A/N - We've reached the end of A Family United, and I want to thank everyone for reading, and for taking the time to review. And even though I say it at the end of every story, I once again want to thank people for their wonderful support. It means to much to me that so many people enjoy my stories. I hope you al enjoyed this story, and I will see you all soon with my next story.

Epilogue.

Two and a Half Years Later.

The back garden of The Burrow was filled with the sounds of children laughing and playing, adults talking and joking, and merriment in general as the Weasleys and their closest friends spent a beautiful summer day enjoying themselves. Aside from one member of the Weasley family, all the redheads and their extended family were present, and they'd been joined by the Malfoys and Zabinis.

Settled on a deckchair, Hermione nursed her glass of cranberry juice as she watched her daughters run around the garden with the other children. Mia and Zara were both seven years old now, and she couldn't be prouder of her girls. They were both excelling at school and Hermione had high hopes that when they went off to Hogwarts in a few years they would achieve just as much, if not more, than she and Draco had.

"Mum, we're going to play quidditch," Mia yelled as she and Zara ran past with some of the others and headed towards the bottom of the garden where Harry was organising mini quidditch matches for the children.

"How have I ended up with children that like quidditch?" Hermione muttered to herself as her daughters hopped on broomsticks like mini experts. Even Zara, who'd never ridden a broom in her life until Lucius had bought her one, was now flying mad and loved to be up in the air.

"You're just lucky I guess," Draco remarked as he flopped down in the chair next to his wife's. The pair had finally tied the knot a little under two years ago, with Mia and Zara acting as their bridesmaids.

"This is your influence," Hermione scolded her husband.

"Don't blame me, blame Harry," Draco said with a laugh. "He's the quidditch star. He arranges these little tournaments nearly every weekend. I tell you, if he gets his way in a few years' time the league will be overrun with Weasleys and their kin."

"And you don't help at all, do you?" Hermione argued. "Normally you'd be right at his side urging the girls on. So why aren't you?"

"Can't a wizard just check on his wife?" Draco questioned, giving Hermione his most innocent look.

"I don't need checking on, Draco," Hermione reminded the blond. "I'm perfectly fine."

"You're more than fine, you're perfect," Draco said sincerely as he leaned over and kissed his wife. As he did so his hand trailed down to her stomach and rested on the considerable bulge Hermione was sporting.

"You're just saying that because I'm carrying your son," Hermione laughed, her own hand joining Draco's on her seven month baby bump.

"Maybe," Draco joked.

"Ah, so once I've had Scorpius I'll be no more use to you," Hermione chuckled.

"Scorpius?" Draco frowned. "When did we decide the baby's name?"

"The girls informed me this morning that they've chosen a name, and it was Scorpius," Hermione said.

Once they'd discovered they were having a boy, Hermione and Draco had given some thought to their child's name and decided to follow the old Black tradition of using stars and constellations since Draco hadn't had that chance with Mia. After narrowing their options down to four, they had passed them onto the girls and said that they could make the final choice and name their new brother.

"That was my favourite name of the ones we'd picked," Draco admitted.

"I was rather partial to Scorpius myself," Hermione confessed. "Luckily the girls were on the same wave length."

"And did they seem happy to have picked a name?" Draco asked, turning his head to watch as their two daughters whizzed around at the bottom of the garden playing quidditch.

"Yes Draco, they're happy," Hermione assured her husband. She knew Draco was worried about how the girls were taking the news they were going to have a new brother, but from everything Hermione had seen they were taking it in their stride and actually looking forward to getting a new sibling.

"Do you think we're doing enough to include them in things?" Draco checked, turning his attention back to his wife. "I don't want them to feel as though we're pushing them out and replacing them with a new baby."

"Draco, the girls know how much we love them," Hermione said, giving her husband's hand a squeeze. "They know they aren't being replaced. Scorpius will just be another addition to our family. One the girls are looking forward to meeting. Believe me Draco, Mia and Zara are thrilled that they're going to get a baby brother. Now stop worrying and help me up."

"Why do you want to get up?" Draco asked, slight panic evident in his voice. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong, I just need the bathroom," Hermione said, holding her hand out so her husband could help haul her bulk out of the deckchair.

"Again?" Draco asked as he helped Hermione to her feet. "Haven't you just been?"

"I think Scorpius is tap-dancing on my bladder today," Hermione replied with a rueful chuckle as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek and headed into the house.

After using the bathroom, Hermione was on her way back down the stairs when she heard the floo network sounding from the front room. Hermione was puzzled as to who it could be, since all the family were already present, but she got her answer before she reached the foot of the stairs as Ron's head warily poked out of the front room. Hermione couldn't control the gasp that left her lips at the sight of her old friend. She hadn't seen or heard from Ron since he'd been in the country with Astoria, and she knew the Weasleys had barely spoken to him since then either.

"Hello Hermione," Ron said warily as Hermione walked down the last couple of stairs. "Wow," he gasped, spotting her protruding stomach. "You're pregnant."

"I am," Hermione replied shortly.

"And you're not pleased to see me," he added with a sigh. "Not that I can blame you. Not after last time I saw you."

"I wish it could be different Ron," Hermione said. "I wish I could be happy to see you, but I can still remember what happened last time you turned up unexpectedly."

"So can I," Ron replied with a grimace. "I don't know if it'll help any, but I am sorry Hermione. I wish more than anything that things had been different last time I was here."

"That's a major turnaround Ron," Hermione observed. "I hope you're not too offended, if I'm wary of what you're saying. After all, last time we saw each other you were trying to take my daughter off me."

"You have no idea how much I regret my actions, Hermione," Ron said sincerely.

"What's happened?" Hermione asked, recognising that something major had happened with Ron.

"I realised everything you and Malfoy said was right," Ron admitted.

"Astoria's finally shown her true colours," Hermione concluded.

"Let's just say I've had a bitter awakening," Ron replied. "Not that I expect you to have any sympathy for me. In your shoes, I would be pleased that I've had my heart broken."

"I would never be pleased about that Ron," Hermione said softly. "No matter what happened last time, you're still my friend and I wouldn't be happy to see you hurt. I just wish we could have gotten through to you last time."

"Me too," Ron said with a sigh.

"Are you coming through?" Hermione asked, noticing that Ron had made no move to head further into the house. "Everyone's here."

"I can go and come back later if you would rather," Ron offered. "I don't want to ruin anyone's day."

"You're here now Ron, come through and say hello," Hermione said. "Although, people will be asking questions."

"I guess it'll be easier to explain this once, rather than having to go through it time and time again," Ron conceded as he took a couple of fortifying breaths before following Hermione through the house and out into the kitchen.

When the pair emerged into the garden it was instant pandemonium when people spotted Ron. Draco was the first over to his wife, and the first thing he wanted to know was if Astoria was with Ron. After what had happened last time, he wasn't taking any chances and if his ex-wife was around, he was taking Mia and leaving. His daughter was finally over the trauma of her mother re-entering her life two and a half years ago, and there was no way Draco was going to put his daughter through the pain she'd gone through last time.

"I'm alone," Ron assured Draco.

"You better be," Draco snarled. "If you're lying Weasley, I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Astoria isn't here, nor will she be joining me," Ron said.

"What's happened?" Ginny questioned her brother. By now almost every adult was standing around Ron, and they were all eager to see what he had to say for himself.

"I found out the truth about Astoria," Ron said, sounding bitter. "A couple of months ago I had an accident while playing quidditch, and it resulted in the end of my career."

"Why didn't you get in touch?" Molly demanded, unable to help herself fussing over her youngest son.

"I was going to, but then everything kicked off with Astoria," Ron replied. "She was sympathetic at first, but then she realised that things weren't going to be the same without the money I made from quidditch and from the sponsorship deals I had. We'd been living the high life, and we didn't have any sort of decent savings. I suggested selling the house, but Astoria wasn't having any of it. That's when she realised, I was no longer going to be able to keep her in the style she'd become accustomed to."

"She dumped you because your career came to an end?" Arthur checked with a frown.

"It was more because I didn't have the same income," Ron said. "Once she realised how much things were going to change, she couldn't get away fast enough. Within a few weeks of leaving me she'd moved onto some rich wizard a good twenty years older than her."

"I'm sorry Ron," Molly said sympathetically.

"Oh, it gets worse," Ron said with a wry smile. "I bought the house, but I also put her name on the deeds so we had that to sort after she'd left. At the time I was harbouring hopes of getting back together, but Astoria doused them quickly enough. She was pretty brutal and admitted she'd only been with me because of my money and fame. She also admitted a few other things."

"Like the fact she'd never been pregnant with your child," Draco guessed.

"You were right, there'd never been a baby," Ron admitted with a long sigh. "She told me she'd never had any intention of having children. She said she'd only had Mia because you were there when she found out she was pregnant and she was worried that you would find out if she had an abortion. As for our baby, she made up the entire pregnancy when I started to talk about children. She'd hoped a miscarriage would put me off for a while and give her time to persuade me that we didn't need kids."

"So then why did she want custody of Mia?" Hermione asked.

"I suggested it because I thought she loved and missed her daughter," Ron confessed. "But like everything else she'd told me, it was a lie to make me feel sympathetic towards her. She said she was pleased she didn't get custody of Mia as she didn't want to be tied down with a child. That's one of the reasons she's now with an older wizard, he's had children who are now grown up and doesn't want any more. She's finally got what she wants, and didn't mind breaking my heart to get it."

"Sorry Weasley," Draco offered. "I know what it's like to be manipulated by Astoria, and it's not nice."

"It's even worse when people were telling me and I chose to ignore them," Ron said. "I could have avoided all this heartache and pain if only I'd listened last time I was here."

"It's done now and we can't change the past," Molly said, wrapping her arm around her son and giving him a hug. "You need to move on Ron, and forget all about that witch."

"I intend to," Ron said. "And to start with, I'm hoping to make amends to Hermione and Malfoy. I want them to know how sorry I am. I never should have backed Astoria."

"I can't say it didn't hurt, Ron, but I can forgive you," Hermione said. "I don't want to hold grudges. We're moving on with our lives, and I hope you can do that as well."

"I agree, we should put this behind us," Draco said, extending his hand towards Ron. "I accept your apology, Weasley."

"Thank you Malfoy," Ron said, shaking the blond's hand.

"Does this mean you're here to stay?" Molly asked.

"Yes, I'm moving back home," Ron confirmed. "Not that I'm sure what I'm going to do with my life, but I know my life in Portugal is over."

"For a start, grab some food and join in the fun," Molly urged. "You've got plenty of nieces and nephews to get to know."

"I've missed so much," Ron muttered as his mother ushered him off to grab some food.

As the others also began to disperse, Draco gently grabbed hold of Hermione and wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked her husband.

"I'm relieved," Draco admitted. "I know it's all over now. I always thought Astoria would stay away after she'd lost in court, but it's good to have it confirmed."

"I know what you mean. She was always a lingering threat to our happiness," Hermione agreed. Even though they hadn't spoken of Astoria in over two years, Draco's ex-wife had continued to be a shadowy presence in their lives as they both secretly worried that she would return again and try and take their daughter for a second time.

"Now we can really move on and forget about her," Draco declared. "The future is ours, Hermione. Me, you, Zara, Mia and Scorpius."

"A proper family," Hermione concluded.

"A family united," Draco said with a smile as he gave his wife a kiss. Things hadn't always been easy, but finally the future looked bright and trouble free for the Malfoys.

The End.