A/N: I suppose I consider this more of a chapter 3.5 than anything - it's shorter, and I only decided to write and use it while working on the next chapter. I thought it was important to show this more light-hearted look at the Malfoy's home life and take the opportunity to plant some seeds, as we set sail for stormier seas from here. Please continue to enjoy, and tell me what you think!

Narcissa awoke to the bright light of the sun shining through the window, its glare magnified by the newly fallen snow. She shielded her eyes and looked towards her husband, who, she was pleased to observe, was still asleep next to her. She sat up and allowed the blankets that covered her to fall, exposing her bare chest. She slid further from under the covers keeping her warm, leaned over, and placed a kiss upon Lucius's temple.

"Merry Christmas, dear," she whispered.

Mr. Malfoy opened his eyes slowly and made an effort to quickly blink the sleep from them, always glad to wake to the sight of his beautiful wife. Disregarding his early-morning lethargy, he lifted his arm behind her head, allowing his fingers to entangle in her hair. He eased her down again gently, an action Narcissa was more than happy to comply with, and locked his lips with hers, in spite of the smile that was starting to form on them. Lucius made sure they stayed that way for several long moments before beginning to let up. "Merry Christmas to you as well, Cissa."

"I wonder," she said softly as she relaxed and rested a delicate hand upon his chest, "just how many other wives can say they wake up to a kiss like that from their wonderful husband on Christmas morning…?"

"And I wonder just how many other husbands can say they wake up to the sight of such an extraordinary wife every morning, with whom each kiss is so heavenly?"

"None," they said in unison, and Narcissa leaned in for another lengthy kiss.

"You know, I'd ask for one more, but I would hate to seem greedy," he said with a smirk when they once again parted.

"Don't worry about that, Lucius," she said, and lowered her voice to a whisper, "you'll be getting plenty more tonight when I choose to give you the gift I have planned for you. But for now, I believe you and I have been lying here for too long, especially as Draco has that event he attended to tell us about. By which I mean, with any luck he'll have some worthy girls to tell us about."

"I suppose that's true…" Lucius muttered, and sighed as he slowly sat up. He would have much preferred another hour or two of rest and time alone with his wife, but she had made clear that that was out of the question for the time being.

Narcissa stood in hopes of beginning her morning routine before meeting Draco downstairs and almost immediately she was overcome with a familiar faintness. She reached out a hand to the bed's headboard to steady her and pressed the other to her forehead.

"Cissy! Are you all right…?" Lucius quite nearly shouted, hurrying to pull on his robe and rush to her side.

"I'm fine, Lucius," she said after a moment. "Just dizzy; a bit lightheaded. You remember." She looked back at him with a weak smile, hoping he recalled the very same thing happening during her first pregnancy.

"Of course I remember, and it alarmed me then, too…Here." He offered Narcissa her own dressing gown to cover herself with until she could properly get ready for the day and choose an outfit for herself.

"Lucius, it's perfectly normal for me to feel like that from time to time," she tried to assure him when she noticed his still very much concerned expression. "There's no need to be anxious."

"Yes, I know its normal but… Well, you could fall, and hurt more than just yourself…"

A certain warmth of appreciation came over her, hearing her husband tell her plainly that their child's safety was his primary concern, and she felt her mouth twist into a very involuntary, very genuine smile. "Relax," she stated, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before commencing with her preparation for the day.

When the two of them had cleaned up and finished dressing in their usual finery, they descended the stairs towards the living room that contained the manor's largest Christmas tree, tastefully decorated by Narcissa some weeks prior. Despite her annoyance and protests that she had been walking up and down stairs on her own for forty years, Lucius insisted upon walking arm in arm with Narcissa in the case that she should begin to feel faint once again.

When they entered the living room, they were both somewhat surprised to find Draco already there, waiting in one of the large plush armchairs. "Merry Christmas," he greeted them with a smile.

"Oh, it's been far too long since we've had a proper holiday together," Narcissa broke away from her husband and embraced Draco in a tight hug before claiming the chair across from him. "I'm so happy to see you remembered, Draco, how we'd always meet here on Christmas morning; all three of us… Of course plenty of those mornings – more than half, to be sure - involved you running to our bedroom in all your excitement to wake us up first!"

Draco and Narcissa laughed together at the pleasant memory of his younger days, Lucius offering a fond smile. "Really, Mother, it's only been those two years… Naturally I remember that much."

"Those two years…" Lucius said with a shake of his head. "I don't even think about them now," he lied. He knew it wasn't the least bit believable, nor had he expected it to be. However, he also knew that broaching the topic of those lost years when they were forced apart once by his own time in Azkaban and the subsequent effects it had on him, as well as Draco's punishment from the Dark Lord, and again by a war being conducted in part in their very own home was nothing but a walk across thin ice for all three of them. Of course, they did talk about it at times; it was a way to try and heal their not-quite-closed wounds. But Lucius would not allow such a thing on a day when everything had already been going so wonderfully. Not at a time that was supposed to give them nothing but happiness and bring them together as a family.

"Well, ah, I didn't exactly know if either of you would accept any sort of gift from me…" Draco admitted, forcing the conversation away from the days that none cared to recall, "But I decided get these. They're supposed to be a Hogsmeade exclusive, and I thought you in particular might like them, Mother…"

He proffered to her a simply wrapped box, which she accepted gratefully, charmed by her son's thoughtfulness before even opening it.

"You didn't have to, but thank you, Draco." She delicately removed the paper from it to reveal a box of twelve cider flavored Sugar Quills.

"They're cider flavor, as it says, but they're just fine, even with your condition, and…Such," he said, referencing the beverage's usual alcohol content while making a vague gesture towards his mother, and decidedly keeping his gaze focused on her instead of his father.

"Thank you," she repeated kindly, not acknowledging his slight awkwardness. She couldn't recall ever telling him that Sugar Quills had been a favorite of hers when she was a girl, and it made her all the more pleased that he had bothered to learn such a thing at all.

Lucius, meanwhile, sat quietly near his wife with a contented look about him. Draco hadn't ignored his recommendation when he'd sent a letter addressed specifically to Lucius to ask if there might be something he could get his mother when he came home for the holidays. He remembered clearly that she'd often make Honeydukes their first stop on Hogsmeade weekends during their own time at Hogwarts to obtain a box or two of the sweets she enjoyed, and he managed to guess correctly that she'd enjoy them just as much now.

"Say, Draco, don't you have something more for us?" Lucius asked, attempting to bring forth the conversation he and his wife were more than a little interested in hearing.

He gave the older man an uncertain look. Had they discussed another gift in their letters and he'd forgotten about it?

"A certain Christmas party to tell us about, perhaps?"

"Oh, of course, though I don't know that there's too much to tell," Draco said.

"Nonsense," interjected Narcissa, "we want to hear all about it."

"Well, it was enjoyable; it was really just all of us talking and laughing at whatever jokes we had together… I'll admit, it was good to see them away from Hogwarts, when I didn't have to act like a responsible Head Boy," Draco told them with a small chuckle. "I did meet a few of Pansy's friends who attend Durmstrang, though. I had excellent conversations with them, about everything from our Charms classes to the war, and they told me that things have been steadily improving there ever since Karkaroff left the school. But aside from that, I did talk quite a bit to the Greengrass girls… I didn't think I'd ever find myself saying so before now, but we've got a lot in common."

Narcissa and Lucius exchanged the same significant glance that Draco had seen at the breakfast table the previous morning, as though they had the same idea about something or other.

"The younger, Astoria, is repeating her fifth year in order to take her O.W.L.s properly, and the elder, Daphne, is in my year. We thought that when we return to school, we might study together for our exams and such, as our strengths lie in different areas…"

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Narcissa approved, her eyes bright. The Greengrasses were one of the few remaining pureblood families; quite prestigious, though not quite as much so as the Malfoys and especially not the Blacks, but still very well-regarded and highly respected in such circles. Either of the family's daughters, in her opinion, would prove to be a match for her son.

"Oh, and several guests did ask after you, Mother, and they send you their best. No one asked too many questions – old pureblood sensibilities and all that, I suppose – but I told them you were doing just fine thus far."

"That was very good of you," she said with a nod.

"I'm glad you decided to go, Draco, it sounds as though you had an excellent time," Lucius commented. There was a certain lilt to his voice when he said it that Draco couldn't identify, but it seemed to him that Narcissa did not notice at all.

"I should really thank you for permitting it on such short notice."

"Not at all. It's only good that you've built such relationships with your peers," he reminded with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. It was thanks in part to the relationships he established at Hogwarts, after all, that Lucius himself was able to be successful in his life outside of school; he couldn't help but feel proud that his son was on the path to do the same, without making the same mistakes he had along the way.

"Well, if you two would like to carry on," Narcissa cut in, "I'll go and start cooking. I plan on making a breakfast and dinner, both quite lavish if I may say so, for you both, and it's bound to take me quite awhile."

Neither had any objections. It was only on his breaks from school that Draco got to enjoy his mother's cooking, and he found he had begun to miss it while he was away.

Narcissa took the box of Sugar Quills and stood to leave, and kissed both of her boys on the cheek on her way out of the living room, repeating once more her gratitude to Draco for the gift.

A silence passed between the men once she left.

"…Draco, I need to speak with your mother for just a moment. I'll return shortly, if you care to continue our conversation."

"I would like that," he said with small smile, understanding that he was meant to let his father go alone for the time being.

Lucius followed after his wife, where he found her retrieving a variety of things she would need from the cupboards in the manor kitchen.

"Cissa," he addressed her.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think? About that Daphne or Astoria, I mean."

"Oh, Lucius, go spend time with your son instead of talking about that with me; we can do that any time," she reprimanded.

"I know, and we will, but I just want your opinion. I want to know if we're in full agreement or not before I mention anything regarding his relationship status. And don't worry; I plan to be incredibly subtle about it."

Narcissa considered for a moment before assenting to discuss it with him. It would be much easier for Lucius to talk to him about it than it would for her, she knew, and it would be good to know where her son currently stood as far as marriage options were concerned, especially in relation to the Greengrasses... "Both girls have my approval. We've always been on good terms with the family – in fact, I believe we received a card from them the other day congratulating us. They're of noble lineage as we are, so I don't oppose a relationship on those grounds either."

Lucius nodded in agreement. "That's exactly the impression I got from you, but I wouldn't dare assume." Ordinarily he wouldn't so much as bother asking, with how well he and Narcissa could read and understand one another by looks alone, but with her emotions and feelings liable to change in an instant, he didn't wish to get it wrong.

"And I appreciate it. To be honest, I wouldn't trust me in that regard either if I were in your position."

Lucius chuckled, and returned to the living room where Draco was still waiting.

"Draco," he said with a father's authority, "have you been managing everything all right at school? I only ask because, as much confidence as I have in you, I know it can be stressful at times. Performing my duties as Head Boy, Quidditch, keeping up with my studies, and making time for your mother on top of that could definitely get to be a bit much."

Draco was a perceptive boy, and he was sure he knew what his father was trying to ask: whether or not he happened to have a girlfriend at the time. He had to suppress the knowing smile that was begging to show itself. "Oh, I don't have quite as much to deal with as you did, I'm sure. I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, for one thing, and things have been quiet at Hogwarts this year, even in Slytherin, though that isn't entirely unexpected."

"…Good to know," Lucius said, taken somewhat aback. He hadn't expected the answer he was seeking so be given quickly.

"That's not to say I wouldn't mind having a special someone, or a little excitement, for that matter. I suppose finding them just hasn't been a primary objective for me right now," he explained, and he wasn't merely saying what his father wanted to hear. Ever since he and Pansy Parkinson had ended their romantic relationship, Draco simply had neither the time nor the motivation to find another.

"That's perfectly understandable," he nodded, already thinking of what he'd tell Narcissa. "…In fact, I imagine I'd feel the same were I in your position, all things considered."

Draco gave an appreciative smile. It was such a new thing for his father to speak so openly with him, it mattered not how overdue it might have been or how discomfited they might have felt with one another at times.

Lucius gave a sigh and leaned back in his chair. If nothing else, the holidays had allowed him to at last act as the real father he had for so long wanted to be to his first son, which pleased him indefinitely, and even more importantly, pleased Narcissa as well.

"Father…" Draco began once more.

Lucius was happy to once again give the boy his full attention.