Ginny POV

1 September

"Dinner!" I shouted to my sleeping husband, who was sitting two feet away from me. Harry shot up, looking around the room frantically, but the only other person in the room was me. I was standing as still as I could with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Bloody hell, Gin. Trying to give me a heart attack?" He asked sounding like he didn't think I had a reason to be mad at him.

"Dinner's ready, love," I replied still smiling.

After dinner I sent Alex to bed; I wanted her to go to bed early so she would be ready for school tomorrow. Harry apparently found the need to make me angrier; after Alex stomped up the stairs Harry said: "Why is she going to bed so early. It's not even eight o'clock yet"

That remark made my blood boil. Harry always overruled my authority as a mother and wife. I waited for a minute for the time too change to 8 before I replied: "Now it is. Alex has a big day tomorrow and I don't want her to be tired on her first day," I said with a huff. By that time everyone else was gone from the table Percy, mum, and Audrey were cleaning up, doing dishes and washing the counters. Arthur had disappeared to outside, while Maisie and Teddy retreated upstairs to their separate rooms.

Harry and I stared at eachother with a killing look in our eyes. We waited until the dishes were finished. It seemed like hours before my husband and I were completely alone, then we started the yelling.

Alex POV

I woke up at 5 o'clock. Not on purpose though; I couldn't sleep. We were leaving at 8 o'clock; Dad and I are going to meet Draco and Bane for breakfast. Mum was planning on attending breakfast with the Malfoy's too, until she got mad at dad. Mum stumbled out of bed right before we left to say good bye and to write often. Teddy was going with Percy and his family to get on the train early and eat in a restaurant there, but they were leaving after us.

Since I love to dress up I put on a peach dress with pink flowers, although dad was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. We ate on the sun porch of the restaurant; Draco and Bane were already there when we arrived. After we greeted eachother, shaking hands and sharing familiarities, Draco and dad got deep into a conversation about business or whatever adults talk about. Bane and I stared at eachother for a few minutes; I knew I would be the one to break the ice that had spread through both of us.

"So, are you excited for school?" I squeaked in a higher pitch than normal. While smiling I waited for Bane to reply, it took a while, it felt like a while for him to shrug. Then I knew I would have to try harder to get a whole conversation, with actual words, out of him. "What house do you think you are going to be in?" The only response I got was a blank look, "You know the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. My cousin Teddy told me all about it, he is in Gryffindor. I don't really want to be in Gryffindor though, all my family has or at least my dad and all my uncles and grandparents on my mum's side. I don't know about my dad's parents, he doesn't talk about them much. They died when he was a baby, it's sad. Teddy said there is a whole book on my dad in the Library at school. But yeah," I rambled, remembering that I started out talking about the houses at Hogwarts, "Gryffindor is brave, Hufflepuff is nice, Ravenclaw is smart, and Slytherin is mean. At least that is what Teddy said. So what do you want to be in?" I asked again.

Finally I heard the boy talk, "Not Slytherin. My mum wants me to be in it but I don't want to be mean." Bane's voice was quiet and sad.

"Why would your mum want you to be mean?" I was confused.

"I don't know. She told me that it's is part of the family tradition. I don't think Draco is mean though and he was in Slytherin."

The food, that we ordered when we got to the restaurant, came; I didn't eat much because I was distracted, talking to Bane.

"Yeah," I started," It's the same with my family and Gryffindor, it's tradition. I want to break the tradition though."

"I want to be in Gryffindor," Bane stated confidently. His brother glanced at Bane for a second; he was too deep in conversation, though, to pay any attention to what Bane and I were talking about.

"Gryffindor's cool, but I want to be in Slytherin," I said matter-of-factly. Bane's eyes seemed to grow ten times bigger, "Being brave is good and all but to be mean you have to be brave right? I think Slytherin is like all four houses in one, you know what I mean?" I asked because I wasn't even sure I knew what I was talking about, nonetheless Bane swallowed hard and nodded. So, I continued, "Anybody can be brave, but it doesn't mean they are mean or nice necessarily and they can be as stupid as hell."

"Hey! What did you just say?" Dad shouted, he had an ear for curses and was always yelling at me for saying them.

"Sorry. I think Slytherin is the best bet. Brave, smart, and mean, what more could you want?"

"What about Hufflepuff?" Bane's strong confident voice through me off for a second, "I mean, it is nice, brave, and, smart, that's better than being mean."

Bane did have a good point, but I had a better one, "If you are smart do you think you'll be nice; if you are brave will you be nice. You can't be sweet all the time." I had stated my case, and won. Bane was looking at me in pure awe. Or fear, his mouth hung open, and eyes even wider than before. Maybe this kid wasn't brave enough for Gryffindor and apparently not smart enough for Ravenclaw.

"Do you just chose what house you want to be in, or do they have a test or something?"

"Yeah, a test or something. Teddy told me, he wasn't supposed to though, it's top secret. You will just have to wait," I smiled at him ominously.

"Bloody hell!" My dad shouted looking at his watch.

"Dad you just told me-"

"Sorry Alex. The train is leaving soon, we must have lost track of time," All four of us got up hurriedly. Dad and I were going toward our car in the parking lot; Draco and Bane were walking toward the street, carrying a suit case, like mine with the Hogwarts emblem on the front. "Hoy, Draco! Are you walking to the station?" Dad asked concerned.

"Yes, we don't have a car. I think we could make it though." Draco replied, not sounding very sure of him self.

"It's across town. Get in the car; I'll give you a ride. It would be my pleasure." Bane started walking back towards us, Draco did too after hesitating.

"You know Harry; this is very kind of you. I actually have to be at work at eleven also. Do you think you could give Bane a ride? I'm about 5 minutes to my entrance to the Ministry."

Harry agreed to this arrangement. Bane hopped in the backseat and I sat in the front. Draco said his farewells to Bane and waved us off.

As we pulled away I saw our waitress from the restaurant poked her head out of the door, once she got Draco's attention, he walked back in the restaurant. I was going to ask Dad what Draco was doing, but Dad didn't notice that scene.

"Wait, Alex do you have any money?" Dad asked right before I got on the train. Bane already boarded. My dad had also told me to sit by him because "he doesn't seem to have any friends".

"No." Dad searched his pockets and shook his head.

"I seem to have left my wallet in the car. I know I had it at the restaurant to pay. Maybe it fell out of my pocket."

"It's okay. I'll ask Teddy," I looked around the train, and coincidentally Teddy was leaning out a window waving at us, "Look there he is now. Bye dad." I hugged him tightly but quickly and jumped up onto the train.

Ginny POV

I was home alone. Everyone went to the train station and to do something that gets them out of the house. In one of my moods again, I didn't feel like going out, I didn't want to talk to anybody right now, I just want to be by myself. It was eleven, which meant the train was just leaving, I should have gone with Alex and Teddy, I know I will regret it later; just not now, now I wanted to curl up in bed. I made sure I did just that, I grabbed a bunch of extra blankets from the hall closet and got a book.

As soon as I got comfortable, as soon as I found that perfect spot on the bed that my body seemed to mold into, I heard a pop. Such a familiar noise, someone had apparated in the burrow. It's probably mum coming to stay with me. I waited for her to plop up the stairs and onto my bed, ruining my comfortable spot, my relaxation. Nothing. There was nothing on the stairs. No one coming into my room.

Wait, there is something. A faint noise, a knock on the door. I leaped out of bed with the least amount of hesitation, although I remembered almost instantly that I lost my spot. It was worth I guess, I was interested about who was knocking on the door. Out the window this mystery person was hidden by the roof over the porch.

When I got to the front door the knocking had seized. The only thing I could see through the window was the top of the person's head. That was all I needed though, the bleach blond hair was a dead giveaway. My unknown guest was Draco Malfoy, and he was walking away. I swung the door open.

"Draco! What are you doing here?" I tried to sound excited but there was a cold gust of wind that hit me as soon I the door opened. Draco turned around; when he saw me his mouth dropped open a little and face turn the slightest shade of pink. His eyes moved up and down my body, which made me realize what I was wearing.

I had a purple bathrobe that was open to shorts that were too short for a mom to wear, they had ice cream cones all over and a purple tank top that matched the shorts and showed my stomach also something a mother should not wear, and to top my outfit off I had slippers that wear purple with a big ice cream cone on top of each foot. I felt my face get hot with embarrassment.

"Is this a bad time? I didn't mean to barge in," Draco's eyes made their way back to mine.

"No. I'm just home alone reading. Harry is out for a while sorry. Didn't you just see him at that breakfast thing though, and dropping off the kids," I cleared my throat and added, "Would you like to come in and have some tea? You must be freezing."

"Sure, some tea would be okay, quickly," Draco and I walked into the kitchen, he sat down and I put the kettle on.

"Were you just in the neighbor hood or something?" I asked whiled I finished my question with the most flirtatious smile a married woman could have.

"No," Draco stood up and pulled a wallet on the table, "Harry left it at the restaurant, I expected him to be here. I should go now."

He stood staring deep into my eyes and I did the same. It seemed like hours, before anyone moved; a gust of wind pounded on the windows, it was the only sound in the house. Draco's eyes were deep and showed pain, that hurt me to look at, but I couldn't turn away. A sudden crash woke both of us, I had realized I was holding a tea cup and dropped it.

"Do you have to be somewhere? We should catch up, we haven't talked for ages. Sit, just a cup of tea." Draco obeyed my orders and sat down instantly, like a puppy he stared at me, waiting for a treat or a pat on the head. He treat was set on the table, biscuits from breakfast this morning.

"Catching up is for old friends, we were never friends. We never talked, not about anything other than Harry Potter or the war." Anger was splashed on my ex-enemy's face. I didn't know what to say, he was right.

"Then let's be friends, so in twenty years we will be able to catch up," I had my smile on again; this time it felt fake, I didn't have anything to smile about.

"Okay. I have had a question for you, for- well quite some time. Er- why didn't you play Quidditch professionally? I remember you were really great at it and I thought that's what you planned on doing."

I looked at my hands, fiddling on the table top, I felt embarrassed, "I wanted to, I still do, but some things you don't plan on happening, like having babies. I got pregnant in the middle of my last year and left before exams."

I watched Draco doing the math in his head that Alex was 11 and I was in my last year 11 years ago. "Oh. It's good that you and Harry saw eachother a lot while you were still in school."

"We didn't," I bowed my head again in shame and embarrassment. "We were supposed to spend Christmas break together but he was training to be and auror and could make it. I stayed at school then, I didn't see him that whole year."

"Then how did you get-" It clicked, the first person who figured out my secret was Draco Malfoy.

"Alex isn't Harry's daughter, and he doesn't know." I shared, "And he isn't going to find out."

"You have to tell him, it's not right. If you don't I will" Draco threatened, his face was concerned, but not for Harry and my marriage.

"No! You can't, and besides whom do you think he will believe: me or a Malfoy, the son of a deatheater," I could even feel the sting of that burn so it must have hurt Draco. I apologized right away, "Please just don't," I pleaded. Draco poured him self tea that had been on the table between us, while he considered his options.

"I won't. Do you know who the father is?" His implications stung too.

"Do you think I was an easy school girl who slept with so many guys she doesn't know who the father of her child is?" I paused and thought about it while Draco took his turn apologizing, "No, I don't know," I confessed. "I had been through a lot the previous year, and I have always had trouble with things that happened in my past, I was depressed with my best friends leaving school. It was hard. But there are two guys that I, er, had a thing with: Harold Dingle and Duncan Inglebee. Harold was a year younger than me and Duncan was in the same year as me.

Draco nodded understanding, "Your secret is safe with me." He finally looked at me in the face.

"Now I have another question for you. What's the deal with your brother? Everyone in the Wizarding World have their own theory and opinion. But he is twelve years old and your dad has been in Azkaban for that long. And everyone sees you with him all the time, some people at the ministry think it's your kid."

Shaking his head, Draco said, "My best guess is that my mum got pregnant before the fight at Hogwarts. I never asked though. My mum feels ashamed of our family, me now not being a death eater, she doesn't leave the house if she can help it and now she is sick."

Death eater? I thought, are they still around, would Draco know anything about it anyways? I shouldn't ask, not at the beginning of our friendship. I realized how much the man sitting in my kitchen had changed since we were in school.

"I have to go. I was supposed to be at work at eleven, and it is after 12 now. You know you could still play Quidditch." Draco informed me as he got up and went to the door, I followed.

"Eh, I'm too old, and I haven't even been on a broom stick in years." I talked myself out of the possibility a long time ago and didn't want to turn back on it.

"You aren't even thirty," He said calmly reassuring me, and I found myself reaching over to embrace Draco in a hug. "Think about it. I will support you even if your husband doesn't." With the end of his 't' Draco was gone. He knows something I don't know about Harry, or maybe I do know it and just won't admit it. Harry doesn't want anything to change.