Hi guys! This is more of a filler chapter, sort of. Only another chapter or so and then I'll be getting back more into Scorpius and Rose, or I can nicely tie it all up and end it. Let me know what you think!
James crouched low beside his dad, both of them behind a flutterby bush in front of the house in Kirkwall.
"Come on, come on," he murmured. They had gathered all of the evidence they needed to arrest the man responsible for so many deaths. Now, they just had to physically get their hands on Ophiuchus. James didn't want to just get his hands on him, he wanted to throttle him.
A menacing creek escaped the front door of the house: the hinges. Beside James, Harry tensed as the door opened.
A man about Harry's age stepped out from the door. James gasped.
The man had white-blond hair, the only kind ever seen on the head of a Malfoy. His eyes were cool, calculating, and the gray of the sky above a stormy sea. His face was a mask, leaving no possible way to penetrate it.
But the tell-tale sign was the wand the man was holding. It had been missing from the crime scene. It was Lucius Malfoy's wand.
This man was Ophiuchus.
Harry signaled Ron and Greg, hiding in the bush across the walkway.
James began to count down. Three, two, one…
"Stupefy!" came the roar of four voices.
In a lightning flash of red, Ophiuchus was on the ground.
"Incarcerous," James growled, pointing his wand at the unconscious man, watching satisfyingly as the bonds wrapped around him too tight. There wasn't enough he could do, to make this man pay.
It was almost Christmas, Ginny realized. Soon the entire family would all show up at the Burrow for dinner; they'd finally be together.
Molly would cook too much and the table would groan and bend under the weight of it. Rose would probably start a food fight with the kids. Hermione and Ron would disappear midway through, acting like randy teenagers. Bill would sink down into the sofa after eating and take a nap, somehow managing to sleep through the chaos reigning around the rest of the house. Harry, James, and Ron would be back (hopefully) from the mission so everyone would be continually looking around for them to make sure that they were safe. Rose would hover over Scorpius. Percy would lecture. It would be chaotic, hectic, and home.
But Lily wouldn't be happy. She'd see James being overprotective and loving towards Callie, making sure she was comfortable every second; he'd been like that since she'd gotten pregnant. And she'd see Al laughing with Jessie, brushing her curls away from her face.
And she wouldn't be with Seamus.
Ginny groaned and sank down into a kitchen chair. She rubbed her temples. Her daughter was with a man twenty seven years older. For goodness sakes, he was fifty-one to her twenty-four.
That conversation had not gone well, Ginny reflected. Lily had dropped the bomb and she'd just stared, after blurting 'holy shit', which had not been a good tidbit to start with when she was trying to make her daughter think she accepted this.
She couldn't have helped her reaction, though. All she could think of the Irishman with his hands all over her daughter. Her baby. It felt wrong. But…if Lily was happy with him, and he with her, then it should be right. Hell, it had looked like Lily was in love with him!
And who was she to say Lily couldn't love someone? It was love, right? It just happened. They couldn't control it. Like Dean Thomas and Pansy Parkinson; who would have ever guessed? Luna, after all, was with a man ten years older, and Ginny had been only excited for her when they'd gotten married.
It was what Harry, James, and Al would do that really worried Ginny. Harry wouldn't believe it, then would get into a fiery rage, and then would slump. James would just be angry and overprotective. He wouldn't know how to frighten his sister's boyfriend when said boyfriend was about twenty years older than him. Al would have his own opinion, but would keep it to himself until he could get Lily alone to talk to her. And that would most likely develop into a fight.
What if it all blew up over Christmas dinner? Molly was always asking if her grandchildren had any sort of relationship going on. Lily had never been a good liar when asked direct questions; otherwise, she'd done well. But now that both James and Al had someone, Molly was definitely going to put all of her effort into focusing on Lily out of the rest of the Potters.
Ginny sighed. She flicked off the lights in the house before heading upstairs. This was something she'd talk to Harry about, she reflected as she crawled into bed.
Harry, once past the fact that his baby girl had a boyfriend (and one so much older) would be a voice of reason.
Ginny flopped around in the bed, never getting comfortable. She missed the feeling of Harry's arm curled around her while they were falling asleep, whispering funny things in her ear or about the events that had happened that day, what was going to happen the next day.
She scooted over to Harry's pillow and inhaled. God, she missed him. She felt like she should be used to this after all these years; but she never would.
It was an ache. It pulled at her insides when he was gone. She imagined Hermione and Rose felt the same when Ron and Scorpius were gone.
It had almost been easier when the kids were younger and living in the house. Sure, it had been more work and very worrisome, the kids would often cry and yell, wake up in the middle of the night after a nightmare and ask for Daddy to make it better. But now, the house was empty, and there was no one to distract her from the fact that she was all alone.
All alone with her thoughts; not something she wanted to be left alone with right now.
Not when they were so focused on someone who had now slept with both she and her daughter.
There were no loose strings there, though, Ginny knew. She and Seamus had used each other, knowingly, and had never regretted it. It had meant only comfort during that terrible year at Hogwarts, for both she and Seamus; someone to care about them after they were tortured and hurt by the Carrows. Though what adulterous lovers often termed 'nothing' wasn't nothing, this had been. Nothing, that is. It didn't mean anything filled with love for either of them.
They both knew the other wished they were holding someone else. Ginny was wishing for Harry; Seamus for his girl back in Ireland. Apparently, he'd gotten over the girl.
Apparently, he loved Lily, now.
"Rose, if you look at me again, I'm going to throw something," Scorpius growled from the couch.
Rose rolled her eyes. She didn't both to respond. Scorpius had been making these threats since he got home. Apparently, it was alright for him to watch her every move, but as soon as she attempted to do the same, watching for any signs of his health not being up to one-hundred percent, he got angry. It was alright for him to hover, but not for her.
"Is Kate still sleeping?" he grumbled and shifted on the couch.
"Yes," Rose said. "I have to pick up Mia and Cassie in about half an hour," she reminded him.
"You'll be back soon?"
"Yes," Rose said through clenched teeth. Healer Lottson had been right: her husband the git had turned into her husband the surly, overprotective git. "Lily's coming by for dinner tonight. Is your abdomen feeling any better? I need to change the bandages soon."
"Not better enough to get me back on the mission." Scorpius scowled. He looked so much like his father in that moment that Rose had to look twice to make sure Draco Malfoy wasn't sitting on her couch.
Rose moved to kneel beside the couch to look directly into Scorpius's eyes. "You are not useless. Stop acting like it. You're getting better. This injury is not permanent. You'll be alright," she added tenderly at the end.
Scorpius's eyes drooped as they widened. "How do you know?" he asked in a small whisper, admitting he wasn't feeling as invincible as he was trying to appear.
"Because you're you. You're Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. You could conquer the world if you set your mind to it and overcoming this temporary setback should be no problem for you." Rose smiled and kissed Scorpius lightly.
"Love you," he murmured and sighed, kissed her again, then fell back against the pillows on the couch with a loud groan. "Fucking healer didn't clear me for anything past a 'little kiss', he said."
Rose laughed. It was a good sound to hear after so long. She ruffled Scorpius's hair into further disarray, a mess that reminded her of Al's and Uncle Harry's hair. Luckily for James, he'd inherited the color but not the craziness, though he'd always enjoyed ruffling it in front of Callie when they were younger.
"Sucks, doesn't it?" she giggled.
Scorpius gave her a dry look.
Rose leaned down low in front of Scorpius. She saw his Adam's apple bob as he gulped, staring straight down her shirt. "Sucker," she whispered with a grin.
"Stop teasing me," Scorpius growled, attempting unsuccessfully to hold back a smile.
"The day I stop teasing you will be a very sorry day all around," Rose flounced back to the kitchen, making sure to wiggle her hips a little extra. She heard Scorpius groan: mission complete.