Disclaimer: The characters and places and stuff belong to JKR. But for now, they are at my mercy. *evil grin* I'll return them as soon as I'm finished…maybe.
This is the sequel to "The Long Hard Road." To understand this story, you must first read that one. It is located at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=949557
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"This feels so perfect," Harry Potter murmured.
He and Draco Snape, now halfway through their seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, were curled up together on the sofa in their suite in the castle. Parchments were strewn across the coffee table in front of them, and Draco had another piece of parchment in his lap, along with a quill in his hand.
"Just sitting here together," Harry continued with a small smile. "Almost done with school. Planning our wedding. It's perfect, Draco..."
"Perfect," Draco agreed, kissing the top of Harry's head. "I love you, more than anything."
"And I, you." Harry leaned closer to Draco. "Okay... So there's no traditional way to do a same-sex wedding. As long as we have a legal officiator and witnesses, it'll be legitimate."
"I was thinking maybe we could do it like a regular wedding," Draco suggested. "Like, you know how the bride has bridesmaids or whatever, and the groom has a best man and all that? We can each have something like that... Like our closest friends to stand by us, a girl and a guy or something. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I get it," Harry replied. "I like that idea. A guy and a girl. Who do you want?"
"For a girl, either Hermione or Ginny," Draco replied. "But aside from you and George, I don't have any close guy friends, and I figured you'd want George..." His words trailed to an end.
"George can stand by you, if you want," Harry offered. "I've got Bill, too. And I'm closer to Hermione than Ginny."
"If you're sure it's all right," Draco agreed. He began to write on the parchment in his hand. "So for you, Bill and Hermione. For me, George and Ginny. We should ask them before we make it definite, but I'm sure they'll agree."
"I want Dad and Daddy to walk me down the aisle," Harry said, softly. "I think it would mean a lot to them, and to me."
"That's fine," Draco assured him. "I wanted Mum and Dad to walk me down, as well." He wrote that down. "Ring bearer?"
"Sean," Harry suggested. "I know, ring bearers are usually younger, but Sean's the youngest boy, and sometimes I feel like I'm leaving him out of stuff, you know? I think he feels like I favor Kayla over him, and I want to include him."
"No problem, honey. Sean will be the ring-bearer. Flower girl? I want Cat to be included, but do you think she'd be too young?"
"She probably shouldn't do it by herself," Harry replied, "because if we're going to have the wedding in July, then she wouldn't even be two yet. But maybe she and Kayla can both be flower girls." Draco nodded.
"All right. So what day do we want to have it, and where?"
"Any day you want," Harry said. "As for where... Maybe we could have it here, at Hogwarts. In the Great Hall, I mean. Or maybe Snape Manor, outside in the garden?"
"The garden would be nice," Draco commented. "Especially in the summertime. It would be pretty. And sometime in July, let's skip that for now."
"Who should be the officiator?" Harry wondered. "Somebody from the Ministry or what?"
"Do you think Dumbledore would be able to do it?" Draco asked.
"Maybe," Harry replied. "We could ask him." Yawning, he asked, "What time is it?"
"Almost midnight," Draco replied. "What do you say we put this stuff away for now and go to bed?"
They organized all their papers on the coffee table, then went into the bedroom. After changing into their pajamas, they climbed into bed. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry from behind and slipped one leg over Harry's.
"Just a few more months," Draco whispered in Harry's ear. "It's January now. Just about six more months, and we'll be married. We'll buy a house, you'll find a teaching job, I'll get a job of some kind... Maybe we'll have a couple of kids... And we'll be the happiest guys in the world."
"I'd like some kids," Harry murmured, giving a soft smile as he drifted off to sleep.
~~~
Two days later, on Saturday, Harry and Draco gathered their families into their suite, along with Albus Dumbledore, Hermione, Ginny, George, and Bill, who was visiting for a couple of days.
"Harry and I have been talking about who we want in our wedding," Draco announced. "First, we each want our closest friends to stand by us, kind of like the bridesmaids and best man in a regular wedding. Ginny, George, will you stand by me?"
"Of course!" George agreed.
"I'd love to, Draco," Ginny added.
"Hermione and Bill, will you stand by me?" Harry asked.
"You know I will," Hermione told him, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
"Sure I will," Bill said.
"Good, that's settled," Draco said. "Next: We want Cat and Kayla to be flower girls."
"Okay!" Kayla exclaimed.
Draco reached over to lift Catherine from their mother's lap and placed her in his own. Cat giggled and reached her hand up to grab her brother's hair.
"Cat, sweetie, do you want to throw flowers with Kayla when me and Harry get married?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, yeah!" Cat squealed. Draco looked at Katie and Severus.
"Can she?"
"We'll see, honey," Katie responded. "She might not understand what she's supposed to do, and she might not be able to behave herself."
"Fair enough," Draco sighed.
"Sean, will you be our ring bearer?" Harry asked.
Sean's eyes widened, as though he was surprised that he was asked to be a part of the wedding. Harry frowned inwardly when he realized how much his brother was feeling left out. He made a mental note to spend some time with Sean later.
"You really want me in your wedding?" Sean asked.
"Of course!" Harry exclaimed. "You're my brother, why wouldn't I want you to be a part of this? Will you do it?"
"Yeah, sure!" Sean agreed.
"Thanks, bud," Harry said, reaching over to mess up his brother's hair.
"All right, just a couple more things," Draco continued. "Mum, Dad, will you walk me down the aisle?"
"Yes," Severus replied automatically, and Katie agreed.
"Dad, Daddy, will you walk me down?" Harry asked.
Remus gripped Sirius's hand, and Harry could tell that they were thinking of James and Lily Potter. Finally, the two men looked at their oldest son.
"It would be an honor, Harry," Sirius said, softly. "Thank you."
"And lastly," Draco said, "Professor Dumbledore, are you able to perform marriages?"
The Headmaster looked surprised by the question, but he quickly recovered.
"Yes, I am."
"Will you do ours?" Harry wondered. Albus gave the boys a smile.
"I would be delighted," he told them.
Within the next half hour, everyone had left, except for Harry, Draco, and Sean. Harry told Sean to go into the kitchen, while he and Draco stayed in the living room for a moment.
"I need to spend some time with Sean," Harry murmured as he faced Draco, resting his hands on the blond boy's hips. "I got permission to take him to Hogsmeade for a few hours. We'll be back in time for supper in the Great Hall, so I'll see you later, all right?"
"Sure, love, no problem," Draco assured him, kissing his forehead. "I think I might go home with Mum, Dad, and Cat for a while, anyway. You two have fun, sweetheart."
"Sean!" Harry called after Draco left. Sean came out of the kitchen. "What do you say me and you hang out for a while? Just the two of us?"
"Really? Okay!" Sean agreed.
"What do you want to do?" Harry asked.
"Um... Do you think you could help me with my homework before we do anything else?" Sean wondered.
"Sure, no problem. I got permission to take you to Hogsmeade, so why don't we go down to The Three Broomsticks? We'll do your homework over some butterbeer."
Half an hour later, the brothers were sitting at a table in The Three Broomsticks, drinking butterbeer, doing Transfiguration work, and talking.
"Sean?" Harry said, suddenly, his voice soft. "Why didn't you ever tell me you felt left out?" Sean sighed, but he didn't reply, so Harry continued. "I don't favor Kay over you, you know? You're both my family, and I love you the same. I'm sorry if I ever made you think otherwise." There was a pause, and then Sean finally spoke.
"It does seem like you love Kayla more than me," he said, quietly. "When we're not in school, you're always playing with her when she asks you to, and you don't pay attention to me. You've spent even less time with me since I started at Hogwarts, and I made Gryffindor, and I thought you'd love me more and be proud of me."
By then, Harry had tears in his eyes, and he moved around the table to hug his brother. But Sean wasn't finished yet.
"Everybody likes Kayla more than me because she's younger, she's cuter, and she's more outgoing than I am. But I can't help being how I am."
"Merlin, Sean, I'm so sorry," Harry whispered, holding his brother tightly. "I had no idea¼ I've been so stupid, not to realize¼" He gave another sigh. "Sean, I love you. You're the best brother I could ever ask for. Please, if I ever do anything stupid like that again, tell me. Curse me. Do something, all right? And I promise, me and you will hang out more, and I'll start paying more attention to you, okay? I promise."
"Okay, Harry," Sean agreed, hugging his brother. "Thank you. I love you, too."
~~~
So there you have it: the first chapter of what will probably be the last story in this series. Let me know what you think!