Burn it down

"Well, that went much better than expected. I was afraid that she would refuse to even consider going anywhere with her mother, no matter what she said. I suppose they were both ready to leave this behind them," Scorpius said, relieved. He had feared that Rose would draw out this conflict and punish her mother further. But it seemed that family love had won once again.

"And when the Minister apologises, she does it properly. I have never seen her look so awkward," Draco added with a laugh.

"Well, an apology was necessary. I understand why she was angry with me, in a fashion, but she should have dropped it after hearing the whole story."

"Are you planning to propose to her on Saturday or Sunday?" Draco asked with a glint in his eyes.

"What? What do you mean?" Scorpius asked, looking alarmed. Had he been that transparent?

"You should talk to her father first, that is the tradition. It shouldn't come as a great surprise to him, but it would be polite to at least talk to him before you do anything more. He works in Diagon Alley, so it isn't that far away. You should do the proposal on Sunday. A burning building in the background is not quite as romantic as a family dinner, even if it is the building where you first learned to love each other."

Scorpius blushed. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Of course not. Have you given any thought to what name you want to keep? I know I said that you should leave the Malfoy name behind, but that was before "Scorpius Malfoy" became the celebrity of the day."

"I have thought about it. And simply changing my name to a more popular wizarding family is not the way to go. If Rose wants to keep her name, she is free to do so, but I am not becoming a Weasley."

"So, you are planning to propose then?" Draco said with a knowing smile.

"Yes," Scorpius admitted grudgingly. "I just thought I was a bit less obvious than that. Do you think Rose suspects something?"

"I think she expects it to happen. But she may not expect it so quickly."

"I will go and talk to Ron Weasley tomorrow. You are right, I should do that. And I need to get a ring." Scorpius started thinking about all the things that were needed for the proposal and the burning of the manor.

***

Next day in Diagon Alley, Scorpius entered Weasley Wizard Wheezes. He located Ron, who just finished explaining something about Love Potions to a flock of giggling girls.

"Oh, hello there Scorpius. What can I help you with? I hope you are not here for a Love Potion? I don't think you need one of those."

"I am here to talk to you Mr. Weasley. Is there somewhere we can talk a bit, privately?" Scorpius asked, suddenly a bit nervous.

"Sure, up in my office," Ron replied. "Hey, George. I need a break. Can you take over for a few minutes?" George came out of the nearby room, smelling of gunpowder. He saw Scorpius, grinned, and nodded to Ron.

"Sure. Take as long as you need. Good to see you out and about Scorpius. Nice save. Few have been able to withstand Hermione when she has decided something should happen."

Scorpius grinned back. "You should have seen her apologising. It was quite the sight."

"Hah! I'd pay good Galleons to get to see that. Though I suppose she had to apologise. She was a little unreasonable,"

"Scorpius, we can talk up here," Ron said, pointing to a small room on the second floor.

The door was left slightly ajar. George couldn't hear what they were saying, but Ron grinned and hugged Scorpius. Scorpius took Ron's hands and thanked him. He then left quickly.

"What did he want?" George asked when Ron came back down, though he had a suspicion.

"Something he already has," Ron replied, smiling.

"Cool. When?"

"He didn't say. But I suspect it won't be long."

***

A large group of people had gathered outside Malfoy Manor. The barrier was gone, since everyone with the Mark had been removed from the building. In the front row were Scorpius, Draco, Rose, Albus, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Dean Thomas, and Luna Lovegood.

Scorpius stepped forward and started to speak. "Sonorus" "Honoured guests! As you may all know, this house is Malfoy Manor. It has been used over the centuries to do many evil deeds. In recent history it has twice been a gathering place for Death Eaters. Now, I find myself the owner of this manor. I do not want it. It is filled with the bad memories of hundreds of people. So, I invited you here today, all of you who have bad memories from this house or know someone who has. Together, we will burn the place down. Hopefully, this will remove the dark aura around this house, and make the area a place worth living again. Now, all those of you who want to lend a wand, please make a circle around the manor. That way, there will be fire coming from all sides."

It was quick work. Soon, the manor was engulfed in flames.

They say that at that precise moment, Brutus Malfoy turned mad in Azkaban.

It took a surprisingly short time before there was nothing left of the manor but the bottom of the dungeons. Scorpius himself Vanished those into nothingness. Professor McGonagall would have been proud.

"Well, I feel a lot better," Scorpius said when it was all over. "Strange how a little fire always makes things feel good."

"It was more than a little fire. It was a lot of fire. And it was glorious," Rose said as she hugged Scorpius, then ran over to talk to Albus. Hermione came over to where Scorpius was standing with Luna Lovegood. Luna looked like she may have dropped by accidentally.

"Thank you for letting this happen, Scorpius," Hermione said. "I haven't felt this good in a long time."

"You are very welcome. Now this may be a place to start a new life," Scorpius replied.

"A new life?" Luna asked curiously. "For whom?"

"For me," Scorpius said. "For my family"

"You are planning on getting one of those then? How nice," Luna said with her characteristic bluntness.

Scorpius blushed, glad to see that Rose was still with Albus and hadn't heard what Luna said.

Hermione laughed. "Yes, I suspect he plans on getting one of those very soon."

"I hope they are a good family. And that you will be happy. This burning made me happy," Luna said.

"It wouldn't take much to be better than the family I was born into. But yes, I consider them to be among the best families I know."

***

The next day they were all gathered at the Burrow. The whole Weasley clan was there, plus Scorpius and Draco. They were all eating, laughing, and celebrating. Rose sat next to her mother, with Scorpius on her other side. She was glad to see that the two got along and that they both seemed determined to move past the problems of the last weeks.

After a delicious dessert where Molly Weasley really showed her cooking skill, Scorpius got on his feet. "I would like to thank all of you. Thank you for the welcome I have received in this family. Thank you for believing in me. I know some of you already consider me part of your family. And I thank you for that. But there is one thing left to do before I can call myself one of you in truth. I didn't really get to do it properly before, so I would like to try this again."

He looked at Albus. Albus grinned and tossed him a small box. Everyone got quiet. Most of them realised what was coming.

Scorpius moved his chair, and got down on one knee, facing towards Rose. "Rose Granger-Weasley, will you marry me?"

Rose didn't reply, she simply threw herself into his arms. The whole group cheered. Scorpius and Rose emerged from under the table, blushing, but not moving away from each other. Ron took the initiative.

"A toast! For the newest member of our family, Scorpius Malfoy! For a man worthy of my only daughter."

"To Scorpius Malfoy, the hero," Ginny added,

"To Scorpius, my son who has redeemed the Malfoy name," Draco added.

"To Scorpius Malfoy, the one that saved our lives and more," Hermione added with a smile.