Thank you for the reviews AwesumMin (Thanks! I hope you like this chapter. I died from the cuteness just writing it haha) and Reader-anonymous-writer! Also thanks for the faves and follows!
Reader-anonymous-writer brought up a couple good points in his/her review, and I figured I'd mention the ones I thought were most important for understanding the story, in case any of you had the same questions:
1. I have no idea how the high-tech broomstick works, I'm a theatre major o.O Tabitha, however, would know because of her upbringing in a very science-y household (hence her ability to make a time machine), which you'll hear more about in later chapters!
2. The reason Rosie (and later Tom) get away with performing underage magic is that the Ministry doesn't really care about magic performed by kids that haven't been to Hogwarts yet. Hence all the young witches and wizards that don't get arrested for all the accidental magic they perform, and also Hermione, who admits in the first book/movie to having practiced several spells at home before ever going to Hogwarts. Additionally, the rules for the children of magical parents are a bit different... I think... Just check the Harry Potter Wiki, since I'm not too clear on that myself!
3. Aurora not getting angry at Tom about hurting Sasha: you will understand in due time.
If any of you have other points you want me to clarify, feel free to ask! Also, I promise this story isn't going to turn into a big ball of fluff all of a sudden. It just sort of worked out that way with the timing of the last two chapters... So, onward!
Chapter 14: It's a Family Tradition
Every family, especially every pureblood wizarding family, had its traditions. The Blacks were known for collecting, modifying, controlling, and creating magical objects (most of which could only be used by those of the "purest blood"); the Selwyns had perfected the art of wandless magic, and passed on this knowledge to their children as soon as the children were of age; the Lestranges were apparently hoarding heaps of ancient knowledge on Divination in their library; the Blishwicks were expected to be animagi by the time they turned fifteen (Everett's animagus form was a sparrow, and Valeria had confided in Lucretia, Augusta and Rosie that hers was going to be a rabbit).
The Malfoys, along with their rather extensive collection of rare books on magical theory, were falconers, and passed along the tradition as soon as their children turned eleven. Falcons were unusual familiars for wizards, but very loyal once trained, and even remained loyal once transfigured, unlike other animals who were prone to forget their training when in an alternate form.
Tom had turned eleven on the last day of the year, so he had started out nearly five months before Rosie. Now that she'd finally been given a falcon of her own, he was taking advantage of the situation and lording all his falconry "expertise" over her head at every chance he got.
"Come on, Blue!" she griped, nudging her falcon with her finger to prompt it to fly off her arm, but it wouldn't budge. It was so lazy! Didn't falcons usually like flying?
"You're doing it all wrong," said Tom in a patronizing tone that made Rosie's blood boil.
She whipped around to glare at him. He was smirking, stroking the top of his falcon's head lightly. Aurora was busy planning a tea party that would take place a few days later, Lysander was at work, and Abraxas was still off at Hogwarts, so Tom had been entrusted with Rosie's falconry lesson that day since he'd caught on so quickly a few months before. Rosie had yet to "catch on," even after three weeks of trying, and she knew Tom was enjoying her failure immensely. She was quite possibly even worse at falconry than he was at flying, after all.
Rosie opened her mouth to snap at him, but Tom cut her off: "I'm here to teach you, you know," he reminded her with a raised eyebrow. "You could at least listen to my advice."
Rosie exhaled sharply and turned away. She raised her arm and wiggled it in the air, attempting to dislodge her falcon, but the bloody bird just ruffled its wings and cocked its head to the side, regarding her curiously. She shook her arm again, trying to get it to move, but it didn't react at all. How stupid was this thing?!
"You have to do it more smoothly than that," Tom said, walking up next to her and lowering her elbow with his hand.
She sighed, frustrated, but allowed him to guide her arm forward and up in one swift motion that had Blue flying low above the ground. She watched, stunned, as he landed elegantly on the ground at the end of his rope. She glanced sideways at Tom, and caught him in the middle of a satisfied smirk. She huffed again and looked away. "Now how do I get him to come back?"
Tom smiled for real then, and continued to instruct her. He was a good teacher, if a bit condescending, and when Rosie forced herself to listen to his advice she actually found herself learning. After a couple hours, he concluded their lesson and she dragged him to the backyard for a game of quidditch.
~[][][]~
Rosie sipped her tea once, twice, then set it down on her saucer on the table in front of her.
"Oliver so hopes that our Augusta will be placed in Slytherin, but I find she draws more from my side of the family," said Catherina, sharing a conspiratory smile with her daughter. "You know the Goldsteins have been Ravenclaws for generations."
Aurora raised her eyebrows. "Gerbern is a Slytherin."
Catherina laughed mischievously. "Gerbern is the spitting image of his father, Aurora. Augusta, on the other hand, is more studious than malevolent."
Rosie and Augusta exchanged a long-suffering eye-roll. Tom was too busy hissing at Hisspissbigissssiebpijzlkfxbnaweoir to follow the conversation. Or perhaps he was following the conversation after all, and just didn't bother contributing. Aurora chuckled. "Slytherins are not malevolent, merely opportunistic," she put in. "You're married to a Slytherin, in case you'd forgotten."
The dark-haired woman smirked. "Impossible to forget, seeing as he reminds me of the fact on a daily basis."
"For good reason," said Aurora with a sly smile. Her smile then became warm as she looked at Rosie and Tom. "I am certain both my children will both be sorted into Slytherin," she said proudly. "The Malfoys have been Slytherins for generations, and Tom is Slytherin's own blood."
Tom looked up at this and gave a winning smile (which Rosie referred to as his "evil smile" in the privacy of her mind). "I would find it only fitting to bring honor to the house of my ancestors," he said.
Rosie nearly groaned as Aurora cast a smug look in Catherina's direction. He was such a suck-up!
"I will so miss them when they leave, you know," Aurora said. "What a sad day it will be, watching two of my children leave me behind. I remember the day Rosie was born as if it were yesterday, and I do wish we would have found Tom sooner." She sighed sadly and looked at him, an almost apologetic look on her face. "He's only been with us for two and a half years, and he's already leaving! But I am happy to have found him at all. I must confess I've grown to love him as my own son."
Tom blinked at Aurora. After an almost awkward pause, he cleared his throat and smiled again. "Yes, I would have liked to have spent more time here," he replied.
Rosie frowned at him, confused, as he hissed something to his snake, who then wrapped itself around his shoulders. He looked back at the women as he stood, but it seemed he was avoiding their eyes. "I apologize, but my snake is hungry. She claims I neglected to feed her this morning. Please excuse me." Aurora, Catherina, and their daughters watched curiously as Tom turned on his heel and strode briskly out of the parlor.
Rosie rose to her feet and excused herself hastily before running after him, ignoring her mother's protests. Tom wasn't in the hallway anymore when she reached it, and she frowned, glancing left and right, before choosing to go left on a whim. She wandered the house for a few minutes before giving up on that idea and walking outside. She found him in the garden, sitting on a stone bench in the gazebo with his snake lying on the bench opposite him, basking in the sunlight. He was swinging his legs back and forth under the bench.
She approached him carefully, as if at any moment he would be startled and run away. He didn't budge, and she sat down next to him.
They sat like that for what seemed like hours before Rosie finally mustered up the courage to ask him, "Why did you run away?" in a gentle voice.
Tom's head snapped up sharply and he gave her a hard look that she hadn't seen in a long time. He opened his mouth to respond, but then seemed to think better of it and snapped his mouth shut, looking away.
Rosie frowned, worried. "Tom…?"
"She was lying," he interrupted, his voice barely a whisper.
Rosie tilted her head to the side, confused. "Sorry?"
"Your mother, Mrs. Malfoy," he elaborated. "She was lying."
"What do you mean she was lying?"
A pause. Then, "She doesn't think of me as a son."
Rosie's eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she turned to face him fully. He was staring at the ground again. "Tom, what are you talking about?" she asked him, feeling immensely confused. "Why would she lie about something like that? She loves you."
"No she doesn't."
"What? Yes she does! You're being ridiculous." She crossed her arms, still trying and failing to understand where this was all coming from. "Where did you ever get that idea?"
Another pause. A sigh, then an uncharacteristic, unintelligible mumble that made Rosie scrunch up her nose and lean closer.
"Tom, I can't hear you…"
"I said…" He swallowed. "I said… It's not possible for her to love me."
Rosie squinted at him, genuinely baffled by what was coming out of his mouth right now. "Why not? We adopted you; you're family now. Of course she loves you. We all do."
He shook his head adamantly, still refusing to meet her eyes. "That's not true."
"Yes it is!" she protested. "That's just how family works."
"Not all families," he said. "Not my family."
Rosie's lips parted in shock as she studied the boy next to her. She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. "Tom…"
"My mother never loved me," he said bitterly. "Why would your mother love me? She already has you and Abraxas and your father to care about."
Sorrow washed over Rosie in waves as she stared at Tom. All this time… All this time he'd thought that the Malfoys didn't truly care about him because of what had happened to his mother. She rose suddenly and stood directly in front of him, then waited for him to look up at her. When he did, there was such a brokenness in his eyes that she almost cried for him, because surely he was too proud to do it himself.
"Tom," she said fiercely, "You listen up!" His eyes widened in surprise, but she plowed on, undeterred. "I never met your mother, so I don't know what kind of person she was, but I know that she sacrificed her own life to give birth to you in a place where she believed you would be safe. She loved you, Tom. She created you.
"But even if you'd sprung spontaneously from the clouds one day and landed in that orphanage by chance, your argument would still be invalid. Do you know why?" (She didn't give him a chance to answer.) "Because you're a part of our family now. You have a mother, and a father, and siblings, and we all love you very much. We took you in and gave you our name, and taught you our family traditions. You're one of us, now, and we care for you just as much as we care for one another."
She fell silent, and they gazed at each other, him bewildered, her determined. She felt like she had so much more to say, but knew just because she told him that they loved him, didn't mean he'd believe her. Frustrated, she yanked him up into a standing position and pulled him into a hug. He squirmed uncomfortably for a few seconds, but she held him tightly, and eventually he relaxed, although he didn't return the gesture. She didn't know if he understood what she had been trying to say, but there was nothing else she could do, so she just hugged him and hoped he would day realise that he wasn't alone, and that the people around him wanted him to be happy.
Tom, personally, was hoping Rosie would never stop hugging him. He'd never been hugged before, but he quickly decided it was one of the best feelings in the world.