Beta love to the lovely CarbConnoisseur

"I can't believe it's today," Lily murmured, taking a deep breath as she adjusted the veil on her head.

"Me either," Hermione agreed. All those nights where this had been talked about, all those dreams, and finally, it was here. And gods if she didn't desperately want to cry. In all of those dreams, her father had walked her down the aisle. Her mother and Mrs. Weasley would have bickered about seating plans and venues. The twins would have been in charge of fireworks. Neville would have been put in charge of flowers. Ginny and Luna would have been bridesmaids. Harry would have been a man of honour. Ron would have been there, grumbling and checking right up until the last minute that she was really, really sure she wanted to marry the ferret. She missed them like a limb that had been torn off. And in a lot of ways, she supposed it had.

Behind her, Dorea watched her with sad eyes, seeing the conflict on her face and wishing she could alleviate it. Silently, she left the room, walking briskly in search of the only person she thought might actually help.

"There you are!" Severus jumped at the sound of Dorea's voice. "Oh, don't you look wonderful!" He flushed, not having a clue what to reply. "Now. My granddaughter needs reminding that not everyone she loves is gone."

Severus flinched. "Is she alright?"

"She'd say yes," Dorea replied wryly. "But… she's sad. I think… I think she's torn because she wants to marry Draco, but she also wishes they were here." He nodded. "I'll send Alice up to distract Lily. Keep her away from Draco, but otherwise… for the love of Merlin just be here for the ceremony."

He snorted, but headed upstairs, knocking on the door lightly. Lily flung it open. "Oh."

"Not who you were expecting?" he asked with a smirk.

"No."

"You look beautiful, Lils. Potter isn't going to know what hit him."

Lilly swallowed audibly and nodded, her eyes looking suspiciously glassy. "Thanks, Sev."

"Now, I'm here to steal Hermione for a few moments, make sure she really wants to marry a Malfoy."

Lily rolled her eyes gesturing over to where Hermione was staring out the window. "I'll go and check in with Alice I think."

Silently, he walked over to where she was staring outside as people milled about. "Happy wedding day, little puff," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her. "You look stunning. Although Slytherin shoes? What would Minerva say?"

Without saying a word, she turned and buried her face in his chest, her arms banding tightly around his waist. He could feel her shoulders shaking as he squeezed her tighter. "I've got you," he murmured, rocking her slightly where they stood.

"They were supposed to be here, Severus," she whispered.

"Oh, sweetheart, they are." He felt her knees buckle as the grief overtook her, making him tighten his grip before gently lowering them both to the floor. "It's going to be alright. You're going to marry the love of your life today, surrounded by family. And all of the people that you miss… they're here, little puff. Because they loved you and they wouldn't be anywhere else. Even though you can't see them, they're here."

"I love you, Severus Snape," she whispered, instead of commenting on his words. He felt something in his chest constrict.

"I love you too, Little Puff," he murmured, trying to hold the tiny woman in his arms together, wondering when he had gotten so lucky for this to be his life. Not her sadness, but her unwavering faith in him. The fact that she loved him was heady and entirely unexpected. Silently he vowed to never do anything to make her question it.

"You should probably do something about your face," he murmured eventually, an eye on the time. "We wouldn't want to dent the Malfoy ego too much and have Draco thinking you don't want to marry him."

She snorted, her head still on his chest as they both stared out the window. "The Malfoy ego could do with a dent or two every now and then."

"True enough," he agreed with a grin. "But perhaps you don't want your wedding photos immortalising your rather red nose. This is not a Christmas wedding."

"Arse!" she muttered, finally getting to her feet before looking uncharacteristically serious. "Thank you… for today… for well… I do seem to keep crying on you, don't I? I… I don't think I could have done any of this without you."

Severus stared back at her, suspiciously glassy-eyed, praying his voice didn't crack. "Any time, Little Puff. It's what family does."

She nodded slowly, darting forward to hug him tightly before moving to the mirror and attempting to repair the damage her crying had wrought on her face.

Twenty minutes later, Dorea reappeared at the door. "It's time, love."

Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes on her tattooed forearm where her friends were visible through the sheer fabric of her sleeves, always with her, even when she couldn't see them, and took Severus' arm. Lily and Charlus were waiting at the top of the stairs with Marlene and Alice.

"You look beautiful, Lily," Hermione said softly, looking at the radiant redhead who was barely concealing her impatience.

"So do you," Lily smiled. "Now, will we get this over with before Sirius has to stun one of them to stop them panicking?"

"My money's on him already having James in a body bind," Alice muttered, making the rest of them laugh.

When asked later, Draco couldn't recall any of the specifics of his wedding. He knew that James had made a noise like a whimper because Sirius proceeded to take the piss for months afterwards. He registered that Lily was quite pretty all done up and that Charlus looked slightly tearful. The photos were proof. Somewhere in the back of his mind he also registered that Severus looked equally as emotional, but the surprise was nowhere near as sharp as it should have been. Instead, he focused on the sight he wasn't sure that he'd ever get to see. Hermione was breathtaking. It wasn't the dress, although somewhere he registered that it was lovely. It wasn't the bloody green shoes that almost made him want to laugh as he realised why she'd chosen them. It was her. Just her. The love of his life, the woman he had quite literally survived hell to be with, and it was finally happening. That next step toward those dreams that two naive teenagers discussed in whispers, barely daring to hope that one day they might be reality. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

"I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. James Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Draco Malfoy."

Hermione turned to look at her husband. Her husband! With something nearing disbelief. "I can't believe we just did that."

Draco looked down at her and grinned, not sure he had ever felt more at peace. "I love you, Mrs. Malfoy."

"I love you too. Husband."

"Right, enough of that!" Sirius cried. "Dancing! Drinking! Come on! You need to practise before my wedding!"

"Have you asked him yet?" Draco asked pointedly.

Sirius froze before he grinned. "Good point, cousin. Oi! Moony!" Remus turned to look at him from where he had been talking to James. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh my god," Hermione groaned, her head thumping into Draco's chest. "Tell me he did not just do that."

"Sorry sweetheart, but he really did." Draco grinned, watching as a stunned looking Remus stared back at Sirius as if he'd never seen him before.

"Moons! Come on! Say something!"

"You're serious?" Remus croaked.

"Always!" Sirius grinned, rummaging in his pockets. "But in this case…" Silently he held up a ring box. "I mean… I didn't mean to do it today, but Kitten and Draco are just so…sappy! So, marry me Moony, and we'll adopt some crups and have a way cooler wedding than these four."

Remus snorted before moving swiftly to stand in front of him. "Yes," he muttered, leaning in to kiss him, completely ignoring the cheer that went up around them.

"I think you'll find I had today on the bet," James crowed smugly as Lily cuffed the back of his head.

"I think it's done," Draco said, sounding exhausted, looking in disgust at the potion in front of them.

"Yes," Severus agreed reluctantly. "He'll want to test it."

"I'd rather he test it than us." Draco shuddered. "A purging potion will work?"

"Yes," Severus sighed. "There's no reason why it shouldn't, but gods, Hermione's going to murder me for creating this."

"She won't. She knows what happened originally."

"The Prewett twins aren't fit enough."

"No," Draco agreed.

"So Potter or Fenwick."

"Both, I think. Plus elves. Trixie won't let James go without going with him."

Severus nodded. "Potter's going to insist," he sighed.

"Yes," Draco agreed.

"For fucks sake," Severus muttered. "I need to take it to him. Go home to your wife. Hopefully, he won't dawdle with it and this will be over soon."

"Good luck," Draco murmured, watching as he bottled it and swept out of their room.

"My Lord."

"Severus, I hope this is important." Severus looked around the room, spotting several of the inner circle milling around.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Proceed."

"I believe I have finished what you requested."

The Dark Lord's eyes gleamed, sending a shiver down Severus' spine. "Goyle!" he commanded. "Take the Potion from Severus." The lumbering form of Dexter Goyle appeared at their side, removing the potion from his hands. "Get me one of the new recruits."

Severus watched warily as Amycus Carrow walked in apprehensively. The Dark Lord looked amused. It made him want to vomit. He had chosen this, agreed with some of it originally. And now, he'd give just about anything to go back and curse his younger self for being so fucking stupid.

"I am in need of your assistance, Amycus."

"Of course my Lord," the man muttered.

"Drink this."

Severus slammed up his occlumency shields tighter than he ever had before as the man dropped and the begging began. Watching the glee on the Dark Lord's face as one of his faithful begged and pleaded through his sobs with demons no one but him could see made his skin crawl.

"Is there an antidote?" The Dark Lord asked idly after over half an hour.

"Water should lessen the effect," Severus murmured.

He hummed, leaving another twenty minutes before he demanded Goyle fetch some. If Severus hadn't been unsure before, he would have been after seeing the callous amusement his supposed Lord took in the suffering of one who served him.

"You have done well, Severus. You may go. Goyle, remove him from my sight." Modulating his stride so as not to appear to be running, Severus left the room to the sight of Goyle hefting a devastated looking Amycus over his shoulder and forcibly removing him from the room.

"He's asked for Kreacher!" Regulus burst through the floo.

Sirius froze. "Ok. So we… wait?"

Regulus nodded. "Apparently. I… I told him to come back to me, just as Hermione instructed. So… can I wait here?"

Sirius took in the look of utter terror on his brother's face and nodded. "Of course. I'd say we'll warn Hermione but… well… she's a bloody newlywed and I'd like not to be scarred for life."

Regulus snorted. "Thanks for an image I never needed," he muttered.

Two hours later, a thunderclap of noise indicated Kreacher's arrival. Both Hermione and Regulus jumped to their feet. Regulus' first thought was that he wanted to vomit. Kreacher was wincing, clearly in pain. His wizened old face was scrunched and wet with tears. He looked awful. Regulus stood back helplessly as Hermione forced a purging potion into him, barely reacting as the elf vomited disgusting smelling green slime for what felt like hours. Remus vanished it at regular intervals at his other side.

Eventually, his body seemed to go slack and Regulus panicked, thinking that he'd intentionally caused his death. "He's breathing," Hermione murmured. "He's alright. Just exhausted. Let him sleep for the next day or so and then we'll make a plan."

He walked through the halls, his phoenix flying in front of him to ward off the dementors. It had taken a little bit of persuasion for the guards to let him in, but in the end he had prevailed.

Silently he waited until the guard opened the cell, taking in the pathetic form of his former student huddled on the bed.

"Oh, Peter," Albus sighed.

Peter shot up. "What are you doing here?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "Are you even real?"

"I assure you I am very real. I came to speak with you, Peter," he said serenely, knowing he had to do this. The girl was wrong. Peter was one of his, and his choices were never beyond redemption. And if they were? He needed someone to take the fall for the unfortunate accident that was about to befall the girl who had dared to ruin everying. He wondered if perhaps he just needed to wait, surely the Malfoy boy would return to his roots and dispose of her eventually, but he wasn't sure he had the time to spare. He needed a plan, just in case.

"Why?"

"To see if you understand where you were led astray."

"Led astray?" he sneered.

"Well yes. You had friends, Peter, good friends. Surely you know that?"

"Come to rub it in before they Kiss me?" the man scowled. "You're just a hallucination. Piss off."

"What? No! I do not think you deserve to be Kissed, Peter. Miss Potter was wrong."

"Who the fuck is Miss Potter?"

"Oh, of course, you won't know. Miss Potter is the adopted daughter of your friend James. She's from the future, you know." Albus ignored the itching taking over his body, perhaps it was something in the magic of the prison. He really needed Peter to accept what he was saying. Time was of the essence, after all.

"Am I supposed to believe that, old man?"

"It's true." He frowned slightly as the itching intensified. "Her world was… not as it should have been. But I can't help but grieve for the mistakes she's making this time around. I know that you are not beyond help. Let me help you."

"What exactly is she trying to do?"

"Kill Tom… She's been hunting his security measures. That, of course, is the right thing. But there was meant to be a prophecy. It would have guaranteed our success if she'd just listened to my input. I understand where I went wrong last time. Of course, she did not, so…"

Peter backed away from him slowly as an intense pain shot through Albus, making him gasp. What the hell was happening? All too late, he remembered that he'd signed the parchment as Hermione had demanded, and hadn't thought to ask what protections she'd put on it. The last thing he heard before the pain engulfed him was the hysterical laughter of Peter Pettigrew.

James stood with Benjy, Kreacher, and Trixie at the entrance to the cave, taking a moment to prepare himself. Hermione had given them as much information as she could, admitting that it was second-hand. He suddenly felt much older than his years. This was the beginning of the end. The last Horcrux. He needed to be sensible about this. Neither Lily nor Hermione would ever forgive him if they fucked this one up.

"Right," Benjy spoke with false cheerfulness. "Let's get this over with. Blood wasn't it?" James nodded. "I'll be doing that then. We both know you're going to fight for the right to get the last one and I won't argue, but Merlin help me Potter, no fucking heroics. I will not be telling your brand fucking new wife or your bloody harpy of a daughter, sister… whatever the fuck label you're going with, that you joined the ranks of his inferi. Am I clear?"

James attempted to grin, but given the look Benjy gave him it must have been more like a grimace. "Right," he muttered, as the stone wall moved and the cavern was revealed.

"It feels… oppressive," Benjy muttered. Silently James nodded, walking inside.

They found the boat with ease, watching as it rose to the surface. "Trixie," James commanded quietly. "I must drink that potion. Even if I'm begging you to let me stop, I have to drink it. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Master James." The tiny elf looked up at him fearfully.

"Good. You must make me finish it until you can take the necklace out, and you cannot let me touch the water. Do you understand?" She nodded, her eyes wide. "Afterwards, make sure we all get home."

He let out a shaky breath, he heard one echo beside him as Benjy watched him settle himself and Trixie into the boat.

The ride across felt both hours long and far too quick, and he stumbled as he attempted to exit the boat. Taking a breath, James forced himself to calm down. With a shaking hand, he took the first drink of the potion. All too soon, he lost himself in the most intense pain he had ever felt as his insides burned. He wanted to scream, perhaps he was, as he vividly recalled his fear as he saved Snape from Remus. He could see Lily lying in front of a cot, a faceless baby inside it, and knew deep in his bones that despite Hermione's best efforts they hadn't been able to defeat Voldemort. He saw the lifeless bodies of every person he'd ever loved, some of them broken, their screams echoing in his ears alongside his own. He felt more liquid being forced down his throat as every fear he hadn't dared to voice played out behind his eyes as he begged for someone, anyone, to tell him it wasn't real. They wouldn't, he knew, as the visions overwhelmed him. They'd failed. He'd failed. And finally, he understood Hermione's brittleness.

"James?" He woke to the pale face of his wife, hovering over him.

"You're not dead!" he rasped, feeling the tears fall down his face and into his hair.

"No," she whispered, sounding close to tears herself. "No. I'm right here. You did it. Now sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" he whispered as the darkness overtook him again before she could answer.

The Order milled around the table, wondering what had prompted this unscheduled meeting. Silently, an uncommonly grave-looking Moody walked in. "Good, you're all here. We've two bits of news."

Immediately the room fell silent, several people reached for the hand of the person next to them as something heavy settled over the room.

"We have the last Horcrux. The goblins have given us a week's grace to plan a battle. The end is coming."

"Shouldn't Albus be here for this?" Elphias Dodge queried, looking around the room.

If possible, Moody looked graver than before. "Aye, he should," he admitted quietly. "But he won't be." Alastor turned to look straight at Hermione. "Those were some interesting spells, Madam Malfoy."

Hermione froze. "Fuck," she hissed.

"What?" Charlus demanded, his eyes darting from Hermione to Moody.

"Albus Dumbledore was found in the cell of Peter Pettigrew, or well… what was Albus Dumbledore. He is now a toothless snake of unknown species, whose scales spell out traitor. I assume that was your intention?"

Hermione shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable. "It was… cumulative," she said finally. "If he had only given a little away, he would have had traitor spelled out on his skin. If he ignored it, he would have hurt until he stopped talking. If he continued… well… I wasn't sure what animal form someone would take, but… I suppose the effect is the same."

"He betrayed us?" Dorea asked, sounding incredulous.

"Yes," Alastor sighed. "Lynch stayed outside to listen to the conversation. He wasn't entirely comfortable with Albus being there, which was just as well as the rat tried to escape. He failed, I'm sorry but the dementors Kissed him immedately. I… I've listened to the memory. Albus...he was so bloody sure his way was right."

The Order sat in stunned silence as they processed that. It would turn into one of the longest nights any of them remembered as the sheer scale of the betrayal hit those most loyal to the man they had viewed as their leader. At Draco's side, Hermione silently crowed that the manipulative old bastard had finally gotten what he deserved. She could only hope that he understood his own hubris in those final moments of awareness.