THC, Round 3, Drabble, Slytherin, HoH.
Prompt: [Event] Family Dinner/Meal
Hogwarts, Hufflepuff
Prompt: Task 2 - Cockatiel - Write about a couple fighting and making up
Word count: 998
Beta(s): Carol, Hope, Aurora, Alina, Sab (Butteflies765)
Words Are Meant To Be Spoken
The noise of forks scraping plates was the only sound that could be heard in this silent room. The tension felt so thick that not even a knife could cut through it.
Astoria refused to open her mouth unless it was to take a bite of food; it didn't matter that she had spent time to to create this celebratory meal in recognition of Scorpius receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter. However, this was not the family meal it should have been.
Every time she looked in Draco's direction, his knuckles whitened as his fingers curled around the fork he was eloquently stabbing into the potatoes. At least that was better than her son refusing to look up from his plate as he shovelled food into his mouth in haste. He clearly wanted to get this dinner over and done with.
This wasn't a typical Malfoy family meal, usually there was carefree chatter and happy smiles. But Astoria had to admit to herself that this wasn't the first tense and hostile meal they had shared. The silence was worse than the yelling in her opinion. And she knew that the second Scorpius exited the room, there would be no holding back, and despite knowing that their son could hear every word, they didn't keep the profanities to themselves. But it had to be said. She would not let her husband get away with this discriminative opinion.
A strained cough caught her attention as worry filled her when Scorpius' hand moved up to his mouth while he spluttered a few times before he cleared his throat. "I know," he started, "I should eat small pieces at a time."
Draco nodded in confirmation as Astoria stated; "Sometimes it's prudent to eat quicker."
"Sometimes it's prudent to eat quicker!" Draco repeated sharply, his expression firmly on her. "We have taught our boy to always maintain manners and now you are just throwing it out the window?"
Astoria stood up, her hands clenched into fists as they landed violently onto the table. If he wanted to do this now, she would put him in his place. "I am not throwing manners out of the window. I am simply stating that he can choose his future himself!"
"By choking to death?"
She scoffed. Why beat around the bush? "It's not going to kill him to make mistakes and work out who he wants to be!"
Draco's stance strengthened as he too stood up and straightened to his full height. She hated when he did that as she physically had to look up at him; but that wouldn't deter her. "Some mistakes he can't take back!"
"But we shouldn't be micromanaging his life like your parents did with you!"
It felt like the whole room darkened to match Draco's expression. "How dare you!" His voice lowered. "Who do you think you are?"
Instantly regretting bringing that up, Astoria's expression softened. "Not your parents, that's who we are. We allow our child to make his own decisions. And we assure him that he'll be loved even if he's not in Slytherin."
Draco glanced over to Scorpius who was sitting there pretending that he wasn't listening to them, playing with the remainder of his food. He glanced up nervously. "I won't ask again."
Silence filled the air. Why did Draco have to do this? Why couldn't he just accept that his son didn't have to be in the same house that they had been? Couldn't he understand that it was a meaningless notion and the house didn't make the person?
Slowly, Draco's anger dissipated and he sat back down. "Why don't you think you'll be in Slytherin?"
Scorpius looked between his parents nervously. "I was just curious. I'm going to be in Slytherin, I'm sure of it. I was just… wondering."
Draco ran a hand over his face, the stress evident. "Your mother was right about one thing," he spoke, collecting his knife and fork. "Regardless of your house or decisions, you will always have a place in our home."
"Really?"
Astoria smiled sadly at the instant joy Scorpius conveyed in one single word. He admired his father with all of his heart and she hated how much her son hung onto Draco's opinion.
"Yes."
"Thank you!"
The excitement seeped off Scorpius.
Astoria cleared her throat. "Scorpius, you're dismissed."
With a nod, the eleven-year-old boy slipped off his chair and walked out of the room.
As soon as their son had left the room, Draco placed down his cutlery. "Well?"
"Is it that important to you what house he's in?" Astoria asked, trying to gauge her understanding to his thought process.
Draco sighed. "In the short-term, no. But what's going to happen in the long run when we have nothing in common? When he decides that I can't be redeemed, that he's embarrassed of who I used to be, when he finds out that I'm not this brave soldier from the war but…"
Astoria cut him off after walking around the table and taking his hand in hers. "Everybody has a past, Draco. Maybe you should sit down with him and tell him everything. It's better hearing it from you than people at school, right?"
A single nod.
"Regardless, he will come to find out how brave you were during the war, just like I did. Standing up to your family and Voldemort was a difficult decision, but you did it. He'll see that just like I did."
Draco stood up. "What did I do to deserve you?"
She brushed his hair out of his face. "You were you." They shared a joint smile before she gently pushed him towards the door. "Now, go talk to Scorp. He's probably wondering what we're talking about."
A giggle was heard behind the door seconds before Scorpius' head appeared. "I was just coming back down."
Draco leant down and whispered, "I have no doubt that he'll be in Slytherin," before walking off towards their son.
Astoria chuckled; he wasn't wrong.