Disclaimer: I'm reading every Harry Potter book again, and this reminds me how amazing JK Rowling is. I'm definitely not her, and therefore definitely do not own the Wizarding World or the characters.
The Magic Word Is Sorry, Not Please
(Chapter Fifty One- Still Learning)
Ron folded his arms and leant against the staircase, knowing how childish he looked.
A minute hadn't passed in the last three hours when he hadn't looked at Scorpius. He felt like That Boy needed constant monitoring.
Right now, That Boy was sat on the sofa next to his daughter, engrossed in conversation with the rest of the children about Quidditch while Rose and Louis mocked them. Hermione, Ginny and his Mum had left to talk in the kitchen, and his Dad had been given permission to put out the minor fire that had started in the shed. George, Harry and Ron had positioned themselves away from the sofa, stood around the stairway with bottles of butterbeer in their hands.
"He seems alright, Ron." George pointed out from his side, to which Ron huffed a little.
"This isn't fair, you know. Why do I have to go through this first?" he whined.
"Oi, I went through this last year!" His brother replied.
Ron turned and raised his eyebrows at George. "I meant out of me and Harry; you're older than us."
"Oh." George shrugged.
The three of them turned to look back at the kids; Louis and Rose had stood up. Louis headed towards the stairs, and Rose went into the kitchen (not before whispering something or other to That Boy through, Ron noticed).
"I'm pretty sure I'll have to go through this with Lily soon though." Harry offered, sounding both worried and comforting.
Louis, having heard this sentence on his way up the stairs, coughed "Sooner than you think."
All three men turned to the blonde boy, who saw their faces and ran up the stairs speedily.
"I think I should be worried." Harry said simply.
Ron shook his head. "Nah, not really. At least you don't have to do this now; my daughter's boyfriend is sat on that couch; yours isn't."
"That's true."
"Seriously though, what am I meant to do? George, what did you do?"
"Oh, acknowledging that you're not the first man in the world to go through this are you?" George asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, I am. What did you do with Roxy?"
"Well, it helps to remember that my situation was much worse; I had Roxy and Craig and Anna and Fred to deal with."
"It doesn't matter when it's your son, not as much." Harry pointed out. Ron nodded in agreement, but George pulled a face.
"I'll remind you of that when James brings Louise or whatever-she's -called home. But anyway, it's good to lay down the rules early; tell them they're not allowed in bedrooms and make sure they always tell you where they're going."
"Ok." Ron nodded. He didn't really like this; he was rubbish at remembering advice. Hermione would normally write down things he needed to do, because she knew he would forget if she just told him.
"And then you should talk to him. Like, get to know him, but try and enforce your power over him at the same time."
"Will do." Ron replied, attempting to create some sort of checklist in his mind. This was why he liked being an auror; there wasn't really much to remember.
"And then just follow your instincts."
Ron rolled his eyes. That advice was all well and good for Harry, who had amazing instincts at everything. But Ron? Ron wasn't really even sure if he had a trace instinct inside him.
He was about to reply with something in this vain, but they were interrupted by his sister's voice.
"It's getting late Harry, we should probably be heading home."
"Yeah, alright." His best friend replied. "Lily? Al? You ready to go?"
The two children nodded, and as the Potters began to say goodbye Hermione walked towards him.
"Shall we go too?"
Ron nodded, and then his wife looked at him meaningfully. "Scorpius is nice, Ron. I've sat and talked to him; if you gave him a chance you'd like him."
"Yeah, we should be heading home." She didn't look too pleased at being ignored. "We're apparating, right?"
"Yes, George and Ginny are both using the fireplace so it'll probably be quicker."
"Right, well if everyone's leaving!"
George making his way towards the sofas meant everyone began to say goodbye to each other; Ron hugged his mother, father and brother in quick succession before also saying goodbye to the children. Annoyingly, every one of the adults wished Ron luck with Scorpius as they said bye.
"Right, kids, are you ready to go?" Hermione asked Hugo, Rose and Scorpius, who were the only kids left on the sofa as everyone else gathered around the fireplace.
Scorpius looked nervous again. Ron liked that; he'd looked far too close to comfortable for a moment earlier.
"Yeah, floo right?"
"No, we're apparating. In case you haven't noticed there's a bit of a wait over there." Ron told his son, just as Lily and Al squabbled about who was going first.
His son, daughter, and daughter's friend stood up and grabbed their trunks from the pile by the sofa. Then Ron reached his arm out for Hugo to hold.
They always side-along apparated like this; the boy with the Dad and the girl with the Mum.
"Scorpius, if you just want to hold on to Rose-"
"Ahem." Ron cleared his throat. "Actually it might be safer if you hold on to Hermione, instead of Rose."
Scorpius nodded awkwardly, while Rose whined "Oh God Dad, come on!"
"Ron, they're allowed to side along together." His wife said, looking at him meaningfully. "We did it all the time when we were travelling-"
"Yeah, and I really enjoyed it."
He smiled at her, and she laughed back a little yet somehow still managed to look stern at the same time. Hermione was the only woman in the world Ron knew that could manage that look.
"Ok, fine, Scorpius hold tight."
The boy obeyed, took Hermione's arm, and they all disapparated to the sound of the remaining family's goodbyes.
After so many years of apparating, Ron was able to do it without even feeling dizzy. The same, however, could not be said for Hugo, Rose or even Scorpius. They all collapsed on the sofas rather ungracefully when they arrived in their living room.
"I'm really not ready for that Apparition Test." Rose whined as she squeezed her eyes shut on the sofa.
Ron just laughed at his daughter, before Hermione gestured at him.
"Oh, right, yeah. Scorpius, this is our house." Ron said, his voice completely lacking the authority he wished it had.
Scorpius looked around, and smiled. "It's really nice, sir."
Ron quite liked being called sir. Hermione, however, had a problem with it.
"Scorpius, you don't have to call him sir. Ron is fine. Isn't that right, Ron?"
"Sure." Ron shrugged, before leaving the living room and walking through the corridor to the kitchen.
After searching through the cupboards for something that would make the week easier, he found a bottle of firewhiskey, but his wife was at his side before he'd even had a chance to open it.
"Ron." She said simply, placing her hands on his and putting the bottle back on the counter. "Calm down; it's ok."
He sighed, trying to relax, but then he thought of something else. "Have you just left them on their own?" He asked loudly, before going back out of the kitchen door into the corridor. Rose and Scorpius were going up the stairs, Rose pointing at the pictures that lined the walls on her way up.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked his daughter, who turned around and groaned.
"I'm showing Scorp around."
Ron looked at her, and she looked back. She had her mother's eyes; maybe that was why he always found it so hard to tell her off?
Ron attempted the whole "following his instincts" malarkey, which George had advised. "Hugo!" His son's head popped out from his bedroom door on the landing, and he hung himself over the balcony above Ron.
"What?"
"Help Rose show Scorpius around. He's staying in your room." Ron commanded, feeling quite proud of himself for this solution.
"What's the point of that? She practically lives in his dorm at Hogwarts so there's no point splitting them up now."
Ron turned his head back to That Boy, and raised his eyebrows.
The kid seemed to squirm a little, while Ron barely heard Rose yelling at her brother.
"Don't shout at me for telling the truth!" Hugo replied to whatever his sister had said.
"Eugh, you're so bloody annoying-"
"Rose, Hugo; do what I say." Ron said simply, watching as the two children stormed across the landing and Scorpius followed slowly. "And Rose you and Scorpius are never allowed in the same bedroom!" he yelled after them, which Rose replied to by groaning even louder.
Ron then returned to the kitchen, where his wife was sitting and reading at the table.
He sat down opposite her and put his head in his hands.
"How are you?" she asked, putting her book down and looking up at him through her beautiful brown eyes.
He shrugged. "This week is going to be hell, isn't it?"
"Only if you make it so." She sighed. "Look, Ron, I know you don't want to hear it, but Scorpius is a really nice boy. He's top of his class and he plays Quidditch and he's a prefect and..." Ron shook his head stubbornly, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Never mind, Ron, you just carry on hating him even though it won't make any difference."
"Well what do you think I should do, 'Mione?" he asked.
"I told you earlier; get to know him."
He realised this was the third time he had heard this advice; from Hermione twice and once from George. He decided that, since it was the only real advice he'd been given, he'd listen to it. Just so he could prove it wrong later, of course.
He stood, and walked back to the bottom of the stairs.
"Scorpius!" he yelled up them, before all three children came out of the door to Hugo's room and stood at the landing.
"What do you want, Dad?" Rose asked, looking at him a little suspiciously. He missed the days his daughter looked at him in complete wonder, like he could never do anything wrong.
"I thought I just told you that you weren't allowed…" he sighed, deciding that there wasn't too much they could do with Hugo in the same room. "I wanted to talk to Scorpius."
"Oh. Alright." Rose replied.
Ron decided to sit in the living room and wait for Scorpius there, while he heard his daughter reassuring That Boy that it would "be okay".
Moments later Scorpius Malfoy was stood in the doorway, looking nervous; Ron almost felt like he was interviewing him for a job.
"Er, you can sit down." Ron offered awkwardly, and Scorpius nodded and sat on the edge of the armchair furthest away.
George had told him to "get to know him, but try and enforce your power over him at the same time"… Ron wasn't sure if he could multi task.
"So, Scorpius…" he began, clapping his hands together. What had Hermione said? He played Quidditch, was it? "I hear you play Quidditch."
"Erm, yes I do."
"Where do you play?" Ron asked, almost automatically.
"Keeper."
Ron nodded, but once again found himself talking automatically. Was this the "following his instinct" stuff George had been on about?
"I played keeper when I was at Hogwarts."
"Cool." Scorpius nodded. He still looked nervous, but instead of liking it, Ron was beginning to feel sorry for him.
"Your Dad; he played seeker. Did he not want you in the same place as him?"
"I don't think he cares, since I'm playing for Gryffindor instead of Slytherin."
Ron nodded; he'd forgotten that this Malfoy was in Gryffindor. The sorting hat was rarely wrong, which must mean that this boy wasn't like his father. He was about to test just how different they were, but Scorpius spoke before Ron had a chance.
"Mr Weasley, I'm nothing like my father." Had this boy just read his mind? "I know you hate my father, and I think that hatred is completely justified, but I'm not him. I don't want to be like him."
Ron was amazed when he found himself smiling a little.
And then he was suddenly reminded of when he'd met Hermione's father. He remembered how nervous he'd been for days on end and how he'd eventually just had to sit down with him and tell him how he felt about his daughter.
"I love Rose." Scorpius said, as Ron thought this.
Ron shook his head a little, a battle raging in his head; a battle between being nice to the boy, since he could sympathise so strongly with him, and continuing to make his life difficult because of his surname and the situation.
The good side won.
"I'm glad." He smiled a little again, trying to remember George's advice to "enforce his power" but finding it harder and harder. "So what are your intentions towards her?" He'd stolen that word for word from Mr Granger.
"In-Intentions?" Scorpius gave exactly the same response Ron had all those years ago.
"Yes, you know; your future. Where do you see yourself in a few years' time and does it include her?" Again, an exact Mr Granger quote.
Scorpius seemed to think for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. "Mr Weasley, Rose will be in my future for as long as she wants to be."
That was a better response than Ron had given; he had started to talk about the future of the Chudley Cannons as his reply.
"Do you think you'll marry her?" Ron asked, purely to test how much he could get out of Scorpius.
"Maybe, one day, if she wants to."
Ron nodded, and again found himself smiling. "You can go. I'll see you in the morning." He told him, and then he watched as Scorpius nodded and fled.
Ron sighed, and began to agree with his wife that That Boy wasn't really that bad. In fact, he was almost good. After all, he told himself, his daughter had good standards and Albus wasn't likely to be best friends with just anyone.
He thought this for a moment, looking out at the dark sky through the window, before getting to his feet and heading to the door.
Then he heard his daughter's whispers from the landing, and stopped walking and pressed himself against the wall.
"So, you're going to marry me, eh?" she asked. Ron could practically hear her smiling.
"Of course." Scorpius replied simply.
"Well, no offense, but it might push my Dad over the edge if I became a Malfoy."
Ron nodded in agreement.
"Keep your surname; I'd rather our kids were Weasleys than Malfoys any day."
Ron made a final decision that he did like That Boy… And decided to only call him Scorpius from now on.
"We're having kids, are we?" His daughter teased.
"Night Rose." Scorpius replied, before Ron heard the closing of two doors.
He smiled to himself, before walking back into the kitchen where his wife was still reading.
"You know, Hermione, he's alright he is."
She shook her head, and stood up and put her arms around his neck.
"You, Ronald Weasley, are one of the most fickle men I've ever met."
"Yeah, I bet your Dad thought that too." He smiled, before kissing his wife quickly. "They're still not allowed alone at any point this week. I like him, but he's still not allowed near my daughter."
Hermione shrugged. "At least you've made a little progress."
Ron was proud of himself; a little progress would do.
