A/N - Welcome to the sequel to Murder at Malfoy Manor. This story starts roughly ten years after the end of the previous story. At the minute I'm quite busy working on several stories so for the time being I will be updating this story approximately once a week, although if things are going well with my writing it could be quicker. Enjoy!

It was nearly midnight as Ginny Weasley sat on the wooden love seat on her front porch. Her eyes were admiring the South African countryside but she was thinking about back home, specifically Hogwarts. It was early summer and her son, Thomas, was due to begin his wizarding education in September. Despite the rest of his schooling taking place in Cape Town, Ginny couldn't help but wish her son could attend the prestigious school she had attended in her youth.

"Is everything aright, Darling?" A voice behind Ginny startled her out of her thoughts.

Ginny turned, smiling as her husband walked out of the house and settled down beside her. Ginny's husband, Jacques DuPlessis, was a rich South African Wizard in his late fifties.

Ginny had met Jacques while she still lived in Brazil and Jacques was there on an extended business trip. At the time it had barely been two years since Lucius's death and Ginny was extremely wary when the older wizard started to pursue her. Jacques was persistent however and eventually Ginny agreed to go out with the wizard. When it was time for Jacques to return to South Africa he had asked Ginny to accompany him home and marry him. Knowing it wouldn't be fair to marry Jacques without telling him the truth about her real identity Ginny had confessed everything. Jacques had been surprisingly understanding and had insisted he still wanted to be with Ginny no matter what she had done. With Jacques knowing the full truth about her life Ginny had moved to South Africa and married the wealthy wizard, Jacques had also adopted Thomas and to the outside world he was Jacques son.

"I'm just thinking about Thomas." Ginny sighed, leaning against her husband. "He starts school in September and I was just thinking how nice it would be for him to attend Hogwarts."

"You know the school here in South Africa is a good one." Jacques said.

"I know." Ginny told her husband. "It just would have been nice to have him at Hogwarts. Even though I know it's not going to happen I guess I just like to imagine receiving his first letter from school where he tells me what house he's in. I've always been curious as to which house he would end up in."

"Do you really want Thomas to go to Hogwarts?" Jacques asked. He'd always given his wife whatever she wanted and if she wanted their son to attend Hogwarts then he would do his best to make it happen.

"I would love it, but there's no way he can. It's impossible." Ginny sighed.

"Nothing's impossible, darling." Jacques replied, kissing the top of Ginny's head. "I'm sure if I contacted the school I could arrange a place for Thomas and we could easily relocate to England."

"You're forgetting the fact I'm a wanted criminal, Jacques." Ginny said, looking up at her husband. "The moment I set foot in England I'll be arrested."

"No, you won't." Jacques shook his head. "Ginny Weasley is the wanted criminal, you're Sara DuPlessis, wife to a very rich and influential wizard. If I thought for one minute returning to England would put you in danger I wouldn't have suggested it."

"What if someone recognises me?" Ginny asked, trying not to get too excited about the prospect of returning home in case it didn't happen.

"They won't, you look completely different." Jacques reassured his wife. "It's been over ten years since anyone last saw you. I could barely see the resemblance between your past self and the new you eight years ago, now no-one would recognise you."

Ginny thought about what her husband was saying, wondering if she had changed enough to fool the people she had once been so close to. Her hair was stylishly cut to shoulder length and it was professionally coloured dark brown every month at an expensive salon in Cape Town. Years of living in the hot sun had also given Ginny a permanent tan, something she had never had as a redhead.

"I don't know, it's still risky." Ginny said. "I'm sure my parents would recognise me."

"And where would you ever run into them?" Jacques questioned. "If we did move we would buy a large property and it would be like it is here, you wouldn't have to leave the premises unless you chose to."

"Are you sure we can just leave so suddenly?" Ginny asked. While she wanted to go home and send Thomas to Hogwarts she didn't want to ruin her husband's business.

"Yes, I can run the business from anywhere." Jacques said. "Think about it and if you really want Thomas to go to Hogwarts, then I'll make it happen."

"Thank you." Ginny said, kissing her husband. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now come on, it's time we went to bed." Jacques took hold of Ginny's hand as the couple headed inside to go to bed.

...

Eleven year old Thomas DuPlessis looked at The Hogwarts Express in excitement. His life over the last couple of months had been full of excitement as his parents relocated to England so he could attend the legendary wizarding school in Scotland. Thomas wasn't sure why his mother was so determined that he attend Hogwarts but he wasn't complaining, after reading all about his new school Thomas was eager to board the train and begin his academic career.

"Do you have everything?" Jacques asked, regaining his son's attention.

"Yes dad." Thomas smiled.

"Good." Jacques nodded. "And you can remember what we discussed this morning."

"Yes, don't talk in Afrikaans just so people won't be able to understand what I'm saying." Thomas rolled his eyes at his father.

"And don't insult them in a foreign language either." Jacques warned.

"I won't." Thomas said.

"Good, you should be going." Jacques said, hugging his son. "Don't forget to write to your mother tonight."

"Don't worry, I won't." Thomas replied. "Tell her I love her and that I wish she'd been here."

"I will." Jacques nodded. At the last minute Ginny had decided against coming to the train station so they had told Thomas she was feeling unwell.

"Bye dad." Thomas called, hopping into the bright red engine.

Jacques waved at Thomas one last time as he watched the train depart from the station. Already missing his son Jacques apparated home to where he knew Ginny would be wanting a blow by blow account of the morning.

While Thomas may not be his biological son Jacques had raised the boy since he was two years old and loved him like his own. Apart from him and Ginny no-one knew Thomas wasn't his son, even Thomas thought Jacques was his biological father. Because of his money and influence Jacques was able to keep his family away from the media on a whole but even if a stray picture of Thomas did emerge his parentage wasn't really a question. While Thomas was platinum blond, like his father and half-brother, Jacques hair was a darker blond so no-one questioned the difference in colour.

"Was everything alright?" Ginny questioned as soon as her husband arrived home. "Was he okay?"

"Everything was fine." Jacques told his wife. "Although you would know if you had come with us."

"Sorry, I wanted to. I just suddenly panicked in case someone recognised me." Ginny said regretfully. She had really wanted to watch Thomas board The Hogwarts Express but when it came to it she was too nervous about going somewhere she had visited before her life on the run.

"No-one's going to recognise you, darling." Jacques pulled Ginny into a hug. "I promise."

"I just hope no-one recognises Thomas." Ginny sighed. "When he came down stairs in his uniform he looked exactly like Draco did when he was younger, minus the gelled hair. I'm just worried that someone will take one look at him and know he's got Malfoy blood in him."

"I'm sure they won't." Jacques reassured his wife. "You see the resemblance because you know who his family are but I'm sure it's not obvious to most people."

"Really, take a look at page four." Ginny picked up the morning's edition of The Daily Prophet and handed it to her husband.

Jacques flipped to page four, staring as he spotted the full page spread on Draco Malfoy and his family. Over the years the Malfoy name came up in his business life regularly but knowing what he did about Ginny he had avoided dealing with Draco. As such he hadn't ever seen a picture of the man but his resemblance to Thomas was uncanny, he had the same grey eyes and the exact same shade of platinum blond hair. Looking at the pictures of Draco's wife and children Jacques gasped as he saw Draco's seven year old son, the boy was a dead ringer for Thomas when he was his age.

"See what I mean?" Ginny asked, flopping down on a chair. She was now worrying that her desire to send Thomas to Hogwarts would result in her ending up in Azkaban.

"Those Malfoy genes are pretty dominant in males." Jacques reluctantly conceded. He had noticed that Draco's daughter looked more like her mother and he idly wondered if there was some sort of enchantment on the male members of the Malfoy family so that they always had a similar look about them. "But I still don't think anyone will associate a boy with a South African accent with the Malfoy's."

"What if they do though?" Ginny asked, getting more worried. "This was a mistake, we never should have left Cape Town."

"Sara, this was not a mistake." Jacques said, sitting down next to his wife. Despite knowing Ginny's real name Jacques always called her by her new identity so he wouldn't ever slip up in public when speaking about his wife. "If someone does question Thomas's paternity we have proof that he's my son. All records of me adopting him are hidden and the new birth certificate I had made lists me as the father. I promise you, no matter how hard anyone digs they will never find any proof that Thomas is anything but a DuPlessis."

"Thank you for everything you've done for me and Thomas." Ginny hugged her husband tightly. She knew Jacques had gone to great lengths to make sure she was untraceable as Ginny Weasley and she was confident that her husband would always protect her from any suspicion that might fall on her.

"You're welcome, darling." Jacques kissed Ginny briefly before standing up. "I have to go to work, will you be okay?"

"Yes, I'll see you tonight." Ginny said, watching as her husband flooed to his office in central London.

After Jacques had left Ginny picked up the paper, once again studying the pictures of Draco and his family. Despite her husband's reassurances she was still worried that someone would place Thomas as a Malfoy. Ginny just hoped that Jacques was right and no-one would associate a South African boy with a family with French and English heritage.

Flipping through the paper Ginny found the other article that had caught her eye as she read the paper that morning. With everything that Jacques had done for her recently Ginny couldn't help but think about the only other man that had risked so much for her, Blaise Zabini. Over the last ten years Ginny knew that Blaise had set up his own potions company and was now very wealthy with a booming business. While his business dealings often made the headlines what had been scarcer to read about over the years was his private life, Ginny could barely remember seeing much about his love life, until the article that morning.

With a touch of sadness and regret Ginny looked at the article that announced Blaise's engagement to Astoria Greengrass. Ginny had always felt horrible for the way she had treated Blaise and she was glad he had found happiness. There was no doubt in Ginny's mind as she looked at the pictures that Blaise loved Astoria and that she loved him. The three pictures that accompanied the article all showed how happy and in love the couple were. If the pictures hadn't been enough to convince her of Blaise's happiness the article would have, every time Blaise was quoted he was singing Astoria's praises or saying how much he was looking forward to their winter wedding.

Putting the newspaper down, Ginny got up off her seat and began tidying the front room. She decided she wouldn't worry about things that hadn't happened yet or might not even happen at all. After making sure the house was neat and tidy Ginny headed to the study for an afternoon of work. With the money Jacques had she didn't need to work but during her early days in South Africa she found she had a passion for writing. With Jacques help she was signed up as a freelance writer to one of South Africa's top wizarding magazines. Ginny specialised in writing short stories and despite the move she had agreed a deal to still write for the magazine.

After a productive afternoon finishing her latest story Ginny began making dinner for Jacques returning home. Despite the fact they employed a few members of staff to help run the large estate Jacques had bought, Ginny preferred to do the cooking. By the time Jacques returned home Ginny had the meal finished and the couple settled down to eat together.

After dinner they retired to the front room as they spent a few hours relaxing and talking about trivial things. Ginny was trying hard not to get too anxious as she waited for a letter from Thomas to arrive. When the owl did appear at the window Ginny was practically giddy as Jacques retrieved the letter and handed it to his wife.

"Is he settling in all right?" Jacques asked as Ginny tore open the letter and began reading.

"Yes, he seems to love it." Ginny replied, relieved that Thomas was settling in fine.

"So what house is he in?" Jacques asked, he knew that was the part Ginny was most anxious about.

Ginny continued reading, until she found the answer to her husband's question. "Gryffindor." She beamed, thrilled her son had taken after her and not his father regarding what house he was placed in.