Family First Chapter 9: December 24

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Ok, Ok, Ok…. I'm so so so so SO SORRY. I know it's been forever. No, I haven't managed to fall off the face of the earth (yet). There has been a ton of stuff going on since I last posted (Junior year, first job, first college class,) plus I had a huge amount of writers block for this chapter (I still don't like the way it came out) and my laziness played no small part in the huge delay. On the up side I have several chapters done and can promise that you will consistently get weekly updates (at least for the next few weeks).

Also (long A/N) I have named 3 OC in this chapter Oliver, Celia, and Milo. All the first and last names have something in common (think in terms of categories/origins) cookies and shout-out's to anyone who guesses correctly.

Beta'ed by Jasper's Mom

Harry woke to three sharp knocks on the door, before it flew open, and in walked Narcissa, fully dressed and looking entirely too energetic. He looked out his window, groaned and closed his eyes again, desperately hoping to fall back asleep. It was just as dark out now as it was when he went to bed. That was always a good sign that it was too early to be up and about. After all if the sun wasn't up yet, why should he be?

Apparently the answer to that question was 'because Narcissa said so'. In less than the five seconds it would have taken him to fall back asleep she was at his side, shaking his shoulder, and demanding he get up and get ready for the day. She was insistent, and eventually Harry had no choice but to get up. She left the room, as soon as he sat up, and Harry wondered if he could get away with going back to sleep. He had clearly done something terrible in his last life to have such horrible karma, because she was back in his room in seconds, a rack of clothes floating behind her.

She let the rack drop near the bathroom door and began an explanation.

"The outfits are arranged left to right, with the accompanying shoes underneath the clothes, and the accessories floating above each outfit. You will need to change five times, at various stages through the day. The outfit on the far left is to be worn to breakfast. You'll change into the second outfit right before lunch. The third outfit is for the actual ball, it will start at 5:00 sharp, so be dressed by then. The fourth one is for dinner, and the fifth is for evening wear, after dinner."

After getting a conformation that he understood, she left him with strict instructions to get in the shower, and not go back to bed. Harry could clearly hear three knocks on the door followed by a rather loud "Draco darling, time to wake up".

Harry, feeling much more awake after his shower (although he still wasn't happy with the hour, after all, the sun was just now coming up). He took the time to look over the clothes that Narcissa had brought him. Unlike muggle clothes, there was no tag to identify the maker, or the material. Instead, the minute details gave away just how finely made the garments were. The stitching was straight, even, and Harry suspected that it was done in such a way as to make the clothes as flattering as possible. The stripes on the patterned shirt were, again, perfectly straight and even. The material the clothes were made of were all sturdy, and Harry guessed hard-wearing, but they were also soft, smooth, and he could already tell that they would be comfortable. The color scheme was done in deep blues, and emerald, with bits of red and sliver, paired with neutrals and blacks. He had no doubt on just who had picked the colors. Narcissa had an eye for color, and a way to make someone's personal preferences (red, and emerald for Harry) fit in with a color scheme that would complement that person.

The first outfit consisted of a plain emerald short-sleeved shirt with a collar, paired with black slacks, and dark brown leather shoes. The second outfit was similar, swapping the green shirt for a navy blue Oxford with thin vertical lines of sliver running through it, and the black slacks into khaki. The third had another change of color, and added a dress robe and a tie. The fourth changed the style of the dress robe, and added a jacket. The final outfit was highly starched, and added a waistcoat, and cuff links. Harry changed into the first outfit quickly, and jogged down the stairs to breakfast.

The guests started arriving before he had even sat down for breakfast. As he walked into the formal dining room, an elderly woman dressed in a simple pantsuit, accompanied by two young boys was led in by Narcissa. Dobby popped in before he was even called, taking a boy in each hand, and popping out with them, while the woman walked over to the chair Lucius had pulled out for her. As Harry sat down in his usual place Hermione walked into the room, wearing a pair of strappy white sandals, and a white winter dress, with her hair in a French braid. She took a seat next to Harry as Daphne, Blaise and Draco came down the stairs together.

By the time a very formal breakfast was over, there were three more adults and two more teens in attendance. One couple had arrived with a toddler, but like the two young boys, Dobby had appeared, and whisked her off.

After breakfast, Harry spent the several hours until lunch pointedly avoiding the guest, by staying up in his room despite the several guests who had requested he join their small groups wondering the home and gardens.

At 1:45 Harry changed his clothes, and began heading towards the formal dining room. Before he could even clear the hallway he was yanked into a room he had never been in before. Painted in much the same way Harry's bedroom was the room used a mix of dark and light shades. The furniture was almost an exact copy of what was in Harry's room, only the position changing. The differences were in the details. There were posters covering the walls. Quidditch, what appeared to be racing horses, and what were clearly hand drawn images of various different scenes were obviously the most popular among the posters. Books, all sorts of games, and various bits of art equipment, some of which Harry recognized and other's which he didn't covered the room.

"I don't like you Potter. You're simple, ill informed, and unmannerly." Draco was lounging on the bed, in what was obviously his room. Straight faced, he was obviously just stating a fact rather than trying to taunt Harry about something. Harry decided to be just as honest with his words.

"What a coincidence, there's no stuck up, blond, cowards on my list of top ten favorite people either." Harry wondered for a moment if he had gone too far, but Draco almost immediately replied with a glare.

"Good." The blond boy paused before continuing. "I plan on having a good Christmas, and part of that includes this ball. And specifically it includes not making a fool of myself, and my parents at this ball."

"Is that all?"

"I purpose a cease-fire, a sort of temporary truce, lasting until the end of tomorrow. A good ball, a good Christmas, and Mother, Father, and Uncle Severus will be happy."

"Fine. You stay away from me, and I'll stay away from you. That shouldn't be too hard with so many people here."

"That's not going to work. We're going to have to interact, the guests will expect it, and so will mother and father to a certain extent, especially tomorrow. We can avoid each other as much as possible, and be agreeable, and nothing more, when forced to interact. Are the terms agreeable to you?"

"Yeah whatever Malfoy, that's fine."

"Fine." Harry stood looking around. He never knew Draco drew. "Well, get out of my room Potter."

Harry turned to leave, but before he got out the door Draco called him back. "Oh Potter, Father wants to speak to you. He's in the stables."

Harry didn't bother to respond before turning and leaving. He made his way towards the stables as fast as possible. Lucius was entertaining guests, showing off a few of his prized horses when he caught sight of Harry entering the barn he quickly gave a few polite excuse before ushering Harry into the tack room.

"Harry I understand that you do not want to be at this ball, and I have no problem with taking a few minutes, or even a half an hour to yourself in your room, away from everyone but no longer than that. I want you out and about interacting with our guests. Understood?"

"Yes Sir."

To be fair it wasn't actually that bad. The guests tried to make polite small talk as he escorted them here and there. Lucius had pulled him aside twice more before dinner. The first time he pointed out various different people to Harry, telling him a bit about each one, their position, and occasionally why one of them was invited to the ball. The second time was less pulling him to the side, and more pulling him into a conversation with a group of elderly guests.

At first Harry was confused, there were countless groups talking about various different subjects, and it seemed that Lucius had talked to them all at one point or another. Why did the man want him to join this conversation out of all of them? Lucius, while not tense had his cold, formal mask firmly in place. These people were obviously not ones he was close to. While Lucius wouldn't have dropped his mask completely in mixed company, had he been close to the group he would have perhaps let it slip a bit more than he had. Not long after introducing everyone, Lucius made his excesses and left Harry standing there, unsure of exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

"I knew your grandfather." Harry had been desperately trying to figure out how to dismiss himself from the incredibly boring conversation, but with the four simple words he felt his head snap up. The man who had just spoken was quite old, perhaps the age of Professor McGonagall. He had a strong jaw, deep-set but clearly kind eyes, and well-defined cheekbones. He was dressed in a fitted black suit, with a plum-colored shirt.

"Did you work with him?" After talking to Lucius about his grandfather it was the first question that popped into his mind.

"Indeed I did."

"Oh Liver, don't lead the lad on." The woman who had just spoken, white-haired and clad in an elegant gray silk gown, turned to Harry. "He was James' godfather, did you know?"

"I…. no I didn't know." Harry tried to formulate a question, but found he couldn't. There were so many things he could learn from this man. Lucius, who had grown up with James until a rather nasty falling out was happy to tell him about his father, and even happier to talk about his grandfather. But somehow, information from this man seemed more real. Where Lucius had been a playmate, or at best a babysitter, this man, he had a hand in raising his father.

Instead of asking one of the thousands of sensible questions floating around in his head, he found himself asking a question that Narcissa would not have been happy about.

"Your name is Liver?"

"Oliver actually, Oliver Sebastian. Your father called me uncle Liver when he was a boy, perhaps 6 or so, he said I needed a nickname. Your grandfather, who shared your father's sense of humor found that he quite agreed that I needed a good nickname, and popularized it among our friends." The man, Liver, paused looking at his watch. "I expect you have quite a few questions for me, other than my name. I was just telling Lucius though, I must leave soon. In any event, you probably need to think about what you want to ask a bit. Just send me an owl whenever. Maybe if you can convince Lucius, we could go out to tea and talk a bit."

"Thank you." Harry blinked hard, this man, Oliver 'Liver' Sebastian was another link to his family.

"For now Lady Malfoy is calling you." Narcissa, with Draco standing nearly directly behind her was indeed waving him over. He took his time, mind a thousand miles away.

"You both should go up and get changed. The ball will be starting soon. After you change stand outside the doors and wait to be called back in. Names will be formally announced, by family. Harry, you will be called with the Malfoy Family, and Hermione will be called right after."

Harry did as he was told, Lucius helping him with his bow tie. The rest of the night was exceedingly boring. Narcissa forced him to dance, both with her, with several other girls his age, and twice with older ladies. He and Draco were, as Draco had predicted forced to interact, both by guests and by the older Malfoys. Usually, whatever task or conversation that they were forced to share could be quickly dealt with, and dismissed. Unfortunately dinner could not be quickly dealt with. The tables had obviously been arranged by family. Not every family got their own table; Harry could clearly see the Greengrass family sharing with the Zabini family. The Malfoy table had just 6 place settings. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy set together. On Lucius right side sat Severus, on Severus right sat Draco, then Harry, then Hermione. They were being forced to sit together at dinner. In the 10 minutes before Lucius and Narcissa, accompanied by Severus sat down, they both managed to trade several backhand complements, and glare menacingly at one another. Lucius had thrown each of them a glare, which was admittedly much more menacing that either one of the boys own efforts, before standing to deliver a speech.

Severus sent them both suspicious looks all night long, seemingly surprised that they weren't at each other's throats. After dinner Harry changed into his evening wear. The crowd had changed, thinning out into a much more select guest pool. Harry wondered around a bit, confused as to what he was supposed to be doing. The adults stood around in groups of two or three, sipping on wine, talking quietly. The glasses had been enchanted so that no one under 16 could touch them, and as far as Harry had seen no one had tried.

Draco, along with four other Slytherins, two Ravenclaws, and a Hufflepuff were huddled in a corner, clearly doing something suspicious looking. There was a group of madly giggling girls that kept glancing at a 7th year Slytherin boy, and would quickly glance away anytime he looked in their direction smirk firmly in place. All in all it seemed pretty dull. Harry wondered if he could get away with sneaking out of the party.

It turned out that he didn't need to. Narcissa approached him, soon after the thought crossed his mind.

"You need to say goodbye to Hermione. It's getting rather late, and I'm sure she is eager to go home. Lucius has agreed to take her home himself, but you and Draco need to go ahead off to bed after you say goodbye to your friends."

"Is the party going to go on for much longer?"

"Some of our closer friends may stay here for another hour or so, but most people will be leaving directly." As Harry looked around he could see that she was telling the truth. The crowd had already cleared out compared to just a few moments ago. "Run along" Narcissa encouraged.

Hermione was standing near an older lady, accompanied by a younger, rather bluish gentleman. She was rather eagerly listening to an explanation on the physical manifestation of magic in relation to how energy flows. Harry didn't understand half of the words coming out of the lady's mouth, but Hermione was eagerly nodding along, asking questions every now and again. Occasionally the gentleman would chime in, adding a comment, or explanation in a way that implied that not only did he fully understand the subject, but was well educated on the ins and outs of it.

As soon as she saw him, Hermione threw her arms around him.

"Harry! This is Celia Flynn and her friend, Milo Dashiell. She runs a university, well not a proper university, the wizarding world doesn't have any, did you know? But she has professors and scholars and such on her property, and they teach all sorts of interesting magic. Did you know professor Snape went there for a bit? He introduced me to them. It's fascinating, what they study, and teach. They told me I could owl them, and when my family goes on holiday to Australia this year, they said I could come visit the school in the outback. It should be fascinating."

Hermione said a quick goodbye to Celia and Milo, before following Harry to a quiet part of the room.

"Narcissa said that Lucius is taking you home as soon as we say our goodbyes."

"Well do have a good Christmas then Harry." She said, throwing her arms around Harry. "I'll write Ron, no telling if Mrs. Weasley will let him talk to you now that you're living with the Malfoy's." Hermione gave him one last hug, before Lucius approached. Instead of reaching out for her hand, to lead her to the gardens, and then apparate out, he offered his arm, elbow bent at almost a 90 degree angle. After watching Hermione walk away, Harry headed towards the stairs, however before he managed to go up towards his room, Narcissa once again stopped him.

"Harry, Lucius, Severus, and I want to speak to you and Draco in Lucius' study. Go ahead and get ready for bed, one of us will get you when were ready.

It was only about 30 minutes until Lucius knocked on the door. Harry wasn't entirely sure if everyone had left yet, but the hallways to Lucius' study were empty. Narcissa sat lounging in a chair, Severus was browsing a bookshelf, and Draco was half lying against the arm of the couch.

"I want to thank both of you." Lucius started out very formally, especially considering it was only family in the room. "You two certainly haven't been displaying perfect behavior over the last few weeks, but I can say with some certainty it wasn't as bad as it could have been. You both displayed excellent behavior at the ball tonight. That means a lot to all of us." Lucius paused, looking first to Narcissa and then to Severus. When neither of them spoke he continued on. "I know it hasn't been easy, but I'm proud of both of you. As you both probably know, I don't believe in bribing good behavior from my children, like dangling a treat over a puppy's head. However I do believe in rewarding a job well done. My rewards aren't in the form of material things you can buy at a store, or get at a bank, or restaurant. Instead I reward in the form of a looser leash if you will." Harry had a feeling that Lucius was explaining this for his benefit. Draco sat, almost asleep on the couch, Narcissa was lending a polite ear, and Severus was almost entirely focused on a book he had pulled from the shelves. "You have both shown me that you are trustworthy, and mature enough to handle more freedom. I'll keep that in mind when making future decisions. That being said, it's late, nearly 1:00 AM. I think it's time for all of us to get some sleep, tomorrow is sure to be another long day."

And so that night Harry fell asleep with his head full of Lucius' words. 'I'm proud of you; you are trustworthy and can handle more freedom. Harry wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had ever told Ron that.

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