Author's Notes: I have had an insane month of travel for work, and I'll have another insane month for work in April, but May should be smoother sailing. Please leave a review. If you can, go find me on pa treon and support me there. It's not much money but every little bit helps and you get access to my other work. Or you can check out my novels on amazon. I have one that's free with kindle unlimited. Sarah Jaune is the name.

Thank you to Arnel for beta'ing
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Lily's body was so badly discolored by poisons, Nat almost didn't know where to begin. There was spell damage, on top of that, but the poison that was quickly seeping into Lily's heart was what caught Nat first. She knelt down on her, laying her hands on her, and began to pull with all of her might until the poisons began to ooze and smoke from her skin. She was still only clad in her bra and panties and those were quickly being soaked with various colored potions. It was so bad, so all consuming, and Nat could only be grateful Lily was unconscious and unable to feel anything from what had been done to her. She was pale, paler than Nat had ever seen her, and Nat could see, could feel, that her life was in the balance.

She hadn't been aware that Polly had left again, even though the noise should have penetrated, but she was aware of Audrey's appearance at her side, followed quickly by the room filling with others. "Stay back!" Nat called to them as Audrey rushed to her. She heard Sera, Lily's dog, barking her head off but thankfully the dog didn't get close to them. "The poison is leaking everywhere, including into the air."

Nat was having to fight hard not to inhale it, but Audrey waved her wand and removed it just as fast as Nat was pulling it from Lily. Some of it was stubbornly trying to stay in her friend, but Nat focused hard and pulled, finally getting the last of it from her. "Get rid of the clothes," Nat told Audrey. "It's in them and we still have more to do."

Audrey nodded and went to work with her, pulling off curses, and working as Nat described the damage. It was only as Lily began to stir and whimper that Nat's hearing turned back on and she could hear Ginny's quiet sobs from her spot behind the sofa.

"Okay," Nat said as she studied Lily's naked form one last time, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything. "Okay, that's it. She's coming around."

"Get me a blanket, please," Audrey called out and someone threw one to her. She held it out for Nat to hold. "I'm going to levitate her, make sure there isn't anything left under her body. Be ready, Harry."

"I am," Harry said, his voice a hoarse croak.

Audrey used her wand to raise Lily up and Nat studied under her, checking everywhere. "All clear," Nat told her and Audrey moved her over to the sofa where Nat draped the blanket over her.

Nat felt herself start to shake as she sank onto the floor next to Lily, grasping her cold hand as she closed her eyes against the flood of tears that just wouldn't stop. Lily would have been permanently maimed by what had been done to her. It wasn't just the poisoning, which Nat had come to expect, that would have rendered her babies unable to perform magic. No, Lily would have been utterly damaged above and beyond. She didn't know if it would have killed her, but she would never have been the same.

"She will know, now," Audrey said quietly as Sera scrambled around the couch and stuck her nose into Lily's face, sniffling and whining.

Nat glanced up to Audrey as she watched the Healer continue to examine Lily. "What?"

"She will know what you are," Audrey said gently. "She will know we have an Augmentum Imaginari, one who can see and channel magic. She will know."

"Oh, bloody hell," Al swore, then went off on a further rant.

Nat hadn't even realized Al was there, but when she looked up, she realized not only was Al there, but Scorpius, as well. "She's okay," she told Scorpius. "I wouldn't lie about it, she's going to live."

"What about…" Scorpius stopped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. "Was… was she impregnated?"

Nat realized that in the face of Lily's possible death, that hadn't registered with her. Nat couldn't stop ovulation, not once it was induced. It was nearly instantaneous. Also, she couldn't pull semen from Lily's body. It was there and it couldn't be stopped. "I can see ovulation has been induced," Nat said carefully. "That's all I can tell you. We have to assume Crabbe did more."

Scorpius nodded, his lips compressed, but his expression resolved. "Right. I'll… I'll go and get the ring I bought for her." He turned to the side and Nat's gaze traveled along the same path to see Harry, who was simultaneously looking like he wanted to murder someone and throw up at the same time. "Mr. Potter…"

Harry nodded, "Go. Go get it. I'll get it arranged. How long until she's awake, Audrey?"

"Any moment now," Audrey told him gently.

Nat sat back on her heels and watched Ginny smoothing down Lily's hair as Lily began to stir. Nat curled into a ball as everything hit her. Lily was pregnant. Or rather, Lily would be pregnant in the next several hours, once semen met egg. That part wasn't instant, it took a little while for it to happen. Scorpius and Lily were going to be married in the next hour or two. Lily was going to have a baby. She was seventeen and she was going to have a baby. Scorpius was going to raise a baby that wasn't his.

What a fucking mess.

She felt arms surround her, scooping her up. She turned her head into Al's neck, knowing it was him by his scent as he carried her to a chair and sat down with her in his lap, letting her cry out all of the unfairness of everything. It wasn't supposed to be like this! They'd done so much to try to keep Lily safe! Now… now everything was a mess and she didn't know what they were going to do!

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Al whispered into her hair.

But it was a promise he couldn't make and he couldn't keep, not unless she never left the house again. That might be what her life looked like from here on out. It was grim to think about, but it was a definite possibility.

Crabbe would know. When Lily wasn't maimed or dead, Crabbe was going to know.

"If we keep Lily under wraps…" she heard Audrey saying. "We could maybe put out a story that she's too ill to be in public."

But she didn't hear anymore because Ginny was crying and Lily had woken up and she was crying, and Audrey was gently explaining what had happened to Lily. She watched as they wrapped Lily more securely in the blanket and led her up the stairs to get some clothes on.

"They have to get married," she whispered to Al.

"Yeah," Al whispered back heavily. "I know."

~*~

Scorpius stood in his and Al's flat and stared down at the ring he'd bought for Lily. It was a solitaire diamond in a platinum band in a shape he knew she liked because he'd had her look at pictures and tell him. He'd been planning on proposing in a few weeks on the beach or in the garden at Ivy Run. He still wasn't entirely sure where, as he thought he had another few weeks to come up with the perfect plan to ask her.

The perfect plan…

Scorpius let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and studied the ring. He had the matching wedding band, along with the one for himself, in another box. He'd bought them ahead of time, figuring he might as well, never dreaming he'd be using them so soon. He'd expected a big wedding, just like Rose had had today at Ivy Run. Lily would have wanted all the fuss, the frills, and the fancy to go along with it. He didn't really care for any of those things, but he wanted Lily to be happy and remember their wedding day.

He loved her so, so much. He wanted her to be happy.

She wasn't ready to be married and frankly, he didn't know if he was, either.

Why hadn't he gone into the bathroom with her? Why hadn't he sent Al in with her? Would it have made any difference, any difference at all, to what had happened tonight?

She could have died… he'd seen the look on Nat's face, on Audrey's face… he'd seen just how serious it was. It wasn't just the normal horror, no. Isabella Crabbe, Scorpius' crazy aunt, had set out to hurt Lily worse than anyone else. This wasn't just the normal vindictive level of crazy. This was so much worse.

Scorpius closed his hand on the ring, grabbed the box that held the wedding bands, and then packed a small bag of clothes. He assumed he would be taking Lily to the beach house. They would be soul bound, which meant they would have to consummate their marriage within a day. How was he going to do that with her being traumatized? She was poisoned! He felt sickness wash through him, yet again, as he tried to fight back the tears.

There would be a baby. That was another reality that was hammering at his head, trying to get his attention. Scorpius gave himself a moment to think about it before he pushed it to the back of his mind. He would have nine months to get used to being a father, especially the father to a baby that wasn't his. He'd known it was a possibility, but somehow… somehow he'd assumed they'd be able to shield Lily from this. He thought they'd be able to keep her safe and protected. A flame of anger flickered to life in him, but he quickly stuffed it back down again.

The only way to keep Lily totally safe would have been to keep Lily totally locked up, and that wasn't much of a life. Crabbe had been working for decades at this point. She hadn't been stopped and maybe she never would be. They'd taken a risk, what had seemed to be a small risk, but it had been a risk and they'd lost. Lily had lost.

Thankfully, they had Natalie. Lily would be okay. She wasn't going to die. She wasn't going to be sick for the rest of what could have been a short life. She was having a baby, and no matter who the father was, Lily would be the mother and that was all that mattered. He'd love the baby because it would be Lily's.

It had to be alright, because he was getting married just as soon as he made it back to Ivy Run. He took one final shaking breath and went for the fireplace.

He made it back to relative calm, compared to what he'd found when Harry had told him to get back to Ivy Run. Nat was comforting Lily's dog, Sera, but Sera was all bent out of shape about what had happened. Ginny was still upstairs with Lily, probably getting her cleaned up and dressed. He'd seen her naked on the ground but there had been absolutely nothing sexual about it. All kinds of potions and poisons were oozing out of her every pour and all he'd felt was the terror that he'd never get to see her smile again, never see the joy that was her natural state.

Would she still have that joy after what had happened to her? Would she be alright? Would she be a shaking mess who didn't want to be touched tonight? Maybe he should try to get a Muggle marriage arranged with her… then they wouldn't have to consummate it tonight.

But no, they needed it done quickly because the baby registered with the Ministry. It might take a few days to arrange things with the Muggles. He wasn't entirely sure how all of that worked. But he would just hold her tonight and then in the morning, when things had calmed down, then they could make love.

Making love with Lily… if he was honest it was something he'd dreamed about more than he wanted to admit and he'd tried, often, to keep it to a minimum. He and Lily had only kissed and held hands. They'd done nothing else because Scorpius had never wanted to risk Harry and Ginny having a reason to tell him he couldn't see Lily anymore. Not only that, but he respected Lily too much to push her and she'd never given any indication she'd wanted more than that kisses they'd shared. She'd never tried to push for more, so he'd taken his cue from her. Now… now they were going to—

"Scorpius?"

He glanced up sharply when he heard her small voice at the top of the stairs, her mother by her side. He didn't wait, but bounded up the stairs to her, scooping her into his arms.

"I'll give you a few minutes and call when Harry is back," Ginny said softly as she went down the stairs, leaving them alone.

Well, almost alone. Sera had broken away from Nat and had run up after him, but she was sitting quietly at Lily's feet.

"Let's go into your room," Scorpius said, as he guided her down the hall and into her bedroom. He gently put her on the bed and sat next to her, keeping his arms around her. Sera sat at her feet, her head in Lily's lap. He kissed her temple and thought about the day they'd gone to get Sera. The dog trainer's son had been thinking… well, thinking lascivious thoughts, one could say, about Lily and it had scared Lily quite badly. Sera had nearly attacked the man who had trained her because of how he'd made Lily feel. Now, here they were, and they were going to be married shortly. "I have something for you," he said as he pulled out the engagement ring.

Lily stared at it for a moment before she whispered, "It's beautiful. It's exactly what I wanted."

"I was hoping," he said as he held it out. "This isn't what I'd planned, and it isn't what you'd planned, but will you marry me tonight, Lily?"

She let out a small sniff. "I hate that you're being forced into this."

"Oh, sweetheart, no," Scorpius shook his head and clung to her. "I want you through the good and the bad. I want you. I love you. Sometimes life doesn't go to plan and we have to adjust. This is an adjustment."

"I won't be going back to school."

That hadn't even occurred to him, but no, she wouldn't be going back to school. She would be home with him, wherever home ended up being. That was another detail that had to be taken care of and soon. They could live at the beach house for a while, certainly. No one was using it consistently, but they'd want their own house. "I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not," Lily said and then she giggled. "I'll be sorry not to see Hugo and Honor every day, but Merlin, I was really starting to hate school. I wanted to be done."

"Well, that's something then," he said, his heart lightening at the sound of her laughter, but it dropped when he remembered what he needed to talk to her about. "We… Lily we have to consummate the marriage. Are you going to be okay with that? If you aren't, we have to get a Muggle marriage."

She was quiet for a moment and then she held out her left hand and wiggled her finger so he could slide the ring on. It fit perfectly, as he knew it would. "I think it will be fine. I, uhm, I didn't exactly know how it all went, but Mum explained it to me just now. I mean," she ducked her head into his shoulder and he could hear the embarrassment in her voice. He studied the shirt and pajama pants she was wearing and waited for her to collect her thoughts. How odd that she'd be getting married in her pajamas while he was still in his dress robes. Or maybe she'd want to change, he didn't know. "I mean… well, you love me and you want me and I love you and I want you and we'll… we'll get through it. It will be alright, won't it?"

He considered her words carefully before he replied. "I'm hoping it will be more than alright. I'm hoping you will enjoy it quite a lot, as I'm sure I will enjoy it. It's an important bond between a husband and a wife. I want you to be happy, Lily. If that means we need to wait, I need to know now."

"No," she replied instantly. "I'll be alright. I am a little scared because I don't know what's… I mean, I know but it's still new. So that's a little scary."

"I understand," he told her, and he did. It was a little scary for him, as well. "We will learn together."

She nodded and fingered her shirt. "You know, I thought I'd want this big, fancy dress when I married," she told him, almost like she'd read his mind from a moment before. "I had all these plans and ideas… but truthfully, when it came down to it, when I came out of it and knew I'd nearly died," her big brown eyes were swimming when she looked up at him. "When I realized what had happened, when Mummy explained it, all I could think was I was so blessed I would have you to be there with me. I never doubted for a second you'd be here. I know this isn't what… what either of us wanted. But I knew you'd be here with me through it. Always."

"Always," he agreed, a little choked up himself.

"Your parents are going to be so mad," Lily whispered.

It was only when she'd said it that he remembered that yes, he had parents, and yes, they were going to be thoroughly angry with him over eloping. If they ever found out their first grandchild wasn't a Malfoy by blood… well, he just had to hope the child looked like Lily because he was never going to tell them. Everything about their marriage would make them mad. The Malfoys only ever had one child and they intentionally arranged it so it was always a boy. Doing that ensured that the fortune wasn't split up or divided and the name was always passed on. Lily wanted at least four children, but she was thinking more, and he knew he'd do whatever it took to keep her happy. His mother might understand the kind of yearning for children, more children, but he knew his father wouldn't.

He hadn't thought of them and hadn't even considered inviting them to the ceremony. "Your parents are now going to be related, through marriage, to the Malfoys."

Lily grinned up at them. "I think that'll hurt your father more than it will hurt my parents."

"Agreed."

"The baby isn't going to be yours," Lily said as she took his hand and linked their fingers.

He thought about it for a moment and then realized that it didn't matter. "The baby will be yours, and that will make it mine. Our child will never, ever, feel from me that they aren't mine. I will love them with my whole heart and I will die to protect them. I'm claiming the baby as mine, Lily. It's a choice and I'm making it."

Lily nodded and Scorpius heard Ginny's call that the man from the Ministry was there to perform the ceremony.

And so, with Harry, Ginny, Al, Audrey, and Nat in attendance, Scorpius and Lily were married and their souls bound. When the bond was formed, Scorpius felt the tugging desire he'd always had for her intensify to such a level, he didn't know how he didn't just burst out of his skin trying to get to her. From the look in her eyes, he knew that Lily was feeling the exact same way and it only added fuel to his fire.

Or maybe it wasn't the look in her eyes, maybe it was the connection that had been forged between them. Truthfully, he didn't know or care. He only knew he wanted her.

Shortly after the ceremony, Harry and Ginny bundled them off to the beach house, without Sera or Ducky, and told them they'd send Polly with food in the morning.

The second they were through the Floo, Scorpius' mouth was on Lily's and she was kissing him back just as fiercely.

"I feel like I'm on fire!" Lily panted as he swept her up and made straight for the master bedroom. "Hurry! Oh… Scorpius… this…"

"I know," he said, feeling the desperation within himself building. "I feel it, too."

He had been so certain she'd have been timid and shy their first time, maybe tearful, but instead she couldn't keep her hands from him and she reveled in his mouth as it traveled all over her body. He couldn't say the first joining was exactly smooth sailing, as it hurt Lily for a moment, but then they found their rhythm in the dance as old as time and they flew together, breathless and so in tune that Scorpius knew it was the most beautiful moment of his life.

Afterwards, in the glow they created together, he held onto her and breathed her in, trying to get his heart to come down from the sprint it was doing. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," she whispered, her lips pressed to the skin of his chest. "I love you so much. That was… I never knew."

"I didn't, either," Scorpius admitted. "It's beyond description." They had made love and Merlin, he hoped they'd be doing it again shortly. "Are you sore?"

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head. "I'm a bit sore, but it's not too bad. I think I'll be okay in a few hours."

He pulled her in closer and laid his lips on the crown of her head. "I'm sorry to have hurt you, even for a moment."

"Life is sometimes painful and that was worth it," she reminded him before falling quiet again. Eventually, she said, "It's going to be painful every time I have a baby, but it's so worth it."

He thought of the children they would have, the one who would be born in the next nine months, and knew it was going to kill him to watch her go through labor. "Are you still set on four?"

"At least four," she giggled. "After number four, I'll decide on number five."

He laughed softly and hugged her tightly to him. "Well, we're starting young."

But even so, he was still thankful he had months to get used to the idea of a baby coming.

~*~

Nat sat staring into the empty fireplace as midnight passed around them and the wedding day winked out of existence. She'd done her fair share of weeping and she'd done her fair share of shaking her fist at fate. It was so appalling to know that Lily and Scorpius were being forced into something they weren't ready for, along with having a baby now, one that wouldn't be Scorpius' baby. He'd handle it. He would be a good father to the child and he'd love it because it was Lily's baby, but that didn't make it right or fair. They had to stop Crabbe, but they were no closer to doing that now than they had been a decade before.

Also, it shouldn't be on Harry to stop her. The whole world knew what she was doing and she was attacking the entire magical population of the world, trying to render all of the new babies with the poison that would make them not magical anymore. It should be on everyone to stop her!

But that wasn't how the world worked. They saw Harry as some kind of amazing super hero who should be able to do all things, even when everyone else couldn't manage them. How was that fair or right? It wasn't. It just wasn't and it left Harry feeling like he'd failed, when really every magical law enforcement officer was failing.

What did that say about the rest of the world?

Nat didn't know, but she did know she and Lily weren't going to be allowed out much, if at all. They'd had one last great day with Rose for her wedding and that would be that. There would be no more Quidditch games at the stadium, no more trips to the stores, no more meals with friends at a pub, nothing. Nat wasn't even sure they'd allow her to go to the Ministry anymore to heal the women and babies, but if she didn't do it, no one could. They were still no closer to coming up with a cure for the damn potion that made the babies lose their magic.

Alright, one couldn't actually lose their magic. It would be impossible to do that. It was probably why so many babies died in Crabbe's experiments while she was trying to perfect it. She could get rid of the magic, but the magic was tied into the baby's life force, so without the magic, the baby's life force was gone and thus the baby died. Everyone human had magic in them, Nat could see it, only most of the magic was so faint that they were Muggles without the use of magic, at all. If she gave the potion to a woman who was going to have a baby who would be a Squib, Nat assumed the baby would die because it was being cut off too much from the magical source for life. It was a theory, though. Nat didn't know all the ins and outs of it. She was starting to believe she was correct, though, based on what she was seeing.

Crabbe had found a way to make it so the baby couldn't actively use the magic, for magical babies, suppressing it enough that they came out as a Squib. But it was at a terrible cost. Some of those babies still didn't make it. Some of the mothers didn't make it.

"Leah?"

Nat glanced up to see Al coming to her, dressed in some of his old flannel pajamas and a worn shirt. He'd stayed the night at his parents' house, not wanting to be alone in his flat, without Scorpius, and also, she assumed, because his parents were very upset about what had happened to Lily. "Hey," she said as she moved the blanket covering her legs so he could sit next to her. Nat leaned into him, leaned into his strength, and fought the urge to cry again. Al had been holding it together for all of them, and it wasn't fair to put her emotions on top of his. Lily was his sister, his baby sister, and he'd been at the door to protect her.

No, it hadn't only been on him. He wasn't even a full Auror yet, but she knew the guilt was eating him alive.

Al put his arm around her and held onto her. "I can't sleep, either," he told her. "I just keep hearing the explosion and knowing something went terribly wrong. I made it to you in seconds, sending you home, and then we were trying to find Lily, but she was gone."

"I made it back here and Polly heard what happened and she left before I could tell her not to," Nat sniffed. "I mean, we needed Lily back, but I have to assume Crabbe would have sent her back. I think. She wants us to know what she did to Lily, but I put Polly and her baby in danger…"

"Polly made her own choice and she was safe doing it," Al reminded her, yet again. "It isn't the same for house-elves. They have the abilities that we don't. She was fine."

"But she was fine only because Crabbe wanted Lily to get away," Nat said as she closed her eyes. "I've been thinking about that a lot. If she hadn't wanted Lily to get away, Lily wouldn't have. She knows the security weaknesses of a house-elf. She knew we could get to Lily. She didn't even bother to take Lily's Portkeys away from her. She still had the earrings and the necklace. She'd have known they were Portkeys."

Al fell silent and then he let out a long sigh. "You're right. She let Lily go."

"Now Lily is going to be a mother… Al… it's just… she's only seventeen."

"I know," he agreed. "I keep thinking about what would have happened if she didn't have Scorpius. She'd… well, we have no idea who she'd have been married to, or if there even would have been a bloke. She might have just been left as a social pariah. We didn't really have anyone else she could have married and been safe with."

That hadn't occurred to Nat until he said it, but Al was right. He was right that Lily would have been left alone and it could have been terrible for her!

"So…" Al began and then stopped and cleared his throat. "So, I'm saying this now, okay? There's no arguing with me on it."

"Alright?" Nat said, wondering where he was going with it.

"So… if this happens to you, you and I are getting married."

Nat froze for a full ten seconds before she turned on him. "Absolutely not! I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for me!"

Al's jaw was set tight and he shook his head. "You are one of my best friends and I love you. If you get taken by her, then we are getting married. There is no discussion on this, Leah! I can't see you married to some brute, not when you need to be taken care of."

She opened her mouth to argue, but saw in the set expression on his face that he was serious and he wasn't going to budge. "You… you deserve to find the love of your life, Al! You deserve happiness."

"So do you," he told her simply.

She wanted to argue with him, tell him she wasn't going to get to marry the love of her life… well, unless she was kidnapped and poisoned by Crabbe, but she decided not to go there.

"I won't be able to live with myself if I don't," he told her flatly. "I just won't. So that's it. If you are kidnapped, we will get married. The end."

She wanted to point out that they'd have to have sex and he probably really didn't want to do that with her, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She was too tired to argue with him. "I'll… I'll just make sure I'm never at risk so it doesn't happen." Then, because she really needed it, she changed the subject. "Did Rose know what happened?"

Al closed his eyes with grief and nodded. "The explosion was so loud, it shook the whole house. She knew what happened and we sent a message that Lily was alright. But the whole house was cleared of all of the guests. It's a great way to start marriages for all four of them."

Nat closed her eyes and shook her head. "She just ruins everything. Every damn thing. Can you sleep here with me on the couch? I'm so tired but…"

"Yeah," he agreed quickly. "I'll stay," he promised as he pulled the blanket more securely on their lap and held her tight as she tried to relax.

~*~

In the aftermath of Rose's wedding, Ginny didn't know how to move on. She'd always suspected something like this would happen to Lily. Lily probably had been her main target all along. She'd spent most of that first night absolutely horrified that Lily had been impregnated, just as Ginny had been so long ago. Of course, she'd been impregnated by Crabbe using Harry, so it had worked out alright. That had absolutely backfired in Crabbe's face. But she had learned from it. She'd seen that Harry and Ginny were happy and she'd moved on to using random men that the Ministry may, or may not, be able to track down and force into marriage. They'd had more than one magical girl forced to marry a man they didn't love because of that sick bitch, but others had simply left the country to live in places that were more tolerant.

For at least an hour in the middle of the night after the wedding, she'd fumed that Harry had even been in the Room of Requirement when Vincent Crabbe had died. She'd come to her senses, of course. It wasn't Harry's fault and it wasn't strictly on him to stop the woman, but now that Lily had been attacked, it was harder to see sense.

She was really starting to appreciate just how sane her own mother actually was, even though, at the time, she'd thought Molly Weasley was cracked and extremely overprotective.

Ah well, live and learn, unfortunately.

Now she was going to be getting three grandbabies in the next year… three in a year. She didn't know if Lily was going to handle it, although she suspected her daughter would be a good mother. She was fantastic with her nieces and nephew, so it stood to reason that she would be wonderful with her own children.

Today, though, she had other worries. Harry had been investigating the place where Lily had been taken. Polly had been able to give Harry the directions to get there, and he'd immediately sent a team of Aurors, but of course Crabbe was already gone. That hadn't been a surprise, as they were always five steps behind. He'd wanted to bring Nat to the sight, to see if she could see anything, but Ginny had put her foot down and refused. She wasn't going to risk the girl's life just for this, not when it probably wouldn't help much. She'd have been in danger for very little gain.

Harry had, wisely, seen that his wife's emotional state was such that pushing it wasn't a good idea.

And Ginny was right, when it came down to it. There was no reason to risk Nat's life over it.

But today… oh, today. Today, the Malfoys were coming to dinner, or at least Draco and Astoria were. They were coming to Ivy Run. They were going to be allowed into the protections of the Fidelius Charm.

Ginny still didn't know how she felt about it. On the one hand, they would be let in but because they wouldn't be the Secret Keeper, they couldn't let anyone else in, not unless their current Secret Keeper died, and it wasn't like that was likely to happen since Bill was their current Secret Keeper.

On the other hand, Malfoy had been a nightmare all through school and he'd actively hurt his son. Yes, Draco had received help for his problems and he was doing much better.

But mostly, they shared family now… she was family with Draco Malfoy.

Ginny thought she'd come to terms with it, but it turned out she actually hadn't. And tonight they'd all have dinner together at Ivy Run.

Harry had gone personally to Malfoy Manor to let them know that Scorpius and Lily had eloped. He hadn't told them anything else, but Draco had jumped to the conclusion that Lily was pregnant.

Since that was the truth, or would be true shortly, Harry hadn't bothered to argue with him. It looked bad from all sides, even though neither of them had done anything wrong.

But Scorpius had told both Harry and Ginny that he didn't ever want his parents to find out that the baby wasn't his. They'd all promised. The secret would be kept between all of them and they'd just pray the baby looked like Lily.

"They're here," Nat said quietly, and Ginny turned to her to see Lily and Scorpius coming through the Floo. She hadn't seen her daughter in the last week, but they'd spoken through the Floo a few times so she'd known she was alright.

Sera ran over to her, whining to be petted and loved and Lily dropped down to do just that. "I missed you, too," she told the dog in a singsong voice. "We won't be apart again. I'll take you to the beach house tonight, both you and Ducky."

"Can you call Harry, please, Nat?" Ginny asked her. "Nat?" She glanced over to see Nat staring at Lily and Scorpius, her mouth gaping open. "Natalie?!"

"I…" Nat shook her head and Ginny glanced back to see Scorpius kneeling next to Lily, his arms around her as she loved on the dog. "The baby… the… the baby is his."

"What?" Ginny asked, uncomprehending for only a moment before it hit her. "How is that possible?!"

The squeak in her voice must have caught Lily and Scorpius' attention because they both turned to them and Lily called out to ask what was going on.

Nat moved swiftly over to them and stared down at Lily and a huge grin broke out on her face. She turned to Scorpius and laughed as she said, "The baby is yours!"

He look dumbfounded and shook his head. "How can that be?"

"I mean," Nat beamed, even as Ginny watched her blush. "I guess your swimmers moved faster than the other bloke's."

"What?" Lily asked, glancing between them. "I don't understand."

"The baby is Scorpius' baby, Lily," Nat said simply. "It's his! I can see it!"

Lily sat down flat on her butt and then burst into tears that Ginny knew were happy tears and she sent up a silent plea of thanks to the universe for helping this to happen. Of course, that also meant that her daughter and Scorpius must have gone immediately to bed together when they'd arrived at the beach house, but Ginny decided to push that thought from her mind. This outcome made it all worth it.

Of course, Draco and Astoria arrived at that moment with Al, who had been waiting for them outside. The knock at the front door signaled their arrival and she heard Harry running down the steps to get the door.

"Help me up!" Lily said as she wiped at her eyes quickly. "Do I look okay?"

"You look perfect," Scorpius promised, beaming at her.

Ginny would have loved the baby because it was Lily's, but she wasn't going to even pretend she wasn't relieved that the baby was also Scorpius'. She took a deep breath and put on her hostess face to greet Draco and Astoria.

The dinner was awkward from the word go. They talked about the weather, about Quidditch, about the Ministry, but except for a brief congratulations to the newlyweds, they didn't mention it at all. Ginny rather suspected that Astoria had threatened Draco to within an inch of his life that if he caused trouble, he would be in a world of hurt. They suspected, but it hadn't yet been confirmed, that their grandchild and access to the child was on the line. Ginny knew Astoria wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that.

"We would like to offer you the Manor," Draco said to his son as they finished dessert.

Scorpius paused, glanced to Lily, who wore a tight smile, but otherwise didn't say anything. "That's very kind of you, but it's your home and you have a lot of years left to live. I would rather you keep it. Maybe one of our children would like it in the future. I think Lily and I will live somewhere else."

Draco nodded and to Ginny's relief, he let it go.

Just before they left, Astoria pulled Ginny to the side and asked, "Is she pregnant?"

Ginny nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral.

Astoria closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. But she was smiling. "Alright… you'll… please keep me updated on how she's doing. I know my aunt is causing trouble and Lily needs to be protected, but please write to me and if things are happening, like a baby shower, please include me."

"Of course I will," Ginny promised and knew Lily would want that, as well. "We, uh, might not include your parents or Draco's."

"No!" Astoria agreed firmly. "No, indeed. While they aren't working with my crazy aunt, they're still not to be trusted. But… oh, I am so looking forward to being a grandmother."

"It's the best thing in the world," Ginny promised her. "I will make sure you're included."

Astoria hugged her tightly and whispered, "Thank you," before she broke away to head to the door.

Overall, it definitely could have gone worse, but the day had turned out to be a good one and when Harry and Al learned the baby was Scorpius' it only improved from there.