Little Note: Hello all! Happy holidays! Hope that however, wherever, and with whomever you celebrate, that you are surrounded by joy and light and love. Here is a little Christmas celebration chapter! Sending love to you and yours!


It was with reluctance and anxiety that Eleanor left Grimmauld Place on Christmas Eve to attend the traditional dinner with the Malfoys. She had their perfectly wrapped gifts piled in her arms, and a woolen coat draped over her turtleneck clad shoulders. Mrs. Weasley had insisted with the argument that the Malfoy Manor had to be drafty with all of that extra space.

"Will you be coming back tonight, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked at the Floo, patting Eleanor's cheek affectionately.

"I expect so, but don't wait up." Eleanor informed. Hermione shot her friend a look over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder. She was asking with her eyes what Eleanor was planning on doing so late. Eleanor rolled her eyes in response and shook her head slightly for only Hermione to see. "We have a whole evening tradition, and I expect Narcissa is going to go all out this year." Eleanor did, for the record, believe that Narcissa was going to have a large meal waiting and the inside of her home would be decorated and she would fit in Malfoy and Cordarri traditions all night. Eleanor was dreading the whole affair, another reminder that the Christmases past were over forever and no matter how hard Narcissa tried, that wouldn't change.

"I'll wait up." Remus insisted, putting a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"No, no. Santa won't come if you're awake." Eleanor offered a smile. This light joking brought a smile to Hermione's face. It had been so long since she had seen her friend cracking jokes. Everyone else present simply rolled their eyes. "I will be here in the morning."

With a smile to everyone surrounding the Floo, Eleanor made her way to Malfoy Manor. To her surprise, the only one waiting for her on the other side was Draco. The house was decorated but none of the lights were on and the candles weren't lit. There was no smell coming from the kitchen that indicated dinner was ready. Draco silently took her packages from her hands and arranged them under the already large stack of presents under the Malfoy's obscenely large tree.

"Where are your parents?" Eleanor asked quietly as Draco took her coat from her shoulders and hung it on the coat rack that stood by the fireplace.

"They've been gone a few days, I don't know where." Draco admitted lamely, looking at his feet with his hands shoved in his pockets. Eleanor had to look away for fear of her heart betraying her for recognizing how absolutely handsome he was.

"Will they be back tonight?" Eleanor questioned.

"I thought they might be, but..." Draco trailed off. "I tried to get everything set up on time, but dinner will be late. I didn't know when to tell the House Elves to start. And the lights, I couldn't figure out how to get them all connected properly and-" Eleanor grabbed Draco's arm lightly.

"It's beautiful, Draco. Thank you." The two held each other's eyes for a moment, sharing a soft moment of peace that each craved equally. "What's for dinner?"

"I don't have the planning skills of my mother, so please don't have high expectations." Draco chuckled. "I have stuffed mushrooms in the oven and some rice on the stove. Very minimal."

"Sounds delicious." Eleanor complimented. "Let's see if we can't figure out these lights."

The pair worked together for awhile, chatting mindlessly about their respective breaks. Apparently Draco had been left alone for the majority of his, which made Eleanor feel slightly guilty for leaving him to himself in the big house. However, a part of her felt that if he wasn't in danger, some solitary time might do him some good for self reflection.

After nearly half an hour of rewrapping the wire lights and plugging them into each other in various combinations, the entire parlor lit up in a beautiful light show. "Got it." Eleanor smiled, looking at each twinkling orb with a sense of wonder.

"El," Draco asked softly. "Can I be honest with you for a second?"

Eleanor tucked her legs under her chin as she looked at her childhood best friend, turned possible first love, and most complicated and also simple part of her life. "I'd be extremely grateful if you were."

Draco gave her a small, regretful smile and ran his large hands through his hair as he took a seat on the floor beside her and the tree. "I want every Christmas to be like this." Eleanor just stared at him. Waves of emotions washing over her. She knew what he meant and there was a part of her that felt the same way, but she was also angry with him for attempting to make amends after playing with her emotions so viciously and carelessly for the past few months. "I want it to be you and me, figuring out lights and talking about our lives. Just being together."

"We can't talk like this." Eleanor shook her head. "Not after...everything." She avoided saying Bridget, given how poorly it was received during their last conversation.

"I get that, I really do. I'm going to change." Draco scooted towards her to grab her hands.

"I've heard that before." Eleanor leaned away from Draco's promises. "I need to actually see it."

"I know." Draco nodded. "And you will." He paused a moment. "Can I ask you for one thing?" Eleanor knew what he was going to ask for before he did. She knew him too well and if they were feeling the same longing in their chest, then she was expecting what was coming. "Can I kiss you again? Just once? I won't ask again, you kiss me next when you're ready."

Eleanor could not deny she wanted to kiss him. Despite his cruelty, despite the Inquisitorial Squad, despite his distance, his friends, his beliefs towards her dearest friends, despite even Bridget. She wanted to feel his lips on hers again. It felt like it was the seal to his promise. She gave the slightest nod. It felt like the air had left the room as the two closed the gap between them.

Eleanor felt as though she wanted to cry when Draco's lips brushed hers gently. She was so damn mad at him. She had been left alone, to be the fool. He had taken advantage of her and flipped a switch once school started, as she always suspected. But they met each other with this kiss and she hoped this was turning the page. She was choosing to trust that he would change, but also choosing to wait to give any more of her heart to him until he did.

She didn't want to stop kissing him. She didn't want to wait until he was different. She kept her lips firmly attached to his, surprising Draco. This wasn't what he expected when he asked for this kiss. He also didn't expect to feel her tears against his cheek, but he understood why. He knew he hurt her and, Merlin, he was so ready to change.

Something in him snapped after he yelled at her. It was the worst feeling in the world, then to have her be so afraid of his family that she had to leave. He felt at his lowest when he was causing his best friend to fear and to hurt. So he kissed her, he kissed her passionately to promise that it wouldn't be that way again.

"Why did you do that to me, Draco?" Eleanor asked in between kisses as Draco began trailing kisses down her neck, whispering apologies. He intertwined their fingers and didn't let his lips leave her skin, convinced this still counted as one kiss.

"I won't hurt you again." Draco promised, kissing Eleanor's palm as she looked down at him, tears making her eyes glisten. "I won't. I'm going to take care of you."

That's when it hit them, the smell of smoke wafting strongly from the kitchen, causing Draco to curse and Eleanor to chuckle a little before wiping her eyes. "Why didn't the House Elves catch it?" Eleanor wondered, following Draco to a smoke filled kitchen where dark clouds billowed out of the oven and the pot on the stove, leaving all contents completely inedible.

"I, uh, dismissed them for the night. It's Christmas." He shrugged sheepishly. "I, obviously, am not very good at multitasking." He sighed heavily. "Our Christmas dinner is ruined."

Eleanor started to wave towels in the kitchen to dismiss the smoke as Draco disposed of the burnt food. He tried to salvage it for a desperate moment, but it was too late. Eleanor assured him that the gesture was not lost, and insisted the two walk find a take away restaurant that was open somewhere near Diagon Alley. They eventually found a pizza place after walking the cold streets of London for a while, chatting and joking in a way that felt familiar and simple.

"Why aren't your parents home?" Eleanor asked quietly as the pair waited for their take out box of cheese pizza to be ready. The employees looked annoyed at their presence and Eleanor felt a stab of guilt for them. She hoped their simple order would be quick and painless.

"I honestly don't know." Draco breathed out, shoving his hands further in his jacket pocket. "I think it has something to do with my aunt being back. The two of them were very on edge around me and one morning I woke up to a note saying they would be out of town for a bit."

"How are you feeling about your aunt being back?" Eleanor put a gentle hand in the crook of his elbow.

"I feel like everything is going to fall apart with her here." He muttered, shaking negative thoughts from his head. "But for now, we'll eat pizza and open gifts."

With the box in hand the two marched back to the nearest Floo, keeping each other laughing and Eleanor destructively hoping that this was what the future held for them. They sat in front of the fire eating their now half cold pizza and sipping on drinks that Draco had expertly mixed up.

"So where are you staying again?" Draco asked, wiping grease off of his fingers and lips with a napkin.

"With Remus." Eleanor responded. "And the Weasleys, and Harry, and Hermione and whoever else decides to stop by." She added with a chuckle. "It's been good. There's been a disconnect with us recently and it's healthy for me to be around them for us to fix it." She took a long sip of her sweet drink. "And it's really nice to be around Remus for a long period of time."

"How's that all been going?" Draco pondered cautiously, not sure how he should go about responding to her new father.

"He's wonderful. He's so understanding of how weird this all is, and it's just really nice to get to know him." Eleanor looked down at her hands in contemplation. "I-uh, nevermind." Eleanor laughed at her own thoughts and took a long swing of her drink. She wondered idly what Remus would think if she came back drunk on Christmas, especially after her stunt earlier in the break. He would wonder who raised her, he would judge her parents, judge the Malfoys, judge her. Sirius might think it was cool though.

"No, tell me." Draco insisted. He was genuinely interested in her thoughts. They'd spent the better part of the school year not sharing what was on their mind, and that led to their untimely demise. Draco wanted to rebuild their foundation, the friendship. "I want to know."

"You just want me to kiss you again." Eleanor chuckled. She wasn't wrong. "I really love spending time with him, and with his friends. I've been accepted into another family, and it feels wonderful, but…" Eleanor trailed, "I feel unfaithful, I don't know." She shook her head to clear her thoughts out.

"Unfaithful?" Draco repeated. He knew the feeling. Bridget was that feeling personified for him, but he couldn't imagine Eleanor feeling that way about anything. She hadn't ever done anyone wrong they way he had done her wrong.

"Yeah, it's just how I feel." Eleanor shrugged, the tiniest lump lodged itself in her throat and she took a deep breath to clear it. "It feels like I should be mourning my parents forever. And I still miss them, every day, but there are glimpses of joy, and I feel guilty for letting it in sometimes."

Draco didn't know what to say to this, he couldn't begin to comprehend where Eleanor was coming from because he had never been in a situation of this weight. "I think your parents would want you to let it in." He let out softly, believing very strongly that it was true. "Don't you want that?" Eleanor nodded her head slowly and gave him a sweet smile. He had told her exactly what she needed to hear.

"I want to open gifts." She smiled, shaking the sadness that had collected in her shoulders. She crawled over to the tree and plucked Draco's wrapped gift from beneath the pines.

"I'm surprised you even got me anything." Draco admitted.

"You know how much I love Christmas and gifts." Eleanor laughed, shoving the parcel into his hands. "Besides I bought it before...everything." Draco had bought her gift after everything as a way to make things up to her, though sitting here now, in all her glory, he didn't think it would do the trick.

Draco took the box and unwrapped the flawless wrapping gently. He could feel Eleanor squirm in anticipation next to him, he liked to make her wait, but she hated keeping her gifts a secret for longer than they had to be.

In the package he found a pair of high quality Quidditch gloves, a broom care kit, and a fine pocket watch, encrusted with an emerald.

"El, this is-" He breathed out, she'd always gotten him nice gifts, but the pocket watch looked ancient, and expensive, but it felt like it was supposed to belong to him. "This is amazing." Eleanor was beaming at his reaction, nothing filled her with is as much joy as giving a gift she knew someone else would love. Draco looked down into the box again, and found an envelope with his name written perfectly in Eleanor's loopy handwriting.

"Read that later." Eleanor insisted, following his gaze to the letter she had written a few days prior, Draco nodded in compliance.

"El, I really appreciate this." Draco said sincerely, holding her hand tightly in his own. Eleanor felt a pang of longing. She wished the two of them could exist alone in the world, no outside forces or sadness. She wished every day was a quiet Christmas, with no other people around, no other stresses, just them, it was when they worked best. Eleanor just smiled.

"I'm glad." And she was.

"Okay, your turn." Draco said, getting excited as he pulling a small package from under the tree. It fit in the palm of Eleanor's hand.

"Are you proposing?" Eleanor asked in a light voice as she pulled the wrapping paper back to reveal a small, black, velvet box. Her heart stopped when she saw the box, and her hands began shaking ever so slightly.

"Not exactly." Draco murmured softly, wanting her to open it faster. She gave him a curious look before flipping open the lid.

It was a ring, a thin silver band wrapped around three uncut stones: a moonstone, an emerald, and a sapphire.

"It's your birthstone, and your parents birthstones." Draco explained, watching Eleanor as her eyes filled with tears looking at the dainty piece of jewelry.

"I don't know what to say." Eleanor said shakily, not taking her wet eyes off of the box. "This is spectacular, truly." She swiped her hand over her cheeks. "How did you come up with this? This is perfect!"

"I wanted to bring your parents into this Christmas as much as I could." Draco explained.

"Oh, Draco." Eleanor threw her arms around his neck and held onto him firmly for a few moments. He understood her heart, she knew he did. She pulled away and looked at his face for a moment before putting her lips on his gently. "Okay, that was the last one." Eleanor promised, slipping the ring on her finger. "Thank you."


"Do you think she left yet?" Narcissa fretted, looking at the clock on the wall of their coast chateau. Her and Lucius had escaped the Manor for a few days, unable to face Draco, or have Eleanor for Christmas in their shame. They also puzzled over legal documents for ages, trying to find a way out of this, a way out of Eleanor and Draco's betrothal. The only option was for Lucius not to fail.

But now Narcissa didn't want to fail further as a parent by leaving him alone on Christmas. She knew that Eleanor would come for the evening, she loved Christmas and she was good to her word. Now they just had to wait until she was gone.

"I don't know dear." Lucius said absently. He would have chosen to hide away forever if it didn't mean damning his son and his best friend's daughter to a life of service to the Dark Lord.

"We can't just let him spend Christmas alone." Narcissa nearly wailed.

"She will be with him." Lucius reasoned. Part of him was grateful to have confided his sins to his wife, but her panic only increased his.

"I'm going back." Narcissa concluded. "I need to see him."

She quietly Floo'd to Lucius' private study fireplace and walked on silent feet to the parlor, she heard soft voices coming from under the tree and couldn't stop herself from peering into the room as Eleanor placed her lips on Draco's. "Okay, that was the last one." Eleanor stated when she pulled away. Narcissa had never seen so much love in her son's eyes as she did when he looked at Eleanor. Narcissa knew that Eleanor would always be Draco's greatest stronghold and also greatest weakness.


Eleanor tiptoed into Grimmauld Place when the rest of the house was asleep.

"Have a good night, my dear?" Remus' whisper was loud in the silent hallways, causing Eleanor to jump.

"I told you not to wait up." Eleanor jokingly scolded. "Yes, it was nice. Just Draco and I, which was in some ways better."

"Should I be worried about this Malfoy boy?" Remus raised a brow. Eleanor rubbed the band of her ring with her thumb and smiled widely at the feel of it.

"No, you shouldn't be." She wasn't.


Grimmauld place was flooded with laughter, wrapping paper, and people on Christmas morning. Of course, Eleanor felt the sting of missing her parents on her favorite holiday, but this crowd was bright with joy and love. Eleanor drifted from person to person, sharing hugs and Christmas joy. She felt very wanted, it was something she hadn't felt in a long time.

"I never asked, how was the Malfoy's last night?" Hermione asked, her and Hermione had shared a bed the night before to make room for the extra guests over the holiday. Hermione only muttered a soft hello when Eleanor made her way in, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

"It was nice." Eleanor responded with a soft smile. "Lucius and Narcissa weren't there, so Draco and I had a quiet night in."

"A quiet night in?" Hermione repeated with a raised brow.

Eleanor shook her head and rolled her eyes slightly at her disapproving friend. "Nothing like that." She assured. "He and I just had some things we needed to talk about and it was actually very helpful." Eleanor paused for a moment, playing with the ring that he had given her. She debated hiding it for a moment, only because of the connotations a ring had, but decided to show Hermione anyway. "He gave me this. It's my and my parent's birthstones."

Hermione's eyes bulged out for a moment. "A-a ring?" She stammered out.

"Oh come on, 'Mione, the ring doesn't mean anything. It's just a touching gift."

"I mean, it is lovely." Hermione recovered, examining the rocks that sat on her finger. "I'm just confused by you two."

"Hermione, enough." Eleanor stated. "He and I have a long history, I can't just not be his friend. I know you don't understand it, but I need you to trust me." Hermione huffed quietly, but nodded in succession. The two were very similar in many ways, and that forged their friendship, however they had enough differences to keep them having little spats like this one.

"Eleanor!" She heard Sirius' voice call from across the room, where he sat by Remus, "Moony tells me that you are in need of ideas for your future, come, sit, I have a few ideas."

Sirius and her father had had a few Christmas Morning drinks and were laughing in the corner while excitedly watching everyone open gifts. Remus, Eleanor was learning, was very serious and didn't let himself have too much fun. Sirius was good for him, he helped Remus laugh. Eleanor had been thinking of extending the invite to Remus to live in the Cordarri Castle while she was at school, and the only reason she hadn't was because she was afraid he would be too lonely without Sirius by his side.

"What are your ideas for me, Sirius?" Eleanor asked as she sat beside him and her father on the sofa.

"Well, you're a proper Gryffindor, you could be an Auror like Harry." He said, Eleanor laughed.

"I'm not brave like Harry." Eleanor shook her head. "I'm not really like most Gryffindors." She reflected on the Sorting Hat telling her that she was a fool after she refused the original pick of Hufflepuff.

"I don't think that is true." Sirius shook his head with a smile stretched on his rosy cheeks. "But not an Auror, alright then...let me think...What about a teacher? You could teach at Hogwarts, what's your best subject?"

"Hmm," Eleanor thought for a moment, "Herbology, but I don't know if I would want to teach."

"You're good with Defense." Remus pointed out.

"Harry's better, he'd make a good teacher." Eleanor deflected.

"That boy's an Auror, through and through." Sirius insisted.

"I don't think so." Eleanor shook her head. "He's a teacher."

"A teacher?" Ron butt into the conversation. "Harry a teacher?"

"What the hell do you think he is doing right now?" Eleanor questioned, then bit her tongue realizing none of the adults knew about Dumbledore's Army.

"What do you mean by that?" Remus asked with furrowed brows.

"Harry's tutoring us in Defense." Eleanor quickly spilled, it wasn't quite a lie, but it wasn't really the truth.

"What's the Malfoy boy thinking of doing with his life?" Sirius asked, changing the subject. Eleanor looked down at her ring for only a moment, and shrugged.

"I don't know." She said honestly, but she hoped it included her.


Draco,

Merry Christmas! It's funny to me sometimes thinking about where we were at this time last year. We were dancing at the Yule Ball, and you were being a prick, and I went along with it as I always do. This year really put us through the ringer, huh?

If I could go back and change things, I would. I would change a lot of things, but one constant that I would always choose to have is you - prick or not. Don't ask me why. I want to spend next Christmas with you. If I'm being honest, I want to spend every Christmas with you, and every birthday, and every Easter, and every Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I feel ridiculous writing it, after everything that's happened this year, but I have to be honest.

I hope you know that even when you drive me mad, I am always hoping that you'll be my partner in everything.

Love Always,

Your El