Chapter Ten: Christmas Break

There are several dialogue quotes taken from JK Rowling's Chamber of Secrets in this book. This is to convey the same story she wrote, but from another character's POV. The quotes taken directly from the book have three quotation marks (instead of two) around them to signify she wrote them and that I am citing them. Because I am transforming pieces of her work into something new this falls under the Fair Use Act. Additionally, JK Rowling has stated that she is okay with noncommercial fan fiction. All direct quotes, the Harry Potter storyline, and the characters all belong to JK Rowling.

It was nearly Christmas time at Hogwarts, and it seemed that everyone was in the holiday spirit in one way or another. The spectacular Halloween decorations were all replaced with bells, ornaments, and Christmas trees. Holly and Garland ran up and down the Great Hall. Several young witches attempted hanging mistletoe in the doorways to encourage the boys to give them a Christmas kiss.

Crabbe and Goyle invented a new game where they caught the smallest first years, and literally built them into snowmen. They would cast silencing charms on their victims, and sometimes it would be hours before a professor or friend would realize that the snowmen had human heads.

Draco laughed along to these shenanigans, but he preferred to spend his time bundled up under a blanket, studying, and drinking hot chocolate. Curiously, his mood started to deflate as Christmas break loomed closer. While he normally would have welcomed the break, he wasn't looking forward to facing his father who was... less than pleased with him last time they wrote to each other.

Additionally, Draco wasn't sure how his father would take the awful, terrible news Draco had to break to him... as of right now he was second in his class. Maybe this would not be so terrible under any other circumstances, considering how he still had a full term to fight his way to first. However, the highest ranking student in his class was the mangey, muggle-born, Granger girl that Draco was kicking himself for helping Halloween night.

The Friday before Christmas break, the students chatted through potions class. It seemed as if even Professor Snape's serious demeanor could not keep the holiday spirit at bay.

"'I do feel so sorry,'" Draco said loudly with a tone of fake sympathy. "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He directed this insult at Harry, who had to spend his Christmas at Hogwarts because his parents were dead, and his Aunt and Uncle did not want him.

Although Draco couldn't see Harry's reaction, as his back was to him, he saw Harry's ears flush very pink. He also managed to make his friends all snigger with laughter. This made Draco feel a little bit better about going home, because at least he wasn't unwanted. However, the feeling didn't last, and Draco tried channeling his anxiety into potion making.

At the end of potions class, Draco stayed behind as usual. He walked up to Professor Snape who was at his desk writing something. "What are we working on today, Professor?" Draco asked.

However, Snape ignored him and continued to write. Draco's heart sank as he knew what was about to come. Finally Snape set down his quill and stared Draco down.

"I'm not going to yell at you for ranking lower than Granger, because I'm sure you'll get it from your father," said Snape. His voice was low and drawling, but this was typical, so it was difficult to tell exactly what Snape was feeling.

"However," Snape continued. "I want to impress on you that you have a full term to fix this. I expect you to study over break, and I expect you to do better when you come back. Now go."

Draco turned and left with his tail between his legs. He shook with anger as he marched out of the dungeons and into the corridor. Draco felt as if he may cry or have a breakdown, and just at that moment of pure vulnerability, who would be standing there but Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

The three of them were talking to the groundskeeper Hagrid, who had carried in a large Christmas tree. The tree was completely blocking the corridor, and suddenly Draco felt trapped, as if he had no escape.

Instead of crying he channeled his emotions into contempt. "'Would you mind moving out of the way?'" Draco barked with a snarl. "'Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose —that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to.'"

Ron lunged towards Draco, but at that moment Snape appeared, as if on cue. "'WEASLEY!'" He shouted.

"'He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, giving Draco a look of disapproval. "Malfoy was insultin' his family.'"

"'Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid,'" said Snape in a coy voice. "'Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't along, all of you.'"

Crabbe and Goyle, who had just so happened to be messing around in the corridor, joined Draco, and the three of them pushed past the tree as roughly as possible. Draco made sure to bump into Hermione as they went.

Draco turned to look at Snape when they were past the tree, and saw Snape staring at him with an unreadable expression, but he made no attempt to stop him.

The Hogwarts Express left at eleven the next morning, and when Draco finally arrived at King's Cross at dusk, he had no one to greet him at the platform. He was a little disappointed, when he saw the other children running to their parents with open arms. However, he was not really surprised. His parents hated going places where there were muggles, and King's Cross was packed with them.

Draco used the Floo network to get back to Malfoy Manor, and his mother was waiting for him at the fireplace. She pulled him into a giant hug, as tears rolled down her cheek. Draco felt quite guilty seeing his mother like this. He was an only child, and Lucius was often at meetings, which meant his mother must be lonely a lot of the time, and Draco had been reluctant to even come home.

"My darling boy, it's so good to see you," she said lovingly.

"It's great to see you too mum. How are you?" Draco asked.

"Great now that you are here to spend the holidays with me," answered Narcissa.

She brought him into the kitchen, and a house elf gave them each a mug of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. "Where is father?" Draco asked, looking around nervously.

"Oh darling, your father wanted to be here for your arrival, but he had to go away on business," said Narcissa. "He will be back for Christmas Eve dinner. I'm so sorry."

"No, that's alright," said Draco. The truth was that he was more than happy to spend time with just his mother. It was not that Draco didn't love his father, but Lucius was a complicated and intimidating man. And Draco's relationship with his father was just as complicated and intimidating.

The next several days were blissful for Draco and his mother. They took long walks on the grounds, went Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley, stayed up late reading stories by the fire, and they had even gone to visit the Greengrass's one evening.

Mrs. Greengrass and Narcissa chatted away over cups of tea, while Draco and Daphne caught up. The two of them were sitting in Daphne's room, when her kid sister Astoria knocked opened the door.

"Get out of here Astoria," Daphne snipped, in the way that any older sister would.

"Mom said I could hang out with you guys," Astoria retorted, causing her sister to groan.

Draco didn't mind though, he was just happy to be spending time with his friend. Astoria was about a year and a half younger than Draco and Daphne. However, because her birthday was after September first, she was two school years behind them.

Despite Astoria not being that much younger than Daphne, it didn't stop them for bickering as siblings do. Draco had wished for a sibling, but after seeing Astoria and Daphne fight for their parents' attention, he changed his mind. Draco was not one to share.

The three of them spent the afternoon playing exploding snap, and wizards chess, while eating sweets. Astoria complained incessantly about how unfair it was that she had to wait two years to get her Hogwarts letter, when she wasn't a full two years younger than Daphne. Eventually the sun started to set, and Draco made his way back to Malfoy Manor with his mother.

Christmas Eve finally dawned upon the Manor, and Draco sat down to dinner with his mother and father. The dining room table was packed with roast turkey, bowls of mashed potatoes, several platters of steamed vegetables, and mountains of bread rolls. It was way more food than the small family could eat, and the leftovers would all be thrown away after the meal. Not a drumstick or bread role would go to the house elves that made the food.

"Welcome home father," said Draco nervously.

Lucius avoided eye contact with his son as he helped himself to a large plate of food. "Draco," his father finally spoke. "how has school been?"

"Good," responded Draco. "Except everyone dotes on Harry Potter- but he isn't even good at school, he just-"

Lucius cut him off, "And your ranking so far is?"

"Second," Draco answered, trying to sound confident. His mother gave him a smile, but Lucius did not seem impressed.

"Ah," responded Lucius.

"I'll be first by the end of the year, I jus-" but Lucius cut him off again.

"And first rank is?" Lucius asked.

"Hermione Granger sir," said Draco.

"And why don't I recognize her surname, Draco?" Lucius asked.

"She is muggle born," Draco answered in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"Ah," Lucius said standing up calmly. Then out of nowhere he flipped the table, sending food everywhere. Narcissa and Draco stood up in shock.

"Crucio," muttered Lucius pointing his wand at Draco.

Draco fell to the ground in pain. It was a pain unlike no other. So bad that it rang in your ears and vibrated through your bones. You wanted to vomit but did not even have the strength to. The only thing you could focus on was the pain. This was a pain that Draco had felt a few other times in his life, all from his own father's hand. The cruciatus curse.

The cruciatus was one of the three unforgivable curses, dictated by the ministry. The other two were the killing curse, and the imperius curse which would force the victim to do the caster's bidding. Using any of these three spells could land the caster in Azkaban prison, but Lucius Malfoy, who worked for the Ministry as a school governor, had little concern.

As Draco twitched in pain on the ground, screaming and crying, Narcissa ran to her husband. "Lucius, please," she pleaded with him, and eventually Lucius lowered his wand.

At this point the house elves had gathered at the back of the room after hearing the commotion. "Clean this up now," Lucius barked at them before storming out of the dining room.

Narcissa ran to her son, cradling him in her lap as she had done when he was very little. Draco sobbed and gasped for air, completely hyperventilating. He vomited up the food he had eaten, and then continued to dry heave in between sobs. His mother did the only thing she could, stroked his hair and rocked back and forth.

The next morning, Draco came down to the parlor to find his mother fretting about, getting ready for their annual Christmas ball. "The tree is decorated?" she asked a small female house elf.

"Yes mam," the house elf squeaked.

"And the food will be prepared in time?"

Yes mam," the house elf squeaked again.

"Draco," Narcissa smiled, as her son came in. "I shall have Dobby lay out dress robes for tonight."

"Thank you mother," Draco responded, kissing her on the cheek.

Normally, Draco would be excited for the Christmas ball. His family threw the most extravagant parties, but he still felt quite sick from yesterday. Even so, he put on a happy face, understanding how important this was for his mother... both the party, and moving on from the events of last night.

"Draco," a sullen voice spoke from behind him.

"Yes, father?" Draco asked, as he turned around.

"I would like a word with you in my study," said Lucius.

Draco followed his father into the ornate room, and sat in the chair across from Lucius's desk. "I think you know how much this family has been through," Lucius spoke. "When the Dark Lord was in power-"

"You were forced to work for him under the influence of the imperius curse, I know this father," Draco interrupted.

"Draco," Lucius barked, slamming his first against the desk, but then he took a deep breath, calmed himself, and spoke calmly but fearfully. "It's more complicated than that."

Draco looked at his father curiously, and he continued to speak. "The Dark Lord had a vision. A vision that not everyone understood. You're Aunt Bellatrix and I understood him in ways that the ministry does not. We've had to lie at times to evade persecution. Am I making myself clear?"

"I think so father," said Draco, although he was a little confused.

"You're still quite young to understand just yet, but we walk a very fine line Draco," said Lucius. "That's why this family needs you to play your part the way we tell you. I have not sacrificed everything for my family just so my son can throw it all away, and make things up as he goes along. You need to stop feuding with classmates that our world deems as heroes, like Potter. You need to be the best at all of your endeavors, because we don't have the luxury of being loved by all."

Draco hung his head shamefully and didn't respond to his father.

"Someday you will understand, and you will be successful. However, I need you to do your part by living up to your family name, do I make myself clear?" He asked.

"Yes father," Draco answered.

"Good," said Lucius. "Then go get ready for the Christmas ball."

Draco dressed in dress robes of charcoal grey for his family's ball. Usually such attire would make him blend in with the dark colors and sullen atmosphere of his home, but with all the beautiful bright Christmas decorations, Draco stood out.

The ballroom of Malfoy Manor was arguably more decorated than Hogwarts itself. A fifty foot Christmas tree sat in the corner of the room. Holly and garland dropped down every wall. Snow was enchanted to fall from the ceiling and disappear into thin air right before landing on the guests.

Draco stood in the corner with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Daphne, and Blaise, while the adults danced around the ballroom. Pansy sighed loudly for the others to hear. "Can't we dance too?" She asked, looking at Draco, trying to catch his eye.

"Yeah knock yourself out," said Blaise, and he helped himself to a cookie.

Maybe the Christmas spirit was getting to him, or maybe he just liked doing the opposite of what others wanted, but Draco with a sudden change of demeanor said, "yeah, why not?"

Before anyone had the chance to say anything he grabbed Pansy's hand and yanked her out onto the dance floor, spinning her wildly, and flailing about.

Daphne shook her head, and several onlookers stopped to chat as Pansy shrieked with laughter. "Stop! I'm going to fall!" She shouted, which only egged Draco on. In fact, they did not stop until they stumbled into Draco's father, and crashed to the ground. Lucius gave them both a severe warning look, and the two of them immediately stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of their dress wear.

"I'm actually a good dancer, when I want to be," Draco said with a smirk, and he humored Pansy for a moment or so dancing along gracefully this time. However, the young eleven year old boy was not entertained by dancing for long, and he and Pansy went back to the rest of their friends.

They were exchanging parcels of candy and joke items as Christmas presents, when Astoria decided to join them. Draco felt guilty that he hadn't gotten her something. He didn't consider her a friend exactly, but she was Daphne's sister, and he had known her forever. He panicked and took the ring off his finger, offering it to her. She blushed in sheer confusion. "Happy Christmas Astoria," he said with a smile.

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry Draco," she spoke. "I didn't know-"

"It's seriously not a big deal," Draco answered, dismissing her with a shrug. He was relieved to see that the others were too busy unwrapping their parcels of candy to pay any mind to what he gave her.

It truly was not a big deal to Draco. The ring was silver and had a snake engraved on it in the shape of an S. He had gotten it so many years ago from his parents, that he had to wear it on his pinky finger at this point. His mother had already promised him a new one anyways.

Astoria, on the other hand, was touched that he had thought of her. She was always trying to keep up with Daphne and her friends, but was often left out.

The party went on so long that the seven of them ended up laying down behind a refreshment table, hiding from the rest of the guests.

"I still hate these things," Blaise complained, pulling on his collar. "But I have to say, if I'm forced to come, I'm glad that I have friends to hang out with now."

They all understood the way Blaise was feeling. It's not that they did not have friends before Hogwarts, but every person they hung out with was hand picked by their parents. Hogwarts gave them the opportunity to choose who they wanted to spend time with, whether it be the same people they always had, or completely different people. However, despite this tablespoon of freedom, it's not as if any of them would have dared to befriend anyone their parents would disapprove of. After all, their legacies were on the line.

Eventually the night ended, and the house elves were left with the glorious mess of decorations and food. Draco made his way up to his chambers, and went about getting ready for bed until he heard a knock at the door.

He opened it to see his mother, and Dobby carrying a stack of parcels that almost hit the ceiling. "Oh my darling, your room is a mess," said Narcissa. "Dobby, while you're here please clean up a bit."

"Yes mistress," said Dobby bowing to her, and he went about his business.

Narciss and Draco sat on the couch, chatting, and exchanging gifts. This was one of their many traditions, ever since Draco was little. It wasn't a normal childhood, but it was one littered with extreme high points, and extreme low points.

Draco opened several new Slytherin sweaters, new books, Emerald cufflinks for his dress robes, and of course, his new silver Slytherin ring with the snake carved into it in the shape of an S, as promised. Draco had gifted his mother several books, and some beautiful green earrings. He had also left a parcel on his father's desk, inside was a long black coat with silver snake fastenings.

The two of them continued to chat about school, friends, and of course, how terrible Harry Potter was. It was common for the Malfoy's and other wealthy families to discuss matters freely in front of their house elf, paying them no mind. It was not as if the house elves could gossip, because their Masters would directly order them not too.

"You don't understand mom," Draco groaned. "I wanted to be friends with Potter. I tried, but he's rude and hangs out with the most unfavorable people. It's so stupid that he doesn't want to be my friend, and I really don't care. Yeah I guess it's cool that he fought off that troll with the help of Weasley, but it's just a stupid troll. If he were hanging out with me we could have defeated a whole bloody dragon."

Narcissa chuckled and allowed her son to rant her ear off well into the night. She could have corrected him, saying how unfavorable it was to their family for Draco to not get along with the wizarding world's youngest hero. But her son was stubborn, emotional, and only eleven years old. She thought to herself that the grown up relationships, the fake niceties, could be saved for another day.

Eventually Dobby bowed and said, "If the rooms to yer liking, Dobby best be going."

"Oh, yes, look at the time," said Narcissa. "You're dismissed Dobby. She pulled her son in for one last hug before retreating to her chambers for the evening.

Draco laid in bed for a while, reflecting on his Christmas. It was one that many children would give anything for: to dance at the most magnificent parties, to eat only the most decadent food, and to unwrap only the most extravagant presents. However, there were some serious cracks in the foundation of his family, and Draco found himself quite unhappy and unfulfilled at the end of the day. He closed his eyes and dreamed of being back at Hogwarts, back at home.