A/N: Thank you to Kermit 304 for their reviews on both Chapters 12 and 13!

I know that the following scene might be six months too early but alas, Christmas is one of my favourite times of year so here we have it nonetheless.

RxExR! :)

Pictures on a Wall

Chapter 14 - Christmas

"We're going to have to thank them for inviting us this year." Mrs. Weasley stated once more to her husband who just nodded in reply, acknowledging the statement that she had already made several times just that afternoon.

"Of course, Mum." Ginny responds at the same time as her father nods, reiterating her father's unspoken words. Her mother had initially been quite annoyed at the thought of not spending Christmas at the Burrow, but seeing that Malfoy Manor in France was larger and considering the amount of people coming to spend Christmas together, she eventually concurred that it made more sense to have them all go there instead.

"Do you have the pudding?" Mrs. Weasley turned around to look for Harry who was supposed to be carrying it. And guarding it with his life in a sense.

"Right here, Mrs. Weasley." He held up the Christmas pudding that she'd spent the whole morning making in the air to show that he had it. It was one of his favourites in the 'Weasley Christmas Menu' and was immensely glad that Mrs. Weasley had decided to make it as opposed to something else.

He turned around to see amusement dancing quite clearly in Ginny's eyes and she grinned at him knowingly. He blushed slightly, because although they had been back together for nearly a month now, he's still not quite able to believe that she's wanted to get back together with him the entire time when he thought that she had already moved on.

It was strange how life worked out sometimes.

"Good." Mrs. Weasley nodded in approval. "Fred!" Her shout for one of her younger sons echoed throughout the house and the three standing next to her winced slightly. Her voice was as strong and commanding as always.

"Geez Mum, I'm right here." Fred muttered as he came from the direction of the kitchen, Isabella trailing right behind him, holding the salad that the two of them were bringing to the dinner. Hermione had suggested that everyone bring something so that they wouldn't have to make all the food in the Manor, which would probably take hours, if not days, and everyone had agreed, thinking that it would be quite a nice idea to do something like it.

They would probably be bringing too much food, now that Harry thought about it. Ah well, hopefully they would be able to finish it somehow. And knowing the appetites of the Weasley clan, it probably wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Okay, now..." Mrs. Weasley trailed off, looking around the room. "We're missing someone." Her forehead wrinkled as she contemplated who they might be missing. "We have Arthur and me, Harry and Ginny, Fred and Isabella...where's Percy and Audrey?" She looked around and Fred shrugged his shoulders.

"Not sure, he said that he'd be here though."

"We're here, Mother." Percy, accompanied by Audrey, came down the stairs, also holding some plates of food in their hands. They had arrived last night in order to celebrate the whole of the 25th at the Burrow and had therefore also brought the food with them as well.

"Okay, now we're all here. Come on, we don't want to be late!" She bustled around them and Percy sighed at Audrey who merely looked amused. Her own family was pretty small so this would be the first time that she was going to be at such a large gathering.

She was looking forward to it, having heard her fair share of stories, and warnings, from Percy. It would be interesting to really see the family dynamic of a group of people that she had heard quite a lot about, even before she had met Percy.

Percy however was dreading it in one sense due to the large amount of people (including both twins which was a nightmare within itself), but was also looking forward to it as it would be the first time since the birth of Hugo that the whole family would be together. And even that didn't really count, seeing as half of them had left before the labour was over due to their jobs and the other half had slept through most of it.

"Come on, we don't have all the time in the world." Mrs. Weasley looked at all of them sternly and Percy sighed. Yes, it would be a long night.

~.~.~.~.~

"Luna, do you know where we put the Lasagne and the Struffoli?" Blaise called out from the bedroom and Luna smiled slightly at her boyfriend's worried tone.

"They're still standing on the counter, where you put them half an hour ago." She called back as she entered the bedroom to see him wrestling with his tie. One would think that after going to Hogwarts for the amount of years that they had, that Blaise wouldn't have difficulties with tying one and in essence, he didn't. It was more a question of whether he thought it looked right or not and if Luna had learned one thing about him over the past year, then it was that he was as close to a perfectionist as they came.

"Oh thank god." Blaise murmured, turning around to face her.

"You look fine." Luna gave him the look that told him that he was being an idiot. She moved up to stand in front of him and slowly began to fix his tie, which he had somehow managed to tie in knots. "It was fine five minutes ago, what did you do with it?" She looked back up at him, exasperation now clear in her eyes.

"I don't actually know." Blaise scratched the back of his head, his shoulders shrugging slightly to show that he really didn't know how he managed to ruin it. "One minute it was fine, then I noticed that it was twisting weirdly and I attempted to fix it and then," He gestured down at his mangled tie, "This happened."

Luna sighed, resisting the urge to rub her forehead. At this rate, they were going to be late to Hermione's and Draco's. "Okay, there we go." Finally, she managed to make it look presentable again and she nodded at the tie and then looked back up at him sternly. "Don't touch it, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Blaise mock-saluted her and she couldn't resist the urge to smile.

"Come on, let's go." She took his hand and led him out of the room, before he could even chance another glance in the mirror and decide that his tie still wasn't perfect. It wasn't as if anyone would actually be looking at the tie and telling him whether he had done it right or wrong anyway.

~.~.~.~.~

"Draco!" Hermione looked around the room in exasperation as she realised that she still hadn't managed to locate Ella. Their youngest, ever since learning how to crawl, had taken it upon herself to explore the Manor on all fours and was currently doing so to great success.

Only that it meant that her parents were rarely able to find her as she managed to crawl into places that Hermione hadn't even realised existed before finding Ella there.

"Yes?" Her husband poked his head out of the kitchen and if Hermione hadn't been so stressed due to the alarming absence of their youngest daughter, then she might have taken the time to tease him about the apron that he was wearing, which was quite obviously hers.

"I can't find Ella anywhere and everyone's due to arrive in five minutes." She ran her hand through her hair, mussing it up ever so slightly but wasn't able to find it within herself to care.

"She's in the kitchen with me, I found her about a minute ago, happily crawling under the stairs." Draco told her, raising his eyebrow in amusement as she let go a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god. I thought we'd have to comb through the whole house to find her." She followed him into the kitchen and gave Ella a stern glance once she spied their daughter happily playing with some spoons in her high-chair.

"She's managed to be even more adventurous than Scorpius." Draco agreed, taking the roast out of the oven and checking it to see if it was properly cooked.

"A feat within itself." Hermione muttered and sat down on another of the many chairs around the table in their kitchen.

"Scorpius, Cassie and Jaz?" He asked, looking up to see her sitting there with her eyes closed in an attempt to reach some form of inner peace. Tonight was going to be hectic, considering the amount of people coming, but both were looking forward to it.

"Upstairs with your parents. I think Jaz is explaining to them why a Rubik's Cube is the ideal children's toy. Your mother was on the verge of laughter when I left." She cracked open an eye to look at him just as he took off the apron, "He makes some quite sound arguments, I have to admit."

"He's a genius in the making." Draco shook his head fondly and Hermione chuckled, nodding in agreement afterwards.

"That he is."

The sound of their floo being used had Hermione jumping up from her chair again.

"I'll go see who it is!" She called to him and was gone in a flash and Draco smiled as he shook his head. Picking up the roast carefully, he carried it out to the dining room which had been set up to accommodate for all of their guests.

He then walked back into the kitchen to pick up Ella from her high chair.

"It's Pansy and Ron!" Came Hermione's shout from their 'reception room' as she had dubbed it. Her and Pansy's excited chatter flowed between the two rooms and Draco looked down at his daughter fondly where she sat in the crook of his arm.

"Women." He told her and smiled as her young laughter met his ears. She wasn't able to understand the words completely but she knew that her father was happy.

"Didn't they just see each other four weeks ago?" Ron's amused, and annoyed, mutter came from the doorway and Draco looked up to see the other man standing there with plates in his hands. "Hermione told me to bring them here."

"Hello to you too Weasel." Draco's tone held no malice.

"Ferret." Ron grinned. "So...where do I put them?"

"Savoury or sweet? Appetizer, main course or dessert?" Draco asked, moving around the tables.

"This one's savoury," Ron held up one plate, "And it's an appetizer, I think. The other one's sweet and dessert."

"That one goes over there and the other on this table." Draco indicated to both places.

"Hermione's got a whole system in place again?" Ron queried as he also navigated around the tables to place the dishes in their proper places.

"Yes." The look in Draco's eyes was fond.

"Swystem!" Ella called from her place in her father's arms.

"She can talk?" Ron looked at the small girl curiously and she beamed up at him.

"Daddy who?" She asked, her childish tone sounding absolutely endearing.

"Yes. She started about three weeks ago and has been spouting words here and there ever since. Ella, this is Ron." He pointed at Ron and his daughter looked at him curiously.

"Weasel?" She asked and Ron's mouth fell open as laughter met them from the doorway.

"No, Ron." Draco replied, amusement clear on his face.

"She's a Malfoy in the making." Blaise's carried through the room and both Ron and Draco looked up to see him and George entering the room.

"Of course." Draco nodded with clear superiority which caused George to crack up and begin laughing again.

"Won?" Ella asked, oblivious to the amusement she was giving the men in the room.

"Yes." Draco nodded solemnly.

"Won! Won! Won!" She repeated the word happily, delighting in the fact that she had learnt a new word. She held up her hands and looked at Ron imploringly. "Won!"

"I think she wants you to hold her." Blaise patted him on the back as he walked past Ron.

Ron looked at Draco who nodded and passed his daughter over to him.

"Won!" Ella began to pull on his cheeks and poked him in the neck and on the nose.

"I think she's found someone new to play with." George commented blithely, causing Blaise to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Sweet and dessert," He held up the Struffoli, "And main course and savoury." He held up the Lasagne. At Draco's look he shrugged. "Hermione told us to tell you so that we can put them in the right place.

"Right." Draco huffed and proceeded to put the plates in the pre-ordained places.

"Uncle Draco!" Draco looked down just in time to be rammed by three small bodies. One was Freddie, as evidenced by his red hair, and the other two were Sean and Connall. That meant that Seamus, and probably Adriana too, were here.

"Boys, what did I tell you about trying to run over your uncle?" Seamus asked in exasperation as he also entered the room, carrying what looked like ten plates.

"What-?" Draco's eyes widened. There was no way that they would be able to eat this much, even with the large amount of people coming.

"Adriana sort of went crazy in the kitchen. We ended up with more than just one dish." Seamus shrugged, putting down the plates on the table and Draco rubbed his forehead as he considered how to place them properly.

"When are you going to ask her out?" George asked from where he had sat down, Freddie now on his lap as he was being bounced up and down by him. Ron was trying to get Ella to stop pulling on her hair and Blaise was taking a great amount of amusement in watching them.

"Uncle Draco!" The twins attempted to command Draco's attention and he turned to them, lifting both of them up over his shoulders as they squealed in delight. In the background, Seamus began spluttering at the question that George had posed.

"We're not-"

"Is this about Adriana and Seamus?" Harry's voice joined the fray and Draco was pretty sure that the house would be more than crowded by the time that the dinner actually started.

"Yes." Said George at the same time as Seamus exclaimed "No!".

"I'm going with George." Harry nodded his head towards the Weasley twin who grinned proudly while Seamus sat down with an indignant expression on his face.

"What did my brother do this time?" Fred entered the room, closely followed by Percy and Mr. Weasley.

"Making up stuff." Muttered Seamus while George replied with "Interrogating Finnigan."

"Ah, Adriana." Fred stated knowingly.

Seamus threw his hands up in the air. "I don't want to know how everyone knows or what they believe when it is clearly incorrect."

"Good luck." Percy told him and Seamus' head plonked down on the table. These people were unbelievable.

"Daddy, Scorpius took my Rubik's Cube!" And that was Draco's cue to leave the twins with their father and attempt to stop one of his sons from murdering his older brother.

And the night had only just begun.

~.~.~.~.~

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Narcissa sat on the couch next to Molly who nodded her head emphatically.

"Wonderful indeed. I can't believe that I'm a grandmother though, my children certainly have been busy." She chortled slightly and Narcissa joined in, watching her own husband flee the room as more and more of the female race entered it.

They had met while shopping in Diagon Alley back in August and had decided to try and put their pasts behind them, which had led to them having tea once a week together either at the Manor in Wiltshire or at the Burrow.

They had been surprised at how easily they had been able to become friends.

"My child too." Narcissa smiled fondly as she saw Hermione bustle around the room, welcoming everyone as they stepped through the floo. It certainly was going to be a very busy Christmas Day Dinner this year.

"One day our families might be joined." Molly stated, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh I'm betting on it. My husband and Hermione don't quite believe me but Draco's convinced of it too. Especially with how Scorpius has been pulling Dominique's pigtails as of late." She watched her daughter-in-law rush forward to the floo again as Lavender stepped through it with little Hugo in her arms.

"The typical kindergarten, or rather childhood infatuation and then romance." Molly grinned.

"Indeed." Narcissa nodded and both women then fell silent, content to merely watch the bustling of their extended families all around them.

~.~.~.~.~

"I thank god for this mighty house." Hermione murmured to her husband as he rushed past her, an agitated Scorpius hot on his heels. Curiously, he held a Rubik's Cube in his hands.

"Me too, although sometimes I wish it wouldn't have quite as many places to hide things." Draco responded, pressing a fleeting kiss on her lips before pulling their eldest with him into another room, where she had seen Jasper and Cassie engaged in a game of 'rock, paper, scissors' not two minutes earlier.

She smiled at their retreating backs and then continued down the corridor, mentally going over the list of people to see if everyone was there yet.

She concluded that out of everyone invited, Tonks, Remus and Teddy were still missing, as was Charlie and Greg and Diana. But Tonks had said that she and the other two might be a bit late as Remus had an appointment at St. Mungo's an hour before the dinner and that they couldn't be sure how long that would take. It was just a routine check-up to see how he was doing but neither of them wanted to rush it and then possibly miss something, which she understood.

"Ah, Charlie, I was just wondering where you were." She said as he came from the reception room.

"Sorry Hermione, one of our dragon's escaped its pen and we had to try and bring it back before it could cause any significant damage." Charlie leaned down and hugged her warmly and it was then that she noticed someone else standing behind him.

She sent him a look that was an equal mix of fondness and exasperation.

"You are going to be the death of your mother one of these days." She chided him gently and he had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, well...Hermione, this is my girlfriend Natalie Arington. Natalie, this is my good friend and the hostess Hermione Malfoy." Charlie introduced the two.

"Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Malfoy." Natalie held out her hand which Hermione shook firmly.

"Pleasure's all mine. We were all wondering when Charlie would finally bring you." She sent him a reproaching look.

Natalie laughed and Hermione was glad to see that she hadn't taken any offense in it. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked back at Hermione.

"I was too." Hermione chuckled at that.

"I believe you are going to fit in just fine." She smiled at the two of them. "Now, bring your food to the room at the end, where everyone else has gathered. Ignore anything that any of my children or Seamus' twins try to give you and for god's sake don't take anything from Fred or George. On that note, warn them for me that if anything blows up tonight then I'll castrate them. And if you see Draco, tell him that I think the soup is nearly ready." She nodded at them and then walked down the corridor, leaving Natalie feeling slightly overwhelmed and Charlie smirking at her typical behaviour.

"Welcome to the family." Charlie's voice told Natalie as Hermione rounded the corner.

"I see." And if Hermione hadn't known any better, then she would have said that Natalie's voice held something akin to wonder.

~.~.~.~.~

Needless to say, the dinner was a success. If one discounted the joke products that Fred and George had sneaked in at some places, the exploding pot of some sort of soup that Sean and Connall hadn't wanted to eat and the near hysteria of Mrs. Weasley when she saw that Charlie had finally brought home a girl.

All in all, it had been wonderful.

Ron had been able to see Hugo again and Lavender and Pansy had chatted quite happily about clothes and shopping for the better part of the main course, having come to some sort of agreement after the birth of Hugo. Freddie had spent most of his time annoying Roxanne and then playing with Cassie, Dominique and Scorpius, where the latter had spent his own fair amount of time in annoying the second daughter of Bill. Victoire and Teddy had vanished at some point, only to return later with mud all over their clothes which sent Fleur into a small fit over what was the clear ruin of Victoire's dress, while Bill attempted to make Louis feel slightly less intimidated by his rather raucous cousins.

Remus and Tonks had arrived slightly later, but had been bearing good news - Remus was almost completely cured and Kingsley had even offered him a place in the Ministry, in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures under the Being Division. He would be starting in February and Tonks would be going back to the Auror Office, joining Harry and Goyle.

Teddy regaled tales to them of his first couple of months in Hogwarts, months that he had clearly enjoyed by the way that his face lit up just by the mere mention of the school. Victoire was pretty impatient herself to finally join it.

Narcissa and Molly had watched in amusement as both Arthur and Lucius had first sat in complete and utter silence next to each other and had refused to acknowledge the other wizard, but had then slowly began to talk over the course of the four hour dinner, even debating about the pros and cons of having a television in their homes by the end of it. (Hermione had introduced Lucius to some Muggle concepts and he had to say that he quite enjoyed watching the news and one or two sports on it. He couldn't quite understand his wife's love of soap operas though.)

Greg and Diana had told them halfway through that they were expecting and a cheer had gone around the table, leading to quite a bit of firewhiskey being distributed amongst the adult members of the table.

By the end of the night, everyone had left in good spirits and as Hermione looked out over the snow-covered garden from the porch, she thought about how different it had been to the previous year, when the others had received the tapes after finding out that they had lost about ten years.

"You're going to get sick, standing outside without a jacket." Draco commented as he came up to her and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

"Are the children in bed?" She asked, ignoring the question her husband had posed.

"Yeah. Cassie had fallen asleep on the couch and Scorpius was sleeping on the stairs." Draco replied, standing next to her as they watched the snow fall to the ground. It was so quiet and peaceful.

Hermione chuckled slightly. "They have a special ability for doing that."

"You mean falling asleep in even the strangest of positions?" Draco queried, raising an eyebrow in the dim light.

"Yes." Hermione nodded and she stepped forward and the leaned back. Draco's chest met her back and she sighed in contentment as his arms circled around her and pulled her closer.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"Just about how great tonight was. We should do it again next year."

Draco's chest rumbled as he smothered a laugh. "The night's not even over yet and you're already thinking of what we're going to be doing this time next year?" He asked and she turned her head slightly to look up at him.

"Of course I have to, I mean it takes so much planning and-" Her sentence was cut short as Draco's lips met hers and she decided to ignore that her husband had essentially interrupted her.

"The children are in bed?" She asked, her voice huskier as she noticed the glint in her husband's eyes.

"I believe that I said that they were." He replied, his lips only a scarce couple of centimetres from hers.

"Then I believe that I have something to show to you. You know, as your Christmas present." And she sashayed away and back into the house.

Draco grinned as he shut the door behind him, locking it in order to ensure that none of the cold winter air got in.

"And what might that be, Mrs. Malfoy?" He caught her arm and spun her around, causing her to laugh in delight.

"Well, why don't you come and see?" She murmured and ran up the stairs.

Draco remained hot on her heels as they rounded the corners and reached the bedroom.

The 'click' of the door being locked rang down the corridor.