Last chapter before I'm in vacation! I will keep on writing but I won't post one chapter every week like before. Truth be told, it might me less often, it might be more often! I want to take it easy and enjoy time with my family this summer, hopefully encountering less drama than the Weasleys.
For now, I let you with this longer more emotional chapter. I hope you like it! Leave me a review if you do, it means a lot!
Chapter 6 - A surprising surprise
The house elves had make an incredible job setting up the table for the first dinner together/opening ceremony reception. The long table, which was empty for now, would be presided over by Grandpa Arthur at one end and Grandma Molly at the other. In the middle, James placed his own name holder, between Fred's and Teddy's.
Even though it wasn't dusk yet, a flying carriage hauled by Thestrals had already landed on the estate with a pink haired witch —the Seraphina — in the driver's seat to drop James' parents and his siblings. They arrived just in time to drop their luggage into their designated place of residence and join the others for the pre-dinner drinks by the beach.
Victoire still refused to meet with the fam but James was pretty sure she was sneaking around outside under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. The boy could swear he'd seen cucumber sticks flying in the air.
Teddy, whom James hadn't had the opportunity to catch up with, still hadn't step a foot into their shared tent. His unpacked backpack sat next to the cottage's main door, as if he was waiting to leave at any minute. On the bright side, Vic didn't get the chance to talk to him if that was what she was waiting for.
As the sun was going down, Hermione casted a similar protective spell as the one over the sand castle to protect the family members and guests from the chilled air of the night. Enchanted blue flames, again Hermione's doing, warmed them up and provided lighting for them to see each other.
James looked at all his family gathered here with a happy face. Everything was pretty much going as planned. He just needed to set a final detail. He looked for a specific Weasley and found her at the crackers table. Her curly dark hair were braided on both side of her head, with gold thread intertwined, which matched the shimmering tone of her tanned skin.
"Hey Rox!' James whispered in his cousin's ear. "How are you doing?"
"What do you want, James?" When she turned to him, James noticed a nose piercing that wasn't here a month earlier when he saw her last at Hogwarts.
James fainted being hurt by the girl's assomption that he only came to ask for a service but gave up when she turned her back on him. Damn, she had her mom's bad temper!
"Okay, fine. I need your help."
"What for?" Roxy could be really friendly if patted the right way but at the same time, she didn't like to receive order, so James had to corner her before she slipped between his fingers.
"I need you to set off the fireworks tonight."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "If you know about the fireworks thing, then you know I can't touch any explosive ever again, of my entire life and for eternity."
"Yeah I know but your dad should not be involved and I can't set them off myself. They are part of tonight big show and it's a one-man show but I still need technicians."
"Don't you have a wand?"
"I do but I will have to cast other spells. Big show, remember."
Roxy sighted. "Fine. What will I get in return?"
James rolled his eyes. The tournament didn't have started yet and he already had favors with a lot of people: Scorpius's one was still hanging like a dagger above his head, Young Molly had to go second round, Victoire was a nasty little secret he had to keep, and he feared Roxy's demand would be the last straw. The corruption circle had to end.
"I will keep my mouth shut and not reveal to your parents that your girls night was in fact a boyfriend—"
"Okay shut up!" Roxanne said, covering his cousin mouth.
James had bluffed and got lucky. "Roxanne Georgina Weasley!"
When his eyes widened, the young girl realized she'd been fooled. She rolled her eyes but smiled, proud of her rebellious tendencies and probably remembering the events of the said-night.
"Fireworks!" James whistled, impressed. "Very romantic!"
"Yeah, not really." She shrugged. "I had to make it up to him. I kind of kissed his best friend on our last night at school."
James covered his mouth with his free-of-crackers hand. "That's properly scandalous! Who is it?" He asked unable to resist drama.
"Which one?" Roxanne replied, amused.
"You two seem to have a lot of fun here." Ted said, joining them at the buffet table. "What are you talking about?"
"Hogwarts scoring." The girl laughed and it was clear she was not talking about Quidditch.
She left the two boys in awe. James couldn't believe his cousin was leading such an exciting life at such a young age. He might have been underestimating her, trusting the image of the boring sibling Fred had described him. Little did he know…
"Yours or hers?" Ted asked, getting James out of his head by poking him in the shoulder.
"What?"
"The scoring." Ted's glazed eyes and smirky smile caused butterflies to invade James' stomach.
"Ah… hers." He replied, troubled. "She has way too much game for a fourteen-year-old."
Ted stretched an arm across the table to grab a piece of bread and brushed against James' waist, right on belt level. The Potter froze in place. He was getting increasingly weird in presence of his friend and the silence only showcased it.
He forced himself to take a step away from the Lupin boy to prevent any other accidental physical contact that might have visible consequences.
"What about you?" James managed to articulate. "I thought maybe you and Vic…"
"No." Teddy cut nonchalantly. "We're still friend, but we're done romantically." And when James didn't comment of it and a heavy silence settled, Ted added: "I mean, I care about her a lot, she's home to me. But I think we confused love and friendship for a long time, you know."
"They are very similar feelings." James agreed with a dry throat.
"Of course! Friendship is love," Ted said. "but without the dick stuff."
James choked on his drink and forced a laugh but it landed a bit too close from home right now. Plus, hearing the dirty word in Teddy's mouth didn't help to cool himself down.
"Did you check the tent yet?" James cursed himself for bringing this topic out. He didn't want Vic to get a hold of him but he wanted to be sure Ted was here to stay. The unpacked backpack started to become an obsession, and he had to keep his hands full to combat nervousness. "We're in the blue one. I can get yourself settle for the night before the dinner starts."
"I will take care of it later. Chill out, we hadn't had time to catch up today."
"I know, sorry. I've been busy." And kind of avoiding him?
James side-stepped awkwardly. All year long, he had been eager to see Ted after all this time apart, knowing they didn't have much opportunities to see each others now that Lupin was working in America. And now, he was finding himself avoiding him. Ted was his friend, a family friend, a guy he looked up to growing up. When Teddy got into Duals, James wanted to do Wizard's duals even though he didn't have a wand yet. He even casted a coloring spell on his hair one day —bright green—, pretending it was to support his mom Quidditch game, but in fact he was hoping he could pull out a bold hair style as good as Teddy's. Plot twist: he couldn't.
James dug deep into his memories: did he fell that way the last time he saw him? Was he so uncomfortable around him yet magnetized? Why did he have panic attacks now thinking about how bad the tournament might go and how lame it would make him look? Was it not all about getting that damn internship and impressing Filius?
"I need a butterbeer." James muttered, running for the bar but Tata Fleur blocked his way.
"Bar is closed, James. Time to eat. A table !" Fleur sang to the rest of the group and they all got to their designated seats.
"I want to sit next to Teddy!" Lily pouted, unhappy to be seated next to her Aunt Audrey.
"Switch with me, Lily-Lu!" James proposed a bit too eagerly, though not unusual that he would sacrifice himself for his little sister's benefit.
She hopped to her new place, happy, and sat on Ted's lap like she did when she was a toddler. "One day, I will marry Teddy," She used to tell everyone at family dinners. Everybody found her so sweet, even Victoire who was then in a relationship with him.
James pulled his chair and sat next to Audrey who raised proudly her eyes to the clear night sky.
"Good job, Auntie!" James poked with a side smile. "Good job."
"May I ask what for?" She said whispering and James smelled Firewhisky.
Ah! Drunk Aunt Audrey was fun! James didn't regret his last-minute change of seating. He would have plenty of time to banter with Fred and Ted during the next days, but not so many occasions to hang out with his aunt.
"Bill, why is Victoire not coming?" Harry asked his brother-in-law from the other side of the table.
Silence was made as all wanted news from the grand absentee of the family. Even Charlie promised to stop by by the end of the second week. James noted that Ted was listening attentively behind Lily's head.
"She is buried deep into work." Bill answered shortly.
"How is she liking the internship?" Percy's chest was so puffed it might burst out soon.
James gritted his teeth. Victoire had had no issue landing an internship at the Magical Trading office with a good recommandation letter from her dear uncle Percy.
"Very much. Thank you, P." Bill answered, slightly unease.
"She is back from a two-months business trip in Bulgaria." Fleur continued. "She apparently managed to convince a very irresponsible breeder of unicorns to sign an exclusive contract with a renowned British wand maker. That means a lot of tail hair and horns off the black markets and a better environment for the creatures."
"That sounds very much like Victoire!" Arthur said, proud of his descendant.
James could bet it was the fact that she was one-eighth Veela that made her so good at convincing people, but he wasn't going to say that in front of Fleur, a one-quarter Veela who already didn't like him much.
"She always has been interested in the protection of the Magical Creatures." Hermione pointed out.
"Of course." Fleur agreed. "She was the president of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare at Hogwarts, just like you, Hermione. Maybe Dominique will fill the position next fall!"
Fleur's second daughter ducked her head. James hide his laughter by coughing loudly. He knew very well Vic and Domi's abnegations were only to look good on a resume.
"Rose, Dominique told me you're not interested in taking over your mom's charity, right?" Fleur asked, misleadingly interested.
Of course, she wasn't. No harm intended for the House Elves but Rose had other things to do at Hogwarts next year, like making sure Gryffindor get the Inter-house Quidditch Cup, as she was James' worthy successor as captain of the team. This would require her lots of work, especially because her relationship with the captain of the Slytherin team could be a fatal weakness… Achievements over love might be James' personal take of the Potters' motto.
"You have to do something, son." Audrey whispered, leaning a bit too much over James. He prepped himself, ready to counter push her if she ventured too close of the edge of her chair. "I didn't came here to watch the Delacour show…"
"Don't worry. I've got this."
James stood up and cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Weasleys and guests, thank you all to be here and—"
"Please make it short, James." said his mother. "We're famished."
"Shorter than your graduation speech, at least. Though this was one legendary." Scorpius added.
As Prefect-in-chief, when leaving Hogwarts with his fellow classmates, he had to make the final speech but, prioritized his job applications, and improvised something that would stay in memories. Never before a student managed to keep the attention of fellow classmates this long : four consecutive hours during which ones James knitted his way through their shared experiences at Hogwarts, though the good and the ugly, the legal fun-times and the past-prescription mischiefs. He received massive cheers from all of the graduates but the teachers were kind of shocked by what they learned that day and probably considered taking back his diploma because it couldn't be possible that he achieved so much trouble and properly study at the same time.
"I just want to thank you all for agreeing to participate—"
Albus coughed. "We didn't get the choice…"
"To participate GRATEFULLY to the tournament." James continued without diverging from his point. "Tomorrow we will fight but for now, we can enjoy peaceful time together. Thank you Bill and Fleur for hosting us, and thank you Grandma and the Elves for the food." With a swing of the wand, mountains of grilled meat, potatoes and other yummy smelling dishes appeared on the long table and approving exclamations flourished all around the table.
"Thanks!" Everyone shouted in unison.
"And may the best Weasley win!" James finished.
"Amen!" Grandpa Arthur concluded, before explaining to Louis the origin of the Muggle saying.
"So… what is happening now, tournament manager?" Roxy asked, squatting behind James' chair for more discretion.
The dinner was coming to an end. The adults started to yawn, the younger kids were ready to be tucked into bed, already in their jammies.
James, taken by the conversations around the table, allowed himself some time to relax and enjoy the moment spend with his family. For a while, he forgot he was a manager and just enjoyed being a Weasley. He was now on the verge of a food-coma but the fireworks were still waiting under their dome and James had to perform.
Percy started to stand up and stretch, soon followed by Ron. Young Molly was pulling her grandmother by the hand for a bedtime story. "It's now or never." Roxanne pressed.
She was damn right. How did he let himself get so distracted? He jumped to his feet. "Everyone, attention, please! The night is not over yet." Contestation could be heard among the lazy adults, but James ignored them. "I have a little surprise for you all. Something to motivate you for the weeks ahead…"
James tried to establish a visual contact with every single member of the family to encourage them to stay awake a few more minutes and be a part of the tournament, to make them feel special. It was a skill he learned in a Muggle management book he found in Hermione's library.
But with a quick look around the table, James noticed that one person was already missing : Teddy. Slightly panicking, James saw the door step free from the backpack that was laying there minutes ago. Teddy's. Was he gone?
"What are you waiting for?" Fred asked. The Weasley sensed the panic on the other side of the table and joined his sister by his cousin's side.
"Where is Teddy?" James asked in a whisper.
"I saw him enter our tent a while ago…" Fred said. "He's probably talking to You-know-who…"
"Voldemort?!" Roxy asked.
"No, no, no, no, no! Not now!" Anxiety started to rise at his core. "I need more time!"
"They are heading up to bed!" Roxy pressed him, as Grandpa had difficulties hiding his yawnings.
Okay, show must go on, James thought, shaking off all of the bad energy that got downed on him these last minutes.
James briefed Roxy about the timing to launch the fireworks and asked Fred to keep the little ones away from the sandcastle when the dome would go down.
James extinguished the blue flames that were providing the lighting at the table and they all found themselves in the almost darkness. The moonlight allowed them to guess who was who, as long as they had light skin or hair. Roxy was the perfect unseen assistant. With her dark hair and skin tone, no one saw her getting into position close to the fireworks.
James cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
"Once upon a time, a man met a woman…" Two tiny silhouettes made of a fluorescent shimmering light escaped the tip of James' wand, and made the audience giggle. They looked like minuscules Patronus, but were human shapes. As they grew to reach real human adult size, the patriarch and matriarch of the family were clearly recognizable and everybody melted in adorable "awhhh" when the light dolls exchanged a shy kiss.
"They were no ordinary Muggles, nor ordinary witch and wizard…" James continued as the silhouettes created a decor around them : the Burrows' early shape, prior to the numerous extensions the building has known to house the ever growing family. "No, they were extraordinary people, with a love so big, impossible to be contained." Laughter arose as little balls of light popped out of the woman's belly to quickly grow into children at an impossible speed, sometimes two at the time to represent the twins and James notices his grandma squeezing her husband's hand to hold up tears. "You would have thought their hearts were full with so many ones to love, but their love had no limit." Adult shapes joined the group. The Marauders has they called them. James' paternal grandparents, James and Lily, Harry's godfather Sirius, but also Teddy's parents Remus and Nymphadora, and other members of the Order of Phenix with who they fought during the war.
Everyone watched the show in silence with broad smiles and shimmering eyes. Due to the light dolls or the tears, it didn't matter.
"And their love kept on spreading…" James continued, inviting new light dummies to the already crowded picture. The Weasleys' in-laws: Harry, Hermione, Angelina, Audrey and Fleur, but also Teddy waving in by the side of Harry's doll.
And then, in a sudden explosion, tiny balls bounced from the women's bellies with crack noises after crack noises. The amount of new incomers was hilarious. "It spread without ever thinning up." More than thirty silhouettes stood beside Molly's and Arthur's. Even Scorpius showed up behind the crowd. James didn't leave anyone out.
He paused to let the emotion settle. Tears rolled down his grandma's cheek, and Ron wiped his nose in his table napkin. "Allergies…" He muttered before burying his head into Hermione's neck.
"We all know Grandma and Grandpa are THE BEST Weasleys. They don't need to compete to prouve it." James paused before continuing on a lighter note: "The only thing they are NOT good at is picking up, among all of their loved ones, their favorite one." Grandma laughed between sobs. "So yes, Weasleys, this is the purpose of this tournament: being together, having fun, but also finding out on ourselves who is the Most Valuable Weasley! So I declare the Weasleys Summer Tournament opened!"
And the fireworks exploded above their head on the perfect timing. Cheers and applause arose as Harry joined James' side and hugged him tight. "Good job, son!"
The light dolls disappeared to let the fireworks show take over. The kids were giggling and running everywhere to try to catch the W-shaped fire flakes that were raining on them. The colorful explosions enlightened the whole camp outside the Shell Cottage. Angelina wasn't mad at her husband for his involvement with the pyrotechnical show. Instead she was kissing him lovingly, taking advantage of the fact others were looking elsewhere. Audrey wasn't holding a book in her hand, but instead Percy's hand, and James never saw them so intimate. James also noticed Teddy watching the show from the step of the blue tent, a big smile on his face. The last bomb exploded in a kaleidoscope of colors and sound. They all clapped in their hands, Albus and Scorpius whistled. Teddy too, very loudly, in between applause. "Yeahhhh!"
Then, the turquoise curtain behind him moved… And just like that, James' show was forgotten.
"Victoire!" Fleur shouted. "Bill, Victoire est là!"
"Victoire?" Molly the Grandma asked. "Oh Arthur, all of our grandkids under the same roof at the same time, it's amazing!"
Victoire, as usual, became the center of attention right on the wrong moment. Did she plan to steal James' spotlight? Was that her way to thank him for hiding her all day? Or was she not even hiding but waiting to do her great entrance? James could only beat himself up because he knew Vic here only meant trouble and he chose to ignore it.
On her way to the Shell Cottage, Audrey stopped by James' side to congratulate him, but he wasn't feeling it anymore. She followed his gaze to the gathering in front of the blue tent and added compassionately before leaving: "Delacour show after all."