Most of their family had been far from shocked when Haylan and Blaise announced that they intended to be married before the end of the year. They were more surprised that Haylan and Blaise had managed to plan the majority of both ceremonies they wanted to hold.
Sirius on the other hand was firmly in denial.
Which was why Haylan found himself sitting outside in the private garden of the castle watching Padfoot run around the open grounds to work out his energy before trying to speak to Haylan. The sessions with the mind healers were doing wonders for Sirius and keeping his foot out of his mouth most of the time. Sirius wasn't quite to the point where he could process extreme emotions as a human, but he was getting better.
It only took fifteen minutes before Padfoot approached Haylan, whimpering and laying his head on Haylan's lap.
"Oh, Padfoot... you knew that this relationship was serious and that we would end up married eventually, that is the point of us getting betrothed and tolerating your cockblocking ways. I don't see how holding off till the new year would make much of a difference in the long run. I know we are moving quite fast. It worried me a lot for a while there that we were moving too fast. I've never loved anyone like I love Blaise and I have never experienced the type of love that Blaise gives me so freely. But we are drawn to each other in ways we cannot explain and it is starting to hurt physically to be away from each other so often." Harry spoke softly as he petted Padfoot's head. "I also want you to remember that even when I get married, you'll still be family. Just because I will acquire a husband, does not mean that I value you any less or that I will ditch you. I will however be banning you from my presence for a week after the last wedding so I can have private time with my husband."
Padfoot sneezed probably in protest before shifting back into a human. Sirius stayed sitting by Haylan's feet, making no move to stand as the pensive look took over his face.
"I missed so much of your life pup, and now you are getting married and ruling an empire. I just... don't know where I fit in your life?" Sirius spoke softly, years of pain, heartache, and abandonment aching in his tone.
Haylan smiled softly, running his fingers through Sirius' hair the same way he had Padfoot's. "You are my godfather, you are my Uncle Siri, you are my advisor who reminds me when I need to eat and take time off from working so much, you are the first family I found after entering the wizarding world, and you are a Black. You are part of my life and my family many times over Sirius. I am still going to need you and want you in my life. With my parents gone, when I eventually have children, I want you to be their grandfather. You will always have a place here."
Silent tears slid down Sirius' cheeks and Haylan just quietly kept petting his hair, giving him time to process his emotions and calm down.
"I love you pup," Sirius says finally in a rough voice.
"I love you too Siri."
"As long as the Wedding is soon and it's not on Samhain, I don't care about what day we actually hold either ceremony," Haylan said tiredly, leaning back in his wingedback chair. The whole family was piled into one of the private lounges to discuss the wedding plans. Vivianna, Narcissa, Andromeda, and Sirius were throwing out questions and tearing through the plans that Blaise and Haylan had presented to them. Draco, Ted, Dora, and Bella sat off to the side watching the back and forth between Haylan and Blaise versus their parental figures.
"The ceremony with our real vows will cement easier if we do it on the full moon." Blaise chimed in.
"Full moon this month is on the 15th, and next month on the 14th," Sirius added having memorized the full moon patterns due to running with Moony for so many years.
"November 14th would give us a better timeframe to plan this properly." Vivianna tried to suggest but saw the looks on Haylan and Blaise's faces.
"You are trying to torture me aren't you, My Emperor?" Narcissa sighed in defeat.
"I would never want such a thing Narcissa. But there is a reason Blaise and I provided the framework for the weddings before approaching you. I know a fortnight isn't very long to put to finishing touches on the weddings, but the sooner the better." Haylan tried to sympathize with the plight he was putting them through.
"Plus the 15th is a Wednesday," Blaise said cheerfully.
"Why does that matter?" Draco asked confused.
"Our first real date was June 18th, a Wednesday, and we tend to have our weekly dates since being betrothed every Wednesday," Haylan said with a soft smile.
"Plus that means we can have our real ceremony with our family on Wednesday night and the wedding for the masses on Saturday giving some time for our new bond to settle and cement itself." Blaise happily informed them.
Narcissa and Vivianna looked defeated but Andromeda just looked amused.
"You two should have expected this," Andromeda informed them, making Sirius laugh.
"Those who aren't helping plan the ceremonies will be assisting me by taking over some of my smaller duties so I can help Narcissa and Vivianna with the planning," Haylan said looking over at the group standing along the wall.
"Uh... like what?" Draco asked nervously.
"Correspondence and paperwork mostly. Those take up a large chunk of my day and can be temporarily delegated to others, anything that is extremely important can be passed along to me to deal with but I do want to take this time to focus on Blaise and me." Haylan reached out and held Blaise's hand as he spoke, feeling giddy inside that their plans were finally coming together. They were going to be married in two weeks' time and they never had to leave each other's side again afterward. The next fourteen days would be hard as they hashed out all the minor details of two different weddings, posting invitations to their big ceremony on October 18th, planning out security details, improving the wards, and so much more than Blaise or Haylan expected to need.
Their biggest hang-up was the colors for their private ceremony. When Blaise and Haylan agreed to use just their house colors they had forgotten just how many houses Haylan represented as either Lord or Heir of the line. Blaise's was easy to plan as he only had the green and gold of the House of Zabini. Haylan had a mess of colors even if he only included the houses he was Lord over and not the heir of. Caliban was black and violet, Black was silver and black, Potter was bronze and red, Peverell was bronze and black, and finally, Slytherin was of course green and grey.
It was actually Sirius that came up with the right solution that they could all agree to.
Blaise would wear dark green robes with runes etched in real gold to represent his house. Haylan would wear black robes with bronze and silver runes to represent Black, Caliban, Peverell, Slytherin, and Potter, the red of Potter was already represented with Haylan's hair, and his green eyes would be enough for Slytherin, and the rest of the accessories and jewelry that Haylan wore would be in violet for Caliban.
To make it easy for their family that would be attending the private ceremony they would just wear their formal robes in their own house colors as well. Narcissa wasn't entirely pleased with how uncoordinated their private wedding would be, but she got to take revenge with the monochromatic theme of the public wedding.
Everything had been planned, from the food to the music.
It was time.
They gathered around the runic circle that Haylan had carved into the fresh earth earlier that day as the sun had started to set, letting the runes activate under the dying light from that day.
The garden surrounding them was beautiful and was currently being illuminated by candles and the light of the full moon. The runes on the ground glowed a soft greenish-blue color just added to the atmosphere. The family had a vague idea how this ceremony would go but it was very different from the more traditional pureblood ceremony being held in three days time. Haylan had argued that technically their private ceremony was more traditional because not only would Lady Magic and Lord Death be overseeing the ceremony but the vows themselves were from the time before Merlin.
The runic circle was large enough that the entire family comfortably stood around the circle but not so close that they were pressed together. The air around them felt thick with magic that was only getting stronger as they each fed their own magic into the runic circle.
After the last of them had added their magic Blaise and Haylan joined them, stepping through the circle of bodies and then the runes to stand in the center. Once in their proper places, the runes flashed and changed into a golden color, highlighting the runes etched into Blaise and Haylan's robes.
Everyone knew not to speak, just watching with trepidation as Blaise added his magic to the runes and then finally Haylan poured his magic into the runes. When the runes flashed to white Blaise and Haylan were no longer alone in the circle. Standing on the Northern side was Lord Death, tall and looming with his shadows that dimmed the glow of the surrounding runes. On the Southern side was Lady Magic, so bright it was like trying to look at the sun.
"Our Chosen." The two gods spoke together.
"You have found your other half, your soulmate and partner in all things." Lady Magic had continued with her lilting musical tone.
"Your souls have been bound together before and will be bound together again in many lives to come." Lord Death picked up in his gravelly voice.
"Join hands so we may reunite your souls in this life." Speaking together again, everyone shivered with the power of their combined voices.
Blaise and Haylan seemed unaffected, too caught up in the other. They linked their hands, staring into each other's eyes as their magic was nearly visible swirling around each other, trying to combine together but failing to meld like oil and water.
"Blaise Zabini, begin your vows." Lady Magic ordered.
"Haylan, we haven't been together in this world for long but my soul has known you longer than time itself can measure. Love is a word that is much too soft and is used far too often to ever describe the infinite and burning passion I have for you, but I have no better words to use. I could stand here and tell you all the little reasons that make me love you every day, but those words mean nothing without repeated acts of devotion that I vow to show you for the rest of our lives. You are powerful and strong enough to not need my protection but I offer it to you anyway. I vow to give you a safe place to fall apart when you need to, and I vow to build you up stronger afterward. I vow that I will support you with honesty, fidelity, and friendship. For before you are my lover, you are my dearest friend. No power on Earth could tear me from your side. I am yours in this life and all the ones to come." Blaise's voice was steady and his eyes unwavering from Haylan's. Haylan was on the verge of crying and several of their family had quiet tears falling from their eyes.
"Haylan Caliban, begin your vows." Lord Death said with a fond tone.
"Gods above Blaise, I told you not to make me cry." Haylan choked out before taking a breath to calm himself to say his vows that he had agonized over writing. "Blaise, I knew the moment I ran into you and our magic connected that I would be nothing without you in my life. Everything in me recognizes your heart as my home and your magic as my safety. You have never held me upon an undeserving pedestal as you have also never made me feel inadequate. Falling for you wasn't falling at all, it was walking into a house and knowing I was truly home for the first time in my life. I choose you and I vow I will always choose you over everything and everyone. My throne, my empire, and my power could crumble and disappear tomorrow and I would be happy as long as I still had you. I vow to give you the best and worst of myself. I vow to find you again and again in this life, the next, and even in the Summerland. I have been blessed to call you my friend, my betrothed, and soon to be my lover and husband. I cannot live without you for you are everything that is good in me. I vow to cherish all that you are because the world is darker without it. What can I say that I haven't already said to you? What can I provide that I haven't already given or promised to you? I'm yours forever."
The Gods smiled at their chosen.
Magic leaned over Blaise as Death leaned over Haylan, they each made a small cut down the center of their lips, blood just barely coming to the surface, before standing back.
"We stand next to you as you complete your bond, blessed by us so no other may tear you apart. Your hearts and souls are pure in their intentions and your love is endless. Let your magic become one and kiss your bonded for you are no longer separate beings but one. So Mote It Be." The Gods spoke for the last time and as Blaise and Haylan kissed letting both their blood and magic combine, the Gods disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
The runes on the ground lit up green and purple like Blaise and Haylan's magic before finally fading back to the black ash they had started out as.
The circle was no longer active, their family cheered, laughed, and cried for them, but Blaise and Haylan had their foreheads pressed together, eyes closed, lips bloody, and hands tightly clasped together as they just basked in the feeling of becoming one. Their magic flowed easily back and forth between them, their souls and hearts warm from the feeling of being connected to their other half.
Nothing could separate them now.
Not in this life or the next.
Neither mortal nor God.
But some would try.