* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART THREE

The Eighth Year

Chapter 31: Merry Christmas

Harry had assumed that since the previous night had been so busy, he would get a bit of a lie-in on Christmas morning. After all, their guests weren't arriving until 1 pm.

However, Harry had forgotten how excited his girlfriend got for Christmas, and as a result, when he woke up at around 9 am, he realised he was alone in bed. He trudged down to the kitchen, where Daphne was patiently waiting for him.

"Morning," Harry said softly as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Morning," Daphne smiled, "You're the last to wake up. Everyone else is in the drawing-room waiting to open their presents. Apart from Lilly, she went to her mums early this morning."

"How is she?" Harry asked his girlfriend.

"She's upset, but that's to be expected," Daphne said simply, "We had a chat about what happened, and I promised her she had nothing to feel guilty about."

"That was good of you," Harry said.

"Well, it is Christmas," Daphne said with an amused smile.

"I know," Harry laughed, "Merry Christmas, Daph."

"Merry Christmas, Harry," Daphne said, and her smile widened, "Now can we go and join everybody else to open our presents?"

Harry chuckled, "Of course we can," he said as he let Daphne drag him into the drawing-room. It had transformed since he had last seen it. There was mistletoe around the walls and a huge Christmas tree in the centre that nearly touched the roof, which was impressive because the ceiling was the height of two floors.

Underneath the tree were all of their presents. He smiled around at his friends as Daphne dragged him over and pushed him onto the sofa next to Draco, who also looked half asleep.

Kreacher appeared with a crack that startled them all and handed out plates of toast with butter and jam to everyone. Then he poured them all out tea and coffee. Draco and Harry savoured the coffee; neither of them were used to early mornings, despite being Quidditch players.

"Okay, present time!" Daphne said happily as she sat down by the tree and took it upon herself to hand out the presents to everyone. She started with parcels that were all wrapped in the same purple paper. She passed one to Harry, one to Neville and Hannah, one to Draco and Hermione and one to Susan and said, "These are from Sadie and Theo."

Harry and Daphne took an end each and ripped the paper off of the parcel. Harry grinned; there were three things in the package. He could tell that Theo had picked his present; it was a scarlet hooded top with Hogwarts written at the top and Quidditch at the bottom. In the middle, there were two wands crossed over with a snitch over them, and it said "Team Captain." He glanced over at Draco and saw that he had the same present, but his was a dark green. For Daphne, there was a golden bracelet engraved with a quote from none other than Albus Dumbledore. It read, "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical, and our hearts are open." There was also a box of chocolate frogs to share between them.

Neville and Hannah had both gotten individual presents from Sadie and Theo, as well as a box of chocolate frogs. Neville had gotten a small jar of gillyweed on a necklace. He gasped and said it was the extremely rare kind and that it was on a chain so it wouldn't get stolen. Apparently, this kind of gillyweed could be sold for thousands of galleons and was only found in the Aegean Sea. Neville commented on this, and Draco whispered to Hermione, "Theo has a house in Crete; his family practically farms the stuff. How do you think he's so rich?"

Hermione hid a small smile at this fact but regardless of how much Theo had in abundance, the small amount of the rare plant pleased Neville immensely. Hannah had gotten a bracelet, like Daphne's, but the quote was different. It read, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Hermione received a bracelet like the other girls. Hers was another Dumbledore quote, and it read, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." She smiled and put it on as the other girls had. Like everyone else, they got a shared box of chocolate frogs too.

The couple had gotten something for Susan too, a box of chocolate frogs and a bracelet that was engraved with the words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," made famous as the Weasley's new slogan for their joke shop. Susan chuckled; it was perfect for her. They all made a mental note to thank Sadie and Theo, who were spending Christmas with their families.

Next, Daphne handed out the presents from her and Harry to everyone. Neville and Hannah opened their parcel first. For Neville, there was a small vial filled with sparkling white liquid that wasn't even really liquid; it was more like fog. It said "Memories" on the front, and Neville frowned because he didn't understand what it was.

"It's the memory of your parent's wedding," Harry explained to Neville, "You need a pensieve to view it, but I thought this way you could carry it around with you."

Neville nodded and tried to conceal his emotions, "Thanks, Harry," he said shakily, "How did you get it?"

Harry smiled, "I got it from Trelawney. She and my mum were your mum's bridesmaids."

Neville smiled and held the vial tightly; he thanked Harry again. For Hannah, they had gotten a bracelet, similar to those that Sadie and Theo had bought everyone. Hannah's read, "For Hufflepuff, hard workers were most worthy of admission."

Hermione got a bracelet; hers said, "For Gryffindor, the bravest were prized far beyond the rest." Draco had gotten a small vial of Felix Felicis on a chain, and he grinned and thanked them. He knew it was probably the work of Daphne because he had first-hand experience of how bad Harry was at potions.

For Susan, they had gotten a Divination themed necklace. It had a small real crystal ball on it with white smoke swirling around inside it.

Next came the gifts from Neville and Hannah. Each couple got a large parcel, and Susan got a smaller one. Harry and Daphne were both pleased with their presents. Harry got a Gryffindor red t-shirt with the DA symbol and the words "Dumbledore's Army" on it. Hermione got a similar top in the same colour, and Susan got a yellow one. Neville and Hannah said they had bought their own tops too, and they had sent one to Ron as a Christmas present.

Daphne's present was alive. It was a tiny blue pygmy puff in a small cage, it was dying to get out, and when Daphne let it, the cute little thing began to bounce around and squeak; it was adorable. Draco had gotten a silver ring with a black front with the Hogwarts crest and logo stamped onto it in silver.

Hermione insisted that everyone open their presents from her and Draco next, so Daphne passed them out.

Neville had gotten a necklace with a miniature remembrall on it, and he chuckled, "The irony, that you got me this," he remarked to Draco, who looked guilty for a moment.

"Well, I felt guilty for everything that happened with your last one, so I got you a new one, plus it's around your neck, so you won't be able to lose it this time," Draco joked.

They all chuckled as Neville thanked his friend for the gift. Hannah had gotten a little yellow pygmy puff.

Harry had gotten a miniature Hungarian Horntail in a cage. It moved around and occasionally blew fire out of its nostrils. Draco assured him, "The cage is impenetrable, so it can't set fire to anything, and you don't have to feed it. We just thought it would be a nice souvenir from the tournament." Harry thought it was very neat and thanked them. Daphne had gotten a necklace that was a 3D rectangle with four sides. On one side, it said "Slytherin", and then the other sides said, "Ambition," "Power Hungry," and "Cunning."

Susan had also gotten a pygmy puff, but hers was purple.

The last presents from people spending Christmas at Potter Manor were from Susan. She got Hermione a necklace with a small time turner on it, saying it was a little bit illegal, but it only turned back time to a maximum of five minutes anyway. Daphne got a bracelet with the quote, "You have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide." The wise words of Albus Dumbledore once more. These sorts of things were in fashion now that the war was over. Hannah got a small bottle of perfume, and Draco, Harry and Neville all got a prank goody bag from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

The presents left under the tree were from people who, like Sadie and Theo, were spending Christmas elsewhere. Everyone got handed a parcel from Dean and Tracey. Hermione got a necklace with a miniature fake philosopher's stone on it. Draco got a ring engraved with the word "Slytherin" Harry and Neville got similar rings engraved with the word "Gryffindor."

Daphne got a bracelet shaped like the golden snitch, and Hannah got a necklace with a golden snitch pendant. Susan got a small vial of polyjuice potion on a chain which made her eyes glint mischievously. Dean and Tracey also gave them a large box of 20 butterbeer flavoured cupcakes that they decided to share out amongst their guests later.

The couples had all gotten presents for each other, but these were to be opened in private, so they split up. Harry and Daphne stayed where they were in the drawing-room, Draco and Hermione went to the opposite side where the tapestry was, and Neville and Hannah went to their bedroom. Susan skipped away happily to bother Kreacher for some more food.

From Daphne, Harry got a pocket watch, a very unique, beautiful antique looking pocket watch. On the front, the Hogwarts express was engraved beautifully and once opened; the clock face had roman numerals on it. Daphne said, "It was my Great Great Grandfathers," she explained, "That's why it says Crouch not Greengrass, I'm descended from the Crouch's. Anyway, I was supposed to give it to the man I'm going to marry, but I thought I'd give it to you instead."

"Oi!" Harry said in jest. He kissed her and looked at the watch once more, "It's brilliant, Daph. I love it. Thank you."

Daphne smiled; she was glad that Harry liked the gift. He then handed over a present to Daphne for her to unwrap. Harry had gotten her a locket, a golden locket with a deer's head elevated on the front. Daphne smiled when she saw it and then she opened it, inside was a picture of them from the Halloween ball. She grinned, "I get it, and it's such a clever idea. Although if I hadn't known your Patronus was a stag, I'd have been confused." They both laughed as they kissed, both relieved the other had liked their gift.

At the other side of the room, Draco had just unwrapped his present from Hermione, which was a potion set. She knew he wanted to be an Auror, but she also knew of his love for potions, something she had discovered was greater than she first thought when he told her he'd had his own potions lab in Malfoy Manor. The set included a brand new golden cauldron and golden scales to match; there were also several ingredients, an entire bottle of Veritaserum and dragon's blood.

Draco gaped, "Hermione...this must have cost so much, it's amazing, thank you!"

Hermione smiled, "I thought you could use it as a basis to set up a potions lab after you leave school. Since you lost the one that you had at the Manor."

Draco kissed her and thanked her again. Then he handed her a present, which she eagerly ripped open. He had teamed up with Harry because he had gotten her a locket. It was real silver and was in the shape of a heart with a genuine red ruby in the centre.

Hermione smiled as she opened the little locket and found a picture of herself and Draco at the Halloween Ball. "It's perfect," Hermione said. She kissed him and put the necklace carefully back in its box. He had also given her two rare books from Malfoy Manor, but as he hadn't bought them, he would have felt it cheeky only to give her those.

Upstairs in their bedroom, Neville and Hannah were busy opening their gifts for each other too. Neville gave Hannah two presents, a photo frame with Gryffindor red on one side and Hufflepuff yellow on the other. In the frame was a picture of them from the Halloween ball.

His second present was a set. There was a ring with the word "Hufflepuff" engraved on it, a braided bracelet in yellow and black stripes, earrings with little badgers and a necklace with the Hufflepuff crest. Hannah loved it as much as Neville knew she would, being as patriotic to her house as she was.

From Hannah, Neville received a new Mimbulus Mimbletonia since his original one had died and a unique silver hipflask. It was circular with his name engraved in the centre. Neville appreciated the personal aspect of it and thanked his girlfriend with a kiss.

Once they were all back downstairs again, there were only a few stray presents to open. Harry had sent Ron a copy of the new Chudley Cannons book, and Ron, in return, had sent him a skiving snack box and some Peruvian instant darkness powder. Ron had also sent Hermione a new book and a small box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans.

Mrs Weasley had sent them a large box of wizarding cookies shaped like broomsticks, snitches and cauldrons, and there was also a large parcel for each of them from Mrs Weasley. Once they had opened the packages, they realised that she had knitted each of them a Weasley sweater, even Daphne, Draco and Susan.

Harry and Hermione's were both scarlet with an H on them, while Draco and Daphne's were both green with a D. Neville had a scarlet one with an N, Hannah had a yellow one with an H, and Susan also had a yellow one with an S.

Harry read the accompanying letter,

"Dear Harry,

We would all like to wish you a lovely Christmas. I knitted sweaters for you all, and I thought you might want to know why. I will always see you and Hermione as children, and for that reason, you will receive sweaters every year.

Draco, I know you caused my children a lot of pain over the years, but I believe everyone can change, and if there was ever a time to do it, then it would be after the horrendous war we went through. If Hermione can forgive you after all she was put through by your family, then by Merlin, of course, I can too.

Daphne, I have never met you, and I don't know anything about you apart from the fact that Harry is completely smitten with you. If you have done enough to win his heart, you have done enough to win mine.

Neville, I knew your parents and your grandmother well, and I know you've been with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny every step of the way, and for that, I'll be eternally grateful. Hannah, I was very sorry to hear about your parents. Your mother was one of the nicest people I have ever met. I'm sorry you won't be spending Christmas with your family. That goes for you too Susan, your mother and your aunt were members of the Order and were indeed very brave witches. I'm glad you can all spend Christmas together when you don't have a family to spend it with.

I hope you have a lovely holiday, each and every one of you.

P.S: we are having a family get together on the 1st of January. You are all invited, but I understand if you have other plans. There will be an afternoon meal served at 4.30 pm.

All of our love,

Molly, Arthur, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Percy, George, Ron and Ginny."

It was horrible at the end of the letter…seeing all those signatures and not Fred's, it tore Harry's heart a little, and he could tell from the look on Hermione's face that she felt the same. They were all so grateful for what Mrs Weasley had done as they looked once more at the sweaters.

Hagrid had also sent them a large box of fairy cakes (instead of rock cakes) which was a pleasant surprise. Harry expected Olympe was behind it.

Harry had sent a large portrait to Hogwarts to be put up before the eighth years arrived back. It was a gift for the whole year. The backdrop was black, and the words changed colour. They flashed between red, green, blue and yellow.

The words on the portrait read, "We are only as strong as we are united. As weak as we are divided."

In each corner, there was a house crest. Once the eighth years had left, Harry intended to give it to McGonagall to be put up next to the house points vials in the great hall.

With all of their presents finally opened, the group made their way to their separate bedrooms as they realised they only had a couple of hours until the rest of their guests arrived. While the girls got ready and Draco and Neville entertained each other, Harry nipped out briefly by floo. He took a stack of presents with him to the Burrow, and he emerged into the busy, bustling kitchen.

"I come bearing gifts!" Harry shouted over the noise.

Ron laughed, "I already got mine. Cheers, mate."

"Thanks for mine too, mate," Harry said as cheerfully as he could muster. As much as he was annoyed at Ron for everything going on with Lilly, it was Christmas.

"Oh, Harry, dear!" Molly said as he put the presents down and hugged her, "Did everybody like their sweaters?"

"They loved them," Harry said honestly, "They were honoured. Thank you so much for making them."

"It was my pleasure," Molly said with a wave of her hand, "Will you be coming to the meal on New Year's Day?"

"Daphne and I certainly will," Harry said with a smile, "And I expect Hermione and Draco will too. I think Neville, Hannah and Susan will be spending New Year with Hannah's family, though."

"Oh, of course, I completely understand," Molly said, "Will you stay for a spot of breakfast?"

"I can't," Harry said with regret, "I've got Andi, Teddy, Daphne's family, Hermione's family, Draco's family...the whole lot coming over for Christmas dinner."

Molly chuckled, "Well, have fun and Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, Merry Christmas, Harry!" The Weasley's chorused.

"Merry Christmas," Harry called back.

"And thanks for the presents!" Charlie piped up.

Harry chuckled, "I really should be getting back, but I'm having a party at Potter Manor on New Year's Eve. It starts around 7 pm, and you are all welcome if you don't have any other plans."

"It sounds lovely," Molly said. She kissed Harry on the cheek, "Now you had best be getting back to your guests. Have a good Christmas, Harry."

"You too, Mrs Weasley, and same to the rest of you," Harry added, having to raise his voice a little.

There was a chorus of, "We will!"

Harry found himself chuckling as he stepped back into the fireplace.

When he got back, he just had time to clean himself up and get changed; then the girls began to arrive downstairs because they had finally finished getting ready. By that point, it was time to greet their guests, so everyone stood by the door, waiting for the doorbell to ring.

The first people to arrive were the Blacks. Narcissa and Andromeda walked through the door; Andromeda was holding 7-month old Teddy Lupin. Both women were wearing long black dresses, and Teddy was in a cute little Christmas outfit. Narcissa smiled and greeted them all with a handshake. When she reached Draco, she kissed him on both cheeks and did the same to Hermione. Draco chuckled at the look of surprise on Hermione's face.

Draco and Harry led Narcissa, Andromeda and Teddy to their seats at the large table in the formal dining room (Teddy's 'seat' was a high chair).

"This is very modern and sophisticated," Narcissa remarked, looking around at the marble floors and white walls of the room, "Although I don't agree with the gold curtains."

Andromeda chuckled, "The boy is a Gryffindor Cissa. What do you expect?" She asked.

"I am pleased to see that Hermione seems to be doing you a lot of good, Draco," Narcissa said as she sat down, "I cannot recall the last time I saw you so cheerful."

"Neither can I," Draco smiled, "She's a miracle worker, clearly."

Andromeda laughed, "Well, the combination of a heroic Gryffindor and a slightly bitter Slytherin seems to work rather well, Draco. Given Harry's latest catch."

Harry chuckled, "My latest catch? You heard about that then?"

"Yes," Narcissa smiled, "We had heard that you and Daphne were together. How does Lareina feel about it all?"

"You can ask her yourself later," Harry said in amusement, "She'll be here, along with Astoria."

"As will Hermione's parents," Draco said with a slight frown, "Who are Muggles, so don't say anything, you know...offensive...Mother."

"Offensive," Narcissa scoffed, "This is me, Draco, not your father. I will be perfectly polite."

"Good," Draco said with an awkward nod.

At that point, the doorbell rang once more, and Draco made his way back into the hall. He was incredibly nervous about meeting Hermione's parents, and he didn't want his mother to mess it up by saying something that could be taken the wrong way.

The door opened, and two very ordinary people walked in. Draco could see where Hermione got her looks from. Her Mother was attractive for her age and had the same brown bushy hair as Hermione.

Hermione hurried over and hugged them, then brought them over to Draco, "Mum, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy."

Draco bowed to them, as in wizarding culture, a pureblood man did, "Very nice to meet you," he said before shaking both of their hands.

They looked very surprised by this as Hermione led them into the dining room.

"He's very posh dear," Elizabeth Granger whispered to her daughter, who chuckled and sat her parents down across the table from Narcissa, Andromeda and Teddy.

"He's not posh, Mum. He's a pureblood. They are the types of Wizarding families who uphold all the old traditions, so he just seems a bit old fashioned to you," she smiled, "This is Draco's mother, Narcissa. His Aunt Andromeda and his cousin Teddy."

"What unusual names," John said with a smile.

"Our family tend to name their children after star constellations," Narcissa said with a slight smile, "Hence my son being named Draco."

"And my daughter was called Nymphadora," Andromeda added, "It's a tradition that needs to end."

"Quite," Narcissa laughed, "It's incredibly out of date."

Elizabeth chuckled, "Well, at least you have a unique name. I meet hundreds of other Elizabeth's every year, and heaven knows how many Johns there are in the world!"

Narcissa smiled, "Yes, indeed. So, Draco tells me that you are both dentists?"

Hermione smiled slightly and ducked back out into the hall where she took her place next to Draco once more.

The next people through the door were Daphne's family, which had Harry breaking out into a nervous sweat. Astoria was wearing a simple silver and green dress, and Daphne's Mother, Lareina, was looking glamorous, just as Daphne said she would, in a green sequined dress.

Lareina walked over to Daphne and kissed her on both cheeks, "I've missed you, my love. Have you been well?"

"Very," Daphne said, she smiled happily at her mother, "Mother, this is my boyfriend, Harry-"

Lareina interrupted, "Oh, Daphne, he needs no introduction," she said. She shook her head and took Harry's hand, "My daughter dating the boy who lived," she joked, "I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the news."

Harry chuckled and shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs Greengrass."

"Lareina," She corrected, "I'm a widow, and Mrs Greengrass makes me sound so old."

Daphne caught Astoria's eye, and they both rolled their eyes as they walked into the dining room. Daphne seated her mother and sister next to Narcissa, Andromeda and Teddy.

"Oh, it is lovely here," Lareina said as she looked around the dining room, "Potter Manor restored to its former glory."

"You've been here before, Mother?" Daphne asked in surprise as she took her seat.

"Oh yes, darling," Lareina said, "In fact, so have Narcissa and Andromeda. Do you remember the ball they had here?"

"I remember quite well," Narcissa nodded, "It was a ministry ball, and it was held here. It was as splendid then as it is now. You did a fabulous job of restoring it," she added for the benefit of Draco, Hermione and Daphne.

"You helped restore this?" Astoria asked in surprise, "For Harry?"

Daphne looked a little sheepish, "Yes," she said, "It was a Christmas present."

"What a lovely thing to do," Elizabeth said with a smile, "It's very romantic."

Daphne's blush darkened, and Lareina laughed, "My daughter a romantic, I don't think so."

"She's a complete romantic," Harry said in amusement, "She just hides it well."

"Yes, let's not let all of my secrets come out in one day," Daphne said. She sounded mildly amused as well as exasperated, "Don't you have a toast to be getting on with?"

Harry chuckled and got to his feet, "Indeed I do, thank you for reminding me. I would like to make a toast to my friends, most of which are practically my family, for being here to celebrate Christmas day with us. It means a lot that you were all able to come today."

"It was our pleasure Harry," Andromeda said softly.

Lareina nodded, "It was an honour to be invited," she agreed.

"Well, I see no point in delaying the inevitable," Harry said as he sat down and clapped his hands, "Let's have a Christmas dinner!"

With his words, their starter was served, which was a soup of their choice. As they ate, they made small talk, and several topics of conversation were raised.

Elizabeth accidentally set something off when she said, "I was rather surprised when I heard about Hermione and Draco dating. Not in a bad way. It just seemed like you were at odds during your time at school."

"We were," Hermione laughed, "I punched him in the face in third year."

"Goodness knows he deserved it back then," Narcissa said with a raised eyebrow towards her son. She glanced to the Grangers, "My son was an egotistical, arrogant little diva for the majority of his time at Hogwarts. Thankfully that has changed, largely due to the war."

"Little diva?" Draco scoffed as Daphne sniggered into her soup, "Mother, I think that's an exaggeration!"

"No, it isn't Draco," Harry grinned, "I knew you back then too. You were an arrogant little diva. In fact, that's a perfect description."

"I've got to agree," Hermione chuckled.

Draco shook his head in disbelief; a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, "Honestly, my family and friends are turning against me."

John laughed, "So you grew up because of war then? It happens, doesn't it? You hear stories about 16-year-olds coming back from the Great War with the mind of an old man."

Draco frowned slightly, "The Great War?"

"He means World War One, Draco," Hermione cut in, "Not the Great Wizarding War."

"Oh," Draco realised, "Well then, yes, I suppose it is comparable. However, I did not fight in that war, not on the right side anyway."

"There aren't any right sides in a war," John said, "If I learned anything from history class at school, it was that."

Harry noticed that Draco and Daphne's family seemed a bit awkward throughout this conversation, so he said, "The thing about the war in our world, John, is that it was incredibly complicated. There were sides, and they were factional because people were still very prejudiced about blood status. Draco being a pureblooded Slytherin, was naturally drawn into the 'dark side' as it were, but he isn't a bad man. If I thought for one second that he was, I wouldn't have been so relaxed with him dating Hermione."

"Oh, I take your word for that, Harry," Elizabeth smiled, "You are practically a brother to Hermione after all."

"I did get the typical big brother speech from Harry," Draco admitted.

There was some laughter at that, and Elizabeth added, "My husband and I do not care that we are from a different world from you all. We only care that our daughter is happy after all that has happened to her."

"I think all any parent wants is for their child to be safe and happy," Narcissa said softly. She placed her hand on top of her sisters as she spoke.

Andromeda sighed and gently stroked Teddy's hair, "I am afraid to say that I lost my daughter and her husband to the war. All I have left of her is her son, my Grandson. You are perfectly correct; blood status, race, gender, none of it matters. The only thing that does matter is that our children are happy."

Lareina smiled slightly at her two daughters, who were sitting on either side of her. She put her arm around them both and said, "You are quite right, Dromeda. I never thought I would see both of my daughters dating Gryffindor's, but they are both happy, and that makes me happy."

Daphne smiled across the table at Harry at this, "Well, thank you, Mother," she said as Lareina kissed both of her daughters on the cheek, leaving red lipstick marks where she had done so.

There were smiles all around at this statement, and then there was some more silence as everyone finished their starter, but during the wait between the starter and the main course, there was more talk around the table.

"Have you thought about what you are going to do beyond Hogwarts?" Andromeda asked the youngsters curiously. Most of them did know what they were going to do, so the question didn't make anything awkward.

"Daphne wants to be a healer, don't you love?" Lareina said to her daughter.

Daphne shook her head, "Not anymore, Mother. I'd like to do something with Gringotts, curse-breaking perhaps."

Lareina looked shocked by this, but before she could say anything about it, Astoria quickly said, "Cool! I bet that would be loads of fun!"

"I've known for years that I want to be an Auror," Harry said simply.

Neville nodded, "I want to be an Auror too. I just need to push up my grades in Transfiguration and Potions."

Andromeda and Narcissa turned to Draco, who frowned slightly.

Narcissa smiled slightly, "Come now, Draco, why don't you tell your friends what you told Dromeda and I before you came back to school."

The blonde boy sighed, "I want to be an Auror too. I have the grades, and Harry said he could try and pull some strings to clear my name...But if it doesn't work, well, you can't be an Auror with a criminal record."

"I think you've done enough good deeds lately to outweigh the bad Draco," Harry said, smiling at his Slytherin friend.

"And I think it's fantastic that you want to become an Auror," Andromeda said, "Will you take up my earlier offer? I still have Dora's old Auror training books in the loft."

"Yes, I'd very much like to borrow them," Draco admitted. His cheeks were still a little red at the fact he had come clean.

Narcissa smiled, "I am very proud of you, Draco. I understand that this isn't an easy profession for you to break into, but then again, you have always been very ambitious."

Draco smiled slightly, "I have," he agreed.

"What about you, Hermione?" Andromeda asked conversationally, "What will you do after school?"

"I'm not really sure what I want to do yet," Hermione admitted. She was a little embarrassed by this, "I love Transfiguration, and I'd like to teach it someday, but I'm not sure what to do straight after Hogwarts."

"Hannah wants to be a Healer, don't you, Han?" Neville asked his girlfriend.

Hannah nodded. Susan then said she would like to try and get involved with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Nothing more could be said after that point because the main course arrived.

Their main course consisted of turkey, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, parsnips, brussell sprouts and carrots, which everyone tucked into happily. Christmas pudding was served for dessert, and once everyone was sufficiently full, they made their way to the drawing-room to drink some brandy and talk amongst themselves.

They split into groups at that point, the Slytherins stuck together, with Narcissa staying close by Lareina.

The teenagers, for the most part, stuck together. Draco, Harry, Daphne and Susan entertained Astoria and kept an eye on Teddy. Hermione was close by with her parents.

At around 10 pm, everyone started to leave to go home and go to bed. Daphne kissed her Mother and Astoria goodbye and said she would see them soon. Draco and Hermione said goodbye to their parents, and they also left. Soon after Andromeda left claiming that Teddy needed bed, Harry knew she was right because he had been irritable for the last hour or so.

Once everyone had gone, the house seemed so empty and quiet. Although it hadn't been a particularly long day, it had been hectic. It made them feel old, but as early as 10.30 pm, everyone bade each other goodnight and headed to bed.

Harry and Daphne were lying in bed together when Daphne sighed, "Thanks for the best Christmas ever, Harry."

Harry smiled softly as he kissed her on the forehead, "You're welcome, baby," he said sleepily as they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep after a delightful Christmas day.

* ~ TBC ~ *