A Malfoy 'Family' Christmas

Chapter Thirteen

We wish you a merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

~Christmas Carol

The group had quickly moved throughout the crowd and come to a table obviously claimed by Charlotte. She had expertly, yet quite obnoxiously, magically signed her name in the air over the table. Bellamy, Charlotte's twin obviously found it obnoxious because, as soon as the group arrived at the table and deposited the inebriated Charlotte in a nearby chair, he angrily waved his arm through the writing, causing it to dissipate. He then turned to Charlotte, slumped over in her chair, and gave her an exasperated look.

Rose would have loved to continue watching Char and Bell interact; it was a favourite pasttime of hers because of the twins' multitude of differences that often caused strife. However, the itch in Rose's mind as a result of Scorpius' strange statement pulled her away from the twins' antics. Instead, she focused on the crowd around her, scanning it for Lucius Malfoy.

When he'd said that Lucius would no longer be bothering her, had he meant that he wouldn't bother her because he wouldn't be near her for the rest of her stay? But then what did that mean? Was he banished to his bedroom? Forced, somehow, to stay away from her? Had he been sent home?

Questions raced through her mind. She quickly decided that, to answer at least some of those, she should try and find him at the party. He wouldn't voluntarily miss the 'social event of the year'. So if he wasn't there, something very serious had happened in regards to Lucius. He had to be at the party, it was extremely important.

Rose sat at the table and searched the crowd around her. Scorpius was right about one thing. The party was obviously extremely important to the wizarding elite. Everywhere she looked, she saw powerful and influential wizards: high-level Ministry officials, executives of Gringotts, best-selling authors, high-ranking aurors, and individuals of extreme wealth. Yet, no matter where she looked, she could not locate Lucius. After finding both Draco and Astoria a dozen times, and the author of her favourite novel series four, she began to realise that Lucius was not at the party.

Finally, deciding that she needed to talk to Scorpius about what exactly he'd meant, Rose turned back to the table. She was surprised when she found only herself, Albus, and Mia.

"Where did everyone go?" she asked.

"Bell, Char, and Geoff went to get food. Oliver went home and-" Al began. Rose interrupted him before he could finish.

"Oliver went home? Already?"

"What do you mean 'already'?" Mia interjected, "it's almost eleven thirty. He'd been here for over three hours before calling it a night. In fact, Al and I were just about to do the same." Rose balked. Almost eleven thirty? She'd been staring out into the crowd for three and a half hours?! It seemed nearly impossible, but then Rose remembered similar experiences she'd had while at work in the library. When she became engrossed in a task, time passed without her really noticing it.

"Where's Scorpius?" she asked, focusing back onto the task at hand. Al glared slightly at her before answering.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he looked pointedly at Rose, "Scorpius went with his dad somewhere about a half-hour ago." Rose then stood and headed back towards the house. Lucius' absence, and Scorpius' strange words around it, had gone from an anomaly to something much larger and stranger. There was no way someone who had ranted about the importance of the Malfoy name in other people's opinions would miss an opportunity to promote it and revel in it. Scorpius words were become more and more ominous.

Rose quickly searched the Malfoy town home, having become somewhat of an expert navigating it and no longer needing the map Scorpius had given her to find her way around. She now knew where all the rooms were and could easily think of a few places the pair, Scorpius and his father, could have gone. She quickly checked those places, finding them in the ornate study.

Without even thinking about the possibility that they had been having a private conversation, Rose walked into the room. Both blondes stared at her questioningly. Feeling emboldened by her sense of purpose, Rose forged ahead.

"You made a really weird comment to me earlier Scor, and I've since come to discover that Lucius Malfoy is absent from this very important party. I want to know what's going on and where he is."

Rose's statement hung in the air between the three of them. She could see the two Malfoys trying to come up with a way out of the situation, and instantly, Rose knew something was up. There was something neither Scorpius nor his father wanted to tell her. That just motivated her more.

"Are you sure?" Draco started, appearing a lot more collected than Scorpius, "I don't know what my son told you earlier, but are you sure Lucius isn't at the party? There are quite a few people down there. Perhaps you just kept missing him. My father would never willingly miss an event like this." The way he said willingly peaked Rose's interest. Lucius was unwillingly missing this party; suddenly Scorpius statement was making more sense.

"Willingly? So there's something keeping him away? Some reason he isn't here? Like maybe so he won't bother me any more?" Draco paled slightly. He hadn't expected Rose to pick up on so much from his statement. He'd obviously meant it to throw her off course and start doubting her resolve. However, she wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing. Her brain was almost hardwired to look for clues and anomalies to try and solve problems. Instantly, her brain had clamped on to the inclusion of the word 'willingly'.

Seeing his father at a loss, Scorpius tried another tactic.

"You seem oddly interested in where my grandfather is tonight. I'd thought after everything between you and him, you'd be glad to not see him tonight." He knew Rose's love of puzzles and hoped that, by implying the solution to this particular puzzle was not something she would want, she would drop it.

"Everyone who has talked about this party has said something about how it's the most important party of the year, the social event of the season. Everything Lucius had said this past week boils down to his, slightly twisted, concern over how your family is perceived by society. There is no way, as you both have said, that he'd miss this. It is the most excellent opportunity to talk up the Malfoy family and home, to gauge how society –or at least those members important to him- are perceiving the Malfoys.

"Logically, therefore, he should be here. But he isn't. I, apparently, spent several hours scanning the crowd for him, trying to figure out this mystery. He is not out in the backyard; I am 100% sure of that. Now, I know you two know why he isn't here and I'm not leaving, or letting you leave, until I get my answer. Where is Lucius Malfoy and why isn't he here?"

To emphasize her point about not leaving, Rose moved from standing before the study door. She found an empty plush chair beside Draco and plopped herself down onto it. She then gave Scorpius and his father a meaningful look and waited. There were several minutes of silence, in which Scorpius and Draco appeared to hold a silent conversation. Finally, Draco sighed in resignation and Scorpius turned to look at Rose.

"Last night, after my 'conversation' with Grandfather, we had a family discussion. There it was decided that my grandfather's extremely poor behaviour had gone too far. My grandmother and parents confronted him. They told him, for the time being, he was no longer welcome here. He was to pack his bags and head back to the Manor for the remainder for your stay. He was also told he was no longer welcome at the party and that anyone who asked about him would be told he was sick.

"He wasn't happy with any of it, but eventually conceded and headed home last night. We were hoping that you either wouldn't notice his absence or, if you did, that'd you'd be too pleased with his absence to care why." Scorpius finished his explanation by looking sheepishly at her.

Rose simply sat in her seat and processed. Lucius had been temporarily banished from his son's house. He hadn't even been allowed to attend what Rose had assumed would be one of his favourite events of the year. And she was the cause. The Malfoy family had chosen her. Instantly, guilt filled her being. She had, essentially, broken up a family over Christmas. It was absolutely terrible.

Rose was almost about to open her mouth and start apologizing for everything when the logical portion of her brain kicked in. She shouldn't be apologizing for anything because she had absolutely no fault in the situation. Lucius had been the one who had forced his family to make the choice. Narcissa had even warned him that if he couldn't keep his opinions to himself, he wouldn't be able to stay. Yet he pushed on and forced his family's hand.

The guilt lifted, a little bit.

Rose may not have felt as guilty about the whole situation, but she still felt strange staying at the Malfoy's when Lucius couldn't. Even though he'd been nothing but rude to her, he was still their family and this was the time for family to be together. It was with that reason in mind that, the morning after the party, Rose informed the remaining Malfoys' that she would be spending the rest of the holiday with her grandparents. She assured the Malfoys that the decision was perfectly hers and they had done nothing wrong. Still, she was sure that they didn't completely believe her.

After breakfast, she headed back upstairs and packed up her belongings. She was quite sad to leave, but knew it was the right thing to do.

Slowly, she headed down the stairs towards the kitchen and the fireplace to take her to the Burrow. Scorpius and his mother stood beside it, waiting to say goodbye. Draco sat at the worn kitchen table, reading through case files. Rose smiled at the sight.

"It was a pleasure having you here this past week," Astoria spoke, her voice light, but slightly sad, "I hope your stay wasn't too bad." Rose smiled warmly up at her.

"No, I had a great time. Thank you for having me." They all exchanged farewells and then Rose grabbed her trunk and a handful of floo powder. She stepped into the fireplace, called out 'the Burrow' and threw the powder down. A flash of green engulfed her and, when it dissipated, she was in the warm, slightly cluttered kitchen of the Burrow.

She dropped her trunk on the floor and collapsed into a chair at the table as the events of the past week washed over her. It sure had been an unforgettable Christmas with the Malfoys.

The End