Albie Potter (albie_potter) wrote in 20somethings, @ 2021-12-19 17:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | c: albus potter, c: juliet nott, c: scorpius malfoy, d: 2027 12, ~ complete, Ω: rp |
RP: Story time at Flourish and Blotts
Who: Albie, Orion, Juliet, Scorpius
What: A forgotten chapter of two lives comes to light.
When: 19 December 2027
Where: Flourish and Blotts
Warnings: Language
Completion status: Complete
Albie’s Christmas jumper had a large green Christmas tree on the front and several sparkly pom poms acting as baubles. He hadn’t intended to wear it today, but Orion had spotted it hanging over the back of a chair and how exactly was he supposed to turn down an order to wear it from his favourite toddler?
With Christmas looming and Lyra’s due date almost as imminent, Albie and Scorpius had volunteered for the best uncle babysitting services. The Christmas storytime at Flourish and Blotts that she’d suggested seemed like a good way to keep the little guy occupied for a while and maybe do a bit of last-minute shopping.
Frankly, if Albie hadn’t purchased for his mother a stack of parenting books that had been published in the last twenty years then he would have been disappointed in himself.
There were lots of kids and parents in the shop today, as was to be expected. It seemed that Albie was the special chosen one today as Orion insisted that he was the one that needed to sit with him on the carpet. Not that Ori was going to sit still - once Albie was cross-legged on the ground, he made a great climbing frame for the two-year-old rascal.
“Careful,” he warned as a tiny elbow jabbed him in the face while he simultaneously tried to stop Ori from falling. “We don’t want to take you back to Mummy with bruises.”
It was less that she'd volunteered to help with the Christmas storytime today and more that her parents had volunteered her, and Jules was certain that they'd only done so because they were feeling more and more confident about what she could handle with the more time she spent with Raziel and after having connected with her birth mother and learned a bit more about what she could do. Certainly, she could have protested, insisted that the Christmas crowds were still overwhelming for her, and it would have been true. But the fact was, she loved the children's storytime events. Kids were always so much easier to be around, and she had told Lyra about it and was hoping her friend would bring Orion about for it.
As it turned out, Orion had made it to the event, but Lyra was nowhere to be seen. Of course, this close to term, she couldn't exactly blame Lyra for not coming along, even if she were slightly disappointed. Orion was accompanied by Albie, who Jules recognized easily from seven years of sharing classes with him despite not being in the same house at Hogwarts, and it was quite strange seeing the two of them together. Most of the time when she saw Orion, he was either with Lyra or Scorpius, but as she cast glances at the pair throughout the storytime, something stirred in the back of her mind, though she couldn't quite put a finger on what it was.
When the story was finished and adults and children alike started standing to disperse, Jules rubbed her hands against her dusty pink skirt and then tugged her cream knit jumper down as she weaved her way through the crowd toward Albie and Orion.
"Hello Orion!" she greeted the toddler warmly first, smiling at him with an ease that still surprised her at times. Being around him lately often reminded her of that flash of vision she'd had with Raziel after their first date which had clearly shown a possible future, but as usual, she pushed the thought away. "And hi Albie," she added to the accompanying adult.
The story was pretty entertaining, captivating all but the youngest children. Even Albie found himself engaged and he only had to give Orion a few reminders to sit nicely. He’d only wandered away from Albie once, trying to get a closer look at the book that was being read. Satisfied that squiggles on a page weren’t too exciting, he’d rejoined Uncle Albie.
“Mummy’s going to be so pleased to hear that you were such a good boy,” Albie told Orion, pleased that he wasn’t immediately running away to find Uncle Scor. After the last few weeks, he had really come to appreciate spending time with his favourite tiny human; toddlers were so much less complicated than women, as far as he was concerned.
He looked up, surprised that Scorpius wasn’t the first to approach them. “Hi, Juliet,” he said warmly. Though he may not have known her well, he was always endeared to people who used his preferred name without any prompting. Albie grinned as he saw Orion’s quietly pleased expression. “He’s pleased to see you. Don’t be shy,” he encouraged, “say hello.”
Jules wasn't sure if Albie was encouraging her or Orion, but she supposed it didn't matter. The toddler was familiar enough with her that when she smiled at him again, he leaned away from Albie and toward her. "I was hoping your mum would come out today, but I'm always happy to see you!" she told the little boy.
She reached out to take Orion, lest he fully fling himself out of Albie's arms and toward her own. In doing so, one hand brushed against both Orion and Albie's arms at the same time, and the vision was quick, abrupt, and intense. It was a flash of music and motion, of Lyra and Albie, both nearly stumbling drunk, locked in a fumbling embrace.
Although she gasped, her eyes widening in surprise, she managed to take the toddler, propping him up on her hip. For nearly three years, she'd felt terrible for not being able to help Lyra figure out who had fathered Orion, but no amount of focus and trying to force a vision while touching Lyra had stirred anything. But with what she'd just seen, it seemed highly likely that Albie was Orion's father. What was she supposed to do with that? Lyra knew at least a little about what she could do, but Albie didn't.
"It's so great that Lyra can count on you to help with Ori, too," she told Albie. Was it possible that he knew but had chosen to be involved in this peripheral way through Scorpius? But no, she couldn't imagine he would be that sort of bloke, even if she'd technically never known him that well.
Albie noticed the gasp - he had honed some observational skills during his time as a bartender. Yet it didn’t seem like a gasp of pain, so he ruled out Ori accidentally kicking her. “You alright?” he checked, oblivious to the true reason for her gasp. “He’s not sticky or something, is he?” Even though he hadn’t had a snack since they’d left the manor, there was always a possibility of unexplained stickiness with a toddler.
“Ah, well.” Albie shrugged. “I like to help out where I can. Lyra’s like a second sister.” He’d known her nearly as long as he’d known Scorpius and was just as protective of her as he was of Lily. Maybe even more so after everything Lyra had been through in the last couple of years. Since he was about to have a new sister soon, too, it was good practice.
“Scor’s around somewhere,” he added, pulling his jumper straight. “Between the two of us, we can just about keep up with him.”
That he noticed and asked surprised Jules, and she shook her head. "No, Ori's good. Nothing to worry about," she assured him, smiling slightly in a way that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her mind was still spinning over the possibilities that vision had stirred up.
Jules couldn't help it, she'd never been great at masking her facial expressions, and she cringed when he referred to Lyra as like a sister. He couldn't possibly know that he was likely Orion's father if he thought of Lyra like a sister, right? She didn't want to think poorly of him. "Well, Lyra's fantastic and deserves all the support she can get." She worried about her friend, especially with another baby on the way.
"Speaking of…" Although she'd decided impulsively to ask about that night, now that she'd started, she hesitated. Orion fidgeted and bounced in her arms then, and she gave the antsy toddler another smile. "It's okay, little one, Aunt Pansy has some fun toys for you to play with." Looking at Albie again, she nodded her head to indicate that he should come along. "I'll let my dad know we're in the break room in case Scor comes looking." And it would give her a minute to figure out how to ask him about the night Lyra had conceived Orion.
“Good,” Albie murmured, a little less observant when it came to Juliet's smile as Ori said something that he didn’t quite catch. Something about wanting another story, he thought.
“Yeah, she does,” he agreed wholeheartedly. At the age of eleven he’d made a lifelong, though unexpected, friend in Scorpius. Lyra was part of that friendship too, the unlikely mixture of the Slytherin Potter and two Malfoys. “Not long now until you’re a big brother, Ori. You’re going to help look after the baby, aren’t you?” Albie thought that Orion was going to be a great big brother. He had excellent uncles to help him out too.
The promise of toys certainly piqued the two-year-old’s interest, his expression making Albie grin. “Sure, sounds good. Lead the way.”
The toddler nodded enthusiastically at Albie's question, apparently quite excited at the thought of a baby sibling. Jules hoped that continued once the baby was actually here, though she knew that sometimes toddlers could get rather territorial at that point. "He'll be the best big brother!" she declared with enough enthusiasm to rile Orion up a bit so that he was squirming to get down and move.
"Merlin, you're getting strong!" she said with a soft laugh, though she didn't release Orion just yet.
It was a short walk to the checkout counter where her dad was ringing up customers. She spoke with him quietly and briefly before she was leading Albie to the breakroom. The way her mother had set the room up, it was obvious that she was jonesing for grandchildren and more than happy to spoil the grandchildren of her closest friends, of which Draco and Astoria certainly were among. There were two small, round dining sets with two chairs each and a long couch stretched along a wall. A tall counter housed a small sink, a coffee pot, and tea kettle with a small refrigerator in the corner. On the far side of the room, however, was where all the fun was.
A toy chest rested against one wall and a short fence about two feet tall cordoned off the area, charmed so that not even toddler tornados would be able to knock it down. There were plenty of age appropriate toys about to keep Orion occupied. Once she'd set him down on the charmed side of the little fence, Jules went and sat at one of the round tables. "I've always felt terribly for Lyra that she doesn't know who Ori's father is. I know how much she'd have wanted him involved. Hey, were you at that party that night?" He had to know the one she was talking about, right?
Albie frowned, looking remarkably like his father. “Er, yeah?” He caught the reference. It hadn’t taken anyone much trouble to count backwards from Orion’s birth to deduce that he must have been conceived in December. “I’ll be honest, though, I went to a lot of parties that year.“ At the time, he had been fully ensconced in his wild child phase. After graduating he had started to push boundaries and although he wasn’t embarrassed by the things he‘d done, he sometimes wished that he’d made better decisions.
He sat in the other chair at the table with Juliet. “I wish I could remember more about that night.“ He had never been as blackout drunk since that party, even if it had sort of been tempting of late. Albie offered a sheepish smile. “I had way too much to drink.”
Oh gods, she was going to have to spell it out for him, wasn't she? Had it truly never occurred to him? "So did Lyra," she pointed out, eyebrows raising a bit emphatically. "I wasn't at that party." It had never been her thing, for many reasons, but she'd always regretted not going with Lyra that night. Though she supposed everything had worked out after all.
"Albie…" she began again, looking at him rather pointedly before glancing at Orion again. Was it her imagination or did the toddler look a bit like Albie? "Is it possible that you're Orion's father?" Even though it had the lilt of a question, it wasn't actually one. She couldn't come out and tell him that she was ninety-nine percent sure he was Orion's father because she'd seen a vision of the past with him and Lyra, could she? He'd think she was mad!
“Yeah, I heard,” Albie said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he started to feel as though he was being led down the garden path with no idea of the final destination.
It took him a moment to be sure that he’d heard Juliet’s question properly. He let out a bark of laughter; Albie had no idea what could have prompted that question. “Me? I think I would know if me and Lyra had ever… you know. Scor would have murdered me, for a start.” Of the two Malfoy siblings, there was only one who he’d ever daydreamed about and it wasn’t Lyra.
He looked over at Orion, wondering what Juliet saw. Albie didn’t like the way that she was looking at him either. Something reminded him of the way his mother looked at him when he was a kid and had caught him doing something wrong. It triggered a knot of guilt, even though he was sure he had nothing to feel guilty about.
“Anyway, if it’s the party I’m thinking of, that was the night of the…” Oh, holy fucking shit. Maybe there was something to regret. “Mystery Blonde.” The colour drained from his face.
It wasn't like Scorpius would know if neither Lyra nor Albie realized it, but she wasn't about to point that out. And the whole point was that both he and Lyra had been terribly inebriated that night, though she still couldn't quite understand how neither of them remembered sleeping with the other.
"Mmhmm," she murmured when he finally seemed to realize that, yes, it was certainly a strong possibility that he was Orion's father. "Maybe talk to Lyra and go get the test done to find out?" she suggested. Should she have talked to Lyra first? But once she'd had the vision, she didn't think she could have waited too long to say anything.
Albie’s brow furrowed as he tried to process the possibility, but the absolute ludicrousy of the idea that he could be Orion’s father was making him slightly hysterical. He laughed, despite knowing that this was very, very serious.
“What exactly am I supposed to say to her?” he asked desperately, hoping Juliet had an answer since she seemed to have some sort of insight here. “‘By the way, the anonymous jerk we’ve been bad-mouthing for the last two years might be me’? Something like that?” Albie exhaled shakily. Then there was Scorpius. Albie may not have remembered much about that party, but there were a few vague memories. He knew the Mystery Blonde was a blonde because of some stray strands of hair he’d found on his jeans and more than once he’d joked with his best friend that it must have been a good night because he’d found scratches on his back.
Despite herself, the question and ensuring option pulled a bark of laughter from her, and she shook her head at him. "Just tell her that I suggested it. That should be enough for her." Although she had no intention of explaining why, and she trusted that Lyra wouldn't either.
"I don't think Lyra or Scorpius will be upset with you. Lyra's always said that whoever it was must have been as gone as she was that night, and these things happen." At least he seemed to be open to the thought now. "And honestly, you've been a part of Orion's life from the start. Hardly a jerk." Not that she'd thought he felt that way about himself, but it would certainly be a major adjustment.
At her suggestion, Albie couldn’t help but be dubious. What sort of sway did Juliet have that Lyra would just accept that as an explanation? Maybe this was all a big joke.
But as he looked at his favourite tiny human in the world, Albie wondered if there were traits there that went deeper than just an influence of being in each other’s lives. “But I haven’t been a dad to him.” If he was Orion’s father. There had been so many times over the years that Albie had joked to him that he didn’t need a dad, that dads were rubbish. He’d always been critical of his own father and sort of promised himself that he’d do better one day.
Albie raked his hand back through his hair. “What if you’re wrong?” he asked quietly. If Lyra wasn’t the Mystery Blonde, the suggestion that he might have slept with her would still change their friendship.
"He's still young," Jules said encouragingly. Thad had been older than Orion was now when they'd been adopted, and even though he had some impressions from before, Jules rather thought his identity was in being a Nott. She hoped it would be similar for Orion.
Her brows furrowed at his question, though she reminded herself that Albie didn't know her like Lyra did. He didn't know about her visions and otherworldly sense. "I'm not wrong," she said simply, utterly and casually confident.
Thoughts flitted through Albie’s mind almost too fast for him to keep up with. He knew he had to do the right thing and see if Juliet’s intuition was correct but it was going to affect so many people, not just Lyra, Scorpius and Orion. Fuck, his mum was about to have a baby and now she had a grandchild? How did he even be a dad? And how had this all come to be in the first place? Had he made the first move? Had Lyra?
He blew out a breath, blinking green eyes. This was too much to take in. He touched his arm where his anchor tattoo was hidden beneath his festive jumper as though it might centre him. “This is… a lot.”
Her eyes softened with empathy, feeling his turmoil and confusion as clearly as if it was her own. "I know," she murmured, not sure there was anything else she could say to comfort or reassure him in that moment. "You'll sort it out though," she added with that same easy confidence.
“I hope you’re right.” Albie had often publicly treated responsibility as something that happened to other people, though the truth was hardly that simple. Under the bravado and flippancy that usually greeted the world was the young man who had renovated an old, neglected house from top to bottom nearly by himself. He cared about making things solid and dependable.
But this was a whole human being that he was half responsible for. How was anyone ever ready for that?
Scorpius always had this dream of finding the love of his life in Flourish & Blotts, so that he might be able to connect his happily ever after to his favorite Aunt and Uncle. With Orion happily occupied with Albie, he had taken advantage of the free time to scope out the customers.
After striking out more times than he’d like to admit, when he had gone looking for Albie and Orion. Thankfully Uncle Theo had been able to steer him in the right direction, to the backroom that they used as a break area. He was just in time to hear Albie hope that Juliet was right about something. “She usually is,” he said jovially as he sauntered into the room, making his way to the table. He didn’t take a seat, instead he stood just beside Albie’s chair. “Nap time is creepin’ on us,” he warned his friend, motioning with his head towards the toddler in the play area.
Despite not knowing Albie well outside their school years together, Juliet was completely confident that he would be a wonderful dad to Orion, especially now that he was going to find out for certain that he was, in fact, Orion's father. Before she could comment on the matter further, however, Scorpius arrived, and she smiled when he automatically confirmed that she was usually right about things.
She'd always loved when her closest people had that level of confidence in her.
"My mum got some new toys for the playpen and wanted Ori to be the first to try them out. She thinks she's being subtle, but honestly, both Peter and Thad being in serious relationships is making her antsy for more babies about." She sighed, shaking her head just a bit. It didn't occur to her that Pansy also felt that way about Juliet's relationship with Raziel. "Hopefully Lyra's newest little one will tide her over, as I imagine it will be a while yet before my brothers procreate." Her nose scrunched up a bit at the thought, though she had every confidence that her brothers would both be fantastic dads.
“So I’ve been told,” Albie said wryly, trying to pull himself together and not let his turmoil show. He didn’t want to let Scorpius know that something was… wrong wasn’t the correct word, Albie knew, but he didn’t know what the right one was. Not yet, anyway. He needed to speak to Lyra first. “He’s starting to get tired,” he agreed, noticing the tell-tale signs in Ori.
Fuck. He realised with a shock that if Juliet was somehow wrong he’d be heartbroken.
“Good for them.” Albie didn’t really know her brothers but the Notts had always struck him as good sorts. “Looks like Ori’s enjoying the toys. I’m sure he’ll be happy to come back for playtime.”
The Nott children with children of their own, man that’d be weird. Scorpius was too self absorbed in his thoughts of wanting his own future, finding someone for said future, that he was completely oblivious to the fact that anything could have been going on with Albie. He wasn’t being a very good friend, but then this always happened around the holidays. He yearned to bring someone to the family Christmas party, to share his life with. Somehow he was always single when December rolled around.
“Oh, the kids will totally be back for playtime. Ori loves hanging here, I can only assume the other little bean will too,” he said as he made his way across the room to scoop up the toddler in question. “What do you think, little dude? Should we get a book to read for naptime?” he asked excitedly, eyes lit up. He enjoyed the time he got to spend with Orion, he rather thought it was great practice for when he was able to finally settle down.
He didn’t wait for the toddler's response, making his way to the door. “We’ll be at the check out, Uncle Albie,” he motioned with his head out the door. “Did you need a minute?” he asked, assuming his friend had been flirting. What else would they have been doing talking alone at the table without the toddler? Clearly making adult plans for later.
Not for the first time, Jules had the thought that Scorpius was like a whirlwind, sweeping in, shaking things up, and then gone again. She looked a little bemused as he started out of the break room with Orion.
"It will be okay," she promised Albie quietly, a small smile on her lips, oblivious to Scor's assumptions about the conversation. She truly believed Lyra would be relieved that Orion's father wasn't actually some anonymous jerk.
“Yeah, I’ll catch up in a sec,” Albie said off-handedly, needing a moment longer to compose himself. This whole thing was daunting and gave him a headache. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Lyra when she was so close to having her baby.
Albie gave Jules a weak smile. “Time will tell. If you see my obituary in the paper next week, you’ll know it went pear-shaped.” He didn’t even know where to start with imagining how any of Orion’s grandparents might react.
He stood, tugging his jumper straight. “Thanks… I think?” This wasn’t what he’d expected from story time at a bookshop. “I guess Lyra will update you once we know.” He wished he had Juliet’s confidence in the matter.
Jules chuckled, not even a little worried that he would be killed, even jokingly. It wasn't as though Lyra had felt violated with Orion's conception, after all, and things happened sometimes.
"You're welcome," she replied simply. She was certain Lyra would update her and looked forward to that mystery being officially solved for her old friend. And she truly believed that only positive things would come of this.