章 57: Meet The Parents, Gone (Slightly) Wrong
"Phoenix! Romulus! Cordelia!" Three pairs of footsteps were heard as Phoenix Lyra, Romulus Scorpius, and Cordelia Emma thundered down the stairs. Two Slytherin girls (of whom Draco was incredibly proud) and one Ravenclaw boy.
Phoenix, now eighteen, had come out to her parents as both pansexual and demigirl the year prior at fifteen; that is to say, partially but not wholly female. Both Hermione and Draco had agreed this didn't change a thing, although it did take Draco a little while to get used to using they/them pronouns for Phoenix. Hermione, having grown up in a Muggle school where there were a few older non-binary students, had a bit of an easier time with it.
Romulus (fifteen) had grown up with his nose in a book wherever he went; it was relatively obvious to both his parents he would end up a Ravenclaw. Despite looking exactly like Draco, the boy's mannerisms and attitude was exactly like his mother's.
Cordelia, the youngest of the bunch, was a vivacious, charming thirteen-year-old. She was a replica of her mother, sweet amber eyes and thick, bushy hair that cascaded down her back- but had inherited all of Draco's snarkiness as well as the aforementioned Malfoy charm. Her remarks were quick and vicious, and she was the first to attack out of the younger two should someone comment in a negative fashion on her older sibiling's gender. The family was preparing to greet Phoenix's girlfriend, a Ravenclaw by the name of Aline.
The Floo alarm sounded in the entryway of the castle and the family made their way to the front door to see a Vietnamese girl with short black hair and long red nails standing in the hallway. Hermione smiled.
"Aline, it must be?"
"Ah- yes, Mrs. Granger. And- oh." Her eye caught on Draco, standing rather farther away from the rest of the group. "Mister Malfoy, then."
Phoenix barrelled towards her girlfriend pulling her into a hug. "Hey."
"Hey to you too." Aline grinned, clearly much more at ease than with just Hermione and Draco. "So, your dad's Draco Malfoy, You-Know-Who's right hand man, huh?"
"Aline!"
"Sorry. Just- I have no filter."
"Sorry, Dad." Phoenix stared at the ground, suddenly finding the marble incredibly fascinating.
"It's alright. Why don't you come on in, Aline, I believe Hermione's prepared tea." With a bit of a forced smile, he headed in the direction of the tearoom.
***
"'Mione, she hates me." Draco turned into his wife's shoulder in the hallway outside the tearoom, where laughter from the kids could be heard.
"She didn't say that, sweetheart. I imagine she's just a tad bit shocked is all."
"Did you hear what she said?"
"I did. But I don't think she meant it seriously; it was just a joke."
"Wasn't a very good one." Draco mumbled.
"It's okay, Draco. Now, let's go back into that room and introduce ourselves properly."
***
"Is your dad really okay?" Aline leaned over to whisper into Phoenix's ear. Her girlfriend shook her head.
"That's his poker face. We all know what happened in the war, of course; he gets that face when he's thinking about something he doesn't want to think about and doesn't want to tell anyone else what the thing he doesn't want to think but is thinking about is."
"Well, shit. That's not how I planned for this to go."
"Me neither." Phoenix whispered, a miserable expression on her face.
***
As soon as the two elder Malfoys entered the room, Phoenix nudged Aline hard in the ribs. The black-haired girl yelped, almost spilling the tea in her hand, but said,
"Mister Malfoy, sorry for that joke of mine. Terribly inappropriate."
Hermione shot Draco a what-did-I-tell-you look out of the corner of her eye. Draco felt the knot in his stomach loosen a little. "No worries, Aline."
"How are you, Aline?"
"Good, thanks Mrs-"
"Hermione is fine."
"-Hermione." Aline finished. "So this is your house? Not a summer rental?"
"It's home." Phoenix grinned into her teacup.
"Why didn't you tell me you lived in a fucking castle? Oh, sorry-"
Cordelia waved a hand. "It's fine." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I gave up censoring swear words ages ago."
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to flip the hell out." Phoenix laughed.
"You were delaying the inevitable."
"I delayed it long enough, I think."
"I still can't believe it."
"Have you met Marie yet?"
"Who?" Aline squinted at Phoenix as if she was crazy.
"Marie, the resident ghost. Marie, come and say hi?" The ghostly form of the familiar woman in the fashion of over half a century ago appeared, sitting on Phoenix's other side.
"A resident ghost. I guess that shouldn't surprise me either."
"Finally got yourself a significant other, I see."
"Shush, Marie."
"I saw you practicing your coming out speech last year, you know."
"You practiced?" Aline shrieked and giggled at the same time that Phoenix said, "You were watching?"
"Yes, she did, and yes, I was."
"Bloody hell, could've told me a year ago." Phoenix muttered.
***
At the end of the meeting, Cordelia pulled Romulus and Aline to the side, whispering in her brother's ear,
"Back me up, okay?"
Aline crossed her arms. "Is this the bit where you tell me that if I hurt them, you'll kill me?"
Cordelia shook her head. "Not really. Vaguely, yes, but Phoenix is more than capable of doing the killing themselves. Possibly with a variety of hexes."
Aline looked rather pleased at that.
"This is because I want to tell you about the Death Eater stuff. And my dad."
Aline stiffened.
"He was sixteen. His dad was a jackass who forced him to sign up; whether he physically threatened to do something or whether it was the years and years of engraved pureblood mania I haven't been told. He did nothing willingly; there were going to kill my grandmother if he refused. He regrets everything he did, and is trying- trying so hard- to make it up. And I know that trying to be better doesn't excuse it, but maybe it can help make you understand a little bit more." Cordelia let it all out in one long exhale, letting Aline take it in as she captured her breath. Romulus nodded.
Aline took a breath. "That does help. Thanks, Cordelia."
The brown -haired girl smiled, relieved. "Call me Daisy."
***
Hermione smiled happily as the next morning came. She still remembered all those years ago when she thought for the very first time how wonderful it was to wake up like this; after doing so for years and years, she hadn't lost that feeling one bit.
On the horizon, an owl made its way over the treetops to the castle, the letter on it's leg bearing a crest that neither Hermione nor Draco had seen in years.
***
1. 'Black people commit more crime.'
-if you have a higher police presence in Black neighbourhoods, especially with a corrupt system and arrest quotas, than yes, Black crimes are more documented.
2. 'More white people are killed by cops than Black people.'
-there are 6 time more white people in America than Black people so yes, by sheer numbers they get killed by police more. But Black people are shot by cops at a rate 4 times higher than white people.
3. 'This is sad but I can't support rioting and looting.'
-Tell them if people are arrested and stopped from peacefully protesting, the only options left are to turn violent.
4. 'Blue Lives Matter'
-You can stop being a cop. You can't stop being Black. Getting hurt, shot, or killed while on the clock is an occupational hazard and cops knew that before signing up. Black people don't have a choice.
5. 'Many of those killed had prior criminal histories.'
-Many of the cops doing the killing have prior on-the-job murders on their records as well. I'm not sure who needs to hear this, but.. cops aren't supposed to kill people who are guilty.
6. 'If they just followed the law, they'd be fine.'
-even if they did commit a crime, that doesn't warrant a death sentence
-innocent people have been killed for 'fitting a description'
-the law protects white, not Black people
7. 'White people are killed by cops too.'
-no police officer has ever killed a person because they were white
-how are mass shooters taken in safely but unarmed men and women are shot dead?
8. 'Why can't they just peacefully protest?'
-they get shot at, tear gassed, and arrested
-MLK got assassinated
9. 'Not all cops kill or brutalize people.'
-but if those cops who didn't did, they wouldn't face any consequences anyways because of the broken law enforcement system
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