Albus and Ben had put together the seating chart for the reception, and Harry was sat with Ron and Hermione, Lee and Alicia, Ginny and Dennis, and Charlie, who was the only Weasley who never married. The rest of the middle-aged Weasleys were sat with their wives and Arthur and Molly at the next table over. Alicia's and Lee's parents, the Spinnets and Jordans, were on the other side at a table with their granddaughter Abby and her family.
Only two of the groomsmen had brought dates, so they were all at a table in the front, closest to the grooms' table. Harry had managed to sit down first and coordinate a spot where he had a view of them, and Scorpius appeared to have managed to do the same from his table.
Dinner played out with Harry attempting to balance paying attention to his table's conversation while exchanging glances with Scorpius. It seemed to be going well until Ron kicked him under the table and murmured for only him to hear, "Alicia's talking to you." After that, Harry had to stay focused on his table alone.
As the meal dwindled down, Lee and Harry exchanged a nod, and Harry got up to let the Best Men know it was time for the toasts. He went first to Ben's Best Man, leaning down to tell him, then went around to where Scorpius sat and crouched beside his chair.
"Time for the speeches?" Scorpius asked, scooting back his chair some so Harry was at a less awkward angle.
"Yes, Lee's going to do the welcome, and then you two, and then we finish with my amazingly written speech. Let's hope I can actually deliver it."
"You wrote most of it!" Scorpius protested. "Don't downplay your contributions."
"You wrote all of it and I just gave you some details to weave in." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Exactly, you contributed all the heart to it."
"Hey, well done not grossly sobbing up there, by the way," Harry said.
"Oh, please, I was a horrendous mess." Scorpius groaned. "I had to mop my entire face afterwards."
"You were not a horrendous mess, I promise. I was watching you," Harry said softly, only realizing how creepy it sounded after he said it. "Er, watching you for the gross sobbing, I meant."
"You'd better get ready for your toast," Scorpius said, the smile of a suppressed laugh on his lips.
Harry stood, sad to leave their intimate conversation, and went back to his table.
"All good?" Lee asked him.
"Yeah, everyone's ready."
Harry sat down, finding his beer and pulling out his notes to glance over again while Lee greeted everyone. Being a professional announcer, Lee breezed through his speech and toast. It was full of fun anecdotes that sent the crowd laughing, and he commanded a natural cadence meant to continually captivate the audience. He introduced Ben's Best Man, who stumbled through his toast, and everyone politely clapped while taking a sip of their drinks to seal his toast.
The polite clap was the one Harry hoped to avoid, and the reason he'd asked for Scorpius' help in writing his toast. Well, Scorpius had sort of offered after Harry moaned about it enough, showing him the parchment that was blank shy the word 'Albus.'
Scorpius had admitted his grandparents had forced him into speechwriting and public speaking courses after his abysmal speech performance at the Hogwarts graduation. But he was glad for it, citing it as 'probably the best thing they ever did for me.' Then they'd sat down and written their toasts together.
Scorpius was wrapping up now, the crowd fully engaged, and then he transitioned over to Harry to finish off the toast.
Harry stood, trembling slightly with nerves until he looked at Scorpius. He remembered to breathe, a solid breath held for three seconds, as Scorpius had instructed and practiced with him, and then turned to Albus and Ben, smiled, and began to speak.
"When Albus started at Hogwarts and sorted into Slytherin, he once told me, 'Just cast a spell, Dad, and change me into what you want me to be, okay? It'll work better for both of us.' That was a rough time for us, but I'd like to think that by being in Slytherin, he grew into the man I see before me: resourceful, determined and ambitious. Al, no time turner could change who you have become." Harry stifled a cry as Albus wiped a tear from his cheek. He smiled again at the newlyweds and held up his beer. "Albus, you're exactly who I want you to be due in part to the love you share with Ben. I see the love these two have for each other and I am grateful to be here to celebrate Albus and his husband, Ben! To the Jordans!"
"To the Jordans!" echoed the guests.
As he sat, he was flooded with praise for his speech.
"Blimey, Harry, when did you learn how to give public speeches?" Ron asked.
"You should run for Minister, Harry," Hermione teased.
"Really beautiful job, Harry," Ginny said, Dennis nodding his agreement.
"It's like you had a speechwriter," Lee said with a little smile.
Harry laughed and merely said, "Thanks. I practiced a lot."
He found Scorpius, whose eyes shone with pride, and he felt his heart expanding again, like the Extension charm Albus referenced in his vows.
The DJ took over as MC for the rest of the night and announced the first dance. Harry settled in, not planning on dancing at this point in the evening when it was all couples and slower music. The old people dancing period, Scorpius had termed it as he'd run through the schedule on the Saturday afternoon in July between their birthdays.
Twenty minutes into it, the DJ said, "Now, I invite all the married couples to come to dance floor."
Harry sighed. Albus had warned this would be happening at Lee's request, but it didn't make it any less awkward. He used the throng of couples moving forward as cover to slip back to the bar for a refill, then slumped into a chair at one of the back tables to wait out the 'longest married couple standing' dance.
The music had barely begun when Scorpius plopped down beside him. "They never think about how dreadful this kind of thing is for the single people."
"Trust me, it's worse for me than for you," Harry said.
"Why's that?" Scorpius gave him a lopsided grin.
"You," Harry said, probing a finger into his chest. "Have your whole life ahead of you still. I'm just a washed-up divorcee who will be alone forever."
"Alone forever! Don't be so dramatic, Harry. It makes me want to comfort you." Scorpius sighed wistfully as he lay his head on Harry's shoulder.
"Well, one day when you're an old fart and a has-been, you'll know I'm being far from dramatic." Harry's voice didn't give away that his heart beat exceedingly faster than it had a moment prior, before the scent of Scorpius' hair gel was so close to his nostrils it was impossible to ignore. It was sweet but not overbearing, nothing floral or sugary, more like an aloe or melon, maybe a citrus. It was pleasant. Enough so, that he murmured, "You smell nice."
"Thanks," was Scorpius' only spoken response, but he burrowed a little deeper into Harry's shoulder. They had never touched each other this intimately before, despite how many times Scorpius had made himself at home in Harry's house over the past seven months.
This is fine, Harry reassured himself. No one's looking anyway.
He slid his arm around Scorpius' shoulder, lightly at first, but once a contented sigh left Scorpius' lips, he pulled him in closer and tightened his grip. At the front of the room, the DJ instructed all couples married for a year or less to leave the dancefloor.
"For the record," Scorpius began softly. "I don't think you're an old fart."
"Oh no?" Harry grinned.
"Not at all."
"What am I then?" Harry asked, but he never got an answer because Albus and Ben approached just then.
"Don't you two look cute!" Albus exclaimed. Harry felt himself blush.
His son thrust both arms out towards Scorpius, who responded in kind, letting Albus pull him to his feet with some effort.
"See you around, Harry," Scorpius called back at him with another lopsided grin.
Harry merely smiled and held up his beer in response. Once the vibrant trio was far enough away their laughter became muffled by the music, he threw back his beer for a long swig.
"I cannot believe you would allow such a depressing and exclusive thing as this longevity of marriage dance at your son's wedding," came a slurred voice.
Harry swallowed his beer and turned to find Draco had sat on the other side of him. His legs sprawled out awkwardly and his hands pressed on his thighs like he was trying to hold them down.
"I certainly wasn't in charge of this idea. Why do you think I'm back here drinking?" Harry said, assessing the rest of Draco's physical state. It was rough.
His grey-blond hair was a stringy mess, his usual black satin ribbon that tied it back long since lost to the evening, and his facial expression was loose and almost silly looking. His eyelids kept drooping down in exhaustion until he'd suddenly burst them open with newfound energy. And even though he was seated, his balance swayed without rhythm.
Harry set down his beer bottle and gripped onto Draco's shoulder firmly. "You all right?"
"I'm abysmal. I despise weddings." Draco patted Harry's hand. "But I neither want nor need your pity, Potter."
"Well good, Malfoy, because I wasn't giving you it. You're pissed as fuck and probably should go home before you embarrass yourself."
Draco grunted with indignance.
After a long moment, he blurted out, "Your wife didn't die."
"No, she did not."
"Weddings are the worst."
Harry gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sure Albus appreciates you coming."
"Yes, yes, of course he does. And Scorpius. But the thing is…Well, they're just young and don't know. They don't know how shit life really is, do they?"
"Oh, I don't know. Your son lost his mum. I think he might have an inkling. But my kids, no. Not in the least. They think they know everything but they're fucking clueless. And I'm well glad for it. I'd rather them be naïve pricks than know the harsh realities that you and I do."
"You spout such wisdom at times, Potter. It's really infuriating, and yet…" Draco trailed off, then gained some energy and exclaimed, "I saw you holding my son. He adores you, you know. Always has."
"Adores me?" Harry laughed, rolling his eyes. Inside, his stomach did a little flip.
"Oh yes, forever." Draco nodded, hiccoughing. "It's you, isn't it? The person he's secretly dating?"
"You're drunk, Draco."
"How very observant of you. Yet, you haven't answered my question. But I know it's you. You're all he talks about. You won't take him from me, will you? I can't bear to lose anyone else."
"I really don't think this is an appropriate conversation," Harry said, reaching for his beer.
"Can I have a sip of that?"
"It's nearly finished," Harry lied.
Pulp's "Common People" came on and a flood of memories rushed forth in Harry's mind from the fall of 1997. He immediately perked up to search for Ron and Hermione.
Across the ballroom he heard them shriek in unison, "WHERE IS HARRY?!"
"Sounds like I'm needed," Harry said quickly to Draco. "Find me or Ginny if you need to get home."
Draco flashed him some sort of grimaced smile, eyes half shut, and Harry hurried away towards his friends calling out, "I'm coming!"
The trio reached each other on the dancefloor in a frenzied excitement. They grasped each other's hands, forming a loose triangle as they began to sing the lyrics with a sense of sheer passion.
When they'd been living in Grimmauld Place in 1997, this record was one of the only sources of entertainment they'd had. It had seen them through many endless days of anxiety, depression, frustration and fear, screaming the lyrics and thrashing about together in the hidden house. Hearing it now was like a bond reforming. Harry felt seventeen again. He felt free. He didn't even notice that everyone was watching them and no one else seemed to know the song.
Their energy was too great for the DJ to change it up though, and when Scorpius came to join them, singing the lyric, "I wanna do whatever common people do," the three of them screamed at how right it all felt and lifted their joined hands to let him into the center of their little circle.
It was immediately clear Scorpius knew the entire song, but the trio just kept singing the lyrics to him. The song felt so about him, it was hard to express in any other form.
When they landed on, And still you'll never get it right, cos when you're lying in bed at night watching roaches climb the wall, if you called your dad, he could stop it all, yeah, Hermione screeched, covering her face and exclaiming, "This is so fucking perfect!"
Ron fell into laughter and Harry grabbed Scorpius' hand and led him into a spin as they sang the chorus together. Hermione remained lost in a tipsy giggle fit until Ron gave her a little shake and she grabbed onto Scorpius exclaiming, "Sorry! It's just so perfect! You're wonderful."
"All right, enough Malfoy praise for one night," Ron said, shooting Harry an eyeroll before he pulled Hermione in for a kiss.
Harry and Scorpius laughed and then continued to sing the lyrics as they danced together. Ron and Hermione soon rejoined them, jumping up and down as the fast chorus led into the bridge.
"Cos everybody hates a tourist, especially one who, who thinks it's all such a laugh," Ron sang.
Harry and Hermione grinned at each other and yelled out the next line, "And the chip stain's grease will come out in the bath!"
They three turned to Scorpius and belted out, "You will never understand how it feels to live your life with no meaning or control and with nowhere left to go. You are amazed that they exist, and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why!"
Scorpius joined them for the next lyrics, and when the song landed on the If you called your dad, he could stop it all, lyric again, Harry shoved his index finger into Scorpius' chest as he sang it.
Scorpius grabbed his hand, forcing his fist apart so he could thread his fingers through Harry's while he sang the chorus with him. The final repeated lyric, I wanna live with common people like you, began, and Scorpius leaned closer to Harry. He sang the line wrong over and over again as, "I'm in love with common people like you." Harry laughed, unsure how else to react as nothing about Scorpius' expression seemed disingenuous.
The DJ mixed into "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners and Scorpius gave a little cheer.
"How do you know so many songs from before you were born?" Harry asked him.
"My mum loved Muggle music. We would listen all the time when I was a kid. She had a whole library of vinyl that I inherited," Scorpius explained.
Harry smiled warmly. "You and your libraries."
Scorpius started to sing the song, subbing out "Eileen" with "Harry" wherever he could. Hermione and Ron had linked elbows nearby them and were skipping about in circles to the tune. It looked too fun not to imitate, and soon the four of them were switching partners and having a blast. George, Angelina, and Alicia danced up to them and George called, "Ron and Harry! Gryffindor team kick-line!"
Ron and Harry looked at one another in amusement but shrugged and followed them to an empty patch of dancefloor. They linked together and formed a kick-line. Harry grabbed Ron as Alicia grabbed him, and Angelina looped an arm around Alicia and her husband, George.
"Ginny! Come on!" she yelled across the room towards where Ginny was sitting with her parents.
Ginny jerked up, her classic smile lighting up her face, and ran over to George's side, wrapping an arm around his waist.
"Lee, get in here!" Alicia cried to her husband, who was watching with amusement nearby.
"It wouldn't be the Gryffindor team without you!" George agreed.
Lee slid in between Harry and Alicia with a laugh and exclaimed, "Oh, but we're missing Katie Bell!"
"Oh, Katie!" Alicia and Angelina both cried. No one really had kept up with Katie and she hadn't even been invited to the wedding.
"Scorpius, you can stand in for Katie!" Ron cried to where they'd left him dancing with Hermione.
"C'mere," Harry said to him, breaking apart from Ron to form an opening. Scorpius nestled into it, looping his arms around Harry's and Ron's waists.
As the bridge's countermelody heated up, shrieks of laughter sounded from the former teammates. Their kick line struggled to keep up with accelerating tempo as they attempted to sing along, "Toora Loora Toora Loo-Rye Aye!"
Everyone broke apart at the bridge's culmination, but Scorpius kept his arm firmly wrapped around Harry's torso. Harry turned to face him, and they sang the chorus back and forth to one another.
Scorpius started with, "Come on Harry! Oh, I swear at this moment, you mean everything"
Harry continued, "You in that dress, my thoughts I confess, verge on dirty."
"So, come on Harry," Scorpius finished, returning Harry's suggestive expression with a little smirk.
They repeated the chorus along with the rest of the team to finish the song and a massive cheer went up from their group, followed by applause from the onlookers.
"I need water," Scorpius said and hurried off the dancefloor towards the bar.
Harry planned to follow him, but the music shifted to James' "Laid" and he immediately found Ginny in their team crowd. She had been seeking him out as well, and when their eyes met both of them smirked at their shared memory of this song.
He beckoned her over with the jerk of his head and she laughed and danced over to him. Harry thrust an arm out towards her as the line, She only comes when she's on top, played. They both laughed at this upon her arrival and Harry grabbed her waist with one hand as they began to sway together.
Ginny palmed a hand against his chest as she sang the next lines, meeting his eyes playfully at, "You're like a disease without any cure."
He rolled his eyes, laughing as they continued to dance. But as the next verse began, she kept singing, almost too intensely, and Harry found himself caught in a kaleidoscope of memories; their entire marriage rushing through his mind. Good things at first, but then the old wounds began to open until it was raw and painful again. The year of sleepless nights and empty days after she quit the Harpies and fell into a relentless depression when he had to take care of the kids, the meals, the chores, the bills, and go to work all day. The exasperated arguments about who did more to run the household once she started her job with The Daily Prophet. Her fist in the wall beside his head and the fire in her eyes when she told him she regretted ever marrying him. His resulting weekend away—a holiday alone, something he'd never done before.
He'd never really been truly alone before then, so when Ron had asked him upon return the simple question, "Do you think you would be happier by yourself?" he finally knew the answer. She'd moved on to Dennis soon after, leaving Harry to feel he alone had been the problem all along.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked now, still fully engaged with the song herself, entirely unaware that Harry was reliving all the hurt from the worst years of his life.
"Yeah, fine."
Dennis arrived at that moment, his camera elsewhere and his arm pulling Ginny close, away from Harry. She laughed, beginning to sing the final verse to him instead. Harry stepped backwards, somehow both wounded and relieved at the same time. A hand gripped his, forcing him into a spin, and Harry found Scorpius' bright blue-grey eyes smiling at him once he'd turned fully around. His spirits immediately soared. Scorpius' free hand tugged Harry's waist hard, pulling their bodies nearly flush.
Lips brushing Harry's earlobe, Scorpius sang the final line of the verse, "You're driving me crazy. When are you coming home?"
Harry squeezed his hand gratefully and pushed him into a spin. Swaying together, they sang the repeated final titular lyric. The DJ went into a shortened version of New Order's "Temptation," and Scorpius took over the repeated, "Oooh" while Harry sang the verse lyrics, and they both sang the chorus.
Even fewer people knew this song and that combined with its slower tempo meant the dancefloor started to empty. Quick to fix the issue, the DJ mixed in a much-loved Weird Sisters hit and nearly every person cheered as they flocked to the dancefloor.
Harry and Scorpius exchanged an amused look and held each other a little tighter under the guise of the crowd pushing them together. The way he was looking at him now, and the way his body felt against his, Harry could scarcely breathe. He couldn't remember ever wanting to kiss anyone this badly. They were entirely surrounded, being jostled this way and that, yet he felt entirely alone with Scorpius. Hidden by the crowd. Would anyone even notice if we kissed right now?
Albus and Ben danced by just then, Albus calling, out, "Scorp, come on!"
Scorpius grabbed Harry's wrist, then took Albus' outstretched hand to drag them both into a forming dance circle. Ron's son, Hugo, was in the center, breaking it down in a smooth fashion to the screaming indie rock song. After a final showy move, Fleur's son, Dominique, stepped lithely into the circle's center and Hugo returned to its ever-growing perimeter.
This kept going, the youth making up the bulk of those willing to enter the circle, though soon George had gone, followed by Angelina. Alicia joined her and they started to do their post-goal celebration dance. The song mixed into "Do the Hippogriff," and Alicia beckoned, "Lee!"
Her husband obeyed happily and the two performed what appeared to be a very thoroughly practiced routine.
"Get it!" Ben yelled encouragingly at his parents from nearby Harry and Scorpius.
Across the circle Abby started the chant, "Go Jordans! Go Jordans!"
Ben started the clapping to accompany his sister's chant, and Albus and Scorpius joined in a moment later. It was only when Scorpius pulled his arm away from his waist to clap that Harry even realized it had been there. It just felt so natural. Harry started clapping as well and Scorpius and Albus both smiled broadly at him.
"Fathers of the grooms! Come on, Harry!" Lee called, and Harry saw Alicia had sauntered over to her daughter.
"Do it, Dad!" Lily cried from beside Abby.
Albus gave him a wink and from somewhere else he heard James' voice starting to chant, "Harry! Harry!"
Scorpius prodded his back and Harry stumbled forward.
He spun around with narrowed eyes. "Oh, you're next, kiddo."
Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows. "Looking forward to it, old fart."
In the background sounded the lyric, Stamp your feet like a leprechaun. Get it on! Get it on! The music opened up to the hook and chorus, and Harry let loose, hopping around Lee while playing a high-spirited air guitar. Cheers erupted and Lee responded by doing a jig on the spot as Harry continued around him. They went through the final chorus of the song, both crying out "Yeah!" at its conclusion and embracing each other.
The DJ next mixed into Weird Sisters' "This Is the Night," which was a slower tempo and easier to dance to than the others. The circle disbanded as most people wanted to dance with their friends and partners. Harry found himself dancing with Scorpius, Albus, Ben, James and Teddy. The latter two seemed to be the best of their group at dancing to this indie rock song.
As the song wound down, the DJ shifted into Weird Sisters' ballad "Magic Works," saying to the crowd, "Let's slow things down for all you lovers out there—old and new."
Harry groaned inwardly. He couldn't exactly slow dance with Scorpius and not raise some eyebrows. Not to mention Albus, James and Teddy were right next to them. When he snuck a glance at Scorpius to see his general reaction, he found him glaring at Albus, his posture stiff.
"I swear I put it on the Do Not Play list. I swear it!" Albus was saying.
"I need to find him—right now," Scorpius said, trembling with anger.
"I'll come. I'm so sorry, Scorp," Albus said.
"No, I'll help Scorpius. Stay with your husband," Harry told his son softly, piecing together the issue was Draco and something to do with this song.
"Are you sure?" Albus was asking Scorpius, not Harry.
"Yes, stay with Ben. He's my dad anyway. My problem."
"It'll be fine, I promise," Harry said to Albus.
As soon as the words left his lips, Draco's slurred shouts rang out loudly over the quiet melody.
"Turn this rubbish off! Turn it off!"
Going into Auror mode, Harry took out his wand and pushed Scorpius in the direction of Draco's voice.
"It was their song, my parents." Scorpius explained quietly as they walked.
Harry spotted Draco through the crowd, stumbling towards the DJ table. He quickened his pace, Scorpius keeping up easily as Harry's strides reached a near run.
They got to Draco before he could reach the DJ and Scorpius spoke to him calmly.
"Dad, stop. Let's go out front."
"No! No, they need to turn this shit off!" Draco screamed.
He moved to charge the table and Harry cast an Immobilus charm.
"Fuck you, Potter!"
Harry cast a Silencing spell and Draco's eyes narrowed into furious slits.
"Let's get him out front," Harry said quietly to Scorpius, who nodded.
They each took an arm and hauled Draco to the lobby. Once outside the ballroom, Harry removed the charms, and they sat Draco in an armchair.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, son," he said, voice cracking as he began to cry.
"It's fine. It's fine." Scorpius pulled his dad's face into his torso, coaxing his fingers through his tangled hair in a repetitive motion.
He glanced over at Harry and mouthed, "Sorry." Harry shook his head to say it was no big deal.
"You must be so ashamed of me," Draco croaked.
"Of course I'm not." Scorpius knelt so he was eye level with his father. "I would never be ashamed of you for this. They weren't supposed to play it. It was on the list of songs not to play."
"Merlin, it's just a song. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter this much." Draco started crying again.
The music could be heard muffled through the doors. The lyrics Harry knew by heart suddenly taking on an entirely new meaning in the wake of Draco's breakdown.
No, don't let this magic die
Ooh, the answer's there
Yeah, just look in her eyes
And don't believe that magic can die
No, no, no, this magic can't die
So dance, your final dance
'Cause this is, your final chance.
Harry wiped a tear from his face, overwhelmed by the unbearable sadness of loss permeating this space.
"If it matters enough to upset you this much, then it should matter," Scorpius said tenderly to his dad.
"I can't go back in there," Draco whispered.
"We'll take you home," Harry said.
Scorpius nodded in agreement.
"The Floo's just over there." Harry reached out a hand for Draco to take.
Together, he and Scorpius pulled him to his feet and guided him to the fireplace. They all got inside, and Scorpius threw down the Floo Powder with a loud, clear, "Malfoy Manor!"
Songs referenced:
"Common People" by Pulp (from Different Class album)
"Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners (from Too-Rye-Ay album)
"Laid" by James (from Laid album)
"Temptation" by New Order (standalone single release)
"Do the Hippogriff" written by Jarvis Cocker and Jason Buckle (featured on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack)
"This Is the Night" written by Jarvis Cocker (featured on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack)
"Magic Works" written by Jarvis Cocker (featured on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack)