Albie Potter (albie_potter) wrote in 20somethings, @ 2021-12-25 11:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | c: albus potter, c: ginny weasley, d: 2027 12, ~ complete, Ω: rp |
RP: Family time
Who: Albie and Ginny
What: Albie has some news to give his mum
When: Christmas Eve, 2027
Where: Blaise (and Ginny)‘s country house
Warnings: Some language
Status: Complete
How to do this. Albie had wrestled with how he might initiate this conversation, one of a series of very serious conversations that he’d had over the last few days.
His first instinct had been to go flippant, to get his increasingly pregnant mother some sort of novelty gift that congratulated her on being a grandma. Maybe a mug with Orion’s sweet little face on it. A face that he now knew he was half-responsible for creating.
Since they’d had confirmation of Juliet’s surprising insight from a Healer, he’d spent hours scrolling through the hundreds of photos of Orion that he had on his phone looking for features that his son might have inherited from him. He still wasn’t completely sure whether he had found anything or if he was just looking for something that made the last couple of years make sense. Sometimes he’d paused, sure he could see his mum’s smile on the little boy’s face.
“Mum?” Albie cleared his throat, thinking that he sounded about twelve. “I need to tell you something.” His brow furrowed. Discovering all of this just before Christmas wasn’t ideal, but it was meant to be a time for family. “You might want to sit down.”
When Blaise had suggested she invite her kids over to the country house to do dinner and gifts on Christmas Eve, Ginny had jumped at the chance. It was her home now, too, as she'd sublet her flat and moved in with Blaise, and she was definitely reaching the nesting phase of her pregnancy. It wasn't often she was able to get all three of her kids together at the same time, and she couldn't exactly guarantee it would happen tonight either, but she was hopeful.
Ginny was certain that the ball of dread that dropped in her belly at the way Albie pulled her aside was something that would never go away. It was simply a part of being a parent, though it seemed amplified with the pregnancy. "Oh gods, what is it?" she asked, lowering herself to a rather comfortable sofa, one hand resting over her large, round stomach. It seemed she was going to have to work even harder to get her figure back after this pregnancy, she thought errantly.
“It’s not bad news,” Albie said quickly, not taking a seat himself until Ginny was settled. “I mean, it’s news but…” It could even be called surprising news, but Albie refused to think of it as bad news.
Sitting across from her on an armchair, Albie leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “So I’ve just found something out and I’m still trying to process everything because it’s kind of big, y’know?” He frowned, half-squinting because it felt awkward to look at her squarely. She had to know he wasn’t a virgin, right? But this was basically admitting that he’d had sex right to her face.
“You know Lyra Malfoy? And her son Orion?” Albie paused, anxiety making it hard to put together longer sentences. “It turns out Ori’s my son too.”
When he reassured her it wasn't bad news, Ginny allowed herself to relax a touch. It certainly seemed as though it was big news, but she trusted that if he said it wasn't bad, then it wasn't, and she didn't need to worry so much.
Of course, then he dropped the bomb on her, and she simply sat there, eyes wide, lips parted slightly, as she stared at him, trying to process what he'd told her. "Or… Orion? But isn't he two or three?" She couldn't remember how old the toddler was, but she knew the little boy was definitely not a baby, and how could Albie not have known? And then it occurred to her that she was pregnant. She was going to have another baby, and yet Albie had a son? How was she supposed to process that?
"Oh gods, I'm a grandmother," she finally whispered in mild horror, glancing down at her rounded belly, which was quite a bit larger than at this point in any of her previous pregnancies. Apparently that happened when one waited twenty years to have another baby. She looked at him. "You're a dad?" She leaned forward, reaching out to him with one hand. "How did you find out? How are you… coping?"
“He was two in September,” Albie explained, holding back a little so that he didn’t bombard her with details about how clever and brilliant he was. Even as Uncle Albie he could gush about how amazing Ori was.
Albie was sort of glad that Ginny’s initial reaction was shock because it meant she wasn’t shouting or angry. That still might come later, but for now he’d take the surprise. He took his mum’s hand, the movement letting some of his tattoos peek out from the cuff of his shirt.
“A mutual friend helped us join the dots on something that had been a bit of a mystery for us,” he confessed. “It was a Christmas party a few years ago. So we had a Healer confirm it.” He shrugged awkwardly, looking remarkably like his father, a special sort of Potter bewilderment that the world had dropped this responsibility in his lap. Albie was younger now than either of his parents had been when they’d had Jamie. “I’m… still trying to process it all. It’s a big change.”
Two years old! That still seemed like such a big deal. Two years of missed opportunities. Sure, she'd met Orion a small handful of times, what with Albie being best friends with Scorpius and Lyra having been a single mum, the boys helping her out quite a bit. Boys. Gods, she was going to have to stop thinking of them that way, wasn't she? Her baby boy had a boy of his own!
The scant details were easy enough to read between, Ginny easily deducing that they'd been inebriated at said Christmas party. "I can imagine," she murmured, nodding slightly. "Wow. Orion Malfoy is your son." She could hardly believe it. Saying it out loud was surreal. That little boy was part Malfoy, part Potter, part Weasley, and part Greengrass. How in the world had the universe not imploded?
"Do you think Lyra would let you bring him over sometime next week?" she asked curiously. She had no intention of yelling at him about irresponsibility. Frankly, Ginny knew she didn't have much of a leg to stand on there, considering her own unexpected pregnancy. But Blaise and Draco were still rather close, and she couldn't imagine Lyra having a problem with it.
This was going suspiciously smoothly, Albie thought. He wished he could have the same optimism about the parallel conversation that he would have to have with his dad but he really didn’t think that Harry would take the news that he shared a grandchild with Draco Malfoy well. A decade-long friendship between their children was probably still a head scratcher for him.
“Um, probably? Yeah, I expect so. We haven’t really talked about what all this is going to mean for Ori and me but… yeah. I don’t think that would be a problem.” He’d text Lyra later to see when it might be good for a visit. With her due date drawing closer, Albie would happily take the rambunctious toddler off her hands for a few hours if she was okay with it. “You’re going to love him,” he promised, hopeful that this would all be okay despite such a massive change in circumstances for himself and Lyra.
Was it the pregnancy hormones and the fierce sense of nesting she'd been experiencing lately making this go so smoothly? Or perhaps the fact that she was having Blaise Zabini's child? Whatever it was, she was certain she'd have a minor freakout about it at some point. Hopefully either once she was alone or while with just Blaise.
"Of course I will. He's a part of you," she said, her tone clearly conveying that it was obvious, even if the words were absurdly sappy. But Albie was a part of her, and Orion a part of him, and so of course she would love the toddler. "So that's two birthdays and two Christmases worth of gifts to make up for, including this one. Totally manageable. And he's already got to be spoiled, right? He's a Malfoy, after all," she said musingly, already looking forward to figuring out what sorts of things the toddler enjoyed.
“You’re getting soft in your old age, grandma,” Albie joked, though beneath the surface he was feeling emotional again. He sort of wished Scorpius was here - things felt easier with his best friend around, even if they were both shaken by this revelation. They were muddling through together.
“Maybe a little bit spoiled,” he relented. “His family adores him and Lyra’s such a good mum.” Albie flashed her a crooked smile. “He’s going to have you and Jamie and Lils wrapped around his little finger in no time.”
Ginny groaned at the moniker, her hand rubbing her belly where the baby was pressing her little foot outward. "Grandma," she sighed. "That's going to take some getting used to! Oh gods! Orion's older than one of his aunts." Considering her newest baby wasn't quite born yet.
"I'm sure he will! Gods, I really thought Jamie would be the first to have a baby," she commented absently. She was sure most everyone who knew her family had thought as much, as well. He'd certainly seemed the most interested in having a family of his own.
“Well, we don’t have to call you grandma,” Albie offered, releasing her hand so that he could sit back. “We can think of something else?” His smile turned cheeky. “Nan, nanna, grandmama…” Orion might even bestow his own special name on her.
Albie looked down at the carpet. Telling his brother and sister about this was going to be weird, too. “I thought he would too.” If things had gone differently with Becca, maybe they would have been planning a wedding or even already married. However, babies could still have been a few years off. “I don’t think anyone would have had money on it being me.”
His suggestions teased a soft chuckle from her. "We'll figure it out as we go along." None of the options were appealing at the moment, but she supposed she would settle into it as she had everything else in her life.
"Be that as it may, it's happened, and now we just move forward." She blinked then, a thought occurring to her. "I'd like to see Lucy's face when she finds out she's not the first of you cousins to have a baby after all." Though, had Albie heard about that yet? She knew Lucy had told some of the family but wasn't being particularly public about it yet. She wondered if her niece would be relieved or annoyed at the fact.
“Yeah.” He might not remember that night three years ago or what had led to him and Lyra hooking up, but it had a permanent effect on Albie’s life. Since his parents had been through a war, there had probably been plenty of parties that year that had ended in similar outcomes. “And I kinda broke up with the girl I was seeing before any of this happened. It’s been a big month.” It sort of felt like he was going to be starting the new year as a completely different person.
Albie frowned at the mention of his cousin. “Lucy?” He had a lot of cousins to keep up with, but just how out of the loop was he? Albie didn’t even know she was seeing anyone. “As in Uncle Percy’s Lucy?”
"Really?" Ginny said, perhaps a tad too pleased at the thought that he'd broken up with Maria Warrington. She made it a point to keep up with who her children were dating, and considering the Birdie had written about Albie and Maria recently, she was more clued in than she normally might have been. Needless to say, she'd not been impressed with what she'd heard about the girl.
Eyebrows rising, Ginny nodded. "Yes, Uncle Percy's Lucy," she confirmed. "It would seem us Weasleys are a fertile bunch. It's early days yet for her, but I know it came as quite the surprise." Because her niece had reached out to her for advice. She was relieved that Lucy was following her heart and hoped she wouldn't regret her decision. Though she also thought that Lucy hadn't been pressured into it the same way Ginny had all those years ago. She hoped so, anyway.
“Mm hm.” Albie didn’t really want to elaborate on the break up. With everything that had transpired since then, he still felt as though he had made the right decision. The last thing Maria needed was to be drawn into his new drama. Did she even like kids? Albie leaned towards No on that front.
“Well, shit.” He highly doubted that Lucy had planned that. Did it make him a bad person that he was slightly relieved that something like this could happen to even the most ruthlessly ambitious of the Slytherin cousins? “I hope she’s okay.” He meant that genuinely. Albie wished that he’d known about Lyra’s pregnancy with Ori sooner, whether he’d known he was the father or not. But she’d still been at school so any support he could have given one of his best friends was minimal.
“I have to tell Dad all about this later. I reckon that’s not going to go so well.” They both might need a stiff drink before Albie broached the topic. Since the portraits at Hogwarts liked to gossip, Uncle Charlie would find out before long. In 24 hours the whole family would likely know.
"I imagine she'll manage just fine. Resilient, she is," Ginny said with a small nod. There was no doubt that Lucy was her father's daughter, ambitious to a fault and rigidly determined to be the best at everything she endeavoured. Although Ginny had always had the impression that Lucy wasn't quite as tedious and pedantic about it all as Percy.
Leaning forward, Ginny patted Albie's forearm. "He might surprise you," she suggested hopefully. Harry had never been a terrible person, and he'd come to a sort of understanding with Draco ages ago, so it might not be as explosive as Albie was expecting. "And even if he does react poorly, it's a reflection of him, not you. You'll be a wonderful dad, now you know you are one." And she truly believed it, even if it was a strange paradigm shift. And if it helped Albie sort out his priorities a bit better, she wouldn't be disappointed. He'd been directionless, it seemed, for far longer than she'd hoped.
Albie couldn’t pinpoint when he’d first had doubts about his dad and their relationship, but it went back a long way. Though he looked similar to his father, he wasn’t the spitting image, first-born golden child. Nor was he the precious Auror-wannabe baby girl. He was stuck somewhere in the middle, burdened with the names of people who had been powerful men but not good men, not really.
He sighed, shoulders sagging. “Yeah, I guess so. I hope so.” Maybe his dad would surprise him and be supportive. That would be… nice? Albie managed a smile. “Alright, where does Blaise keep the good stuff? I need a drink before I tell Jamie and Lily.” The teasing would be merciless, he was sure.
Ginny chuckled softly and levered herself up off the sofa without saying anything. Nodding her head, she led Albie to a cabinet, tapped a few spots discreetly, and got out a rather nice bottle of whiskey. It wasn't the extra fancy stuff, but it was better quality than most of what they served at the Leaky Cauldron. And in this, she couldn't blame him for wanting a drink.
Her baby boy, a dad! Who'd have guessed!