Warning: Established relationship and fluff galore.
Summary: Harry couldn't have picked a worse time to propose – the beginning of December, their busiest month, where visiting the Wealseys, Christmas shopping and spending time with Teddy and Andromeda take up majority of their time. Draco isn't complaining, though. Still, they have to somehow make it through this Christmas alive.
Author's Notes: Written for 25 days of Harry and Draco 2013 on slythindor100 on LJ. I've decided to turn use all 25 prompts in a 25-chapter fic that tells a story that spans over 25 days. Enjoy! :D

Surviving Christmas

Chapter 1

Draco smiled. It probably wasn't good for his big-bad-scary-former-Death-Eater image, nor his professional-intimidating-tattoo-artist one, but he couldn't help it. Draco was smiling so hard it almost hurt. Later on, he would get mad and complain because he was supposed to be the one who did this first, and he would pointedly refuse to agree to this ridiculous idea, but at the moment he just wanted to bask in the magic of it all.

"Do you like it?" Harry asked quietly.

Draco glanced up and saw his boyfriend worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, a nervous habit he'd picked up over the years. The fact that Harry even managed to conceptualise the idea that Draco might dislike this ordeal was astonishing. There was no way Draco was going to hate something like this, even though he did resent being placed into a more feminine position. "I don't know, Potter," he said coolly, and his use of Harry's surname seemed to immediately alleviate the tension in the room, which was odd because just a few years ago, it would have done the opposite. "I mean, it certainly has aesthetic value," he mused, holding it up to the light. "Perhaps not as much as I do, but a fair amount all the same."

"Knock it off," Harry snorted, whacking his shoulder gently. "Come on, you know what I meant. So what do you say?"

"An expression of gratitude would be appropriate, I suppose," Draco smirked, delighting in the slowly mounting worry he could clearly see on Harry's face. Merlin, the man was like an open book.

"Not about the gift!" Harry exclaimed, sighing. "I mean, about the question."

Draco turned back to his present to admire it. It was a simple gold locket fashioned after a Snitch and had a black tourmaline dangling easily off of the top of the chain from which it was suspended. It was probably not a secret at all that Draco loved jewellery, especially ones as well-made and perfectly-crafted as this. Harry, being a photographer, always had an eye for the unusually captivating, Draco included, and he always managed to buy the right gifts or find the best angle to snap a candid photograph of Draco lost in thought. This time, however, Draco barely paid attention to the detail on the locket or the perfectly-shaped gemstone. He was only interested, at least for now, in the caption that was etched neatly along the inside of the locket.

Will you marry me?

Four words. That almost broke the record of the least amount of words it had ever taken to render Draco a helplessly smiling fool (the record holder was, of course, the ever-cliché three-word phrase used to confess affection).

"Draco?" Harry asked, sounding very nervous indeed.

Draco realised that he had been staring at the inscription in the locket for a good minute or so without moving, speaking, or so much as giving Harry any indication of a possible answer. Once more, Draco was surprised that Harry didn't already know he would accept without a second's hesitation. There was no reason for him not to, aside from the fact that Harry's timing was simply awful. It was the first of December, and their holiday season was always extraordinarily hectic. Christmas shopping needed to be done, and suffice to say that Draco usually spent a little too long accomplishing that particular task. There was also plenty of visiting to do, and the entire Weasley clan was unfortunately part of the people they would have to see. Not that Draco disliked them or anything. They were nice, really, and Mrs Weasley treated him very well. Draco could see why Harry was eager to consider them his second family. They were lovely. It was just that getting engaged during visiting season meant being fussed over by Mrs Weasley (and Granger, who Draco had come to enjoy the company of) and being showered with congratulations and gifts at a party the Weasleys were sure to throw. He and Harry also spent about a weekend every December at Malfoy Manor with Draco's parents. While Draco's father's health had declined after his term in Azkaban, his mother was as well as ever and there was no telling what she would say or do about Draco's engagement. Also, Draco would probably be visiting his own friends as well, and he already knew that they would order him to call it off. They'd never been as supportive of his relationship with Harry as Harry's friends had been. Also, Teddy and Andromeda always stayed over with them during for a couple weeks each Christmas, and he had no idea how Andromeda would react or how to explain it all to Teddy. Overall, December was a packed month, and Harry couldn't have picked a worse time.

"Draco?" Harry repeated, and Draco realised he'd spaced out again. "Will you?"

"Your lack of intelligence never fails to surprise me, Potter," Draco said good-naturedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry protested.

"It means yes, of course," Draco chuckled.

Harry stared at him blankly for several moments. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes?" Harry repeated. "You will?"

Draco smirked. "Once more, you display your considerable lack of intelligence." He made a point of glancing at his watch. "Twice in under thirty seconds. This must be a new record."

"Shut up," Harry said, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Draco would probably never admit it, but it gave him an incredible amount of joy to see Harry happy. It was odd because Draco had never felt that way about anyone else before. He'd never felt the need to please anyone or make them happy in any way, caring only about his own state of mind. Harry was the exception to that rule. Heck, Harry was the exception to all rules. "You mean it? You'll marry me?"

"Thrice now," Draco warned.

Harry laughed, and before Draco knew what was happening, Harry'd thrown his arms around him enthusiastically and pressed their lips tenderly together. Draco made a noise of approval and tilted his head slightly to get a better angle, wrapping his own arms around Harry's neck.

"Don't I get a ring?" Draco asked when they broke apart.

Harry chuckled. "Impatient thing, aren't you?" he said, fishing in his pocket for the ring he'd prepared. "It's a good thing I love you."

"Flattery won't get you out of it," Draco responded. "So out with it!"

Harry laughed and pulled a small, green velvet box out of his pocket, then held it out to Draco.

"Are you kidding me?" Draco demanded. "Get down on one knee and do it properly!"

"Demanding, too," Harry noted, feigning absent-mindedness, and Draco scowled at him. "Alright, alright," Harry sighed, getting off the bed and sinking down onto the floor, propping himself up on his left knee. He flipped open the dark green case, revealing a simple silver engagement ring with a diamond embedded in the band, accompanied by intricate patterns that curled outwards from around it, encircling the whole band with delicate, crystalline silver swirls. It wasn't exactly grand, but it was one of the most beautiful things Draco had ever seen. It didn't help that the ring was accompanied by the most beautiful man he knew, either. "Draco Lucius Malfoy," Harry said dramatically, and Draco rolled his eyes for real this time. "Would you do me the honour of spending the rest of your life with me?"

"That's better," Draco praised as he drew Harry up into another kiss. Harry slipped the ring onto his finger as he did so, and Draco had to pull away for a moment to admire the way it looked.

"Like it?" Harry questioned.

Draco recognised the genuine, serious nervousness in Harry's voice and refrained from stating that it was the fourth stupid question of the past five minutes. "I love it," he said gently, leaning over to kiss Harry again. "Thank you."

Harry smiled, looking very pleased with himself, and pressed their lips together once more. Draco deepened the kiss, gripping the back of Harry's neck with right hand, his left wrapping around Harry's waist. Harry moaned quietly and ran his tongue against Draco's lower lip, drawing a similar sound from him.

They parted after a while to catch their breath, and Harry's face was lightly flushed. It wasn't always easy to make Harry blush audibly – the lucky prick had the kind of colouring designed to hide slight reddening – and Draco took pride in being one of the few people who could.

"You do realise that we're going to have to tell Mrs Weasley, and she's going to kick up a fuss and attempt to arrange our whole reception for us?" Harry asked, panting.

"You do realise that Mother will probably insist on a Pureblood wedding?" Draco retaliated.

Harry laughed. "Let's just cross those bridges when we get to them."

"My thoughts exactly," Draco smirked. "Now, where were we?"

To be continued...