A/N: short drabble about my favourite father/daughter pair! Prompted by theboywholivcd on tumblr Ron Weasley + 'May I have this dance?' It went in a different direction than expected but... I like it so- hope you enjoy!
disclaimer: do i still have to do these
Rose Weasley was almost entirely danced out. If she didn't know it was physically impossible, she would have sworn her legs were going to fall off before she and Scorpius made it home.
Scorpius. Her husband. A smile graced her face at the thought, and she couldn't help but scan the room for him.
There was a gentle tap on her shoulder, distracting her from her thoughts of Scorpius, and Rose turned to find her dad stood there, only looking a smidgeon uncomfortable in his freshly purchased dress robes.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, extending his hand in a flourish.
Despite her aching feet, she nodded and took his hand. "Why, certainly, you may."
Rose's dad chuckled, and together they walked on to the almost empty dancefloor.
"Suppose I should've asked you earlier when this was still in full swing. Now everybody's staring at us" he muttered.
Rose looked around, and sure enough, there were a few sets of eyes on them. "It's fine. Besides, Professor Longbottom and Hannah are still dancing, we're not the only ones."
"Yeah…" Her dad trailed off, clearing his throat to cover up the silence that ensued.
Rose narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to cry?" she asked, somewhere between alarm and amusement. She hadn't seen her dad cry since Granddad Weasley had passed away when she was twelve.
He looked as if he were thinking about it. "I don't think so. I mean, I hope not, at least." He spoke clearly, but there was still something that indicated strain, like he was holding back tears. "That'd be pretty embarrassing, wouldn't it?"
"It would indeed." She confirmed. "Plus, if you start crying, I'll probably start crying and I am not smudging this makeup that Lily and Hugh worked so hard on, are we clear?"
Her dad just nodded, and Rose guessed it was because he didn't trust himself to say anything.
They swayed on the spot in silence for a while, lost in the surrounding music and atmosphere. It was a comfortable silence, one that made Rose grateful for how everything had turned out. It all seemed so surreal, like a part of her was stuck in the past, watching her older self with admiration and disbelief.
"Do you remember," her dad began quietly, "When you were just a little kid- probably around seven I think- and you claimed you never wanted to get married because that would mean you couldn't be an astronaut."
Rose frowned. Although she didn't remember the actual incident he was describing, she did recall a time when her greatest ambition in life was to become an astronaut. "That's some pretty terrible logic."
"You thought astronaut's had to live in space."
"Ah."
"You thought you'd have to go to Mars and make friends with aliens, and any husband you had would be too sad without you and therefore you didn't want one."
She smiled tearfully at her younger self, and the way her dad was retelling the story like it was something he thought about a lot. "I did?"
"You did."
"I guess things change, huh?" Her voice wobbled, and Rose could tell she was fighting a losing battle. The tears were coming whether she wanted them to or not.
Her dad seemed to be struggling with the same problem. "I guess they do."
"Dad, you promised…" This time Rose trailed off as her voice cracked and the first tear made it's way down her cheek.
"Never promised." He said, moving his head to rest atop hers as she let her tears fall freely on his chest.
All too aware of the fact that they weren't even dancing anymore, merely hugging in the middle of the dance floor, Rose tried to stifle her tears as best she could. From the occasional sniffs she could hear coming from above her, she knew her dad was crying too.
It was a strange thing really. It wasn't goodbye, or anything even remotely related, it was just her, well, growing up. But it felt like something had changed, a good thing, and perhaps the emotions of the hectic day had caught up with her at last.
When she felt like she'd regained enough composure, she pulled away from her dad and smiled. His red eyes confirmed that, he too, had been crying, and Rose couldn't resist the jibe. "You ruined my makeup."
He just laughed, "Pretty sure you did that yourself Rosie." the old pet name almost had her in tears again, so she swatted his arm playfully in an attempt to steer them both towards more secure territory.
"Arse."
"Oi, watch your language. Your makeup isn't ruined, it looks lovely."
Rose laughed at the irony of her dad telling her to 'watch her language' and smiled. "Thanks. I'll tell Lily and Hugh you said that."
"I'm sure they'll be pleased to hear it."
"I'm sure they will."
They lapsed into silence again, and Rose left it a moment or two before she said what both of them were thinking. "We should probably go. Give them a chance to clear up, y'know."
Her Dad just nodded, but neither of them made any effort to move.
"Rosie?"
"Yeah?"
"Last dance?"
And even though Rose was pretty sure her legs would fall off if she had to move them any more (physical possibilities be damned) she just smiled and said, "Sure, Dad."