A/N - The second of my festive stories is a one-shot. Enjoy!

As he arrived at Diagon Alley with his two sons, James and Albus, Harry Potter, felt as though he'd stepped into a living Christmas card. Not only was the street decorated for Christmas, with each shop joining in the merriment, but there was a picture perfect covering of snow. It had in fact been snowing over the last few days, but there had been no snow since sometime yesterday afternoon, and where Harry's family lived, the snow was starting to show signs of melting. However, here in Diagon Alley it was as though the snow was fresh and untouched, despite the people going about their last minute Christmas shopping.

"Is this snow, real?" thirteen year old James asked with a frown.

"I think so," Harry answered.

"Then how is it so perfect?" James questioned. "Surely with so many people around it should be complete slush in places."

"Maybe there's some sort of charm on the place," Harry suggested.

To be honest he'd always suspected Hogwarts was charmed to keep the snow looking fresh as whenever it had snowed when he was at school, it always lay perfectly and then seemed to melt away super quick and without the mess snow usually made when it departed. And it seemed like Diagon Alley had the same sort of charm to ensure the street looked perfectly festive.

"I don't care whether it's real or not, I think it looks wonderful," eleven year old Albus gushed.

"I have to agree," Harry said with a grin. "It certainly puts me in the festive spirit. Now who fancies some hot chocolate while we're waiting for your Uncle Ron and Liam?"

Heading over to a pop-up hot chocolate stall, Harry ordered three hot drinks, and he and his sons enjoyed the chocolatey goodness while they waited for the rest of their party to arrive. They were almost finished their drinks by the time Ron arrived, with his eleven year old son, Liam. Spotting the hot chocolate, Ron grabbed some for himself and Liam and they quickly downed the delicious hot beverage.

"Right, let's get this done," Ron said, clapping his hands together after he'd disposed of his hot chocolate cup.

"You make it sound like a chore," Harry laughed.

"Shopping is a chore," Ron retorted with a grimace. "I never know what to buy Lavender for Christmas. I never seem to be able to come up with the right thing."

"Maybe you should do your shopping earlier," James muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes at his Uncle.

It was only two days until Christmas, so if Ron really wanted something special for his wife, he could have had it bought long before now. James knew his own father had gotten his mother's presents sorted weeks ago, and their trip to Diagon Alley was just to pick up a few last minute stocking fillers. It certainly wasn't because any of the Potters had to finish their Christmas shopping.

"Right boys, you can wander on your own to spend your money, but try and stay close enough so that I can see you," Harry said to his two sons. "And if you do get lost, come back here and grab yourself another hot chocolate. If I can't find either of you, I'll check back here, but do try not to get lost. Your mother will kill me if I lose either of you this close to Christmas."

"Ginny will kill you if you lose either of them at any time," Ron laughed.

"True," Harry chuckled as the wizards turned and headed into the festive crowds.

Even though Harry had given them permission to wander, neither James or Albus went very far and Harry never lost sight of either of his sons. Half an hour into the trip, he was just about done, but Ron was still looking for the perfect present for Lavender. Out of desperation they had ventured into the bookshop, although what Ron hoped to find in there as Lavender wasn't a big reader, was lost on Harry.

"Hey, it's Scorpius," Albus suddenly called, waving wildly towards the stairs that led to the upper floor of the bookshop.

Harry knew Scorpius was the friend Albus had made upon starting Hogwarts in September. In the few letters he'd sent home during his first term, he'd mentioned Scorpius several times, and since coming home for the Christmas break just over a week ago, he'd mentioned his friend on a daily basis.

"Who's Scorpius?" Ron asked with a frown, having never heard the name before.

"Al's friend," Liam answered with an uninterested shrug. "He's a total swot. He thinks he knows everything."

"You just don't like him because he's smarter than you," Albus remarked with a snort.

"He is not," Liam hissed. "He's nothing but a show-off Slytherin."

"He's a Slytherin?" Ron questioned, his frown deepening.

"You can't be that surprised, Ron," Harry said, shaking his head slightly at the fact his best friend was still caught up in old house rivalries, which in his opinion should have been left well and truly in the past. "Al's also a Slytherin, and it makes sense he was going to make friends from his own house."

"I guess so," Ron conceded with a nod. "So what's this Scorpius like? And what the hell is with his name?"

"Family tradition," Albus answered. "His grandmother's family are all named after stars and constellations."

"He's a Black?" Harry asked in surprise, figuring that if Albus's new friend was a Black, he would be featured on the family tapestry at Grimmauld Place, which was a house he still owned even though he and Ginny had moved out of Sirius's old home when she'd been expecting James.

"Nah, he's a Malfoy, his grandmother was a Black," Albus said, turning his attention back towards his friend as he waved again, before darting towards his friend.

This time, Harry had a better view of the stairs, and he spotted a boy with platinum blond hair, who could only be a Malfoy. In fact looking at him was like taking a trip through time, and it could almost be Draco Malfoy he was looking at as the boy was so similar to the wizard Harry was assuming was his father.

"A Malfoy?" Ron hissed in Harry's ear. "Did you know about this?"

"I had no idea," Harry replied. He tried to cast his mind back to the first of September to see if he'd noticed Draco at the platform, but he'd been so focused on sending Albus off to Hogwarts for the first time that he hadn't really paid any attention to the other parents.

"A sodding Malfoy," Ron grumbled. "I cannot believe my son is going to school with a Malfoy and no-one thought to tell me. I can't believe Neville. He had to have known since he's a Professor. What the hell was he playing at, not warning us what was going on."

"What's the problem?" James asked with a frown, not understanding his uncle's attitude.

"The problem is the Malfoys are all scum," Ron hissed. "They fought for You-Know-Who in the war."

"You know it wasn't as simple as that, Ron," Harry said calmly.

Even though all their children knew about the war, both from their history lessons at school and stories from home, none of them knew about the Malfoys. After the war, Draco and Narcissa had been given community service, while Lucius had received a prison sentence, albeit a short one thanks to the information he'd given to the Aurors. However, once Draco and Narcissa had served their community service they had left the country, and when he'd been released from Azkaban, Lucius had joined them. That had been over fifteen years ago, and with the Malfoys no longer in the country, there hadn't been any need for the Potters and Weasleys to mention them to their children.

"I know that I should have been informed that my son is going to school with a Malfoy," Ron snapped. "Just you wait until I see Neville. He's going to regret not telling me about this sooner."

"Well, I have no intention of letting the past get in the way of things for Al," Harry insisted firmly. "Scorpius seems to be his friend, and I will not hold his name against him. In fact, I'm going to go and introduce myself to him."

"Do what you want, I won't be going anywhere near the brat," Ron snorted, placing a firm hand on Liam's shoulder to stop him from going with his Uncle.

Rolling his eyes at Ron, Harry headed over to where Albus was standing chattering with his new friend. James was with him, but after greeting Scorpius with a friendly nod, he headed off upstairs to see if he could find a book for his little sister, Lily.

"Hello Scorpius, I'm Albus's father, Harry Potter," Harry said, holding his hand out to the young boy.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Potter," Scorpius replied as he shook Harry's hand. "I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy."

"Call me Harry," Harry said with a smile.

He was just about to ask Scorpius about his parents, as if he and Albus were friends, it would make sense if he and Draco put the past behind them. However, before the words could leave his lips his eyes caught sight of a pair of high-heeled black boots descending the stairs behind Scorpius. Thinking that someone wanted to be past, he reached out to move the boys to one side, but as he did so, his eyes drifted upwards and he froze at the sight. Moving down the stairs towards him was an elegant brunette woman, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans, an emerald green sweater and a long black coat.

"Hermione?" Even though he was sure of the identity of the witch approaching him, Harry still couldn't help but utter his old friend's name as a question as the witch in question looked much more elegant and put together than his old friend had ever done.

"Hello Harry," Hermione answered softly, a small smile tugging at her lips as she stopped on the step above Scorpius.

"I had no idea you were back in the country," Harry said, still gazing at Hermione and thinking how amazing she looked.

"I've only been back a few months," Hermione admitted. "I did think of getting in touch, but things were a bit messy when I left."

"Yeah, it was all a bit nasty," Harry agreed with a grimace.

Hermione had fled the country just over a year after the end of the war when her relationship with Ron had come to a crashing halt. Initially their romance had been going great guns, but it hadn't taken long for both of them to realise that as much as they cared for each other, and as much as they wanted each other, their relationship was doomed to failure as they both had such different visions of what they wanted from life. Only instead of ending things when the problems began and trying to salvage their friendship, the couple had clung onto their deteriorating relationship as neither of them really wanted to let the other go. The only problem was, when things did come to an end, it did so with a real explosion and both Hermione and Ron had said things they couldn't take back. Their break-up had been so vicious that all their friends had been caught in the cross-fire, and although people tried to stay neutral, it had been clear that maintaining a friendship with both Hermione and Ron wouldn't have worked. So with Ron having more solid connections in the wizarding world, Hermione had been the one to back off, and when she'd left to visit her parents in Australia, things had still been messy, hence her and Harry not keeping in touch.

"Maybe I should have gotten in touch," Hermione ventured, unsure if her friendship with Harry could be resurrected after so long.

"Yeah, it would have been nice," Harry said with a smile. "I can see why you didn't though. In your shoes, I wouldn't have known what to do. In fact, even if I'd known you were back, I wouldn't have been sure if you would have wanted to see me."

"I would have," Hermione said. "I do want to see you."

"We should have a proper catch-up," Harry suggested.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, Harry found himself being nudged to one side and he turned to find his brother-in-law was muscling in on the act.

"Hermione," Ron gasped, his entire focus on his ex-girlfriend.

"Hello Ron," Hermione replied with a smile. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah," Ron said, his gaze flicking over Hermione's body. "You look hot as hell, Hermione."

"Dad," Liam scolded from beside Ron, giving his father an unimpressed stare.

"Don't worry Liam, I love your mother," Ron assured his son. "But I am not blind, and Hermione looks good."

"Thanks, so do you," Hermione replied honestly, aware that both Ron and Harry were very attractive wizards. "Both of you."

"Ugh, parents should not flirt," Albus muttered to Scorpius, who laughed and nodded in agreement.

"We are not flirting, we are old friends exchanging pleasantries," Hermione informed the two young boys.

"Yeah, whatever," Scorpius remarked with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, you little git, don't speak to her like that," Ron snapped at Scorpius. "In fact, I don't know what you're still doing here. Piss off and find your bastard of a father."

"How dare you," Hermione snarled, her friendly demeanour turning frosty as she glared down at Ron. "How dare you speak to my son like that. In fact, how dare you speak to any twelve year old like that. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ronald Weasley."

"I...I..." Ron stumbled over his words for a moment, before he went completely still, his gaze fixed on Hermione. "Did you just say son?"

"Yes, Scorpius is my son," Hermione said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.

"No, he isn't," Ron said with a shake of his head, truly looking at Scorpius for the first time. "He's a Malfoy. I can see his father written all over his smug little face. He's Draco Malfoy's son."

"That he is," Hermione confirmed with a sharp nod of her head. "But he is also my son, and if you insult him one more time I will hex you so badly that you will be spending Christmas in St Mungo's."

"Ron," Harry warned, reaching out to grab hold of Ron as he could see his brother-in-law's temperature was rising.

"Do not Ron me," Ron snarled, pulling out of Harry's grasp. "How the hell can you stand there and say you've had a son with Draco sodding Malfoy of all people?" he demanded of Hermione.

"I can stand there and say it because it's true," Hermione replied calmly. "And even though I owe you no explanation, I will tell you that I am with Draco because he has changed. He learnt from his experiences in the war and he became a better man. He's not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but he's mine and I love him. So if you are going to hurl abuse at either my husband or my son, then I suggest you leave before I do something I will not regret. But if you have also grown up, and we can talk about this as adults, I would very much like to do so. You were once an important part of my life Ron."

"You were once an important part of mine, but not any more," Ron said with a shake of his head. "I have no time for some tart who gets her kicks shagging Death Eaters. We're leaving, and keep your scumbag kid away from mine. Come on, Harry, let's get the boys out of here."

"No," Harry said, fixing Ron with a stern glare. "Hermione is my friend, and I won't walk out on her again. I let myself get caught up between you in the past, and I won't do it again. We were all so young then and everything was so heated after the war. But we've all grown up. I can be friends with you both. Even if you don't want to see Hermione again, I do."

"Even though you know she's a Malfoy?" Ron questioned in genuine bewilderment.

"Even then," Harry confirmed. "Besides, our sons are friends. I think it's best if we all get along."

"If you had any sense, you would be warning Al off the Malfoy brat," Ron sneered. "I'm certainly keeping Liam away from him, and I will be warning the rest of the family. They won't stand for having a Malfoy in our lives, Harry. You will have to choose, and this time we're talking about your family. Don't let the likes of the Malfoys tear our family apart."

Without giving Hermione another glance, Ron grabbed his son by the arm, and marched off, his warning still ringing in Harry's ears.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said softly. "I didn't want to cause trouble for you, Harry. Maybe we should stay away from each other after all."

"No," Harry repeated. "As I said, our sons are friends, and I will not stand in the way of that friendship. Ron can rant all he wants, but he's not getting his own way."

"And the rest of the family?" Hermione asked. "What if he's right and they force you to choose. You can't choose my family over yours."

"They won't force me to choose," Harry predicted confidently. "Us being friends does not affect my family."

"I hope not," Hermione muttered. "And I really hope it doesn't ruin your Christmas."

"It won't," Harry reassured her. "It will be a wonderful Christmas. Even more so now I've seen you. We really do need to meet up, Hermione. If Albus and Scorpius are the good friends they appear to be, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other, so I want us all to get along."

"All?"

"Me, you, Ginny and Draco," Harry clarified. "In fact, I want to take you and Draco to dinner after Christmas."

"How about you come to us for dinner on Boxing day evening?" Hermione suggested. "Your whole family. That is, if you're not in the dog house for consorting with a Malfoy."

"We'll be there," Harry vowed.

"I'll send you an owl tomorrow with our address," Hermione said. "And if you can't make it, I understand."

"We will be there," Harry reiterated firmly.

"I hope so," Hermione said with a smile. "Merry Christmas, Harry."

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," Harry returned, impulsively reaching up and giving his friend a quick hug as he yet again vowed to see her on boxing day.

Despite Ron's reaction, Harry couldn't have been happier as Scorpius said goodbye to Albus and he and Hermione headed off home. The last thing Harry expected was to run into the witch who had once been as good as a sister to him, and despite Ron's threats, he was not going to walk away from Hermione. Even if she was now a Malfoy, she was still Hermione, and Harry wasn't going to be so foolish as to lose her friendship for a second time.

Draco Malfoy watched with amusement as his wife fussed over the dining table, making sure it was perfect. To be honest, she'd been in a bit of a flap all day after receiving an owl that morning confirming that Harry and his family were indeed coming to dinner. Even after she'd issued the invitation, it had been clear she had expected the meeting to be cancelled, and as such Draco knew she hadn't allowed herself to get too excited at the thought of reconnecting with her old friend. However, now it was actually going to happen, he could see how nervous his wife was as for the first time she allowed herself to believe that Harry would once again be part of her life.

"You know, I doubt Potter is going to care if a candle is slightly off centre and or a fork isn't lined up perfectly straight," he remarked with a laugh from the doorway of the dining room. "He's coming to see you, Hermione, not to see how good a hostess you can be."

"I know, but I just want everything to be perfect," Hermione muttered, biting her lower lip as she scrutinised the table she'd spent the last half hour sorting.

"I don't think Potter will be bothered about perfection," Draco said. "From what you said, I think he's just happy to have the opportunity to have a second chance with you."

"Yeah, and I want that second chance as well, but I just keep thinking we're not going to get it," Hermione admitted. "You didn't see Ron. You didn't see how angry he looked. He won't like Harry and Albus being involved with our family."

"It's really none of his business," Draco insisted. "I know Potter is his family now, but he can't dictate who his family are friends with. At the end of the day a relationship between our family and the Potters does not affect him or his family in the slightest."

"Try telling Ron that," Hermione snorted. "When he first approached, I was so sure he was going to be reasonable. Our break-up was messy, but we were both at fault and really we were both still so young. I thought he'd matured, and for one moment I thought we might even be friends again. But then he looked at Scorpius, and I could see the hatred burning in his eyes. He's never met our son, yet he hated him on sight."

"I know that feeling," Draco said with a shrug. "He'd never met me, yet he hated me on sight."

"But the same could be said of you," Hermione argued. "You'd never met Ron, yet you hated him. You both hated each other because of what you'd both been told by your fathers. But that was so long ago, and things were so different then. This time the war is truly over. There is no dark wizard waiting in the wings to corrupt people. Ron has no reason to hate our son."

"The reason is me," Draco said softly. "And maybe I deserve that hate. Because of how I handled things in sixth year, Weasley almost died. I think he has every right to hate me."

"Maybe," Hermione reluctantly conceded. Even though she knew why Draco had acted the way he had, and she'd accepted that he hadn't had any choice in certain things had had done, there were some decisions he'd made which were questionable, and the incidents with both the cursed necklace and the poisoned mead were some of those questionable decisions. "But that doesn't give him the right to hate Scorpius. The fact he's your son, should make no difference. He's just a boy. A boy Ron does not know, and should not judge. But even if he was wary of Scorpius because of you, he should have been willing to give him a chance because of me. Ron should know that any son of mine is not a bad child."

"I guess his hatred of me is stronger than his regard for you," Draco mused.

"I guess it is," Hermione agreed sadly.

Not wanting to dwell on Ron any further, Hermione headed into the front room to check that her children were ready for their visitors. As well as Scorpius, Hermione and Draco had a six year old daughter, Lyra. Luckily the pair were quite happily settled in the living room, exploring the numerous Christmas presents they had received the previous day.

"Stop stressing and relax," Draco said, following his wife into the living room and tugging her towards the large sofa. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Hoping her husband was right, Hermione settled down to watch their children enjoy their Christmas presents. Half an hour later she was much more relaxed, and even when the doorbell rang, she didn't get overly stressed over what the evening would hold. Heading to the door with Draco following behind her, Hermione took a deep breath before opening the door and greeting a smiling Harry.

"Thank you for inviting us," Harry said as he and Hermione embraced.

"Thank you for coming," Hermione replied, as she turned to Ginny. "Hello Ginny."

With a squeal, Ginny threw her arms around Hermione and hugged her tightly. "It's so good to see you, Hermione. I wish we hadn't lost touch the way we did."

"I guess we can't change the past," Hermione said practically. "All we can do is learn from it."

"I second that," Draco said, stepping forward. "Potter, She-Potter, it's nice to see you again."

"It's very nice to see you as well, Malfoy," Ginny said, brazenly checking out the man who was one of the hottest wizards she'd met.

"Mum," James complained with a roll of his eyes.

"You can't blame your mother for appreciating such sexiness when she sees it," Draco joked with a wicked grin.

"Stop stirring," Hermione scolded her husband as Harry chuckled and Ginny blushed slightly. "Come in everyone, Scorpius and Lyra are in the front room."

"You've met Albus, but this is James," Harry said, gesturing to his oldest son. "And this is Lily," he said, smiling at the young girl, who looked to be around Lyra's age, holding his hand.

"Nice to meet you all," Hermione said with a smile.

Leading the way into the front room, she introduced her children to the Potters. Lyra immediately asked Lily to join her playing with her toy puppies, while James and Albus settled down to explore Scorpius's new quidditch set. With the children all sorted, the adults settled on the sofa at the other end of the room and Draco sorted drinks for everyone.

"I have to admit, I didn't think this evening was going to happen," Hermione admitted. "Not after everything Ron said the other day."

"My brother is an idiot," Ginny snorted. "We were all thrilled when Harry told us that you were back. I know things were awkward when you left, but it wasn't exactly an easy time for anyone."

"No, it wasn't," Hermione agreed.

"Anyway, we were all thrilled and then Ron started to rant on about Malfoy," Ginny explained. "To be honest, everyone was shocked by his venom. The past is in the past, and we've all moved on."

"Clearly not everyone," Draco remarked.

"Everyone aside from Ron," Ginny conceded. "The family all had something to say, and we all agreed that no-one wants to hold grudges. Al can be friends with whomever he likes, and if that means we'll be seeing more of Hermione then that's just an added bonus."

"So no-one aside from Ron has an issue with the fact I'm with Draco?" Hermione checked.

"Honestly, it's none of our business who you are married to," Harry answered. "All I care about is that you're happy. You are happy, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm happy," she said, smiling at her husband. "Are you two happy?"

"Very," Ginny replied. "We've got so much to catch up on."

"Unless tonight is a one-off, we've got plenty of time to catch up," Hermione said hopefully.

"This isn't a one-off," Harry assured his old friend. "Or at least I hope it's not. Ron might be an idiot, but I'm not. Reconnecting with you is the best Christmas present I could have gotten this year."

"It is a pretty special present," Hermione agreed. "I'm so pleased our sons became friends."

"How about a toast to Scorpius and Albus for bringing us together?" Draco suggested, raising his glass.

With clinking glasses, a toast was made to Scorpius and Albus and the friendship that had connected the Potters and the Weasleys. Ron may not have been happy to find out how his ex-girlfriend's life had turned out, but Harry had no problems with who she had married. But best of all he had no problem with the fact Hermione was once again part of his life. It truly was the best sort of Christmas surprise he could ever have hoped for.

The End.