A House Divided

Sixteen Years (And a Bunch Of Little Malfoys) After The War…

 

“Where can I sit?” Draco whispered to his wife, his breath on her ear still raising goosebumps up her arms after almost two decades together. The dais remained a staff-only seating area as it had been during their time at Hogwarts. Hermione, as the new Transfiguration professor, sat at the main table.

“In the board member seats near the end of the table. I’ll move down later so I can gloat.”

“You’re 0 and four, Gryffindor. I’d admit defeat and save yourself some humiliation.”

“And that’s why you’re a Slytherin and I’m a Gryffindor. The law of averages is on my side this time.”

“The law of averages must be taking bribes from my former house,” he smirked.

“Shut it — the students are entering.”

 

Draco took his seat in the Board of Governors section, looking for all the world like a Greek god visiting the planet from Mount Olympus. Underage witches flirted shamelessly with him from their house tables. Hermione silently transfigured a pair of flying knickers aimed at Draco into a howler on modesty for the knicker-less sender.

 

Glancing over the Slytherin table — still overseen by Slughorn — Lord Malfoy located his children. 

 

Scorpius at 15 could be Draco’s clone in looks and personality. A 5th year prefect, the eldest Malfoy child sat atop the academic standings having scored all “O’s” on his O.W.Ls last spring. He also barely escaped suspension for removing James Potter’s clothing in Hogsmeade’s town center after the Gryffindor lotahrio — Harry Potter’s eldest child and Hermione’s godson — attempted to kiss Scorp’s younger sister Cassiopeia. 

 

At 14, “Cassie” already had the tongues (and other expanding appendages) of boys in all four houses hanging out. The spitting image of her mother (but with gentle curls rather than a nest of frizz), Cassie had the “Granger” curves, brain and moral code. Her siblings nicknamed her “Boss Snitch” (and not in the Quidditch sense) but loved their only sister anyway.

 

Behind them came 13-year-old Corvus and his 12-year-old cellmate Crux, whose angelic faces and impeccable manners kept them out of Azkaban’s juvenile division. Before their arrival at  Hogwarts, the blonde delinquents had managed to: 

• Brew a concoction that cost Crookshanks his hair for a year (until Hermione found a cure),


• Make their (then) baby brother invisible (until Draco found the baby and an antidote), 


• “Glue” their Malfoy grandparents’ tender “parts” together (when they caught them in a rather delicate “position” in the Manor library), 


• Set magical fire to the entire front garden at Malfoy Manor (okay — that was their intent) 


• Cause the conception of their 3-year-old brother (by substituting their mother’s contraceptive potion with “Uncle” George Weasley’s joke potion that looked and tasted the same) 


 

Both miscreants got their brains from their parents and sat #3 and #4 in academic standing behind their two older siblings. They also carried Magical Law Enforcement tracers after that garden fire incident.

 

Narcissa babysat the youngest — 3-year-old Orion Perecles, 2-year-old Perseus Michael and 1-year-old Phoenix Draconis.

 

Draco’s reverie on his family came to an end when the noise from the first-year’s entrance brought his attention back. Near the middle of the pack of overwhelmed pre-teens came 11-year-old, Leo Adamas Malfoy, who combined the looks and brains of his parents but hadn’t quite found his personal niche within the Malfoy brood.

 

“Are you ready to pay up on that wager?”

“Haven’t I always?” she hissed, absently stroking her swollen belly.

“If you’ll admit my genes are stronger and that a true Malfoy could NEVER produce a Gryffindor, I’ll be generous and mark the debt paid in full. We do have eight children —"

"Nine — don't forget this one." she corrected, pointing at her baby belly.

"— nine children, seven of whom are confirmed males. I think the Malfoy legacy is safe.”

 

In the distance, Minerva McGonagal placed the hat on a nervous Leo Malfoy’s head and waited out the decision.

 

“Hmmm…” the sorting hat mused aloud, “I’ve seen a mind like yours before. Quite a witch she turned out to be, saved our world from destruction. You have her brilliance, yes… it’s all here. You have the makings of a Gryffindor. I placed your mother in Godric’s tower… So like your father, though. Your family has a long history in Salazar’s dungeons and I’ve placed all your siblings there… Ravenclaw? Do you wish to be the first Malfoy to live in Rowena’s house?… 

“I have it — RAVENCLAW!”

 

Leo grinned at his parents and smirked at the Slytherin table; he’d gotten his wish to place some space between himself and his siblings.

 

Hermione shed tears, cheering loudly and not caring a whit who observed while Draco leaned back in his chair, a smug look on his patrician features.

 

“I believe I have won the —”

“Not so fast, Princess. I said I would never get a Gryffindor on you and I haven’t — Leo is a Ravenclaw.”

“That’s not fair, Dragon! You implied you’d produce only Slytherins!”

“Simple enough to prove. We’ll check the pensieve when we get back to your quarters.”