Chapter 16

Leeds, West Yorkshire

7th April

"Strange," James frowned. "We don't usually get things from the Ministry." He eyed the envelope that the owl had deposited, checked it for charms or threats (to his relief the tests were negative) and opened the letter, eyes widening as he read it.

"James?" He heard Marcus Parkinson's voice from the fireplace in the living room.

"Marcus?"

"Did you get a letter from the Ministry?"

"I did. How has this happened? Did we miss a clause somewhere that's triggered it with time?"

"I don't think it was a time thing," Marcus frowned, "I think it's standard magical procedure. I'm assuming, of course, that they didn't have a ceremony yesterday?"

"Not that I know of and, presumably, not a wedding ceremony anyway," James sounded amused now things were sinking in as to what his son and Pansy must have got up to the night before.

"What do we do?"

"There's not much we can do now is there? What's done is done, according to magic. We always knew it was going to happen eventually. We do need to tell them though; the last thing we want is Pansy to find out when an examiner calls her Pansy Potter right before she's due to take an exam."

"Yes, I can see that affecting her performance," her father agreed.

"I'll contact Harry now," James promised. "Do you want to come through?"

"If you're ok with it, I'll let you deal with it; more than likely they're together anyway," he winced at the thought. "I'll just see you at the office."

"Ok." He pulled out his mirror. "Harry Potter."

Harry's Room,

Hufflepuff House

"What?" Harry asked groggily as he heard his dad's voice from the mirror; he was still half-asleep and still wrapped around a lot of bare, female flesh. He kissed Pansy's temple as she stirred before rolling over as he disentangled himself and reached down to his trunk and picked up the mirror.

"Dad?" he asked; James's face appeared.

"Is Pansy still with you?" he asked without preamble. Harry was caught out by the question; he glanced at the girl but she pulled herself into a sitting position where she could see the mirror.

"Good morning Uncle James," she greeted him blearily. "Is everything ok?" Her panic started to rise. "Has something happened at home?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," he assured her, "but there is something that has happened; I'm calling because your dad and I received letters from the Ministry this morning that we thought you should know about. Harry, just check the Map, ok?"

James ended the call and the two exchanged looks. "That was odd," Harry commented before activating his map. "What?" he exclaimed as he found them in his room. Pansy followed his gaze and looked at the dot labelled 'Pansy Potter'.

"We're… married?" she asked in shock. "And… and, as he signed the betrothal, dad got a letter about it, and he got it because we… I can't believe this. How can I show my face to them? I…" she buried her head in the blanket.

"Do you regret it?" Harry asked sadly; her head snapped up to look at him.

"No, Harry, no," she insisted. "Sweetheart, I will never regret giving myself to you. I love you and I'm proud to be your wife; I've been dreaming of it for over a decade. We knew this day would come; it's just awkward that our parents know, how they know and… and my dad's going to kill me for doing it so soon."

Desperate to show that she had no regrets, she pulled him back down into a position where they were lying down on the bed and the newlyweds just cuddled for a while before Harry glanced at his watch on the bed-side table; breakfast was being served in the Great Hall.

"Come on Mrs Potter," he tapped Pansy's arm gently. "It's time to get up and have breakfast."

"What if I want you to be Mr Parkinson?" she asked with a smile.

Harry reached down and picked up the Marauders' Map again, which was still active. He pointed to her name, 'Pansy Potter'.

"Sorry Mrs Potter, magic has spoken. Prongs?" he called to the mirror; James's face reappeared.

"Congratulations are in order then," the elder Potter grinned; Pansy looked a little mortified still and Harry was far from comfortable with the conversation.

"Does mum know?"

"No, she'd left for the castle before the letter arrived; you're going to have to tell her – and decide what and when you tell the other staff."

"Ok," he nodded glumly; it wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to.

"I'll go with you," Pansy volunteered as they approached Lily's office; Harry hadn't had the nerve to face her in the Great Hall.

"No, I'll do it. No point us both getting yelled at." He kissed his wife (that's going to take some getting used to, he thought) and knocked on the door; his last hope of delay disappeared when Lily's voice called "Come in."

"Darling," since they were alone Lily didn't bother with any shred of formality, "how are you?"

"I'm fine but…" Harry's nerve failed him; he pulled out the Marauders' Map and found the room on it. Pansy was waiting just outside and he pointed to her. "Take a look at the map."

The red-haired Potions Professor followed his finger; her head shot up to meet his shame-filled eyes. "How did that happen?" Harry immediately flushed bright red. "I see," she continued, trying not to laugh at his response. "Pansy?" she called; the black-haired girl opened the door and trudged in. Lily rushed over and swept her into a huge hug before kissing her cheek. "Welcome to the family. Officially anyway; you've been family for years."

"You're not upset?" Pansy was surprised.

"It's one more reason to be angry at your fathers for arranging that contract in the first place but we've known you'd marry for a long time; you've been engaged for almost three years! It's not happened the way we'd envisaged and I'm sure your mum will want a proper wedding for you – I do as well – but I'm not upset that you're married. We do need to figure out what you do next, though. I assume you won't want to stay apart in dorms for the next two years?"

"We… haven't talked about it yet," Harry admitted.

"To be honest I haven't thought about anything except 'my dad's going to kill me'," Pansy added.

Lily laughed. "I'm sure that's not going to be the case," she assured her. "Let me tell Professors Sprout and Dumbledore, but that you don't yet know what you want to do about it. Can I tell him we'll discuss it over the summer and let him know then?"

"That sounds good," a relieved Pansy replied. "Can you also ask him if I can still sit my OWLs as Pansy Parkinson? I'm not ready for the whole school to know just yet and don't think my new name being announced to the whole year group right before an exam is the best way of making it public. You understand, don't you?" she turned to Harry with pleading eyes.

"Of course," he nodded reassuringly.

Library,

18th May

"Do you have to do that so noisily?" Hermione hissed. Pansy looked at her in surprise; she'd merely been reading her own book and turning a page.

"It's paper; it rustles when you touch it," she pointed out testily, "and I can't just read one page forever."

Hermione ran a hand through her bushy hair; it was looking more unruly than ever as she'd decided to spend the time needed to tame it studying instead. "Sorry," she sighed. "I'm just on edge with the exams approaching and how important they are."

"I understand," Pansy replied. "We all are. Maybe you should take a break for the rest of the evening," she suggested.

"I don't have time," she declared, scandalised by the suggestion. "Exams are only a couple of weeks away!"

Neither girl noticed Madam Pince stalk up to them. "Both of you, either stay quiet or leave," she hissed. "I don't care which," she added as she turned and walked away in search of more miscreants.

A chastised Hermione gathered up her books. "Where are you going?" Pansy asked.

"It's almost curfew," the Gryffindor replied, "I want to make sure I've got a spot in the common room before they all get taken."

They said their goodbyes before Harry gently squeezed Pansy's hand. "There goes someone who could do with some 'relaxation' strategies," he said quietly, nuzzling her neck; Pansy giggled, drawing another glare from the librarian.

"I'll let you suggest it to Neville," she commented as she squirmed, "see how that Gryffindor courage is."

The laughter they both struggled to control saw them forced to retreat to an empty classroom to continue their studies.

Parkinson Manor,

Loughborough, Leicestershire

31st May

"Oh, you got a letter as well," James observed as he saw Pansy's missive on the living room table.

"Yes, she just asked if I could send some 'supplies' for the end of exams party the Hufflepuffs want to have," Marcus commented idly.

"Harry made the same request of me," James disclosed; Marcus began to laugh as the two wives grinned at their sneaky offspring.

"Well far be it from us to disappoint our kids," Marcus declared pompously, causing more laughter.

"Harry did also request something for a more private celebration with Pansy; they don't finish their exams until the day after everyone else with the Magical Business, Law and Alchemy exams," James added. "I was thinking they could be our 'test subjects' for the new product." He gestured to the bottle on the table; it was his latest creation, a wine very similar to the elven wines many families had discovered that their House-Elves could produce. They had also realised that the quality of the wine improved with the mood of the House-Elf, no amount of threats, orders or punishments could improve the quality – in fact quite the opposite.

Marcus raised his eyebrows. "That would be interesting," he agreed. He was a little concerned about giving two 15-year-olds quite a potent drink, however. "Could we water it down a bit? Or do you think they'll be fine with it?"

James shrugged. "Harry's been enjoying non-magical wines with Sunday lunch for a few years now, so has Pansy when she's been over in the summers, so I think he'll be fine. We've got sensible kids." Nobody mentioned that the sensible kids had inadvertently activated the clause to cement the betrothal contract, though the topic was soon raised.

"I think we should discuss arrangements for the summer," Esme interjected, "now that they are, legally at least, married."

"I'm sure they'll be together most of the summer as usual," Lily commented. "Sleeping arrangements could be a little awkward at our house though as we gave the larger bedroom to the twins and wouldn't be able to fit a larger bed in Harry's room."

"You could use some space-extending charms," Esme suggested; Lily shrugged.

"We could but we like keeping it as non-magic as possible, both for the neighbours and to make it harder to find us. I know it's been nearly fifteen years but we're still cautious – and we like our privacy."

"I understand. In that case, maybe they should spend nights at our home," Esme volunteered.

"That would make sense," James agreed; he turned to his wife. "I assume Pansy's taking a potion?"

Lily nodded. "After they told me I prepared it; I call it the 'don't make me a grandma yet' potion," she chuckled. "Embarrassing them is just so much fun."

Badgers' Sett

24th June

There was a raucous atmosphere among the fifth and seventh-year Hufflepuffs; NEWTs and OWLs (apart from for Harry and Pansy) were over so the students were letting off some steam after the stresses and strains of the past year. Younger students, whose exams hadn't quite finished, were taking some time out from their studies to join in the parties.

"Thanks for providing these," Cedric told them over the din, gesturing to the butterbeer he was holding. "Tell your parents they are very much appreciated."

They nodded, enjoying their own drinks and socialising with their housemates, though they did make their apologies after an hour or so of the party and head back to the library to carry on studying – until Madame Pince threw them out at curfew.

"Do you want to see if the Common Room is any quieter?" Harry asked; Pansy eyed him.

"We probably should," she agreed before adding huskily, "if we go to an empty classroom or the Come and Go Room then we might not get too much more studying done."

Harry grinned. "Tomorrow night," he promised; Pansy matched his smile.

"I can't wait," she said before giving him a quick kiss, filled with the promise of more to come.

Come and Go Room,

25th June

"We made it!" Harry hugged his fiancée; she kissed him passionately.

"We really did," she agreed. "I thought we'd never reach the end of them, but now we can relax for a while."

Harry chuckled. "Hermione's probably started on her NEWTs already." Pansy laughed, thinking it was something the brunette Gryffindor would do.

"In fairness she's better since she and Neville have been together – at least until Easter came around and the exams started to really draw near."

"I know this year he's finally got her to start sneaking into broom cupboards – and during prefect rounds too," he laughed as Pansy mock-gaped and tutted. The Marauders' Map had certainly made their own rounds easier, while enabling them to locate available hiding places too. He still looked fondly on the time they had spotted Neville and Hermione in one and decided to turn a blind eye, though they teased the Gryffindor couple about it the following day. He had yet to catch the twins doing anything they shouldn't; he was sure they had been up to something though and felt they were far too sneaky. "Anyway," he produced the bottle that his father had sent him; Pansy asked the room for two glasses as he opened the wine bottle. "To passing our OWLs," he declared confidently, having filled the two glasses; they touched them together and took a sip, both nodding at the extremely pleasant taste.

"To us," Pansy added; they drank again. They continued to drink and kiss then, as they reached the end of the bottle, the room obliged their request by providing a bed.

Great Hall

26th June

"What happened to you last night?" Hannah asked as the couple, both looking a bit the worse for wear, sat at the breakfast table.

"We finished our exams yesterday, remember?" Pansy asked.

"Yes, we were planning on having a little party for our year group," Susan commented.

"We ended up having our own party," Harry told them. "Sorry, we didn't realise you had plans; nobody said anything to us. We just wanted to spend some time together after the exams were done."

The redhead nodded, though she blushed a little; she could well imagine what their 'private party' had involved and her glance down the table towards Ernie Macmillan did not go unnoticed by Pansy. She made a mental note to spend more time socialising next year, since they would be between exams, with OWLs and GCSEs out of the way; she groaned slightly at the thought that she, Hermione and Harry would have an intensive period of sitting those exams too once they had broken up for the summer.

"So, party tonight instead?" Harry asked; Susan nodded eagerly and some of their yearmates turned to listen in. "I think we still have some of the stash left that our dads sent," he said, looking at Pansy; she nodded. "I've got maybe a dozen butterbeers and a bottle of firewhisky?" she wrinkled her nose, something Harry always thought was adorable.

"I've three firewhiskies and a full crate of the good stuff," he noted, referring to the 'hard' butterbeer. "Should be enough for us all to have a little post-OWL celebration."

"Ooh, we should invite Neville and Hermione," Pansy suggested.

Susan looked a little uncertain. "You can but we were thinking of just having it for our house; the others will probably be doing their own thing."

"Oh ok," Pansy nodded, "makes sense. We can always have a party for our friends at my place this summer. That way it's a pool party," he added, grinning at Harry.

"What are you doing today?" Susan asked them.

"Professor Sprout has asked to speak to us about next year," Harry said.

"Any problems?" she asked in concern.

"Nothing to worry about, no," he assured her.

The Potting Shed

"Mr Potter. Uh… Mrs Potter," Pomona Sprout corrected herself in time; she chuckled. "It will take some getting used to; I don't remember the last time we had students marry while still at Hogwarts. I've asked you here to determine your intentions for the next two years. Are you going to ask for married quarters?"

The couple shared a look. "It isn't something we've discussed, Professor," Pansy began, "with how busy we've been over the OWLs, but I do believe we would like them, yes."

Harry concurred. "We've kept the change in our relationship hidden from the rest of the school so far but that's not going to be possible for the next two years. It will come out so we may as well do it on our terms."

"Very well. In that case I will have to discuss things with the Headmaster; while I don't see the quarters being an issue, your continuation as prefects might be. It may be felt that teen marriage is not something to which a prefect should aspire."

Harry nodded; if it was a choice between being a prefect and being with Pansy it was an easy choice for him. "I understand," he said, although he would be disappointed if it also ruled him out of the running to be Head Boy in seventh year; he would have loved to have emulated his parents and taken the position.

"As do I," Pansy agreed; there was a slight trace of sadness in her voice but she couldn't deny that losing prefect rounds would give them additional time that she and Harry could make the most of.

"I will talk to him and let you know," she promised.

Sprout spoke to them at dinner that evening; she informed them that they would be able to continue as prefects if they wanted to, given that their new quarters would still be inside Hufflepuff house. She did ask them to make sure they devoted the necessary time to their duties and cautioned that she would be asking other students to inform her if it proved to not be the case.

"What do you want to say to the others, if anything?" Harry asked as they returned to the Sett.

"You want to tell them tonight?" Pansy asked in surprise.

"We did say we wanted to let people know on our terms. We drop the bombshell tonight during the party then they have all summer to get used to it."

"And all night to interrogate us on it," Pansy grumbled, "not to mention we'll also have to tell Neville and Hermione tomorrow."

"Again, we have to tell everyone anyway," he reasoned.

Pansy chewed her lip for a few moments as she pondered the predicament. "Ok," she said finally, "let's do it."

It went pretty well; their friends in Hufflepuff were surprised by the news, though their fellow fifth years decided it was an additional thing to celebrate that night. All were smart enough to figure it out when the question of "how did it happen?" didn't get a very straight answer, particularly as they had – correctly – assumed that that was what they had been up to the previous evening.

Telling Hermione and Neville had been a little more awkward, especially as they didn't want to tell the twins at the same time (they were going to talk about it all as a family later on). Pansy had a brainwave when she suggested that they split up to do prefect patrols; she took Hermione in one direction while Harry and Neville went the other. Both Gryffindors were blushing and struggled to meet one another's gaze when they returned. Harry wondered if a conversation might be in their futures.

At last the train arrived at platform 9¾ and students were met by excited and happy family members. The four Potter students said goodbyes to their friends, complete with promises to meet up over the summer, before meeting their parents and heading for home.