Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you enjoy! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Updates every Saturday!
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Between their secret ceremony by the waterfall, the feel of each other's touch, and the cozy warmth of their room at the romantic inn, that night felt like a dream to Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
Draco had arranged a wake up call for them to occur an hour before the sun rose the next morning.
Considering that he and Harriet had barely gotten to sleep by then, neither of them were particularly pleased when the inn's attendant rapped firmly on their door.
Scorpius woke at the sound as well and began to whimper until Harriet stood up, walked over, and plucked her darling baby from his wooden cradle.
When Harriet brought Scorpius back to bed and crawled under the warm covers to feel Draco beside her, she offered her breasts to her baby while her new husband let one hand cup her face as he leaned in for a kiss.
Harriet was so busy drowning in her husband's affection that she barely felt Scorpius latch on.
Draco pulled away after they finished their brief but intense kiss.
His grey eyes glowed as he looked at Harriet with a smirk and greeted his bride, "Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy~."
"Good morning, husband." Harriet replied with a proud grin.
That was the first time that Draco resented his son's presence.
If Scorpius hadn't been in the way, having his breakfast, then Draco would have gladly taken Harriet into his arms one last time before they had to apparate back to Malfoy manor.
It pained Draco very much that his tiny son was such a dreadfully slow eater.
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Sleep deprived but immensely happy, Draco and Harriet checked out of the inn with baby Scorpius and shortly after dawn, they returned to Draco's bedroom in Malfoy manor.
Scorpius, with his belly full and his body warmed by the blankets that Harriet had wrapped him in, had fallen back into the careless, deep sleep in which only infants could partake.
Both of his parents were a bit envious of his blissful rest as Harriet laid him back down in his bassinet.
She and Draco had changed out of their wedding clothes before they could be seen, but both the bride and the groom were so very tired they nearly felt ill.
"Do you think we have a moment before our day starts?" Harriet asked Draco as she looked over at him.
Draco glanced at Harriet wearily and nodded, "It'll be another hour or two before Mother and Father are awake, let's lay back down."
They were careful to keep their voices hushed and their steps quiet so they wouldn't wake their little boy, but Harriet and Draco walked over to the canopy bed that held their nest and together, they snuggled under the multitude of blankets.
Draco rolled onto his back and opened his arms to let Harriet cuddle against him as easily as if it was a natural, automatic motion.
He wrapped his strong arms around her and as she laid her head on his firm chest, he covered them both with the soft layers of her nest to guard against the early morning chill.
Harriet breathed a silent sigh of contentment as she felt the outer echoes of sleep's peaceful void ebbing at the edges of her closed eyes......
Draco was there with her, on the verge of a tranquil slumber after a night of wonderfully exhaustive love-making.......
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Harriet and Draco both scrambled to sit up in bed as their soothing promise was ripped away.
From his bassinet, Scorpius whined in displeasure at the unwelcome noise though his grey eyes remained closed.
"Come in!" Draco called irritably.
He was so annoyed that he forgot to keep his voice low for the baby.
Draco looked over at Harriet with a scowl.
It amused him to see the same expression of consternation on his wife's face.
What could anyone possibly want at that hour?
Draco's door creaked open and Narcissa peered into the room.
The couple watched the pleased look in her eyes when she saw them both sitting up in bed, wide-eyed, and very awake.
"Oh good, you two are already up." Narcissa whispered.
Draco wondered why his mother was so mindful of her grandson with her tone after she had pounded on their door like an interrogation officer from the Ministry.
"What's going on?!" Draco demanded, "What's wrong, Mother?!"
"Nothing's wrong, Draco darling....." Narcissa replied, "But you two need to get dressed! All the bakers have come early. We're waiting for you downstairs."
Draco blinked.
Harriet wanted to scream into her pillow in frustration.
Could they not have waited another hour or two?
.......Or three?
What kind of bakers came to a family's house at dawn to peddle their products?
"They weren't supposed to be here until this afternoon!" Draco retorted angrily.
"I know, love. I'm sorry." Narcissa replied with a pout, "Your father and I had to ask them to make their rounds with us a bit sooner. The linen traders are coming this afternoon instead, so we'll be spending that time selecting the tablecloths and the napkins and the draperies......"
"We already have draperies, Mother." Draco cut in with a scowl.
Narcissa sighed as if her son had said something ridiculous and she scowled back, "Draco, this is a wedding. Did you honestly think that we could just use the draperies that are already on the rods?!"
Draco and Harriet both looked at Narcissa silently as she shook her head and replied, "Thank goodness that you have your father and I to help you, this entire event would be a total disaster otherwise. Now hurry up! You've got a lovely breakfast of cake being cut as we speak."
Narcissa closed the door as she left and Harriet and Draco stared at each other in dismay for a moment before Harriet laughed and pecked Draco's lips.
Harriet saw the small sparkle of excitement in her alpha's tired eyes before she reluctantly stood from the bed and walked towards the cavernous closet in Draco's bedroom.
"I'm sorry, darling." Draco called as Harriet set about selecting her outfit for the day.
"Why?" Harriet asked a moment later when she walked back out into the bedroom. She held her chosen clothes for the day in her hands as she breathed, "It's fitting......we didn't have any cake last night."
Draco didn't seem to be in much of a rush as he laid in bed and watched Harriet strip down to change her clothes.
Harriet tried to pretend like she didn't see her groom's very obvious indication of how enchanted he was by her visage.
Instead, she cleared her throat and put on her outfit for the day, brushed her hair, and prepared herself for the slew of meetings and testings that would come too soon.
Harriet wouldn't make eye contact with Draco, fearing what would happen between them if she gazed into his frosty, gray gaze that she knew was surely heated with lust.
It was bad enough that Narcissa had come barging in while they were lying in one another's arms.
Harriet didn't want her future mother-in-law to walk in on her as she mated with her son.
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The wedding planning became much less tedious for the couple after their secret marriage.
Neither Harriet nor Draco fretted anymore over small details or their own projections of how the occasion should be conducted.
They had already had their day, their moment, their special, meaningful ceremony.
As it is in most situations, the wedding was planned to be for the guests, not for the couple.
The next two weeks passed by in a flurry of continued vendor appointments, scheduled consults with decorators and blocks of time where entire hired teams of people used their wands and their expertise to turn damask Malfoy manor into the elegant, host location of the year's most heralded social event in Britain's wizarding world.
The night before the Malfoy wedding, Draco and Harriet spent the evening apart with their separate entourages.
Draco had Lucius, Narcissa, and several of his old Slytherin housemates to keep him company.
Harriet was much more relaxed, and she spent that evening with only Ron and Hermione.
The trio sat and chatted for hours by the fireplace in the wing of Malfoy where they had been temporarily housed.
Ron had the honor of meeting baby Scorpius at last.
Hermione and Harriet looked on fondly as he cuddled the little infant.
"So you're what all the fuss has been about, eh?" Ron asked in a teasing tone as he looked down at the baby and gently touched one of his tiny hands.
In Ron's arms, Scorpius giggled.
Hermione and Harriet exchanged happy smiles with one another.
Harriet was glad that her other best friend was finally being introduced to her son, but Hermione was busy admiring how handsome Ron looked holding a baby~.
"Are you nervous?" Hermione asked Harriet as she sat beside her while they watched Ron and Scorpius.
"No." Harriet said confidently, "I don't have any reason to be."
"That's right, Harriet!" Hermione said enthusiastically, "Don't forget that! I've always wished that I had your confidence!"
Harriet grinned over at Hermione.
If she and Draco hadn't promised each other that they would reveal their secret to no one, she would have told her in an instant.
Harriet wasn't speaking out of bravado or arrogance, she was telling the truth.
Why should she be nervous about the next day?
She was already Mrs. Malfoy.
The long-anticipated Malfoy wedding was little more than a large, formal party to Harriet and Draco.