Not Strange
A HariPo oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. This pairing was discovered by me, so please gimme a little mention if you write them! Thanks! It is one of many of Mew and Mor's Weird Pairings, most of which you may find in the M&MWP forum. Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
"Are you sure it's all right?"
"Stop worrying, already. The invite allowed for a 'plus one.' You're my one."
"Yes, but…"
"If Malfoy's going to bitch, then let him. Say he can't kick you out. Aren't you family, after all?"
"Well, I'm not sure if I exactly count…"
Of course, while they were chatting, the door to Malfoy Manor flew open, and Astoria greeted them with a grin. "Theodore! And—" She stopped, whispering, "Uncle Rabastan!"
Theodore snickered while Rabastan shook his head and ducked inside before the other man. "Astoria, stop calling me that."
"But you're family to Draco, and I married in, so—"
"I told you so," Theodore mumbled with a chuckle at the older man as he passed Astoria his cloak. "Nice to see you, too, Astoria."
She kissed his cheek. "You're not the last to arrive, you know. I don't think Sissy is coming."
"Can you blame her? We all know who her 'plus one' is," Rabastan commented, glad for a topic change. "Lucius and Draco haven't been in the same room since…well, you know."
The witch shrugged. "I wish they'd put up with each other, even if only for my and Daphne's sake. We even made sure Narcissa would be out," she added, perhaps a little too happily. It was no secret that she didn't quite get along with her mother-in-law.
"And I wish I could walk out in public with the real Rabastan," Theodore stated, "but we don't always get what we want, do we?"
Rabastan growled at him as he undid the Disguise Charm and his true features settled into place. "Sorry for still being a wanted man."
"I told you Potter gave up on you two years ago," Draco said, joining the three in the foyer. "Just be yourself and don't kill any more people, uncle, and you'll be fine."
They followed him into the living room, where Pansy was rearranging Astoria's spread. "Look, I only killed a few times, and that was more out of momentary insanity and insane fear of my brother, you brat," Rabastan snarled. He waited an odd beat, failing to fight the color that flooded his cheeks. "And stop calling me 'uncle'! It makes me feel old."
"You are old," Theodore teased with a straight face, and Astoria snorted when Rabastan tried to smack him in the arm.
"I thought we put murderous talk and all that shite behind us," Pansy piped up. She patted a doily, proud of herself, and patted her hair. She looked at the newcomers. "We might as well start the party. As Astoria must've mentioned, Daphne's not coming."
Theodore nodded. "She did." He looked around, and it dawned on him how odd it was to reunite. There were only eight of them left, and only seven of them had shown. He saw Blaise and nodded to his old friend. Blaise nodded back, as taciturn as ever.
"Greg, leave some for the others," Millicent scolded Goyle, and she slapped his hands away from the mini quiches. His cheeks were already stuffed, so he couldn't reply.
Sitting a chair away from Millicent was Tracey, who was knitting. She snickered at the bumbling couple.
"Knitting, Trace?" Theodore asked, grabbing a drink for himself and for Rabastan.
"What can I say? Business at the shop has been dead. I needed a hobby," she said.
Go figure she'd make such a light remark of her owning Borgin and Burkes. But it made sense; no one had much use for the place after tightened security following the war. That was why it'd been so cheap to buy in the first place.
"Daphne's happy doing what she's doing today, though," Pansy said, bringing the attention back to her. "When she said she wasn't coming, I asked her if she'd babysit. And she's more than happy with that."
"The only problem," Draco added with a stern look at the woman, "is Daphne's potion things lying around."
Theodore blinked in surprise. "She's still playing around with that? I thought she was into Portkeys, for the Ministry."
Astoria huffed and passed around food…what was left that wasn't on Goyle's plate. "She does. Selling them on the side pads her income. And I told you, Draco, she's looking after three babies. She knows what she's doing."
"More like, thank Merlin Lucius is with her," Pansy stated.
Theodore looked around at them. "Wait—three?" He only knew about Scorpius Malfoy.
He thought he saw Blaise smiling, and Goyle and Millicent raised their hands. "Un's urs," the thickset man said around a mouthful of treacle tart.
Theo looked back at Blaise, and he nodded. "Calytrix," he said, leaning forward only to snake an arm around Pansy's waist to drag her back into the shadows with him.
"Macareus," Millicent added.
Huh. A girl and another boy. Things were getting lively for their generation. On an impulse, Theo gave Tracey a look.
She laughed. "Don't even think about it. Unless you're willing to rent my womb, I'm staying childless."
Ah, how frank she was, as ever.
For the first time in several minutes, Theo slid his eyes across the room to where Rabastan and Astoria were talking. Rabastan was lost in some conversation with her, but he looked up. He always did when he felt Theo's eyes on him, and their gazes met. Though he was still not used to it after the life he'd lived, he managed a smile for Theo.
Meanwhile, distracted by the older man, Theo didn't notice Draco plop himself onto the couch beside him. Then Draco nudged his arm.
"So…," the blond began.
Theodore rolled his eyes. "Yes?"
"After all this time, it's still…" Draco made a face. "You and him?"
"Me and him, what?"
"It's strange."
"No, it's not." Theo shrugged. It had just happened when he'd done the stupid, chicken thing and taken in a fugitive not long after that May.
"Yes, it is. Very strange," Draco added with a shake of his head.
Theo couldn't help the smirk. "No, it's Lestrange."
Draco groaned.
Theodore laughed, an odd noise that his friends eventually joined. Maybe it wasn't so bad, reuniting after all this time…
- ^-^3
Okay, pointless, whatever, but fun. And I couldn't help the Daphcius (another M&MWP, tyvm) and the OC mentions… ;P The more I write Theostan, the more improbable it seems to me—but the more fun it gets. XD I think they're my new crack pairing.
Thanks for reading, and please review!
-mew-tsubaki ;]