Disclaimer: it still ain't mine!

A/N: I just wanted to clarify that Fred did not die in the war in this story. Maybe it's because I have twin brothers but the thought of George having to live without Fred just gets to me. I just thought I should make that clear before this Chapter!

Also I was reviewing some of the chapters and felt like they were much shorter than I thought! So I'm gonna try to make them longer (at least 8 pages in the document).

Please read and review!

Chapter XI

Present Day

Molly stared blankly at her daughter, sinking into a small chair near the kitchen door. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"I'm so sorry Mum! I completely forgot! I just thought it'd be nice for Draco to have his close friends here too. I didn't want him to be overwhelmed."

George laughed at his sister, thanking the lucky stars that Percy had left, as Fred rolled his eyes. Trust Ginny to sweet talk her way out of any trouble. Bill and Charlie weren't all that sure of who 'the Zabinis' were and so simply shrugged at each other before going into the living room. Arthur beamed proudly at his daughter. "That's the way we raised you, dear."

"Oh of course it is, Arthur! I'd expect no less. I just need to make sure there's enough food! How many will be coming?" Molly had already jumped to her feet, ready to accommodate their new guests.

"Four."

"Right then. You all run along and I'll fix everything up." Without another word, she replaced her apron around her neck, pushed everyone into the adjoining living room and busied herself in the kitchen. Almost as if on cue, the fireplace lit up and out stepped, or rather stumbled, four anxious people.

Blaise's dark face was lightly flushed with anticipation, his sapphire eyes gleaming with excitement. His raven hair was neatly tousled from the trip, his excitement flaring at his eyes settled on a certain blonde man and his family.

Pansy was just behind him with a small child in her arms. Her blue eyes sparkled as she spotted the couple she was searching for. Together, the Zabini couple rushed forward. Pansy

latched herself onto a laughing Hermione while Blaise grabbed his long-time friend in a crushing, shameless embrace. Ginny grinned at the pair, muttering 'poof' under her breath at the ex-Slytherin men.

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed, mock-glaring at her.

"I'm no poof, love - though I'd be weary of Draco here. That hug was a bit too close for my comfort." He joked with a wink, before turning to thank Arthur and Molly for the invitation. He quickly hugged Hermione and grabbed the child from Pansy as she flung her arms around Draco.

He stepped back quickly, throwing an arm around his daughter. "Well these are our two. Natalia here is 4. And little Alexis is 2."

And so began the introductions of the many families. The Weasley family was rather impressive with seven children, six children in-law and thirteen grandchildren thus far. Bill and Fleur were the proud parents of 7 year old Victoire, 5 year old Dominque and 2 year old Louis. Charlie had married Elena, a Romanian witch he had met through work, and was the father of 6 year old Gabriel and 2 year old Francesca. Fred had married a Muggleborn witch, Elizabeth Burkett, and together they had 3 year old Callum and 11 month old William. George had married Angelina Johnson. Their son, Samuel, was now 4 years old and she was currently expecting a little girl.

The surprisingly large living room was overflowing and wonderfully boisterous, with the adults trying to maintain conversations over the squeals and giggles of the children. Draco felt a pang of jealousy as he watched the love and happiness that seamlessly flowed throughout the room. It was the childhood that he had always wished for and never had.

"Dinner time!"

Molly had thrown open the door to the kitchen, allowing for an influx of children and adults to the expansive dining table. With a swish of her wand, the table was suddenly adorned with mouth-watering food, a delicious aroma filling the room.

The group fell into a comfortable chatter as they served themselves and began their meal. Blaise was talking to Bill and Angelina about Ministry gossip. Ginny, Draco and Charlie were animatedly discussing the impending Quidditch World Cup, a conversation which was becoming quite heated with team rivalries. And Pansy Parkinson, of all people, was talking to Arthur and Hermione about all sorts of Muggle equipment.

"Daddy! I can't cut up my chickens!"

Adalynn was angrily stabbing at her food, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Draco excused himself from the table, kneeling beside his daughter at the allocated 'kids table'. "Shh…it's okay, Addy." He soothed before carefully cutting her food into small bite-sized pieces and then doing the same for Jackson.

"M-Mr. Malfoy?" A timid voice came from the other side of the small table. "C-can you cut mine too?" Fred asked shyly, his face quickly turning a beet red colour.

Draco smiled widely, ruffling the boy's already-messy hair. "Sure thing, kiddo. There's no need to be embarrassed! I couldn't cut my food until I was eight!" He exclaimed, sticking up nine fingers in the air.

The older children erupted into the giggles as they pointed out his mistake.

"Oh no! How silly of me!" He mockingly smacked his forehead, before the now-grinning boy.

XXXXX

The dinner was bloody boring. At least, that's what Fred and George would have told you if you asked them. They were bored out of their minds. Everyone was talking about something or rather – Quidditch, politics, marriage, kids – and they were…well, they were bored.

"George? Could you pass the potato salad?"

Fred snapped out of his mindless haze, a small smile rising to his lips as he nudged his brother. George nodded knowingly. "Sure thing Malfoy."

Ron glanced up from his plate at his brother's tone, not missing the mischievous grin that the twins shared. He also didn't miss George's sleight of hand as he poured a few drops of liquid over the top of the salad. Fred sent him a stare that clearly meant 'Keep your mouth shut and enjoy the fun'.

He considered speaking up for a fleeting moment. Whilst he probably should have done something, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for a few laughs.

Draco took the dish from George with a nod of thanks.

Molly let out a deep sigh, smiling proudly at her boys. They were acting so maturely, treating each other with respect. "Draco dear, could you pass me the bowl after you're done?"

Draco paused, a spoonful of potato salad hovering just above his plate.

"Of course, Molly. Let me." He quickly turned and served the motherly woman before himself as George and Ron spluttered uneasily.

Molly began to babble about Draco's wonderful manners – the true signs of an elegant upbringing, she said, wishing her boys would learn a few lessons from him. What she missed, however, were frantic glares and hand gestures that were coming from her three youngest boys. With a satisfied smile, she sat back and enjoyed her food.

Momentarily.

Fanning herself, she shifted uncomfortably in her chair as the room seemed to heat up. Glancing at her hand, she gasped in shock at the deep red hue that was overcoming her skin. "Wh-…" She began to mutter, cut off by the thundering whistle as steam billowed from her ears, nose and mouth.

The table had fallen into a stony hush as everyone's eyes fell on her. Her lips thinned as she noticed her two troublesome sons fidgeting nervously in their seats.

"GEORGE! FRED! IN THE KITCHEN…NOW!"

The heavy silence was broken by a small giggle erupting from the children's table. "Daddy's going dooowwwwnnnnn!" Samuel said, clapping his hands together excitedly. His outburst was accompanied by a comment from Victoire: "Nana's gonna kick your ASS!"

The rest of the small table exploded with laughter as the older generation desperately tried to stifle their smiles. That is, all but Ron and Blaise who simultaneously burst into fits of laughter.

Molly jumped to her feet, glaring at her two boys. "NOW!" She yelled before storming into the neighbouring room, the heavy door quaking on its hinges at the ferocity with which she had yanked it open. The two men despondently followed their mother, their pathetic mournful glances turning into frowns at the howls of laughter that echoed behind them.

XXXXX

Nearly twenty minutes later, Fred and George had returned to the table rather sullenly. Molly had stormed back into the room a few minutes after, her skin now at its normal hue and temperature. Much to everyone's amusement, not only did the two men have rather red cheeks, but their ears were both a burning colour.

Charlie let out a bark of laughter before stuffing a forkful of salad into his mouth in an attempt to quieten himself. He choked and spluttered, the leaves flying out of his mouth onto Bill's plate as his laughter took over. Fred and George scowled at their brother as did Bill, who was disgustedly flicking the chewed salad leaves from his plate and onto the floor beside him. Sparing a glare at her rowdy sons, Molly promptly vanished the rest of the potato salad from the table.

"I'm just glad it was me, not you, Draco. I should have known those two boys would have pulled one of their ridiculous jokes. I'm so sorry."

"Oh no, that's alright Molly. It wasn't your fault." He said, smiling softly.

"Haha alright?! I'm surprised those two aren't already in the hospital!" He yelped out in pain as Pansy jabbed her fork into his thigh. Smiling lightly at the occupants of the table, she continued on as if nothing had occurred.

Smirking at the pair, Harry smiled. "You know what, I think this has turned out much better than I could ever have hoped for." He shared an amused glance with Hermione as she lightly smacked the back of his head. Before long, the friendly calm had returned to the table…apart from Fred and George, of course. Their minds never quite strayed away from mischief.

XXXXX

A half hour had passed without event, the dishes vanished from the table and replaced with a delicious assortment of deserts. Harry Potter was incredibly pleased with the way the evening was passing, accompanying his gladness with his fair share of Firewhiskey. Needless to say, he was in extremely high spirits. "What they've been saying in the Mintr-Min…Minstry is that the capabril-capability that has been dipra-displayed by the team has shown their great detriman-deterna…determination in res-relo…fixing the prolems!" He slurred happily to a highly amused bunch of people.

With the meaningful glance, George nudged his twin. Fred rose from his seat, seemingly reaching over for the tiramisu. Inconspicuously reaching past the bowl as George distracted the table with a story from their shop, he dropped a small tablet into Draco's goblet before grabbing the desert and sitting down. The liquid within the glass subtly fizzed, a green hue appearing and then disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Giggling at her brother's story, Ginny reached for the goblet on her left and raised it to her lips. Fred and George's eyes widened with alarm. No, no – that was Draco's goblet…wasn't it?! Glancing along the table, they noticed two goblets on Hermione's right; one hers and one clearly Draco's – meaning that he had added the tablet to the wrong drink! Fred frantically nudged George, desperately muttering to him under his breath. But they were too late. Ginny took a large sip from her goblet before placing it back on the table. Her eyes widened as she began to couch violently, choking on the liquid. Harry looked at her with concern, hitting her gently on the back. She choked temporarily before coughing up two fat slugs onto her plate.

With an angry screech, Molly and Ginny jumped up from the table. Arthur sighed angrily, his high spirits plummeting. "TWINS. NOW!" He yelled, storming out of the room with his wife and daughter followed by his nervous sons. Ginny was terrifying when angry and she could be incredibly spiteful.

As soon as they left, a chorus of giggles rose from the children's table. "Mummy's gonna kill Uncle Fred and George!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing in her seat with excitement.

Natalia Zabini's eyes widened incredulously, concern evident on her face. "Is she really going to kill them?!" She was quickly reassured by a reasoning James Potter, who knew much better than to joke about death – his dad had always hated it.

The adults, however, were paying no attention whatsoever. Draco stared bewildered at the writhing slugs before turning to his wife whose face screamed of irritation and solemnity. She placed a loving hand on his knee, giving him a weak smile. Harry frowned. "Coughing Slugs – the latest product at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It was inspired by Ron's incident in second year."

Hermione sighed heavily, rising from her seat. "Come with me," She muttered. "Harry, you and Ron too." Hermione grabbed Draco by the hand before whispering to Fleur and Lavender to make sure the children were preoccupied.

XXXXX

"That was stupidly irresponsible! Do you not realize the greater point here?! Hermione isn't going to stay around and watch you trying to bully her husband! What were you thinking, you mindless little twits?!" Fred and George sighed. Molly Weasley was on a tangent – and when she was on a tangent, she could go on for hours. Ginny looked up quietly, sparing a soft smile at the four that walked through the doorway. Molly quickly ended her speech, apologizing quickly with a nervous laugh. "Oh, Draco dear! I'm so sorry – I didn't mean for the boys to be so immature. Not that the slugs were meant for you…you know the twins, just trying to spice things up!" Draco simply smiled at her, knowing full well that the slugs were intended for him.

Coughing loudly, Hermione stepped forward, staring the twins in the eye. The two boys melted slightly into their chairs under her gaze; as much as Hermione had changed, her menacing glare hadn't. Even in their school days, she had been able to terrify anyone into listening with complete rapture – and right now, the frustration in her eyes was burning much brighter than ever before. "I'm not going to yell at you. I have new responsibilities to worry about, my children and my family, and I'm not going to set a bad example for any of them. The two of you should think about doing the same. I know you think that you've grown up and that it's all a joke, but there's a reason that you're only targeting Draco. I'm only going to tell you this once – get over it. Draco isn't the same guy that he used to be. He's grown up and so should you."

The twins had the decency to look ashamed of themselves, withering under the angry glare of their sister. "Bloody hell, Mione. We're so sorry. You too, Ma-Draco. We're idiots."

XXXXX

An hour later, the atmosphere in the room had most definitely shifted into one of gaiety and poor absurdity. Molly Weasley served everyone with an individual bowl of chocolate soufflé and was thanking her lucky stars that she had decided to make a few extra 'just in case'. Hermione was grinning at Blaise, who had finished his bowl of chocolate soufflé and was now trying to steal some from her own bowl. Draco was laughing at Elena who was trying to stop Gabriel from flinging bits of desert at his cousins.

Arthur had knocked all sense of sanity from his mind with Firewhiskey and was now pouring the drink onto his soufflé to 'spice it up a bit' as he was explaining to Pansy who, also under the influence of a bit too much alcohol, was following his lead. Bill was clutching onto his ponytail and running from a far-from-sober Charlie who was aiding his niece, Dominique, in an attempt to chop it off. Angelina was, in turn chasing after her brother-in-law, yelling that running with scissors was dangerous and a bad habit to be teaching to children. Fred, Elizabeth and Fleur were laughing at the trio, clutching onto their sides in pain. Ginny and Ron were desperately trying to hide all traces of alcohol from their intoxicated father, who was making quite a fool of himself, and Pansy who was now near passing out from the amounts of alcohol she had consumed.

Harry had ended his conversation with Lavender to join Blaise in his attempts to get more Hermione's soufflé. "You realize that there's another bowl, you idiots!" She laughed, shaking a head at the two supposed adults. Lavender, Fleur and Elizabeth had joined Elena, who was struggling with the children. Having seen Gabriel, the other children had found the idea of flinging their 'chocolate goo' around the room a splendid idea and they had all decided to join in. the room was filled with delighted squeals, laughter and loud chatter.

That is until a stray missile of soufflé, courtesy of Jackson Malfoy, landed on the forehead of George Weasley. Samuel giggled at his father, whispering 'Nice aim!' to his new friend. The room fell into an awkward silence. George's eyes inverted and zoned into the small portion of desert that was slowly sliding down his forehead. Wiping it with one finger, he shook it so that it fell onto the floor. By now, Jackson's eyes had widened. This was the man that had been mean to his dad and done horrible things to Aunty Ginny and the nice fat lady! "M-Mr. George! I'm s-sorry!" He squeaked. George grimaced before slowly making his way over to the young boy.

He knelt down before him, smiling softly. "Hey, don't worry about it kiddo." He reassured softly, his hand slowly reaching for the bowl behind the little boy. "I totally understand." Within a second, the bowl had gone from George's hand and was sitting upside down on Jackson's head. The little boy's eyes widened for a second as the brown desert slowly drooled down his head before his face split into a big grin.

"You're on, Mr. George!"

Within seconds, the chocolate desert was being flung repeatedly around the room, the children aiming directly to the Weasley twins. Hermione watched them with a bright smile, giving her husband a gentle wink. A soft chink on her plate caused her to look down, only to see a spoon quickly receding from it. Blaise was grinning cheekily at her before he shoved the spoon and its recently-acquired contents into his mouth. A second chink made her look the other way where her raven-haired friend was quickly pushing a spoon into his mouth.

Ron glanced over at his father, only to find him gawking at his bowl as Pansy crumbled into giggles. Caught up by the food flying in the room, he had forgotten to right his bottle of Firewhiskey and his bowl of soufflé was now swimming in the amber liquid. With a fatherly grin at the ex-Slytherin girl, he grabbed his bowl and slurped the mushy contents into his mouth.

"AW DAD!"

XXXXX

Hermione laughed gleefully as she flopped down onto a couch with Ginny in the living room. Bill was staring into a nearby mirror in complete shock; his previously long hair had been butchered by his daughter while his brother had been quite conveniently seated on top of him. His hair was now less than shoulder-length and cut at all sorts of odd angles. Charlie was seated with Dominique on his lap, sharing a sneaky grin with his niece as they watched the dismayed man. Most of the other children were lying on the floor, having fallen asleep after the exhaustion of the food fight. Draco and Blaise were attempting to console Bill on his 'tremendous loss' through their amused laughter. Arthur had grabbed Molly and was leading her in a staggering waltz around the room, making sure to avoid the children and Pansy who was napping with them. The other mothers had pulled up chairs from the dining table and were wearily eyeing their children.

Harry and Ron were standing with their backs to the kitchen door, arms folded over their chests as they amusedly watched the elderly Weasleys attempting to dance. Fred and George grinning as they exited the kitchen behind the two youngest men, covered in a sticky mess. Sharing a cheeky wink at Hermione and Ginny as they caught their eyes, they crept up behind the Boy-Who-Lived and their Ronniekins. Jumping on the two men, they rubbed handfuls of salvaged soufflé into their hair. Harry and Ron yelled with outrage, only to be shushed by the mother who were terrified by the prospect of their children waking up.

As the moment settled, Harry and Ron challenged Draco and Blaise to a match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin wrestling, reverting to their school rivalries. Fred and George were trying to convince their wives to dance with them, despite being covered in their mother's cooking. Hermione grinned widely at the scene before her – it was one that she had dreamed of for a long time. Turning to her redheaded friend beside her, she noticed the woman smiling sadly. "Ginny?"

Ginny's smiled turned from that of sadness to happiness. "I'm sorry, Mione. It's just…I've missed having you around. Don't get me wrong – I love Angie and Liz and all of them…but they're not you. I swear that without you around, no one was ever this happy. You're a part of our family, you know?"

Hermione smiled softly as tears prickled at her eyes. "I'm sorry. So sorry, Gin. I wish I could have told you. But right now, at this moment, everything is perfect. Look at everyone – they're all getting along wonderfully." Nodding her agreement, Ginny merely leaned over and wrapped her friend in a tight hug – a hug that meant everything would be fine.

Their moment was interrupted by a loud whooping from the corner of the room. Blaise and Draco were jumping with glee while Ron and Harry appeared quite put out. "We won! Oh yeah! Slytherins for life!" The two childish, so-called men yelled excitedly.

Harry and Ron scowled playfully. "As if! That was just a lucky win. Rematch!" Harry called. The two ex-Slytherin men smiled cockily before agreeing.

Hermione and Ginny shared an amused glance, shaking their heads in amazement. "Merlin, they just never grow up, do they?" She said, giggling with her friend. Fred and George high-fived each other as their wives finally conceded to their pleas for dance. Pulling the disgusted women close to them, and the pudding, they simultaneously led their wives around the room, carefully avoiding the haphazard movements of their father and rather-amused mother.

Bill sighed as he sat down beside his sister and the woman who was practically his sister. "My hair…my beautiful hair." He muttered, blanking staring ahead of him. Laughing at his antics, Hermione took in all that was happening around her. She caught Draco's eye as they won yet another wrestling match. Smiling gently at him, she sat back in her chair and let out a content sigh.

It was definitely good to be back.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I was hoping to capture a sense of light-hearted, friendly and somewhat dysfunctional but completely normal family. The next chapter will be back to 1997!

Reviews = happiness!