"Are you ready?" Harry asked Severus, tugging on his own sleeves of his dress robe. "Is everything straight?"
"You look fine, mate," Ron assured him. "And I have the ring, don't worry. And Teddy is with Ginny and Hermione right now, with Victoire ready to walk down the aisle. Everything is going to be fine."
"McGonagall's here?" Harry asked again.
"She's here," Ron assured him. "Although why you'd want old bat to perform your wedding ceremony…"
"Hermione wanted her too for you guys!" Harry laughed back. "If she hadn't been at St. Mungo's with Dragon Pox you know you would have had her!"
"Are you two quite finished?" they heard the Scottish Headmistress rap out to them as if they were naughty eleven year olds. Both Ron and Harry straightened up in immediate reaction the the voice that had commanded their immediate obedience since they were eleven.
Severus had the distinct impression of starched, ancient satin as Minerva McGonagall swished into the room in a blue frock with a matching darker blue open robe over it. She had the air of no-nonsense about her, though Severus saw that she also had a small smile on her lips that she quickly suppressed as she looked the three of them over critically, straightening up Harry's tie. "The three of you need to be ready to go to the front of the church with me in a few moments," she told them. "Are you completely ready?"
"Have you done this many times before?" Harry asked her, trying to take deep breaths to keep himself calm.
"My father was a Vicar," she explained with a small smile. "So I have certainly attended my share of weddings. But no, I've not done this overly many times. Most of the time I can't be bothered, and when asked I usually tell people to find someone better suited for the sappiness of performing matrimonial ceremonies. But this time I accepted because I am honored to do it for you, Harry. You know I've always been quite fond of you."
"Do muggles usually get married in churches?" Ron asked, peering out from their small copse into the small chapel and people being seated. "We just got married at the burrow like Bill did. Seems odd to get married so close to so many graves."
"They do," Professor McGonagall answered with authority. "Wizards do too, on occasion. I think it's a very nice thing that Harry and Ginny have decided to get married here where his parents lived and where they died; almost like having them here with us."
"The church was a bit on the small side," Harry explained. "And it hadn't been used in many years. I believe Arthur Weasley has been in charge of making it usable and a bit expanded for today. We had originally planned to have it in a bigger church – the church mum and dad were married in, but we couldn't get it so last minute."
"I think this church was an excellent choice," she told him. "Perfect even – since it's disused it's easy to keep the muggles away. And even with a few expansion spells it's cozy enough that half the wizarding world doesn't think they need to show up and see the great Harry Potter get married."
"We've gone through great lengths to keep out the ministry and the press," Ron explained. "Although Minister Shacklebolt will be here in an unofficial capacity, he's promised not to make it political."
"And of course any lookey-loos who just want to leer," Harry added. "We decided in the end to have it just be our classmates at Hogwarts, the Order and family. Though, of course, for the Weasleys that's no small matter."
Severus watched the exchange between the adults, and was reminded that there was so much about his new father that he really didn't know. He had heard the adults talk about Harry being famous, but hearing them talk like this made him realize that Harry actually was famous. How would people react to him? He had met very few people beyond the immediate people in Harry's circle, what was this going to be like? He found a sense of panic rising in his stomach.
"Harry, I know that I'm not your parents, and I'm not Albus Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall told him. "They are here in spirit; but I know that if they could be here today in the flesh they would tell you that they are as proud of you as I am. You are marrying a fine young woman, and you are stepping into adult responsibilities well with your new son and godson."
"Thank you," Harry answered her, his eyes misting up at the steady support his former head of house offered.
"Now come with me and we'll get you married, no?" she smiled kindly and let the three young men out to the front of the church.
Severus blinked at the crowd before him, wearing colorful robes that sparkled in the sun streaming in through the colorful glass windows. His face went blank and he found himself being shifted kindly by Ron to stand in the right place by Harry, and then to have the music start.
And then he felt the whole room take a collective gasp as Ginny appeared at the end of the aisle on the arm of her father. Her dress, an iridescent white, floated gently around her body as she walked down the aisle. She grasped a small, rounded bouquet of light blue hydrangeas as she made her way down the aisle, her soft lace veil trailing behind.
Severus looked to see Harry's face, and he saw how enamored he looked. His eyes were fixed on the red-headed walked up the aisle to meet him, and he looked as if he couldn't believe his luck that she had shown up. Severus was a bit surprised himself – she seemed the kind of person that mostly was in comfortable clothes or clothes she wore to practice, and usually had her hair tied back in a pony tail. To see her hair expertly coiled on top of her head and pinned with a veil – well, she looked like something from a magazine.
"Merlin's beard," he heard Ron mutter as he saw his sister, and the three young men just stared as the young woman strode confidently up the aisle to them, trailed behind by Teddy in a grey formal robe and a small blond child close to his age in a soft purple dress.
"You can close your mouth now," Hermione whispered to Harry as she took her place in the front, and then turned to help Ginny arrange her veil on the steps of the altar.
"Dearly beloved," McGonagall's voice rang out confidently in the ancient church. "We are gathered here today…"
Later, when Severus thought back on the wedding ceremony, he thought of it as something that seemed sort of boring, stressful, but also being over entirely too fast. The thing that seemed the clearest to him was the part of the ceremony where Harry and Ginny recognized Severus and Teddy as part of their forming family. Even though they had practiced it and he knew what was coming, he found his heart in his throat as the Headmistress announced that the bride and groom wanted to take a moment in their ceremony to recognize that their coming together as man and wife to form a family didn't just affect them, but affected the children already part of their family.
Severus held Teddy's hand during this part, and although ostensibly it was so the youngster stayed in the right place, he was grateful for the warm hand grounding him. It struck him that this really was going to be his family going forward – even if Teddy were to go back to Andromeda more full time, he would still be at their house more often. This was his family.
He watched as Harry laid his hands on the child's head as Professor McGonagall spoke a blessing over the child, "This is Edward Lupin, Harry's Godson, and now Ginny's Godson as well. May both of you participate in raising this child with love and laughter, wisdom and mercy."
Harry removed his hands from Teddy's head and Severus saw just the barest glow of magic left behind. Then, Ginny placed a necklace around the boy's neck, and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"This necklace is a symbol of relationship," McGonagall explained to the rest of the congregation.
"Severus Snape," McGonagall then turned to him, and Severus found himself gulping a little in fear. "Though you have become Harry's son in a most unusual way, you are now his legal son and heir. In this ceremony you are now to become Ginny's legal son and heir as well."
Harry placed his hands on Severus' head as he did for Teddy, and Severus knew to expect warmth and a tingle as the spell worked. Harry had explained that it was merely a spell that would formalize the family relationship with the three of them, and that it should mostly feel good. Severus wondered how he could feel anything with his heart beating so fast. He looked at the back door, wondering how fast he could make it there and if anyone would stop him.
"You're okay, you can do this," Harry whispered to him. "Take a few deep breaths. I promise, it will be okay, only a few seconds to go. You've got Teddy's hand, right? We don't want to scare him."
Somehow that encouragement helped, and Severus was able to take a few breaths and stop looking at the back door. He could barely hear McGonagall as she repeated the same words as she did for Teddy, but when Harry's hands removed from his head he suddenly felt as if he could breathe again. What had the spell done? Was something different?
Then, suddenly, Ginny was there placing the necklace around his neck and pressing a kiss onto his cheek. He could feel the press of her soft skin, hear the strange rustle of her dress, and smell her scented hair as she pressed close. Was this truly going to be the person that would be his mother?
And then, after more words that Severus could barely comprehend, there was cheering as Harry kissed his bride with such enthusiasm that Ginny was swept backwards into his arms to accommodate him. Large balloons that had hovered over them burst, full of golden confetti and bubbles that floated throughout the church. People were laughing, cheering, and congratulating. Before long, everyone was transported by port-key to the waiting reception tents at the burrow.
Severus had not really known what to expect by meeting large groups of people for the first time; he had really not given it much thought. He had, in his childish mind and expectations, assumed that kids were largely ignored at gatherings such as weddings. But he found himself the subject of much surreptitious scrutiny, which made him deeply uncomfortable. He tried at first to pretend he wasn't being stared at, but he found himself more and more uncomfortable.
When he sat down with Teddy at the reception he felt many people eyeing him up, and when Grandma Molly brought them food he felt as if everyone watched him eat. He was at the table with the Weasley family, but he knew others were watching. Even the gentle ribbing from George couldn't help him feel more comfortable.
"Drink?" Teddy asked hopefully after draining his glass of punch.
"I'll get it," Severus volunteered with a sigh. Maybe if he could be off to the side for a bit he'd feel less like he was in a fish bowl.
Making his way to the punch bowl, however, he just found that there were even more whispers. At the punch bowl already was a man about Harry's age with a round, sweet face, and when he turned to face Severus that face went white as a sheet.
"You're him," the man whispered.
"Apparently," Severus answered, feeling angrier by the minute.
"You look just like him," the man answered in shock, spilling half of his punch as if his hand had become detached from his body.
"Since you haven't said who I'm supposed to look like I'm not sure who you mean," Severus answered with bite. "Until you can tell me that information, please spill your punch somewhere else."
"Crikey, you sound just like him too," the man echoed, going even paler.
"Just who am I supposed to sound like?" Severus thundered in a fierce whisper. "Professor bloody Snape? Because I'm getting really sick of being stared at by everyone!"
"Good afternoon, Longbottom," a cultured, careful voice from behind Severus intoned. "Do stop spilling your punch everywhere. Are you really getting in an argument with a child?"
"Do you see who this child is?" the man with the spilling punch sputtered.
"You must be Severus Snape," an elegant, thin man with white-blond hair pulled back at the nape of his neck said with an air of aristocratic superiority.
"I am," Severus answered pugnaciously. "Who the hell are you?"
"Manners, young sir," the man replied, his tone slightly mocking. "I would think your guardian would have taught you to speak respectfully to your elders, even if your elders are named Neville Longbottom."
"I am so sorry that my manners don't meet your expectations," Severus growled at him, his eyes flashing. "Who the hell are you, sir?"
"I am Draco Malfoy," the man replied, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "It is very nice to make your acquaintance, Young Master Snape."
AN: So Draco wasn't part of my original plan for this story, but I just couldn't resist thinking about how he might interact with Severus. I thought it might also help Severus to have a Slytherin to help navigate some of his current life issues with. What do you guys think?