Date
Written for @hinnymicrofic, December prompt 28: Rose
Harry opened the door to his home and there was a path of rose petals to the bedroom.
“Aw, Harry!” Ginny let out.
He quickly shook his head and took out his wand. “No, this wasn’t me.”
Ginny waited as he did a spell on it, but it did not appear to have any kind of enchantment on it.
“I did,” James said, stepping into the room. “I thought it would be nice for you to have a romantic evening and I’ll—I’ll make myself scarce.”
They closed the door and walked into the living room. He shared a look with his wife, who nodded.
“And where will you be heading?” Ginny asked firmly.
James looked between them. “Well, I thought… there is this girl I like and I asked if she was free tonight.”
Harry folded his arms. “You could have just asked us.”
“Well, I didn’t want to be a bother.” He looked up to them innocently.
“You will be allowed to go, but we will need to sit down and have a talk first,” Harry said.
“Or you can not go at all,” Ginny suggested.
James gritted his teeth. “Fine.”
He sat down with James and put down some ground rules, then he sent his son to get ready and wear something nice.
Harry got up from the couch and let out a big sigh as Ginny walked back in the room. “I was not ready for that conversation.”
Ginny smiled at him. “I think you handled that pretty well.”
“Thanks.” He looked at the rose petals. “It would be a shame not to take advantage of an empty house when he went through all this effort for our romantic night.”
Ginny chuckled. “I think you’re right.”
James had quickly escaped up to his bedroom after his ‘date’. Harry got off the couch and went upstairs to talk to his oldest.
“James, can I come in?” he asked softly at the door.
It was silent for a moment. “…Yes.”
He popped his head in and watched his son sit with his head bowed on the side of his bed, looking a little defeated. “How did it go?” he asked carefully.
James let out a big sigh. “Well, I don’t think it could have gotten any more embarrassing.”
Harry sat down beside him and nodded. “What happened?”
“You know I am usually pretty confident and bold but she is so cool and…” He buried his face in his hands.
Harry could just see his incredibly red ears. “I’m sure it was not as bad as you think,” he offered.
“You don’t know that,” James said, looking back up at him. “I suddenly became a complete klutz, I was mortified. How many times do you think someone can trip over their own feet? Because I beat that record.” He shook his head, staring off into the distance. “And I inherited the Weasley blush so I can’t even hide that I’m bloody embarrassed when my face is this red!” He took a deep breath in and looked at his dad desperately. “I can never recover from this.”
Harry smiled. “You take after your mum.”
“What?” James asked warily.
“Your mum became incredibly clumsy whenever she spotted me.” Harry fondly thought back to a certain elbow in a butter dish. “And you see, it worked out for her.”
James blinked a few times, then he shook his head. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. I don’t believe it.”
“I promise you, I am not.” He patted James’s shoulder a bit awkwardly. “I’m sure she thought it was charming.”
