James walked up to the podium feeling rather on display. He looked out at the group gathered; he could see his family. His mouth was dry, but he knew he had to do this.
"I am James Potter, and I am here today to tell you about a man. A man I hated from the minute I knew his full name: Draco Lucius Malfoy." James shifted uncomfortably. He rested both hands on the podium. "I had good reason to hate him. He was moving in on my mother! I never hid my feelings from him, or anyone. Draco," James paused to sallow hard, then continued, "Draco allowed me to lash out at him. He protected my mother as much as he could from me. Draco loved my mother most of his life. I'm sure that the day he married her was the happiest of his life. I know it was one of the happiest days of my mother's life. It was that day that my own feelings toward him changed. The morning of that day, Draco took a risk. Not for himself, but for my mum. Draco gave me a letter from my dad to my mum. He had no clue what it said, but he took a shot in the hopes of making my mum happy. His shot worked. What was in that letter will remain between my mum and me.
"After that, I opened up to Draco and I got to know a man who was extremely protective of his whole family. His parents, Lucius and Narcissa, his son from his first marriage, my brother Scorpius, my mother Ginny, or Ginevra, as he called her, my brother, Albus and little sisters Lily and Victoria, and myself. In recent years, that has extended to our spouses and children.
"When Victoria was born, I had just started to allow myself to be open with Draco and was watching everything he did. All of the rest of the children had started at Hogwarts for the year, but Draco had made arrangements for us to come to the Manor for the weekend. I expected the weekend to be all about Victoria, but it wasn't; Draco planned it all out. He knew Lily would want way more time with the baby than three teen boys would, so he took us boys out to a Quidditch game and took us flying. Here's a secret; neither of my sisters like the game!" he teased. "Shocking really, if you know their parents. For Al and I, having men around for male bonding is not hard to find. Draco was well aware of this, but he took the time to plan and include me, while I treated him like pond scum.
.
"Draco never made me, and I think Lily and Albus feel differently from Scorpius and Victoria, but at the same time he... " James paused and searched for what to say, "he respected how we felt about our father. I cannot put my feelings for Draco into words, but I can say this; it has been an honor to have him call my son and daughter his grandchildren."James again swallowed the lump in his throat. "Draco, thank you for being the father we all needed, and for putting up with the bloody hell I put you through." James stepped away from the podium. He had refused to talk about the fact Draco took the Dark Mark. He wanted the people gathered to remember only the good. James stepped closer to his stepfather and placed his hand on Draco's casket.
" I raise my wand to you."
A/N this is really the end. I have had a couple years of writes block. I hope by writing this piece I will get my writing going again, that maybe knowing I did not complete this story as I had planned it, was the reason I could not write.