Unexpectedly, Draco was woken by his Floo chiming the next morning, rather than a hungry and excitable child.
He sat up, catching his still open book before it fell and cast a quick Tempus charm, blinking in surprise when he realised it was past 10 and Melissa wasn't up. The Floo continued to chime and Draco pulled himself out of bed. He stumbled sleepily out of his room and onto the landing before pushing open the door to Melissa's room.
The door creaked slightly as it opened and he freezed, hoping he hadn't woken her up. When no sound other than soft, even breaths came from the room he opened the door further, resisting the urge to aww at the sight in front of him.
Melissa lay on her back, limbs out at all angles, with her biggest frog - Splat - snuggled into her side and the smaller blue one in her hand, dangling over the edge of her bed. Her quilt was bunched up around her waist, one foot poking out from underneath. She mumbled quietly and shifted, bringing her foot back under the quilt and knocking a third frog off the bed.
Draco crept into the room and picked the frog up, tucking it back under the covers. He pulled the quilt back up over the rest of her body, gently adjusting her arms into what was probably a much comfier position, before leaving to let her sleep a bit longer. She'd nearly fallen asleep in her pasta the night before after they returned from their day out with Potter - Harry he reminded himself - and she'd probably be asleep for another hour.
So much for 'lots and lots and lots of energies'.
The Floo chimed louder and more insistently this time and Draco cast a quick 'Muffliato' to keep it from waking the sleeping four year old.
Draco shivered as he entered the drafty kitchen, the cool air from the open window dancing over his bare chest, cursing himself and whatever possessed him to leave a window open in December.
He opened his Floo, ready to make excuses to his mother as to why he was up so late on a Monday, when Harry Potter's head popped up in the flames.
"Potter!" Draco cried out in shock.
"How many times? Harry. I'm beginning to think you can't pronounce it."
"Harry then. Why are you firecalling me? How are you firecalling me - it's a warded connection."
He looked sheepish for a moment, the expression warped by the flickering flames. "I got Mrs Wittle to give me the password, told her I'd forgotten it."
"We could make a Slytherin and a politician out of you get - tricking an old woman and avoiding questions all in one go. Why are you firecalling me?"
"I-er-wanted to talk a bit more about tomorrow?" It was more of a question than an answer, but Draco rolled his eyes and opened the Floo to allow Harry to step through.
He quite literally fell out of the Floo, sending up a cloud of black soot - how the hell did his fireplace end up so dirty? - and crashed into Draco's chest.
"Fuck!" Draco winced as Harry shouted right into his ear, coughing on the soot and trying to draw into his lungs despite the rather heavy weight on his chest.
"Falling for me already Potter?" He rasped out eventually, letting his head fall back on to the cold kitchen tiles.
Harry laughed, which quickly dissolved into a coughing fit. "Isn't it a bit chilly for sleeping half naked?"
He blushed, suddenly conscious of every bit of his bare skin that Harry was touching.
"Draco?" A small voice drifted into the room from the hallway.
He threw his arm out, fingers scrambling on the soot covered tiles as he tried to find his wand. "Stay there for a minute, sweetheart!" He called out.
"'Kay!"
He eventually found his wand and pushed Harry off him, wincing at the state of his usually pristine white kitchen floor. He waved his wand, vanishing the soot that was still drifting in the air and siphoning off the layer that still covered the pair of them. He shook his head, sending more soot over his shoulder and the floor, like some sort of deadly dandruff.
A quick assessment of the kitchen reassured him that it was no longer a health hazard and he padded out into the hall, where Melissa sat on the stairs, Splat hanging loosely from her fingers as she rubbed tired eyes.
"Up please." She lifted her arms up, brown eyes looking up at him imploringly.
Draco cast another cleaning charm at his hair before scooping her up in his arms. She buried her head into his neck, cold nose making him shiver.
"Break-fust?" She asked, voice muffled as Draco made the short trip back to the kitchen.
Harry still stood awkwardly by the fireplace, a small dusting of soot around his feet. "Morning Lissy."
Her head shot up, smacking into Draco's jaw, tiredness suddenly gone. "Harry!" She squealed.
She looked confused for a moment. "Where's Teddy?"
"He's with his grandma today, but I'm sure she'd be happy to let him come over if you want him to."
She nodded so vigorously that Draco was surprised her head didn't fall off and he refrained from admonishing Harry for inviting people into his home.
•••
One firecall, two burnt pieces of toast and a small reunion later, four of them sat around the table in the kitchen.
Teddy and Melissa were squished together on one seat, a plate of toast balanced between them as they poured over a pop-up book.
"What are your plans for today?" Harry asked, spooning far too much sugar into his tea.
"Putting Christmas decorations up and hoping Butch doesn't eat them." He took a sip of his own tea - sugar free thank you very much - mouth curving into a smile as two heads popped up over the book.
"But dec-rating day is on 10! Mrs Wittle's birthday. Dec-rating is her bestest thing!" Melissa frowned, looking at her advent calendar, which was propped up against the sugar pot. "It's only 4!"
"Calm down, silly." He laughed. "We'll still be going to help Mrs Wittle decorate on the 10th, but I thought we should put our decorations up today to practice."
"Timsel?" Teddy asked, wiping crumbs off his face.
"We have tinsel, yes."
Satisfied, the pair turned back to the pop up book.
"I didn't-I-we," Harry stammered. "We can go if you want. Decorating for her first Christmas in a real home should be special - I don't want to indrude."
Draco shook his head, draining the last bits of tea out of his cup. "Your name is on the papers too. As much as you seem to want to ignore it, it means something. You're stuck with us. If you don't join in with traditions now, when will you? You can't play a part our little 'family' if you don't get involved."
Harry sighed. "If you insist." But his cheeks were flushed and there was a tiny smile playing on his lips as he sipped at his tea and avoided Draco's gaze,
•••
Once Draco and Melissa had changed out of their pyjamas, Harry and Draco began hauling bags of decorations out of the loft.
To Harry's surprise, many of them were muggle, including the tree.
"You have a plastic muggle Christmas tree." He said and Draco handed down a bulging box that was held together by several metres of duct tape.
"Nice to see your glasses are working." Came the muffled reply, followed by several sneezes.
"But why?"
"I have changed since school Potter. You of all people should know this. " his tone was hard and slightly hurt, making Harry feel a rather large pang of regret.
"I'm perfectly entitled to whatever sort of Christmas tree I want. I don't need you to -"
"I'm sorry." Harry blurted our, cutting off what would have probably been the start an argument.
Draco's head shot up in surprise and he cursed as he smacked it on the hatch door.
"Little ears!" Harry reminded him with a snigger.
"Prat. I never expected to hear those words directed towards me, allow me some surprise."
"Why wouldn't I apologise to you? I had no right to say or imply that about you."
Draco gave him a half shrug. "I overreacted. Besides, it's my fault you have those preconceived notations of me - I was a right bastard at school."
He pulled another bag down from the loft and handed it to Harry before stepping down the ladder. With a quick wave of his wand, the ladder folded itself up and the hatch locked behind it. "Forget it, lets go downstairs."
They levitated the bags downstairs between them, making their way towards the living room where Teddy and Melissa were playing with Butch the cat.
The three of them looked up as the decorations were floated into the room, Butch deciding it was the perfect time to attempt to scale Draco's leg.
Harry laughed so hard his levitation charm failed, causing the bags to plummet before he stopped them with a cushion charm, as Butch tried to climb Draco's leg, claws dangerously close to his bits.
Melissa and Teddy soon joined in, rolling around on the couch as Draco did his best to detach the cat from his jeans.
Several minutes of breathless laughter later, Butch wandered off, tail in the air and a chunk of Draco's jeans still attached to one paw.
"Furry devil." The irritated blond muttered, but his mouth was twitching and Harry knew he found it at least slightly amusing.
•••
Bags were opened and their contents strewn across the carpet creating what looked like a festive bomb site.
The second the two adults had stood the tree upright the children had attacked it with a multitude of decorations, from muggle to magical.
There were the standard, shiny red and gold baubles that appeared to be exactly the same in both worlds. (Draco insisted their was a difference, but Harry couldn't see it) One particularly large one had ended up in Butch's possession and the cat was currently batting it around the living room into everyone's ankles and under everyone's feet.
There were the slightly eccentric Wizarding decorations, including the genuine fairy-dust-fairy-lights. They included a snowman who's hat spun around a random intervals, a robin that would detach itself from the tree and take flight and, most strangely of all, a ghost version of Santa.
It was a classic, must-have Wizarding decoration apparently but Harry found it rather creepy.
And then there were the glass decorations. They were layered with several protective charms to stop them breaking and to allow the children to hang them up without worry. Each one was hand crafted and there was 20 of them, each one a gift from Narcissa from every Christmas since he was born. Harry's personal favourite was the green tinted penguin one.
It feature two of the majestic birds, heads curled towards each other, the tips of their beaks just brushing. Their glassy, webbed feet were millimetres from touching, only separated by a scrawny yet adorable grey chick. It's much smaller beak was angled towards the right, gazing up at its parents, tiny wings spread ever so slightly. It had been the first one Draco had ever received.
When the children were satisfied with their decorating, Draco lifted Melissa to place the star on top, Teddy having been distracted by a large biscuit to avoid an argument.
They stood back to admire their handiwork, Butch hovering behind them.
The tree was leaning towards the right, just a little bit and it's lower branches sagged under the weight of so many ornaments, given that the little ones could only reach so far. One section of the tree was sparsely decorated and many branches had more than one decoration perched on them.
It was perfect.
•••
Draco pulled a final box out of the last bag, the other having been folded away in the loft. He knelt down by Melissa on the carpet, murmuring her name to get her attention.
"I have a bit of an early Christmas present for you." He said, handing over the box. She stared intently at the box for a minute or two, sounding out the words on the front.
"My-knee treeeee." She said slowly. Draco nodded encouragingly. She had only started primary school this September and he was rather impressed she had managed to read the box.
"Mini tree!" She frowned. "Why's it mini? Who shrinked it?"
"It's mini because it's yours to keep in your room."
She fell quiet, staring at the box. Suddenly she threw herself at Draco, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!"
She pulled back, staring at the box in awe. "I've never had my own trees to decorate before." She said, her voice quiet.
"Well now you do."
•••
With assistance from a very eager Teddy, they managed to select the best decorations out of the ones remaining to hang on Melissa's little tree.
It was an odd looking thing, as Melissa had insisted that even the broken ornaments needed a place to go, so it was a strange mix of dented baubles and headless figures.
On top on the tree sat a green, amphibious angel, which Harry had quickly transfigured when they realised they had no other star.
As he watched Draco help Melissa balance the frog-angel on top of the tree, Teddy on his hip, he thought that maybe it wasn't so bad, being stuck with Draco Malfoy.