Disclaimer: most places, people, and things belong to J.K. Rowling and her various publishers. Anything that doesn't belong to her belongs to me, but I don't mind if you use anything…just let me know so I can read your story and see how you've used it.
A/N: And here is the sequel that I said wasn't going to be. I'm having a bit of…not necessarily a writer's block but no creative flow with this story so don't expect updates frequently. Thanks a million and one to my awesome Beta, and to the members of the yahoo!group that I created for this story for encouraging me to write the sequel. To join, click on my "homepage" link on my profile. Also thanks to Lady Godiva. Our chats about the Sexy Beast encouraged me to finish the chapter. And now on with the story!
Chapter One
Ginevra (Weasley) Malfoy stood in front of the window and watched her children play Quidditch. They couldn't really play Quidditch as Thomas and William were only six and five respectively, so they couldn't fly, but they were doing their best. Damien, eleven, and Nadia, nine, were trying to explain the rules to their younger brothers, but soon gave up and settled for tossing the Quaffle back and forth while Thomas and William chased the snitch which had been charmed to stay within twenty five feet of the children. She smiled happily as she watched her children play. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she felt lips pressing against her neck in a gentle kiss.
"Do you think Damien and Nadia will ever give up trying to teach Thomas and William how to play Quidditch?" asked Draco, Ginny's husband, as they watched their children play. Ginny laughed.
"Probably not. Do you think Damien will play Quidditch at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked as she turned around and wrapped her arms around her husband.
"Of course. With both of us as parents, why wouldn't they? If the Hydes thing hadn't come up, I was going to see about doing Quidditch professionally," Draco said and led his wife to the couch where they curled up together.
"I was thinking about it, too. I wonder what position he'll have. Not Chaser…he's horrible at throwing the Quaffle to Nadia. Maybe he'll be a Keeper. He's decent at catching the Quaffle," Ginny said. She closed her eyes and leaned against Draco as he wrapped his arms around her.
"He won't be a Seeker. He has no interest in the Snitch. Now Thomas and William…that's another story. They seem very interested in it," Draco smiled. Ginny laughed.
"They're too young to properly understand what it is. They only like it because it's pretty," Ginny said, grinning. Draco brushed his lips against Ginny's hair and they sat in companionable silence for a few minutes until the opening of the back door brought them out of their serenity.
"Mum, Dad, Uncle Charlie's here!" Nadia said as she ran into the living room where they were sitting. Ginny opened her eyes and saw her daughter leading Charlie into the room. Ginny sat up and held her arms out for her daughter. Nadia pushed a lock of strawberry blonde hair out of her brown eyes and crawled into her mother's lap.
"Hullo, Charlie," Draco said as his brother-in-law sat down in a chair across from him. Draco pulled his wife and daughter closer.
"What brings you here?" Ginny asked as she played with her daughter's curls. Nadia sat happily in her mother's arms and decided that there was a perk to be the only girl in a family of four children. At that moment her brothers came running in.
"Uncle Charlie!" Damien shouted and launched himself at his favorite uncle. Charlie laughed and hugged the silvery blonde boy. William and Thomas, both honey blonde, climbed up on the couch to be with their parents and sister.
"I don't think we're quite squashed yet. You two want to join us?" Ginny asked melodramatically. Charlie laughed.
"Nah. Actually…I came to give you some news. We have a Council meeting tonight. We're going to discuss some possible candidates for next summer so that the Greens can be on the look out for them at school," Charlie said.
"Are you taking Tory to the Burrow during the meeting?" Ginny asked referring to Charlie and Malia's ten-year-old daughter. Victoria, Tory as she liked to be called, was a tomboy, but had inherited her mother's good looks. Charlie nodded.
"Malia's probably already over there with her, waiting for us. We figured we'd just floo to Hydes together," Charlie said. Ginny stood up, keeping Nadia in her arms.
"You lot have five minutes to get ready to go to Granddad and Grandmum's house," she said to her three sons.
"Do you hafta go, Mum?" Nadia asked as Ginny carried her to the entrance hall to wait for the boys.
"Yes, love, but I'll be back before you go to bed," Ginny promised and kissed her daughter on the forehead. Nadia wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and pressed her face into her shoulder. Ginny was rubbing circles onto Nadia's neck when Draco and Charlie came into the room, Draco carrying William, Charlie carrying Thomas, and Damien walking in between the two, telling them how he was going to be the star player for his house's Quidditch team when he got to Hogwarts.
"And what house are you going to be in, then?" Charlie asked teasingly as they moved over to stand by the fireplace with Ginny and Nadia.
"Slytherin!" Damien cried out and Draco grinned.
"He's a Malfoy to the core," Draco said smugly as Ginny rolled her eyes.
"You first Damien," Ginny said and took the vase that contained the floo powder off the mantel. He took a pinch of the powder and threw it into the fire. It turned green and he stepped into it.
"The Burrow!" he called out and, with a spin, was gone.
"You next, Nads," Ginny said as she put her daughter down on the floor. After Nadia flooed, Ginny went with William and Draco went with Thomas as Charlie Apparated to the Burrow.
Molly and Arthur were always very pleased to see their grandchildren, their children, and their children-in-law. Molly was relieved that they weren't seeing them because it was a battle. This time it was only a meeting.
"Grandmum!" Nadia called as she crawled out of the fireplace and made her way into the kitchen. Molly smiled and gathered her grandchild into her arms for a hug.
"Hello, dear. Your cousin is in the backyard with your Aunt Malia. She told me, to tell you, to go on out there when you got here," Molly said. Nadia squealed in delight before running to see her favorite cousin, Tory.
"Hello, Mum," Ginny said as she walked into the kitchen, followed by Draco, and gave her mother a hug.
"Hello, darlings," Molly said and gave her two children and her son-in-law hugs. Malia walked back into the house and stood next to Charlie. He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her close to him.
"Are we ready to go? Thanks again, Molly, for watching them on such short notice," Malia said, smiling at her mother-in-law. Molly smiled back.
"Any time. I always enjoy having the grandchildren around. It gets lonely around here with all the kids gone," Molly said, smiling fondly at her children.
"We need to be going. We'll be back later, Mum," Charlie said. The three others said good-bye to Molly before Flooing to Hydes.
Jude met them at the fireplace that they had just flooed into.
"You are the last arrivals. Everyone else has been here for at least fifteen minutes," he said sternly as he led them into the meeting room. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Not everyone else has five toddlers to deal with, Jude," she said and took a seat in between Lacey and Draco. Lacey reached over and gave Ginny a hug and Draco an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.
"Good to see that you two finally got here, Gin," Lacey whispered as Eloise stood up to begin the meeting.
"I declare this meeting of the Hydes Dragon Council in session," she said and banged a little mallet against the table. "Our first order of business tonight is future candidates for Hydes. Does anyone know someone they would like to recommend?" Several people stood up and waited to be addressed. "Geoffrey, you may speak first."
"I have spoken with Dumbledore, and he has several candidates. Eliza Smith, daughter of Zechariah and Samantha Smith; Oliver Porter, son of Aaron and Marcia Porter; Fiona Gardner, daughter of Victor and Rachael Gardner; and Eugene Weasley, son of Percy and Penelope Weasley." Geoffrey smiled and Ginny and Charlie, who looked at each other with amused expressions. Eugene, or Gene as he preferred to go by, was the complete opposite of his bookworm father and twin sister, Patricia, or Tricia, as she liked to be called. Percy had reconciled with the family seven years ago. Eloise gave a nod.
"You may sit down if you were going to submit any of those children," she said and everyone except two people sat down. "Lacey, you may speak next."
"Madame Maxime has three candidates. The first are twins. Auguste and Hélène Normand. The second candidate is Sebastien Beniot." Lacey sat down, and Eloise turned towards the last standing member, Tait.
"There is only one candidate from Durmstrang. His name is Richard Corner." Tait sat down and Eloise nodded.
"Eight candidates. This looks like it could be a good year for Greens. Now, on to the second order of business. As I'm sure you've all noticed that we're getting more battles and they're more often. It's a hassle to rouse those of you who no longer live at Hydes. I'm asking for all of you to return, if possible, to Hydes. It is only temporary, and you are not obligated to do it. I know some of you have small children that cannot be brought, and I understand that. But if it is at all possible, please come back. That way we can get a larger first round out faster.
"This is the last topic of the night. If you are planning on moving back into Hydes, come see me and we'll get your rooming arranged. If you can arrange to stay a few nights a week, come see me also. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, again, come see me. Meeting is adjourned!" She tapped her mallet on the table once more and at once everyone was talking to their neighbors. Ginny turned to Draco.
"Well?" Draco asked and Ginny sighed. While it would be a lot easier to move back to Hydes, she didn't want to be a burden on someone by leaving their children with them for Merlin knew how long.
"I don't know. Maybe we could have one of us be here and the other stay home with the kids, and we alternate," Ginny suggested lamely. Draco frowned.
"We'd never see each other, Gin," Draco said, and she sighed.
"I know. I guess we could have Mum keep the kids…let's see what Charlie and Malia are going to do," Ginny said, and leaned across her husband to where her brother was sitting. "Charlie, are you two going to move in here?" Charlie nodded.
"We've been thinking about it for awhile, and we feel the need to. We talked to Mum about it earlier, and she said she would love to keep Tory. The invitation is extended to your children as well," her brother said. Ginny nodded and leaned back into her chair, facing her husband.
"That settles it, then…we should move back here," Draco said as he stood up and offered his hand to his wife. She took it and allowed him to help her up.
"Let's go tell Eloise, then," Ginny sighed. Draco rested his hand on the small of her back and the couple made their way towards their leader.
"Ah, Ginny, Draco, you've decided to return?" she asked, smiling at them. The two nodded.
"We're going to have the children stay at the Burrow with Mum," Ginny said, and made pleasant talk with Eloise until Draco looked at his watch.
"Gin, we'd best get back if we want to catch our kids while they're still awake," he said. They said their good-byes to Eloise, who they would see the next day when they moved back into Hydes, and both Flooed back to the Burrow.
When they arrived at Ginny's childhood home, Draco went outside to find their children while Ginny went into the kitchen to find her mother.
"Hello Mum," she said as she sat down at the bar and watched as her mother took a fresh batch of sugar cookies out of the oven.
"Hello, dear. How was the meeting?" Molly asked. She methodically moved the cookies from the cooling rack to a plate, which she pushed in front of Ginny. Ginny took a cookie and bit the head off of the lion.
"Eloise wants as many people as possible to move back. Can you keep the kids for a while?" Ginny asked after she'd chewed and swallowed her bite. She took another bite.
"Of course. I've already offered to take Tory for Charlie and Malia, and I suspect they'll be taking me up on the offer," Molly said as she filled a second plate. "Will you take these to Draco and the kids?" She handed Ginny the plate and watched as her daughter went outside to join her husband and family.
Ginny found Draco sitting on a lawn chair with Nadia in his lap, telling him a story with lots of arm movements. Damien was flying in circles above William and Thomas who were both chasing him. Ginny smiled and sat in the chair next to Draco's. She took a cookie off of the plate and held it out to her husband and daughter, who both took one. Her three sons, upon seeing their mother and cookies, quickly stopped their game to get cookies. Thomas and William climbed into Ginny's lap and Damien stood in between his parents' chairs.
"Have you told them?" Ginny asked Draco and he shook his head.
"Tell us what, Mummy?" Nadia asked, reaching for a second cookie.
"Mummy and Daddy have to move back to Hydes for a while, and you four are going to come stay with Grandmum. Tory's going to be staying as well," Ginny said. Nadia and Damien grinned. They loved spending time at their grandparents' house, especially with their cousin. Grandmum was more lenient with pranks if her grandchildren were involved. They grinned wickedly at each other. Life was going to be fun.