Harry felt his stomach twist into a huge knot. Ron and Hermione beside him tensed as well. And Potter could see why. The huge house surrounded by a garden looked ominous, even if it was decorated with a bunch of Christmas baubles. The doorbell rang so unexpectedly that the trio flinched.

"It's as if you are being led to the death penalty. Relax, nothing bad will happen to you," Snape sighed. He gently stroked the scarred boy's tense back. Harry didn't want to admit it, but he felt a little calmer.

The gate slowly opened, revealing a granite road leading straight to the mansion. Colorful garlands and all kinds of tinsel hung on trees and bushes. Suddenly, a house elf appeared in front of them with a pop.

"Welcome, Mr. Snape and his young companions. The lord and lady are waiting for you," the elf bowed politely; "I will accompany you."

"Thank you, Nyx," Severus gently pushed the children forward. Nyx led them to the front door.

"They are waiting for you," the elf pushed the door and it opened with a quiet creak. Harry swallowed. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were standing in the hallway. The hall was also decorated with green and red bows, colorful tinsel and Christmas toys. As always, the owners of the house were in expensive clothes from the Twilfitt and Tattings boutique. The trio became even more alert and hid behind Snape's back. But if you asked them about it, they would say that they just decided to let Snape go ahead.

"It's good to see you, Severus." Lucius stepped forward, causing the sophomores to flinch and huddle together, using the potion master as a shield. "The kids seem to be a little flustered."

"They are nervous. They just need a little time to make sure you don't use some kind of curse on them." The professor took Ron by the scruff of the neck and squeezed it gently. "What should I say?"

"Hello Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you for the invitation," the trio repeated in a slightly trembling voice. Snape rolled his eyes but said nothing. Instead, he stripped off the children's outerwear and brushed the snow off their shoes with a spell.

"They look scared," Malfoy sighed. Harry didn't find him angry or cold or intimidating now. Even vice versa. He looked calm, the boy did not feel threatened by him, "Let them talk to Draco first. Maybe then they'll calm down a bit. Nyx! Take the kids to Draco."

"Yes, sir," the elf bowed and beckoned the children to follow him. The trio did not dare to step after him.

"So, when did you have three restless children?" As the Hogwarts students left, Lucius grinned like a cat as he hugged his old friend.

"It's a long story." The man rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Didn't bully him, Lucius." Narcissa patted her husband's arm weakly.

Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the frisky elves up the long stairs. He said something enthusiastically, but the children mostly did not pay attention to it. They were looking at a huge estate. To the surprise of the children, Christmas decorations of all possible colors hung everywhere. Long corridors, walls hung with portraits of all family members and expensive paintings made an incredible impression. Finally, they stopped at one of the many ebony doors, on which hung a small spruce wreath.

"Young master, guests have come to you," the elf knocked.

"Bring them in." Draco's voice was tight. Nyx turned the silver doorknob and pushed the door open. The younger Malfoy was sitting in an armchair, flipping casually through some magical magazine. But it did not escape the guests, how tense his shoulders were, "Leave us."

"As you wish," Nix went out and closed the door behind him, leaving the children alone.

"Malfoy, we..." Potter finally tried to speak as the oppressive silence dragged on, but he was forestalled.

"Excuse me... Me..." the boy looked somewhere to the side, biting his lip, waiting for an answer.

"Okay..." Ron said first with a long sigh, "but Harry and Hermione have to give the final answer. You insulted them." Draco nodded weakly, his gray eyes finally looking first at Harry, then at Hermione. The two thought for a few minutes.

"For the most part, we forgave you long ago," Granger began.

"But you have to promise you'll never do that again," Harry continued.

"Otherwise, this will be your last chance," Ron finished.

"I promise I'll never be such an idiot again," the boy whimpered softly.

"As you say," Weasley snorted, for which he received in the ribs from Hermione.

"Go, Snape brought you pumpkin pie and brownies." Potter pushed the Slytherin forward. Draco smiled faintly and rushed down the stairs to the living room. The children reluctantly followed him. They stopped at the top of the last staircase, watching from a safe distance. Harry didn't notice it right away, but in the corner of the living room, next to the fireplace, was a lush Christmas tree. It was adorned with all sorts of magic balls. Some changed color, others glowed, and others were covered in snow. In some, magical sand animals came to life; they ran around the ball and eventually crumbled to come to life again. It was mesmerizing and warming at the same time. For some reason, it reminded me of a vague feeling of being at home.

"Did you really bring pumpkin pie?" Draco bumped into Snape with questions about the sweets he had bought for him.

"Yes, but..." Severus raised his stern eyes to the trio, who only shrugged their shoulders in unison.

"Lunch first, Draco," said Mrs. Malfoy.

"Well, mom, please" the boy used the most puppy eyes. It must have been one of the few times they saw Draco like that. Not a pompous idiot, but an ordinary child "Just one small piece."

"No chance, Draco. Dinner is almost ready," Lucius patted his son on the head for which he received a disgruntled growl. The man leaned closer "take them to the garden. They are still nervous, shaking like kittens."

"Hey! Come on, I'll show you something," the boy waved his hand towards the front door. The children quickly pulled on warm clothes and were about to go, but then a low warning voice was heard behind them.

"Hats," the Potions Master reminded them. The trio rolled their eyes. They were not very fond of this particular piece of clothing, especially Ron. Because of the hat, his head itched and his forehead sweated, and his hair turned into a bird's nest. Besides, the red-haired boy did not need her at all. But arguing with Severus is more expensive. So they obediently pulled on their hats and slipped out the door. Finally, Draco spoke.

"You've had enough."

"What?" The children stared blankly at Draco, their heads tilted to one side.

"You are tense, like the statues in our yard," he pointed to the snake-shaped stone figures, "Dad is not going to kill or torture you, so there is no need to shake like autumn leaves in the wind."

"We are not afraid!" The trio was outraged. To which Draco only chuckled, Gryffindors were so funny after all.

"OK OK. Fenrir! Pandora! Lancelot!" from all spirit the boy shouted. Immediately, joyful barking and howling was heard. Three huge dogs jumped out of the bushes in front of them. Two deerhound and golden retriever "Don't be afraid, they won't do anything to you. These two, dads. Fenrir and Pandora," he stroked the length of the deerhound's muzzle.

"And this one is mine, his name is Lancelot. They are very friendly," the dogs surrounded the blond, demanding attention and affection, "Oh, Merlin," he shook his head when his companions still looked suspicious and frightened.

Draco stepped towards the sophomores, grabbed Harry and Ron's arms rather roughly, and yanked them towards the dogs.

"Here, just on the surface," Malfoy put Harry's hand on Fenrir's head, and Ron's hand on Pandora's head. The dogs whined happily and practically jumped on top of the children. They could not resist and fell into a snowdrift, and deerhounds began to lick their faces and poke their noses.

"Ha-ha!" Draco laughed out loud, Hermione couldn't help it either. It looked very funny and no less cute.

"Nothing funny!" Weasley's hat flew off somewhere into the snow, but it didn't really bother him. His main problem was the dog, which did not allow him to get up.

"I think it's funny."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry still managed to crawl out from under Fenrir, while Ron, trampled deeper into the snow, began to stroke Pandora.

"At least here, just call me Draco," the blond shook his head, sitting down next to Ron, "You see nothing bad will happen to you."

Now all four of them were giggling, Hermione knelt down to scratch Lancelot.

"How about playing?" Draco smiled enigmatically.

"Whoa…" Before Weasley could finish, snow flew right into his face.

"Bastard!" Ron crawled out of the snowdrift and attacked Malfoy with snowballs. Harry and Hermione joined them. The dogs ran around and barked loudly, sometimes early children in the snow. And the four laughed merrily, throwing snowballs at each other.

"Dinner is ready," one of the elves belonging to the Malfoy family approached them half an hour later.

"We'll go now, Rin," Draco replied, panting from running back and forth. The elf nodded and vanished into a white haze. The children quickly shaved off their clothes from the snow and headed towards the house.

"I see the walk went well," Snape and Lucius greeted them at the door.

"Yeah," the Slytherin answered for everyone.

"Where's your hat, Mr. Weasley?" from the cold voice of the professor, Ron ran goosebumps.

"Uh... She must have fallen into a snowdrift," the boy shrugged, shaking the snow from his hair. Then the door opened again and Lancelot appeared on the threshold, with a piece of a rag that Ron hated in his teeth, "Thank you..."

"Gaff!" Weasley scratched behind the ear of the golden retriever, who seemed to nod and ran back into the yard to play with the other two dogs.

"Don't lose it again." The boy nodded, in fact he was thinking about getting rid of the hat soon.

"Don't forget to wash your hands," Lucius reminded him as he directed his son towards the bathroom. The trio followed him.

The dinner was actually good. True, the children still tried to stay close to Snape and away from the Malfoys. Although during the meal they relaxed a little.

Harry watched the adults and Draco having casual conversations. It made him remember the days he spent in the Burrow. Although the meals at the Weasleys' house had never been so quiet and peaceful, they were just as warm and family friendly, the food was just as delicious, and the atmosphere was just as homey. All these factors more or less reassured him.

When dinner came to an end and all the plates were empty. Out of the corner of his eye, Potter saw Draco yawn; in fact he looked a little sleepy.

"Draco, you should take a nap," Lucius smiled softly as he smoothed his son's bangs.

"Okay," Draco nodded. Now he looked more like a twelve-year-old child than a pompous aristocrat.

"I think you three should sleep too, you've been up since six in the morning," the trio jumped in surprise when the potion master turned to them. The adults could hardly contain their smiles; the children really looked like shy kittens instead of brave lions.

"We're fine," Harry said first. Sleep didn't seem like such a bad idea, but he still felt pretty nervous.

"That doesn't bother me." The kids were barely kept from rolling their eyes; in fact it was just Snape's style.

"I will show them to their rooms."

"Okay, I'll check on you in twenty minutes. And I want you three in bed. This is clear?" the man asked sternly, giving the students a cold look.

"Yes, sir," the trio sighed dejectedly, as if they had been sentenced to execution rather than daytime naps.

Narcissa led the way with a half-drowsy Draco, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione trailed behind. The Slytherin left them on the second floor and they continued on to the third.

"This is the boys' room. Opposite is a room for you, Hermione." The woman pointed to two doors. One was painted in a warm red tint, the other in a soft blue. Potter breathed a sigh of relief, he hardly would have fallen asleep now alone.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Don't worry, get some rest. Your things are already in the room" the woman left, and the children dispersed to their rooms.

The children were surprised to say the least when they saw the room in which they will have to live for the next few days. They expected to see a middle room more suitable for servants, but this one looked very luxurious. Made in light blue, white and brown colors. Two large canopy beds. Wardrobe and chest of drawers. Two oak desks, bookcase and armchairs. Like the rest of the estate, the walls were also decorated with Christmas decorations and smelled of spruce.

The suitcases stood next to the beds, half empty, and the pajamas were already folded and lay at the foot of the bed. Apparently, the elves have already taken care of the rest of the clothes, placing them in the closet. The boys shoved their bags under the bed and quickly changed, putting their things on the shelves.

"Come on," Harry tugged at Ron's shirt hem to get his attention.

"Where?" The boy yawned widely, stretching out like a cat.

"Guess for you," Potter snorted, grabbing his friend's sleeve. They slipped out of the room and headed straight for Hermione's door.

"Come in," the girl sat cross-legged on the bed, reading some book. "I thought it was Snape."

"We have another fifteen minutes, so we decided to see how you settled in."

"Looks good." Hermione's room looked just like the boys' room, only done in purple and white.

"Yeah, I thought it would be worse."

"Perhaps they're not so bad after all." Harry stretched out on the bed next to Hermione.

"We could try to relax and have some fun." Ron lay across and dropped his head on his friend's shoulder.

"That doesn't sound bad," Granger nodded and leaned back, her head resting on Weasley's chest now.

"I agree."

Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was very difficult plus health problems, but I hope it turned out no worse than the previous ones.