House was exhausted by the time term ended with all the papers and end of term tests to grade and had a renewed respect for the teachers in his life. He stayed past two days past the students going home, finally flooing into Grimmauld Place around lunch on the twenty-second. Narcissa greeted him with a kiss on the cheek while Draco smirked from the chair he was lounging in.

"I was wondering if you were going to make it in time for Christmas," Draco teased.

"So was I when that stack of grading didn't seem to be getting any smaller," House sighed, sinking down onto the sofa with Narcissa at his side. "Potter here or gone?"

"Here but he's out shopping right now. He's going over to the Weasley's house tomorrow and staying for a few days. Granger too," Draco replied.

"This came for you yesterday," Narcissa said, handing him an envelope.

"This must be the invitation to Yule Dinner," he said, breaking the wax seal and reading it. "We're invited to come to a light snacking meal on Christmas Eve and to stay over through to lunch the day after Christmas. Longer if we want," he said, handing it to Narcissa.

"All three of us are invited?" she breathed, surprised to see she and Draco included. "But this is the first time meeting your family, Gregory."

"Precisely why I want you two to come with me. Too nerve wracking to have all these new people around me without support. My … father, said that they do a gift exchange, but that we should just get each other gifts instead of picking a name out of the bowl. But I want to get my parents and grandmother something no matter what. You will come, won't you? Draco?"

Narcissa exchanged a glance with Draco who gave a small nod, before smiling and handing House the invitation. "Of course we will. Send a reply and then we should go out shopping ourselves tomorrow."

They spent a relaxed night, after seeing the remodeling and decorating that Narcissa had done. Kreacher made a stew for dinner and afterwards, House played the tuned piano for them, including Harry and Hermione. They finished the night with cocoa and cookies in front of the fireplace, everyone content and relaxing with a book or in the case of Harry and Draco, a game of chess, until drifting upstairs to bed.

One o'clock in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, House was getting dressed and packing up a couple of days worth of clothes but he was a bundle of nerves inside. Less than an hour before they would leave for the MacDougal's estate and meet all of his relatives. He was shaking so badly he could hardly button his shirt. Forsaking it for the moment, he sat down on his bed and leaned forward, face in his hands, onto his knees, trying to take some deep breaths to calm down. After a few moments, he felt gentle hands on his shoulders, urging him to straighten up and he heeded the prompting.

"It's perfectly normal to be nervous, Gregory," Narcissa said as she bent slightly and buttoned up his shirt and vest. "But don't let your anxiety keep you separated from your family. Andromeda and I Iost two decades of time with each other. If you don't find some courage now, you'll regret it later on."

"Slytherins, remember?" he responded weakly but obediently fed his arms through the jacket she was now holding up for him.

"Gryffindors have not cornered the market on bravery," she chided lightly. "Determination then. Ambition to overcome everything that anyone has said against you; even yourself," she said when he shook his head in denial of courage.

"You urged Draco to hold his head high and remind everyone that he had the right to be there at Hogwarts. You have the right to be there with your family. To finally belong to a family. So hold your head up high and walk in there with myself and Draco like you belong there."

"And if they aren't as accepting as they seem? My half brothers and sisters? Cousins?"

"Then you still have family in the House of Black and Malfoy," she said, meeting his eyes firmly.

House looked up at her for several long moments, unsure that could be possible but slowly nodded and gave her a slight smile when he couldn't find a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"Okay. Best foot forward then," he said, standing up as she smoothed his jacket down expertly. "Thank you."

Narcissa smiled and bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Shall we? Draco should be ready at the floo."

He nodded and went to pick up his bag but Kreacher popped in, grabbed it and left before he could even lay a finger on it.

"I can carry it, he knows that doesn't he?" he asked, exasperated.

"It is his duty and honor to serve the House of Black. He spent years alone and driven nearly mad with grief and guilt. Let him wait on you. It helps you, by not having to worry about small details, and it helps him feel needed again."

House sobered at the thought of being alone with grief for years, understanding that feeling all too well. "Right. Okay then. Let's go."

When the three of them arrived at the receiving floo, Jesse, Herbert, and Isobel were waiting to greet them. Once they'd been welcomed, Kreacher brought in their bags and the gifts.

"Greg, I'm happy to have you here at last. Merry Yule," Herbert said, shaking his hand, although he dearly wanted to embrace him. His long lost son was nowhere near ready for that type of greeting though.

"Thanks, Herbert," House answered, shaking his hand and then greeting Isobel and Jesse. "This is Narcissa Malfoy and her son Draco."

"Welcome and Merry Yule to you both," Herbert said with a smile. "I'll have your bags taken to your rooms if you would like to follow us to the drawing room. Jesse's family is here and your grandmother; the others will be arriving over the next hour or two."

Herbert couldn't help but notice the flood of relief in Greg's expression that the whole family wasn't assembled yet but he forced himself not to react or draw attention to it. This would be hard enough for him, meeting all the family, feeling like he was the outsider. Instead he turned and led the way with Isobel, giving a bit of a tour of the rooms along the way.

When they reached the drawing room, they were introduced first to Isobel then to Jesse's wife and children. The last occupant of the room rose to her feet and walked to House, hands held out to touch him but the woman didn't do so until she saw permission in his eyes. She stepped close and took his face in her hands, studying his features and the fear in his eyes for a moment before gently pulling him low enough to put a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Welcome home, grandson," she said softly, slowly releasing him.

She then moved to Narcissa and Draco. "I am Elaine MacDougal, Gregory's grandmother, and I'm very pleased to meet you," she said, taking Narcissa's hands and leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

Narcissa was grateful but completely stunned by the greeting. "You have made my grandson happy and I think he is helping you be happy as well, is he not," Elaine whispered as she drew back, nodding as Narcissa smiled in silent confirmation.

She took Draco by the shoulders and gave him the same silent scrutiny she'd given Gregory followed up by a kiss on his forehead as well.

"Well, come sit down," she urged, gesturing toward the waiting chairs. Isobel summoned their house elf, Sunny, to serve tea and cookies.

Over the next couple of hours they discussed Jesse and House's teaching positions and how they overlapped, what the healer course was like from both teacher perspective and student perspective from Draco. Narcissa was asked about the redecoration of Grimmauld Place, and Draco of what he would like to do after completing his schooling. And all the while they were talking Herbert's other three children and families arrived and were introduced.

House sipped on his tea and watched, listening, as they all sat down and chatted easily with each other. It seemed surreal to have two brothers and two sisters, along with their spouses, nieces, and nephews. Everyone was true to their word and were being not just civil but nice to Narcissa and Draco, including them in the conversations quite naturally so far. He figured that eventually there would be some hard questions asked but he was starting to feel just a little optimistic about his future here, especially after the greeting his grandmother had given them.

They had a light meal together and then retired to a room with an enormous tree, bare of presents at the moment in deference to the youngest children, and a grand piano. House, his brother Jamie, and sister Alice's son, Garrett, took turns playing carols and songs on the piano. After a couple of hours, everyone began to drift toward their rooms, including Narcissa and Draco. He would have gone too but his grandmother called for him to join her in her parlor.

"Sit down, Gregory," she said softly. "I can only imagine how overwhelming this all must be for you, meeting everyone en masse like this."

"Yeah, it is," he admitted, easing into a chair next to the fire and across from her. "But Christmas at least provides a distraction too, especially with all the kids."

"That is certainly true. Tomorrow David and his brood will join us for gifts and dinner, which adds quite the level of chaos with 18 grandchildren running around," she chuckled. "So how have you been? How are you finding being a professor after one term of teaching?"

"Hah. It's a lot more work than I thought it would be. Part of that is my own fault with the amount of assignments I give and the level of work I want out of them, but… it's been pretty good actually. Been able to play cards and chess with my colleagues. Quidditch is great," he grinned, and Elaine shook her head indulgently. "I'm finding that I like teaching medicine from the bare beginning. And I'm going to start studying for OWLs this coming term."

"That will be a lot of extra work for you. Don't push too hard, too fast."

"I'll try not to but if I'm going to stay teaching there, I need some qualifications."

"All of your letters say the same thing. If you stay. Are you thinking of leaving?"

"No. No, I'm not, not really. Not voluntarily, anyway."

"Ah. So you think you could be forced out."

"Yeah. My life is filled with things going tragically wrong just when they were starting to go right," he grimaced.

"And what have you thought might go wrong this time? The loss of job for lack of qualifications, obviously. Anything else? Loss of your new family, perhaps?"

"Yeah," he sighed, looking down at the floor. "Everyone's been great today, and I've really enjoyed our letters but… I've been on my best behavior. Usually when people see the uglier side of me they take off at a run."

"I would say that if they see your uglier side, they'll take you to task for being an ass, as any parent, sibling, or cousin would. But that won't make you lose your family. Gregory, everyone in this family down to all but the youngest grandchildren know about your mother and you, and the long search to find you. It's never been hidden, never been talked about with shame, only regret for being unable to find you. So, don't think that after all of that they'll ever let you go."

"What about being with Narcissa? We get a hell of a lot of dirty looks when we're in Diagon or Hogsmeade."

"Eventually, that will die down as long as the two of you continue to react as if you have every right to be there and be together. Which you certainly do. I'm sure she will be asked questions tomorrow evening, but the general consensus I've given them from what little you've told me is that she felt trapped by her marriage vows and family loyalties to honor the deeper magical vows that Lucius made to Lord Voldemort, and that extends to Draco even more so, as he wasn't of age when Voldemort returned."

"He was marked. Made to take it after his father went to Azkaban for the fight in the Department of Mysteries."

"Coercion means that wasn't his fault at all. He was a teenager, Gregory, trapped by his father's decisions and living with a madman. That he managed to come out of it the level headed young man he is speaks well of him and his mother."

"That's the way I feel about it too. Besides, if they don't get the chance to change, then the whole society is doomed to just go down the same damn path again."

"Any other worries?"

"Just one. I faked my own death and came to England on fake ID. I had a warrant out for breaking parole from prison, to spend my best friend's last six months with him. If somehow that gets out, they could demand I be deported and sent back to the United States."

"Hmm. That is something we should look into circumventing."

"How could we do that?"

"There are ways. One of which would be to go to Gringott's and do a goblin blood adoption with Isobel as your mother. In the magical world, you would become a MacDougal, even some of your features could change. Gregory House would officially cease to exist."

"Really?" he asked, very interested in that happening. "I might want to do that anyway. Make a full, clean break from the past."

"Then we'll sit down with Herbert and Isobel tomorrow and discuss it."