Lions Vs Snakes

Epilogue

As Harry stared at himself in the mirror he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have his parents with him. He tried not to be sad when he thought about them, which he did a lot these days, but at moments like this he missed them the most. He could only imagine his father ruffling his hair and his mother teaching him how he is supposed to tie a bow tie. 

There was a knock at the door. He was only half ready but he assumed it was Ron. "Come in" 

The door opened but to Harry's surprise it wasn't Ron. It was the last person Harry expected it to be. It was Severus Snape. 

"Oh I uh thought you were Ron." Harry didn't know why he was here. "Is everything okay?" 

Snape walked over to Harry, "I know it's been hard for you lately and with everyone who knew your parents gone, I just wanted to tell you that they would be really proud of the young man you have become." 

Harry couldn't help but cry. And he tried not to, he really tried not to. He sat down on the couch. "Thank you." 

Snape pat Harry on the shoulder rather awkwardly and walked to the door to leave. But before he left he said one other thing to Harry, "You know, even though he was quite the twat, he would have always been so proud of you. He would have loved you. He- he was a good father." 

Harry knew that last part was hard for Snape to say. He also knew that even though Snape had just said that, he probably didn't feel that way. But Harry didn't mind. What was one small lie if it made someone feel so much better? 

 Harry tried to tie his bow tie agian but couldn't figure it out exactly. He wished he knew some spell for this. He straightened it out but it didn't look much better.There was another knock on the door. This time it had to be Ron. He opened the door and to his relief Ron walked into the room. 

"You look... like you're about to get bloody married!" Ron almost shouted, "Bloody Hell Harry! You're getting married!"  Though Ron would never admit it he was starting to tear up. It wasn't everyday your best friend since age eleven gets married. 

"I'm so nervous Ron." Harry was sweating already.  

Ron laughed, "What's he gonna do say 'I don't'? Come on Harry you're going to be late to your own wedding." 

Harry took one final look at himself in the mirror. This was the moment he had been waiting for since he had first set his eyes on Draco that day in the robe shop when they were eleven. 

Ron and Harry walked from the gryffindor common room. down the stairs and to the main doorway of the castle. Draco and harry were going to be married at a beautiful tree near the lake just outside of Hogwarts with the reception in the Great Hall. Hermione and Ginny had fought over the decoration the whole time they planned it. 

Harry stood by the doors with Ron at his side. At any moment now the doors would open and he and Ron would walk over to the tree where Draco and the others would be waiting.

 When the doors opened Harry turned to Ron, "This is really happening." 

"Yeah Harry it's really happening." Was all Ron could say. Even though it wasn't his wedding Ron was sharing most of Harry's nerves. 

They walked down the pathway to the tree. When they became close enough to see everything Harry stopped. Right there in that moment when Harry saw Draco eagerly awaiting Harry's arrival, he no longer felt nervous. Those nerves from earlier were now replaced by love nothing but pure love of the truest kind. Harry began to walk even faster.  

When Harry and Ron arrived to the wedding Harry took his place next to Draco and Ron sat down in a chair in the front row next to Hermione and Snape. All of their friends were there. Draco's friends sat and mingled with Harry's as if they had been best friends their whole lives. They all stopped and stared as Harry took Draco's hands in his own and the wedding began. 

"Draco, when we were younger, we understood each other more than I wanted to admit. I pushed you away for so many years pushed thoughts of you away until I realised what I had felt all along wasn't resentment, it was love. I pushed you away because I never wanted to see you hurt because I wanted you to be happy to find happiness. I never knew that happiness would be found with you." Harry was crying even more than he had thought he would. Not because he knew Draco's vows would be better than his, but because there was so much he couldn't put into words. "We have always shared the same struggles and pains but now were share them together. But you and I share much more than our struggles, we share our dreams, our hopes, our love." 

Staring into Harry's eyes as he told him all these things made Draco's heart beat faster and faster. He just wanted to kiss him already. He was so choked up over Harry's vows that he forgot his own. He dug around in his pockets and finally pulled out a folded up piece of paper. The paper had been worn soft from Draco rehearsing his vows early in the morning, late at night and any other time Draco found himself alone. 

He unfolded the paper and read, "At the age of eleven while I was getting fitted for my school robes another small boy walked in to get his own. I didn't know who he was but something inside me was saying this is him. This boy standing next to me right now, he is going to grow up to be the man I marry. I knew it had to be." Draco folded the paper up and put it back in his pocket. "We weren't friends though. I fell apart and somehow you saw me in a different way than before. You pulled me out of the dark world I was living in and into the light. You were there for me in my darkest hour and I promise to always be here to do the same for you. No matter what the world has in store for us I will always be here and I will never stop loving you."