"The flowers go there." Nagini pointed at the area where the alter would be. The staff Alexander had brought in, Wixen who specialized in wedding ceremonies, fascinating enough. Well, they specialized in wedding ceremonies now. Tom watched them scurry around with all sorts of magical plants that symbolized prosperity and love and happiness.

It wouldn't be long now…

"Tom," she hissed as she caught sight of him, and while she was no longer a Maledictus, she did a decent job of imitating her snake form. "What in Circe's name are you doing out here? You need to get ready. The guests will be arriving any minute."

"I was getting restless."

And Lucretia had hexed him when he tried to go see Harry. It was ridiculous, honestly. It wasn't like this was an actual wedding. They were already married, for Circe's sake.

He refused to tell Nagini about the hexing part though. She would find way too much enjoyment at any of his once-followers being bold enough to hex him. He also refused to tell her that it wasn't an actual wedding. That would only earn him a hex from her instead.

Some people would celebrate being alive and not turning into a magical snake by going on vacation or relaxing or, if it had been Tom—and apparently Harry, by discovering archaic family magics. Nagini, on the other hand, had turned into a warlord armed with a bouquet.

Tom was only fifty percent sure that the flowers weren't deadly. He would be more disappointed if they weren't poisonous, truth be told. What was a wedding without the risk of accidental death?

"Back inside." She thrust her finger in the direction of the manor and he sighed. There really was no use arguing with her.

He huffed and went back inside. It seemed unfair that this was supposed to be about him and Harry, and yet neither of them got a say in it.

"You look like you're heading to the gallows."

Tom glared up at Alexander.

"Nagini is a menace."

Alexander laughed. "Yes, don't I know it." He sat down beside him. "Somehow, she managed to take control of one of my smaller Gringotts accounts and do this. She found the staff—they were doing Ministry parties and now they're exclusively doing weddings—and they already had three new clients since yesterday."

"Yes, well, it's going to be the wedding of the season."

Tom jumped at Harry's voice, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. Beside him, Alexander went stiff. His eyes darted frantically around the room.

"Darling?"

Something shimmered out of the corner of his eye, before an invisibility cloak revealed Harry's already wild hair.

"I snuck out," Harry said before he kissed him. "I missed you."

"It's only been a few hours."

Harry hummed against his lips. "But it was weird waking up in bed alone."

Tom laughed.

"Isn't it bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding?" Alexander asked, a smirk on his lips.

"Oh, bugger off. We're already married."

"I know that, and you know that." Alexander motioned to their surroundings. "Are we sure Nagini knows that?"

Tom snorted. "Pretty sure Nagini doesn't care."

And then, as if summoned, she appeared glaring. "What do you two think you're doing?"

Harry kissed him once more quickly before he pulled his cloak hood back up and disappeared again.

The full force of Nagini's glare was on him.

The ceremony space was lovely. Nagini had done an excellent job of making everything extra magical, from the floating candles that seemed to form a thousand stars in the sky to the night-blooming flowers.

Still, Tom found himself more anxious than he ever expected. He knew Harry would be there, but it still didn't make the twist in his gut any less.

Harry was right. This was definitely going to be the wedding of the season. Everyone who was anyone wanted to see Lord Peverell and Lord Slytherin properly bonded. Apparently, being married by a magical house didn't count. But if Hogwarts had married them, they probably would have thought it was wonderful.

Tom closed his eyes and took a breath.

"Waiting on me?" Harry asked, appearing by Tom's shoulder.

Tom entertained their fingers and they walked down the aisle to stand under the flowered arch. Tom had told Nagini they didn't need one, but she insisted.

"Think of the pictures!" she had proclaimed.

Tom had given up arguing with her as a lost cause.

"Are you nervous?" Harry whispered near his ear.

"No."

Nervous was the wrong word. Tom didn't get nervous. But he also wanted this day over with. It was none of high society's business and the only reason Tom truly allowed the day to go forward was the amount of networking it allowed. The whole thing was ridiculous and he couldn't wait for it to be over.

He was only doing this for Harry, and if he was honest with himself, Nagini. But he couldn't wait for the night to be over and for them to be alone again.

At least this was at Alexander's house so he could deal with the mess left behind. Tom had plans to sweep Harry away to Albania to retrieve Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, because even though Harry had made him swear he was not going to make more hocruxes, he had never promised him that he wouldn't discover rare magical artifacts. Such discoveries… they would be legendary for the Wizarding community.

"You're thinking so loudly," Harry said, his thumb brushing over Tom's knuckles.

"Let's go now," Tom whispered as he turned into his husband. "Nagini can still have her party and we can go away somewhere else."

Rather than be offended, Harry laughed.

"I'm pretty sure she would hunt you to the ends of the earth if you did that."

Harry wasn't wrong, though Tom would never admit to it.

"What's really wrong?"

Gentleness was his weakness. The tender look Harry fixed him with, the way his fingers cradled the back of his neck.

"I never thought I'd have this."

He didn't just mean a wedding. It was all of it. A family who loved him for who he was, even if he would never be good or light or any of the other things everyone acted like were so important. Even if he was always going to be the demon child of Wool's Orphanage, the boy families returned because they were scared of his magic, and Dumbledore thought was evil. It didn't matter so much anymore. None of their opinions of him really mattered.

From the way Harry smiled at him, he knew exactly what Tom meant.

He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"Let's go," Harry said, tugging on his hand towards the alter. "Together."