I know it's short – the shortest chapter I have probably ever written. But I wrote it…and I didn't want to do anything else to it. Sorry if you hate it (I'm already preparing for flames!). But if it makes you feel better...I might write an extra chapter or two to make up for it!
It was a beautiful spring day. The backyard of the Malfoy Manor was decked out for what everyone in the wizarding world was calling the wedding of the century, with the added notation that they'd been waiting for this wedding for a decade. Rows of white chairs filled with the closest family friends of both Hermione and Draco as they waited for the bride to make her presence down the aisle. Draco stood at the end of the aisle with Teddy on his right. His attention snapped to his grandson, three-month-old Jamie who was happily sitting on his father's lap in the front row, drooling like a broken faucet as he gnawed away on his little fist.
"Cute kid," Teddy said with a grin, making a silly face at his nephew.
"Of course he's cute," Draco replied, as if his grandchild could be anything else.
He was quite positive after witnessing his five children be brought into this earth that nothing would ever quite top that moment. Draco vividly remembered holding each of his children for the first time, and the overflow of emotions that wracked his brain. But when Draco was handed a swaddled up Jamie - the last of the grandparents to hold the newest addition to the family, all he could do was stare, completely dumbfounded at the sight before him. He could tell the boy was definitely a Potter, but he definitely had his and Anya's nose, and maybe, just maybe, a Malfoy chin. As he carefully sat down in the chair, holding his new grandson, he glanced over at his daughter, who was grinning from ear to ear. How did she get so old? he thought to himself. Wasn't she just a little girl the other day, sticking her tongue out and rolling her eyes at the man who sat next to her? Draco couldn't understand where the time went, or how any of them got as far as they had, with everything they'd been through. All he knew in that moment, looking back down at Jamie, was that this was the first Potter he'd ever come in contact with that instantly had his love.
Jean and Richard sat on the end of the first aisle, Richard on the end and Jean in between her husband and James. He remembered how over the moon the two of them were when they told them of their engagement back in the fall. I'd welcome you to the family, son, but I don't think it's necessary, Richard said to Draco when they broke the news. I couldn't be happier though, he added, giving Draco a fatherly hug. You've done the only thing I've ever wanted for my daughter - and that's making her happy.
When the music began to play, everyone in tandem turned to look at the back of the aisle, and Draco looked up, smiling at the three girls walking towards him. Anya and Claire stood on either side of Katie, holding their little sister's hands as they made their way down the aisle, smiling brightly at their father. His older girls wore matching, strapless crinkled chiffon dresses in a pale peach color while Katie wore the same color, only she wore a short sleeved, tea length, crinkled chiffon dress that she would have been wearing for the past month since it arrived from the dressmaker, had she been allowed. It's the…most fancy dress…ever! Katie exclaimed when her mother showed it to her. Katie of course wasn't a frilly, dress up kind of girl like Anya and Claire were, but she loved that dress.
Anya's hair, pulled back into a classic French twist with a pearl studded barrette holding it all in place, reminded Draco of Astoria, only she never knew how to smile like Anya's did. Claire's hair wasn't much different than she usually wore it, with the exception of a small section of her long, platinum blond curls pulled back and pinned right above her ear. She looked much older than her seventeen years, and as he caught Albus giving Claire a small smile, in which she bashfully returned, Draco knew the inevitable wasn't far behind.
"Daddy!" Katie loudly whispered as the three of them reached him. "Daddy look at my dress!"
Laughter murmured through the small crowd in front of them as Draco squatted down to her eye level, taking her hands from her sisters' and looking at her. "It's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen."
Katie shook her head. "Just wait. Mummy's is way better."
He kissed her forehead and stood up, kissing Claire's cheek, then Anya's. "You two look beautiful as well," he whispered to his older daughters.
"Katie's right," Claire replied with a smirk.
"Just wait until you see her," Anya added. "It's going to make you wish you'd have done it sooner."
"Shut it," Draco playfully retorted as the girls made their way to the 'bride' side of the aisle.
The music gracefully switched over to the classic wedding march, and as everyone stood, Draco looked down at his shoes for a moment, steeling the nerves he could feel prickling all over his body. Holding his hands in front of him, he took in a deep breath, looked up, and realized his daughters were right. Scorpius and Leo, wearing the same black suit as their father, held her hands as they walked towards him. Draco wasn't sure how Hermione kept getting better looking with age, because every time he looked in the mirror, the stress of his youth was becoming more noticeable on his face. Hermione on the other hand, didn't look forty two, her hair curled and tamed, halfway pulled up as she walked towards him in a beautiful, mermaid shaped wedding gown. A sweetheart neckline with a sheer appliqué from the neckline upward created elegant capped sleeves that buttoned at the back of her neck, revealing an open back as she made her way towards him, grinning from ear to ear. A wedding dress really isn't necessary, she protested a month ago. I've already been married once. I had the dress. I don't need another one. Her daughters, however, changed her mind, and Draco had never been more thankful, because she looked stunning.
He watched as she bent down and kissed both of her boys on the cheek before they walked over and stood next to their father. Reaching out with a hand, Draco grinned like a fool as Hermione willingly accepted, their fingers lacing together as the two of them, surrounded by their immediate family and friends, allowed Teddy to marry them.
"I should start," Teddy said to the Malfoy-Potter-Granger clan, "by asking if anyone objects to these two getting married. I will add, however, that if anyone decides to object, I will not be held responsible for the violent acts that may come your way, as it's taken an eternity for these two to get to this point."
Everyone laughed, while Draco blushed, giving Teddy a look that Teddy did not seem to find all that threatening.
"I kid, I kid," he added, giving his cousin a good clap on the arm. "But not really - because it's been forever."
"Keep it up, and this wedding will turn into a funeral," Draco said with a playful smirk.
"Well that's much too tragic for my taste," Teddy replied. Clearing his throat, he informed the small group that had gathered that the two of them were going to exchange their own vows. "And they better be good," he added, "Because you've had forever to make them."
Giggling, Hermione looked up at Draco, now holding both of his hands, giving them a good squeeze before she spoke first. "We weren't supposed to work," she said with a smile. "Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think when I was younger that I'd be standing here with you, five children between us, happier than I've ever been. But we are standing right here, and happy isn't even an appropriate word to describe how I feel. I once told you that I didn't need to marry you. That I didn't care if we ever reached this point, because we had everything else - love, honesty, compassion - and most importantly - we're each other's best friend - and we always will be. I have every intention of growing ridiculously old with you, and not everyone is so lucky to say they have the privilege of growing old with the love of their life. I love you, Draco Malfoy, and I always will."
Draco pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Hermione, who dabbed away her tears before they ruined her eye-makeup. Once she composed herself, Draco took her hand back and looked down at her, still towering over her despite the heels she wore. "You're right," he said. "We weren't supposed to work. And to be honest…somedays, it defies explanation. I know I don't deserve your patience most days, but you give it to me without complaint. You ignore my flaws, you make my worst days infinitely better, and with you, I doubt myself less. I know I rely on you infinitely more than you rely upon me, going all the way back to when we first started becoming actual friends. You were a parent to my children long before you moved into my house, taking on what could have been an impossible task with grace. And I know I took forever to ask you to marry me, a regret I'll always have, but I've never needed a piece of paper to justify how I've felt about you, and how I will continue to feel about you. You're everything, and without you, I'm nothing."
He didn't think he'd get choked up speaking to Hermione, but he did, which was an unfamiliar sight as he ducked his head for a moment while Teddy asked for the rings. Scorpius dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out two rings - a thick, gold band and a thin, braided gold band that matched Hermione's engagement ring. Teddy handed the rings over to Draco and Hermione. "Repeat after me," he said to his aunt. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"With this ring…I thee wed," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Teddy gave Draco the same instructions, and with a small clearing of his throat, Draco looked Hermione right in the eye as he slid her ring down onto her left ring finger. "With this ring, I thee wed," he promised.
"Well," Teddy announced with a beaming smile. "By the power vested in me by the awesomeness that is the Muggle Internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
Wolf whistles and cheers from the crowd echoed in the backyard of the Malfoy Mansion, as Draco dipped his bride back in the most dramatic of fashions and planted a sound kiss to her lips, much to the amusement of his new wife and the rest of the crowd.