A/N: This is my submission for the HPFC Exchange, written for SunnyStorms. The prompt was:
Pairing: Draco/Ginny
Rating: Any
Must Haves: Draco's first born son gets sorted into Hufflepuff, a lighthearted/humorous story
No-No's: Either extreme for Draco (sadistic or fluffy)
Bonus Points: a candy overdose, daughter sorted into Gryffindor, malfunctioning fireworks
Harry disappeared for a year after the battle. He kept in touch with Ron and Hermione but would not tell anyone where he was or what he was doing. When he finally returned with Lavender Brown in tow, everyone discovered that he had been helping her deal with her lycanthropy and all of the issues that came with it.
After his return, Harry spent a year starting and running an orphanage for magical children. He petitioned the Ministry to allow him to accept young werewolves that, for whatever reason, could not stay at home. He spent all of his free time helping Andromeda and Ted Tonks to raise Teddy.
In August 2000, McGonagall came to him to ask if he would accept the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which he did.
Hermione returned for her seventh year after the final battle. She tried to convince Ron to join her, but he opted to begin Auror training instead. The new Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had insisted that the trio had proved themselves many times over.
Ron had wanted to propose after her graduation, but once Hermione told him about the Transfiguration apprenticeship McGonagall had offered her, he knew he would wait the two years for her to finish that as well because that was what she would prefer.
Hermione began as the Transfiguration professor the same year Draco and Ginny began. Once they were married, Ron joined her at Hogwarts, flooing between the school and the Ministry every day for work.
They decided to wait a few years before having children in order to get used to splitting time between home and work and the hectic life of living in a castle with 400 other people, most of them children. When they did decide they were ready, Rose was soon born in March of 2006, followed closely by Hugo in December of 2007.
Draco was arrested after the final battle. He was charged with crimes against humanity, treason, and attempted murder, among other things. Despite his testimony under veritaserum, in which he admitted his reluctance to joining Voldemort and committing those crimes, Draco was very nearly sentenced to life in Azkaban. On the last day of his trial, however, Hermione Granger presented an old pureblood law that declared, due to the circumstances, he could not get more than parole.
Due to the parole, Draco was unable to leave the country for a year, so decided to return to Hogwarts to finish his schooling. At the end of the year, when he was able to leave the country again, Draco decided to do a two year potions apprenticeship with a Master in Venice, Italy.
After completing the apprenticeship, he was approached by McGonagall, the new Headmistress at Hogwarts, about becoming the new, permanent Potions professor since they had not been able to find one since Severus Snape's death.
Ginny retook her sixth year after the battle. She completed her seventh before beginning Healer training under Madame Pomfrey. After her year of training, around the same time Draco was approached, McGonagall spoke with Ginny about Madame Pomfrey's upcoming retirement and asked Ginny to be her replacement.
Draco and Ginny both began at Hogwarts that following September.
They began dating when McGonagall proposed a Halloween Ball and paired them for chaperoning. Draco was properly introduced to the Weasleys that Christmas when Ginny suggested he spend the holiday with them rather than alone in the Manor. Ron took the news that Ginny and Draco were dating surprisingly well considering the past. Though he, as well as his father and four brothers, did explain to Draco exactly what would happen should he hurt Ginny… in vivid detail.
Draco finally proposed to Ginny after a year and a half of dating. Ginny and her mother spent the next six months planning the wedding; they married on New Year's Eve. Their first child was born two years later. A set of twins was born two years after their first child.
Draco could hear the door quietly creaking open as he silenced the tempus alarm. He was surprised he didn't expect it after the way the twins had been acting for the past few weeks since they had gotten their supplies in Diagon Alley. Because he didn't expect it, Draco didn't think to put a ward on the door before going to bed. Therefore, at seven o'clock on the morning of September first, a boy and a girl with strawberry blonde hair - equal parts Weasley red and Malfoy blonde - their father's pale, smooth complexion and their mother's bright blue eyes, landed on their parents' bed, the girl loudly asking, "Mum! Dad! Is it time to go to the station yet?"
"Carina Cedrella Malfoy and Caelum Cygnus Malfoy, you will remove yourself from this bed at once or I will have your mother do it for you," Draco replied, not yet fully awake.
"But I want to go to the train!" Caelum whined.
"Caelum, if you continue whining, you will not ride the train at all," his mother finally responded. A hint of her famous Weasley temper could be heard in her tone. "We will be leaving in three hours."
The pair were downtrodden as they climbed off the bed and began walking back to the door.
Draco hated seeing his children sad on what was supposed to be a happy day, so he gave them a suggestion. "Why don't you go make sure Cassiopeia is awake?" The pair jumped at the idea and ran out the door, both screaming "Cassi" as they went despite the fact that she had moved her room to the other side of the manor.
Ginny rolled over, laying half on top of her husband, looking up at him with her chin on his chest, before asking, "Do you think they'll be okay?"
"Of course they will. They've lived at Hogwarts most of the year, every year since they were born. We'll be right there if they need anything. They have their cousin going into his first year with them. And no matter what house they go into, house members have always been loyal to each other: the fact that I am their father or you their mother should not make them an exception." Draco tried to reassure his wife by using logic.
"I know it shouldn't but what if it does anyways," Ginny argued. "Carina will most likely be a Gryffindor so having Rose there, and probably Hugo as well, should help. But what about Caelum? He didn't take after you and Cassi, so probably not Slytherin; he's always followed Carina's lead, so not Gryffindor either. I know Ravenclaws can be mean - look at how they treated Luna - and Caelum is not as outgoing as Carina."
"No son of mine will be a Hufflepuff, if that is what you are suggesting," Draco responded, trying to sound menacing. Ginny merely laughed before making her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
As they rounded the last turn before their sister's room, Carina stopped Caelum and motioned for him to be quiet and follow her, much as she had outside of their parents' room. They crept toward the door, but rather than open it as they had in their earlier adventure, the twins stood in front of it, took a big gulp of air each, and yelled, "CASSI!" before spinning to either side of the doorway in case of 'accidental' magic.
Cassiopeia quickly threw open the door as Caelum and Carina had expected, but rather than start yelling, she simply said, "I hope neither of you were wishing for Slytherin because neither of you would make it as one of us." As she turned toward her wardrobe, Carina, closely followed by Caelum, ran in and jumped onto Cassi's bed.
"What are you talking about?" Carina began. "Every Malfoy ever has been in Slytherin."
"Dad was Prince of Slytherin from his first year. And now he's the head of house," Caelum added.
"Yes, but you take after Mum who was a Weasley. Every Weasley ever has been in Gryffindor, like Rose," Cassi explained. "Malfoys in Gryffindor - you'll be a disgrace to the name. Gods forbid should you end up in Hufflepuff, though - you'd be disowned before the night was out."
"Dad wouldn't disown us for being sorted into a different house," Carina told her sister assuredly.
"He might. Great-grandfather Abraxas once erased his nephew from the family tree just because he was sorted into Ravenclaw instead. How would you know dad wouldn't do the same?" Cassi asked, attempting to antagonize the infamous Weasley temper out of her younger sister.
Before Carina or Caelum could reply, a house elf popped in, defusing the tension. "Breakfast is being served young mistresses and master."
"Thank you, Tipsy," Carina replied before turning to her brother. "Come on. Let's go eat."
By the time everyone had showered and eaten and the children had double checked that they had packed everything they would need, the Malfoy family was only fifteen minutes later than they planned to be, which still gave them plenty of time to get to Kings Cross.
As they prepared to floo to the station, Cassi took her own trunk; Carina carried an owl the three would share; Caelum held the kitten the twins had picked while school shopping; Ginny transported Carina's trunk; and Draco had Caelum's.
As the family made their way along Platform 9 ¾, the Malfoys quickly found Luna Scamander née Lovegood with her husband Rolf and their thirteen-year-old twins Lorcan and Lysander. While the parents were greeting each other, Cassi, Lorcan, and Lysander and Carina and Caelum went to find compartments to reserve for themselves and other friends.
As the children were returning, Ron and Hermione Weasley and their two Rose, thirteen, and Hugo, eleven, found the group.
Cassi and the Scamander twins quickly stole Rose away to show her where their compartment was. Before the Malfoy twins could do the same with Hugo, Ron saw a familiar head of messy, black hair making its way toward them.
"Hey, Harry. How are ya?" Ron greeted.
"I'm good, Ron," the tired but happy looking man replied. "Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Luna, Rolf - good to see you all. Teddy, Lavender, and I were just bringing the kids to the station. Sophia," he continued, turning to a small girl with dark brown hair and honey-colored eyes who was standing slightly behind him. "This is Carina, Caelum, and Hugo. This is their first year as well."
Carina stepped forward. "Caelum and I were about to show Hugo the compartment we grabbed. Would you like to join us?"
"Please?" The girl replied.
"Come on," the Malfoy girl responded before picking up an end of the trunk Harry had just set down and leading the way.
"Don't worry, Harry. Caelum will take good care of her," Luna commented as they watched the children board the train.
"Good. She needs someone to. She was relatively new to the house, so didn't have many friends. And the wolf that turned her killed the rest of her family so she doesn't have anyone on the outside. I'm glad she'll find someone." Harry had known Luna long enough know to realize that she was right more often than not.
"Why must it be my son, though?" Draco whined, his pureblood upbringing making an appearance.
"You'll see soon enough," the blonde girl replied airily. "Now if you'll excuse us, Rolf and I need to go to Brazil." The look on Rolf's face proved he had no knowledge of this excursion.
"I need to go, as well. I have to finish packing," Hermione stated.
"We haven't even started," Ginny joked in response.
"I need to go to the orphanage and make sure Lavender, Teddy, and Victoire will be alright for the rest of the week," Harry added as they all bid one another goodbye.
Not long after the train left the station, the trolley appeared, loaded down with candy. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" the grandmotherly looking lady asked.
"Yes, please," Hugo quickly responded before jumping up to examine the cart.
"Would you like anything, Sophia?" Carina asked the girl knowing she would not have money of her own.
"No, thank you," she quietly responded. Despite her negative answer, Carina gave Caelum a look which he knew meant to get the small girl something.
Once Hugo came back into the compartment loaded down with eight chocolate frogs, five sugar quills, three cauldron cakes, and a handful of licorice wands, Caelum turned to the homely lady. "Two large boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, fifteen each of chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and licorice wands, six cauldron cakes, five acid pops, three blood pops, two bags of jelly slugs, and a pound of treacle fudge, please," he said, before handing over a galleon.
After receiving his order, Caelum returned to the compartment. "What would you like to try first, Sophia? I'm partial to sugar quills, myself, but I always like to save one until after the Bertie Bott's in case I get a foul tasting one."
"Whatever you don't want, I suppose," Sophia responded. With more force, she added, "Just not a blood pop."
Caelum tossed her a licorice wand and his sister an acid pop while asking, "Why can't you have blood pops?"
Before Sophia could respond, however, Carina gasped. "Oh my gods, Caelum, you can't just ask someone why they can't have blood pops!"
"It's okay," Sophia calmly told Carina. "I'm a werewolf. I can't have blood pops because Harry doesn't want my wolf to know the taste of human blood," she explained.
"Makes sense," Hugo commented. "Why don't you see what card you get?" he asked, pointing to a chocolate frog, trying to diffuse the tension.
She let the frog hop onto the seat before reaching in to get the card. "It's Harry," she said with surprise.
Hugo groaned. "I'm always getting him and my parents. Can't they find anyone interesting to put on those things?" The compartment laughed.
A little ways down the train, Cassi, Rose, Lorcan, and Lysander were scheming.
"So, what is your idea, Cassi dear?" Lorcan asked while putting his arm around her. Rose and Lysander were being much more subtle: his hand on her ankle as she leaned against the wall with her feet on the seat.
Cassi removed his arm before answering. "As you all know, the twins are being sorted tonight. I was just considering making it a bit more interesting." She pulled something out of a robe pocket as she spoke.
Lysander looked a mixture of surprised, intrigued, and scared. "Cassi. Is that-?"
"They've seen every sorting ceremony since they were born. I just wanted to make it special… For them," she added with a devious grin.
"Where do you want to put them?" Rose asked. This was exactly what Cassiopeia was hoping for considering her cousin had her mother's intelligence and her father's ability to strategize.
"I was thinking we put them in the pumpkin juice pitchers since they're empty until the food appears."
"That would work but we'd have to put them in pitchers on all four tables and at the beginning, middle, and end of each at least," Rose explained, "so we don't get caught."
"Then it's a good thing I brought twenty. Lorcan, help me pull this down." They moved to get her trunk from the shelf above them while she continued explaining. "I want one at the beginning, middle, and end of each table and a quarter of the distance from each end. That should be every second pitcher."
"When do you want to release them?" Lorcan asked once they had opened the trunk.
"Since they're twins, they will go by age rather than alphabetically which will make Carina, the elder, first. I want them released as soon as the hat sorts Caelum - before anyone even starts clapping."
"And have you considered how you will release them?" Lysander questioned.
"That, Lysander, is why I have decided to involve you three. It would take entirely too long for one person to release twenty, but if we each had five tied to our magical signatures, it would be quicker, thus making it less obvious, giving them less of a chance at catching the culprit."
"Well, then. I suppose we should begin charming them," Lorcan commented before grabbing the first and showing the others how to tie it to their magic.
The train was almost to the school when the compartment door slid open. "You should -" Cassi began. "What on earth have you lot done?"
The floor was littered with opened candy wrappers but not a single morsel could be found. "Cassi!" Caelum exclaimed upon seeing his sister, hugging her tightly around the waist.
"I told them not to eat it all," Carina condemned.
"Cassi, I don't feel so good," Hugo groaned.
"How much candy did the two of you have?" Cassi shouted.
"Between them, they had 68 pieces of candy, a bag of jelly slugs, a box of Bertie Bott's, and a pound of fudge," Sophia admitted.
"Sophia and I only had 12 between us. I was able to save a second bag of jelly slugs and another box of Bertie Bott's," Carina explained further.
"Well, we're getting close to the school so the four of you should put on your robes. And you two," she continued, turning toward the boys, "might want to try washing your faces. It will still be glaringly obvious to our parents just how much sugar you consumed but at least you won't be wearing it." She left with a sneer.
It might have been the sugar from the candy he had eaten but Caelum was truly excited about finally taking part in the sorting ceremony. Professor Longbottom, who taught Herbology, came to collect the new first years once everyone in the Great Hall was ready for them. The two lines of eleven-year-olds filed between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables to stand in front of the sorting hat. In its song, the hat outlined the common traits in each of the houses - Slytherin cunning, Ravenclaw wisdom, Gryffindor bravery, and Hufflepuff fairness - before telling the student body that, though they are separated, not to let themselves be divided. Then the sorting began.
"Nazaire Acerbi," Professor Longbottom called. An outgoing, black girl walked up and sat on the stool. When the hat was placed on her head, she was soon declared a Slytherin. Nicolaus Ackerman was quickly sorted into Gryffindor.
"Sophia Bell," Professor Longbottom called third. Caelum grabbed her hand and gave it a light, comforting squeeze before allowing her to make her way forward.
"Hufflepuff," the sorting hat called. The sorting continued in such a fashion until, about half way through, it was Carina's turn.
"Carina Malfoy." The girl walked up smoothly, her excitement only visible in the sparkling of her eyes. Her mother beamed at her from the Head Table while her father smiled gently and gave her a nod.
"A Malfoy, eh?" the hat spoke to her. "But a Weasley as well. You certainly do take after your mother, dear. GRYFFINDOR!" Carina made her way to the proper table before turning to smile at her parents who were still smiling down at her.
Caelum began lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for the Herbology professor to call his name. "Caelum Malfoy." His gait was slightly more stilted than his sister's. He saw his parents smiling at him just as they had at his sister out of the corner of his eye but he did not look up at them. Now that his turn had come, Caelum was feeling for anxious than excited. 'What if Cassi was right?' was all he could think as he sat on the stool.
"Another one," the hat began. "Twins, even, but nothing like your sister. Better be HUFFLEPUFF!"
Before the hat had even finished speaking, twenty small explosions went off simultaneously. When the smoke settled, only four faces were marked. "Misses Malfoy and Weasley and Misters Scamander," the Headmistress spoke, the corners of her mouth twitching as she watched blue and green sparks erupt from a pumpkin juice pitcher. "I would like to speak to you in my office after the feast."
Before Caelum made his way to his table, he turned to assess his father's reaction. When he looked up at him, however, the older Malfoy was smiling at him just as he had before the sorting. Draco nodded at his son, silently communicating that it was alright - he would love his son no matter what house he was in. For Caelum, all was well.