"There's no letting up today, is there?" Scorpius sat at the the breakfast table, glumly looking out at the storm blowing before the window

"Not today, I'm afraid" Draco glanced up from his morning paper, "The post had to send out our Daily Prophet through the Floo Network earlier"

"Did we get anything else?" asked Scorpius, "I've been waiting on my Quibbler"

From out behind his paper, without looking up, Draco flipped out a fresh looking Magazine just waited to be a ruffled through.

"Wicked!" Scorpius jumped up with delight to grab it

Draco muffled a chuckle to himself, the boy sure loved his conspiracy filled tabloid fix, that was for sure.

Narcissa sat to the other end of the table, a needle in her hand quietly stitching away at a fine embroidery piece, "With the post coming by Floo, that solves the soot mystery in our carpet then"

"How come we don't travel anywhere by Floo Powder?" Scorpius sat himself before his plate, "Almost everywhere has a fireplace, and we've never kept the stuff anywhere"

"It's not becoming, Scorpius" Narcissa's tone was lecture like, "It's dirty, most wizards using the network look disheveled coming out covered in soot, and it's not an appropriate means of transportation for wizards such as ourselves"

A light sound of footsteps began to fill the room, as they came closer and closer through the doorway, "Good Morning"

Draco immediately looked up from over the top of his paper, feeling a slight thump hit against the inside of his chest.

"Good morning Dear!" Narcissa chimed

(Y/N) took a seat at the table across from Scorpius, scooting herself in closer to the edge. Draco lowered his paper, showing his face across the table, she had changed since earlier from their conversation.

"Good Morning (Y/N)" he gave a smile before glancing back between her and his paper

Everyone simultaneously seemed to look up at him, he wasn't a man to address too many so personally outside his own inner circle. Scorpius looked from (Y/N) back to his father, quizzically, before slowly burying himself back into his Quibbler.

"Good Morning, Draco" she simply smiled, and reached for the pot of tea nested toward the center of the table.

He could almost feel his mother from the far end of the room gloriously smirking to herself, half curious and half inquisitive as she quickly stole a glance toward her son.

Draco would let her enjoy this moment, but not give into her whimsical fancy too deeply. He furrowed a brow bemusedly to her before bringing his Daily Prophet back up.

...

You poured yourself a piping hot cup, looking over the spread of the table at toast, eggs, sausages, bacon, and fruits. It all smelled so heavenly, it was indeed a perfect morning to stay indoors for a hearty breakfast if any.

"You've gotten a load of letters this morning, (Y/N)" you heard Scorpius from over his reading, "just right there"

Looking at your surroundings, you had noticed a curious stack of envelopes that had been tied neatly under a ribbon of deep red. You had wondered where all of your mail might have been for the past week or so.

"We've taken the liberty of informing the post to have your letters forwarded here for the remainder of our stay" you heard Draco fold up his paper, placing it upon the table.

"Thank you, its quite appreciated" you nodded, picking up the small shuffled stack. Untying the ribbon, the first envelope on top was a brilliant white, stamped in gold foil lettering, with a beautiful border around the edges.

"(Y/N) Crowe"

You turned it over, laying a finger under the seal in order to tear it open. Inside, a small stock weight letter opened up to reveal the same golden foil stamped lettering on the inside.

"Ambassador Barnabas Buckley requests the pleasure of your company, to attend the Annual Winter Gala. To be held on Friday, December 25th, at Eight o' Clock in the evening. Formal Attire Required"

"Oh!" Narcissa cooed lowering her stitching, "I see you've received an Invitation to the Winter Gala as well"

"So I have" you replied with intrigue, "I cannot fathom what to go in with only a week's notice"

"I'm sure whatever you find will look ravishing Dear" Narcissa was almost glowing, "We've only just received ours this morning also, I imagine stopping by Madame Malkins is in Order for you Dear"

"I wouldn't want to go to that anyways" Scorpius grumbled, "I'd much rather stay home"

"I wouldn't blame you" Draco picked up his hot cup of coffee, "There wouldn't be many around his age there anyways"

"Oh but it's such a splendid occasion Draco" Narcissa insisted, "I'm sure he'd meet someone there with something in common"

"You needn't go if you don't want to son" Draco winked up to Scorpius, who looked back to him with a face full of gratitude

"I haven't even thought to bring anything with me" you thought to yourself, half panicking, "Only a week's time before the Gala! This storm isn't helping matters"

You sipped from your cup of tea, trying to think of any way to possibly put together something suitable in time for the Gala. You started to devise any means of sneaking away from the Manor that you could.

There was no flying in this horrible Snow storm, and god only knew you couldn't apparate without splinching yourself. You never did quite get the hang of apparating, but then again Gran never had either.

"Damnit" you thought to yourself, playing it cool and placing your cup back down to your saucer

"Father, may I be excused?" Scorpius closed his Quibbler, "I've just got to write to Albus about this article- Can you believe it?! They might be experimenting with teaching Dragons how to Speak!"

"You won't be getting any mail out today" Draco remarked, "Go ahead though, you can read the rest elsewhere"

"Thanks!" Scorpius hopped up from his seat

"Oh, and Darling" Narcissa called to him, "do have Fitz take care of the soot trail prints in the carpet, would you?"

"Sure thing!" Scorpius called backwards, striding his way down the hall

"THATS IT!" You lit up to yourself, "I ALWAYS BRING A SMALL HANDFUL FOR EMERGENCIES!"

Now you were more thankful for that than ever. Yourself, nor your father, ever traveled anywhere without at least one handful of Floo Powder packed incase of emergencies. You were quite lucky and thankful to have had that bit of caution stick with you all these years.

"Now" you thought to yourself, "How and when can I sneak away for an hour or so without their noticing...?"