Authors note: Sadly I own nothing of the Harry Potter realm...*Sigh* All contents, save the plot, belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. Some parts in this story are from the 6th book only from Draco's POV and the ending of the 6th book is completely different as is the 7th book.
I made a few errors in the previous chapter, I included Ron in the chapter when he was supposed to die in the war. I know, I know, I love Ron too. But with Hermione with Draco, I felt bad for him being alone, so I decided to negate him from the story. He won't be in this chapter.
Chapter 8 – Christmas at Malfoy Manor
She glanced at me and smiled.
"You know I haven't." She turned back to the books and I walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her swollen stomach.
"Would you like to?" I whispered in her ear. She turned to face me and wrapped her arms around my neck. She kissed my cheek down my jaw and down my neck. I shivered. She pulled back and smirked at me.
"Not really." She said. Abruptly, she turned back to the shelves.
"Tease," I turned her back around and picked her up to set her on the ledge of the shelf. "You can't do that."
"Do what?" She asked innocently.
"Turn me on and then say no." I kissed her, slowly at first. The kiss quickly became more and more passionate. I pushed her legs open to stand between them. Her hands found my belt.
We both froze when we heard a crack behind us. I turned my head to see a small house elf standing there, covering it's eyes.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Miss Malfoy asked Tibsy to find Mister Draco. Miss Malfoy would like to see Mister Draco in her study." The elf peeked out from behind her eyes and decided it was okay to look. I sighed.
"Tell her I'll be there in a few moments." Tibsy nodded and disappeared with another crack. "Have fun looking through the books." I kissed Hermione good bye and headed out of the library. I went to the other side of the floor and pushed open a door. "Yes, mother?"
"Sit down, Draco." She said gently. I crossed the room and sat in the chair in front of her desk. "How are you dealing with the approaching child?" She asked immediately. I shrugged.
"Fine, I suppose."
"Do you know what it is yet?"
"Hermione wants it to be a surprise."
"Ah. Have you thought of any names yet?"
"A few." Mother nodded. "Just cut to it. What did you want to talk to me about?" She sighed.
"You still don't have all of your memories." I shook my head. "I found a spell. It will determine why you have your memory loss."
"I thought you guys said it was because I had been through a traumatic event."
"It probably is. This is just to be sure. If that's the case, then I have another spell that will erase the memory from your mind and restore your old memories. Do you want to try it?" I considered it for a moment before nodding. I was tired of not knowing who I was. She stood and went to stand behind me. She placed her wand on my temple and murmured a long string of words. I saw a faint bluish glow at the edges of my vision. "What color do you see?" She asked.
"Blue. Kind of light blue." I shrugged.
"Traumatic event. This next spell will hurt a bit. You will probably pass out afterwards." She said. She murmured another long string of words in Latin and a second later pain shot through my head. I squeezed my eyes shut as memory upon memory flashed before my eyes.
5 years old, hearing mum and father yelling down the hall.
Watching as father hit mother over and over for 'cuddling' me to much
Hearing screams coming from the dungeons as father tortured muggles and Muggleborns
Receiving bruise on top of bruise for playing with the muggle children in town
Mother getting pregnant when I was 7
Watching as father pushed her down the stairs for conceiving a girl, running down the stairs after her to make sure she was ok, seeing the blood pool around her, screaming at father, calling him a worthless piece of shit and being knocked unconscious because of it
Father teaching me my 'lessons' earlier than my 10th birthday for being so 'disrespectful'
Benji, my old horse, breaking his leg and father killing him
Receiving my Hogwarts letter, the relief I felt at being out of the house for most of the year
More 'lessons' during the summer
Mother giving me my horse Shadowfax, spending hours a day training him
Receiving my 'noble' mission for the bastard the Dark Lord
The images faded and floor came up towards my face. Hands caught me before I hit the floor and then I was surrounded in darkness.
***************
I woke in a soft bed. I slowly opened my eyes and glanced around. I was in my room. Pale sunlight was streaming in through the window.
"You're awake." I turned to the right to see Hermione sitting in a chair beside my bed, Alex in her lap. He gave me a baby smile. I pulled the blankets back and turned on my side, patting the spot next to me. Hermione laid Alex down in the bed and then climbed in. I wrapped my arms around them and fell back asleep, glad I had my memories back.
***************
I woke again that night. Hermione and Alex were fast asleep beside me. I kissed them both on the foreheads and climbed out of bed, heading for mum's room.
"Come in," She called when I knocked. I opened the door and leaned against the doorframe. She was sitting in bed, leaning against the pillows, reading a book. "Hello, Draco. How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I've got a bit of a headache but otherwise I feel fine." She nodded.
"Are your memories back?" I nodded. "Good. Was there something you needed?" I stood there awkwardly for a few moments before crossing the room quickly and climbing into bed with her. I rested my head on her shoulder. She seemed surprised but quickly recovered and rested her head on top of mine.
"Why did you stay with him?" I asked softly. She sighed.
"It was expected."
"Do you always do what's expected?"
"I used to." We talked about some of the worse memories and she cried several times. She eventually fell asleep and I quietly climbed out of her bed and went to my study. I sat down at the desk and stared into space, thinking.
Everyone says you'll be the same kind of parent that you had. But I knew that if I ever hit Hermione or Alex I would hate myself for it forever.
***************
Early that morning, I headed out to the stables. We only had 3 horses but we had room for 20. Mother's horse was pure white with bright blue eyes. Her name was Snowflake. Father's horse was brown and black with dark eyes. He was named Mikelo. We were planning on getting rid of him soon. He tended to be pretty aggressive. I came to the last occupied stall.
"Hey Shadowfax." The black horse lifted his head and stared at me with his bright blue eyes. He lifted his head over the gate and whinnied. "I missed you too, boy." I told him. I stroked his nose before opening the gate and bringing him out. Brushing Shadowfax never failed to calm me down and although I wasn't upset at the moment, it did wonders to relieve some stress. I brushed him for a while, gave him a treat, and then saddled him up.
I rode him well into the afternoon. Hermione finally came out with Alex and called to me. I rode Shadowfax over to her.
"Yeah?" I asked her.
"You missed breakfast and lunch. I was worried about you." Without getting down, I reached down and grabbed Alex.
"I'm fine." I shrugged. "Just have a lot on my mind." I walked Shadowfax around in a few circles with Alex giggling in my lap.
"Ok. Well, we're all going swimming if you want to join us." She said. She looked a bit nervous about Alex being up on Shadowfax.
"He's fine, 'Mione. I've got him. And yes, I'll join you. Just let me put Shadowfax up." I held Alex out and Hermione took him and headed back towards the house. I walked Shadowfax back over to the stables at the side of the house. I took his saddle and bridle off, put him back in his stall and gave him fresh hay then headed to the house to change for swimming.
***************
The Friday before Christmas, I went shopping. Since I didn't get Hermione anything for her birthday, I wanted to get her something really nice for Christmas. Going out of my way to be nice, I bought Potter and the Weasley's presents as well as Hermione's parents. I also needed a present for my mum's sister, Andromeda, who would be arriving the day before Christmas. I bought Potter a practice snitch, Ginny a gift card to a new clothing store, Mr. Weasley a book about famous muggle inventions, and Mrs. Weasley a watch similar to the clock that Hermione had told me about. I was at a loss as to what to buy the twins, Hermione's parents, Mum, Aunt Andromeda and Hermione. Alex was easy, I just bought him a bunch of magical toys and a few new outfits. I decided to buy Mum the same thing I bought Mrs. Weasley since she likes to know where I am all the time. I'd never met Andromeda so I wasn't sure what she'd like.
"Twins, twins, twins. What to buy the twins…" I muttered to myself. They had their own joke shop, for Merlin's sake. It'd be kind of stupid to buy them joke stuff... I finally found matching shirts that read "I'm with stupid" with Arrows pointing in separate directions. "Perfect," I said smirking. That only left Hermione's parents and Hermione. Since Mr. and Mrs. Granger were muggles, I had no idea what to buy them. I decided to talk to Hermione about it that night and sleep on her present so I flooed home.
"Hermione?" I called when I arrived though the fireplace. When she didn't answer, I changed tactics. "Tibsy?" The house elf appeared in front of me.
"Yes, Mister Draco?" She squeaked.
"Where's Hermione?" I asked.
"Misses 'Mione is being in the pool with Mister Harry, Misses Ginny and young Master Alex."
"Thank you, Tibsy." The elf disappeared with a crack and I headed upstairs to change into my swim trunks.
After changing I went down to the pool. The pool was enclosed in a glass room between the east and west sides of the house. The house its self was shaped like a square horse shoe but with the pool it was simply a large square. The pool was magically heated so it was okay for swim all year round. I found Hermione, Potter and Ginny in the pool, playing with Alex. I walked around and jumped into the deep end then swam over to them.
"I need ideas on what to buy your parents, 'Mione." I said when I reached them.
"My parents? I wasn't aware you were buying them anything." She replied. She spun around, twirling Alex in a circle. Alex laughed and kicked his feet.
"I'm buying everyone Christmas presents." I said shrugging.
"Really? What are you getting me?" Ginny said excitedly. Potter wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You'll just have to wait and see." I told her. She stuck her tongue out at me and I couldn't resist doing the same. Potter laughed. "What are you laughing at Potter?"
"Nothing, nothing." He cleared his throat and burst into laughter again. Hermione looked at him strangely. "This situation is just… odd. I never thought I'd be at Malfoy Manor, having a blast with Draco Malfoy. Ron would have a cow." Hermione laughed a bit but quickly grew silent. Weasley died in the war protecting Ginny. A few tears slipped down Hermione's face. I went over and took her and Alex in my arms. I gently rubbed her back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Potter doing the same to Ginny.
"You know," I told them all. "I didn't know Weas… Ron well. Or at all really." I shrugged. "But from what I do know of him, I'm pretty sure he would want you all to be happy. He was your friend. He'd want you to remember all the fun times you had with him."
"I remember in fourth year," Ginny started. "He asked Fleur out. He was a mess afterwards." Potter laughed.
"Yeah, and in second year. He was terrified to go into the Forbidden Forest with me to visit Aragog. In third year, one night he woke up from a dream freaking out because spiders wanted him to tap dance." I snorted.
"He was a great friend." Hermione said quietly. Potter and Ginny nodded. "He and I fought a lot. But we were always able to fix things."
"McGonagall is probably reprimanding him on the other side right now." Potter said, laughing slightly.
"Yeah. And Tonks will be changing her face to make him laugh." Ginny added.
"Tonks? Nymphadora?" I asked.
"She hated being called Nymphadora." Hermione said.
"She was my cousin." I frowned. "I wish I could have known her."
"She had a son, you know." Harry told me.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Lupin has him."
"Maybe we should invite them to the Manor for Christmas. Mother invited her sister Andromeda to spend Christmas here as well, she'll be here tomorrow." I suggested.
"I think you should." Hermione said. We played with Alex in the pool for a while longer before heading inside. I asked Mum what I should get Aunt Andromeda and she suggested a penseive saying Andromeda had been wanting one for a while now. Hermione went back to Diagon Alley with me to find presents for her parents. We bought a book for her father called "So Your Child Is Magical" and for her mum we bought the same watch that I bought Mrs. Weasley and my mum. I also picked up a Penseive for Aunt Andromeda. Now I just had to buy Hermione's present. We also bought some toys for Teddy, Tonks and Lupin's son and a year's supply of Wolfsbane potion for Lupin.
***************
Lupin happily agreed to spend the rest of break with us and he arrived the next day, along with Andromeda. I was happy to meet my second cousin, Teddy, and get to know my Aunt Andromeda, or Aunt Andy as I had begun calling her. Teddy was a pretty cute little boy with Tonks's Metamorphmagus gene. When he was mad, his hair turned redder than Ginny's. Aunt Andy looked a lot like Aunt Bellatrix, without the craziness. She was really nice and hysterically funny.
Christmas morning came too soon. Hermione snuck into my room at 5am and put Alex right next to my head. Alex, of course, decided it would be funny to stick his finger in my ear.
"Argh!" I sat up in bed and glared at Hermione who was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. "Think that's funny do you?" She nodded. "Hmph." I pouted.
"Oh cheer up, grumpy. It's Christmas!" I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of green pajama pants over my black silk boxers. I grabbed Alex and followed Hermione down stairs.
"Happy Christmas!" Mum yelled as we walked into the sitting room.
"Happy Christmas, mum." I kissed her on the cheek and sat down next to Hermione with Alex in my lap. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Hermione's parents were already down here as were Lupin, Teddy and Aunt Andy. I frowned. "Come on, Alex. Let's go wake up Potter, Ginny and the twins." Alex giggled happily.
"Oh! I'll come with you. Come on Teddy. I think Harry can handle a jet of water, don't you?" Lupin picked Teddy up and followed me to Potter's room. I opened the door quietly, tiptoed over to his bed, and held up my hand. I counted to three on my fingers and we both whispered "Aguamenti" and Potter was hit in the face with two streams of water.
"AHHH!" he shot up out of bed sputtering while Lupin and I laughed loudly. He glared at us. "What the bloody hell was that for?!"
"Language, Potter. There's babies in the room!" I said, still laughing. "That's what you get for sleeping in on Christmas day." Lupin nodded and wiped his eyes.
"James used to do the same thing to Sirius and I. I thought it was only fair." Lupin said.
"Wanna help us get Ginny and the twins up?" I asked him. He grinned and got out bed, nodding.
We crept across the hall to Ginny's room and opened the door. It squeaked but she didn't move. Deciding to be nicer, Lupin and I put Teddy and Alex on the bed on either side of her to see what they'd do. Alex just laid his head on her stomach. Teddy, however, starting tapping her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open.
"What the…?" She sat up. "What are you guys doing?"
"Waking you up. Happy Christmas." Potter said. He walked over and gave her a kiss and I pretended to vomit.
"That's disgusting. Don't do it around my son." I quickly picked Alex up and turned him so he couldn't see the gross display. Ginny rolled her eyes and climbed out of bed.
"Are Fred and George awake yet?" She asked
"Nope, they're next." I told her.
"Excellent. I have the perfect idea." She went over to her trunk and pulled out a hand full of what looked like stuffed toilet paper rolls.
"What are those?" I asked.
"Firecrackers." She marched out of the room and we quickly followed. She stopped outside their room. "Put the boys down, you'll need both hands." Lupin and I set the boys down and cast a shield charm around them so they couldn't go anywhere. Then Ginny cast a sound proof charm around them. "This is going to be loud." She explained. "Now, what you do is light this string with your wand. Harry and I will toss ours by Fred's bed, Draco and Lupin, you toss yours by George's bed. Got it?" We all nodded and she handed us the firecrackers. She pushed the door open and we lined up in a row. She counted to three on her hand and we lit our strings at the same time and tossed them by the beds. Seconds later, bangs, whistles and colored sparks were flying everywhere.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Fred and George yelled together. As if in a mirror, they both fell off their beds, tangled in their covers. When the noises stopped and the smoke cleared, they yelled in perfect unison, "Bloody hell!" We were all on the floor laughing.
"Happy Christmas!" I laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked up to see Fred and George laughing as well.
"That was pretty good." One of them said. The other nodded. Lupin and I picked up the boys and we all headed down stairs to open presents and have breakfast.
"What was all that noise?!" Hermione asked when we came back down. We all laughed.
