Author's Note: Ok, so if anyone's afraid this is becoming a D/G fic….well, you might have reason to worry (teehee). But I'll do my best to keep it Ron/Hermione for the most part. This scene just needed to be taken care of. The coming parts are pretty much all RHr. This is another unplanned chapter that just seemed like a good idea. Thanks to all who reviewed (Pyrana, Alexis Dunmire, AirmidM, Amanda, Dracoxhermioneztrueluv4eva, Hearti Princess, and Dandin).

Disclaimer: The Potterverse belongs to J.K. Rowling and her publisher and Warner Bros. and who ever else owns the copyrights.


Draco reapparated to the Leaky Cauldron and swiftly made his way to Hogwarts. His father was so….bizarre this evening. He expected Lucius to be difficult, ornery….him!

Draco had spent as little time at the Manor as possible after the war, opting to spend the summer at Blaise's Italian villa. He had read in all the papers that after Lucius's lengthy Azkaban stay, he had publicly apologized, said he'd changed his ways, but Draco had known him too long to have believed it of him. Not again.

But on the other hand, Azkaban was said to change people. Maybe Lucius really had repented. Surely there was no other way to explain his relatively easy acceptance of a Weasley into his family.

It could've been a fluke, but Draco didn't think so. Either way, he'd owl his mother tonight, and he was glad to be getting the Manor. That, too, was an unexpected product of the night. He stepped up to the Head Boy and Girl Room portrait, said the password, Otto Amanti, and went inside.

Blaise and Ron were sprawled out on the couch playing something called a "GameCube" that Hermione had brought in with a special muggle-adapter. Harry and Ginny were playing some wizard chess (Ginny wasn't as good as Ron, but she was still more than a match for Harry, so it seemed.) Colin and Luna were making a Witch's Weekly collage to prepare for the weddings, and Hermione was curled up in the corner with her new copy of Stunningly Gorgeous: Defense Against the Dark Arts for the Modern Witch.

Well, Draco smirked, some things never change.

But as he looked at his seven friends—five Gryffindors, two Slytherins, and a Ravenclaw living peaceably and happily together—well, it was just something he thought would never happen.

He was shaken from his reverie by Ginny looking up from her chess game with a frown. "Oh, Draco…..you look upset. How did it go?"

"Ginny, you have no idea," Draco started.

Hermione looked up from her book. "That bad?"

"He…he…he…" Draco stuttered.

"Mate, he can't beat you anymore. You're of age now. You should go to the Ministry," Blaise frowned.

"No, no, you don't understand," Draco managed. "He…gave us the Manor!"

"WHAT?"

"He gave us the Manor. He seemed okay with it all. He said Ginny was a...a…a hottie!"

"Hey, I'm not sure he can say that about my sister…"

"Oh, pipe down, Ron!"

Amidst all the excitement, Draco managed to usher Ginny into their room. Completely unsurprised by this detour, she deftly swatted away a kiss and asked him immediately, "Did you get the goods?"

"You mean the ingredients? Of course." He pulled a small pouch from inside his cloak and spilled its contents on the foot of the bed. He moved in for another snogging attempt, but again he was foiled, this time with a swift sidestep.

"Draco, have I ever told you how glad I am that you come from a long line of evil wizards? The darkest thing we have in our family potion stores is dandelion root!"

"Well, father does like to keep the Manor well-stocked…" Draco murmured as he poured some rare salamander eyelashes into the blossoming Velenobambino Ragno potion bubbling in the cabinet of the side table.

"Was he really okay with us?" Ginny asked, scooping the rest of the ingredients off the bed and dropping each vial back into the pouch from whence it had come. "Really?"

"I know, Ginny. It's weird. You wanna know something even weirder? He's invited your parents over for tea!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Ye gods!" Ginny gulped, "They're going to tear each other apart!"

"I don't think so, Ginny. They both seemed genuinely okay with it. Maybe it'll work out better than we thought. In any case, we'll have this sucker," he said, pointing to the potion, "done in two months. Right on time for the wedding...Our wedding."

"And hopefully on time for the baby."

"Of course it will be on time for the baby; it won't even have been nine months…"

Ginny sighed exasperatedly, "Draco, how many spiderbabies have you seen born?"

"None."

"How many spiderbaby births have there been ever? In the whole world?"

"None."

"So what makes you think that their gestation period is nine months?"

"I…I…..well, you're a whore!"

Ginny scoffed and finally submitted to his kiss and more than that, while their roommates carried on unaware in the common room.

A/N: Please review!!!!