Yule Ball.
It was Christmas Eve and the Malfoys were all gathered in the front room as the Christmas tree lights flickered and the warm golden fire roared in the fireplace. On the coffee table sat mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of mince pies and cookies. Their three cats were curled up in the large basket beside the fire and everyone was quiet as they all had their noses in books.
"Mum, what was the first Christmas you spent with Dad?" Fourteen year old Lyra asked her mother.
Hermione looked up from the book she was reading, surprised by her daughter's question. Over the years both Lyra and Scorpius had asked questions about their parents and their relationship, but it didn't normally come out of the blue. Normally their questions followed them overhearing something, or some remark that was made about the past. But this time the question had come out of nowhere from her daughter.
"It was in our seventh year of Hogwarts," Hermione answered. "Why the sudden interest?"
"I was just curious," Lyra shrugged. "One of the girls at school was talking about her parents, and how they spent their first Christmas together snowed in at a chalet in Switzerland."
"We've done that," Draco said with a fond chuckle as he remembered the incident. "But not at Christmas."
"You were snowed in a chalet?" Scorpius checked.
"I still say it was all fake," Hermione said, giving her husband a pointed look. The incident had occurred shortly after they were married, and miraculously they'd had a covering of snow that had jammed the door just when they were about to go skiing, something which Draco had been protesting about since their arrival.
"Would I do such a thing?" Draco asked in innocence.
"Yes," Hermione and the twins replied together.
"Okay, maybe I would," Draco conceded with a sly smile. "But I'm not admitting anything."
Hermione chuckled at her husband as she turned back to Lyra. "So are you after a story about our first Christmas together?"
"I hope not," Scorpius muttered. "Knowing you two, it would involve sex."
"Scorpius," Hermione scolded, turning slightly red at her son's words.
"What? It's true," Scorpius replied with a shrug.
"I would like to hear about your first Christmas together," Lyra admitted. "Just no saucy bits," She added as an afterthought.
"Well our first Christmas together was very romantic," Hermione said with a smile. "We were head students and stayed up at Hogwarts for the holidays. On the first day of the holidays, your father took me ice-skating on our first official date. We then spent the rest of the holidays going for walks in the snow and snuggled up in the head dorms."
"And it could have all been so different," Draco added with a wistful sigh.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"We very nearly spent an earlier Christmas together," Draco said.
"But I always went home for Christmas," Hermione argued. "The only other year I stayed at school was fourth year."
"And that was the year we almost spent together," Draco replied.
"What happened?" Lyra questioned. "Why didn't you spend Christmas together that year?"
"I have no idea," Hermione told her daughter when she looked at her questioningly. "I wasn't aware that your father and I almost spent it together."
"We would have if I hadn't been beaten to the punch by Viktor bloody Krum," Draco muttered. "I was this close to asking you to the Yule Ball." Holding up his hand, he held his fingers millimetres apart to indicate just how close he'd come to asking Hermione out in fourth year.
"As if," Hermione snorted with laughter. "You didn't notice me until we were paired together in a lesson sixth year. Before that, I wasn't even on your radar."
"You honestly think I didn't notice you?" Draco questioned his wife.
"I know you didn't," Hermione retorted.
"Care to place a bet on that?" Draco asked.
"What did you have in mind?" Hermione questioned, interested in what her husband was about to propose.
"If I can prove that I did notice you before sixth year, you agree to come to the quidditch world cup with us next summer. Every single match."
Hermione grimaced at the thought of attending every single quidditch match with her husband and children. The World Cup was being held in Italy and they'd already agreed to go for the tournament with the Zabinis. However, Hermione and Daphne had been planning on spending some time exploring Italy while their families were at the quidditch. As it stood the two witches only planned on attending the final.
"Okay, I'll bite," She finally replied. Since she knew she was right, she wasn't overly worried about losing the bet. "But if you fail to prove you were going to ask me to the Yule Ball, you're going to come with me on a European tour of art museums. Both wizarding and magical."
"Deal," Draco replied instantly as he knew he would never have to fulfil Hermione's wish. While he rather liked museums, he wasn't a fan of art museums and visiting a whole host of them would be hell.
"As fun as this is, how are either of you going to win this bet?" Scorpius asked. "Sure you could ask one of Dad's friends if he really was going to ask Mum to the Yule Ball, but they could lie for him."
"I'm going to show you all my memories," Draco announced. "That way, you'll see I'm telling the truth."
"Cool," Lyra gushed. "Will you show us the Yule Ball as well?"
"Sure," Draco replied. "And then you can see, just what I spent my evening doing."
"Having fun with your friends, and dancing with Pansy," Hermione retorted. "That's what you did all evening."
"Yeah, I did those things," Draco conceded. "But I was also captivated by a stunning witch, and I spent most of my evening watching her."
"Can we view these memories now?" Scorpius questioned, growing impatient with his parents. "We can prove who was right, and laugh at the pair of you in the process."
"Why would you laugh at us?" Hermione asked with a frown as the family moved from the front room, into Draco's study where he kept his pensieve.
"Because you were teenagers," Scorpius replied with a casual shrug. "And it's always funny to see your parents as teenagers."
While Lyra agreed with her brother, Draco sorted his memories into the pensieve. He included his memory of nearly asking Hermione to the ball, along with several memories of the actual dance. He was confident what he'd included was enough to prove to his wife that he'd noticed her long before he had the balls to pluck up the courage and ask her out.
"Are we ready?" Draco checked.
Everyone nodded their heads, and carefully they descended into the pensieve, landing in the school library. As they got their bearings, Scorpius and Lyra chuckled about the fact the place was exactly the same. Even Madam Pince hadn't changed, watching over the students in the library like a hawk.
"So where are you?" Lyra asked, looking around for her father.
"There." Draco pointed to a nearby bookshelf, where his teenage self was standing muttering to himself.
The four Malfoys moved closer to teenage Draco, and when they were standing beside him, they could hear him muttering to himself about Hermione. While teenage Draco was muttering to himself, Draco pointed his children in the direction of teenage Hermione, who was sitting at a table on the other side of the bookshelf.
"So you used to spy on Mum?" Scorpius asked with a chuckle. "Smooth."
"I was not spying, I was preparing myself," Draco argued as his teenage self, peered through the shelves at Hermione.
"Looks an awful lot like stalking to me," Scorpius remarked with a smirk.
"Just watch," Draco grumbled.
"Okay, you can do this," Teenage Draco muttered to himself. "It's easy. You just walk up to her and ask her out. What's the worst that could happen?"
"She could reject you for being a stalker," Scorpius supplied, even though he knew teenage Draco couldn't hear him.
"Scorpius," Hermione scolded lightly as she stood transfixed by teenage Draco as he slowly plucked up the nerve to approach her.
As Hermione watched, she saw the confidence blossom in the blond teenager. Just when it looked as though Draco was going to make his move, a noise could be heard behind them and teenage Draco turned round in time to see Viktor Krum sweeping past the shelf where he was standing and walking straight over to Hermione. Knowing what was going to happen next, Hermione took hold of her husband's hand as the teenage version of him peered through the bookshelf.
"Hermione," Viktor said in his heavy Bulgarian accent. "Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?"
"Me?" Teenage Hermione squeaked. "You're asking me out?"
"I am," Viktor replied. "Will you be my date?"
"I'd love to," Teenage Hermione replied with a wide smile.
"Ouch," Scorpius muttered with a wince as teenage Draco turned away from the bookshelves, his face a perfect picture of misery. "Sorry Dad, that must have sucked."
"It wasn't my best experience," Draco confessed as the library began to fade around them. "But the Yule Ball itself wasn't too bad."
Right on cue, the family found themselves transported to the Great Hall, only it wasn't anything like Scorpius and Lyra were used to. They were in the Great Hall in Hermione and Draco's fourth year, when it looked like an ice palace.
"Wow, this place is stunning," Lyra gasped, whirling around and taking it all in.
"It was pretty impressive," Hermione agreed as the twins located teenage Draco, his date for the evening Pansy, and the rest of their Slytherin friends.
"Oh sweet Merlin, look over there." Laughing, Scorpius elbowed his sister in the ribs and pointed her across the hall.
When Lyra saw where her brother was pointing she burst out laughing when she spotted Ron. He was wearing the most ridiculous feminine dress robes she'd ever seen. It looked like he was wearing a pair of old curtains, and the colour clashed terribly with his hair. The look was made even worse because Harry stood beside him, looking pretty attractive in his smart black, dress robes.
"Where's Mum?" Lyra asked, scanning the crowds next to Harry and Ron and finding no sign of her mother, although she did spot some more Gryffindors she knew.
"Watch," Draco said, his eyes riveted to the doors as they slowly opened.
While both Scorpius and Lyra gasped at the sight of their teenager mother entering the Great Hall with Viktor, Hermione's focus was on the teenage version of her husband. Teenage Draco's focus was entirely on Hermione, and it was obvious for anyone to see that he was transfixed by her. Looking at the very obvious affection on his face, Hermione wondered how she'd missed it at the time. How on earth had she missed someone staring at her as though she was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen?
"Mum, you look stunning," Lyra whispered to her mother.
"Yeah, you do," Scorpius agreed.
"The most attractive witch at the Yule Ball," Draco said quietly as he wrapped his arm around Hermione and they watched as the champions started the first dance.
What followed was a series of memories from Draco's night at the Yule Ball. Lyra and Scorpius had terrific fun spotting people they knew and seeing what they looked like years ago. They chuckled when they spotted a bored looking Severus wandering around, looking as though he would rather be anywhere but in the middle of a dance with the students. The sight of McGonagall in her tartan dress robes, dancing with Dumbledore, gave both the twins a good laugh as they'd never seen their headmistress looking so carefree. It also gave them a chance to see Dumbledore in person, as he'd retired before they'd started Hogwarts, and they'd heard lots about him. Then of course there was all of their parents friends to check out, not to mention their Herbology Professor, Neville Longbottom, who was a pretty nifty dancer.
While the twins were people watching, Hermione was paying close attention to her husband, or rather the teenage version of him. While he danced with Pansy, and had fun with his friends, she was aware that he always had one eye on her. Hermione had never realised just how close he'd been to her during the Yule Ball. If she'd been paying more attention to her surroundings she would have found that Draco was always within touching distance.
"Wow, you really did like me, didn't you?" Hermione whispered to her husband as teenage Draco watched teenage Hermione dancing with Viktor.
"I did," Draco confirmed. "I just wish I'd acted on my feelings sooner."
"Why didn't you?" Hermione asked. It was clear Draco really liked her in fourth year, so she had to wonder what kept her from asking her out until seventh.
"I lost my bottle when Krum asked you out," Draco admitted. "Obviously he was around for the rest of the year, and I thought you and him seemed rather friendly. Then when he was gone in fifth year, I was wary about asking you out. After all, how was I going to compare to a major quidditch star? I figured you would knock me back, so I didn't take the risk."
"I wish I could say I wouldn't have knocked you back, but I really don't know how I would have reacted," Hermione confessed. "I'm not even sure if I would have agreed to go to the Yule Ball with you. I hate to say it, but I think I was the one unaware of you in fourth year."
"It doesn't really matter now," Draco said as he wrapped his wife in his arms. "We found each other in the end and that's all that matters."
"I guess it is," Hermione agreed.
"And don't forget, you now have to attend all the quidditch world cup with us," Draco added with a wicked smirk.
"How do you feel about changing our agreement?" Hermione asked, looking up at Draco with an innocent smile.
"In what way?"
"Instead of me coming to the matches with you, how about we have a second honeymoon when the twins go back to school," Hermione suggested. "I'll leave everything in your hands. You can sort out where we go, and for the entire trip, I'm at your mercy. Anything you want to do, I'll do."
"Anything?" Draco checked, a few thoughts entering his naughty mind.
"Anything," Hermione confirmed. "So what do you say, do we have a deal?"
"We do," Draco replied as he leant down and they sealed it with a kiss.
While the couple were kissing the memories came to an end, and when the pair parted they found themselves back in Draco's study. Scorpius and Lyra gave their parents an unimpressed look, before Scorpius declared that his father had won the bet and now Hermione would be joining them for the entire world cup.
"Actually, I won't," Hermione said. "Your father and I renegotiated terms."
"We don't want to know the terms of your new bet, do we?" Scorpius question warily.
"I don't think you do," Draco said to his son. "But rest assured, I've won the bet and I've proven to your mother that I noticed her long before she noticed me."
"Yeah, she did seem kind of oblivious to your presence," Scorpius chuckled as his father tidied up and they headed back to the front room. "I mean honestly Mum, how didn't you release you had yourself a stalker?"
"I was not a stalker," Draco protested. "I was a teenager in love."
"More like lust," Scorpius muttered as his mother went to make some fresh hot chocolate.
When Hermione returned and everyone settled down with their hot chocolate, Scorpius and Lyra asked more questions about the Yule Ball. They'd thoroughly enjoyed what they'd seen, and were eager to know more gossip about the winter themed dance they'd just witnessed. It really did seem like a magical experience and they were just disappointed that they would be unlikely to participate in a Yule Ball while they were at school. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but thanks to Draco they'd at least had a taste of what it was like attending the Yule Ball.