The ladle
Hermione was finishing reading the letter Rose had sent. Like every time they received one, Ron looked a it with a pinched expression before letting a dramatic sigh out. The Minister of Magic, almost letting out one of her own but deciding against it, set the letter down.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," her husband answered, dragging out the last part of it.
"You and I both know that's a lie, Ronald."
"I just don't like our daughter living with Malfoy's spawn."
"There we go again. Ron, it's been almost a year, you have to get used to it eventually!"
After Rose had finished Hogwarts, she had decided on a career with the International Office of Magical Law. While she wasn't as far as she could have been, she was still too far for Ron. He had been a tough one to convince, and Rose's original choice of going to France had been shut down immediately, but after much compromising, and their daughter's very good lawyer skills put in good use, he had agreed to let her go some place closer, hence her moving to Ireland.
However, in order to keep all of that financially possible, Rose had chosen to get a flatmate. This is where Scorpius Malfoy came in. While they had always been friends, he was always closer to Albus. The two cousins had met up at the Leaky Cauldron one night, a few weeks before she was supposed to move to Dublin, and she had vented about having to start looking for one as soon as possible.
"You might not need to. Scorpius is also going to Dublin soon."
Scorpius had always been business oriented, so it was not a surprise when he joined his father in International Magical Trading. Draco had needed someone in Ireland and his son had volunteered immediately. Rose had reached out and the rest was history. The two had become closer friends since then, and when Albus had a few days off from St. Mungo's, he'd go spend a few days in Dublin.
"You'd think they'd both have enough money by now to get separate places," Ron mumbled, interrupting his wife's train of thoughts.
"Ronald!" She reprimanded. "They're good friends! They enjoy living together, and quite honestly, Scorpius is a wonderful boy, who has been nothing but polite to all of us every time he came to visit Al."
So what if her daughter was financially stable enough to find a place alone now, as was Scorpius? The two obviously enjoyed each other's company, and…
Oh.
Ron's disgruntled comment had set a few thoughts in motion, and now Hermione's mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute. Little details from Rose's past letters came to her mind, and looking at the most recent one, it occurred to her that she did speak of Scorpius quite a lot. So, when Ron and Hermione sent another letter in response to their daughter's, Hermione had secretly attached a smaller one from herself, enquiring about Rose, her job, her friends, and Scorpius. Talking about Scorpius, you have been mentioning him fairly often. Anything I should know? she had asked.
The answer she got back that same night was quite categorical. It came on the same paper she had sent, written in big letters: WE'RE JUST MATES, MUM!
Hermione had chosen to believe her. Why would her daughter lie, after all? But the thought still lingered…
oOo
"I'll be back in a week. Please do not burn down the house by then."
It seemed like quite an appropriate demand, yet her husband and son both scoffed.
"Have some faith in us 'Mione!"
Shaking her head with a small smile at their antics, she kissed both Ron and Hugo goodbye before grabbing the glowing hairbrush. One unpleasant pull behind the navel and a short, nauseous moment later, she was outside of her daughter's flat in Wizarding Dublin. She knocked, and Rose opened the door with a big smile on her face.
"Mum! How was the trip?"
"As uncomfortable as a Portkey trip can be," she answered, her smile just as big as her daughter's.
The two hugged before going inside. The flat was quite spacious, with big windows that let in a rather large amount of sunlight. The living room and the kitchen were divided by a long counter. There were three bedrooms, one for each of the inhabitants, of course, and one for any guest they might have. After Hermione had set her trunk in the spare room, she joined her daughter on the couch where they caught up with each other's' lives until Scorpius walked in through the front door. He greeted her warmly, then all of them moved to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Hermione had made a lot of progress in that area since her days of hiding in the woods with the boys, but it seemed like Rose and Scorpius didn't need much help, so she just sat at the counter and watched them work together like a well-oiled machine. Laughter soon filled the kitchen as the food was being prepared and Hermione remembered her thoughts of a few weeks prior.
The rest of the week was pretty marvelous. Rose had taken a few days off to show her mother around, and they were often joined by Scorpius who had rather flexible hours. They'd go out in both Muggle and Wizarding Dublin, shopped and enjoyed the good weather, and even had a picnic in the countryside one day.
However, even as she tried to keep her thoughts from invading her mind again, Hermione could not help but notice a few glances and inside jokes. She was determined not to meddle during her stay, but the thoughts were still present, and an idea started to form. As much as she tried to repress it, it kept coming back.
The week came to an end, and with a promise to visit again soon, Hermione returned to England.
oOo
"This is strange," Scorpius wondered, frowning.
"What's wrong?" Rose enquired.
"I can't find our ladle anywhere."
"You're right, it is quite strange. Come to think of it, I haven't seen it in about a week."
"It was still here the day before your mother left."
"Why would my mother take a ladle?"
"I know, that's why it's all very bizarre."
Shaking her head, Rose returned to her letter. After finishing it, she decided to imitate her mother and write a smaller, more private note to her that she attached to the family one.
Dear mum,
Like I said in the other letter, I miss you and can't wait for your next visit. I saw a new little bistro a block over and thought we could go next time you come.
About your visit, however, Scorpius and I noticed something quite strange. We haven't seen our ladle since you left. I'm not saying you took it, I'm just saying that it disappeared after you left. Did you place it somewhere else, by any chance?
Love, Rose.
The answer came in the next day, as they were having breakfast.
Dear Rose,
I am looking forward to trying that new bistro out. Maybe this time, your father and brother could come too. I'm sure they'd enjoy themselves.
As for the second part of your letter, I'm not saying you and Scorpius are romantically involved, but if you slept in your own bed this past week, you would've found your ladle.
Love, Mum.
Hello all!
I hope you liked this very short OS. It's in the format of a joke I heard once (I'll include it at the very bottom if you want to read it). Leave a review if you enjoyed this!
See you all in my next story!
A guy moved in with a female roommate but kept telling his mom they were just friends. The mom had her doubts. One day she went to visit for a few days. About a week after she left, the roommate couldn't find their ladle, and she tells the guy that she hasn't seen it since his mom left. So he writes a letter to her and says "I'm not saying you took it, I'm just saying we haven't seen it since you left." When the answer came back, he read "I'm not saying you're sleeping with your roommate, I'm just saying if you slept in your bed, you would've found your ladle there."