On the second of December they had business at Hogwarts, or, rather, Harry had five minutes of business at Hogwarts and then went to have tea with Hagrid. Draco had looked into the woods thoughtfully before telling Harry that he would join them in awhile.

He knew that there were a lot of people at Hogwarts still affected by the war and deaths in their world. Too many of the students could see thestrals now, and he knew from experience that they could be a frightening sight, even though they were mostly rather gentle creatures.

He'd had a rather odd dream several days before, probably fueled by his Christmas induced frenzy. The dream had featured thestrals pulling Santa's sleigh. The imagery had been more than a little off putting at first, but it had certainly stuck in his mind. He wondered if he could work out a glamour that would make the thestrals look more like the reindeer from the muggle Christmas stories.

Making his decision, he made his way into the forest towards the area where he knew the heard of thestrals lived. He had spent quite a bit of time with the thestrals and Luna after the war. He rather hoped that at least a few of them remembered him. He stopped at the bin that Hagrid kept their food in to grab a bucket of the meat to help with getting their cooperation. When he got to the area he couldn't tell if they were excited to see him or excited about the smell of the food. They had crowded around him rather quickly, waiting impatiently while he handed out food and patted the necks of the thestrals that came the closest to him.

He knew that glamouring them would be a hefty bit of magic, and he definitely couldn't get to all of them. He did know which ones were likely to be pulling the carriages for the holidays though. The friendliest ones, which were at the moment still crowded around him even though the food was gone, were usually the ones most often allowed near the students.

Armed with that knowledge and perhaps a little too much determination, he set to work trying to make the thestrals look a little less like skeletal horses and a little more like festive reindeer. It didn't take him as long as he thought it would, though it did take him a bit more energy than he had hoped. By the time he was finished, he was more than ready for some tea, and perhaps a nap.

One of the more enthusiastic and curious of the lot had decided to follow Draco back to Hagrid's hut. This worked out, in a way, because then Harry and Hagrid would get a chance to see one of them. Harry likely wouldn't be back at Hogwarts before Christmas, and He really didn't want to startle Hagrid with it. There was no telling if Hagrid would know what had been done to the thestrals or not.

Both men were outside again when he wandered out of the forest. They glanced at him and immediately did a double take when they realized he wasn't alone. They stared with their mouths open for a moment before either of them apparently knew what to say.

"Um, Draco? What on earth is that?" Harry asked, confusion clearly written across his face and lacing his voice. Beyond being confused, it was hard to tell what exactly Harry thought of his festive thestral.

Draco fidgeted, even though it had seemed like a good idea at the time, now he wasn't as sure. The reindeer were more of a muggle thing, but they still looked festive if you didn't know exactly what they were supposed to be, right?

He looked nervously between the two men, Hagrid looking just as bewildered as Harry did. He shrugged, patting the thestral's neck. "I just was thinking, you know, that there are still students here that saw deaths during the war, and I know the thestrals are a constant reminder of that. I just thought it would be nice to dress them up for the holiday and maybe give the students a more positive connotation with them? I thought reindeer might bee neat, and not undoable? I know that they don't look exactly like reindeer, but still…"

Harry had come up to him and pulled him into his arms, planting a soft kiss on his lips. "That's amazing Draco. I'm sure the students will love it. What do you think, Hagrid?"

Draco looked at Hagrid who was out right beaming at him. "He looks wonderful! Jus' wonderful, Draco! That's no small bi' o' magic, either! I'm sure the professors will be impressed too!"

He grinned at them, giving the thestral a once over. He'd managed to give it the appearance of being fuller,, less skinny. It looked like there were antlers on its head, and it appeared to be more of a dark brown in coloring now. He had also charmed the feet of the thestrals to sound like bells tinkling when they walked, and there were small floating lights around the antlers. The final touch had been the branches he had transfigured into bows around their necks.

"I only managed to do the ones I knew for certain that you would use for the carriages, Hagrid. I just thought it might be nice. They should hold up at least until Christmas. Maybe longer, I'm just not sure," Draco said, yawning slightly.

Harry shook his head as he led them back into Hagrid's hut. "You know if you told me what you were doing, I would have helped!"

Shrugging, Draco took the cup of steaming tea Hagrid handed him. "Thank you. And yes, Harry, I am aware that you would have helped. But I didn't know if it would work, especially since thestrals are so magical on their own. It probably helped that I took them a snack. If they didn't want me to do it, I don't think it would have worked at all."

Hagrid nodded, "Thestrals are like a lot of magical creatures, they know if you've got good or bad intentions. Helps too that you've spent quite a bit o' time with 'em."

Harry shook his head and grinned, "Never thought I would see you go this far over a holiday, and certainly not for people you barely know. It's really great Draco."

Draco half glared at him over his cup, "Prat. I did tell you I wanted this Christmas to be perfect. That does extend to others besides you, you know. Maybe I was just doing it because I knew it would make you happy."

Smiling widely, Harry said, "Yeah, I doubt that. Face it, your reputation of being the Ice Prince has deserted you. Everyone knows you've got a heart of gold now."

Draco wasn't entirely inclined to agree, he rather thought that silver was more appropriate. Still, Harry was right and he was glad of it. He wondered idly if he could get Hagrid to take some pictures of his festive thestrals. He would, so far, consider is second Christmas venture a success.