Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry, this wasn't up earlier--I spent the day with friends. Oh, and do you remember me saying in the other chapter, that Ginny was pregnant? I was going to add that, err, outcome to that in here, but I decided not to at the last minute. But I'll resolve that. Someday.

Prompt: "Preserve"

Before the bell even finished ringing a moment after she pressed it, Lily turned to Scorpius, grabbing his collar. "Don't forget your promise."

Scorpius sighed at the manhandling, but he decided to let it pass. Her mood swings had been getting worse lately. "I haven't. And I won't—relax, why don't you?"

A corner of her mouth twitched upward, and she sighed herself. "I'm sorry," she apologized softly, "but this is important to Dominique for getting to host Christmas this year, and I-" Lily never got a chance to finish; the door wrenched open, making the two of them jump, and Louis gazed hopefully at them.

"Thank god it's you!" he nearly shouted. He reached, and snatched Lily's wrist, pulling her in sharply. "You have to help; it's a nightmare."

Scorpius frowned, and stepped in, shutting the door behind them. He glared at his wife's cousin as he tried to yank her coat off her arms to her discomfort. She brushed him off, and Scorpius stepped up to help ease her out. She smiled gratefully as he took off his own coat, waiting until one of his hands were free for her to hold while she let her other hand rest of the pronounced curve of her belly.

"What's all the fuss about now, Louis?" she asked.

Before he had time to answer, there was a loud sob from the living room, and a din of angry voices nearly drowned the noise out. Louis groaned. "It's Lucy—she brought her girlfriend over, so grandma' am pitched a right fit. Now Dominique crying, Mum's ranting in French, Dad's hiding out somewhere with granddad, and I'm pretty sure Uncle Ron, Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, and Rose are drunk."

Scorpius paused, and then coughed. "Right. Why didn't we go to my parents this year?"

Lily covered her eyes. "Because they're in Venice. They took Lyra with them."

Louis rolled his eyes. "God, what I'd give to be in Venice right now. But, c'mon, Lils, say you'll help."

"Where's my parents and my brothers?" she sighed.

Louis paused to consider it. "James is with Teddy and Victoire, they're playing with the baby. I don't think Al's shown up yet. Your dad's with James and them, and your mum's…"

She raised a brow at him when he failed to go on. "…my mum is…?"

Louis stalled until Lily's glare was close to being considered an Unforgivable curse unto itself. "She's yelling at grandma' am. For yelling about Lucy. Aunt Audrey is helping."

Lily covered her face again with her hand; Scorpius was willing to bet good money that if it weren't so close to the due date for the baby, she might have tempted appariting to escape the whole mess. He squeezed her hand, trying to send her moral support. Finally, she huffed, and let her hand fall back to her stomach. "Fine. Fine—just…get me to a chair. My feet are killing me."

Scorpius let go of her hand to rub her lower back gently as Louis led them to the living room. True to his word, Scorpius quickly spotted his father and brother-in-law playing with the Lupins' new baby, while his mother-in-law heatedly yelled at the Weasley's matriarch, with another woman and a blonde yelling in French helping her. Scorpius was able to pick some more of the Weasley family—he saw Rose along with her father, in deed drunk, at a table with some more family members, while Hermione Weasley kept throwing dark looks at her husband and daughter while Hugo and Roxanne tried to calm Dominique down as she sobbed loudly. Molly (the younger) was with a bespectacled Weasley man, he guessed her father, both of them trying to talk to the irate Lucy and her very mortified looking girlfriend next to her.

Scorpius watched as Lily took in the situation in front of them, before she tried to walk over to her mother.

Tried being the operative word there.

Before she even made it half way, Lily made a noise that made Scorpius, along with the rest of her family, rush over. He only paused at the last minute to take stock of the scene once more. It sounded like she had been kicked in the gut, followed by a very convincing groan. Since Ginny had rushed over to her when she groaned, Molly (the elder) had also spotted Lily's distress, and came quickly. When the one argument stopped, Lucy, her father, and her sister stopped fighting as well, to look at the small commotion Lily had caused. For a moment, Dominique even stopped crying to gaze in confusion as the Potters and several Weasleys began to flitter around Lily worriedly.

Standing next to the befuddled Louis, Scorpius caught Lily's wink, and let out the breath he had been holding in.

"Brilliant girl," Louis grinned next to him. "Too bad she keeps turning down Uncle George's job offers at the shop."

Scorpius smirked at him, and moved to join his wife. She gave him a wobbly grin. "False alarm," she explained as he elbowed his way to her.

"I see," he answered, trying not to ruin her charade by laughing. Apparently he wasn't the only one who caught onto her act; Ginny and Harry were smirking a bit themselves.

"Would you like something to drink, sweetie?" Molly asked, trying to make her comfortable on the couch.

"A glass of water would be nice," she murmured, obviously going to ham up her performance a bit.

"Louis, water," the blonde French woman ordered, still looking peeved.

Louis put his hands up defensively, and backed away until he was near the kitchen.

"Here, Scorpius," Harry said over his shoulder. "I'll take those," he said, nodding to the coats on his arm. Scorpius gratefully handed them over, and then tried to get a spot on the couch next to his pregnant wife.

Now that "emergency" was over, Lily's grandmother began to lecture her on being more careful so close to her due date. Lily bore it well, and eventually Molly began to chatter about more pleasant things. Finally, the matriarch left, and when Albus finally showed up, Ginny left to go greet him.

It was only after the more drunken family members began to sing Christmas carols, and Molly went to make peace with her granddaughter, did Scorpius lean over to his wife to speak. "That was quite the performance," he whispered. "Tell me, why weren't you in Slytherin again?"

Lily grinned at over the rim of her glass. "Because I did it for Lucy and Dominique, not myself."

"A shame though," he mused, leaning back. "I would have enjoyed having you in my house."

"Why so you could have seduced me sooner?"

He grinned, and she kissed his cheek.

"Merry Christmas, mister Malfoy."

He tucked a wisp of hair out of her face. "Merry Christmas, missus Malfoy."