A/N: Apologies for slower updates than it was when I first published this fic. Things like work and everything that comes with that, and other things happening in my life cause me to be unable to sit and write for an extended period of time and I find myself writing at around 10-11pm every night which isn't ideal. Will be trying to write a bit more in the coming weeks, but no promises on faster updates. Hope you understand and enjoy this chapter.

After sobering from their laughter, Draco and Hermione continued to wander through the Quidditch shop, however both of them looking at different things. Draco gravitated towards the back wall of the shop where brooms were displayed and looked at the recent model of his own broom he had at the Manor. He considered buying another one to have at his home, but as he lived in a Muggle neighbourhood, flying was really only possible when he visited his mother's house. He refused help from a store worker, saying he was only looking, and turned his attention to the latest model. There were a few other people standing around it; the Swift 11 it was called, a sub-brand under the Nimbus company name. He longed to know what the broom would feel like to fly but he knew realistically if he bought it, it would spend more time on the ground than in the air.

"Are you looking at buying one?" Hermione asked when she came up to stand next to him. When he looked at her he saw she had a bag with her purchases.

"No, just having a look," he said. "Done?"

"For Ron at least," she nodded. At that, they both left the Quidditch shop, thankfully just as a large group of teenage boys wandered towards the door, their loud, excited talking making Draco grit his teeth in annoyance. "Oh, I didn't realise how long we've been shopping," she said and he saw her looking at her watch. He checked his own and saw that they'd been together for just coming on two hours. It was hard to believe that as he felt the time had passed so quickly, but with their coffee and lunch break at the start, it made sense.

"Do you need to be somewhere?" Draco asked.

"No, no," she shook her head, "I was just thinking that it's felt so much quicker." The corner of his lip turned up briefly as he had just been thinking the same thing.

"Do you need to get anymore presents?"

"Yes, just one for my mum," Hermione nodded. "I'm getting her a nice pair of gloves and a matching scarf from Madam Malkin's," she smiled, obviously pleased with her gift choice.

"Sounds nice," Draco said and looked up with a grimace when a round drop of water dripped onto his head from the awning they were walking under. He pushed his hand through his hair and missed the fact that Hermione had glanced up at him and didn't really look away. He realised when he went to look at her and she turned away quickly and he saw the slight redness on her cheeks which he convinced himself was due to the cold weather.

His heart jumped and his hand moved down to his side where he kept his wand when he was suddenly bombarded and someone clasped the back of his neck tightly. Hermione startled too and moved to the side also reached for her wand until they both saw that the perpetrator was Blaise. "What are you doing, arsehole?" Draco asked, slightly pissed off for being so off-guard and jumping to conclusions of needing his wand.

"Could ask you the same question," Blaise said and had a very smug look on his face which didn't go past Draco. "How do you do, Granger?" He asked Hermione who was still looking quite startled from the sudden 'greeting' of friends.

"Fine, thank you," she answered and gathered herself again.

"What are you two doing?" He asked and Draco tried to give the taller wizard a warning glare. "Didn't know you two were seeing each other; this is why you need to catch up more, Draco," he clapped Draco on the back again.

"We're not—" Hermione started.

"Shut it," Draco said through clenched teeth to Blaise. "We just bumped into each other."

"We've been walking around for a bit," Hermione finished.

Blaise lifted his hands in surrender and still had a smirk on his face. "Okay, okay. Waving my white flag now," he joked and pretended to do just that.

"Blaise, stop buggering off!" Another voice joined the group of three and Pansy came to her fiancé's side. She was — as always — dressed to the nines with an expensive looking buttoned up long coat, dark jeans and boots, and a matching scarf and beanie atop her head. In her hands were several shopping bags which hit against his side as she moved forward to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Hello," she greeted him and when she pulled back, realised Hermione's presence. Draco could notice that the latter was standing a little straighter and had even subtly tugged down the front of her jumper when Pansy stood back. "Granger," Pansy said and Draco was surprised to hear that her voice was light and lacking of any malice, although she did seem surprised.

"Nice to see you," Hermione said. "It's been quite a while." Draco didn't know if Pansy and Hermione had ever spoken in a civil context or even been within ten metres of each other since they last saw each other in Hogwarts. He knew that Pansy was no longer the same malicious girl she'd been in school and while she was still slightly catty at times, she never openly attacked anyone, especially for their blood which she had been prone to do in her teenage years.

"It has," Pansy agreed to her statement. "Christmas shopping?" She asked both her and Draco.

"No, not at all," Draco drawled sarcastically and he heard Blaise snort, appreciating the remark.

Pansy rolled her eyes daintily. "Are you coming tomorrow?" She asked and he felt all eyes on him, even Hermione's.

"Maybe," Draco answered truthfully because he really didn't want to go.

Pansy sighed and now it was Blaise's turn to roll his eyes. "Just come, mate. It's only going to be me and Pans."

"Doesn't matter who's there," he answered. "Look, it will depend on my mother. You know how she gets during this time of the year." At that comment, both Pansy and Blaise seemed to understand slightly and the latter nodded. Draco looked away from them all and down the Alley and from averting his eyes, he briefly saw Hermione with a confused look on her face.

"Uh… Well I best be off," Hermione broke the silence. "It was nice seeing you," she said and looked at Pansy and Blaise. "You too, Malfoy."

Draco looked back to them and gave her a slight smirk. "Can't get rid of me that easy," he said. "I have something to pick up from Madam Malkin's too." She smiled at that.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Pansy said to Draco. "One way or another."

"See you," Blaise said too, and the couple strolled in the opposite direction.

Draco said goodbye and walked with Hermione towards the robe shop. "They aren't anything like I remember," Hermione said after a minute. "I didn't really know Blaise in school and I think that's the first time we've ever spoken since then."

"And Pansy?" Draco asked.

"I was the one that helped her a few years ago with moving her mother to France."

"That was you?" Draco asked and she nodded. He remembered the large fuss it had caused when Pansy's mother wanted to move two years after the war had concluded due to the Ministry believing she had ulterior motives due to her husband's work in being a Death Eater. Pansy had been a frazzled mess trying to get someone to help her get her mother to be able to move, and it seemed that she'd found Hermione as that person.

"What do you need to get from Madam Malkin's?" She asked.

"I don't," he answered. "I just said that so I could leave otherwise I know they would have pulled me into going tomorrow."

"You should."

"And why is that?" He asked and held open the door to the robe shop for her.

"Because it's Christmas. Whether you like the day or not, you shouldn't spend it alone," she said. Normally he would have brushed it off with a remark but the sincerity of her tone made him think and he didn't answer. She let him retreat into his own mind and didn't ask any further questions and made her way to the part of the shop that was displaying hats, gloves and scarves. Twenty minutes later, she was done and had the bag with her purchases for her mother and Draco had been sitting on the comfortable chairs by the window. He stood up when she approached him. "Sorry, I didn't think it would take that long."

"Stop apologising, Granger," Draco dismissed and held open the door for her again and then put his hands in his pockets as they walked. They were quiet for a while and passed all the shops they'd visited today. It had gotten colder and darker, a typical London Christmas Eve, but there was still no sign of snow for which he was grateful. Nothing good came from snow — only freezing temperatures, slush, and constantly wet shoes and socks. It was still as busy as it was when he began shopping and at some points he even struggled walking next to Hermione due to the sheer amount of people walking in the opposite direction, only concerned with getting their purchases rather than watching where they were walking.

"Are you going home now?" Hermione asked him when they reached the main entrance of Diagon Alley and they moved to a quiet spot out of the way of passing shoppers.

He shrugged and answered, "I might stay for a drink," and nodded his head towards the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. "Want to join?"

She looked at her watch and bit her bottom lip. "Maybe just one, I still need to wrap all of the things I bought then pack for tomorrow."

"You don't have to," Draco said.

"No, I will," she assured him. He didn't argue and walked into the pub and went to the bar where he ordered some firewhiskey and Hermione got some chardonnay. When they got their drinks, she led the way to a small table off to the side and took a seat, placing her bags down on the floor by her feet. "You said to Blaise before that you need to be there for your mother on Christmas. Do you mind me asking why?"

He took a drink of his firewhiskey and knew it was much needed with her question. He hated talking about his family circumstances and tried to avoid it at all costs. He was successful most of the time and most of his friends had learnt over the years never to bring things like that up, especially about his father. He had spent enough time without answering that he saw Hermione shift in her seat and open her mouth to most likely tell him to forget she asked. He cut her off though and put his glass down on the table. "You know that my father is in prison," he said as a matter-of-fact and she nodded. "Well, despite that and everything that he did in the past, my mother is the only person in the world to still love him and she pines for him terribly. Especially at Christmas time as it's her favourite time of the year."

"I didn't know…"

"You couldn't have," he shrugged and drank some more whiskey. "As much as I hate Christmas I always make a point to spend most of the day with her before she goes to various houses of her friends. She used to get all…fucked up the first couple of years," he admitted.

She watched him carefully although he didn't meet her eyes at all. She held her wine glass and didn't press him to say any more or less than he was willing to say, and for that, he appreciated her. "Have you spoke about this before, Draco?" She asked after he had not spoken for several minutes.

He downed the last of his firewhiskey and shook his head. "Blaise and Pansy know that she gets upset but I've never told them how badly."

"Is she getting better as the years go on? It's been almost thirteen years now, hasn't it?

"Mm," he hummed. "Thirteen years and she could probably tell you the exact day she had to be taken from his arms so he could be put in those shackles." He stood up and went to the bar, leaving Hermione at the table. She sipped her wine and watched him come back with another glass and sit before her.

"I've learnt a lot about you today, Draco," Hermione said when he came back and he looked her in the eye. "Have you been wanting to tell people these things?"

"What things?"

"Personal things," she said.

"They're not personal. Many people know my father is in prison."

Hermione didn't answer and took a drink of her wine. She'd wanted to add that she figured his father's imprisonment had made an impact on him more than he'd be willing to admit to anyone, but from the way he darted his eyes to the floor or across the bar, she didn't bring anything more up and waited for him to make the first move to speak. She knew where the line was and didn't want to cross it.

"Why do you have to pack tonight?" He asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"I'll be going to my parents tonight and spending the day with them tomorrow," she smiled. "They live in Stratford so I travel by floo to them rather than them making the drive to here."

"That sounds nice."

"It is," Hermione nodded. "Although this year there will be more family there. My cousins and aunts and uncles," she grimaced.

"You don't like them?" He asked.

"I do in moderation," she admitted with a laugh. "Having them all together for Christmas sort of hits every 'family Christmas time' stereotype on the head."

"Lovely," he chuckled even though he had never had anything like that before, he could still only imagine the different things that would happen, warranting a slight dislike for them. "I'm returning to work on Boxing Day, like you; do you want to schedule any meetings?" He asked.

"Yes, I was actually going to talk to you about that," Hermione nodded. "I'm taking New Years Day off—"

"As am I."

"Okay, that works perfectly!" She smiled. "I thought we could get as many meetings as we can in that short time frame of Boxing Day and New Years so we can get all the kinks worked out and start arranging meetings with other people too. I won't be able to do a lot for a few weeks after New Years though because of it being the beginning of a new year and all, I know you'll understand."

He nodded because he understood completely. The new year usually brought in some sort of change to each department which included a lot of staff meetings, updates and mostly bringing in new employees. This took up a lot of time in training and also maintaining current employees good work ethic and helping the people struggling pull their socks up a little and get back on the right track. Along with this, there was usually an influx of people needing help from different departments in the Ministry and he could understand that with Hermione working in the international department, things would get a little hectic.

"We'll get as much done as we can in the week we have," Draco told her and she smiled brightly.

"I can never thank you enough for helping me with this project, really, Draco."

"I told you, I don't need thanks," he said but gave her a small smile in return and drank the rest of his firewhiskey. He noted that she had finished her glass of chardonnay and was running the tip of her finger around the rim of the glass.

She nibbled her bottom lip and then glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "I should get going, it's just past six o'clock." He understood and nodded. "Thanks for accompanying me today. Wait…I did it again, didn't I?" She laughed and shook her head and he realised she meant that she'd thanked him.

"It's fine, Granger," he smiled at her and stood from his chair when she did. "And thank you for allowing me to." He looked down at her and looked her in the eyes and then glanced at her lips when her tongue came out to wet them. "Have a good day tomorrow," he told her, looking her in the eyes again after his fleeting glance down.

"You too," Hermione said and he could hear the sincerity in her tone. "Owl me if you need to, or want to, or anything like that," she offered with an almost-missable blush. "Merry Christmas, Draco."

"Merry Christmas, Hermione," he returned and watched her gather her bags and walk to one of the large fireplaces in the Leaky Cauldron. When she had taken the floo home, he walked over to the bar and ordered two more glasses of firewhiskey for himself and took them back to the table. The mere thought of the festivities the next day was enough to make him stay in the pub for much longer than he should have and he arrived home from taking the floo, at eight o'clock that night. He'd had a little too much to drink and thankfully had a sobering up potion which he took and as always gave him a slight headache but it was better than the headache he would inevitably have gotten with having a hangover. Now with a clearer mind, he brought out the roll of wrapping paper he'd had from the year before and cast a handy spell to wrap the three gifts for him. He wrote on three small tags, 'Pansy', 'Blaise' and 'Mother' respectively, and then stuck them to the presents after they'd been wrapped. He stared down at the presents on the table and then left them there while he prepared himself something for dinner.

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Draco hadn't slept well that night. He kept waking every few hours with a feeling in the pit of his stomach that didn't sit well with him, so when he woke at eight o'clock, he didn't bother trying to fall back asleep, but got up and ready for the day. By twenty to nine, he was ready for the day and picked up his mother's present and used the fireplace to go the manor. When he arrived in the sitting room the first thing he saw was his mother sitting on the sofa with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. He knew he'd had a funny feeling in his stomach for good reason and he rushed to her side, putting her present on the coffee table as he passed. "Mother?" He said when he neared her and knelt on the ground in front of her.

Over the years he'd learnt how to deal with situations like this: calmly. The first situation that had occurred had been during his father's first year in prison, and the day of his mother's birthday found her crying for the majority of the day, working herself into a panic. It was one of the worst things Draco had ever experienced. No matter how much he put on a front of being indifferent to the likes of family and the expression of feelings, he did love his mother, and seeing her so broken down had teared at his insides. He had panicked that day as well. He had no one to ask for advice on how to calm his mother and ended up hugging her until she got her breathing steady and stopped clawing at his chest for him to get away. He hadn't seen her that way when his father was in prison back in his fifth year due to him being at school for the most part, but he figured out years later that his mother hadn't been so distraught because she'd known somehow Lucius would be released sooner rather than later. The years following this term of imprisonment for Lucius had Narcissa getting better over time but still didn't make birthdays, anniversaries or Christmases any easier.

The past few Christmases, Draco had emerged into the manor and found his mother happy with his arrival with a slightly forced smile on her face and she would usher him to the dining room for breakfast and the opening of each other's presents, so from the position she was in this morning, Draco knew she wasn't coping very well. She lifted her head from her hands and her eyes were red and cheeks slightly wet from her tears and Draco's stomach twisted inside his stomach. Seeing his mother cry still made him feel worse than some of the things he'd seen during the war. He put his hands on her knees and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Draco," she apologised and her voice wavered.

"You haven't anything to be sorry for," Draco said softly and reached into his trouser pocket to pull out the handkerchief he always carried around but never used; he'd actually been given it as a present from her on his twentieth birthday. He wiped her cheeks and let her take it and do the rest. He never knew what to say to console her; he couldn't make up false promises like 'he'll be released next year' because the both of them knew that wasn't true. All he could do was be there for her and was glad he'd come when he did.

"I should control myself more. It's been almost fourteen years," Narcissa said and dabbed her nose and then sniffed. "I miss him dearly."

"I know you do," Draco said quietly. She was the only one in the world that missed the man. "Why don't we go to the dining room?" He asked.

Narcissa sniffed and nodded before standing up. Draco did too and watched her with a hint of concern as she wiped under her eyes once more and then clutched the handkerchief in her hand. "Let's go," she said and gave him a small smile. "I can't wait for you to see your present." He went to the coffee table and picked up the small box which contained her present and walked with her out of the sitting room and down the hall to the dining room. "Now, I didn't wrap your present because you would know what it is straight away," she explained to them. "I do hope you like it."

"Of course I'll like it," Draco said and opened the door to the dining room and she walked in first. He wasn't a big fan of receiving presents simply because he didn't think he needed them but his mother always knew what to get him and he hadn't received a gift from her yet that he hadn't used. He walked into the room behind her and his eyes widened when he looked at the long dining table and saw his present sitting atop. He was momentarily speechless as he saw the Swift 11 laying there, the very same broom he'd been looking at the day before when he'd been in the Quidditch shop. "Mother, I already have a broom, you didn't—"

"Hush, Draco. I knew you'd like it," she said and pushed on his back gently so he would move forward. He did just that and walked up to the broom and lifted its lightweight frame in his hands, marvelling at the smooth polished wood and the neatly trimmed twigs at the end that formed a smooth, neat tail. "Well?" She asked him and he put the broom back down gently and turned to his mother who had a smile on her face and clasped her hands together.

"Thank you very much," he told her and gave her a smile. "I was actually looking at it yesterday," he said and turned back and ran his hand over the smooth seat and 'stirrups'. "It's a magnificent broom…"

"You will need to fly it after breakfast," Narcissa said.

"I will, most definitely," he nodded and when he turned to give her his present he was met with her wrapping her arms around his waist and she hugged him. His mother and himself rarely hugged and their usual greeting was him giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hugs were reserved for the odd time and he'd hardly ever received them as a child, only on his departure and return to and from Hogwarts respectively. He couldn't exactly remember the last time he'd hugged her recently and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a little bit awkward, but he put his arms around her too and hugged her back. Thinking more about it, he realised he'd been hugged more in the last week than he had in the last few years. When Narcissa pulled back from the hug he turned to get his present for her off the table and pretended not to notice her wipe her eyes again because he noticed she'd done it hurriedly as if she was embarrassed. "Here you are," he passed her the wrapped box.

She smiled when she took it. "Very good wrapping," she said and he chuckled because he knew she was knowledgeable on the fact that he used a spell to do so. She unwrapped the present and left the paper on the table and smiled wider when she recognised the jeweller's box. "Oh, Draco, it's beautiful!" She said when she opened the box and revealed the intricately made necklace laying on the black satin cushion. She lifted it from the box and admired the jewels as they sparkled slightly in the morning light and smiled wider before laying it back in its box. "I love it, thank you."

"I knew you would," he gave her a small smile back then took the wrapping paper off the table and the broom and set it to one side on the accent table to the side of the room. "Let's start breakfast, shall we?"

"A very good idea," Narcissa nodded.

A/N: Next chapter may come sooner rather than later as I have more plans for after Christmas than I do the actual day ;) Hope you all enjoyed, please leave a review and I'm going to start responding to them to! See you next chapter!