All of Hogsmeade was taking part in the reunion, and when Ron and Ginny arrived they were surprised to find the entire village decorated in the various colours of the Hogwarts houses. Every shop seemed to have picked a house to base its decoration scheme around, and the streets were littered with extra stalls, several of them selling items modelled on elements of Hogwarts.
"Wow, this is better than I expected," Ginny muttered in awe.
"It is pretty impressive," Ron agreed as they passed a stall selling various soft drinks served in Potion vials, and paused at another stall selling cupcakes, each decorated to represent one of the four houses.
After buying two Gryffindor cakes, Ron and Ginny continued to wander around Hogsmeade, taking in the effort the entire village had made for the reunion. On their travels they spotted plenty of people from Ron's year, and it was clear that the reunion had a good turn-out. It was looking as if virtually everyone who had gone to school with Ron had chosen to attend the reunion with their families.
While Ron and Ginny greeted several people they remembered from Hogwarts, they didn't initially find anyone who Ron had been friendly with when he'd been at Hogwarts. In fact the first of Ron's friends they spotted was Neville Longbottom. Ginny was the one to spot Neville, standing with a heavily pregnant Luna Lovegood at a stall selling scarves. Only it wasn't until the pair moved closer that they saw the couple were accompanied by two little blonde girls, each of whom were picking a scarf.
"Ron," Neville greeted, smiling as he caught sight of his old friend. "And Ginny. How are you both?"
"We're good," Ron answered. "How are you?"
"Good," Neville answered with a grin as Luna also said her hellos.
"Wow, Luna you look like you're about to pop," Ginny laughed.
"The joys of more twins," Luna laughed.
"More twins?" Ron frowned. "You're pregnant with twins?"
"Jade and Ruby," Luna answered, her hand resting on her swollen stomach. "They're due next month."
"And of course we've already got two little gems," Neville remarked, jerking his head towards the two girls who were still picking out their scarves. "Sapphire and Emerald."
"What lovely names," Ginny cooed. "But two sets of twins, that must be hard work."
"We'll find out next month," Neville laughed. "But enough about us. Who is this little cutie?" he asked, smiling down at Milo, who was lying quite content in his pram.
"This is Milo," Ron answered proudly. "My son."
"I didn't realise you had a son," Neville said with wide eyes as Luna turned around to pay for the scarves the girls had picked.
"He's nearly six months," Ron said.
"And his mother?" Neville asked.
"Sadly she's not here," Ron said with a shake of his head. "Marie, that's my girlfriend, is away visiting her parents. Her mother is sick, but she insisted that I attend the reunion."
"And I came along for moral support," Ginny added with a smile. "Plus, it's nice to see the old place again. Hogsmeade seems even bigger than I remember though."
"It'll be the new shops," Luna said, having finished paying for the girls scarves. "Several new ones have opened up in the last few years."
"Including your brothers new shop," Neville added. "Although, I'm assuming you already knew about the latest branch of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes."
"Of course," Ron lied with a tight smile. "Anyway, we best get on. We've got lots to see. I'm sure we'll see each other later."
Saying their goodbyes to Neville and Luna, Ron and Ginny hurried away from the small family.
"I don't believe this," Ron hissed the second they were out of earshot of the Longbottoms. "Fred and George could ruin everything. They won't go along with the act that Milo is mine."
"Let's not panic," Ginny cautioned. "Just because they have a shop in the village doesn't mean they'll be here. They might have someone else running it."
"Not with my luck," Ron snorted.
"Let's at least try and find out," Ginny suggested. "Let's find the shop and see if Fred or George are around."
Ron agreed that finding out if their brothers were around before panicking was a good idea, and the pair set out to find their brothers new shop. It didn't take them long to find the newest branch of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, and unsurprisingly it was one of the busiest shops. Thanks to the crowds it was easy for Ginny to slip inside and investigate while Ron remained outside with Milo. Within five minutes Ginny was back outside, a large smile on her face.
"No sign of them," she announced. "There's several members of staff inside, including a witch who looks to be in charge, but no sign of Fred or George."
"Thank Merlin," Ron muttered, breathing a sigh of relief. At least now he didn't have to worry about one of his brothers popping up and ruining the story he was going around telling people.
"Now let's relax and enjoy the rest of the day," Ginny suggested. "On our way down here, I spotted a jewellery shop I liked the look of."
Retracing their steps, Ron and Ginny headed back down a side street they'd travelled down in search of the twins shop, and came to stop in front of an elegant looking jewellers. Above the door was a silver name plaque with the name Sparkle written in glittering purple ink, and beside the name was an etching of a flower in the same glittering ink.
"What does the flower mean?" Ron asked his sister.
"I don't know," Ginny replied with a shrug. "What sort of flower is it?"
"Do I look like someone who knows their flowers?" Ron snorted. "You know me Gin, I don't have green fingers."
"I don't suppose it really matters," Ginny remarked as she plucked Milo from his pram and used a spell to ensure that no-one stole his pram while they were inside the shop.
"No, I don't suppose it does," Ron agreed, taking his nephew from Ginny, not just to keep up the pretence that he was his father, but so that Ginny could properly look at the jewellery on display.
Inside the shop, Ron quickly lost interest in the pieces on display. Each piece of jewellery was displayed on purple velvet, and each piece was beautifully made, but they were also beautifully priced and Ron could tell at a glance that he could never afford anything, and he seriously doubted Ginny could either.
"Lovely," Ginny sighed, gazing at a pair of red rose earrings.
"Lovely and pricey," Ron snorted. "Why is everything in here so expensive."
"The pricing reflects the unique nature of every piece," a young witch behind one of the counters said, overhearing the pair's conversation. "Every item of jewellery we sell is a one off. You won't find two pieces exactly the same."
"Oh, I like that idea," Ginny gushed. "It's a very unique selling point."
"I think that was the whole idea," the girl who worked in the shop replied. "Initially Miss Parkinson designed and made everything herself, but even now she hires people to make the jewellery, she still designs most pieces herself and only a single item is made from one design."
"Miss Parkinson," Ron frowned. "You mean Pansy Parkinson?"
"Pansy," Ginny gasped as she clicked her fingers. "That's what the flower outside is, a pansy."
"All of Miss Parkinson's shops have her distinctive pansy design included alongside the name," the young witch supplied.
"All her shops?" Ron queried. "How many does she have?"
"This is her third branch, and there's a fourth one opening later in the year I believe," the witch answered.
"Quite an empire she's got for herself," Ginny muttered, rather surprised that a witch she'd always figured would end up a spoiled wife of a rich wizard had carved out a successful business for herself.
Knowing that they couldn't afford anything in Pansy's shop, not that Ron would have spent even if he could afford it once he knew who owned the place, he and Ginny left the jewellers and putting Milo back into his pram they headed towards The Three Broomsticks as it was nearing lunchtime and they were growing hungry. On their way to the pub, they ran into a few more people, including Ron's old dorm mates, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were accompanied by Dean's beautiful fiancée. With every person they met, Ron continued to pretend Milo was his and that he had the perfect life back in Ireland.
"This is getting easier with every person we speak to," Ron said to Ginny, grinning at her as Seamus, Dean and Dean's fiancée wandered off after chatting for several minutes.
"I told you it would work," Ginny replied smugly. "Now come on, let's go and grab some food, I'm starving."
"You know there are still a couple of people I've yet to see," Ron remarked.
"Maybe they're not here," Ginny said, knowing exactly who Ron was talking about.
"Maybe not," Ron agreed, a groan leaving his lips as he spotted someone he would rather not have seen across the street.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, searching around for what had caused Ron to groan. "Is it them? Have you spotted Harry or Hermione?"
"Just Malfoy," Ron said, directing his sister's gaze across the street, to where Draco Malfoy was standing outside of a quidditch shop, a young boy his exact double bouncing up and down beside him.
"And his kid," Ginny said. "Wow, that boy looks like him. I wonder who his mother is."
Before Ron got a chance to speculate Malfoy's boy turned around and ran up to a pretty blonde witch with a noticeable baby bump. The witch was carrying a paper bag, which looked to have come from Honeydukes, and she let the little boy pick a sweet from the bag. As Ron watched, Malfoy joined the pair and helped himself to a sweet, earning him a light smack on the back of his hand from the blonde witch.
"I think that answers that," Ron said to Ginny. "The kid's mother is clearly the blonde."
"You don't know who she is, do you?" Ginny whispered, her eyes glued to the trio across the street as Draco linked his arm with the witch and began to lead her towards The Three Broomsticks, the little boy trotting along obediently beside them.
"She looks familiar," Ron returned with a shrug. "But what does it matter who Malfoy ended to married to."
"That is Daphne Greengrass," Ginny informed her brother.
"No," Ron gasped, taking a second, closer look at the witch on Malfoy's arm. "Bloody hell, you're right, that is Greengrass."
"Which means Harry chose her over us for no reason," Ginny said quietly.
"Hah, serves him right," Ron snorted with a bitter laugh. "Oh come on Gin," he urged, gently nudging his sister in the ribs. "You can't say part of you isn't pleased that it all went wrong for Harry. We warned him about siding with Slytherins, but he didn't listen to us. And now look, the girl he ditched us for traded him in for another Slytherin."
"I guess part of me is pleased we were right," Ginny admitted. "But I still lost him. And now I know, I lost him for nothing. That tart Greengrass didn't even keep him after stealing him from me."
"Karma's a bitch, and it looks like it's bitten Harry in the arse," Ron remarked with a shrug. "I can't say I'm sad with how it turned out. Maybe now Harry will realise what a mistake he made. Both him and Hermione. They had us, yet they threw us away for Slytherins. Slytherins who ended up turning their back on them and stuck together as snakes tend to do."
"They can't say we didn't warn them," Ginny said. "In the end, they got just what they deserved."
"So maybe they won't be turning up," Ron suggested. "The entire school saw the fool Harry made of himself over Greengrass at the graduation party. He's going to look like a right idiot turning up at the reunion when she's married to Malfoy."
"Well if he does turn up, you have your life already sorted," Ginny said to her brother. "You know, I hope he does turn up so we can rub it in what a big mistake he made. He should have stuck with us instead of choosing a Slytherin who was never going to stay with him."
Ron wasn't sure if he wanted Harry, or Hermione for that matter, to put in an appearance at the reunion, but if it did happen at least he was ready for them and he had a perfect life to rub their noses in. They would be like everyone else and be left thinking that Ron had it all – a son, a beautiful partner, a house and his own pub. After all, they weren't to know it was all a lie.