Quick note! There were some timeline consistency issues in the previous chapter I hadn't noticed when I published, and a few typos too. Sorry about that! They're all corrected now, and here's the first new chapter written in over a hundred years - do let me know if it feels odd or different.

Friday, April 26, 2002

Harry straightened up spine and sipped the last of his coffee as he readied for Theo and Astoria's wedding. He had hoped to stay out of the country a bit longer, even had a new story about visiting Bulgaria for some time now that the weather had warmed up, but he knew that if Pansy didn't kill him, then Daphne would.

Why we ever became friends with Slytherin witches is beyond me…

He had written to Ron to let him know that he would be swinging by his flat to get ready, still unable to bring himself to face Argyll Place, and together the two wizards would leave for the Manor. Pansy had gone ahead as part of the ceremony, oblivious to Harry's attendance. According to Ron, that was a very smart move on Harry's part.

"Not only were the lot of them losing their minds thinking you might not come in the end but Hermione and Malfoy haven't been the same since you left," Ron explained in a small voice, not quite making eye contact.

Harry snorted, not keen to discuss the couple so soon but couldn't help himself. "I'd imagine Skeeter's column might have had something to do with it."

Rita Skeeter had, it seems, been a long-time friend of the Greengrass family – explaining how they got more of a pass than any other pureblooded family following the war – and spotted Hermione and Draco snuggled in closely at the wedding rehearsal earlier that week. The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday papers all had front page coverage of the two of them with extensive commentary and public concern between the subsequent pages.

Breaking News: War hero seduced by Death Eater!

Prophet Exclusive: Draco Malfoy – did he use Imperius?

Opinion: Has Hermione Granger forced Draco Malfoy into sexual servitude?

The first article piqued Harry's interest largely because of the couple featured dancing in the centre photo: a smiling couple in a smart black suit and glittering silver dress, curled intimately into each others arms, happily celebrating at a clearly private function with friends. He could see Theo and Pansy chatting in the far edge of the frame but the couple were oblivious to anyone watching and so was Harry. The photo had obviously been taken by a friend given the lack of reaction by the participants in it, and either been stolen or sold to the paper after the fact.

The second headline barely elicited a response from Harry, no new photo above the fold to overwhelm him, and besides - the idea was insulting and pedestrian.

While the last headline had originally gotten a smirk from Harry, the article itself brought up the very real possibility that the Ministry might have something to say about the fact that Draco could potentially be spending his parole while happily in a relationship with the woman who'd had him released from Azkaban early.

They would not be too keen about that.

So Harry returned, thanking his friends with the Ireland office for putting him up for a few months, and braced himself for what was to come. He was going to have to testify to the Wizengamot, he just knew he would, to make sure Hermione and Draco could be together.

He would do it even though it killed him.

"Skeeter went too far with that one. Didn't matter that she had to write a retraction the very next day, it did what she wanted. Mione nearly had be to restrained. The Greengrass's canned her wedding invite, despite how big of a deal it would be, because even they thought that was in awful taste," Ron said, gesturing for Harry to fix his tie.

Harry did, then finished the touches on his own outfit, a three piece suit he had Kreacher pull from his closet when he was certain it would be safe to send the elf over. He fastened his beloved gold watch to his wrist, refusing to let his mind dwell with his heart on the morning Draco had smiled to him and waved his own gifted watch back with appreciation. Harry had spent so long looking up details on what goes into a pureblood scion's watch, and had gotten details from Narcissa on Draco's first watch. But he couldn't dwell on that now.

With both men dressed to the nines, they found their way to the portkey invitation waiting on the breakfast nook and took hold.

They were escorted through a wonderful hall, lined with small groups catching up before the nuptials. Ron played the part of the political spouse well, Harry thought, making sure to point the right people towards his girlfriend and being polite to those who mattered. Harry wondered who would tend toward that role between Draco and Hermione and found himself smirking at the face either would make at the assumption that either of them would let the other take over all the politicking.

Everything he saw and everything he did somehow came back to them. Meals he cooked reminded him of sandwiches at Christmas with Draco and a single kiss that still haunted him. Books he read made his hands ache for Hermione and her curled up form sleeping under his arms. Every nightmare he endured made him weep twice as hard because they both needed him once but now they had each other and no one needed him but Harry needed them both so badly and he missed them both so much.

"Mister Potter, why it's been some time!"

Harry smiled and nodded, not entirely sure who he was talking to but taking his cue from Ron who was playing nicely. He explained the training and investigation program he had helped implement in Ireland, a cooperative endeavor by the two countries auror departments and the required time it meant spending away from home, teaching the hit wizards of tomorrow to think more with their mind than their wands.

Satisfied and chuckling, the old man went back to answering whatever it was Ron had put to the man and Harry slipped back into his own mind. It was a terrible idea to come back but if he could make it through today, he could disappear again for a while. That's what Draco and Hermione needed. Time to discover each other and learn how to be together. Harry would only get in the way, his broken heart dripping all over the place.

No, couldn't have that.

They made their way further down the hallway and Harry's heart ached at every beautiful blue dress, hoping and fearing he would see Hermione in one of them. Blue had always been such a beautiful colour on her, he thought, memories of their fourth year Yule ball swimming around his mind. But to Harry's dismay and great fortune, they found their seats in the main hall without running into the two people Harry wanted and feared most to see, although he craned his neck to check every occupied seat in the dizzying circle the aisles had been sorted into just in case.

Harry had been roped into attending a handful of wedding since the end of the war, some in the name of politics and others that came as a result of friendships forged with Slytherins. Not that the other houses didn't respond to the end of the war by getting hitched in outrageous numbers, but the Slytherins made much more of a to do about it.

That Theo and Astoria had waited this long confused many, but Harry knew it was likely born of both parties interest in seeing Draco Malfoy a free man first.

The ceremony started and the groom walked through the overly largely circle of seated guests to the centre, where an official waited on the elevated dais to bind the couple for eternity. Following him in succinct step was Draco.

Harry's breath hitched. The photo leaked to the Prophet did nothing to prepare Harry for the moment he saw Draco again. The months of love from Hermione had taken a very visible tole on him, his confidence somewhat returned and his physical appearance matching. He hadn't looked this healthy in years and while part of Harry reacted very physically to how Draco was filling out his robes, his heart ached with pride at how far Draco had come back from the depths of Azkaban and into the man before him.

He was grateful that Ron was to his left and that the single tear he couldn't reign back slid down his right cheek.

However, one witch a few aisles away did notice, with tears of her own nearly distracting her but not for a second shifting her stare from the black haired wizard her heart had been aching for for so long.

AN: So I don't know if you've all seen Beauty and the Beast yet but Evermore is pretty much the theme song to this chapter for all three of our protagonists. Specifically Dan Stevens' rendition, and by the way, wouldn't he have been such a better Draco for this fic?