******** ******** Chapter 24 ******** ********
Harry woke up first and saw everything. The elves had decorated the suite. The fireplace mantle and columns had been laden with evergreen boughs and holly that were tied with white and red ribbons. The bathroom door was adorned with a wreath and a small tree with white twinkling lights stood in the sitting area. A pile of gifts was arranged neatly under it. Harry smiled thinking that he'd need to thank Dinki for doing that.
"Draco?" Harry whispered. "Wake up, baby… It's Christmas Eve!"
The blond just rolled over to face him and whined.
Harry smiled again and kissed the other man. "Come, my love, breakfast will be served soon."
"But I don't wanna get up…somebody kept me awake awfully late, you know…" Draco grumbled.
"I'll make it up to you…" Harry persuaded softly.
One blonde brow lifted in interest. "Oh, yeah?"
Harry's lip twitched. "If you are pleasant to everyone for the whole day…I'll…"
"What?" Draco asked.
"I'll keep you awake just as late tonight!" Harry grinned and leaned in to lick Draco's earlobe.
Draco struggled to keep from giving in with a giggle.
Harry noticed and didn't let him have a chance to protest. He captured Draco's lips in a deeply passionate kiss that had the other man dizzily clutching him.
"No deal…" Draco whispered panting into Harry's ear before he hurried into the bathroom leaving Harry bereft and hard.
"Dray! You're just going to leave me like this?" Harry called after him.
Draco peeked back out the door and Harry could see that he was undressed. "Why not? You're not the one who's not allowed to wank…"
The brunette came up close to his husband. "True…but I don't…because I much prefer your touch to my own…"
The teasing expression slid from Draco's face. "Really?"
"Did you truly think I'd deny you something I do myself?" Harry asked.
"Don't you leave school grounds alone?" Draco countered. "Don't you…?" He trailed off, at a loss.
"I don't leave school grounds by myself… Have you ever seen me hex random people in the halls? If I get into trouble, don't I use the coin?" Harry ticked off on his fingers the rules he'd given Draco. "I haven't lied to you since before the war…"
"You cum without my permission…" Draco said petulantly.
Harry grinned. Now they were getting back to the fun stuff. "That's just my prerogative as your Dominant, my love…and don't you find it more exciting when I tease you to the breaking point before finally allowing you to cum?"
Draco pouted. "It's still not fair."
"Well then…" A wicked idea popped into Harry's head. "If you're a good boy all day, then I'll let you tease me and decide when I'm 'allowed' to cum…tonight."
Draco stared at him. "You're joking…"
"Nope…" Harry smirked.
"Agreed." The blond's eyes sparked with mischief.
"No teasing me around your parents, though, Dragon!" Harry hurried to amend. "And I'm still hard, you know."
"Nobody said you couldn't join me in the bath, Harry…" Draco called through the door.
Harry grinned as he opened the door and saw his husband leaning over to start the water. "What a lovely view..."
"Uh-uh, Harry." The blond shook his head. "None of that, mister…I'll suck you off in the tub while we wash up. We're going to breakfast in the dining room and we shan't be late."
"Alright, alright." Harry grumbled, not really that disappointed.
They walked into the dining room hand in hand.
Pansy smiled as they took their seats. "Good morning, Draco... Harry, is there a reason you both look so content?"
He winked at her and said, "I'm just enjoying Christmas, Pansy. Being with Draco today has indeed lightened my spirit."
Draco smirked but his cheeks turned slightly pink as his parents walked in.
"Good morning, all," Narcissa said placing a light peck on her son's cheek.
Lucius held her chair and then sat in his own. "We are ever so glad you were able to join us this morning, gentlemen."
Draco bit his lip and ducked his head at the censure in his father's voice.
"Think nothing of it…" Harry gripped Draco's hand reminding the blond who was his Dominant. "We are happy to do so, when it complies with our health, Lucius."
Lucius sneered at him in silence as he summoned the elves to deliver breakfast.
"Did anyone have plans for today?" Narcissa asked pleasantly. "Harry, I thought it might be nice to lighten your visitation list for the holidays as we have some in common."
"Oh?" Harry frowned curiously.
"Yes, I've quite neglected to reconnect with my sister, Andromeda, and I hear that you were named godfather to her grandson." His mother-in-law went on.
"I was under the impression she'd been disowned, Narcissa." Harry's eyebrow rose in surprise. "But –yes; Teddy Lupin is my godson."
Lucius grimaced. "Ah, yes…Remus Lupin's child with Nymphadora…how charming…"
"Yes, Andy was disowned by the Black family…" She admitted. "But while we are no longer Blacks by name; we are still Blacks by blood and I have missed her. Do you think she'll accept an invitation to join us this evening?"
Harry considered this. "Perhaps if you mentioned that I'll be here. She's a little skittish about bringing Teddy into certain areas because he might be thought of in a negative way. He's the son of a werewolf after all."
"I thought she said he doesn't get any symptoms during the full moon, Harry." Draco frowned.
"He doesn't…but she's been asked to leave certain wizarding parks and play areas because people know her grandson was sired by a werewolf." Harry grimaced. "It's unreasonable discrimination and it's extremely unpleasant to experience. Anyway if she knows I'll be here, she'll feel safer bringing him."
"I see." Narcissa nodded in understanding when she heard Harry emphasize the word 'safer'. She knew now that he meant Andromeda would feel safe in the presence of Lucius if Harry was here. "I'll send her a note after the meal, then."
"Thank you, Narcissa." Harry grinned as the elves served breakfast. "I know you saw them at the wedding, but they left just after the ceremony so I didn't get to visit."
"That's what the holidays are for, Harry." She smiled and watched Draco place a scoop of chopped up tomatoes, onions, peppers and seasonings on top of his scrambled eggs and mix it all together. "You really eat that, Dragon?"
Draco blushed. "Blaise had visited Mexico before sixth year and, when he came back, he instructed some of his elves in how to make it. When I tried it, I loved it and now that I'm pregnant I can't eat eggs unless the salsa is mixed in."
Harry chuckled. "Eggs are good for protein and the salsa has fruit and vegetables so it's not altogether unhealthy. He usually also has some toast and something sweet with the first meal."
"Only because you helped me correct my eating habits, Harry." Draco rolled his eyes.
Harry just smiled and kept eating.
"What do you mean, Draco?" Lucius frowned at his son.
"I had this terrible habit of eating only sugary things one day and salty things the next and then not eating anything but bits of bread the next day." Draco shrugged. "While we were courting, Harry pointed out that it wasn't healthy to eat that way."
"It wasn't his place to correct you at that time. What did you say?" Lucius wanted to know.
"I asked why it mattered to him." Draco said.
"No, you said it didn't affect me and I pointed out that your health would affect our future child which would affect me in return. That's when you started thinking about it yourself." Harry commented casually with a wave of his hand. "I didn't demand it of you or threaten you to make you change your ways; I simply pointed out small facts that made you think and then showed you how I personally choose to eat. You chose to model your own actions after mine. I had very little to do with it."
Lucius glared at his son-in-law. He was right. Lucius had no recourse but to accept that Harry had only a mild influence on Draco's decision. Then he realized that Draco had made a decision…an important decision for the health of his future children without more than a suggestion from Harry.
Narcissa had stayed quiet as she watched this byplay. "Thank you, Harry; I'd been trying to get him to eat better for a long while."
"It was nothing really." The brunette insisted.
"Don't make such an issue of it, Mum." Draco rolled his eyes.
"Alright, dear; I'm sorry." She nodded and began to eat her Belgian waffle which was covered in fresh berries.
"Draco, have you informed your husband of the family traditions?" Lucius inquired.
Draco thought for a moment. "I've only just begun to, Father; but there are quite a few."
"He's introduced me to quite a few of the family portraits and shown me lots of lovely paintings from your art collection." Harry said as he stirred honey into his oatmeal. "He basically gave me a grand tour of the house and, I must say; it's a lovely place."
"Thank you, but the traditions I'm speaking of are directly related to the holiday, Potter." Lucius remarked.
Harry bit the inside of his cheek and glanced at his husband.
"That reminds me…We were going to wait for tomorrow to announce this but, I think now might be the best time. Don't you, Harry?" Draco nudged Harry. "We'll get back to the 'traditions' conversation in a bit."
Harry grinned at the blond. By mutual decision, they'd decided not to announce Harry's change of surname outside of their small circle of friends until after the holidays so that Lucius and Narcissa could have a little forewarning of the publicity that was likely to generate.
"A little while ago, Draco and I were speaking about names. It started out as a conversation about baby names-" Harry began.
"Oh! I'm so glad you brought that up! I've wanted to ask what names you've been considering." Narcissa interrupted.
"Yes, Narcissa – we've been discussing it, but we got distracted and somewhere along the line, Draco pointed out that my last name would be different from his and our children's last name…" Harry paused. "I realized that I wanted a more unified family than that."
Lucius frowned and put down his steaming hot teacup. "So what are you saying, Potter?"
The brunette took a deep breath and spoke with caution. "I'm saying – sir – that Potter is no longer my only name…"
Narcissa looked intently at her son who had a somewhat smug expression as he continued to eat his egg and salsa concoction. Thinking she understood what they were saying, she gasped.
"I think Mum's got it, Harry; but put them out of their misery and just say it already." Draco smirked.
"I've hyphenated my name to match Draco's. We are the Malfoy-Potters." Harry said softly.
Lucius' frown slowly disappeared as he began to comprehend what his son-in-law had just said.
Harry James Potter – Savior of the Wizarding World and Destroyer of Voldemort – had taken the name of Malfoy and added it to his… in essence; he was giving redemption to the Malfoy name.
Lucius calmly took another sip of tea and slowly stood. "I am quite overwhelmed…Harry…Welcome to the family." He must stay calm. "Draco, be sure to tell him of the traditions." He mustn't show the depth of emotion he truly felt. "Cissa, I'll be in my study." He bowed to her and walked out of the room.
Draco, Narcissa and Pansy stared after the older man.
"Well…that was rather anticlimactic." Harry shrugged. "I thought he'd be happy."
Draco looked at his mother.
She nodded. "Harry…My dear Harry…Lucius does not show the same level of emotion that most people do."
"He was raised to have extraordinary self control, Harry; most heirs are." Draco commented. "If you've noticed, it's only since you and I began seeing one another and associating closely, that I have shown anything other than anger or arrogance, displeasure or indifference."
"So what you're saying is that that was his way of expressing emotion?" Harry frowned.
Pansy finally looked away from the door to address the brunette. "Harry, what they are saying is that you have made Lucius very happy and he has no idea how to handle it."
"Should I go talk to him?" Harry asked, starting to stand.
"NO!" Draco and Narcissa said together.
He sat back down quickly.
Pansy smirked at them. "What they mean is that Lucius needs time to understand the meaning behind your name change before anyone – not just you – approaches him."
Harry's frown returned. "Well, wouldn't it make sense for me to explain it to him, then?"
"You tried that, dunderhead." The girl rolled her eyes. "He doesn't fully understand and won't until he sees for himself that you're not trying to manipulate him or his family by doing this."
"So what do I do?" Harry asked.
"You act normal, silly." She told him. "You've informed him of the name change and he welcomed you to the family. Just relax and let him be. He'll come to you if he needs more information. That's the way Slytherins do things, Harry."
Harry shrugged. "Ok, I'll take your word on it. I hope he was finished with his breakfast and didn't cut it short on account of this."
"Don't worry about a thing, Harry. I'll go to his study and ask; if he's still hungry an elf will attend him. You just finish hearing about the family's Christmas traditions and we'll talk about baby names when you're through." Narcissa called for an elf, gave her orders and then exited the room.
Lucius sat at his large desk in a softly cushioned chair and thought. He didn't understand this boy…this Harry Potter. The signals he was getting made no sense. First he seems like an overly confident but not too bright little git and then he defeats the Dark Lord time and time again. He seemed like a small child the way he'd acted the morning of the wedding but then he'd stood up to Lucius' temper often enough that he knew Harry to be an adult capable of taking good care of his husband and future children. He'd made childish remarks at times but now he's done this… Lucius didn't know what to think anymore. Harry Potter – the savior of the magical world – was a member of his family, in name as well as deed.
By simple statement of this fact, the Malfoy family was once again on top of the Wizarding world. It was all he'd ever wanted – ever dreamed. No-one could hurt his family when Harry Potter was a member of it…no-one except him. It rankled the older man that a seventeen year old half-blood had more true power than an elder member of pureblood society, but he could accept it because he knew that he had a small bit of influence on said half-blood. Draco had shown him the memory of his meeting with Harry and Headmistress McGonagall. He knew Harry would look to him and his wife for help and knowledge of magic and other subjects. He only had to wonder what the public would think and what they would do. They would cross that bridge when they came to it, though, he figured…or they'd just have to build a new bridge.
"Luc? Are you alright?" Narcissa's voice cut through his confusion.
He nodded. "He startled me with that revelation, Cissy. I don't – I can't reconcile my long held beliefs of the boy with the young man who is eating in our informal dining room. It confuses me and you know how much I hate being confused."
"He wants us to take him at his word, Lucius. While with us, one name represents the reputation and expectations of the entire family, to him names are just names and he simply wants his family to share the same surname." Narcissa explained. "Perhaps he will learn to see things differently in time."
"Perhaps…" Lucius nodded absently. "Have Dippy bring me a headache potion, will you? I'll just rest a moment and rejoin you when I can think properly again."
"Alright, dear. Did you eat enough? Harry was concerned when you left so abruptly." She commented.
"The boy is too kindhearted for his own good. Look at the situation with Ms. Parkinson." Lucius sighed. "I'll simply eat more at luncheon, Cissy. Is Draco finished instructing his husband in the Malfoy Christmas and New Years Traditions?"
"They are discussing it as we speak, my dear." Narcissa smiled softly as she left the room to call Dippy the elf.
Hey everyone! Guess I was wrong about that baby naming discussion! LOL! It's next chapter! Sorry to disappoint! Also, just a warning here: This is as far as I've gotten while writing this lovely story, so while I'm hoping to get further pretty quickly, I may run late with the next few chapters. Sorry!
Lori