Ginny was finishing dressing Albus when she heard the floo sound, turning she saw her sister-in-law, Lavender step out of the fire with her three year old son, Hugo.

"Hi, Lavender." Ginny said to her least favourite sister-in-law. "Thanks for persuading Ron to let Hugo come with us."

"Well I didn't want him to feel left out when James and Teddy started talking about visiting a large Manor." Lavender said, slightly put out she hadn't been invited.

"I don't think it's a large Manor, Lavender." Harry laughed as he entered the room with James and Teddy.

"Of course it is, didn't you hear the way Malfoy used to brag about his big Manor house in the country, while we were at school." Lavender said, sounding jealous.

"Lav, I think that's his parents' house." Ginny said, pulling on Albus' jacket.

"Well I still don't want Hugo missing out." Lavender replied, unconcerned she had just been corrected.

When Ginny finished with Albus she took Hugo off Lavender and practically had to force her overbearing sister-in-law back into the floo network.

"Let's go." Harry said, grabbing his eldest son in one hand and his godson in the other.

Ginny held on to Albus and gathered her nephew, and the Potter family apparated to the boundary lines of the Malfoy's house.

"What were you saying about it not been a large Manor." Ginny said, looking in awe at the magnificent house in front of them.

Harry just looked in awe at the large house his old friend now lived in.

"C'mon, Harry. Scorp's waiting." Teddy said, pulling at Harry's hand.

Harry let himself be dragged up the long drive by his nephew, Ginny following close behind. Arriving at the door Harry pressed the bell and waited for an answer.


Hermione was finishing preparing the food when the doorbell rang. Placing the plate of cakes she was holding on the table she headed for the front door.

"Harry, Ginny. I'm pleased you came." She smiled when she opened the door. "Come in."

Hermione watched as Harry took in the large front passage they were standing in, he looked slightly overwhelmed by the size of her house as his family took off their coats.

"Hi, Teddy. Scorp's in the front room if you want to go through." Hermione smiled at her son's friend.

"Yeah, can I Harry?" He asked turning to his godfather.

"Of course, take James and Hugo with you." Harry said.

Hermione watched as Teddy get hold of both James and Hugo's hands and carefully headed to the front room. Even if she didn't know she would be able to pick out both boys as Harry and Ron's children, James was a miniature version of Harry while Hugo was also a carbon copy of Ron.

"Teddy's really good with them." Hermione commented, noticing how careful Teddy was walking so neither of the smaller boys fell down.

"Yeah, he's great with them." Harry smiled, immensely proud of his godson.

"Should we go through." Hermione said, gesturing to the door the three boys had disappeared through.

Hermione led Harry and Ginny out of the front passage into a large hallway, she led them to an open door on the right hand side of the hallway. Harry and Ginny followed Hermione into a large front room, there were several children dotted all over the room and a few adults sitting watching them.

"Obviously you know the adults." Hermione said to the couple gesturing around the room.

Pansy was sitting on a large settee with Narcissa while Draco, Blaise and Greg were gathered around a bar at the far end of the room.

"That's Scorp playing trains with Teddy and James. That's Carina playing with Blaise and Pansy's daughter, Alexis." She said pointing at a blonde haired girl playing dolls with a small child with long black hair. "And that's Cassie, reading to Greg's daughter Heidi."

Ginny and Harry looked at Hermione's other daughter, she was sitting with a toddler and reading her a story using funny voices, causing the smaller child to keep giggling.

"Oh, you've got a puppy." Ginny squealed, noticing Hugo was sitting near to Scorpius and James petting a small light brown Labrador puppy.

"Yes, Lucius thought it would be a good Christmas present." Hermione sighed. "Not that he bothered to check if it was okay."

"Why would I do that when you would have said no." A voice behind Hermione said, startling Hermione and the Potters.

Hermione, Ginny and Harry turned to find Lucius Malfoy standing behind them smirking. Harry was surprised to see the former Death Eater. Obviously he knew he was Hermione's father-in-law but he had assumed he wouldn't approve of his son's marriage, he never expected to find him in Hermione's house chatting away as though he actually liked her.

"Well, it's the polite thing to do." Hermione told her father-in-law.

"Ah, but just doing it anyway is the Slytherin thing to do." Lucius replied. "You couldn't possibly refuse once the children had actually gotten the puppy."

"Obviously, you sneak." Hermione said, smiling at the aggravating man in front of her.

"Thank you my dear." Lucius said, taking Hermione's insult as a compliment.

"Lucius you remember Harry and Ginny." Hermione said, suddenly remembering her former friends were standing right beside her looking bemused by events.

"Of Course." Lucius nodded.

Lucius and Harry eyed each other warily for a few minutes before Harry excused himself to go and talk to Draco, Ginny quickly followed claiming Albus was getting too heavy to hold.

"So much for Gryffindor bravery." Lucius sneered when Harry and his wife were out of earshot.

"I think they were just surprised to see you." Hermione said, hoping there wouldn't be a problem between her friends and her family.


"Potter, you know Blaise and Greg." Draco greeted as Harry joined the men at the bar.

"Vaguely." Harry said, still shocked by Lucius presence in the room.

"Is everything okay?" Draco asked he had noticed the meeting between his father and his wife's friend.

"It's fine." Harry replied, unconvincingly.

"Don't worry about Lucius, you get used to his abrupt manner." Blaise said, grinning at the former Gryffindor.

"And his snarky comments." Greg added.

"I suppose." Harry said, looking back to where Hermione was still standing talking to Lucius.

"You're surprised he's here." Draco commented.

"No, well sort of." Harry admitted. "I never imagined I would see Hermione so comfortable around him."

"They are pretty close." Blaise said. "Lucius is pretty protective of Hermione."

Harry was shocked, he had assumed Lucius tolerated Hermione when he had realised he was present at the house.

"How?" Harry blurted without thinking. "Sorry, that sounded rude."

"It's okay Potter, I suppose it does seem a bit odd to you." Draco said. "You only know my father as a Death Eater, not as a caring parent."

"But he's not Hermione's parent." Harry said, even though he knew from experience that it didn't really matter whether you were related by blood, his parents-in-law treated him like a son and he considered Molly and Arthur his parents.

"It doesn't matter, she's his daughter-in-law and a Malfoy." Draco said. "Not that's it's always been that way."

"Why not?" Harry asked, intrigued as to how Hermione became so close to her formidable father-in-law.

"When he first found out about our marriage he wasn't thrilled, but he begrudgingly accepted Hermione as there was nothing he could do about it." Draco explained. "I figured they would never really get on but they did tolerate each other for my sake."

"What changed?" Harry asked, watching Hermione as she continued to talk and laugh with Lucius.

"When Hermione was five months pregnant with Scorpius, she collapsed. Father had brought over some papers for me to sign and found her unconscious. He rushed her to hospital and stayed with her the entire time." Draco said, remembering the awful time he thought he was going to lose his wife and unborn child. "For a while it looked like we were going to lose both her and Scorp, luckily the healers managed to save them both, but father was great he wouldn't leave her and kept telling her both her and the baby were going to be fine."

Harry could tell by the emotions showing on all three Slytherin's faces that what had happened to Hermione was incredibly serious, he shuddered at the thought that something might have happened to Hermione and he would have had no idea.

"That bonded them, Hermione was grateful that father had been there for her and constantly reassured her when she was scared and I think when father realised he had come close to losing his grandchild, his attitude towards Hermione changed." Draco said.

"So they get on well now?" Harry asked, refusing to think about how close he had come to losing Hermione permanently.

"Yes, even though they mostly just bicker and snipe at each other." Draco said, pleased to get off the topic of his wife's brush with death.

"Are we going to play Quidditch today?" Blaise asked, hoping to lighten the serious mood that talking about Hermione's near death experience had brought over the men.

"I think so, we're just waiting for Theo." Draco said.

Thanks to Blaise's intervention the conversation took on a lighter tone as the men talked about Quidditch. Harry found himself pleasantly surprised by the light hearted banter shared by the former Slytherins, they weren't as distant and cold as he had thought they were in school.


"Mrs Potter, it's nice to meet you." Narcissa said as Ginny sat down on a seat nearby. "Hermione has told me so much about you, and is so pleased to have you and your husband back in her life."

"Thank you, Mrs Malfoy. We're thrilled to have Hermione back in our lives." Ginny said, pleasantly surprised by the older woman's friendly attitude.

"Please call me Narcissa." Narcissa said. "Is this your youngest?"

"Yes, this is Albus. Not that he'll be the youngest for long." Ginny said, bouncing Albus on her knee.

"Hermione said you're expecting again." Pansy said, joining the conversation.

"Yes I am. When are you due?" Ginny asked the former Slytherin politely.

"Six weeks." Pansy smiled, as much as she complained about being pregnant she was looking forward to meeting the newest addition to her family.

"Boy or Girl?" Ginny asked.

"We don't know, Blaise decided he wanted a surprise." Pansy said, finding the redhead surprisingly easy to talk to. "How about you?"

"We're due to have a scan next week, we'll find out then." Ginny said.

"Do you have a preference as to which you want?" Narcissa asked as she watched Albus looking around the room.

"I'm hoping for a girl this time." Ginny smiled.

"I would have loved a girl." Narcissa sighed wistfully. "Luckily I've now got Hermione."

"You consider Hermione your daughter?" Ginny asked, still surprised to find Draco's parents seemed to be accepting of Hermione.

"Yes, both Lucius and I consider her our daughter." Narcissa smiled, she was extremely fond of her feisty daughter-in-law.

Ginny was unsure of how to respond, clearly the former Death Eater and his wife had changed dramatically since the fall of Voldemort.

Ginny however was saved from any awkwardness when the floo sounded and Theo and Luna appeared in the room.

"Finally, now we can play Quidditch." Blaise exclaimed as his friend stepped into the crowded room.

"Is that all you lot think about?" Pansy sniffed, unimpressed with her husband and friends.

"Yes." Chorused Blaise, Draco, Theo and Greg all together.

"Fine, you lot go and get prepared we'll sort the kids." Hermione said taking charge.

The four former Slytherins and one Gryffindor trooped out the room eager to get outside.

"We have some training brooms if the kids want to play." Hermione told Ginny. "If it's alright, that is."

"Of course, James, Hugo and Teddy are Quidditch mad." Ginny replied, pleased the kids weren't being left out of the fun.

"Right, who wants to play Quidditch?" Hermione asked the room full of children.

Immediately all the boys started jumping up and down and shouting enthusiastically.

"Girls, do you want to fly?" Pansy asked.

"No, Aunt Pansy. It's cold." Carina said, briefly looking up from where she was playing with Alexis.

"You can put scarves and hats on." Narcissa told her granddaughter.

"But our dolls will be cold." Alexis pouted.

"And Holly." Cassie said, gesturing to the puppy who was lying curled up in front of the fire.

"Fine, how about you girls stay in here and the boys can go outside." Hermione said.

The girls all nodded and went back to playing with their dolls and reading their books.

"How about me and Cissa stay in here with the girls and you lot can take the boys outside." Lucius said, sitting down in a chair next to Cassie and Heidi.

"That's a great idea." Narcissa said. "You can leave Albus if you want." She said turning to Ginny.

"Are you sure?" Ginny said, wary of leaving her son with virtual strangers.

"Yes, now go the boys are getting antsy." Narcissa said holding her hands out for the baby.

"Thank you." Ginny said, handing her son to Narcissa who immediately started making a fuss of the little boy.

"Come on boys, get your coats on." Hermione said.

The boys obeyed and ran into the front passage, Ginny and Hermione followed to help the four boys and to make sure they were properly wrapped up.

When they finished, they headed into the Malfoy's huge backyard where Luna and Pansy had gotten the training brooms ready.

Ginny noticed Harry and the Slytherins flying around nearby as Hermione led her and the boys to a small Quidditch pitch.

"The brooms are enchanted to never leave the playing circle, and they don't go very high either." Hermione explained to Ginny who was looking at the miniature version of a professional Quidditch pitch.

"Wow, this is amazing." Ginny said in awe, as Hermione made sure each boy had a broom suitable for their age.

Teddy's broom was the biggest and went slightly higher than Scorpius', James' broom was smaller still and Hugo's was tiny and just say hovered off the ground.

Ginny watched as Pansy released a child sized Quaffle and a small snitch onto the pitch. For the next half hour the four women chatted and watched the boys play mini Quidditch while their husbands played and shouted nearby, acting like children themselves.


After playing Quidditch, everyone headed back into the house and headed into the dining room where Hermione had set up an assortment of food.

"Wow, Hermione. This is amazing." Harry said to his friend, looking at the amazing spread his friend had produced. The large dining room table held an amazing selection of muggle and wizard food and drinks.

"It's nothing, we do this quite regularly on a Sunday." Hermione said, pleased that everyone was getting on and enjoying themselves.

"Well it's being great, the boys have thoroughly enjoyed themselves." Harry said, watching as the children dug into the mass of food.

"Good, I hope this means you'll be regular visitors." Hermione grinned at her friend.

"Definitely." Harry grinned back.

"You said the boys enjoyed themselves, how about you?" Hermione asked, hoping her friend had gotten on alright with Draco and his friends.

"I've enjoyed myself, too." Harry laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day I actually willingly spent time with Malfoy and his friends."

"That feeling is mutual, Potter." Draco said, coming up behind Hermione and wrapping his arms around his wife.

"Be nice." Hermione warned her husband.

"I am, I've even offered for Potter and his boys to come to the Quidditch with me and Scorp next week." Draco told his wife.

"Really?" Hermione asked her friend.

"Yes, though I don't know how Gin will fell about me attending a Tornadoes game." Harry laughed. "She's a Harpies fan."

"Yes I am, and I'm disgusted you're going to watch the enemy." Ginny joked, joining the group.

"If Potter plans on spending time with us, he needs to support a decent team." Draco told the redhead, smirking at her.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at the blond, causing him to laugh at her.

"Honestly, Red, You're so easy to wind up." Draco laughed.

Ginny smiled at the former Slytherin, not objecting to the nickname he seemed to have found for her, she knew he was only joking.

"I've been thinking, maybe you should come and visit us." Ginny said. "In a few weeks, it's Mum and Dad's anniversary and they're planning a party for the family at the Burrow, you should come."

"I don't know, Gin. You and Harry are one thing, I'm not sure about all your family." Hermione was hesitant, nervous about seeing Ron again.

"Please, Mum's dying to see you." Ginny pleaded. "And don't worry about Ron, he's slowly coming around."

"I don't know." Hermione said, part of her was dying to see the family that had made her feel so welcome all those years ago.

"I think it's a great idea." Draco said. "You've missed Red's family and it'll be nice for you to see them and for them to meet the kids. You'll have fun."

"You're talking as though you're not going, Malfoy." Harry said, looking at the blond.

"I'm not." He said, continuing before anyone could protest. "We all know things will be easier if I'm not there."

"Just so you know, Mum will expect to see you at some point." Ginny told the blond. "Hermione's part of our lives again now, and you're part of hers so eventually you'll have to meet the rest of the family."

"I know, I just think it's easier for Hermione to re-connect with them before I meet them."

"That actually makes sense." Harry said, impressed by the blond's reasoning.

"I have been known to make sense occasionally, Potter." Draco replied with a roll of his eyes.

"So it's settled, Hermione and the kids will come to the Burrow." Ginny said smiling.

Everyone looked to Hermione waiting for her response.

"Fine it's settled, I'll come." Hermione smiled. "Now let's get something to eat before it's all gone."

For the rest of the afternoon the children all played together happily while the adults got to know Harry and Ginny better.