"The Mudblood" One-Shots

Ashley's Baby Shower

Year: August 20th, 2005

Canonicity: Canon to "The Mudblood"

Point of View: first person, Lainey Fitzroy

Notes: This is the day after Harper and Harmony's wedding, so the day after the story ends.

"Why do I have to be here?" Melody Flemming griped, throwing her head over the back of her chair. We were seated in the corner of Malfoy Manor's dining room, watching from afar as Ashley Pucey unwrapped gifts for her soon-to-be-born baby. Since we hadn't technically been invited, Astoria had positioned us in a spot that was removed from the main group of ladies, all huddling around the table, ogling over the cute clothes and magical toys that Ashley had received. It was probably for the best, considering Vince Anderson, slouched in the chair beside mine, kept rolling his eyes and yawning dramatically every time the women giggled.

"It's Ashley's baby shower," Ryan Harper replied patiently to Melody as he fiddled with the Resurrection Stone in his hand.

With her harsh, dark makeup, the way Melody's green eyes narrowed looked truly demonic. "Why do I have to be here?"

"Relax, Melody," I chimed in quietly, my words nearly drowned out when Ashley unveiled a "Slytherin Quidditch" onesie and screamed. "The underworld can wait a few hours for your return. It's not like they'll die without you."

"Yeah, 'cause they're all already dead," Vince snorted, clapping sarcastically as Ashley displayed the onesie for all to see.

"We're actually in the middle of a civil war," Melody retorted bitterly, "and I'm missing all of the pain and suffering. There's too much smiling here. It's disgusting."

I jumped my eyebrows at the girl who still appeared to be seventeen. It was so strange to see her still a teenager when the rest of us had aged into our twenties. It was also strange to see her here, looking like a demon princess while the rest of us were clothed in mandatory green.

When summoning Melody an hour ago, we'd asked her to wear something more appropriate for the occasion, but, of course, she was still adorning her scanty black rags and the crown that symbolized her as the queen of hell. Or empress. Or was she Satan herself now? I could never be quite sure with Melody.

Regardless, Ryan had insisted that she stay, just like he'd insisted that we all attend Ashley's baby shower even though the rest of the guests were famous female Quidditch players. Ginny was here, forcing a smile with the rest of her colleagues as Ashley squealed about the Quidditch apparel her new baby would wear.

At the conclusion of the Harper wedding yesterday, Ginny had divulged to me that she would be officially retiring from professional Quidditch after the birth of her second child in two months. Ashley would be furious; she had continued to play Quidditch through her entire pregnancy, and I doubted she would stop for even a day after the baby was born. But now that Ginny was a mother, she didn't want to travel around the world to play Quidditch anymore, and I understood. Even though Teddy was older now and attending a local Muggle school, I still wished I could work less and be home more to spend time with him.

Currently, my son was sitting on the floor beside my chair, trying to teach his two-year-old cousin, James, how to play Exploding Snap. Obviously, the toddler wasn't comprehending the rules, but Teddy was patient with the boy, more patient than I'd ever been with anyone. His affable demeanor had to have been inherited from his real parents, otherwise, given that he'd grown up surrounded mostly by Slytherins, I wasn't quite sure where it could have originated from.