Fic: All Grown Up, Chapter 13 (Harry Potter, James / Scorpius, Charlie / Draco)
Title: All Grown Up, Chapter 13
Author: Finnishsphinx
Pairing: James Potter / Scorpius Malfoy,
Charlie Weasley / Draco Malfoy
Rating: PG (for this chapter)
Summary: James is coming home after spending four years abroad. His little brother has grown up, but so has his brother’s best friend.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be mine, etc.
Warnings: None
Notes: My first HP story. I’ve read the books in my own language (and a lot of the phrases and some names had been translated), and now writing in English, so I’m trying to check them while writing. If I mess up with them, go ahead and tell me, I appreciate it.
More Notes: For the sake of this fic, I stretched the age gap between James and Albus to five years.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Interlude Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
“They should be ready soon.” Ginny assured. “You want some coffee?”
“I better not.” Harry said, but followed her into the kitchen. “There’s a small reception at the Manor after the ceremonies.”
“Yes, but you’re there working, not socializing.”
“Actually…”
Ginny turned to take a better look at her ex-husband. Harry wasn’t dressed in his Auror-robes, instead he was in his black dress-robes.
“The ministry heard my kids were invited, so they thought it would be less conspicuous if I attended as a quest. They’re still worried another members of the JFOP might target the funeral.”
“How did you get Malfoy to play along?”
“I didn’t, Charlie persuaded him.”
“Charlie? I didn’t even know they knew each other that well.”
“Me neither.” Harry shrugged. He took a clean mug from the cupboard and poured himself some coffee from the pot. “Remember how you used to talk about parent`s heightened instincts when the kids were small? How parents can smell that something is going on?”
“Sure.”
“I think my instincts are tingling.” He took another large gulp from his mug. “Ever since that attack at the Manor, those two have been acting weird.”
“I don’t know, I haven’t really seen too much of them.”
“That’s what I mean. Charlie’s spent most nights away from the Burrow, your mom’s getting suspicious. She said she hasn’t worried about him so much ever since he had that close call at the Sanctuary, with that Samoan rarity.”
“Maybe he has a bloke stashed somewhere.”
“In the Malfoy Manor?” Harry suggested. “He’s been there every time I’ve had to go there. And James too.”
“Well, we all know why James is there.”
“Yeah, he’s there to support Scorpius, but can you come up with any possible explanation why Charlie would hang around there? Or why the Malfoys would let him?”
“Maybe…” Ginny picked up the knife she had been using before the interruption and continued chopping vegetables. “Maybe he’s trying to pump some more money out of Malfoy for the Dragon Sanctuary.”
“Grieving or not, I don’t think Malfoy would let anyone fool money from him. And then there’s James.” Harry said thoughtfully. “Every time they thought I wasn’t looking they kept whispering like they had some secret I had no idea about.”
“Maybe they’re…” Ginny’s eyes went wide with horror as an idea hit her in the head. “No, no, no, no-”
“Ginny, calm down-”
“I will not calm down!”
“Then at least put the knife down!”
“Knife?” She glanced down at the knife in her hand. “Sorry, I forgot I had it.”
“We’re both screaming and you’re fiddling with a big knife. Just like when we were married.” Harry took the knife from her and placed it safely on the kitchen counter. “Now calm down and tell me what you were thinking.”
“Charlie. When was the last time he brought a bloke home for mom’s inspection?”
“Never.”
“And I know you read about James’s love life in Italy.”
“It was too hard to avoid-”
“And Scorpius is in a vulnerable state, or at least as vulnerable as a Malfoy can be.”
“I still have no idea what you mean.”
“James is there comforting him, so what if…?” Her face was contorted into a disgusted grimace, very much the same way it had done during the last year of their marriage. “What if Charlie went there to… help him with the comforting?” The way she said the last word made it clear what kind of comfort she meant.
“Ginny…” Harry started as carefully, talking to her like she was a little kid. “Have you taken some potion you shouldn’t have?”
“Harry!”
“Sorry, but you sound like a lunatic or a drunk.”
“I’m not drunk!”
“I didn’t say you are, you just sound like it.”
“What if they’re-”
“Ginny! Charlie is his uncle! And besides, James and Scorpius haven’t even-” Harry forced himself to snap his mouth shut and take a deep breath before continuing. “I had a little talk with him last week and he said they were going to…” His face was turning red as he spoke. “…take that step after that shindig for the team.”
“But then the explosion happened.” Ginny finished for him. “So they… shelved their plans for now?”
“I didn’t ask for details, but that’s the impression I got.”
“How did you get that out of him?”
“It was kind of an accident. I was at the Manor a couple days ago updating Malfoy about the progress with the investigation. I had to use the bathroom and I picked the wrong door.”
“It wasn’t the bathroom?”
“It was the bathroom, but it was already occupied. You know what young men do when they’re not having sex with a partner?”
“I can imagine.” Ginny grimaced. “But I don’t want to.”
“It was more embarrassing for him than it was for me. After all, I’ve changed his diapers, I’ve seen everything he has. But anyway, lads talk a lot when they`re trying to explain away something embarrassing.”
“Dad?” A disgusted voice ewwww-ed from the stairs and Lily walked into the kitchen. “First of all, ewww. And secondly: Don’t try to tell me it’s just for young guys, you oldies do it too.”
“Lily!” The tint of Harry`s face was beginning to resemble a ripe tomato. “That’s not something my little girl should be talking about. Or even thinking about!”
“I’m just saying that everyone does it.” Lily shrugged and pulled her dress-robe over her other clothes carefully, trying not to mess her hair. “I’m ready to go.”
“Where’s Al?”
“Trying to fix that disaster area he, you and James call hair. His hair-primping takes more time than my make-up.”
“Which you could use a little less-”
“Dad!”
“I have to agree with him.” Ginny interrupted. “Pretty girl doesn’t need much.”
Al rushing down the stairs, his hair looking as messy as it always was. “Don’t talk about pretty girls in front of Lily, she’ll get jealous.”
“Bugger off, creep.” Lily shot back.
“This really makes me remember the good old days.” Harry whispered to Ginny. “Before they learned to talk.”
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
James had expected them to apparate directly inside the gates of the chapel, but Scorpius had guided them just outside them. A large crowd of reporters was flopping and screeching around them like a flock of seagulls.
“Why didn’t we just go in?”
“I wanted to see how the anti-press spells are working.” Scorpius said and pulled two invitations from his pocket. “They are set to react to the invitations. Anyone trying to get inside the gate without one will get an appropriate punishment.”
“What kind of a punishment?”
“They’ll re-appear several thousand miles that way.”
“Where do they land?”
“In the middle of the English channel.”
They reached the front gate and Scorpius flashed their invitations in front of the metallic ornaments. The gate opened, creaking loudly, and let them come in. It closed as soon as they had entered. Scorpius glanced at the crowd and gave James a little nudge.
“You will probably find this quite entertaining.”
On the other side of the gate one of the reporters was fiddling with something that looked like a camera. He tried to lift it up to snap a picture, but the camera suddenly escaped from his grasp. It leaped up, pounding the poor man’s face till his nose was bleeding and he was begging for mercy.
“That was my little contribution to the protective spells.”
“Is that even legal?”
“This is categorized as an event of importance by the Auror-department, so it is legal as long as the spells do not cause damage that can not be fixed.” For a moment Scorpius smirked like a satisfied predator. It was probably the first sign of emotion James had seen on his face all day. “Your father’s Aurors helped setting them up. They seemed too eager to really know what they were doing, but I checked afterwards that they got everything right. I spent so much time with father developing the spells, that I refuse to let them be butchered by sloppy execution.”
James was busy trying to stifle a giggle, so he merely nodded and followed the blond to the chapel. The small building was elaborately decorated with flowers and James was almost sure they took more than few seats from the guests. Scorpius had assured him the ceremony would be small and only for a limited number of people, so it was like they had already considered that.
“What do you think of the flowers?” Scorpius stopped at the beginning of the aisle. “I worked with the florist on the decorations.”
“They look beautiful. Big, and beautiful.”
“In weddings and funerals, there can never be too much flowers.” Scorpius recited more to himself than to James. “Those, who actually care can show it, and those who want to keep up appearances can do that with very little inconvenience.” He pointed at the side table, which was covered with flower arrangements in several colors, obviously not part of the decorations. “Some people have very little taste, and no amount of good will can cover that.”
James nodded mutely. Scorpius had been unusually mercurial with his moods during the two weeks after the explosion. He had been somber, vicious, sentimental, quiet, unreadable and a few hudred other things James couldn’t even put a name on. The blond switched from one mood to the next, and then to the third, completely unpredictably and made it hard to keep up with him.
“How much time do we have?”
“We got…” James glanced at his watch. “…half an hour. Guests will probably start arriving soon.”
“We agreed that father and I would be at the door to welcome them.” Scorpius stated, taking a careful look at the coffin placed in the front of the chapel. “Some of mother’s relatives are coming from France, they will be sitting in the second row-”
The door was opened and Draco Malfoy stepped in. His normal paleness had turned into something closer to sickly white, making the dark circles under his eyes stand out even more. His face was expressionless, as if it didn’t know what to do and had frozen somewhere between expressions.
The sight was so shocking James almost missed the redhead walking behind Malfoy. Charlie had his hand on Malfoy`s back, slowly pushing him forward. He gave James a little nod.
“We checked the situation in the Manor. Elves have everything ready for guests.”
“It is morbid.” Malfoy murmured, his voice a low croak. “She dies in the ballroom and the funeral guests are entertained two doors down.”
“You didn’t want to have it anywhere where the public or the press could be a problem.” Charlie reminded. His hand moved up and down the man’s back, rubbing it calmingly. “It’ll just take a few hours and all the arrangements have been made. You don’t need to do anything, except greet the guests and try not to hex anyone.”
“We could try to tempt some of the newspaper hounds to come too close.” James suggested. “It could lighten the mood.”
“I think that would be closer to entrapment, than self-protection.” Charlie grinned, and glanced Draco. The joke had brought a mischievous little glint to his eyes. “Besides, the English Channel can be really cold.”
“Maybe just one.” Draco tempted, smiling at the mental images. “A small one?”
“That’s the right attitude.” Charlie chuckled. “You’re starting to sound like yourself again.”
Chapter 14