A/N: This is an important author's note. I am not the author of this story. The author who has been writing this story is very sick at the moment and I'm afraid will not be coming out from the hospital for a couple of months or so. Oh, and by the way, this is her cousin. There are some good news and bad news for you. Let's start with the bad news first.
Bad news is: I am not the author of this story and I am in no power in altering the chapters. I am bad at writing for one, and I guess I will ruin her lot if I do. So there.
There is no more sequel to this story after this finishes unless she gets out of the hospital and start writing again.
Good news is: I am privileged to be the one to upload all her files thrice a week or twice if I am busy for the week (requested by her)
She has already finished writing this story before she entered the hospital, thus this story is actually completed. (She said she didn't want to leave it undone, so there you are.)
I will be editing the author's notes because she will be responding to your reviews because she requested me to print out your reviews (and please do) and show it to her. This means that she will see your reviews. I will post her replies and responses here if you don't mind.
My cousin knew that she was about to enter the hospital before writing this and she said this is her last story for fan fiction. I remember she was up many nights trying to finish this and she really worked hard on this piece. She liked and she enjoyed it with you guys very much. She says to say thank you to all the reviewers and the ones who put this on their favorites and alerts. She said she's really sorry, but this will be her last story until she gets out of the hospital.
Author waves hi to everyone and says that she hopes you enjoy the rest of the story.
"It's Dad's room," said Rose when she looked up. Scorpius looked around. It was barely a room compared to his. There was only one bed and one closet. He looked up to see a hole on the ceiling. He wasn't too sure about it, but he thought he saw a ghoul. Rose looked at the side and found Ron sitting on one corner of the room. "Look, Dad's there," she said, pointing to him. Rose and Scorpius both stood up and walked over to him.
"Zoom! Zoom!" Little Ron played with a miniature toy broom. The tip was already broken and it looked very old, but Ron looked happy playing with it. "Zoom! The Chudley Cannons win! Their Seeker gets the Snitch! It's over! Chudley Cannons win!"
Rose smiled. "Dad had always been the Chudley Cannon fan I see," she said. Scorpius smiled back and nodded. Rose crouched down to his level. "Look at him. He's very delighted at the toy broom," she said. She looked at the toy Ron was holding. "It looks very old. Maybe it belonged to one of his older brothers," she said. She tried to touch Ron's head. "Poor Dad…" Someone walked into the room. Rose and Scorpius turned to see Percy
Percy had a wide smile on his face. "Hey Ron, what have you been playing?" he asked Ron held up his toy broom. Percy chuckled. "I thought I lost that thing already. Maybe Mum meant it for you so she placed it here." He held out his hand. "It's time for us to go to lunch now. Mum's been calling for you," he said.
Ron looked at his older brother. "Percy, do you think I can have another one of these for my birthday?" he asked. "I need to more so that I could see the Holyhead Harpies lose. The Chudley Cannons will always win." Ron smiled happily at Percy. "I'm turning five soon. I bet Mum and Dad has a big surprise for me," he said hopefully.
Percy just smiled. "We'll see," he replied. "Now come on, it's time for lunch. Mum would kill me if I don't bring you down soon" Ron took Percy's hand and stood up, bringing his toy broom with him. "I hope you don't get your hopes up too high though," he murmured, but it seemed that the happy little boy didn't hear it as they trotted down the stairs. "What would you like for your birthday other than the toy broom?" asked Percy.
Ron thought for a moment. "Socks," he replied. He held up his feet. "I got cold last winter because I didn't have them. I tore them when I was running down the stairs. If I don't get my toy broom, maybe I'll just have to ask for socks."
Percy looked delighted at his answer. "That's practical. Very good, Ron."
Rose laughed. "Typical Uncle Percy being practical," she said as she and Scorpius followed the two boys to the dining room. "Why socks? He could've asked for shoes anyhow. Shoes would be more practical to wear," she said, concerned. She turned to Scorpius. "Don't you think so?"
Scorpius shrugged. "It depends I guess," he replied. He looked at Ron's bare feet. "I think it would be nice to have socks while walking about the house. Shoes will just make it dirty and harder to clean. Taking care of all the kids is hard enough for your grandmother." He looked at Molly who was busy getting Ginny to sit on her chair. "But I think shoes will be nice if Ron can have them. It does keep your feet very warm if that's what he intends the shoes to do."
Ron sat on his chair. "I'm turning five soon," he announced as he took the spoon and fork into his hands. "Mum, I'm turning five soon," he said again when his mother seemed to pass him by without listening to what he said.
Molly turned to him. "I know, Ron. You've been at that since last week. A few more days and you'll finally be a big boy." Ron nodded eagerly. Fred and George snickered. Molly threw a warning look at them. "Tease your brother about this and the pair of you will definitely eat vegetables and beans for the whole month."
Fred and George didn't say a word as they both started to eat. Percy looked at his mother. "Mum, I'm going off to Hogwarts soon too," he reminded her. Molly nodded with a smile as she helped Ginny eat her meal. "I'll be a very good boy in school, you see. I'll be a prefect too and maybe a Head Boy. You'll see me with those badges one day, Mum," he said confidently.
"Percy the suck up," muttered Fred. Percy threw a dirty look at him. "You haven't even entered Hogwarts yet. Besides, playing Quidditch is much better than being a prefect. You get to have all the action. All the prefect does is boringly walk down the halls and stopping the fun the rest of the students could have. Prefects are nothing but suck ups," he pointed out.
Molly looked at Fred. "I'd be happy if you lot became prefect. It means that we send you off and you're doing something that will tell your father and me that we didn't make the wrong choice in not home-schooling you," she said.
"See?" said Percy, looking triumphant.
Ron looked at Molly. "What if I become prefect?" he asked.
"Then I'd be happy too," replied Molly. Ginny squirmed in her seat. "Oh keep still, Ginny. It's just a vegetable. You don't have to squirm like that," she said. Ginny had her mouth shut tight when Molly tried to feed her the vegetables. "Ginny!" Molly scolded.
George leaned over to Ron. "Good for Ginny. She's got a strong sense of conviction, that girl," he joked. Ron nodded. Every one of the Weasley children disliked vegetables, but their mother forced it down their throats at every meal. "If she wasn't the little sister of ours, I bet Mum would've chucked her out of the window right now. Look at Mum go red!"
"I heard that, George. You try feeding your sister and you'll see," she snapped.
George frowned. "She doesn't like being fed…"
"…with vegetables," Fred finished. It was the last straw.
Molly glared at the both of them. "Vegetables for a month, the two of you," she said sternly. Fred was about to protest when Molly interrupted him. "One more word and I will make sure it will be a year," she threatened. It worked for Fred didn't open his mouth to argue again. "Good," murmured Molly and turned back to her daughter.
Just then, a knock came to the door. Molly stood up and answered it. Arthur came into the room. "Dad!" exclaimed Ron. He jumped up from his sea and ran to his father. Chuckling, Arthur hoisted up the little boy and threw his up to the air. He caught the child and placed him back down on the ground. Ron looked at his father and held up five fingers. "I'm turning five soon," he reminded Arthur.
Arthur ruffled his hair. "I know that very well, son," he replied. Ron couldn't help but grin. Arthur walked over and carried Ginny from her chair. "How's my little princess doing?" Ginny smiled. A grain of rice came out from her mouth. Arthur wiped away the sauce from her upper lip. "You're growing up too fast, aren't you? Soon enough I wouldn't be able to carry you anymore either," he said and placed her back down to her chair.
"Welcome home, Dad," said Percy.
Fred smiled at Arthur. "Are you going to take us to the park again, Dad? Today's Saturday and you promised to take us there. George and I have been waiting for you all day. Ron asked if he could come too," he said.
Arthur looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Fred, but I have to go to the office again today. Maybe next Saturday, all right?" Fred looked very much disappointed. He had been waiting all morning for his father to arrive. He stood up. "Dad, you promised me three Saturdays ago. This is the fourth Saturday that you're putting off going to the park. You even told you me I'd have a go on the broom today," he said willfully.
"Your father has work," snapped Molly. "Work comes before play. Now you sit back down and eat your meal. I want it finished."
Fred scowled. "You never keep your promises." He turned and stomped up the stairs.
George watched his brother go. "Can I go up with him?" he asked, looking at his mother. "I think he's really sad about it." Molly nodded tiredly. George put down his spoon and fork and went after his twin brother. Both of them had always been like this. They rarely separated, which was sometimes a good and a bad thing at the same time.
Ron looked sullen. "I wanted to go to the park too," he said in a small voice, which made Arthur feel even guiltier than he already is. Molly was about to say something, but Arthur held up his hand.
"Why don't you come outside with me for a moment, Ron? Let's have a man to man talk, shall we? You're turning five soon, which means you get to be bigger. I want to trust you more like I trust your older brothers." Ron smiled. Arthur took his hand. "Come on, then."
"Your grandfather was really a good dad," said Scorpius as he observed Arthur's methods of calming down his son. "I wish my dad was like that. He rarely lets me in on anything. He rarely talks to me in the first place because he's always busy at work."
Rose looked at him thoughtfully. "It's all right. Your dad is still your dad." She followed Arthur and Ron out to the backyard. "Now I know why Dad loves to take me out to the garden every time we needed to talk. It's calming that way," she said. Scorpius looked at her blankly. He never had one-on-one talk with his father to know the feeling.
"I'm proud of you for being a good boy every time I'm away," started Arthur. Ron beamed proudly. "I know I haven't been around the house much lately and I come home late to find all you boys sleeping. I do want to take all of you the park, from Bill down to Ginny. I want to see all of you enjoy it there. But sometimes, work just has to be the top priority. You know what priority means?" Ron shook his head. "Priority means it has to be the first. You know as much as your older brothers do that we're not as well off right? That's why I have to keep you working so that you could have something to wear, to eat," he explained.
Ron nodded, as if understanding what his father said. "Okay," he replied. Arthur smiled at his son. "But you do promise to take me the park before I go to Hogwarts, right?" he said. Arthur laughed and nodded as he held up his right palm. Ron threw his arms around his father. "I can't wait to go to the park!" he exclaimed happily.
"I know, Ron," said Arthur.
Ron's face suddenly turned serious, as if thinking deeply of something. He looked at his father with a serious face, which made him look even more adorable than he already is to Arthur. "Dad, if I become prefect, would you be happy?" he asked.
"Of course," answered Arthur. "Who wouldn't want their son to become a prefect? I'll be very much delighted." He crouched down to Ron's level. "But other than being prefect, I want you to become you. I know being the youngest boy can be a tough job, always the last, always getting the things your brothers grew out of. I understand it and I'm at fault, I know. I want you to get the best of everything. No matter what happens, Ron, I want you to stay who you are."
Ron looked uncertain. "But what if I do badly at school, Dad?" he asked.
"You won't as long as you do your best," Arthur assured him. "It's a long way for you from here yet. You won't be off to Hogwarts in six years. Don't worry about being prefect yet. Don't worry about anything of Hogwarts yet." Arthur touched Ron's nose. "I just want you to know who you are first before going off," he said.
Ron smiled broadly. "I'm Ronald Bilius Weasley," he said proudly.
Arthur nodded. "I bet you are." He scooped up his young son and threw him up to the air again. Ron raised his hands as if trying to touch the clouds. "Reach for the sky, Ron. No matter what, dream big. If you fall back down," Arthur caught his son in midair, "I'll be here to catch you." Ron turned and smiled at his father. "What would you like to have for your birthday?" he asked.
Ron smiled and said without hesitation, "Toy broom like the one Percy has!" Arthur discreetly broke as said when he heard it. Ron's face eased. "But I can have socks." He raised his feet a little. "I get cold feet every time Christmas comes around and I hate getting cold feet," he explained.
Arthur laughed. "Me too," he replied. He cuddled Ron close to him. 'You are so comical sometimes," he muttered. He turned around and carried his son towards the house. "Now why not we have our lunch now? I am a bit hungry, aren't you?" Ron nodded eagerly as the father and son entered the house through the back door.
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I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.
-Cat Stevens-
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Scorpius felt a pang of jealousy right at that moment. He had never had such n easy-going father who occasionally threw him in the air and caught him when he was a child. All he remembered about his toddler days were being played with his father who seemed very uninterested to do so, though there were times that he enjoyed being with him as well, but it wasn't as joyous as it seemed to be in the case of the Weasleys.
"We're going to another memory now," said Rose as he felt her surroundings darken.
A/N: Please review. I'm sure to print out the page of reviews and show it to her.
NEXT CHAPTER: Give Love