Author's Note: Wow Thank you for all your reviews, faves, and follows. I appreciate all your comments and your support in this story. It genuinely pushes me to write more.

1/6/19 - I added a few scenes I thought would be a nice addition to the previous posted chapter. Enjoy.

~Of Silver & Gold~

Chapter 53: Christmas Eve

The first thing she realized as she regained consciousness was that everything hurt. Her head was pounding and she found herself closing her eyes tighter so they would stop stinging. She knew it had been a bad fall from the fact that her body was super tense; she scrunched up her face in pain as she tried to sit up. If she couldn't move without wincing, she figured she could at least take a look at her surroundings. 'One, two three' she counted in her head before opening her eyes. It seemed that the lights were already dimmed for her convenience and she sighed in relief. She realized that she was once more in Harry's room. If it was late, there was no way to tell; the windows were thankfully closed and there was not a clock in sight.

As the silence loomed over her she realized this was a moment to let her mind wander. Even if she didn't want to, it was already repeating what had caused the incident. The truth was out; she didn't know whether to feel ashamed or proud and it bothered her. She was by no means ashamed of who she was; it had taken her a while but she slowly accepted her roots. The Malfoys had somehow pushed her away by being so selfish and highlighting how different their mindset was to hers. She loved them dearly and she knew she always would, but she realized it was okay to think differently. 'If they only realized where I am' the thought horrified her. She knew that while she wasn't quite sure where she stood in the dynamic of her family, their rejection would sting more than imaginable. They were all she knew for most of her life, and if they pushed her away what would she do?

'Move in with your actual dad' her mind immediately brought up. Angel knew that Sirius loved her. His attempts at being a good father had not gone unnoticed by her, but she swore he feared her in some instances. It was as if he was constantly waiting for her rejection or to push him away.

Yet it was expected; while she loved few, she had trusted too many fairly quickly. Pansy had left her the moment that being their friendship had become too hard. She would always put Draco first; after all, love beat friendship. It not longer stung but she found herself realizing how much things had changed so quickly. Was she the same from one, maybe two years ago? She didn't think so; for one thing she no longer feared Sirius in fact she wanted to know him more. She realized she cared for him a great deal and she felt proud to be born out of love. He loved her; she could tell from the way he delicately put things, or went out of his way to show her she was important. The way he talked about her mother…it only made her ache wanting to know more. Looking around she realized that being in this household wouldn't be so bad.

For only a second she let herself just think of the possibilities. She could move here and be with her real father and she knew he was good. She could have pride for being Angel Black, no longer hiding from her fate. She could be with Harry more often, she knew that he had to eventually move with Sirius and that would be amazing. And she had Luna and…and she could make real friends…she could start all over. Even in her head it sounded stupid and reckless. She knew she had to bide her time. The idea of Bellatrix, Voldemort, and what the future had in store kept her from being rash. Good things came for those who waited and she would do that.

"Oh good, you're awake"

Looking away from the ceiling she smiled shyly seeing Harry there. In the chaos of it all she had forgotten that she had finally be in the same household as Harry. He had a cup of tea with him and some biscuits and she smiled wider at his thoughtfulness. As he put the food on the nightstand, he helped her up seeing her straining.

"Thank you" she said softly as she picked up her cup and began to drink.

He sat at the foot of the bed and nursed his own cup, both fine with comfortable silence. It seemed that a lot had happened since they had left each other's sights. The last time they had managed to talk was when they had managed to make up and while they were on good terms it was a bit awkward.

"It was really bad wasn't it?" he blurted out.

Her eyes flew to his face quickly and looked wide-eyed. How did he just assume that's what happened? Before she could even start to explain it he continued.

"You wouldn't leave a place you feel comfortable in. I know you. What happened?" His green eyes trailed curiously from the cup to take in her expression.

"Didn't Sirius tell you anything?" she asked softly.

"He said that it was something you shared with him and so it would stay with him"

Her lip twitched in amusement of her father's loyalty. Yet he was not swayed by the small smile. Clearing his throat, it was clear that he would be pushing the subject.

"Angel what happened?"

She knew that if there was anyone in the world she trusted with her life was Harry; he had already saved her more times than she could count. It was frightening how much she could trust him, someone that wasn't kin, yet her love for him was what cemented that trust. She put her cup to the side and gripped the bed sheet in some sort of support.

"I went home and well…it's pretty clear it's not the same anymore." She began unsure of how to just start.

She appreciated that he wasn't pushing her, but instead waited patiently for her to continue. "I'm sorry Harry" she whispered, she looked up at him through her lashes with a hint of shame in her expression. "You were telling the truth and I didn't believe you. I should have known you would have never lie to me, especially if it would hurt me."

This confused Harry, but he too put his cup down and scooted closer. He signaled her to shuffle over and she did so, allowing him to slide into bed and pull her to the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her to comfort her and she felt herself tear up at how sweet he was being.

"Angel…"

"They're Death Eaters" she whispered softly before curling herself closer to him. "I'm so sorry that I didn't believe you." She repeated sniffling. "I went home and I knew things had changed. I found out that Lucius had attacked those muggles, and they had planned to help Voldemort with everything" she gripped his shirt tightly. "I was so stupid Harry. How can people that I love be so cruel? Does that make me bad?"

"No!" Harry immediately answered, "Merlin Angel, you are not bad. You're the opposite. If they did those bad things and they're dark, then you're light. You're not like them; and that's good!" he knew that was always a sore spot with her. "You're like Sirius, like your real dad! You're like me, you're good, and good people aren't bad"

She chuckled softly at the last comment and lifted her hand to wipe her tears. He was so sweet and she knew that she needed to tell him the truth.

"Harry…if I tell you something, do you promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise" his reply was quick.

"No Harry, I mean it. You can't tell anyone. I mean it. You can't tell Dumbledore, or Sirius, absolutely no one. Can you promise me that?"

His reply took a while but he simply nodded looking worried about what she would say. As she pulled away she struggled to sit up but managed to do okay. She didn't dare look up at him, instead she studied her hands that were never as interesting as now.

"When I went home, I realized we had house guests that would be staying with us for a while" she began, "And I should have known that if they were there it meant that my family was bad too, but I tried to overlook it. You know? Blood over everything? But as the days went by I realized I couldn't keep faking it. I told Sirius that I heard mom and dad talking about how I was a burden, but dad wasn't there"

"Who was there?" he asked.

"Aunt Bella" she said softly, "she's been there for a while, way before we went to vacation. Since my mother loves her dearly, her husband and her have stayed with us. And she's been teaching us things… -"

"Aunt Bella?" he repeated.

She nodded unable to look at him.

"Is she…?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange" she whispered ashamed of saying her name aloud. "She and her husband are staying at the manor."

"Is that why you left?" he said softly.

She shrugged still refusing to look at him for fear of what his expression would show. "I don't trust her Harry," she admitted nervously. "She's evil, and I know she's family but…the things she says just. She's dangerous"

"Angel look at me" he placed his hand under her chin and slowly nudged her to look up at him. She wanted to avoid his gaze, fear for judgment or anger but instead his gaze showed worry. "Did she hurt you?"

She looked away and shrugged.

"Well…yes and no?" she said softly. She lifted her robe to show him some bruises she did hold from her training sessions. "These were during some of her lessons."

"Lessons?"

"Mhm, she wants us to be ready for…"

"For what?"

"For when the Dark Lord asks us to help him" she grabbed his hand and looked at him with utmost sincerity, "but I would never do that Harry. I would never harm others like that, and I would never harm you"

He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer. Her only response was to wrap her arms around him and hid at the crook of his neck once more. Silence fell over them and both were wrapped up in their thoughts.

Harry felt conflicted himself; he knew that he should have run to Dumbledore to tell him about what he heard. Bellatrix had escaped Azkaban and obviously had contact with Voldemort. But his promise kept him from actually doing something…for now. He knew that Angel needed to get out of there and quick. It was good that she was with Sirius for now but…she couldn't go back to that house.

"You know you should talk to Dumbledore right?"

"Harry you promised!"

"I know…I won't tell but…but you should tell him. He will look after you; I only want you to be safe"

His ran his fingers through her hair in comfort. It was clear he worried about her, especially with now knowing just what a danger her demented aunt was.

"I know Harry," she murmured.

"And as for going to the manor…try not to. I don't want you to be in danger."

"They're my family Harry" she pulled back frowning.

He couldn't help but think how delicate she was, like a porcelain doll, and she was being broken at her own home. Anger rose within him and he tried to damp it down as best he could.

"But how many times will you come first before Voldemort asks them to do something that can hurt you? Do you think they'll say no if he wants to hurt you? He already tried once and they did nothing about that"

She winced as she remembered her first year. She knew her father had planted the diary. She looked away not wanting to admit that he was right; there were only so many times she mattered. If it was Draco or she, it was clear she would be easily sacrificed.

"I don't want to go to that manor to save you…I would, but I don't want for you to be in danger"

Angel smiled at his stupidity and kissed his cheek. He knew that he cared so much about her. She felt better; he loved her enough to keep her secret, so long as she knew when to tell Dumbledore.

"Harry? What happened to Mr. Weasley?"

Slowly Harry began to tell her what had occurred. This time around he told her the truth, feeling better about admitting what the vision was actually about. He told her how he felt like the snake, and the urge to bit Mr. Weasley and then the horrible realization that it was true. As he told her it was his turn to be embarrassed; her wondered if she feared him, or blamed him in any way. But as she only snuggled closer, he knew it would be okay.

"Harry you wouldn't hurt Mr. Weasley, you're not bad" she said oddly repeating what he had said before in other words. "Whatever that was, that vision, helped you save his life. It's because of you he lived and that's all that matters. You saved him Harry"

"I feel so guilty though" he sighed, "If it had nothing to do with me, why did I see it?"

"It was luck Harry" she murmured hoping to comfort him, "you were meant to see it so you could save him. And the Weasleys were lucky. Speaking of them, where are they?"

"They're all sleeping. Everyone is." She noticed how he clearly wasn't included and briefly wondered if he was having trouble.

"You can't sleep?"

"Well you're in my bed," he said hoping the joke would work.

"If you want it I can take another room Harry."

"No, I mean. Don't. Just stay here. I just can't sleep, my head won't shut up."

She said nothing, instead pulled the covers over both of them and curled back into him. As they both lay in bed she couldn't help but ask more questions. It was just in her nature to do so she supposed.

"What happened after I-"

"After you passed out?" he asked.

She looked a bit embarrassed at his blunt statement but nodded. He smiled slightly and began to narrate the situation.

"Well at first we had to get you back on your feet. So we put you down and not even a charm would wake you. Sirius said it was probably because you were so exhausted, so we brought you up here. But after that Mrs. Weasley kept saying that Sirius wanted to desperately find his daughter, he was just imagining things. Apparently, Dumbledore had alluded to your mum dying before she gave birth to you. Anyway, Sirius said very loudly that you were the heir to everything he owned and if they weren't happy with him they could talk to Dumbledore. They didn't go to Dumbledore, but well…they just got so nosey" he showed his own frustration. " They kept speaking…" he trailed off.

"They spoke about me and my family right?" she said softly.

"Well you haven't been the nicest to Ginny and well-"

"And my mum and Mrs. Weasley hate each other too. I get it. But do they still think I'm spying?"

His silence was enough; she sighed and said nothing.

"Hey, if you really want to give them a heart attack we can tell them that we're dating" he teased.

For the first time in days, she felt laughter bubble up. At first it was a giggle, then soon it became infectious and both began to laugh hysterically at the thought. The thought of Mrs. Weasley thinking that one of her boys was dating her brought stitches to both their sides. As the laughter soon shifted to catching their breath, it seemed that they would be okay.

"We could though," he said lightly, with a hint of pleading

"Maybe after she sees Mr. Weasley. We can't have her dying on us"

"Angel!"

"What? It's true. Now you need to sleep. Aren't you supposed to go visit Mr. Weasley?"

"Yeah, in the afternoon" he murmured.

"Okay then, now sleep"

"I can't…what if I attack you in your sleep?"

"Oh Harry, here" She moved from his embrace and she shifted herself up on the bed. Pulling him towards her she placed his head on her chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Slowly she started running her fingers through his hair, and Harry immediately closed his eyes at the sensation. It was soothing, the way she was light in her touches. "Try to sleep. I promise I won't go to sleep and I'll keep watch."

"What if I attack you?"

"I'm a big girl Harry. If I survived being in a home with Bellatrix, I can survive you"

"Too soon" he murmured at her attempt of a joke.

"Sorry. Now shut up and sleep."

…

The Weasley's and Harry had gone to visit Mr. Weasley thus leaving the home to Sirius and Angel once more. They had left the house excitedly; they wanted to see their father/husband and know that he was all right. While they were suspicious of Angel, they said nothing directly at her. She didn't care, but she was proud to see Harry look a bit refreshed after his nap. While he did struggle in his sleep, once he did reach REM he was out like a light.

Turning over to face her father she could tell he was thinking of something. She wondered if briefly he wished to go.

"Are you sure you didn't want to go see Mr. Weasley? I would have been fine here you know. Don't need to stay for my account."

Sirius shook his head.

"No, while Arthur and I get along fine, this is a family affair. I'd rather not interrupt it plus…we have a lot to do."

"We do?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, you and I are going shopping for one thing"

"On Christmas Eve?" she whined.

"Well I wasn't expecting so many guests now was I?" he smiled brightly, "And we need decorations to make it a cheery atmosphere. I want Harry to see what a real Christmas can be with us. And you, it's our first Christmas" he tapped the tip of her nose and she wrinkled it. "Your mother loved Christmas and I haven't spent a cheery one since then"

"Okay" she said smiling, "But I will need some kind of glamour charm, I'm supposed to be at Hogwarts right now"

"Well these help" he said putting her glasses on and crossing his eyes, "you're blind"

"I'm not!" she said huffing as she took them from him. She couldn't fight her smile but said nothing. Putting them on, he merely handed her a beanie and changed one of the coats to look different.

"This should do. Now come on we have a long list"

"We?" she repeated, "I'm not going to get something for people that dislike me"

"You aren't?"

"No I'm not!"

"Alright"

….

"Need help there?" he asked amused at her huffing. Even with the charms she felt exhausted from the whole experience. It wasn't the heavy bags that bothered her; a simple charm on Sirius' end made it all bearable. It was the people; people shoving, people yelling and the sheer aggression that had tired her out. Also the guilt; despite her not wanting to buy presents for the Weasley's, as she saw Sirius buying presents for everyone, she felt awful and began spending her money. She found presents for her Slytherin friends (just because they didn't talk didn't mean she would be rude), nice ribbons and hair clips for Luna, some things for Granger, her uncle Remus, and the Weasley gang.

The hardest part of it all was to find something for Harry and Sirius. It was clear that Sirius had at one point lost her on purpose so he could buy her something. This was her time to find something for him. She wanted to find him something that showed that he was important to her and she did love him in her own way. Through the crowd of people did she find something that she could get him; smiling brightly she bought it without a second thought.

Next was Harry. She briefly thought about getting him another Firebolt, knowing that Professor Umbridge had taken it. She hesitated knowing the first one had meaning behind it, but she figured what were two brooms? Walking through the older shops she found something that caught her attention. She smiled as she touched it and the old man explained what it was for. Knowing that perhaps he could open this in private, she had the broom and a more sentimental present for him. Next she grabbed more things. She didn't care any longer what they thought about them. So long as Mrs. Weasley didn't die, she supposed that was enough.

As she met up with Sirius, he shrunk her items and they both excitedly rushed home. She would later smile realizing she had thought of it as home, if only for a brief moment. When they arrived home, Sirius looked very giddy, and his mood was absolutely infectious. She grinned in return as he began playing weird sounding Christmas music, that he had assured her were muggle songs before they started to wrap.

She was awful at this; she had never wrapped a present in her life. Typically her family would hire a professional and they would wrap the presents. Her only saving grace at the moment was that she had asked for boxes for every single item. As she tried to fight with this 'tape' thing that Sirius had handed her, she noticed that he had a lot of muggle things in his home.

"Dad, why do you have so many muggle items here?"

He looked surprised by her question but slowly smiled.

"Well, your mother grew up in America, and witches there weren't as firm about separating themselves from muggle culture. For example, while your mother was a pureblood, she listened to muggle music, loved to drive cars and enjoyed my motorcycle. It's like in America, they don't fear what they don't know, and they seek it out. So if you find muggle items here, they most likely belonged to your mom"

She had no shame in saying that she feared the muggle world. For her, the idea of going to that world filled her with horror. Muggles thought of them as weird and based on what she heard, it was best she never went there. Yet her mother sounded like a brave woman. Silence loomed over the pair and the only noise was the Christmas music. She found herself humming softly along with it.

Sirius couldn't help but think that this felt right. She was so quiet, yet had no shame in asking questions whenever she had them. It was clear she wanted to learn more about her mother and he wasn't going to keep anything back. He could tell that she was making an effort with everything he suggested and he appreciated that. He was happy to have at least a comfortable silence. As he finished wrapping his gifts he turned to look at her. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and she was sitting on the floor; her legs were wide apart as she tried to wrap a box with the wrapping he bought. The box was wide, and as she began to fold the paper, he noticed how she had gotten some tape in her hair, and she had some on her legs. Her nose was wrinkled in concentration and he could see her tongue popping out in her struggles. There were moments where he saw glimpse of how she was still a child. It seemed that even in the instilment of maturity the girl was still that: a girl.

And he truly did love his little girl. Was it natural to have such a deep love and need to protect your own child? He never thought of himself as a father-figure or someone worthy of being looked up to, yet he truly wanted her to love him. He wanted to give her that unconditional love that she had lost from her adoptive parents and he was selfish enough to wish for her to prefer him over anyone from that world. As she looked up they made eye contact and the moment she gave him a lopsided smile, Sirius knew that that was his girl.

"Having trouble there?"

"Absolutely," her eyes were filled with mirth "But even in my worst day it's not as bad as yours"

"Hey!"

Laughter was all she got as a response. And to him, that was the best way to answer. Putting a lopsided bow on his last present he put them under the giant tree he had bought during their excursion.

"Come on, let's decorate, I'm tired of tape" Angel said amused.

He laughed and simply threw her tinsel in return. A huff was all he got in return before they both set out to work. Angel could admit that she had never cleaned, nor decorated a house before. She could tell that Sirius knew and so he would help her here or there, or after she said she was done cleaning, he would touch up. She didn't mind; she would rather him do that than her admit that she had maids who did the cleaning, cooking and decorated. She realized that she had never had this kind of Christmas before.

"What is your Christmas like back at the manor?" Sirius asked curiously as he was handing her the wreath that she could pin down on the big chimney.

"Well, usually there's a big party of sorts. Once the room is decorated we have the usual families arrive for a grand dinner. Usually multiple courses are served and people just talk; the women just gossip, the men just talk about business and…and well we kids just play a game. Which now that I think about it is a horrible thing"

"How so?"

"We usually play a game of 'guess who's getting an arranged marriage next'" she shrugged. "Then they leave in the evening and we open presents and then we go to bed. That's about it"

Sirius could tell that she was oblivious to what a warm and loving Christmas could be. He would never say it aloud but he was the same way, that is until he visited the Potter home. That had changed his perspective forever about how Christmas should be celebrated.

"Well I can't offer you a fancy dinner" he said shrugging. "Well I can but scrambled eggs doesn't sound that appetizing nor fancy"

She laughed softly and swatted him with the wreath.

"I like this" she admitted holding the wreath around her. "It's homey, cute."

Sirius grinned and they continued their work. It was good that the others were gone. Slowly they decorated the home, having decided to wait for Harry to decorate the tree. But as the day grew to the evening she could tell Sirius was also impatient about decorating the tree. He had gone as far as decorating Buckbeak; who didn't seem to mind, but seemed attached to Angel at the hip, much to her displeasure.

"Oh come now you make a cute couple" Sirius teased, "Harry should be so jealous"

"Stop it" she huffed before her lip twitched in amusement.

"Come now give him a kiss" Sirius pouted his lips.

"Stop it" she laughed.

As he began to chase her around the room, Buckbeak began chasing the three. Their hard work to make it look classy was soon looking like a mess as the tinsel began to float around the room and squeaking and laughter rang through the halls. The home had never had so much life as it did now.

…

Everyone was relieved that Mr. Weasley was alright. Harry felt especially relieved knowing that it would be okay. He was thanked and Mr. Weasley didn't blame him. Now they were all headed back to 12 Grimmauld Place. As they popped into the home they noticed how different it looked. Harry looked up to see floating snowflakes, obviously enchanted to look large. The chimney held the large wreath with stockings for every single one. The whole place looked alive; the walls were clean, the cobwebs were gone and it looked-

"It's amazing" Ron said in awe.

"Stop it!" A screech made them rush to the sitting room.

The scene before them was definitely a unique one. Sirius had Angel in a tight grip, and no matter how she tried to get out of it it seemed impossible. Her face was licked repeatedly by the Buckbeak who looked excited to do so. And at Sirius' foot was Angel's cat digging her nails in hopes of helping her mistress. The screech soon turned to uncontrollable laughter by the duo who looked so happy.

"Dad stop!" she squeaked "his breath smells of ferrets, stop!"

Her face was turning pink from all her laughter and wiggling around. Sirius looked proud of himself at the mischief being caused. It was only until Mrs. Weasley interrupted that the game seemed to be over.

"Sirius Black, just what is going on here?"

Both Angel and Sirius froze and he immediately let go of his daughter as if he was in trouble. As Buckbeak continued to try and give her his 'kisses' she simply swatted his face away and looked embarrassed to be caught so off guard.

"We were decorating?" Sirius replied sheepishly.

"Oh look at these floors. I told you that Hippogriff would ruin them"

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley, we just thought that Buckbeak would need to leave his room. He deserves some fun on Christmas too" Angel said softly while holding the bird close to her.

Mrs. Weasley briefly looked at her and noticed just the mess that they were both in. For one thing her hair was up in a messy ponytail with little pieces of tape on her legs and large mismatched socks that were definitely Sirius'. Sirius looked relaxed and happy but both were definitely dirty.

"You both need baths" She simply said not directly talking to Angel.

"You got a tree!" Harry said ignoring the mothering. "Wicked! Are we decorating it?"

"Yes Harry" Sirius said excitedly before tugging Harry to the tree. "We picked it out today and we were waiting for you…you all to decorate it with us"

"Great!" Harry said grinning

"After you both clean up" Mrs. Weasley huffed.

Angel got up and nodded heading towards the showers. Sirius frowned seeing her be uncomfortable with the ordering around and looked at Molly.

"You know…you don't need to mother her. She was just having fun"

Molly huffed. "Oh Sirius that girl is a mess and look at you. Aren't you capable of taking care of a child? Look at the mess you're in"

"Don't go back to questioning my parenting Molly" he said frowning, "But Angel has little time to just be normal. She deserves to be a normal kid. She should be messy, laugh, and just be able to be silly for once."

"He's right" Harry interrupted. "The Malfoy's would never let her be like that."

"And we were cleaning you know" Sirius continued, "We cleaned the whole house together and decorated it. We were just having a rest after all the work."

"You got her to clean?" Molly looked taken aback.

"She knows how?" Ron blurted out.

"She knows what cleaning is?" Ginny added with a bit of snide.

Sirius glared.

"She knows perfectly well how to do it. Now you should change as well. We'll decorate the tree in an hour. And Molly, remember she's my child not yours, so don't smother her."

"Oh I assure you I won't" Molly quickly replied.

Sirius walked away not going to keep arguing, and the awkwardness loomed over them. Harry didn't really know how to feel. For one thing he knew that the Malfoy and Weasley rivalry had gone for decades, and even with Angel and Ginny the dislike was clear. But on the other hand, Angel was trying to be as civil as possible and it seemed that Mrs. Weasley could not separate an individual from a group. It didn't matter he supposed, so long as for Christmas it wasn't awful.

…

Staring intently at the war in front of her, she thought over what her next move will be. Her fingers trailed from her pawn to her knight, and she mulled over the next moment. Looking across from her blue eyed boy who was intently waiting for her. It was definitely a stand off between the two.

Fluttering her lashes, her smile widened knowing that she had gotten to him as he found himself nearly moving back. Laughing softly, she turned to look over her shoulder to see Sirius staring intently at the game incredibly amused by the stand off.

"Will you hurry up already?!" a voice called out.

Both turning over they glared at the redhead was that definitely over their little game.

"Honestly Ginny can you shut your gob?!" Ron yelled.

"No Ronald, I'm tired of you two not even playing!"

As the siblings began to bicker, Angel laughed and winked at her knight as it moved to create the perfect angle to take the Queen. As the knight took over the queen and tipped off the queen, Sirius cried out in surprise. Ron looked put out for a second realizing that in his distraction the Slytherin won over. As she grinned and stuck out her hand, he could not help but begrudgingly give her the game.

"Good game Ron" she smiled.

At the admission of his own first name, he brightened up and took her hand shaking it.

"I am going to crush you the next game" he said determinedly.

Laughing at the redhead she nodded conceding that perhaps next time he would.

"I admit that this was definitely a close game"

"Good work kids" Sirius said brightly before kissing her cheek and moving on to talk to Harry. Harry in turn looked relieved to see that his girlfriend and his best friend was getting along. It had been out of sheer boredom and curiosity that had caused her to come over and see how Ron had crushed him in one game fairly quickly. This had lead to them to talk about their first year and how Ron was the reason that they managed to go through to collect the Philosopher's Stone. That clearly peaked her interest and it had started their game.

As they began to chat over the strategies, he found himself smiling at the idea that perhaps they could truly all be friends. Sirius turned over to look at Harry and chuckled.

"I could get used to this, wouldn't you?" Sirius asked.

" Definitely" Harry smiled tentatively.

...

Hermione was thinking intently over the whole situation. It was clear to her that Harry and Angel were not only still a thing, but rather that it was deeper than just a partner for simple kisses. It was obvious once you truly paid attention. For one thing, it seems that no matter where she was in the room, Harry's eyes would trail her. It could be her sitting on the counter sipping coffee with Sirius, to her reluctantly admitting defeat versus Ron on their re-match of chess and yet Harry's eyes would not leave her. In turn, if she made eye contact with him, Angel's eyes would brighten and would smile before looking away and continuing her attempt to be civil with the people around her.

For Hermione that was an odd thing to see; for one thing the girl was actually trying to get along with certain members of the Weasley family. Ron tended to admit that it was entertaining to play chess, Fred and George held no grudge in any way and would make her laugh or put in her opinion on their inventions. More importantly Hermione saw a mutual respect grow between Charlie and Angel over their love of creatures, which was something that no one had expected.

"Dragons was all I thought about as a kid" he laughed over tea with her.

She herself was giggling over the stories he talked about when he was a kid at Hogwarts and what adventures he went on. And for Hermione seeing Angel open up with complete strangers was giving the girl more layers of her.

It was as if a one dimension drawing become three-digital figure and Angel Malfoy was a real person. It seemed the older children who had no previous contact with her tended to be more open as Bill casually spoke to her about Fleur and how they were doing. It was different to see.

….

"It's weird right?" Ron casually asked Hermione.

It was clear he was talking about the Slytherin talking animatedly with the older Weasley children.

Turning over to look at him she raised her brow. "What do you mean?"

"That she's charming. Like she's being oddly normal and it's...odd right?"

"Well….I don't know, I've never really had time to actually talk to her" she mulled this over. "I mean it's not like they spend their time in the Slytherin common room constantly plotting for our demise."

"Of course they do that! What else would they do?" he scoffed.

"Homework?" she suggested.

"Luna said they're normal people" Harry supplied as he sat to the right of Ron. "And they are so I'm not surprised she's normal"

Both of his friends turned to look at him. Hermione had an expression on her face that made him think that she suspected something. She parted her lips to ask a question, but Ron beat her to it.

"Do you think Luna is a person whose judgment on people you can trust?" Ron chuckled to himself at his own question.

"I-"

"Luna is the kindest person I know. She's caring, intelligent and stubborn in the best way and she is my best friend. I would appreciate it if for the holidays we can both refrain from speaking so negatively for people we care for. Is that alright?"

All three were surprised to find out that somehow Angel had shifted from the foreground of their line of sight to properly take in the tidbit of their conversations. Also it was very clear she did not enjoy the joke at her friend's expense.

"You're right Angel, Luna is a nice person. Ronald did not mean to sound so snide. Isn't that right Ron?" Hermione cleared her throat.

Ron grumbled something intelligible and nodded. At his insincerity, Angel merely rolled her eyes and walked off to talk to her father who pulled her close and began to make jokes in hopes of cheering his short-tempered daughter. Meanwhile the trio stared on at the interaction.

"She's still scary" Ron muttered.

"That she is" Harry said with a hint of amusement.

...

"This one"

"No! This one!"

"Are you two bonkers this one is obviously better"

"It's orange!"

"So? It's merry"

Angel watched on as the siblings argued over what color they would put on the tree. Ginny wanted purple, Ron wanted orange, George and Fred wanted black and Angel watched as they tugged the garland from one another.

"Enough!" she chirped.

The Weasley children went quiet.

"We will use red garland now " she said signaling them to shut up. "Dad said that we have to finish this while he helps your mother make dinner. Surely we don't have to argue over this any more"

Picking up the things she began to wrap the red around the tree. Harry immediately rushed over to help her. She didn't know how much more obvious he could make it that he was meaning to talk to her more.

"That's so Gryffindor-y" Harry said grinning as he helped her wrap it around.

He saw her smirk.

"Shut up Harry"

"I know you like me but this is a bit much" he continued to tease.

"Shut up" she laughed softly.

"Hey lovebirds!" Fred said loudly. "Going to pass us the garland any time soon?"

"Shut up Fred!" Ginny said angrily her cheeks turning red.

Ginny took the garland in a forceful manner from the two and began passing it to her brothers so they could wrap it around. Clearly the joke bothered her more than enough.

"I'll uh…I'll bring the hot chocolate" Angel said awkwardly.

Harry soon followed with the excuse she would need help. As they both walked down the hall, her head popped back out and she glared.

"Don't touch the tree or put anything stupid on it till I come back!"

As she disappeared once more Ron popped his head from behind the tree.

"She small, but frightening"

"Agreed" said the twins.

…..

Once they turned to the long hallways to walk to the kitchen, she couldn't help but comment:

"You're making it so obvious Harry" Angel murmured.

"Well would it be so bad?" Harry replied grabbing a hold of her hand. He was relieved she didn't outright pull away.

"Well no, not really. They already know the worst of it all" she admitted, "But you do know that Ginny loves you right?"

"Shut up, she does not" he replied awkwardly. "We barely talk. I mean she used to stare an awful lot, but she's over the crush trust me. Plus she's too young"

She snorted. "Harry we're the same age you know, Ginny and I"

"It's different." he commented as he pulled her into his arms. "She's my best mate's sister it's weird. And other than our houses and Quidditch we have very little in common."

"Well I'm not jealous" she said as she leaned against him. "But I don't want it to ruin Christmas for them. Mrs. Weasley obviously would want you in the family."

"I already am?" he said confused, not getting her point.

"No Harry, she would love it to be official"

"What?"

"She would be over the moon if you ended up married to Ginny you idiot" she simplified it with a roll of her eyes. "Isn't it obvious?"

He looked wide-eyed that was both adorable and idiotic of him. Angel rolled her eyes again.

"You're lucky you're cute," she poked his stomach before sliding out of his embrace and going in the kitchen to grab the hot chocolate.

He was a bit dazed at the new information. Yeah he thought that Ginny was a bit odd, especially how she quickly turned red if he was looking in her direction. But he had figured it was just because she had once thought of him as a hero not that he was….

"Woah"

"Harry are you going to help me or not!" Angel's voice called out.

"Coming!"

…

At the end of the night, the whole house was feeling the festive mood. The music was playing, the fireplace had a roaring fire, and everyone was at peace. Angel leaned her head against Sirius' shoulder and smiled briefly looking at how peaceful everything was. For a moment she wondered if this would have been her life. Just a simple get together,; no luxury and false niceness, no flaunting of wealth and talk about how awful another family was. Most importantly there was no talk about politics.

She sighed.

"Everything alright?"

"Everything's perfect"