So Google says that today is international day of happiness and I'm inclined to think that you guys deserved this update to add to that.
Big Happy Smiley thank you's to:
Silver Shiko for the fave and follow.
AND TO MY BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS:
Lupin.1~ Don't be sorry, I'm glad I posted because I got super-carried away with the rest of the Ball anyway! LOOK HOW SOON THIS IS! Glad ya' didn't go mental. You're reviews make me happy too!
Plucie~ Yes, yes she is. I might have messed something up if you thought anything different!
HallowRain8587~ Hope you've caught up! (I have all intentions of PM'ing you a reply but I kinda have a process going on here so I hope you don't mind, also you made some interesting comments I wanted to answer). First, Thank you! I quite like a few next-gen Scorose or Scorlily (apologies if shipnames are incorrect) fics, but I did think they were a little overrepresented. I'm glad you appreciate me (and scor) choosing Roxy in this. I didn't originally plan for the twins to be so involved but they stole my heart so I'm glad you like them too! Rose's attitude, yes, Hermione knows. I'd say for the most part she's pretty tolerant of it, and doesn't pull her up on it as much as she could/should but she's aware. Perhaps not with the full picture cos Rose is mildly better at home/to the rest of the brood but her mum knows she's not the sweet little bookworm she was. A-bloody-greed on that! (Not a romione fan, always thought she deserved better). It was unintentional but yeah I'd say Lily is a bit like Harry, Albus is the more attentive, focused Potter in this. Glad it came across as realistic, it's similar to something I've seen before but I wasn't sure if it came across like that. Thanks for taking the time to review, and comment on the characters, it makes me so happy that you get them, feels like I'm doing something right.
Mint. Life~ Omgosh, thank you! Really! I know the feeling of reading a fic right the way through and you saying you just did that, with this, makes me all sorts of stupidly smiley. Glad you're a Scorpianne fan! xx
Lupin.2~ Here you are, love! (Love how this came through on Ch25- confused me for a sec)
Silver Shiko~ Time to get excited then! Tis' here! Thank you, thank you, thank you. So glad you liked the Quidditch match and a bit of Stand-up-to-Ron action. Also, totally with you on them both being Slytherins, almost ended up starting a new fic for a sec there. Hope all is well with you too! And I'm gonna sit back and smirk smugly because this is actually soonish!
OKAY SO GO FORTH AND BE HAPPY.
Little shout out to anyone in the UK who wanted to watch what was a truly pathetic solar eclipse from where we are. Hope this makes up for that disappointment!
Love Cookie x
Chapter 30- Managing the Manor, Giggles and An Elf
Roxanne flushed in the face of the older woman. She looked at Astoria, and for some reason was momentarily angry at Scorpius for not mentioning how stunningly beautiful his mum was. Then she internally shook her head, he would have no reason to and wouldn't even think about it anyway. Boys didn't notice that sort of thing. But girls did, and for some reason Astoria's sheer beauty made her suddenly more nervous. She had such a regal, delicate face that if Scorpius had told her she was actual royalty, Rox would believe it.
Her eyes seemed to account for the tone Scor's sometimes took on, they were a dazzling blue, and stood out as her face was framed by dark brown hair, not too different from the colour Scor's had been when he'd first dyed it.
"Yeah, I guess that was me." She smiled a little shyly. "Sorry about that"
"No, honestly I'm glad. My son looked much too like my husband before, at least now we have a similar hair colour, people might believe he's mine" she joked and Roxanne relaxed, this woman seemed genuinely nice, now if only Mrs Williams would leave, then Rox would feel a hell of a lot more at ease.
"He has your smile, too" Rox told her, noticing that the smile Scorpius gave her when he was being genuinely smiley and not being a smirky git was his mother's.
"Scorpius, why have you not brought this charming young lady over before?" Roxanne blushed as Draco addressed his son, looking at her.
Astoria nodded in agreement with him, turning on her son, "Honestly, Scorpius, it seems I'll just have to send out personal invites if I want to meet your friends from now on"
Scorpius was about to moan, but considering the current company of the Williams' and the potential teasing Rox could administer he just graciously apologised to his parents, assuring them that he would bring his friends over again if they wanted.
Astoria, seemingly satisfied with this, turned back to Roxanne. "I do hope you enjoy the party, if you need anything, feel free to ask myself or my husband, though I would love to believe that my son will cater to you sufficiently, he has promised to be an excellent host"
Astoria gave Scorpius a little smile that suggested she was teasing him and put her arm through the elbow her husband offered her.
She nodded politely to the forgotten Williams', and the couple excused themselves.
The moment they were out of earshot, Mrs Williams practically fell over herself trying to compliment Roxanne on her dress, telling her how lovely she looked and how glad she was her son had finally brought a nice, pretty, intelligent girl to meet them.
Roxanne felt as though she had whiplash from the woman's U-turn in attitude, but then she had noticed Scor's emphasis on her surname and suspected it was all to do with that. She accepted the compliments politely and smiled in all the right places. When Mrs Williams seemed happy enough that Roxanne Weasley wasn't offended by her, she left the three, dragging her husband with her. ~
Scorpius cleared his throat, "Well, your mother certainly changed her tune" he told Logan.
Logan nodded, not really trusting himself to answer in front of Roxanne. He didn't want to be rude to her friend- where she could hear him anyway.
"Hey Rox, Liv and the boys all wanted a tour of the grounds. I promised I would, if you wanted to tag along, you can" he added as an afterthought, "you both that is"
Roxanne looked excited, "Yeah, I'd love to" she turned to Logan and Logan knew his face didn't echo her excitement.
"Do you want to come along?"
"Yeah sure, whatever you want, babe" Logan answered.
"Okay, when are you taking everyone around then?"
"Um, I dunno. About half an hour? Meet me by that door there" he pointed to a small door in the side of the room. Logan knew from experience that the door led deeper into the Manor, it wasn't closed off, per-say but it was the part of the house the family occupied and it was considered out of bounds at functions unless by invitation. There were other places that were open to the 'public' like the large library, drawing room and the gardens. But the door that Scorpius had made reference to led in the opposite direction to those places.
Roxanne nodded and Logan was glad to finally see the back of him. Malfoy paid way too much attention to his girlfriend for his liking.
"Roxanne, do you want anything to drink or eat?" he asked his girlfriend. She nodded absently, her eyes were wandering around the Ballroom in a little bit of awe.
"Come on then" he smiled and took her hand. ~
"Two" Josh said smoothly as he sat down at the small round, pristine and perfectly dressed table that occupied Roxanne, Logan, Noah and his girlfriend and Levi. Levi's date for the evening was apparently sick so he was sulking, and his frown intensified when Josh joined them.
"How in the name of Merlin have you managed two already?!" he complained, looking at his watch.
"It's only been an hour and a bit"
Josh tapped his nose secretively. "It's the charm mate"
He turned to Noah, "Pick a number over two"
He rolled his eyes, "Seven"
"You okay with being number seven, Karina?" Josh addressed Noah's girlfriend and she laughed.
"Don't you even try it mate. I'll just sit back and watch when she hexes your balls off"
Karina smiled at Noah and he kissed her lightly, they lingered and Josh rolled his eyes.
"Ugh. Long term couples are the worst"
"What about you, Foxy? Fallen for me yet?"
Roxanne rolled her eyes and gave him a similar laugh to the one Karina had.
"No, sorry. You can keep waiting if you like, but you might be here a while"
"Ah, it's alright. It took Kari a year to admit she loves me" he shrugged.
"I don't mind waiting for you" he gave her a wink.
"Why don't you just go and find another poor unsuspecting girl's tonsils to attack with your tongue?" Logan suggested, making the table cringe.
"Ugh, so crude, Williams. I'm sure Mummy would hate to hear her son speak like that. But, you do make a good suggestion. I'm off" he stood, straightened his tie and suit, which did look undoubtedly good on him, and he left for the drinks table, which seemed so far to have yielded success. ~
Roxanne glanced at the watch on her boyfriend's wrist, it had been half an hour and while she hated to interrupt him and his friends, she could see Scorpius, the twins and some other figures by the door he had said to meet at. She waved at them but they didn't notice.
"Oh, is it time already?" Logan asked, looking at the other end of the room where she was waving. He noted that there were more people than just Malfoy there.
"You can stay here if you like" Roxanne told him, she must have noticed the deadpan to his voice.
His friends looked a little confused; he looked from them to the group of people by the door and nodded.
"Okay, you go, I'll see you later"
"Alright" Roxanne agreed, kissing him on the cheek, letting his hand go and making her way through the crowd to get to Scor.~
"Where's she going?" Karina asked, not wanting to be the only girl at the table again.
"Tour of the Manor" Logan replied, casually as if he'd said to the bathroom.
"What?"
"Did you just let your girlfriend go on a private tour of the Manor, no doubt one that might go past a few bedrooms, with Scorpius Malfoy?" Levi asked, shocked.
"You might as well have locked her in a room alone with Josh, mate" Noah laughed.
"Actually, you'd probably be better locking her in a room with Josh; he only seems to have luck when the girls he's trying to pull are feeling festive and/or intoxicated. Malfoy on the other hand… He's a stud- Hm, how to put this- I would" Karina explained, giving her boyfriend a cheeky grin.
Noah looked at her aghast.
"Oh, don't worry, it's just figurative. You're all the stud I need" she patted him sympathetically on the chest, and he gave her a narrow-eyed look.
"Really Logan, what are you playing at?"
He shrugged, "They've been friends for years, I can't exactly stop her going can I? I don't want to be that guy"
"There's being that guy and then there's being that guy, the one other one, that gets mugged off"
"Why didn't you just go with her?" Kari wondered.
"I dunno, there's a group of them. I figured they're not going to get off while they've got an audience. She's with her friends, I didn't want to intrude."
"Liar. You just didn't want to meet her friends, why?"
"Okay, fine. So there's been a bit of tension with them. We're not all on the best terms"
"You didn't want to get into a fight with mummy around?"
He rolled his eyes, but his silence told them it was true.
"Okay, own up. What did you do that made them hate you?" ~
"This is so exciting" Liv whispered to Roxanne as Scorpius opened the door and led them from the Ballroom.
"Hey guys, wanna bet what the colour of Scorpius' bed sheets are?"
"Blue, to reassure himself he's a boy" Liv teased.
"I'm going for Black, all mysterious and shit" Lorcan said.
"Nah, too many stains show up on black" Ly joked with an elbow at his friend to make sure he'd heard, "I'd say, crisp white because he's so angelic"
"I reckon pure gold. Actual gold leaf bedding" Dominique said, joining in.
"You're all wrong. It's got to be Slytherin Green and silver. Malfoy at heart" Roxanne commented.
Ahead of them, Scorpius stopped. He turned around to face the group which consisted of the twins, Liv, Rox and Dom. Hugo and Lucy were going to come but Hugo had been worried about his mum so they'd gone to find her. Rox felt a little guilty too, but after her chat with Hermione the other day, Roxanne knew she wouldn't necessarily appreciate coddling from too many people.
"If you're all done guessing what colour my bed sheets are, you might want to see the bathroom"
He indicated for them to enter a door to the right. They all shuffled in and he came in after them, turning the lights on.
"Fuck me" Liv managed to get out as the group stared open mouthed at the 'bathroom'
"Can we just clarify whether that was an expression of disbelief or an instruction for my brother? Because if it's the latter, I'd rather not be here to witness it."
Liv blushed and Roxanne elbowed Lysander in the ribs on her behalf.
"The former then, I take it" he coughed through his grin.
"Malfoy, not being funny but how many times have you actually bathed in here?" Dominique asked.
"Loads when I was a little kid. Since I got my current room, probably once or twice"
"I take it your room has an en suite then."
He nodded.
"Okay, just so you're aware, this is not a normal bath. This is like, actually this is only a tiny bit smaller than the bath in the prefects bathroom. Except that bath isn't even really a bath. It's like a pool-sized Jacuzzi for the entire prefect body. "Lorcan said.
"How often do you all unwind in the bath together, bro?" Ly asked with a laugh.
"Never. But apparently that's what it was for originally. That's why it's so big"
"Yeah well I doubt this was made for prefect meetings" Liv commented staring around the room.
"No, it's just the standard bath size here, no different than the prefects bathroom, it was how baths were back in the day" Scorpius explained.
"Soo…just massive holes in the ground, then" Ly finalized.
"Fucking expensive ones. Malfoy are those emeralds on the taps?" Dom noticed stepping further into the room and tapping the tap handles.
"Uh...no?"
"Fuck sake, Scor. They are aren't they?" Ly said.
"This place is actually amazing. How many rooms like this are there?"
Roxanne asked, speaking for the first time since she entered the room.
Rox smiled softly as she watched him count in his head. "Six separate guest bathrooms. Three up, three down"
"Okay, so we knew you were rich Malfoy but I don't think any of us quite prepared for this"
"Ready to move on then, Ly?" he replied.
"Take it away" Lysander grinned at him, and Scor rolled his eyes.
He led them out of the bathroom and down a long corridor lined with portraits; the corridor wasn't dimly lit and scary like Roxanne had thought it would be. The floors were wooden and the walls were a bright cream, it was warm and despite its size felt quite homely to her. Her heels along with Dom's and Liv's clicked along the passage, she heard two sets come to a rest behind her, she and Lysander stopped and turned back to Lorcan, Liv and Dom who were looking at a particular painting on the wall.
Roxanne peered past Dominique at the portrait of an unfamiliar blonde woman. She was agelessly beautiful; Roxanne didn't know whether the woman was eighteen or eighty, only that she couldn't seem to fix her gaze away from her.
"That's my great grandmother, Cassiopeia Malfoy" Scorpius supplied, having come back over to the group. He was standing behind Roxanne and she could feel his breath fan across the nape of her neck at the height she was at. It sent pleasant shivers up her spine for no reason at all. She shook the feeling.
"She looks like a-"
"Veela" Dominque finished, recognizing the characteristic features of most Veela or part Veela women. This woman was at least a half Veela, if not more, Dom decided aloud.
Roxanne looked more closely, the painter, whoever it was, had obviously been infatuated with her, he'd painted a slight glow around her which seemed to pulse off of the canvas. The woman was standing at the base of the grand staircase of the manor that Roxanne had seen in the way in.
"Was she?" Roxanne asked Scorpius.
"No idea, I mean there are rumours of Veela blood in the Malfoy line but it was never proven, or never tested, I guess. Nobody knew much about Cassiopeia; save that she had a temper on her. She died young I think, during childbirth"
"If she was known for her temper, I'm sticking to her being a Veela" Dom said.
"Why don't you ask her?" Liv wondered aloud.
"All the portraits are silent" he told her, almost regretfully.
"What?" Lorcan asked confused.
"Well, many of my ancestors aren't the mildest mannered. My dad silenced them, after the war"
"Why not just take them down?"
"They don't come off the wall, it seems the Malfoys have a thing for sticking around" he chuckled a little.
He looked at the watch on his wrist. "Want to keep going?"
The group nodded and he walked off, they all took one last look at the painting and trailed after him at their own pace; looking at the other portraits they passed.
Roxanne broke away from the group and walked over to Scorpius. She'd been annoyed with her constant clicking and had silenced her shoes a few minutes ago. So when she stood next to him, their shoulders touching, he almost jumped.
He was looking at a particular portrait intently; there was no one in it. Just a background of what Roxanne assumed to be the Malfoy Gardens, it was an empty bench with an easel set up in front of it, a scarf hung on the back of the bench, she assumed it belonged to a woman.
"So you've never been able to speak with them?"
"No, but when I was a kid, I used to come down this corridor and talk to them. I'd just chat aimlessly, a load of nonsense probably, but some of them smiled back when I spoke, or pulled funny faces back at me. Some of course sneered and looked disgusted but I just ignored those ones"
"Did you ever ask?"
"What, ask my dad to unsilence the ones that seemed nice?" he laughed softly, "no, I never thought to really. He was always in his study, I tried not to bother him"
"Who was in here?" she carried on. Knowing Scor's comment had been throwaway and he wouldn't want her picking him up on it.
"I'm not entirely sure. But she always used to listen to me, she'd smile and nod and laugh, and she could sketch. She sometimes drew replies to me"
"That's lovely. Where's she now?"
"No idea, she comes and goes, I've never found another portrait of her though. It must be somewhere else."
Roxanne looked up at him as he looked into the scene, as if the woman would reappear before his eyes, she had to admit, now she was curious. She wanted to know what this woman looked like, whoever she was it seemed like she'd been a big part of Scorpius' childhood. She could almost imagine a little blonde boy perched on the opposite side of the hallway, against the wall, talking to the painting.
He exhaled and turned to his left, looking past Roxanne to the rest of their friends who had just been laughing at something. Dominique seemed to be giving the finger to a frame.
Roxanne giggled.
"Weasley, are you done swearing at all my ancestors?"
"That dirty old man was ogling me!" she protested, making the group, as well as some of the surrounding portraits who were listening in, laugh.
"Alright, let's actually get off of this corridor then shall we?"~
Malfoy Manor, Roxanne learned, was a maze. One which Scorpius was clearly a master of, he expertly took them up and down spiralling stairwells, past rooms containing massive canopy beds, past bathrooms with the swimming pool-like baths, through little and large libraries, through rooms dedicated to potion-making, music and to painting. Roxanne had expected the luxurious bedding and the high ceilings and the expensive antique furniture, but she hadn't expected it all to look so… modern? No, that wasn't quite the word, because nothing about the manor was high-tech and sleek like she'd seen in Muggle films, but it wasn't stuck in the past with garish décor either. It was expensive, yes and screamed of old money but not at the cost of taste. The saying Roxanne had often heard the adults of her family say about the rich having 'more money than sense' didn't apply here. This home had an amazing sense of style. Whatever the word for the perfect mix between old, new, chic, and antique was; Astoria Malfoy knew it, and Roxanne could see it everywhere.
The group came to the last door, Scorpius had a smirk playing on his lips as he stood in front of the door but paused, holding the doorknob firmly.
"Anyone want to make any last minute bets? Sheet colour? Number of scratches on my bedposts, that sort of thing?" he gave them all a cheeky grin but he caught Rox's eye-roll and only grinned wider. Oh, how he loved to make her roll her eyes.
"Oh, hurry up Malfoy, there is a party going on down there somewhere you know"
"This is why you never get laid mate, you take too long to get to the good bit" Lysander joked.
"Better than rushing off and getting nowhere though, right Ly?" He smirked back in retaliation.
Scorpius swung the door open dramatically.
"Ha!" Olivia cried triumphantly.
Scorpius did have blue bed sheets, a deep blue that seemed reminiscent of the sheets they all had at Hogwarts.
His walls were two tones of grey, a darker shade along the bottom section, below the white beading on the wall and a lighter, barely grey shade on the top.
His bedding brought the colour into the room, as did his books, the colourful volumes lining the shelves near his bed, he had a signed and framed Harpies jersey on the wall, and a desk and chair in covered in parchment. Two doors led further in to the Manor and Ly took one, Dom the other, entering Scorpius' en suite and closet respectively. Roxanne walked closer to the desk by the large window. The wall beside it was covered in sketches. Sketches of people and places she didn't recognise, all magically tacked up on the wall. As she neared, she began to pick out familiar scenes, the lake at school, the view from the astronomy tower. He'd sketched his parents too, and one of the house elves that had brought them in. She turned her attention to the pieces of parchment on his desk, small ink and pencil drawings of her and her friends were there. Scorpius had drawn them, sitting around, laughing, chatting somehow, almost perfectly. And from memory?
She couldn't understand how he had captured all this so well without her ever having seen him with a sketchbook.
She sat at the desk, her legs moving as the chair span a little, her knees knocked a tall, ornate wooden box. She brushed the top of it with her finger tips and the box extended upwards past the height of her waist. The top of it split in half and the two halves slid open, a swirling pool shone back at her and she recognised it as a pensive. He did draw from memory then, quite literally.
She turned around and wasn't surprised to find Liv next to her, she'd heard her approach of course, even with Scor's soft carpet muffling the noise.
"Did you know he could draw?" Roxanne asked her, presenting Liv with a drawing of her.
She shook her head, staring at the picture in her hands, it was amazing.
Olivia replaced it gently as if it might crumble under her touch and they both turned to look for Scor. He was lying on a sofa, splayed out across its length on the other side of the room.
They passed Lorcan who was scanning the bookshelves and stood in front of him.~
The light Scor was aware of behind his closed eyelids dimmed. He opened his eyes to find the culprits, Olivia and Roxanne standing over him, arms folded across their chests. He raised an eyebrow at them and sat up.
They sat either side of him and both turned to face him.
"How could you not tell us?"
"What have I done now?"
"Nothing, only amazing artwork that you've neglected to share"
"Sorry, I didn't realise it was something I should have shared. I mean I was going to give them all to you guys, once I got your faces right"
"Right?" Liv asked in disbelief.
"They're perfect!" Roxanne insisted.
He chuckled, "No, they're not. Liv, your face shape is really hard to get right. I can never tell the difference between the twins when I draw them, because I haven't figured out what's different about their faces yet, and I can never get your eyes right, Roxy" he said, staring into them, he could always picture them so well. It was putting them onto paper that was difficult.
"Why don't you sketch at school?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"Memories are easier. You can go back and relive it, you can make them last longer, plus you guys would never sit still long enough"
"We would if you asked" Roxanne told him.
He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she laughed.
"Well, we'd try to at least"
He smiled at that. "Maybe next term"
"Not maybe next term, yes next term, Scor" Liv told him forcefully.
"I want to see you in action" she said.
He smirked, "Now, Olivia I'm not sure how your boyfriend would feel about you seeing me in action. But, if you insist…" he trailed off, bringing his hands to his collar and miming unbuttoning. Olivia laughed, slapping his hands.
"You're filthy" she got up, following her boyfriend; she hadn't finished exploring after all.
Roxanne sat back against him, leaning casually on his shoulder. He shifted, so his arm rested along the back of the sofa and she hummed at the more comfortable position, settling back into his arm.
"Not tired already are you?"
"No, I just thought I'd sit and appreciate the room of the great Scorpius Malfoy, breaker-of-hearts, notch-er-of-bedposts. It is a lot to take in."
"Well, you know the last part isn't true"
"Hm, you could also be the master-of-lies"
"I've never lied to you."
"Liar"
"Hm, well I guess there was that one time I told you you were pretty…" he began teasingly and she slapped his leg.
"Oi, if you let me finish-"
"Oh yeah, charm yourself out of it, go on"
"I was going to say there was that time I told you you were pretty-"
"Which I don't recall…" she interrupted again. He ignored her.
"That time I told you you were pretty, was a lie, because… you were actually beautiful"
Roxanne almost snorted.
"Smooth, with lines like that it's hard to believe there's not been any notches on that lovely frame"
"Oh, trust me; I don't even need to use the lines. My face is enough. And when the right girl comes along, she won't know what's hit her"
She rolled her eyes and he smiled.
"I pity that girl"
"Why's that?"
"Well, other than the obvious fact of dealing with you. She'll have to deal with us too" she smiled, looking around at Lysander who was now jumping on Scor's bed and Liv and Lorcan who were not-so-sneakily rifling through his drawers.
"Is that your way of saying the next girl I date has to be approved by you all?"
"Pretty much yeah, you've had your fair share of intolerable ones. You owe it to us really, bout time we had a say"
"So, now it's your turn to date the intolerable one?"
"Logan is perfectly tolerable, Scor"
"To you maybe. Not sure the boys and I agree"
"Well, too bad. You don't get a say"
"But my next girlfriend has to be Rox-approved?"
"Why of course, I'm all about double standards. Didn't you know?" ~
The group finally re-emerged from the side door into the Ballroom. Roxanne immediately began to scan for any tell-tale red heads or a curly brown one. The group dispersed, Lorcan and Ly telling her that she owed them dances before midnight, Liv telling her that she owed her another too, though she specified it should be less drunk than the last time they danced and Scorpius just smirking at her and telling her he'd come get her for a dance at some point- to show her how it was done apparently. Dom stood by her side.
"Don't think I didn't see you and Malfoy cuddled up on that sofa"
"We were not cuddled up, Dom"
Dom just hummed in disagreement.
Roxanne spotted a familiar head of hair, she grabbed her cousins wrist and began to march across the Ballroom.
"Where're we going now?"
"You are going to meet my boyfriend. And you are going to be nice"
Dom smirked a little, "I mean it. Please, Dommie" Rox pleaded with her eyes, pausing to look at Dom.
Dominique sighed, "Fine. I'll be nice" ~
Dominique had reluctantly fitted her hand into her cousins and now followed the younger girl through the party. They skirted around the dancefloor which was now well and truly occupied, with couples twirling around to the live music. Dom was scanning the faces in front of her, trying to guess who the infamous Logan was by her cousin's trajectory. She gave up, there were too many faces.
Roxanne pulled her to a stop by a table that seated a boy, swirling his drink around. He was alone and Dominique couldn't help be a tad impressed he was still sitting where Rox had left him.
He turned to look up at them and Dom watched his eyes brighten as he stood and pulled her cousin to him, kissing her cheek.
"Missed you" she heard him whisper. She held back an audible gag. She was being nice -she couldn't mock the boy to his face.
Roxanne pulled away first and turned to her.
"Dom, this is Logan. Logan I'd like you to meet my cousin, Dominique"
Dominique held her hand out and shook his politely, "It's so lovely to finally meet the guy behind all that mail"
"Mail?" he looked confused.
"Sorry about her, we've been sharing a room, and she's a little too nosey"
"Oh." He said and Dominque wanted to smirk as he blushed a little, obviously remembering some of the things he'd written to Rox. It took all of her self-control not to repeat back the cheesiest lines now. She could recite them perfectly, and had been for a few days now, to Rox's annoyance of course. Though, a sudden thought occurred to her, maybe she should ease off.
This Logan bloke, who was now sitting opposite her cousin at the table, seemed okay. He was hot, like Rox had described, and Dom knew Rox wouldn't cope with anyone under average intelligence, so he must be smart enough too. He seemed genuine, she was watching them talk now and there was nothing about him that suggested duplicity. He was making her laugh, and even though resting his hand over hers on the table wasn't necessary, Dom realised this was her cousin's first relationship. Logan would be her first-lots of things. He'd already been her first kiss and date, and while Dom had her hopes for who would be Roxanne's first love; she couldn't bear to ruin any of this for her. She stood from the table and bend over to whisper in Rox's ear. She didn't need to look at her face to know that she would be smiling ear-to-ear now. Feeling proud of herself for not being the interfering, bad-mouthed cow she knew she could be, Dom sashayed over to the free bar.~
She was dancing, actually dancing. And all without having had a drop of anything to drink. She was completely sober, yet somehow, again Logan had convinced her to let him spin her around the dance floor. Okay, so he hadn't asked to 'spin her around' but that's what it felt like to her, because really, Roxanne had had no training in this sort of thing. She hadn't attended any dance lessons as a child, and had certainly never been anywhere where the dancing was this formal. Logan had one hand on her waist, and held one of hers in his other. Her other hand was resting on his broad shoulder. She was looking around the ballroom, watching other couples and wondering if she and Logan looked as elegant as they did. She guessed they might, when she wasn't messing up any steps; that was. Logan spun her again as the music demanded and she grinned triumphantly when she managed to come back to her first position without tripping or bumping into anyone else, both of which she'd done before. He smiled back down at her, "do you want to stop?"
They'd been dancing for a few songs now and she was glad he'd been the one to suggest it.
She nodded a bit too quickly and he chuckled, putting his arm around her waist and steering her from the dance floor. They walked past the table towards the back of the Ballroom, where most of the seating was. Ahead, she spotted large glass doors leading outside.
They left through the doors and Rox wondered why Scorpius hadn't thought to show them the outside of the Manor too. The space in front of her was littered with perfectly shaped and preened hedges, all aglow with fairy lights. Logan led her past a few hedges down a pathway until the music of the party was drowned out. He sat down on a bench and Roxanne could hear running water nearby. It soothed her.
"Thought you could use some air" he said thoughtfully.
"Good thought that, it was hot in there right? Or was it just me"
"Well, I thought it was hot, but that could be down to just you" he said with a little smirk, trailing his fingers up her arm, slowly.
"You're an idiot" she replied, amused.
"But you love it" he told her, leaning in, she could smell his breath, fruity like the punch.
"Hm, I'm not sure you know." She began with a smile, "I mean idiocy is always a big turn of-"
The last letter of her sentence was lost to his mouth. And she forgot what a turn off was, or how this boy would be capable of such a thing, when he was so good at this.
She tried to slide closer to him as they kissed but the way their legs were wouldn't allow it. Logan's arms slid around her waist and behind her knees and lifted her so she was sitting sideways on his lap.
She giggled in surprise against his lips and he moved them from hers, kissing her neck instead. She giggled again, and he stopped to look at her, a small amused eyebrow raised.
"Tickles" she admitted, he chuckled deeply and made her giggle once more before capturing her lips again. ~
Scorpius needed two things at that very moment. The first thing; to clear his head. The second; to get a fucking grip. He'd been staring at Roxanne and Logan dancing, like some heartbroken puppy for the past five minutes now. It was embarrassing really. But, apparently he was an embarrassing guy these days because he couldn't help it. It made him equally happy and bitter, happy because she was beautiful and smiling and twirling and in his home, but bitter because it wasn't him who was making her smile and twirl. It was Williams, the git.
Clear your head. Get a fucking grip.
His need for those two things had led him to the gardens of the Manor. He'd navigated his way to one of his favourite places, if you took a few random turns through the hedges and slipped through a few gaps, you could make it to a large stone fountain that had four surround hedge walls, and only one gap to enter or exit from; it felt like a small enclosed garden in itself. He conjured a cushion with his wand and threw it on the floor, not wanting to dirty the suit his mother had tailored for him. He drew his knees up and rested his elbows on them, his head in his hands.
Merlin, this was embarrassing.
The sounds of the music were far away, and the running water calmed him. He took a few breaths and gave himself some stern-obviously non-verbal- words.
She is your friend. Maybe if he chanted it, it would help.
You do not like her as more than a friend.
He wanted to roll his eyes at himself.
Okay, so you do like her as more than a friend. Who gives a fuck? It's a crush. Nothing more. It will go.
Until it goes you're not going to mope. You're gonna pull yourself together and act normal.
Don't stare, don't whine, and don't lust after her. Don't fantasise either. That does not help matters.
She has a boyfriend.
Ignore Williams though. He'll go away soon enough too.
She also has a brother and cousins who would skin you alive anyway.
Not like she'd date your whoreish ass either. She has some standards, you don't have a chance with her, boyfriend or not.
Act normal.
Don't stare.
Get a grip, Malfoy.
He exhaled heavily and removed his head from his hands. He felt much better, calmer, more like he could manage to go back into the Ballroom and not spend all his time staring at the couple.
He heard a giggle and rolled his eyes. He'd told his mother the fairy lights just made the gardens more appealing to the teenage attendees of the night. To be fair she'd reminded him of the time she caught him and another 'teenage attendee' out here. Wasn't one of his finest moments; and it had shut him up pretty effectively.
He could hear voices now, the murmurs were close. The couple were obviously sitting on the bench on the other side of the meter thick hedge, he shuddered. That hedge had his doorway out of the little fountain area in. He'd have to leave through it before things escalated.
The giggle came again, and he debated whether or not he could successfully drown out the noise, if he submerged his head in the fountain because he recognised that giggle. And now the mystery couple on the other side of the hedge weren't a mystery anymore. They had faces he knew, ones he didn't want to think of as making out.
Having cleared his head and gotten somewhat more of a grip than he had when he left, Scorpius decided he needed a third thing. At that very moment, with Roxanne's giggles filling the air with sound, he needed a drink. ~
George resisted the urge to follow them out of the Ballroom and to hex that boy's balls off. It was bad enough having his wife tell him that morning that his daughter had a boyfriend, but then having him pick her up from the Burrow and seeing him dance with her (hands way too low), then lead her off into the fairy-lit gardens outside…
Oh, he was mad. But Angelina had made him promise not to do anything 'stupid' so he wouldn't. Though, castrating him didn't seem like such a stupid idea, not really.~
Dominique smirked in satisfaction as she saw her baby cousin and boyfriend leave the Ballroom. She was happy for Roxy, even if it did mean Dom was left alone for the evening. If she was honest, Dom was a little bored. Sure there were plenty of young, single ministry men here but none had caught her eye so far. She had wanted to hang out with Mel instead, but she and Louis had been shamelessly flirting all evening, and had disappeared somewhere. It seemed everyone was getting action but her. She sipped her champagne and took another slow glance around the room. It seemed she would be people-watching instead this evening. That was until she saw a familiar face whose eyes were on her, and whose strong, powerful body was walking this way. Dom looked down, as if to pretend she was a little shy, but hell, everyone knew her better than that. She shifted her position so her legs were perfectly framed in the high slit of her long black dress, she looked up at the advancing person; her deep red lips spreading out into a small seductive smile.~
Hermione was having an interesting time. She'd brushed off Ginny's and her son's concerns for her wellbeing. She could tell they didn't believe her when she said the Manor wasn't making her feel scared or have flashbacks- but it was true. The Manor felt like a very different place now. She couldn't tell whether the hall they were currently standing in was the same hall, or not but the fact remained was she was in the building, and able to enjoy the night.
Somewhat.
Because for Hermione Weasley, one personal challenge per night was clearly too little, she had seen House elves escorting visitors in, and now made it her night's mission to see what kind of conditions they lived and worked in. It would be the decider for her; she would judge the new, current Draco Malfoy by how he treated his 'inferiors' not his 'equals'.
The House Elves were walking in and amongst the guests, levitating trays of champagne glasses and canapés above their heads. She approached one, and it bowed its head towards her slightly. It stopped, waiting for her to take a flute off the tray, but instead she knelt down, its saucer like eyes looked up at her, first in confusion then in recognition. The Elf bowed.
"Misses Granger. What can I help you with, misses?" The elf had a wide grin on its face as it looked up at her.
"I just wanted to ask you a few questions, is that okay?" The little elf nodded enthusiastically, "Anything for Misses Granger. "
"What's your name?"
"Duffy, Misses"
"Are you happy here Duffy?"
The elf nodded again.
"Does Master Malfoy speak to you nicely?"
She grinned and nodded more.
"Does he ever shout at you?"
"Oh no, Misses. Master Malfoy never shouts at us"
"What happens if you make a mistake Duffy?"
"Duffy, has never made mistake before misses"
"Are you scared to make a mistake Duffy?"
The elf thought for a few seconds, "No Misses. If Duffy mistakes then she will say sorry"
"And then what? You don't punish yourself do you Duffy?"
"Oh no, misses. Not here. Where Duffy used to work, punish herself she did. But not here, not with Master Malfoy"
"Where was that Duffy?"
"Duffy must not speak of her old family misses" the grin dropped from her face.
Hermione nodded in understanding, "But your new family, they are good to you?"
"Yes Misses"
"Where do you sleep Duffy?"
"We has old Hall Misses. Old Hall and cellars all to ourselves misses. We live on the other side of the Manor"
The Old Hall and Cellars. Hermione paled, she knew at that moment that where she was standing was not the room she had been tortured in. She set her face.
"May I see Duffy? Can you take me there?"
The little elf looked unsure.
"Please, Duffy. I want to see" she implored.
"Duffy is sorry Misses. I don't think-"
"Please" she asked the elf once more. The little elf looked around and then back at Hermione Granger, the hero of most elves. Her mum had told Duffy stories about Hermione Granger who freed so many of their kind. The Witch-Who-Cared.
"Okay Misses. Come with Duffy. Duffy will show you where she lives"~
A/N:
Hope you liked it!
I just felt like the Ball would be done best from lots of different POVs and once I started I just kept thinking of who to write from next. Only a little of George, but enough to stop you all from wondering when Rox told her dad about Logan. (She didn't!)
So clearllyyyy, I'm not done with the Ball!
Again.
It's way longer than I planned because I just kept writing and adding bits that aren't particularly necessary to the story but they came to mind and I couldn't get rid of them. I was going to put them in this chap too but it would have been even longer than that monster chapter i did that one time (vague because i don't know when).
But anyway, an update?
I promise within the next three days. I've got most of it written but I need to edit it and finish it off. I had a new idea part way through writing this so I went with it...
That's all I'll say for now!
Lots of Love,
Be Happy (and review so I can be happy too!)
Cookie xx