"Daaaaad!" The blond haired girl, a streak of purple streaming from her right temple, turned from the glasses-wearing man in front of her, to the pale, blond man beside him. "Papa, make Dad stop teasing me about this. It's just a date, nothing serious - I don't even know if anything will come of it."
The blond looked amused. "I can't stop him. He does whatever he likes."
"Besides, Ari," said the glasses-bearing man, "I don't even know who this guy is. How do you expect me to react?"
"Daaaaad!" Ari whined. "I'm sixteen! Not ten! I'm starting my last year at Hogwarts." (In Ravenclaw, much to both parents' irritation.) "I can take care of myself, and Lance is..." she stared off into space. "Really dreamy." She giggled.
"Ari..." Harry warned. "At least bring him home." He paused. "Er...to meet us, I mean."
"All right."
Draco smiled. "Oh, and the least you could do is tell us his last name."
"Uh..." Ari smiled sheepishly. "Well...uh..."
Harry's eyes immediately narrowed. "You do know his last name, right?"
"Yeah...but..." she continued to object.
Draco stepped in. "Then what is it?"
"Wsly," she muttered reluctantly.
Harry, catching on faster than Draco, said, "_Oh_."
Draco took a moment to process the quickly muttered syllables, as well as Harry's heavily weighted response. "He's Ron's son?" he sputtered.
Ari looked up, blinking her big green eyes sheepishly. "Well...kinda...yeah..."
"Ron's son..." Harry muttered to himself. "Who'd he marry, I wonder? Haven't seen him in ages..."
Ari smiled weakly. "Umm.... well.... y'see.... Mr. Weasly kinda married Hermione Granger."
Harry looked shocked. "He married _who_?"
"Granger," Draco muttered. "Oh, no, you are _not_-"
Harry stuffed a nearby sock in his mouth. "Don't mind him. He doesn't really mean that, it's just old time rivalry. Go ahead and have fun."
Ari ran out the door, her artfully cut, deep purple cloak flying behind her, as Draco, calming down, spat out the sock.
"Harry, if you ever stuff a sock in my mouth again, I'll.... I'll..."
"Threaten me with a giant sea bass?" supplied Harry, grinning.
Draco turned red, this time with embarrassment, which quickly turned to an evil grin. "Yes - on you!"
"Ewww," was Harry's reply, as he wrinkled his nose. "Those things smell. Don't even think about dropping it in the house."
It took Draco a moment to realize Harry was joking, but when he did, he couldn't help but chuckle at the very good impression of a mutual acquaintance.
****
Lance grinned, passing the controller to the Magitech 3000 video game system - magically based, of course - to his younger brother Morgan. "Catch ya later, short stuff - I've got a date tonight."
Morgan, just at the age where girls were becoming interesting, leaned forward. "Is she hot?"
"Yeah," Lance grinned. "Great blond hair, great green eyes, and one hell of a body." He coughed. "Shouldn't be setting this example for you. Of course, she also has a pretty awesome personality. She's smart- in Ravenclaw. She's been the chaser for their team since her second year. She's really good on a broom. And I don't think she's scared of much of anything. Mention He Who Must Not Be Named- may his soul not come back to haunt us- around her, and she just gets mad. Dunno the full story there, but she really hates him."
Pushing his shoulder-length hair away from his face, he chuckled. "She won't tell me who her parents are, though.... I dunno why, either."
"Maybe it's a girl thing," Morgan suggested.
"Somehow I don't think so," Lance replied. "But I'm sure she'll tell sooner or later."
Shrugging, he stood up and gave Morgan a little wave. "Later, squirt." He left the room, and was about to walk out the front door when he heard his name being called. "Yeah, Mom? What is it?"
"Don't forget your wand." Hermione handed it to him.
"Oops," Lance said, running back in and grabbing the wand. "Catcha later, Mom, bye!"
Hermione chucked. "He's so scatterbrained." Smiling to herself, she walked away, to return to making dinner.
"Hey! Ari!" Lance grinned, waving to his girlfriend as she entered the park. "Got the food right here- come eat!"
Ari grinned. "I've got the entertainment," she said, chuckling, as she pulled a boombox out of thin air.
Lance grinned. "None of that Muggle pop Britney Steers or whatever her name is, right?"
Ari gaped, honestly shocked. "What, you think I'd listen to.... to.... her?" She shook her head vehemently. "No, the only muggle stuff I have is O-Town. They're this all boy band that's made up of these really hot guys. Plus, they can actually sing."
"Hey, I'm jealous," Lance said, mock hurt. "I'm not cute enough for you? I can sing, too, you know."
Ari laughed. "Well, yeah, I know you can, but you're not famous. I don't see YOU being picked for a boyband from almost two thousand contestants." A sparkle in her eyes let Lance know that she was just teasing.
"Awwww..." Lance said. "You don't think so? Well, no big deal. Not what I wanna do with my life anyway. Though it would be kinda fun for a time."
Ari couldn't help but laugh. Grabbing a sandwich from the bag Lance had brought, she stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmmph!" Lance objected. Pulling the sandwich out of his mouth, he continued, "Not that I object to eating, but a little warning before you do that."
"Oh? Why's that?" asked Ari, around a mouthful of sandwich.
"It's a little surprising to have a whole sandwich stuffed in your mouth." He paused, and then changed topics. "You know what Morgan did today? He was practicing for Quiddich, but some girl showed up from school. She was pretty cute, and he got distracted and ran his broom into a tree watching her!"
Lance paused, then suddenly choked on the tea he was drinking, doing his best not to spray it everywhere.
"I thought so," said Ari, smiling. "Watch him next time there's a cute girl around - I bet he doesn't notice. I'd also lay down money on the fact that he notices if a cute guy walks by."
Um." Lance agreed. "I hadn't noticed, but yeah, now that you mention it...when did you become an expert at spotting these things?"
"It's a girl thing." Ari took gulp of her pumpkin juice. This effectively closed off that part of the conversation.
Lance groaned, leaning back. "So...don't know much about your 'rents, but mine are driving me crazy. I guess it's a teen thing. But they're a bit overprotective. Guess it's cause my parents were good friends with Harry Potter. Cool, huh? Well, anyway, any lingering dark wizards might go after them, if they're too scared to go after Potter himself."
Ari sobered a moment, at the thought of dark wizards going after one of her fathers, but covered it swiftly with a grin. "I bet the famous auror Hermione Granger could take care of any Death Eaters who go after her family."
"Something wrong?" Lance asked, noticing the fleeting frown.
Ari shook her head. "No, nothing at all! Don't worry about it."
"All right..." he said doubtfully, and then brightened up. "But yeah, my mom kicks serious ass! Not that my dad doesn't, but she's cool! Annoying, but cool."
Laughter and music rang through the park as the two enjoyed their meal, never noticing the watcher behind the bushes.
"What are they talking about?" Morgan wondered, trying to climb up a tree. "I can't blackmail my brother if I can't hear him!"
A sudden crack of a key branch sent him tumbling down into what was most certainly close enough distance to hear what they were saying - since it was right in the middle of their picnic blanket.
"Um, hi..." Ari said, unsure what, exactly was going on. She had some idea this was a Weasley (as always, the hair gave it away), but having no siblings herself, didn't come to the immediate conclusion that Morgan was up to no good.
Lance, who did have siblings, had no such handicap. "MORGAN!" he yelled.
Morgan eeped. "Umm... hi, Lance?"
Lance just gave him a look. A look that told Morgan that he'd better run. Fast.
"What just happened there?" Ari asked, as Morgan high-tailed it out of the general vicinity.
Lance groaned. "A little brother. Spying on me, presumably for the purpose of teasing, curiosity, and/or blackmail."
Ari grinned; it was a grin that very few people recognized - and those who did, knew to run when they saw it. It was a Slytherin grin. "Well, then we'll just have to blackmail him, now won't we? After all, we know his little secret..."
Lance blinked. And thought. "My dear, you are positively evil! I love it!" He paused, and added, "And you."
Ari's smiled shifted, becoming softer, more gentle. "And I love you, you lugnut." Leaning in, she kissed him, sneaking her hand up behind his head, so that she could pull him down and give him a noogie.
"Ah! Hey! No fair!" Lance protested, struggling half-heartedly.
After a moment, Ari let up, and they kissed once more.
Lance sighed, glancing at the sun. "I think I'd better be getting you home, Ari." He stood up and began gathering their things. "Preferably before my brother tries to sneak up on us again. Tries being the operative word there."
Ari grinned. "You mean how he's crawling up behind those bushes," she said, pulling out her wand and pointing it unerringly towards the younger Weasley.
"Exactly. Ari, my sweet, would you care to tell my brother exactly what happens to younger brothers who stick their noses where they don't belong?"
"Most certainly, my sugar dumpling." With a swish of her wand and a muttered, "Wingardus leviosa," Morgan Weasley floated out of the bushes, struggling against imaginary bindings.
Lance grinned a little. "And maybe you'd also care to explain about the interesting information you have on him?"
"Ah, yes. So, Morgan, I heard you flew your broom into a tree? How is the guy-gazing going these days?"
Morgan turned a lovely (in Lance's opinion), if unnatural shade of white. "Wh-what? Whaddya mean?"
Ari snerked as Lance snickered. Aha! I was right! "You know exactly what I mean, Morgan. Hmm... Lance said it was a girl from school... I'd say probably Morrigan LeFay... I'm gonna guess that it's her brother, which would mean that you've fallen for that sex-on-legs-Adonis, Artos LeFay."
"Hey!" Lance protested a little, as Morgan got even paler. Ari patted his shoulder soothingly. "Not," she said conversationally, "That I think there's anything wrong with being gay. I have two fathers, you know." Lance looked at her, startled. He hadn't known that, but he guessed she'd used his reaction to Morgan to test the waters. "But it still makes good blackmail!" She cackled.
Morgan visibly relaxed at the realization that not only had they figured it out on their own, but they were also both okay with it. "Then, you're not going to hurt me?"
Ari smiled. "No, although it's not nice to spy on people. Especially pretty girls like me!" she giggled.
"Just remember," she continued, grinning maliciously, "we know now - if you don't want it getting out, then you'll have to be nice to us." Again, her smile softened, gentled. "But then, we also know now - if you ever need to talk, or need to turn to someone, we'll both be here."
"Really?" Morgan said, attaching himself to Ari's arm. "OK, I like her. You can marry her, Lance."
Ari stifled her laughter as long as possible, as she took in Lance's bug-eyed reaction to this. "I don't think we're planning anything like that yet, Morgan."
Lance visibly relaxed, and Ari hid her snickers behind some badly faked coughs. "Really?" Morgan looked disappointed. "But you'd be a cool big sister. So you're not going to marry him?"
"I didn't say that either," she replied. "But it's too early to decide anything. We haven't been dating all that long, although I really do like him. But I think Lance was going to take me home, before Papa has a heart attack cause I'm late. Dad's much more easy-going. Course, when he was younger, he got himself almost killed on an annual schedule, but..."
Lance, greatly relieved at the opportunity to escape his brother, put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "So we'd better hurry; I'll catch you at home later, 'k, squirt?" Ruffling Morgan's hair, they sent him running home as they gathered up the last of their picnic things.
"By the way, Lance, my parents threatened mayhem if I didn't at least bring you by to meet them...do you think you're up to that?"
Taking and kissing Ari's hand, he smiled. "Anything for you, my dear. Anything." At the dancing spark in her eyes, a chill ran down his spine. Why do I suddenly think that I'm in over my head?
"Dad? Papa?" Ari yelled, poking her head in the door of the old Malfoy mansion (which Draco had inherited when his father was imprisoned, along with other known death eaters). "Are either of you here?
Harry and Draco came down the grand staircase, then smiled to see the red-haired boy standing beside their daughter. "Hello, you must be Lance Weasley." Brushing his hair back in a seemingly innocent movement, he grinned as Lance's eyes bugged when they caught sight of the scar. "Welcome to Malfoy Manor."
"Guh-guh," Lance said. (Well, maybe said was too strong a word.)
"Daaaaaaaad!" Ari protested.
"Yes, Ari?" he inquired, the complete voice of innocence. As Ari fumed at him, Lance just stood there, staring.
"You... you're... you're the boy who lived?"
"No shit," Ari muttered under her breath. "And Dad, don't give me that innocent look." Harry didn't say anything, just grinned at her. "Papa, he's laughing at me!"
Draco was stifling his own laughter under a mock-stern gaze at his husband. "Harry, dear, don't torture our daughter like that!" he said, his chuckles threatening to bubble over at any minute.
"Papa, you're not helping," Ari scolded. "Though you just want to tease Dad, don't you?"
Lance was still trying to wrap his mind around the Harry Potter thing and had apparently missed the other half of Harry's announcement. "Please tell me you're not as auspicious as him," he said, pointing to Draco.
Draco immediately went mock-innocent, and it was all that Ari and Lance could do not to imagine a halo over his head. Ari practically threw her face into her hands.
"Auspicious? Me? Why, of course not! I'm only Draco Malfoy."
"My life is over," Ari muttered to herself. "My parents are out to scar my boyfriend for life!"
Lance had returned to his inarticulate mumbling at this announcement.
"Ari, honey," began Harry, dryly, "I think that your boyfriend has a bit of a problem dealing with celebrity."
"That and the idea of you two being together. Remember, his parents are still in a state of thinking Papa is a jerk and wanting to kill him."
A gleam began to shine in Draco's eyes. "Oh, they are, are they, now?"
Ari facefaulted. "Please, please, please, don't embarrass me..." she muttered. "Please..."
Harry grinned, the gleam in his eyes matching Draco's. "Well, then what better thing is there to do, than to play to this little... misconception?"
Ari threw her hands up in frustration. "I couldn't have had some nice, normal parents, could I? Maybe some nice Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw people? Instead I get the two of you, who are obviously evil."
"Draco, she thinks we're evil!" Harry said, mock-shocked.
"I'm wounded," Draco replied, falling over. "Hufflepuff indeed! Or Ravenclaw! Blasphemy! Our houses were much more preferable than Boring Goody-Two-Shoes House or Nerd House!"
"Hey!" Ari objected.
"What's wrong with Ravenclaw?" she continued, indignant. "I can think circles around the two of you, any day! Gryffindor bravery, Slytherin cunning, and Ravenclaw smarts - I'm better than the two of you combined!"
"Uh-huh," said Draco. "We'll see about that..." he winked at Harry. "After all, you might not want us playing practical jokes on your boyfriend's parents. Maybe you should use all that to stop us, hmmm?"
Harry smacked his hands together. "A contest!"
Ari dropped her face into her hands. "I'm cursed. Honestly, I'm cursed."
Lance, finally coming back to himself, patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I'll help, if you can use extra Gryffindor traits."
Ari smiled at her boyfriend, and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks, but the best thing you could do is not spill any of this to your parents, okay? I need this to be a fair contest."
"...All right," Lance said, doubtfully. "And now, if you don't mind, I think I'll go home. They-" he pointed vaguely in the direction of the two men, one smirking and one with an irrepressible grin. "-have just given me a bit of a shock."
Ari smiled, and embraced him. "I'll give you call later, okay?"
"Owl me," he replied. "My dad got mad at the 'muggle technology' again and disconnected the phone. Mom's not happy...well, she'll give it a couple of days and then have it up and running, as good as ever. But for now, I'm phone-less."
Ari grinned. "I didn't say I was going to use the phone." She pointed surreptitiously to the fireplace. "The other type of call."
"Ah," he replied. "Well, I'm off, then." He grabbed his broom from where he left it by the door. "Bye, Ari. Bye, psycho-parents." With that, he kicked off and quickly disappeared into the sky.
Ari turned to her parents, grinning evilly, the sign of her Slytherin heritage. "Well, then. The game is on."
"Right, then," Draco said, grabbing Harry by the elbow. "Come, let us go come up with some more psycho plots to make us psycho parents. He dragged Harry off, in the direction of the library.
"All right," Ari muttered. "Oh, and no magic allowed, guys! I'm not allowed to use it on vacation, so you don't get to, either."
"Fine!" Harry yelled back, as he was hauled around a corner.
Ari stared after them. "How do I always get myself into these situation? You'd think a girl would learn."
******
"So, Lance," Ron said conversationally over dinner. "You said you'd met Ari's parents? Are they nice? I'm glad you finally got to....very mysterious people, don't you think? Although they probably think the same thing about us, since you haven't brought her here to meet us." He fixed his son with that Parental Glare.
"Invite them over to dinner some time."
"Umm...... I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Her parents are a little... odd."
Lance!" This was from Hermione this time, cradling Lance's baby sister 'Rain on her lap. "That's not a very nice thing to say. Invite them over. I haven't gotten to talk to many women my age lately, and I've noticed that most wizards have neuroses. I don't care."
Lance exchanged glances with Morgan. "Um...well..."
Lance swallowed. "That's one of the things; she hasn't got a mother."
Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Did she get killed in the Wars? Wait, I thought you said she had two parents....?"
Lance nodded. "Umm... yeah.... she's got two fathers."
His other sister, Gala, at ten was just starting to figure out these things. She choked on the milk she was drinking. The rest of the family just stared.
Lance blinked. "C'mon, Mum, surely you know about that spell that was developed about... oh... a year before I was born?"
"Well, yes," Hermione admitted. "I had a bit of a hand in the research, truthfully. But I've never actually heard of any products of the spell existing until now."
"Well, you've heard of one now."
Yes," Hermione admitted. "I have." The news started sinking in and her eyes lit up. "That's pretty neat! Now I definitely must meet them!"
Lance blinked again. "Umm... Right.... well, I'll see what I can work out with them?"
"That sounds fine, dear," Hermione said, going back to her dinner. "How about this Sunday?" She elbowed Ron, who was still staring. "Wayne, dear, eat your peas."
Ron finally managed to pull himself together. "Right, Lance, like your mother said, how about this Sunday?"
Lance sighed, defeated. "Fine. This Sunday sounds fine."
"Mom? Dad?" Lance said, Wednesday night. "This is Ari." She waved, somewhat shyly from behind him. "She's in Ravenclaw; seventh year."
"Umm... hi." Ari's gaze swept over Hermione and Ron, Ravenclaw cleverness shining in her eyes; a hint of her Slytherin heritage showed through, as well, as she unconsciously sized up the two.
"It's nice to meet Lance's girlfriend," Hermione said. She cast a glance at Lance. "Finally."
"And it's an honor to be meeting such famous wizards," Ari replied, taking Hermione's hand. "Ari Pottefoy," she said, glancing at Lance. "That's my full name."
Hermione returned the handshake. "Yes, it is wonderful to finally meet you." She sent a glare towards Ron, who was eyeing Ari gaugingly; sharply, she said, "Isn't it?"
"Yeah..." Ron said, absently, not sounding very sincere. "You look like someone, but I can't quite place it..."
Ari sweatdropped. "Ah, I just have one of those faces..."
"No..." Ron said. "I'm sure I've seen your facial features before. And your eyes strike me as very familiar too..."
A moment of panic swept through Ari, before she relaxed as Ron shook his head. "I can't place it," he continued.
Lance also relaxed, but now he noticed that his mother had picked up where Ron had left off, and she was much sharper and more observant. "Actually, Ron, now that you mention it..." She took a step closer to Ari, and Ari stepped back nervously. Hermione was a rather imposing woman, and she was getting a bit too close for comfort.
Ari kept backing up under the onslaught - right until she tripped over the umbrella stand. As Hermione helped her up, apologizing profusely, Ron snapped his fingers. "That's it! You remined me of Fleur!"
Lance and Ari looked at each other. "Fleur?" they chorused.
"I'm sure that's not it," Hermione said, but gave up, looking away. "Ah! The potatoes are burning!"
Ron looked, amused, after his wife, then turned back to Lance and Ari. "She was part-veela; she was the Beauxbatons champion back when the Tri-Wizard cup was held at Hogwarts."
"And Ron had a crush on her," Hermione teased.
"And you were going out with the Durmstrang champion," Ron retorted. "And every girl in sight had declared it open season on Harry. Funny he never noticed.
"No kidding," said Hermione, making a face. "I thought some of them came on pretty strong." Lance and Ari looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Hermione and Ron shared a look; it was obvious that they were silently saying, "What's that about?" to each other, but then they shrugged. A second glance conveyed the message, "Ah, they're young."
"I know something you don't know," Lance grinned, pointing at his parents. "And I'm not telling." Hermione and Ron exchanged a curious glance, but finally silently decided to ignore their son.
Hermione gestured towards teh dining room. "Well, if there's no more conversation to be had here, dinner awaits."
Dinner was, as per usual at the Weasley house, a noise affair. The younger children fought, Rain wailed, and Lance tried to pretend he wasn't related.
Ari, used to the more subdued atmosphere of the Potter-Malfoy household, was shocked at the chaos of the dinner; finally, she managed to get a word into the conversation. "So, I heard that Lance mentioned how I'm the result of that spell that allows two men to have children."
"Oh, yes," Hermione said, perking up. "I helped out a bit on that spell, so it's quite nice getting to see some results." She considered. "Um. No offense meant. Were your parents excited, too?"
Ari smiled wryly. "You can say that they were excited about it.
"Oh?" Hermione asked. "That sounded less than completely serious."
"Well, you see, I-" Ari cut off, as she tried to say something, but only managed to mouth the words. "I-... I-...." She closed her eyes for a moment, said, "Excuse us a second," and pulled Lance bodily away from the table, and into the next room. "Dammit, they've put a spell on me!" she muttered.
"I thought you guys agreed not to do that," Lance said.
"Yeah," Ari said dismally. "But I should have expected this. Papa likes to play games like this, to keep me on my toes and teach me cleverness or something; I suppose it works. But if I confront them about breaking the rules, they'll just pretend they hadn't heard, or they forgot."
So what you need," Lance said, the wheels in his head turning, "Is something to force them to admit the truth." He grinned. It was a Slytherin grin. Coming from a Gryffindor, it was downright scary. "And I think I might have just the thing."
Ari blinked. She hadn't seen this particular look on Lance's face before. "What...?" she asked cautiously.
"Well," Lance said, "You can't perform the truth spell yourself- no magic during summer. But you can make one of them put the truth spell on the other- whether they refuse or agee, either way it'll prove that they did it."
"Brilliant!" Ari giggled, clapping her hands, and grabbing her broom. "Tell your parents that I had to go take care of some business and I'll be back in about half an hour. Give my apologies." She grabbed her broom from the entranceway and zoomed off, in true Potter tradition.
Lance watched after her for a moment. "Gods above and below, I love that girl, but she's a little too flighty..." Shaking his head, he walked back into the dining room, to make the apologies.
"Sorry," Ari apologized again, reentering the Weasley household half an hour later on the mark. She was paler than usual from the cold, two spots of color standing out on her cheeks. She was grinning though, despite just having flown at top speeds on a cold night, so Lance figured the confrontation had gone her way.
Sitting back down at the table, Ari continued on as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, as I was saying, I'm the result of the spell; my fathers were both very excited about it, since they both knew you from school..."
"I did? They did?" Hermione looked surprised. "Well, that might explain the familiarity..."
"Yeah, well..." Ari dissembled. "I don't know if you'd remember them."
Hermione was certain in her memory. "Try me," she remarked dryly.
"Well, Papa was in a different house, but Dad was in your year, in Gryffindor..."
"Doesn't leave many people..." Hermione said vaguely. Then her eyes widened, and she stepped closer to Ari again, peering into her eyes. "Harry?" she said, almost disbelievingly. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "That's why you were laughing! Oi, Ron, you are not going to believe this! Come here!"
"Not going to believe what?" questioned Ron, stepping in from the kitchen, where he'd been cleaning up.
Lance looked at her with an innocent gaze, faking ignorance.
"Don't look at me like that," Hermione said. "You knew all along! You could have told me she was the daughter of my one of my oldest and best friends! Why didn't you?"
"Huh?" Ron said.
"She's Harry's daughter! That's why she looks familiar! And Lance, explain yourself!"
"Well...uh..." Ari interrupted, "it's the other side of the family-"
Ari sighed, as she realized that she wouldn't be able to get a word into the 'conversation' that Hermione and Ron were now having with Lance. "I'll just be going home now." She hopped once more onto her broom, and swept away.
Draco smiled graciously. "Of course! Now, what is that delicious aroma?"
Hermione smiled. "Harry still doesn't cook well, does he? It's rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, baked apples, and other varied side dishes with less scent."
"Damn it," Ari muttered. She just knew her parents were trying to keep her distracted, so she couldn't think up a plan to break the news to Lance's parents (gently). Which also gave her no time to make it over there. First, Harry had mysteriously come up with a dentist appointment she didn't remember having. Then it was the "family dinner" with a distant Malfoy cousin, who was mostly a decent sort for a Malfoy, although he had a dreadful ego. Now it was a spontaneous shopping trip...she sighed, shifting Draco's latest purchase. And she got to be the bag girl while they went down Knockturn Alley, where she Wasn't Allowed. And everyone knew you didn't take anything of any value down Knockturn Alley. Including the new purchases. She wished they'd hurry up.
Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around. "Whoa!" Turning around, she saw Lance, and swept him into her embrace. "Lancey!"
"Lancey?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "I sense boredom. You're awfully grateful to see me."
"Parents. Knockturn Alley. Thus, me sitting here. Boredom ensued." "Knockturn Alley?" Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Your parents are conventional; mine aren't. Papa has been down there since he was a kid, says you can find all kinds of rare and cool stuff that's available nowhere else down there, and is not about to give it up because he is now Good. And Dad has never been conventional. He just doesn't see any issues."
Ari glanced around. "Speaking of parents... are yours around? I don't want to shock them into oblivion if they see my dads together."
"Provided they recognize either of them, since none of them have seen each other in forever." Lance pointed towards a bookstore. "Mom's in there and won't be out for a good two hours. As long as your parents don't catch wind of them being in there, she'll be out of the way. Dad's in the Quidditch store. Got bored of looking at books. I'm supposed to meet him in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch in fifteen minutes."
"Well, in that case, you go off and meet him before Dad and Papa see you here; if they know you're here, they'll guess your parents are." Ari glanced around again, her eyes widening when she saw Harry and Draco approaching. "Quick! Hide!"
"Wha-?"
"NOW!"
Lance yelped a little as he got shoved into a little knick-knack shop nearby. Ari, for her part, was thinking about her fathers' wonderful timing. They leave for over an hour and reappear within five minutes of her boyfriend's appearance. With more shopping bags. What fun.
Sighing, she stepped up to them, bags in hand. "All finished, then?"
"Yep!" Harry said cheerfully.
Draco smirked. "I've got some new wall hangings for the bat cave." Ari rolled her eyes. Apparently at some point, Harry had introduced Draco to the Muggle culture of Batman, and Draco had built his own magical "bat cave" under Malfoy mansion. It was mostly his brooding ground, since Harry had insisted on largely redecorating Malfoy Mansion. Draco complained that he missed all the black, but he didn't complain too loudly.
"Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, then?" Draco said.
It took all of Ari's self-control not to blurt out "No!" Instead, she carefully schooled her expression. "How about Muggle?" she suggested. "I haven't had good Chinese in awhile."
Harry nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Ari breathed a sigh of relief, then realized that she'd better get her parents through the Leaky Cauldron before Ron showed up there. "Gee, you know, I just realized how hungry I am!" She began to trot quickly towards the restaurant. "Come on, let's go!"
"Teenagers," muttered Draco. "Now tell me, Harry, were we ever that age?"
"No," Harry snerked. "We passed right over it; went from 11 to 23 overnight."
"You mean you turned into walking hormones," Ari called back, teasingly. She noticed Ron, a couple shops behind her parents, exiting the Quidditch shop at a leisurely pace, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Ari was practically pulling her hair out with frustration. Merely three days since the trip to Diagon Alley, and it had been five close calls; Lance and his parents were turning up everywhere that she went with her own.
She had to wonder if it was coincidence, but doubted it; once was chance, twice was coincidence and three times is conspiracy. She was far past the conspiracy point by now. It was either Fate or her parents using some spell to detect Weasley presence. Which was against the rules.
"Of course," she muttered under her breath, as she successfully maneuvered away from Lance, Hermione, and Ron, "That didn't stop them before."
"I need to start thinking more like a Slytherin," she muttered. "Poor Lance is getting run as haggard as I am by this. At least tomorrow it's over."
"Ari?" said Draco, turning to his daughter. "Your dad and I are gonna head home; do you wanna stick around here for a while, and meet us back there later?"
"Sure," she agreed. She didn't get to Muggle malls very often. It was like a whole other world of culture. Plus she was looking for a gown of some sort to wear to the next Yule Ball (which had become a sort of Hogwarts tradition, with or without the Tournament, and was now a masquerade) and knew that Muggle gowns were considered very exotic and beautiful in the wizard world.
In fact, she thought, Lance seems to be enchanted by that one over there...
Of course, it wouldn't be quite as much fun if he'd already seen the dress, but he did seem to like it a lot. Maybe she could find a similar one. Or maybe he was just bored...
Wandering lazily over, the young Ravenclaw wrapped her arms swiftly around her boyfriend, surprising him. "Guess who!" she exclaimed, eliciting a chuckle from the Gryffindor.
"Are you stalking me?" he asked dryly. "This is the fifth time now! London's a pretty big place, too!"
Ari made a face. "I think my parents are cheating again."
Lance, dryly, replied, "For some reason, that wouldn't surprise me."
"Evil, aren't they?" Ari agreed. "Well, since they went home, thankfully, I think I'll have another go at breaking the news gently to your mother."
"What about me?" asked Hermione, just catching the last couple of words.
"Oh, just wanted to mention about how both of my parents were seekers... They have a lot of great stories about games from when you were all back in school."
"Really?" Hermione said, interested, but not putting two and two together. (Since Harry and Draco had been the only two Seekers in their year.) "I remember how good Harry was. Your other father, too?"
"Yup," Ari said. "And I inherited the talent, I guess. I play for Ravenclaw."
"Actually," Ari said, hedging a bit on actually coming clean. "I'm the only Ravenclaw in the family. Don't ask where it came from; my parents are baffled, and both a bit put off. I think they had a bet going on whose house I would end up being in, and they both lost." She giggled a little at the memory of her ten-year-old self sending a message to her parents to let them know she was a Ravenclaw, and Draco writing back saying that it wasn't funny and to stop pulling their legs. Was she a Gryffindor or a Slytherin?
Hermione looked thoughtful a moment. "Oh, so he's a Hufflepuff, then? Not Justin Finch-Fletchly, by any chance? Though, of course, he wasn't ever a seeker..."
"Mom!" Morgan yelled, bursting out of a shop. "There's a creepy man over there! He's staring at me!" Ari caught a flash of blond hair as Draco took off around a corner, and groaned to herself as the Weasley family started milling about, trying to figure out what had been said. Well, at least Draco hadn't cheated...
Hermione soothed Morgan, as she looked up to where Ari was standing, sighing and shaking her head. "So, dear, what were you saying about your father?"
"Oh, nothing..."
In fact, Ari heard her parents calling from down the mall and realized she'd better hightail it to them before they got within sight and shocked all the Weasleys' hair white. Although she didn't really know how much Draco had changed, or if they'd even recognize him. Harry said that he had changed a lot, mostly in mannerisms. Harry, for his part, looked exactly like the textbook pictures of him. But in any event, she made her excuses to the Weasleys and headed down the hall.
Not a moment too soon, in fact, for she just managed to pull her parents into a shop -- thankfully, one where she could actually claim to have found something she wanted them to see -- before they could actually be seen by the Weasley's. "C'mon, Dad, Papa! I've wanted this CD for ages!"
"Parental warning?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"That's only cause they talk about magic and stuff and some Muggles are stupid," Ari clarified. "So, can I have it? Huh? For my birthday, maybe?" Ari was a Leo like Harry; in fact, her birthday fell two days after his, and he joked that she was a late birthday present. Harry still looked doubtful about the CD, but Draco had an amused smile on his face as he pulled out his wallet. "OK, early birthday present," he agreed, going to pay for it.
"Yay! Thank you, Papa!" Ari said. "Now let's go home so I can listen to it!"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at Draco, who shrugged. "If you insist, Ari..."
Yay!" she skipped out of the shop, and, keeping an eye on the Weasleys from the corner of her eye, led the way to the car.
The table was set, the candles were lit, and the Weasleys were waiting patiently for their guests to arrive; finally, the doorbell rang, and Hermione and Ron barely managed to hold back the stampede as Lance stately walked over and opened the door.
Hermione and Ron were greeted with the sight of Ari, a man they hadn't seen in over seventeen years, and...
"Hey, where's your other father?" Lance asked Ari. Harry stepped past them into the house, looking very stately as he took off his jacket. All three parents were trying not to make too much of an emotional scene. In the end, none of them succeeded.
After tears and hugs were over, and Harry apologized for having lost touch for so long, the family sat down to dinner. Harry apologized for his husband, who was working late at his job in the Department of 'Enemy Information' (a euphemism for spies) and would be along later. Hermione badgered him for more information, but Harry just smiled mysteriously.
As the dinner continued, Harry made small-talk with Herm and Ron, as they waited for Harry's husband to show up before engaging in any real discussion of the time they'd missed together; finally, the wait was postponed no more, as the door swung open, and Draco stepped flourishingly into the dining room.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, managing to sound semi-sincere. "Ministry business, you know...." The Weasleys just blinked at him- apparently he had changed a lot.
Harry smiled mysteriously. "Well, surely you recognize him, Hermione? Ron?"
"Recognize him, Harry?" said Ron, confused. "Ari did mention he went to school with us, but..."
Hermione thwacked Ron. "You idiot, you don't recognize our old nemesis?"
"Huh?" was Ron's only response. "Who? Did I miss something here?"
Ari sighed. "Mr. Weasley, allow me to introduce you to my papa: Draco Malfoy-Potter." Hermione looked smug.
"I thought it might be you, Malfoy. After all, there weren't any other seekers, besides Harry, in our year. And Ari certainly has the Slytherin cunning alongside the Gryffindor courage, so..." Smiling, she held out her hand. "It's been a long time since Hogwarts, and we've all grown up some; shall we let the past remain the past?"
"Guh," Ron said.
Draco smiled and kissed Hermione's hand gallantly. "Of course, my lady." Ron turned red.
Sputtering, he turned to Harry. "Harry, you... you... you married DRACO?"
Harry snerked. "Well, why wouldn't I? I couldn't very well let an old school rivalry rule the rest of my life, now could I?"
"Ye-" Ron started, before Hermione's hand covered his mouth.
"So, why don't we continue with dinner?" she said. "And while we're at it, you two can tell us how this rather surprising event occurred."
Hermione smiled, still with her hand over Ron's mouth. "Harry still doesn't cook well, does he? It's rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, baked apples, and other varied side dishes with less scent."
Draco's stomach made hungry noises, and he had the presence of mind to look embarrassed. "Umm... long day at the office."
Hermione laughed, finally taking her hand away from Ron's mouth with a warning glare. "It's all right. I think we all have those days. Now, if my dear husband thinks he can behave, you two can tell your story."
They sat down at the table, and began to tell the tale. "I was at the ministry one day," began Harry, "looking into some reports of dark wizards in Northern Scotland; Draco was there, of course, for work. We bumped into each other - literally - while in the dining hall."
"This was still during the war," Harry continued. "Right after I had told you two that we couldn't be friends anymore. And I really am sorry about that, but I didn't want you hurt and I didn't want you to be used against me." Hermione gave him a sympathetic look and Ron waved it away, apparently having calmed down. "So anyway, I was rather depressed."
"It was pouring off of him in waves," said Draco. "I could pretty much feel it across the room; in fact, that's what distracted me enough to not notice when he was approaching." He smiled. "Actually, though, the small bump I got that day is a small price to pay for what we've had since then."
Neither of them went on; Harry was smiling serenely and Draco smugly. Hermione kicked Harry under the table. "Care to elaborate?"
"OK, OK, no need to get violent!" he said.
"Anyway, Draco said something rude; I don't really remember what; and I said something rude back. He actually looked somewhat abashed; apparently he'd met some distant cousin a bit before that who'd managed to knock some sense into him-"
"Vega was my favorite cousin when I was little," Draco said, picking up the thread. "I always admired him greatly. To make a long story short, he was playing double agent for Dumbledore, pretending to spy for Voldemort. He managed to beat some sense into me, and I joined him.
"Now, between him and Snape, I certainly had a lot of spy influence as far as my mentors were concerned, and I took up being a double agent as well.
"As the orders from Voldemort were given to me, I was supposed to find the lonely Harry, pretend to be a changed man, and pretend to be his friend. Vega merely suggested that I try to truly be a friend."
Harry chuckled. "Try is a bit weak; it didn't take long before he and I started dating."
"Right," Draco agreed. "That's about it. I still work undercover sometimes keeping an eye on dark magic hot spots, but not as myself since I'm a known spy now. I use Polyjuice Potion and stuff. And obviously I survived spying on Voldemort."
Ari rolled her eyes. "No, we're sitting here listening to your ghost."
"No need to get sarcastic," Harry scolded.
Ari smirked. "Well, I learned it from the best."
"I certainly hope you don't mean Harry," said Hermione. "He couldn't find sarcasm in the dictionary between salt and sardonic."
"Of course not!" Ari said, stuffing some chicken in her mouth. "It's just a little Slytherin sarcasm, courtesy of Papa."
Draco and Hermione shared a grin. "You know, Hermione, you would have been as much at home in Slytherin as you were in Gryffindor; Ravenclaw wouldn't have been good for you, though, I don't think. They're too dry and stuffy, always got their nose stuck in books."
"Hey!" Ari protested. "I most certainly do _not_ always have my nose stuck in a book." She paused. "And you should try it someday; you might learn something. Like manners."
The dinner conversation quickly degenerated into some good-natured ribbing; with three of the four houses represented, it was definately not a one-sided battle.
As it grew dark, the house lights came on, creating a spot of light and laughter in the dark countryside. And Ari knew that everything was good, because the impromptu contest had been unspokenly deemed a tie, and more importantly, she had a boyfriend who loved her.
Author notes: Specifically on names. Some of you may have noticed we named all of the characters for people in the King Arthur legends. There is a reason for this. Specifically, the names in the actual books. At least three of the Weasleys (Arthur, Ginny, and Percy) and two of the Malfoys (Draco and Lucius) are Arthur references.
Arthur is obvious...
Lucius was a historical Roman king that the historical Arthur was believed to have fought
Ginny is quite possibly short for Guinivere, and Percy is short for Percival, one of the three knights who was pure enough to seek the Grail.
Draco is a celestial reference (like Lupin and Sirius). Arthur's full name was Arthur Pendragon, and the Arthur part of his name meant bear. Around King Arthur's time, Polaris reportedly moved from Draco (the dragon constellation) to Ursa (the bear.) Hmmm...a connection between the Weasleys and the Malfoys? Perhaps they were related at some point???
In our story: Lance= Lancelot; Rain= Igrain; Wayne= Gawain; Gala= Galahad. And Morgan obviously kept a name.
The blond looked amused. "I can't stop him. He does whatever he likes."
"Besides, Ari," said the glasses-bearing man, "I don't even know who this guy is. How do you expect me to react?"
"Daaaaad!" Ari whined. "I'm sixteen! Not ten! I'm starting my last year at Hogwarts." (In Ravenclaw, much to both parents' irritation.) "I can take care of myself, and Lance is..." she stared off into space. "Really dreamy." She giggled.
"Ari..." Harry warned. "At least bring him home." He paused. "Er...to meet us, I mean."
"All right."
Draco smiled. "Oh, and the least you could do is tell us his last name."
"Uh..." Ari smiled sheepishly. "Well...uh..."
Harry's eyes immediately narrowed. "You do know his last name, right?"
"Yeah...but..." she continued to object.
Draco stepped in. "Then what is it?"
"Wsly," she muttered reluctantly.
Harry, catching on faster than Draco, said, "_Oh_."
Draco took a moment to process the quickly muttered syllables, as well as Harry's heavily weighted response. "He's Ron's son?" he sputtered.
Ari looked up, blinking her big green eyes sheepishly. "Well...kinda...yeah..."
"Ron's son..." Harry muttered to himself. "Who'd he marry, I wonder? Haven't seen him in ages..."
Ari smiled weakly. "Umm.... well.... y'see.... Mr. Weasly kinda married Hermione Granger."
Harry looked shocked. "He married _who_?"
"Granger," Draco muttered. "Oh, no, you are _not_-"
Harry stuffed a nearby sock in his mouth. "Don't mind him. He doesn't really mean that, it's just old time rivalry. Go ahead and have fun."
Ari ran out the door, her artfully cut, deep purple cloak flying behind her, as Draco, calming down, spat out the sock.
"Harry, if you ever stuff a sock in my mouth again, I'll.... I'll..."
"Threaten me with a giant sea bass?" supplied Harry, grinning.
Draco turned red, this time with embarrassment, which quickly turned to an evil grin. "Yes - on you!"
"Ewww," was Harry's reply, as he wrinkled his nose. "Those things smell. Don't even think about dropping it in the house."
It took Draco a moment to realize Harry was joking, but when he did, he couldn't help but chuckle at the very good impression of a mutual acquaintance.
****
Lance grinned, passing the controller to the Magitech 3000 video game system - magically based, of course - to his younger brother Morgan. "Catch ya later, short stuff - I've got a date tonight."
Morgan, just at the age where girls were becoming interesting, leaned forward. "Is she hot?"
"Yeah," Lance grinned. "Great blond hair, great green eyes, and one hell of a body." He coughed. "Shouldn't be setting this example for you. Of course, she also has a pretty awesome personality. She's smart- in Ravenclaw. She's been the chaser for their team since her second year. She's really good on a broom. And I don't think she's scared of much of anything. Mention He Who Must Not Be Named- may his soul not come back to haunt us- around her, and she just gets mad. Dunno the full story there, but she really hates him."
Pushing his shoulder-length hair away from his face, he chuckled. "She won't tell me who her parents are, though.... I dunno why, either."
"Maybe it's a girl thing," Morgan suggested.
"Somehow I don't think so," Lance replied. "But I'm sure she'll tell sooner or later."
Shrugging, he stood up and gave Morgan a little wave. "Later, squirt." He left the room, and was about to walk out the front door when he heard his name being called. "Yeah, Mom? What is it?"
"Don't forget your wand." Hermione handed it to him.
"Oops," Lance said, running back in and grabbing the wand. "Catcha later, Mom, bye!"
Hermione chucked. "He's so scatterbrained." Smiling to herself, she walked away, to return to making dinner.
"Hey! Ari!" Lance grinned, waving to his girlfriend as she entered the park. "Got the food right here- come eat!"
Ari grinned. "I've got the entertainment," she said, chuckling, as she pulled a boombox out of thin air.
Lance grinned. "None of that Muggle pop Britney Steers or whatever her name is, right?"
Ari gaped, honestly shocked. "What, you think I'd listen to.... to.... her?" She shook her head vehemently. "No, the only muggle stuff I have is O-Town. They're this all boy band that's made up of these really hot guys. Plus, they can actually sing."
"Hey, I'm jealous," Lance said, mock hurt. "I'm not cute enough for you? I can sing, too, you know."
Ari laughed. "Well, yeah, I know you can, but you're not famous. I don't see YOU being picked for a boyband from almost two thousand contestants." A sparkle in her eyes let Lance know that she was just teasing.
"Awwww..." Lance said. "You don't think so? Well, no big deal. Not what I wanna do with my life anyway. Though it would be kinda fun for a time."
Ari couldn't help but laugh. Grabbing a sandwich from the bag Lance had brought, she stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmmph!" Lance objected. Pulling the sandwich out of his mouth, he continued, "Not that I object to eating, but a little warning before you do that."
"Oh? Why's that?" asked Ari, around a mouthful of sandwich.
"It's a little surprising to have a whole sandwich stuffed in your mouth." He paused, and then changed topics. "You know what Morgan did today? He was practicing for Quiddich, but some girl showed up from school. She was pretty cute, and he got distracted and ran his broom into a tree watching her!"
Lance paused, then suddenly choked on the tea he was drinking, doing his best not to spray it everywhere.
"I thought so," said Ari, smiling. "Watch him next time there's a cute girl around - I bet he doesn't notice. I'd also lay down money on the fact that he notices if a cute guy walks by."
Um." Lance agreed. "I hadn't noticed, but yeah, now that you mention it...when did you become an expert at spotting these things?"
"It's a girl thing." Ari took gulp of her pumpkin juice. This effectively closed off that part of the conversation.
Lance groaned, leaning back. "So...don't know much about your 'rents, but mine are driving me crazy. I guess it's a teen thing. But they're a bit overprotective. Guess it's cause my parents were good friends with Harry Potter. Cool, huh? Well, anyway, any lingering dark wizards might go after them, if they're too scared to go after Potter himself."
Ari sobered a moment, at the thought of dark wizards going after one of her fathers, but covered it swiftly with a grin. "I bet the famous auror Hermione Granger could take care of any Death Eaters who go after her family."
"Something wrong?" Lance asked, noticing the fleeting frown.
Ari shook her head. "No, nothing at all! Don't worry about it."
"All right..." he said doubtfully, and then brightened up. "But yeah, my mom kicks serious ass! Not that my dad doesn't, but she's cool! Annoying, but cool."
Laughter and music rang through the park as the two enjoyed their meal, never noticing the watcher behind the bushes.
"What are they talking about?" Morgan wondered, trying to climb up a tree. "I can't blackmail my brother if I can't hear him!"
A sudden crack of a key branch sent him tumbling down into what was most certainly close enough distance to hear what they were saying - since it was right in the middle of their picnic blanket.
"Um, hi..." Ari said, unsure what, exactly was going on. She had some idea this was a Weasley (as always, the hair gave it away), but having no siblings herself, didn't come to the immediate conclusion that Morgan was up to no good.
Lance, who did have siblings, had no such handicap. "MORGAN!" he yelled.
Morgan eeped. "Umm... hi, Lance?"
Lance just gave him a look. A look that told Morgan that he'd better run. Fast.
"What just happened there?" Ari asked, as Morgan high-tailed it out of the general vicinity.
Lance groaned. "A little brother. Spying on me, presumably for the purpose of teasing, curiosity, and/or blackmail."
Ari grinned; it was a grin that very few people recognized - and those who did, knew to run when they saw it. It was a Slytherin grin. "Well, then we'll just have to blackmail him, now won't we? After all, we know his little secret..."
Lance blinked. And thought. "My dear, you are positively evil! I love it!" He paused, and added, "And you."
Ari's smiled shifted, becoming softer, more gentle. "And I love you, you lugnut." Leaning in, she kissed him, sneaking her hand up behind his head, so that she could pull him down and give him a noogie.
"Ah! Hey! No fair!" Lance protested, struggling half-heartedly.
After a moment, Ari let up, and they kissed once more.
Lance sighed, glancing at the sun. "I think I'd better be getting you home, Ari." He stood up and began gathering their things. "Preferably before my brother tries to sneak up on us again. Tries being the operative word there."
Ari grinned. "You mean how he's crawling up behind those bushes," she said, pulling out her wand and pointing it unerringly towards the younger Weasley.
"Exactly. Ari, my sweet, would you care to tell my brother exactly what happens to younger brothers who stick their noses where they don't belong?"
"Most certainly, my sugar dumpling." With a swish of her wand and a muttered, "Wingardus leviosa," Morgan Weasley floated out of the bushes, struggling against imaginary bindings.
Lance grinned a little. "And maybe you'd also care to explain about the interesting information you have on him?"
"Ah, yes. So, Morgan, I heard you flew your broom into a tree? How is the guy-gazing going these days?"
Morgan turned a lovely (in Lance's opinion), if unnatural shade of white. "Wh-what? Whaddya mean?"
Ari snerked as Lance snickered. Aha! I was right! "You know exactly what I mean, Morgan. Hmm... Lance said it was a girl from school... I'd say probably Morrigan LeFay... I'm gonna guess that it's her brother, which would mean that you've fallen for that sex-on-legs-Adonis, Artos LeFay."
"Hey!" Lance protested a little, as Morgan got even paler. Ari patted his shoulder soothingly. "Not," she said conversationally, "That I think there's anything wrong with being gay. I have two fathers, you know." Lance looked at her, startled. He hadn't known that, but he guessed she'd used his reaction to Morgan to test the waters. "But it still makes good blackmail!" She cackled.
Morgan visibly relaxed at the realization that not only had they figured it out on their own, but they were also both okay with it. "Then, you're not going to hurt me?"
Ari smiled. "No, although it's not nice to spy on people. Especially pretty girls like me!" she giggled.
"Just remember," she continued, grinning maliciously, "we know now - if you don't want it getting out, then you'll have to be nice to us." Again, her smile softened, gentled. "But then, we also know now - if you ever need to talk, or need to turn to someone, we'll both be here."
"Really?" Morgan said, attaching himself to Ari's arm. "OK, I like her. You can marry her, Lance."
Ari stifled her laughter as long as possible, as she took in Lance's bug-eyed reaction to this. "I don't think we're planning anything like that yet, Morgan."
Lance visibly relaxed, and Ari hid her snickers behind some badly faked coughs. "Really?" Morgan looked disappointed. "But you'd be a cool big sister. So you're not going to marry him?"
"I didn't say that either," she replied. "But it's too early to decide anything. We haven't been dating all that long, although I really do like him. But I think Lance was going to take me home, before Papa has a heart attack cause I'm late. Dad's much more easy-going. Course, when he was younger, he got himself almost killed on an annual schedule, but..."
Lance, greatly relieved at the opportunity to escape his brother, put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "So we'd better hurry; I'll catch you at home later, 'k, squirt?" Ruffling Morgan's hair, they sent him running home as they gathered up the last of their picnic things.
"By the way, Lance, my parents threatened mayhem if I didn't at least bring you by to meet them...do you think you're up to that?"
Taking and kissing Ari's hand, he smiled. "Anything for you, my dear. Anything." At the dancing spark in her eyes, a chill ran down his spine. Why do I suddenly think that I'm in over my head?
"Dad? Papa?" Ari yelled, poking her head in the door of the old Malfoy mansion (which Draco had inherited when his father was imprisoned, along with other known death eaters). "Are either of you here?
Harry and Draco came down the grand staircase, then smiled to see the red-haired boy standing beside their daughter. "Hello, you must be Lance Weasley." Brushing his hair back in a seemingly innocent movement, he grinned as Lance's eyes bugged when they caught sight of the scar. "Welcome to Malfoy Manor."
"Guh-guh," Lance said. (Well, maybe said was too strong a word.)
"Daaaaaaaad!" Ari protested.
"Yes, Ari?" he inquired, the complete voice of innocence. As Ari fumed at him, Lance just stood there, staring.
"You... you're... you're the boy who lived?"
"No shit," Ari muttered under her breath. "And Dad, don't give me that innocent look." Harry didn't say anything, just grinned at her. "Papa, he's laughing at me!"
Draco was stifling his own laughter under a mock-stern gaze at his husband. "Harry, dear, don't torture our daughter like that!" he said, his chuckles threatening to bubble over at any minute.
"Papa, you're not helping," Ari scolded. "Though you just want to tease Dad, don't you?"
Lance was still trying to wrap his mind around the Harry Potter thing and had apparently missed the other half of Harry's announcement. "Please tell me you're not as auspicious as him," he said, pointing to Draco.
Draco immediately went mock-innocent, and it was all that Ari and Lance could do not to imagine a halo over his head. Ari practically threw her face into her hands.
"Auspicious? Me? Why, of course not! I'm only Draco Malfoy."
"My life is over," Ari muttered to herself. "My parents are out to scar my boyfriend for life!"
Lance had returned to his inarticulate mumbling at this announcement.
"Ari, honey," began Harry, dryly, "I think that your boyfriend has a bit of a problem dealing with celebrity."
"That and the idea of you two being together. Remember, his parents are still in a state of thinking Papa is a jerk and wanting to kill him."
A gleam began to shine in Draco's eyes. "Oh, they are, are they, now?"
Ari facefaulted. "Please, please, please, don't embarrass me..." she muttered. "Please..."
Harry grinned, the gleam in his eyes matching Draco's. "Well, then what better thing is there to do, than to play to this little... misconception?"
Ari threw her hands up in frustration. "I couldn't have had some nice, normal parents, could I? Maybe some nice Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw people? Instead I get the two of you, who are obviously evil."
"Draco, she thinks we're evil!" Harry said, mock-shocked.
"I'm wounded," Draco replied, falling over. "Hufflepuff indeed! Or Ravenclaw! Blasphemy! Our houses were much more preferable than Boring Goody-Two-Shoes House or Nerd House!"
"Hey!" Ari objected.
"What's wrong with Ravenclaw?" she continued, indignant. "I can think circles around the two of you, any day! Gryffindor bravery, Slytherin cunning, and Ravenclaw smarts - I'm better than the two of you combined!"
"Uh-huh," said Draco. "We'll see about that..." he winked at Harry. "After all, you might not want us playing practical jokes on your boyfriend's parents. Maybe you should use all that to stop us, hmmm?"
Harry smacked his hands together. "A contest!"
Ari dropped her face into her hands. "I'm cursed. Honestly, I'm cursed."
Lance, finally coming back to himself, patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I'll help, if you can use extra Gryffindor traits."
Ari smiled at her boyfriend, and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks, but the best thing you could do is not spill any of this to your parents, okay? I need this to be a fair contest."
"...All right," Lance said, doubtfully. "And now, if you don't mind, I think I'll go home. They-" he pointed vaguely in the direction of the two men, one smirking and one with an irrepressible grin. "-have just given me a bit of a shock."
Ari smiled, and embraced him. "I'll give you call later, okay?"
"Owl me," he replied. "My dad got mad at the 'muggle technology' again and disconnected the phone. Mom's not happy...well, she'll give it a couple of days and then have it up and running, as good as ever. But for now, I'm phone-less."
Ari grinned. "I didn't say I was going to use the phone." She pointed surreptitiously to the fireplace. "The other type of call."
"Ah," he replied. "Well, I'm off, then." He grabbed his broom from where he left it by the door. "Bye, Ari. Bye, psycho-parents." With that, he kicked off and quickly disappeared into the sky.
Ari turned to her parents, grinning evilly, the sign of her Slytherin heritage. "Well, then. The game is on."
"Right, then," Draco said, grabbing Harry by the elbow. "Come, let us go come up with some more psycho plots to make us psycho parents. He dragged Harry off, in the direction of the library.
"All right," Ari muttered. "Oh, and no magic allowed, guys! I'm not allowed to use it on vacation, so you don't get to, either."
"Fine!" Harry yelled back, as he was hauled around a corner.
Ari stared after them. "How do I always get myself into these situation? You'd think a girl would learn."
******
"So, Lance," Ron said conversationally over dinner. "You said you'd met Ari's parents? Are they nice? I'm glad you finally got to....very mysterious people, don't you think? Although they probably think the same thing about us, since you haven't brought her here to meet us." He fixed his son with that Parental Glare.
"Invite them over to dinner some time."
"Umm...... I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Her parents are a little... odd."
Lance!" This was from Hermione this time, cradling Lance's baby sister 'Rain on her lap. "That's not a very nice thing to say. Invite them over. I haven't gotten to talk to many women my age lately, and I've noticed that most wizards have neuroses. I don't care."
Lance exchanged glances with Morgan. "Um...well..."
Lance swallowed. "That's one of the things; she hasn't got a mother."
Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Did she get killed in the Wars? Wait, I thought you said she had two parents....?"
Lance nodded. "Umm... yeah.... she's got two fathers."
His other sister, Gala, at ten was just starting to figure out these things. She choked on the milk she was drinking. The rest of the family just stared.
Lance blinked. "C'mon, Mum, surely you know about that spell that was developed about... oh... a year before I was born?"
"Well, yes," Hermione admitted. "I had a bit of a hand in the research, truthfully. But I've never actually heard of any products of the spell existing until now."
"Well, you've heard of one now."
Yes," Hermione admitted. "I have." The news started sinking in and her eyes lit up. "That's pretty neat! Now I definitely must meet them!"
Lance blinked again. "Umm... Right.... well, I'll see what I can work out with them?"
"That sounds fine, dear," Hermione said, going back to her dinner. "How about this Sunday?" She elbowed Ron, who was still staring. "Wayne, dear, eat your peas."
Ron finally managed to pull himself together. "Right, Lance, like your mother said, how about this Sunday?"
Lance sighed, defeated. "Fine. This Sunday sounds fine."
"Mom? Dad?" Lance said, Wednesday night. "This is Ari." She waved, somewhat shyly from behind him. "She's in Ravenclaw; seventh year."
"Umm... hi." Ari's gaze swept over Hermione and Ron, Ravenclaw cleverness shining in her eyes; a hint of her Slytherin heritage showed through, as well, as she unconsciously sized up the two.
"It's nice to meet Lance's girlfriend," Hermione said. She cast a glance at Lance. "Finally."
"And it's an honor to be meeting such famous wizards," Ari replied, taking Hermione's hand. "Ari Pottefoy," she said, glancing at Lance. "That's my full name."
Hermione returned the handshake. "Yes, it is wonderful to finally meet you." She sent a glare towards Ron, who was eyeing Ari gaugingly; sharply, she said, "Isn't it?"
"Yeah..." Ron said, absently, not sounding very sincere. "You look like someone, but I can't quite place it..."
Ari sweatdropped. "Ah, I just have one of those faces..."
"No..." Ron said. "I'm sure I've seen your facial features before. And your eyes strike me as very familiar too..."
A moment of panic swept through Ari, before she relaxed as Ron shook his head. "I can't place it," he continued.
Lance also relaxed, but now he noticed that his mother had picked up where Ron had left off, and she was much sharper and more observant. "Actually, Ron, now that you mention it..." She took a step closer to Ari, and Ari stepped back nervously. Hermione was a rather imposing woman, and she was getting a bit too close for comfort.
Ari kept backing up under the onslaught - right until she tripped over the umbrella stand. As Hermione helped her up, apologizing profusely, Ron snapped his fingers. "That's it! You remined me of Fleur!"
Lance and Ari looked at each other. "Fleur?" they chorused.
"I'm sure that's not it," Hermione said, but gave up, looking away. "Ah! The potatoes are burning!"
Ron looked, amused, after his wife, then turned back to Lance and Ari. "She was part-veela; she was the Beauxbatons champion back when the Tri-Wizard cup was held at Hogwarts."
"And Ron had a crush on her," Hermione teased.
"And you were going out with the Durmstrang champion," Ron retorted. "And every girl in sight had declared it open season on Harry. Funny he never noticed.
"No kidding," said Hermione, making a face. "I thought some of them came on pretty strong." Lance and Ari looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Hermione and Ron shared a look; it was obvious that they were silently saying, "What's that about?" to each other, but then they shrugged. A second glance conveyed the message, "Ah, they're young."
"I know something you don't know," Lance grinned, pointing at his parents. "And I'm not telling." Hermione and Ron exchanged a curious glance, but finally silently decided to ignore their son.
Hermione gestured towards teh dining room. "Well, if there's no more conversation to be had here, dinner awaits."
Dinner was, as per usual at the Weasley house, a noise affair. The younger children fought, Rain wailed, and Lance tried to pretend he wasn't related.
Ari, used to the more subdued atmosphere of the Potter-Malfoy household, was shocked at the chaos of the dinner; finally, she managed to get a word into the conversation. "So, I heard that Lance mentioned how I'm the result of that spell that allows two men to have children."
"Oh, yes," Hermione said, perking up. "I helped out a bit on that spell, so it's quite nice getting to see some results." She considered. "Um. No offense meant. Were your parents excited, too?"
Ari smiled wryly. "You can say that they were excited about it.
"Oh?" Hermione asked. "That sounded less than completely serious."
"Well, you see, I-" Ari cut off, as she tried to say something, but only managed to mouth the words. "I-... I-...." She closed her eyes for a moment, said, "Excuse us a second," and pulled Lance bodily away from the table, and into the next room. "Dammit, they've put a spell on me!" she muttered.
"I thought you guys agreed not to do that," Lance said.
"Yeah," Ari said dismally. "But I should have expected this. Papa likes to play games like this, to keep me on my toes and teach me cleverness or something; I suppose it works. But if I confront them about breaking the rules, they'll just pretend they hadn't heard, or they forgot."
So what you need," Lance said, the wheels in his head turning, "Is something to force them to admit the truth." He grinned. It was a Slytherin grin. Coming from a Gryffindor, it was downright scary. "And I think I might have just the thing."
Ari blinked. She hadn't seen this particular look on Lance's face before. "What...?" she asked cautiously.
"Well," Lance said, "You can't perform the truth spell yourself- no magic during summer. But you can make one of them put the truth spell on the other- whether they refuse or agee, either way it'll prove that they did it."
"Brilliant!" Ari giggled, clapping her hands, and grabbing her broom. "Tell your parents that I had to go take care of some business and I'll be back in about half an hour. Give my apologies." She grabbed her broom from the entranceway and zoomed off, in true Potter tradition.
Lance watched after her for a moment. "Gods above and below, I love that girl, but she's a little too flighty..." Shaking his head, he walked back into the dining room, to make the apologies.
"Sorry," Ari apologized again, reentering the Weasley household half an hour later on the mark. She was paler than usual from the cold, two spots of color standing out on her cheeks. She was grinning though, despite just having flown at top speeds on a cold night, so Lance figured the confrontation had gone her way.
Sitting back down at the table, Ari continued on as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, as I was saying, I'm the result of the spell; my fathers were both very excited about it, since they both knew you from school..."
"I did? They did?" Hermione looked surprised. "Well, that might explain the familiarity..."
"Yeah, well..." Ari dissembled. "I don't know if you'd remember them."
Hermione was certain in her memory. "Try me," she remarked dryly.
"Well, Papa was in a different house, but Dad was in your year, in Gryffindor..."
"Doesn't leave many people..." Hermione said vaguely. Then her eyes widened, and she stepped closer to Ari again, peering into her eyes. "Harry?" she said, almost disbelievingly. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "That's why you were laughing! Oi, Ron, you are not going to believe this! Come here!"
"Not going to believe what?" questioned Ron, stepping in from the kitchen, where he'd been cleaning up.
Lance looked at her with an innocent gaze, faking ignorance.
"Don't look at me like that," Hermione said. "You knew all along! You could have told me she was the daughter of my one of my oldest and best friends! Why didn't you?"
"Huh?" Ron said.
"She's Harry's daughter! That's why she looks familiar! And Lance, explain yourself!"
"Well...uh..." Ari interrupted, "it's the other side of the family-"
Ari sighed, as she realized that she wouldn't be able to get a word into the 'conversation' that Hermione and Ron were now having with Lance. "I'll just be going home now." She hopped once more onto her broom, and swept away.
Draco smiled graciously. "Of course! Now, what is that delicious aroma?"
Hermione smiled. "Harry still doesn't cook well, does he? It's rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, baked apples, and other varied side dishes with less scent."
"Damn it," Ari muttered. She just knew her parents were trying to keep her distracted, so she couldn't think up a plan to break the news to Lance's parents (gently). Which also gave her no time to make it over there. First, Harry had mysteriously come up with a dentist appointment she didn't remember having. Then it was the "family dinner" with a distant Malfoy cousin, who was mostly a decent sort for a Malfoy, although he had a dreadful ego. Now it was a spontaneous shopping trip...she sighed, shifting Draco's latest purchase. And she got to be the bag girl while they went down Knockturn Alley, where she Wasn't Allowed. And everyone knew you didn't take anything of any value down Knockturn Alley. Including the new purchases. She wished they'd hurry up.
Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she spun around. "Whoa!" Turning around, she saw Lance, and swept him into her embrace. "Lancey!"
"Lancey?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "I sense boredom. You're awfully grateful to see me."
"Parents. Knockturn Alley. Thus, me sitting here. Boredom ensued." "Knockturn Alley?" Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Your parents are conventional; mine aren't. Papa has been down there since he was a kid, says you can find all kinds of rare and cool stuff that's available nowhere else down there, and is not about to give it up because he is now Good. And Dad has never been conventional. He just doesn't see any issues."
Ari glanced around. "Speaking of parents... are yours around? I don't want to shock them into oblivion if they see my dads together."
"Provided they recognize either of them, since none of them have seen each other in forever." Lance pointed towards a bookstore. "Mom's in there and won't be out for a good two hours. As long as your parents don't catch wind of them being in there, she'll be out of the way. Dad's in the Quidditch store. Got bored of looking at books. I'm supposed to meet him in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch in fifteen minutes."
"Well, in that case, you go off and meet him before Dad and Papa see you here; if they know you're here, they'll guess your parents are." Ari glanced around again, her eyes widening when she saw Harry and Draco approaching. "Quick! Hide!"
"Wha-?"
"NOW!"
Lance yelped a little as he got shoved into a little knick-knack shop nearby. Ari, for her part, was thinking about her fathers' wonderful timing. They leave for over an hour and reappear within five minutes of her boyfriend's appearance. With more shopping bags. What fun.
Sighing, she stepped up to them, bags in hand. "All finished, then?"
"Yep!" Harry said cheerfully.
Draco smirked. "I've got some new wall hangings for the bat cave." Ari rolled her eyes. Apparently at some point, Harry had introduced Draco to the Muggle culture of Batman, and Draco had built his own magical "bat cave" under Malfoy mansion. It was mostly his brooding ground, since Harry had insisted on largely redecorating Malfoy Mansion. Draco complained that he missed all the black, but he didn't complain too loudly.
"Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, then?" Draco said.
It took all of Ari's self-control not to blurt out "No!" Instead, she carefully schooled her expression. "How about Muggle?" she suggested. "I haven't had good Chinese in awhile."
Harry nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Ari breathed a sigh of relief, then realized that she'd better get her parents through the Leaky Cauldron before Ron showed up there. "Gee, you know, I just realized how hungry I am!" She began to trot quickly towards the restaurant. "Come on, let's go!"
"Teenagers," muttered Draco. "Now tell me, Harry, were we ever that age?"
"No," Harry snerked. "We passed right over it; went from 11 to 23 overnight."
"You mean you turned into walking hormones," Ari called back, teasingly. She noticed Ron, a couple shops behind her parents, exiting the Quidditch shop at a leisurely pace, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Ari was practically pulling her hair out with frustration. Merely three days since the trip to Diagon Alley, and it had been five close calls; Lance and his parents were turning up everywhere that she went with her own.
She had to wonder if it was coincidence, but doubted it; once was chance, twice was coincidence and three times is conspiracy. She was far past the conspiracy point by now. It was either Fate or her parents using some spell to detect Weasley presence. Which was against the rules.
"Of course," she muttered under her breath, as she successfully maneuvered away from Lance, Hermione, and Ron, "That didn't stop them before."
"I need to start thinking more like a Slytherin," she muttered. "Poor Lance is getting run as haggard as I am by this. At least tomorrow it's over."
"Ari?" said Draco, turning to his daughter. "Your dad and I are gonna head home; do you wanna stick around here for a while, and meet us back there later?"
"Sure," she agreed. She didn't get to Muggle malls very often. It was like a whole other world of culture. Plus she was looking for a gown of some sort to wear to the next Yule Ball (which had become a sort of Hogwarts tradition, with or without the Tournament, and was now a masquerade) and knew that Muggle gowns were considered very exotic and beautiful in the wizard world.
In fact, she thought, Lance seems to be enchanted by that one over there...
Of course, it wouldn't be quite as much fun if he'd already seen the dress, but he did seem to like it a lot. Maybe she could find a similar one. Or maybe he was just bored...
Wandering lazily over, the young Ravenclaw wrapped her arms swiftly around her boyfriend, surprising him. "Guess who!" she exclaimed, eliciting a chuckle from the Gryffindor.
"Are you stalking me?" he asked dryly. "This is the fifth time now! London's a pretty big place, too!"
Ari made a face. "I think my parents are cheating again."
Lance, dryly, replied, "For some reason, that wouldn't surprise me."
"Evil, aren't they?" Ari agreed. "Well, since they went home, thankfully, I think I'll have another go at breaking the news gently to your mother."
"What about me?" asked Hermione, just catching the last couple of words.
"Oh, just wanted to mention about how both of my parents were seekers... They have a lot of great stories about games from when you were all back in school."
"Really?" Hermione said, interested, but not putting two and two together. (Since Harry and Draco had been the only two Seekers in their year.) "I remember how good Harry was. Your other father, too?"
"Yup," Ari said. "And I inherited the talent, I guess. I play for Ravenclaw."
"Actually," Ari said, hedging a bit on actually coming clean. "I'm the only Ravenclaw in the family. Don't ask where it came from; my parents are baffled, and both a bit put off. I think they had a bet going on whose house I would end up being in, and they both lost." She giggled a little at the memory of her ten-year-old self sending a message to her parents to let them know she was a Ravenclaw, and Draco writing back saying that it wasn't funny and to stop pulling their legs. Was she a Gryffindor or a Slytherin?
Hermione looked thoughtful a moment. "Oh, so he's a Hufflepuff, then? Not Justin Finch-Fletchly, by any chance? Though, of course, he wasn't ever a seeker..."
"Mom!" Morgan yelled, bursting out of a shop. "There's a creepy man over there! He's staring at me!" Ari caught a flash of blond hair as Draco took off around a corner, and groaned to herself as the Weasley family started milling about, trying to figure out what had been said. Well, at least Draco hadn't cheated...
Hermione soothed Morgan, as she looked up to where Ari was standing, sighing and shaking her head. "So, dear, what were you saying about your father?"
"Oh, nothing..."
In fact, Ari heard her parents calling from down the mall and realized she'd better hightail it to them before they got within sight and shocked all the Weasleys' hair white. Although she didn't really know how much Draco had changed, or if they'd even recognize him. Harry said that he had changed a lot, mostly in mannerisms. Harry, for his part, looked exactly like the textbook pictures of him. But in any event, she made her excuses to the Weasleys and headed down the hall.
Not a moment too soon, in fact, for she just managed to pull her parents into a shop -- thankfully, one where she could actually claim to have found something she wanted them to see -- before they could actually be seen by the Weasley's. "C'mon, Dad, Papa! I've wanted this CD for ages!"
"Parental warning?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"That's only cause they talk about magic and stuff and some Muggles are stupid," Ari clarified. "So, can I have it? Huh? For my birthday, maybe?" Ari was a Leo like Harry; in fact, her birthday fell two days after his, and he joked that she was a late birthday present. Harry still looked doubtful about the CD, but Draco had an amused smile on his face as he pulled out his wallet. "OK, early birthday present," he agreed, going to pay for it.
"Yay! Thank you, Papa!" Ari said. "Now let's go home so I can listen to it!"
Harry cocked an eyebrow at Draco, who shrugged. "If you insist, Ari..."
Yay!" she skipped out of the shop, and, keeping an eye on the Weasleys from the corner of her eye, led the way to the car.
The table was set, the candles were lit, and the Weasleys were waiting patiently for their guests to arrive; finally, the doorbell rang, and Hermione and Ron barely managed to hold back the stampede as Lance stately walked over and opened the door.
Hermione and Ron were greeted with the sight of Ari, a man they hadn't seen in over seventeen years, and...
"Hey, where's your other father?" Lance asked Ari. Harry stepped past them into the house, looking very stately as he took off his jacket. All three parents were trying not to make too much of an emotional scene. In the end, none of them succeeded.
After tears and hugs were over, and Harry apologized for having lost touch for so long, the family sat down to dinner. Harry apologized for his husband, who was working late at his job in the Department of 'Enemy Information' (a euphemism for spies) and would be along later. Hermione badgered him for more information, but Harry just smiled mysteriously.
As the dinner continued, Harry made small-talk with Herm and Ron, as they waited for Harry's husband to show up before engaging in any real discussion of the time they'd missed together; finally, the wait was postponed no more, as the door swung open, and Draco stepped flourishingly into the dining room.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, managing to sound semi-sincere. "Ministry business, you know...." The Weasleys just blinked at him- apparently he had changed a lot.
Harry smiled mysteriously. "Well, surely you recognize him, Hermione? Ron?"
"Recognize him, Harry?" said Ron, confused. "Ari did mention he went to school with us, but..."
Hermione thwacked Ron. "You idiot, you don't recognize our old nemesis?"
"Huh?" was Ron's only response. "Who? Did I miss something here?"
Ari sighed. "Mr. Weasley, allow me to introduce you to my papa: Draco Malfoy-Potter." Hermione looked smug.
"I thought it might be you, Malfoy. After all, there weren't any other seekers, besides Harry, in our year. And Ari certainly has the Slytherin cunning alongside the Gryffindor courage, so..." Smiling, she held out her hand. "It's been a long time since Hogwarts, and we've all grown up some; shall we let the past remain the past?"
"Guh," Ron said.
Draco smiled and kissed Hermione's hand gallantly. "Of course, my lady." Ron turned red.
Sputtering, he turned to Harry. "Harry, you... you... you married DRACO?"
Harry snerked. "Well, why wouldn't I? I couldn't very well let an old school rivalry rule the rest of my life, now could I?"
"Ye-" Ron started, before Hermione's hand covered his mouth.
"So, why don't we continue with dinner?" she said. "And while we're at it, you two can tell us how this rather surprising event occurred."
Hermione smiled, still with her hand over Ron's mouth. "Harry still doesn't cook well, does he? It's rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, baked apples, and other varied side dishes with less scent."
Draco's stomach made hungry noises, and he had the presence of mind to look embarrassed. "Umm... long day at the office."
Hermione laughed, finally taking her hand away from Ron's mouth with a warning glare. "It's all right. I think we all have those days. Now, if my dear husband thinks he can behave, you two can tell your story."
They sat down at the table, and began to tell the tale. "I was at the ministry one day," began Harry, "looking into some reports of dark wizards in Northern Scotland; Draco was there, of course, for work. We bumped into each other - literally - while in the dining hall."
"This was still during the war," Harry continued. "Right after I had told you two that we couldn't be friends anymore. And I really am sorry about that, but I didn't want you hurt and I didn't want you to be used against me." Hermione gave him a sympathetic look and Ron waved it away, apparently having calmed down. "So anyway, I was rather depressed."
"It was pouring off of him in waves," said Draco. "I could pretty much feel it across the room; in fact, that's what distracted me enough to not notice when he was approaching." He smiled. "Actually, though, the small bump I got that day is a small price to pay for what we've had since then."
Neither of them went on; Harry was smiling serenely and Draco smugly. Hermione kicked Harry under the table. "Care to elaborate?"
"OK, OK, no need to get violent!" he said.
"Anyway, Draco said something rude; I don't really remember what; and I said something rude back. He actually looked somewhat abashed; apparently he'd met some distant cousin a bit before that who'd managed to knock some sense into him-"
"Vega was my favorite cousin when I was little," Draco said, picking up the thread. "I always admired him greatly. To make a long story short, he was playing double agent for Dumbledore, pretending to spy for Voldemort. He managed to beat some sense into me, and I joined him.
"Now, between him and Snape, I certainly had a lot of spy influence as far as my mentors were concerned, and I took up being a double agent as well.
"As the orders from Voldemort were given to me, I was supposed to find the lonely Harry, pretend to be a changed man, and pretend to be his friend. Vega merely suggested that I try to truly be a friend."
Harry chuckled. "Try is a bit weak; it didn't take long before he and I started dating."
"Right," Draco agreed. "That's about it. I still work undercover sometimes keeping an eye on dark magic hot spots, but not as myself since I'm a known spy now. I use Polyjuice Potion and stuff. And obviously I survived spying on Voldemort."
Ari rolled her eyes. "No, we're sitting here listening to your ghost."
"No need to get sarcastic," Harry scolded.
Ari smirked. "Well, I learned it from the best."
"I certainly hope you don't mean Harry," said Hermione. "He couldn't find sarcasm in the dictionary between salt and sardonic."
"Of course not!" Ari said, stuffing some chicken in her mouth. "It's just a little Slytherin sarcasm, courtesy of Papa."
Draco and Hermione shared a grin. "You know, Hermione, you would have been as much at home in Slytherin as you were in Gryffindor; Ravenclaw wouldn't have been good for you, though, I don't think. They're too dry and stuffy, always got their nose stuck in books."
"Hey!" Ari protested. "I most certainly do _not_ always have my nose stuck in a book." She paused. "And you should try it someday; you might learn something. Like manners."
The dinner conversation quickly degenerated into some good-natured ribbing; with three of the four houses represented, it was definately not a one-sided battle.
As it grew dark, the house lights came on, creating a spot of light and laughter in the dark countryside. And Ari knew that everything was good, because the impromptu contest had been unspokenly deemed a tie, and more importantly, she had a boyfriend who loved her.
Author notes: Specifically on names. Some of you may have noticed we named all of the characters for people in the King Arthur legends. There is a reason for this. Specifically, the names in the actual books. At least three of the Weasleys (Arthur, Ginny, and Percy) and two of the Malfoys (Draco and Lucius) are Arthur references.
Arthur is obvious...
Lucius was a historical Roman king that the historical Arthur was believed to have fought
Ginny is quite possibly short for Guinivere, and Percy is short for Percival, one of the three knights who was pure enough to seek the Grail.
Draco is a celestial reference (like Lupin and Sirius). Arthur's full name was Arthur Pendragon, and the Arthur part of his name meant bear. Around King Arthur's time, Polaris reportedly moved from Draco (the dragon constellation) to Ursa (the bear.) Hmmm...a connection between the Weasleys and the Malfoys? Perhaps they were related at some point???
In our story: Lance= Lancelot; Rain= Igrain; Wayne= Gawain; Gala= Galahad. And Morgan obviously kept a name.