What Duty?

Disclaimer: I'm just playing with J.K.R.'s characters for a little while. I'll Scourgify them and Floo them home later.

I want to say thanks to my brilliant beta, Charmed_Nay. She's always busy with work, yet she finds time to read through my chapters. Cheers, dear.

Severus smirked at Draco's pacing. The boy had had lunch and had been on edge since. He'd yet to let him know that he and Hermione had happened upon his little outing with Potter, as he wanted to see if the boy would mention it first.

"I wonder where he... er... they are. Surely checking on the ruddy werewolf shouldn't take this long!" Draco said impatiently, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your little girlfriend will be along soon," Severus said nastily, enjoying the narrowing of the boy's eyes and his indignant expression.

"Potter is not my girlfriend!" Draco said firmly, though his pale cheeks colored. "Besides, isn't Granger your little girlfriend?"

"She's not my..." His words trailed away. What was she? He hated to simply think of her as a friendly shag, but she most certainly was not his girlfriend. She belonged to Potter in that sense and would never be his so long as Potter wanted her. His gaze darkened. Why did everything have to go that damn brat's way? Why should he get everything all the time?

"Harry and I certainly never saw you again after you fixed her shoe. Fix something else, did you?" Draco's boorish grin widened when Severus slammed down his tumbler.

"You could say that," Severus said, deciding to toy with him. "Had you done what you claimed...keeping Potter in his cups so that I could seduce her...she would have been in my bed last night." He feigned anger. "As it was, I had to console her and watch her cry for hours on end."

Draco paled. "W-why?"

"After I fixed her shoe, you could never guess what we happened upon?" Severus sneered and nodded when the boy's eyes widened. "That's right. You and Potter going at it in the open like a couple of animals. Why, it was all I could do to keep her from hexing you."

"Shite. She's probably told him to never... I knew this would happen," Draco said, jumping up to run his hands through his hair. "That's why they've not come back. He's probably waiting and hoping I'll clear out." He strode towards the door. "I'll just owl him later like I told him."

Severus could see the disappointment on his face, but he wanted to see him suffer, as he'd been conned out of his last phial of Veritaserum by the little twit. "Come back here, boy," he demanded. "Are you afraid of a woman? Come here and hold your ground. Potter is an adult, and so are you."

"You just want us to all have a row so that you can be there to comfort her," Draco accused. "That's right. Think I can't figure you out, eh?"

"Perhaps if you'll make an exchange with me, I can help things along," Severus said thoughtfully. "But you've nothing that I want."

"What do you mean help things along?" Curiosity got the better of the boy, and he sat across from Severus.

"Oh, you know," he began, "I could talk to her and give her advice about how Potter and she should part for a while and mull things over. That sort of thing."

"Well, do it."

"Certainly not," he retorted. "You've nothing I want."

Draco frowned. "Hang on! I still have most of the bottle of liquor you gave me, and I've only used a few drops from the phial of Veritaserum." He blushed again. "I wanted to see... I needed to know if he felt..." He sighed and shook his head. "I can give you what's left if you'll put in a word."

"Very well," Severus said. "Go along and retrieve them. Place them on my desk." He stood. "I think I'll have a walk out to the lake."

"I'll leave them for you, and then I plan on leaving. Talk to her, and I'll owl Potter later."

Severus watched him go and felt like patting himself on the back. Nobody cheated him and got away with it. The brat would be fretting about his situation all day long, and he'd given up that which he'd taken in the first place.

As he walked, he thought of what Draco had said. The boy had been worried that Hermione would force Potter to never see him again. Severus knew that wouldn't be the case. She'd seemed relieved if anything. So where did that leave him? Would she carry on with him now that she no longer had to stay at the castle? Would she and Potter see things differently in the light of day and decide to continue their farce of a relationship? How would he feel if she never wanted to be with him again?

They'd only been together a handful of times, and yet he felt as if he'd been with her longer than that. He never felt the need to put on an air with her...not when in private. She didn't seem to mind his snide remarks. He snorted. "What snide remarks?" he asked aloud. He'd been anything but snide while alone with her. The fact was that he enjoyed her company, especially the sex, and he would miss her when she ended things.

Nearly thirty minutes later found Severus a great distance from Hogwarts, sitting atop a small hill overlooking the lake and castle. When a twig cracked from behind him, he turned to see Hermione striding towards him. He scooted over on the large rock he was sitting on to give her room.

"Well?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Lupin is fine. They've discharged him, and we brought him to Grimmauld Place. He's going to stay there with Harry for a while," she said quietly. "And how was your day?"

"Long," he answered honestly. Unable to help himself, he asked, "And Potter?" She giggled, making his heart lighten with relief.

"He's off with Draco right now." She slid her hand over Severus' and curled her fingers under to hold his. "It seemed that Draco was frightened that I'd forced Harry to stay away from him."

"Is that... not the case?" he asked, turning his face to look at her intently, wanting to read the answer in her bright, brown eyes.

"Harry and I, we've decided that we are better off as friends." Her eyes became teary, but she blinked the tears back. "Life moves on."

Severus lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers softly. "I was thinking," he said, changing the subject. "If we are no longer expected to remain at the castle for ours and its protection now that the last of the Dark Lord's followers have been rounded up, we should leave here."

"Together you mean?"

He swallowed thickly. "I ran into Charlie Weasley after you left this morning...he came to speak with Hagrid...and we had a talk about some of the dragons he's watching over. Right now, he has a Common Welsh Green that is ill. One of her eggs is quite smaller than the others and will take a bit longer to hatch. It could be anytime in the next two weeks so long as it's kept heated properly. The others should be hatching today."

"And?" she prodded.

"And I told him that I might be interested, as I'd like to collect the remnants of the inside once it hatches and keep the shell, sending the dragon back to him and using the ingredients for a potion I'm working on."

"I didn't know people used that in potions," she said with a smile.

"Well, I intend to, as it helps to protect the young dragons from extreme heat, and I suppose I'd like to show you my research on that if you're interested. I think developing a product wouldn't be amiss." There he'd offered. Now, it was up to her. If she accepted his invitation, they would simply go from there.

"When do we go get the little thing?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

"So you will?" He had hoped she'd accept, but it was still a surprise that she did. When she nodded, he replied, "We can go as soon as we're packed." He smirked. "And it's not a little thing by any means, though it's smaller than the others." He pulled his hand from hers so that he could gesture the size. "The Welsh Green's eggs are an earthy brown, flecked with green. Oh, and they smell horrible."

She scrunched her nose. "I suppose we don't have to keep a watch on it for all hours of the day." She gave him an appraising look. "I think I can help you occupy your time."

He lowered his face to capture her lips with his, showing her with his mouth what he could not voice. He was quite pleased that she wanted to spend just a little more time with him.

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"I can't believe this is really happening," Harry said, straightening Draco's tie. "A binding."

Draco frowned, stilling Harry's hands. "You don't want to go through with this?" He stepped back, tugging at his tie and making it crooked again.

"Fine. Leave the thing like that. I don't care," Harry said with a sigh, adding, "and no, Draco, I'm not backing out."

"Good because the harp has started playing. That's my cue to walk out and smile at the guests while I make my way to the front where I'll be awaiting the bride." Draco smiled, looked around to be certain that nobody was looking, and kissed Harry chastely. "See you out there." He hurried off.

Harry stood alone for a moment. The thought of all those people, invited and uninvited alike, waiting to take pictures and gossip made him feel queasy. Hermione entered in a rush.

"Sorry, I'm late!" she said. "You know how Mrs. Weasley is! She wanted me to pass on all sorts of advice to you, knowing how nervous you are about this. All right?"

He grinned. "I'm a little nervous."

She smiled and touched his cheek. "It will be fine." The current tune stopped playing, and another started to play moments later. "Go on," she urged. "Don't even look at the crowd."

Harry made his way to the door, took a deep breath, and stepped out. He began walking down the aisle, gaze never leaving Draco's as he approached him. He could hear whispers, but he couldn't truly make out anything said. Once he made his way to the front, he nodded to the Ministry representative and turned to give Draco and Snape a tight smile.

Stepping aside, he turned around to watch Hermione being led down the aisle by her father. He'd never seen her look more radiant, hair upswept, white robes and dress trailing behind her perfectly. His eyes left her smiling face to find Snape's. He'd never seen the man smile before, but that was certainly what he was doing. Maybe the old bat wasn't so bad after all. For the past two years, Hermione had been telling him how perfectly they'd fit together, and he'd always nodded his head and agreed. However, he'd never truly believed it. Not until this very moment.

When Hermione's father shook Snape's hand and moved away, Harry's eyes met Draco's. Life had moved on, and although he wished some things in the past could have been different, he was right where he wanted to be. Defiantly, he gazed out at the large crowd. Instead of finding sneers or disgust, he found smiling, supportive faces. He'd purposely stayed out of the public eye to avoid any commenting on his relationship with Draco and to avoid the ever-present pests wanting his life story. Perhaps it was time to get a grip and get on with things completely.

"Severus, do you take this woman into your heart and life to care for and to cherish until death do you part?" the man was asking.

"I do," came the resounding response.

A moment later, Hermione's emotional agreement joined it.

Southern's Notes: Sigh. I don't know if I'll do any more of these challenges. The two extra books' quotes had me quite aggravated. It's hard to fit in dragon talk and Quidditch talk when you're trying to do something else. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed it. I tend to be longwinded, so it was hard keeping to the challenge rules and making these chapters only 2000 words each. Yikes. Cheers go to those who have been reading, and thanks for the reviews you've left.

Quote from FbaWtFT: "The Welsh Green's eggs are an earthy brown, flecked with green."