The worst part about being an auror is the paperwork. There are too many forms to complete, and that’s even after Kingsley had Percy work on streamlining things. Ron really hates writing reports, too. There had been a movement nearly twenty years ago to replace quills and ink wells with Muggle writing utensils, but too many wizards were traditional and so the effort failed. He thinks he might have to mention it to Hermione and Harry, see if they can try again now that some of those old arseholes are no longer working anymore. There might be a way to strategize the implementation since it’d definitely save on cleaning charms and the cost of ink.
Since this is his least favorite part of the job, he procrastinates and puts it off until Harry gives him that disappointed look followed by a pointed stare at the pile of folders on his desk. He got that look this morning when he mentioned checking on some of his subordinates who were staking out a pub nearby, so he knew that meant an afternoon of ink stains and paper cuts instead of enjoying a pint with his underlings. It’s not a fair trade-off at all, and he can only blame himself for getting so far behind. Well, he can actually blame Harry for knowing him so well that it’s second nature to know the ways to get him to do work he doesn’t enjoy doing.
A knock on the door interrupts his various ideas on how to get even with Harry for inadvertently causing so many paper cuts. When he glances up, he’s surprised to see the man in question standing there looking confused and curious. Not a good combination when they’re on Harry’s face. Ron knows this from experience. “Alright, Harry?”
“Oh, yes.” Harry nods but still looks confused. “You have a visitor, though. I don’t recall any cases that involve Malfoy. Did you get a lead on something?”
“Malfoy?” Ron blinks. Surely the prat isn’t actually planning to confront him at the bloody Ministry. “Uh no. You can just send him on his way. He probably meant some other Weasley. You know he’s been addle brained since the war.”
Harry snorts but covers it up with a cough. “Not that Malfoy. The younger one. Scorpius,” he explains. “He’s not involved in anything, is he? He’s friendly with the kids, you know, and I was just concerned that maybe something’s wrong.”
Scorpius is here? Ron tightens his grip on his quill and shakes his head. “No, he’s not involved in any cases. You know I’d let you know if any of the kids get involved in mischief. I don’t know why he’s here.” It’s the truth. It’s the first time Scorpius has ever been to his office, and Ron’s slightly anxious because it’s dangerous for him to be there without a reason. Harry’s curiosity is a dangerous thing, especially as they get older and don’t have so many adventures to keep them entertained.
Harry frowns and turns to look behind him. “This is Ron’s office, Scorpius. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Scorpius walks past Harry, and Ron’s surprised to see that he’s wearing an old robe that looks like it might actually have come from Ron’s wardrobe. It’s definitely too big and ill-fitting to be something his boy would usually wear. When Scorpius looks up, Ron snaps the quill at the sight of a black eye and busted lip. “What happened?” he demanded quietly, standing up so quickly his chair rolls back into the cabinet.
“I don’t want to interrupt your work,” Scorpius says, glancing at Harry then back at Ron. It’s obvious he must have intended to sneak in without getting caught.
“Scorpius, if someone attacked you, we can help you file a report,” Harry tells him, stepping closer so he can check the damage. Scorpius gives Ron a desperate look, which makes his arms itch to go hold him.
“It’s alright, Harry. I can handle it.” Ron walks around his desk and reaches Scorpius, tilting his head back to inspect the eye. His anger at whomever did this to his boy makes his hands shake slightly, but he’s rather proud that he’s managed to control his temper enough to not just go off on a tangent.
“Ron?” Harry is looking between him and Scorpius, a thoughtful expression on his face as his spectacles slide down his nose. Ron can practically see the moment he seems to realize why Scorpius came to him, green eyes widening slightly as a nerve in his jaw starts to twitch. “So, it’s like that, is it?”
Ron straightens his shoulders and gives Harry a defiant look. “Yeah, it’s like that,” he says, stepping closer to Scorpius as if his body can protect him from a verbal attack if that’s what Harry decides to do.
Harry slowly nods. “Alright then.” He pushes his spectacles up and nods once. “Ginny and I’ll expect you for dinner soon. Both of you. Now deal with this and file a report if it’s necessary.”
Before Ron can reply, Harry’s leaving the office and closing the door behind him to give them some privacy. As soon as the door is shut, Ron is pulling Scorpius into his arms. “Bloody hell, pretty boy. What happened? Did your father do this?”
“Father?” Scorpius laughs then cringes because the action makes his lips pull in what must be a painful way. “No. He’d never raise a hand to me.”
“Tell me who did this then.” Ron walks them over to the sofa in his office, sitting down and pulling his boy onto his lap.
“I can’t say, Daddy.” Scorpius ducks his head and plays with the zipper of Ron’s auror’s robes. “You’ll be upset. I just had to see you. You’re not going to break-up with me, are you?”
“Fuck no.” Ron frowns. “Why would you even think such a thing?”
Scorpius looks up at him, lips curved into a frown as he sighs. “Rosie dropped by your place today to use your computer and found me there,” he admits quietly. “Since I was just wearing my underpants, she figured out pretty easily why I was there. She, uh, didn’t take it very well.”
“Rose did this to you?” Ron’s torn between pride that his daughter remembered all the self-defense lessons she’s been taught and anger at her for using those lessons to beat up someone who didn’t pose a threat.
“She knew I was seeing an older man, but she didn’t know it was her dad. It’s not her fault she lashed out when she realized.” Scorpius shrugs a shoulder. “She knows better than just about anyone, and she knows my history with men. She accused me of several things that I’m guilty of doing in the past with other men, and she loves you a lot, Ronald. I thought maybe she’d come to see you after leaving me, and I’ve been so scared you’d listen to her and believe her and that you’d leave me.”
“I don’t care how upset she is, she shouldn’t have punched you.” Rose is his daughter, though, and her emotions can occasionally lead to her being too physical. Hugo’s lucky to take after Hermione, using his words to attack instead of his fists. Ron sighs and rubs Scorpius’ back. “I’m sorry she took out her anger on you.”
“I, uh, might have deserved it,” Scorpius says, smiling wryly. “I was pretty annoyed, too, and I don’t even know what I said to her, but some of it wasn’t that nice. That’s the thing with best friends, you know? We know each other’s weaknesses, and we can always strike where we aim when we want to.”
“There’s still no excuse for violence.” Ron is going to have a chat with his daughter. She might be too old to ground, but she needs to know he doesn’t appreciate her punching someone. “As for the rest of it, I’m not a kid, Scorpius. I’m also not stupid, regardless of what some people seem to think. I know how you approached me at that club, and it wasn’t how someone new to the scene would behave. That’s all in your past now. It doesn’t affect us.”
“It should. I was with several men,” Scorpius points out. “I never led them on, but a couple of them were wealthy, and I accepted gifts and dated them despite having other men I was seeing, too.”
Ron rubs the bridge of his nose. “Why should it matter? Are you still seeing other men? Are you going to leave me if I don’t buy you presents?”
“Of course not.” Scorpius looks offended at the question. “There hasn’t been anyone else since you, Daddy. I tried telling Rose that, but she wasn’t in the mood to listen.”
“We’ll deal with Rose. She’s my daughter, and I love her very much, but I’m not going to allow her to dictate who I can and cannot date. Knowing my little girl, she’s probably angry at me for not telling her, for choosing her best friend, and she took it out on you as a way to hurt me,” he says, knowing it’s something Rose would probably do.
“It looks worse than it feels. She’s got a hard punch, but the lip was actually my fault because I tried to avoid her second punch and tripped.” Scorpius shakes his head. “When I fell, she freaked out and started to cry and it was just messy. I don’t like drama very much.”
“Who does? She just punched you then? No magic?” Ron remembers the pecking of birds attacking him all those years ago and shudders. “No birds?”
Scorpius frowns. “Birds? No, no magic. She just realized and said some things and I said some things then punch. She’s got a mean right hook.” He looks up at Ron. “Did you really mean it? About not giving me up even if she doesn’t like it?”
“I hate birds,” Ron mutters, reaching up to stroke Scorpius’ jaw. “Of course I meant it, pretty boy. We talked about it before, and we know there are probably going to be people who don’t approve once we’re ready for that step. I’d hoped my children would be supportive, but they’ll either come around or I’ll figure out how to deal with it. By the way, why were you in my flat in the middle of the day in your underwear?”
“I only had to work half a day because my godfather had meetings. I’d just finished a shower when Rose came in. I thought it was you when I heard the floo, so I might have made a suggestive comment about my mouth and your cock.” He snorts. “I figure that helped put Rosie in a bad mood because I certainly wouldn’t want to think about my father’s cock near anyone’s mouth.”
Ron groans and rubs his hand over his face. “You’re just now telling me that bit? Well, at least you weren’t naked. Those are my robes, aren’t they?”
“Almost naked but not quite. And, yes, I grabbed them before I came here because I was scared and had to see you. I’m sorry to bother you at work, Ronald.” Scorpius kisses his cheek. “I didn’t think anyone would notice me, but Potter’s a damn ghost. He just appeared and wanted to know where I was going.”
“Yeah, he’s good at stuff like that.” Ron kisses Scorpius lightly, careful of his lip. “Did you want me to heal those? I’m pretty good at basic medicharms. In our line of business, we always master the basics.”
“That’d be brilliant, Daddy.” Scorpius slowly smiles. “But maybe not yet. You’re in your auror robes, and I could easily be complaining about auror brutality, couldn’t I? Threatening to file charges against your violent men, but I’d be willing to reconsider if you give me what I want.”
“You could actually threaten to press charges on my daughter, and I’m relieved you’re not that vindictive even if the girl deserves a bit of a scare.” Ron gives Scorpius a look. “To make up for my daughter’s behavior, why don’t I bring my robes home tonight, and we can play whatever game you’re concocting in that wicked mind of yours? Harry knows you’re here, and I expect it won’t be too long before he casually comes in to check on us and make sure we’re not naked.”
“You have really great ideas.” Scorpius smiles, wincing at the way his lip pulls. Ron doesn’t even care about games or whatever he might be planning. He waves his wand, murmuring the charm to fix his lip, at least. Then he kisses it to make sure it’s healed. Scorpius runs his fingers through his hair. “I don’t really want to go back yet. Can I just sit here for a while?”
“Sure. I have to get back work, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.” Ron kisses him again, a real kiss this time, pulling back before it leads to nakedness and shagging on his work sofa. Harry knows him extremely well, but he also knows Harry, and he expects that surprise visit anytime now just to try to catch them doing something inappropriate for the teasing leverage it’d gain him. Scorpius wiggles off his lap, so Ron gets up and returns to the pile of folders.
“That’s a mess.” Scorpius has followed him, and he’s staring at the desk with huge eyes. “No wonder you can’t get anything finished. You’re completely disorganized, Ronald. Here, let me fix this. It’s making me twitchy. You’ve got more ink on the desk than the paperwork. How are you a functioning adult with the inability to organize paperwork?”
Ron sits in his chair and smiles as he listens to Scorpius insult his organizational skills and become more of a swotty Ravenclaw than he’s displayed before. It’s rather adorable, not that he’ll admit it. He watches his boy reorganize everything, thinking about Rose and disapproval and trying not to get anxious about how he’s going to deal with that without losing either his daughter or his lover.
End
A Surprise Visit
Story Notes:
11/6/14