"I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" Ron said from the kitchen of the small cottage as he clattered and bashed various items on the counter.
"I was only asking." Ginny replied from the attached living room. Her daughter, Lily, was sitting on her lap reading her brother's copy of 'The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1'. The rightful owner of the book, Albus, was discussing quiddich with James, the eldest Potter child, and Hugo.
Lily briefly looked up from her page, marking the spot with her finger, as James yelled across the room to Rose and Scorpius, who were huddled beside the fireplace on the floor.
"What's your position, Scorp?"
"My what?" Scorpius looked confused, having not been part of the conversation on sport.
"Your quiddich position, loser!"
"James!" Ginny scowled down at her son.
"I wish to be a seeker, as my father was." Scorpius replied before returning to his conversation with Rose.
Harry was reminded of a memory that once belonged to Severus Snape, his old potions master to whom he'd named his son, Albus, after.
Sirius grinned.
"Maybe I'll break tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"
James lifted an invisible sword.
" 'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."
From across the room, Draco Malfoy smiled with pride at his son. Harry was not surprised to see Hermione smiling at these words as well. She had little interest in quiddich, but over the past few months, she had grown closer to Draco than Harry or Ron had, although their friendship was growing; Ron's somewhat reluctantly.
"Finally!" Ginny said as Ron returned from the kitchen with a tray laden with coffee cups, pumpkin juice, and slices of Christmas cake.
"You look like the perfect house-wife." Ginny grinned. Although Ron smiled back, his ears reddened as he laid the tray down on the table sitting between the couches. Harry knew that this had nothing to do with the embarrassment of carrying a tray of drinks, but more-so the mention of 'wife'. Harry was sure Ron was thinking of his own marriage.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry said, while Draco and Hermione muttered their gratitude.
"Yum!" James snatched at the first plate and knife.
"Slow down." Ginny said sternly and waved her wand at the admittedly blunt blade in James' hand. Albus and Hugo ran to join the others at the coffee table, and Lily hopped off her mother's lap, laying the textbook upside-down on the sofa to hold her page. Scorpius and Rose lagged behind.
Ginny set the knife to magically cut slices for everyone, and Ron handed out the drinks. Draco lifted a slice of cake onto a plate and handed it to Hermione, who blushed fiercely.
"Thank you, Draco." She smiled.
Scorpius looked from his father to Hermione with curiosity, Ron's already red ears turned scarlet as he looked away, suddenly very interested in his coffee cup, and Harry tried to look anywhere but at Draco and Hermione. Ginny and the other children seemed totally oblivious to the sudden awkwardness in the room.
"I know you've never liked him, mate." Harry had said to Ron several weeks previously, "But the rest of us are giving him a chance."
"He's stealing my wife!"
"Well..." Harry scratched his head trying to think of a counter-argument. "The three of us will always be pals, you know that. But as your best friend, answer me honestly: Do you still love her?"
Ron looked back at Harry with determination, but then his face fell.
"I did. I really did. I was happy. But ever since the wedding..." Ron sighed. "It's like being married to my sister! I love her and I care about her, but I'm not IN love with her."
"How does she feel?" Harry was feeling like a psychiatrist at this point.
"We haven't talked about it much," Ron scratched his nose. "But I think the same as I do."
"And if you love her... as a friend," Harry added quickly. "Shouldn't you let her be happy?"
"That doesn't mean I have to be best pals with Malfoy though!"
"No," Harry admitted, "But you'll have to tolerate him being around more. You might as well get on with each other at least."
"Yeah, you're right." Ron said, now massaging the bridge of his nose as though trying to ward off a headache.
"Then you could marry Draco's ex-wife."
"NO!" Ron yelled, and Harry laughed clutching his side.
"Coffee, Draco?" Hermione offered, and Draco accepted the cup with a sideways glance at Ron. Harry thought he saw guilty pity in the pale face.
'One day', he thought to himself. 'Things will work out. They already seem to be looking up.'
