Disclaimer: Draco, Harry, Harry Potter's wife and all other fictional characters mentioned in this story belong to J.K. Rowling.

Harry Potter's Wife

For years, Draco Malfoy had wondered what Harry Potter's wife would look like.

It had started one summer afternoon at Flourish and Blotts, just before he began his first year at Hogwarts.

He had been in Diagon Alley for the day with his parents, and after getting bored of listening to their long conversations with their friends outside the bookshop about money and pure-blood pride, he had snuck away to the back of the shop, rolling his eyes in exasperation as a young girl with red hair dropped the book that she had been staring at in fascination and ran away from him looking terrified.

He had proceeded to pick up the book from the floor before staring at the same pages that the girl had previously been looking at.

Back then, he hadn't been able to understand the more complicated words in the book, but he had quickly got the gist of the chapter, where one name was repeated over and over again, along with a few words that Draco had been able to make out, like: 'boy' and 'chosen' and 'hero' and 'lived'.

Even then, he had worked out that the wizarding world was hoping that this boy was going to be their hero, one day in the future.

And that was when his strange obsession with Harry Potter's future wife had begun. Or perhaps it was simply an obsession with Harry Potter's future.

He wasn't sure why the idea of The Chosen One's future wife fascinated him so much, especially as his father had always rolled his eyes in exasperation at any mention of the Potter family's heroic deeds, but he later decided that as so many children's stories about brave heroes (stories which his father disapproved of and Draco secretly read late at night) always seemed to end with some sort of victory followed by a wedding, then this would no doubt be the logical ending to Harry Potter's story as well.

At first, he had imagined that Harry Potter's wife would look like a veela: tall, blonde, elegant, articulate, beautiful. Almost too good to be true.

After all, in many stories about heroes and victories, a marriage to a beautiful, perfect and fictional woman was the most romantic ending for the too-good-to-be-true hero.

Later that day, when he caught his first glimpse of real-life Harry Potter in Maldam Malkin's, with his hand-me-down clothes, messy hair and his awkward glances around the shop from behind his large glasses, Draco had started to suspect that Potter might not be all that interested in marrying the perfect blonde veela after all.

Even though Potter had refused to shake Draco's hand a few weeks after their first meeting, and even though Draco had quickly decided that he hated Harry Potter, still his strange obsession with Harry Potter's future wife had persisted for the rest of their first year at Hogwarts.

For almost a year, he had been convinced that Potter, who was so annoyingly good at certain subjects, not to mention Quidditch, would have preferred to marry somebody more intelligent than the perfect blonde veela; not only a girl who was academically intelligent, but also somebody who understood him and his strange life as a celebrity. Somebody who saw past the celebrity image in the history books. Somebody who would stay by his side through the more difficult times, and, much to Draco's irritation, somebody who would always help Potter to victory, which would in turn lead to a victory for Gryffindor House each year. A girl who would always push Draco and the rest of Slytherin House into second place.

After all, in many stories about heroes and victories, a marriage to a close friend who could fight by the hero's side was one of the most logical conclusions for the intelligent hero.

But at the end of first year, when he had glared across the tables of the Great Hall as the Gryffindors celebrated winning the House Cup, Draco had for some reason noticed the ever-so-subtle glance that Potter's most intelligent friend threw in Weasley's direction, and in that moment, he had had a strange inkling that she wouldn't end up as Harry Potter's wife.

However, he hadn't been sure why this thought had cheered him up ever-so-slightly.

In second year, Draco had feared that Potter would end up marrying the type of girl who worshipped the ground he walked on. The type of girl who stared at The Chosen One in adoration as she secretly followed him around school. The type of girl who always got in Draco's way when he too was attempting to follow Potter around Hogwarts, secretly plotting his downfall. The type of girl who could play the damsel in distress so that Potter would save her.

After all, in many stories about heroes and victories, a famous hero's marriage to his biggest fan who had always admired him from afar was the most fairy-tale-like ending for the hero who would appear on the front pages of many books, newspapers and magazines.

In third and fourth year, Draco had started to doubt his previous concern that Potter would marry his biggest fan, as his attention seemed to be focused on an entirely different kind of girl. A girl who definitely wasn't in awe of his fame, because she already seemed to be used to attention from famous wizards.

At first, Draco had been rather surprised by the girl who was starting to look suspiciously like Harry Potter's future wife, but after a while, he had reasoned that perhaps it made sense for Potter to marry a girl who liked to dress in designer robes; a girl who looked forward to dancing at the Yule Ball. A girl who liked to laugh and gossip with her friends. A girl who took pride in her appearance whilst at the same time enjoying a good game of Quidditch.

After all, in many stories about heroes and victories, a famous hero's marriage to a pretty Quidditch player was the most wizarding-world-appropriate ending for the hero who would be expected to make an appearance at every Quidditch World Cup and Ministry Ball.

By fifth year, Draco had started to lose interest in his speculation over Potter's possible future wife.

This was mainly because he had started to notice that certain wizards were actually rather attractive-more attractive than witches, anyway; especially certain Durmstrang wizards from well-known wizarding families who had stared at him from across the dance floor at the Yule Ball, and later even a few of his fellow male Slytherins, and this new obsession with wizards had driven all thoughts of women and wives and heroes far from his mind.

Then later, he simply hadn't had the time to think about Potter's life, or even to get angry about the fact that Potter seemed to have taken to following him all over Hogwarts in sixth year, as he was far too terrified of what Voldemort had asked him to do to get distracted by what had seemed like such trivial matters at the time.

It was only through overheard gossip from his friends such as Pansy and Millicent about Potter's new girlfriend, whilst he lay there in agony in the hospital wing with his hands covering the scars on his chest, that he had managed to work out, through a haze of foul-tasting potions and sleepless nights, that perhaps his speculation in second year had been the most accurate, after all.

And even though he still hated Harry Potter, for some strange reason, the pain across his chest had started to pale in comparison to the pain that he was starting to feel inside his chest whenever Pansy mentioned Potter's new girlfriend.

His theories about Potter's future had no longer seemed like an innocent game inside Draco's head. Especially when he had been unable to see any future of his own.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, when he had been hiding out at Malfoy Manor, full of resentment over the fact that Potter had saved him yet again, too afraid to go out, and spending his days reading endless books, magazines and newspaper articles to pass the time, Draco had been forced to accept the fact that he had been wrong all along: Harry Potter wasn't going to marry any of those girls from Hogwarts. Not really, anyway.

Instead, he was going to marry a woman who would be able to offer him comfort and support after the war. A woman who would invite him to stay at her family's home, his family's home, as well, really; a place where he would be safe and protected. A woman who would be able to give Potter the family that he must have always longed for.

After all, in many stories about heroes and victories, a victorious hero's marriage to a woman who would be able to give him a fairy tale ending and a perfect family after the long battle was the most reassuring ending for a hero who would be expected to settle down after years of uncertainty and instability.

Eventually, Draco stopped reading books about Harry Potter. After all, books like that only allowed the hero to get his happy ending. Where did that leave everybody else?

"Malfoy, you would definitely be the girl in this relationship."

"You wish, Potter," Draco retorted, without looking up from his bowl of strawberry ice cream.

It was a sunny afternoon in July, and the two of them were sitting at a table outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley.

Apart from three small bowls of ice cream, the table was also covered with bags of potion ingredients, as was Teddy's Lupin's recently vacated seat.

A few tables away, Teddy was chatting enthusiastically with Victoire Weasley about his upcoming first day at Hogwarts.

"Admit it, Potter, it would definitely be you," Draco continued, for fear that Potter would actually believe that he had some sort of upper-hand in their half-hearted argument. "Don't even try to deny it."

A couple of years after the war, when a newly single and slightly bitter and confused Potter had first come back into Draco's life, making a few drunken announcements to Andromeda and Draco that his engagement to Ginevra Weasley was off, he and Potter had constantly argued about much more serious issues. However, their arguments and accusations had (for the most part) turned into banter over the years.

"Whatever, Malfoy," Potter responded with a grin before swallowing his last spoonful of ice cream. "It would be you, though," he added in a hushed voice, after a few seconds of silence.

This was now one of their many joking arguments, along with: who had the most Hufflepuff moments, who was the better Quidditch player, who had been brave enough to ask the other out first, and who was the best dressed at the various Ministry of Magic Balls that they occasionally agreed to attend.

Much to Draco's irritation, he only ever seemed to win the 'best-dressed' argument.

Their banter was only interrupted when Teddy Lupin waved goodbye to Victoire and ran back to the table, excitedly shouting something about buying his first wand.

Today, Teddy was wearing an oversized Weasley jumper with a knitted lion emblazoned on the front, and trousers that looked suspiciously like they had been purchased at a Muggle shop, and, in spite of Draco's best efforts, his younger cousin's hair still looked slightly untidy, especially when he jumped up and down in excitement at the prospect of buying his first wand.

As much as Draco would have disapproved of these clothes and the untidy 'hairstyle' during his Hogwarts years, now, he couldn't help but feel a rush of affection as Teddy grinned at him.

He also felt a rush of gratitude towards Andromeda for allowing the two of them to take Teddy to Diagon Alley to buy his Hogwarts supplies. As a child, Draco had never taken the time to appreciate these visits to Diagon Alley with his parents, but now, with Teddy and Potter by his side, he was feeling younger than he had felt in years.

Draco grinned back at his cousin when he caught a glimpse of the green, snake-shaped bracelet glittering on Teddy's wrist. As much as Teddy loved his Weasley jumpers and the toy lions and wolves that Potter always insisted on buying for him, he had also worn Draco's green bracelet with pride every day since Draco had given it to him, and Draco had noticed that there was still a small collection of toy dragons on the shelf in Teddy's bedroom at Andromeda's house. Perhaps there was hope of a sorting into Slytherin House after all.

"Er, okay, we'll go and get your new wand…I just need to go to Madam Malkin's first…" Draco heard Potter mumble as Teddy picked up his bags of potion ingredients and they started to walk away from the table.

Draco stared at him in confusion. Potter hadn't said anything about needing new robes, and he was sure that Andromeda had already taken Teddy to Madam Malkin's a few weeks ago to buy his new Hogwarts robes.

"Okay," Teddy agreed quickly with a nod, and Draco noticed that he and Potter shared some sort of strange look between the two of them. "Yeah, I wanted to go there, too, to look at robes…"

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes, but he turned around and headed in the direction of Madam Malkin's. He had long since learnt that sometimes it was just easier to go along with Potter and Teddy's strange plans and ideas.

A few minutes later, Draco walked through the door to Madam Malkin's ahead of the two of them, wondering what they were both whispering so frantically about.

The moment he turned around to ask what was going on, he noticed that Potter was down on one knee, looking up at Draco with wide eyes and a blush.

He then looked at Teddy, who was standing close to the door, his hands clasped tightly together as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking almost as nervous as Potter.

Draco was just about to ask if this was some kind of joke, but then he caught a glimpse of the ring in Potter's hand, glittering in the sunlight.

The ring was beautiful, with a tiny gold lion and a silver snake at the top, coiled together around what looked like a Golden Snitch. Draco would never have imagined that Potter would have had such good taste when it came to picking an engagement ring.

An engagement ring. It was as though Draco's brain had only just managed to put two and two together and work out the scene in front of him.

He briefly wondered why Potter had chosen this particular shop to propose in, but then he suddenly remembered that this was where the two of them had first met.

His heart started beating rapidly, and he was sure that his face was currently bright red as well, and he struggled to supress a sudden onslaught of very un-Malfoy-like emotions.

Who would have thought, all those years ago, when Draco had desperately been trying and failing to impress Potter when they first laid eyes on each other at Madam Malkin's, that this is where they would eventually end up?

He had never even allowed himself to imagine, even in his wildest dreams, that when he and Potter had fallen into a tentative friendship a few years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and they had started to share a few awkward conversations about the wizards that they both found attractive, that they would end up here, together, with a gold and silver ring.

Potter opened and closed his mouth several times, as though trying to say something, but words failed him every time, and he was starting to look slightly uncomfortable with one knee on the floor.

Draco suspected that he had had a whole speech prepared, no doubt with a little help from Teddy, but he was now unable to regain enough composure to form the words.

"You know, Potter," Draco eventually smirked, trying his best to look smug and in control of the situation, rather than look like a Hufflepuff who might burst into tears at any moment, "I always knew that you would end up marrying somebody blond, intelligent, articulate, elegant, good at Quidditch, able to see past your celebrity image, and with excellent taste in designer robes-"

"Don't forget modest," Teddy interrupted in a stage whisper, whilst Potter laughed at his godson's joke.

"So…is that a yes?" Potter asked, his grin fading as the nervous expression returned.

Draco simply nodded. Of course it was a yes, even though the whole thing would be far from a fairy tale, what with their arguments and their often very different opinions, as well as the arguments between their friends and families. It was still a yes, even though this engagement would be far from most witches and wizards' ideas of how Harry Potter's story should end.

He silently acknowledged the fact that it had always been a yes, somewhere deep down, from the moment he opened that book in Flourish and Blotts as a child. He also silently acknowledged the fact that he had missed out 'somebody who always admired you from afar' from his previous speech about Potter's ideal spouse.

Potter grinned again as he got to his feet, and Draco started blinking rapidly, trying his best not to do the unthinkable and start crying in the middle of Madam Malkin's. His father would definitely have disapproved of any public display of emotion. But then, he knew that his father would no doubt be focusing his disapproval on much more serious issues as soon as he heard the news…

All thoughts of Lucius Malfoy were driven from Draco's mind when Potter walked towards him and slipped the ring onto Draco's finger, before he held the same hand tightly in his.

Conscious of the fact that they were in a public place, and also that Teddy was standing so close to them, Draco decided that the hand-holding was enough, for now. He would celebrate properly with Potter later tonight, when they were alone, safe and protected at home, where they could forget about their arguments and the rest of the wizarding world and all of the formalities and expectations that went with it and just be Draco and Harry.

He was so glad though, that Potter had chosen to propose in front of Teddy. After all, Teddy had been the one to bring them together, really, as they had both been forced to spend time in each other's company when they visited Andromeda at the same time, and it was their conversations about Teddy that had first broken the ice between the two of them. Later, when their joint visits had become more frequent, Teddy had often gone from one to the other, innocently trying to resolve their petty arguments about the past and forcing them to talk to each other again.

As they prepared to leave the shop, and Teddy Lupin hugged the two of them and grabbed hold of Potter's hand before balancing the bags that he was carrying on his left arm so that he could use his other hand to grab hold of Draco's hand, and they continued to walk around the shops together as a family, Draco decided that he had forgotten to mention one very important factor in his most recent description of the type of person who he thought that Potter would end up marrying.

Later in the day, after Teddy had purchased his first wand, the three of them found themselves in Flourish and Blotts.

Draco noticed that the old book was still there, now on display at the front of the shop, full of the same tales of the Potter family's heroic deeds, along with the speculation about Harry Potter's future.

Draco smiled, shook his head and pushed the book to the back of the nearest shelf, before taking another moment to admire the ring on his finger.

He no longer had to wonder what Harry Potter's wife would look like, because Harry Potter's wife only existed in story books.