It was mid February, Valentine's Day weekend and Harry and Draco were in London. It was far from the romantic first Valentine's day that they had been hoping for though. Narcissa had insisted that they come and help make some decisions about the wedding. It was scheduled to take place at the Manor on July 1st. Harry and Draco had wanted a small ceremony but his mother was running away with it.

Harry sighed as they walked out of the Leaky Cauldron "You know I love your mum but she is going a bit over board with this wedding don't you think"

Draco nodded "I know Harry but she has her heart set on giving us the perfect wedding."

Harry smirked "Wants to give her baby boy the perfect day"

Draco elbowed him but smiled "Thank you for being so patient with her about all of this."

Harry smiled "Promise we will have some time alone to celebrate Valentine's Day"

Draco leaned down and kissed him "Don't worry; I think we can come up with something."

They walked down Diagon alley and headed for Hermione's shop. Hermione had offered to take care of Lily for the afternoon while they were dealing with florist issues with Narcissa. One good thing about London, they never had trouble finding a baby-sitter.

Hermione was stocking the shelves with a new supply of books when they came in "Hey guys, how is it going?"

Harry sighed "Starting to think we should just drop all of this and elope."

Draco nodded "Mum has gone a bit wedding crazy."

Hermione laughed "It's a mum's prerogative. You should have seen my mum and Molly when Ron and I got married."

Harry and Ginny had a small civil ceremony as he had not wanted a huge media mess "I must admit I am looking forward to a proper wedding."

Ron came from the back room and was holding Hugo in one arm and Lily in the other while Rose trailed behind. Rose was beaming and wanted to show off the picture she had made.

Lily had paint on her from finger painting and Ron said apologetically "Was trying to clean her up but she heard you and insisted on coming out."

Draco just smiled and with a wave of his wand he cleaned Lily up and took her in his arms "Hey little flower, have fun with your cousins?"

The little girl nodded her head vigorously and showed him the picture she had made "For Papa"

Harry smiled at his daughter "How about one for daddy?" He asked trying to sound hurt.

Lily just gave him one of her winning smiles but shook her head "No, for papa" and buried her head against Draco.

It made Draco's heart beat faster to hear Lily call him Papa. It had been in fact her second word, after daddy to Harry. They were in the middle of having the paper work completed for him to adopt Lily. Since Ginny had given up all rights to Lily, there was just the paper work to sort out.

"Thanks for taking care of her for us" Harry said.

Hermione smiled "You know if you need someone to sit for her so you can have a romantic night out tomorrow, just say the word."

"I think that we would get lynched if we let you baby-sit again. The rest of the family is lined up to have a chance." Harry pointed out.

They left the shop and after making a few stops along the way they headed back to Grimauld place where they were spending the weekend. They were to go to the florist with Narcissa the next day to make the final choices. They were to drop Lily off with George and Alicia for the day but Draco decided to floo Molly when Harry was up giving Lily a bath.

"Molly would you and Arthur mind taking Lily for the nigh, tomorrow?" he asked.

Molly nodded "You know we would love to have her. You and Harry having a romantic Valentine's night planned?"

"I am trying to plan a surprise for Harry. After all of this wedding stuff I think we need a good night out." Draco said.

Molly nodded and said she would be happy to have Lily for the night. She even suggested that George bring her over so that Harry and Draco would not have to worry about any of that. Thanking Molly for it, he stepped back out of the floo and by the time Harry came back down from the nursery, he had a romantic night planned out that his fiancé would never forget, or so he hoped.

Narcissa was beaming when she saw the boys come into the florist shop the next day. She had decided she should have become a wedding planner. She wanted to make this the wedding of the century for her son and his fiancé.

"I am glad you got here" she smiled and kissed them both on the cheek

"Sorry we were late Narcissa but Lily was a bit cranky and we had a hard time convincing her to stay with George and Alicia" Harry explained.

"I hope she is okay?" Narcissa said

Draco nodded "I think it's just being in a different place. She did not sleep all that well last night."

"Well now that you are here come and look at the flower arrangements I have been going over" Narcissa ushered them into the shop.

Harry was amazed at the flowers; nothing like the simple arrangements he had seen at Weasley weddings "Narcissa, I thought we said we wanted something simple"

Smiling at Harry she said "These are simple, much more toned down then what I had in mind at first. And I do recall telling you to call me mum."

Harry shook his head and sighed "They are beautiful I have to admit, Mum"

Draco whispered into his ear "Thank you"

They missed lunch spending time going through different possible arrangements. Harry and Draco did not really care about flowers at all. They had allowed Draco's mum to plan the wedding for it was something she had an interest in and would make a beautiful ceremony for them.

Finally Narcissa let them off picking flowers and said "Would you boys join me for lunch before I head home?"

Harry smiled "Of course mum, we would love to have lunch with you."

They were walking out of the florist shop when suddenly cameras were being snapped in their faces and microphones were being shoved under their noses. Someone had heard them speaking about their wedding when they had come out of the Leaky Cauldron and had leaked it to the press. There had to be about six different reporters trying to get them to talk.

"Is it true Harry Potter that you are going to be married to Draco Malfoy?" one asked

Another chimed in "What do you think your parents would say if they heard you were doing this?"

"Do you think it is right to raise your daughter in a house with another man?" a man asked.

"How does your ex-wife and her family think about this marriage?"

"What kind of example are you setting for your fans by this kind of marriage?"

Harry looked at Draco and was suddenly grateful that Lily was not with them and was safe with her Aunt and Uncle at their shop. He had not faced a media circus like this in years since his bachelor days before he married Ginny. It was one of the reasons he had married her, trying to get out of the public attention. All of the polls and women sending him things.

Draco took Harry by the arm and steered him away from it all "Don't let them get to you Harry."

Harry nodded "Let's just get out of here."

Narcissa led the way but not before shouting at the reporters "If you print any of this I will have my husband sue you for slander."

When they got rid of the press media Harry turned to Draco and said "I know I said I wanted to do something tonight, but I really don't want to leave the house"

Draco nodded "I Understand. We can stay in for tonight."

Narcissa said her goodbyes and promised that she would make sure Lucius was in contact with the papers. Draco let Harry know that Lily was being taken to the Weasleys by her Uncle later. Harry knew it was best that Lily was not around when he was this upset so he agreed to leave her where she was.

Harry was sitting in the library trying to read later when Draco came into the room. He would not let the media ruin his first Valentine's with Harry. He had worked since they returned home from Diagon alley, to transfer his plans to here in the house. With a bit of help from his mum and from the Weasleys, he had succeeded.

"Harry" he said stepping into the library "I thought you might be hungry"

Harry looked up from his book and nodded "Now that you mention it, I am a bit."

Draco led him not to the kitchen or even dinning room but to the small parlour and said "Surprise"

Harry looked around the room where a beautiful candle light picnic was set up and flowers were every where "Draco, how did you do all of this?"

"I had a bit of help" Draco admitted "I just wanted to make sure that our Valentine's Day was not ruined by those hounds"

Harry laughed and pulled his fiancé into a passionate kiss. Draco led him over to the blanket spread out on the floor. They had picnicked many times in Paris and since it was to cold for one outdoors, he had thought this was perfect. His mother had supplied the beautiful wild flowers and wine, and Molly had been cooking all afternoon to make a romantic meal for the two.

"I should thank Molly next time I see her" Harry said as he took a bit of the chicken.

Draco smirked "That obvious?"

Harry just smiled "I have been eating her food since I was eleven. I would recognize her cooking any where."

"I thought killing you with my cooking would not be a proper Valentine's Day gift" Draco shrugged

They spent the evening before the fire feeding each other and just watching the flames in the fireplace. Neither had bothered to buy a gift for each other that year as they had been so busy with all the wedding plans but there was no gift that could have meant more then that evening together.

In the morning Harry woke up entwined with Draco in the blankets next to the fireplace. At first he was not sure why he had been woken until he realized there were several owls at the window. He recognized only one of them. Entangling himself form Draco, he went to the window and relieved the owls of their burdens. He found newspapers tied to them all.

After reading the first headline he called "Draco"

Draco woke up and looked a bit upset not to find Harry still with him until he saw Harry's face "What is wrong?"

Harry showed him the headline on the cover of the Prophet "Can you believe this?"

Draco looked at the pile of papers "They can't all be this bad can they?"

Harry shook his head "No, just our beloved Prophet of course. Nothing ever changes does it?"

The first section of the newspaper was filled with stories with titles like Harry Potter: The boy who shagged a death eater, Harry Potter: Corrupting our youth, Family Values: What is Harry Potter teaching his daughter.

Draco tore up the paper "Harry, this is all complete nonsense. You know the prophet, always out to make trouble."

Harry nodded "But we also know how many people actually read this and believe their crap"

Draco showed him the other papers "Look at these. True Love finally for the boy who lived, Britain's best dad to become a husband. Those are just a few"

Harry nodded "I know, I just wish that for once I could have some happiness without someone trying to ruin it for me."

Draco turned "We will get dad. Get him to set up a press conference. You can answer the questions and clear this all up."

Harry was not keen on the idea but Draco and later Lucius promised that if he did it in public then the prophet would not be able to print any lies about what he had said. It was the best way to clear the air. Harry reluctantly agreed to have the press conference set up for on the steps of Gringotts later that day.

Harry stood there on the steps with his entire family save Alicia who was home with the kids. He was surrounded by everyone who cared about him. Lucius and Narcissa were there as well.

Lucius came up to him "Harry I need to warn you about something"

"Yes dad?" he was wondering what was going on now.

"I got word that someone learned about you inheriting everything from Severus. There will be questions about your relationship" Lucius said

Harry nodded "I have always known that it would come out some time. I guess its time I face it."

Lucius clapped him on the back "You know we are here for you son"

Harry stepped forward and started the press conference "In answer to the slander the Prophet published this morning I have agreed to a press conference to clear up the lies."

A man shot up his hand "Are you engaged to Draco Malfoy?'

Harry nodded "Yes, Draco proposed to me on Christmas day and I have accepted. We will marry in July"

A woman asked next "What do you think your parents would say about this?'

"I know my parents would be happy for me. They wanted what was best and they would see I am happy." Harry said

"What about your daughter? What does her family think of you marrying Draco, bringing a man into her life?"

Harry did not answer for Bill stepped forward to "We support Harry one hundred percent. He is a member of our family and Draco makes him happy"

Charlie stepped forward "Anyone who knows our family knows they are accepting of such relationships. I have been married to my partner now for seven years"

The questions went on but most of them were about the wedding and plans for what they would do in the future. Harry smiled as he told them about the ceremony plans and about teaching at Hogwarts.

Suddenly a familiar face popped up "Isn't it true though Mr Potter that you had a relationship in school with Severus Snape. That you in fact named your daughter after your former lover and that is why Ginny left you. That he left you all he had."

Harry nodded "I was in a relationship with Severus before his death, yes."

Rita pounced on that "You were having sex with a professor of yours? Was it just a romp in the hay or for some grades?"

Harry turned to her "Check your records, I was not in fact a student in what should have been my seventh year. My relationship with Severus started after I left my education."

"And did you name your daughter to spite your wife?"

Harry shook his head "Severus Snape was a hero. He risked his life to save us for decades while a spy. I was engaged to be married to him when he was killed. I honoured his heroism by giving my daughter his name for her middle name."

"Is that why Ginny dumped you? You were still in love with your former fiancé?"

"Have any of you been with someone you loved and lost them?" and after a moment of people nodding Harry continued "Then you know that when you lose someone you never forget them. Draco knows that there is a place in my heart for Severus always. That does not change my love and my future with him."

So why then did your wife leave you? Could you not perform in bed for a woman?"

"Obvious from my daughter that was not the case. I will not speak though of Ginny. Out of respect for my daughter and my family, that is a subject I will not touch" Harry stated.

The questions slowed down after that and Rita disappeared back into the crowd. By the end the damage control had been handled and several of the reporters had come up and told him how proud they were of how he had handled this all.

Lucius turned to Harry "You did goo son. I am sure the papers will sing your praises tomorrow. I have no doubt the Prophet will also print a retraction."

Harry nodded "I just want this to be over with. I thought I gave up all of this when I retired from quiditch."

The Weasleys thanked him for not mentioning why Ginny had left him. Draco and Harry went to collect their daughter from her Aunt and spent a few hours together before Harry had to floo back to Beauxbautons for he had class in the morning.

In the morning he was sitting at the head table with Gabrielle when Ares flew down and perched on his chair. It was so early for mail that many of the eyes in the room turned to see what was going on. Harry took the papers and message from the eagle owl.

The note was from Draco:

Harry

Here are a copy of a few of the better articles. You seem to have charmed all of the reporters. Skeeter was not features in the Prophet and there is talk she is being fired again from the paper. There is a nice retraction in there you might like to read.

Remember I love you and I am proud of you. Give my beautiful little daughter a kiss for her papa and remind her I love her as much as her daddy.

Draco

Harry smiled and read over the papers "Finally" he muttered

Gabrielle turned to him "What was that?"

"Just that finally a newspaper managed to get the facts straight" Harry said and showed her the articles, as he had already told her of the press conference.

He took out some parchment and wrote a quick note to Draco

Draco

Thank you for the papers. It brightened up my morning. Our daughter sends her love and a very messy kiss.

Luv: Harry

He sent the message with Ares and then turned to his breakfast. The rest of his day went better then it had started. He had felt like a teen at Hogwarts again when he had seen the Prophet the other morning. This time though he had the support of a family behind him as well as his fiancé. He knew just how lucky he was that he was about to marry Draco.