Chapter 557 - Fernburgh Ⅱ

After having made certain that his four-year-old son is perfectly clean, Arthur opens the door as Bill zooms inside heading straight for his mother. Carefully taking off his robes, he hangs on the coat hooks next to the door that already holds a clock, and robes. Pausing to make sure he that he is presentable one last time, he finally makes his way into the main living room.

Three remarkably diverse women are all seated in a circle sipping tea as they chat, but all the while keep an eye on the two, two-year-old's playing on the rug. His gorgeous mollywobbles, short and curved in all her majesty is tousling the top of their eldest son's head. "There you are Arthur," said the fiery red headed witch with warm brown eyes that are filled with unspoken strength.

"Yes, dear, I'm home," Arthur said as he walked over and placed a kiss on his wife's lips.

Molly only allows a peck in front of her guests as the elegant long-haired blonde woman averted her pale blue eyes, while the other woman that looked rather similar to the blond except with light brown hair, and gentle gray eyes shyly smiles. Molly pulls back and frowns as she stares her husband down.

"Hello, Narcissa, and Andromeda," Arthur rather friendly said. "How are you this evening?"

"Fine, Arthur," the two women replied.

Seeing that the three women still wanted to chat in private, Arthur says, "I'll just freshen up a tad bit."

Leaving the three women behind, Arthur heads upstairs to their bedroom to wash his hands and his face. It still constantly amazed him to see the three diverse women be on such friendly terms. He would never have believed it possible to see a Weasley, and a Malfoy in the same room, yet there was his Mollywobbles and Narcissa.

In retrospect, maybe he should be more understanding. Because why ever not? Both Andromeda and Narcissa were his cousins, and they were good lasses in their own way. Not that he had ever really known them as they had been both in Slytherin and were more than a few years younger than him. Still, they were family.

The very thought filled Arthur's chest with a touch of warmth as washed his face and hands with cold water, before patting himself dry. Running a comb through his hair, he heads back downstairs to ask if his Mollywobbles needed help with anything.

Arthur had just made it to the doorway, when the three women rise to their feet, and Molly says, "Keep a watch on the children, Arthur. The three of us are going to set the table. And answer the door please, Lucius, and Ted should shortly be arriving."

"Yes, dear," Arthur said as the three women darted past him leaving him with a four-year-old, and two excitable two-year-olds of which one of them was a metamorphmagus.

Thinking quick on his feet, Arthur begins to make funny animal noises to entertain his second-born, Charlie, and his cousin's daughter, Andromeda, but they all fondly called her, Dora. Charlie happily rushes at his father with Dora copying him. Groaning he falters onto the ground and pretends to be captured by them.

On the other hand, his eldest, Bill merely casts a look that is identical to his mother asking him to be silent and let him enjoy his tea in peace. Arthur cannot help but laugh at his four-year old's antics causing Bill to glare back and turning his back on his father. He had better things to do like eat his tea and biscuits.

After having entertained the rambunctious two-year-old's, Arthur finally begins to tire, when he hears a knock on the door. "Shush, let's play a game and hide!" Arthur suggested as Charlie and Dora clapped their little hands on their mouths, and quickly hurried to hide behind the couch and out of sight.

Climbing to his feet, Arthur tires to smooth his now slightly wrinkled clothes, and hurries to the door. Without glancing at who it was, Arthur begins to say, "Sorry, there but-."

"Weasley," the cool voice of Lucius Malfoy interrupted him.

Arthur paused to stare at the younger wizard, who always seemed to be perfectly put together. Why even his long, pale blonde hair is silky smooth with nary a single hair out of place. If one did not know any better, one would suggest that there was a bit of Veela in the Malfoy bloodline. Not that the Malfoy's would ever admit to such a thing.

"Weasley aren't you going to let me in?" Lucius said with a gleam of smug pride in his eyes.

Moving out of the way, Arthur says, "After you, Malfoy."

Lucius brushes past him with his cane and all. Glancing at the rather small home when in comparison to the Malfoy Manor, he says, "Well, Weasley, when Narcissa said that you had a lovely home, I did not imagine it to be quite so COZY."

Arthur reigns his rising temper in. The Malfoy's and Weasley's had been feuding for countless generations now. No one really remembered how it all began, but the two families still loathed each other on sight. And tended to go out of their way to rile each other up. But this was his home, and he had promised Molly that he would behave.

Thank you, Malfoy," Arthur stiffly said. "Please have a seat in the parlor, the women are in the kitchen."

"Very well," Lucius said with disdain, before moving towards the parlor room and coming to an abrupt halt in the living room. "Weasley!"

"Yes, Malfoy?" Arthur asked as he came to stand behind the younger wizard.

"What are they doing here!" Lucius pointedly declared as he pointed at the three children peeking at him.

"They are playing of course," Arthur said with a roll of his eyes. "Come now, Malfoy even you were a child once."

Brushing past the somewhat uneasy younger wizard, Arthur says to the two-year-olds. "Charlie, Dora, won't you say hello to Uncle Lucius?"

"Hello, Unc-o Lu-lu," the two-year-old's said unable to properly say, 'Uncle Lucius."

Lucius cold blue gray eyes flash Weasley an icy glare that would have rendered him limb from limb if possible. Tragically, he could not very contradict Weasley as Dora was his niece via marriage. But still the nerve of some people!

Deciding to maintain his composure, Lucius decides to ignore the children as he takes a seat from the red head child sipping his tea and chewing on a scone. Seeing a rather properly behaved child seated before him, Lucius nods his head at the child in acknowledgment, who nods back. Now this was a proper educated child. Must be the Prewett lineage from the mother, because the Weasley's had no proper decorum whatsoever.

However, Arthur hid his smirk as he knew that Malfoy had done the worst possible thing. He had ignored to rather bright two-year-old's, who know would do everything in their power to gain his attention. And said options were not always the most welcome.