FIC: The Ceremony (PG)
Title: The Ceremony
Type: Fic
Age-Range Category: Five
Character(s)/Pairing(s):
Author: goddess47
Rating: PG
Summary: Some traditions can be wretched.
Severus woke, immediately out of sorts. He lay in the oversized bed and breathed deeply for a few minutes, meditating and centering himself. He reached to the other - cold - side of the over-sized bed and realized that was the problem.
He sighed. It seemed like an improbable thing, that he had gotten so used to sleeping with another person that he would be upset when they were not there. Yet it seemed that was what had happened.
Sod traditions, he thought to himself.
Severus threw off the deep blue duvet and sat on the edge of the bed. The centering had taken the edge off the unease that had woken him but he needed something more.
"Wynde!" Severus called.
"Master Sev! Good morning!" The House-Elf was her usual, cheerful self. She clicked her fingers to open the heavy drapes on the bedroom windows to let in the morning sunshine. "Would youse like breakfast?"
Severus nodded. "Yes, please. Coffee, porridge, and fruit."
"Ready when you come to the kitchen," she replied.
"I think I will take a bath first," Severus decided.
"No problem!" Wynde replied. "Breakfast be ready when you are." She popped away.
Severus grabbed the bathrobe - that had been a gift last Christmas - and wandered into the expansive bathroom. They had used Wizarding space to turn what had been a standard en-suite into a bathroom to rival the baths at Hogwarts. The tub was large enough to swim in, and the showers had seats and multiple shower heads. Expensive rune work from Gringotts allowed the tub to fill and empty quickly and there was endless hot water.
Severus hung his bathrobe on a hook next to the shower, dropped his nightshirt in the waiting basket and took a relatively simple shower, using only one of the shower heads. The hot water and steam helped clear the muzziness from his head and he felt better for the wash. He let the water rinse the shampoo and then the conditioner from his hair. Stepping out of the shower, he put on the bathrobe, which was imbued with drying and warmth charms.
Back in the bedroom, Severus used a charmed brush on his shoulder-length hair. The brush helped counter the damage that potion fumes did to his hair. Hermione Granger, very surprisingly, had developed the brush for him.
-
"I needed something for my own hair." She waved at the curly hair around her face. She had tamed the curls to look artful and chic rather than chaotic as it had been when she had been a student. "Simple charms did not work at all for me and drying charms actually made it worse. Once I had something that worked for me, I, well, I thought of you."
She handed him a box, which held the brush. It had been his birthday and there had been a moment where he was not sure if he should be insulted or pleased that she had thought of this for him. Her anxious look made him settle on pleased.
"This is unexpectedly thoughtful of you," Severus said gravely. "Thank you."
She dimpled and gave an obvious sigh of relief. "You are welcome."
-
Severus knew he would have to dress at some point but he was putting that off. So he wore his bathrobe to the kitchen.
Wynde placed breakfast in front of him as he sat down. "Lets me know if youse wants more," she said.
"This will likely be sufficient," Severus replied. "Thank you."
"Youse welcome." She popped away. The London Times and the Daily Prophet appeared on the table.
Severus spread the Prophet on the table to read as he ate. The new ownership had been good for the paper, since it now reported actual news and properly verified information. Stories that had not been verified were clearly identified as such.
They had found the Times useful for ideas for investments, as well as for charitable donations. Wizarding potions did not work on Muggles the same way but they had founded a lab to work on that issue. The majority of the products were simple variations of Wizarding potions - it turned out that Pepper Up had needed only a few changes to allow it to work on Muggles.
Wynde came back into the room. "Youse had dawdled long enough, Master Severus. It is time!"
Severus grinned at the excited Elf.
"It is, indeed," he agreed. "Thank you for the reminder."
Severus went back to the bedroom and brought out the dress robes that had been hanging there. They were, of course, black but there was deep red and blue embroidery about the edges. The design was a combination of runes and appropriate flowers that made an almost abstract design until one looked closely. But the meaning was really for Severus.
"It is time!" Wynde announced. She had changed from the everyday tea-towel she had been wearing earlier to an elf-sized robe that proudly held the crests of the Houses they represented.
"You look very nice," Severus complimented her.
"Kreacher helped design," she admitted. "But it nice."
"I shall meet you there," Severus said.
Wynde grinned and nodded.
Severus apparated to the venue
"Oh, good, you're here!" Hermione immediately came up to greet him.
"I am perfectly on time," Severus replied.
She smiled. "Yes, you are! But, well... there's been some fretting. But Ron has it under control."
"Good to know," Severus agreed. "But that would not have happened if we had not given in to that silly tradition."
"I thought it was sweet," Hermione said as she took his elbow. "This way."
Severus allowed her to guide him through the venue to await the start of the ceremony, which should be shortly.
"Is everyone here?" Severus asked.
"You're almost the last to arrive," Hermione said. "Just a few last details and we'll start in about five minutes." She went to the door of the room. "I'll be right back."
"Good," Severus said. He stood as he waited, not trusting the tailoring charms to keep the robes unwrinkled.
It was closer to ten minutes before Hermione came back. "Ready?"
Severus nodded. "Ready." More than ready.
Hermione stepped back to allow Severus to walk to the front of the small glade. Minerva McGonagall stood in front of an arch of fresh flowers - flowers that had been chosen for their meanings as well as for their beauty. There were red roses for love, white roses for a new beginning, chrysanthemums for loyalty, and gladiolus for strength. Somehow, the venue coordinator had made the disparate flowers look elegant rather than chaotic.
Severus caught sight of Harry coming in from the other side of the glade. A thread of tension that Severus had not realized he even carried disappeared at the sight of the other man. They met in front of Minerva and they grasped each other's hands.
"We are well met this day," Minerva said to the small crowd. "We are here to witness the hand-fasting of our friends, Harry and Severus." She focused on them and brought out an embroidered ribbon, which held runes that complemented the runes on Severus' and Harry's robes.
She wound the ribbon around their joined left hands - even at a hand-fasting, one left their wand hand free. "You have selected hand-fasting to show your commitment and love to each other. This ribbon represents the life-long bond you have selected, something plain that has been made more beautiful, something binding but allows for growth, something strong that has been made stronger." She brought the ends together to tie the knot. She nodded at Severus.
Severus cleared his throat. "You are unexpected in my life. I know we did not start out well but we have both grown in understanding and appreciation, which has turned to love. I willingly bind myself to you, for the rest of our lives."
Harry gave a slightly watery smile. "I never expected to have your regard, much less your love. I am grateful to those that helped us get to this time and place, so that we may have the happiness we both deserve. I willingly bind myself to you, for the rest of our lives."
With that, a flash of brilliant white light flowed over Harry and Severus. The runes on their robes and on the ribbon glowed brightly for a long moment before fading back to their original colors.
"I understand you have rings?" Minerva prompted them.
Harry's free hand brought out a box and handed it to Minerva to hold. He plucked a ring from the box and held it out to Severus.
"I welcome Consort Black into the Family and the Family Magic," Harry said. "This ring symbolizes your place in the family, as well as in my heart." He slipped the ring on Severus' finger.
Severus took the other ring from the box and held it out for Harry. "I accept this place in your Family and give you this ring to show your place in my heart."
-
The 'Consort Black' title had been the one thing that Severus dug in his heels about and had fought against. He did not want to be part of the Black family, much less incorporated into the Black Family Magic.
"Severus," Harry sighed. "I know you and Sirius were not friends. And that Bellatrix had worked side-by-side with Voldemort to murder you. But, in order to really fix things in Britain, I need the social and financial power that the Black title gives me." He took Severus' hand. "And I also have this need to do what I can to protect you. Yes, I know you can protect yourself. That said, the Consort ring has magic embedded in it to give you magical and physical protections that will protect you when I cannot."
Severus had taken the time to think that through. Not sure where to turn, he talked to Minerva about his concerns. She had listened and let him talk through his worries.
"Do you love Harry?" Minerva asked.
Severus nodded.
"Would you do whatever you could to protect him?"
"I would," Severus nodded again.
"Then why would you not let him protect you?" she asked.
Severus sat back and realized he had been thinking too hard about all this. Rearranging his thoughts to 'protecting each other' allowed him to better accept what Harry was offering.
-
Minerva smiled at them and placed her hand on their bound hands.
"Harry, Severus. Based on your promises to each other and the bond that unites your souls, I now pronounce you married." She winked at them. "Please seal that with a kiss!"
A cheer came up from the crowd as Harry and Severus kissed.
"I am pleased to be the first to introduce to you, Lord and Consort Black," Minerva said. "Please join us in the celebration of the rest of their lives together."
Table and food appeared scattered about the glade. Wynde and Kreacher had managed the menu, knowing what Harry and Severus both liked.
The food was perfect, the wine exquisite, the music lovely. Severus tucked the memory into his mind, to re-live when he could.
That night in bed, Severus held Harry close. "That silly tradition of not seeing one's spouse the night before the ceremony is wretched."
Harry leaned in for a soft kiss. "I missed you, too."