my_thestral ◾ ◾ Fic: Art of denial (Part 19/2)

Author's note: You can't seriously want me to ramble some more, do you? ;)
Pairing: Ron/Draco
Word count: 1736 (this part)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: same ol' song - no ownership, no money

Having arrived waaaaaay too early, thanks to her super-cautious “better safe than sorry” mom, the kids have scattered around the station to find and greet their friends, but Rose stayed put at her parents’ side and looked around hawk-eyed so there was no chance she would miss the Malfoys when they arrived, nope, no chance at all. Her mom was chatting to Aunt Ginny as if they didn’t see each other every other day and Uncle Harry was busy answering a million and one question Lily had about the life at Hogwarts and a ride there. And her dad just stood there uncommonly pale and quiet, but Rose was too high-strung to take any notice of that; perhaps he had just eaten something wrong... They were going to be here any moment... and there they were!

As soon as she had spotted the impeccably clad tall figure of Draco Malfoy and a lean blond boy by his side, followed by forever cool and elegant lady Malfoy, she gave a happy cry and immediately began waving frantically, until her mom grabbed her by the shoulder horrified and reprimanded her that this was, indeed, "no behaviour befitting a young lady"! But Scorpius had already spotted her, gave a short wave with his hand, notifying her that her efforts to attract his attention had been noticed and then proceeded to address his father who finally nodded and Scorpius Malfoy unglued himself from the company of his parents and approached them.

And the closer he came the merry company made up of her parents and the Potters turned quieter, almost as if they were getting ready for an impact, but Rose didn’t care because she had just noticed that Hugo - the terrible spoilsport and a complete brat! – had somehow managed to drag Albus off to some unknown location and her favourite cousin was nowhere in sight.

“Oh, blast... where is Albus? Don’t tell me you left him alone with Hugo again!?” she whined, unable to mask disappointment in her voice and only now did the adults become aware that notoriously mischievous “terrible-two” were, indeed, missing.

With a barely muffled vicious remark regarding the Potter junior and his accomplice, her Aunt Ginny finally sighed dejectedly and begrudgingly walked away in search of them, Lily in tow. Judging by the annoyed nervous look on her high-strung face Rose knew the two hapless delinquents could count themselves lucky if they managed to get away with mere scolding.

As soon as Scorpius reached them, his tall lean figure making slow, measured, in every way gracious steps, Rose squealed happily and tore out of her mother’s hand to greet him. She took his hand without reservation and he let her, and when she looked up into his face – way up, because he was already much taller than herself - he offered her a sincere heart-stopping smile, the way only he knew how, springing to life from the very bottom of those lovely, impossibly blue eyes, and leaned down to kiss her cheek:

“Hello, Rose!” he said warmly. “I’m ever so glad you’re here, I’m sure I would have been quite lost without you. All these people… I’m afraid it’s all quite beyond me.”

“Oh, you’ll be alright, silly, don’t worry. I’m related to half of them anyway and the other half is just here to see Uncle Harry, the reporters and the lot… Speaking of which – come, you must finally meet the rest of my family - though I’m afraid we’ll have to go looking for Albus. It seems my idiot brother managed to drag him somewhere under this pretence or another, probably hoping he will miss the train. I swear he’s all but in love with him, he actually tried to persuade mother to write the Headmistress McGonnagall and have him admitted a year early, imagine that!” she rolled-up her eyes at the thought of her cunning little ginger brother who always followed Albus around like a shadow, quietly, faithfully, and had a special talent for bringing out the worst in Harry Potter’s son.

Without ever letting go of his hand, Rose turned Scorpius around resolutely and carefully manoeuvred him to the spot where what was left of her family awaited. She stopped right in front of "the Golden Trio", as the newspapers still referred to Uncle Harry and her parents after all these years. In her excitement she entirely missed the all but unhinged jaws of Uncle Harry and her mom and smiled happily at her dad instead. A head taller than the rest, Ron Weasley looked pale and uncommonly sombre, almost a bit lost, but when he looked at his daughter and her companion, he couldn't hold back a small tired smile that made him look strangely vulnerable and proud at the same time.

“Look who I got!” she said merrily, and swung their intertwined hands back and forth as if sporting a trophy, tilting her head gently towards the blond boy’s shoulder as if she was about to lean on it. She wasn’t aware what a lovely, startling pair they made: herself with a flaming cloud of hair going all the way down to her waist, surrounding her with a glow of fiery halo - and him, a tall, incredibly handsome boy with long blond hair, so undeniably a Malfoy that no introductions were necessary... except for those eyes. Their eyes. Both pairs brilliantly blue, surrounded by the long thick auburn eyelashes, exactly the same heavenly blue shade, identical. The same eyes. Ron’s eyes.

And it was Ron who reached out first to push aside a loose strand of Scorpius’s hair and brushed the side of his cheek with his big calloused hand.

“Hey, Scorpius,” he said warmly and unexpectedly his big irresistible arm pulled both kids closer and they ended up crowded together in his big bear hug, pressed against each other and his massive body, smiling from ear to ear. Ron completely ignored Rose’s embarrassed squeal “Dad!!!” and, acting as if there was no one else to consider, he leaned down and kissed each on top of their heads.

“And how are my kids today?” he asked, the fake cheerfulness in his voice barely standing against the quiver in his voice. “Excited, I trust! Make sure Hogwarts still stands when you’re done with it, yeah? I need some place to institutionalize Hugo next year, I fully expect him to turn raving mad during a whole year without Albus!”

“Speaking of the devil,” Rose mumbled into his chest. “You didn’t happen to see Albie by any chance, did you? The train would be leaving in half an hour and Hugo made him disappear again. I’d like him to meet Scorpius here and then we better board the train if we’re to get any free compartment to stretch our legs. I doubt James would be willing to save us some space, he probably wants to hang out with his idiot friends!”

“Just like your mom, always worrying,” Ron sighed, though not unkindly and reluctantly let them go. “Go on, then, make the introductions quickly and then be on your way, something tells me you have a much better chance of finding the two scoundrels than your Aunt Ginny!”

And Rose didn’t need to be told twice.

“Mom, Uncle Harry, this is Scorpius Malfoy, dad’s godson and my very best friend,” Rose all but glowed, uncommonly oblivious to the obvious shock reflecting on the faces of the two remaining adults – she was just too happy to pay much attention.

“And this, Scorp, is my mom Hermione - ” at this point Hermione Granger moved closer as if on auto-pilot and somehow managed a short “Hello, Scorpius, pleased to meet you…” without ever moving her alert eyes from studying his face and one could just see her magnificent mind going 100 miles a minute.

“And I’m sure you’ve heard of this man, he is a legend in his own right,” Rose smiled sweetly and looked at her uncle fondly. “Scorpius Malfoy, meet Harry Potter, my uncle and the living breathing centre of the Universe wherever he goes – at least according to the press,” she winked naughtily, while Scorpius Malfoy extended his arm and spoke warmly without reservation:

“It is immense pleasure to meet you, Sir. It’s not every day that you meet a person right out of the history text books and I’ve been looking forward to this day for ages. My father told me to be on my best behaviour, so I’m perfectly sure he meant for me to impress you. I’m aware that you were not great friends in your days, but Rose and I set out to settle that unfortunate score and perhaps turn a new page in the history of our families.”

And the history came very nearly to repeating itself, because Harry Potter’s arm hung limply at his side, not caring about the offered hand, hardly hearing a word of what the boy had said while he stared down those familiar eyes in disbelief... But finally some inert impulse of decency kicked in and he grabbed the boy’s hand hastily and squeezed it firmly almost as if he needed to check if he was real and he barely managed a few meaningless polite words, his mind lost and scattered all over the place, his eyes still all but glued onto his face:

“So glad to meet you, Scorpius. I’m sure my children will be delighted to make an acquaintance with any friend of Rose’s…”

What would have surely turned into an awkward situation, was mercifully interrupted by Rose’s enthusiastic: “Oh, look, Scorp, there’s Albus! Come, you must meet him at once!”

And she pulled her best friend behind her without minding his hand, still resting in the palm of Harry Potter’s hand.

“My appologies, it seems this is an emergency,” managed the blond boy with a big apologetic smile on his pretty face before he was dragged away and Ron was finally left to face his wife and his best friend alone.

The silence that lay down on them was heavy, thick like a moist autumn mist, but Ron was only allowed a moment of its mercy. The kids were barely out of the ear-shot when Harry erupted:

“He’s got your eyes! How the fuck has he got your eyes, Ron!?”

And Ron just sighed and closed those blasted eyes that got him into so much trouble.

~ End of Part 19/2 ~

Next:
See also:

Art of denial (3): Some First time... some Second time...

Art of denial (5): Milestones

Art of denial (7): Cracked open and oozing true feelings

Art of denial (15/2): Come to me

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
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6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

my_thestral

◾ Fic: Art of denial (Part 19/2)

Fic: Art of denial (Part 19/2)

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