Early the next morning, Draco dressed quickly and left a note to Hermione in case she woke up before he returned, though he prayed to Merlin that she would sleep for another hour. He apparated from his room to Diagon Alley as the shops began to open and went straight into the one he had in mind. Forty-five minutes later, Draco apparated back into the guest room and listened to see if anyone else was awake. He caught the faint scent of coffee and hoped no one had come to check on him. He stored the ornament, as well as a gift he had found, in his trunk and opened his door just as Hermione was about to knock.

"Oh! You're up. I was just coming to tell you that breakfast is ready," she said brightly.

"Is that coffee I smell?" he asked as they walked down the hall towards the stairs.

"Yes. Mum and dad love the stuff," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"I take it you don't like it?" he asked with a grin.

"No, I've never liked the taste. I take it you do though?" she asked as they rounded the bottom step and walked towards the kitchen.

Draco nodded, "Yes, with just a little bit of milk and sugar. Helps wake me up in the morning."

As they entered the kitchen they were greeted by Hermione's parents. Her mom had just finished putting food on the table and her father was busy reading the paper.

"Mugs are in the cabinet above the coffee maker and there's milk in the fridge and sugar in that jar right there," she said indicating to a little glass jar with a cute little pig head on top.

"What's with the pig stuff?" he asked conversationally.

"Oh, I think they're just the cutest little things!" said Mrs. Granger. "Joe here loves to get me anything that involves pigs because of it," she said as she kissed the top of her husband's head before heading over to her chair.

Draco filled a mug of coffee and added milk and sugar before joining the family at the table.

"When is everyone due to arrive?" asked Hermione as she scooped eggs onto her plate.

"After lunch sometime," said Mrs. Granger, buttering some toast.

"Are you making your famous honey glazed ham for dinner?" asked Hermione hopefully.

"It wouldn't be Christmas Eve dinner without it," her mother said, smiling at her.

"What kind of traditions do you have at your house for the holidays, Draco?" asked Mr. Granger, taking a bite of bacon.

Draco thought for a moment, wondering if his family really did anything that he would consider a tradition. "Well, the house elves always make cookies, gingersnaps being my favorite."

"House elves?" asked Mrs. Granger curiously, "You mean those poor creatures Hermione tried so hard to set free? Your family owns some?"

"I sure hope you treat them right," said Mr. Granger, frowning at Draco.

Hermione was about to intervene when Draco said to her, "It's ok Hermione…" he looked at Mr. Granger, "I promise that I treat them well, but unfortunately my father did not. In our culture, they are seen as something below us... a slave in a way. Since my father's imprisonment though, I've had to take over and I've changed a few things. I've even offered them wages but they refuse. It's the way of the house elf."

Hermione looked at him, stunned. She didn't know about any of this. She had this incredible urge to go around the table and hug him, but decided to hold off.

"Well that sounds like it's alright then… so you were saying, you have house elves?" prompted Mrs. Granger.

Draco nodded, "Yes, we have two of them; they've been around since before I was born I think. They make sure that the house is decorated to my Mother's standards for the holidays and there is a Christmas tree in almost every room of the house. The biggest of which is in the family room and reaches about fifteen feet tall. We don't usually exchange gifts until Christmas morning and we have a huge feast Christmas day. Usually too much food for just the three of us."

"You don't have family get togethers?" asked Mrs. Granger.

Draco shook his head, "No. Our family is kind of… estranged from each other now. I'm sorry to say that most of my family members do not have the best reputation. I'm trying to fix that though," he said, glancing at Hermione.

Mrs. Granger reached over and patted Draco's hand, surprising him. He glanced up at her and she gave him a warm smile, "You seem like a very nice boy, Draco. I'm glad Hermione has you as a friend."

His cheeks flushed slightly and he mumbled a thank you as he began to finally eat his breakfast.

The morning flew by and soon after lunch, the rest of Hermione's family started to arrive and Draco was shocked by the pure volume of people that were pouring into the house. The first to arrive was Mrs. Granger's parents, who Hermione affectionately called Papa Charlie and Grandma Abbie, followed soon by Mr. Granger's parents, Grandpa Jack and Gramma Naomi.

Then there was Uncle Michael, Mr. Granger's brother, and his wife Aunt Grace, with their three daughters, Betsy, Chloe, and Sophia who were twelve, ten, and eight respectively. Aunt Alice, Mrs. Granger's sister with her husband, Uncle Jasper, with their two children Aaron and Olivia who were sixteen and eleven, arrived soon after, followed closely by Uncle Andrew, Alice's twin brother, and his wife Aunt Charlotte, carting their two-year old twin boys, Wesley and Wyatt. She also seemed to be pregnant with another child but Draco dared not to ask.

There was noise, laughter, screaming, hugging, kissing, and hand shaking all around. Draco felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new people all at once and whispered to Hermione that he needed to step outside for moment. He grabbed his jacket and walked out to the front yard and took a deep, fresh breath of the icy cold air. It didn't take long for Hermione to join him, pulling on her own coat. "Are you ok?" she asked worriedly.

He nodded, "Yes. Just.. a lot of people all at once. I've never been hugged by so many strangers and they're all very nice.. I hope I don't mess anything up."

"Mess anything up?" she asked him.

"I just mean that I hope I don't say or do anything to offend anyone, that's all. And I doubt I can remember names."

"Oh Draco, they're not going to fault you for not remembering names," she said chuckling. When he still looked worried she said, "How about I make sure I'm near you all night and I'll help you, ok?"

"Promise?" he asked, grinning at her.

"Promise," she said, smiling back.

"It's not fair," pouted Olivia later that day. "I turned eleven a few months ago. Why didn't I receive a letter like you." The little girl was sulking on the couch next to Hermione.

"Livi, I've told you," said Hermione, stroking her cousin's curly hair, "Just like I told Betsy who asked the same question last year... not everyone in this family is going to be able to go to Hogwarts like me. I'm the first, maybe even the only one, in this family."

"I think I'm a witch!" said Chloe, springing up from the floor. Sophia, who was sitting on the floor next to her, chimed in, "Me too!"

"Yeah?" asked Hermione as Chloe sat on the other side of her, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I read people's minds!" she said, her eyes wide.

Draco chuckled from the other side of the couch.

"It's true!" Chloe said, rounding on him, "Watch, I'll show you…"

She closed her eyes and hummed to herself while facing Draco. Draco gave a questioning look towards Hermione who just shrugged and smiled. When Chloe opened her eyes she said, "You were thinking that… Hermione's dress is pretty!" she said enthusiastically.

Draco grinned at the little girl and nodded, "You're right. I do think it's pretty. You might just be a talented little witch after all," he said, tugging one of her blonde curls. Hermione's face turned pink but was soon distracted with her toddler cousins who were chasing each other with toy cars. "Wyatt, Wesley, you two be careful or you'll run into the coffee table again," she said warningly. They stopped and grinned at her, then continued to run around.

"They never listen," said Betsy, rolling her eyes. She took a glance at Draco and said, "So.. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Don't be stupid, Betsy. Hermione's his girlfriend," said Chloe, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not his girlfriend," said Hermione, shaking her head and smiling, "We're just friends."

Betsy's eyes widened at Hermione, then looked to Draco, her face turning pink.

"Can you show us a trick, Draco?" asked Sophia, getting up from the floor and making herself comfortable on Draco's lap. She batted her eyelashes sweetly at him.

"Oh, you're a cunning one aren't you? Trying to use your charms to talk me into doing magic," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, Hermione told me that you'd want me to do tricks all night if I let you talk me into it. Plus, we're not allowed since we're still in school."

"Awwwwwe," said Sophia, as she slid off his lap and back to the floor, where her toys were at.

"Do you have a wand too?" asked Olivia, perking up.

Draco nodded, "I do, yes."

"Can we see it? Hermione showed us her's," pleaded the little girl.

Draco looked to Hermione who shrugged, leaving it up to him. He reached into his back pocket and took out his wand.

"Wow!"

"Ooo!"

"Pretty!"

"Cool!"

"Can I try it?" asked Chloe, sweetly.

"Uh, I don't think so," chuckled Draco. "Besides, it won't work for you even if you are a witch," he said, tapping her nose gently the tip of his wand.

"What's the coolest thing you can do?" asked Aaron, who had been watching quietly from one of the arm chairs.

"Hm…." thought Draco out loud, "That's a tough one. I do like transfiguring things..." At the look of blank faces around, aside from Hermione, who was enjoying watching him interact with her cousins, he explained "That means turn something into something else… like a tea cup into a turtle."

"Why would you want to turn a tea cup into a turtle?" asked Betsy, then turned pink when Draco turned to her.

"I don't know, it was just an example," he said, grinning at her, making her turn even more pink.

Aaron nodded, "Cool," he said, then he took out his walkman from his pocket, put the earbuds in his ears, and started listening to music.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "He always has those things in his ears."

"Children, dinner's ready!" called Mrs. Granger from the kitchen. The little girls and twin toddlers ran towards the kitchen. Aaron, seeing everyone had fled elsewhere, followed closely behind.

"I think Betsy is smitten with you," said Hermione, as she and Draco and got up from the couch at the same time.

Draco smirked, "Well of course. I mean, can you blame her?"

Hermione laughed, "No, not really." She started picking up toys that her cousins left on the floor and Draco helped her. When they were done, she stood up and faced him. He smiled and leaned in so that only she could hear, "Too bad I already have eyes for one of her other cousin's." He kissed Hermione's reddening cheek softly before making his way to the kitchen.

"Oh boy.." whispered Hermione to herself, placing a hand on her stomach to calm the butterflies. She waited until she was sure her face was back to normal coloring before she, too, entered the very noisy and busy kitchen.

"Alright, who wants to open presents?" asked Mr. Granger. There was a chorus of children chanting, "Me! Me! Me! Me!" It was an hour after dinner and the dessert portion of the meal had just ended and all the parents knew that the children were starting to get antsy to open presents. "Alright then, everyone choose a seat on the floor," said Mrs. Granger. Everyone, adults and children alike, except for the four elderly grandparents who sat on the couch, took a spot on the floor. "Ok, who would like to help hand out presents?" The little kids raised their hands and much to Sophia's delight, she was chosen.

Draco sat crossed legged on the floor next to Hermione. There seemed to be an unspoken rule that no one was allowed to open presents until all them were passed out. Draco put his hand in his pocket, feeling the gift he had for Hermione and wondered if he should give it her now or later in private. Before he could decide, Sophia had run up to him and handed him a gift, "This one's for you," she said sweetly.

Surprised, Draco took it, "Thank you."

He held the simple rectangular box in his hand, wondering why he received a gift. He leaned to Hermione and said, "I wasn't expecting to get any gifts…" he said.

"My parents didn't want you to feel left out," she said simply.

"I didn't get anything for them though.."

"Draco, it's alright. Don't worry about it, ok?" she said, then turned to accept another gift that Sophia handed her.

Draco had received five gifts all together, one from each set of family that was there. He looked around the room at the smiling faces and was enjoying watching the kids who were finally given permission to open their presents.

Wrapping was flying everywhere with excited voices declaring the present they received. He almost forgot about his own until Hermione leaned over and whispered, "Are you going to open yours?"

He looked down and opened the smallest one on top, which ended up being an ornament… a green graduation cap with a silver scroll on top.. a diploma, he realized. He looked over and saw that Hermione had received a similar one but with a red cap and gold diploma. "Thanks Mum and dad! I love it!" she said, getting up and adding the ornament to the tree.

Draco placed his beside him and opened the next one, which was the first present handed to him earlier. He tore into wrapping and read the box underneath it: "Gingerbread House kit."

Hermione glanced over, "Oh! I love making those!" She glanced at the wrapping and saw that it was from one of her grandparents, "Mum must have told her parents that you liked Gingersnaps and confused it with Gingerbread," she explained.

He smiled at the present, "I remember doing these as a child… it's been forever. And really, gingersnaps are just smaller versions of gingerbread cookies. It's all the same." He set it aside and opened the other ones in his pile: a pair of hunter green leather gloves from Mr. Granger's parents; a muggle board game called Monopoly from Michael, Grace, and the three girls; a silver cufflink and tie clip set from Jasper, Alice, and their two kids; and last, from Andrew, Charlotte, and the twin boys, a handmade crocheted scarf in dark green, that almost matched perfectly with the new gloves he got.

Draco looked around the room, at all the happy, smiling faces around him. He couldn't believe that these people, mere strangers who he had just met only a few hours ago, all got him gifts. They may seem like simple, generic gifts to anyone else, but to him, he knew he'd cherish each and every one of them. As the other adults started picking up all the wrapping from floor, he got up and thanked them for their gifts; the women hugged him and kissed his cheek, the men shook his hand, a genuine smile on their faces. Draco wasn't just falling in love with Hermione, but with her whole family as well.

A/N: I had so much fun writing Hermione's family! Stay tuned for more of them in the next chapter!