Celestial Being

Draco came downstairs late enough to be rude, especially since Andromeda had always insisted he and his mother be present for guests. But today was the one day each year every one of Andromeda’s and the king’s closest friends gathered at Grimmauld Place. All of the younger adults would have been on the guest list for the equinox ball and it felt like tempting fate for Draco to show his face to them.

So he dawdled.

Grimmauld Place did not have a formal ballroom. The large drawing room next to the small dining room were combined in purpose and Draco could hear everyone chattering and being merry inside them. He took the long route round, looping through a hallway that would take him to the library, then he could go through the back door to the short hall to the kitchen stairs, before looping through to the dining room and the presents. Probably he could hide there for a good hour, making sure he was seen just enough to make folks think he’d been there the whole time. Maybe he’d pop down to the kitchen and scrounge up a plate of food so he’d have something to do with his hands, and to eliminate any reason to brave the larger space.

It should have been a good plan, an excellent plan, but as he approached the library door he heard talking.

“It’d do you no good, Harry, he’d know I was asking for you,” said Ronald Weasley, presumably to the king.

“C’mon, you could get him to give it to you,” King Harry cajoled.

An only vaguely familiar voice chimed in. “Really, Harry. You need to let this go. If the man wanted to be found he would have left some clue, or just given you his name.”

The king growled out his frustrations. Apparently he was just as cantankerous with his friends as with anyone else. “Only George has the full guest list and he won’t let me see it. I bet he knows who the man is and is just lying about it. They spent half the night together for christ’s sake.”

Oh fuck. The king was talking about Draco.

Now Ronald was laughing about it. “Who knew it was possible for you to pine over someone. You’ve always been the love it and leave it sort. Emphasis leaving it with scandal in your wake.”

“I’m not pining,” the king growled again, noticeably not refuting the broader attack on his character.

“You are, a little bit,” the woman with them said matter of factly. “I imagine it’s you compensating for feeling bad over Charlie.”

“I don’t feel bad over Charlie!” there was that overly defensive tone again. Draco was overhearing an argument that had been had many times over. One he wasn’t meant to be privy to.

“Oy, that’s my brother. You should feel a bit bad about what a prick you were to him.”

Right. Draco should go. He did not want to hear this. Well, maybe he did. Quite a lot. And while he dithered over his decision to leave, the king spoke on.

“I was always completely honest in my intentions. I never so much as suggested it was going anywhere. I certainly made sure he knew we weren’t exclusive. Why is it my fault that he expected I would change my mind?”

The air hung heavy with the weight of King Harry’s frustration. Then the woman, clearly the braver of the two friends, said, “You know what changed, Harry. When we came here your sexuality was an open secret, but now you’ve committed to a same sex marriage. I suppose he thought you might have done so for him.”

King Harry groaned, and Draco heard the thump of a person who may have dropped down to his chair. “Why can’t I have done it for me?” he asked bitterly.

Draco did leave then, rapidly. He was embarrassed he had stayed to hear so much. He was embarrassed about the fluttering in his stomach.

With the back entrance off the table, Draco faced the music and strode into the main room. What Draco expected, what he wanted, was to find his mother in the corner where they traditionally stood together to be ignored. It had worked for the last two years, and he saw no reason to spoil the pattern. Except, his mother wasn’t in the corner. She was seated next to cousin Xeno and they were talking fervently. Draco really couldn’t blame her, since it was he who selfishly abandoned her. Only he wanted to blame her because what was he to do now.

He was spared that decision when Luna popped up next to him just as stealthily as she had nearly a year ago. “You got a haircut,” she remarked. She rubbed her hand over his head with the same childlike curiosity that Lucy had. “It’s very soft now. And dashing.”

Draco scowled. “It’s silly,” he insisted.

Luna hummed. “Then why did you do it?”

Draco’s scowl deepened. “I’m starving, have they set out the cake?”

Luna looped her arm through Draco’s and began walking so that it would have been rude for Draco not to go with her. “You still owe me pies. You think I’ve forgotten but I have the memory of an elephant.”

“What do you know about elephants,” Draco said with a snort.

“They’re wise creatures,” Luna said airly, “and they’re fond of picnics. You will throw me one, won’t you?”

“A picnic?” Draco asked.

Luna nodded. “Certainly. Make enough pies for thirteen. It’s such a lucky number.”

Draco didn’t have time to be gobsmacked because they’d reached the food table and Luna was loading him up a plate. She took nothing for herself, but stole liberally from Draco, who wasn’t really that hungry and didn’t mind at all.

They didn’t quite end up in a corner, just against the wall. They stood silently and ignored, only Luna’s presence at his side was comforting. This somehow ended up exactly as he wanted.

Draco was able to watch the room. He saw Percy’s children playing with their cousins, and Teddy leading a pack of smaller children running around the room. The adults all stood on the sidelines, socializing, with the occasional fond glance towards the little ones. The only adult in the thick of it was George Weasley, who was in the middle of the room fiddling with a contraption.

“What’s he up to?” Draco asked Luna, pointing at the occupied Weasley.

Luna shrugged. “He’s more committed to pranks than sense,” she remarked.

Draco glanced at her in surprise. “I can’t imagine what that means coming from you.”

Luna waved him off. “You would understand if you got to know him. He’s fun for a time, but I don’t think he’s got it in him to pursue a serious occupation.”

“Luna, your father is an alchemist,” Draco tried to make a point.

Luna missed it entirely. “Yes, his dedication to the craft is admirable. I aspire to find my own calling.”

Draco watched as George finished fiddling and let out a loud and victorious, “Whoop!” The children all crowded round him shouting excitedly so that George could show them how to use the crank he’d attached to wind up the toy until it popped open. A jolly green troll shot out, and all the kids screeched and scattered, but only until the crank started slowly unwinding and the troll box began to play a catchy tune made from the sound of metal clanking.

“What’s not serious about that?” Draco asked Luna, who did seem to ponder the question.

There were more presents, and finally cake, paired with singing and many shouts of congratulations to Teddy. Finally, King Harry lifted Teddy up on his hip and he and Andromeda stood at the front of the room to make a toast to Teddy’s beloved parents, Remus and Nymphadora. It was tradition now for Draco not to participate as the others honored their dead.

This was normally the end of the speeches, but this year the king hoisted Edward up a bit further and smiled at him with all the joy and pride an actual father would bestow upon their son.

“This is a very special birthday for Teddy,” he told the crowd of his closest friends. “Andromeda and I have discussed it, and I’ve made up my mind. Now that I’ve made it clear that I will not be directly producing heirs,” he winked at the crowd and most everyone laughed, “I am formally announcing that my one true heir is Edward Remus Lupin.” There was a collective gasp, followed by the most enthusiastic cheering. Draco flinched back from the noise. Teddy clapped along in King Harry’s arms, not understanding but enjoying the celebration.

Andromeda waved for silence once more. It came quick enough to show that Draco wasn’t alone in seeing her as formidable. “Harry forgot to mention,” she said, “that this decision has already been ratified by the small council, who will soon announce their decision to the court.” there were more murmurs of excitement. Draco didn’t follow politics, but his father had once been chair of the small council Draco knew he’d leveraged its power to control the kingdom. Andromeda gave Harry a sly smile. “The only condition is that he proves his commitment to ensuring a lasting peace without any, ahem, ‘directly produced heirs’ to compete against his decision. He will do so by marrying a man before the end of this year.”

The gasps were louder. Then George roared out in laughter, and those who dared to joined in.