Normally the Potters tended to sleep in a little on Christmas day, woke up at around nine, had a light breakfast before opening their presents together, then they would all change into their Weasley jumpers before flooing over to the Burrow to meet their extended family.
On this Christmas morning, Harry was woken up early by the sounds of footsteps walking up and down the stairs. He fell back asleep almost immediately after due to his sleep-deprived state from all the overtime he had put in this week. He had no idea how long had passed but by seven fourty, someone was knocking on his door, trying to wake them up.
"Merry Christmas, mum and dad! It's Christmas morning, time to wake up!" This was a miracle, it normally would have taken Ginny's yelling and dragging to finally get Albus out of bed well past nine on Christmas morning.
"It's not even eight yet... sweetheart. Go back to sleep!" Ginny was clearly not willing to get up yet, but Albus was persistent.
"Mum, can we open the presents sooner please? I want to get to the Malfoy Manor early. I can't wait to see Scorpius!" Ginny regretfully sat up, while Harry was disorientedly rubbing his eyes and trying to reach for his glasses. As much as both of them would love to get more beauty sleep on Christmas morning, they did not have the heart to say no to their son, especially when he was feeling so excited about Christmas for once in his life.
"We are getting up, Al. We'll see you downstairs soon." Ginny reassured his son but she was facing Harry with rolled eyes.
"Thanks, mum!" there came the gleeful response, more footsteps then knocking as they realised with amusement that Albus was going to wake up his siblings now.
"Wake up, sleepyhead! It's Christmas morning!"
By the time Harry was leaving his room while Ginny was still washing up, Albus was still knocking noisily on James' door. He could hear that Albus had already successfully woken up his sister, but waking up James would be a great challenge for anyone. James was now groaning grumpily and threatening to pin Albus on the ground the next time he saw his face.
Seeing that his father had emerged, Albus turned to plead with Harry, "Do we have to open our Christmas presents together, dad? Can I just open mine myself before I go?" Harry realised that his son had already put on his new emerald Weasley jumper, the only exception to the Christmas present rule.
Harry knew that it would be tricky to wake his eldest son up early but opening Christmas presents together had been a Potter holiday tradition for years, he was not willing to have it discontinued this year.
"Unfortunately, we have to, Albus. But you can go ahead and get down, I will wake James up myself." Albus was relieved to have Harry take over. He beamed at his father then happily bounced downstairs.
As flattered as Harry felt to receive an Albus' smile directed to himself, his task on hand would not be easy. He turned toward James' door and knocked, "James, would you wake up please?"
"Dad, you are spoiling Al!" Harry sighed. Although James was usually very easy-going, he could be even stubborner than Albus when he wanted to be. Also, he could not deny James' accusation as he was indeed thrilled that Albus would allow himself to be spoiled after having distanced himself from his family for three years.
It had taken Harry everything, from reasoning, persuading, cooing, bargaining to finally, bribing with James' favourite Weasleys Wizard Wheezes' products (though he had made James sworn to keep it a secret from Ginny), to get him out of his room. By the time they had gotten downstairs, Albus was fidgeting impatiently at his seat on the table with his entire pile of presents in front of him, while Ginny and Lily were seated eating bread rolls. Once James had reached the ground, he immediately threw the pillow he was holding at Albus' head. "You selfish prat!"
Normally this would have made Albus angry in an instant, but perhaps it was because he knew he was in the wrong, or just that he was in such an excellent mood knowing he would meet his best friend very soon, that he simply caught the pillow and laughed it off. "Merry Christmas to you too, James!"
"Don't you need to eat something, Albus?" Harry asked as he took his seat.
"I have already eaten. I've been up an hour." Harry could tell Albus was impatient for everyone to finish eating so they could start opening the presents. The sooner they opened the presents, the sooner he would be able to leave for the Malfoys.
It had taken the couple three minutes of very uncomfortable eating under Albus' watchful glance before they gave up and had everyone stopped eating and started unwrapping their presents so Albus could get going and they could have their peace. To appease their other children, Harry even promised that they could go back to sleep afterwards if they wanted.
After the disastrous conversation the last time he had given Albus a present, Harry had thought really hard to come up with a good present this Christmas. Although to be fair, it was thanks to the blanket that the world could be saved and Albus had after all grown to appreciate it that he had shyly requested to keep its remnants, which he had gotten back only after Molly had stitched a piece of white cloth covering the entire back of the blanket, as Harry had requested. He had finally settled on a high quality Wizard's Chess set after some deliberation. He had thought of getting a broomstick but decided to delay that a bit until he was sure Albus' interest in flying could last.
Albus seemed to like the chess set, but he seemed to like Scorpius' and Draco's presents even more, a protection charm made of a multi-coloured gemstone and a luxurious quill made of a shiny black feather, with its top bit handsomely plated with gold. He was reasonably pleased by the presents he had gotten but it was obvious that none of his presents excited him as much as the prospect of spending time with Scorpius on Christmas morning. He had torn opened the wrappings of his presents as quickly as he could without stopping to admire any of them beyond giving his initial reactions that he finished unwrapping everything in a record four-minute-time. He proceeded to put them away in his room immediately.
Harry was glimpsing through a new book given to him by Hermione, while Ginny and the other kids were taking their time to unwrap presents, when Albus returned in front of him. "Dad, I have unwrapped all my presents, can I visit Scorpius now?"
Harry took a look at the clock and sighed, it was only five past eight. As convinced as he was that Scorpius would be thrilled to get to spend extra time with Albus, arriving almost an hour early unannounced on Christmas morning seemed extremely rude to Harry.
"You are expected to arrive at nine, Albus. It would be rather rude for you to just show up this early. How about this? I will give Draco a call to make sure they're ready for you before you floo over there yourself." Albus nodded reluctantly.
Harry tiptoed around all the opened presents, torn wrapping papers and gift boxes before arriving before his fireplace. He took a deep breath as he took hold of his handful of Floo powder. Maybe it was because of the terrible memories he had with Floo calls, or because it felt intruding for Harry to show up inside another's house, whether you were expected or not, or it was simply unnatural to have your head somehow disconnected with your body, Harry had always hated calling at the Floo. Most of the Muggle ways and inventions might be inconvenient, but Harry really wished that the Muggle mobile phones could be popular among wizarding folks. There was no denying that this Muggle mean of communication was far more advanced than any wizarding mean of communication.
Once Harry had opened his eyes after putting his head through the green fire, he realised that he had appeared inside the Manor's sitting room. It was huge and very grand but dimly lit as only one out of five curtains had been pulled up. At first he was feeling frustrated as the room looked empty to him, until he made out a slender figure curled up on an armchair by a floor lamp in one corner of the room, completely engrossed in his reading that he had not noticed that the Floo had been activated.
Harry let out a cough then called out, "Scorpius."
The boy jumped then turned towards the fireplace, "Who is it? Hmm...Mr… Potter?" He broke into a jog as he recognised it was Harry who had suddenly appeared in his home.
Scorpius was sounding a bit breathless by the time he reached the Floo and got down on his knees. "Is everything okay, Harr...Mr Potter? Something has happened? Is Albus coming?" He seemed to be assuming something must be wrong for Harry to show up this early at the Floo.
Harry had wanted to talk to Draco directly first but seeing the boy so nervous, he knew he needed to reassure him first thing. "There's nothing to worry about, Scorpius. We are just wondering if Albus can come over now. He's too excited that he made us opened our presents early for him. Could you…" Harry was going to ask could you ask Draco to come over so I can talk with him, but was interrupted.
Scorpius had squealed with delight. "YESSSSSSSS! Of course Albus can come early! I woke up at six and couldn't get back to sleep because I have been so excited! I…" The boy had realised in horror that he had squealed in front of the one and only Harry Potter that he put a hand over his mouth, speechless.
Harry could not help but laugh at the boys' mutual excitement and anticipation for this meeting, but stopped abruptly when he realised the poor boy was blushing further, thinking he was laughing at him. "Hmm… Scorpius, it's perfectly fine for you to be excited, there's no need for you to feel embarrassed."
Scorpius appeared relax a little but he was still blushing when he said, "Thanks, Harry… I guess I just overreacted…"
Harry smiled good-naturedly as he said, "That's fine. In fact, Albus has appeared really excited this morning himself… Hmm, Scorpius, Albus will be able to come right away but I want to tell Draco myself before he come."
The boy beamed. "Of course, Mr Potter. I believe he is in the kitchen, it's just around the corner. Please wait a second…" With that, he rose and ran to the door then called out, "Dad! Mr Potter is at the Floo!"
Draco Malfoy appeared within a minute when he marched into the room purposefully. He moved rather elegantly with the long train behind his suit flowing smoothly in sync with his steps. He was wearing a fancy dress suit in dark green and black outside a white shirt ...with ruffles? His attire was obviously tailor-made and was tight-fitting with loads of buttons that it seemed extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable to wear at eight in the morning. Harry was starting to wonder if Malfoy slept in suits as well. But then of course his clothes would be spotless and wrinkle-free as well. Looking up from the fireplace to see Malfoy coming toward him like this, Harry got to admit he looked a bit intimidating, which was a sharp contrast with Scorpius, who was following behind his father and bouncing happily forward in a cosy-looking jumper and flannel trousers.
Malfoy got to the point immediately once he had reached the Floo, "Potter, what's wrong?" Harry could not suppress a sigh, the Malfoys were perhaps the most pessimistic people in the world. But it was understandable given that they were so unpopular among the general public that not many good things ever happened to them.
Harry felt a bit self-conscious to talk to Draco Malfoy like this, "Good morning, Malfoy. There is absolutely nothing wrong except that Albus has woken up my entire family before eight so he could visit earlier. I just want to make sure that Albus coming now is okay for you since I did write that we would arrive at nine." Hearing this information a second time somehow made Scorpius even more excited, he was now bouncing up and down next to Draco.
Draco looked slightly taken aback, no doubt feeling a bit embarrassed for his serious reaction, but resumed his usually calm expression after a beat, "Hmm… of course Albus is welcomed to come now… That would be great." He did not look too excited himself but he was now looking affectionately at his excited child.
"Great. Then we will come through in a minute." With that, Harry awkwardly came out of the fire and returned to his own noisy sitting room.
A/N: I paid a small tribute here to Alan Rickman with Draco's outfit. Alan had said that he had requested Snape's clothes to have really tight sleeves (which I thought would be a bit too specific to add here) and a lot of buttons because the idea that Snape had to button up his clothes had helped him. I like the idea that Draco would like to feel in control with his look with all those buttoning up.
It was gratifying to receive much more positive responses than usual from my last update, thank you for all the lovely support. I especially love reading the comments, cheers =)