Neville Longbottom looked into the mirror at the mess under his chin and, in exasperation, undid his latest attempt at tying his new tie. As he draped the scarlet and gold silk ribbon around the neck, he strolled from his bath room, through the master bedroom and into the formal dining room. Neville walked over to the dining room’s mantle piece, reached up, and opened the small mahogany swinging door to reveal a framed blank gold canvas. After he cleared his throat, Neville said in a loud voice, “Professor, are you ready to give your report?”

From the left side of the golden backdrop entered the black clothed figure of Professor Minerva McGonagall. She turned to face Neville. Neville watched as the portrait’s gaze passed from his eyes and down to the untied silk dangling around his neck.

After the second’s hesitation, she spoke in her clipped Scottish accent, “While no incidents worthy of note occurred over night, I did notice that Master Vance is spreading gossip from that Skeeter woman’s interview concerning her upcoming book about the Jones girl’s Aunt.” The old women’s painted face looked like she had swallowed something disgusting as she mentioned Skeeter’s name.

Neville, who had read the innuendo filled interview in the previous day’s Daily Prophet, asked, “Did Thaddeus mention Ginny Potter in regards to the gossip?” The portrait shook her head from side to side. “How are the two students that I asked you to keep an eye on doing, Professor?”

“Master Malfoy is a quiet and studious loner. While he, Master Dokes, Miss Rose Weasley and the younger Master Potter are quite sociable with each other. Malfoy does tend to be the group’s fifth wheel, as they say. I must say it was a brilliant stroke of yours to team those four together,” said Professor McGonagall, with a sense of appreciation in her voice.

“And Miss Jones?” Neville inquired; he steadied himself for the answer he suspected would come.

The eyes of the portrait rolled as she said, “I’ve never once seen the lass study. She talks only about Quidditch and she has already alienated most of the girls in her dormitory. And now, with the stories about her aunt, who knows how she’ll react?”

Neville nodded. It was as he’d feared. As he came back to himself, he noticed McGonagall was still in the frame and was looking expectantly at him. He paused and added, “Thank you for your report, Professor. I’ll see you on Saturday morning.”

Minerva McGonagall remained. Finally, she asked, “Longbottom, do you need help with tying your tie?” Neville felt like he was eleven again.

With his tie now in a proper Double Windsor, Neville walked down the wide carpeted stairs from the private rooms into the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron’s kitchen. As he approached the kitchen, the enticing smells rising up to him caused his mouth to water and an audible rumble from his ample stomach. Neville turned into the kitchen, the unmistakably pungent odor of a Dirigible Plum muffin was also present.

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite ladies in the whole world,” said Neville as he waved over at Luna. Luna, who was seated at a butcher-block work station holding her mug of Earl Grey over a small plate holding her half eaten muffin, smiled back at him.

Hannah, standing in the middle of the kitchen with her wand flashing, was like she a conductor directing multiple orchestras. Her wand was guiding a half a dozen knives that were chopping, pealing and dicing food on boards in almost a full circle around her. As Neville passed his wife he fought the urge to caress her, because the last time he’d tried it instead of a kiss he had almost lost an ear to an errant paring knife.

Hannah distractedly said, “Morning. Your muffin, fruit salad and coffee are next to Luna.”

As Neville eagerly ate his ‘light’ breakfast, he quietly planned a way to get a sausage sandwich delivered to the green house before his first class while the two women discussed their plans for the day. Luna and Hannah had bonded as friends after Hannah had suffered her first miscarriage. While Harry and Ginny and Ron and Hermione had been very supportive of Hannah; Luna, in her own special Luna way, had virtually adopted Hannah as a sister. And no one had been happier for Luna than Hannah was, when Luna had finally become pregnant. As a result of their close friendship, Luna had named Hannah and Ginny as joint Godmothers of her children.

“Our new friends spent another whole day just sitting in the pub. They were checking out everybody that entered and left. They stayed all day nursing cups of tea,” said Hannah. Neville sensed she was trying to hide her concern.

“The same two men in green robes?” asked Neville.

Hannah nodded.

“Well, if they come back into the Cauldron send an owl to Ron Weasley’s office. I spoke to him yesterday about this and he told me they’d keep an eye out for your owl,” Neville assured her. After he finished his ‘feast’, Neville said his goodbyes to Luna and walked over to his wife and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Draco sealed the little bottle of the anti-nausea potion and placed the label with the healer’s instructions on the front. With a flick of his wand, Draco caused the vial to be wrapped and placed into a small paper sack on the counter. The harried mother took the sack containing the vial, placed the Galleon and five Sickles it cost onto the counter and headed out of the door. Draco’s shopkeeper smile persisted long after the echoes of the tinkling bell had died out. In the second full week of the shop’s existence - the first with the sign that Luna had suggested - Draco had noticed a dramatic increase in the foot traffic. If they were very careful, they just might end the week with a profit. The shop’s profit might be measured in Knuts, but it would be a profit. Draco turned toward the work room and found his wife looking curiously out of the work room window at him. Draco with a big grin on his face dropped the six coins from the sale into the cash drawer one at a time allowing each of them to loudly clang against the other coins. Astoria shook her head at her husband and turned to say something to Rebekka Dokes who was also in the work room.

Rebekka was assisting Astoria on the first full batch of Oberon’s Nectar to be delivered to Ollivanders. Rebekka was now working part-time at Astoria’s. She had arrived at the shop in such a desperate need for a job that Astoria, without consulting Draco, had made her a job offer. When he heard what his wife had done, Draco’s shout had almost blown the windows out of the little store.

The certificate Rebekka had from the Ministry of Magic only allowed her to be an assistant to a licensed potion maker. Rebekka agreed to work part time and to defer her salary until the business was profitable. The fact that she had agreed to such an arrangement showed how much in trouble the Dokes family was really in. Last week, Rebekka had been paid in food grown in the gardens of Malfoy Manor. If the potion she and Astoria were working on met Ollivander’s requirements for purity, her next pay might just include some bronze or silver.

As Draco contemplated the thought of a profit, the front door bell tinkled and in walked Isaac Dokes. Isaac was dressed in a jacket over his padded leather handyman’s outfit. He had a temporary job finishing the work on the public rooms above the newly renovated Leaky Cauldron. Astoria had arranged an interview for Isaac with Hannah Longbottom and Longbottom hired him on the spot. The job might be a menial one for a man who was a once a teacher in his native land, but a job was a job.

“So are you going tomorrow?” asked Isaac as soon as he saw Draco.

“Going? Going where?” answered a confused Malfoy.

It was now Isaac’s turn to be confused. “To Hogwarts to see the match,” responded Dokes. Draco’s confusion must still have been evident so Isaac continued his explanation, “The Quidditch match between our sons and the Gryffindor team.”

“Scorpius and Jimber are both Gryffindors. Why would they be playing against the house team? Are you sure you have not confused try outs with a match, Isaac?” asked Malfoy, trying to make sense of what Isaac was saying.

“Jimber sent an owl to us last week. The Quidditch captain closed the team without holding any try outs. So Professor Longbottom arranged a friendly match against a team of first years. Jimber is a bat man,” said Isaac in a long breath. As he finished he pantomimed the swinging of a Beaters bat.

Draco turned toward his wife, who was listening through the back room window; Astoria shrugged. Scorpius had only sent two letters to his parents and neither of them had mentioned Quidditch. Isaac reached inside his light jacket and pulled out of the pocket a flyer and he said, “I got this from Mrs. Longbottom along with three visitor passes to the match.”

As Draco opened the bright scarlet and gold announcement of a game that was just as Dokes had described it. After a listing of the players on the selected team, the members of the first year players were listed like acts on a wall posting:

Goal Keeper �“ Rose Weasley (daughter of two time Hogwarts’ champion keeper)

Chasers �“ Albus Potter (son of English Quidditch Cup and Harpies)

Scorpius Malfoy (son of former three year Slytherin seeker)

Jenelle Gliech (first time player)

Beaters �“ Jimber Dokes (nephew of The Islands Quidditch Cup player)

Margaret Quince (daughter of Muggle Rugby player)

Seeker �“ Kaitlin Jones (daughter of Tornadoes player and niece of Gwenog Jones)

Match Saturday at Noon on Hogwarts pitch

Draco finished reading and looked up into the face of the broad shouldered black man and asked, “You had a family member play for the cup?”

“My brother did. It was the only time that The Island had ever qualified for the Quidditch World Cup. We finished sixty-fourth out of sixty-four,” he reminisced.

“So are you going? Mrs. Longbottom gave me three tickets. I promised Bethany to take her to Hogwarts to see the school. And Rebekka hates Quidditch.” Isaac placed the ducat into Draco’s right hand. He looked down and the ticket seemed to call his name.

Suddenly the ticket was buried under a pair of shop aprons; he looked up to see the two women heading toward the shop’s front door. “The nectar is done and needs to set overnight. So do not meddle with it,” instructed Astoria in a faux stern voice.

“Where are the two of you going?” asked a befuddled Draco.

Astoria stopped and turned to look at her husband, “Well if we are going to open the shop tomorrow morning so you can go and watch the match we deserve a ‘girl’s night out’.” And after that the two women walked through the door donning jackets as they disappeared into the mid-September twilight. Draco smiled and, not for the first time, was thankful Astoria had foolishly agreed to marry him

Bethany, Isaac, and Draco arrived via Floo powder at the little office off of the main school greenhouse. The last time Draco had been in this office, he had been here to serve a detention with Professor Sprout for using a tripping hex on Longbottom. As they stepped out of the grate, they were greeted by a tall, very pretty girl wearing a H Head Girl badge on her robe. The girl, one of the Weasley clan, bent down to Bethany and pinned on her lapel a scarlet button imprinted with the gold words Future Hogwarts Student. Bethany looked down at the button and turned toward the men with a face filled with pride.

Upon leaving the office, the trio entered the attached greenhouse. Isaac stopped to examine several varieties of the plants. He noted with surprise a large number of tropical plants that he recognized from his homeland. Draco feigned interest, but all he wanted was to get out of the greenhouses and down to the pitch.

After nearly twenty minutes of examining plants, the little group exited the greenhouse and turned toward the distant hoops. As they walked through the mild September morning sunshine Bethany began to ask questions about the school. The girl’s questions came so fast that Draco had trouble keeping up with her with his answers. Only when the girl asked about the white marble monument by the lake did his answers falter. Even as a seventh year in a school controlled by Death Eaters, he had always avoided going to the part of the grounds which housed Dumbledore’s tomb. Draco blinked and in that second he saw a flash of green and a body blown over the side of the tower.

“We’re at the stands, Draco,” Malfoy heard Isaac Dokes say from a long way away. In his voice, Draco heard Isaac’s concern and found it both a comfort and an intrusion.

“Yes. Of course,” Draco automatically answered as he raised his head to see the towering visitor’s gallery. Bethany sprinted ahead up the wooden stairs, trying to be the first one to seats. The men took steady measured steps up toward the seats. Isaac confided in Draco how glad he was that his wife had made him wear a jumper. Draco smiled and wondered how the Dokes would ever survive their first British winter. Just short of the top, the two men collected the girl, who had run out of breath and was seated on the top step of the next to last flight. Reaching down, the two fathers took the girl by the hands and stepped into the September sunlight.

The pitch’s grass was as green as Malfoy remembered. The brightly colored banners stood out, propelled by a steady breeze around the top of the stadium. Meanwhile, the students were just starting to filter into their seats following what would have been a late weekend breakfast. Bethany, slipped her hands out of the inattentive men’s grips, ran forward to the first row, nearly bowling over Professor Longbottom as he was orchestrating introductions. Upon reaching the front rail, she leaned so far forward that it almost looked like she was going to jump. However, a familiar red haired woman reached forward to pluck the child out of danger. Bethany’s rescuer was Ginny Weasley.

Isaac and Draco quickly stepped down to the front row to retrieve the errant child. Isaac bent down to give his daughter a stern look and words to match. As Dokes was busy, Draco smiled at the red head and realized that introductions would be necessary. As Isaac stood up with his daughter’s right hand now firmly grasped, Malfoy started the introduction using a very formal voice, “Isaac and Bethany Dokes, may I introduce to you Ginny We..err..Potter. Sorry old habits.”

The woman gave Draco a raised eyebrow, and said to Isaac, “Hello, I’m Ginny Potter and that man talking to Professor Longbottom is my husband, Harry.”

Isaac turned and noted the man wearing glasses talking to Neville. After a few seconds, his gaze returned to the woman. Draco, sensing an oncoming silence, added, “Mrs. Potter is in an interesting position; she has one son playing for the house team and a second one playing with our boys.”

Isaac raised his right hand in the air his index finger extended “Potter! Are you the Ginny Potter?” asked the big man. “According to Draco, some days your column is the only reason to read the Daily Prophet.” Ginny turned toward Draco with an expression of mild surprise. Malfoy just shrugged.

“Thanks,” said Ginny. Suddenly Ginny, looking over Bethany’s head in between the two men went visibly ashen and her smile disappeared. Draco followed her gaze and saw the famous form of Gwenog Jones step into the gallery, hand-in-hand with a tall early thirtyish brunette woman. Ginny quickly excused herself and walked over to her husband and took him by the hand. Jones, who had stopped talking to a man who was probably her brother, followed Ginny Potter with her gaze up to moment she took Harry’s hand.

With Ginny Potter gone, Draco’s first instinct was to find a comfortable corner somewhere and avoid the rest of this glorified Gryffindor homecoming. However, Ron and Hermione Weasley had just arrived and joined Longbottom and the Potters. Narcissa’s lifelong droning about keeping up pretenses trumped Draco’s desire to hide. He took Bethany’s hand and proceeded to walk with her and her father into the lion’s den.

Ron Weasley, who was laughing, stopped and gave Draco an icy stare. Draco walked up to Harry Potter and, with a voice so formally pleasant that it almost hurt, said, “Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley, may I introduce to you the family of a teammate of your children, Mr. Isaac Dokes and Miss Bethany Dokes. I’ve already introduced you to Mrs. Potter, Isaac and you already know Professor Longbottom.” Draco fought the urge to bow.

Harry Potter, as always, smiled his maddeningly easy smile and shook Isaac’s hand. The Weasley’s followed Harry’s lead, although it seemed to Draco their introductions somewhat less enthusiastically than their friend’s had been. Not one person in the little group of Gryffindors even acknowledged Draco’s existence, until Harry said, “So, Draco, how did your father react to Scorpius being sorted into Gryffindor?”

Draco forced a little smile. “Not as badly as we feared he would. He had only an overnight stay at St. Mungo’s,” he replied in faux good humor. The whole group, except Isaac, laughed at the comment. Draco, looking for a distraction, noted the two children that had followed the Weasleys into the gallery. “Forgive me for not being up to date, but don’t you have only the two children?” Draco added as he pointed to the boy and girl.

The group turned toward the children, who were both staring at Bethany. Hermione gave a lopsided smile and answered, “We do. The boy is our son Hugo and the girl is his cousin Lily Potter. And I’m no longer Hermione Granger-Weasley anymore just Hermione Weasley.”

“Oh,” Draco said pretending he wasn’t aware of her recent name change. He was interested to see how much the subject would make Ron squirm. He smiled and thought, How nice it is that some things still derived me so much pleasure.

Draco felt Bethany’s little hand pull out of his hand. He watched as the girl and the other two children began to shyly talk. After a few minutes, the threesome was seated in the middle of a second row bench looking at Chocolate Frog cards and talking easily to each other.

“Ah, the young. They make friends so easily by just ignoring the gulfs in between themselves; a good example for us older and wiser heads,” said Isaac. The group nodded and it was obvious Dokes was commenting on the tension he felt in the group of adults.

The Potters and the Ron Weasleys sat on the left end of the second row bench. In the middle of the second row Hugo remained next to Lily who was now talking with Bethany. On the right side of the bench sat Isaac and Draco.

Draco looked around sensed the growing excitement. He was not use to watching others play Quidditch. He found he was nervous for Scorpius and couldn’t wait for the game to begin.