Harry had expected a quick answer but certainly not that quick. He was preparing Christmas' Eve dinner, not even two hours after he had sent his letter, when he heard Snitch's knock on the kitchen window. He opened the window, the golden brown owl flew swiftly onto the table. Ginny had walked in, anxiously looking on as he untied not one but two light letters from the owl's legs.

The reply was surprisingly short.

"Dear Harry,

We will be delighted to receive Albus at the Manor on Christmas morning. I will disable the wards so you will be able to floo over. Thank you so much for thinking about my son in these special times.

Merry Christmas to you and your family too.

Yours sincerely,

Draco Malfoy"

While Harry had expected Draco to say yes, he had certainly not expected the reply to be so… heartfelt, it was a sincere thank from a loving father without a hint of irony. It was unexpectedly nice that Draco would simply address him with his first name as well. Perhaps he had been right in thinking they were finally friends after all these years. Reading Draco's reply made him feel great, further convincing him that he had made the right decision.

Harry turned his attentions to the other letter and saw that it was addressed to Albus. He called his boy, who rushed into the kitchen within a millisecond with a nervous but excited expression.

"Draco said yes, and here's a letter for you."

Albus was grinning from ear to ear, he could barely contain his excitement as he received Scorpius' letter from his father. He ripped open the letter, took one look at the letter then gave out a hearty laugh. Harry was surprised when his son shoved the letter over for him and Ginny to see. There was only one line.

"Albus,

Oh Merlin! I am SO excited that you are coming for Christmas!

Love,

Scorpius"

Harry could feel his heart swelled as he felt the pure joy radiating from Scorpius' simple words of excitement. He turned to his wife to see an identical smile on her face.

Albus walked with bouncy steps back out to rejoin his siblings while Harry returned to his cooking.

"When are you telling my parents, Harry?" Ginny asked, the earlier smile had disappeared.

"I will floo over myself after dinner. They deserve to be told in person. I guess I should have asked their permission earlier but it was a spontaneous decision and once I have asked Albus, there was no turning back. Hopefully Molly will understand." Although he was supposed to inform both his parents-in-law about this development, it had only been Molly's reaction he had been worried about.

"I'm sure she will. She has been worried about Albus as well. Also, I have told her enough about the Time Turner incident to secure her good opinions of Scorpius, along with a much improved impression of Draco. I won't even be surprised if she end up inviting the Malfoys to the Burrow." Ginny said teasingly.

"It's a charming idea to imagine Scorpius spending Christmas with all of us at the Burrow but I don't think Draco will be ready to spend much time with a house of Weasleys anytime soon. We should first try with the Potter Christmas' Eve dinner next year." Harry said while cooking his signature red sauce for the pasta.

Ginny's face lighted up, "Hey, why don't we invite them to our Christmas party?"

"Oh, you mean the Christmas party held at Ron Weasley's house with a dozen of DA members in attendance? I would have invited them if it's held at ours this year with less people coming but it's not my place. Believe me, love, I'm not ready to be murdered by your brother yet."

"Ron's not that bad. I actually believe that he's starting to respect Draco after Godric's Hollow."

"You know what, I hope he does. With our boys so close, I really hope that Scorpius, and by extension, Draco as well, would be able to spend more time with us in the holidays, like how I spent a lot of time with you lot back when I was in Hogwarts. He must have been so lonely all these years."

"He seems so bubbly and optimistic, I would not have guessed that he had such a lonely childhood. I pity the boy for having Lucius Malfoy as a grandfather as well." Ginny was looking very thoughtful.

"Well, who would have guessed that Draco Malfoy's son would be so sweet? I would be lying if I said I didn't expect Scorpius to be a mini-Draco back then when we first saw him on the platform. He looked almost identical to Draco at that age." Ginny could not see Harry's face as he was adding the finishing touch to his giant turkey.

"At least we should introduce Teddy to Scorpius, it would benefit them both to have more in terms of family. They are cousins, right?" Harry pushed Ginny's hand away in time before she had dipped her finger into his sauce.

"Yes, second cousins." That's a thought, Harry pondered. It was funny to him that it had never occurred to him before to introduce the cousins. As a former Hufflepuff head boy, his godson was considerate, intelligent and confident, he was altogether the perfect role model and big brother for Harry's children. He decided that he really liked the idea of Scorpius getting to know his cousin.

"We should definitely think about that, but we don't know too well about where Draco stands regarding Andromeda. Now, it's time for our Christmas' Eve feast."

Harry had outdone himself for Christmas' Eve dinner, which was a seven-course affair, including Molly's magnificent Christmas cake. Albus had already been in an excellent mood that he engaged in playful banters with both James and Lily. There were so much laughter from all of his children that Harry could almost pretend that the last three years of awkward dinners had never happened. Other than the chaotic mess that they had to deal with afterwards, it had already been shaping up to be the best Christmas in years.

It was quite late by the time the kids had retreated into their rooms that Harry finally got his chance to floo his parents-in-law. Arthur, who was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, jumped when he saw Harry stumbled into his fireplace.

"Good evening, Arthur."

"Harry, it's good to see you but we weren't expecting you at this hour." He quickly came over to help brush off the soot from all over his son-in-law's cloak.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you but there's something I need to tell the both of you."

"You are not disturbing anything but you are surely worrying me. Well… I should call…"

Molly Weasley rushed out from the kitchen at this moment, still wearing an apron, hands covered in flour. "What's wrong, dear? I heard…"

Clearly Molly was stunned to see Harry at this time of the night. "Oh, Harry… anything's wrong, dear?" She started rubbing her hands on a towel hanging on her waist to appear more composed as she walked slowly towards her only son-in-law.

Harry was really nervous as he was looking at the concerned expressions of both Arthur and Molly. He was acutely aware of the weight of his wristwatch, the same one given to him by the couple twenty years ago, at this moment. They had always treated him like one of their owns, since long before he had truly became part of their family, that he could not bear for them to think him disrespectful or be disappointed in him. A part of him really wished he had asked for their permissions before he had given his and sought Draco's but he got to do what had to be done.

Harry took a deep breath and said, "I am very sorry but Albus will have to arrive late for his Christmas visit tomorrow. I have given permission for him to spend some time at the Malfoy Manor with Scorpius, his best friend, before going to the Burrow for Christmas lunch. If you are mad that Albus will miss out, please do not get mad at him, it was my idea that he should spend time with Scorpius, who has no family but his father, and Albus is worried himself that his coming late would upset you." Harry had rambled everything and he had, unconsciously, started looking down halfway, making him appeared even guiltier than he had felt.

After a moment of painful silence, he slowly looked back up to search for reactions on their face. They were looking at each other with uncertainty, but what Harry had not expected to see were his father-in-law's pursed lips and the hardening of his expression. Harry's heart sank as he remembered the beef Arthur had with Scorpius' grandfather, Lucius. Mr. Weasley had always been so easy-going that it had not occurred to him that he might have an issue with Harry's arrangement.

"If I remember correctly, this Malfoy boy was Albus' partner in crime in his Time Turner adventure." Harry could feel the sweats on his palm as he heard Arthur said in a voice devoid in his usual warmness. He felt a strong urge to defend Scorpius from all the evil misconceptions from the entire Wizarding Community, even at the expense of his own son and himself.

"Yes, that's true, Arthur. But Scorpius is not to blame for anything. Albus was the ringleader of that whole operation. He was the one who had eavesdropped and found out about the Time Turner, he was the one who got manipulated by Voldemort's daughter and led Scorpius to run away from school. He was the one who insisted to go back a second time even after knowing he had failed once. But if you want to blame Albus, you should remember that he was just a pawn used by an insanely powerful and manipulative witch, and he was driven away by his sad excuse for a father. Among Delphi, Albus, Scorpius, Hermione and me, it is safe for me to say that Scorpius deserves the least blame for what has happened." Once Harry had started, it was almost impossible to keep his emotions in check even in front of Molly and Arthur, the couple he loved like his own parents.

Growing anxious from the tension arising, Molly patted Harry's arm soothingly and said, "That's not what Arthur meant, Harry dear. He would never blame a child for the terrible things that have happened." She reached out with her other hand to pull at his husband and said, "Do you remember what Ginny has said about the alternate reality that the poor boy has experienced?"

Arthur, for his benefit, had backed down with a softened and thoughtful look. "Oh yeah, I don't believe I could ever forget something like that. So he was the one who has brought it all back, it's so hard to believe that our hard-earned peace could be so fragile."

Having recovered from his earlier outburst, Harry felt terrible for losing control in front of his in-laws. He bowed his head and said, "I'm very sorry for acting out, Arthur. It was inexcusable and rude. Having made the terrible mistake of mistreating Scorpius because of his last name myself, I feel very strongly now when I get to experience the injustice he has been exposed to his entire life. It was not unlike some of the mistreatments I had experienced myself when I was younger. I can vouch that Scorpius Malfoy is one of the bravest and kindest boys I have ever known, completely unlike what anyone would have expected from a Malfoy."

"It's alright, Harry. I guess I should apologise too as it has certainly crossed my mind that this boy might be a bad influence on Albus. I have never made it a secret that I had a very low opinion of Lucius Malfoy, but his offspring and grandchild should not be held responsible for his mistakes." Arthur patted Harry on the shoulder to indicate that he bore him no ill will.

"I could not imagine the hell the poor boy must have been through in a world that You-know-who has won. I heard from Ginny that he has lost his mother too." Molly said in an affected tone, she was no doubt imagining one of her own grandchildren living in that world. It was interesting how young members of the wizarding community had no problem using Voldemort's name these days but older folks tended to stick with their old habit of not referring to the dark lord by his name.

"Yes, Scorpius is a very lonely child who reminds me a lot of myself." To further earn Molly's sympathy, Harry recounted the excitement he had witnessed from the boy for being able to bring home a clean trunk and some of the bullying he had heard from Albus. By the time he finished, he was sure that Molly was ready to give the boy a hug if he were there.

Not being able to hug Scorpius herself, Molly was now pulling Harry into a tight hug as she said, "You are quite right for wanting to give this boy some Christmas cheers, Harry dear. Do not worry about us, you can tell Albus to spend as much time as he wants with his best friend."

Harry did not even get to utter his thanks for the permission so freely given, as Molly was rushing back into the kitchen immediately after she had let go. Arthur turned sideway to give him a reconciling smile and a nod to show his approval for Albus' late arrival as well.

Molly quickly returned holding a red box, the same kind of box with pastries each of Molly's children's families would leave the Christmas gathering with, then placed the box on Harry's arms. "Here, Harry, give this to the Malfoys and give the boy a hug for me. You must be very tired, dear, Ginny said you were cooking the feast yourself tonight. Merry Christmas and we will see you tomorrow!" His mother-in-law was now urging Harry towards the fireplace and holding out the Floo pot for him. Harry dumbly mumbled his thanks and merry Christmas before flooing back to his own home. His arms cautiously trying to balance the cake box while he spinned back. He returned to his own sitting room and was immediately welcomed by the sight of his wife, who casually looked up from her book and asked, "Well, how did it go?"

A/N: It's funny how my story keeps evolving in ways I couldn't have foreseen during my writing process. Originally, Arthur wasn't even going to make an appearance here but then this little conflict just started taking shape. As nice as the Weasleys were in the books, they were completely capable of being ignorant like the general folks, like how they believed Sirius was a threat to Harry and how Molly believed Hermione was toying with Harry, and given the history between Lucius and Arthur, I thought it entirely believable that Arthur would show a bias towards poor Scorpius (even saint Potter did after all). Also, it's nice to show some growth in Harry's part here.