Chapter Twenty-Four: Conjugation

"Are you ready?"

"Why wouldn't I be ready?"

"You don't have to do anything else to get ready?"

"No, Draco, this is it."

"That was fast. Hey- OW- I mean, you look beautiful!"

"Thanks, sweetheart."

"I don't know why you need me to state the obvious all the time."

Draco and Hermione apparated from her flat to the Burrow, where Molly was gleefully holding court over the preparations. Narcissa, who had gotten up even earlier than Draco had, was already there, ordering the Weasley boys around with imperious motions of her hand.

Once inside the burrow, they had to separate- Draco to Ron's room, where the Groom-Who-Lived was probably pacing nervously back and forth, and Hermione to Ginny's old room, where the bride was, much more sedately, preparing herself.

"See you at the altar," Draco murmured at the foot of the stairs, brushing his lips over Hermione's. "I'll be the handsome groomsman with the perfect hair."

She kissed him back, taking the opportunity to ruffle his styled blonde locks. "Oh, will you now?"

Flattening his hair frantically, Draco ascended the stairs to what was likely Panic Central. Not bothering to knock, he walked in to the room, only to discover not Harry, but Ron, who was enthusiastically snogging a short woman in purple.

He definitely could have done without that image in his head. But he was lost, so Draco tapped Ron on the shoulder, ducking away as Ron turned to him with a growl. As the couple broke apart, the woman's identity became obvious: Pansy. She flushed a colour akin to Ron's hair, and hid behind the aforementioned Weasley.

"Oi," Ron said breathlessly, trying to make an angry face at Draco, whose smirk was growing wider by the second. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm lost. Direct me to Saint Potter and I'll go on my merry way," Draco said cheerfully, enjoying the stricken expressions on the couple's faces.

He walked out of the room whistling a merry tune. Perhaps love was in the air.

Harry was much more calm than Draco had expected to find him. Of course, he'd expected something akin to a panic attack, considering Potter's delicate disposition and propensity to be emotional, so anything was an improvement.

Draco walked in to a tableau of Harry staring out the window absently, fiddling with a cufflink. His hair was, unquestionably, a mess. Draco smoothed his own hair once more and carefully sat on the bed, trying not to wrinkle his suit.

(Harry had opted for muggle-style vestments for this occasion, and Draco had to admit that suits were more dashing than dress robes, any day).

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked, after he'd finally come out of his trance.

"Hello to you too," Draco snarked. "He's… pursuing recreational activities. With Pansy," he added as Harry gave him a questioning look.

Harry resumed his dramatic tableau, but when Ron came in flushed and trying to slow his breathing, Draco could have sworn he saw a little smirk curling up the side of Harry's face.

The guests assembled on the lawn, visible only as tiny varicoloured specks on the plain. Draco and Ron, who were playing wizard chess in the corner, noted that Harry was doing an odd dance comprised of alternately tugging on his cufflinks and playing with his hair.

Ron looked back at Draco and lowered his voice.

"Honestly, he's such a girl sometimes."

When Harry didn't even respond to this tentative insult, Ron sighed and sat back in his chair.

"It's your turn to give him a pep talk," said the redhead, directing his knight to slaughter one of Draco's rooks.

"I did it last time!" Draco hissed, retaliating with his bishop.

"Hey," Ron said, "I had to do the pep talks for seven years straight. It's so your turn."

Draco rolled his eyes, but acquiesced as Ron's queen stepped forward and murdered his king.

"Oi, Harry!" Draco said cheerfully, glaring daggers at Ron. "Shouldn't we be going downstairs soon?"

Harry continued looking out the window with a Byronic air, fiddling with his sleeves.

"Potter," Draco said patiently, "Get your arse moving."

Harry swung around, looking sick. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, "you don't know"! You love the woman! You're going to marry her, and then start to produce Potterlings, and you're going to be one of the happiest couple on earth. And then I'm going to marry Hermione," he said firmly as Harry looked at him with wide eyes, "And Ron's going to keep dating until he decides to settle down, and we're all going to have kids and go to dinner at the Burrow all the time, and our kids are going to grow up best friends, and go to Hogwarts and get into trouble and we're all going to grow old together, and that's how it's going to happen."

Harry took a deep breath, but he was smiling.

"You want that, right?" Draco said slowly.

"Let's go, mates," Harry said with a slow, blissful smile. "We're going to have a wonderful life."

Ron patted Draco on the back. "You can take pep talk duty from now on," he whispered as he followed Harry downstairs.

Ten seconds later, Ron was back in the room.

"Did you say you were going to marry Hermione?"

Finally, Harry and his groomsmen were stationed at the altar, awaiting the procession of the bride. Draco looked across the smiling, expectant faces with amazement, from his mother to Blaise and Theo, from some of his old Hogwarts teachers to the innumerable redheads scattered across the lawn.

It was almost perfect. It was the kind of happiness he'd been looking for all his life without even knowing it, a slow-burning love for life that presented itself as a warm glow somewhere in his chest. He could feel it, glowing beneath his breastbone, and reveled in the feeling that somehow, everythingwas going to be grand.

...

The fanfare started up, and the bridesmaids came swanning down the aisle, laughing and smiling and suppressing tears. Draco caught Hermione's eye as she settled into line opposite him, and she gave him a brilliant smile that told him everything he wanted to know.

Ginny followed her bridesmaids, radiant on her father's arm. Her eyes found Harry right away, and the grin that followed made her at least twenty times more beautiful.

She reached the altar, Mr. Weasley sat and borrowed his wife's handkerchief, and the official started to speak.

"We are gathered here today," she began, "To celebrate the union of Harry James Potter, and Ginevra Molly Weasley."

"About bloody time!" George called from the front row, and the audience cheered.

The official began to speak about the sanctity of marriage, the highs and the lows, the give and take, and Draco let the words wash over him like waves. He'd learned about love, already. There were problems, obstacles, yes; but there were also wonderful things like kisses and curly hair and notes written in books, pranks and inside jokes and being called "mate", pillow fights and reunions, solidarity and trust and honesty and hope.

Perhaps, he realized, he was listening after all. He didn't need anyone to tell him about love. He didn't need to search for it; he didn't have to lie on the floor of a bookstore and wait for someone, something, to snap him back to reality.

He had it. And as Harry and Ginny shared their first kiss as husband and wife, Draco pressed his hand to his eyes and was shocked to discover that he, like Hermione, was weeping tears of joy.

A/N:

Fluff, fluff, fluff.

That is almost the end, dear readers. There's an epilogue left, which I will post within a couple weeks, and then "Letting Go" will draw to a close. I hope you have enjoyed Draco's journey as much as I have.

To my wonderful, fantastical reviewers:

KodeV: more fluff! Yes, I wanted to put in something about Draco's redemption in society as well. I'm glad you loved it :) and I hope you like this chapter equally!

Roguesmum: Thanks so much!

Tamarichan: I'm glad you think that my characters are real. Thanks for the review!

Kvance: Well, it's just about done, but I'm glad that you found it so engrossing. Thanks so much :)

MemoirsofaLostCause: I opened my email after writing that last chapter and found a review from you for practically every chapter! WOW! Thank you for putting all the time and effort into reviewing, it is really appreciated!

Pug1998: I know, fluff fluff! :)

LadySarahj: And here you go, an update. Thanks!

Fifitheflowertot: Thank you for your review! I do like Draco's POV.

Fulgance: That's okay! Your reviews are always worth the wait. Well, this is mostly fluff as well, but the epilogue will have a healthy dose of angst in it to wrap everything up. And yeah- that exchange with Pansy was hard to write, but I'm glad you think I nailed it!

I hope I didn't miss anyone. If I did, thank you very very much!

See you all in the epilogue!

-Isefyr