The Wedding Date by gemlou137, edited and reposted by Jupimako

Disclaimer:

Hello, I need to make something absolutely clear: The only thing I take credit for is the editing of this fic. It was originally written and posted by gemlou137 in 2006. I will admit to fleshing out the story that gemlou137 created though. If you'd like to read the original it's located at ID # 2988743. I am reposting it with the hope that you will enjoy this updated version as much as I do.

In addition to not owning this fic, I don't own any recognizable characters from the Harry Potter Universe or the movie The Wedding Date, the inspiration for this story.

Summary:

Harry Potter used to be an abused little boy. Now he is the top fashion designer in America. A wrench is thrown into his life when an invitation to his sister's wedding arrives from England demanding his presence along with that of a date. In order to save himself from having to deal with a relationship he reluctantly finds himself a hired escort and heads back to England to face his tormentors.

The main pairings for this story are: DM/HP, Cedric/FOC, MOC/FOC, Dudley/Piers.

Warnings:

Obviously, this story is SLASH. It is also set in a Non-Magic AU. If you don't enjoy reading SLASH stories or Non-Magic AU stories, please turn back now. If you do, you're most definitely in the right place. Read on my lovelies! Mentions of abuse and failed suicide attempts.

Chapter One

Mr. Harry James Potter and Date:

We cordially invite you to the

Wedding

Of Cedric Andrew Diggory

And

Rose Anne Potter

On the 25th of June at the

Dursley Estates, England

PS: Harry, we expect you to arrive here one week before the wedding, with your date,
to help with preparations and join in the festivities. You will stay here for another two days after to help see the other guests off.
Weddings should be attended by all of the bride's family after all. We don't need people asking where you are.
If you do not show up, we will be sorely disappointed in you. You don't want to disappoint us do you?

- Petunia and Vernon Dursley

The gilded invitation burned a hole into the coffee table placed neatly next to a very nice sofa. On that sofa lay a twenty five year old man with wonderfully bright, emerald green eyes that were currently closed to help block out the world. Harry had collapsed into its soft embrace when he'd finally worked up the nerve to open the damn thing. After it had arrived, he'd left it sitting on his counter for a full 24 hours before he'd broken the seal. He rubbed his temples as he tried to steady his breathing.

That last bit of the postscript had really shaken him. Petunia and Vernon… He never wanted to think about those two, but here they were, intruding into this new life that he'd carved for himself here in America. But seriously, Rose and Cedric were getting married? He would never have expected those two to get together.

While he and the older boy had been friends, they had also been rivals. They both ran on their school track team and to Cedric's consternation, Harry was consistently faster than he was. Except for that one time when... he shuddered. No, Harry didn't want to think about that day, that had been an exceedingly painful experience. They were still on good terms, but Harry wondered at the reception he'd receive. It had been more than seven years since they had seen each other after all.

Briefly, he considered just ignoring the invite and not going, but maybe things had changed while he'd been away. Harry sighed. Yeah right, he could just feel the not so subtle threat that that postscript held. He would have to make an appearance at least, and with that postscript… No, there was no way he could avoid this event. He would need to find a date and book a ticket soon. Flying internationally was fun under the right circumstances, but flying internationally on short notice to an event he'd rather avoid? Not to mention this, this required Date thing. Bloody Hell. But this was for his sister and his friend, so he would suck it up and find a person to take along with him for this merry week of what would surely be torture.

He gave a small smile at the thought. Torture? Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration, but this was not going to be fun. If only he actually got along with his family. His brother Tommy, his sister Rose, and the Dursley's would all be their lovely selves which would mean that he'd be ignored, belittled and humiliated in various subtle and unsubtle ways over the course of the wedding week.

Sighing in resignation, he imagined what life might have been like if his parents, James and Lily Potter hadn't died when he was a baby. Rose and Tommy would still have been his siblings, so would they have treated him any different if their parents had been around more and Petunia, Vernon and Dudley around less? He would never know.

The Potters were a very wealthy family, and luckily for Harry, James had decided to spread his wealth to his wife's family and all of his children rather than just leaving everything to Tommy. In accordance with the will, Vernon and Petunia received most of the inheritance but the three Potter children all had substantial trust funds and accounts that had come available to them when they'd turned eighteen.

In contrast to his brother and sister, Harry had decided to use his inheritance to create a new life for himself as soon as he was old enough to legally leave the Estate. He had hopped a plane to America the day after his eighteenth birthday and never looked back.

He adored the homes he had bought and the business he had started. Jameson Inc. was his baby and Harry loved every second of his work as a fashion designer. It had taken some time, but he was the most sought after clothing designer in America now. And how exactly had that happened? He was still mystified by the success he was enjoying, but the Stars of America loved his work. He was even gaining popularity in other countries! He had fashion shows scheduled next year for Tokyo in January, New York, London and Milan in February, Canada, Moscow, Istanbul, China and Tokyo again in March and Florence and Sydney in April. He was so glad he had time to prepare!

His clothes were innovative and bold and always brought out the client's best features. He was the best of the best when it came to clothes and was the envy of every fashion designer alive. Or rather, William Jameson was. No one in the fashion world knew his real name was Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was an abused little boy from England. Harry Potter was… No. He wouldn't go down that path. William Jameson was exactly who he wanted to be. Harry was shy, passionate, handsome, kind and down to Earth. William Jameson was all of those things, but he was much more outgoing and he was loved by his employees, clients, the media and his fans. He was constantly on the pages of magazines from around the world because of his fantastic clothes and his looks. He had homes in LA, New York and Hawaii, and was nearly always the centre of attention at parties and fashion shows. Harry loved the way he felt as William. The alter-ego he'd created for himself allowed him the freedom to become whatever he wanted to become. He'd decided that William didn't have panic attacks, so he didn't. He'd decided that William could handle large crowds and attention, so he did. He'd decided that he was going to help as many people as he could with the success he was enjoying. And while inside, Harry occasionally loathed the publicity, he loved his job too much to quit.

He did of course have some privacy. The paparazzi didn't chase him down or follow him around, but if someone from a magazine bumped into him he'd find his face on the cover of the next magazine whether he'd posed for the camera or not. He had to laugh at some of the awkward shots that had been printed over the years.

At least there hadn't been an uproar when he'd come out as being gay. The magazines and newspapers liked to report on his relationships just as much as any celebrity and he hated it. He wasn't ashamed, just reserved and a bit scared of the dating scene. It had been almost two years since his last failed relationship and he wasn't particularly interested in starting anything new, especially for this Event.

Oh damn, he was going to have to reschedule a bunch of clients and set things up so that William could disappear into the ether for over a week. He was lucky that he'd gathered such a good support team. They would hopefully be able to keep the business running smoothly without him until he could get back. He'd have to get call forwarding set up on his phone and make sure his personal assistant Hermione could handle everything that came up. How inconvenient! At least he didn't have any shows that week. They'd survived him going on vacation before. They could do it again.

Harry ran his hands over his eyes. He had been deep in thought for almost twenty minutes and they were feeling a bit dry. Smacking his hands on his cheeks to wake himself up, he reached over for his tablet and started looking up flights. He could do this. Really he could.

-Three weeks later-

"BEEP! I am either out or unable to answer the phone at the moment. Please leave your message and your name and number so I can get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you." Harry's soft British accented tones said on the speakerphone.

"Hello Harry. I'm just calling to say I got your messages and there is nothing to worry about. This is my job and my life Harry, you're in safe hands so calm down and everything will be fine. Now, I've received the tickets and I will see you on the airplane though I am running a little late at the moment. I'll see you soon and relax Harry, there's nothing to worry about."

Harry, who was in the bathroom struggling to get control of his breathing merely groaned.

"That's easy for you to say."

He'd had a freaking panic attack. It was his first one in almost four years, and it had been a mild one so that was good. But damn the timing!

An hour before he needed to leave for the airport he'd started hyperventilating and collapsed on the bathroom floor. Luckily, he'd been able to pull himself together and drag himself into the shower after only a few minutes.

Grabbing the nearest towel he dried himself off and slipped on a pair of silk boxers along with smart grey trousers, socks and nice black shoes. Running a hand through his hair, Harry grabbed his hair dryer and dried and "styled" his hair in front of the mirror. Well, he at least tried to style his hair. Despite it being so thick and soft it absolutely refused to do anything. Harry had grown it out so that it hung around his shoulders at one point and still it remained untamable. Now though, it was short and had a just shagged look to it.

As he reached for his shirt, his well-toned muscles rippled slightly. He didn't actively work out but he absolutely loved running. He went out as often as he could and it showed. He was so glad he'd had that growth spurt when he hit nineteen. When he was younger he'd been a scrawny midget, but now his body was lean and he'd hit a respectable 5'10''. He might be a smidge skinnier than healthy, but who could blame him for skipping meals while he worked?

As the magazines so often said, he was ripped and looked amazing. Harry still didn't know how they got hold of those pictures of him coming out of the sea with that wet t-shirt clinging to him!

Harry had a little quirk that he never talked about. He always wore a long sleeved top, except on those occasions he'd gone to the beach with his friends when he'd worn a t-shirt and wrist bands or could wear a jacket. He shuddered at the thought of someone seeing his bare wrists.

Pulling on a long-sleeved, emerald green silk shirt over his slender toned arms, Harry ran a tanned hand through his hair. Despite everything, he'd still managed to get a gorgeous golden tan. He supposed it was from all that time he spent at his summer home in Hawaii. It had privacy walls around the edge of the property and was the only place he felt secure enough to go without a top. He loved laying on the grass to cloud-watch, tan and had a blast taking care of his beautiful garden. The house in Hawaii was where he indulged himself while on vacation. His holiday home was the only place Harry ever really let himself relax. In Los Angeles and New York he had his billion dollar business and all that publicity to worry about, in England he had his... family to worry about. In Hawaii there was nothing but the sky and the sea.

Smiling a bit as he finished dressing, he quickly packed the last of his toiletries in a plastic bag and double checked that the suitcases weren't too heavy. Traveling first class had its perks, but still… It would be his last few hours of peace before he was thrown to the proverbial dogs. Why was he doing this again? Oh. Right. Cedric and Rose... Well, if he was truly honest with himself it was only for Cedric, but whatever.

Shuddering a bit with nerves and bad memories, he looked outside to check to see if his car had arrived. It had, so he swung his messenger bag over his shoulder and grabbed his two suitcases.

"Hello Oliver! How's it going?"

"Fine sir. Thank you."

"That's wonderful." Harry gave the man a smile and pretended not to notice the driver snuffing out a cigarette under his shoe. "I need to get to the airport."

"Of course. Here, let me get those for you Sir."

"Thank you." The driver helped Harry put the suitcases into the boot and then held the door open. Harry gave the man a small smile and slid in. He often used this car service as he had never bothered to get licensed to drive in the States. It had branches all over the country, so he never had to worry.

At the airport Harry checked in quickly. Security hadn't been too horrible and there was a nice little café across from his gate that had served a respectable cup of coffee. He was pleased to note that everything seemed to be running smoothly, even if he had been recognized by his waitress. She had asked for his autograph and a photo.

He found his seat in the first class section of the plane and before stowing his messenger bag in the overhead compartment he slipped off his tinted glasses and put them in their case. He slipped the case back into the bag and lifted the bag into a free spot. He was so glad that he didn't need glasses anymore. They'd been the bane of his childhood and he'd gotten Lasik surgery done on them when he was old enough.

As he settled in, the flight attendant offered him a glass of champagne or water. Accepting the water, he sipped and tried to get comfortable in his seat. It was a large space, as expected from first class. He had a personal entertainment area, a very nice chair that even had a massage function and a nice work area if he decided to pull out his tablet at any time during the flight.

He decided to pick out a magazine from the seat back pocket to kill time. He looked through the options available and was pleased to note that he was not featured on any of them. They were probably out of date as he knew he'd seen himself on the cover of the most recent Entertainment Weekly. He was pretty sure he was on the covers of Life Style and Globe this month too.

TIME Magazine looked like it might be interesting and as he paged through the various articles he tried to calm his nerves. Hopefully there was a good selection of in-flight movies that he could use to take his mind off the impending… reunion. Well, he might be happy to see his Godfather Sirius if he showed up, but other than that, he'd basically fled the country to get away from everyone who'd be at this wedding.

Meh. He glanced out the window before closing the magazine, not really finding any articles that peaked his interest. He had a book of puzzles in his bag, but he didn't really feel like getting up to find it. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, frowning into his glass. He had finished all of the water without noticing. He glanced up and caught the flight attendant's eye, asking for a refill. She smiled at him and brought a full glass over to his seat.

"Are you heading to England for business or pleasure, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Uh no ma'am. I guess you could call it pleasure. It's just... my sister is getting married to one of my childhood friends and..." The flight attendant smiled gently and sympathetically took the empty cup from him.

"Well, if you need anything else my name's Luna. Just let me know. I hope you have a nice flight." Harry smiled and nodded before leaning his head back on his chair, closing his eyes and wondering just how this next week was going to go and how well he would get along with his escort.

His escort wasn't here yet! His eyes shot open before he remembered that the man had said he was running a little bit late. It was fine. He would get here in time and everything would be fine. As he closed his eyes again he thought about how he had found his "date."

Harry had basically looked up male escorts with the hope of finding one who would be willing to be hired to not only travel overseas, but stay for over a week and be able to make their relationship seem perfectly genuine to a crowd of nosy parkers.

Draco Malfoy had accepted Harry's conditions and charged him ten thousand dollars for the service. Having someone there to support him and be decent company would be worth every penny. Of course he was also expected to cover all travel costs and expenses in addition to the fee, but Harry had decided to accept the contract. He had the money, so why not? Harry was just nervous about paying a complete stranger to be in a fake relationship with him, 24/7 for the next, what would it be? With travel days… wow, eleven days. He grimaced.

"Here's your seat sir, 3B."

"Thank you." A silky rich and deep voice said from in front of Harry. The raven hared twenty five year old sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut. His escort had arrived.

Harry heard the man shuffle around slightly before closing the overhead compartment and sitting down in the aisle seat right next to him. Harry heard the click of the seat belt and Luna offer the man a drink. Draco refused in that same silky voice and she left. Harry swallowed nervously and opened his bright green eyes just wide enough to get a glimpse of the man.

He felt his heart hammer a little bit louder before calming down again. The photo had not done him justice. Wow. The man sat next to Harry had to be about 6'2" with silky platinum blond hair that looked completely natural. His skin was very fair though his cheeks had a healthy glow to them. He was obviously the kind of person who didn't tan well though. His body was very muscular and he didn't appear to have an inch of fat on him.

The man, Harry supposed he should call him Draco, was wearing a pair of black slacks and a silk shirt that had the top button undone. A very smart black coat was hanging from the armrest. Harry supposed Luna would hang it up for him when she noticed. Draco, having sensed he was being watched turned his head towards Harry. The man's face was very aristocratic with sharp angles that made him seem even more handsome and strong. He had two neat blonde eyebrows above bright silver eyes.

Harry quickly decided to open his eyes fully and offered the man a small, shy smile and turned in his seat a little more.

"Hello. Um... I'm Harry." The man studied him briefly. It was only a mere flick of the eyes but Harry shifted in his seat anyway having noticed the tiny movement. The man let a small but confident smile grace his pink lips.

"Nice to finally meet you Harry. I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Hmm." Harry offered with a nod before dropping his gaze away from the man. Taking a quick look around to see if anyone was watching Harry flicked his nervous emerald green eyes back to swirling silver. Harry offered an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what to do... or say. This is a very new experience for me and not at all something I ever thought or believed I would be doing."

The man's smile became a bit wider and he lifted his head slightly. "What? You mean hiring an escort to pose as your date for a wedding in another country?" Harry nodded and the man's smile made his eyes sparkle. "Well, don't worry about it too much. I'm experienced enough to make this trip painless for you. I know how much you want this to be a success and I can promise you that to everyone in your family and to all of the guests, we will seem like a perfect couple. This is what I do, and I do it well. You just need to relax and act normally around me; as if we've been together a while."

"Ah yes... act like you're my boyfriend." Harry said looking away with a tiny sad smile. "I've not had one of those in years." Draco looked slightly confused and Harry looked back at him with a blush having realised he'd said that last bit out loud. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Draco leaned back and let a smile over take his small frown of confusion. "In that case then Harry, I'll do most of the work. What I need you to do, if you want to see this work, is to not mind my touch and accept anything... endearing I may say or do. Feel free to reciprocate however." Harry felt his face flame and he nodded quickly and looked away from Draco practically snatching the magazine back up and finding a random page to fake-read.

Draco watched for a moment or two in a calculating way before nodding slightly to himself and calling a flight attendant over to take his coat. He seemed perfectly at home in the first class seats.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Luna and I'm your chief flight attendant today. On behalf of the Captain and the entire crew, welcome aboard."

Two hours into the flight Draco got up to use the loo. Harry glanced up from his movie to watch as the blonde walked down the aisle and his only thought was that the man had a damn fine arse. The thought automatically made him blush and turn back to the movie. He looked up a second time as Draco walked back towards their seats. Green eyes met silver. Harry offered a tiny smile before turning his gaze away. Draco sat down and Harry paused the movie and took out his earphones.

Draco relaxed into the seat and looked over at Harry, a completely neutral expression on his face. They both stayed silent for a while until Harry broke the silence.

"It's my sister's wedding." He offered with a shrug. "My… family and I don't get along. We don't like each other very much and we've never seen eye to eye on anything."

"And why is that or are the reasons a little too personal to share?"

"They are a little too personal for someone I've just met. If there is a situation that requires that knowledge I'll tell you then, but not yet." Harry said offering the barest hint of a smile. Draco leaned his head back after nodding and interlocked his fingers on his lap.

"But I can tell you a little about the situation you're walking into with me. First off, my family – all of my family is wealthy. We're not titled, but my both of my parents come from old money and were successful on their own. My father owned a large Law Firm while my mother was a talented musician. They died in a car crash when I was two. That's my only real memory of them… You see, I was in the car with them. I survived because I was in my car seat in the back. My survival though, it, well, I know that my family resents the fact that I survived and my parents died."

"We, Tommy, Rose and I, grew up with my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin. The Dursley Family. Uncle Vernon owns and operates a drill company called Grunnings. Aunt Petunia is a Society Wife. My cousin Dudley, well, he works at Grunnings and is being groomed to take over in the future."

"Dudley and Tommy are the same age and hit it off quickly whilst my Aunt always wanted a daughter but couldn't have any more children. Aunt Petunia took my sister under her wing. I was pretty much just left alone. As it happens, when I turned fifteen I discovered I was gay. The boy I thought I loved told my sister who then let it slip to Aunt Petunia who told Vernon who told...well, it doesn't matter. Things got worse, a lot worse at that point and I resolved to leave as soon as I could. I moved to America just after I turned eighteen. I used my inheritance to finish my education and start up a business. I am now earning more money than the rest of my family put together. They don't actually know that though. Petunia doesn't approve of TV or magazines or reading… or well, anything. They think I'm stupid and lazy, but they want extra hands to help set up the Wedding, honestly I think that's the only reason they invited me, but I have to go and I have to take a date with me." Harry fell silent and then looked up in horror.

"I ended up telling you the whole story anyways. Please don't repeat what you've heard to anyone!"

Harry went to turn towards the window but found a strong pale hand gripping his chin. He hadn't realised that a tear had fallen down his cheek until a slightly calloused thumb brushed it away.

"Harry. Thank you for telling me. That is really important information. Because of it, I'll be able to make the illusion of our relationship much more believable. Just hold your head high. You've obviously made something of yourself on your own now and therefore you have something to be proud of. Don't let them put you down." Harry nodded and Draco let his hand drop away. Harry turned his face to the side and wished that he could allow himself to be William for a while. But no, this trip was for Harry. It had been quite a while since he'd been himself outside of his homes and Hawaii. Things were bound to be interesting.

"I am sorry." He said. "I am sorry in advance for anything they say to you. They're horrible, close-minded people. So I apologise."

"Don't apologise Harry. You British always seem to apologise for the slightest of offences and even when there has been no offence done you apologise. It's annoying and it isn't becoming of someone such as you. You should have more pride and confidence in yourself."

Harry looked Draco over through carefully guarded eyes. Draco had a slight frown on his face but his eyes seemed to show Harry that he was telling the truth. Harry nodded but didn't say anything; he just put his earphones back in and restarted his movie.

An hour or so later Luna came around to take their lunch orders.

"Sir, would you like roast chicken or our vegetarian option of lemon herb pasta?"

"I'm sorry. I'm really not hungry. Can I just have a drink?" She frowned slightly but nodded her head.

"Certainly sir. What would you like?" Harry smiled gently.

"A glass of ginger ale please, no ice." She offered him a smile back and wrote down his order then turned to Draco who chose the chicken.

Harry sipped his ginger ale and sighed when he felt his stomach start to settle down. His movie had ended and he'd finally taken out the puzzle book he'd had stashed in his bag. He worked on a word search for a few minutes but his eyes started getting heavy so he allowed his head to fall back onto the headrest. Sleepily he rubbed his eyes, pulled up the blanket that he'd had on his lap and turned to face out the window, missing the silver eyes that watched him calculatingly.

With only an hour and a half left of the flight, a different flight attendant started to come around, offering snacks to the first class passengers. Harry was glad it was only a seven hour flight; any longer and he thought he'd go crazy.

"I'm not hungry thank you. I'm still full up from earlier." She didn't know that Harry was lying and offered Harry a drink instead. Harry smiled his agreement and asked for a second drink too. This time he had passion fruit juice and another glass of water. After finishing his drinks Harry got up and headed to the loo.

When he came back he saw Draco watching him. Harry closed his eyes momentarily before continuing to his seat and sitting down.

"Do you do that frequently?" Draco's voice asked silky smooth.

"Do what sorry?"

"Do you skip meals frequently?" Harry turned in his seat slightly, a blush already on his cheeks.

"Um... only when I don't feel like eating or I'm too busy." Draco's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And how often is that?"

"Um..." Harry tried to quickly come up with a way around the subject but couldn't think fast enough. "Once, sometimes twice a day, though occasionally I eat all three meals."

"Well, while you're with me I'd appreciate it if you'd eat at least three times a day." Harry turned and faced Draco, his anger flaring up.

"Why? It's none of your business!" Draco smiled innocently though Harry was sure he could see the hardness in the man's eyes.

"You're right, however if this facade is going to fool your family then it should at least look like I'm taking care of you and you me. Therefore, in the interest of your health you're going to eat three times a day while we're together."

Harry stared hard at Draco. Harry was intelligent, he was incredibly intelligent but for some reason his head was refusing to work at the moment and Harry let go of his anger with one weary sigh as he leaned his head back against the headrest.

"Whatever."

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked the first installment of this story :). I'd love to read any reviews you leave for me.