"Draco! Draco, wake up!" Draco groaned,
"What? Why do you insist upon waking me up all the time?" Hermione simply laughed,
"In case you don't remember, there was that time where you got Moody to wake me up in a horrible fashion, so let's just call this pay back for that. Besides, it's already mid-day and every one's waiting for you, so bloody well hurry up and get dressed." Draco grimaced and turned stubbornly over, still refusing to op en his eyes,
"Don't wanna talk to people today." He mumbled into his pillow. The muggle-born sighed exasperatedly,
"Don't be ridiculous Draco." She told him severely, "It is illegal to be unsociable on Christmas day. So even if you stay in bed for the rest of your life, you've still got to wake up today. Any way," She grinned impishly, "You've got to give me my present." Draco turned over and glared at her,
"What makes you think I've brought anyone presents?" He asked suspiciously,
"Oh, I saw you give that list to Tonks when she went out, so what was that if it wasn't presents?" The blonde pulled a face and gradually eased himself into a reluctant sitting position, waiting until Hermione had left to get up properly. When still she continued to stay there, Draco fixed her with a 'Look',
"Are you just going to sit there and watch me undress, Granger, or am I allowed to change in private?" Hermione flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet, mumbled something utterly incoherent and dashed from the vicinity of Draco's room as though a swarm of doxies were after her.
"Is he okay?" Severus asked as soon as he saw her descending from the stairs, obviously waiting for her. Hermione looked around in mild surprise,
"Hmm? Oh…yes he's fine. Just woken up though so he's a bit grumpy but then again isn't he always?"
"True, true." The potions-master had to agree even though he did his best not to bad-mouth his godson, he couldn't help but agree with the student he had formerly loathed so much. Strange how certain events make you look so differently at people isn't it?
So saying, Severus leant towards her, black eyes flicking around conspiratorially,
"I don't know if I should be telling you this, Granger, but Narcissa Malfoy will be visiting later." Hermione's head shot up in alarm,
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Professor?" She breathed, hardly able to believe that he would agree to such a stupid thing, "I mean, it's not as if Draco has forgotten what happened. Far from it-" But Snape cut her off before she could finish,
"Do you thin that I do not know these things Granger?" He demanded, a slight edge to his otherwise calm tone, "Do you really think I would risk upsetting my godson like that without good reason and much thought?" Hermione was silent for a moment as her brain considered this using the never failing method of 'Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo.'. Decided that he was probably right, bowed her head and mumbled an apology.
"Suppose but, why? Why is she coming here? Isn't that dangerous?"
"If you mean, 'Won't it be easier for Lucius to find Draco', he already has." Hermione's sudden expression of immense shock evidently meant she had absolutely no idea about this, and so, Severus continued, "That was why Lupin asked you to bring me back, because Lucius had come the previous night, although apparently Draco has told no one and Lupin only know because of a lucky guess."
"But, surely if he knows where Draco is…why didn't he take him away?" But this time, Snape could only shrug his shoulders helplessly,
"We can only guess, I'm afraid. But I'm sure it can't be anything good."
"You're talking about me." This sentence, both demanding and accusatory, caught the attention of Hermione and Severus and they turned to see Draco, fully dressed and eyeing them curiously. Snape, completely ignoring what the boy had just said, abruptly took Draco by the arm and steered him into the living room, Hermione following close behind.
The three of them were greeted with a chorus of 'Happy Christmas', a couple of glares from various members of the Weasley clan in the direction of Draco, but on the most part, the atmosphere was friendly.
Despite what Tonks had implied before, there weren't that many people there: The five Weasleys (Molly, Arthur, Fred, George and Ron) had adopted the sofa, which had clearly been enlarged to accommodate for every one, Mad-Eye was settled in the arm-chair which stood in the far right hand corner, Dumbledore in a similar one that Draco could swear wasn't there yesterday and finally, Lupin, Sirius and Tonks cross-legged on the floor.
Draco, completely unsure of what he was supposed to be doing, simply followed Hermione and sat down next to her, trying to avoid all the eyes that were staring at him.
"Well, now that everyone's here, perhaps we can get down to business?" Dumbledore enquired happily, breaking the ice with a sledgehammer. All were silent for a moment, then the twins let out a whoop of joy and dived into the rather enormous pile of gifts piled precariously under the elaborately decorated Christmas tree and then proceeded to chuck presents at their corresponding owners.
"Cheers Mrs.Weasley!" Came the chorus as everyone unwrapped jumpers of various colours, all except Draco who was staring at his in an equal mixture of contempt and confusion.
"Go on Draco, put it on." Hermione urged as she pulled on her own,
"Yeah Malfoy, put it on!" The twins echoed, a demonic glint in their eyes. Draco glared at them, but, determined not to be shown up, pulled it over his head. Instantly applause and laughter broke out and Draco grinned sheepishly as everyone admired his hideous orange sweater,
"Harry told me your favourite colour was orange." Molly told him by way of an explanation, "But of course, it can be changed if you'd prefer." This caused slight outrage within the Weasley children, particularly that of Ron, who was extremely put out that he'd been put through years of Maroon for no reason But Molly merely waved aside his complaints with,
"Well, you never said you didn't like maroon…"
The party was just about in full swing, with crackers and party hats, wrapping paper strewn across the floor like a disposable carpet and a substantial mound of presents next to each person. Pride of place on Draco's was a stuffed tiger from Hermione, whom he had christened Kisa, when suddenly the doorbell rung and Mrs.Black's portrait started screaming wildly.
"Why don't you get that, Draco?" The boy looked up at his godfather in confusion,
"Why?" He asked, "Who'd want to be visiting me?"
"You'll never know unless you open the door will you?" Severus replied innocently. Slowly, Draco rose, still glaring at Snape suspiciously, but complied and went to to see who it was.
When he actually reached the front door, however, his nerves began to get the better of him, he knew it was stupid, but what if it was his father?
'Don't be ridiculous, Draco.' He told himself stubbornly as he reached for the door handle with shaking fingers and pulled it open.
It wasn't his father, but it was almost as bad.
"M-Mother?"
A/N: Hiya! I've got some really good ideas for the next chapter! heh heh heh...and you'll find out what Draco's christmas present is!
Happy Birthday for blueeyedchibi! Draco sends you a card. :)
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