December 6 - St. Nicholas Day
Just after midnight Harry tiptoed out of his room and met Draco in the hallway. Draco pointed his wand at Harry's feet then took off silently down the stairs. Harry followed behind. Moving quickly and quietly, they slipped candy canes into each child's shoe that had been placed outside their door.
Finally, they wound up in the kitchen sipping cups of hot chocolate. Neither said a word, they simply enjoyed their drinks and smiled then headed back to bed.
The next morning they were awoken by squeals of joy from the children discovering their candy canes and then the patter of little feet running up the stairs to find out just what the red and white hook was as none of them had ever seen a candy cane before.
"So what's the special thing we're doing today?" Conor asked after he'd put his empty plate by the sink at breakfast.
"Does it have something to do with St. Nicholas's Day?" Freya wanted to know.
"Yes, it does," Harry answered. "We're going to do a few things today to help the less fortunate."
"How do we do that?"
Draco smiled. "There are many ways to help others. One is to donate money to charities that help those in need."
"But we don't have any money," Liam said.
"No," Harry acknowledged, "you don't, but I do and you could help me donate it. We can also buy toys and clothes and food to give to people in need."
"Still with your money though," Marcus pointed out.
Harry tried not to chuckle. "That's often the way it is when you're little. When you're older you can donate your own money. In the meantime, you can help me plan how to help others. The first thing I want you to do is go get your favorite toy."
The children looked at him worried but all did as he asked.
"Now," he began when they had all returned.
"Do we have to give them up?" Fiona asked, brow furrowed in worry.
"Told you," Draco whispered. "No, sweetie. We wouldn't ask you to do that, though if there is a toy that you don't want anymore that is still in good condition we can donate it. There are people who would love to have them for their children or even for their pets depending on the toy."
"If we're not donating these why did we have to bring them down?"
"I thought," Harry explained, "that we could make copies of them or buy new ones just like it. If you love the toy then it must be special and someone else is bound to love it just as much."
"Who are we giving them to?" Michael asked.
"Healer Bennett mentioned that they're running low on new toys for the children that come to St. Mungo's."
Caela squealed, "Like we did."
"Like you did, there may be children who have to spend Christmas in the hospital instead of at home so we want to make sure they have something special."
"There are also Muggle hospitals where children will have to be through the holidays and we can take some new toys there," Draco added.
"Can we make a list of toys for them?" Freya asked.
"What about books?" James wondered.
"Books would be an excellent choice," Harry said with a smile, thinking Hermione would be proud. "You go ahead and make the list. Draco and I can go shopping for things later when Grandma Molly comes to visit then we'll show them to you before we donate them."
Freya ran to get a piece of parchment and a pencil. She very carefully laid it out on the table and began to make a list with input from her siblings. Draco and Harry stood back and watched them only helping out when she asked for spelling assistance.
"Dad," Riordan said, "Can we send candy?"
"We could, but I'm not sure if they'd get to eat it."
"Okay," the boy said sadly.
"It's amazing how much they want to give back considering how little they've had," Draco commented.
"They may only be doing it right now to make us happy, but hopefully they'll form good habits and want to keep giving because it's the right thing to do."
"I prefer giving items myself to money," the blond said. "Money is so impersonal."
"Still, I plan on putting out the cauldron when we have our party later this month," Harry mentioned.
Draco looked at the man. "Where did you hear about the cauldron?"
"Your mother."
"I should have known. She made sure there was one out every year at our annual Yule Ball. Lucius thought it was gauche and unnecessary, but Mother thought it was part of the season that couldn't be skipped. Her family had always done it. He relented when she pointed out to him how good it would make him look to those he needed to make a good impression on. She was good at convincing him to do what she wanted when it mattered to her. I wish having Him at the house had mattered more to her." He shook his head. "Maybe it did but there wasn't anything she could do to convince Lucius. He was all in on the cause anyway. Besides once the Lord said what he wanted you didn't dare go against him."
"We have our list," Freya told the men, handing them the piece of parchment nearly filled with writing.
"Wow!" Harry exclaimed. "This is quite a list. Draco and I will sort out what can go to St. Mungo's and what has to go to a Muggle hospital. I'm proud of you. We'll do the shopping this year, but next year you can go along and pick something out to give away. Right now go get your books and get ready to read and practice letters."
"We need to start giving them a small allowance so they can spend their own money on something next year," Draco suggested. "We can buy them small banks to keep coins in. We can even get two if you'd like, one for Muggle money and one for knuts and sickles."
"No Galleons?"
"Sure if they get them, but do you plan on giving them galleons?"
"Depends on what it's for," Harry replied. "They already work on keeping their rooms straight. We could have them do small chores for their allowance. We can make up a list of what they can do and what they can earn for each chore."
"Let's save that conversation for after the new year. For now, we should split this list."
"We don't need to split it, just rearrange it," Harry said taking out his wand and tapping the parchment.
"I thought the plan was for us to split up and you to handle the Muggle stuff while I did Diagon Alley."
"It was."
"But it's not anymore. You do realize it will take us at least twice as long to shop if we go together."
"And you worry about being harassed if we're seen in Diagon Alley together," Harry said.
"I'll be harassed no matter what, but you don't need to be. If I had any idea how to handle Muggle money I'd do that shopping, but you haven't taught me how yet. I may have to break down and ask Hermione to teach me."
"You don't have to do that, besides even if you understood Muggle money you don't know where to go."
"True."
"Just trust me on this."
"Fine, but Molly knows she's going to be here longer than originally planned right?"
"It was her idea."
Draco squinted in surprise. "For us to shop together? I thought that was why she was coming next week. Do we need to shop for the children and the donations today?"
"No, she's still coming next week."
"Ok so…"
"Just don't worry about it."
"If you say so," Draco replied and went to work on reading with Marcus, Conor, and Freya.
"We'll start at George's," Harry said. "He told me we can use the Floo."
Draco nodded and followed the other man through the fireplace stepping out into George Weasley's office in the rear of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. They each dusted themselves off and then stepped out into the shop.
"Hello," George called when he saw them. "How are you two?"
"Good," Harry answered, "and you?"
"Business is booming. Ron's been helping out once a week or so. I managed to finagle Percy into doing my books, and Angelina's been by every day to bring me lunch. She insists I eat, says I get grouchy when I don't, so she's feeding me well."
"Ah, then things are very good," Draco commented.
"They are the. Do you have a list?"
Harry handed over a small piece of paper and said, "We'll be back for this stuff. We need to make a quick run to Flourish and Botts."
"You can do that," Draco pointed out, "and I can get the things here. No need to ask George to do it when he's so busy."
"Nope, I can handle it," George said. "Go on, go."
Draco sighed, straightened his shoulders, and stepped out the door behind Harry.
"If I'd known we were going to do this-"
"You'd have taken Polyjuice potion," Harry finished.
"Maybe. This is a really bad idea, a really bad idea, a truly horrible no-good, very bad idea."
"People have to get over it. You served your sentence. If I can get past everything that happened between us and with Ron and Hermione. If they can get over it, if Molly can get over it, then others can too."
"I didn't torture you or your family members."
"And you didn't do that to others willingly. Most of the people complaining were cowards who didn't take a stand at all, they hid."
"You know that's not true," Draco protested. "Plenty of people have very valid reasons to be angry that I'm not locked up like my father. I don't expect forgiveness."
"Which is one reason why those of us who have forgiven you have. Come on." Harry opened the door to the bookstore and let Draco pass him by. He looked pointedly at the few people he saw staring until they turned their gaze away.
"Besides," he said in a low voice coming up behind the other man perusing the children's bookshelves, "none of those people know you like I do. None of them have seen you with the children. They don't know how you feel about what you did and how you're trying to prevent it from happening again. I think it might be time for you to do an exclusive interview."
"You've lost your mind."
"No, actually I think it's the perfect answer."
"We're not talking about this right now."
"Fine, but we will talk about this."
"Good afternoon gentlemen, how can I help you?" the witch behind the counter asked as they approached with a stack of books. She tried to hide a cringe when she saw Draco, but her face lit up when she turned to Harry. "Oh, Mr. Potter, are you shopping for your children?"
"Something like that," Harry replied. He paid for the books and took the packages, thanking the woman for her offer to send them to his home but rejecting the idea.
They stopped at Wheezes long enough to collect the packages from George and pay him for them before they stepped back through the Floo to Grimmauld Place and dropped everything off in the sitting room. Harry led Draco out the front door and apparated with him from the top step to an alleyway not far from the toy shop he had found on the day he'd decided to take Teddy home.
"Oh hello," it was the same lady at the checkout stand. "How are you? How is your nephew?"
"He's doing well."
"I'm guessing he enjoyed the toys you found here and that's why you've returned."
"Yes, he did."
"I'm Vanessa, by the way, if you need anything please let me know."
"I will thank you. I'm Harry."
"Nice to meet you, Harry," she said and looked at Draco.
"Sorry, this is Draco," Harry said without any further explanation. "We should start shopping."
"Certainly," she smiled and nodded.
Harry grabbed a cart and began wheeling it down the aisles. Draco followed along though he stopped frequently picking up toys and looking at them.
"I'm starting to think I should shop for you here," Harry teased.
"These games are so different than ours," Daco replied quietly.
"We'll get a few for the kids and you can learn to play them too."
"What is this Mouse Trap? Why would you want to trap a mouse? Are you trying to get a pet? Rats make better pets, and they're not great."
"It's a plastic mouse," Harry explained, "and that game never works well anyway so we're going to skip it."
"What about these blocks? Marcus, James, and Fiona love building with them."
"They do, that's on the list. Get a set or two and put them in the cart."
They continued through the shop with Draco asking questions and Harry answering. Finally, they made their way to the counter.
"Well, you restrained yourself more than last time," Vanessa said with a smile.
"Do you remember every customer?"
"Oh no," she replied, "but when one purchases as much as you did, it sticks in the memory."
"This time it's for charity, you don't happen to know a place where we can donate them do you?"
"Absolutely. We have a drop box up front ourselves that will be taken down the road to a local charity for children in a week."
"Well then, thank you!"
"No, thank you."
Draco remained silent the whole time. He helped Harry put the toys in the drop box and then said. "This feels a bit anticlimactic."
"It does," Harry agreed.
"It's not that I want to see the kids get the toys-"
"But part of you does, you want to be able to see their excitement. I get that. It's different to be able to watch someone open your presents."
"I'd also like to see the parents that are now able to give their children a Christmas. I don't need them to know it's me. I'd just like to see their happiness too."
"I get that," Harry responded. "We'll just have to accept that that's what's happening as we see the joy on our kids' faces on Christmas morning.
"Right, now let's go home."
"Master has a visitor," Winky announced.
"She's right on time," Harry said.
Draco shook his head. "Did you expect any different?"
"Well you never know, she could have had an emergency case."
"I suppose. Hello Anara," Draco greeted the woman as she entered the room
"Hello, Draco. Hello, Harry. So…"
Harry smiled. "Nothing is wrong with the children. They have something for you actually. They're up in the playroom. Shall we go up?"
"Certainly."
"Healer Bennett!" The children exclaimed and several ran to give her hugs.
"Hello, dears. I hear you have something for me."
"Daddy and Draco got us toys to share," Fiona told the woman and pointed to a large bag sitting near the stairs.
"So kids like us that stay with you have something for Christmas," Riordan explained.
"We also made them cards," Freya said, handing the stack over to the woman.
"We used our Christmas coloring books," Liam explained.
Anara beamed. "This is simply wonderful. Thank you all."
She spent the next half hour talking to each child, hearing all about what they were learning, and listening to a few of them read. Finally, she stood to leave.
Harry stayed with the children as Draco helped her take the bag of toys down to the Floo.
"You two are doing a wonderful job with them," Anara commented.
"It's all Harry," Draco insisted. "I wouldn't have thought of this sadly."
"I don't just mean this. You make a great team."
The man shrugged.
"You do," she said with a smile. "Not that I don't think Harry would be able to manage on his own, but you make it easier for him. You make it better. You complement each other. Don't overlook that, I don't think he does."
"I won't. Do you need help taking this through?"
"I've got it. Have a wonderful Christmas Draco."
"Thank you, you as well Anara."
She nodded and stepped through the Floo. Draco was left wondering just what she thought he added to the care of the children.