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Three: The Big Surprise

The following day was Christmas Eve and the day of the Malfoys' Christmas party. When Draco went downstairs for breakfast, he realized how little work he had actually done, for his mother had decorated the house exquisitely while he had been sleeping. He felt a bit guilty as he looked around at the boughs of holly, mistletoe, and tinsel which covered the wall. The house looked more cheerful than it ever had. When Draco entered the living room, he saw that Narcissa had taken down everything he had done and had redecorated the entire place. He couldn't blame her; in his stubborn haste, Draco had arbitrarily thrown whatever he had laid his hands on and it had looked like a huge tacky mess. Narcissa had stuck to a colour scheme, and instead of the multicoloured ornaments he had thrown on the tree, she had carefully hung silver balls along with little sparkling lights shaped like snowflakes. The candelabra held long, golden candlesticks, which were also placed all around the room. There were countless vases of fresh Christmas flowers, and bowls filled with pieces of chocolates, peppermints, and fudge. Most impressive of all, Narcissa had cast a charm so that snow fell from the ceiling and melted away ten inches above Draco's head.

He walked into the kitchen, his guilt increasing, and saw that the kitchen too was decorated in the same way. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Narcissa," Lucius was saying as Draco sat down.

"I couldn't have done it without Draco's help, of course," his mother replied, smiling at Draco, who was too ashamed to return her smile.

Lucius looked surprised. "You don't mean to tell me that the boy actually stayed and helped? I thought he would surely run off with his friends after a couple of hours."

Draco turned pink, but instead of feeling guilty, he felt a surge of anger at his father for doubting him. He ignored the fact that Lucius was always correct in underestimating him.

The house elf brought out a plate of pancakes for Draco, which he ate silently.

"Draco, there's something in the mail for you," Narcissa said with a large smile.

"Hm?" He rummaged through a pile and found an envelope with his name written on it. "Oh, okay." He tossed it aside carelessly, taking another bite of his breakfast.

"Don't you want to open it, dear?" his mother asked.

"What? Yeah, I'll open it later."

Draco suddenly became aware that his parents had stopped eating and were looking at him expectantly. "What's going on?" he asked, confused.

"Don't you want to know what your surprise is?" said Lucius, a slight smirk playing at his lips.

"Surprise? Well yeah, sure. What's it got to do with – Oh!" Draco instantly clued in and grabbed the envelope. He saw that it was from the Minister for Magic, which puzzled him. Why was Cornelius Fudge writing to him?

He tore it open and a card fell out. "Dear Mister Draco Malfoy," he read aloud. "It is my pleasure to present to you this invitation for this year's Order of Merlin Award ceremony. As it is an honour of the outmost prestige to be invited to this award ceremony, I would like to congratulate you on your achievements and look forward to seeing you on the evening of December 27th. Cordially, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic."

He looked inside the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment with the details of the ceremony. It took a minute for Draco to understand what it was all about, and why his parents were beaming down at him. "I don't believe it! I've – I've won an award?"

"Don't be stupid, boy!" Lucius snapped in exasperation. "Of course you haven't won anything!"

Draco's face fell. "So you mean – I have to go to this thing to watch other people win stuff?" Now this didn't seem like a great present at all! In fact, it was a lousy present, and he felt like he had been ripped off after waiting with so much anticipation for a surprise. Now he had nothing else to look forward too, and worst of all, he was forced going to some boring award ceremony.

"Draco, you need to stop being so selfish," his father scolded him, astonished at his son's disappointment. "It's an honour in itself to be invited to the ceremony, let alone to be invited by the Minister for Magic himself! You have no idea how much work it took me to score you an invitation from Fudge."

Draco was silent. He still couldn't see what was so great about this so-called surprise. "I guess I'll have to do then, won't I?" he said glumly.

Lucius was outraged, and Narcissa was also looking at him in disapproval. "Of course you'll go!" he snarled. "Perhaps seeing someone else win something for their hard work will finally make you see how easy you have it here, without any responsibility or chores! Perhaps this will show you the importance of working instead of sitting around and getting other people to do everything for you! It's about time you learned to grow up!"

Draco's face was turning red with anger. How dare his father talk to him like that! His life wasn't easy! His parents always treated him like a child. They always compared him to that lousy Potter, expecting him to do better than him. They didn't understand that Potter only got ahead because he was Dumbledore's favourite boy. He almost yelled back, but the fear of angering Lucius held him back.

"I do work hard," he said instead, realizing that he sounded like a pouting child.

"Funny, your marks certainly don't show it!"

Again about his marks! Why did his parents care so much about how he did in school? He was passing, wasn't he? And it wasn't like he needed to do well; he would inherit everything from his father anyway. In fact, he would be completely fine even if he never went to school again.

"My marks aren't that bad," Draco argued. "I did amazing in Potions class!"

"Yes, but what about your other classes? Why is it that a Mudblood like Granger can beat you every time, when you are fortunate enough to be brought up in a high society Pureblood home?"

Draco's face was turning redder and redder. "It's because the teachers all favour that Mudblood, just because she hangs around with that – that – Potter!"

"I've heard this same excuse a million times," said his father, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, this discussion is over. You are going to France to attend this highly prestigious event, and that is that. You ought to feel grateful at being invited –"

"Wait a minute," Draco said suddenly. "What did you say? France?"

"Why yes, this year the award ceremony will take place in Paris to honour a French witch for her outstanding discoveries in magical herbs. Didn't you read the invitation?"

"No!" Draco said, suddenly excited. He skimmed through the piece of parchment. "You mean – I'm spending a week in Paris!"

"Well, of course," said his father, puzzled at his son's sudden enthusiasm. "The Ministry has organized a stay in an extremely sophisticated hotel for the week, where there will be a number of balls and parties prior to and after the award ceremony. And you get to bring along one guest."

Draco suddenly understood why his parents had been so excited about this surprise, and realized that this was indeed the best gift he had ever received. He was going to spend New Year's in Paris without his parents – which meant an entire week of completely unsupervised freedom with Pansy!

"Wait till everyone hears about this," he breathed ecstatically.