Ron jerked back, and I swallowed a warning that I’d been about to shout. I swung my hand to my pocket, and the lack of a thin wooden stick, smooth against my rough fingers, brought tears to my eyes. Ron saw that it was gone, saw my horror, and gave me a long stare of overwhelming fear. I’d lost him. He’d lost me. We were together, again, after years of bipolar friendship, after years of love.
I wanted to hold his hand and feel like it was an anchor to bravery. When was the last time we’d fought like this for our lives? Where was Harry? He’d be upset, later, at the idea of us fighting without him at our sides.
Goyle came in first, and I reacted instinctively, jumping on him and trying to grab his wand. He stabbed his wand into the air towards where Rose and Scorpius were hiding, and I dove and pulled it towards the wall. A bolt of red light left a crater in the drywall. I choked back the horror of that crater being where my daughter sat in the arms of her boyfriend.
I heard a shout, and with a well-placed elbow to the middle of Goyle’s spine, I stood, and saw Ron, and Harry, fighting his three goons. Ginny was in the hall, firing spell after spell into the corridor I couldn’t see. Then there was silence, and we were all staring at each other over the frozen forms of our enemies. Lily came from behind an overturned desk in the hallway, followed by Dominique. Ginny took her hand and pulled her into the room, before pulling me into a hug. Lily helped Rose and Scorpius out of their hiding place before pulling them both into a touching embrace.
I smiled. This was the happy ending that we’d fought for. I pulled Ron in, and gave him a long kiss. We were winning again. We were young. We were in love. We were alive.
****
The years passed me by, Hugo grew, Rose got engaged right out of school, and we held the first Weasley-Malfoy wedding ever on a beautiful spring day. Lily was a happy maid of honor, and she disappeared with her boyfriend right after the ceremony, her old crush on the groom forgotten. Hugo married a Muggleborn, the smartest in her class, and Ron was stunned by the power of dejá vu for months after. Harry and Ginny were, as they always had been, our best friends. Albus and James were bachelors for years, until one day Albus brought home his girlfriend for Christmas and married her two weeks later.
The next generation had fought their battles. I reflected constantly on being seventeen and being in my thirties and facing losing everything. Ron learned to recognize my memory lane face and gave me a kiss meant for infatuated thirteen year olds, not the old people we were whenever he saw it.
It always worked.
****
ROSE’s POV
****
The world was silent. The windows were shut, the curtains drawn, the lamps on and the living room alight with the glow of a wood-burning fire. The smell of home drifted past my nose. The smell of Scorpius and our baby and all the memories we’d begun to build into this house.
The crib was warm with baby warmth, the soft blankets piled up against soft skin. The soft music from a Muggle device Grandma Granger had sent for her first great-grandchild echoed around the room. The glow of the nightlight was pink and the room was pink and the third Lily known to my family slept in her crib. Lily Malfoy. Lily Potter. Lily Evans. The craziness of her family history would most likely embarrass her someday at school. But I imagined how her laugh would be beautiful and how her face would charm so many boys that her father would lock her in her room most summers and holidays.
Scorpius pulled me away from the bedroom where my angel slept, and into the living room. A Muggle stereo played Sinatra throughout the house, and we started to waltz.
–This song . . . so true. You don’t leave my mind. Ever. You haven’t, since the day my father pulled me aside and said I could kiss any girl in school I wanted, just as long as I didn’t kiss the one girl I grew up to marry,†he sighed into my ear. –Silly man. I never thought I’d survive, you know. Those few months after our first kiss. Either Goyle would kill me or Draco would. But our fathers drank together on our wedding day. They made a truce. And now their grandchildren will be related.â€
smiled. This was his victory speech. He must have given it every week for the first three years of our matrimony.
Mum and Dad had their problems, and their problems made for a rather exciting third year. But that was years ago. Now was happy. Now was life. Now was Scorpius, Lily, and love.
My Brave Face by grangergirl35
Chapter Notes: This is short, but sweet. It shows what you all wanted to know, and it ends my first fanfiction. Maybe it's not enough for some of you, but it's enough for me. Sorry for my inconsistency with updating, but I am thankful to all my reviewers and readers that gave me the confidence to write. Let's keep in mind that Rowling gave birth to all these characters, and my own imagination isn't in question here. Thanks to Rowling for a universe that makes magic real to all of us. :D
Chapter Endnotes: Review!