The 'Wedding'
It had been a year and a half since the war and Severus Snape was dressing to get married. Somewhere in the vast rooms of Malfoy Manor, he knew Draco was doing the same. At least they weren’t getting married to each other, Merlin forbid. Severus shuddered at the thought. Not only was his love for the boy strictly platonic, his patience was also too thin to deal with the mannerisms of a diva.
The truth was, neither of them knew who their future spouses were going to be. At the end of the war, all Death Eaters who weren’t dead or in Azkaban were married off into Light families in the hopes of reforming them. Despite Severus’ part in the war as a spy, he was still tried as a Death Eater, since he had joined them willingly. He, along with Draco and Narcissa, had been on house arrest until the Ministry found someone to marry him off to.
The Malfoys were very much a broken family at this point. Lucius was in Azkaban, Narcissa had ended up marrying a neutral noblewoman who had donated very generously towards the war effort. She was now in France and living rather comfortably, if her letters were anything to go by. Her new wife was a kind person and spoiled her greatly. That was a year ago, and since then it had been him and Draco left in the big empty mansion, with the odd Auror coming along every now and then to check up on them.
Three days ago, the Ministry had sent a letter saying that they had found someone for them. Three days of nursing spiked cups of tea as Severus had to sit listening to Draco stress over who it could possibly be. After the war, they had fallen into a comfortable routine of doing absolutely everything they could to keep their minds off things. So far, Draco had rearranged all the furniture about fifteen times and Severus had read every single book in the house to death and back and started a pretty promising herb garden. Even their conversations were about the most mundane things, like the spider that Draco had seen the other day and described in great detail for about ten minutes.
The letter was an ice cold bucket of water to the face, snapping them back into reality. The very air around them had felt heavy and fragile since then, like a rotting bridge swinging and creaking in a hurricane that threatened to plunge them into the raging river miles below.
Severus brushed the creases out of his shirt and turned to look for some socks. As he was rummaging through a drawer, he thought about Draco’s most memorable meltdown. The blonde had run into his room in a panicked state, looking like he’d been ripping his hair out.
“What if it’s a Weasley? The dragon tamer is single, maybe they’re gonna send me to Romania and I’ll end up eaten by a dragon.” A thought struck him and he had groaned in pain, thumping his head against the door frame. “Our children are going to be so ugly!” he wailed. Severus had had to remind him that he was male and thus unable to get pregnant multiple times until he had finally calmed down.
“Merlin help the poor idiot who gets him,” he shook his head in amusement and finally found a pair of socks that didn’t have holes in them. All his good clothes had been packed away and he’d forgotten about socks.
Finally, he was dressed and gave himself a quick glance in the mirror. He knew he didn’t look too glamorous, but his goal had been ‘presentable’ to begin with. Not like he was planning on impressing anyone anyway. He strode out into the hallway, the tap of his rarely worn dress shoes echoing around him.
He stopped at Draco’s door and knocked firmly. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly opened the door a crack.
“Are you decent?” he called out. He heard a quiet sniffle from the other side and quickly opened to door wider to find Draco sat on the edge of his bed. He was fully dressed with his head bowed low, his wispy hair covering his face from view.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Sev.” Draco’s voice was thick and shaky. Severus came and sat beside him, pausing in surprise as the younger clung to him. He returned the hug and sighed.
“I know it’s been really hard these past few years, but the worst is over. You’ve been so strong all this time, even as a young teenager. We can’t all be as lucky as your mother but I’m sure the ministry wouldn’t put you with someone horrible.” He wasn’t convinced by that statement himself and judging by the humourless snort, neither was Draco. Severus slowly moved back and looked his godson in the eye.
“If you’re really that worried about it, I’ll get them to give me the bastard instead.” Somehow the ridiculous image of Severus trying to convince someone to marry him was enough to make Draco laugh. Severus gave him a half-hearted glare and stood up.
“Well, since you’re clearly feeling better now, go and wash your face, grab your things and meet me downstairs. The portkey leaves in five minutes.” He patted Draco on the shoulder and walked back to his room to collect his own bags.
Four minutes later they were stood in the foyer, all their belongings shrunken and in their pockets, staring at the portkey in their hands intensely. That small, enchanted comb would lead to the outside world. That meant other people. They had forgotten what it was like to interact with other people, Aurors not included. Severus glanced up at Draco, who’s face had gone white. He was sure his own face looked just as worrying.
Before they could say or do anything stupid like lose their nerve, the portkey glowed brightly and they braced themselves. After the sharp tug and claustrophobic squeeze of the portkey, Severus felt his feet hit the ground and instinctively reached a hand out to steady Draco, who almost tripped over his own feet. Sounds exploded around them and they looked around themselves to see the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Severus heard Draco gasp next to him and the arm still grasped in his hand started shaking. There were so many people around them.
A cough came from their right and they turned to see Auror Jacobs, the auror who usually came to check up on them. He was neither friendly nor standoffish with them when he came over, typically a man of few words, not that either of them minded. On the contrary, his rather clinical inspection of the Manor and his simple, to the point questions were much better than an over-passionate Auror trying to find the tiniest thing to harass them over.
“Welcome. Come with me,” He nodded to them and turned to walk over to the lifts, Severus and Draco following him, trying not to look like the lost puppies they felt like. Severus mentally shook his head and straightened his shoulders. He’d been here many times after all, a year of near isolation wasn’t about to break him. The same couldn’t be said for Draco who was still a bit shaky. Severus kept a firm grip on his arm as they made their way across the Atrium.
After an uneventful trip up to the Auror Department, they were led to the Head Auror’s office. Severus vaguely wondered why they’d been brought up here and not the wedding registrar’s office before they were swiftly ushered inside.
They were greeted by the sight of Head Auror Madeline Tauris, an imposing woman with a stern expression. Her eyes flicker towards them and she nodded sharply in acknowledgment before turning back to the person seated in front of her.
“You are absolutely sure about this?” She asked. Severus could see the person nod before they stood and turned to them. His breath caught in his lungs at the sight of rich, green eyes gazing back into his own. Beside him, Draco gasped and went very still.
“Hello Malfoy, Professor,” Harry Potter nodded to them both in greeting, a warm, polite smile on his face.
“Not anymore,” Severus found himself saying. He inwardly cringed at how quiet his voice was.
Green eyes crinkled at the corners as their owner smiled. “Yes I suppose you’re right. No need to call you ‘sir’ then is there?” The smile turned rather cheeky and Severus felt his face heat up, not knowing if it was embarrassment or indignation. The brat was joking with him now, poking fun even.
He was broken out of his thoughts by Tauris clearing her throat.
“This is a rather unique case we have here. Mr. Potter has asked to marry both of you.”
Draco finally found his voice. “You cannot be serious? He hates us! I’m not doing this!”
Tauris leveled her gaze onto him and Severus felt him fidget slightly. When she spoke, it was with an air of finality.
“That’s up to you. However, in six months time, it will have been two years since your house arrest and we’ll be forced to transfer you to Azkaban.”
Severus gasped, “You can’t do that! We were never told about that!”
Tauris’ lips quirked in cruel amusement. “Well, it’s a new policy. Since this whole program is about reformation, if a Death Eater hasn’t been taken in by a Light family within two years, they’re deemed a lost cause and sent straight to Azkaban. So…” She put two identical papers on her desk before them. “The choice is yours.”
The two former Slytherins were too busy processing this information and staring at Tauris in shock to notice the sharp, disapproving glare Potter shot at the woman. They slowly moved forwards and picked up the papers. They were marriage certificates with space for two signatures under each. Harry’s signature was already on them both.
Draco and Severus glanced at each other. As comfortable as their routine back home had become and no matter how desperately they wanted to return to it, it wasn’t worth Azkaban. Harry Potter with his hero complex and bleeding heart wouldn’t outright hurt them and at the very least they got to stay together. It wasn’t much of a choice after all.
They signed their names and felt the hum of magic wrap around them and Potter. It settled after a few brief moments and they were officially married, by law and in the eyes of Magic herself.
Tauris clapped her hands once. “Congratulations. Here’s to hoping things go smoothly. Jacobs will see you out. Mr. Potter, until we meet again.” She shook his hand and they left.
Harry fell back a bit to walk beside Severus and Draco. All the way to the apparition points on the ground floor not a word was spoken between them, although the cool static tingles of lingering magic made all three of them hyper aware of each other. When Potter reached out in an offer to Side-Along them to his place, the three flinched as they held hands, electricity shooting through their spines. It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and Draco and Severus were whisked away to start a new life with their new husband.