Chapter 11

Age 18, Hallowe'en

I had just gotten an internship at St. Mungo's, but Scorpius still hadn't found anyone who'd hire him. He was kind of bummed about it, but determined not to give up. I barely made any money, so we still lived at my house. Mum and dad didn't mind. James had moved out recently and there was plenty of room. Although, today was going to get very crowded. Mum had invited the whole family for dinner tonight.

Entering the kitchen right now would be practically suicide. Mum was waving her wand around, making pots and pans and knives fly everywhere. She had put dad on cleaning duty upstairs and me, Scorpius and Lily downstairs. Scorpius and I finished our part in no time, but Lily who was not yet seventeen, was vacuuming the living room muggle-style, muttering under her breath. I sat down on the couch and started spinning my wand between my fingers. Lily scowled at me.

"You could just do this for me, you know", she said.

"I could", I said and nodded.

"It would take you like two seconds", she turned the vacuum off and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"It would", I agreed. She crossed her arms over her chest, knowing I was just mocking her now.

"But you won't", she sighed.

"I won't", I said with a smirk.

"Because you're an arse", she said.

"Because I'm your brother", I corrected her. She sat down in an armchair and kicked the vacuum with her foot.

"Well then", she said and turned to Scorpius, "will you please do it for me?"

Scorpius flicked his wand.

"Is that better for you?"

Lily glanced around.

"Good enough", she shrugged. "Thanks, Scorpius!" And she left.

At the same time there was a small 'pop' and a girl with frizzy red hair and a sixteen years old boy clinging to her arm with a shaken expression turned up in the living room. Cousin Rose and Hugo.

"That was bloody painful", breathed Hugo and let go of his sister. She just shrugged.

"You're early", I said and Rose grinned.

"I just couldn't wait to see your new boyfriend", she gave Scorpius an approving nod. "He's cute", she stepped forward to shake Scorpius' hand. "I'm Rose, cousin to that dork", she nodded towards me. I sighed.

By five o'clock in the afternoon our house was full of people. There was Aunt Hermione and uncle Ron with cousins Rose and Hugo, uncle Bill and aunt Fleur with cousins Victoire, Dominique and Louis, uncle George and aunt Angelina with cousins Fred and Roxanne, uncle Percy and aunt Audrey with cousins Lucy and Molly, uncle Charlie and Teddy and James of course. I don't know if you got all that, we were 27 in total anyway. I never liked big crowds, but mum forced me down to the living room to socialise. Scorpius had no problem with it at all.

"Come on", he said and nudged me in the side, "wipe that grumpy look of your face, it's just your family."

"You sound like my mum", I muttered.

Obviously the news about Scorpius hadn't reached everybody yet, because Dominique came up to Scorpius and I and said.

"Who's your friend, Al", eying Scorpius with a pleased look, "He's very handsome."

"Er", I said a bit confused.

"I'm Dominique", she swept her blond hair over her shoulder and shook Scorpius' hand. I guess since she had veela blood in her she was naturally flirtatious and pretty, but it was a bit annoying really. Not that I was afraid she was going to steal Scorpius from me - being a girl made it kind of impossible. But this was just too awkward to watch.

"I'm Scorpius", said Scorpius with a kind smile, "Al's boyfriend."

Dominique was so startled she stopped batting her long eyelashes and just stared.

"Oh", she said and when she recovered from the surprise she added, "nice to meet you, I've heard do much about you", in a slightly higher pitch.

Then she left, before she could make more fool of herself.

The afternoon went fine, until we sat down to eat. The table was full of delicious dishes and everybody was eager to dig in. Uncle Ron reached for the peas and said, quite casually:

"So, Malfoy, don't you have a family of your own to eat with?"

Aunt Hermione shot him a look.

"Ron!" she hissed warningly.

Scorpius looked up.

"Er", he said awkwardly, "Yeah... Um."

"No offence", said Ron, very offensively, "I just thought this was a family dinner."

"Scorpius is more than welcome to eat here", said mum and gave her brother an angry look. Ron muttered something under his breath and glared at Scorpius. I gave Scorpius a worried glance, his cheeks were turning slightly pink. I'd been afraid this would happen. I knew that uncle Ron had never really forgiven the Malfoy's for what they did during the war.

An uncomfortable silence had settled over the table. Hermione was murdering her husband with her eyes. She was the kind of person you did not want to piss off in the first place.

"Was he really the best you could do, Al?" asked Ron after a little while, acting as if everything was perfectly normal.

"Ron!" said dad shocked. Scorpius' body tensed. I was gritting my teeth.

"I'm just saying", said Ron, "there's got to be another gay guy who's better for you."

"What's wrong with Scorpius?" I asked furiously. Ron gave my boyfriend the evil eye.

"He's a Malfoy, Al. You can do better, trust me."

"Ron, don't!" snapped Hermione, "don't be so silly!"

"I'm not my dad, if that's what's bothering you", said Scorpius tensely. Ron Ignored him.

"Besides, he's a Slytherin."

"That's enough!" dad stood up and slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone, including Ron. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm a Slytherin!" I said and scowled. Ron looked from me to my dad, his face fell flat.

"I- that- that's not how I meant. I-"

Dad cut him off.

"Scorpius is a part of this family now, just as much as Teddy or Audrey or anybody else! If you can't accept that, then you'd better leave. Never insult my son like that again!"

I had never seen my dad bark like that at anyone before - well except maybe when James turned Lily purple as a joke when he was twelve. Ron just stared blankly at him.

"I'm sorry", he mumbled. Dad sat down again.

"Apologise to Scorpius", he said. Ron scowled and only muttered angrily under his breath. Mum was just about to say something to him when Scorpius got ahead of her.

"Don't even bother", he said, "You know, I've been taking this kind of crap all my life. I get judged before I even open my mouth because my father fucked up his life. So, don't worry, you're just like everybody else. I won't bother you again."

He stood up and marched out of the dining room. I was absolutely stunned. What just happened? Ron just screwed up family dinner, that's what happened.

"You're such an idiot!" mum bellowed.

"Way to kill the mood!" said Rose, "good job, dad!"

"I can't believe you", yelled Hermione.

Soon everyone was involved in the fiery discussion. The dining room was in complete chaos and the food was forgotten. I threw my fork at my plate and stormed out as well. Their angry voices echoed all the way to the top floor. I walked into my room and shut the door behind me. Scorpius was sitting on his bed, biting his thumbnail with a scowl on his forehead.

"What the fuck am I doing?" he said frustratedly. I shook my head slowly, not sure of what he meant.

"I d-" I started.

He flung his arms out.

"Here I am, screwing up my boyfriend's family dinner because I can't fucking stand my own damn family-"

"You didn't screw up the dinner", I interrupted, "uncle Ron did. It wasn't your fault."

Scorpius shrugged.

"It's just that I'm stuck here! Since I can't get a job because of my bloody name so I can't get a bloody place of my own. All I can do is sit around on my fucking arse and I'm sick of it. I'm such a-"

What Scorpius was, I never got to know. Because just then an idea popped up in my head and went immediately to my lips.

"Marry me."

Scorpius stopped mid-sentence and almost choked.

"W-what?" he stared at me in surprise. The blood shot to my face. I didn't think at all before I said that. Man, that was the first time I ever thought that. But as I said it it made kind of sense. I stared back.

"Marry me and take my name", I said. Scorpius blinked.

"You want me to marry you just to get your name so I can get a job and get out of here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head.

"No", I said and a smile started spreading across my face. "I want you to marry me because I love you. I love you more than anything and I can't imagine living without you, so why not? You'll take my name and you'll have a job in no time. We'll move out and we'll start a life of our own." I just said the things that came up in my head. It was like I was convincing myself just as much as I was convincing Scorpius. My heart started to swell in my chest. The pieces just all fell together. "Just marry me", I said for the third time, grinning from ear to ear.

Scorpius got to his feet.

"OK", he said and laughed. "I'll just marry you then."

He put his arms around me. We kissed and laughed at the same time. The feeling was too big to describe. It was a turning point in our lives, a step into adulthood. We just couldn't stop smiling. Who knew such a crappy dinner could turn into such a wonderful night?

A/N: Chapter 11! dunDun DunDun (Wedding March;p) I'll just say that when I started this fanfic I never thought I'd get this far, it was just an idea I had to write down. I'm quite proud of myself actually:D But I don't trust my own wordXD What do you think? :) Review^^ BTW, Ron isn't evil, he's just got a problem with Malfoy's and he does care about Al;)