A/N: Christmas Chapter in July. Not sure how it worked out that way, but I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Chapter 8: Seasons Greetings

Christmas at Hogwarts was always lonely. Without the students, the halls seemed empty, creepy almost. The silence sometimes reminded me of Malfoy Manor, when the Dark Lord lived there. Everyone held their breath then, never doing anything to upset him. The house elves didn't pop in and out of places like usual, because it made too much noise. Mum and Dad would whisper to each other, afraid that they would upset Him.

I never liked the quiet since then. Brought back too many memories.

I wandered through the quiet halls to the entrance way. Christmas morning meant that Scorpius would be arriving soon, along with most of the other faculty family. It was a relatively new practice, only coming about after the war. I personally think that McGonagal was to blame for such silly family oriented things. The families of professors never ate with the students at Christmas before, but leave it to a woman to decide that bonding was important.

When I got to the front door, I was surprised to see that they were not there yet. Not like them really to be tardy. I was counting on the fact that they would be on time, so we could retreat away from the rest of my coworkers gushing over their children. Disgusting.

The door opened, and I turned to look expectantly. And then I felt as though the floor had dropped out from under me. Ron Weasley, red hair, freckles, and all, strode in though the door like he owned the place.

It took me a second to take in the changes in appearance. He was still tall, but had a definite stoop in his shoulders. His orange hair was streaked with white, and his nose looked like it had been broken one too many times. Wrinkles had appeared near his eyes, and he had definitely put on weight. Excellent.

His eyes passed over me once, and then returned to me with recognition. "Malfoy?" he said, his mouth slowly turning up into an unflattering sneer.

"Weasley," I responded with a nod. I did not want to start anything today. It was Christmas, after all. Oh, who am I kidding? It's just because I didn't want him to know what I was up to.

"Still in school? Never did pass your finals, is that it?"

"Ha, ha, Weasley. You didn't technically finish school either, don't forget," I said, my teeth clenched. I was looking over his shoulder for my son, looking for an excuse to get out of this conversation. Weasley's wit was as slow as ever.

Luckily, a distraction came along. She had to be about thirty-five years old. Her hair was long and dark, falling over a tight-fitting, Christmas dress. She sauntered up to Weasley, and put a long, slightly freckled, pale arm over his shoulder. "Old friend, sweetheart?" she said in a thick, American accent.

"Draco Malfoy," I said, giving her a charming smile. Couldn't help myself. She was beautiful. I guess it was true. Weasley and Granger were no longer together.

"Peggy Weasley," she said, extending her arm to me. "It's so great being here at Ron's school. I never went here myself. American."

"Oh," I said. "So it's your first time at Hogwarts? Maybe later I can give you a tour. See all the places where Ron had so many great… memories." I gave a slight smirk in his direction.

Peggy Weasley looked like she was about to agree to come, when Ron interrupted. "Have you seen my daughter around, Malfoy? We are here to visit her, after all, darling," he said, with a slightly possessive tone.

I shrugged. "Not for a day or so, actually. Since our last class together."

"Oh," exclaimed Peggy. "You two work together?"

"Most of the time," I couldn't help but to smirk again. I really do that all too much.

Weasley turned purple, my favorite color to watch Weasley's turn. "If you-"

"Dad," he was cut off by none other than his daughter. "Please stop threatening my boss."

"Oh, Rosie, how are you?" gushed Peggy, throwing her arms around Rose for what looked like a very awkward hug.

"Fine," she said, letting her eyes wander to mine. She gave me a small, apologetic smile. Though it had only been a week since our little… experience in the classroom, we hadn't really spoken about it. She had mostly been avoiding my gaze, and this direct contact, even for only a moment, was such a relief.

"Rose," Weasley started to say, but at that moment, I heard the door open and eagerly looked for an excuse to leave this awkward conversation. Luckily, it was Scorpius. However, my wife was not with him.

"Excuse me," I said, making it a point to be polite to Weasley's new wife, and then strolled over to talk to my son.

"Where's your mother?" I asked. Then I noticed something. "And what in the world are you wearing?"

"Nice to see you too, Dad," he said with his annoying sarcasm. Children. "Mom's still in France. She says she'll get here as soon as she can. And that probably means after she finishes her tan," he said rolling his eyes.

I couldn't help but stare at his attire. It was an outfit made entirely out of leather. Not even dragon leather, mind you. It was cow leather. A jacket, worn over his naked chest, and a pair of clingy pants. "Is this a joke?"

"Not a joke," he said, almost sounding excited. "I joined a band."

"A… what?"

"It's that thing that people play music in."

"And they usually wear Muggle clothes?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "No, just Muggle bands."

"You joined a Muggle Band?" Somewhere, Lucius Malfoy was spinning over in his grave, wondering how he failed as a father.

"Hell yeah. I play bass. It's really cool."

I was comtemplating on how best to murder my only child, when I heard a feisty voice from behind me.

"Malfoy, you look queer as… well… as queer as you looked in school." Rose was standing there, arms crossed, smirking at my son.

"Whorsley," he said, smiling to himself. "Didn't know you were still here."

"I am."

"Whorsley?" I asked.

"Isn't he clever?" Rose said, rolling her eyes. "They both start with a 'w'. Anyway," she turned to me. "I wanted to apologize for my father being an arse. Oh, and Adams says dinner's starting so you need to get into the Great Hall." She turned and walked to dinner.

Scorpius was staring after her with the strangest look in his eye. Suddenly, he spun around to look at me. "You know she's a whore, right?"

I sighed. "What would your mother say?" I started walking into the Great Hall, wondering why I ever decided to have a child.

Christmas dinner was as expected: awkward and unenjoyable. The Weasley's didn't speak to me, as did none of my other coworkers, and I was stuck listening to how my son modeled himself after Taking Back Thursday and Fall Out Boy. Neither of those things sounded like music to me, but he assured me that they were good bands.

Perhaps the only thing of note that happened at the feast was that the Headmistress drank a few too many eggnogs and started shooting lusty glances at Professor Trewlany. I had to work not to spew all over the table after I noticed that.

After dessert, I tried to be one of the last to leave the table, hoping for as little discussion after dinner as possible. Scorpius had also had a little too much to drink, and had excused himself earlier. When only Professor Adams and Trewlany remained, I decided to make my escape.

Just as I was walking through the entrance hall, I felt a cold hand on my wrist. "Shh," came the soft, female voice with a gentle tug. I didn't need to ask who it was. Gently she pulled me out of the building, and onto the snowy grounds of Hogwarts.

A/N: Definitely not as sexy as the last chapter, but hopefully we'll get to a bit more of that later. Only a few more chapters left before the dramatic conclusion. Yay!