Poppies Grow
"Daddy?"
Blaise lift his gaze up from the newspaper he had been reading and looked at his youngest child, Poppy, who had sat so silently next to him that he hadn't even noticed. Poppy drew her fingers through her short, curly hair and looked nervous.
"Dad, I need to tell you something."
Blaise stiffened and let go of the paper. Despite her twenty and three years of age, Poppy still called Blaise 'Daddy' and was the only child to do that anymore. So when she said 'Dad', Blaise knew something terrible had happened. Instinctively he looked down to his little girl's abdomen, bracing himself to see it rounder than usually.
Poppy saw where he looked and even in her distress laughed a bit. "No, no, no Daddy, it's not that", and Blaise breathed normally again. The 'Daddy' made him feel better.
"Well, what is it?"
She sifted uncomfortably. "It's just that... I think I'm..." Poppy bit her lower lip the same way Pansy did when she was nervous. "Dad", (Blaise drew a deep breath; here the 'Dad' was again), "I'm in love."
It felt like huge black hole had appeared from nothing and tried to suck him inside of it. There was cold darkness everywhere and he shivered. This – this was even more terrifying that finding out some asshole had knocked up his beautiful, innocent little baby girl would have been. Blaise swallowed and Poppy squeezed his hand tightly.
"Is that okay to you?" she asked timidly (very uncharacteristical for her, but in that situation even a bolder person than Poppy would have been wary).
No, that was not okay for Blaise. He noticed that Poppy was biting her lip again.
"Would you like to meet him, Daddy?"
The only thing he wanted right now was to lock Poppy to her room for the rest of her life and then kill that luring bastard who had stolen his baby.
"I'm sure you'd like him."
Blaise didn't even notice he snorted before he heard the sound coming from his nose. Poppy looked like her worst expectations were coming true, but she had one trick left in her sleeve.
"Daddy, please, it would be very important to me." While she said this her eyes watered and the lip she didn't chew anymore trembled slightly.
After living years with four women – his mother, Pansy and their daughters – he had seen every possible thing women used while trying to manipulate men, and knew that this was just another cheap way of them to try to get what they wanted. But never could he say no to his youngest when she used that one. He could ignore Pansy's quivering lip and Venus' teary eyes, but Poppy was different thing. He just couldn't say no.
"Fine, I will meet him", Blaise sighed reluctantly.
Poppy squealed joyfully, embraced her father and landed a kiss to his temple before sprinting away. She stopped to the doorway.
"You two will get along beautifully!" she announced and before skittering away she added "Oh, Al and I are also engaged". She really should have been a Slytherin.
Blaise sat on the sofa and blinked. Al? Engaged?
Distantly he realised that Pansy (who had had a fit in the kitchen after finding out Poppy's big news) had entered and was now sitting where Poppy had just a moment ago been.
"Horrible, isn't it?"
It was clearly a rhetorical question, so Blaise didn't try to make an answer.
"Did she tell you who this Al is?"
Pansy wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Yes", she said, looking like she wished Poppy hadn't told, "it's that Potter boy. Albus Potter."
Blaise felt a sudden urge to cry and Pansy leaned against him in a comforting way, but her next words weren't very helpful.
"I know, just imagine it. What if they end up marrying and that hag will be our darling's mother-in-law? But –", Pansy took his hand and clenched it, "– I guess we must be brave, Blaise. For Poppy."
"For Poppy", repeated Blaise faintly and closed his eyes.