a/n-Thanks for sticking through all of my sporadic updating! Happy Reading!

Epilogue

A Plan Comes to Fruition

"That is the most hideous tie I have ever seen."

Scorpius looked up from tying his bowtie to see his best friend's reflection in the mirror behind him. Tugging slightly at the twisted length of fabric, Scorpius turned so that he was now facing Al, who remained casually leaning against the doorframe of the blonde's bedroom.

"You do realize the one you're wearing is identical to mine, correct?" Scorpius questioned with a raised brow.

"You may have a point," Al conceded. "However, I am the one wearing this bowtie and therefore it is not nearly as hideous as yours."

"Albus Potter, ladies and gentlemen, always exactly this modest," Scorpius muttered with a roll of his eyes as he turned back to the mirror and away from his friend, though there was a certain sense of fondness in his actions.

"But for real," Al continued, pushing away from the doorframe, "That's about to be the world's most hideous plain black bowtie if you keep getting it all knotted and wrinkled like that. How a Malfoy can be so horrible at something that should be so second nature after so many years, I will never understand…"

By this point, Al had crossed the room and was now standing beside his old friend. With a nudge to the other man's shoulder, Scorpius was soon facing Al, who quickly and proficiently tied the blonde's tie for him.

"Your mum's going to be upset she missed this photo opportunity," A new voice spoke from the doorway.

As one, Al and Scorpius turned to see Scorpius' father now standing in the open doorway.

"Of course," Draco continued, "I'm amazed the woman has any film left, at the rate she's been taking pictures all morning. It's a good thing there's an actual photographer for later."

"Don't act like you're not just as excited as mum, dad," Scorpius replied. "It's no secret that you've liked Rose better than me since the day you first met her."

Draco merely smirked at his son and did not argue the point. "Speaking of Rose, though, I'm off to go fetch your grandparents; you know how twitchy they still get in Muggle places. I'd imagine your mum will begin hassling you to leave just as soon as she's finished getting ready, though, so I'm sure I'll be seeing you quite soon."

"Thanks, dad," Scorpius said. And this time with a fond smile for his only son, Draco nodded slightly before making his departure.

"So are you nervous?" Al rounded on Scorpius just as soon as Draco had disappeared. "Because it's perfectly alright to be nervous; just be warned that I'm only never going to let you forget about it."

"Well aren't you just a model best mate today?" Scorpius questioned sarcastically, turning to the mirror once more and straightening his now perfectly-tied bowtie before moving towards his bed to retrieve his suit jacket.

"Ahem, that would be model best man, thank you very much," Al corrected. "And yes. Yes, I am, thank you so much for asking."

No one ever truly thought that Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy could be friends, but they proved everyone wrong time and time again. It had been nearly two years since the pair had finished Hogwarts, and their worries had all been—predictably—unfounded. True, at times there had been stretches of days and even weeks that they had gone without seeing each other, but when all was said and done hadn't they spent many a summer holiday like that as well? Scorpius had very recently completed his Potions Mastery and Al would be finishing his Auror training within the year, and they both anticipated their schedules becoming slightly less busy then, giving them more time to hang out like they had back in their carefree school days.

But before that could happen they still had to get through the day ahead of them.

"I still can't believe you're marrying my cousin," Al commented, frowning at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his own bow tie, while Scorpius waited for him to be done.

"We've been dating since we were sixteen, and I do believe you attempted to play a role in making that happen," Scorpius replied pointedly. "Besides, the only thing that Rose and I getting married is going to change is that now we'll live together. Well, and we'll have way more time to—"

"Stop!" Al hollered, childishly bringing his hands up to cover his ears and spinning to glare at Scorpius. "I do not want to know how that sentence ends."

"—spend together," Scorpius finished anyway, giving his friend a strange look. "Because I'll see Rose all the time, so she won't mind if I spend a bit more time with you…probably. What in Merlin's name did you think I was going to say?"

"Let's think about that, shall we?" Al responded sarcastically, lowering his hands. "Two newlyweds…now living together…more time together…what did you expect me to think?"

"And I repeat: Rose and I have been together for a few years now. I really do know better than to talk about anything remotely resembling our love life with you because—"

"No! Stop it!" Al's hands went back up to his ears.

"—of that." Scorpius finished with a roll of his eyes. "You know, it's times like this when your real maturity level comes out that I really pity Alice."

"No need to pity her," Al smirked now as he once again lowered his hands. "I can tell you firsthand that she's very happy living in sin with me—my gran, not so much. But me and Alice? We're good."

"Because it's not like that ring hasn't been burning a hole in your pocket for the past month," Scorpius retorted with a good-natured roll of his eyes. He took one last glance at himself in the mirror then glanced at his watch. "We really need to get going now. Rose will not hesitate to kill me if I'm late for my own wedding."

"No worries," Al said cheerfully, slinging an arm around Scorpius' shoulders as the pair exited the former's childhood bedroom. "My best man speech can very easily be turned into the most epic eulogy of all time."

"Oh Merlin help me…"

"I still can't believe you brought up the toad incident."

Several hours later, Al and Scorpius were standing side-by-side, leaning back against the long bar while observing the nearby dance floor. Al smirked but did not look away from the dancing.

"You should have known I would never forget the disaster caused by the unruffleable Malfoy heir's first adolescent crush," He replied. "Besides, I distinctly recall telling you I would be bringing it up at your wedding and not a day sooner."

"Jerk," Scorpius muttered, though there was no real heat to it, but rather a certain fondness for the dark-haired man beside him.

Al merely shrugged. "Hey, we made a pact to be best mates. I'm only upholding my end of the bargain."

Scorpius barely held in a snort of laughter at that. "I forgot about that…we did make a pact, didn't we?"

"It was a most brilliant plan," Al stated.

"The most diabolical of plans," Scorpius agreed solemnly. Then the two men finally looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing.

"We were ridiculous as eleven-year-olds, weren't we?" Scorpius questioned.

"Not as ridiculous as that premature separation anxiety we both had at the end of seventh year," Al replied. "And I still say that friendship pact was the best decision we ever made."

"Completely ignoring the fact that you really just used the term 'friendship pact,'" Scorpius said, "I suppose I agree with you. In fact, if I was inclined to mushiness, I'd even mention that we wouldn't be here today without that pact."

"I'll drink to that," Al stated, holding his glass out for Scorpius to tap his own against.

Each took a long sip and then stood there in silence for several moments longer.

"Do you know what, though?" Scorpius asked. "Your crazy plan probably was the best thing I ever agreed to. Just look where it got us…"

"Half-drunken reminiscences at your wedding?"

"A life-long friendship."

Al grinned. "I told you all those years ago: against the grain is the way to go. There might have been some obstacles along the way, but we made it through alright."

Scorpius grinned back. "Diabolical plan: complete."