I have no idea if anyone is still following this story (I doubt it) but I decided to do some revision on it in order to fix the flow a bit and maybe get some inspiration for some new chapters (hopefully). You might want to read through the updated chapters (especially the second one!) because there are some changes in it.
Oh, and I have no idea if you still read this story, Deftonsita, but I give you props for having an Arthur Pendragon icon :]
Harry clutched his bag against his chest as he exited the bakery. The warmth radiating off the freshly baked pastries inside the bag helped him to brave the bitter winter air as he made his way back home.
It had been fifteen years since he had defeated Voldemort and a great deal had happened over that space of time. He had gotten married to Ginny and they had three wonderful children; two boys, James and Albus, and one little girl named Lily.
Harry would have been completely happy if it were not for one problem.
Ron was missing.
The last time he had been seen was at Harry and Ginny's wedding. Harry had made sure that the first best friend he had ever had was his best man for the ceremony, and Ron had seemed so happy as he stood there watching the couple exchange their vows.
But at the reception later on, Harry caught sight of Ron standing a little ways off from everyone else, watching the happy crowds of people dancing and socializing, with a sad expression on his face. He had hurried over to ask Ron if he was alright, but his friend had just laughed at him. "Why would I look sad?" Ron asked. "This has got to be the celebration of the century, mate. Are you sure you're not start to see things?" The happy expression didn't quite reach his eyes, however, and Harry remained unconvinced.
He had meant to press the matter, but was swept away by Auntie Muriel, who wanted to tell him what was expected of him now that he was officially part of the Weasley family, before he could. He decided that he would have to corner Ron the next morning and insist that he reveal what was wrong.
But Ron hadn't been there the next morning, or the morning after that.
They tried to convince themselves that Ron had just wandered off somewhere and would soon return. It wasn't until a week passed by without any word from him that they began to grow nervous.
They had launched a full scale search for him all over the continent, and various others as well, but there wasn't a trace of the red head anywhere. The search had finally been called off after a year of cold trails and failed evidence.
Hermione eventually managed to forget about the boy that she had once thought she would marry and gave into the charms of the Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum. Viktor proposed to her two years into the relationship and after little more than a year together they had twin boys named Hugo and Ronald, who had lovingly been nicknamed Ronnie.
There was still a small part of each of them that still hoped that Ron would pop up at the Burrow on some holiday when the extended family was altogether, with a perfect excuse as to where he had been. This only lead to a greater sense of disappointment, however, when the boy still didn't appear.
Harry shook his head with a sigh and tried to turn his thoughts towards more cheerful things than his missing best friend.
He was soon jolted out of thoughts altogether when something small and rather hard collided with his legs. He looked down to discover that there was a girl that couldn't be more than seven years old standing in front of him. She was utterly adorable in that way that many young children were with brilliant red hair that cascaded over her shoulders in silky waves and big, round eyes the color of which reminded him of the sky on a clear summer's day.
What shocked him the most, though, was how much the girl reminded him of Ron Weasley. The only difference he could find between them was that her tiny freckled nose was jutted out into a point.
"Annie!"
Harry looked up to see a girl running over to him at such a speed that she was out of breath by the time she reached him. She seemed to be around thirteen and she completely ignored Harry as she bent down before the younger girl, speaking to her in a scolding tone.
"Anne, why did you run off like that?" She demanded.
The little girl, who Harry guessed must have been named Annie, rolled her shoulders in an innocent manner. "I saw something," She said.
"And what exactly did you see?" The other girl asked. She cocked an eyebrow at Annie as the little girl pointed over in the direction of Harry. Then she followed the track of the finger and her eyes widened in alarm.
And hers were not the only ones.
The girl was a near identical copy of Draco Malfoy! There was no way for Harry not to notice it. Her hair was the same silvery blond as Malfoy's, although hers had been grown down to her waist and tied back into a braid with a black ribbon. The eyes that were fixed on his own were the same murky blue ones that had glared at him throughout all of his life at Hogwarts. She even had the same lean frame and skin as pale as the snow that fell around them.
And yet, Harry noted that she lacked the pointed features that his childhood nemesis had. She had face that was like a long, rounded oval and her slender nose had a soft little bump at the end just like…
Ron.
The girl began to shift uncomfortably with a nervous expression on her face. "Um…I'm sorry my little sister ran into you, sir," She muttered. "She just got away from me. It won't happen again."
"I'm sure it won't…" Harry began, but he trailed off with a startled expression as the girl suddenly leapt to her feet and grabbed her sister's hand.
"Goodbye!" The girl said. Then she rushed off, leaving a stunned Harry behind.
Le Lieu Cachant, or "The Hiding Place" when translated, was one of the most guarded secrets of London. It was a secret place if you knew of its existence and weren't a Muggle.
Therefore, Gabrielle was fortunate to have both of these things covered.
She yanked her wand from the pocket of her winter coat and tapped it against the middle of the wine covered wall in front of her, causing the face of a rather regal woman to appear from the brick a few moments later.
"Password?" A haughty female voice demanded.
"Magic peut être la plus grande illusion," Gabrielle replied.
"Correct," The face said. "You may enter."
The wall swung back to reveal a narrow street with enormous, almost mansion like houses, lining its sides.
Gabrielle and Annie rushed down the street as the wall crashed shut behind them, not stopping until they reached the fourteenth house on the block.
It was one of those houses that seemed to give off a cozy feel even from the outside. It had been painted with a warm burgundy shade and the door was gone over in a creamy white color. There was a golden plaque stuck to the door, on which someone had engraved the words, "Malfoy Residence," and if you squinted at the words, you could make out where someone had squeezed in "and Weasley," beneath them.
The two girls rushed up the front steps, throwing open the door so that they could rush inside and slam the door shut behind them.
They scrambled out of their warm winter clothes in the spacious front hall that had a floor of black marble interwoven with white that was kept so polished it seemed to shine like a mirror. The walls that surrounded them had been fashioned from sturdy white stone that had pillars with chiseled vines creeping up them placed at strategic places around the room.
The steps that lead to the upstairs wound up the sides of the wall then met to form a small landing. On the wall behind this landing four doors were clearly visible and all had little golden plaques, like the one on the front door, each barring a different name.
From left to right, the names read: Scorpius Fred Malfoy, Severus Lupin Malfoy, Gabrielle Molly Malfoy, and Annie Narcissa Malfoy.
All of a sudden, the second door opened to reveal a tall, gangly fifteen year old boy, who walked over to the landing and leaned against its wrought iron railing as he looked down at the two girls. His flaming red hair was a bunch of thick, unruly curls that fell down to his shoulders and the eyes that gazed down at the girls were a murky shade of blue. He had the same face as Gabrielle, but his broad shoulders and large frame were the exact opposite of her thin, narrow body. His features were pointed than hers as well, more like Annie, with the smattering of freckles that the little girl had.
"Hey, I know I told you to hurry back," Scorpius called down, "but that mean to run around like had a Dementor after you. What's wrong?"
"We met Harry Potter!" Gabrielle blurted out.
Scorpius's eyes widened in an instant. "You what?!" He exclaimed.
"You heard me!" Gabrielle said. "We met Harry Potter!"
As she said this, one of the doors behind Scorpius opened, and another boy came out to join him on the railing.
The boy was an inch or so taller than Scorpius, but he was not in the least bit gangly. His silvery blond hair seemed rather ruffled and it fell down into his piercing sky blue eyes like strands of fine silk. He had the same soft, rounded features as Gabrielle, giving him an almost feminine appearance.
"Did I hear right?" Severus asked. "You actually managed to meet Harry Potter?"
"Yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "And he was just like Mum told us!"
"I wish I could have met him," Scorpius grumbled.
"No, you don't!" Gabrielle shot back. "It was so awkward! He wouldn't stop looking at me!"
"It was probably because you look too much like Dad," Severus said.
"I know," Gabrielle said. "It must have been an even bigger shock for him to see Anne since she looks almost exactly like Mum?"
"What was a bigger shock for who?"
A man of around thirty-five emerged from the room on the left of the front hall and he obviously had to be related to the children with his bright red hair, sky blue eyes, large height, and soft, round features.
This was the man that had been missing from the life of Harry Potter for fifteen years.
It was Ron Weasley.
"Mum, where's Dad?" Gabrielle asked.
"Why?" Ron gave his daughter a suspicious look. "What did you do this time?"
"Nothing bad," Gabrielle said quickly.
A cool, drawling voice came from behind Ron as a man the same age walked out from behind him. "Somehow I doubt that." Draco Malfoy turned his misty blue eyes over towards Gabrielle.
"No really." Gabrielle fidgeted with the end of her braid for a few moments before continuing. "We just…erm…bumped into Harry Potter." She winced when both her parents stiffened at what she said.
Ron was the first to recover from the shock. "You did what?"
Gabrielle sighed and repeated what she had said before. "We bumped into Harry Potter. Or rather Annie ran away from me because she saw him and then ran straight into him."
Draco looked over at his youngest daughter with raised eyebrows. "You ran over to him?" It seemed she really had inherited the combined daring of her two fathers.
"I wanted to see him," Annie said. "Mummy and you have told us all about him and the others, but we've never gotten a chance to see any of them before."
Ron let out a sigh of his own and pinched the bridge of his nose before he spoke. "I suppose that's fair," he said. "Just don't go out searching for them, alright?" His request was answered by groans from all four of the children.
"Aw, come on, Mum," Scorpius said. "You can't just go on acting like we don't exist forever."
"Maybe not forever," Ron said, "but I can do it for a few more years."
Scorpius rolled his eyes at his mother. "Fine," He said. "Just don't make us wait too long, alright?"
"Alright," Ron agreed. "But now that the girls are back with the pastries, why don't we eat?"
The affect was instantaneous.
Scorpius rushed down the steps, skidding to a halt before Gabrielle. "In all the commotion I completely forgot!" He said. "Did you get me what I wanted?"
"You mean about half the bakery?" Gabrielle said, rolling her eyes. "If so then that would be a yes."
"Thank you!" Scorpius grabbed the bags from her before running off towards the dining room.
"Hey, Scorpius, get back here!" Gabrielle cried, racing after her brother. "I want some of those too!"
Severus made his way down the steps at a much slower gait than his brother and offered his hand to his youngest sister. "Come on, Annie. We'd better hurry or we won't get anything at all."
"No way!" Annie cried. "I want some too!" She grabbed hold of Severus's hand and raced off with him in the direction of the dining room.
Draco glanced over at Ron with a grin. "We certainly do have an interesting household," He said.
"I think you mean chaotic," Ron snorted, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hm…that might be true," Draco said, "but I like it that way."
Ron nodded in agreement with a small smile on his face.
"So, should we go?" Draco asked. "If we don't then I think all we'll be left with are the crumbs." He turned towards the dining room, but Ron reached out and grabbed onto his wrist. Draco turned around with a curious expression on his face. "What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking," Ron said, "maybe Scorpius was right. Maybe we should finally tell everyone."
Draco looked at him in surprise for a few seconds then his face softened and he laid a hand over the one on his wrist. "Are you sure?" He asked. "We don't have to do anything you're not ready for."
"No, I'm ready," Ron said. "I'm tired of hiding. I want everyone to know how much I love you and what you've given me."
Affection darted through Draco's eyes for a second before his lips curled into his trademark smirk. "Good because I was getting pretty sick of it too."
Ron shook his head in exasperation with a grin. "Figures," he said. "Not let's go tell your lovely children the good news."
Draco let out a snort at this. "If your children are lovely than Voldemort is good," He said.
"True," Ron chuckled, "but I'm glad we have them."
A rare look of insecurity came onto Draco's face. "Even though the twins weren't planned and you wound up having to leave everything else behind just for me?"
Ron gave his husband a soft smile and leaned into to give him a kiss on the nose. "Even then. Now let's go tell our little devils the good news and hope that they left us something more than crumbs."
Aw, I had forgotten how much I love these kids. They're so much fun to write about!
A small note: The password that Gabrielle uses to get into Le Lieu Cachant is a slightly twisted Javan quote that translates from French into, "Magic maybe the greatest illusion."
Here's the orginal quote if anyone is interested: "Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes...just be an illusion."