Harry didn't get much sleep, but he pulled himself from bed when the sun rose and headed down to the drawing room. One of Harry's favorite things about preparing for Christmas was wrapping presents, he always did it by hand. It required a focus that usually took over any worries he had, at least for a while.

He started by wrapping Hermione and Ron's gifts. He bought Hermione an expanding bookshelf, which expanded as needed. Ron was being gifted a new set of Quidditch balls.

Each kid got new school equipment, ink, parchment, quills, plus sweets, tricks from the Weasley store etc. This year, Jeremiah, Harry's oldest kid, was turning 17 two days after Christmas. He had gotten Jeremiah a proper Pocket watch, gold plated, his name engraved with a revolving solar system. This was Harry's very first of age student. Jeremiah had been with him since he opened, his first kid that came to stay at Grimmauld Place. He constantly referred to it as 'home' as opposed to 'Harry's Place' like some of the others.

It was bittersweet, for Harry to be giving Jeremiah this watch. He wrapped it carefully, creasing every line and corner.

Harry was finishing up Molly's gift, (a set of cooking pots, which she had specifically asked for) when the floo lit up.

Harry taped the last corner and headed to the kitchen to see who was here, only a few people had access to the floo.

He entered the kitchen to find Draco dusting the soot from his trousers.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked coolly.

He hadn't been expecting Draco to be here, but the calmness of the wrapping was still rolling over him.

Draco looked up and smiled, attempting to be charming, "I just wanted to talk, and hopefully you'd let me explain."

Harry was apprehensive to let him stay, he had more things to do, but decided, after all they'd been through together, he could at minimum give Draco a chance to explain.

"Fine," he said, "but I'm wrapping gifts, so you'll have to come to the drawing room."

"You're wrapping gifts? By hand?"

"Yes. It relaxes me. Come on."

Draco initially found a spot in a chair, looking about at the decoration he had helped hang, but decided to stand and pace.

Harry didn't say anything, just went to his table and continued wrapping, giving Draco the chance to talk.

He didn't feel like fighting.

"I know, I already said I was sorry, and I am, please, believe me." he continued to walk back and forth behind the couch, out of Harry's view. "When I left the other night, I really did have something to do that was time sensitive, but when I got to Gringotts, I chickened out. It was cowardly, it was stupid. I wasn't thinking, obviously. I think Tom called for Blaise to come get me, it's happened a few times before, and Blaise brought me here, I told him not to, I did. When I woke up the next morning, my first thought was about Michael and how terrible I felt that I didn't come back. I just, I can't believe how stupid I was. After I came back here yesterday morning, and you yelled at me, appropriately so, I went and spoke to my mother, who made me take a bath,"

Harry snorted.

"Where I kept thinking about how badly I'd fucked up. I know. I know I've only been here like a week. But you have to believe me, since you stopped ignoring me and accepted that I'm here, then I agreed to stay, something in me has changed. I don't know what it is, well, that's not true." Draco stopped walking, looking at the painting of Sirius, who'd been following his movement.

Harry continued wrapping presents, listening to everything Draco was spilling. He heard Draco stop walking, he was nervous to be talking like this, but Harry had nothing to say. Yet.

"The point to all this rambling is that I'm fucking Sorry okay. I will do anything for you to forgive me, I'll give up drinking even. That's it. I'm never drinking again." he finally stopped talking and turned to Harry, whose back was to him.

Several minutes passed, Draco began bouncing slightly in place with anticipation. Draco turned back to Sirius's portrait, shrugging. Sirius just smiled.

"Harry!" Draco yelled to his back.

Harry continued to fold and crease in concentration, he finished taping and turned around, finally looking at Draco, hands on the table behind him.

"What did you chicken out on?" he asked coolly.

"What?"

"You said you chickened out when you got to the bank. What were you doing that you chickened out on?"

Draco stared at him, "that's what you want to know?"

He nodded.

Draco thought for a moment, "I - I needed some muggle money to buy you something cool that I found at that antique shop down the road."

Harry smiled and tried not to laugh, "you wanted to buy me a gift? At a Muggle shop?"

"Don't look too much into it, okay?" Draco snapped, "I was just wandering around the other day and walked in and saw something I thought you'd like."

"That's so sweet of you."

"Piss off. I didn't get it, so don't get your hopes up."

Harry looked at Draco steadily. His green eyes, Draco noticed, flashed with something he almost recognized; rebellion, deviance?

"Hm. okay. You can stay."

"I can?!"

"I guess." he shrugged.

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. I told you, wrapping relaxes me."

"Pssh, you should wrap every day."

Harry bit his bottom lip and nodded silently.

"Are - are Michael and Jenna . . . ?"

"They went home with their grandmother. It sorted out well enough, considering." Harry said.

He waved his wand and levitated the gifts he'd wrapped out of the drawing room and up to his bedroom.

"Are you coming?" he called behind him.