A/N: Alright, so my laptop is gone. I'm shopping around for a new one but it will probably be a while. Meanwhile, I have a mac computer but it just isn't the same. I'm having a difficult time working on it and it does not have Microsoft Office so I'm struggling with the weird program it does have. Therefore, I cannot promise regular updates for now. I will do my best, though! As a sort of apology, I'm giving you all a really lengthy chapter 3!
Even though there isn't any Scorpius/Rose interaction in this chapter, I loved writing it. Chapter 4 will definitely have a lot of Rose/Scorpius. This chapter is mainly James/Leila.
Please leave any comments or criticisms in reviews! I love feedback! I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed creating it.
DISCLAIMER: All recognizable characters, ideas, places, events, etc. belong to the brilliant JK Rowling. I own nothing.
WARNING: Violence, a bit of language, and light sexual references in this chapter.
...
James Sirius Potter and Leila Danica Scamander
Formerly request the honour of your presence
At their marriage ceremony
On July 14th
Two o'clock in the afternoon
The Burrow
"Bloody hell," groaned Ronald Weasley as the words were shouted at him. He blinked his eyes rapidly as confetti rained down on him and noisemakers assaulted his ears. "How did they get the invitations out so fast?"
"Ginny said they were up all night making their wedding plans," said Hermione as she glanced at the invitation over her husband's shoulder. It was now smoking slightly. "Ah, you might want to get rid of that, dear, just in case it explodes."
Ron snatched up his wand from the kitchen counter and vanished the invitation. "Why haven't we heard from Rose yet?" he asked his wife.
"I don't know," said Hermione with a frown. It was a question they'd both been asking for nearly twenty-four hours. They had heard from almost all of their nieces and nephews immediately. Yet their own daughter hadn't bothered to contact them with news of her fiance.
"Maybe it's really bad," said Ron, his face turning very red very fast, "like someone who is really old."
Hermione wanted to laugh at the expression on his face, but the situation was too serious for her to find anything funny. She had been outraged when this law had come into being. She worked for Magical Law Enforcement for Merlin's sake! You would think she, of all people, would be able to do something about it.
"Well, let's not jump to any conclusions. Look, here's the paper," Hermione motioned to the window where an owl was impatiently waiting to be let in. Ron hurried forward, put some bronze coins into the bag attached to the owl's leg, and took the morning paper.
He unfurled it and immediately the kitchen was filled with the voice of his nephew. "Good morning people of the wizarding world! Today is your lucky day! You are formerly invited to the wedding of James Sirius Potter and Leila Danica Scamander on July 14th at two o'clock in the afternoon. The ceremony will be performed at The Burrow, with a reception to follow!"
Hermione groaned, "Did he seriously put an ad for his wedding in The Daily Prophet?"
Ron gave a weak chuckle, "It looks like it. Blimey, I hope he cleared that with Mum before inviting thousands of people to her house."
Before Hermione could respond, the kitchen door slammed open and Rose strode into the house. She paced the length of the kitchen three times before finally screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO BE A MALFOY!"
Ron spluttered for a moment, "But-they paired you with Draco? He's already married! They can't do that!"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded, "Don't be an idiot. Of course they didn't pair her with Draco. They paired her with Scorpius!"
"Oh, right," huffed Ron. He had momentarily forgotten that the Ferret had a son. "They still can't do that!" he cried, "...can they?"
"Unfortunately they have," said Hermione as she read over the letter that Rose dropped on the kitchen table. Albus, who had entered the house with Rose, remained quietly in the doorway. "Would you like to come in, Al? I'll make everyone some tea."
"Thanks, Aunt Hermione, but I just came to be moral support," he said bracingly.
"Ah, that's good, I think she'll need it," Ron glanced nervously at his daughter who was still pacing and looking murderous.
"Of course," she snipped, "he's being pathetically polite about the whole thing! Acting like a perfect gentleman. Can you believe that prat?"
"The nerve of him," her family knew it was best to humor her by this point.
"He said that we should get to know each other and make the best of this. Optimistic insensitive git!"
"Insensitive," agreed Albus.
"His mum was dreadful. She hugged me. Isn't that just disgusting? As if she actually likes me or something. Astoria Malfoy. Hugged ME."
"How dare she," patronized Ron.
"THEN," Rose screamed, "he had the audacity to ask me questions about myself!"
"Mmm, rude," said Hermione as she poured a cup of tea for Albus.
"Hmph," Rose, finished with her rant, plopped down onto a chair and stared at the tabletop.
"Would you like some tea, love?" Hermione offered. Rose jerked her head in assent and a cup of tea appeared before her. After she took a few sips she seemed to settle down and Hermione said tentatively, "Rose, you know that if I thought it would help, I would go down to the Ministry right now and demand they change their minds. But we both know they won't. I'm sorry to ask, sweetheart, but are you upset because there was someone else who you were hoping for?"
Rose looked scandalized, "No! I was hoping that there would be more witches than wizards and I wouldn't be paired up with anyone! Daddy, can't you go, oh I don't know, arrest him for something? I can't marry him if he's in prison."
"Rose," her father barely managed to hide his amusement at her request, "I haven't been an Auror since before you were born. I can't arrest anyone. Plus, he sounds like he is being very mature about this. It could have been worse, you know. Your cousin Dominique was paired with Nathan Zabini."
"No!" Rose cried in horror. "Yeah, alright," she assented, "Malfoy is loads better than Zabini."
"See? I always thought Scorpius was a nice boy. You had to work with him before, didn't you? You were both Prefects in the same year."
"Yes, we've worked together," she acknowledged, "and I know he's not that bad. I just don't want to get married at all, Mum. It's just not fair!"
"I know, sweetheart," Hermione gently stroked Rose's unruly hair, "but life is very rarely fair. Now, it says here you have one month to put a wedding together. Do you have any ideas?"
"Yes," said Rose in a tone that made Hermione suspicious, "my idea is that you can take care of everything. I don't care about this wedding. I don't care if you want to have gnomes as my bridesmaids! My only requests are that you ask my opinion on nothing. And I get to choose my dress. That's the only thing I even sort of care about."
Hermione looked shocked but had expected something like this. Rose was twice as stubborn as her father and she was so angry about this whole situation that it wasn't a surprise to Hermione that she was acting like a child. "If that's what you want."
"It is. Oh, by the way, Mrs. Malfoy wants to be involved with wedding plans, too. I told her that you would contact her and the two of you could have some sort of mothers-of-the-bride-and-bloody-groom party or something."
"I'll take care of it," Hermione was already pulling parchment and ink from a cupboard.
"Good, now, if you'll excuse us, Albus and I will be going."
"We will? Where are we going?"
"Back to our flat. I'm bloody hungry. I'll cook something up," she spun and Apparated on the spot, presumably back to her flat.
"Sorry about her, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione," said Al with a little smile.
"Quite alright," said Ron, who was reading the newspaper, "we know how Rose is. Gets it from her mum."
Hermione's mouth opened in indignation but before she could even get properly angry she caught the grin on Ron's face and knew he was being sarcastic. "She gets her intelligence from me. Everything else is all you, Ronald."
...
It wasn't abnormal by any means for Leila to stay nights at the Potter home. It was also not abnormal for her to sleep in James's bed with him. If it had been any other girl, Ginny and Harry would never have allowed it. But they knew Leila. They knew that Leila and James had only ever been just friends.
So when Ginny Potter opened her eldest son's bedroom door, it was not a shock to see Leila curled up with him, both of them sleeping soundly, even though it was almost noon. They had been up quite late, after all.
His room was a mess. Clothes everywhere, parchment strewn about, and to Ginny's horror there was a light layer of confetti covering the entire area. Even in their sleep, James and Leila were comical. They were snoring in a pattern and Ginny almost didn't want to wake them. They must be exhausted.
"James, Leila," she whispered, "time to get up, darlings."
Leila bolted upright. "We fell asleep!" she screamed. She clambered on top of her fiance, straddled him, and shook his shoulders hard, "Wake up you big great git! We fell asleep! We still have so much to do!"
Laughing, Ginny withdrew from the bedroom. Twenty minutes later, they were in Diagon Alley. They were in a furniture store registering for gifts. "What do you think of this?" asked Leila as she pointed to an ornate chandelier.
"Hm," James appraised the item, "better make it two."
Leila nodded in approval and flicked her wand at the chandelier twice. Once they were finished registering at the furniture store, they meandered down the alley talking. "Oh, I'm starving," said Leila as she pulled James toward a street vendor who was selling licorice wands and cauldron cakes, "we skipped breakfast."
"Hey, Lei, I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we could go look at houses," said James as he pulled some gold from his pocket and handed it over to pay for the basket that Leila was ladening with sweets.
"Houses?"
"Yeah, unless you'd prefer a flat?"
"Can we afford a house, James? I mean, I've got a decent amount of gold saved up, but-"
"Don't worry about that," interrupted James, "I have plenty of gold to buy a house. Ever since I was big enough to carry boxes I've been working for my Uncle George and Uncle Ron at the joke shop. After Hogwarts I was signed onto Puddlemere United. I live at home, Leila, I don't exactly have a lot of things to spend my paycheck on. I could buy you a house if you wanted it. Hell, I could buy you three houses if you wanted them."
She laughed as she sat down on a bench and tossed him a cauldron cake, "I think we'll only need one house for now." James shrugged unconcernedly and tore into his cake. "But if you have so much money, why haven't you moved out of your parents house before now?"
"I think we both know the answer to that," he sighed, "Why would I want to leave a place where I have my laundry done for me and food made for me? I don't have to pay rent and there's always someone to talk to."
Leila knew better than to take what he said at face value. She knew the truth. James Potter was a social and family oriented person. He liked being around his family and simply didn't want to leave them. He wasn't so lazy that he needed his mummy around to clean his socks, he just liked being at home. If he had his own place, he would never be there.
"I wanted to give you this," he extracted a large ornate key from his pocket and handed it over to her. "I had my Uncle Bill make a copy of the key to my Gringotts Vault last night. He dropped it off with my mum this morning. It's yours. If you want, you can transfer your money into my vault so we have a joint one, or you can keep yours separate. Either way, my gold is your gold now, too, and I reckon you ought to be able to access it."
"Oh, James," she held the key gingerly in her hands like it was a precious treasure. To her, it was. If James had given her all the gold in the vault it wouldn't have meant as much as this key. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." she took a moment to really look at James Potter. He was a perfect blend of his parent's best qualities, in her opinion. He had his father's untamed black hair, his mother's brown eyes, and the tall broad Weasley build with the Potter charm. When Leila Scamander was fifteen years old, she and James had lost their virginity to each other. They had been at her house during the summer before fifth year. James was upset because all of his friends had had sex but he was embarrassed to admit he hadn't because he was nervous about it.
Leila offered to try it with him for their first times. He had agreed. To her immense relief, it hadn't been awkward as she had feared, nor had it been overly painful. It had been sweet and kind of wonderful. Neither of them regretted what they had done, but they didn't speak of it ever again, either. It was their secret. Now she would be the only girl he would ever shag for the rest of his life. Her stomach lurched. Was he upset about that at all? Did he want to have other girls?
Before her mind could send her into a panic, an unexpected voice broke into her thoughts, "My two best friends!" Fred Weasley was standing before them grinning like a fool, "Getting married! Blimey, I bet this is what Uncle Harry felt like when Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione got together. This is strange. But, uh, I guess, congratulations?"
James barked a laugh before hitting his best mate with a licorice wand. "Good to see you, too, Freddy," Leila scooted over and Fred sat down on her other side. The three of them had been inseparable at Hogwarts when they'd been there.
"What's so strange about it?" argued James as Fred leaned over and ate the half-eaten cauldron cake right out of Leila's hand.
"I don't know," said Fred after he swallowed, "maybe the fact that you and Leila will be shagging. Isn't that weird for you two to think about?" he made a face.
Leila and James both pulled innocent faces. "Not really. I mean, I know he's been trying to get into my skirt for years, he just finally gets the chance now," she said casually.
"Oh please, we all know you were the one who's been trying to get into my trousers, Scamander! I don't blame you. Most witches would die to be in your position right now." he tapped her playfully on the nose.
"You're so full of yourself, Potter. I don't know why I agreed to marry you, you arrogant prat!" she teased.
"I don't even know why I asked you," James played along, "what was I thinking when I asked a crazy bird like you to be my wife?"
"You must have been drunk," she conceded, "but not as drunk as I was when I accepted."
Laughing heartily, James got up and said, "I'm going to get a cold bottle of pumpkin juice. Do you two want anything?"
"Gilly water, please," she requested.
"Nothing for me, mate," Fred waved him away and James went on his way down the street to find drinks. "Now," said Fred seriously, "did you tell him yet?"
"No," said Leila, who had the decency to blush pink, "How could I, Fred?" Of all of the Weasley grandchildren, Fred and Roxanne were the only two who were purebloods, children of George Weasley and Angelina Weasley (nee Johnson).
"You need to tell him that you chose him, Lei."
"What if he's disappointed? I bet loads of better looking witches wanted to marry James Potter. Look at me, Fred, I'm not exactly the type of witch you see on the cover of Witch Weekly."
Fred looked over his best friend, trying to be objective about it. It was true that Leila wasn't exactly thin. But she definitely wasn't fat, either. So she had a bit of extra hips and boobs, what bloke wouldn't like that? She had beautiful golden blonde hair that reached her waist, and dark green eyes. Out loud he said, "James thinks you are. I see the way he looks at you. The way he has looked at you for years. He looks at you and he likes what he sees. I'm a bloke, we can tell these things. We all have different types, you know. Al likes small mousy girls, Louis likes tall leggy blondes, I prefer brunettes. Then there's James. James's type is Leila Scamander. That's it. There's no way in hell he's disappointed that you are who the Ministry paired him with. I haven't seen him this happy since we won the Quidditch Cup in sixth year."
"You really think so?" Leila asked in a small voice.
Fred put an arm around her shoulders, "Absolutely. Now, tell him that you chose him."
Leila's face fell, "I can't."
Before Fred could argue, James was back. "Bloody hell, there was a long line to buy this," he handed Leila her gilly water, "I hope it's still cold."
"It's perfect," Leila smiled at him, drank her water, then stood up, "I'm going to Gringotts to transfer my gold to your vault, James."
"Brilliant," he said with a smile. He stood, too, then kissed her on the forehead, "I'll see you tonight at your parent's house for dinner, yeah?"
"Yes, I'll see you then. Bye, Fred!"
"Bye, Lei!" and she was gone. "Alright," Fred turned to his cousin with a serious expression, "Now, what is so urgent that I had to rush down here to meet you for? And why are we keeping it a secret from your fiance?"
"I've been thinking," James hedged.
"Oh no," said Fred in mock-horror, "You know you shouldn't do that, James!"
James rolled his eyes, "I know that the Ministry kind of forced us together, but I want to do this right. I want to properly ask Leila to marry me. I want to propose to her properly. I asked you to come down here to help me pick out a ring."
"Really?" Fred was fascinated by this turn of events, "Do you...fancy her?"
"Haven't I always?" James grumbled.
Fred laughed, "Yeah, but you've never admitted it until now."
"If the Ministry had put her with another bloke...I would have gone mental, Fred. I hoped so badly that it was her. If I had been allowed to choose, I would have chosen her."
"I'm sure she would have chosen you, too, mate."
"Enough of this sensitive bloke stuff," James brushed himself off importantly, "and onto much manlier things. Like jewelry shopping."
Fred chuckled, "Yes! To the manliest jewelry shop in Diagon Alley!"
...
Hermione Weasley was not a coward. At least, that's what she kept telling herself as she tapped politely on the tall wrought iron gates of Malfoy Manor. She had owled Astoria and they had agreed to get together that very afternoon to discuss the wedding plans.
Now, Hermione was wishing that she hadn't accepted Astoria's invitation to come here. The mansion wasn't as dreadful as she remembered. Although the last time she'd been here, it had been dark outside and there had been Death Eaters crawling all over the place.
The sunlight glittered off the manor in a beautiful way and the beautiful gardens took up most of the grounds. Hermione could hear a fountain that must be just out of sight around a corner. This place was huge. Much bigger than she remembered.
Trying very hard to stop the trembling in her limbs, Hermione paced herself as she walked up the winding pathway to the large front doors. Astoria Malfoy stood on the grand porch, smiling as Hermione approached. Hermione was seized by an insane urge to turn and run.
"Hermione," Astoria greeted her warmly, "I'm so glad you could make it."
Hermione couldn't bring herself to smile as she replied in a steady voice, "It's lovely to see you, Astoria. How have you been?"
"Excellent, thank you. Rose stopped by here last night, did she tell you? Your daughter is wonderful, Hermione. She was ever so polite and she's absolutely gorgeous."
"Thank you," said Hermione graciously as she was privately relieved that Rose hadn't been a complete brat to these people.
"Please, come in, would you like some tea?"
"Yes, that would be lovely," Hermione followed Astoria into the manor and froze. It was bright, warm, even homey feeling. But there was still a coldness from it that only Hermione could feel. Because it was her nightmares that still lived in this place.
"Ah, Granger," Draco Malfoy was walking swiftly down the grand staircase, "You must be here about the wedding." he grinned wickedly at her, "never thought you'd be in-laws with me, did you?"
"No, Draco, I didn't," she admitted, still distracted by her own feeling of dread at being in this home.
"I expect you'll want to avoid the, ah, room," he said significantly with a dark look in his grey eyes, "so we'll be talking in the south sitting room. This way," he led her through the mansion to a small room with a large roaring fireplace. Hermione sat gingerly on the very edge of the sofa and Draco barely suppressed a laugh.
"How are you handling this?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Very well, actually," Draco went to a bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a glass of wine. "Would you like a glass?"
"No, thank you, your wife was getting me a cup of tea."
"Ah, alright then. Yes, I am actually handling this much better than the Weasel probably is," he looked to her for affirmation and Hermione couldn't help but scowl just a bit.
"I didn't even tell him I was coming over here," she admitted, "he's been sulking more than Rose."
Draco raised his eyebrows, "Is Rose really that unhappy about this? She seemed perfectly calm and collected while she was here."
Hermione smirked, "She's good at keeping up appearances, but trust me, underneath that facade she is exactly like Ron."
"Oh dear," said Draco as he took a swallow of wine, "we really are in trouble then. You see, Scorpius is...well, like you."
"Me?" Hermione squeaked in surprise.
"Quite," Draco sounded more amused by this than anything, "spends most of the time with his nose in a book, doesn't care about any social events, quiet, thoughtful boy," he shook his head as if he disapproved of these qualities, "annoyingly logical," he tacked on, "stubborn, and...brave."
"Brave?" Hermione's eyebrows disappeared into her bangs.
"The Sorting Hat very nearly put him in Gryffindor. He told Astoria that he had to beg the Hat to put him in Slytherin. He was afraid of disappointing me. I admit, I would have been disappointed, but nothing like what my father would have been."
Hermione stared at him for a long moment, but before she could think of anything to say in reply, Astoria was bustling in with a tray of tea and biscuits. "Here we are," she announced happily, "normally our house-elf would have brought this in, but Draco told me how adamant you are about house-elf rights."
"Yes, I am." Hermione was secretly very pleased that the Malfoys had, thus far, been very considerate of her. She brandished the parchment that she had scribbled a few wedding ideas on and didn't even notice the shock on Astoria's face as the parchment was nearly two feet long.
"Merlin's balls, Granger, that list is appalling in length."
"Weasley," she corrected, "my surname is Weasley now, Malfoy. That's the second time you called me 'Granger' and I won't be so kind if you do so again."
Astoria giggled just a bit at how quickly Hermione put Draco in his place. "I didn't write anything down," Astoria offered, "but I do have a few ideas myself."
The two women immediately went on about what colours would look nice, how many people should be in the wedding party, cake flavours, and so much more while Draco Malfoy dozed off in his chair after only a few minutes of pretending to be interested.
...
"Harry Potter's boy?" Blaise Zabini asked critically as his daughter blushed scarlet and mumbled her response to the floor. "Did you put him down as your first choice?" His calm demeanor and tone did not trick Norah. She knew her father was bubbling with anger just under the surface.
She was standing in the foyer of their large home with an empty owl cage under her arm, a traveling cloak around her shoulders, and a large trunk at her feet that contained all of her possessions. "Yes," she was looking at him firmly in the face now, "I did."
"WHY THE BLOODY HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO MARRY THAT BASTARD?" he threw the wineglass he was holding across the room so that it smashed into the wall behind Norah. The shattered pieces of glass clattered noisily to the floor behind her back as she flinched.
"I'm leaving," Norah had had enough of her family. Quite honestly, she never wanted to see any of them ever again. Mr. Ollivander had agreed to rent the upstairs of the wand shop to her for a very decent price and she made good money working for him. Plus it would only be for about two months, then she would be married to Albus and they would be living together.
"No you're not," Blaise growled. He put his hand firmly on the front door, making sure it stayed closed. "You're going to sit your sorry arse down and tell me what the fuck you were thinking when you wrote down that name."
"I had to pick someone," she told him in slight exasperation.
"Why couldn't you have picked someone like Garrett Stevens? He's a half-blood!" Norah felt sick at that thought. Garrett Stevens was the son of a half-blood wizard named Travis Stevens and pureblood witch Pansy Parkinson. He was a friend of Nathan's and they were very much alike.
"Because," Norah was eighteen years old now. She would stand up to her father. For the first time in her life, she would say exactly what she was thinking, because no matter what happened, she was leaving. "I wanted a husband who would actually be somewhat decent. I didn't want someone who would be as abusive as my father and as destructive as my brother!"
Blaise's reaction was immediate. He brought his hand up and sent it crashing down to connect with her face. Norah let out a pitiful yelp as she skidded across the wooden floor. The owl cage was dislodged from under her arm and crashed into the wall, making a lot of noise but undamaged. "How dare you!"
"You just proved my point," despite the pain radiating from her jaw, her voice was steady as she got shakily to her feet. "I am marrying Albus Potter. I don't want you or Mum or Nathan at the ceremony. I'm leaving now. I'm moving out and I'm done with all of you."
"You're my daughter. You'll do as I say!" he thundered.
"I'm an adult," was her simple reply.
"Get your things and take them back upstairs or Merlin help me I will drag you up there by the hair on your useless head, you pathetic little squib!" In the wizarding world, and even more so in the world of pureblood wizards, it was a hefty insult to call someone a squib. Especially when one was as talented a witch as Norah was.
Calmly, bravely, she extracted her wand from the pocket of her cloak, "Stand aside," she requested. Her father didn't budge. She moved to step forward but found strong fingers latched onto her throat. Before she could panic, she spun her wand around and her father was on the floor, bound in chains from head to foot.
Without a backward glance, Norah plucked up her owl cage, took hold of the handle on her trunk, and left for Diagon Alley. When she arrived at her new flat, she was still frowning but was very proud of herself for not having shed a tear yet.
Trying to distract herself from the events that had just taken place, Norah began to unpack her trunk with magic. The contents of her bedroom from home came soaring out in miniaturized forms and grew to their regular size. Unfortunately, the sitting room and kitchen remained empty. She didn't have any of her own furniture aside from her bedroom things and she didn't have anything that would go in a kitchen.
She let out a sharp breath, blowing her brown bangs out of her eyes and leaned wearily against the counter. Overall, it hadn't been such a bad breakaway from her family. The worst part had been knowing that through the encounter with her father, her mother had stood watching the whole thing unfold without saying a word or lifting a finger to help her daughter.
...
Hermione and Astoria talked their way through several wedding topics before finally landing on the issue of the venue. It was family tradition for couples to be married at The Burrow, although there were a few exceptions. Knowing that the Malfoys would loathe the idea of the wedding being held in such a place, Hermione suggested politely, "When Teddy Lupin married Victoire Weasley, they went to a beautiful muggle cathedral where his grandparents had been married. Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks."
"My son," said Draco, who had been silent through most of the discussion, "will not be wed in any muggle venue. I refuse. There is a wizard wedding hall in France that I think will be perfect. It's very modern, refined, and most importantly, not muggle related."
"Well why not at a place that's important to both of them?" said Hermione, "like Hogwarts. The castle has hosted several weddings over the years. Not to mention it's very steeped in ancient magical history."
"No," said Draco shortly, "Hogwarts isn't just a place for weddings. It's also a school, a graveyard, a battlefield..." he trailed off and Hermione knew that he refused this idea because he didn't want to return to the place himself.
"I know!" said Astoria happily, "they can be married here, at the Manor. This is where Draco and I were wed, and it's a very magical place," Astoria gazed lovingly at her husband but Draco was scowling.
"Honestly," he said, "I would say that's an excellent idea, but look at how pale Granger-er-Weasley is. This place is a nightmare to her."
"Why?" asked Astoria innocently.
Draco opened his mouth to answer, but Hermione beat him to it, "Because when I was supposed to be at Hogwarts for my seventh year of school but instead I was with Harry and Ron trying to defeat Voldemort, I was brought here by Death Eaters. I was tortured and nearly killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in this mansion. While Draco stood by and watched," she added bitterly.
Draco had the decency to blush pink at her words, but his voice was steady when he said, "I wish that I could go back and change that, Hermione. I wish that I would have had a bit of courage that you Gryffindors pride yourselves with so much. But what do you want me to do about it now? I never thought you were worthy of death. I never thought you deserved what Bellatrix did. If anyone deserved such brutal treatment, it was me. We all know that. Overdue though it may be, will you accept my apology?"
Hermione blinked at him for several long moments before nodding curtly, "I suppose I'll have to, won't I? But I still don't want Rose being married here."
Astoria was sniffling quietly, obvious adoration and pride on her face as she gazed at her husband. "Actually," Scorpius Malfoy entered without any of them noticing until he spoke, "I've given it some thought and I would very much like to married at The Burrow."
"What?" Hermione gasped, "How did you even think of the place?"
"Even if you've forgotten, Teddy Lupin is my cousin. I was in attendance at his wedding. He mentioned that most Weasleys were married at The Burrow but the venue he chose was important to him. I'm sure Rose would appreciate it if I made an effort to do things according to her family's traditions."
"That's very thoughtful of you," said Hermione kindly.
"No it's bloody well not," argued Draco, "have you ever seen that place?" he was looking at his son like he'd grown an extra head, "It's positively dreadful. I will not have you married there."
"Good thing it's not your decision then," said Scorpius cheekily, "Mum," he looked to Astoria, "you know that I haven't made any requests with wedding arrangements except for this. I will marry Rose at her family's home; The Burrow. That's my decision."
"I quite agree," Astoria hurried to say, "this is Scorpius's wedding, after all," she reminded her husband, "if he wants something, then that's what we'll do."
Surprised but pleased with this turn of events, Hermione scribbled down 'The Burrow' on her long list of wedding plans and circled it. Now onto floral arrangements.
...
Rose Weasley was lying on her back on the sofa in the sitting room of her spacious flat, with her legs thrown over the arm of the sofa. She wore an apron over her muggle jeans and t-shirt. Flour coated her apron and blotched her face and hair. "It smells like a bakery in here," commented Albus.
"The cakes are in the oven," she announced with obvious pride. One thing that always seemed to calm Rose Weasley down and at the same time make her happy was baking.
As soon as they had arrived home from her parent's house, Albus had disappeared into his bedroom while Rose threw herself into a baking frenzy. There were enormous plates of cookies, donuts, muffins, and pies on the countertop and apparently cake in the oven.
Music was playing on the muggle radio. Aside from cheesy muggle romance novels, Rose was also unashamed to brag about her taste in muggle music. She called them 'boy bands.' Albus, however, called them 'the quickest way to get a headache.'
"Looks like we arrived just in time," James Potter and Fred Weasley came through the front door.
"Godric, don't either of you have the decency to knock before you barge into a place?" Al snapped.
"Your place is my place, little bro," said James unconcernedly as he made his way into the kitchen. Fred followed, both of them knowing by the smell and the state of her clothes that Rose had been busy.
"Donuts!" Both boys cried joyously, just out of sight of Al and Rose. Rose was still lying on the sofa, her arm draped over her face in exhaustion. "Budge up there, cousin," said James as he attempted to shove all of Rose's hair off of the sofa cushion he wanted to sit on.
Rose, however, didn't move until Fred turned off the radio. She scrambled to her feet and rushed to turn it back on but Fred caught her easily around the middle and hauled her up, over his shoulder. "Oh no you don't!" he chided, "James has something very important he wants to show the both of you."
Curious, Rose stopped struggling and Fred set her back on her feet. Rose sat politely next to James, and Albus stood in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest suspiciously. Usually when James wanted to show them something it was dangerous.
"Don't be a prat, it's not going to bite," said James as he pulled something small from the pocket of his robes. "I am going to propose to Leila. What do you think of this ring?" he opened the little black box and Rose gasped.
Of course it was gorgeous. James Potter only bought the best. The ring was silver with little intricate swirls and patterns adorning the band in tiny diamonds. The monstrous diamond on top was circular in shape and sparkled even in the littlest amount of light. "James," gasped Rose, "it's perfect. She'll love it!"
"You're proposing to her?" asked Al as he reached out to take hold of the box and inspect the ring more closely, "are we supposed to do that? Do you reckon Norah is expecting me to get her an engagement ring and get down on one knee and all of that?"
"I don't think so," answered Fred, "I don't plan on proposing to Heather. Although I am going to get her a ring. I think it would be a nice gesture."
"A nice gesture. Pah!" Rose growled, "If Malfoy gets me a ring I'll shove it up his smarmy arse!"
James and Fred both looked surprised for a moment then burst into raucous laughter. "You're marrying Scorpius?"
"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you two idiots would stop laughing at my misfortune!"
"Misfortune?" mocked Fred, "Scorpius is an alright bloke, Rose. It's just hilarious that you got paired with him."
"How is it hilarious?"
"Well, you're all bossy," said James as he helped himself to a cookie, "and Malfoy is a bit of a pushover isn't he? I mean, I'm sure he must have a backbone because he was in Slytherin, but he's just so...accommodating."
Rose considered this. Logically, she knew he was right. Scorpius was a decent bloke. He had been very accommodating to her despite how revolting he must find their situation as well. However, this thought made her feel a bit guilty for acting like a brat about the whole thing, so she bristled and shied away from it.
"Let's just not talk about it. I'm going to get the cake out of the oven," she got to her feet and went to the kitchen with the boys right behind her yelling, "CAKE!"
"When are you going to propose?" asked Al as the four cousins sat around the small kitchen table eating their weight in sweets.
"I don't know. I reckon whenever the right moment presents itself. I'm eating dinner with her family tonight, so we'll see how that goes. I have three weeks to find the perfect moment. It's bound to happen."
"You're going to eat dinner?" Rose asked, "after you just ate all of this?" she motioned to the piles of goodies around them.
"I'm a growing boy. A growing Weasley boy," he said importantly.
Fred threw a cookie at him. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Rose stretched her arms out over the table, "I DID NOT BAKE ALL OF THIS FOOD SO YOU IDIOTS WOULD PLASTER EACH OTHER WITH IT. THERE WILL BE NO FOOD FIGHT IN THIS KITCHEN...TODAY. MAYBE ANOTHER DAY WHEN I DIDN'T WORK SO HARD AT BAKING ALL OF THIS! BUT NOT TODAY!"
They all stared at her with wide eyes. Everyone knew that it was a rare occasion for more than two Weasley family members to sit at a table together and NOT start a food fight. Rose had put a stop to it before it even started.
"I reckon you'll be a good mum. You sounded just like Grandma Molly," Fred obviously meant this as a compliment, but Rose instantly started screaming again.
"I'M NOT GOING TO BE A MUM TO MALFOY'S BLOODY CHILDREN!"
James leaned to Fred and whispered, "Fifteen galleons says she's pregnant within a year."
"You're on, mate." they shook on it, without Rose even realizing what they were betting on.
"Well, since there will not be a food fight here today, then I'd best be off to eat dinner with my fiance's family," James stood up and rubbed his stomach ruefully, "good thing I didn't spoil my appetite by eating too many sweets."
"Oh, get out of here you great oaf!" Rose waved her hand toward the front door.
"See you all later!" and he was gone.
As it turned out, the right moment did not present itself that evening. Although James had a very good time at the Scamander home, the ring remained in his pocket. He decided that for the next three weeks, he would carry it around continuously in his pocket until he felt it was time to pull it out.
He imagined standing at the altar on their wedding day, Leila walking up the aisle in a gorgeous dress, and once she reached him, he would drop onto one knee and ask her right then and there. In front of everyone. Moments before they became man and wife. The thought amused him, but he hoped he wouldn't wait until the last minute.
With his hopes high, James Potter crawled into bed at home ready for a good night of much needed sleep, putting off his worries until tomorrow.
...
"James, sweetie, get up," Ginny Potter encouraged her son gently as she swept his black hair over his forehead. James grumbled in his sleep, swatted at her hand, and rolled over. "JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! GET YOUR LAZY ARSE OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW!"
That did the trick. Twisted up in his blankets, James scrambled and fell as he attempted to get out of his bed. "Bloody hell, Mum, what's wrong?" he asked angrily once he realized there wasn't an emergency.
Ginny gave a small smile, "The house next door that has been up for sale for ages was sold yesterday. The new people are moving in and I thought it would be nice for us to go and introduce ourselves. Be ready in fifteen minutes."
He watched his mother leave with disbelief. Why did he have to go greet their new neighbors anyway? In three weeks he wouldn't even be living here. His stomach sank at that thought. He didn't want to leave Godric's Hollow but he imagined that Leila would prefer to live close to her parents. Or maybe London. She was more of a city girl.
He cast a quick charm to clean himself up a bit, got dressed, and was downstairs within five minutes. The ring that he had purchased for Leila was in the pocket of his muggle trousers. With any luck he would be with his lovely fiance very soon and hopefully the right moment would arise for him to propose to her properly.
To James's amusement, his dad looked just as disgruntled with this as he felt. Harry Potter was standing by the door holding a basket of what was more than likely a few pies and cookies. "Gin," he said, "shouldn't we wait for them to get settled? They're probably muggles and Merlin knows it takes forever to move when you can't use magic."
"Yeah," said James suddenly, "What if they ask us to help?"
"Then we'll help," snapped Lily as she tied up her long red hair into a ponytail, "I wouldn't mind. I hope they have a daughter around my age."
"Let's go find out, shall we? Lead the way, Dear," said Ginny, motioning for Harry to open the door. The four Potters exited the house, James bringing up the rear. They traipsed across their lawn to the sidewalk and made their way up to the front door of the house next door.
"I don't see a moving truck," said Ginny. "But there is a car over there."
"Ah, muggles," said James wisely.
"We have a car and we're not muggles," muttered Lily.
"Yeah, but we're odd, even for wizards," James whispered back. The siblings laughed.
Harry attempted, and failed, to smooth down his hair before knocking twice sharply on the front door. There was a pause then the door was opened by a tall blonde bloke. "Ly-Lysander?" stuttered James, recognizing Lysander Scamander, "you bought the house next door to my parents?"
"Blimey, no," said Lysander with a laugh, "I'm just helping my older sister move in."
"Your...sister?" James stepped forward in confusion.
A large smile spread across Lysander's face as he opened the door wide, motioning for James to come in, and said, "Welcome home, big brother."
James stepped with trepidation into the house. There was Leila across the room, sweeping her wand around making items appear; a rug on the wooden floor, a couch against the wall, a tall oil lamp in the corner. She glanced up and gazed at him in surprise. Nervously, she gave a timid grin, and asked, "Do you like it? I wanted to surprise you. I hope you don't mind. I took the gold from your vault and bought this place, you know, because it's close to your folks."
James looked shocked. For a moment, Leila's grin started to slip, but then James smiled at her and said in a quiet, serious voice that he rarely used, "I love it, Leila. So much. This is so much better than anything I could have hoped for."
He walked across the room to her, very gently took her hand in his, got down onto one knee and asked, "Leila Scamander, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. Will you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?" he pulled a black box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal the ring he'd bought her the day before.
"Yes, James, of course," her reply was immediate and sincere. James stood, slipped the ring onto her finger, and kissed her lightly on the lips. The first kiss they had shared since they were fifteen. It was chaste and sweet.
They heard sniffling from the doorway and turned to see Ginny and Lily both crying quietly. "We're just so happy," said Lily, "for both of you."
James threw an arm around his fiance's shoulders, "I'm happy for us, too. How lucky am I? This girl is amazing!"
"With a mother like Luna, of course she is," said Ginny fondly.
"This was very thoughtful of you, Leila," said Harry politely, "I'm sure my son appreciates this much more than you know."
"Most definitely. Now, dear mother," James skipped over to where his parents were standing, "I do believe that you made some delicious food for the new owners of this home, which just so happen to be Leila and myself," he took the basket from his father and peeked inside, "oh good!" he declared, "treacle tart! My favorite!"
...