"So, what do you want to do, today?" Hermione asked Lucius at the breakfast table early on Saturday morning. "Now that I've completed the outline for the first book and have nearly completed the first chapter, I think I'd like to take the weekend off to clear my head a bit."

"Actually, I have a bit of a surprise for you," Lucius drawled, giving her a lazy smile. "You've been working rather hard lately and I thought you deserved a change of pace."

"A surprise?" Hermione asked eagerly. "What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise anymore if I told you," Lucius told her. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Now you've got me wondering what you have up your sleeve," Hermione said, frowning in consternation.

"Eat your breakfast," Lucius urged her with an enigmatic smile "The surprise will be happening soon."

Lucius didn't say another word about it while they finished their breakfast, nor when Hermione fed Lucia and put her down for a nap.

Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore. "Lucius, what is it?" she asked after she'd finished dressing.

"Come to the library," he said mysteriously. "It's about time, I think."

"So, where is it?" Hermione asked as she looked all around the library. "I don't see anything different in here."

"It's not a what, it's a who," Lucius said, indicating the fireplace, which lit up, almost as if on cue, with an incoming floo.

A moment later, Harry stepped through, with baby James.

"Hello, Hermione," he said with a sheepish grin. "I thought I'd bring James and come stay with you for a few days."

"Oh, Harry, It's marvellous to see you!" Hermione said, enthused. "I've missed you so much. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Lucius swore me to secrecy," he told her, grinning. "He didn't want to distract you from your writing, so he decided to make it a surprise."

"Oh, let me hold James," she said eagerly. "He's grown so much since I last saw him. I hardly recognized him!"

"They do grow quickly at this age," Lucius observed, taking James from Harry to give to Hermione. "Before you know it, we'll be sending our babies to Hogwarts."

As Lucius spoke, the fireplace glowed again, revealing a dark haired young woman with a toddler girl stepping out from the smoke.

"Allow me to introduce my distant cousin, Arabella Tavington Nott," Lucius said as the young woman gave Harry a quick peck on the cheek as she took his hand.

"I'm glad to meet you," Hermione said, smiling at Harry's obvious happiness.

"Likewise," Arabella said. "Harry's told me so much about you."

"All good, I hope," Hermione replied. Turning to Harry, she said, "Harry! I had no idea you were seeing someone! How long has this been going on?"

"Not too long," Harry grinned. "I've had to keep this secret because of my divorce, but Arabella and I met working at the orphanage a couple of weeks ago. We've not been able to go out in public together yet, so we've been meeting at Malfoy Manor. Lucius invited us to visit for a few days, so we could finally go out on a proper date without worrying about the Daily Prophet taking photos of us."

Leaning down to acknowledge Samantha, who had been tugging on Harry's arm the entire time, he said, "And this is Arabella's beautiful daughter, Samantha."

"Isn't she adorable?" Hermione told the other woman. "I can't wait for my little girl, Lucia , to be that age."

"She'll be that age before you know it," Arabella told her. "I'd love to see Lucia."

"It's likely she'll need to be changed soon, so you can see her then," Hermione said briskly. Turning to Harry, she asked, "Would you like to put James down for a nap? I'll have Breezy conjure up another crib for him. And a cot for Samantha, if she's needing a nap."

"That would be great, thanks," Harry replied.

After Breezy had whisked away the children and while the adults were enjoying refreshments, Hermione said to Arabella, "You're American! How did you end up living in England and how are you related to Lucius?"

"I met my late husband when we both attended the Salem Institute and we moved to England after we graduated," Arabella explained. "And Lucius and I are half-cousins several times removed through William Tavington who spent time in America during the Revolution."

"Oh, I talk to his portrait all the time at our penthouse in London," Hermione exclaimed. "He's quite charming."

"Family legend has it that he was quite the ladies' man," Arabella confided. "He charmed women wherever he went."

"I believe it!" Hermione laughed. "I've half fallen in love from just his portrait alone!"

"You never told me that!" Lucius interjected. "I don't know whether or not I should be jealous."

"Not at all, love," Hermione assured him, patting his hand. "I'm infatuated with him simply because he looks like a dark haired replica of you. And I think you've inherited more than just a little of his way with women."

"So, how is the writing going, Hermione?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "Have you finished any of the books yet?"

"Not quite yet, Harry," Hermione said with a chuckle. "I've finished my research and outline for the first book, but I've only just finished filling out the first chapter. I'm not writing under a deadline, so I want to take the time to get it just right."

"Well, anything you'll write will be loads better than what we had," Harry told her. "I think a monkey could have written a better Muggle Studies text than the one we were using."

"Too right you are," Hermione agreed. "To this day, I'm surprised why Dumbledore let that book be used in the classroom. I remember how frustrated Professor Burbage was being required to use that rubbish in her classroom."

"For all his idealistic prattle about valuing the muggle world, Dumbledore was really no different than most purebloods," Lucius put in. "He had no real intention of encouraging interest in the muggle world, as excessive familiarity would encourage mixing between the two populations which would, in turn, increase the risk of exposing the magical world to the general muggle population."

"Then why would he even bother with having a Muggle Studies class at all, then, if he wasn't going to have accurate information taught?" Hermione askied.

"It's very simple," Lucius replied. "He had an image to maintain; that of a kindly, benign old man who was open minded and tolerant unlike the eeeeevil bigoted and paranoid Slytherins who 'needlessly' worried about maintaining the secrecy of our world. By having a Muggle Studies class, he gained the support of muggleborn students and their parents. At the same time, those raised in the wizarding world were subtly discouraged from mixing too closely with muggles by being fed disinformation that would make sure that they wouldn't fit in if they ever tried."

"That sounds very Slytherin," Hermione commented.

"He was a wily old fox," Lucius agreed. "I have to admit I had a grudging respect for how devious he could truly be."

"Hermione's books sound as if they'll be a vast improvement," Arabella ventured, having previously been told by Harry of Hermione's ambitious seven book project

"Quite right," Lucius agreed. "A revamped Muggle Studies program combined with my Wizard Culture course for incoming muggleborn students should do much better in helping muggleborns and those halfbloods raised in the muggle world to fit into wizarding society. At the same time, it will help purebloods to be more receptive to those new to our world."

"So, Harry, how did Ginny react when she found out you were seeking a divorce?" Hermione asked, moving on to a new subject. "Is she going to fight you for custody of James?"

"Surprisingly well, actually," Harry said. "All she cares about is playing Quidditch and now that she'll be making good money doing that, she's happy to let me go without a fight. And she hasn't asked about James at all since she left for training camp, nor asked me to bring him down for a visit. She has no interest in getting custody of James, though I expect that Molly will make her do it."

"Do you think they could gain custody?" Hermione asked, concerned. "You do know that Mrs Weasley has been voted "Mother of the Year" by Witch Weekly several times over?"

"My lawyer doesn't think so," Harry told her. "The fact that I quit working to raise James full time, plus that I'm volunteering at the orphanage will help when I go to court." With a rueful smile, he added, "And considering that I'm "The Boy Who Lived" won't hurt things at all, either."

"I wouldn't worry about Molly Weasley," Lucius said. "The court generally confines judgment of parental fitness to the parents only. Harry would have to be a complete tosser before they'd consider giving custody to a grandparent." Taking a sip of his tea, he added, "The fact that Ginevra has made no attempt to see her son since leaving for training camp will seriously hamper her efforts to gain custody if she is foolish enough to try it."

"I hope you're right," Harry said, sighing heavily. "I'm ready for this to be over and done with, so I can get on with my life and Arabella and I can have a normal relationship without having to sneak around."

At that moment, Noddy came in with the day's mail, handing it to Lucius. The Daily Prophet was on top, with several envelopes underneath.

Holding the folded paper up, he asked Harry, "Anything interesting the paper today?"

"I didn't get a chance to read it yet," Harry told him. "I was so busy getting James ready to come here than I never got around to looking at it."

"I haven't read it today, either," Arabella said offhandedly. "I don't read it all that often, anyway."

"Well, let me take a quick look at the headlines and see if there's anything worth reading," Lucius said as he unfolded it. Within seconds, the normally unflappable pureblood's eyes took on a noticeable bulge, followed by a decidedly lewd grin.

"I always knew she was the school broom, but when I said that meant everybody gets to ride her, I wasn't aware that it was literally everybody," the blond wizard muttered under his breath.

"What is it, Lucius?" Hermione asked, with both Harry and Arabella looking on in curious interest.

After a long moment, after finally tearing his eyes away from the newspaper in front of him, he said to Harry, "Well, it seems as if you can add adultery to maternal indifference when you go to court. She doesn't have a prayer of gaining custody now."

Taking the newspaper from Lucius, Harry's jaw dropped open in stunned shock when he saw the picture and accompanying article that Lucius indicated to him. On the newspaper's front page was a picture of Ginny and one of her Harpie team mates locked in a passionate kiss, with their hands roaming each other's bodies. The headline below read:

Ginevra Weasley Potter
With Her Luscious Lesbian Lover
Elladora Entwhistle

"Were you aware of your wife's...broad...sexual proclivities, Mr Potter?" Lucius inquired, one eyebrow raised, as Harry continued to sit there completely gobsmacked.

"Oh, shite!" Harry finally muttered, quickly leaving the room in search of the loo.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Lucius observes dryly.

---
Thanks to all my loyal readers and reviewers. I appreciate your continuing interest.
Next chapter as yet unnamed.