~seventeen~

When Draco emerged from the tent, he was greeted by the sight of Neville Longbottom who was shuffling around anxiously outside. He awkwardly explained how Hermione had arranged for him to take Draco under his wing during the ceremony and make sure he wasn't on his own.

The pair had eyed each other with apprehension before heading back towards The Burrow to take their seats. The ceremony was to take place outdoors with a wisteria - strewn pergola providing the focal point for the proceedings. Neville explained how 'the girls', meaning Hermione and Luna, had headed off to the house for the final preparations, and that Luna, being the official photographer, was needed to capture the secret events within.

Draco soon found himself making pleasant enough conversation with Longbottom, and was impressed when he learned of how rapidly he had scaled the auror ranks since finishing eighth year at Hogwarts. Harry had insisted that Neville would not be undertaking any auror duties during the day, being one of his closest friends and allies and one of his groomsmen.

The two walked casually up the aisle formed by the careful arrangement of rows of quaintly mismatched chairs and benches that were slowly filling up with guests. Draco instantly recognised the moment of hush that descended as many pairs of eyes noticed his arrival, and caught sight of elbow nudges and raised eyebrows as they continued forwards.

It seemed that Neville also hadn't missed the reaction too, and Draco felt a surge of gratitude radiate through him as Neville clapped him casually on the shoulder and said "After you, mate," rather loudly, as he ushered him along to take a seat along the fourth row back. The pair made themselves comfortable and soon fell back into friendly conversation, reminiscing about Hogwarts and the fun memories of eighth year.

Suddenly the sound of a camera shutter snapping away nearby caused Draco to startle and he turned his head sharply in the direction of the noise with a frown.

Crouching down to the side a little way behind them was Luna Lovegood, wearing what Draco could only describe as some kind of 'lamp-shade' inspired dress in magenta pink. She was holding a large, magical camera that was attached to a rainbow-striped strap around her neck. Draco realised she must have got a rather impromptu shot of them and he noticed the big sappy smile that had suddenly come across Neville's face as he clocked his girlfriend.

Without warning, Neville suddenly threw his arm around Draco's shoulder and leaned in slightly, posing for another shot. Draco gave a bemused smile as he noticed the guests eying them with wonder, before returning the gesture and grinning his most ridiculously non-Malfoy cheesy grin.

"Say 'Doxieeeeees'!" he sang loudly, to the notable amusement of all around.

"Doxieeees!" came Neville's sing - song reply as Luna snapped away.

Luna scrambled to her feet and skipped over to them holding the camera out to let them peer inside the large viewfinder at the moving, magical image within.

"You and Neville make a good team, Draco," Luna commented matter-of-factly, as the boys chuckled at their ridiculous faces.

"Yeah, wonders will never cease eh?" came a familiar voice from the side.

Neville shot up to his feet instantly and shook hands with Harry, who had entered the ceremony area a few moments before. He had been covertly watching the interaction between the unlikely trio with bemusement.

"He's not giving you too much trouble is he, Neville?" Harry asked, gesturing with a nod towards Draco, who had also instinctively stood up to greet the groom. his pureblood etiquette kicking in on instinct.

"Who, Malfoy?" Neville asked. "He's a pussy-cat, aren't you mate?"

Draco huffed and made a wan smile at Neville before reaching forward to shake Harry's hand. He noticed it was clammy from pre-wedding nerves.

"Potter," he greeted with a curt nod. "Thanks for the invitation. I really appreciate it."

Harry kept hold of Draco's hand and replied earnestly.

"Nah, it's nothing, Malfoy. Just… look after our Hermione, will you? I mean, that was some impressive hex you sent our dear old Justin's way, and it was clear that you had Hermione's best interests in mind, but I promise you, I know much, much worse."

Draco smiled with bemusement at Potter's mild threat. It really didn't suit him.

"I will, Potter. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Yeah," Ron chimed in from behind, having eventually caught up with Harry after being side tracked by many Weasley relatives on the way. "Besides, Neville, Malfoy's not a pussy cat. He's a little baby ferret, remember?"

The three Gryffindors all guffawed together at the aged joke, while Draco rolled his eyes.

Luna's camera continued to snap away at their banter.

"Really, children?" Draco asked. "Still harping on about that old chestnut?"

"Yep!" Harry replied. "Never gets old Malfoy. Never gets old."

"For you, maybe," Draco grumbled, sitting down grumpily as Harry and Ron bid their farewells and headed up to take their positions at the front of the pergola.

Neville sat down at Draco's side and watched Luna fondly as she made her way closer to the front to get some photographs of Harry and Ron in their matching tweed suits. His eyes travelled around at the guests who were now all arrived and seated, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bridal party. Suddenly Neville's eyes seemed to catch sight of one of Petrov's men coming to take the place of one of his auror colleagues, standing guard on the sidelines.

With a frown, Neville looked around, spotting several of his fellow auror friends discretely now sitting in among the guests rather than manning the security. He then clocked Petrov himself across the way and noted the subtle nod that passed between him and Draco.

"Alright ferret face. Spit it out."

"What?"

"What have you done? Why are all these strange and frankly terrifying looking men now keeping a watch over things?"

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Malfoy." Neville stated with a hushed growl. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to have to do something about it. I swear if you've done anything to ruin Harry's day…"

"Woah, woah, woah, Longbottom!" Draco whispered, holding his hands up in surrender. "Alright I'll tell you. Gods that all turned sour rather quickly didn't it? And here I was thinking we were actually starting to get on..."

"Malfoy!"

Draco took a breath and proceeded to fill Neville in on his surprise gift, earning himself a look of pure shock and disbelief from his companion. He assured Neville of the team's credentials and once Neville heard how Head Auror Pireness had been directly involved in checking Petrov's credentials he instantly relaxed with a sigh.

He side eyed Draco sheepishly, shuffling uncomfortably for a few seconds in embarrassment at his faux-pas.

"Look Malfoy, I'm sorry, ok? I just… I saw that guy, and you've got to admit, he does look well dodgy, and I just jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm sorry. I should've known better ok?"

Draco made direct eye contact and sneered at Neville, giving him a cold hard stare of derision.

"Turns out you're just as stupid as you've always been, doesn't it, Longbottom?"

Neville withdrew slightly in surprise at his reaction, before Draco's facade cracked and he burst out with laughter, clapping the stunned Longbottom on his shoulder.

"Ha! Had you fooled there didn't I? Look, it's fine, Longbottom. No harm done. You were just being loyal to your friend. I appreciate that."

Draco continued to laugh as Neville gave a sigh of relief, shaking his head with a chuckle.

"You ferrety little twat," he whispered just out of Draco's earshot.

A few minutes later, with the ceremonial area now filled to capacity with guests, and the bride's mother perched eagerly in position up front, the sound of the string quartet struck up their opening chords to signal the arrival of the bride.

Standing with his fellow guests, Draco braced himself to once more behold the beautiful sight of Hermione as she glided effortlessly down the aisle, holding little Victoire Weasley in her arms. The toddler was now wearing the most adorable yellow flower girl dress, with a ring of daisies laced through her golden curls.

The guests gave an audible gush of appreciation at the cuteness before them, and Draco felt himself staring intently at his girlfriend as she cradled the little blonde-haired girl with such natural and motherly ease. He felt as though he was being given an opportunity to see into a future for himself that he almost didn't dare to entertain.

Soon it was time for the bride's entrance, of course accompanied by her doting father who looked to be on the verge of tears before they even took their first step. Draco had to admit that the red-headed Weasley girl did look stunning, her flame coloured hair cascading freely as her eyes locked onto Potter's, the pair sharing a moment of unadulterated happiness.

Draco couldn't help but continue to indulge in admiring Hermione throughout the ceremony as she smiled with happy tears as her best friends stood up before their loved ones and promised to spend their lives together.

Finishing his vows, Potter had chosen to recite a poem, acknowledging his uncertainty at falling for his best friend's sister. He held her hands tenderly as the simplicity of the words fell from his lips:

We were two souls

Wandering in the night

Both of us seeking

The solace of respite

Both were lost

Both needing another

Both of us looking

For a perfect lover

My best friend's sister

Your brother's best friend

Was our love so taboo

That it had to end?

Drawn to each other

Like moths to the light

Who cares about wrong

When it feels so right?

The final lines of Potter's poem struck a deep chord within Draco as he immediately drew its relevance to his relationship with Hermione.

He had been watching her intently the whole time that the happy couple had been exchanging their vows and a flash of electricity passed through him as she too seemed to recognise the relevance of the words and looked up suddenly, meeting his gaze. Draco swallowed thickly and took yet another steadying breath.

The ceremony was brought to a close and the couple were showered with magical confetti that fluttered and multiplied many times over creating a storm of soft colours and shrieks of delight from the guests.

They were then all swiftly ushered away to the nearby orchard, where the press photographers were being held and where the officially organised and staged photos were being taken. The press were behaving impeccably, being heavily guarded by a team of Petrov's most menacing looking men.

Draco kept his head down and loitered around out of sight of the photographers, watching carefully and with bated breath as he noticed Potter and Weasley talking to one of their auror friends and gesturing towards the mysterious security crew with confusion.

Just as he had arranged, the auror team had got things well in hand and appeared to assure Potter with ease. Draco looked out for any tell-tale sign that his name had been mentioned, but saw none. He smirked wryly to himself with satisfaction at the pair's puzzled expressions as Ginny called them back over for more photographs.

After a short while, groups of guests began to be called upon to join the bride and groom for specific photographs, ending predictably with a large group shot of all the guests.

"Shit," Draco muttered to himself.

He paced himself to try to remain as far back as possible and cursed his parents for passing on their cursed unmistakeable white blond hair that was glinting in the Summer sunshine like a beacon indicating his presence.

It was then that he heard it.

"Mr Malfoy! Mr Malfoy! This way Mr Malfoy!" came the insistent and repeated calls of the paparazzi as he stalked moodily to the back of the group, several guests turning to stare at him as he stole all of the attention away from the bride and groom.

An awkward silence fell across the guests as they were swamped in the cacophony of noise and clicking shutters of the cameras.

"Mr Potter - would you like to share with us why Mr Malfoy is attending your wedding?"

"Mr Malfoy, in what capacity were you invited to the wedding, today?"

"Mr Potter! Mr Potter! Aren't you worried that many will resent your friendship?"

Draco was busy wishing that the ground would open and swallow him up when he became suddenly aware of another voice calling his name from the front of the group of guests.

"Draco. Draco!"

It was unmistakably Hermione's voice that called out to him. He craned his neck in the direction of her voice. She was standing just to the right on the front row and had turned around to face him. She was holding out her hands and gesturing to him to join her.

"DRACO!" she called with a now bossy tone. "Come here!"

"I'd do as yer told if I was you, young Malfoy," came the rather loud mutter of Hagrid who had taken his place right at the back of the shot so as not to block any other guests from view. He gave Draco a rather unceremonious shove, sending him barging forwards into the guests and towards Hermione.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him up to the front of the line-up, to take his place at her side. Draco glared at the mass of photographers and journalists, but soon found himself rather distracted by the fact that Hermione had turned her body slightly in towards his and had snaked her arm around his back, placing her other hand on his chest in a wide open admission that he was with her.

She turned to face the press with a challenging raise of her eyebrows, daring them to take their obtrusive and inappropriate questions further, her loose curls blowing widely around her face on the summer breeze and the frisson of angry magic crackling at her fingertips.

"Draco is with me," she announced matter-of-factly, looking up into his eyes with a mischievous smile.

Draco snaked an arm around her slim waist in return and pulled her in even more closely, relishing the feeling of her against him and awestruck by her unabashed admission.

"You have ten seconds to take your final photographs and then you leave," came the commanding voice of Petrov from the side of the orchard.

Draco noticed Harry and Ron give each other an impressed nod before grinning widely at the press who frantically took their final shots and persisted with their relentless barrage of questions which of course, went ignored. Then suddenly, and without announcement they were all unceremoniously frogmarched away to the Floo under the strict supervision of Petrov's men.

There went up a mighty cheer and a ripple of laughter around the orchard and a sense of relaxation and enjoyment suddenly returned to the event. Everyone began to make their way back over to the ceremonial area that had now been set up with dining tables and chairs, with house elves levitating trays of drinks around the mingling guests, who chatted away amiably about the beautiful wedding ceremony and the bit of scandal surrounding Hermione's revelation.

Draco and Hermione kept their arms firmly wrapped around each other as they sauntered slowly along to join them.

"Granger, that was…" Draco began, trailing off to try to find the right words. "Just… thank you. For standing up for me like that. You're… amazing."

Hermione paused and looked into his eyes with a short laugh.

"Don't be silly," she admonished with a smile. "You'd have done the same for me."

And she stretched up and placed a lingering kiss on his lips before taking his hand and dragging him towards her friends. Draco realised that she was of course absolutely right. He would do the same for her.

In fact, in that moment, he couldn't think of a single thing that he wouldn't do for her. He would throw himself into a smouldering pit of fire and lava if she asked him to. And the burning flame of adoration that was taking hold of him in that moment made him feel that he just might have already done so.