FIc: Choices (15/1)

[my_thestral]

Author's note: I'm so glad this one is approaching the end! It's not like I'm tired of it, but it does pose an obligation to finish and I can't bloody wait. Hopefully I can be done in 2-3 chapters (I'll take 2 over 3 anytime!) Its destiny is to remain largely unbetaed, so beware of the grammar mauling. Aaaand it's too big again, to hell with it. I'm splitting it. That's why I switched to AO3, none such bullshit there.
Pairing: Ron/Draco
Word count: 3269, this part
Rating: R, I suppose, overall (not this chapter)
Disclaimer: The characters are hardly more than my foster children (not treated very nicely at that), and you can't seriously think anyone would pay for this.

“Gone! As in “not here”, Sir! Nowhere, he’s nowhere to be found and Lady Malfoy is quite beside herself! If I didn’t see the child with my own eyes, I might have thought this was some trickery on her part, something clever to get her out of the tight spot – but I never left her side and there was a child, I’m willing to swear on Merlin and his offspring – and now it’s gone! We’ve searched everything, several times over, thinking, perhaps the child woke up during the commotion and got scared and is now wandering around the Manor, but I saw Lady Malfoy perform several tracking spells and he’s not here, there’s no sign of him…”

“Debonheur… Arjen!!” Ron finally retorted to barking at the head emerging from the soot when he realized that the young man fire-calling him was too upset to pay attention. “If you are convinced that the boy is no longer there, perhaps you can bring Lady Malfoy to the Ministry to join her husband as there is clearly no need for her to stay at the Manor any longer. If the little boy disappeared and is held by someone with malicious intent, time could be of great value. She needs to be questioned immediately and thoroughly and though I’d prefer to do it myself, you’re going to be at the Ministry before I am, so you should begin the formal procedure right away - god knows the paperwork will take long enough. Keep her away from her husband, though, I don’t want them to “invent” the truth together, in case something fishy happened - I want to hear their separate accounts of this bizarre night!”

“Of course, Sir. I’ll get right to it. When can we expect you at the Ministry?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t be long,” shrugged Ron and coughed to cover the embarrassment. “Look, Debonheur… Arjen… I know you saw the Prophet this morning, I know you are aware of the… bond Mr. Malfoy - Draco, of course - and I share. It gives you all the credit in the world that you haven’t brought it up yet…” – at this point Arjen Debonheur opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but closed it just as abruptly – “… but a good Auror that you are, you must have asked yourself during this time: who could possibly Harry Potter want to see at the Malfoy Manor after yesterday’s scandal and who has interest in Scorpius Malfoy? And you probably came up with the same number one option as I would: Draco Malfoy. Except… it is the wrong answer,” said Ron calmly and looked straight into the soot-covered face.

“You see, Draco Malfoy spent an entire evening with me. We went to The Silver Spoon to celebrate our… oh, fuck it… relationship and I think the whole bloody wizarding England can bear witness to that! And as soon as I was called to the Ministry due to the bizarre business with Harry – who, by the way, still hasn’t woken up, I don’t know what the fuck is up with that! – Draco left with me and is currently staying at The Burrow – that’s how my parents’ home is called. Witnesses a-plenty there as well – he never left. I…” he looked away as if trying to collect himself: “I need to break to him the news of his son’s disappearance. I imagine he will be quite upset, so I might need a minute getting to the Ministry to question Madame Malfoy.”

“Of course!” said Arjen Debonheur hastily and if an image in the soot could have blushed, he would have done it. “Please give Mr. Malfoy my sincere regrets for this terrible situation. I’ll take care of everything here, bring in his... Madame Malfoy and whatever else it takes. If there’sanything else I can do for Mr. Malfoy…”

“I’ll let you know,” interrupted Ron, half amused, half annoyed with the obvious infatuation Junior Auror Debonheur developed for his man. “I’ll be sure to let him know how helpful you’ve been,” he added after consideration. “Draco doesn’t shake hands with just anyone, he must hold you in special regard,” he added kindly and could almost see the young face melt in bliss. “Now, if that’s all, Junior Auror Debonheur, I’d like to get rid of unpleasant task of breaking Draco the news of his son’s disappearance so I can join you in search of the truth of what happened during this blasted night as soon as possible.”

“Of course, by all means, Mr. Weasley. I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”

“You do that, Debonheur. You have a bright future in front of you, Arjen,” said Ron kindly and saw the young face swell in pride. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As soon as the face of young Auror disappeared from the background of burning coals, Ron exhaled deeply. He was glad he didn’t have to do this in person, he was pants at lying and more so at lying to people he cared about. Still – there was no way around it and at this point letting Debonheur in on the truth might only complicate matters infinitely.

He got up and walked to Fred’s old room that now served as a guest bedroom to the many Weasley grandchildren. As he opened the door softly and took a peek inside his mouth stretched into a tired smile. There it was; all the strength he needed to get through the rest of this hell of a night. Draco Malfoy was sitting on the floor by the bed that hosted a small blond boy that could not have been anyone else’s son. And when he looked up towards Ron his eyes shone with so much gratitude and love that it tied a knot in Ron’s throat. Draco carefully disentangled his arms, wrapped around the tiny creature, got up abruptly and launched himself at Ron, hugging him fiercely.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” he said over and over again, kissing every piece of skin he could reach. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, love, I doubted you… I should have known you’d never let me down. He’s safe, my Scorpius is safe and it’s really all I need. And you’re here and you’re mine and... I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in my life.”

For Draco Malfoy to be this honest was a true testimony of how close to his shattering point the young man had come many times during this evening. It truly was a trying night for all of them.

~

When Ron appeared with Harry’s limp body in the living room of the Burrow, not only did Ginny almost give birth to a litter of kittens, but Draco very nearly had a meltdown as well. Ron recognised the anxiety and a look of a cornered animal in his eyes, so he let Ginny handle Harry with a promise to “explain everything in a minute, there are more pressing matters at hand”, and dragged the jittery blond into Fred’s old room.

“What the hell is this thing, Weasley?!” erupted Draco before the door even clicked properly. “You promised me my son and now you come here with Potter instead?! I can’t believe you felt it was more important to extract him than to take care of my son!! I should’ve known; you’d always pick him first and above anyone...”

“Would you shut up and let me explain!?” Ron all but shouted and grabbed the blond by the shoulders because he saw he was sinking fast. “Draco... love... relax... please calm down... that was the plan all along... It’s all your mother’s elaborate design. I was never meant to bring Scorpius along, that’s someone else’s task entirely. But my Aurors have seen him and he is safe and slumbering away peacefully, unaware of any commotion. And your father is nowhere near him, I took care of that. Now... would you please calm down and close your eyes for a minute? C’mon, Draco… for me. I need you to trust me right now.”

And the fragile young man just collapsed against him and trembled like a leaf in the cold winter wind. Ron held him closely, anchoring him safely on this side of sanity and treated his fingers through the silken blond hair soothingly. And just when Draco’s breath calmed down and became more steady,  there was a soft pop of apparation and suddenly there was a tiny house-elf standing in the room, almost crouching under the weight of a sleeping child in his arms.

And the blond’s knees just bucked. Ron deposited him on the bed while he sat there ashen white and with eyes wide open, then proceeded to remove the sleeping boy from the poor creature’s hold and placed it in Draco’s lap.

“There,” he said gently. “Your son. Just like I promised.”

The blond hugged the tiny body like a man starved and just sunk on top of him for long moment as if he wanted to melt with him and couldn’t get close enough to him.

“It’s alright…it’s going to be alright now, daddy’s here,” Ron heard him whisper time and time again and it broke his heart to hear his voice full of heartbreak and unfathomable love.

Then he looked up in alarm and asked almost breathless: “How come he is still sleeping?! He is such a light sleeper, you have no idea... And you said there was a commotion and yet he’s still sleeping!  What’s wrong with him?!”

“Wheezy is very sorry, Master Draco!” the jittery house-elf all but squealed, jumping from one foot to another. “Wheezy was afraid Little Master could wake up with all the unknown people running around the Manor and become frightened. And Wheezy got orders he must transport Little Master to Master Draco and there really was no other way. Wheezy put a tiny drop of sleeping potion in Little Master’s evening cocoa, Sir! Little Master will be fine, just fine in the morning, Wheezy didn’t want Little master scared!”

“Well, I’d say you did the right thing there, Wheezy. Along with many right things you did this evening and all the great things you’re still about to do. I’m sure Draco here will be we very grateful once he finds out the whole story,” Ron looked at the blond pointedly and Draco nodded in acquiescence.

“Right thing indeed,” he nodded tiredly and then looked straight at the house elf: “Who gave you the order, Wheezy? Who said you should bring your son to me?”

“Missus Malfoy did, Master Draco. She was very stern with Wheezy, very stern indeed! She said she knew Wheezy played with Little Master and if I didn’t help her and do exactly what she told me to, she would tell Master Malfoy she saw me play with Little Master and then Wheezy would be given clothes, Sir!”

The fear in big eyes of the house elf was so genuine, Ron couldn’t help to feel sorry for the little creature and Narcissa’s merciless approach. Even though one of the first things Hermione did once she was appointed a Minister, was to pass an Act giving the house-elves right to freely seek employment, everybody knew that a house-elf, who was given clothes by his masters, would find it nearly impossible to work again. Everybody assumed something was wrong with him or her and would be reluctant to hire them.

“But now Wheezy cannot go back anyway,” the little thing suddenly began sobbing and his tiny square shoulders shook with the force of his tears. “He kidnapped the Little Master and he must say he did other things... Wheezy will never be allowed to go back to his masters!”

“You are more than welcome to stay here, Wheezy,” said Ron quickly. “Merlin knows my mother always wanted to have a house-elf to help around, she always said they were priceless. You would be treated most kindly and since you took such an excellent effort to protect little Scorpius, surely his father wouldn’t want you parted with him...”

He looked at Draco almost pleadingly and the blond nodded immediately: “Of course... of course you can’t be parted, you’re best of friends, aren’t you? My son would be very cross with me, I dare say. Not to mention that he will need all the help he can get adjusting to the new circumstances... “

But when the tiny creature’s sobs subsided and his unattractive face finally split in a happy grin, Draco turned towards Ron and asked quietly: “Why would my mother do such a thing? Why involve Wheezy, when she could have easily delivered my son to me herself? What is the meaning of this, why such a complex design?”

And this time Ron smiled: “For love,” he said quietly. “For love of that undeserving creature you call your father. In fear of endangering their marriage, she could not afford to be implicated personally and she knew I had no legal right to remove Scorpius – so involving the house-elf was the only option. All of this - for Lucius Malfoy of all people, to keep what they have undamaged.”

“Sounds like Mother, indeed,” sighed Draco. “She always was a bit... obsessive when it came to pleasing Father.”

“But not for the price of hurting you,” said Ron adamantly. “You come first, it seems. What a woman! Such love... no wonder you had it in you all this time, babe.”

He kissed him softly, with warmth and passion, and missed it completely when Wheezy’s eyes went as wide as saucers.

“Ron, darling... oh, my...” said Molly Weasley when she stuck her head through the door unannounced. For a moment there looked as if she lost her train of thought watching her son kiss another man, but she gathered her wits about rather quickly and continued in same unfazed tone: “Well... I would say “never mind me” and “this will take some getting used to, but please, do continue”, but there’s a rather alarmed young man fire-calling for you and it seems what he has to say cannot be ignored.”

And only when her son moved from the bed and his lover did she notice the other two inhabitants of the small room and her jaw almost unhinged:  “Sweet Mary and Rowena... Look at this precious little thing! Where did he come from?! And a house-elf, oh, my!”

And when the blond’s face simply melted at this unmistakable gesture of welcome and appreciation, Ron knew they would do just fine without him. There was no shorter way to his mother’s heart than that of presenting her with a child in need.

“Draco, love, would you be so kind to make the introductions; it seems I’m urgently needed elsewhere,” he said tiredly, but without further ado and went to hear out a report of the shell-shocked Auror Debonheur. He couldn’t afford to stall, there was still much to do.

And here he was at last, soaking the last of strength up in the embrace of a man that was giving it all up for him. He was not going to find anything enjoyable in what the rest of the night had in store for him, but it had to be done. He needed to save Harry’s reputation and repay Narcissa for her quiet support and none of it could be delayed for much longer.

But the blond had a hard time letting him go. It seemed like the events of that night really shook him to the core and he clang to Ron as a drowning man would to a raft. And Ron was tempted to just give into those soft kisses and smart hands and a whispered “just a moment longer... stay... just a moment...”

But he couldn’t. Not with all that was at stake. If someone started a thorough investigation into what really happened at the Manor that night, there would be much grief and embarrassment in stock for all of them. So he tore himself as gently as he could from the shattered creature in his arms and looked him straight in the eye:

“I must go, love,” he said softly, but with determination, and wouldn’t let the silent plea in those silver eyes stop him. “I must do this for your mother,” he explained, knowing that it will ground him at least temporary, so he quickly added: “As much as I hate to ask you this... but I need you to be a proper Malfoy now. I know what I’m asking and I know how hard this is for you tonight – but you need to stay strong for me and for your little one here... just for a while longer.”

And there really wasn’t anything else he could have said that would have made the blond pull himself together faster. He closed his eyes for a long moment and inhaled Ron’s scent once more as if trying to incorporate the warmth of the body he was leaning against, but the young man that looked the redhead in the eye a moment longer, was exactly what Ron had asked for: a proper Malfoy, cool, composed, focused.

“Of course,” he said calmly, nothing more. And if the last kiss he accepted from Ron was a bit too desperately received, the young man could hardly be blamed. “Be back soon,” he told him quietly. “I won’t be able to sleep until you’re once more by my side.”

“As soon as I can,” Ron promised, straightened himself up and looked at the quiet, scared looking house-elf: “Wheezy, it is time. You must do as Madame Narcissa had said. And then you will be a free elf, just like your father. Free to work for Master Draco and little master Scorpius. But you must do this right. Can I rely on you?”

And the little creature somehow pulled itself together and said with as much integrity as his squealing voice could master: “Wheezy is ready. Wheezy would do as ordered… he will try very hard for his Little Master.”

“You’re a good house-elf,” said Draco quietly. “And a good friend,” he added. “Seems that much like Potter once, I’m also to befriend a house-elf and owe him my happiness.”

And nothing could have mad Wheezy swell with pride more.

When Ron went to say his goodbyes to his mother, he ran into a teary and very upset Ginny.

“I’m calling in the Healers,” she sniffed. “We just can’t seem to wake Harry up and it’s been hours… “

“Don’t!” said Ron quickly. “I’ll go and interrogate the Malfoys now and see what the matter is and if he’s still out by the time I come back, we can always alert the Healers. He seems OK, doesn’t he? Perhaps he could use some rest.”

“You, Ronald Weasley, know something I don’t know,” his sister looked at him sharply and Ron had the decency to blush. But he straightened himself to his full height and looked her straight in the eye: “I do,” he said calmly. “And right now, I’ve got no time to explain. But believe me, you’re better off not knowing, it doesn’t do Harry much credit, he was a bit… derailed in his actions. I will deal with it when I come back and that’s a promise. You know I’d rather kick the bucket than let any harm come to Harry, don’t you?”

And Ginny knew, so she nodded curtly and, unexpectedly, kissed him on the cheek. “Be back soon,” she sighed unhappily. “It seems as if everything is off when you’re not here.”

~ End of Part 15/1

Next: ( Choices, Part 15/2 )
See also:
( Choices, Part 1 )
( Choices, Part 2 )
( Choices, Part 3 )
( Choices, Part 4 )
( Choices, Part 5/1 )
( Choices, Part 5/2 )
( Choices, Part 6 )
( Choices, Part 7 )
( Choices, Part 8/1 )
( Choices, Part 8/2 )
( Choices, Part 9 )
( Choices, Part 10/1 )
( Choices, Part 10/2 )
( Choices, Part 11/1 )
( Choices, Part 11/2 )
( Choices, Part 12 )
( Choices, Part 13 )
( Choices, Part 14 )