You Again

by Tony-In-Distress

How to react when your best friend's older brother is marrying your former arch-nemesis. (Based on the movie 'You Again'.

2. Chapter 2

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Charlie didn't come back with the others and Bill told them all that he was staying with Malfoy for the night.

George had told the Healers that he'd used the skin of a Poerd to make the powder and Charlie had apparently shouted for over an hour about it, only stopping when a Healer asked him to. Bill explained that Malfoy was allergic, as Hermione had said, and that his body had almost given up due to the fact that he'd completely immersed himself in the bath water. The mood was sombre that evening and became even more so when Mr Weasley came home from work and was told the whole story in full by both Mrs Weasley and Bill.

George sat with his head down, looking utterly ashamed of himself, and he didn't even argue when he was sent upstairs like a child.

"Guess we're even now," Ron murmured as they got into bed for the night, "Accidental-almost-murder." Harry snorted though nothing was particularly funny about the situation, "Charlie's gonna kill us."

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

"He really likes Malfoy, doesn't he."

"They are engaged."

"Yeah but - he really does like him," He sighed, rolling to face Harry, "Stranger things have happened, I guess."

"Like what?"

"Like when you first started dating my sister," Harry squirmed under the blankets, "Or us being the saviours of the wizarding world. Or us having the Order of Merlin at the youngest ever - "

"Yeah I - I get the point, Ron."

"I'm just saying," Ron yawned, "Stranger things have happened." Harry nodded sleepily, "Just wish he'd stop pretending he doesn't know us though. Makes you feel he's hiding more."

"Relationships don't do well when they're based on lies." Harry said philosophically.

"Exactly," The bed squeaked as Ron rolled again, "Goodnight mate."

"Night Ron."

The next morning was just as sombre. Mrs Weasley had gone to St Mungos so the rest of them went about making their own breakfast. Bill, Fleur and Hermione ate what Bill had cooked and then apparated to St Mungos as well, leaving Harry, George, Ron and Ginny looking lost at the table.

"Should we - ?" Ron asked, gesturing.

"I doubt Charlie wants to see me," George said and Ron grimaced.

"It was an accident, George," Ginny reassured him, "You didn't know he was allergic."

"Yeah but I shouldn't have put it in there, in the first place." He stabbed at his toast with his forefinger, poking a hole in it and ripping it apart.

"It's done now," Harry said, angry at himself for letting this happen. Malfoy could have died last night because of a prank; it was a horrible thought, "And I'm sure Charlie would appreciate it more if we came instead of sitting around here like a guilty party."

"Like Harry said," Ginny agreed, "Let's eat and go." George just stabbed at his toast again.

The ward at St Mungos was almost identical to the one that Mr Weasley had once been in, and that brought back chilling memories of before the War. Harry glanced at the signs that led to the other wards, wondering if Lockhart was still here, or whether Neville would be visiting.

Mrs Weasley walked past them with Bill, Fleur and Hermione, shaking her head at them, "Charlie's asked to be alone. Say 'hello' and then come sit with us in the waiting room, alright?" Harry nodded when no one else said anything and then they rounded the corner toward the ward that they'd come from.

Charlie sat on a chair beside Malfoy, who was lying covered in a sheet on the bed. His skin was pinker now, the bumps little more than goosebumps and, when they neared, Harry could hear that his breathing was laboured.

"Hey Charlie," Ron said, his voice hoarse. Charlie looked up at them, saw their expressions, and gestured that they sit. They looked at each other and then, after a second, sat as one on the spare chairs around the bed and faced him over Malfoy's body, "Mum said you wanted to be alone."

"I want to talk to you all first." Harry shared a glance with Ron, feeling more than a little worried about what that meant. Charlie sighed, looking at Malfoy, "I first met Draco when I picked him up from the portkey stop in Romania," He said, sounding tired, as though he'd repeated this many times. Maybe he had, "He was angry, injured a little and I've never heard so many insults in my life. And that was just on the drive back to my house. But then, believe it or not, people get used to each other and people start to like each other," Ron squirmed beside Harry, no doubt remembering how he and Hermione used to interact before their first kiss, and even after it, "We were friends first, and then I fell in love with him. Merlin, I've asked him to marry me."

"We know this Charlie," Ginny muttered.

"Do you?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious, "Because it seems to me that you're hoping I'll change my mind. Like you've got some vendetta against him that you have to insult him at every turn, stir up memories of his father, prank and almost kill him - "

"I didn't know he was allergic!" George protested.

"I know," Charlie's voice softened, "But that's not the point." He looked down at Malfoy again, "The Healers say that the reaction should die down in a few hours and that he should take this," He held up a clear vial," For the next two days just in case. When he wakes up in those few hours, I want you four to apologise to him, sincerely, for everything you've said and done over these two days."

"What? But - " Ron gaped.

"He's the one who sh - " Ginny shouted.

"And!" He spoke over their protests, "I want you all to remember that we will be getting married next tuesday and that Draco will be a part of this family. You can't change that, so I suggest you get used to it."

They walked back to the waiting room in mostly silence when Charlie asked if they could leave afterward, and the mood was bitter, "Merlin he sounded just like Mum," Ginny said angrily, after a while, "Apologise? To Malfoy? What about the apologies that we're owed for all the years he gave us hell? What about the apologies to my parents when he insulted them?"

"Charlie's blind," Ron muttered, "He wasn't here when we were at school, he doesn't know what it was like."

"Then maybe we should tell him," Harry suggested, "I mean - he has a right to know exactly who he's marrying, right?"

"He won't listen. Did you hear him back there?" George rolled his eyes, imitating Charlie rather well, "You can't change that, so I suggest you get used to it! Dray-Dray and I are going to live happily ever after while he sponges off of me and I don't even notice! Rar-rar-rar!" They all laughed, forcing themselves to stop when they saw the waiting room in case Mrs Weasley got the wrong idea.

They were all dragged into some cleaning when they got home that afternoon, making everything tidy for Mrs Malfoy who was apparently coming to visit that evening, and George looked pale at the idea that Malfoy would tell her what had happened.

"I want everyone wearing purple at my funeral," He told them over dinner and he even flinched when Charlie, Bill and Malfoy apparated into the garden.

Malfoy looked pale himself when he stepped inside and the bumps had gone down drastically now, leaving his skin as smooth as it had always been. He was holding Charlie's hand and they sat down together at the table, waiting for Bill to follow them in afterward before they started to eat.

Charlie cleared his throat pointedly when they were packing the plates away and George set down his fork with a sigh, "Er. Malfoy?" Malfoy looked up at him, "I just wanted to say that - I'm sorry. I didn't know you were allergic, I wouldn't have done it if I knew."

"You should be sorry," Bill said, frowning, "You almost killed him."

"It's alright," Malfoy said, looking surprised at the apology but nothing else, "Besides," He glanced at Ron, "I've done worse." He then stood, taking his and Charlie's plate and going into the kitchen to put them in the sink. Harry blinked at Ron but then he noticed Charlie's smile and a burning anger bubbled up inside him. Malfoy was impressively good at keeping up this charade, saying that he'd done much worse and then leaving before anyone could ask him what that was.

"He wants to play," Ginny whispered to them as she pushed half a boiled potato into her mouth, scowling.

They continued cleaning after dinner and Malfoy spelled his cardigan to repel the dust before helping them too. He and Charlie chatted as they worked near Harry, Malfoy using aguamenti and a cloth while Charlie mopped up after him.

"We should have Elenda as a bridesmaid as well," Malfoy was saying, dodging Charlie when he tried to hit him with the wet cloth, "What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Charlie laughed, "Just that your memory must be going."

Malfoy paused, "Have I already mentioned her?"

"Twice." Harry gagged at Charlie's smile, turning away, "You must really want her as one."

"Well she did save my life. And yours."

"Um, I've never been injured since we hired Elenda, that was only you."

"Well yeah. But what would you do without me?" Charlie kissed him and Harry decided that he wasn't really needed here. Unfortunately, as he left he passed by the door and was there when he heard a knock. Opening it, he was faced with a frowning Narcissa Malfoy and she looked just as surprised to see him as he was her.

"Um." He stared at her and she took a step to the side, fixing her coat and expression, "Mrs Malfoy."

"Mother!" Malfoy was suddenly behind him and Harry moved aside to let him pass. Mrs Malfoy hugged him tight, "I'm so happy you decided to come in the end!" He really sounded it too.

"Of course I came. You haven't been in England in so long, Draco, I had to see you."

Malfoy stepped back, smiling widely, "Come in, it's warmer here." Mrs Malfoy shed her coat as she stepped inside and Charlie appeared just in time to take it from her and levitate it to a hook, "Mother. I would like you to meet Charlie. Charlie, this is my mother." Mrs Malfoy smiled at least, but it was clearly forced, and that was when Harry thought it best to leave and warn everyone else that she was here.

Mrs Weasley grabbed a mirror and cleared away any dirt from her face before she went to greet Mrs Malfoy, thanking Harry for letting her know and telling him to call the others down to see her. Feeling no particular ill-will toward Mrs Malfoy himself, not after what she'd done during the War, he did as asked and left the others as they started to get dressed out of their 'cleaning' clothes and into something a little more appropriate. He merely spelled his own clothes clean, having looked far worse in front of Mrs Malfoy before anyway.

She was sitting on a sofa in the living space when he came back down, Malfoy beside her with Charlie beside him. Mrs Weasley was bringing in a tray of tea and biscuits and Harry quickly moved their small coffee table until it was within Mrs Malfoy's reach, "Thank you Harry, dear," Mrs Weasley said, placing the tray down and dusting her clothes off as she sat.

Mrs Malfoy seemed to be in a deep conversation with her son in what sounded like french and hadn't notice his arrival yet. Charlie caught his eye, looking as lost as he did which meant that he clearly didn't understand the language either. Harry recognised the words for 'marriage' in there somewhere, along with a few phrases that he'd picked up from Fleur on his visits to their cottage, but barely enough to hold their conversation.

Malfoy shifted back then, turning to face him with one of his hands between both his mothers, and Harry turned to see what had caught his attention. The others had come down now as well, finally, dressed in some clean and presentable clothes with the younger members of the family looking extremely displeased about it. Malfoy said something in french again, to Fleur this time, and she laughed and replied in kind.

"For the rest of the class?" Bill joked, raising an eyebrow, but Fleur just shook her head and took a seat beside Mrs Weasley on the opposite sofa. Mrs Malfoy reached over and picked a cup of tea to drink from. It was Mrs Weasley's best set of china and she inspected it not-so-subtly.

"Sugar?" Harry offered, and she glanced at him, startled.

"Oh. No thank you," Malfoy rolled his eyes and lifted the sugar pot, placing half a teaspoon into his mother's cup and stirring it for her, "I stand corrected."

"It won't kill you Mother," Malfoy said lightly, and she said something in french in return. Harry glanced at Fleur to see her reaction to whatever it was that had been said but she wasn't looking his way, "Mrs Weasley has a spell for her teabags and it detects how a person likes their tea; strong or weak and so on. Try it," He was grinning and Mrs Malfoy didn't seem to know what to do with that, "You'll be surprised, I promise."

Mrs Malfoy took a sip, hummed, and placed it down on the table, "What spell is that, then?"

"Weasley secret." Malfoy and Mrs Weasley said at the same time and he shrugged when she laughed, "I've asked too many times, she won't give it away."

"He's persistent," Mrs Weasley said to Mrs Malfoy, "Asks when I least suspect it."

"I believe that was how he learned the verifications to his father's vault, as well."

"I was ten then, mother, it wasn't a tactic," Malfoy muttered, "Father just didn't think I'd remember it." Mrs Malfoy said something in french again and he glanced down. Charlie reached over and took his hand, something that he looked immensely grateful for.

"So." Mrs Weasley said so brightly that it had to be forced, "How are things at your manor ... Narcissa?" Ginny snorted under her breath making Harry jump. He hadn't even noticed her beside him.

"Cissy. If we're to be family, you may as well call me Cissy," Mrs Malfoy said, just as forcefully bright, "And where is your husband?"

"Oh - er - he's at work."

Mrs Malfoy tutted, "I wanted to ask him if it were possible to have the manor's security back."

"I thought things were fine at the manor," Malfoy said, frowning.

"They are. But if the Weasley's are becoming my in-laws, I'll have to have measures there to ensure that the house doesn't fill to capacity if they all decide to come visit." Her tone suggested she was joking but no one laughed.

"You don't need those measures, Mother," Malfoy said, before speaking french again, with his voice hard and tense.

"Guess we'll need them too," Ron spoke over him, "Don't want too many DeathEater relatives swarming the Burrow."

"I doubt they'd fit." Mrs Malfoy snapped back, her eyes cool.

"Cissy," Mrs Weasley said with a fierce looking smile, before Ron could reply, "There's really no need - "

"Mother," Malfoy interrupted her, "Did we tell you that the wedding will be Winter themed? We're getting a cake from the same shop that did yours." Mrs Malfoy pressed her lips together at that, shutting her eyes for a moment, "Do you own anything white?"

"Why? Do you think I threw all my clothes away and wore only black after your father died?"

Malfoy glared at her, "That is not what I meant." Harry glanced at Ginny when a harsh silence grew between them all and her expression told him that she was eating this all up. He shook his head, giving her a nudge.

"Excuse me one moment," Mrs Malfoy suddenly said, standing up. She looked lost for a second before Malfoy pointed at the stairs wordlessly and she headed in that direction. George and Ron moved out of her way, both frowning, and they all heard the bathroom door shut a minute later.

Mrs Weasley stood and went up the stairs to follow her whilst everyone else sat in silence. When no one else moves, Fleur stood as well, walking around the coffee table to sit beside Malfoy and asking him something in french. Charlie kept a hold of Malfoy's hand as they spoke and as one, the rest of them took a seat as well and started their own conversations. Hermione and Ron joined Harry and Ginny on a three seater, Ginny perched on the edge, and they all glanced upstairs at the sound of footsteps but neither Mrs Weasley nor Mrs Malfoy emerged.

"You don't think I should check on mum, do you?" Ron asked, sounding worried.

"I think your mother knows what to do better in this situation," Hermione said, "Mrs Malfoy lost her husband two years ago. He may have been an awful person to all of us but he was her husband." Harry looked at Malfoy from where he was, seeing him interact with Fleur so naturally, and even with Bill when he joined them. They really did seem to like him and he hated how that made him feel.

"That doesn't excuse what she said about my family," Ginny said, bitterly.

"Oh because we never scorned their family when we lost people we cared about," Hermione countered.

"That's different. Their family actually helped cause those losses. Lucius Malfoy died in prison, accounting for his crimes." Harry had to admit that she had a point, and yet something kept him from openly saying it, "He deserved it."

"No one deserves death Ginny," Hermione sighed.

"What, not even Voldemort?" Hermione gave her a look, "Thought so."

"Look, whatever we all think, there's one thing we do know," Ron spoke up.

Hermione placed her head on his shoulder, "And what's that?"

"That Malfoy's mum wants him to marry Charlie about as much as we do."

.

---

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Dinner was a very tense affair. Mrs Malfoy sat opposite her son and besides Mr Weasley, who looked very uncomfortable with the seating arrangements but the table wasn't really made for entertaining this many people. Bill had transfigured two coffee tables into extra pieces of the larger table and had set them up to make room for all the food and Malfoy had helped place each course over it.

"This is delicious, Mum," George exclaimed, sound surprised as he tucked in, "I mean really."

"Thank you," Bill answered from where he was sitting, "She's taught me everything she knows." George turned to stare at him, "Don't look so shocked, it's insulting."

"Mum?" George asked warily and she laughed.

"It's true, George. Almost everything here was made by Bill and I," She smiled, "Though mostly Bill."

"Does cooking run in the family, then?" Mrs Malfoy asked, sipping some wine.

"No," Malfoy scoffed, looking at Charlie, "A love for all food does, though." Charlie stole one of his prawns in retaliation to that, "See." They all laughed and Harry cringed when Ginny made hers mocking and extra loud, hiding his smile behind a forkful of salad.

"You're welcome to come and visit us in Romania, Mrs Malfoy," Charlie said, putting an arm around Malfoy's shoulders now that he'd finished eating, "We have plenty of room in the house and we've even redecorated it."

"I - " Mrs Malfoy looked at her son and he smiled at her meaningfully, "I'll see." Mrs Weasley vanished the empty trays once they were all done, having conjured them just to hold the food, and sent all the plates into the kitchen sink for washing while the rest of them all settled back into the living space.

Malfoy pulled his mother down beside him when it looked like she wanted to leave and he sat squished between herself and Charlie on the same sofa that George had once lain on, his ear bleeding out over the fabric. It had been cleaned since but still, the memory brought back all those ugly feelings of the War and Harry suddenly couldn't wait to leave the room. He vaguely heard Malfoy say that he'd been to see his 'Aunt Andromeda' and that only made those feelings worse. Andromeda had lost her daughter and her recent son-in-law to that War, and Teddy had lost his both his parents.

He was four now, almost old enough to understand what it meant to be an orphan, and though neither of the Malfoys sitting before him had anything to do with Tonks and Lupin's death, he left the room angrily anyway. If Malfoy had gone to see Andromeda then he'd probably seen Teddy too, and it was then that Harry remembered how Teddy was Malfoy's cousin. How he was related to Andromeda and Tonks by blood.

"Hey," Hermione followed him out and they both wordlessly headed into the garden, sitting on the chairs outside and looking up at the sky, "Are you alright?" He shrugged, "I miss them all too." Like always, Hermione seemed to know exactly what was wrong, "But you know Malfoy's entitled to see his family."

"He's never acknowledged them as his family before," He reminded her, remembering the family tree in Grimmauld place and how Andromeda's line had been blasted off of it. Disowned.

"Well he wants to now. That's got to count for something."

"Does it?" She took his arm, linking it with hers, and they leant back over the chairs, "He shouldn't be allowed to move on," It sounded petty as soon as he said it but he didn't take it back.

"Yes he should," Hermione said, softly, "The War wasn't easy on any of us, least of all you, but you were still always the first to defend Malfoy's actions. You reminded everyone that he didn't identify you when he could have, that he tried to stop Crabbe from killing you, that it was his mother that helped you win," She paused, lowering her voice, "That he couldn't kill Dumbledore when it came down to it."

Harry sighed, "I know."

"So what's changed?" She looked at him, "You wanted everyone to move on and live their lives after the War. Did that not include Malfoy?" She had a point and it dug into him like a knife.

"I guess, I - " He started, his voice strained, "I guess what I really want is an apology, at least. An acknowledgement that he knows he was wrong once but that he wants to move on now. That he's changed," He could feel himself growing angry again, "He can't just pretend that none of that ever happened!"

"That's what Ron said," Hermione told him, "And do you know what I said to him then?"

"To get over it?" Harry asked, dully.

"No!" She sounded so offended that he winced, "I told him to ask Malfoy to apologise to him, if that was what he wanted. Instead of pranking and making stupid comments under his breath, to get what he wanted, and move on himself as well," She nudged Harry, "You do the same if it bothers you so much. If Malfoy wants this to work, he'll apologise." She made it sound so simple but really, she was also right. As usual. He nodded, running a hand through his hair, "Good. Now come on then, it's cold, let's go back inside."

Ron handed them both a mug of hot chocolate when they stepped through the door and told them that Malfoy had taken his mother, Charlie, and Mrs Weasley to visit Andromeda and Teddy before Mrs Malfoy went back to the manor for the night. Ginny had apparently already gone to bed, saying that they all had a long day tomorrow and that she needed her energy to deal with Malfoy.

"Why, what are we doing tomorrow?" Harry asked, frowning.

"Shopping," Ron muttered at the same time as Hermione said, "Getting our measurements for the Wedding clothes."

"Is everything still going to be in white?"

"I've no idea," Hermione said, tangling a finger in her hair before yanking it out, "I suppose so, they want it Winter-themed don't they?"

"Ruining Christmas memories forever," Ron said, woefully, "We should head to bed too, then, I doubt mum'll be back until late anyway." Hermione wished them both a good night sleep and went to get changed into her pajamas while Harry finished his hot chocolate and Ron waited.

"Hermione says we should ask Malfoy to apologise to us," He said, putting the mug away and Ron nodded, "The Wedding's next tuesday, so we haven't got long. I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. Let me know what he does," Was all Ron said to that and then they both headed up for bed as well.

Harry woke feeling much the same as he had the last morning, his nose running as he got dressed. He didn't bother brushing his hair for breakfast and when he came back upstairs, he realised that it was past 10am and that Malfoy was still asleep. They must have come back late last night if he was this tired but didn't they have measuring to do? Debating about it with himself for a while, he finally decided that an awake-on-time Malfoy would be easier to deal with than one who was angry at being late.

He crouched and reached out to shake Malfoy's shoulder before he could second-guess himself anymore, and murmured, "Malfoy. Malfoy ... ?" Malfoy moaned, batting his hand away in his sleep. Harry shook him harder, "Malfoy!"

With a jerk, Malfoy opened one eye and gave him a half-glare, "What?"

"Just thought you'd like to wake up, your highness," Harry snapped at him.

Malfoy frowned, opening both eyes now and rubbing them, "Why? What time is it?"

"10am."

"What, really?" Harry nodded slowly and Malfoy bolted himself upright, "Oh Merlin, we're late!" He scrambled out of the blankets, pushing Harry out of the way and running down the stairs, presumably towards Charlie.

"You're welcome." Harry mumbled to himself, rubbing his shoulder, and moving to wake Ron as well.

They apparated to Diagon Alley once everyone had gotten ready and Harry subconsciously chewed on some peppermint when he hadn't had time to brush his teeth. Malfoy led them all into the farthest end, past even the Quidditch stores, and into a tailor's that Harry had never been to nor even heard of. They filed in like mice following a blond piper and Malfoy told the man at the door his name while they waited.

He was hopping slightly, shifting one foot to the other, and Charlie took his hat off for him, "We're not that late, stop worrying."

"I can't. He's not exactly ... nice," Malfoy told him, "If we're even a minute late, he won't let you forget it."

"Figures," Ginny muttered, "Is he a family friend?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Malfoy answered pointedly, "He is."

"Oh good," Ginny met his gaze evenly, "We can ask what you were like as a child. I'm sure Charlie'd love to hear about those - lovely memories." Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her but they were interrupted by the owner of the store.

"Draco?" He was an elderly man, wrinkled in a way that seemed to suit him with the darkest eyes that Harry had ever seen. Malfoy turned to him, actually looking worried, "You're late."

"Not really," Malfoy said lightly, "When you calculate the amount of people that had to get ready to come and get here, we're practically early." There was a sudden grating noise that Harry realised was the owner laughing; whether he was actually amused or not was harder to tell, "Shall we come inside?"

"We're not inside already?" Ron asked, looking around dubiously at the store. The owner just nodded with more of those grating sounds, gesturing that they follow him. Charlie and Malfoy stepped through the door that they had come in from before, and when the others could no longer see them through the glass, they all followed them through.

The room they entered was obviously concealed and locked by the owner, and it was wonderfully warm compared to the outside's winter weather. Harry shed his coat when he noticed the others doing the same and the man that had taken Malfoy's name took their coats and jackets away with him back through the door, leaving them alone with the owner.

"You said a Winter wedding?" He was saying, "White for everything I suppose?"

"Yes," Malfoy said, "But a dark red for - " He turned and pointed at Bill, "For him." The owner squinted at Bill, looking him over from head-to-toe, "And I think Miss Granger," He pointed her out too and she looked startled, "Should have the same design that I discussed with you before, for Elenda."

"Should I be concerned?" Hermione asked, certainly looking it.

"No," Charlie smiled at her reassuringly, "Trust me on that. We want the clothes to be a surprise but they won't be a bad one."

"And Bastien, we - Bastien?" The owner blinked out of whatever he had been thinking and turned toward Malfoy again, "We don't want the Victorian satin."

"Victorian Satin?" Ron mouthed at Harry, making a face.

"As you wish, Draco," Bastien said, gesturing that Mrs Weasley come and stand on one of the platforms within the room. There were mirrors surrounding three other platforms and rows of clothes on each side that were shining with some sort of protective layering. It looked like an older, far more sophisticated version of Madame Malkins.

"I hate this," Harry muttered to Ron, "I feel like we'll be made to look like clowns."

"Charlie won't let that happen," Ron assured him, but then he faltered, "But don't jinx it. Just in case."

Half the day was spent in that room, with each of them standing on a platform for Bastien to measure them and make notes. Malfoy had been told that he and Charlie would be going last and they had taken up the seats near the exit, talking together and laughing. Harry had just finished his own session on the platform when he saw Malfoy go into one of the bathrooms and he followed him in on instinct.

He'd said that he would try to ask Malfoy for an apology today, anyway, and the bathroom was as private as he would get for now. Malfoy was facing a mirror when he entered and when he looked up and saw Harry in it's reflection, he rolled his eyes. The whole scene stirred some deja vu within him, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Haven't you had enough of stalking me, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, conjuring a silver comb and using it to brush his hair back.

"I never stalked you," Harry retorted angrily, before catching himself. He wasn't here to argue but Malfoy always seemed to revert him back into an 11-year-old, even now.

"Oh really?" Malfoy turned back to the mirror, "Then leave."

"No." Harry walked to the sink beside Malfoy, "I need to wash my hands." Malfoy just continued combing his hair, ignoring him so pointedly that it took a clear effort to keep it up, "And to talk."

Malfoy sighed, "Look, Potter, I really don't - "

"Save the argument baiting for just a second, okay," Harry interrupted and Malfoy faced him again, slamming the comb down over the basin, "I just want to say that I get it, alright? You want us to give you a break. To play along." Malfoy curled his lip, "But the trouble is that, right now, you don't deserve that."

"Fascinating."

"Look, all we want from you is for you to acknowledge what a git you were when we were kids and for you to apologise. That's all." Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him, "You should have done that from the start, you know, if you really wanted us to try and get along."

"Who ever said that that's what I wanted?"

"I do, if you don't want arguments everyday."

Malfoy smirked, "I guess you've forgotten that Charlie and I live in Romania, Potter. I don't have to get along with anyone if it means we're not coming back."

"You can't do that," Harry protested, "Charlie's got a right to see his family."

"You really are an utter moron, aren't you," Malfoy spun around to leave, "Don't talk to me again Potter. Not even at the wedding."

Red hot rage suddenly filled Harry's mind and he blocked Malfoy's way out with his arm, "Just apologise Malfoy. It's really not that hard."

"Fine," Malfoy said lightly, "Sorry."

"Is that it?" The rage burned inside him and Harry felt his hands curling into fists as he stood there.

"Get out of the way Potter, I did as you asked."

"No you didn't, that doesn't count as a real apology."

"Who says?"

"I do." Harry grit his teeth, hating again how childish he was sounding, "If you can't apologise reasonably then I guess we can't behave reasonably at your Wedding."

"Oh," Malfoy scoffed, "You do anything at this Wedding and I guarantee you that Charlie will never come back to see his family again or even write," He crowded into Harry's space, still that one inch taller than him, "And I doubt Mrs Weasley will take that well." And with that, he pushed his way past and left the bathroom. Harry stood there for a minute longer in shock, his rage burning solid into something cold and numb as he took in those words.

His hand found the silver comb that Malfoy had left behind and it was snapped in his hands before he even realised what he'd done.

"He said that?" Ron demanded to know, his face just as red as his anger. Ginny looked much the same and George was twirling his wand in his hand, looking murderous, "After what Percy did to us before, Mum would be dev - "

"It's not going to happen, Ron," Ginny snapped, "No way is he keeping Charlie away from us like that. We rarely see him as it is and if he makes him hate us, he'll find my wand shoved up his - " She censored herself, glaring fiercely.

After Bastien had sent them home with eleven boxes of clothes, already fully stitched and ready to wear, Malfoy and Charlie had taken them home and actually hidden them away so no one could take a peek at what they'd be put in. They'd then gone to visit a Ms Goodfellow, who was apparently being paid by Mrs Malfoy to decorate and plan the seatings at the reception and Wedding. The reception would be tomorrow evening and she went through her plans with Malfoy and Charlie while everyone else had left to shop for something actually wear for the reception as it wasn't being tailor-made as well.

Harry had decided to wear his robes from the Yule Ball as they still fit, and had used his time to help Ron find something better than his Yule Ball robes instead. Hermione and Ginny had chosen theirs moderately quickly and the whole group had eventually gone home; exhausted but also buzzing slightly from the day out.

Ms Goodfellow had had an idea of showing their memories at the reception, to show their family and friends how much Charlie and Malfoy cared for each other as most of their time together had been in another country. Hermione had latched onto that idea, claiming that she knew a spell that could illuminate a pensive for everyone to see, reminding Harry of a cinema screen but Charlie had loved the idea and they'd started work on it.

They'd also received a letter from Percy that had congratulated Charlie and his 'fiance' and had said that he was sorry he couldn't attend the Wedding as he was still away on Ministry business in Austria. Considering what a life he was at parties, no one but Mrs Weasley had seemed particularly disappointed to hear that, and the letter had been set aside for more of the pensive-planning.

Afterward, Charlie and Malfoy had started reading their replies to the Wedding invites, creating a pile of those who could come and those who couldn't. Harry had seen Pansy Parkinson in the pile of 'cannot attend' and couldn't help but feel glad about that, heading upstairs to tell George, Ginny and Ron what had happened in the bathroom before they all went to bed.

"How can we stop it, Ginny?" Ron demanded, "Charlie won't listen to us when we try to tell him what Malfoy's really like, you've heard him. Malfoy could try and say all sorts of lies and, with how we've been acting, I wouldn't blame him if he believes them."

"We can't let Charlie marry someone like this," Ginny insisted, "We can't. He's our older brother, we have to help him."

Harry almost took her hand but he had a feeling that she wouldn't appreciate that right now, so he turned to George instead, "Any ideas?"

"Considering that my last almost killed him, no."

"Wait a second," Ron held a hand up, a strange sort of realisation dawning over his face, "Aren't they using a pensive?" They caught on immediately but shook their heads.

"Yeah, but we can't control what memories they show, Ron," Harry told him, "It's up to them what they take out themselves."

"Yeah but it's up to us too," Ron was beaming, "Why didn't we think of this before? We can show Charlie our memories of Malfoy."

Ginny sat up straighter, "Merlin, we're idiots. We should have done that before, dad's got a pensive."

"We can still do it now," Ron frowned.

"No, we can't. Charlie won't stay long enough to look if he realises what it is," She tugged at her hair, "Good idea though."

"Thanks." Ron said, dully, slumping back.

"Yes we can," George suddenly said, slowly, "We can still show him. We can show everyone who's forgotten; Bill, Fleur, Mum and Dad," He looked excited at the idea, "They're projecting a pensive's image aren't they? Tomorrow at the reception?"

"Hermione's doing it." Harry said, realising where he was going with this.

"Then how about we add a few memories of our own to that little show?" He grinned at Ron, "Show our memories that way?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Except we've no idea how to take our memories out by ourselves. And I don't see us going to ask dad to do it either."

Harry looked at her, his own memories of using a pensive digging up painful ones and he swallowed. He had plenty of memories of Malfoy, some unpleasant but some that also showed Malfoy's fear and reluctance to fully join Voldemort's side. The reminder of how Malfoy's failure to identify him had saved his life stirred some guilt within him but it was quickly shoved aside when he then remembered what Malfoy had said to him in the bathroom.

"I know how to do it," He found himself saying, "I've seen it done, I remember what to do."

.

---

.

The reception was held at the Malfoy Manor, unsurprisingly, in an overlarge tent with their garden. Hermione had gone there early to help set the pensive up with Charlie and Ginny had gone to help them, a vial of very different memories in her back pocket that she'd kept hidden from them.

The service started at around seven and when Harry apparated there with Ron at six, he wasn't surprised to find it mostly empty. Malfoy was in a cream set of robes, his hair the only thing that seemed to be calm as he flitted around talking to Ms Goodfellow, his mother, and Charlie. It was making Harry dizzy to watch him and he focused on that more than his guilt when he also saw how happy Malfoy seemed today as well, past all the panic.

By the time six-thirty came around, Malfoy had left to get changed properly, and some of the guests started filling in. Charlie hugged a tall, asian woman that ran toward him in a small, yellow dress and introduced her to the rest of them as Elenda, their healer. She spoke at a mile a minute, ecstatic to be here and so honoured to be a bridesmaid as well. She flirted with Ginny at first before realising that she was already dating Harry, and her cheeks had darkened before she'd composed herself again.

She'd gone to Hogwarts once as well, apparently, and had been a Ravenclaw but that was 'such a long time ago that she didn't care about distinctions anymore'. Malfoy came out then in another set of cream robes, though this time they were much longer and seemed to shimmer. He hugged Elenda as well, directed her to her seat, and when the last guest eventually arrived, the function officially started.

Aunt Muriel had been seated near Andromeda and Teddy and it seemed that the only thing that she was happy about was that Charlie was marrying a pureblood and that Teddy liked her clothes. Harry smiled down at his godson when he came to their table, proud of his ability to already win over everyone's hearts. Andromeda had then asked if he could hold him for a while while she went to speak to Mrs Malfoy and he obliged, sitting in her seat at the table and searching for the pensive. It was set right in the middle, while all the tables for the guests surrounded it, giving them all an equal view.

Teddy played with his bowtie, his hair turning pink from the lime green that it had been before, and the pang of loss that that brought up led Harry to hug him closer.

"I miss her too," He murmured to the toddler, conjuring a ribbon for Teddy to play with afterward just in case he managed to undo the bowtie with his fiddling.

"Merlin, what has Charles done to his hair?!" Aunt Muriel suddenly exclaimed, "If there's one thing that that Malfoy boy could do right, it's to cut that disastrous thing off. It's not even a tail, it's barely a pony's stump!" Harry smiled politely, focusing more on Teddy and Andromeda returned to take Teddy away just as Aunt Muriel was starting to drill into Hermione's dress and Elenda's personality.

Harry gratefully left to head back to his own designated seat and Ron gave him a sympathetic look, "At least she knows that you really are my friend now." Harry grimaced, "No more cousin Barny."

"I think I preferred it that way."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, and all other identities and species," Ms Goodfellow took the floor, smiling, "Thank you so much for attending this beautiful function, for this lovely couple," She gestured to Malfoy and Charlie who were seated on a long table, right at the centre, facing everyone. Mrs and Mr Weasley sat on Charlie's side while Mrs Malfoy and Andromeda sat on Malfoy's; Teddy was bouncing in Andromeda's lap and she met Harry's gaze when he frowned over at her and mouthed, 'he asked me to sit here' with a shrug, "To begin, as we started so late and I'm sure you're all so hungry, we will serve tonight's banquet. There will then be a short reprieve for either dancing here," She spun in a circle over the floor, her maroon dress rippling, "Or to mingle. We will then have the toasts."

There was a short laugh from Charlie who was looking over at Bill with an eyebrow raised and Harry assumed that something must have been gestured or said because Ms Goodfellow joined in with his laughter, "Yes, I've been told that the best man's toast is to go first," She announced, smiling. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white, and they contrasted with her lipstick in a dazzling effect, "And then afterward will be the gift giving and a special illumination to show the couple's memories together, created by a Miss Granger," Hermione smiled when people turned to look at her, looking extremely pleased with herself, "So now," Ms Goodfellow spread her arms, "Enjoy!"

The food appeared on the tables much like Hogwart's dinners had used to appear and Harry grinned at Ron when that dredged up some nostalgia. There was a little bit of everything here to ear and yet they could all still hear Aunt Muriel complaining from her table.

"Only good thing about Weddings," Ron told Harry with a chicken drumstick in hand, "The food is always great."

"She was very organised, wasn't she," Ginny commented, shifting in her chair to grab the last of the cooked salmon before the plate was refilled, "Ms Goodfellow."

"Too organised, really," Harry said, "Bill and Fleur's wedding didn't have all this going."

"Yeah theirs was boring," Ron said, "I like this. One good thing Malfoy's done."

"Technically Ms Goodfellow did it."

"Malfoy planned it mostly, actually," Hermione added, "Ms Goodfellow wouldn't stop praising him while we set the pensive off. Says he should be a Wedding planner instead of working with dragons."

Ron snorted, "I think he'd turn more people off getting married than anything."

"That's what he said," Hermione told him, lightly, spooning some gravy over her plate. Her purple, high collar dress seemed to match the table design, but with the mood of the table Harry chose not to mention it.

"Really?"

"Mm." Ron glanced at Harry but neither of them could find anything much to say about that and their table became very quiet. At least until Hermione looked up again and gasped, "Is that - Zabini? Blaise Zabini. From Hogwarts?"

They all followed her gaze and saw Zabini sitting on a table with Elenda and a few others that Harry didn't recognise, "Yeah. Yeah, it is." He was eating and talking to Elenda, quite civilly, though his back was ramrod straight and his face seemed far too tight. He was obviously not happy to be here but he had still attended despite that, which spoke more words than Pansy's absence did, "Blimey, what does he do now? He's huge." Hermione choked on her wine, "What? He is!" Harry laughed, tucking into his own plate of food properly now and their conversation finally picked up again.

Ginny looked radiant beside Harry and he spent most of this time focusing on her and placing bets on how long it would take for Aunt Muriel to realise that she was on a table alone now and that no one cared about her ranting. She was in a red, fully-sleeved dress that accented her red hair in a perfect noir fashion, and her hair itself was curled and pooled to one side. It was the first time in his life that he'd thought of her as something more than his girlfriend and entertained the idea of marrying her. It might have been the romantic atmosphere that Ms Goodfellow had painted the tent in but he rather liked the idea.

Once their dinner had been taken away and their desserts eaten, Ms Goodfellow announced that they had time for dancing and mingling now, and Harry immediately asked Ginny to join him on the floor. Ron did the same to Hermione and she rolled her eyes, taking his hand and following him out, just as something slow started.

"What is this?" He asked Ginny, pulling her closer.

"Giselle," She answered but as he still had no idea who that was, he just nodded and continued to listen to the song, "Ew. Look at them." He frowned, turning to the table because it could only be Malfoy and Charlie that she was talking about. Malfoy was holding Teddy and Charlie was trying to entertain him with some sort of pantomime while Teddy looked about with disinterest and babbled to Malfoy instead, "Poor Teddy."

"Teddy's fine," Harry assured her, but something squirmed in his stomach at that image as well, especially when he recalled what Malfoy had said about taking Charlie away and poisoning his mind. Teddy was his cousin, would he do the same? "Wanna go get him in case?"

"Nah. My mum would kill me," Ginny sighed, resting her head against Harry's chest, and after a while she groaned and pulled her wand out from her purse, charming her heels quickly before continuing with the dance, "Poor muggles," She sympathised and he glanced down at her feet with a wince, "No charms to help."

"Maybe they're used to it," He suggested, spinning them around. He caught George's eye and gestured that he ask Angela to dance but before he could George finishing chewing whatever he'd been eating and promptly turned into a pigeon. His table burst into laughter and Bill reached over to clasp Angela's shoulder, helping her dodge the spoon thrown at her when George turned back to normal.

Ginny laughed when she noticed, "Well. I think George beats me in terms of who can annoy mum the most."

The dancing eventually died down and by nine o'clock Ms Goodfellow announced that it was time for the toasts and called Bill to stand. He cleared his throat and held his wand toward it to charm his voice louder, first congratulating his 'little brother' and Malfoy and using the time to comment on all the times that he'd spent with Charlie as children and how he'd never thought he'd see him married. He then mentioned Fleur and their life and how he hoped that Charlie and Malfoy would be as happy together as they were.

Fleur had smiled and kissed him when he'd sat and Mr Weasley had done much the same, speaking about Charlie and how he'd gotten to know Malfoy these past few weeks and how he was glad have him join the family. Ginny excused herself to the bathroom, saying that she couldn't 'listen to this', but neither Malfoy nor Charlie noticed her walking out. They both stared at Mr Weasley throughout his speech, despite his stammering and awkward laughing that the rest of them joined in on.

It was then that Harry noticed how many of the guests were from the Weasley's family and that Malfoy's only real guests were his mother and Zabini; neither of whom looking willing to make a toast, though Mrs Malfoy did tell her son that she was 'so proud of him' for them all to hear. She'd sounded it too and Malfoy had smiled brightly at her.

Elenda shot a hand up when asked if anyone else would like to speak and she actually went up to the table with a box in hand, "I know we're supposed to do this afterwards, I know, and I'm sorry, but I just couldn't wait and I really wanted to say congratulations again. I've known you guys for three years now and they've been up-and-down and sometimes pretty downright painful too, I've got scars," She paused for breath, turning to the guests to add, "We work with dragons," There was a murmur of understanding, "But I loved watching you two together, you just mix, and it's so awesome seeing this day finally happen. I mean, it's scary probably, I've seen Charlie laugh at a dragon trying to kill him but he was terrified when he wanted to propose to you Draco, and yeah you can be scary," Malfoy raised an eyebrow and the guests laughed, "But I think it was more about the commitment too. But here you are!" She placed the box down before them both, "I'm so proud of you!"

With that, she headed back to her seat and Malfoy skimmed a hand over the box, glancing at Charlie before opening it. A small burst of smoke erupted from it before a tiny dragon flew out of it and flapped it's wings above the table. Charlie jerked in surprise, reaching out to touch it but as soon as his skin brushed the dragon's wings it froze solid and fell. Malfoy caught it and it unfroze again.

"It's Gregoir!" Elenda called from her seat, "Mini-version him. I thought, seeing as it's thanks to him that you guys actually started dating that - well." Her cheeks darkened again in embarrassment but Charlie saved her.

"It's wonderful, thank you so much Elenda," He said and Malfoy smiled in agreement, placing the miniature dragon gently down and tapping it's head to freeze it again.

Ginny returned then, warily looking around at all the hush, and she took her seat with a frown, "What did I miss?"

"Charlie's healer speaking too fast for anyone to hear and a tiny dragon figure." Ron told her.

She blinked, turning to Harry, "It's true."

"Okay then," She shrugged, scooting her chair in under the table.

Ms Goodfellow called for attention yet again, walking out into the centre with her arms outstretched, "Thank you for those delightful toasts to the couple," She cooed, before pushing the pensive closer to the centre, "And what a wonderful way to cue the memories that we will see. You know, they were chosen by the grooms themselves - "

"Who is she addressing exactly?" Hermione asked, looking so put off that Harry had to stifle a chuckle.

" - which makes them very special," Placing a hand on the pensive, she touched the water and left it at that. Hermione did the rest from under the table, her wand unsubtly doing ... something, until the water shimmered just as a pensive usually would before pulling you within. This time, however, the memories were illuminated for them all to see.

The first memory showed Malfoy sitting at a kitchen table, his arms folded and his expression sour. (Malfoy gave Charlie a look when he saw it; evidently they had not collaborated over which ones to show.) Memory-Malfoy rolled his eyes at the explanations that Memory-Charlie was giving him and eventually stood to place his glass of water in the sink.

"When can I get my wand back?" He asked angrily.

"When you can be civil," Memory-Charlie answered with a sigh, "If you're going to be staying here Draco - "

"Do not call me Draco."

"Then what should I call you?"

"Why don't we just not talk at all?"

The memory changed and they saw Memory-Charlie following Memory-Malfoy into the kitchen, "How many times do I need to apologise before you talk to me again? Norberta whined once and you're best friends already," He was practically whining himself but was still ignored and eventually, he just scoffed, "At least give me a number, I mean - " Memory-Malfoy held up a finger in answer and while the guests laughed Mrs Malfoy pursed her lips at her son and he winced.

Another memory and Memory-Charlie was teaching Memory-Draco the stance to take when handing a dragon meat. They were standing very close and when they were distracted by each other the dragon lunged and they both had to skid back quickly, falling into the mud and laughing despite the danger of the situation.

It changed again and they were shown Memory-Malfoy flying on a broom over what looked like a much larger Horntail than the one that Harry had once fought. He looked down, saw Memory-Charlie waving at him and smiled before realising that he likely saw it and promptly turning his broom away. Another memory and Memory-Malfoy was telling Memory-Charlie how much he hated him before showing him how to make an omelet, and then they were lying breathless in a field, covered in what looked like feathers, and Memory-Charlie was leaning in for a kiss.

The Malfoy watching turned to glare at him, "Were you thinking 'mortifying' when you chose these?" He demanded, turning back to the pensive with a disbelieving smile. The memory of them shimmered then, however, and Hermione frowned beside Ron in confusion, shifting in her seat. Harry clenched his fists over the table, watching it ripple into something much older.

The memories turned darker, the lighting dim, and they were all shown the Hogwarts train; within a single compartment. He heard Malfoy suck in a sharp breath from somewhere to his left but he focused on the pensive's image.

Memory-Harry was on the floor, paralysed, and above him Memory-Malfoy stamped on his face, "That's for my father!" The guests stirred, watching, and the memory changed to a Quidditch pitch. Memory-Malfoy was insulting the Weasley's and Harry's parents before being ambushed by both Harry and George, whilst Fred was held back by the team. Another memory and Memory-Malfoy was watching Umbridge interrogate Harry and the others in her office at Hogwarts, sneering at their predicament.

Malfoy's lips parted as he watched and he snapped his head toward Harry's table, staring at them in shock; his eyes impossibly wide. Charlie also openly stared, his grin slowly fading as he realised what it was that he was watching.

"No," Malfoy mouthed, turning back to the pensive with dread. More memories were shown in a scatter of their different years, of him as a ferret, of him calling Hermione a mudblood, mocking Ginny in her first year at Hogwarts, singing 'Weasley is Our King', throwing live bugs at a terrified Ron in potions, planning to watch BuckBeak's execution.

Standing on the Astronomy tower and showing his darkmark to Dumbledore ...

Charlie's chair scraped back as he stood and he marched to the pensive, jamming his wand forward until it stopped the illumination and the memories began their simple flow around the water again.

Harry felt his throat constrict as he took in the utter silence of the tent and something churned in his stomach. He forced himself not to think that it was guilt. Hermione was bright red beside them, with either anger or shock, possibly putting two-and-two together and realising just what had happened. Ms Goodfellow stood, clearing her throat, "Well - "

"Charlie," Malfoy interrupted, his voice shuddering, and with a greater surge of guilt, Harry saw that he was crying, "I didn't - "

"Is this true?" Charlie demanded, as though there were no one but himself and Malfoy in the tent, "Is this - ?" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence and ran a hand through his hair, messing the ponytail up. Surprisingly, Aunt Muriel didn't say a word about it, "Draco." His voice was hard and Mrs Weasley stood as well then.

"Charlie it was all such a lon - "

"Yes," Malfoy bit out, his face wet, "It's true." Charlie nodded slowly, looking down at his shoes, before abruptly turning and walking out. Malfoy stumbled out of his chair, almost tripping in his hurry to follow him, "Charlie! Charlie wait!" They both disappeared outside the tent and they could hear Malfoy calling him until there was a crack! of apparation. The whole thing was a jarring replica of the time that Ron had left them four years ago, when the Horcrux had poisoned his mind, and Harry felt a little sick at that comparison.

Hermione slowly turned to face them, her face now white, "What were you thinking?" She whispered, before standing and heading over to Bill's table. There was really no reason for that, there was nothing she could do, but it was clear that she wanted nothing to do with them right now.

"Well," Ginny said, her voice hoarse, "That worked." It felt like an empty victory.

.

---

.

The Burrow was completely silent when they all returned and the family swayed on their feet, unsure of what they should do or say, before Mrs Malfoy suddenly appeared at the door and demanded to be let in. She wasted no time and shouted at Mrs Weasley, blaming her for the pensive and for what had happened, for ruining her son's reception and possibly the Wedding. And though Mrs Weasley was just as angry herself, she defended Harry and her children as though she agreed. She pointed out so angrily that Malfoy's actions had been true and that nothing had been lied about but they'd still kept going for almost an hour until Mrs Malfoy had eventually sunk into the sofa and put her head in her hands.

"He hasn't returned, I've no idea where he is, I've never seen him so upset," She moaned, her hair coming undone and falling over her shoulders.

"Charlie's not come back either," Mrs Weasley said, sitting beside her as though they hadn't just been screaming at each other a second before, "They'll be alright."

"It's dark," Mrs Malfoy said softly, "And he won't be thinking clearly."

"They'll be alright," Mrs Weasley repeated firmly, pressing her lips together, "You're welcome to stay, Cissy, Arthur and I'll sleep down here for the night. Come on." She led Mrs Malfoy up the stairs, glaring at Ron, Ginny, Harry and George as she went past with a look that clearly meant she'd talk to them later. And once she'd seen to Mrs Malfoy, she did just that.

"Do you four have any idea what you've done? You're supposed to be adults, when will you grow up?!" Harry lowered his eyes, having always hated disappointing Mrs Weasley, "Draco's missing, Charlie's missing, the Wedding may be completely off now, look at this mess you've created!"

"Charlie had a right to know who he was marrying, Mum," Ginny stated, though she didn't sound so sure now, "Whether it hurt him or not."

"When I ask you to grow up, Ginny, I mean that I want to you to see that Draco is not the boy you knew in Hogwarts. Not anymore."

"You didn't hear him mum!" Ron countered, angrily.

"I heard you!" She said, just as angrily, "Baiting him at every turn, never giving him a chance. If he said something to you in return, then I am not surprised to hear it, but right now I refuse to discuss that. It's been a long day and tomorrow we will have to see what's happening about the wedding on Tuesday." She sighed, putting her hands on her hips, before shooing them upstairs. Before they could go however, there was a crack! and Malfoy appeared in the living space. He looked worn, his cheeks and eyes red and his hair a mess. His robes were covered in mud.

"Draco!" Mrs Weasley rushed forwards, sitting him down, "Oh dear, oh you poor thing," She scourged his robes and his hair, dusting him off while he just sat there, letting her, "There now. Are you alright?"

He blinked slowly, "Is he here? Did he come back?" Mrs Weasley's eyes saddened and she shook her head, putting an arm around his shoulders, "I thought - I thought if he heard it from me, if I told him, then - " He sighed, "Then maybe it would be okay."

"Because you'd omit things?" Harry couldn't help asking and Malfoy glared at him from where he sat.

"Because I could explain it, I could - " He groaned, yanking at his hair, "Why am I even talking to you, this is all your fault."

"Our fault?" Ron blurted out, ignoring Mrs Weasley's death stare, "You're the one who could have saved all of this if you'd just apologised to us!"

"I was not a bully!" Malfoy snapped back, "You were just as bad as me, don't you dare try to - "

"You still can't admit it, can you?" Ron laughed humorlessly, "An apology would have fixed everything but you really just love painting yourself as a - "

"That's enough!" Mrs Weasley barked and Malfoy stood, his fists clenched at his sides and his face hard.

"Please tell me if Charlie comes back," He asked the stairs, refusing to look at either of them, "And - Mrs Weasley, if you could do me a favour?" She stood as well, nodding, "Could you retract the Wedding invites?" His voice shook, "I don't think there'll be one anymore." With that, he walked past them all to head upstairs to the room that he shared with Harry and Ron.

Harry woke from a fitful sleep, having found it hard to ignore Malfoy's curled body opposite him. He kept replaying the events at the reception, trying to justify them but seeing Malfoy looking so upset seemed to have thrown out any of his anger. He thought to how suspicious he'd been about their engagement, how he'd known that Malfoy was up to something, but now it really did seem as though Malfoy truly loved Charlie.

He groaned, rolling over to face him and wondering if this had been a huge mistake. But then he noticed that Malfoy's mattress was empty. Cursing, he sat up and grabbed his wand, checking to see if Ron was alright and not hexed at all before standing to go and see where Malfoy had gone. It was an old habit really, but when it came to Malfoy and his previous Hogwarts days, the routine of following him around was natural now.

Mr and Mrs Weasley were laying on a larger mattress by the sofa downstairs, fast asleep, and Harry crept past them carefully. They didn't seem to be disturbed at all so maybe Malfoy hadn't come down here, or maybe he'd just apparated, but the crack would have woken them if he had. Frowning, Harry opened the kitchen door, freezing when he immediately heard a sound that he could only have recognised from his Sixth Year at Hogwarts.

"Oh no."

Malfoy was on his hands and knees on the floor, broken plates and ripped material around him. He was gasping, crying, completely oblivious to Harry being there. He'd cast a bubble around the room, keeping all sound out of the kitchen, but once Harry entered it fully he could hear everything and Malfoy snapped his head up to see him, "Get out!" He threw half a plate at him and it smashed silently, letting the Burrow sleep on while his spell worked, "Leave me alone, Potter, just - just leave me alone." He was wearing the shorts that he usually wore to bed but his shirt was torn and thrown aside beside him, leaving him half-naked.

He scrambled back, sitting against the table's leg and drawing his knees up. Harry saw the silvery scars of the sectumsempra curse in it's slashes, spread over Malfoy's chest, and his stomach squeezed itself within his body. Hermione had been right. Malfoy may have been awful during Hogwarts but Harry hadn't been an angel himself either. They'd been as bad as each other and he'd held onto those grudges with everything he had.

"Malfoy. Are you - ?" He started to ask, stepping forward, but Malfoy interrupted him.

"I'm sorry ... " He moaned, sounding as tired as he looked, and Harry noticed an empty bottle of what looked like chardonnay beside him, "I really am, Potter." He smiled humorlessly with a scoff, "You were right. I should have said it to you at the start, I know I should have, I just - " He sighed, wiping his face, "I just didn't want Charlie to know, you know. About who I really am." He sniffed then, wiping his nose on the back of his hand and dropping his head back to stare at the ceiling, "I was stupid. And scared. I thought he'd hate me and I didn't want that, I didn't - "

Harry sat down before him, crossing his legs in silence, letting him vent as he so clearly needed to. Malfoy looked at him through hooded eyes before visibly deciding to be honest, "Going to Romania was a new start for me. It was originally a rehabilitation sentence anyway and I planned to make the most of it. A - a new me with people who didn't know the old me. A me that was without any of the pressures of back home or the judgements or the memories," He sounded angry now, at himself, "I wasn't planning on falling in love. And especially not with a Weasley." He groaned, running a hand through his hair, "But it was okay at first. I thought no one would know, no one would care, but then he proposed and I ended up back in England with people who knew the old me and knew what I'd done and who I was and I just - I - I - "

"Panicked." Harry finished for him.

Malfoy nodded miserably. His lashes clumped together when he wiped at his eyes and he sniffed horribly, making a face at himself for it. Harry's lips quirked and he lifted his wand, "Accio Aegritufen." The blue bottle flew downstairs into his hand and he passed it to Malfoy, "Here."

Malfoy stared down at it, huffing out a short laugh, "I knew you didn't use it," He said petulantly, "You didn't trust me."

"Did you really blame me?"

"No. I know I should have said something when I first saw you. I should have done it right from the start, I know that, but I'm a coward. Like I always have been." The potion rolled between his fingers, "Nothing's changed." He sounded so upset that the guilt in Harry's chest expanded.

"We should have apologised too," He said softly, "You were right, before, when you said it wasn't just you. It wasn't. We should have said it too." He cleared his throat, "I mean, I'll say it now, if it helps. Because I am. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the stuff I ever said to you, Malfoy and I'm sorry for casting sectumsempra on you," He grimaced, "And ... I'm sorry for ruining your Wedding."

"I'm sorry too," Malfoy whispered back, "I'm sorry for everything I ever said and did. I'm sorry for breaking your nose, and for insulting your parents and the Weasleys and - and for what I said about lying to Charlie. I would never have done it, I was just angry, and I - I'm just sorry."

"I get it." Harry told him, before smiling, "Guess we can be civil." Malfoy laughed softly, wiping at his face again, "But I really am sorry for doing this," He thought back, "I guess I was just suspicious of you at the same time. I thought that you couldn't really care about Charlie like this and I thought that you wanted something from us which was why you were doing this. So - seeing you interact with everyone, with the people I love, it was - I was judgemental. And I'm sorry." Malfoy gave him a small smile.

"I love Charlie," He told Harry, "I really do. Roll your eyes if you want, I don't care. I just - I'd hoped he'd be able to know the new me." Snorting, he looked down at himself, "Not as different from the old me as I'd hoped." Harry's eyes found the darkmark and he saw several long scars that covered it, making it seem uglier than it's original but also managing to cover it's true nature. Malfoy must have hexed himself trying to be rid of it once and that alone convinced Harry of what Mrs Weasley must have meant.

"I think you've changed," He said firmly, "I think I was just an idiot for not seeing it." Malfoy smiled again and they sat like that for a minute longer before he suddenly lifted his wand from the floor and sent a stinging hex Harry's way, "Ouch!" He glared, rubbing it, before Malfoy pushed his own wand toward him.

"Now me," He said and Harry raised an eyebrow, sending the same hex toward him and watching him flinch, "There."

Harry laughed, "That's it?"

"We've apologised, and we've hurt each other one last time. That's it," Malfoy heaved himself up, "Besides, by tomorrow I'll be out of your hair forever anyway. I can't go back to Romania, not now, and I'm not staying here." He pulled on his coat and Harry noticed a bag of living essentials and a few clothes that he hadn't even seen sitting there. Malfoy picked them up, and turned to Harry with another smile, "At least we were civil for this." Was all he said before walking away toward the door. Harry frowned after him before he realised what was happening.

"Wait! Where are you going to go?" But by the time he'd asked it, Malfoy had apparated.

Tomorrow morning was terrible. Harry had spent the early hours of it cleaning the mess that Malfoy had left and then telling everyone that he had packed and left. Mrs Malfoy had apparated to check the Manor whilst Mrs Weasley fretted over Charlie still not being back. Harry took advantage of the situation to tell Ron, Ginny and George about last night, and they looked gloomier than ever when he'd finished.

"We really messed up, didn't we," Ron mumbled, looking as guilty as Harry felt, "After the War, that - thing - just stuck with Malfoy in my mind."

"The word you're looking for is 'stigma'," Ginny muttered and she tied her hair back, frowning, "Look. I don't know where Malfoy is but we need to find Charlie too. We need to make sure he's alright."

"I've got a guess at where he might be," George said, and instead of telling them where he disapparated to wherever it was right away only to return a second later and shake his head, "There's a farm a few fields away," He explained, "We used to fly over there sometimes, to see the horses. I thought - " He sighed, sitting down.

"What about Bill and Fleur's?" Harry asked.

"Maybe. You could check." Ginny said, rubbing her chin, "I'll check the nearest portkey holders, see if any went to Romania." They apparated together, for different places, and Harry stumbled over the familiar beach outside Bill and Fleur's cottage a second later. He felt disorientated and it took a moment for him to find his bearings and by then, his eyes had found Charlie. He sighed, relieved.

"Figured you'd be the one to know I was here," Charlie stood from where he'd been crouched a few feet away, turning to face him, "Ron always said that you had a knack for just 'knowing things'." He shrugged with a bitter smile, "Wish I had that quality. Maybe then I wouldn't be the gullible idiot I was, if I did."

"Charlie - "

"No, Harry!" He held a hand up, angrily, "I don't want to hear it. Just go back home and tell mum that I'm okay, alright?" He put his hands in his pockets, having changed into Bill's casual clothes while here, "I need to think."

"Think, then," Harry said quickly, moving in his way, "But first listen. Please." Charlie sighed, looking at him, and Harry ploughed into a quick explanation just in case he changed his mind, "We showed you those memories at the Reception because we thought we were helping. We thought Malfoy would try to take you away, lie to you about us, and we wanted you to know who you were marrying," Saying it outloud now, it sounded ridiculous. As though they'd believed that they knew how Charlie would react to lies against his family better than he did. They'd had no right to make that judgement, "But he isn't who I thought he was, Charlie, not anymore. He's changed," He spread his hands helplessly, "And he really loves you. I can see that now."

Charlie sighed again, "What I saw - "

"Was only half the story," Harry interrupted, "Yes, he was a prick to us, but you know those scars? On his chest?" Charlie nodded slowly, "I gave those to him. He may have started most fights but we gave it back just as hard. And, really," He laughed softly, "We were kids. Teenagers," Charlie looked away, "And if the Malfoy that I once knew would never even even speak civilly toward a Weasley let alone agree to marry one, then the one you knew must be a whole lot different."

There was a pause between them while Harry waited for his words to sink in before a sudden crack! behind him startled them both.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione shouted over the ocean's crashing waves, and at first Harry wasn't sure he'd heard her right. He frowned at her, confused, and she panted when she finally reached them, "Crookshanks! He's - my cat - he's incredibly smart," She explained, "He knew Sirius was a good man before even Lupin did, remember, and he loved Malfoy," She straightened, looking Charlie in the eye, "And he'd called me 'Mudblood' countless times as a child but I've forgiven him. It's time to move on," Her eyes were open and earnest and even without looking at Charlie, Harry knew that what they had come to say had gotten through.

Charlie stared at them both, scrunching his face up as he thought, before he let out a growl of frustration that echoed over the beach. Blowing out his cheeks, he sighed, "I need to go back. I need to talk to him, hear this from him." Hermione's face fell and he froze, "What?"

"He's not there," She said, "We don't know where he is."

"What do you mean?" Charlie demanded, sounding worried, "He's not come back at all?"

"He came back last night," Harry said, "But packed enough for a few nights and left. We don't know where he went but he said he couldn't go back to Romania so - " Charlie disapparated before he could finish and Hermione glanced at Harry before following. When he arrived back at the Burrow, however, Charlie was already running up the stairs and calling for Mrs Weasley at the top of his voice. Ginny came running down as well, seeing Harry and rushing towards him.

"Was he there? Did you explain everything to him?" Harry nodded in answer to both questions and they heard Mrs Weasley above them, telling Charlie that he was 'irresponsible' for not telling her where he was and that she had no idea where Malfoy had gone, "We should do something."

"Like what?" Hermione asked, "He's not at the Manor, Romania or here. I don't know where else he'd go."

"Zabini?" Harry suggested but she shook her head.

"They're not that close anymore and I haven't a clue where he lives." She chewed her lip, more worried than Harry had ever seen her over something like this, and she visibly startled when George suddenly apparated before them.

"Where is he?" He asked, looking around madly, but he heard Charlie's voice before either of them could answer and ran toward the stairs, bellowing up them, "Charlie! Charlie go to Highgate Cemetery!" There was a sudden pause from all the shouting upstairs following by a crack! that showed Charlie had heard and understood.

"The graveyard?" Ginny asked her brother, "What made you think of that?"

He smiled blandly, "I go there to think sometimes too, I mean - my twin is buried there," He shrugged, forcefully casual, "And he always knew how to finish my thoughts.

The waiting was horrible but Mrs Malfoy and Weasley spent the time pretending not to worry by talking about whatever mundane thing that they could start a conversation over. Their hope for their sons to be happy was the one common factor that let them get along and soon they were laughing over the sofa, bringing up memories of their children's younger days.

Hermione had discovered that Malfoy had written a letter before he'd gone and that it had been an apology to them all, even Harry as he had evidently not expected him to come down to see him, and after reading it Ginny had stomped upstairs, ripped a page from an old journal and written a formal apology of her own for what she had done to the Reception.

Ron had added a heartfelt '+ Ron' after her signed name at the bottom and George had added an '& George' beside it as well.

Two hours passed before Charlie apparated back but he only came to take the miniature Gregoir that Fleur had rescued with him and he disapparated again before anyone could ask about what was happening. He returned again twenty minutes later, however, this time with Malfoy who looked just as worn as he had last night but with a lightness that hadn't been there before as well.

Mrs Malfoy jumped to her feet and hugged her son so tightly that he gasped. She held him close and with his voice muffled, he murmured that he hoped Mrs Weasley hadn't yet retracted the invites as he'd asked before. Bursting into tears, Mrs Weasley pulled Charlie to her as well and joined the Malfoy's hug, making them all look so ridiculous that Harry couldn't help but smile.

"Weasley's always have the most dramatic pre-wedding-blues," George sighed, watching the hug as though it were a trainwreck.

.

---

.

The robes that Bastien had sewn for them to wear were Seashell white and Harry and Ron dressed together, looking them over in the mirror that Harry had transfigured.

"They're actually ... pretty decent," Ron said, smoothing down the front and turning to check that he'd buttoned them down properly, "I like them." They were knee-length, with a pinker shade of white for the inner waistcoats, and the sleeves had been embroidered with silver criss-crossing lines.

Harry couldn't help but agree, pulling on the white pant trousers; they were tight but as Bastien had personally measured them all he supposed that that was the design.

There was a clatter of heels and Hermione hurried inside in a snow white dress, her hair was pinned up with what seemed like a wreath of white roses, and Ron looked struck dumb once he saw her, "Have you seen my bag?" She asked, looking harried, "Ginny swears she hasn't seen it but - "

"Didn't Charlie say they were going to give you a bag to use?" Harry asked, looking about the room to help her.

"Yes, and they did," She looked embarrassed now, "It's the one I've lost. I only took it out of the box last night, I don't know where it could have gone!"

"Is everything alright?" Malfoy knocked on the door once before entering, which was more than Hermione had done and only emphasised what Ginny had said before about his ingrained politeness. He wasn't ready yet himself, wearing the same cream robe that he'd worn before the reception had started.

"Yes!" Hermione said quickly, at the same time as Ron who said, "She can't find her bag." Hermione glared at him but Malfoy only smiled.

"Crookshank's been looking for you all morning," Was all he said to that, before opening the door and calling down the stairs, "I've found her!" In an orange blur, Crookshanks bounded upstairs with a bag in his mouth, and he skidded past Harry to stop at Hermione's feet.

She bent to take the bag back, petting him, "Oh good boy! You were keeping it safe for me, were you? Good boy!"

"I'm downstairs if anything else's lost," Malfoy said over her cooing, "Otherwise we'll all panic." He left then, shutting the door after him, and Hermione lifted Crookshanks into her arms.

"You know, while I appreciate that you like Draco, remember that I'm the one who bought you," Crookshanks just blinked at her, wriggling to get down, and she scourged her clothes of his hair when he squeezed past the almost closed door and went downstairs as well.

"Why didn't you just accio your bag?" Ron asked her, raising an eyebrow, and she stopped.

"I - don't know," She chuckled at herself, "I panicked?" Glancing at the door, she lowered her voice, "He's being so nice."

"So are we." Harry pointed out, "And he is getting married today."

"Exactly. I thought he'd be more stressed or complaining that we don't look good enough, or something. But he seems fine."

"Well he'd be mad to complain about you," Ron said, "You look beautiful."

"Oh." Hermione beamed at him, pointing her wand at his waistcoat until it tightened just a little, "Well now you do too." He laughed, kissing her, and then all three of them left to head downstairs too.

"Is the Wedding going to be at the Manor again?" Harry asked, curiously, taking a seat on the sofa while Hermione and Ron sat opposite.

"No, it's inside Carlton Towers," Hermione answered, smoothing her dress down. She'd painted her lips red and her bag was also red, contrasting well with what she was wearing, "It's a Castle, in Yorkshire, I think. We're going by portkey."

"Won't that ruin our clothes?" Ron asked, warily.

"It'd better not," Malfoy said, joining them, "I asked Bastien to take the travelling into account. They should be fine."

"Oh. Good." Ron smiled slightly, looking very unsure of what to say now that insulting Malfoy automatically wasn't necessary, "Are you not going to get dressed?"

"I'm getting ready there," He said and Charlie suddenly apparated in the middle of them, "The cake?" Malfoy asked him immediately.

"It's ready and being sent to the Castle," Charlie assured him, also dressed in casual robes for now. He didn't seem angry nor wary and Harry realised that he was truly glad that their relationship hadn't been destroyed by the reception's events, "We should head there soon too, where is everybody?"

"My mother's taken your mother there already, and Mr Weasley's gone to collect your Aunt," Malfoy said, a tiny bit of panic seeping into his voice now, "She doesn't like to travel alone apparently."

"She doesn't like anything," Ron told him.

"I've noticed that, yeah," He rolled his eyes, "All we need from the Burrow is George and Ginny and we can go too."

Charlie turned to Harry expectantly and he startled, "Oh. I'll - er, I'll go get Ginny." Before he could move however, George came running downstairs. He was in a purple ball gown and had it bunched to his chest to save him from tripping, "Er."

Ron and Hermione burst out laughing and George's face didn't help stop it, "It wasn't like this when I put it on!" He huffed, letting the dress fall until it billowed around him, "It was a white suit! Like yours!" He pointed at Ron, before flapping his arms helplessly, "I don't know what happened, I - " He turned to Charlie and Malfoy and his words died in his throat. Malfoy was grinning, "You."

Raising an eyebrow, Malfoy smirked, "It only changes if you complain about the Wedding," He said, "Good thing you decided to do that here, and not at the Castle." George blanched, glancing down, and Malfoy took his wand out of a pocket in his robes and said, "Finite Incantatem." The dress rippled back into white dress robes, "Mrs Weasley told me you don't like Weddings," He explained, "And you did almost kill me."

George snorted in disbelief, looking at Charlie, before shaking his head, "Welcome to the Weasleys, Malfoy," He said and Malfoy smiled, "But - er - it won't do this all day will it?"

Malfoy shrugged, "Better not try it."

George narrowed his eyes, "This won't end here, I won't be outplayed," He threatened, "Know that." Charlie laughed, "Romania won't be far enough to hide, Charlie, I don't know why you're laughing."

Charlie opened his mouth to reply but Malfoy's watch chimed and they all glanced down at it, "Right. We need to leave to get to the portkey." Harry quickly stood to go and get Ginny, running up the stairs and knocking on her bedroom's door.

She opened it immediately, holding a similar white dress to her chest. She was wearing it, but when she turned, Harry saw that it was unzipped, "Finally," She snapped, "I've been calling. I forgot the bloody spell for zips that mum taught me," She reached behind and fumbled with the zip, "Ugh."

"Here." Harry zipped her up whilst she held the dress in place and she smoothed it down. Her hair was tied in an elaborate bun, and she had the same wreath that Hermione had in hers, "Perfect."

She turned to face him and smiled, "Always am." He grinned, taking her by the hand, "Now let's go, we're late."

There were more guests at the Wedding than had been at the Reception but Mrs Weasley had already politely asked that no one mention what had happened to the grooms' reception and that had started some gossip.

Ginny had been asked about it by a woman that Harry had never met before and her answer of it being a prank gone wrong had been spread until most guests were satisfied and hadn't bothered to care anymore, "Good thing Rita Skeeter's not a guest," She muttered to Harry as they found their seats in the hall.

The Castle had been set up beautifully, not as large as Hogwarts had been, but it had a Victorian feel to it that made it seem more aristocratic than homely and it suited a Wedding perfectly. The function was being held inside whilst the actual vows would be outside in the snow. Mrs Weasley's spell hadn't been necessary in the end as the weather brought it's own bout of snow itself and Ms Goodfellow had erected an archway of white roses for Charlie and Malfoy to stand under.

Fleur had gazed at it longingly when she passed it by, "Ah, Ms Goodfellow should do a' Vedding," She'd sighed and Bill had given her a look.

"We're already married."

"Yes. But ve can do it again someday."

Malfoy and Charlie were nowhere to be seen currently, they'd both disappeared right after they'd arrived to get ready, and Mrs Malfoy had gone with her son as well. More and more guests were slowly arriving in either white or red, as per requested in their invites, and Harry noticed that Elenda had brought a few others with her from Romania.

"Is that Phenus Wendeirs?" Hermione said in awe, staring at them.

"Who?" Ron asked, turning to look.

"Phenus Wendeirs, the first known Wizard to actually catch and tame a dragon," She explained, "He raised it from birth and it's never once turned on him. Ever."

"Charlie should learn from him," Ron said, "Especially with Norberta."

"He's obviously trying to, he invited him as a guest," Hermione grabbed him by the arm, "Let's go say something, quickly, I have so many questions."

"About dragons?"

"About what he learned from his dragon, there could be so much that he could have picked up whilst raising it," She frogmarched him over to the group and Elenda happily introduced them. Harry smiled after them, deciding to stay in his seat with Ginny. Unlike Bill and Fleur's wedding, neither of them were in charge of the guests and every table was dedicated to a group, with their names written on it.

Harry had a table with Ginny, Hermione, Ron, George, Bill and Fleur, and he saw that Charlie and Malfoy's friends from Romania were all put on one table as well. Zabini had brought two guests with him, a Slytherin girl that Harry remembered seeing years ago and a man that he didn't recognise at all, and they sat on either side of him whilst he drank from a tall glass of water.

Mr Weasley had brought Aunt Muriel and had then apparated again to help Andromeda bring Teddy while she carried some baby essentials for him, just in case.

"Harry," Ginny waved a hand in his face and he blinked, turning to look at her, "Behind you." Spinning in his chair, he saw Mrs Malfoy standing by the doorway trying to get his attention and he winced. Had something gone wrong?

He quickly stood and walked toward her while she fiddled with her white dress nervously, "Ah, Harry," His name sounded foreign in her mouth, "Draco wants to talk to you," He frowned but she didn't wait for an answer, "He's behind the second room, that way," Pointing down the stone hallway, she turned and went to find her seat inside.

"Er - okay." He chewed on his lip, meeting Ginny's eyes from across the hall until she stood to come and join him.

"What did she say?"

"That Malfoy wants to talk to me."

"Oh," She brushed her fringe aside, "Well go on then, the Wedding's going to start in a few minutes, it's almost 4 o'clock."

"But what does he want?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Go find out," She nudged him, "Take your wand though. Just in case," He scoffed and she grinned, "One day that suspicion will go, I promise, but for now ..."

He sighed, turning into the hallway and heading down it. The second door was closed when he reached it and as he knocked he heard a curse from behind it, "Er. Malfoy?" The door opened and he took a step back in surprise, suddenly sure that Malfoy would attack him but instead they just stared at each other, "Your mum called me."

"Good. Come in," Malfoy stepped aside for him to walk in. The room was similar to a smaller version of Bastien's store, with a singular platform and a full-length mirror. He pulled free his cream robes and they fell to the ground, revealing his Wedding clothes from underneath. They were a much brighter white than Harry's and Ron's, and the embroidery was black and curled around the collar and sleeves. Unlike theirs, there was also no waistcoat and the robes simply fastened together, "I wanted to talk to you."

"That's what she told me, yeah."

Malfoy nodded, running a hand through his hair. It was thinner compared to Harry's so it simply fluttered back into shape, and fanned around his forehead and cheeks, "You hated my father." He said then, avoiding looking directly at Harry and looking through the mirror instead, "Didn't you."

"Yes. I did." Harry sighed, "I'm sorry if it's not what you want to hear, but - "

"No, I don't care about that, not right now. I just - I know you hated him but you're the only one I know who saw more of him than others. My Mother doesn't count and Professor Snape's - well." He made a face, "Most everyone else was a Death Eater too."

"What's this about, Malfoy?"

Suddenly turning, Malfoy looked him dead in the eye, "Do you think he'd be happy with me? From what you know and saw of him, do you think he'd be alright with this? With me marrying Charlie? A Weasley?"

Taken aback, Harry automatically went to say that 'no, he wouldn't' but then he really thought about it. While Lucius Malfoy would most definitely not be alright with his son marrying a Weasley, after some time he might have warmed to the idea, if only for Malfoy's sake. But then again, he wasn't really sure.

"You don't think so." Malfoy concluded from his face.

"That's not it," He said quickly, "I just - I don't know. I can't answer that for you, I'm sorry." Malfoy gave him a look, "Well I could always tell you what you want to hear, but what would that do?"

"Well look who sounds mature," Malfoy smiled and Harry bristled for all of three seconds before he realised that he was only joking. This would take some getting used to, "I'm trying to think he would be. I hope he would be."

"Well like you said, 'new you'. Maybe it doesn't matter that much, anymore" Harry said, shrugging. Malfoy smiled, cleared his throat and smoothing down his robes.

"Potter." He looked unsure of himself for a moment before lifting his chin and asking, "Harry. ... Will you walk me down the aisle?" Harry blinked, "We wanted to be traditional as we're both Purebloods, and I didn't mind walking down. I was actually looking forward to it but now - " He sucked in a breath, "I don't want to go down alone."

"Why me?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"You saved my life at Hogwarts. Twice," Malfoy reminded him, "I've never forgotten that, whatever you may think. I want this Wedding to bring 'new me' closer to people from 'old me's' life," He held out his hand, "Starting with you, Saint Potter."

Harry's lips twitched involuntarily at the old insult and he glanced down, taking that hand, "Sure. I'll walk you down, Draco." Malfoy's answering smile was infectious.

The winter's snow made the archway glitter under the sunlight and it really helped create the whole Winter-theme that Charlie and Draco had so wanted. Bill leant over and dusted some snow off of Charlie's robes, his own red ones speckled with white as well, much like a muggle's christmas card.

"Oh!" Someone gasped, and as one, the guests turned to see what had caused it, a rise of shocked murmurs spreading through them all as Harry walked beside Malfoy down the aisle. They walked as friends, close enough that their shoulders brushed, and Ginny and Elenda walked in front, their white dresses flowing across the snow covered floor. It was all very traditional, as Malfoy had said before, but Harry had only ever been a guest at a Wedding and had never really such a main part.

He hated himself for agreeing to this when every single eye turned to stare at them and the back of his neck prickled uncomfortably, but the reminder of Malfoy's smile at his answer pushed most of those thoughts out and he straightened his back, trying to follow the music. Leaving Malfoy at the archway, he joined Hermione, Ron and George, and Ginny left her flower basket behind to join them as well. They had front row seats and George snickered when they noticed that Charlie's ears had turned the signature Weasley red.

Phenus joined them, as an apparent part-time priest as well as a Dragon-Tamer, and he began the vows while Malfoy and Charlie faced each other.

"Is that what Malfoy wanted?" Ron whispered to Harry as they listened, "For you to walk him down?"

"More or less, yeah," Harry whispered back.

"I swear Mum cries at every Wedding," George muttered to them then, snowflakes in his red hair as they sat on the chairs outside for the actual ceremony.

"And just how many Weddings have you been to with her, George?" Hermione asked him dryly. He stuck his tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes. He was right, however, as Mrs Weasley was currently sitting beside Mrs Malfoy and Andromeda and sobbing quietly into a tissue, "I think she was more touched about Harry walking Malfoy down than anything else anyway."

"I hope I didn't look too nervous," Harry worried, thinking back to how stiffly he'd walked down beside Malfoy, with everyone's eyes on them both.

"You looked like you'd walked through a ghost, so not nervous no," Ginny told him, smiling, "But I don't think anyone was looking at you anyway."

"Ha ha," Harry muttered, knowing that she was lying even without her tone. Harry Potter walks Draco Malfoy down the aisle at his Wedding? There was no way that neither of them had caught everyone's attention. Maybe that was what Malfoy had really wanted, a shock to make people remember his big moment, but his asking Harry before had seemed so sincere that if that was the case, the shock must have been just a bonus.

They all settled down then, listening to the vows properly and as they watched, Charlie took one of Malfoy's hands and squeezed.

"I do," He completed his vow softly, his blue eyes glazed.

"Then I consider you both bonded," Phenus finally announced, smiling, "Merlin help us all," The guests laughed and Malfoy grinned at Charlie, leaning in to kiss him hard. George whooped loudly and, with the ceremony over, they were all eventually directed back inside by Ms Goodfellow, who had yet another strict schedule to keep.

Malfoy and Charlie had the same long table as they'd had at the reception inside, with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Mrs Malfoy, Andromeda and Teddy with them, and once they'd been seated everyone else took theirs at the set tables. The cake had only two tiers and had been decorated with gold and silver dragons along the edges of the white frosting. They cut the first slice together and by then, Mrs Malfoy scowled down at the table when a single tear made itself known over her cheek. Charlie ate half the slice, giving the rest to Malfoy, and with that done the guests were all served dinner.

"Best part of Weddings," Ron repeated gleefully, tucking in, and Hermione laughed. Harry looked over the tables at Malfoy, watching him comfort Teddy who still didn't like the cold, and he felt none of the suspicion that he'd felt before. Maybe this was what closure felt like because when Malfoy met his gaze and smiled, he smiled back, and their age old antagonism didn't rise to bait at all.

"Yeah," He agreed with Ron, his smile widening when Teddy tried to feed Charlie a piece of cucumber, "The best."

~ The End ~

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