15 years later

"Ow! Basil, don't kick me."

Hermione awoke on the morning of September First to Ella snapping at her brother. At seventeen years old, her oldest child, who was entering her last year of Hogwarts, was a no nonsense girl with a heart of gold. She wouldn't hurt a thing, but made an exception for her little brothers and Hermione heard her whisper a stinging jinx before she heard Basil yelp in pain.

"Aren't you all a little too old for family cuddle time?" Lucius groaned from beside her.

"No!" Her children all yelled.

"I'm not!" Draco walked into the room with Harry and they tried to find space on the bed that was already filled with two adults, and eight children. Hermione reached for her wand, waving it to increase the size of the bed.

The tradition of the children coming to snuggle with her and Lucius on the weekends had continued with each of their children, as well as Harry and Draco's. When it was Ella's first day at Hogwarts and she was scared to leave, they added September First to the list of family cuddle time days. She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her as she watched Harry get pushed out of the bed by Lucius.

Lucius and Draco had eschewed most Pure-blood traditions over the years, but one that they held onto was the Malfoy heir lived at the Manor. With thirty-five bedrooms, it wasn't like they were going to run out of space. Harry and Draco had stayed in the London flat until right before the birth of their oldest before moving to the Manor.

Seven of the eight of the children in the bed were biologically hers but she had only given birth to three of them. When Harry and Draco had approached her about being a surrogate mother for them again, she wanted to say yes, but in the end decided not to. She wanted to have children with Lucius and she was scared she would not be able to if something went wrong with her first pregnancy.

Instead, Harry and Draco had found a girl through an agency that they liked who would carry the children. After much discussion between the four adults they decided that they would use Hermione's eggs for each child. She knew it was strange to other people, but it worked for their family. All eight of the children called her mum, but Harry and Draco's children called Lucius by his name. He refused to be called Grandfather by children the same age as his own.

Harry and Draco had their son, Thuban Serverus Malfoy at the end of August of '02. Just three months after he was brought home, Hermione and Lucius found out they were expecting and welcomed Basil William in July of the next year. Because Thuban was born right before the cut off for the Hogwarts year, he and Basil were both entering their third year.

The next year, the surrogate gave birth to Sirius James Potter. The poor boy got a mixture of Harry and Hermione's hair and it was as unruly as both his namesakes had been. He also inherited their Marauder spirit and was always into mischief. He was going into his second year, along with Bill and Fleur's only son, Louis Charles, and George and Gabi's twin boys Fred Gideon II and Granger Fabian.

Headmistress, and 'grandmother' to all their children, Minerva McGonagall had retired before their first year. She said he was too old to deal with a Marauder-Weasley lion pride. She now enjoyed her retirement in her house in the Highlands, but was over at the Manor to visit with her grandchildren a few times a week.

Hermione and Lucius' youngest son, Thaddeus John, was born two years after Basil, and would be starting his first year at Hogwarts. Thad was much like his mother, loved to read, and she thought he might be the first Malfoy to break the Slytherin tradition and end up in Ravenclaw. If he did, he would join his two Veela 'cousins' Madeline and Claire who were going into Fifth year. George and Gabi's youngest, Minvera Fleur was also starting this year, but that child was a Gryffindor through and through.

Kalliste Jean, the youngest child of Lucius and Hermione was nine and was ecstatic her brothers would all be gone from the house. She was born just days after Bill and Fleur gave birth to their youngest, Dominique Hermione, and the two were as thick as thieves. When Draco and Harry welcomed twin girls, Lyra Rose Malfoy, and Luna Lily Potter a year later, the four girls became inseparable. They were into all things pink, glittery, and frilly. Hermione was at a constant loss at how to deal with them, and had to rely on Fleur and their Aunt Astoria to help her.

Charlie and Astoria had married a year after Hermione and Lucius, but never had any children. Astoria was born with a blood disease and the healers told her having children could worsen the condition. Not wanting to pass the condition on, they had decided to not have children. Instead they doted on their many nieces and nephews, the Malfoy and Potter children included, and were loudly proclaimed the favourite aunt and uncle by all the children.

Their large family also included Andromeda and Teddy, who was entering his final year at Hogwarts, and was secretly dating sixth year Victoire. Grandma Andi, as the children called her, had become like a second mother to Hermione. Between her and Minvera, she always had someone to go to when life was overwhelming and she needed motherly advice.

Kingsley had started dating Katrina twelve years back. They were always at the family events, and after three years decided they should give it a go. They hadn't married, and after Kingsley retired last year, had started traveling the world. When Hermione asked if they wanted to have children, Katrina told her 'our family has populated Britain enough.'

Being so close to Bill, Charlie, and George, and their children raised as cousins, most events were spent with the Weasley family as a whole. While Lucius never quite got over Molly accusing him of stealing from the orphanage, he and Arthur had a friendly relationship. They had bonded over their love of Muggle cars and James Bond movies.

Ron, now married to a American girl that he had met through Ginny had two young boys, aged two and four. They lived in the States but came over once a year for the end of summer party held at Malfoy Manor. His wife, Jessica, was a sweet girl and Hermione wrote her often.

Ginny had stayed in America after being released from prison after serving three of her five year sentence. The program she went through did wonders for her, and she was back to being fun-loving Ginny. She played professional Quidditch, even making the US National team a few years back. Her team had won the World Cup and she retired to start a family. Her husband Jeff was a great guy, and their daughter was beautiful.

"Alright, everyone out of bed! We have a lot to do today." Hermione started pushing children out of bed and onto the floor.

Getting five children ready to go to Hogwarts, even with four adults was a chore. And as soon as they were dropped off at King's Cross, Hermione had to Apparate to Dublin. The Phoenix School and Orphanage had changed to just The Phoenix School fifteen years ago when the last child had been adopted in June, two years after the end of the war.

They started small at Grimmauld Place, daycare mostly until the large school in Bristol was opened at Christmas time. Within two years, most of the magical children within England and Wales were either attending or on the waiting list. The list for Muggle-born children to attend daycare was so long, they had to look for additional locations within months of officially opening.

Now, they had small daycare centers located around the British Isles, and were opening their newest Primary School in Dublin tomorrow. They currently had ten schools operating and no children on the waiting list. The last few years, Lucius and Harry had been traveling all over the world helping other countries set up similar schools for their magical communities. The Ministry ran the schools, much like they did Hogwarts, and Harry, Lucius, and Hermione sat on the Board of Directors.

The last of the children left their room and Lucius picked up his purple wand to ward the doors.

"Alone at last."

"Lucius, we don't have time today."

"But you're going to be gone until late tonight."

"I know. But this weekend Bill and Fleur are taking all four girls. And Draco is going with Harry to Iceland for work. We'll be all alone for three days."

"Three days?"

"Three whole days. And, one empty swimming pool."

"I love you, witch."

"I love you, too. Now let's get these kids off to school."

Lucius stayed in bed, watching his wife walk to the bathroom. He never could have imagined his life would turn out the way it did. Five wonderful children, a son-in-law that he loved as much as any of his children, a beautiful wife, and a large extended 'family' that added joy to his life.

Stretching, he pulled himself out of bed. Maybe he could convince Hermione she needed his help in the shower.

*A/N:

Thank you for everyone that read this story- especially those of you who left reviews. They kept me going when I wanted to abandon this a few times.

I'm always looking for new things to write so if you have an idea for a new story, let me know!

XX TDM