If at first you don't succeed, fully destroy all evidence of that first attempt before trying again so you can claim to be perfect.

I'm looking for beta readers, do you know where I could get some? Also, I'm broadening the scope of this story, so there will probably be significant changes coming to previous chapters soon.

The Lady Greengrass, Astoria's mother, had never quite understood the other pureblood families. To be fair, she had a firm grasp on the problem at hand: of course wizards and witches were intrinsically better than muggles, and of course pureblood wizards and witches were intrinsically better than muggle-born ones. That much was completely obvious. What she didn't understand was what the Dark Lord's faction was doing about it. The Lady Greengrass did not consider herself to be particularly clever, but even she could see that they were going about Wizard Supremacy in a completely wrong direction. She pointed this out to her children - Olivia, Phoebe, Daphne, Astoria, and the twins Castor and Polly – several times.

"Children," She would begin, "do you know what happened when Voldemort was in power?"

"He scared the muggleborns back into their place!"

"He proved that wizards and witches have the right to use their magic!"

The Lady Greengrass would shake her head sadly. "No, children, that is not what happened. Lord Voldemort killed hundreds of witches and wizards."

"… And thousands of muggles too, right?"

The Lady Greengrass would snort. "He sacrificed a bishop for a couple of pawns. That's not how you win." For the longest time, Astoria would wonder what exactly her mother meant. Then at age nine she began simultaneously a junior chess career and a crush on Ronald Weasley that would last precisely until the moment she actually met Ronald Weasley and decided she could do better.

"Well then… how do you win?"

The Lady Greengrass would smile, patting her children's soft dark hair. "When you're older, you see…." And so, after marrying Draco Malfoy, Astoria knew that, if nothing else, she was going to bear him many fine sons and daughters. It was a pity she wasn't well-equipped to do so.

Ginny Weasley sighed into her sheets. It had been a long, long time since that had happened. Certainly since her before second trimester, which had been, a very, very long time ago. Well! If this was what it was going to be like in the future, she would just have to let things take their course after all. She'd considered her other options, but – and Ginny Potter smiled lovingly at her husband, Harry – she was glad she'd walked away from Draco Malfoy yesterday. Ginny was about to fall back asleep when James Sirius began to cry.

"Dammit. One more minute?" Ginny plead ineffectually. She poked Harry's shoulder but he continued to snore lightly. "Oh, it's fine. I'll get it dear."

The Malfoy Manor at seven in the morning looked like the Malfoy Manor always did, a little darker and colder than the cloudless blue sky outside would suggest. These days it was a little emptier too, now that Lucius had decided to take his wife on an extended vacation to the Balkans, as the Wizengamot had finally found a way to replace him. Now Draco stood at the head of the table in the formal hall, looking much like a younger, thinner version of his father, staring down a small, cringing figure.

Draco Malfoy glared at the new house elf. "You. Have you seen Astoria?"

The house elf cringed. "No, Master. She left this for you, master."

Draco snatched the note from the house elf's trembling hands. "Stop cringing, whatever your name is. We're paying you good money to do all this work. STOP CRINGING."

Draco crumpled the note in his fist. "Merlin's beard. You, go get me some pumpkin pasties or something. Make yourself useful. Actually, wait right here. I need you to deliver something and I need to make sure it doesn't fall into the right hands." He sat down and thought of a freckled face, framed by red-gold hair.

Ginny was smiling again by the time she put the orange juice on the table. She absentmindedly spoonfed James Sirius from a can of food she had bought at Madame Marberry's Infant Emporium. He giggled and knocked the spoon out of her hand. She pouted. "If you keep doing that, and I keep using evanesco you're not going to have any left." Ginny saw Harry watching out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey beautiful." Harry said.

"Hey you." Ginny slapped his arm playfully. "Why don't you help your son get some food into the right place while I get you some coffee."

"I can get my own coff- OW." Harry walked over to James Sirius. "James, my boy, don't you want some of this nice… nice yummy food stuff?"

Ginny rolled her eyes as she poured the coffee. "So I was thinking, maybe today we can take James to the park. That'll be nice for him, to get some fresh air while it's still warm enough."

Harry moved the spoon closer to James Sirius's mouth. "Sounds good. I can't believe how big he's gotten. How about this afternoon? I have to drop by the DMLE this morning."

"But it's a Sunday."

"I know, but-"

"But you promised that you'd give me one day out of the week. One day to be with your family, is that so hard for you?"

"Ginny, don't be unreasonable, it's just going to be a couple of hours, they really need me there."

"I need you here."

"Honey, this is important, ok. I wouldn't go if it wasn't important."

"I cannot believe we are having this conversation again. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. You can't believe how big James has gotten? You haven't been around to notice since he was born. Of course your job is important, everything you do for the DMLE is important. But we are important too."

"I know, Ginny. It's just this one more thing."

"It's always just one more thing."

They stopped as James Sirius started crying.

Ginny sighed. "Don't worry, I'll get it." She picked up her son and bounced, glaring over his small head at his father. "What are you waiting for? Your country needs you, Mr. Potter."

"I'll be back in a couple of hours. I love you."

"Sure. Love you too."

Astoria Malfoy was crying into the Lady Greengrass's arms. "Darling," The Lady Greengrass said, "it's not that I don't love you, but don't you think this is a bit excessive? It's true, what happened was dreadful, but it's not anything that a little time and patience can't fix."

"Yes mama."

"Go clean yourself up. Your husband isn't going to give you any more children with your face all puffy like that."

"Yes mama."

The Lady Greengrass waited a tasteful half-minute after her daughter left the room to evanesco the phlegm from her sleeve. Then her face hardened. Astoria would have more children by Draco Malfoy if she had anything to say about it.

At half-past four, Ginny decided that Harry wouldn't be home before the sun set. She took her son and went to the muggle park.

Ginny walked two miles around the lake and back, sitting at her usual bench with James Sirius asleep in her arms. Suddenly, a small foam ball hit her on the side of the head. "What?" She said, confused.

A little girl – no more than five years old – ran up to her. "My daddy says I should say sorry. So, sorry. But you should be paying more attention." She grabbed the ball and hid behind the legs of a short, rather round man.

"Ma'am, she really is sorry. I'm sorry." The man said.

"Er, It's no big deal. James is still asleep, no crying, no foul."

"That's good. I'm Albert Newcastle, and this is Susie. We live in the yellow house."

"Oh, I'm Ginny, this is James. We're visiting."

"Really? I see you here all the time."

"Um…"

"Not a big deal, sorry I said anything. I've just noticed you walking a lot. You're always alone, you know, and I notice things like that. Just thought you could use a friend or two on the street."

"Oh."

"Well, no pressure. But if you ever feel like it, I host a weekly dinner for people like us."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "People like… us?" She couldn't sense any magic in Albert, but maybe he was strongly warded.

"Single moms and dads. It's a real life saver, you learn so much from the people that have gone through it before."

"Mhm. I actually happen to have a husband."

"I am so sorry, my mistake. I just assumed, I've never seen you with anyone – I've been incredibly rude, let me get out of here before I embarrass myself any more." He looked around for Susie, who had run back to the playground and was yelling at an older boy, "Push me faster!" as she sat on the swings.

As he turned to leave, Ginny said, "You know what, Albert? I might take you up on that offer anyway. I could use some friends."

Albert's round face lit up. "Good! The next meeting is this Wednesday at 5. Yellow house on the corner, you can't miss it."

Harry Potter stared at the doors, identical, and yet different. The circular room was dimly lit, although there were no identifiable sources of light. He looked at the bearded man. "There really is no way to know which is which?"

"No. Before you open one they are all the same. You can't even ask the question, which door belongs to which room. The doors are, and the rooms are. That is all that matters. We only have a few more hours, Mr. Perevell."

"Well, if it's all the same…" Harry walked to the nearest door, and the two walked through it. Behind them, one might say that the doors began spinning. But that is not exactly what happened, just a way to put it into words and sights that a person could understand.