With his mind full of his personal life, and the possible problems that he was facing, Daniel didn't want to make any mistakes with important work, so he took himself down to the basement of the large potions firm he worked in and secreted himself in one of the preparation rooms. Some of the ingredients the firm bought to use in their potions came readymade, but a decent proportion of them needed preparing by hand before they were ready for use. Of course, the firm hired staff to do such things, but it was a task Daniel enjoyed and whenever he fancied a break, he headed down to the basement to prep ingredients.
Prepping ingredients was actually one of the first memories Daniel had of potions making. He could clearly recall standing on a chair as a young child, helping Severus meticulously prep his ingredients. He'd even had his own special knife which had been enchanted to ensure he never accidently cut himself or anyone else. In fact, ingredient preparation was all Daniel had done to help make potions for a long time as Severus had refused to teach him anything more until he'd learnt to prep his ingredients to perfection. Only once he could slice and dice like a professional had Severus taught him the other tricks of brewing a perfect potion. And even though Daniel was now a whizz with a cauldron, nothing quite beat the satisfaction he felt from perfectly preparing potions ingredients.
As he lost himself in seeing what needed to be prepped, and filling the appropriate jars, Daniel was able to forget his troubles. For several hours he sliced, diced and juiced ingredients, and only halted in his preparation of lavender oil when the door to the room he was in opened and Severus strolled into the room.
"I thought I might find you down here," Severus remarked, eyeing up the lines of jars that Daniel had filled since entering the room.
"I haven't neglected anything urgent," Daniel said. He was well aware he'd left some work that needed doing when he'd come down to the basement, but none of it was urgent or else he wouldn't have left it.
"I didn't think you had," Severus assured him. "You know you can come down here anytime you want, Daniel. I certainly come down here often enough."
Like Daniel, Severus also found prepping for potions soothing, and he often escaped the pressures of running the company by burying himself in the basement with only potions ingredients for company.
"Let's go and have a drink," Severus said, his tone leaving no room for Daniel to argue. Not that he'd planned on arguing as he'd been in the basement for hours and a break would be welcome.
Clearing away the lavender he'd been working on, and storing it so it wouldn't ruin, Daniel followed Severus out of the basement room and into the lift, that led the top floor where his office was located. As they made their way to Severus's office, he didn't question Daniel as to why he'd been down in the basement. He wasn't a man to speak unnecessarily and spending time with him involved lengthy silences, but they were never awkward for Daniel and even though they didn't exchange a word between leaving the basement and settling in Severus's office, Daniel felt completely at ease with his mentor.
"Drink this," Severus ordered, handing Daniel a large glass of firewhisky once they were ensconced in his large office.
"What are you trying to do, get me drunk?" Daniel laughed. "Not everyone can drown firewhisky like its water like you and grandpa."
"It's a skill," Severus replied with a slight smirk. Both he and Lucius shared a high tolerance of alcohol and could both easily down several glasses of the amber liquid without getting even the slightest bit tipsy.
"Although maybe getting drunk will help," Daniel muttered, taking a small sip of his drink before placing it on the table. He didn't really mean it about getting drunk as the few times he had overindulged in alcohol he'd regretted it the next day when he'd had a stinking hangover.
"Help with what?" Severus asked softly. "Given your recent engagement I would have thought you would be on cloud nine."
"I am," Daniel protested. "Well, at least I am when it comes to being engaged to the witch I love. I'm just less enthused with her family situation. I love Vic, but sometimes I wish she wasn't a Weasley. Does that make me a bad person?"
"No, it makes you human," Severus replied. "Your life would certainly be simpler if she wasn't a Weasley. But then again, if she wasn't, then she wouldn't be the witch you loved."
"I guess you're right, but sometimes I wish her family were different," Daniel admitted with a sigh. "Not her parents as I really like Bill and Fleur. But other members of her family I could do without."
"Are we talking her uncle or her grandparents?" Severus asked.
"At the moment, her grandmother," Daniel replied, picking up his glass and taking a heartier swig of the potent liquid. "Vic told her about the engagement last weekend, and apparently she started going on about me taking my rightful place in the family. Vic had to point out to her that nothing would be changing and that I don't want to get to know her."
"I'm sure that went over like a lead balloon," Severus snorted. "Molly Weasley never did like to be told no. She always liked to get her own way."
"I always forget you knew her back in the day. What's she really like?" Daniel asked.
"I very much doubt my opinions will help change your mind about her," Severus snorted. "I was never keen on the woman if I'm being honest. I don't know the full story, but I do know there was some sort of falling out between her and your mother way back in Hermione's fourth year. It was before the Order was reformed, so I don't know the details, but I always sensed tension between the pair. I also got the impression that Molly never liked how close your parents were. I often used to think that she worried in case they got together and left her family out in the cold. She took your father in as one of her own, and I'm sure she loved him, and I'm pretty sure your father loved the family as if they were his own. However, I often thought she overstepped the mark with him. I do know she and Sirius Black clashed more than once over your father. I don't think she thought Sirius was good enough to be around your father."
"From everything Mum says, Sirius loved my father and he loved him back," Daniel said.
"That they did," Severus confirmed with a nod of his head. "Maybe that was why Molly never liked Sirius. Maybe she considered him a threat. Maybe she thought he was going to take your father away from her."
"She sounds very possessive, and quite honestly I think I'm better off keeping her at arm's length," Daniel decided. "And as for her request to revoke the restraining order against her son, that was just sheer madness on her part."
"She wanted you to revoke Weasley's restraining order?" Severus asked in horror. He knew Molly Weasley was brazen, but that took the biscuit, even for her.
"Yes, she seems to think he's entitled to be at the wedding simply because he's Victoire's uncle," Daniel explained. "Vic told her that wasn't the case and that I wouldn't dream of revoking the restraining order. So guess what she did next? She went to Mum's office the other day and tried to talk her around."
"Foolish woman," Severus snorted. "I do hope Hermione gave her what for."
"Mum let her have it apparently," Daniel confirmed with a grin, knowing full well how scary his mother could be when she was angry and in full flow. "She even threatened to go to the press and tell her side of the story, warts and all. In the end Molly backed off, but Mum's worried that she might try and contact me in person."
"And what would you do if that happened?"
"Tell her to get lost," Daniel answered, not even having to think about his answer. "Trying to get me to change my mind is something I will not stand for. If she does try and push the issue, I'll have to talk to Vic about the guest list for the wedding. If we have to, I'd cut her out. I just don't want to hurt Vic in the process. Molly is her gran, and even though she deplores what she did, Vic still loves her. I'm just hoping she's smart enough to keep out of things and not stir the pot."
"I wouldn't be holding my breath on that one," Severus warned. "If there's one thing the Weasleys are good at, it's stirring the pot."
Despite Daniel's worries about Molly trying to approach him directly, as the days passed there was no contact from his fiancée's grandmother. In fact, he was genuinely starting to hope that she'd gotten the message and would remain quiet on the subject. At least that way she would receive an invitation to the wedding and Daniel didn't have to worry about Victoire having to choose between him and her family.
With his hopes of everything running smoothly raised, Daniel suggested he and Victoire invited their parents to dinner to start discussing wedding plans. Even though the invitation they issued also included their siblings, on the evening in question both sets of parents turned up alone. Daniel's brother and sister had headed off to spend the night at the manor with their grandparents, which Daniel suspected was his parents way of getting the house to themselves for the night, while Victoire's siblings had opted to stay at home to spend time with their Uncle Charlie, who had arrived earlier that day on a spur of the moment visit.
"You could have brought Uncle Charlie as well," Victoire said to her parents when they explained why they were alone.
"We did suggest it, but by then he'd already promised the kids a night of junk food and dragon stories," Bill said with a chuckle. "I'm sorry to say wedding plans couldn't compete with that."
"I'm not surprised, I'm half tempted to go and join them myself," Daniel joked. "Charlie always has the best stories."
"I'm sure half of them are made up," Bill grumbled with a frown. "I've got stories as well you know. I did spend years in Egypt as a curse breaker. I've had a few adventures of my own."
"No-one is doubting you are just as adventurous as your brother," Fleur soothed her husband, sharing an amused look with Hermione. "And you have embarked on an adventure I doubt Charlie will ever experience."
"What's that?" Bill asked with a frown, wondering if there was anything his younger brother hadn't tried.
"Marriage and fatherhood," Fleur replied.
"Now that is an adventure too far for Charlie," Draco laughed. Charlie's single status was legendary, and no-one who knew him thought he would ever settle down and have a family of his own.
Still laughing about Charlie, and what sort of wild tales he would be telling the younger Weasley children, everyone settled down for dinner. Like her mother, Victoire wasn't a cook and didn't really feel at home in the kitchen, and Daniel also had no interest in a kitchen, unless he was whipping up a potion, so they'd ordered in from a fancy restaurant. Not that anyone was complaining as the food was delicious, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Once they had eaten, the group retired to the living room with their drinks, where finally wedding plans were discussed with real purpose. Both Fleur and Hermione had even come equipped with notebooks and the two witches made notes as they discussed what sort of wedding Daniel and Victoire would like. However, they were both keen to point out that if they overstepped the mark at any time, all Daniel and Victoire had to do was tell them as while they wanted to help with the wedding, they didn't want to take over. After all, it was Daniel and Victoire's big day, not theirs.
During the discussion on possible wedding venues, there was a tap on the window, and seeing an owl hovering outside, Draco got to his feet and opened the window. Summoning some biscuits which he knew Daniel kept in the kitchen for visiting owls, Draco fed the bird half a biscuit while he untied the letter around its ankle. He then gave the bird the second half of the biscuit before closing the window once the bird had departed. Only then did he glance at the letter in his hand and frown when he saw the name Daniel Potter written on the front.
"Is there something wrong?" Hermione asked her husband, wondering if the note was from his parents and there was some sort of issue with the children.
"I don't suppose so," Draco replied with a shrug, holding the letter out to his son. "But you didn't tell us you'd changed your name, Daniel."
"Changed my name?" Daniel frowned in confusion, but when he took the letter from his father's hands and saw the name on the front his blood ran cold. He'd only ever had one letter addressed to Daniel Potter, and while he couldn't recall the handwriting from the first letter, he suspected it was from the same sender.
"Daniel, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, moving to her son's side as he simply stared at the letter in front of him as though it was going to bite his hand. Glancing down at the letter her son was holding, she gasped as the writing was very familiar, even after more than twenty years. "Ron," she whispered.
"Weasley?" Draco frowned in confusion. "What does he have to do with anything? Oh no," he muttered as it suddenly dawned on him what must be happening. "Is that letter from him?"
"A letter from Ron?" Bill questioned with a frown. "Why would he be writing to Daniel?"
"To ask me to remove the restraining order," Daniel replied without opening the letter. "If it's anything like the last one, it'll be full of snide comments about him being my real family and how I don't really have a wizarding family other than his."
"Last one?" Hermione gasped. "Ron's wrote to you before. When was this and why did you never say anything?"
"It was back in school, on my seventeenth birthday," Daniel explained. "I didn't say anything at the time as it wasn't important, and I didn't want to worry you."
"You still could have told me," Hermione said softly. "You didn't have to protect me, Daniel."
"I know, but I wanted to," Daniel admitted. "Besides, it meant nothing to me. I read the letter and threw it away. Or rather I thought I threw it away, I must have missed the bin as when I was unpacking my trunk that summer, I found it scrunched in the bottom."
"Do you still have the letter?" Victoire asked, wondering why Daniel had never told her about it. She could understand him keeping it from his parents, especially Hermione as she was the one her uncle Ron had hurt so much, but she didn't see why she'd been kept in the dark.
"I burnt it when I found it," Daniel admitted. "I didn't want his letter tainting my life. I'm sorry, I know he's your family," he said, looking towards Bill. "But he's poison, and I want nothing to do with him."
"You won't get any judgment from me," Bill said. "In your shoes, I would feel the same way."
"Maybe I should just burn this without reading it," Daniel mused, turning his attention back to the unopened letter he was holding.
"Or maybe we should see what he has to say for himself," Hermione said.
"Okay, but I'm warning you, his last letter seemed nice and apologetic on the surface but it was laced with snide comments and insults towards you, Dad and the rest of the family," Daniel cautioned his mother.
"I'm a big girl, I can take it," Hermione said. "Open the letter Daniel."
Doing as his mother requested, Daniel opened the letter. Deciding it would be best if everyone could read it together, he placed it down on the coffee table and everyone gathered around to see just what Ron had to say for himself.
My Dear Daniel,
First, let me offer my congratulations on your engagement to my niece, Victoire. I am sure the pair of you will be very happy together. It seems that fate is determined to bring you into the family fold, no matter how much certain people have tried to prevent it. You are now officially part of the family, even though in our hearts you have always been a part of the Weasley clan. We can't wait until you are fully part of the family, and have met each and every one of us.
I know last time I wrote to you that you didn't reply, and while I was saddened by it, I also understood. You may have been seventeen when I last asked you to revoke the restraining order, but I understand now that you were still just a child under the influence of your mother and her husband. I understand that you didn't want to go against their wishes, even if it meant doing the wrong thing. However, I am hoping that now you are a man about to embark on the serious journey of marriage, you are ready to make your own choices in life.
I beg you to please remove the restraining order that is keeping us apart. I know in my heart that is it not what your father would have wanted, and I hate to think of him looking down on us, saddened by our separation. Your wedding is a chance for a fresh start for both of us. I can finally be there for you as I know your father would have wanted me to be. Please, Daniel, I need to be there when you get married. Your father can't be there, but I can. Please let me take his place and watch with pride as you marry the witch you love. A witch who just so happens to be my favourite niece.
Please let your marriage be the beginning for us. If you revoke the restraining order, you will no longer be without a father. I know I am not Harry, but I am the closest thing he ever had for a brother, and I can be like a father to you. I can give you the guidance your life has been lacking. I can be a role model of what sort of wizard your father would have wanted you to become. I can show you the sort of man he was, and the sort of man he would want you to be, rather than the bad influences you've been subjected to over the years. Influences I know Harry would not approve of.
I trust that as a man you can make your own decisions, Daniel, and I am trusting that you will now make the right one. I truly look forward to meeting you very soon, and I cannot wait until the day I see you married.
Your ever loving Uncle Ron Weasley.
Everyone around the table finished the letter in their own time, and in several cases, they re-read certain parts, hardly able to believe what they were reading. Not one person could believe what Ron had written, and that his insults weren't even that subtle this time.
"I cannot believe him," Hermione hissed, unbelievably angry at what she'd just read. She was especially angry by the reference to Daniel not having had a father, and a glance at her husband showed he was also fuming at the words her former friend had written to their son.
"He is delusional," Fleur muttered with a shake of her head. "He has totally lost the plot."
"He has," Bill agreed. "How could he possibly think that letter would win Daniel over? There wasn't one apology for everything that has happened. He was making himself out to be a victim, and that he'd been maliciously kept away from Daniel."
"And what was that rubbish about me being his favourite niece?" Victoire snorted. "We barely know each other. Besides, it's no secret amongst the family that it's Aunt Ginny's kids he dotes on. One of hers will be his favourite niece, not me."
"I don't care what he thinks, the bloke is a crack pot," Daniel declared, picking up the letter and heading over to the fireplace, where he threw it into the fire and used magic to light it. "I will not be revoking the restraining order. Not now, not ever."
"Let's just hope that Ron gets the message this time," Hermione muttered. Given how deluded Ron's letter seemed to be, she wasn't betting on him just giving up and leaving things as they stood.
"Oh, he'll get the message alright, I'll make sure of that," Draco vowed in a low voice. He was going to make sure that Weasley never bothered his wife and son again, even if it meant revisiting his dark past and showing a side of himself that he'd buried a long time ago.