Disclaimer: I just own the plot.

Review Responses:

Soccergirl1204 - I like Draco and Ron becoming friends too! I think those two are just both so loveable! Thanks for the review!

Bonezz - I'm pleased you liked my quidditch match, having never written one before I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Slytherin should definitely win more often, and would if I were JK (but that seems unlikely to happen)! I'm a huge Ron and Hermione fan so I had to put some hints of them in along the way and I hope the stuff about them in this chapter makes you laugh. No, there will be no Lucius, though I'm sure he's there in spirit damning them both! LOL! You'll see why it's bittersweet in a minute! Thanks for the review!

Errisar - You always guilt me into updating, people should be grateful to you! I know it's been an unforgivably long time, but in my defence I've had exams to do and Christmas was busy and the modem still won't work on my laptop so things have been difficult to work around and find time to update! Still, I'm a very thoughtless author to keep you all waiting like this so I apologise. As to your first review, I agree Harry does have to lose once in a while! And I'm glad you liked the Ron and Hermione, they are so meant to be together! Hope your bad luck's showing some signs of improvement by now! And my essays both went really well thanks! Thank you for reviewing and I'll let you go read the long awaited wedding chapter!

number seven - I love Narcissa/Sev fluff too but poor Draco had to have a look in sometime and I needed to make Harry lose at quidditch! You could say that this chapter gets just a bit fluffy, who am I kidding it's a lot of fluff really but there's some sad stuff at the start! Thanks for reviewing!

T.A. Skywalker - Sorry the quidditch lost your attention a bit, I promise they'll be no more of it. Really I just had to pull Harry down a peg and show the somewhat odd relationships of the Slytherins. Killing Lucius certainly was a major plot changing device, it had got to the point where either I had to give up Narcissa and leave her trapped in Malfoy Manor with no hope and no future (and that was believe it or not the original plan!) or find a way to remove Lucius and I definitely didn't fancy the idea of having him chasing after her trying to kill her for the rest of her life so he had to die, I couldn't let such a heartthrob rot in Azkaban! Lucy is a bit flat in the books, I just love him because he's evil! Besides in my head I like to flesh him out a bit, I think I painted him as a much more grey character in my one-shot, 'The Blind Fight the Blind', but in this it suited the plot to keep him as the villain of the piece. You're right about grey characters being good, just look at Sev for example! I don't like characters who lack depth and flaws. Point taken about Dumbledore, I don't like or dislike the man really I can't decide what to think of him anymore but you're right in your assessment of him. You've actually come closer than anyone else has in justifying to me his bias towards Gryffindor so I applaud you in your answer! Also something you said got me thinking and you've inspired me to write something else. You wrote , "Harry must kill Voldie not just defeat him" now from the moment we heard the prophecy I've been feeling deeply sorry for Harry but hearing you bring it up again got me feeling even more sorry for the boy and inspired a little one shot. It's basically about Hermione, having been told about the prophecy, thinking about it and the future on the way back to Hogwarts at the start of the next school year. It's not up yet but I've written most of it so thanks for the inspiration! I'm glad you enjoyed our little island, it's very cold here at the moment actually and it was snowing the other day so you probably wouldn't enjoy the weather much at the moment! Keep updating your story, you know it's good and that's what matters because it is good! Thanks for the review!

I Found a Little Courage to Call it Off

A/N: What can I say except sorry? I know this is hideously late but I've had exams and my modem on my computer won't work so I just haven't been able to get round to updating. I really am sorry for the wait!

_Emphasis_

Chapter 24

The day of the wedding dawned bright and cold in early January. Narcissa felt a chill of excitement as she was raised early from her bed by Dippy with a cup of tea. Molly, Arthur and various others would arrive soon to help her get ready. Dippy and a team of professional decorators had set up the ballroom the previous day and all that remained to be done was for her to get dressed and for Severus to show up, as he had spent the night at the Burrow so as not to see her in the wedding dress too early. However, it seemed that only minutes after he arrived he was about to attempt to do just that as he knocked on her door, where Molly had just finished helping her do up a row of buttons down the back of the dress.

"Narcissa, it's just me can I come in?"

"What do you mean 'just you' you're the person who's not _supposed_ to come in! I'm already in the dress, if there's something wrong tell me through the door."

"Narcissa, it's important!"

"Severus, you can't come in here. It's bad luck, and I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime!"

"Well, put something else on if you insist but you _have_ to come out here!"

"Severus! It took twenty minutes to do up the twenty five tiny little buttons at the back of this dress. I'm not getting changed again!"

"Here," Greg's voice sounded, "Let me in, I think I can solve this."

The door was opened a fraction and he slipped inside, "Put this on." He handed her his long, black trench coat which she took doubtfully.

"Greg, what's going on?"

"You'll see," he said slipping her arms into the coat and steering her out of the door before she had time to protest.

Severus was waiting for her, "I want to give you your wedding present."

"Now? It couldn't wait?"

"Well, I'm afraid you have to go and see it and it's not that nearby."

He went into her study and she noticed that not only did Greg follow them but Mr. and Mrs Myriades were waiting for them in there.

"Alright, why are all these people here?"

"Well, the present was something I needed to check with Mr. and Mrs Myriades about and I'm sure you'll understand why they and Greg are here when you see it. Oh, just one more thing, this is also from Albus."

"Dumbledore?!" Narcissa took a few deep breaths. "I'm getting a wedding present from you and _Dumbledore_?"

"Not exactly, but I needed his help in order to get permission for this, he did mention that he'd got us something else though."

Narcissa sighed, "Alright, let's go. Where are we going anyway?"

"Knockturn Alley."

Narcissa was about to speak, then decided not to. The whole day was turning out far too surreal for her to feel able to question any further, so she simply followed Greg through the Floo system to find herself in Borgin and Burkes.

It was quite clear that Mr Borgin was more than a little surprised to see three wizards and a witch in dress robes and another witch in a trench coat suddenly appearing in his fireplace but the wedding party ignored him. Severus took hold of her hand and led her out into the street, taking her further down Knockturn alley.

At a corner near the small shop where she had bought the unicorn heartstring wand, there had been placed a large stone which stood about waist height with words inscribed on it.

Narcissa looked at Severus, puzzled, "What are we doing here?"

He simply pointed her towards the stone and she crouched down to read it.

'Morgana Myriades, loyal friend and beloved daughter.

One of the many forgotten innocents who died at the hands of the Death Eaters and now lies in an unknown grave.

The dead of the war do not all reside in neat little cemeteries, conflict is never that tidy.'

There was absolute silence for a moment as Narcissa read the words before her. She then reached out a pale hand to trace the letters of Morgana's name.

"Severus," she extended a hand to him and he pulled her to her feet. Her eyes were glistening with tears and she smiled at him sadly. "That was a lovely idea." She kissed him and then leaned her head on his shoulder, letting him hold her until she felt a bit calmer. She was unable to quite believe what the man had done for her; the gesture was so simple yet at the same time full of meaning.

She looked up to see Morgana's parents hugging each other and Greg looking sadly at the words. She released Severus and went over to her old friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her and the two smiled at each other.

"You've found someone pretty special," he said quietly to her.

Narcissa agreed, "Yes, I have."

She linked her arm through Severus', "What made you think of this?"

"Actually it was something you said," he turned to Greg, "You said to think about what in her life she wasn't happy with and try to do something to help that. I know it's bothered you, never knowing what happened to her body, and I just thought this might help a little."

"It does," she said quietly, "But why Knockturn Alley? It's perfect, but how would you have known that?"

"Well I was going to put it in Diagon Alley but then I remembered how fond you two were of coming down here and buying illegal potions and the like. I thought this was more fitting."

Narcissa laughed, it was certainly true. They remained a few minutes longer before returning to the house to prepare for the ceremony, all feeling subdued yet peaceful and, in Narcissa's case, deeply moved.

After they had gone a small man emerged from a nearby shop. He had been watching the party through a window and he read the words on the stone to see what had been happening.

Then he understood.

He remembered two teenage girls coming into his shop, curious and utterly self-assured, saved from arrogance only by their charming manners. He sighed sadly. Had whoever had placed it there outside his shop known how perfect a placing it was, or was it just because it was a convenient corner? He supposed he'd never know.

*******

Returning to the manor, Narcissa found Molly chasing after her with a hairdresser who'd been waiting half an hour to get Narcissa's hair ready. Severus smiled and kissed her before being shooed away by Molly who was still not best pleased that he and Narcissa had seen each other before the wedding at all.

While the hairdresser styled her hair Narcissa told Molly all about Severus' gift. The woman asked, for what had to have been the hundredth time, what it was Narcissa had got him in return.

"I'm not telling you, I want it to be a surprise and it's been hard enough to keep quiet as it is!"

*******

Severus was downstairs greeting the guests and beginning to wonder where they'd dug some of them up. Hagrid turned up with Fang, who apparently was the 'and guest' mentioned on the invitation. Severus nodded uncertainly and told him to keep the dog at the back. Dumbledore arrived with a large basket, which had a big yellow bow on the handle, and was apparently their wedding present. Severus decided he didn't want to know what in the world it was, and simply put it with the rest in the Drawing Room. Owen Green, the young auror Narcissa had taken a shine to, arrived with his wife and two children. Severus had to admit the children seemed well behaved and the young man was very polite, making them the most desirable guests so far in all likelihood. He cast his mind back to Dumbledore and Hagrid's respective entrances.

The ceremony had been scheduled for two o'clock, but of course Narcissa had to be fashionably late. It couldn't actually be said to be her fault but Severus did not appreciate the wait while she searched for a necklace that she turned out to be already wearing. Panic over, she headed for the ballroom only five minutes behind schedule to find Severus looked mildly irritated but mostly just a little relieved that she had finally arrived.

Over the green dress she was wearing a long white cloak, edged with white fur with a fur-lined hood. Upon walking through the doors to the ballroom she stopped momentarily and cocked her head at Sev clearly asking, 'Well what do you think?'

He smiled at her and rolled his eyes, silently answering, as always, 'I don't care what you wear, dress in a bin bag if it makes you happy, I didn't fall in love with you because you're beautiful!'

To the surprise of their guests, Narcissa laughed lightly and made her way towards him, breaking with tradition yet again by holding out a hand as she neared him, which he willingly took.

Draco was smiling in the front row, Ron was fidgeting in the second and as the ceremony came to an end he gave a muttered "Thank god it was short, I'm starving!" that was less quiet than it might have been, causing Draco to turn and glare before bursting out laughing when he saw Hermione was giving him an icy glare which was making the poor red head shrink in his seat. His mother gave him a bemused look before turning back to her husband and grinning like an idiot.

Arthur and Molly signed the register as the witnesses and the whole thing was over, with more than one person in tears. Molly had been unable to stop herself and Draco noticed that even Pansy was sniffing conspicuously. As for Mrs Myriades she was leaning on her husband and, though not crying, looked as though she might start at any moment. Ginny Weasley was grinning madly and searching for a tissue in the pocket of her new pale pink dress robes. However, the most interesting one was Hagrid, bawling at the back next to McGonagall, who was offering him a pocket-handkerchief which was a little small for the half giant. He was the first one to congratulate the two of them, pulling them both into a bone breaking hug and saying it was beautiful and wishing them every happiness while Fang licked Narcissa's hand.

Narcissa laughed and reached down to pet the large dog, while Severus attempted to regain his dignity.

It was a good half an hour before the two of them could escape the more effusive of the guests. With a wave of a wand, small tables appeared with chairs at them and place names to tell everyone where to sit. Having cut the cake, the first piece was laid aside for Severus and Narcissa to eat, unfortunately Fang had other ideas. He slipped up and nabbed it before he could be stopped. Hagrid looked contrite and everyone else laughed. Narcissa immediately cut a very large slice and put it on a plate for him, setting it on the floor by Hagrid.

"We pay sixty galleons for a wedding cake and you feed it to a dog?" Severus whispered in her ear as the cake began to magically cut and serve itself.

"He looked hungry, he was wearing the 'I haven't been fed in a week' look!"

Severus laughed suddenly before stopping and taking a closer look at the necklace she was wearing. It was a simple silver pendant on a delicate chain and he lifted it up carefully to get a better look at it before smiling and kissing her. "You wore her necklace."

"I wanted to feel like she was here. You know, I think Morgana would have approved of my marrying you."

Severus smiled and put an arm round her shoulders, causing her to instantly lay her head on his shoulder and lean into him.

When everyone had finished eating, some music was playing and the guests seemed capable of entertaining themselves. Narcissa extricated herself from a conversation with Professor Flitwick and made her way across the room to Severus, guiding him away from Arthur Weasley with whom he had been talking. "Come with me," she said, taking his hand firmly in hers. "I think it's time I gave you your wedding present!"

As she led him towards the cellars that lead to the lower level, Severus raised an eyebrow and said, "I suppose it isn't worth asking why you've been keeping my present in the dungeons?"

"Ah but you're forgetting they're not dungeons anymore, I've had them re-modelled and cleaned out."

She led him down the stairs, through the wine cellars and pushed him through a door. "Lumos."

The room was filled with light illuminating a large potions lab. "You bought me a potions laboratory?!"

She nodded. "What do you think? It's completely up to date with all the latest books and equipment!"

Severus moved to explore it. "Thank you, this is wonderful." He turned to smile at her and drew her into his arms, "Thank you, Mrs Snape."

She laughed and kissed him. "Mrs Snape...that'll take some getting used to!"

"I can't believe you did this without me noticing!"

"Well did you really believe it was taking them this long to just re-model a couple of wine cellars!? I thought you'd work it out long before now!"

"I had no idea."

"Well I'll just leave you two to get acquainted. Don't stay too long." She kissed his cheek and went back up to the guests.

Severus looked around the room, admiring the equipment, some of it only recently available on the market, and examined a couple of the books before deciding to go back up to the party. He found Narcissa waiting at the top of the stairs for him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were waiting."

"That's ok, I realise that I'll always play second fiddle to your damned potions!" She laughed and kissed him before grasping his hand and pulling him back towards the party, "Come on, it's no fun without you."

*******

The newly-weds returned to the party to find Draco and Pansy having a laugh at Ron and Hermione's expense. Fang was immersed in eating what remained of the food and Pansy said that at least he had now stopped slobbering over Ron, who he had seemed rather attached to. To which Draco's response had been, "Yeah, leave that to Hermione!"

Narcissa held back a laugh with some difficulty and approached Hermione, "Do be careful if you go anywhere else in the house. Knowing Lucius, not all the furniture could be exactly muggle-friendly. You could always sit on Ron's knee though; that would probably be safe."

Severus laughed and guided Narcissa away before she could torture any more guests. Ron went bright red and Hermione spent the rest of the day giving chairs suspicious looks.

"Narcissa, I thought everything in the house was safe now?" Severus commented out of Hermione's hearing range.

"Of course it is," she grinned wickedly, "But Hermione doesn't know that!"

*******

Thanks to Draco and Narcissa, Ron and Hermione spent an awkward time sat alone at a small table, as the other Weasleys, (only Percy and Ginny had come besides Molly and Arthur, the twins having been banned by their mother from any event that took place in polite society) always seemed busy. Blaise and Millicent were also left alone as Pansy dragged a not particularly unwilling Draco out onto the dance floor.

Narcissa was watching the antics of the youngsters when Severus came to her side and handed her an envelope.

"What's this?"

"The other part of your wedding present."

She opened the envelope. "They're hotel reservations. Bloody hell this place is in Iceland!"

"Well you did want to go there and you deserve a honeymoon, I promise we'll come back if things seem even slightly unusual with the baby."

"Oh Severus!" Narcissa found herself crying again and hugged him tightly. "I'd love to go!"

*******

The party went on until well into the night, until eventually Severus and Narcissa were left alone to look at the presents.

It was with much trepidation that they opened Dumbledore's basket to find it full to the brim with Sherbet Lemons. They simply looked at each other. "Well, you were the one that wanted to invite him!" Narcissa laughed.

The Weasleys had bought different presents. Arthur's was apparently a traditional muggle wedding present that Molly wanted nothing to do with. Severus unwrapped it to reveal a toaster while Narcissa unwrapped Molly's gift to find two Weasley jumpers.

"I've been wanting to ask this all day," Severus said suddenly, "Where did we find some of these people?!"

Narcissa shook her head in bewilderment, "I don't know Sev, I just don't."

They both started laughing and the presents got a bit more normal from then on, apart from the box of rocks from Hagrid which were apparently meant to be cakes!

*******

Next chapter Narcissa's hormones are all over the place and she and Severus talk about baby names.

Please Review!! Your reviews really do guilt me into updating faster! I'll try not to make you wait too long this time.