The Skeleton Attends the Wedding (Fic, PG-13)
Title: The Skeleton Attends the Wedding
Author: mollywheezy
Prompt and Summary: 006. If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. - George Bernard Shaw
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~3500
A/N: Thank you to my beta!
"Sorry, I'm late, love." Rose kissed Scorpius quickly on the lips as she joined him at the table.
Scorpius pouted. "I don't believe that kiss atones for your lack of punctuality."
Rose rolled her eyes and whispered, "We're in public, Scorpius! I'll make it up to you later . . ."
Scorpius nodded, grinning. "I ordered your usual. I knew you'd be hungry."
"Thank you! I'm starving. Why don't we continue working on the guest list until the food arrives?"
"I'd prefer to wait until after we've eaten if you don't mind, Rose . . ."
"Why?"
""I need to discuss a matter concerning the list, and I just think it'd be better if we'd both eaten first."
"You're worrying me."
Scorpius picked at the edge of the tablecloth.
"Please tell me, Scorpius."
Scorpius sighed. "My grandfather wants to come to our wedding."
Rose snorted, "Well, of course, he does! Grandpa Greengrass is already on the list . . ." Rose shuffled through the papers she was holding and showed the list to Scorpius.
"My other grandfather, Rose."
"I don't understand. You mean his portrait wants to come? That'd be sort of different, but I'm sure we could make it work . . ."
Scorpius shook his head. "Not his portrait . . ."
"I didn't think your grandfather was a ghost . . ."
Scorpius took a deep breath, "My grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, is still alive."
"But what about the old newspapers we saw in History of Magic? What about the textbook that listed his date of death?"
"They were mistaken."
"And nobody bothered to correct them? Scorpius, my mum wrote the textbook!" Rose's voice grew loud enough for nearby patrons to stare.
"Rose, this is why I wanted to wait until after we'd eaten. Would you please let me explain?"
"Let you explain what, exactly? Why you've been lying to me for a decade?"
"I never lied to you, Rose."
Rose snorted. "We've been friends for ten years and together for three, yet you let me believe your grandfather was dead! You know both sets of my grandparents and have visited their homes. I've met Grandpa and Grandma Greengrass, and Grandmother Narcissa. Whether you said it explicitly or not, you still lied to me. Were you ever going to tell me?"
"I was going to tell you after we were married, but then Grandfather decided he wanted to attend the wedding . . ."
"HOW COULD YOU?!" At Rose's scream The Leaky Cauldron became silent. "You planned to deceive me! I don't know you at all!" Rose's voice broke, and she angrily swiped at a few tears before removing her engagement ring.
"Rose!" Scorpius' face turned white. "Stop! Please don't do this! Please let me explain!"
"Good-bye, Scorpius." Rose threw her engagement ring at him, and Apparated.
~*~
Ron scrubbed his hand over his face as he walked blindly to his office. After throwing his bag on his chair, he continued to the coffee pot in the Auror Department's kitchenette and filled the biggest mug he could find. Leaning against the countertop with his eyes closed, Ron took large gulps of coffee.
"Bad night, mate? Can't you sleep without Hermione?" Harry poured himself a cup of coffee.
Hearing Harry's amused voice, Ron opened his eyes. "It's not that," Ron muttered. "Rose broke off her engagement. She came home yesterday and sobbed on my shoulder for half the night."
Harry nearly choked. "What happened?"
"Scorpius dropped a bombshell on her. Grandfather Lucius is still alive and wants to come to their wedding." Ron took another gulp of coffee. "Actually, Harry, we need to go arrest the Malfoys. The old bastard was supposed to have died in Azkaban years ago. I don't know how they managed to keep his escape quiet all these years . . ."
"He didn't escape, Ron."
"What?
"Lucius Malfoy did not escape from Azkaban. At Narcissa's request, Kingsley let him out ten years after the war so he could die at home."
"He bloody well didn't die, though, did he? What about that article what's-his-name, that reporter, wrote saying he saw Malfoy's funeral?"
"Crompton McLane."
"Yeah! Who'd that McLane bloke see buried?"
"A peacock."
"They had a casket and a full funeral service for a peacock?"
"Apparently, the Malfoys are quite fond of their peacocks."
"Wait a minute . . ." Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry. "How do you know about this?"
Harry sighed, "Narcissa wrote me when the Healers thought Lucius only had weeks to live and requested house arrest so he could die at home with her. I arranged it with Kingsley."
Ron's coffee cup shattered on the floor. "Merlin's balls, Harry!"
"Ron, would you keep your voice down?" Harry cleaned up the mess with a swish of his wand.
"I bloody well won't keep my voice down! Hermione was tortured at Malfoy Manor, and he did nothing! We all came close to bloody dying at Malfoy Manor! Dobby did die!"
"And without Narcissa's lying to Voldemort's face, I would have died, and we may not have been able to finish him off."
"OK, so you thought you owed Narcissa a favor. Fine. Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "I wanted to tell you, Ron, but I promised Ginny I would never again tell you and Hermione something I wouldn't tell her, and this all happened when Ginny was pregnant with Lily . . ."
"I get it, mate. Self-preservation."
Harry snorted. "Yeah. There's a good reason we stopped with Lily. I couldn't go through that again."
"How many times did you end up in St. Mungo's, twelve?"
"Only four. Either Hermione or Mum sorted me out the other times." Harry took a sip of coffee. "So you forgive me for not telling you?"
"Course." Ron poured himself a new cup of coffee. "Ginny hexed you once for breathing too loudly. Who knows what she'd have done for Lucius Malfoy being out of Azkaban. I wouldn't have risked it either."
Harry nodded. "I'm sorry about Rose. I would have said something if I'd any idea."
"I know, mate."
"I guess, at least you won't be in-lawed to Draco?"
"I'd put up with the tosser to make Rosie happy. Draco and I get along OK now if we have enough Ogden's."
Harry snorted. "Well, maybe Scorpius and Rose will patch things up."
"Maybe."
~*~
Hugo heard knocking at the front door, and opened it. "What the bloody hell do you want?"
"Hello, Hugo. I would like to speak to your father, please."
"Bugger off!" Hugo began closing the door, but Scorpius managed to put an arm and a leg in the way. Hugo continued trying to close the door with Scorpius' arm and leg still there. Scorpius grunted in pain. "Get out of the way!" Hugo growled.
"No! Please!"
"Let him in, Hugo. If you kill him, I'd have to arrest you, and I'd never hear the end of it from your mum when she gets back from her conference."
Hugo quit pushing on the door, swinging it open so quickly that Scorpius barely prevented himself from falling into the foyer.
"Thank you, Mr Weasley, sir," Scorpius gasped.
"I wouldn't thank me, yet. I didn't say I wouldn't kill you myself." Ron gave Scorpius his most menacing glare.
"He's not worth the paperwork, Dad."
Scorpius looked warily between Ron and Hugo. "May I talk to you alone, sir?"
Ron gestured to his study. Hugo made a rude hand gesture at Scorpius and stalked off down the corridor.
Scorpius entered the study ahead of Ron, and Ron closed the door behind them.
"I brought you some Firewhisky, sir."
Ron accepted the proffered bottle grudgingly. Seeing the label, "Ogden's Finest Gentlewizard's Firewhisky" he raised his eyebrows, and put the bottle on his desk.
"So talk." Ron crossed his arms over his chest, still glaring at his former son-in-law-to-be.
"Rose won't see me, she won't speak to me . . ." Scorpius' voice cracked.
Ron snarled, "My daughter is not here. Rose has her own flat as you very well know . . ."
"She's changed the wards so I can't get through, she's locked her Floo and ignored my Patroni and owls. I even had my mum owl Rose, and that letter was returned unopened, too."
"What do you expect me to do about it?"
"If you would please just give her a letter from me, and get her to read it . . ."
"Why should I help you?"
Scorpius had visible tears on his face. "There's no reason in the world why you should help me, Mr Weasley, but since Rose threw her engagement ring at me, I have nothing left to lose. Rose is the only woman I've ever loved, and now I've buggered things up. Rose told me stories about you and Mrs Weasley, so I thought you might understand what it's like to fall so stupidly in love with your best friend you can't think straight. But what am I saying? You helped bring down Voldemort. You've probably never even done anything wrongbefore, and you certainly would never have done anything to hurt Mrs Weasley . . ."
Ron uncrossed his arms and said in a much kinder voice, "Do you have the letter you want me to give Rose?"
"You mean you'll help me?" Scorpius removed a letter from the inside pocket of his robes and handed it to Ron. "It's, er, a bit crumpled from the door." Scorpius shrugged. "Thank you very much, Mr Weasley!"
Ron sighed. "I'm not promising anything, Scorpius. Rosie's really upset, but I'll give her the letter and ask her to read it."
"Thank you, sir." Scorpius shook Ron's hand vigorously.
~*~
Ron barely made a pop as he Apparated at the door to Rose's flat. He had learned the hard way not to Apparate directly inside. Ron had never wished more fervently for someone to Obliviate him.
Shortly after Ron knocked, a bleary-eyed, blotchy faced Rose answered the door. Not bothering with any formal greeting, Ron pulled his daughter into his arms.
Rose pulled away after a few minutes. "Tea?"
"I was thinking Ogden's, actually." Ron winked.
"I think I'm out . . ."
"And I didn't bring any, so tea it is, then."
After they were settled at the table with steaming cups of tea, Ron said, "Rosie-sweetie, I need to tell you something important. You know I am nowhere near as good with words as your mum, so please hear me out."
Rose nodded.
"Men are stupid."
Rose burst out laughing. She laughed until tears leaked from her eyes. "Oh Dad, I really needed a good laugh," Rose gasped.
"I'm serious!"
"Are you including yourself in this pronouncement?" Rose giggled.
"Definitely, yes."
Rose quit laughing. "You're really being serious, aren't you?"
"Yes, I bloody well am!"
"OK. I'm sorry, Dad. I'm listening. So men are stupid . . ." Rose gestured for Ron to continue.
"Men are stupid especially when it comes to the women we love. When your mum, Uncle Harry, and I were hunting for the horcruxes, I abandoned them."
"What are you talking about? The three of you brought down Voldemort and spent months in a tent searching . . ."
"I left. Uncle Harry and I had an argument, and I stormed out. Your mum ran after me calling for me to come back, but I ignored her and Disapparated. I went to stay with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and was gone for over a month. With my permission Uncle Harry told Aunt Ginny, but until today, only six people knew how stupid I was. But your mum forgave me. She's even protected me all these years by glossing over parts of the story so nobody would know I wasn't there for the entire time."
"But you didn't plan to hurt Mum. You got angry at Uncle Harry, left, and couldn't get back for awhile, right? You and Mum both have bad tempers, and so do Hugo and I, but that's not the same as Scorpius' planning not to tell me information he knew would be hurtful. I've heard all about his grandfather . . ."
"That's true," Ron sighed, "but I have hurt your mum on purpose before. In our sixth year."
"What happened?"
"She sort of invited me to a party, and I sort of agreed to go, then I got mad for a really stupid reason and snogged another girl in front of your mum."
"Dad!"
"I know I was a complete arse, but your mum forgave me then, too."
Rose didn't respond.
"Sweetie, I'm not telling you to forgive Scorpius. Merlin knows I still can't believe your mum forgave me. But I'm thankful she did, and I don't think she regrets it either, especially since it eventually led to such wonderful children."
Rose snorted.
"You've loved Scorpius for a long time and you were friends for even longer before that. I am completely on your side and will support you in whatever you decide to do. I just don't want you to have any regrets. Maybe at least hear him out?" Ron handed the letter to Rose.
Taking the letter, Rose said, "I thought you didn't like Scorpius?"
"Honestly, I didn't want to like Scorpius because he's a Malfoy, but I can't help it. He's a good bloke, and he's obviously crazy about my little girl."
Rose smiled and hugged Ron. "Thanks, Daddy. I actually already regret throwing my engagement ring at Scorpius, anyway."
"Well, at least you didn't set a flock of mental canaries on him." Ron shuddered at the memory.
"What?"
"Never mind."
~*~
After Ron left, Rose tore open the envelope from Scorpius. She expected a long letter explaining everything. She received a brief note pleading she contact him. Rose's curiosity was getting the better of her, and she did miss Scorpius, so she sent him her Patronus.
Rose had barely finished cancelling the spells to prevent Scorpius' Apparating into her flat, when he arrived with a pop.
"Rose! I'm so sorry!" Scorpius threw his arms around Rose and tried to kiss her, but Rose pushed him away.
"I agreed to listen to you, Scorpius, not snog you. Talk."
Scorpius nodded once. "Well, you know I grew up in Argentina, but it wasn't really my parents' choice. After The Second Voldemort War, your Uncle Harry kept my grandmother and my dad out of Azkaban with his testimony."
Rose interrupted, "I know that, already."
"What you don't know is that Grandmother and Dad had the choice of house arrest or exile. Grandmother chose house arrest so she could remain in the country and visit Grandfather in Azkaban on the rare occasions visits were allowed. Dad went to Argentina where he found a job and met my mum. Her family left England before the War so she finished her schooling in Argentina."
"So your dad couldn't see his parents at all?"
"No, not for five years until the exile and house arrest were lifted. He came back to England as soon as he was allowed and married my mum. They had waited so grandmother could be there for the wedding."
"But your parents didn't move back to England?"
"No. They stayed in Argentina because of their jobs and home. They came back for visits fairly often and Grandmother visited us, too."
"So your grandfather?"
"I don't actually remember this, but my parents told me. When I was about two, Healers said my grandfather only had weeks to live, and Grandmother arranged for him to come home to die. He wanted to see me, so my parents planned a visit to England. They thought it would be the last time they saw Grandfather and the only time he'd see me, but he got better."
"So why didn't he go back to Azkaban to finish his sentence?"
Scorpius frowned. "I don't know, but I certainly couldn't wish that horrible place on him."
"I didn't suggest you wanted him there! I was just surprised the Ministry didn't make him!" Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "And none of this explains why you never told me."
Scorpius sighed. "Living in Argentina, I only saw Grandfather once or twice each year. I saw Grandmother a little more frequently since she visited us as well. When I was about to start at Hogwarts, my parents moved back to England, but then I only saw my grandparents on school holidays . . ."
"Frequency of visitation is not relevant to your never telling me your grandfather is alive. Especially when we studied The War in History of Magic, it might have been a good time to mention it."
"Before I started at Hogwarts, Dad actually told me not to mention Grandfather. He didn't go into detail, but he told me other students may have heard things about our family. On the train I made friends who didn't care about my family's past, and I didn't really think about it after that. Grandfather was never explicitly mentioned in class, and neither you nor our other friends ever brought him up, although I do remember you asking about Dad's having been a Death Eater."
"So this is my fault for never having asked?" Rose huffed.
"No!" Scorpius ran his hands through his hair, making bits stand on end. "I see Grandfather a few times a year. We fly around the grounds together, and he shows off his peacocks. We get along well, but he's not a huge part of my life. Honestly, I think my parents purposely kept their distance with me to make sure Grandfather would not have loads of influence on me. I don't know. It just didn't even occur to me to bring him up until I proposed. Grandfather said he wanted to come, and Grandmother suggested that it might not be prudent to tell you until after the wedding. I knew waiting until after the wedding was a bad idea, but once Grandmother put the idea of possibly losing you in my head, I was afraid. I couldn't imagine my life without you. But I didn't tell you soon enough, and now I've gone and lost you anyway . . ." Scorpius' voice cracked, and he swallowed hard, looking down.
"You haven't lost me," Rose whispered.
Scorpius looked up quickly. "Really?" He tentatively reached a hand out towards Rose.
"Really." Rose took his hand and pulled him into a hug. "I've missed you, Scorpius. I've been miserable the last several days, and Dad made me realize I would deeply regret not marrying you."
"I'll have to buy your Dad some more Ogden's."
Rose laughed, hugging Scorpius tightly. When she stopped laughing, Scorpius kissed her.
"So you'll snog me now, hmm?"
Rose giggled. "Yes, I suppose I will, but if you get a big head, I might just change my mind." Rose winked.
"We can't have that. You'll need this back." Scorpius reached into his pocket and removed Rose's engagement ring.
Rose held out her hand. "I promise I won't throw it at you again."
Slipping the ring onto Rose's finger, Scorpius said, "Maybe we should include that in our wedding vows? You promise not to throw things at me, I promise not to be a stupid prat and keep things from you . . ."
Rose giggled, "I think the traditional vows will suffice. We just need to figure out the logistics of having someone on house arrest at our wedding."
"We can figure that out later. I have better plans for now . . ."
~*~
As Ron twirled Rose around the dance floor, she looked at the surroundings. "This looks wonderful. Nobody would ever know we aren't actually in the garden at The Burrow."
"Well, the charm work was all Mum. She's still the smartest witch of our age."
"Maybe, but it was your idea."
"Anything for you, Rosie."
"Thank you, Dad. I know you really mean that. This can't be easy for you . . . being here."
Ron shrugged. "Lucius has behaved far better than I expected. Must have gone soft in his old age."
Rose giggled."I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Sweetie."
When the song ended, Ron escorted Rose to the table where both of them took large swigs of their drinks.
Scorpius said, "If you're up to it, love, I would like to have another dance with my wife."
"Of course . . . husband." Rose beamed.
"Mr Weasley, if you'd excuse us?"
"Scorpius, you're my son-in-law, well, my son, now. You can call me Ron, or even Dad, if you like."
"Thanks, Dad." Scorpius shook Ron's hand.
As Rose and Scorpius were dancing, Scorpius turned her, whispering in her ear, "Look!"
Rose laughed in delight. "Grandfather Lucius and Grandmother Narcissa are quite the dancers, aren't they?"
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Poll The Skeleton Attends the Wedding
Author: mollywheezy
Prompt and Summary: 006. If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. - George Bernard Shaw
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: ~3500
A/N: Thank you to my beta!
"Sorry, I'm late, love." Rose kissed Scorpius quickly on the lips as she joined him at the table.
Scorpius pouted. "I don't believe that kiss atones for your lack of punctuality."
Rose rolled her eyes and whispered, "We're in public, Scorpius! I'll make it up to you later . . ."
Scorpius nodded, grinning. "I ordered your usual. I knew you'd be hungry."
"Thank you! I'm starving. Why don't we continue working on the guest list until the food arrives?"
"I'd prefer to wait until after we've eaten if you don't mind, Rose . . ."
"Why?"
""I need to discuss a matter concerning the list, and I just think it'd be better if we'd both eaten first."
"You're worrying me."
Scorpius picked at the edge of the tablecloth.
"Please tell me, Scorpius."
Scorpius sighed. "My grandfather wants to come to our wedding."
Rose snorted, "Well, of course, he does! Grandpa Greengrass is already on the list . . ." Rose shuffled through the papers she was holding and showed the list to Scorpius.
"My other grandfather, Rose."
"I don't understand. You mean his portrait wants to come? That'd be sort of different, but I'm sure we could make it work . . ."
Scorpius shook his head. "Not his portrait . . ."
"I didn't think your grandfather was a ghost . . ."
Scorpius took a deep breath, "My grandfather, Lucius Malfoy, is still alive."
"But what about the old newspapers we saw in History of Magic? What about the textbook that listed his date of death?"
"They were mistaken."
"And nobody bothered to correct them? Scorpius, my mum wrote the textbook!" Rose's voice grew loud enough for nearby patrons to stare.
"Rose, this is why I wanted to wait until after we'd eaten. Would you please let me explain?"
"Let you explain what, exactly? Why you've been lying to me for a decade?"
"I never lied to you, Rose."
Rose snorted. "We've been friends for ten years and together for three, yet you let me believe your grandfather was dead! You know both sets of my grandparents and have visited their homes. I've met Grandpa and Grandma Greengrass, and Grandmother Narcissa. Whether you said it explicitly or not, you still lied to me. Were you ever going to tell me?"
"I was going to tell you after we were married, but then Grandfather decided he wanted to attend the wedding . . ."
"HOW COULD YOU?!" At Rose's scream The Leaky Cauldron became silent. "You planned to deceive me! I don't know you at all!" Rose's voice broke, and she angrily swiped at a few tears before removing her engagement ring.
"Rose!" Scorpius' face turned white. "Stop! Please don't do this! Please let me explain!"
"Good-bye, Scorpius." Rose threw her engagement ring at him, and Apparated.
~*~
Ron scrubbed his hand over his face as he walked blindly to his office. After throwing his bag on his chair, he continued to the coffee pot in the Auror Department's kitchenette and filled the biggest mug he could find. Leaning against the countertop with his eyes closed, Ron took large gulps of coffee.
"Bad night, mate? Can't you sleep without Hermione?" Harry poured himself a cup of coffee.
Hearing Harry's amused voice, Ron opened his eyes. "It's not that," Ron muttered. "Rose broke off her engagement. She came home yesterday and sobbed on my shoulder for half the night."
Harry nearly choked. "What happened?"
"Scorpius dropped a bombshell on her. Grandfather Lucius is still alive and wants to come to their wedding." Ron took another gulp of coffee. "Actually, Harry, we need to go arrest the Malfoys. The old bastard was supposed to have died in Azkaban years ago. I don't know how they managed to keep his escape quiet all these years . . ."
"He didn't escape, Ron."
"What?
"Lucius Malfoy did not escape from Azkaban. At Narcissa's request, Kingsley let him out ten years after the war so he could die at home."
"He bloody well didn't die, though, did he? What about that article what's-his-name, that reporter, wrote saying he saw Malfoy's funeral?"
"Crompton McLane."
"Yeah! Who'd that McLane bloke see buried?"
"A peacock."
"They had a casket and a full funeral service for a peacock?"
"Apparently, the Malfoys are quite fond of their peacocks."
"Wait a minute . . ." Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry. "How do you know about this?"
Harry sighed, "Narcissa wrote me when the Healers thought Lucius only had weeks to live and requested house arrest so he could die at home with her. I arranged it with Kingsley."
Ron's coffee cup shattered on the floor. "Merlin's balls, Harry!"
"Ron, would you keep your voice down?" Harry cleaned up the mess with a swish of his wand.
"I bloody well won't keep my voice down! Hermione was tortured at Malfoy Manor, and he did nothing! We all came close to bloody dying at Malfoy Manor! Dobby did die!"
"And without Narcissa's lying to Voldemort's face, I would have died, and we may not have been able to finish him off."
"OK, so you thought you owed Narcissa a favor. Fine. Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "I wanted to tell you, Ron, but I promised Ginny I would never again tell you and Hermione something I wouldn't tell her, and this all happened when Ginny was pregnant with Lily . . ."
"I get it, mate. Self-preservation."
Harry snorted. "Yeah. There's a good reason we stopped with Lily. I couldn't go through that again."
"How many times did you end up in St. Mungo's, twelve?"
"Only four. Either Hermione or Mum sorted me out the other times." Harry took a sip of coffee. "So you forgive me for not telling you?"
"Course." Ron poured himself a new cup of coffee. "Ginny hexed you once for breathing too loudly. Who knows what she'd have done for Lucius Malfoy being out of Azkaban. I wouldn't have risked it either."
Harry nodded. "I'm sorry about Rose. I would have said something if I'd any idea."
"I know, mate."
"I guess, at least you won't be in-lawed to Draco?"
"I'd put up with the tosser to make Rosie happy. Draco and I get along OK now if we have enough Ogden's."
Harry snorted. "Well, maybe Scorpius and Rose will patch things up."
"Maybe."
~*~
Hugo heard knocking at the front door, and opened it. "What the bloody hell do you want?"
"Hello, Hugo. I would like to speak to your father, please."
"Bugger off!" Hugo began closing the door, but Scorpius managed to put an arm and a leg in the way. Hugo continued trying to close the door with Scorpius' arm and leg still there. Scorpius grunted in pain. "Get out of the way!" Hugo growled.
"No! Please!"
"Let him in, Hugo. If you kill him, I'd have to arrest you, and I'd never hear the end of it from your mum when she gets back from her conference."
Hugo quit pushing on the door, swinging it open so quickly that Scorpius barely prevented himself from falling into the foyer.
"Thank you, Mr Weasley, sir," Scorpius gasped.
"I wouldn't thank me, yet. I didn't say I wouldn't kill you myself." Ron gave Scorpius his most menacing glare.
"He's not worth the paperwork, Dad."
Scorpius looked warily between Ron and Hugo. "May I talk to you alone, sir?"
Ron gestured to his study. Hugo made a rude hand gesture at Scorpius and stalked off down the corridor.
Scorpius entered the study ahead of Ron, and Ron closed the door behind them.
"I brought you some Firewhisky, sir."
Ron accepted the proffered bottle grudgingly. Seeing the label, "Ogden's Finest Gentlewizard's Firewhisky" he raised his eyebrows, and put the bottle on his desk.
"So talk." Ron crossed his arms over his chest, still glaring at his former son-in-law-to-be.
"Rose won't see me, she won't speak to me . . ." Scorpius' voice cracked.
Ron snarled, "My daughter is not here. Rose has her own flat as you very well know . . ."
"She's changed the wards so I can't get through, she's locked her Floo and ignored my Patroni and owls. I even had my mum owl Rose, and that letter was returned unopened, too."
"What do you expect me to do about it?"
"If you would please just give her a letter from me, and get her to read it . . ."
"Why should I help you?"
Scorpius had visible tears on his face. "There's no reason in the world why you should help me, Mr Weasley, but since Rose threw her engagement ring at me, I have nothing left to lose. Rose is the only woman I've ever loved, and now I've buggered things up. Rose told me stories about you and Mrs Weasley, so I thought you might understand what it's like to fall so stupidly in love with your best friend you can't think straight. But what am I saying? You helped bring down Voldemort. You've probably never even done anything wrongbefore, and you certainly would never have done anything to hurt Mrs Weasley . . ."
Ron uncrossed his arms and said in a much kinder voice, "Do you have the letter you want me to give Rose?"
"You mean you'll help me?" Scorpius removed a letter from the inside pocket of his robes and handed it to Ron. "It's, er, a bit crumpled from the door." Scorpius shrugged. "Thank you very much, Mr Weasley!"
Ron sighed. "I'm not promising anything, Scorpius. Rosie's really upset, but I'll give her the letter and ask her to read it."
"Thank you, sir." Scorpius shook Ron's hand vigorously.
~*~
Ron barely made a pop as he Apparated at the door to Rose's flat. He had learned the hard way not to Apparate directly inside. Ron had never wished more fervently for someone to Obliviate him.
Shortly after Ron knocked, a bleary-eyed, blotchy faced Rose answered the door. Not bothering with any formal greeting, Ron pulled his daughter into his arms.
Rose pulled away after a few minutes. "Tea?"
"I was thinking Ogden's, actually." Ron winked.
"I think I'm out . . ."
"And I didn't bring any, so tea it is, then."
After they were settled at the table with steaming cups of tea, Ron said, "Rosie-sweetie, I need to tell you something important. You know I am nowhere near as good with words as your mum, so please hear me out."
Rose nodded.
"Men are stupid."
Rose burst out laughing. She laughed until tears leaked from her eyes. "Oh Dad, I really needed a good laugh," Rose gasped.
"I'm serious!"
"Are you including yourself in this pronouncement?" Rose giggled.
"Definitely, yes."
Rose quit laughing. "You're really being serious, aren't you?"
"Yes, I bloody well am!"
"OK. I'm sorry, Dad. I'm listening. So men are stupid . . ." Rose gestured for Ron to continue.
"Men are stupid especially when it comes to the women we love. When your mum, Uncle Harry, and I were hunting for the horcruxes, I abandoned them."
"What are you talking about? The three of you brought down Voldemort and spent months in a tent searching . . ."
"I left. Uncle Harry and I had an argument, and I stormed out. Your mum ran after me calling for me to come back, but I ignored her and Disapparated. I went to stay with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and was gone for over a month. With my permission Uncle Harry told Aunt Ginny, but until today, only six people knew how stupid I was. But your mum forgave me. She's even protected me all these years by glossing over parts of the story so nobody would know I wasn't there for the entire time."
"But you didn't plan to hurt Mum. You got angry at Uncle Harry, left, and couldn't get back for awhile, right? You and Mum both have bad tempers, and so do Hugo and I, but that's not the same as Scorpius' planning not to tell me information he knew would be hurtful. I've heard all about his grandfather . . ."
"That's true," Ron sighed, "but I have hurt your mum on purpose before. In our sixth year."
"What happened?"
"She sort of invited me to a party, and I sort of agreed to go, then I got mad for a really stupid reason and snogged another girl in front of your mum."
"Dad!"
"I know I was a complete arse, but your mum forgave me then, too."
Rose didn't respond.
"Sweetie, I'm not telling you to forgive Scorpius. Merlin knows I still can't believe your mum forgave me. But I'm thankful she did, and I don't think she regrets it either, especially since it eventually led to such wonderful children."
Rose snorted.
"You've loved Scorpius for a long time and you were friends for even longer before that. I am completely on your side and will support you in whatever you decide to do. I just don't want you to have any regrets. Maybe at least hear him out?" Ron handed the letter to Rose.
Taking the letter, Rose said, "I thought you didn't like Scorpius?"
"Honestly, I didn't want to like Scorpius because he's a Malfoy, but I can't help it. He's a good bloke, and he's obviously crazy about my little girl."
Rose smiled and hugged Ron. "Thanks, Daddy. I actually already regret throwing my engagement ring at Scorpius, anyway."
"Well, at least you didn't set a flock of mental canaries on him." Ron shuddered at the memory.
"What?"
"Never mind."
~*~
After Ron left, Rose tore open the envelope from Scorpius. She expected a long letter explaining everything. She received a brief note pleading she contact him. Rose's curiosity was getting the better of her, and she did miss Scorpius, so she sent him her Patronus.
Rose had barely finished cancelling the spells to prevent Scorpius' Apparating into her flat, when he arrived with a pop.
"Rose! I'm so sorry!" Scorpius threw his arms around Rose and tried to kiss her, but Rose pushed him away.
"I agreed to listen to you, Scorpius, not snog you. Talk."
Scorpius nodded once. "Well, you know I grew up in Argentina, but it wasn't really my parents' choice. After The Second Voldemort War, your Uncle Harry kept my grandmother and my dad out of Azkaban with his testimony."
Rose interrupted, "I know that, already."
"What you don't know is that Grandmother and Dad had the choice of house arrest or exile. Grandmother chose house arrest so she could remain in the country and visit Grandfather in Azkaban on the rare occasions visits were allowed. Dad went to Argentina where he found a job and met my mum. Her family left England before the War so she finished her schooling in Argentina."
"So your dad couldn't see his parents at all?"
"No, not for five years until the exile and house arrest were lifted. He came back to England as soon as he was allowed and married my mum. They had waited so grandmother could be there for the wedding."
"But your parents didn't move back to England?"
"No. They stayed in Argentina because of their jobs and home. They came back for visits fairly often and Grandmother visited us, too."
"So your grandfather?"
"I don't actually remember this, but my parents told me. When I was about two, Healers said my grandfather only had weeks to live, and Grandmother arranged for him to come home to die. He wanted to see me, so my parents planned a visit to England. They thought it would be the last time they saw Grandfather and the only time he'd see me, but he got better."
"So why didn't he go back to Azkaban to finish his sentence?"
Scorpius frowned. "I don't know, but I certainly couldn't wish that horrible place on him."
"I didn't suggest you wanted him there! I was just surprised the Ministry didn't make him!" Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "And none of this explains why you never told me."
Scorpius sighed. "Living in Argentina, I only saw Grandfather once or twice each year. I saw Grandmother a little more frequently since she visited us as well. When I was about to start at Hogwarts, my parents moved back to England, but then I only saw my grandparents on school holidays . . ."
"Frequency of visitation is not relevant to your never telling me your grandfather is alive. Especially when we studied The War in History of Magic, it might have been a good time to mention it."
"Before I started at Hogwarts, Dad actually told me not to mention Grandfather. He didn't go into detail, but he told me other students may have heard things about our family. On the train I made friends who didn't care about my family's past, and I didn't really think about it after that. Grandfather was never explicitly mentioned in class, and neither you nor our other friends ever brought him up, although I do remember you asking about Dad's having been a Death Eater."
"So this is my fault for never having asked?" Rose huffed.
"No!" Scorpius ran his hands through his hair, making bits stand on end. "I see Grandfather a few times a year. We fly around the grounds together, and he shows off his peacocks. We get along well, but he's not a huge part of my life. Honestly, I think my parents purposely kept their distance with me to make sure Grandfather would not have loads of influence on me. I don't know. It just didn't even occur to me to bring him up until I proposed. Grandfather said he wanted to come, and Grandmother suggested that it might not be prudent to tell you until after the wedding. I knew waiting until after the wedding was a bad idea, but once Grandmother put the idea of possibly losing you in my head, I was afraid. I couldn't imagine my life without you. But I didn't tell you soon enough, and now I've gone and lost you anyway . . ." Scorpius' voice cracked, and he swallowed hard, looking down.
"You haven't lost me," Rose whispered.
Scorpius looked up quickly. "Really?" He tentatively reached a hand out towards Rose.
"Really." Rose took his hand and pulled him into a hug. "I've missed you, Scorpius. I've been miserable the last several days, and Dad made me realize I would deeply regret not marrying you."
"I'll have to buy your Dad some more Ogden's."
Rose laughed, hugging Scorpius tightly. When she stopped laughing, Scorpius kissed her.
"So you'll snog me now, hmm?"
Rose giggled. "Yes, I suppose I will, but if you get a big head, I might just change my mind." Rose winked.
"We can't have that. You'll need this back." Scorpius reached into his pocket and removed Rose's engagement ring.
Rose held out her hand. "I promise I won't throw it at you again."
Slipping the ring onto Rose's finger, Scorpius said, "Maybe we should include that in our wedding vows? You promise not to throw things at me, I promise not to be a stupid prat and keep things from you . . ."
Rose giggled, "I think the traditional vows will suffice. We just need to figure out the logistics of having someone on house arrest at our wedding."
"We can figure that out later. I have better plans for now . . ."
~*~
As Ron twirled Rose around the dance floor, she looked at the surroundings. "This looks wonderful. Nobody would ever know we aren't actually in the garden at The Burrow."
"Well, the charm work was all Mum. She's still the smartest witch of our age."
"Maybe, but it was your idea."
"Anything for you, Rosie."
"Thank you, Dad. I know you really mean that. This can't be easy for you . . . being here."
Ron shrugged. "Lucius has behaved far better than I expected. Must have gone soft in his old age."
Rose giggled."I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Sweetie."
When the song ended, Ron escorted Rose to the table where both of them took large swigs of their drinks.
Scorpius said, "If you're up to it, love, I would like to have another dance with my wife."
"Of course . . . husband." Rose beamed.
"Mr Weasley, if you'd excuse us?"
"Scorpius, you're my son-in-law, well, my son, now. You can call me Ron, or even Dad, if you like."
"Thanks, Dad." Scorpius shook Ron's hand.
As Rose and Scorpius were dancing, Scorpius turned her, whispering in her ear, "Look!"
Rose laughed in delight. "Grandfather Lucius and Grandmother Narcissa are quite the dancers, aren't they?"
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