Author Notes: Here's a fun fic - one of those to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling across your heart.
Just to be clear, in my fanfictions, Luna is Harry's wife, not Ginny.
"Listen up, guys!" Ron loudly announced the group the moment they stepped into the Diagon Alley. In a few seconds, he found himself on the receiving end of five blank stares.
"Make sure it's something important, Weasley, or risk being throttled by me." Draco Malfoy said menacingly with gritted teeth.
"Oh, Draco!" Astoria complained. "Why do you always need to be a grumpy git!?"
"Well said, Astoria." Harry complimented, shooting a grin at Draco now glaring at him. Teasing Draco was always fun!
"How about this…" Ron said loudly, trying to get himself clearly heard over the hubbub all around. "I buy an animal for Scorpius as a present, and you for my Rose."
Ron's words caused quite some scene. Astoria gave out a dreadful high-pitched squeal while Luna almost jumped up in joy. Her face was buttered in delight, Harry noticed, which led to the surging of a warm feeling across his chest.
Unfortunately, Astoria's squeal seemed to have attracted quite some attraction from several onlookers, some of whom were stopped dead in their tracks, frozen in surprise. But, it wasn't in any of their nature to think too much of how people see them.
"I think that's a brilliant idea, Ron!" Harry said, slowly but surely getting a hang of what Ron was trying to do. Ron winked back meaningfully at him, and then nodded towards Draco. Harry, understanding the signal, started grinning from ear to ear.
However, unfortunately, even that smallest of gestures couldn't escape Hermione's keen eyes, who just stood there, narrowing her eyes alternatively at Harry and Ron.
"I don't think that would be-" Draco began half-heartedly, but Astoria came to their rescue.
"Come on. It would be so fun!" She said, smiling as if nothing could go wrong today.
"Yeah." Luna said, beaming like the radiant sun overhead in the clear blue sky. "It would be a mark of affection from us."
"Not us, Luna." Harry corrected her gently, earning a surprised scowl and then a blank glare from his wife. "I and Ron will be enough to do the needful, thanks."
Luna opened her mouth to retort, but Harry gently placed a finger on her revolting lips. "Don't worry. I promise you won't regret it at the end."
"Alright." A crestfallen Luna sighed. It didn't do much to lift up his spirits a great feeling that she was sad.
"Harry!" Hermione called out just when Ron was beginning to tug at Harry's elbow, obviously planning to scamper out. "What exactly is your plan?"
Harry scratched his head: he was never good in lying to Hermione. However, his best mate rose up to the challenge. "To buy an animal for sweet little Scorpius, of course!" He said indignantly.
Hermione laughed at that. "Oh! Do you really expect me to believe you?"
"Absolutely not!" A smiling Ron said, waving his hands frantically in the air. "But it isn't like you've got a choice."
Hermione was left scratching her head. Before she could work out what that meant, Ron fervently dragged a grinning Harry by the arm and managed to take both of them out of sight.
"I can't believe it. He just went away without me." An exasperated Luna said, coming up beside Hermione to watch the two men disappear amidst the crowd.
"I think I should go as well." Draco Malfoy muttered behind their backs. Astoria shot her a questioning look, prompting him to explain, "To buy an animal for sweet Rose, of course."
"Why are all of you so keen on doing this by yourself?" Hermione asked curiously. The smirk on Draco's face wasn't something that had escaped her notice.
Feeling the tremendous weight of the looks all three women were shooting him, Draco shook his head frantically. "Because all of us want to leave our legacies through these animals."
"There are other ways to leave your legacy apart from buying them stupid little creatures!." Astoria retorted, now angry and confused.
But before any of them could say anything else, Draco just strode off into the opposite direction. Astoria tried lunging herself at his arm, but missed by mere inches. She fell flat-faced on the ground quite hard, if the loud thud they heard was any indication.
"Ouch!" Astoria squealed out. Again, a lot of onlookers turned around to see the commotion, but they could barely see the misfortune that befell on Astoria, as Luna and Hermione had already gone to her rescue.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked kindly as she helped Astoria to her feet whose face was now a dirty brown colour and her eyes shining with rage.
"Of course, not!" Astoria said through gritted teeth. "He better hope I don't see him in a long while. Because if I do, I will hex him into oblivion.
"I'm sure you will." Luna said seriously as she patted off some dust from Astoria's now dirty shirt.
A deadly silence ensued. Looking at Astoria and Luna, Hermione was more than sure they were both really… really… angry. And it wasn't in Hermione's dictionary to leave an issue unattended.
"How about some ice-cream?" She offered to the younger witches in an attempt to salvage the situation. The effect of her words was immediate: as both Luna's and Astoria's eyebrows shot up like rockets.
"Oh yes!" Luna squeaked out like a two-year old baby girl. "I love ice-cream."
"Everyone does." Hermione said, smiling. "Come on."
She led the way towards a well-known Ice Cream parlour recently set up in Diagon Alley. As her back was turned to Luna and Astoria, Hermione used these few seconds to smack her lips: she loved ice-cream too!
"Ron! For heaven's sake, slow down." A panting Harry called up to his friend who, in his excitement, had taken a giant leap to land up miles ahead of Harry.
He turned back with a mortified look. "Come on, Harry! I can't wait for it."
"Okay!" Harry said, gasping for breath. "Look, I get it that you are vulgar enough when excited, but at least try to be an acceptable gentleman in public so that not every alternate person we pass turns around to stare at us!"
"I will try." He said shortly before running off like a feverish rat. And Harry, the good friend he was, gave a chase.
"Ron." Harry huffed when they finally came face-to-face with the big shop. "I don't think we are going for any of the common animals?"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked with a knowing smirk.
A grin crept upto Harry's face as well as he continued, "Like owls? Rats? Cats?"
Ron shook his head. "No no. I think you know what I mean by now."
Harry was left dumbstruck. "Actually, no. But I do know it's something to do with Malfoy."
"Correct!" Ron shouted in glee. "And what animal comes to the forefront of your cobwebbed mind when you think of Malfoy."
"Hmm… first of all, I think you meant to use the word "polished" mind. Anyways, I forgive you…" Harry put his hand on his chin, thinking carefully. "Let's see. It's…"
The train of his thoughts got derailed as he finally realized just how cunning his friend was being. Even as he looked up to regard Ron staring at him like a blinking idiot, Harry complimented his plan: it was really Slytherin of him. But, you do need to be Slytherin while meddling with one.
"Mione! I'm back!" Ron yelled as soon as he spotted the three witches resting against the grey wall of some random building and relishing those cold sweets Muggles called ice-cream.
"Of course you are." Hermione shot back coldly.
"Harry!" Luna asked softly, her face inches away from his chest, her hand gently tugging his collar. To everyone, it was a playful gesture, but only Harry knew she was doing this out of disappointment. And Harry would rather have his lovely wife mad at him than disappointed. "What did you buy?" She almost begged.
Harry scratched his head. "I didn't. Ron did."
He could barely restrain from laughing when his eyes landed upon the sight of a wide-eyed Ron staring at him, as if he had just committed the most treacherous betrayal.
"Oh. You did?" Hermione asked, giggling a bit. "Then I feel compelled to ask what you bought for Scorpius."
"What!" A loud excited squeal made almost all of them jump up into the air. A quick glance confirmed their worst fears that the children had once again disobeyed their instructions to not leave their rooms at the Leaky Cauldron. But then… neither of Harry, Ron and Hermione was too reliable to respect rules either, were they?
"Uncle Ron, did you just buy something for me?" Scorpius Malfoy asked excitedly, his eyes gleaming with ecstasy.
Harry could tell the smile that Ron conjured up was a fake one. "Yes, Scorpius. I bought an animal for you. For taking to Hogwarts, you know."
"And for me, Dad?" Rose asked, pouting. She seemed to have guessed Ron hadn't bought anything for her.
"Never mind." Ron muttered darkly before the smile returned back to his freckled face. "Here, take this." He said, finally revealing the cage he had struggling to hide behind his back from Hermione all this while.
"Oh!" Scorpius and Albus shouted out before being left in a blissful silence, while Rose merely frowned at the peculiar sight. It was Scorpius who recovered first, and ran forward to give a tight hug to a flabbergasted Ron. Caught off guard, the red-haired man could only vaguely pat the child on the back as he jumped up and down like a highly energetic rocket.
"I'm… glad you liked it." He replied not-so-truthfully, Harry remarked. Scorpius had the decency to pull back in order to let Ron breathe in some fresh air.
"Ron?" A mortified Hermione whispered, half-afraid and half-amused, her eyes still glued to the cage Scorpius was clutching to his chest. "Please tell me it isn't a… a… Ferret!"
"Of course it is, Hermione." Ron confirmed, grinning from ear to ear. "Did you like my idea?"
"I won't pretend I didn't find it hilarious." Hermione muttered, as if she was feeling guilty for finding it funny. But then, her expression became firm and she looked up to glare into Ron's frightened blue eyes. "But that doesn't mean I approve of it!?"
Ron was reduced to shifting his feet. Finally, some divine knowledge dawned upon him and he replied, "But Harry does! Don't you Harry?" He turned to his friend.
Harry could feel the weight of Hermione's glare and Ron's smirk as he stuttered. "I don't know." He replied lamely, finding the ground around his feet very interesting all of a sudden.
"Now, before Draco comes back to show his ugly punky face…" Astoria began, "Why don't you tell me exactly what he has to do with a Ferret!?"
"Yes Harry!" Luna said in a pleading tone, once again indulging in that habit of hers to come upto his face and tug at his collar. Harry couldn't say he was annoyed by that.
"Of course…" Harry said, smiling into Luna's ethereal blue misty eyes. The smile that lit up on his wife's face was enough to outshine the entire galaxy of stars. He was glad he made her smile – he loved seeing her smile.
He never realized Ron had already embarked on the highly exciting journey of recounting Draco's encounter with Moody and his subsequent transformation into a stupid white ferret back in their Fourth Year. Harry internally giggled as the sight of that little ferret flashed across his mind, as if it was just yesterday.
"There they are!" Draco Malfoy muttered to himself as he made out the other five laughing heartily at some joke Ron was telling the group. Now, even though Draco was firmly of the opinion that Ron was an unintelligent prat, even he admitted that yes, the man could be funny at times.
Not wanting to miss it, he quickened his face, struggling with the heavy weight of the cage in his hands, carefully hidden behind his back. He was not going to let them have even a glimpse of it before he handed it to Rose right on Ron's face.
But as he neared the group, something small yet heavy came colliding with his waist, almost knocking him down onto the ground.
"Dad! Dad!" The highly exhilarated voice of his son rang in his ears. "Look what Uncle Ron got me!"
"What is it?" Draco muttered absent-mindedly as he had just noticed the others come to him. But… why was everyone smiling and giggling at him? Even Astoria wasn't forgoing a smirk on her otherwise beautiful face.
Draco Malfoy didn't have to ask what the matter was, as the answer came floating right in front of his eyes, white-washed in horror, as Scorpius held up the furry white Ferret in his hands, as if it was a prize he just won in a race.
"Son…" Draco began, aghast. "What exactly is that?"
"A ferret, of course!" Scorpius squeaked out, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. Technically, it was. But given Draco's traumatic history with ferrets, it was only fair he found himself at a tragic loss of words.
"Uncle Ron told me you will be fond of it. That you are very fond of ferrets?" Scorpius asked, half-frightened, half-excited. "Do you like it?"
"I…" Draco gulped, his mind painfully drifting off to an incident involving a certain Alastor Moody. Actually, Barty Crouch it was, whatever… "Yes." He finally said, not wanting to break his poor son's heart.
"I see." Scorpious said in a bossy tone. "Since you're my dad, I will give you one chance to pat his head."
Harry and Ron didn't bother to control their laughter this time, even as Astoria's jaw literally touched the ground. Draco Malfoy, one of the most well-known Wizards in all of Magical Britain, found himself being trolled by his eight-year old son. That was one of those stories you hid from your grandparents.
"No, Scorpius." Draco tried consoling his son. "It's okay."
"Don't you want to pat him?" Scorpius asked with a confused eyebrow.
"Y- Yes. I would love to." Draco replied, each word costing him tremendous pain and effort. "But not now…"
"You are strange." Scorpius gave the verdict, biting his lip. If it wasn't his son, he was sure he would have throttled the child who dared to taunt him in front of Harry and Ron, a silent and embarrassed Draco resolved.
"It seems your dad is estatic beyond words." Ron said, smirking. For a moment, Draco's dangerous black eyes met his laughing blue eyes before, much to Draco's dismay, he burst out laughing aloud like a maniac.
The laughter seemed contagious, as Harry too broke down into hysterics, followed by Hermione. Even Luna was fighting down her laughter, while Astoria, rather cruelly, made it very clear that she found the entire situation extremely funny by laughing out the loudest.
"That was quite some day, wasn't it?" Ron finally said, wiping away a tear from his eye.
"Not quite." Draco shot up, the heavy cage still tingling behind him. Now was his moment. "Rose? Don't you want to see what I got for you?"
Rose, who seemed to have been left to rot crestfallen in one corner by the lack of presents, suddenly brightened up. "Oh! Uncle Draco! I love you! What is it?"
Draco Malfoy made a grand gesture with his hands before handing over the cage to the girl.
Everyone around her quietly observed the animal dancing inside the cage for a while, the air heavy with , all hell broke loose as every person around him started rolling down in laughter once again, including Harry and Hermione. The only exception was Ron, who seemed miserable, his hands by his sides, his horrified eyes anchored to the animal jumping up and down in the cage Rose held in her hands.
"Tit for tat, Weasel!" Draco sneered.
A deadly silence followed, which was broken by none other than Luna Lovegood.
"But Draco…" She asked, unable to believe her eyes. "I don't think Weasels are allowed inside Hogwarts, are they?"
Draco smirked. His plan was working.
Harry looked at his wife lovingly for a few seconds before commenting, "Have I told you that you're the most wonderful woman in the world?"
"You are so sweet, Harry!" Luna beamed, clasping her hands together.
"But dad!" Albus came up beside him, forcefully tugging at his sleeve. "Who will get me my pet?" He asked uncertainly.
"Don't worry, son." Harry said hurriedly before anyone else could intervene. He could smell an aroma of danger, especially after the events which had just unfolded. "I will. It will be me and no one else!"
I hope you liked it. I tried my best to make it funny, but have no idea if it turned out so. Do let me know.
Please review! Your reviews are what makes us writers smile and keep on going! Can you please take out just a little time to make me happy if you liked the fic?
Constructive criticism, as always, is appreciated and looked forward to.
Thank you for your time. See you next time. Until then, take care!