Christmas at the Burrow was always an enjoyable experience. Magical mistletoe floating from room to room, the scent of delicious biscuits tickled the nostrils of the inhabitants, and smiles and laughter are heard throughout the house. Christmas, to the Weasley's, was the best time of year.
Rose and Scorpius flooed to the Burrow and was welcomed with open arms. Once Al caught sight of who arrived, he jumped from his seat and announced "Group hug!" to the entire room of Weasley/Potter men. At his announcement, the men ceased what they were doing and took in the sight of the second youngest Weasley girl and smiled. Jumping from their spots, they unintentionally pushed Scorpius off to the side and bombarded Rose with hugs and shrieks of welcome and 'Happy Christmas'.
"It took you long enough to get here, Rosie!" Freddie exclaimed once they all let her breathe.
"Well, Happy Christmas to you, too Freddie! Sorry, but I had some last minute packing to do." She smiled
"Just like Rosie to pack at the last minute. Have you learned nothing from mum?" Hugo joked as he nudged his sister's side
"No, I suppose I get last minute packing from dear old dad." She quipped, smiling over at her father, "Isn't that right, daddy?"
"Ha-ha, very funny Rosebud. Now get over here and give your 'dear old dad' a proper hug, eh?" Ron replied, opening his arms wide for his daughter
Without hesitation, Rose ran straight into her father's arms before he spun around in a circle. He placed her back on her feet carefully and said, "You know Teddy was about to floo to your flat and drag you here by force if you didn't get here soon. Bill, Charlie, and James had to distract him by an intense conversation of quidditch." He laughed pointing over at the boy who was sporting green hair.
"Very funny, Ron. You know it's only because I had something very important to ask Rosie." He replied, walking over to the duo to give his best friend a hug
Smiling at her green haired friend, she responded, "Well ask away, Teddy."
"You know you're my best mate, right?" At this, she nodded, "Well I was just wondering if you would like to be godmother to me and Victoire's first child."
Taken back, her mouth opened in pleasant shock. The 'O' shape her mouth first took, slowly made its way into a smile. "Teddy, you and Vicky are having a baby! Well, congratulations! Of course I'll be godmother... it's such an honor, thank you so much for choosing me!" She accepted, before engulfing him into yet another hug, "I better go congratulate Vicky!" She added, before running off into the direction of the kitchen.
The moment the tip of her auburn hair disappeared from around the corner, the smiling faces that once graced her Uncles and cousins was replaced with stone, cold looks of loathing. It was apparent that the grilling was about to commence and Scorpius, for one, was not ready. Who in the right minds would ever be ready to have their girlfriend's father, godfather, granddad, uncles, and cousins jump down their throat?
Ahh... the things you do for love, I suppose.
"Er - congratulations, Teddy!" A nervous Scorpius acknowledged, although just barely noticing the obvious separation gap between him and the rest of Rose's family. It seemed as if it was him versus the family, showdown to the death... Alright, so maybe he was overreacting just a tad.
Ignoring Scorpius' good wishes, Teddy advanced on the blond, "You know that Rosie is my best mate, right?" Scorpius nodded, "Well you do realize that if she complains to me about you that I could do things that would make Crucio seem like it tickles." He threatened with a growl
Scorpius gulped, 'So maybe I'm not overreacting. I'm going to die and I didn't even get to say goodbye to Rose and my parents.' He thought
"Teddy, calm down." Harry soothed, placing a hand on his godson's shoulder, "I'm sure Scorpius, here, knows that there are two very skilled auror's in the family that get on pretty well with the Minister of Magic and that if a sudden disappearance of a certain blond were to come about, it would be glanced over as it were yesterday's broom... right, Scorpius?"
Scorpius' eyes widened in horror at the thought of disappearing. Unable to speak, he just nodded in response.
"Hey Ron, you never told me that the guy that's dating my niece was so scrawny. I could sic two goblins on him and I'm sure he would be down at the drop of a knut." Bill hollered as the room roared with laughter
Trying to catch his breath, Charlie added, "If you think two goblins can do the trick, imagine what Norberta can do!"
If possible, the laughter increased while Scorpius silently wondered who or what Norberta was.
"Now boys, play nice. Scorpius is a nice bloke after all." The kind face of Arthur Weasley appeared
"Uhm, thank you Mister Weasley." Scorpius said, grateful to have at least one person on his side
"Not at all a problem, Scorp." He smiled, "But I hope you know that Harry was nice enough to show me how that Swiss army knife works. I would hate to have to give you a personal demonstration." He added
"Don't worry, mate." His friend Al, sympathized as he clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder, standing by his side, "They're like this with all the boys that the girls bring home - it's nothing new."
"Oi! Al's turning on us!" James exclaimed to the group
"Now hang on, James! Scorpius is my friend; I'm not going to let all of you have a go at him just because he's going out with Rosie." His little brother reasoned
"Listen to yourself, Al." The strawberry-blond haired boy, Scorpius remembered as Louis, called, "He's going out with our Rosie. The very same Rosie who was born almost two months before you, the one who you shared your first day of Hogwarts with... our Rosie!"
Al was silent for a moment or two as he took in Louis' words. "Don't listen to him, Al." Scorpius muttered under his breath, just loud enough for his friend to hear.
Ignoring his friend, his eyes began to harden. "You know, Louis is right." Al finally said, stepping over the invisible line that separated the family from Scorpius. As Louis plastered a triumphant grin on his face, Al continued, "Rose is my closest cousin and right now, you're just a bloke who's going out with her. Sorry, Scorp but blood is a lot thicker than water around these parts. Bad luck, to you." He added before
"Actually, Scorpius here is a perfect candidate for this new invention I'm cooking up." The redhead who was missing an ear proclaimed, "It involves socks that cause your toenails to grow at an alarming rate, knickers that cause pain to the- er- private areas, and hats that turn your face red... perfect for revenge on anyone!"
"George, is that really something you're working on or is that just your clever little ruse to intimidate poor Scorpius, over there?" Rose's Uncle Percy asked his little brother
Before George could reply, his son, Freddie, answered for him, "No, Uncle Perce! He really is working on something along those lines. Just last week, my dad told me he bought me and Roxy some new hats for the winter, so I put one on and instead of my face turning red, it turn a certain shade of pink. I'd believe whatever my dad says; he may own a joke shop, but never underestimate the word of a jokester. It may be the last thing you'll ever do." He turned to look at Scorpius, before continuing, "The hats may not work yet and the knickers may not be in production at the moment, but who needs knickers when there is a wizard armed with his wand?" Freddie added, as a smirked graced his face
'Oh Merlin, kill me now. They're going to give me knickers and Freddie's a wizard with a wand... yes, please, just kill me now.'
"Alright, alright everyone. Calm down." Ron told the group, as he was standing in the center, "Rose is my daughter after all, let's not get carried away here."
"But dad, it's Scorpius Malfoy." Hugo argued, "And he's going out with Rosie! You know - you're only daughter, my big sister. How in the name of Merlin's purple socks can you be okay with that?"
Ron looked at his son, with confusion written all over his face. "Who said I was okay with it? I just said we shouldn't get carried away." Ron then walked to the front of the group and was now face to face with Scorpius. Ron was a few inches taller than Scorpius, which now that he though about it, scared the living lumos out of him.
"Now, Scorpius," Ron began, "Rose is my daughter..."
"Yes, sir." Scorpius answered, shakily
"And she is your girlfriend."
"Yes, sir."
"From our various training sessions, you do realize that with a flick of my wand, body parts could magically disappear from your body."
"Y-yes, s-sir."
"And that if Rosie ever comes to any of us crying about you, all of these threats and/or jokes will be followed through."
"Uh- yes, sir."
"Good. Just want to make that clear." Ron replied having a silent staring competition was the boy.
For what seemed like years, Ron's stony, blue eyes bore into Scorpius' frightened, grey eyes. He wasn't so sure why he was so nervous. After all, he has been to the Burrow quite a few times and he's talked to Ron like the mentor he considered him, but this was different. He wasn't meeting Al's family as his friend, he was meeting Rose's family as her boyfriend and those two titles are completely different. As blue eyes stared into grey eyes, Scorpius was seriously debating on turning around and flooing back to his parent's Manor for Christmas. He probably would have done so if it wasn't for the fact that he promised Rose he would stay with her family this year. He was not about to upset his girlfriend behind her back, in front of her entire family.
After a few more moments, Ron's eyes seemed to soften and Scorpius could have sworn he heard someone snicker behind him. Before he knew it, all the occupants of the room - Rosie's granddad, dad, Uncle Bill, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Percy, Uncle George, Uncle Harry, Teddy, Freddie, Louis, Al, and Hugo - were all laughing. Completely confused and even more frightened, Scorpius took at step back in fear that they would all attack.
"Oh, you can relax Scorpius!" Ron hollered, "We were all just poking fun at you!" He managed to say through his fits of laughter
"Wh-what? I'm not so sure I understand, exactly." Scorpius answered, still a little shocked
Hugo stepped to the front and continued where his dad left off, "You see, Scorpius, it's a little thing we all like to do. We don't have an exact name for it, but I like to call it 'scare the living lumos out of the boyfriend and see him squirm'. It was all just a joke and, I must say, you were pretty hilarious!"
"A joke… this was all a joke?" He asked to no one in particular.
Of course, no one answered. All the men were laughing as if they were being continuously hit with the Rictusempra charm. After few, long minutes, the laughter died down and Al continued with an explanation, "I'm sorry, Scorp, but we had to do it. We have such a big family, that we figured it'd be a fun little 'get to know the new guy' bit. It was a little hard on you though, considering we're friends and you work with my dad and Uncle Ron, but I think we've managed to pull it off quite well, actually. What do you think?"
Scorpius raised his eyebrows complete surprise, "What do I think? Can I speak as your friend or am I still the 'new guy'?"
"My friend, I suppose." Al shrugged
Scorpius considered his next words wisely. Truth be told, he has never been more terrified in his life and this coming from a Malfoy training to be an auror! "I think that was probably the most mental and terrifying thing I have ever gone through in my entire life! You should all have your heads checked!"
Expecting to be chucked out of that house faster than you can say quidditch, Scorpius was doubling over in shock as more laughter filled the room.
"I heard laughing; I'm supposing the interrogation is finished?" A soft voice called from behind a wall.
Rose was peaked her head out from the other room, observing the surroundings of the room filled with her laughing family. She fully stepped into the room, smiling as she made her way to Scorpius. "I'm sorry, love. It's something they do to everyone. It's like a rite of passage to see if the newcomer is brave enough to handle our quite large family."
"So you knew about this and you didn't warn me?" He whispered, incredulously
His girlfriend stuck her bottom lip out and answered, "Now what fun is that if I spoiled the joke. It was all in good fun, Scorpius! Just think of it this way, if we last long enough, you can pull that same bit on all of Lily's future boyfriends... and if it's a girl, you can be there for when Teddy's daughter brings home her first boyfriend. It'll be fun, I promise."
"Well, when you put it that way..." He started to say, before taking part in the laughs that filled the room
"Boys, Molly just sent me to get you." A familiar voice interrupted, "Seeing as the joke is finally over, dinner's ready. Hello, Scorpius it's good to see you. I hope the boys didn't give you too much trouble."
"Not too much, Mrs. Weasley; Happy Christmas, by the way!"
Hermione smiled at his good manners as she and Rose ushered the men to the dining room for dinner.
"No hard feelings, Scorp?" James asked as he patted him on the back, making their way to the delicious dinner that awaited them.
Shaking his head with a smile, he answered, "No, it was all in good fun, right?"
"Right-o!" He replied happily before dashing off to get a good seat for dinner
Scorpius laughed silently to himself. Why didn't he see this coming? He's been friends with Al for a while and how could he have not seen it was all a joke! He really could kick himself right now. As Scorpius turned the corner to exit the living room, he bumped into a person he knew of well.
"Hello Teddy! I guess I can offer you proper congratulations on the baby, then! No jokes in the way, right?" Scorpius laughed
The smile on Teddy's face immediately was replaced with a scowl. "You may be my second cousin by blood, but I can't really say I know you. All I know you as is Al's friend and now Rosie's boyfriend. So, with all due respect, those threats weren't jokes - well, not mine anyway; so be good to Rosie. You don't want me to get wolfish on you, eh, Scorp?"
Scorpius slowly shook his head. This cannot be happening.
As quick as one can blink, Teddy's scowl was replaced with his warm smile once again. "Anyway, thanks on the congratulations! Vicky and I are completely thrilled!" He exclaimed before entering the dining room
Oh, bloody hell...
AN: Well, there you go! This is the last chapter for for HftH. I planned on getting this out before Christmas, but with holiday shopping, cooking, and preparing for my relatives arrival, I had no time. Sorry it took so long to get out, but I hope it was as enjoyable as the first chapter. I'm planning on writing a Cedric/Hermione oneshot soon.. I've fallen completely in love with the pairing and there is one particular story I've been thinking about, that I can't get out of my head. Hopefully that will be up soon!
Please review and let me know what you think! I want the good, the bad, and the ugly.. preferably the good, but I wouldn't mind anyone pointing out any mistakes I made. Thanks so much to all those who reviewed.. it really means a lot to me!