December 5 - Decorating the kids' rooms
"Master Draco, you have a delivery sir," Kreacher said from the doorway of the library-turned-school room. "It is being in the front hall taking up space."
"Thank you, Kreacher. I'll be right there."
"A delivery?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "What's that about?"
"You'll see," the other man replied.
"Now you're starting to sound like Daddy," Fiona giggled.
"She's right," Harry observed. "Maybe you should tell us what you're up to."
"No, I think you can wait. It won't be long," he promised with a wink.
"You really do sound like him," Conor said pointing to Harry.
Harry ruffled the boy's hair. "I suppose I should be more like Draco then and just wait patiently."
"But then we won't find out what's going on," Michael said.
James nodded. "And we wanna know."
"You'll find out later," Draco told them. "I promise."
"Today?" Caela asked.
"Yes, today, just a little later on. I'll be right back; you all get back to work."
The children and Harry all watched him leave the room then Harry said, "He's right. Get back to work."
With a sigh and a bit of grumbling, they did just that. Harry chuckled as the work they'd assigned so far was fairly easy for all of the children. Freya, Marcus, and Conor were practicing their spelling words. Michael, Riordan, and Liam were reading sight words. The other four were coloring pages in their alphabet coloring book and practicing writing those letters. It would be story time soon. While he helped the older three correct their work Draco slipped back into the room and sat with the youngest children. Harry sat back in his chair and watched the other man. There was absolutely no hint of what Draco had planned. He began to wonder if this anticipation was a bad thing for the children on a daily basis. Perhaps he should let them in on some of the things they were going to do each week so they could look forward to them and worry less.
Draco checked the clock on the wall. "Ok reading and letters time is done. Everyone put your things back in your cubbies and let's get ready for storytime. Then we'll have lunch, I think Kreacher has been working extra hard today on a chicken noodle soup. After lunch, before we do maths and science I'll share my surprise."
The children rushed to put their papers in the small tubs that had been stuck in the square shelving unit Hermione had brought to them. She'd told them it was from a childcare facility near her parents that had gone out of business. Her parents had apparently purchased it thinking they might use it for toys in the corner of the waiting area in their dental office but it turned out to be too big for the space. Hermione had bought it from them and given it to Harry who'd then argued that he should pay her back. Draco also offered to pay for the unit. She insisted that it was a gift to her nieces and nephews. She'd also purchased the colorful plastic tubs that slid into them and recolored each one magically to match the child's wishes. They could be recolored at anytime if they child changed their mind, and several of them had so far. Having a choice of any kind they had control over was so important to them.
The library looked so much different than it had when Draco had moved into the house. It had been dark and dreary. The walls had been lined with dark heavy oak bookshelves that had been filled with books that were not child friendly. Some of the books should never have been in a private residence. Harry had actually called Madame Pince to come to look over the selection and suggest which books they should keep for the children's pre-Hogwarts education, which ones they might be able to use while at Hogwarts, and which should simply be disposed of. The woman had been kinder and less formal than she had ever been at school. This was not her library of course so perhaps that had been the reason. She'd left them with two sets of books to keep, and a much larger selection that should go to the Ministry to be either kept in the library there or disposed of. Surprisingly, she'd taken none back to Hogwarts with her.
Once the heavy bookshelves had been emptied they'd discovered the walls were upholstered in a dark green velvet. Harry had sighed at the color though he had confided to Draco that green had once upon a time been his favorite color. Draco had ever since then been encouraging him to wear it or decorate with it, to rediscover his love of it and not tie his feelings to Slytherin. He'd done the same with red. Still, they had felt the need to make the room much lighter and more cheerful if it was to be used as a schoolroom so the velvet was gone. The dark paneling underneath had been lightened to a lovely pale pine color. The three shelves they'd kept had been lightened to match the unit Hermione had brought to them. Next, the heavy brocade drapery had been replaced with airy lace curtains that were surprisingly durable. It allowed natural light into the room. Finally, they had added two different picture alphabet posters, one Muggle and one magical, and a numbers poster to the wall.
There were several small tables and chairs for the children to sit at to do their work. The tables were easily moved about and could be quickly enlarged with magic as needed. Harry, on Hermione's suggestion, had also added a colorful rug to the corner. There sat a rocking chair and enough large floor cushions for each of the children and a few adults. These had been magically lightened so no matter the size of the child they could move the cushions around. Now the kids settled into a circle. Harry and Draco took cushions in the circle as well. Neither of them sat in the rocking chair often. That was Hermione's favorite place to read from, as well as Molly's. Addie, Elaine, Ginny, and Luna also preferred to sit on the floor with the children.
"I don't have a book for you today," Harry told them.
"Aw." Teddy frowned. "Why not?"
"I do have a story, Teds. I couldn't find a book in time for this story," he explained. "Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day. It's a special day to recognize a man who did a lot of good when he was alive."
"He's dead?"
"Yes, Liam he's dead."
"Is he a ghost?"
Draco stifled a chuckle. "No, Fiona. He's not a ghost." The child had been worried about ghosts ever since Halloween when Ron had told the story of Sir Nicholas's Death Day party. He'd been very detailed about the number of ghosts at Hogwarts. Ron had not been allowed alone with any children since then, and certainly not with the whole group of them. How he'd managed to be alone with enough of them to tell the story at the Halloween party was still a mystery. There had been adults everywhere and yet none of them had seen, or heard, or stopped him.
"St. Nicholas was a real man, born a long long time ago in what is now the country of Turkey," Harry began. "His parents raised him to be a Christian. They died when he was still young. As he grew up and learned more about Jesus, who is a central figure of Christianity, he decided to follow some of Jesus's words to sell everything you have and give the money away to the poor. Nicholas used all of the money left to him when his parents died to help those in need. Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. He died on December 6 in the year 343, a very long time ago. The Catholic church, part of the Christian religion, that he had served for so long made him a saint. I know they have special rules about that but I don't know what they are. I'm sorry."
"I don't either," Draco added, "but we can get some books and learn more."
"Yes, we can. Anyway, every year people celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December sixth to remember him and all the things he did for those in need. Some of the celebrations are fun and some are serious."
"We're going to do both," Draco said. "Tonight you'll leave out a shoe by your bedroom door…"
"A shoe?" James made a face.
"We'll clean them first," Harry laughed. "St. Nicholas will leave you a small gift."
"I thought Santa brought gifts," Riordan muttered. "I'm confused."
"Santa Claus is based on the story of St. Nicholas."
"Then why does Santa come on December twenty-fifth instead of the sixth?"
"That's another much longer story," Draco answered. "The short version is that Christmas is another celebration in the Christian religion about a gift and over time people began to give one another gifts to celebrate it and somehow Santa worked his way in."
"There are lots of stories about where Santa came from," Harry added. "Many children believe Santa Claus is real."
"But he's not?" Fiona asked.
"He's not one person," was Harry's response. "Everyone who takes part in sharing his story and doing good and kind things, giving presents of all kinds at Christmas is being Santa."
"So you're our Santa," the little girl said with a smile.
"Draco and I yes."
"You said I was Scrooge," Draco argued. "No, first you said I was the Grinch then you said I was Scrooge."
"Who are they?"
Harry looked at the clock. "We're out of storytime. I'll tell you about the Grinch and Scrooge another time this month. I was teasing Draco; he's going to be Santa too. Now, let's go have soup so we can find out what surprise the other Santa has for us."
"You all go ahead," Draco said. "I'll be right there. When we're done eating we can come back here. You have to eat though, no skipping lunch, and no eating just a little. Eat what you need to feel full. Kreacher's chicken noodle soup is really good and Winky made rolls to go with it,"
"Winky made rolls?" Michael shouted and the kids took off to the kitchen.
"Her rolls really are better than his," Harry commented, "but don't ever let him know I said that."
"I happen to agree with you and I wouldn't dare tell him. We'd never hear the end of the grumbling and groaning."
Lunch passed in a blur and then they were all back at their spots on the floor looking at foot-and-a-half square plain cardboard boxes with their names on them.
"Before you open those," Draco began. "A few days ago you said you wanted to decorate your rooms and your dad said you could color pictures for each other. I'd like you to go get those now, please."
"So we're decorating again?" Harry raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You really are getting in the spirit."
"It's hard not to when you see their little smiles and their excitement. Then again your enthusiasm is pretty catching too."
When the children were once again seated Draco instructed them to one at a time get up and pass out their colored pictures. There were oos and ahhs and thank yous, and a few rolled eyes though no one made any complaints. Still, Draco made a mental note of the negative reactions and who he might need to have a quick talk with to explain they are welcome to their opinions but to please keep them to themselves in a situation like this, say thank you and move on.
"Now, for the boxes. The idea for this is actually your dad's. He mentioned it, I decided it was a good one."
"You didn't," Harry said wide-eyed.
Draco shrugged, then told the kids, "You may open your boxes."
They reached up and lifted the flaps not even noticing that he had cut the tape for them, but Harry did. Each child pulled out a small foot-tall tree with a base made of four plastic feet about four inches long, the perfect size to fit on their dressers next to their advent calendars.
"It's pink," Fiona cooed.
"It's Cinnerella blue," Caela cried.
Each child excitedly exclaimed the color of their tree.
"Wait," Harry said suddenly. "You actually bought ten trees? Ten. You didn't just buy one, duplicate it and change the color, you bought ten. Ten sparkly metallic fringed little trees."
"Fourteen actually," Draco said with a smile.
"Fourteen? You bought trees for the house elves?"
"Why not?"
Harry reached over and put a hand on Draco's forehead.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you're ill. You're treating Kreacher and Winky as if they're part of the family."
"They are."
"Hemione is gonna love you for this."
"She's not my type, but thanks."
Harry lightly slapped Draco on the arm. "Smart arse," he muttered just loud enough for Draco to hear.
Conor had set his tree down and was looking in the bottom of the box. "There's more stuff in here. I have pirates." He pulled out the figurines. "Why do they have a string on their heads?"
"Those are ornaments. You hang them on the branches of your tree. Before you all pull out the ornaments why don't you take them to your rooms and set them up on your dressers next to your advent calendars."
"First, what do you say?" Harry asked them.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you Draco!" They shouted and each gave him a hug before running up the stairs.
"So where's mine?"
"Yours?"
"Come off it Draco, you said fourteen trees. The kids and the elves make twelve, so obviously, you got one for you and one for me."
"Well, then I'd imagine they're where they're supposed to be," Draco replied.
"Then I suppose I should go look."
"I suppose," the blond grinned.
He let Harry go alone up the stairs and instead began checking in with each child in their room to see if they needed help setting up their tree or hanging ornaments. They had all figured it out however and were now running back and forth across halls and up and down the stairs to check out everyone else's tree. He couldn't stop smiling, but his heart rate increased as he climbed to his and Harry's floor.
He stood in Harry's door and watched the man stare at the not-so-little tree that stood three feet tall with an empty picture frame at the top.
"You've been planning this for a while," Harry observed.
"Not really," he replied,
Harry turned to look at him and shook his head. "We talked about trees four days ago. You may have ordered their trees that day, but this," he gestured to his tree to the ornaments adorning it, "this took longer than that. When did you manage to get pictures of each of them without me knowing?"
"One at a time over the past few weeks. I have an identical set for Molly, and one for my mother too."
"She's going to love that."
"You think?"
"I love it."
"I'm glad, that frame at the top is for the family photo."
"I wondered."
"Thank you."
"It was nothing," Draco waved his hand.
Harry stepped closer to the man and put a hand on his arm. "It wasn't. It's not. It's everything. Thank you."
Draco simply nodded unable to speak past the lump in his throat.