voldemort and was Hermione's mother.
While Severus and Kathleen were saying hello, Draco and Hermione stepped from the fire. The couple were just greeting Hermione's mother when the door to the front room opened and Voldemort entered the room. Severus lowered his head in mark of respect for the wizard, but he couldn't help but stare at the old man Voldemort had become. He was still very recognisable as the dark wizard that once ran the Death Eaters, but his age had really caught up with him with the loss of his magic.
"Severus, it's so nice to see you." Voldemort greeted the wizard he hadn't seen in a few years.
"It's nice to see you too, My Lord." Severus replied. "Even if it was a shock to discover you were still alive."
"I'm sure it was." Voldemort chuckled. "Sit down, and we can catch up."
Severus did as requested and settled down with The Dark Lord. Hermione, Draco and Kathleen also sat down and for the next couple of hours the group happily chatted to one another. Severus found out a lot more about Voldemort and Kathleen's relationship, and what had happened since Voldemort's failed attempt to regain his full power. Severus also filled Voldemort in on what was going on at Hogwarts, and in his life.
Eventually the conversation drifted onto the wedding, and the reason why Severus had been confided in. Both Hermione and Draco made it clear to Severus that if he didn't feel comfortable with conducting the ceremony there would be no hard feelings. Hermione also reassured him that they trusted him to keep Voldemort's secret and his life or memories weren't in danger.
"I'd be honoured to conduct the ceremony." Severus told the young couple. "I just hope you're going to give me some sort of guidelines on what to say."
"Of course." Draco chuckled. "I'm sure we'll be running over the ceremony a few times, just to make sure everything's perfect."
"Of course we will." Kathleen stated. "This wedding will run perfectly. And the key to perfection is practice."
Severus chuckled as Draco rolled his eyes at his future mother-in-law. It was clear where Hermione got her perfectionist nature from as Kathleen started listing things that still needed to be done for the wedding.
"You'll have to make sure you get Lucius to sort this as soon as possible." Kathleen told Hermione and Severus. "Now you've made a decision about the ceremony, we need to ensure everything is in place with Severus's paperwork. The last thing we want is for this wedding not to be legal."
"We've still got over six weeks until the wedding." Hermione told her mother. "Everything will be sorted by then."
"I should hope so." Kathleen replied. "These six weeks will fly by, just you watch. Before you know it, it'll be your wedding day."