The Manor (G)
Title: The Manor
Author: makoshark8
Prompt: (I would suggest that you view the prompt after reading the fic)
Summary: The Manor was Scorpius' problem... and now Rose's too, by extension, because she was marrying him.
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1400
A/N: Thanks to properyounglady for filling in as beta at the last moment for me, and also thanks to enchantedteapot for her feedback.
The Manor
"Alright, so we've decided on a spring wedding with three hundred guests. The colour scheme will be white, silver and gold. The wedding party will have..."
Scorpius listened to Rose as she rattled off the particulars that they had decided upon for their wedding. Or rather, that Rose had decided upon, before asking as an afterthought if Scorpius had any suggestions for the arrangements, all the while making it clear that anything Scorpius said would be taken into consideration as a suggestion and nothing more.
So Scorpius had simply agreed to everything that Rose had proposed - not that Scorpius had minded this lack of input. After his father had found out that he had proposed to Rose he had pulled Scorpius aside and told him: Son, a wedding isn't about celebrating the love of a couple. It's about the bride having the perfect fairytale wedding that she's been dreaming about since she was five years old. Just agree with everything she says and you'll be fine.
"… And finally the flowers will of course be roses," Rose declared triumphantly, putting down with a flourish the parchment on which she had recorded all the wedding particulars.
"Actually, Rose, there's one other thing I've been meaning to talk to you about," Scorpius mentioned, nervously.
"Oh?" Rose said, raising an eyebrow, and giving Scorpius a skeptical look, as though she thought he might suggest they have clowns at the wedding or something equally obscene.
"It's not about the wedding," Scorpius added hastily.
"What is it then, Scorpius?" Rose asked, morphing from Bridezilla back to caring girlfriend.
"Well, now that we're going to be getting married and everything we own will be shared... well, I thought that you should know that the Manor - Malfoy Manor - I own it."
"You - what?"
"I own Malfoy Manor," Scorpius slowly repeated, and there was a funny taste in his mouth as he said those words.
It was the first time he had ever said them aloud.
"You own Malfoy Manor?" Rose asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"But shouldn't it have passed on to your father?" Rose asked.
"By all rights it should have," Scorpius agreed, "but my grandfather, well, he was displeased with my father at the end of his life, and so he decided to will it to me."
It was Draco's raising of Scorpius which had caused Lucius' displeasure. Scorpius' parents had refused to allow their son to be indoctrinated with Lucius' fanatical pureblood beliefs, and that had been the cause of the rift between Draco and Lucius. What Lucius thought he would accomplish by willing the Manor to him - Scorpius was not sure. Perhaps Lucius had believed that while Draco was a lost cause, there was still hope that Scorpius might embrace his pureblood roots. Or perhaps willing the Manor to Scorpius over Draco had just been a petty act of revenge by a bitter old man.
Of course, the irony in all this was the fact that Scorpius' parents had been quite relieved when they had found out that they would not be inheriting the Manor. Even though he had only been ten at the time, Scorpius could clearly remember that the foremost worry on his parents' minds when his grandfather had died had been what they were going to do with the Manor. When his grandfather's solicitor had read the will and informed them that the Manor had been passed on to him, Scorpius had seen the look of relief on his parents' faces.
Scorpius wondered how his grandfather would feel if he knew that his beloved Manor had - instead of being considered a prize worth fighting for - been seen as an unwanted problem to be solved. For his parents, the fact that the Manor had been left to Scorpius meant that it was a problem they did not have to deal with.
No, the Manor was Scorpius' problem... and now Rose's too, by extension, because she was marrying him.
"The Manor has been in my possession for the last twelve years. I was content to ignore it up until now, but I think the time has finally come to deal with it," Scorpius told Rose.
"What do you want to do with it?" Rose asked.
"I... want to destroy it."
"Destroy it?" Rose gasped. "But it's a part of your family's heritage."
"Not exactly a heritage I want to remember," Scorpius murmured darkly.
"Not all of your ancestors were evil, Scorpius."
"The whole lot of them would probably be rolling in their graves right now, if they knew that I was marrying a halfblood," Scorpius pointed out.
"That makes them bigots, not evil. There is more to your heritage than just the Second Wizarding War, Scorpius."
"Is there?" he snapped. "Then why is it all that people judge me upon?"
"It's not what I judge you on," Rose said in an even voice, and she looked Scorpius in the eye as she said it.
"Why are you so insistent about this?" Scorpius asked in irritation. He had been nervous about discussing the Manor with Rose because he had expected it would make her uncomfortable and bring up bad memories, not because he had expected her to be against him destroying it.
"I just don't want you to do anything that you're going to later regret," Rose said softly. "What does your father think about all of this?" she asked.
"I think if it had been left to him, the Manor would have been destroyed twelve years ago," Scorpius stated bluntly. "He has bad memories of that place."
"And you, what are your memories of the Manor?"
"I've never been there," Scorpius admitted. His father had hated the Manor so much that he had refused to let his son or wife step foot in it. Visits with Scorpius' grandparents had all taken place at Scorpius' family home in London.
"Never been there? How can you be planning to destroy a place that you've never even seen?"
"That place is evil, Rose! I don't need to go there in order to know that! I've heard the stories about it..."
The Manor had always filled Scorpius with feelings of the deepest dread and foreboding. There was something not right with the place; Scorpius had known this even when he was a little boy, before he had learned the entire sordid history of the place. And after he had learned the history- after his father had told him about the cold stone walls, the shadowy hallways, the condescending portraits on the walls, the bloodstains in the basement - afterwards he had known that the place was evil.
"I've heard the stories too, Scorpius, but my mother has always told me that we shouldn't fear the past. The decision about what to do with the Manor is ultimately yours, but the one thing I will not allow you to do is tear down the Manor without even seeing it."
"And if, after seeing it, I decide that I want to keep the Manor, want us to live there and raise a family, would you be okay with that?" Scorpius challenged.
"I don't know, I haven't seen it yet..." Rose answered honestly. "But Scorpius, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe it was the people inside who were evil, and not the place? And that maybe, if the people were to change, the Manor could change too?"
~
The Manor was like Hogwarts - you could not apparate directly inside. Instead, you had to make the long walk up the drive, all the while the Manor loomed overhead.
Rose had suggested to him that places could change... Scorpius wondered if this was true. Scorpius had always thought to himself that he could be happy anywhere Rose was. She was so vibrant and full of life that to him rooms literally did light up when she arrived. Was it possible that she could change the Manor? Light up the place in the same way she had lit up his life? Make it as joyful and cheery as the Burrow? Could it be a place where they could raise a family together? Grow old together? Make new memories to replace the old ones?
Scorpius did not know the answers to any of these questions, but as he felt Rose's slim hand slip into his own as they began the long walk up the drive, he knew that he was finally ready to find out.
Please take a quick minute to rate this entry. The top three entries will receive an award. Please do not vote for your own submission.
Poll Please rate this submission from 1-5
Author: makoshark8
Prompt: (I would suggest that you view the prompt after reading the fic)
Summary: The Manor was Scorpius' problem... and now Rose's too, by extension, because she was marrying him.
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1400
A/N: Thanks to properyounglady for filling in as beta at the last moment for me, and also thanks to enchantedteapot for her feedback.
The Manor
"Alright, so we've decided on a spring wedding with three hundred guests. The colour scheme will be white, silver and gold. The wedding party will have..."
Scorpius listened to Rose as she rattled off the particulars that they had decided upon for their wedding. Or rather, that Rose had decided upon, before asking as an afterthought if Scorpius had any suggestions for the arrangements, all the while making it clear that anything Scorpius said would be taken into consideration as a suggestion and nothing more.
So Scorpius had simply agreed to everything that Rose had proposed - not that Scorpius had minded this lack of input. After his father had found out that he had proposed to Rose he had pulled Scorpius aside and told him: Son, a wedding isn't about celebrating the love of a couple. It's about the bride having the perfect fairytale wedding that she's been dreaming about since she was five years old. Just agree with everything she says and you'll be fine.
"… And finally the flowers will of course be roses," Rose declared triumphantly, putting down with a flourish the parchment on which she had recorded all the wedding particulars.
"Actually, Rose, there's one other thing I've been meaning to talk to you about," Scorpius mentioned, nervously.
"Oh?" Rose said, raising an eyebrow, and giving Scorpius a skeptical look, as though she thought he might suggest they have clowns at the wedding or something equally obscene.
"It's not about the wedding," Scorpius added hastily.
"What is it then, Scorpius?" Rose asked, morphing from Bridezilla back to caring girlfriend.
"Well, now that we're going to be getting married and everything we own will be shared... well, I thought that you should know that the Manor - Malfoy Manor - I own it."
"You - what?"
"I own Malfoy Manor," Scorpius slowly repeated, and there was a funny taste in his mouth as he said those words.
It was the first time he had ever said them aloud.
"You own Malfoy Manor?" Rose asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"But shouldn't it have passed on to your father?" Rose asked.
"By all rights it should have," Scorpius agreed, "but my grandfather, well, he was displeased with my father at the end of his life, and so he decided to will it to me."
It was Draco's raising of Scorpius which had caused Lucius' displeasure. Scorpius' parents had refused to allow their son to be indoctrinated with Lucius' fanatical pureblood beliefs, and that had been the cause of the rift between Draco and Lucius. What Lucius thought he would accomplish by willing the Manor to him - Scorpius was not sure. Perhaps Lucius had believed that while Draco was a lost cause, there was still hope that Scorpius might embrace his pureblood roots. Or perhaps willing the Manor to Scorpius over Draco had just been a petty act of revenge by a bitter old man.
Of course, the irony in all this was the fact that Scorpius' parents had been quite relieved when they had found out that they would not be inheriting the Manor. Even though he had only been ten at the time, Scorpius could clearly remember that the foremost worry on his parents' minds when his grandfather had died had been what they were going to do with the Manor. When his grandfather's solicitor had read the will and informed them that the Manor had been passed on to him, Scorpius had seen the look of relief on his parents' faces.
Scorpius wondered how his grandfather would feel if he knew that his beloved Manor had - instead of being considered a prize worth fighting for - been seen as an unwanted problem to be solved. For his parents, the fact that the Manor had been left to Scorpius meant that it was a problem they did not have to deal with.
No, the Manor was Scorpius' problem... and now Rose's too, by extension, because she was marrying him.
"The Manor has been in my possession for the last twelve years. I was content to ignore it up until now, but I think the time has finally come to deal with it," Scorpius told Rose.
"What do you want to do with it?" Rose asked.
"I... want to destroy it."
"Destroy it?" Rose gasped. "But it's a part of your family's heritage."
"Not exactly a heritage I want to remember," Scorpius murmured darkly.
"Not all of your ancestors were evil, Scorpius."
"The whole lot of them would probably be rolling in their graves right now, if they knew that I was marrying a halfblood," Scorpius pointed out.
"That makes them bigots, not evil. There is more to your heritage than just the Second Wizarding War, Scorpius."
"Is there?" he snapped. "Then why is it all that people judge me upon?"
"It's not what I judge you on," Rose said in an even voice, and she looked Scorpius in the eye as she said it.
"Why are you so insistent about this?" Scorpius asked in irritation. He had been nervous about discussing the Manor with Rose because he had expected it would make her uncomfortable and bring up bad memories, not because he had expected her to be against him destroying it.
"I just don't want you to do anything that you're going to later regret," Rose said softly. "What does your father think about all of this?" she asked.
"I think if it had been left to him, the Manor would have been destroyed twelve years ago," Scorpius stated bluntly. "He has bad memories of that place."
"And you, what are your memories of the Manor?"
"I've never been there," Scorpius admitted. His father had hated the Manor so much that he had refused to let his son or wife step foot in it. Visits with Scorpius' grandparents had all taken place at Scorpius' family home in London.
"Never been there? How can you be planning to destroy a place that you've never even seen?"
"That place is evil, Rose! I don't need to go there in order to know that! I've heard the stories about it..."
The Manor had always filled Scorpius with feelings of the deepest dread and foreboding. There was something not right with the place; Scorpius had known this even when he was a little boy, before he had learned the entire sordid history of the place. And after he had learned the history- after his father had told him about the cold stone walls, the shadowy hallways, the condescending portraits on the walls, the bloodstains in the basement - afterwards he had known that the place was evil.
"I've heard the stories too, Scorpius, but my mother has always told me that we shouldn't fear the past. The decision about what to do with the Manor is ultimately yours, but the one thing I will not allow you to do is tear down the Manor without even seeing it."
"And if, after seeing it, I decide that I want to keep the Manor, want us to live there and raise a family, would you be okay with that?" Scorpius challenged.
"I don't know, I haven't seen it yet..." Rose answered honestly. "But Scorpius, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe it was the people inside who were evil, and not the place? And that maybe, if the people were to change, the Manor could change too?"
~
The Manor was like Hogwarts - you could not apparate directly inside. Instead, you had to make the long walk up the drive, all the while the Manor loomed overhead.
Rose had suggested to him that places could change... Scorpius wondered if this was true. Scorpius had always thought to himself that he could be happy anywhere Rose was. She was so vibrant and full of life that to him rooms literally did light up when she arrived. Was it possible that she could change the Manor? Light up the place in the same way she had lit up his life? Make it as joyful and cheery as the Burrow? Could it be a place where they could raise a family together? Grow old together? Make new memories to replace the old ones?
Scorpius did not know the answers to any of these questions, but as he felt Rose's slim hand slip into his own as they began the long walk up the drive, he knew that he was finally ready to find out.
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Poll Please rate this submission from 1-5