It seemed like everyone from here to Glasgow had been invited to the Manor today in celebration of Scorpius' seventeenth birthday. Of course, more than half of the guests had flaming red hair and Draco shuddered at the thought of all these Weasels – sorry, Weasley's – being so familiar with his ancestral home.

His father was sitting next to him on the marble patio conversing with his father-in-law. Shockingly, the two older men got along just fine. But Draco knew that despite his lack of expression, Lucius felt just as much disdain at having all of Britain's red-headed population swarming the Malfoy gardens. With his arms crossed over his chest, Draco continued to observe his surroundings. His eyes landed on a disturbing sight underneath the willow tree by the lake.

His eldest son, who was the spitting image of his father, was currently sitting at the base of the tree with a strawberry blonde beauty sitting in his lap. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist as he whispered into her ear while she just giggled incessantly.

For you see, it had only taken Scorpius one look at Rose Weasley when she arrived at the Manor this morning to deduce that she was his soulmate. Before she could even put his present down, Scorpius had pulled her into his arms to snog her senseless. Hermione and Ginny had both squealed at the sight while Ron had to be comforted by his wife. In fact, Draco was pretty sure that the Weasel still had not stopped blubbering about his baby girl being defiled. One quick look over his shoulder confirmed this as Ron was a distinct shade of purple while sitting on the steps of the patio with Potter patting his shoulder comfortingly.

A soft form sat itself onto Draco's lap.

"Now, see that, Draco! Our son seems to be more intelligent than you and decided not to resist fate. You could have saved us some trouble if only you weren't so reluctant to accept me as your soulmate."

"Whatever praise he gains for being so speedy to claim her is negated by the fact that she's a We – "

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Draco Malfoy. Might I remind you that they practically family and will officially be so once those two tie the knot." He was being scolded by his wife as she sat in his lap. Merlin had a cruel sense of humour.

"Besides, which is worse? A Weasely or a Potter? Because from the looks of it, Leo has his sights set on Lily. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being soulmates too." Merlin did not have a cruel sense of humour… he had a twisted and sadistic sense of humour. Draco groaned at the thought of it all.

"And then there's our little Cassiopeia…" Hermione purposefully let her voice trail off but Draco still snapped to attention.

"No! Absolutely not! My little princess will not be defiled by any man! I will build a tower and lock her in it. And I'll buy a dragon. – no, two dragons! – to guard the tower." Both Lucius and Hermione's father took a moment to chime in their agreement before returning to their own conversation.

Hermione's knowing smile was meant to convey the message that Draco was an idiot for thinking that his plan might actually work. At that moment, Ginny walked over.

"It looks like your other son has his sights set on my daughter, Ferret. Luckily for you, my husband is oblivious."

Draco groaned. "I had almost forgotten until you brought it back up again."

Ginny ignored his whining. "And would you look at Scorpius and Rose! They're too cute! And it took no meddling on either of their parts to get the ball rolling. Your son had it easy compared to you, Hermione."

Draco's curiosity was piqued.

"What do you mean by meddling?"

"Really, Malfoy! Did you really think that Hermione getting a job at your potions company was completely spontaneous? Or that all the touching and male friends were a coincidence? And that last little bit concerning her almost-death was particularly entertaining. Hermione practically played you like a violin to get you to accept her as your mate."

Draco was stunned. He looked at his wife for confirmation. Hermione just shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's true. George and I spent a long time working on that enchanted book to work exactly right. You might be the Slytherin but my schemes are proven to be absolutely brilliant."

And then Draco was gobsmacked when Lucius chimed in. "Did you only figure this out now, son?"

"You knew, father?!"

Lucius gave a surprising snort. "Knew? Your mother and I were both in on it. Who do you think put the book there in the first place?"

"My whole family knew about it. George and Bill were delighted to help out. I know Harry and Ron experienced some satisfaction by being able to pull one over you." Ginny added.

Draco resembled something like a goldfish when George made his way over. Seeing the look on his face, George cackled in triumph which managed to gain everybody's attention.

"I told you that he would never figure it out on his own! Everybody pay up! I'm a rich man!"

La fin

You're all beautiful for reading my story and sticking by it. To those special few who reviewed my chapters, your encouragement meant more than you know – it was my motivation for finishing this story xoxo