The stadium was alive with cheers and roars. Night had long since dawned, but the pitch was illuminated by thousands of fairies — real fairies — that sat amongst the crowd and hovered high above the stadium. It was brighter than it was by day.

"And that's Blair with the Quaffle — passes Potter — intercepted by Levski—"

The professional Quidditch players moved at such a speed that the commentator barely had time to say their names before they passed the Quaffle onto the next player.

"Blair shoots — SHE SCORES! That's two-hundred and forty to one-hundred and twenty to England!"

It had been a long time since England had reached the final of the Quidditch World Cup, but thanks to their new and improved team, which included Katerina Blair, Ginny Potter (née Weasley), and Christian Blair, the team were superb.

Katie and Chris played for the Appleby Arrows, which Katie Captained. The Appleby Arrows had never been a bad team, per say, they were quite average, but since Katie and Chris joined the team in 1999, and Katie became captain in 2000, the team had been thriving. They climbed the ranks quicker than any other team in the league.

As for Ginny, she played for the Holyhead Harpies — the only all-female team in the league, and they were outstanding. When it came to the World Cup, however, the seven best players from all of the club teams in England were picked to play for the national team, and three of these players just happened to be Katie, Ginny and Chris. Being only twenty years old, going on twenty-one in a few weeks, Ginny was the youngest player on the national team; excluding Katie and Chris (who were twenty-two and twenty-four), the rest of the English team were in their thirties.

"Levski struck with a Bludger hit by Hawksworth — Potter with the Quaffle—"

Katie had been playing professional Quidditch for three years now, and she still was not over the thrill. The wind in her face, the flashing of banners, the roar of the crowd. It was everything she had ever hoped and dreamed it would be. Now, as she played her first Quidditch World Cup final, tearing down the pitch with the Quaffle tucked under her arm, she remembered sitting in the Top Box at the Ireland versus Bulgaria match, almost ten years before, and how she wanted nothing more than to be one of the players on the pitch.

"Blair passes Potter — SHE SCORES!"

Suddenly, there was a great scream in the crowd, louder than it had been the entire game. Everyone was jumping, pointing, shouting. Katie hurled her broom around and saw, with a jolt of her heart, what had caught everyone's attention.

Viktor Krum and Keaton Flitney, the England Seeker, were racing towards the ground in a nosedive, their robes rippling behind them. They had both spotted the Snitch. Katerina's heart was beating harder than it ever had — more so, she thought, than when she had her duel against Voldemort. If Krum caught the Snitch, Bulgaria would win by twenty points...

Even from such a high point of view, Katie could clearly see that Krum had the lead. All other aspects of the game had been abandoned — the Quaffle was falling steadily to the ground and no one, not one single player paid any mind to it. Everyone watched as the spectators cheered and booed and the Seekers raced each other for the Snitch.

Krum reached out — he was only inches away from the tiny golden ball...

The English cheered and screamed and stamped their feet while the Bulgarians groaned their disapproval. Katie was almost knocked out of the sky as Chris and Ginny threw themselves at her.

"WE WON! WE WON!" Chris was shouting

Flitney soared around the stadium, brandishing the gleaming Snitch in his hand, and the England supporters roared in delight. Katie looked aside to the Top Box and could see all those she held dear, clapping and cheering. There was the Weasleys — Ron, of course, and Hermione, who he had married only two years before.

Then there was Mr and Mrs Weasley (beaming with pride), Bill and Fleur and their two-year-old daughter Victorie. Charlie was there, too, cheering louder than anyone else. Percy clapped and grinned in a sophisticated manner. Niall and George were evidently drunk, as they were swinging from each other and singing the Irish National Anthem, which probably was not the best idea at an English Quidditch game.

Then there was Harry and Draco, looking even more exhilarated than the rest. Although she couldn't hear properly over the noise in the stands, Katie was sure that Harry was pointing at Ginny and shouting, "That's my wife!"

The English team performed their lap of honour, beaming at their supporters as they cheered them on, and then they landed gracefully on the pitch and entered the stands. It was quite a hike to reach the Top Box, where they knew the Quidditch Cup was waiting for them, gleaming gold in the glittering fairy lights of the stadium.

Katie wiped her nose, which was bleeding, thanks to being hit by a Bludger earlier on in the game. Then she grabbed Ginny's hand and they hurried up the many stairs, singing the National Anthem as they went.

As expected, Kingsley Shaklebolt, the Minister, was waiting for them in the Top Box, holding the cup, beaming at the team. They stepped up to the edge of the box, which was filled with a dazzling silver light so that all the spectators could see. Kingsley passed the cup to Flitney, their captain, and the rest of his team gathered around him. As the rumble of the crowd grew, getting ready to scream when Flitney lifted the cup, Katie felt anticipation whirring in her stomach.

This is it, she told herself, we did it.

Flitney lifted the Quidditch World Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered their approval. Katie burst into tears, as did Ginny, and they hugged each other tightly.

"Let's hear it for the winners of the Quidditch World Cup — England!" the commentator bellowed.

Cheers erupted louder than ever, but they were quickly diminished when the commentator's voice echoed magically around the stadium again.

"Oh, what's this?"

He sounded bewildered but somewhat intrigued. Katie was confused too until she felt a hand slip into her own. Turning around, she found Draco looking at her, his eyes welling with tears, and he was smiling with pride.

"You did it." he said simply.

Katie grinned at him. "Yeah."

Chewing his lip nervously, Draco glanced aimlessly to either side of himself. Everyone in the Top Box was staring at him and Katerina; the stadium had gone deathly quiet as the crowd waited to see what would happen next.

Then, Draco did the last thing that Katie would have expected that night: he slipped his hand inside his back pocket and slowly lowered himself towards the floor.

The stadium rang with gasps.

"I — er — I had a whole speech planned, but I've kind of lost my footing a bit." Draco stammered nervously.

Katie laughed, blinking away the tears that were threatening to obscure her vision.

"Rina, I once told you that my one and only goal in life was to make you happy—"

"No you didn't." Katie snorted. The stadium guffawed loudly, and Katie suddenly understood that their voices were being magically magnified. Realising this, Draco blushed a deep scarlet, but he pushed on anyway.

"Well, no, I didn't," he admitted, "but I'm telling you now. Your smile is brighter than the ridiculously bright light in this Top Box — seriously, what's the deal with that?" he turned and demanded of Kingsley. There was more laughter from the spectators. "What I'm trying to say is, I really like it when you smile, and I want to make you do it all the time... This — this sounds horrible, doesn't it? Merlin's Beard, I'm a mess."

He took her hand and she smiled down at him. "You're better than you think."

This seemed to boost his confidence.

"I know that I will never be able to make you as happy as you were when Flitney caught that Snitch ten minutes ago, but if I can grant you even a fraction of that joy, that will be enough for me."

"That's more than enough for me." Katerina told him. Tears were streaming down her face now — though, she was not crying nearly as much as Hermione, who was sobbing into Ron's shoulder and dabbing her eyes with two separate handkerchiefs.

"I could babble on and on about how much you amaze me, but, quite frankly, I'd rather not do that in front of thousands of people." Draco went on to more laughter from the crowds.

He popped open the velvet box that he was holding and, when she saw the ring, Katie cried even harder. It wasn't gold, it wasn't littered with diamonds, it did not cost hundreds of Galleons.

It was silver. A single, silver band that shone in the light of the Top Box.

It was one of Draco's rings, the ones that littered his fingers, the ones that Katerina loved so dearly. She clapped a hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs.

"Katerina Blair," Draco paused. Pulverising silence swallowed the stadium as everyone waited on the edge of their seats. "Will you marry me?"

Still, there was complete and utter silence. Ginny was clutching Harry's hand so hard that he was biting down on his lip, so not to groan in pain. Mrs Weasley was crying almost as much as Hermione, but it was Katerina who was crying the most now.

Truth be told, she felt overwhelmed — overwhelmed with happiness. She had just won the Quidditch World Cup, and now Draco was proposing to her. Of course he would have to do it at the final of the World Cup — he had to be extravagant.

"Of course I will." she said.

The silence was broken. Applause and cheers erupted like a canon-blast. Draco slipped the silver ring onto Katerina's finger and, as if he had planned it, fireworks exploded overhead, each of them either silver or gold. She flung herself into his arms and kissed him as she had never kissed him before. Apparently he did not mind the fact that her hair was tangled and her face was streaked with blood and her robes were matted with dried mud.

"Well would you look at that!" the commentator cried. "Draco Malfoy proposes to Katerina Blair!"

Chris picked Katie up easily, slinging her over his shoulder and he started bouncing around in the Top Box.

"My little sister's getting married! My little sister's getting married!" he yelled gleefully.

Next thing Katie knew, she was being hugged from all sides and people were congratulating her. Molly Weasley held onto Katie for the longest, telling her how proud she was.

Katie recalled the first time she convinced Draco to go around to the Weasleys for dinner. It was one year after the War ended. Up until that day, Draco had always refused Mrs Weasley's dinner invitations and Katie would go without him, because he was scared that, after everything he had said and done to them, the Weasleys would hold that against him.

Katie assured Draco many times that the Weasleys were more than willing to give him a second chance, and that Mrs Weasley would simply adore him, but still, he refused. At long last, one summer day, Draco agreed, albeit reluctantly, to have dinner with the Weasleys. He was beyond anxious, but as it turned out, he had been overthinking it the entire time.

Molly had no hard feelings whatsoever. As soon as Draco stepped over the threshold, she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug and told him how handsome he was. Mr Weasley shook Draco's hand and told him that he was pleased to be in his company. Before dinner was served, Ginny and Hermione took Draco into the living room to show him the pictures on the mantelpiece (or so they claimed). Katie had pressed her ear to the sitting room door and heard Hermione and Ginny threatening Draco with the Bat-Bogey hex were he to ever hurt Katie again.

After that encounter with Hermione and Ginny, Draco was rather nervous as he sat down for dinner. The glares that Ron was shooting him probably did not help. George also scowled at Draco for most of the meal, but then he pranked him with some Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products, and when Draco laughed and didn't complain, George warmed up to him.

Harry and Bill were civil, even friendly, with Draco. Harry and Ginny had been around to Katie and Draco's apartment quite a bit the year after the War, so Harry and Draco were on good terms. Harry was willing to give him a second chance, although they did still bicker with each other a lot, but it usually ended in laughter. Bill talked to Draco about Quidditch, which made Draco feel much more comfortable, and he was ready to leave only after Mrs Weasley had insisted he have a fourth serving of food.

Everyone shook Draco's hand as he and Katie were leaving. Hermione even hugged him, which left him in quite a state of shock. Mrs Weasley pulled Katie aside before she could go home.

"He's a lovely boy," Mrs Weasley said fondly. "He's really changed."

Katie smiled. She glanced aside at Draco, who was shaking hands with Bill and thanking Mr Weasley for having him.

"Yeah, he has, hasn't he?"

Only after Mrs Weasley was sure that Draco understood he was welcome over anytime did she let them go.

After that day, Draco accepted all of Molly's dinner invitations. Dinner at the Weasleys became a monthly thing. Everybody tried to attend, but sometimes people just could not get off work (these people were usually Hermione and Percy). Still, three years later, Draco had not yet met Charlie, but Katie was sure they would like each other.

***

It was three days after the final of the Quidditch World Cup that Katie heard the knock on her door. Draco had gone to the shops and she was making dinner.

When she opened the door, she received quite a shock. There, standing before her, wearing a pompous expression on his pale, pointed face, was a man that neither Katie nor Draco had seen since the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Mr Malfoy," Katie said, faking a welcoming tone. "What a surprise."

Lucius' nostrils flared. He stared over Katie's shoulder, taking in all of the interior of her house that was visible to him. Judging by his sneer, he was not impressed.

Katerina and Draco's house was something that Lucius would have considered a downgrade from Malfoy Manor. The pair lived in a two-floored German tudor cottage in Appleby Village. Their garden was large, littered with rose bushes and trees — mostly pines, oaks and cherry blossoms. As for the interior of the house, it was cosy but expensive (because Draco would settle for nothing less). He was happy to ditch his lavish mansion lifestyle and settle in a family home, despite the fact that he and Katie had not yet started a family.

Before moving to Appleby, Katie and Draco lived in a tiny apartment above one of the shops in Diagon Alley. Money was scarce. Lucius did not approve of Katie and Draco being together because she was a Half-blood, and so father and son were torn apart and Draco could not rely on him for money. Draco did not have his own vault at Gringotts — he had always used his family vault. As for Katie, when Chris turned seventeen, he was granted access to his mother's vault, as was Katie, but they were disappointed to find that there was not much money there. Katie did not want to take out too much gold because she and Chris were sharing the small mound. She also refused to accept any money from Harry, despite the fact that he offered almost every week.

Then Draco got promoted at St. Mungo's and Katerina's career as a professional Quidditch player kicked off; they could afford their home in Applyby Village in no time.

"What a lovely... shed you have." Lucius said, disgust dripping from his voice.

Katie smiled sarcastically. "Well, I'm glad you like it, because your approval means so much to me."

Lucius glared at her. Katie felt something brush against her ankles. Looking down, she saw that it was Felix. Milo was sitting on the cat's back. Old as he was now, Felix hissed at Lucius and was readying himself to fight were it necessary. Milo hopped off Felix's back and scampered up Katie's arm, coming to rest on her shoulder.

"What wonderful pets you have." Lucius drawled. He surveyed the animals with scrutinising eyes. Felix growled — yes, growled — at him.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Katie demanded suddenly. Mr Malfoy looked taken aback by the fact that she had so rudely addressed him by his first name, but he said nothing about it. He straightened up and cleared his throat.

"I've come to tell you not to marry my son."

A silence fell. Katie tilted her head and stared at the man before her, expecting a punchline, but when he done nothing but continue to glower at her she laughed dryly and made to close the door in his face. He stopped it with his foot.

"I mean it," he said bitterly. "I will not have my only son marrying a... a common Half-blood."

Katie opened the door again and folded her arms.

"Draco's not your pet, all right? He may have listened to you while he was in school, but you don't control him anymore. You can't dictate his choices."

"I can and I will," Lucius snapped. "I will not allow you to besmirch the blood purity of the Malfoy family!"

A wave of anger surged through Katie and she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Well, that's unfortunate, because I'm already pregnant."

Lucius' eyes widened.

"You're what?" he hissed.

"That's right," she lied. "Too little, too late. Good day, Mr Malfoy."

With that being said, she slammed the door in his face.

Later that evening, as they ate dinner, Katie told Draco about her encounter with Lucius. He was horrified that his father would have the audacity to show up at their door and demand they don't get married, but he also was not surprised. He did, however, laugh when Katie told him about the pregnancy bluff.

"Let's just say I were pregnant..." she began, aimlessly poking her potato with her fork, not daring to meet Draco's eyes. "What would you say?"

Draco was quiet for many moments. He stared at his wife-to-be, considering her question thoroughly.

"Well, are you ready to have kids?" he asked her.

Katie frowned. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to have kids at all..."

"What?" Draco placed down his knife and fork, giving her his full attention. "Why not?"

Although she had her answer, Katie merely shrugged and averted her eyes from Draco's face. The realisation resonated with him. He reached across the table and took his fiancée's hand in his own.

"It's because of him, isn't it?" Draco asked gently.

Katerina blinked away her welling tears and met Draco's eyes, then she nodded slowly and he sighed.

"Rina, you can't let him dictate your entire life," Draco said softly, holding her hand tighter. "He's dead, he's gone, he can't hurt you any more."

"But that doesn't change the fact that he's my father!" Katie cried. "What if I turn out like him, what if my kids turn out like him?"

There was a screeching of wood as Draco pushed his chair out. Standing up, he rounded the table and crouched down so that he was directly in front of Katie.

"Listen to me," Draco began. "Voldemort may be your father, but Anthony Blair is your dad. He raised you. I may not have known him, but from what you've told me, he was a great man."

"He was the best." Katie whispered.