MARCH 30, 1997 – The Burrow

Harry had deliberately not sought out Severus in the wake of his confession over Christmas, so the only times he saw him were for meals and potions classes. He saw the dark glances his professor gave him, but he wouldn't give in, not now, not yet. And so January and February had passed them by, with February bringing with it Valentine's Day, and Harry waved goodbye to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco, who had a table booked at Madam Puddifoot's for the occasion in Hogsmeade. Harry, meanwhile, did some studying for his NEWTs that day, munching on some owl-ordered chocolate from Honeydukes, and Hermione was immensely proud of him.

When March arrived, Harry received an owl from Sirius, informing him that he had been invited to the Jones household in Snowdonia to celebrate Easter. Although the invitation had been graciously extended to Harry as well, Harry politely declined, having already made plans to attend the gathering at the Burrow that year. He remembered Molly's enthusiastic response when Ron informed her that Harry, Hermione, and Draco would be joining in the festivities, and Harry thought that Molly was overjoyed.

"You sure your mum won't mind you not going home for the holiday?" Ron asked, wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders in their train compartment.

Hermione shook her head. "No. I am going there for the second week, and I'll be taking the Knight Bus."

"Not Apparating?" Draco wanted to know, for Ron and Hermione were both seventeen now, and had passed their Apparition tests already.

"No," Hermione replied. "I honestly don't mind the Knight Bus."

"Draco certainly didn't mind it over the Christmas holidays either," Ginny put in, flashing a smile onto her boyfriend, who pulled her so as she was cuddled closely beside him.

"Oi, now wait a moment!" Ron cried out.

"Honestly, Ronald," Hermione said, shaking her head at her boyfriend. "Let them be."

Ron huffed. "But he's running his hands all over my sister," he complained.

Ginny affixed Ron with a look. "I've never complained that you're running your hands all over Hermione, you know."

Ron sputtered. "That's different..."

"Ron, we aren't much older than Ginny and Draco are," Hermione informed him patiently. "I really don't think we need to go into depth about it."

Ginny nodded. "You're just upset that Mum said that Draco and I can share my room. I seem to recall that she said the same about you and Hermione."

Harry grinned; he was pleased to have Percy's room to himself this trip, as Bill and Fleur would be sharing Bill's childhood room, and Fred and George would be coming with Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson respectively. Alicia was playing with the Wimbourne Wasps as a Chaser while Angelina was currently halfway through her four-year apprenticeship with St. Mungo's in the Janus Thickey Ward. "At least Hermione and Ron can do necessary Extension Charms as well as Silencing Charms," he put in.

Ginny giggled at that. "She and I have already discussed it."

"Oi! You'd better not be doing...that... with my little sister—!" Ron struggled to get to his feet, glaring daggers at Draco, but somehow managed to hold him back.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, really, Harry..."

The quintet arrived at Kings Cross Station safely, and were greeted by an enthusiastic Molly Weasley, who embraced them all in turn. She guided them to a secluded area, and showed off a scarf with cigarette burns all over it, and informed them all that this was their Portkey back to the Burrow. With all of them gripping onto it, they popped away from the train station and appeared upon the grounds of the Weasley home, with Hermione and Ginny giggling together as the pair of them raced inside, eager to put their belongings away.

Ron and Draco agreed to play some one-on-one Quidditch in the back garden, and offered Harry a spot to join them, but Harry declined, instead bringing his luggage upstairs to Percy's old room and putting it away. Fred and George weren't due until the end of the work day, and they would be bringing Alicia and Angelina with them, naturally, while Bill and Fleur weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow. Arthur, meanwhile, would be at work until dinnertime, and Charlie's Portkey didn't leave from Romania until the day before Easter.

Harry meandered downstairs with some of his schoolbooks, asking Molly if it would be all right if he sat with her in the kitchen, while studying for his NEWTs. Molly, who thought it was wonderful that Harry and Hermione had been given permission to take them early, commended Harry's dedication to his studies, and told him that she would whip up some pumpkin juice and treacle tart for him. Harry thanked her profusely and got to work, going over the practice exams that he and Hermione had been given to go over.

The days at the Burrow were quiet during the Easter holidays, with Harry being permitted to send Hedwig out for nightly hunts, much to the snowy owls' happiness. She didn't even mind flying back to Wales a handful of times, and Harry heard from Sirius—Dad, he reminded himself quickly—that she was becoming quite a popular guest in the Jones household. Harry was asked by Gwen's mother and father to come for some time in the summer, with Dad and Gwen, of course, and Harry accepted the invitation.

"Harry, would you mind coming down and helping?" Molly asked, knocking on Harry's bedroom door on Easter Sunday.

Harry promptly got to his feet, signing his letter to Dad and sealing it up. "Coming, Molly!" he called back, and brought the letter downstairs, knowing Hedwig would be anxious to get it to Dad before the day was out.

Heading downstairs, Harry could smell the roast lamb with Molly's special rosemary and garlic stuffing, along with Dauphinoise potatoes, spring vegetables, and lemon and thyme baby carrots to top off the meal. For pudding, there would be a chocolate baked egg tart, with chocolate egg nuggets dipped in gold and placed within the tart batter. Pumpkin juice, Gillywater, or sparkling apple cider would flow for the younger crowd, while red elf-made wine, Firewhiskey, or traditional beer would be the beverage of choice for the older wixen present that day. Harry went directly into the kitchen, attaching the letter to Hedwig's leg and seeing her off before he washed his hands and turned to face Molly.

"Oh, there you are, dear," Molly said, clearly relieved at the prospect of an extra set of hands in the kitchen, and Harry smiled at her, noticing that Hermione and Ginny were already in the kitchen as well, Hermione chopping the potatoes and Ginny doing the same to the vegetables, and they both grinned over at him. "Would you mind laying the table, Harry?" she asked, and Harry looked back over at her. "The linens and things for the day are all folded up nicely on its surface; you just need to arrange them accordingly, and get the good plates and cutlery out of the proper cabinet."

Harry nodded at Molly. "Not a problem," he replied, walking into the dining room, which was now a permanent fixture at the Burrow, due to the fact that the Weasley children were gaining romantic partners, and especially because Bill and Fleur had gotten engaged over the Christmas holidays.

The main linen was a cream-color, decorated with various wildflowers, eggs, and lovely little rabbits, done up in a traditional painting style. Harry laid that out first, followed by the matching serviettes, and folded them appropriately, as he had seen Molly do for every formal dinner the past several years. Next, Harry walked over to the cabinet and brought out the Easter plates, as well as the cutlery, and placed them on the table, knowing exactly how many places to set, due to the amount of serviettes had been laid out. According to the serviettes, there would be twenty people for Easter dinner, something that made Harry raise his eyebrows, and he mentally began to count the people he knew would be there on his fingers.

Arthur and Molly; Bill and Fleur; Charlie; Fred and Alicia; George and Angelina; Ron and Hermione; Ginny and Draco; Remus and Dora; Neville, Luna, and Mr. Lovegood, and then himself. Shaking his head, he went over the numbers again in his mind, but couldn't come up with who he thought was going to be there that day for dinner. Resolving to put it out of his mind, he fetched the brass candlesticks, as well as the flowering pink candles, and placed them in the holders, before standing back to admire his handiwork. The platter with the roast lamb would go in the direct center of the table, and the rest of the dishes would be scattered around there as well, and Harry had ensured that there would be plenty of space for everything.

Harry was summoned back to the kitchen to make the lemon and thyme glaze for the carrots, and nearly forgot about the so-far unknown extra person. Once all the food was properly baking, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all shooed upstairs to dress for dinner, while Molly called in Ron, Draco, Fred, George, Alicia, Angelina, Bill, Fleur, and Arthur from outside. Bill, Fleur, and Arthur had been watching the rest of them play Quidditch, and now they were given strict instructions to ready themselves for dinner as well, with the Quidditch players having to go and take showers beforehand.

Harry was getting dressed in Percy's old room, and, a few moments later, heard knocks on his door as he was buttoning up his green shirt. "Come in!" he called, grinning automatically when Ron and Draco stepped inside, their hair still a bit damp.

"Think you can cast a Drying Charm on my hair, mate?" Draco wanted to know.

Ron nodded, fishing his wand out of the pocket of his trousers. "Sure, mate," he replied, and, with a flourish, Draco's hair was dry. Turning to regard Harry, Ron began buttoning up his own green shirt, although it was a different shade to Harry's. "All right?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "All right," he assured him, smirking as Draco wandered up to Percy's floor-length mirror, and made sure that his own blue shirt was tucked in appropriately. "Molly and Arthur already approve of you, and Ginny adores you," Harry informed his friend, and Ron rolled his eyes good-naturedly while Draco scoffed.

"I know. I just want to look good for today," Draco replied with a shrug.

Ron waved his wand again at Harry's door, while Harry and Draco hopped up and down briefly to put on their Oxfords upon their green and blue stockinged feet. "Silencing Charm," Ron told them both, as they gave Ron perplexed expressions. Ron reached into his pocket and drew out a black velvet box, and, upon opening it, Harry and Draco's eyes widened at the sight—a ruby ring in a gold setting, surrounded by diamonds. "It belonged to Lucretia Black, my mother's aunt," he explained, and Draco whistled.

"That explains it," he replied, nodding, no condemnation in his voice, but still, Harry and Ron looked over at him. "In those days, Pureblood women brought an inordinate amount of jewels into their marriage, and, given that Lucretia and Ignatius never had children, and Gideon and Fabian died without issue, it would make sense that Molly would have inherited her jewelry when she came of age."

Harry blinked, surprised at the history lesson. "I see," he replied, turning back to Ron, and found that he was grinning at the notion of what the ring meant. "So, you're going to ask Hermione to marry you, then?" he asked.

Ron nodded, and Harry and Draco clapped him on the shoulders. "Remember when I told you that I went over to Neville's?"

Harry smirked, and Draco nodded. "We remember," Harry confirmed.

"I actually caught the Knight Bus to her parents' house," Ron said eagerly. "I asked her mother and father if we could get married. They were, understandably, being Muggles and all, a little shocked because of the fact that we're both seventeen. But, when I told them that Hermione and I would be graduating Hogwarts a year early—"

"Wait a minute, mate!" Draco said, holding up his hands.

Harry nodded. "I second that. What are you on about?"

Ron laughed, a bit sheepish this time. "Headmistress McGonagall sent me the news just a few days ago," he replied. "My marks have been excellent, and she is fully confident that I'll pass my NEWTs in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. I already passed my Apparition Test as well, so I'm ready to go."

Harry and Draco both hugged Ron in turn, congratulating him.

"But what did the Drs. Granger say?" Draco wanted to know.

"Well, I told them about me wanting to join the Auror Corps, and Headmistress McGonagall got me a try-out with Moody as soon as I've passed my NEWTs," Ron said breathlessly. "I know that Hermione wants to get her qualifications in the Wizarding Division of the University of Oxford; she says she wants to become a barrister for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I assume it will be a long engagement, at least until I graduate from the Auror Corps and she gets her degree from Oxford."

Harry nodded. "Likely," he agreed, and Draco nodded as well.

"I have no reason to believe that she won't say yes," Ron went on, although Harry could detect that Ron still sounded a bit nervous, almost as if he didn't fully believe that Hermione would accept his marriage proposal. Nevertheless, there was the fire in his eyes that could only be attributed to Gryffindor courage, so he pressed on, "In any event, if it's all right with the two of you, I'd like to ask if you two would be my Best Men on the day that Hermione and I, hopefully, become man and wife."

"Did Hermione's parents say 'yes', though?" Draco pressed.

Ron laughed aloud then. "Yeah. They just seemed happy that the two of us had some sort of plan in place. Hermione knows about the letter from Headmistress McGonagall, and was...erm," he cleared his through, "quite proud of me—"

"Okay!" Harry said, interrupting him. "None of that."

Ron flushed, another chuckle escaping him. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "Anyhow, would you two be my Best Men?" he asked a second time.

"Hell yes we will!" Draco cried out, pumping his fist in the air, directly causing Harry and Ron to stare at him, eyebrows raised. Awkwardly, Draco lowered his arm, a flush coming into full bloom upon his high cheekbones. "Um... Your dad's fascination with Muggles happens to extend to Muggle expressions," he said softly, and Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"We'll be your Best Men, Ron," Harry assured him, hugging his best mate.

"Thanks, you guys... I'm just sorry Draco took away your chance with Ginny—no offense, Draco," Ron said, and Draco mock-punched Ron in the arm. "Neville's with Luna now, and she was never your type anyway, plus things didn't work out with Cho. Maybe, one day, when you find the right girl, Draco and I will be your Best Men."

Harry's mouth went dry, and his eyes flashed to Draco, who squeezed his shoulder and nodded at him in an encouraging manner. "Ron," Harry began awkwardly, "there isn't going to be a 'right girl' for me."

"Don't say that, Harry," Ron said quickly. "I'm sure there's a girl out there who'll look past your fame and fortune and just want Harry."

Harry shook his head then, cutting Ron off. "No, Ron," he said firmly. "What I mean is, there won't be a right girl for me."

Ron blinked, analyzing Harry's words carefully, before his eyes widened a bit. "Oh!" he said, and smacked himself upon the forehead. "Merlin, I've been a prat," he said, and gave Harry a tentative smile. "Man, Harry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't tell me that you were gay. If I said anything like I was against it or something, I'm not. You know how I don't care that Dean and Seamus are together..."

Harry sighed; he did know that, and remembered just how supportive Ron was about that fact, even going so far as to offer to send Seamus's mum a Howler for not supporting him right away, but he needn't have bothered, with Molly coming in, both wands blazing, and beating her youngest son to the proverbial punch. "I know you've been supportive of them, Ron," Harry assured one of his best friends quickly. "It's not that I didn't want you to know; it's just that the people who do know now have sort of guessed, and I didn't want to call them a liar and deny to them a part of who I really am."

Ron nodded his head, and turned to look at Draco. "I take it that you knew about this, then?" he asked, in a non-accusatory manner.

Draco nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Ginny and I figured it out quite some time ago, but we only told Harry that we knew on the night of Sirius and Gwen's wedding."

Ron turned back to Harry. "Who else knows, then?"

"Just Gwen," Harry answered. "She found out on Halloween when she and Sirius and I had dinner at a wizarding pub in Godric's Hollow. Something happened that set me off and I was just a wreck..."

"That's why you came back so early," Ron said, immediately worried. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Rita Skeeter wasn't there was she?" he spat.

"No, it wasn't anything like that," Harry said quickly, and Draco turned a faint shade of green at the mention of the unregistered beetle Animagus. "It... Someone unexpected showed up at the pub, said something that upset me, not deliberately, mind you, but it did... I just left the table, got sick in the loo, and went back to Hogwarts."

"Who showed up, mate?" Ron wanted to know, clearly worried.

Harry lowered his eyes, peeking up at Draco, who gave him a small smile and nodded before turning to the youngest Weasley son.

"It was Uncle Severus," Draco responded, and Ron's eyes widened.

"You're into our deputy headmaster, Harry?" Ron demanded; he was shocked, that much was evident, but Harry was relieved that Ron didn't seem disgusted or angry.

"Yes," Harry replied quietly.

"Well, what did he say that was so upsetting, mate?" Ron demanded again.

Harry sighed. "Well, he denied it at Christmas, but I still don't know what to believe..." Harry bit down hard on his lower lip, knowing that these words needed to be spoken. "Sirius implied that he was in love with my mother, and although he denied it..."

"You aren't sure," Draco said softly, rubbing Harry's back.

Harry nodded his head at that, pleased that neither Ron or Draco were biting his head off for his insecurities. "No, I'm not sure," he admitted. "I don't want to brand Severus a liar, of course, but there's a fine line between not being in love with someone's mother and actually being interested in her son..."

"You don't want to be seen as her replacement?" Ron guessed.

Harry shook his head. "No. No, I don't..."

"Boys!" Molly Weasley called from downstairs. "Everyone is here, and dinner is nearly ready! It is time to come downstairs now!"

Ron hastily cancelled the Silencing Charm. "Coming, Mum!" he cried, and, once they had all given themselves a once-over in the mirror, they scurried outside.

"Hey, Ron?" Harry whispered, and Ron looked over his shoulder at Harry. "Did your mum and dad happen to mention the extra person who was coming here tonight?"

"You mean Uncle Severus?" Draco whispered back.

Harry stumbled, nearly falling down to the bottom of the staircase, were it not for a pair of strong arms that caught him, and Harry's breath caught at the familiar scents of sandalwood, musk, and the richest black coffee one could ever consider. Slowly, Harry looked up, and he was positively trembling in Severus Snape's grip, not even aware of everyone else standing around them, for they had all successfully metabolized into some sort of blur. "Sir," he said softly, knowing he had to say something.

"Potter," Severus replied.

Harry blinked, his heart racing as he felt the heat from the man's palms. "I... Thank you," he managed to say, his voice stilted; Merlin, if only he were alone with the man—!

Severus inclined his head, slowly lowering Harry to safety upon the ground. "You're welcome, Potter; it seems my lot in life is to be your savior," he murmured, before turning and gliding away, his robes flying momentarily upwards, his delectable arse seared into Harry's brain due to the cut of the older man's trousers, which caused Harry to immediately flush.