All rights go to J. K. Rowling
"Do you think we should go?" Hermione asked her husband as they went into the study. They didn't want the kids to overhear. The kids knew exactly who Draco was, they knew that he'd been on the wrong side of the war at first, they knew about his past. They had decided that it was best to tell them earlier, so they didn't hate him later. But they didn't know that much about Hermione. They knew she was Muggle-born (although Nikki hadn't quite grasped that yet), they knew her name was Hermione Granger, but they had no idea that she was The Hermione Granger, war heroine, brains behind The Golden Trio. They just thought that it was a coincidence that she used to have the same name. Hermione didn't want her children to know the horrors that the war heroine had gone through were the ones that plagued their mother at night. She didn't want them becoming arrogant at the fact that their mother was one of the most famous witches in the Wizarding World, she'd seen what that had done to Draco.
"'Mione it's up to you. Do you think you're up for it? It would mean making you public again." Hermione groaned. She'd done a very good job at keeping off everybody's radar. All that had been mentioned about her in The Daily Prophet, or Witches Weekly was that she was still missing. Hermione valued her privacy and Draco had helped her keep it. They'd had a very intimate wedding with only 4 other people there (Wizard Pastor included), it had been held in one of the Malfoy Manor gardens and Hermione had been wearing her first bridal dress. Draco had been right, she had looked stunning in it, with her simple tiara placed upon her tame curls, she had looked like something out of a fairytale. Everyone knew that Draco had married, but they didn't know to whom.
"I don't know, Draco. I want to go, to see my friends because I miss them. But I don't miss them, I moved on and don't really need them in my life. I want them to be, but I don't need them."
"Then go after what you want. Life isn't always about the necessities. If you want to see your friends then we should go." He paused. "Scorp and Eva will also undoubtedly learn the truth about you. Maybe that should be the time the rest of the world does too."
Hermione sighed, Draco came to hug her. "You're right, it's time." She smiled. "You know that you always make things so much easier." He chuckled.
"That's my job."
Weeks later Eva and Scorp had received their Hogwarts letter. They were ecstatic.
"We got 'em! We finally got them!" They were shouting and jumping around Hermione and Draco's bed, they'd been up since dawn waiting for the owl to arrive. They flung themselves onto the bed, landing between their parents.
"What if we don't get into Slytherin? Will you be disappointed in us?" Eva worried.
"Of course not!" Draco exclaimed. "Mum wasn't in Slytherin." Eva and Scorp looked wide eyed at Hermione.
"You weren't?" Scorp questioned.
Hermione laughed and shook her head at her son. "No, I was in Gryffindor."
"But Slytherin and Gryffindor hate each other!"
"They do, and we certainly never got along." Draco chuckled. "Your mother punched me in our third year and managed to break my nose."
"Mum!" Eva was shocked.
Scorp just grinned. "Didn't know you had it in you. So how did you manage to get together, if you hated each other's guts?"
"Business merger. Your Dad wasn't so bad away from school, and he'd changed a lot in the war." Draco smiled at his wife. "So when do you two want to go to Diagon Alley?"
"Now!" They jumped off the bed and ran to their bedrooms.
"Let us actually get ready first!" Draco called after them.
"I don't think they heard you."
"Probably not over all that squealing." Draco leant in to kiss Hermione. "Good Morning Gorgeous." He mumbled against her lips.
"Morning Handsome."
Draco smirked. "Don't I know it."
"Aren't you coming with us Mum?" Scorp whined. They had waited until after lunch to go to Diagon Alley.
"Sorry, monkeys." She hugged the oldest twins. "I have to go to the studio to fix a situation at work."
"Why don't you ever come to Wizarding places with us?"
Hermione froze. "If I went, I... I would- It just wouldn't be a good idea. The Wizarding World would go into a frenzy."
"Why?" Nikki asked. Draco stepped in to save his wife.
"We should probably go now, kids." He ushered them over to the fireplace. "I'll see you later." He gave Hermione a quick peck. "DIAGON ALLEY!" He let go of the floo-powder and they were all gone.
The Malfoys arrived at the thriving Diagon Alley. Everyone who had got their letters would be there today.
"Mel, Markos, you can go to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Here's some money. I expect you to stay there, we'll meet you after Eva and Scorp have got their Hogwarts stuff." The rascally twins grinned at Draco and ran off to pranking heaven.
The bell rang as they entered the shop. It was an explosion of colour.
"What do we need?" Markos asked.
"Everything! If we only buy a few things we'll never finish a project." Mel grinned. They whizzed around the shop collecting only the most advanced of pranks and menacing ingredients.
George Weasley was leaning against the railing of the stairs that were located in the middle of his shop. He watched with interest as he saw two siblings, a boy and a girl, twins by the looks of it, rushing back and forth only going for the best pranks that he and Fred had come up with. The two reminded him a bit of himself and his twin. He sighed sadly at the memory of his brother. He descended the staircase to give the siblings a few tips on pranking.
"Hello guys." Markos turned around and gawked.
"Merlin! It's George Weasley. The infamous George Weasley, pranking god."
"I wouldn't go that far but yes. T'is I. You and your sister seem to know what you're doing, I thought I'd come and give you guys a hand."
"Melania!" Mel turned around to see why her brother was shouting and stopped short to gawk at the tall red-head. George gawked as well as he saw the girl properly.
"Hermione?" She looked at him questionably.
"No... my name is Melania."
"Sorry. You just remind me of one of my oldest friends. She was a few years below me, with my brother." The minds of the brother and sister were working over time to get what he was trying to say. Markos literally had a light bulb go 'ding' above his head.
"Your brother, Ron Weasley? Of the Golden Trio?" George nodded.
"You mistook me for The Hermione Granger?" Mel asked incredulously.
"Yes. She used to spend some of her summers at our house." He cleared his throat. "Now if you'll follow me, I'm going to show you the products Fred and I put aside for the promising ones." His eyes twinkled as he looked at the children.
The two grinned at their role model and followed him. "We need to talk to Mummy later." Markos whispered in his sister's ear. Mel nodded in agreement.
Hours later, Draco walked into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to find his other children. Eva and Scorp were very pleased, having got very elegant and powerful wands, and new pets. Eva had bought a small black kitten, with white paws. Scorp had bought a black owl that happened to be the fastest in the shop. Nikki was just happy that she'd been allowed near animals.
"Mel! Markos!" Draco called out, but he doubted they'd heard him over the noise in the shop. He had to admit that the Weasley twin had done very well for himself. He passed the statue of Fred and put a fistful of galleons in the donation box. The charity that it had supported had originally been put together to help those who lost lots in the war, now it was helping the homeless and in need. As he walked towards the more advanced stuff, he saw a blur of red hair. "Weasley!" He called out, and ran towards George with Nikki still in his arms. "Weasley!" George stopped and turned.
"Malfoy? What brings you in here?" He looked at Nikki. "This one aspiring to be a master prankster?"
"No, not this one. She seems to be headed down temperamental road." George laughed. "I'm looking for two of my other kids, I was wondering if you'd seen them?"
George spotted Eva and Scorp, and assumed Draco was talking about them as they were the only other platinum-blonde haired kids in the shop. "Behind you, I think."
Draco turned. "Oh, not them. Eva, Scorp, this is George Weasley." They waved their hands in greeting. "I'm looking for two incredibly mischievous brunettes, going by the names of Mel and Markos."
"Melania and Markos are yours?" Draco nodded at George's wide eyes. "I took them to the stuff Fred and I put aside for possible prodigies. Those two are brilliant. The ideas they had spouting out of their mouths the moment they saw the stuff were things Fred and I never thought of."
Draco chuckled. "My wife and I do say that they could give you a run for your money."
"I bet they could." George led them to a small room, Mel and Markos had summoned whiteboards and were writing down all the ideas that sprouted to mind as they saw more and more ingredients and pranks. George studied Mel, she looked an awful lot like Hermione did when she was thinking hard, she bit her lip and scrunched up her face. "You know, those two remind me a lot of Hermione."
Draco froze, it took him a while to recover, he hoped that George hadn't noticed. "I've been trying to get them to be more like her. I want them to be the best at Hogwarts. And she was." He paused. "What happened to the brains of the Trio anyways?" Draco hoped that this would make his lie seem more believable.
"No idea. She and Ron put a pause on their relationship so she could look for her parents in Australia, but she never came back."
"How does Ron feel about that?"
"He is still a bit heartbroken. He loved her a lot. But about 5 years ago he came to terms with the idea of her never coming back, and has tried to move on. He took a damn long time though, took him 10 years. All of us had come to terms within the first 5 years." He looked at the blonde twins carrying Hogwarts equipment. "You two starting at Hogwarts this year?" They nodded.
"You got any kids there?" Draco asked.
"My son, Fred II is going into his third year. Roxanne is starting this year, along with Harry's and Ginny's eldest, James. Perhaps we'll see you at the platform.
"Perhaps." He gave George an uncertain smile. "Mel, Markos." The twins' heads snapped around, their eyes daring Draco to take them away. "I'm sorry to take you from Heaven, but Mummy will be worried if we don't return soon."
Both of them suddenly shot up. "Lets go. We have a bone to pick with Mummy." Markos announced. Mel gathered the stuff they were going to buy, and walked towards the till.
"Well, it was actually nice to talk to you Malfoy."
"Right back at you, Weasley."
Before they left, Mel and Markos ran back to George and gave him a big hug. "Hope you enjoy the rest of your day, Mr Weasley." Mel said as she waved goodbye.
Hermione heard the fireplace roar and ran to greet her family. Mel and Markos immediately ran to Hermione and tried to drag her into the study.
"No 'Hello'?"
"We need to talk-" Markos started.
"-It's important." Mel finished.
"Uh uh," Draco walked towards them, "Not so fast. I need to talk to Mummy first."
"But this is important!" Mel protested. "And by the time you two have finished it'll be time for bed!"
"How about you tell me tomorrow," Hermione smiled at Mel, "I'm afraid that if your father needs to talk to me, it's important. Now, Twinky has made you dinner, so I suggest you eat if before it gets cold. And don't forget to thank her!" She turned to her husband. "Now what was so important?"
