Hermione looked into Draco’s eyes, searching for something. Her look reminded him of the look Astoria gave him whenever he promised to move out of the manor. After a few seconds, she asked him, “Why do you care?”

The question caught Draco off guard. “Rebekka is a valued employee; Jimber is Scorpius’ friend, and Isaac is my friend.” Hermione was still probing him with her eyes. He felt suddenly under a very bright spotlight and added, “He may be my only friend.”

Hermione paused for a second, considering her answer. “I’m not an expert on the subject, but there will be a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. At that meeting in a few weeks, they will rule whether the Dokes’ actions warrant immediate deportation. I can also confirm that the ruling council of the Island is demanding expedition of deportation so the Dokes can be returned to stand trial.”

Draco was alarmed. “Stand trial! I thought it was Isaac’s father who was responsible for the stolen goods.”

“It seems that the Council of the Island wants to make an example of some of the people who abandoned their homeland after the disasters. Isaac and Rebekka were just a part of the substantial exodus of young, talented citizens,” Hermione responded.

“And they are a readymade case, just waiting to be prosecuted. Or would it be persecuted? Do you know anyone who has contacts on the Island? Someone who could represent their case in front of the bar?” Draco asked.

“You’re thinking of the British style of the law, Draco. The style of law is very different there. However, I do know a Justice Shaman named Andris. I met him at an Elf Rights conference. I could contact him for you,” Hermione offered.

“Please do and let me know if there is any way I can help,” Draco said.

“Well, if you stay in the kitchen after lunch, you will find out how you can help tonight,” Hermione offered.

After they had helped the adults clear the table, the kids, along with Ginny Potter, went back into the living room and an additional round of opening presents. As the voices faded into the other room, Harry Potter, the Malfoys, Dokes, and Weasleys all gathered around the kitchen table.

“What a warm and loving home. Was this where you grew up, Harry?” asked Astoria.

Harry snorted and answered, “No, we are in a replica of the house that Ginny was raised in.”

“Not bad for a bin,” added Ron, as he fixed Draco with a stare.

Does the man never let things go?Draco thought

Harry looked around the room to insure that none of the children had lingered or were eavesdropping. “Tomorrow, Auror Sterling will take Polyjuice potion and turn into Jimber Dokes. He will wear the necklace as his partner Smith hexes him. The spells will leave him with the taint. After he has been tainted, Sterling, Isaac, and Rebekka will by Portkeyed to their flat in London. Meanwhile Ron and I will be in the apartment under my cloak waiting. When the Maliaites show up, we will capture them.”

Draco listened to Harry, sizing up the plan and waiting for his role in the capture of the green robed wizards. After a couple more particulars, Harry finished his talking. Draco was confused. Turning toward Potter he said, “A sound plan, Potter. However, I was led to believe that Astoria and I had a part to play in the capture.”

Ron Weasley chimed in, “We want to keep the children to distracted until it’s all over. So with Harry and the Dokes gone, we don’t want the children needlessly worrying about their parent’s location and safety. So, if you and your wife could host a sleepover for all the kids and keep them in the dark until after the trap is triggered, that would be very helpful.”

“You want me to babysit!” Draco almost choked on the words.

“Yeah, got a problem with that, Malfoy?” asked a smug Ron Weasley.

“Of course not, we will do what’s best for our friends and the children,“ said Astoria. Draco just nodded his head. He fought the urge to reach across the table and slap that look off Weasley’s face.

Rose Weasley, who showed up with her younger brother Hugo at the Malfoy’s door, was dressed in a simple red blouse and blue dungarees. Since she arrived just before the Dokes’ and Potters, it had caused a few minutes of awkward silence and long stares amongst the inhabitants of the Malfoy dwelling.

Jimber and Bethany were the last two of the kids to arrive. As Draco closed the door, he saw Harry, Isaac and Rebekka walking toward Auror Sterling in the corridor outside.

The children immediately separated into three separate groups: the girls occupied the master bedroom, the four younger boys roughhoused in the living room and James followed Draco and Astoria around. James seemed to be fascinated with the fact that Draco had been a Slytherin and he had known his parents at his age. “Where is the Slytherin common room? Is it true, what the older boys said, about Slytherin girls being easy? Did you ever play Quidditch against my father? Who was a better player my mom or my dad?”

Draco forced a smile and gave only the essentials in his answers. “The location of the common room is a secret and I cannot tell. They might seem easy, but anything that happens is probably part of a plan that you will never see coming until it’s too late. Yes, he beat me every time we played. Your father was a very good player, but your mother played like one possessed.”

Draco looked at the six-day clock on the wall and was saddened to see that only an hour had passed. At the same time, Rose Weasley came out of the master bed room and convinced Astoria to join the girls behind the shut bedroom door.

Draco, mostly to escape James, walked into the living room to find Scorpius, Albus, Hugo, and Jimber playing a broomless version of Quidditch, throwing a sponge ‘Quaffle’ through sets of four foot high hoops. James teamed up with Scorpius and the match was on. Draco marveled at the endless well of energy that the five boys seemed to have. As he kept score and made penalty calls, the hours seemed to melt away.

At six o’clock, two freed elves showed up at the Malfoy’s door with three large silver trays filled with a Muggle food that Draco had never eaten. The food was called Pizza. Upon hearing the door close, the five ravenous boys entered the kitchen ready to attack the food. Draco stopped the boys from starting to eat. He sent Scorpius to the bedroom to fetch the females back to the kitchen. Scorpius returned to the hungry boys and said to his father, “Mother said to for the boys to take their seats each with an empty seat in between. We will be allowed to eat after the show.”

“Show?” asked Draco. What is my wife up to now?

As he turned toward the kitchen door, he saw Astoria enter. She looked different, although he could not place the nature of the change. Astoria held her wand to her face and announced, “Miss Bethany Dokes.”

Into the kitchen strolled Bethany with her hair weaved, her lips red with lipstick and some paint on her eye lids. Bethany walked around the kitchen as if she was a queen and sat next to Albus.

“Miss Lily Potter,” was the next to be announced by Astoria.

Lily, her hair piled high on her head, was also decked out with makeup on her lips and eyes. She walked around the kitchen and sat down next to Jimber. Draco shook his head and worried that the boy’s reactions might ruin whatever the girls had planned. He knew that at the boy’s age all of this was nonsense and the show was important only to the girls.

“Miss Rose Weasley.”

Rose entered the room. The dungarees that she had arrived wearing had been replaced by a modest knee length pink dress with a black leather belt that accentuated the hint of her future figure. Rose’s face wore much less makeup than the younger girls did. Draco looked over at Scorpius. He was not laughing at Rose like Albus was. Scorpius wore a vacant smile on his face. Draco sighed and thought Puppy love. Rose did not sashay around the room like the younger girls had; she looked very uncertain as she sat next to Scorpius. Rose, was looking down at the floor, so she missed Scorpius glancing at her appearance.

Suddenly, Bethany announced, “Mrs. Astoria Malfoy.” And Astoria walked around the room and sat down next to Draco.

The smell of the strange food was making Draco’s mouth water, when he heard his wife clear her throat; he knew what was required of him. He turned to the boys and reminded them that gentlemen make sure that their ladies were served first. The boys were indignant. The younger two girls were excited.

Draco took a slice of the pizza, placed it on a plate, and handed it to his wife. As he handed it to her he added, “You look very lovely, Astoria.” As Astoria bowed her head in acknowledgement of the compliment, Draco reached onto the tray and took a slice and placed it on his plate.

Scorpius followed suit. He reached onto the closest tray and took the largest slice, placed it on the plate and handed it to Rose. “You look very pretty in that dress, Rose,” he said, as the other boys sniggered. Rose’s face almost turned the same color as her namesake. Draco nodded and Scorpius was allowed to fill his plate.

James turned to the empty seat and announced, “You look lovely, my dear.” He then reached onto the tray and placed two slices on his plate.

Hugo laughed as he imitated his older cousin and sat with a plate of two slices. Hugo looked at the remaining two boys with a triumphant look on his face.

Jimber and Albus realized that serving their ‘dates’ and giving them a compliment was the cost of being allowed to eat. So the boys gave the girls next to them a plate with a small slice of food and followed it with very hollow praise. The two young girls giggled and Astoria winked over at Bethany.

Within twenty minutes, the three large pies were consumed and everyone retired to the living room. The five boys took turns played chess and Exploding Snap. The younger two girls sat in the corner playing with dolls. Rose went back into the bedroom to redress in her dungarees and then passed the time sitting cross legged and barefoot on the couch next to Astoria, reading one of her spell books. Draco, paying close attention, saw that Scorpius and Rose would each look at the other and immediately look away when the staring was noticed.

The boy is too young for this. After all, I hadn’t even noticed Astoria’s existence until she was nearly fifteen. Why the Weasley girl of all the witches in the world? At least they have time to grow out of it.

Around nine, Astoria took the girls to their bedroom; she stayed in the room for over a half an hour. Draco heard the unmistakable rhythm of his wife’s voice telling a story to the three girls. The boys wanted to stay up all night in the living room. Draco agreed, as long as they left the girls alone and did not make enough noise to wake him up.

When Astoria exited the girl’s bedroom, she was not alone. Holding her right hand was Bethany Dokes, and Astoria walked her into the master bedroom. Draco craned his neck, waiting for the girl to leave the room. She did not. After another half hour, Draco warned the boys to behave and walked into the master bed room. A bottle of blue flames rested upon the chest of drawers at the side of the bed to light up the room. By the feeble light, Draco found Bethany wrapped in Astoria’s arms, asleep in the exact middle of the large bed. Draco used his wand to summon his pajamas and, as silently as possible, changed into his bed clothes.

The sound of thudding bodies came from the living room and he thought about forcibly hushing the boys. However, he waited and counted to ten. With no reoccurrence of the noise, Draco slid into the bed, adjusted the pillows, and fell asleep.

Draco was standing on the ledge of the Astronomy Tower, the Dark Lord was standing behind him with a wand repeatedly poking him in the back. “You are a coward. All Malfoys are cowards,” the Dark Lord hissed. “Join Dumbledore at the bottom of the tower”, he added poking, Draco hard in the back.

Suddenly the ghostly form of Dumbledore appeared floating in the air and said, “Are you finally ready to join the fight on the right side of magic? You already know what needs to be done. Don’t you, Draco?”

Draco awoke with something shoved into his back. He slid off the side of the bed. He turned to see the small form of Bethany Dokes lying sideways in the bed. It had been her head not the Dark Lord’s wand, pushing him over the edge.

Draco grabbed his wand and slipped out the door without waking his two bedmates. He crept through the living room and into the kitchen. He lit his wand and saw that the six day clock showed it was five o’clock in the morning. Draco took the tea pot, filled it with water from his wand and heated it. After allowing the tea leaves to brew, he poured a cup full of his favorite strong tea. As he finished the drink, the kitchen was filled with light and through the door appeared the familiar form of a stag.

Draco walked out of the kitchen to find Potter and the Dokes in the hallway. Harry gave Draco a nod, confirming the trap had worked.

Draco asked, “Did you get any sleep?” All three tiredly shook their heads in response. “Well, we will keep the children until after lunch so you can get some rest.”

“How are they?” asked Rebekka.

“The boys are all right. Bethany slept in between Astoria and me,” he replied.

“Bethany kicked you out of the bed, did she?” prompted Isaac.

Draco smiled and returned to the kitchen.

After lunch, Draco heard the whole story from Potter and Isaac. The green robed Maliaites had arrived at sundown. Having the advantage of surprise, one of the wizards had looped a necklace over ‘Jimber’ which caused him to fall instantly asleep. One of the wizards was demanded that the Dokes give them the statues and necklaces in exchange for reviving the boy, when Ron and Harry pulled off Harry’s invisibility cloak. The invading wizards were captured before they knew the other two were in the flat.

Draco congratulated Potter and asked if Isaac and Rebekka’s cooperation would help them before the tribunal. Harry looked uncertainly at the Dokes and in a soft voice said, “It can not hurt their case.”

As Draco began to return to their room, he saw Rose talking to Scorpius in the school corridor. Draco paused and fought the urge to eavesdrop on the conversation. He looked at his son’s face. Scorpius’ expression was guarded. Draco went into his room to ask if Astoria had a clue about what was happening between the ‘love birds.’

Scorpius, who had just returned the forgotten chess set to Albus, was walking back to his family’s rooms from the Potter quarters when Rose emerged out of the door in front of him. She stopped and looked at him. Startled, he hesitated staring back at her. Rose’s eyes darted to the left and to the right. Finally, she set down her bag by the door and walked toward the tapestry in the Hogwarts corridor. Without any prompting, Scorpius followed her. When she turned to look at Scorpius her face was sad and concerned.

“Scorpius, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened. It’s just that Jenelle and Margaret said that they thought that you liked me and I really wanted to believe it. So I began trying to act like a girl friend. I wasn’t being me. Do you understand?”

Scorpius shook his head in agreement, but none of it really made sense. The two of them stood in a long awkward silence for several minutes. Finally Scorpius spoke. He had to know something, “So you don’t really like me?”

Rose looked at him with a face full of panic. “Of course, I like you. It’s just, I’m not ready to like anyone that way. Did that make more sense?”

Scorpius just shrugged. “So we’ll still be friends and, maybe, someday…” He tried to collect it all in one sentence.

Rose smiled at him, and he thought she seemed understood. “We will be best of friends.” And she extended her hand to shake his.

Scorpius looked down at the hand, but did not take it. “Friends then,” he said as he turned to go back into his family’s rooms. Like a sleep walker, he stepped over Rose’s bag, walked through the kitchen past his parents, and into his bedroom. Leaving the bedroom door open, Scorpius sat down on the edge of his bed, trying to figure out how he could feel both disappointed and relieved by the same news.

Draco, from the kitchen, looked out of the door to see Rose sadly watching Scorpius walk away. He knew that something had happened to end the little romance. Draco looked at his wife. He knew that she too thought it was probably for the best, but Draco also knew that Astoria had come to like the Weasley girl. Draco thought Astoria saw a bit of herself in Rose.

Astoria waved at Rose, who returned it with a melancholy wave, picked up her bag, and walked toward her relative’s rooms.

For the next few hours, Draco and Astoria made unnecessary trips past their son’s room to give him chances to talk to them and so they could innocently check up on the boy. Astoria, on one of her trips, caught her brave little man wiping a tear from his eye, but no tantrums or crying sessions occurred.

While the Potters returned to their home the next day, the Dokes and the Malfoys remained at the school. The rest of the holiday was more like a wake, between the sad and preoccupied Scorpius and the anxious Dokes, whose hearing was in little more than a month, there was very little cheer for the New Year.