Christmas With The In-Laws
"Scorpius, I've said it once and I'll say it again, why are you so scared of spending Christmas with my parents?" Rose asked her fiancé, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.
"It won't just be your parents, it'll be the rest of your family too," Scorpius replied.
"Your parents too!" Rose reminded him. "They've agreed to come to the Burrow for Christmas. And Remus and Dora are coming with John and Emily and Hagrid with Madam Maxime and Kingsley." Scorpius groaned some more.
"That really makes my bloody day," he muttered. Rose elbowed him in the ribs.
"I'll have you know your parents are lovely and I'm looking forward to having them for in-laws," she scolded.
"Anyway, how many people did you say are coming?" Scorpius asked.
"Let's see," Rose said, starting to count on her fingers. "There will be Gran and Gramps, my six uncles and aunts, my mum, dad and brother, your parents, my seventeen cousins plus their significant others. The Lupins, Hagrid, Madame Maxime and their family. Most of my aunts' families, my Uncle Harry's cousin plus his wife and two daughters, the Dumbledores, the Longbottoms and Kingsley plus some of his most friendly employees…it'll all add up to about sixty people, I think." This number shocked Scorpius, who hadn't expected that many even with Rose's madcap family plus friends.
"Babe, can the Burrow take that many people?" he asked.
"Course not!" Rose exclaimed. "But the Longbottoms and the Lupins are going to stay with the Scalamanders and come over on Christmas Day. Hagrid and Madame Maxime and their family are staying with Fleur's family in some second home just outside this village and my Uncles Fred and George have just released The Palace Tent in their shop so the Ministry people and some of my cousins are staying in those. The Dumbledores are staying in the local hotel."
"And everyone else?" asked Scorpius, a little daunted by the enormous number.
"In the house," said Rose. "But you know how big it actually is with all those extensions in it."
"Who's sharing with whom?" Scorpius asked.
"Well, we've got to share with my brother and his girlfriend Ophelia McLaggen and my cousin Albus and his girlfriend Harriet Thomas," Rose said. "Your parents are sharing with mine-"
"That'll make father's Christmas," Scorpius said wryly.
"-and everyone else is just bunged together depending on age," Rose finished. "Any questions?"
"Yeah, how do that many people fit in a refurbished pigsty?" asked Scorpius. "What, it is!" he added, after a dirty look from Rose.
"While, my mum is a past master and present mistress at Undetectable Extension charms," Rose said. "And my uncles Fred and George were perfectly willing to sleep in the living room and let someone else have their room."
"Just gives them a chance to get up to more mischief," Scorpius said bitterly. He had never forgiven Fred and George for enchanting a bowl of mashed potatoes to pour over his head during his first visit to the Burrow as Rose's official boyfriend.
"You're not still annoyed about the mashed potato joke, are you?" Rose asked.
"You just read my mind, Rosey-Pose," Scorpius laughed. He began to kiss her. Rose pushed him away after a few minutes.
"Stop it, we have to pack, we're expected at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning," she scolded.
The next morning, on the dot of eleven Scorpius and Rose Apparated to the Burrow just ahead of Scorpius' parents, both looking glamorous as usual. Draco cat-like in a well-cut white suit, Astoria beautiful in a midnight-blue dress that matched her eyes. Rose silenced a giggle, remembering the 'amazing bouncing ferret' story. She found herself enveloped in a posh perfume-scented hug from her future mother-in-law.
"Rose, it's so good to see you, you look beautiful!" Astoria gushed. "Scorpius darling, when did you get so tall?" Scorpius looked pained as his mother swooped down and kissed him on each cheek. Draco gave Rose a smile and shook his son's hand, preferring not to display his affection as publicly as his wife. All four were welcomed at the door by Molly Weasley, dressed in her flowered apron and covered in flour.
"Rose, you're here at last, everyone is dying to see you!" she said, hugging her granddaughter. "And Scorpius, how've you been keeping?"
"Very well, thanks, Molly," Scorpius said. "Thank you for the birthday present, it was too kind of you."
"It was nothing dear," Molly said with an airy wave of the hand. "Draco, Astoria, how are you?"
"Wonderful, Molly," said Astoria. "Thank you for inviting us, it gets so cold in the manor in winter." Draco gave Molly's hand a brief kiss and thanked her for a birthday card.
"It was too kind of you to remember my birthday when you've got so many to keep track of."
Inside the living room was filled with Weasley relatives and friends. Every sofa was crammed with people. Cats weaving through the room, getting in everyone's way, and a couple of owls hooting indignantly in cages just added to the confusion. Scorpius looked downright terrified as they went in. He had never seen so many redheads in one room before and never seen Rose's entire wacky family in full and never even met most of the family friends. Therefore the Weasleys and friends out in full force and all hyped up about Christmas was almost enough to make him duck back out the door. Even with all the people staying in different houses or in tents he didn't believe that so many people would fit comfortably into the Burrow.
After long introductions with brief biographies from Rose about each person, Scorpius' hand had gone numb from all the times it had been shaken, he felt thoroughly exhausted from socializing and it wasn't even noon. Not only that, but he had tripped over so many suitcases that he was going to have huge bruises on both knees tomorrow.
"Everyone, why don't you go upstairs and unpack if you are staying here?" said Molly. "Lunch will be served in about an hour." There was a mad scramble while everyone tried to find the right suitcases. Scorpius followed Rose upstairs to the bedroom where her Aunt Ginny used to sleep. Both Hugo and Al were already up there with their girlfriends. Three double beds had been placed in the magically extended room, each with roll-out drawers underneath. Rose immediately struck up a conversation with Kira and Ophelia about their school days which led to the inevitable "So what happened to so-and-so?" and "Did you hear about the so-and-sos?" gossip that girls always liked to indulge in. Scorpius ignored them and started unpacking, though some of the gossip was quite interesting, such as the fact that his cousin Delia had started singing and had been tipped as the next Celestina Warbeck.
Lunch was served at one and turned out to be a huge mix, from sandwiches to salads to soup. Scorpius was spoiled for choice on what to eat. Molly Weasley was the only person he knew who could cook better than the Hogwarts house elves. As Scorpius predicted, his father had not been thrilled to discover he was sharing with Rose's parents, but he was grinning and bearing it.
Scorpius was also not very appreciative of sharing with his girlfriend's relatives. Hugo, despite being younger than Rose, was very protective of her and semi-prejudiced against Malfoys because of his father. He was watching Scorpius like a hawk so even a kiss was noted and received a filthy look. Able to tell what stage people were at in relationships, Molly had set up rooms with single or double rooms accordingly. So even Hugo couldn't stop Rose and Scorpius sharing a bed.
The next morning Scorpius woke smiling from a very funny dream about his parents. He could immediately smell breakfast. He got up, leaving the rest of his roommates peacefully sleeping and wandered downstairs. Molly was already awake and cooking breakfast.
"Good morning, Scorpius," she said, smiling. "You are an early bird!"
"Is it my imagination, or is this house really overcrowded?" Scorpius asked with a grin. Molly sighed.
"Can't be helped," she said. "At least the Scalamanders and the Delacours were willing to take extra people. And it's a good thing my daughter-in-law is so accomplished at Extension Charms." She stirred a pot of porridge. "The other visitors will be over later for a snowball fight." She smiled. Scorpius smiled back as Rose came downstairs.
Eventually the smell of breakfast lured everyone out of their beds and in from their tents. Looking at everyone sitting round the table in their pyjamas with messy hair Scorpius fought a desire to laugh. In all his nineteen years, he'd never dreamed he'd one day be sitting eating breakfast with the Minister for Magic in his pyjamas. He stole a glance around the table. Rose's family was certainly huge. Her immediate family added up to thirty without the distant relations. It was also scary how many people fitted around the magically extended table.
That day passed in a blur. When the rest of the Christmas guests turned up Scorpius played referee in a massive snowball fight, which to him was an excuse to pelt everyone who was annoying him with as many snowballs as possible. Laughing at James Potter, who'd just been knocked over by the sheer force of a snowball thrown by Kingsley, Scorpius was hit in the head from behind. Snow dripping from his hair, he turned around. Rose was standing pink-cheeked and grinning, holding another snowball. Slowly, maintaining eye contact, Scorpius knelt down and scooped up a handful of snow.
"Oh, you're for it now, Rosey!" he shouted. Rose screamed and started running away, dodging other snowballs as Scorpius chased her through the garden. He caught up with her by the old apple tree and got her in the face. She laughed, snow dripping from her eyes and gathered up another handful of snow, but was knocked to the ground by Scorpius' rugby tackle.
"You have snowballed me," he growled playfully. "Now you will suffer death by tickling!" He began tickling her.
"Scorpius, don't!" she screamed. "You know how ticklish I am! Stop!"
Scorpius stopped when both he and Rose were gasping for breath, tears of laughter running down their faces.
"I love you Scorpius," Rose whispered, looking into Scorpius' eyes in a way that made him feel wibbly inside.
"I love you too, Rosey," he whispered. He leaned down and kissed her.
"Oi, gerrof my sister!"
Scorpius raised his head to see Hugo standing a few metres away pointing his wand at him.
"I said, get off my sister!" he shouted. Scorpius rolled off Rose who got up, blushing furiously and looking ready to kill her brother.
"Bog off Hugo!" she shouted. "I'm two years older than you and old enough to decide what I want to do with my boyfriend!"
"Your brother sure is protective," Scorpius laughed. "But now he's gone, where were we?"
The next day was Christmas Eve. Scorpius, looking forward to a long lie-in, was woken at six by Rose bouncing on him.
"Get up, get up, it's Christmas Eve!" she squealed.
"Rosey, am I ever gonna get a lie-in living with you?" Scorpius groaned.
"Not on Christmas Eve you're not!" Rose giggled. "Now c'mon. Grandma's making scrambled eggs and smoked salmon bagels for breakfast and if you don't hurry up everyone else will get there first!"
"Well, I do love smoked salmon, but you must be punished for waking me up to early," Scorpius said, with an evil smile. Grabbing Rose round the waist, he hoisted her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.
"Put…me…down!" Rose screamed, hitting him. He ignored her and carried her down the stairs, probably waking the whole house with her screams.
Most parents and grandparents would be fairly shocked if their child or grandchild came into the kitchen being carried by their boyfriend, but Molly Weasley barely batted an eyelid, having got used to strange public displays of affection over the years. Both sets of parents, however, choked over their morning coffee. Scorpius set Rose down and tenderly kissed her before swiping a bagel and a cup of coffee.
"Don't look so shocked, Mum," Rose said, smoothing her unruly hair and reaching for the toast. "I was getting punished for waking him too early." Hermione visibly relaxed. No matter how much she told her husband off for prejudice, she wasn't quite sure about her daughter's decision to marry a Malfoy.
Later that day it was time to hang the stockings. Scorpius laughed at the sight of the mantelpiece groaning under the weight of around forty stockings.
"What did you ask for?" asked Jane Dursley.
"Everything I could ever ask for is standing right in front of me," said Scorpius, smiling fondly at Rose.
"Oh, you," she giggled, snuggling up to him.
As was tradition at the Burrow, that night everyone watched a corny Christmas movie. Teddy was given choice and picked Elf, resulting in all round groans and Ron pretending to pass out. Nobody really watched it, preferring instead to snooze, read or polish off the popcorn Molly had made. After the movie it was time for putting out reindeer food. When carrots and bread had been placed reverently on the lawn it was time to go to bed.
The next morning Scorpius woke before Rose. He lay in the darkness stroking her hair and wondering what day it was.
"Merlin, it's Christmas!" he exclaimed, waking Rose. Together the couple crept down the stairs hand in hand and found the Christmas tree glowing in the living room and full stockings hanging over the fireplace.
Scorpius reached for his stocking but just as he touched it Molly Weasley's amplified voice echoed through the house.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Scorpius jumped and leapt away from it. The light flicked on and Molly Weasley came in grinning.
"Just a little deterrent," she laughed. "Rose'll tell you that in this house we have a proper Christmas breakfast before anyone opens presents." Rose made a disgusted face. "But I should think most people will be up after that noise. Do you prefer bacon or sausages for breakfast?"
"Bacon," Scorpius answered, flopping onto the sofa and switching on the TV. Rose grabbed the remote and changed to a channel showing the 'Top 100 Christmas Songs of All Time'. Molly headed through to the kitchen and before long the delicious smells of bacon were drifting through the house.
By seven everyone was awake and eating their breakfast at enormous pace, anxious to open the presents. When the last piece of toast had disappeared Molly lead them all into the living room and a mad scramble for stockings ensued. All the stockings were embroidered with names and overflowing with presents. Fred and George plunged their hands into their stocking simultaneously and both came up with handfuls of jelly.
"You stole my idea!" they shouted at each other. Scorpius laughed as he opened the first of his presents: cologne from his mother and gold watch from his father. He had many more presents but he had a few favourites: A Rough Guide To Dragons from Charlie and Verity, a big box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred, George and their spouses, a big box of mince pies and fruit cake (just one of many presents from Molly and Arthur) and the wildly expensive dragon hide jacket he'd admired when he and Rose were shopping in Diagon Alley, from Rose.
Rose was delighted with her gift from Scorpius, a gold necklace set with a ruby and an emerald and engraved with a snake entwined around a lion.
"It symbolizes the joining of our families and this generation's first Gryffindor/Slytherin marriage," Scorpius said, fastening it around her neck. Rose also got several Muggle books from her mum and dad, a charm bracelet from her brother and, more confusingly, a book called Preparing For Your New Baby from Molly. Rose stared at Molly in shock.
"I…I only just found out, I don't even have morning sickness, how did you know?" she asked, staring at Molly.
"Dear, I'm trained to spot these signs," Molly said, smiling fondly. "I must say I'm really looking forward to the birth of my first great-grandchild."
"Wait a minute," said Scorpius. "Rose, you're not…" Her expression told him everything he needed to know. "I'm going to be a father," he whooped, punching the air with his fist. Rose laughed, a laugh that turned into a scream when Scorpius grabbed her and whirled her round, almost knocking over several ornaments. Molly looked on fondly, both parents just looked shock.
As usual, Astoria broke the stunned silence.
"It couldn't have happened to a lovelier girl," she said, tears in her eyes as she took Rose in a bone-crushing hug. "Of course we will have to put the wedding day forward, but what a lovely surprise!"
"How long have you known?" Ron asked, finally closing his mouth.
"Only a few days, or I wouldn't have been so surprised that Gran knew!" Rose laughed, wriggling free of Astoria. Draco kissed her cheek.
"Congratulations, you will make a wonderful mother," he said. Hermione was still sitting in shock.
"Mum," Rose said, a note of disappointment creeping into her voice. "Aren't you happy for me?" Hermione burst into tears and hugged her daughter.
"Of course I am, darling," she wailed. "You're just so young."
"I'm the same age as Padma Patil was when she got pregnant and she wasn't even engaged then!" Rose said. Hermione smiled through her tears. Astoria came over and put an arm around her.
"When's it due?" Ron asked.
"September the eighteenth," Rose replied.
"A little Virgo," said Astoria, clapping her hands. "So modest and orderly, and a birthstone of sapphire." Ron and Draco exchanged amused glances. Hermione mopped up her tears and smiled at Scorpius.
"I must admit I had my doubts about you, Scorpius, but I'll be proud to call you my son in law," she said. Scorpius smiled gratefully.
"We'll put the wedding forward from September to July," Astoria said. "We'll have to get together to plan."
"How perfect, I always wanted a summer wedding," Rose said, with the faintest hint of sarcasm.
Later on, playing wizard chess or making houses or cards with exploding snap cards after a magnificent Christmas lunch, Hugo sidled up to Scorpius.
"Sorry I was such a git," he said. "I just didn't think a Malfoy would make my sister happy. Now I see that you do. Friends?"
"Friends," agreed Scorpius, shaking the proffered hand.
Scorpius and Rose left the Burrow just before New Year's Day, preferring to spend it just the two of them. Scorpius still couldn't quite believe he was going to be a father. The only blight on his happiness was that he was now going to have to organise a wedding with his mother. Ah well he thought, kissing Rose as they lay in the park, watching the midnight fireworks. Every silver lining has a cloud!