Chapter 4: Christmas at the Manor


Harry's teeth chattered as he hugged himself, shivering, as he and Draco walked slowly along the corridor. Malfoy waved Harry's wand slowly across, from left to right, looking carefully at each door. His breaths were slow and ragged, coming out as puffs of mist.

"Hurry up and pick a door, Malfoy. I'm freezing." Draco muttered a warming charm, but still shivered.

"This bloody wand isn't working," he said.

"Let me try, it'll work for me." He handed him the wand, and Harry tried casting the same spell. Still cold.

"Told you, it's not working. This cold is immune to magic or something."

"So just pick a damn door already. We've been walking for hours. I dunno, maybe it's been hours. It's too cold to think." He handed his wand back to Draco.

Draco stared at his feet uncomfortably and whispered "Nox."

Harry could sense the other's hesitation. They stood in silence in the dark for a while.

"I don't want to." He said quietly, "I'm afraid."

"Malfoy," Harry started dumbly, but he didn't know what to say. He'd never been good at comforting his friends, much less a guy he'd only been fighting with his entire life.

"I don't know what we'll see behind those doors. There are some things I don't want to see again."

Harry carefully took the wand from Draco and cast lumos.

"We have to pick one, Malfoy. We'll freeze to death." He gripped Malfoy's shoulder. "If we open another bad memory for you, then we'll shut the door. We'll leave. But we have to start opening doors. One of them might lead back into the real world." Malfoy nodded reluctantly, and started looking at the doors again.

"That one." He pointed, to a white door three doors away. Harry walked towards it, with Malfoy following behind him, and entered.

A blast of warmth enveloped them as they walked into a brightly lit living room, exquisitely decorated with colored lights. The frost on the windows were charmed to form moving intricate, lacy designs – a dancing ballerina, two children skating, a puppy. Garlands strewn about the bookcases, with decorative balls, flowers and ribbons. In the middle of the room was a huge Christmas tree, pile of presents underneath. A delicious, sweet, buttery smell wafted through the air. It took Harry a second to realize that they were back at the Malfoy Manor.

"Wow," was all he could manage. Draco still had a worried look etched on his face.

A tiny Draco, in a black sweater ran into the room, smiling, with a half-unwrapped present in his hand.

"Draco," a woman's voice called out to him.

"I'm here by the tree, Mother," he called out.

"Your father is arriving, come get ready for dinner."

Harry followed the young Draco into the same dining table where he watched Draco get the Dark Mark. House elves were appearing and disappearing with a crack as the table was slowly getting filled with exquisite food. Turkey, roast beef, potatoes, pies… it was an extravagant feast to rival even Hogwarts.

"Mother, this is wonderful," the young boy hugged his mother- young, and blonde, and pretty. Soft and wispy, like Harry never noticed Narcissa Malfoy to be. "This is the best Christmas ever!" Narcissa smiled and pressed a kiss on the boy's forehead.

Harry felt a pang of jealousy in his chest at the sight of the mother and child, the thought of Malfoy's family sitting together and having a cozy Christmas dinner. A lump formed in his throat as he wondered what it would've been like if he had grown up with magical Christmases like these with his wizard father and his witch mother.

"Narcissa!" Lucius's voice roared from the other room.

"Welcome home, dear," she spoke breathily.

"What have you done?"

"Father!" The small boy ran up to the proud, sleek man, grabbing the edge of his black cloak. "Mother turned the house into a Christmas wonderland! Isn't it beautiful!"

Lucius Malfoy sneered.

"It is absolutely not," he hissed. He looked around his beautiful home. "Christmas trees? Wreaths? Mistletoe? These traditions are awfully... Muggle are they not?"

Narcissa's face fell. "I just though it w-would be nice for Draco." She faltered.

Lucius straightened, and started flicking his wand briskly at the decorations, vanishing them.

"This is the Malfoy family home! A bastion of pureblood magic for centuries! It doesn't deserve to be tarried by this gaudy… pedestrian… "

Narcissa approached her husband and gently touched his face, and he stiffened at the contact. "The war is over, Lucius."

He sighed. His eyes shifted to the small blonde boy looking up to him with wide eyes.

"I… know that, my beloved, it's just," Lucius lowered his voice as to not let the boy hear, "There are still…. Whispers… I just don't want my family to… I just want us to be safe." His wife gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We will be safe." She pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Does he get to keep the presents?" She added in a whisper.

"Some," he answered gruffly.

"I'm sorry, Father." The blonde boy finally spoke up. "Did I do something wrong?"

Lucius's features softened a little.

"You simply have to be educated on the true wizard traditions. Not this silly drivel. Sit down, my boy, and we shall speak about them over dinner."

A few more flicks of his wand, and the dining room was still grand, but much more dark and solemn.

Narcissa looked down sadly at her son, who was clearly holding back tears as the decorations that brought him so much joy disappeared.

"I suppose I will take down the other decorations."

Draco sat at the end of the long table and his father sat at the other end.

"Now. The magic of our forefathers, the ancient wizards, was deeply rooted in nature. They channeled the energy of the sun and the moon. The Winter Solstice was a special time for wizards as it was the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun at its weakest, and the moon…."

Harry watched the boy pick at his food as his father lectured him on old magic. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he sat, straight-backed, unsmiling and looking almost… lonely. He never really gave much thought about Malfoy's home life. He'd always just been Malfoy, the spoiled brat, the bully, the Death Eater, and eventually, the cowardly turncloak. It was extremely strange for him to see the Malfoys interact affectionately towards each other, although he sensed a little bit of stiff formality – not quite the Weasleys but not the Dursleys either.

"Ah, yes. My last Christmas," Draco spoke, finally. "And my first Winter Solstice."

"Well… that was unexpected. I really thought this was gonna be one of your good memories."

Malfoy had an odd, soft look in his eyes. He watched his mother quietly waving her wand, taking down the enchantments on the frosted windows, but leaving one bird fluttering in the corner. Malfoy walked towards the window traced the bird with his finger, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"It is."

He turned to Harry. "My father always taught me that the night is darkest just before the dawn."


A/N: I had a little difficulty with this chapter. I wanted the chapter to explore the Malfoy family dynamic, as I always thought the central motivation of all the Malfoys was family, even more than purity. I don't want my Lucius to seem evil, just a proud, flawed, and fearful family man who made some bad choices.

I Hope you like that little winter solstice drabble, I had to google "Do wizards get their power from the moon"