Chapter 29: The Slytherin Invasion
Wednesday Draco didn't get much done for he'd spent the entire day going through a list of things that could go wrong. Around two he went home and dressed with the utmost care and after wrapping the gift he'd gotten during lunch he apparated to Parkinson Manor where they would floo over to 'The Anatheum' where the dinner would be held. Ginny had owled him earlier that it was a party to welcome the baby into the family and so it would be held in Hermione's house as the baby was still to young to be taken out for too long and to dress casually.
He knocked on the door of Parkinson Manor apprehensively, hoping that Pansy had decided to be nice. He was admitted by The Butler almost immediately and he walked into the study where Bea threw herself at him. "Do I look pretty?"
"Yes, you do." Draco said laughing and lifting her up long enough to kiss her cheek and indeed she did, she was wearing pale pink dress robes with little roses sewn all along the bottom some tendrils reaching up into the bodice; her hair was in pigtails, her brown curls so smooth and perfect that she almost seemed like a little doll. He looked up to see Pansy looking very beautiful in a dark blue robe that he knew must have been very expensive, however the pout she wore and crossed arms ruined the effect and he sighed, this is going to end in thrown hexes. Terry was sitting in an armchair wearing dress pants and a polo shirt not unlike what Draco was wearing although he managed to look much less formal.
"Oh. You did get my owl," He said to Terry.
"Yeah," he said catching Benji whom he'd just tossed in the air. "She insisted on dressing the children up." In fact, Benji was also wearing a fancy robe in a blue matching his mother's.
Draco moved away from the door pulling Bea along with him to allow Theus and Dan into the room as he'd just heard them enter the house arguing lightly about beams and signals; he assumed they were talking about the project.
Dan walked in wearing a short black dress that seemed very comfortable and Theus entered wearing jeans and a dress shirt. Bea threw herself at Theus as he walked in and he caught her midair as she posed the same question she'd asked Draco.
"So, is everyone ready?" Draco asked.
"Yeah," Dan said and gesturing with a hand that held a large shopping bag, "give me the box I'll put it in here." Draco handed her the gift he'd been holding and Terry pushed another box into her arms. "Hey, watch it." Dan said to him as she juggled the boxes and dropped them in the bag.
Draco took a deep breath and threw some floo powder into the fireplace and stepped out in the Anatheum.
He was already familiar with the floo room and so he sat down on one of the chairs and waited for the others to arrive. Pansy flowed out of the fireplace with a haughty look that fell quickly upon noticing the small room and Draco lounging comfortably on the chair.
"Where are we?"
"The Floo Room."
"The Floo Room?" She asked heavily next to Draco setting Benji's travel bag down next to her feet.
"I've noticed they're all a bit paranoid," Draco commented.
Terry walked through carrying Benji holding a blanket over his face which he removed as he sat down. Theus stepped through carrying Bea who jumped down and ran to her mother who fussed over her robes, smoothing them with a quick wave of the wand and fixing her pigtails. When Dan stepped through Draco rose and knocked on the door. Everyone else stood as well, the haughty disgusted look returning to Pansy's face. The door was opened by Ron who upon noticing who was on the other side exclaimed, "Bugger and blast, it's a Slytherin Invasion!"
Terry quickly spoke up, "I was a Ravenclaw."
Dan added, "I'm American."
A redhead with a scared face behind Ron laughed and Draco said impatiently, "Weasley, are you going to let us in or do you want to admire us for a bit longer?"
Ron hesitated but upon being poked in the shoulder by the other man he opened the door wider and stepped aside, "Welcome" he said without any enthusiasm.
The Floo room had been very silent and obviously it had a silencing charm on it because when they stepped into the hallway there were many voices that drifted around the house.
Across the hallway from them was a room filled with women and they all turned their heads to see who'd entered the house. He only recognized a few of them from their school years and looked around expectantly for Ginny.
"Ginny and Hermione are in the kitchen," Ron said walking down the hallway the group followed him and saw the other redhead duck into a room that was obviously a library with a few other redheads. Harry was heard saying, "I can't believe he has the nerve to", but they all ignored it and followed silently into the kitchen which was very large but as it already contained eight people at the arrival of eight more it was more than a little cramped.
Ginny's face lit up upon seeing him and walking around the kitchen table at which sat Penny, Fleur and the Midwife all cooing over a child in a bassinet that was sitting in the middle of the table, she gave him a quick peck on the lips. Ron made a gagging sound and headed back into the hallway. Ginny quickly hugged Dan and Theus and turned around and said brightly "everyone this is Prometheus Parkinson and Daniela Harris, everyone calls them Theus and Dan, they're to blame for my dating Draco." Then she realized she wasn't sure who everyone there was and turned to Pansy, "I'm guessing you're Pansy Parkinson?"
Pansy's whose haughty look had returned to her face, and somehow managed to look imposing even while holding Benji who knew better than to try to pull his mother's hair, gave her a glare and said icily, "Pansy Boot."
"Oh my God!" Ginny exclaimed and went around and hugged Terry, "I didn't recognize you with that beard, how are you?"
"Will you kindly take your paws of my husband?"
"Pansy," Terry threatened, "don't mind her she's a bit upset about…anyway" he pulled Bea who was clinging to his left arm forward, "this is our daughter Beatrice, we call her Bea and that" he pointed at Pansy, "is Benjamin, Benji for short, we're fond of nicknames," he laughed.
Molly rushed forward, "Aaaww what a pretty little dress," she said taking hold of Bea's hand who looked questioningly at her mother who nodded softly, "let's go outside with the rest of the children, all the grandpa's are out there telling stories, mmm, you might get that pretty little dress dirty why don't we go upstairs and find some of Will's clothes I'm sure he's left lots of them here."
The two disappeared up the steps and the silence that filled the room grew just a tad uncomfortable when Ginny spoke up, "come on Terry, I'm sure Harry and Neville will be glad to see you, they're in the library."
"I'll come too, I'm curious to see it," Dan said hurriedly, "it looked massive when we walked past."
"I'll come too," Theus followed the three out of the room
"I guess its every man for himself, huh," Draco chuckled stiffly.
"We don't bite," Hermione said from the stove where she was stirring something, "sit down and enjoy yourselves," she was interrupted by Ginny rushing into the room and looking around only to find things exactly as she'd left them.
"Oh, you're getting on," she said and smiled.
"Everyone really needs to calm down, we're all adults here and if you made it past Ron safely then there's really nothing to worry about," Hermione said looking at Draco with a hesitant smile. She turned to Pansy and smiled, "Pansy, do take a seat it must be exhausting carrying that child about all day."
"I'm fine, it's only been a short while," she said standing up even straighter.
Molly and Bea returned with Bea wearing a pair of faded jeans, a striped red and gold t-shirt, and what must have been the rattiest sneakers known to man, Pansy grimaced. Molly gestured to Pansy; "if you'll hand him over I'll put him in the playpen outside with the other little ones."
Pansy handed the small boy over fearfully and Molly bounced him on her hip as she opened the door to the backyard, the boy giggled and they all disappeared out the door.
Pansy seemed to deflate a little and stepped closer to Draco who now had an arm thrown around Ginny. "Pansy, please take a seat," Hermione repeated pointing to a chair next to Mrs. Smith who was clearly amused by the goings on around her. Pansy sat her back straight and sneered.
Pansy sat there wondering what she was doing, it was really hard to be mean to people who were so determined to be nice. She wondered if Terry hadn't been right. Last night he'd lectured her about judging people, but it was the principle of it. Things had changed so much after the war, even for her, whose family hadn't been involved. It seemed that the very last bit of normalcy was slipping Weasleys just didn't mix with the upper crust of society, specially Malfoys.
Hermione turned around from her stirring and gestured to the woman that stood at a counter dicing something, "that's my mother Jane Granger," then turning she gestured at the dark haired woman who sat silently at the other end of the table, "that's Penny Weasley you might remember her from school she was a prefect our first three years." She pointed at the blonde next to her, she really was striking, one of the most beautiful she'd ever met, she knew exactly who she was, "This is Fleur, she was the Beuxbatons contestant our fourth year."
"I know who she is," Pansy said, "I'm just surprised you've managed to trick her into coming here."
"Well, it would be hard to keep me away from my new nephew," Fleur said, her French accent much gentler now and Pansy couldn't help but be annoyed that they'd managed to have such a beautiful woman as a family member, although the contained amusement with which Fleur said it grated on her nerves and she was further resolved to dislike this whole family.
She turned to the woman next to her and cooed, "Midwife Smith, how are you doing? It's been a while since we've talked, how is your daughter I heard she was with child."
"Well, Pansy, it's nice to see you haven't lost your manners entirely," the woman admonished, "my daughter gave birth on Friday to a lovely little girl," the old woman smiled, "will you be in need of my services soon?"
"Oh no!" Pansy was horrified at the thought, "the two I have are enough of a handful."
"It is such a shame," the old woman, "you've had the easiest births I've ever witnessed."
"That's only because my children couldn't wait to wreck havoc upon the world." Pansy complained.
She looked over to the door where Draco had been standing only to see that they'd both he and the little slut had disappeared and left her all alone, with these women. She felt extremely uncomfortable and smiled thinly at them all, she didn't know why she'd agreed to come, she should've stayed home, she was the only one that obviously didn't fit in, even Terry had abandoned her.
"Pansy," Hermione was talking to her again and she turned up from her hands to look at the woman who stood before her. She'd only seen her in passing in Diagon Alley and hadn't paid her much attention; she hadn't changed much, although her hair seemed less wild than at school. She was wearing jeans and a pretty blue blouse. She had real diamond stud earrings and wore a necklace although the pendent disappeared down her shirt and she was unable to see what it was, she sounded hesitant now, but determined. "Terry is a muggleborn."
Pansy scoffed, apparently life with a Weasley had dull her brain, "I'm aware of that."
"Why did you marry him?" She asked and her mother turned from her cooking for the first time and really looked at Pansy making her uncomfortable.
Pansy answered contemptuously, "because he'd got me up the duff and I had no other choice." The women in the room all gasped and Pansy smirked they were all so easy, the goody-two-shoes. "And I was in love with him," she added kindly, she didn't want to be blamed for any heart attacks.
"But, I thought you all hated muggleborns," Hermione said belligerently.
"No, Granger, we all hated you," Pansy said noting how her mother put her hand on her shoulder when she stiffened, "for being such a know-it-all. We had plenty of muggle-borns and half-bloods in Slytherin; otherwise the house would have been quite empty." She noticed the surprise in Granger's eyes. "There were ever only a few families that were really anti-muggle like the Malfoys and Notts and even then it was understood that it didn't extend to people in Slytherin. Although to be honest if my parents had been alive I never would have been allowed to date Terry much, less marry him." At that time Pansy was glad that the attention was drawn away from her to Molly who entered the kitchen and headed over to Hermione.
"Sweetheart, how goes the stirring?" She asked gently as if afraid to hurt her feelings.
Fleur leaned over conspiratorially and whispered, "the poor girl can barely boil water, Ron does all the cooking." Pansy smiled; maybe this won't be so bad after all.
Bea clung on to the old woman, Molly beside her who was carrying Benji and was chattering away about all her grandchildren that Bea would play with, but Bea wasn't sure; she could see a very large play pen at the far end of the yard where four babies were running around. There were three boys sitting in front of three old men. I'm the only girl, she was horrified, boys are stupid, this won't be fun! She let go of the old woman and crossed her arms over her chest. Molly put her hand at her back and pushed her over to where the boys where sitting. They turned when they heard them behind them and she stuck her tongue out at them. The biggest of them, a boy with red hair like Molly, stuck his tongue out at her as well.
"William Weasley!" The old woman reprimanded him, "Mind your manners!" Then she said, "This is Bea Boot"
"Beatrice," Bea spoke up, this was her chance to be called to be called something different, "or Trish for short, everyone calls me that," she looked up at Molly hoping she'd understand.
The woman smiled, "of course, how silly of me to have forgotten, everyone this is Trish Boot, and this is her little brother Benji and they're going to join us for dinner." She pushed Bea, no, Trish forward, then pointing at the boys sitting on the ground she said "you've already met Will, and next to him is Jim Hurst, he's a friend," the boy scowled at her, "and this is George, he's my grandson as well," George smiled brightly and waved, she smiled at George and the woman headed to the playpen with Benji.
Trish turned to the old men and said "Hi," she was a little scared she'd never met so many different people before.
"Hello," one man with lots of grey hair said to her, "come sit down we were just telling the boys here about the Muggle world."
Trish walked forward trying to stand straight like her mother always did, "I already know all about the Muggle world, my grandpa's a Muggle and my uncle Theus is the best electrician and he invented the Electrifier."
"Did he?" Another man, this one with big glasses and hardly any hair at all asked, he seemed very excited.
"Of course," Trish never lied, he should believe her, "you can even ask him yourself, he's inside."
The old man stood up and ran into the house.
"You've gone and chased Grampa Arthur away," the boy who'd stuck his tongue out at her, Will, said, "and now he won't finish the story."
"We can finish it," said the other man whose head was covered with hair although not as much as the first man who was chuckling, "Edward here is a Muggle so he knows all about cars, right?" Edward nodded. The man continued, "anyway in the engine there are little creatures called Gremlins, they are very ugly, and tiny and they mess with everything."
"That's not true," Trish said crossing her arms, "there's nothing in engines but metal things and wires, my grandpa showed me."
"Leo is a newspaper man, he knows everything," Will said standing up to face her, "if he says there's Gremlins, there's Gremlins, right Grampa Edward?"
Edward looked nervous then said, "They're both right, Aunt Hermione told me that there are Gremlins, we Muggles just can't see them 'cause they're magical." Will stuck his tongue out at her and she was going to do it as well but Edward said, "Will," like when you're about to get in trouble with a grown-up so she just made a face and sat next to George who was nice and gave her a big smile again when she sat, she smiled back. Maybe all boys aren't bad, after all Daddy and Uncle Theus and Uncle Draco are all boys.
A/N: Wednesday, May 24, 2004. Hope the change in point of views wasn't too confusing. For this chapter I used a website: it has all these slang British words, you should go there, anyway, "up the duff" means pregnant and Pansy was 3 months pregnant when she and Terry got married. Edward is Hermione's father, Leo is Luna's dad.