Day 7- You Make It Feel Like Christmas:

When Hermione woke up on Christmas Eve and reached out to sleepily wrap her arms around Draco, she ended up disappointed. Yawning, she prepared to get up, but then she noticed the little slip of paper on his pillow. Worry immediately filled her that something had gone wrong: he'd rushed to the hospital; he'd rushed one of the kids to the hospital; he'd rushed both of the kids to the hospital- but it quickly became clear that was wrong. Instead of bad news, she found a riddle. Presumably his creative present for her, since they'd both agreed that's what they wanted this year rather than anything you could get in a catalogue.

Stars in the sky brighten up the night,

Guiding reindeer on their way.

Gaze up at those lights,

You'll find something that wasn't there yesterday.

She glanced automatically out the window, but it was no longer dark outside. Hmm... The little Ravenclaw voice in her head whirred through the possibilities until she leapt out of the bed in a eureka moment. She hopped down the stairs then jumped up onto the sofa in the living room, pumping her fist in delight as she tapped the scientifically inaccurate but colourful decorations on the ceiling that the kids had made yesterday. Her mouth shaped into an O as she felt a pulsation in her hand and looking down, saw that the words on the note had changed.

You've fulfilled my first trial,

The rest, don't neglect.

Now look for some files,

Because there's something you ought to accept.

That was easy enough. Draco sometimes worked from home for the family company, so he kept that paperwork in a cabinet in his office, and she filed her own work there too when she brought it home for what her husband mocked as 'extra credit'- a practise she'd been carrying out a lot more often recently as she tried to prove she could do everything at once and get that promotion she was eyeing up. Scanning the files, her gaze caught one with a little Cinderella sticker on it- Lyra had nearly worn out the DVD as she made them show it to her at least twice a week! Hermione took either end of the folder and held it above the desk to shake it, and sure enough, out dropped a single piece of paper: a drawing of a stick figure nearly the size of the paper, with a halo and a big smile that curved up out of her face and gold crayon streaks around her that looked like magical residue. In one hand she held a badge almost as big as her that read 'leeder of the Minestrie', although the last word had been crossed out and replaced by a capitalised WORLD! In the other she held the hand of a boy that came up to her waist rather than the more accurate knee, as well as somehow a floating stick figure wrapped in tinsel as if to strangle her. Maybe it wouldn't be featured in the Tate, but it had her sobbing and laughing with adoration, clutching the picture and swearing to herself never to throw it away.

After leaving the drawing on her desk for the time being, Hermione took a look at the next rhyme.

I hope you're wiping a tear

Because I am too.

But do not fear,

It's also a clue.

This furrowed her forehead, and she picked up the paper again, turning it around five times and even studying the back, but it wasn't until she saw the glint reflected in the mirror that she paid attention to the gold surrounding her miniature. Unsure, she tapped her wand to it but it turned out that she had been correct when the sparks gathered together and flew up out of the paper, making her gasp and throw her head back as though it were something threatening. Instead, the little sparks became a glowing golden lily floating down into the palm of her hand. She felt the note in her hand dissolve itself into shreds and then, by the time it hit the floor, nothing. It was silent in the room except for her breaths, completely silent in the whole house actually. It was the first time she'd noticed it, and she wondered where Draco and the kids were. Probably planning some spectacular finale- she really had a lot to live up to.

She gazed into the lily, and indeed, it's petals slowly unfurled, a line written on each in golden italic script just like that on the note.

Last step, my gorgeous Gryffindor

And yes, you'll need to be bold.

Now make like a niffler,

And search out that gold.

This had her snorting with adoration at her husband's terrible literary skills and wonderful heart. It was a little ambiguous though. Picking up her wand again, she re-read the riddle, focussing on the niffler part. Hmm...

"Revelio," she whispered, tracing a pattern from the lily to the floor, a smile cracking across her face as three different sized footprints appeared in front of her. Still in her pyjamas, she followed them downstairs, slipping a pair of boots onto her bare feet before she pulled open the door to run outside, coming to an abrupt stop before the fish pond. She peered in, remembering that he'd told her to be bold and wondering for a moment if she had to dive in. Luckily, it wasn't quite that bad, because she noticed a purple rectangular box floating in the water. They had a lot of fish, chosen and named by their children, but none of them were that shade. Taking a deep breath as if she really were about to dive in, she plunged her hand into the freezing water and clenched her fingers around the shape, pulling it up and shaking it, but when it left the water it was already magically dry- unfortunately that didn't extend to her hand. She brushed it against her dressing gown to dry off, then rubbed her hands together to try to warm them up a little. When she'd made a little progress, she glanced down at the box- which wasn't a box. In actuality it was a muggle IPod. Thinking of Draco trying to figure out how to work the contraption she burst out laughing, then pressed play.

Immediately, Wizzard's classic hit began to boom, and her three favourite people ran out from behind the greenhouse with reindeer antlers on the boys and a red and white furry Father Christmas hat fell over her daughter's eyes! They began to perform wonderful choreography that had her eyes morphing to baubles and her hand clapping over her mouth as they galloped and put on exceedingly over the top expressions to I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday! At the end of the performance she was beaming from ear to ear, extending her arms for the kids to run into them, with Draco embracing them in a big family group hug as well. He winked at her over their shoulders, and she gulped a little- she did have a lot to live up to.

That evening they left the kids at a big Christmas party at the Burrow with Teddy, Victoire, Dominique, James, George, Roxanne and the two babies, Albus and Louis. Molly and Arthur were ecstatic to get to have all their grandchildren there, for they treated her children in that way too even though she was no longer with Ron.

Meanwhile, Bill and Fleur were out on a date, and Hermione gathered all her friends and Draco's on the hill outside the Weasley home. Only Ginny knew what was going on, as she'd sought her assistance in finding the place she wanted since Wizarding World facilities weren't always accessible via a Google search. The two girls shared conspiratorial looks as the others continued to question where they were going, but they kept their lips zipped, preserving the secret. She'd told them to dress warm, but in December that was little of a hint. Even when they all grabbed onto the portkey and appeared in a snowy mountainous region, they still seemed entirely confused. Taking Draco's hand, she led the way over to a log cabin and proceeded to rap on the door.

"Did you bring us here to kill us?" Asked Theodore as he shifted from foot to foot in the snow.

The door swung open and there stood a plump white haired lady who bore more than a passing resemblance to a certain Mrs Claus. She beamed at the group of twenty-somethings and asked "Mrs Granger-Malfoy?" in a pleasant Scottish lilt rather than McGonagall's brash one. The muggleborn witch nodded, and the woman turned around. "PETE!" She yelled, in a shockingly loud voice from one so petite. "GET TEN BROOMS!"

Although they had neither the general Olympics nor its winter edition, wizards nevertheless enjoyed a snowy sport. Draco was not an exception to this rule, in fact, he made it a tradition to spend all of Boxing Day watching the secret new television channel for wizards that had been introduced two years ago in an attempt from Kingsley to move with the times. Naturally, his favourite was a festive version of the game he had spent his school days playing. Thus, when they rounded the corner to see swooping mountains and silver hoops, he turned even whiter than usual. "The official Scottish Winter Quidditch field?"

She nodded; taking a deep breath. "And, because I love you, I'm going to be getting on one of those death contraptions today too."

He swept her into a dip, kissing her as passionately as he ever had, perhaps even with more renewed fervour than she'd experienced!

The game was a special couples edition, because a few of the participants were much more comfortable in tag teams, with those who had actually flown before. Naturally, the married couples paired up: Draco and Hermione; Daphne and Theodore; Harry and Ginny (although their job was rather harder as they were both trying to control the broom and resultantly jerking about quite a lot)! Blaise and Goyle easily decided to go together as they were newly dating, abandoning a rather angry Pansy. The Slytherin girl refused to fly with Ron- and the Gryffindor immediately staunchly decided against it too to preserve his pride- so the uncoupled pair decided to umpire. However, they were quickly affected by the FOMO of watching the others throw magically compact snowballs instead of bludgers at each other as the girls (and Blaise) shrieked with laughter whilst the guys (and Ginny) narrowed their eyes in focussed concentration. 'Mrs Claus' also didn't like them impeding her authority so she decided to sub the pair in, despite their half-hearted reluctance. It was clear they really did want to join in, although that didn't stop them arguing with each other as they clamoured onto the broom. As the hosts, Hermione and Draco volunteered to take the first shift out so their friends could join in.

"What do you think love?" She asked him nervously as they leant the broom down and intertwined their hands to walk along the snow.

He grinned down at her, placing a quicker but still sweet kiss against her lips. "It's amazing! I never imagined I'd get to come here since I abandoned that brief professional Quidditch player dream!"

They laughed, remembering his contemplations before they counted down from three and opened their N.E.W.T result envelopes together. "But I think you win," she conceded. "It was so sweet to combine the kids' masterpieces, and those poems may not have been your best work, but that dance could have won Strictly!" She and Scorpius forced him to watch the show every Saturday- their son loved jiving and waltzing around the living room, so they had to keep their wands on hand to save any vase that might be kicked over!

"But this is fantastic!"

She grabbed both his hands, as if she'd come to the greatest realisation ever. "We're going to have to make point by point lists comparing each gift to different criteria."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I love you."