I'm floored by the response the prologue received! Thank you so so much! I'm a really good mood, hence the exclamation points. Today I discovered gluten free goldfish, which were one of the only things I've missed since finding out I have Celiac's. It really doesn't take much to make me happy.

Chapter 1

In a small New England town, a young couple resided in a small home. They had lived there for half a decade, leaving England for a quieter life. They made friends with their neighbors, took in the history their new state had to offer, and settled into their new lives easily.

Mrs. Bradbury, a middle-aged woman who lived next door, waited on their front porch. Excitement lit her dark eyes as the couple approached. Hermione Malfoy cradled a newborn in her arms, and Charlotte Bradbury was anxious to meet the newest addition to the family. "Let me see! Let me see!" she exclaimed, meeting them on the lawn.

Draco Malfoy grinned as he escorted his wife and neighbor inside. Hermione sat as her husband lifted their newborn son from her arms. "Mrs. Bradbury, meet Liam," he said softly as he laid his son in her arms. While she gushed, Draco sat beside his wife and held his three year old daughter, Clara.

"Are we keeping it, Daddy?" Clara inquired, nose wrinkling, as Liam began to fuss.

"Him," Hermione corrected, tucking a brown curl behind her daughter's ear, "and yes, we are."

Gray eyes rolled as Clara dismounted her father's lap and crossed the small space to stand before Mrs. Bradbury. "Nana, my turn?" she asked, climbing onto the couch.

The couple had no family to speak of, and so the town had adopted them. Mrs. Bradbury, widowed at too young an age and with no children of her own, became a surrogate mother and grandmother to the Malfoys. Mr. Johnson, who owned the town market, had taken a shine to Draco, gave him a job and assisted with any handiwork that needed to be done around their house. Countless others had welcomed the young couple when they first arrived in the small Connecticut town, and the support they offered was astounding.

Charlotte looked to the new parents, who nodded their approval, and helped Clara support her new baby brother. "I don't know why he's so little," Clara said dumbfoundedly.

"You were that little too," Mrs. Bradbury informed her, holding Liam once more when Clara grew bored with the task. "I remember when your mommy and daddy brought you home. In fact, you were smaller than Liam is. And oh, could you cry! I thought you would be such an unhappy baby, but then you'd laugh." To demonstrate, she tickled the little girl, causing Clara to giggle loudly. "See, you're still my happy baby."

Draco laughed; only the older woman could get away with calling Clara a baby. After all, to a three year old, that age made her an adult, and Clara demanded to be treated as such. She eyed her new brother with disdain when his fussiness turned into a fit. Hermione relieved Mrs. Bradbury and left the room to feed her son.

Her mother's seat now vacant, Clara sat beside Draco. "Are you gonna be too busy to make me take a nap?" she inquired.

Laughing, he stood and picked her up quickly. "Say goodbye to Nana," he instructed. Leaning forward, her face twisted in disappointment, Clara kissed her surrogate grandmother's cheek. She was carried to her bedroom where Draco dropped her on her bed, causing her to bounce on the mattress. "Okay, missy, under the blankets. What story would you like to hear?"

Climbing beneath the blankets, she fanned her long hair on the pillow. "I wanna know why you love Mommy," she decided.

Smiling, Draco sat down by her side. "Well, now that's my favorite story," he remarked. Leaning back, he waited for her to settle in before telling the story of Hermione's and his romance. "It began when we were eleven..."

The memories they had implanted after the war changed their history. The couple believed themselves to be childhood sweethearts who met on their first day at a new boarding school. A fast friendship had formed between the preteens, and love bloomed by the age of sixteen. They were inseparable, and upon graduating from secondary school, Draco proposed.

"It was the prettiest wedding you've ever seen," he recalled. "Mummy was more beautiful than any other bride who ever lived."

"Like a princess?" Clara asked through a yawn.

Smiling, he replied, "Prettier." They came to America a few days after the war, and married in the garden of the home they had bought just months later. Neither remembered that magic was ever a part of their lives, but both knew how to get along without it. It was his family's fortune that supported them in the early days. Though his parents had passed on, they left their possessions to their only son.

"Do you only love Mommy because she's pretty?" the little girl wondered.

"No, baby," he promised. "I love her because she loves me. She makes me laugh. She makes me happy. I look forward to seeing her everyday when I get home from work. I can tell your mum anything, and I know she'll still love me. But most of all, I love her because she gave me you."

Clara smile and yawned again, her gray eyes closing. "I like that reason," she murmured.

Rising, he kissed her forehead and tucked the blankets around her. "I knew you would," he whispered. "Sleep tight, my sweet little lovebug."

"I heard what you said," Hermione informed him when they met outside Clara's door. Draco's only response was a kiss. "I have questions. Do you love that I'm pretty?"

Draco laughed as he led her downstairs. "I think you're beautiful," he told her. "And yes, I love getting to look at you. What's your next question?"

"Are you as infatuated with your son as you were when your daughter was born?" she wondered.

He couldn't help but let his grin grow as he nodded his head. "Yes, but I'm not going to tell her that," he replied. "I never want her to feel replaced, or think that having a baby means we love her any less."

"You keep that up, and she'll never feel that way," Charlotte interjected. "I'll come over with dinner when Clary's awake. Thank you for letting me hold your precious boy."

Hermione hugged her, thankful for all she had done for them. From cooking to watching Clara while they were in the hospital, Charlotte was their savior. She always seemed more than happy to do it. The Malfoys were her family, and she loved them.

But Charlotte Bradbury had a secret. She was a witch, descended from a long line of magic that dated back to the days of the Salem witch trials. Her magic was used as often as the Malfoys', and that was to say almost never. Living amongst muggles meant keeping her powers hidden, even from the young couple who lived next door.

A greater secret than her magic, though, was that she had contacts in wizarding Britain. One of those contacts was Harry Potter.