Even with the relative short notice of the wedding, all the guests had been able to ensure that they didn't have to leave early on the Sunday evening. Everyone had been able to spend a second night at the Malfoy chateau, and only departed for home after breakfast on the Monday morning. Although it was the Malfoys, Fleur and Bill saying goodbye to the guests as Daniel and Victoire didn't emerge from their bedroom until late morning, by which time everyone but their parents and Daniel's grandparents had left. Even their siblings had headed home with Louis and Dominquie going home with George and Angelina, Lyra going with Severus and Scorpius making his own way home to continue moving into his new penthouse.
"I hope people didn't think we were being rude," Victoire fretted. "We did mean to come down earlier, but we got distracted."
"I think everyone understands, given you only got married yesterday," Draco chuckled.
"It is rather expected for the pair of you to get lost in each other for a few weeks," Bill added.
"Which is exactly what we intend to do," Daniel said, grinning at his new wife. "After we've had something to eat, we're going to get packing and head down to the villa in south of France."
"You don't have to leave here straight away," Narcissa offered. While the Malfoy chateau was in the heart of the French countryside, their south of France villa was on the beach, and that was where Daniel and Victoire had opted to spend the first week of their honeymoon. Their second week would then be spent in Italy, in another luxury villa, this time belonging to Blaise.
"We know, and while this place is lovely, we really fancy some time beside the beach," Daniel said. "Plus Monaco is only a stone's throw away from the villa, and we might fancy giving it a whirl and living the high life for a while."
"Just don't lose all your money in the casinos," Hermione cautioned.
"Don't worry Mum, I'm feeling lucky at the moment," Daniel said, again grinning at his wife, who grinned back at him.
"Lucky or not, you will not be spending all of our money in a casino," Victoire cautioned.
"You can already see who is the boss in that relationship," Lucius chuckled.
"Victoire is simply aware that the men in our family need a firm hand," Narcissa said. "Isn't that right, Hermione?"
"It is," Hermione confirmed. "Start as you mean to go on, I say Victoire. You keep that husband of yours in line."
"I do not need keeping in line," Daniel argued. "I'm not half as much trouble as Dad and Grandpa."
"I beg to differ," Hermione laughed. "You're twice the trouble as you're part Potter and you've been raised by Malfoys. Victoire will certainly have her hands full with you."
"Yes, but that's really a different matter altogether," Daniel said with a naughty smirk.
"Incorrigible, just like your father," Hermione tutted as her husband gave Daniel an approving nod.
"As enlightening as this conversation is, we really should be going," Fleur broke in, only after giving Daniel an appraising look.
"We should," Bill agreed. "Would you like me to speak to your grandparents?" he asked his daughter, instantly sobering the light atmosphere.
"I really should tell them myself, shouldn't I?" Victoire sighed, wondering if a postponement in their honeymoon was in order.
"I think it would be easier if I laid the groundwork," Bill admitted. "I can explain everything to Mum and Dad and ensure that by the time you're back off honeymoon and are ready to talk to them, there will be no nastiness, and nothing rash said in the heat of the moment. I actually think some time before they see you could be the best thing all round."
"That does sound good, but I don't want to impose," Victoire said softly. "I don't want you to think I'm making you do my dirty work for me."
"It's what fathers are for," Bill said, kissing his daughter on the cheek and giving her a hug. "You go off and enjoy your honeymoon and leave your grandparents to me. I will make sure that by the time you come back, everything will have been smoothed over and there will be no animosity."
With Victoire reassured that her father had everything in hand in regard to the family, Bill and Fleur said their goodbyes and headed home. Upon arriving home, Bill decided it would be best to speak to both his parents together, so he opted to wait until his father would have finished work before visiting his childhood home. Of course, that meant he had the entire day to plan what he was going to say to his parents, but he still wasn't totally sure of how he was going to handle things when he arrived at The Burrow, ready to break the big news to his parents.
Bill had timed his visit so that Arthur would have had enough time to get home and for him and Molly to have had something to eat. By his calculations his parents should just be settling down for a quiet evening together, and sure enough when he arrived, he found them both ensconced in the living room, the radio playing quietly as Arthur flicked through the days papers and Molly worked on her latest knitting project.
"Bill, I didn't expect to see you," Molly said, enchanting her kitting to carry on while she jumped to her feet to greet her eldest son. "Did you have a nice weekend? I called into the shop to see George and the young girl working behind the desk said he was in France with you."
"We did have a good weekend," Bill said, encouraging his mother to sit back down as he politely declined her offer of a cup of tea. "We were actually there for a reason. Victoire got married yesterday."
Bill's announcement was met with total silence, and he had to look at both his parents to be sure they'd heard him. Arthur's mouth was opening and closing as though he couldn't find the words, while Molly just looked at him with a blank expression, almost as if she'd been frozen in place.
"Mum, did you hear what I said? Do you understood what I've just told you?"
"No," Molly whispered in a cracked voice. "That can't be right. You've made a mistake."
"I haven't Mum," Bill said with a sigh. "Victoire and Daniel got married yesterday."
"An elopement?" Arthur questioning, finding his voice as his wife continued to shake her head and mutter no, no, no.
"No," Bill answered honestly. "It was a planned event."
"And we weren't invited?" Arthur asked, even though the answer was very obvious.
"No," Molly wailed. "I don't believe you."
"I'm sorry Mum, but after what happened at the hotel, Victoire didn't feel as if she could trust you. She was worried you and Ron might try and pull another trick on her wedding day, and she didn't want that. She didn't want her big day to be ruined with the worry of what might happen."
"No," Molly wailed again as tears started to stream down her face.
"Were there other guests?" Arthur asked in a cold voice.
"Yes," Bill answered honestly. "Fleur's parents and sister were there, you know George and his family were there and Charlie came over from Romania."
"And them?" Molly spat, her tears still rolling down her face. "I suppose that family were there. I bet they got an invitation."
"If you mean Daniel's family, then yes, they were there," Bill answered, shooting his mother a warning look. He could understand that she was upset, but he wasn't going to tolerate her blaming other people when she was the reason for her own misery. "Hermione and Draco were there, as were Daniel's siblings and grandparents, and a few other people who are special to him."
"We're his grandparents," Molly screeched.
"No, you are not," Bill said firmly. "Even if Harry had lived, you still wouldn't have been Daniel's grandparents. Maybe things would have been different and you might have been surrogate grandparents, but that is all ifs and buts. The reality is that you're nothing to Daniel. You are not his family."
"We should be though," Molly insisted. "We should have been at that wedding, Bill. You know we should have."
"Yes, you should have been there," Bill said, clearly surprisingly both Molly and Arthur with his admission. "But you ruined it, Mum. You and Ron. You had to push things too far, and now you've paid the price. Your own granddaughter chose to get married without you. That should tell you something about your behaviour and how out of hand it is. I'm sorry Mum, but you brought all of this on yourself."
At Bill's harsh words, Molly ran from the room in loud tears, and even as she headed upstairs, Bill could hear her wailing. He half expected Arthur to go after her, but his father stayed where he was, a weary look etched onto his face.
"I'm sorry Dad," Bill said gently. "Vic felt awful about not inviting you, but she just couldn't trust Mum not to pull off another scheme with Ron. She hates that you lost out as well."
"I understand," Arthur said quietly. "It pains me to admit it, but I think she did the right thing. Maybe this is the wake-up call your mother needs. I honestly thought she had accepted the situation with Daniel. But his engagement to Victoire just seemed to stir it all up again, and she was like she was all those years ago when Hermione was pregnant. But maybe this time, having her own granddaughter cut her out of the most important day of her life will knock some sense into her. I certainly hope it does before we lose Victoire for good. Because, that is on the cards, isn't it Bill?"
"I don't know," Bill admitted. "But I do know that if pushed Victoire will pick Daniel every time. If Mum wants to keep her in her life, she needs to accept that Daniel isn't part of the package. She needs to let go, and accept that she will never be a part of his life."
"I'll make sure she accepts it," Arthur vowed. Not that he knew how he was going to do that, but he was determined that they would not lose their granddaughter because of his wife's sentimental attachment to a wizard who had never even been a proper part of their lives.
Arthur hovered outside of his youngest son's home, not looking forward to what he was about to do. After spending the entire night listening to his wife crying over their exclusion from Victoire's wedding, he knew he needed to do something to stop the madness before it snowballed into something more. At the moment Molly was too upset to do anything, but she knew that when it came to Daniel she wasn't rational, and with some encouragement, she might well do something she would live to regret. And sadly, the only person who would encourage her to do something rash was Ron. Meaning his youngest son needed to be dealt with, something he knew he should have done a long time ago.
Steeling himself for what lay ahead, Arthur knocked on his youngest son's door. Ron was clearly shocked to see his father, but he seemed his usual self so Arthur was guessing that Molly hadn't reached out to him to tell him about the wedding. If that had been the case, he was sure his son would have been ranting and raving, but luckily he was perfectly calm as he offered Arthur a cup of tea.
"No thank you," Arthur said, refusing the offer. "I'm not here to drink tea. I want to talk to you."
"It sounds serious," Ron remarked with a frown as he and his father settled at the small kitchen table.
"It is," Arthur confirmed. "Victoire got married at the weekend."
"She what?" Ron gasped, his mouth dropping open in shock. "Why did no-one tell me? I had the right to know."
"That is debatable," Arthur snorted. "But as it turned out, your mother and I didn't know either. Not until Bill came to see us yesterday and informed us of what we had missed."
"How dare they," Ron yelled, jumping to his feet and knocking his chair over with the violence of his movement. "This is Hermione this, her and that bastard she married. They're not content with turning Daniel against the family, now they're starting on Victoire. How dare they exclude her family from her wedding."
"They didn't exclude us, Victoire did," Arthur said sharply, ordering his son to pick his chair back up and sit down. "She made the choice not to invite us to her wedding. She only invited family she trusted."
"I can still smell the Malfoys poison behind this," Ron spat.
"Enough," Arthur yelled, banging his hand on the table and causing Ron to jump in shock as he'd never seen his father so angry before. "This has to stop, Ron. Right at this moment, your mother is at home, breaking her heart over the fact she's missed her granddaughter's wedding. And what makes it worse is that it's all her own fault. And yours."
"Do not blame me for this," Ron protested. "I'm not the one cutting our family out of Daniel's life. If you want to blame someone, go and have a go at Hermione."
"If I want to blame someone, I only need look in the mirror," Arthur snorted with a disgusted shake of his head. "I'm too soft. I always have been. I should have put my foot down and ended this madness back when Hermione was pregnant. I should have stopped you from taking things as far as you did. Maybe if I had been stronger and had intervened, you wouldn't have ended up in Azkaban. But it happened, and as terrible as it was, I thought it had acted as a wake-up call for you and your mother. I honestly thought you had accepted your lack of presence in young Daniel's life. Of course, I knew your mother had her moments of weakness and I knew at times she wanted to see him and be near him, but she had the good sense to stay clear. Then he got engaged to Victoire and all this madness started again. But it ends here, Ron."
"What are you saying?" Ron asked warily, having never heard his father sound so decisive and firm.
"I am saying that I will not stand for any more nonsense from your or your mother," Arthur declared. "Daniel is not a part of our lives, and you both need to accept that. I know that given time, your mother can come to accept it, but it's you I'm not sure about, Ron. I don't trust you not to rile her up again."
"We have every right to want to get to know Daniel," Ron protested. "He's Harry's son."
"And Harry would not want this," Arthur spat. "Deep down you know that, Ron, you just don't want to admit it. But I will not have your mother put through any more distress. I will not have her ruining what remains of our relationship with Victoire."
"Why tell me this and not her?" Ron pouted petulantly. "Mum does have a mind of her own."
"A mind too easily influenced when it comes to Daniel," Arthur returned. "But Molly isn't the only one who isn't to get involved in any more schemes. You are also going to leave him alone, Ron. I will not have you intruding on the life he's building with Victoire. Which is why I've decided, you need to go. You need to move away and start afresh. You need to put the past behind you and build a life for yourself. I should have suggested this when you got out of Azkaban. Maybe if I had, you wouldn't be sitting here all alone stewing over some boy who doesn't have anything to do with you."
"You expect me to leave?" Ron scoffed. "You mean the country?"
"I do," Arthur said with a firm nod. "Your mother and I don't have a lot of savings, but I can give you a little bit to help you get started. Don't think I'm not serious, Ron, because I am. I am doing what is best for everyone. For you, for Molly and for Daniel and Victoire. I will not have you ruining anyone's life, yours included. Bill said Daniel and Victoire are away for the next couple of weeks, and you are going to use that time to make a new life for yourself. When they come home, I want to be able to let them know that they can live in peace and that you will never bother them."
Ron gaped at his father, hardly able to believe his ears. However, it was very clear that for once in his life Arthur had gotten tough, and he meant every word he said. He truly believed that the way forward for everyone was for Ron to move away and build a new life for himself, and he was going to make sure it happened. The alternative didn't bear thinking about as deep in his heart Arthur knew that unless he got his son well and truly out of the picture he was going to do something reckless that would ruin who knows how many lives. And Arthur was determined that the worst was not going to happen. He was going to save everyone - his son, his wife and his granddaughter and her new husband.