December 2001

The snow was piling up outside. The holidays were fast approaching. I'd already told my family we would not be coming, not that they had invited us. My father's exact response had been something like, "Why would we want you over?" Besides that charming interaction, the winter had not been going that badly. I had been promoted and had moved to the second floor with creature related injuries. I was looking into studying magical healing at the university in town. Everything was generally looking up. My plan had been to spend the holidays with Harry, getting him the perfect gift (not that I knew what that was) and cuddling in front of the fire. But, naturally, since I had some sort of expectation it had to be shattered.

"So, do you want to go with me to the Weasleys' for Christmas?" He asked me a week before Christmas while we were both reading quietly in the living room.

I let my head fall back on the couch and placed my book face down against my chest. "Harry, Christmas is in seven days. Why didn't you bring this up sooner?"

"I was talking to Ginny about it. Trying to figure out when and who was coming, and mostly trying to decide whether or not it would be appropriate for you to come with me. I told her flat out I wouldn't go without you and she talked to her family. They said they'd be happy to have you come with me."

"Harry…" I sighed, shutting my eyes and rubbing at my temple. "They probably only agreed begrudgingly. I doubt if they're really that welcoming of me. Malfoys and Weasleys have hated each other for generations. That's not likely to change."

"It will if they get to know you, and clearly some of them are willing. I don't think they agreed to have you over because of me." Harry argued.

"They want you over. You said you would only come by if I could come as well, so they ultimately decided to agree to it because they care more about seeing you than me."

"Teddy will be there." Harry interrupted me.

My eyes widened a bit in surprise. "Really? Why?"

"He's sort of like family. Andromeda doesn't have anyone else to spend the holidays with, and given that we've already spent a couple holidays with them it's just become routine. I thought you might want to meet your sort-of cousin. I think that persuaded them to have you over more than anything, so you could get a chance to meet him."

It occurred to me that my mother had never once considered inviting her older sister over for the holidays. Were they really so hostile with each other? I had never even met her. I had no idea who she really was, all I knew was that she was my aunt and was taking care of my cousin. My cousin — who was also my boyfriend's godson. Magic families are always rather strange amd interconnected. "I mean, I suppose if they are at least partially willing to have me over it would be rude to not go."

"Precisely. And the last thing you need is for the Weasleys to think you're rude."

"Considering they all hate me already?"

"They don't all hate you." Harry sighed, we had had this conversation before. "Ginny and Ron are fine with it now. Charlie is fine with it too, and I doubt Bill or Fleur care much."

"But Molly and Arthur are predisposed to hate me because of my father."

"They don't hate anybody, Draco. There are just certain people they trust less than others." Harry tried to rationalize.

"Yeah, and I'm one of those people they don't trust."

Harry sighed and took my book and put it face down on the table.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get you to shut up." He explained as he crawled over into my lap. "You're going to go one way or another, and there's no point working yourself up into a tizzy about it. So, as I said, shut up." He pressed his lips against mine and I pretty quickly lost all of my thoughts about the Weasleys and the holidays.

But while Harry was able to distract me then, I wasn't able to avoid it completely. The day finally came and I woke up with butterflies in my stomach. I stood in front of the closet for far too long that evening, unable to decide what to wear.

"Oh just throw on a shirt and jeans." Harry said irritably as he changed behind me in his usual stupid attire of plain clothes.

"Is a suit too much?"

"Yes, you'll just look pretentious in the company of the casually dressed."

"I hate wearing jeans. Can I wear slacks?"

"Merlin's beard, just let me do it." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. He nudged me away from the closet and pulled out some clothes and handed them to me, "Wear this. Just put it on, trust me." I sighed and did as he said, trying my best to not scrutinize the clothing until it was on my body. I buttoned the crisp, white shirt up all the way and turned to Harry, "Well?"

He smirked, "Mm, too attractive." He stepped forward and tried messing my hair up. "Oh no, that only makes it worse." He smoothed it back down. "Maybe untucking the shirt?" He yanked at the shirt and pulled it out from my jeans. He leaned back and looked me over again. "Damn. Still too attractive." He smiled and pulled me close to him and kissed me sweetly.

"Can't we just stay in bed all day instead of going over there?"

"As much as I would love to do nothing but shag all day, we did already tell them that we are coming over. And you know I keep my word." He reminded me. "Just try not to look so damn attractive all night."

I couldn't help but smile, "I don't know what I'm doing that's so attractive."

"Existing."

"Oh shut it, you're terrible." I laughed, nudging him away. "Alright, let's get this over with then, shall we?"

"One more," He insisted. He pulled me back in and kissed me. He always said one more, but whenever he did he really meant three, four, five times more. He finally broke away, "Okay, no. I need to stop now or I won't be able to resist much longer."

"You flatter me so. Now, come on. Take us there before I chicken out." I encouraged. He took my hand in his and turned on the spot.

We reappeared a hundred feet away from the Weasley household. "Welcome to the Burrow." Harry said kindly. We had not dressed for the cold, and quickly scurried through the snow to the front door. But I couldn't help but notice just how large The Burrow was. I had always assumed it was a cramped cabin at best. But apparently not. It certainly was nothing extravagant, but it looked comfortable. Unlike my estate that looked (and was) cold and meaningless. Harry didn't even knock on the front door, he just reached for the handle and stepped inside. The second my foot touched down over the threshhold I felt the warmth of the room surround me. It was a ridiculously cozy atmosphere.

"Ha-wee!" A little voice cried. I looked over and saw a little blue haired boy struggling out of the arms of my aunt. I gasped sharply, thinking it was Bellatrix. But the smile that came across her face as she put the little boy down on the floor made it clear it wasn't her. It was Andromeda. The little blue haired boy waddled across the floor toward Harry, who knelt down and scooped him up. "Hello, Teddy!" He was grinning so fondly as he looked at the boy. "How's my boy been?" The toddler responded in gibberish, but Harry nodded and went along with it as if he understood him. Andromeda walked over toward us but looked right past Harry to me.

"You look just like your mother." She said to me with a weak smile, "It's nice to meet you at last, Draco. I don't suppose you're the hugging type?"

I felt my cheeks warm slightly, curious as to why on earth she would want to hug a perfect stranger even if I was her nephew, "No, not really."

She held out her hand, "Well then, a handshake it'll be."

"It is nice to finally meet you. I apologize for not trying to reach out sooner." I explained quickly as we shook hands.

"Oh, don't fret yourself over that." She said sweetly, turning her attention to Teddy, "Teddy, meet your cousin Draco!" Her voice went up a couple of octaves when she talked to him, making her sentences sound like they all ended in exclamation points.

"You want to hold him?" Harry asked as he handed him to me, not waiting for my response. I had had every intention of saying no. I had expected this to happen. But I would have bet anything that Harry knew I would try to resist and that was why he pushed him onto me anyway. I wasn't sure how to hold him. I had never held a child in my life. I held him a foot away from my body but he wriggled in my arms. "Let him on your hip, that helps." Andromeda suggested politely. I tried to do as she said, his legs falling on either side of my body. He leaned against me and looked up at me curiously. His hand reached out and tugged at my hair. He cooed at me, "Naw boo!"

I looked over at Andromeda, completely befuddled by his language.

"He's always amazed that other people don't have blue hair." She explained with a proud smile.

I looked back at Teddy and watched as his hair turned pale blonde to match my own. He patted his hair and then reached out and tugged mine again. Even his eyes slowly turned blue like mine. "Dwaco!" He giggled playfully.

"Well isn't that a sight?"

I looked away from my little clone in my arms to see Ron walking into the room with Hermione. Both of them stared at us, but with very different expressions. Hermione looked oddly delighted and Ron just appeared to be confused. More gingers appeared in the room, bringing in a few plates of desserts. My face turned crimson and I quickly handed Teddy off to Andromeda. His hair and eyes turned back to their natural shade quickly. I couldn't help but fold my arms across my chest. Harry discreetly nudged me, and I knew he was telling me to try and look more friendly. I forced my arms apart, but shoved my hands in the pockets of the denim he had made me wear. A plump red headed woman crossed the room toward us. We still had not moved more than a foot from the front door. She had a warm smile on her face but I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable from the look in her eyes.

"Harry, lovely to see you as always." She enthused as she reached out and hugged him tight in her arms. She clearly saw him as a son. This was much more significant than having met Harry's dead parents. This was clearly his family now. She let Harry go and turned toward me, "And a happy Christmas to you, Draco." She didn't seem to know what to do with herself. She looked like she instinctively wanted to hug me, but knew not to. She didn't want to shake my hand either. So she ultimately seemed to decide on a curt nod of the head.

"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Weasley." I said as politely as I could. I felt ridiculous.

"You haven't met most of us yet, have you?" She asked kindly.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm afraid I'm only really familiar with Ron and Hermione." I admitted, glancing and nodding toward them.

"Well, allow me to introduce you then." She said, gesturing for me to follow her around the room. Her husband appeared first. "This is Arthur, I'm — sure you know of him." I had heard only terrible things about him, none of which were likely true. We shook hands briefly, and he gripped my hand a bit too tight and continued to frown my way. He was clearly somewhat displeased at my presence in his house. I was then introduced to her number of children, and their dates. It was a dizzying array of gingers that I could not keep track of, all of their names blending together. The only one who stuck in my memory was George. His missing ear made him easy to identify. Another baby circulated among them, apparently the child of the eldest.

With introductions out of the way, everyone seemed to relax and fall back into their previous positions. Some of the Weasleys returned to what appeared to be the kitchen on the other side of the wide fireplace. Teddy went from one lap to the next, making his hair and eye color change with each of them to mimic them. Harry sat in a loveseat and pulled me along with him. I sat stiff as a board beside him. I felt really uncomfortable, and I didn't feel like I could relax against Harry without being judged for it. I had to pretend as if we weren't a couple, as if I didn't desperately want to lean into his side and rest my head on his shoulder or wrap my arm around him. It would attract too much attention from them, from people who already didn't like me. I didn't need to give them any more reason to dislike me.

Teddy crawled over to Hermione and Ron sitting on the other loveseat across the room. He pulled himself up into Hermione's lap. She scooped him up, "Hello, Teddy. How are you today?" He didn't say anything, he just laughed and his hair morphed into long curly brown locks. It looked positively ridiculous on the small child. Everyone laughed, myself included. A plate of sugar cookies rotated around the room, being passed from chair to couch to chair. Ginny happened to be seated in a chair on my side of the room and handed me the plate. I couldn't help but make eye contact. She smiled at me and it surprised me so much that my hand slipped and the plate crashed to the floor. The little snowmen and trees went flying off the plate and onto the carpet. Thankfully, the plate didn't break. Everyone turned and stared. I quickly grabbed my wand from my pocket and fixed the mess. The dust flew right off the treats and returned to the plate, which I quickly sent across the room onto the table in the middle. "Sorry," I mumbled shyly. Nobody said anything, everyone just continued to gawk awkwardly at me. Teddy finally broke the silence with his tiny voice, "It okay." I glanced at him and he smiled cheerfully before going back to playing with Hermione and Ron. Their attention diverted back to the child and I took the opportunity to slip off the couch.

I could feel Harry's eyes following me. I had no idea where to go, having never been in this house before. So I opted to just casually slip out the front door again into the cold air. It had been getting too hot in there anyway. Nobody seemed to notice me leaving or object to it. I took a few steps away from the door and unbuttoned the collar of my shirt. I tipped my head back and looked up at the stars and tried to find my star. My eyes roamed through the familiar heavens. I spotted my star quicker than I expected. I took a deep breath as I looked at the star burning brightly so far away. I heard the door open behind me.

"Please don't make me go back in there, Harry."

"I won't."

I jumped and spun around to see Ginny standing there, crossing her arms to hold out against the cold.

"Hey." She said with a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm not here to yell at you. I know you're probably thinking I am, but I swear I'm not."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did yell at me. I deserve it."

"No you don't." Ginny said frankly, "You haven't done anything wrong. Well, not lately anyway." She smirked.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Yes. Can't help it. Old habits die hard and all that." She explained as she moved to stand beside me. She glanced up at the stars for a moment before looking over at me. "Just so you know, I don't have any issues with you."

I let out a soft sigh of relief, "Well, as lovely as that is, it seems like your family still has issues with me."

"I know. I'm sorry. They look at you and they see your father. You do look uncannily like him after all."

I shook my head, "I know. I can't stand it. I'm not him. I'm not that man anymore."

"Clearly. You're way too polite to be the same Draco. The old you would have walked in and insulted us until you were blue in the face. I think they have to recognize how different you are from your family, how different you are in general." Ginny explained. "Give them a chance. They'll warm up to you before you know it. We Weasleys tend to be more open minded than other pure blood families."

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in."

"Come on, we should head back in there. You can't hide from them forever."

"Can I ask you something before we go back?" I asked abruptly, nearly cutting her off. She nodded. "Does it make you uncomfortable that I'm here with him? I mean — if I just held his hand would you feel uncomfortable?"

She coughed and looked away for a moment. "I'm not uncomfortable that you're here with him. I've come to terms with it. I dunno, holding hands probably won't put a dagger in my heart. Just don't kiss him in front of me. I don't know if I can handle that much. I will some day I'm sure, but not today."

"Thank you. I just — I don't want to make anyone feel weird here."

"Well, a little late for the weirdness. But that's to be expected. Come on, rip the bandage off, let's go." She insisted, turning and heading back inside. I had no choice but to follow. I didn't want anyone to wonder why I was just staying outside by myself like a freak. We both sat back down in our respective spots, but nobody paid us any mind.

Harry immediately reached out for my hand and squeezed it tight, mumbling under his breath, "Everything alright?"

"For now anyway." I whispered back.

General chatter pervaded the room for some time, most of which I stayed out of, though Harry would say things from time to time. Even when I had something I could have said, I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want any attention. It was not long after I came back inside, however, before Mrs. Weasley called us to dinner. The crowd in the living room moved to the kitchen en masse. The table was as long as the one in my own house but was far livelier. Miscellaneous, mismatching chairs lined it on either side. The table itself was barely visible beneath mounds and hills of food. It was enough to feed a small army. Granted, there was a good fifteen or so people in the house but it still seemed like way too much food.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat at either end of the table and their many children began to take their seats. Andromeda sat near one end with a high chair that she plopped Teddy down in. I waited for Harry to find his seat and quickly slipped down beside him. Under the table I reached out and held his hand tight in mind. It was more like a vice grip. He didn't flinch or shy away from it. He just let me hold him as tight as I needed to, even if it was cutting off the blood flow to his fingertips. To my surprise, everyone just started grabbing at food immediately without waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Weasley to start first. It was clearly a far less formal family than my own. Not that I minded. If anything, I preferred it. I let go of Harry and cautiously took some helpings of the food in front of me.

Mrs. Weasley sat only a few chairs away from us, Ron and Hermione sitting between us. She happened to glance over at my plate, "Draco, please, help yourself. We have plenty to go around. There's no need to stand on ceremony."

"I'm not used to having this much food." I explained with a mild blush as I reached out and took more helpings.

"How's that? Your family's stinking rich, why wouldn't you have much food?" Ron asked bluntly. I could hear Hermione hiss at him to be nice.

"It's fine, Hermione." I said simply. "We just didn't eat much. Small meal sizes and all. Why do you think I was always so skinny?"

"That explains the general lack of cheerfulness." George remarked across the table with a smirk, "Anyone who can't eat freely can't be that happy." He said just before shoving an entire roll into his mouth.

"George, you can afford some manners at least." Mrs. Weasley rebuked him.

He wasn't wrong though. The general lack of cheer in my house may not have been caused strictly by our lean diets but it certainly didn't help.

Mrs. Weasley turned her attention back to me after reprimanding George, "You eat as much as you like, Draco. If you want only a little, have just a little. If you want to eat the whole table, you go right ahead."

"Oh, I think you've won her over already." Ginny laughed. "Mum can't resist the urge to nurture anybody, especially not the hungry."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head but she smiled without denying it. I wondered if it was the case that she was already thinking differently of me by knowing a little bit about my family life. If only she knew just how lifeless our family meals really were.

"I can only imagine how dour those meals must have been." Andromeda added as if reading my mind. "Let me guess, nobody speaks unless he does?"

"Not really, no." I admitted.

"That's how it was in my house too, once upon a time. So strict and rigid. Mealtimes were never happy times. It's no fun being raised in a climate like that." Andromeda sympathized. The look she gave me was almost uncomfortably motherly. It was not unlike the look my mother gave me from time to time. I was sure my mum didn't like how uncomfortably tense our dinners as a family were either, but she probably didn't feel like she could do anything about it.

"Wait, you ate your dinners in silence?" One of the elder ginger men asked. I couldn't figure out which one it was. Billy? Charles? Perseus?

I nodded, "Yeah, mostly. My parents aren't really conversationalists."

"Well, that explains a lot." Ron quipped.

"Ronald, honestly." Hermione sighed beside him.

"I'm just saying, anyone that grows up in that strict of a home might have a hard time being a cheery person." Ron shrugged.

"No, you're right." I said simply. I appreciated Ron's ability to be frank. "A lot of the reason I was … the way I was, is because of my parents. But things are different now." I glanced at Harry and couldn't help but smirk, "Obviously."

This made most of them laugh, Harry especially. It was so absurd. I, a Malfoy, was eating at the Weasley table with a Potter. What an odd world it was indeed. The conversation naturally diverted away from me and into various topics. Butterbeers were passed around as people went for second helpings of food. I didn't bother with actual food in my second round, and opted for a plate of desserts instead, gladly taking a butterbeer when it was passed to me. Not surprisingly, the conversation eventually turned to Quidditch.

"So, Ron, are you going to stop supporting the Cannons so you can support your beloved sister's team instead?" Ginny asked just before taking a swig of butterbeer.

"Are you out of your mind? Of course not." He said proudly.

"How very rude," She laughed.

"Oh, Ron, don't get all high and mighty. The Chudley Cannons are one of the worst teams, if you supported the Harpies instead at least you would have more victories to celebrate." George pointed out.

"Hey, they Canons have won the cup twenty one times!" He argued passionately.

"Oh, right, when was the last one?" Harry asked with a smile, knowing full well what the answer was.

"1892!" Ginny cackled.

"They're bound to make a comeback any day. My loyalty to them will be rewarded on that day, mark my words." Ron said melodramatically.

"Oh, give it a rest. You know damn well the Cannons ain't gonna win a thing." One of the elder gingers, the scruffy looking one, slurred.

"Oi, Draco, which team?" Ginny asked good naturedly.

"Puddlemere United, but I wouldn't mind watching a Harpies game. They are a wonderful team, and I'm sure you do amazingly with them."

"Of course I do." She said proudly. "But Puddlemere isn't half bad either."

"Oh, rubbish." The scruffy ginger piped in. "They're doing perfectly wretched this season. Their team's gone downhill since their keeper dropped out."

"It's an off season, I'll admit." I added, "But I'm still going to root for them."

"See? What's wrong with being loyal?" Ron said, "If Draco can be loyal to Puddlemere in an off season, why can't I to the Cannons?"

"Because the Cannons have been having an off season for over a hundred years." George mocked with a laugh.

I couldn't help but notice Hermione, Fleur, and Andromeda exchanging looks of total boredom. They were actually mouthing words at each other, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, however, seemed thoroughly amused by the bickering over the sport. When it started to get out of hand with insults being thrown between the brothers, Mrs. Weasley intervened. "That's enough, boys!" She yelled over their tantrums. They slowly settled down and she called their attention back to her, "Okay, okay, now that you've calmed down perhaps you'd all like your gifts then?"

I glanced at Harry nervously. He just smiled and didn't say anything. Everyone agreed that their meals were finished and they would all love to get their gifts. The table was cleared with a flick of her wand, and with another swish, several packages came floating from elsewhere in the house into the room. Each wrapped item gracefully landed in front of us. Much to my surprise, there was even one for me. Everyone started tearing the wrapping paper to bits. I delicately took the wrapping apart, undoing it one strip of tape at a time. I did not notice what the others had, I only focused on carefully opening my own. Finally, the paper fell aside and floated to the ground to reveal a folded up sweater. It was clearly hand knit. The yarn was a deep emerald green, with a silver "D" inscribed in the middle of the chest. I looked up and realized everyone else had put on similar looking sweaters. Harry pulled his on over his head. It was a deep purple with a white "H" in the middle. I looked over at Mrs. Weasley. She just smiled over at me. I didn't deserve it. I didn't understand why she had made it. Perhaps it was just so I didn't feel excluded. Regardless, I felt honored. I nodded my thanks to her before slipping it on over my shirt. It was far comfier than anything else I owned. The yarn was soft as could be.

Desserts continued to be passed around, along with more bottles of butterbeer. I could feel myself loosening and relaxing in my seat. But it began to get late. Teddy became fussy and started to cry and Andromeda decided it was best if she left. She bid a goodbye to everyone, but stopped to come over to me. "It was lovely to get to know you, Draco. If you ever wish to visit, please do. Teddy would love to know his cousin better, and I can't deny that I would enjoy getting to know you better as well." This was the closest I had ever been with any of my family, and I had only just met her. It was a curious thing. I assured her I would have to visit soon. She went off into the living room and travelled through floo powder back home.

As the night drew on, guests began to tire out and head to bed. With no extra room in a house that already was home to too many people, Harry and I decided it was time for us to go home as well. Harry stood, and I followed suit, though my balance was a bit off from the butterbeer.

"We really ought to be going, Molly." Harry said.

"Oh, I wish you could stay."

"You know there's no room, mum." Ron mumbled around a cake.

"I suppose not." Molly admitted, standing and coming around to our side of the table. She reached out and hugged Harry again, patting him on the back, "You come by whenever you like, love. I miss you, you know."

"I know, Molly. I'll try to come home more often." He assured her as they pulled apart.

She turned to me and sighed with a content smile, "Well. You're certainly not what I had expected. But it's obvious you're not the same as your family. It was wrong of me to judge you for what your father has done. You're a good lad. I know you're not a hugger, but would you mind terribly if I asked for a hug?"

"I wouldn't mind at all." I insisted.

Her arms wrapped around me and I felt as if I was being surrounded in a protection charm, as if nothing could hurt me again. My mother loves me, fiercely. But she never could hug me like Molly Weasley. "You take good care of him, alright? Keep him out of trouble." She murmured to me.

"I promise I will."

She pulled away after this, but I still felt oddly protected by her presence. "Alright boys, now you take the floo system home, alright? Never apparate while tipsy, that's a sure fire way to splinch yourselves."

"Yeah, Molly, I know." Harry laughed, taking my hand, "I was planning on taking the floo system anyway. Bye everyone!" He called as we started to head out of the room. Everyone waved goodbye and was generally merry as we left. He led us back around the corner into the living room and threw the powder into the fire. We stepped through and straight back into our home back in London.

"Well, that was quite a night, wasn't it?" Harry asked with a yawn cutting off his sentence.

"Yes, it was." I said, unable to hide my general cheer.

"See, I told you they would like you once they got to know you."

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in." I laughed and started to head toward the hall when I recalled, "Oh! I have something for you. Go sit down, I'm gonna grab it."

"I don't need any gifts, Draco." He argued but he sat down on the couch anyway as I disappeared into the kitchen. I had hid it inside my medicine cabinet. A little wrapped package waited for me within. I quickly grabbed it and headed back to the living room. I plopped down on the couch next to him and handed him the little silver wrapped box.

"We never talked about getting gifts, you know."

"I know. It's okay if you didn't get me anything though." I assured him.

He smiled, "Are you kidding? Of course I did." He bent over and slipped a small box out from under the couch, passing it over to me. "You first."

"Why me?"

"Because I said so, just do it."

I rolled my eyes but did as he asked. Again, I was delicate in undoing the wrappings. He didn't complain though, he just waited patiently. I carefully opened the box within and instantly blushed. "Harry, what the hell?" I sputtered as I stared down at the black thong inside.

He burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, I really couldn't help it."

I leaned over and lightly punched at his arm, "You're such an arse."

"No, no, take it out, there's something else in there!" He insisted.

I sighed and took the thong out, setting it on the armrest awkwardly. There was no way in hell I was wearing that thing. Underneath the silly gift was a much smaller box inside. When I opened this one it revealed a single coin with "D.A." scrawled on it. The coin had been given a pinned back, making it wearable.

"I know you can't wear any sort of jewelry on the job, but I know you're allowed pins on your scrubs. We still had a couple of spare D.A. coins. You might as well be an honorary member of Dumbledore's Army now, I reckon. And, hey, in the very least it'll be like having me with you at work and such." He was fumbling over his words and he seemed a bit embarrassed. I took it out and ran my thumb over it.

I looked over at him and beamed, "Thank you. I — I always was a bit jealous of the Army."

"Well, no need to be now. I can teach you what I taught them all of those years ago sometime, if you like."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I do."

I safely put the pin back in its box and placed it on the coffee table before moving closer to Harry and kissing him sweetly. "You've no idea how much that means to me."

"Oh, I have an idea."

"Shush, open yours now." I said eagerly. I had put an incredible amount of thought into it, and it had taken so long to put together.

He tore off the wrapping paper and looked at the box curiously. It was a giant matchbox. "What's this all about?"

"Do you remember our second year when we went to duel? Lockhart wanted you to team up with Ron, but Snape insisted that if you tried to duel with his broken wand you'd end up in the hospital wing in a matchbox."

He looked at me with a raised brow, "You remembered that tiny detail?"

My blush returned, "Yeah. Sorry, it's a bit obscure."

"No, it's perfectly like you to remember the little things." He said before turning back to the box. He slid the box out and saw a swatch of black cloth. He picked it out, revealing a number of trinkets beneath it. He ran the fabric through his hands and looked at me curiously.

"It's from my first year robes, from when we met at Madame Malkin's for the first time, before I knew who you were." I explained.

He smiled and put it aside to retrieve more items from the box. He laughed as he took out a little white ferret doll. "Oh this is too precious." He chuckled, smoothing the soft hairs down across the little toy. "You even got him a friend!" He kept laughing as he took out a little hippogriff made to look just like Buckbeak. "God, the look on your face when Buckbeak attacked you was priceless. You were so careless in trying to show off."

"I know. Keep digging around in there." I encouraged.

He pulled out a couple pins of his own, one being a replica of my Inquisitorial squad badge (which was rather ironic and made him laugh far too much) and the other being a simple Slytherin pin. "Since our first date was a Quidditch match where Slytherin won, it seemed appropriate." I explained. He pulled out a small snitch replica in honor our many matches against each other while in school.

"Now what's this?" He asked, picking out a small bottle.

"Little bit of bubble bath liquid." I smirked.

He looked over at me and grinned, "Really? For our time in the prefect's bath?" I nodded. He shook his head at me and pulled out a similar glass vial of a dark liquid, "What about this then?"

"It's a solution to counter the effects of a stinging jinx."

His cheery smile shifted into something different. He ran his thumb over the glass and looked over at me. "You really went all out with this didn't you?"

"Why don't you look at the last couple of things in there?" I said, not answering his question on purpose.

He put the various trinkets to rest on the table in front of us and returned to the remaining items in the giant matchbox. The last bottle was labelled as firewhiskey. "This isn't for that first night here is it?"

"Of course it is."

"Well, we're definitely drinking that later." He said as he put it on the table with the rest of the items. He reached down and pulled out the last item. It was some folded up papers. He opened them up and immediately smiled to himself. It was a copy of the letter I had sent him after the battle. "I can't believe I never bothered to reply to this. I can't believe I didn't realize how I felt then." While he was reading over the letter again, I reached out with my wand and silently cast a revealing charm. The ink shifted and molded into an entirely different, new note.

Harry,

Our history is what brought us to our present, and I'll always be grateful for every memory I have with you. No matter how ugly or unpleasant some of them may be, they all brought us to where we are today and I wouldn't change that for all the world.

Here's to making more memories than can't be contained in a little box, to having many more Christmases like this one.

I love you, with all that I am.

Draco

His hand covered his mouth suddenly but I could tell he was still smiling. He folded the letter back up and put it down on the table. He looked over at me and I could see his eyes had misted over a bit. I couldn't help but smile, "Too cheesy?"

"No, it's fucking perfect." He said quickly before wrapping his arms around me and kissing me deeply.