A/N: Guess what story has two betas now? This story! Shout out KittenKaboom and Jane_Davidson for being amazing!

Did I just learn how to use google doc? Yes, I did. Am I THRILLED at this new knowledge? Again, YES. So, ENJOY. Forewarning, the Christmas holiday will be *mostly* told from Mila's POV.

Next update? Probably later this week or next week. Just depends on my muse and my kids (looking at the tiny one). More notes at the end…

Chapter 12: Slytherins vs Hermione

Not much bothered Mila Granger. Well, that wasn't true, there was a lot that bothered her. Her fucking head of house's mouth breathing because her nose job had gone wrong, the way Jack Potter would slip his dirty socks in her school bag as a joke, Milo when he had to 'be the voice of reason', and much more.

None of those annoyances compared to when her mother waited until the last second to write to her, on the Friday night before they were set to leave for their Christmas holiday, telling her that they might want to stay at school instead of coming home. Why would the great Hermione Granger do something like this? Easy, because she hated breaking bad news and she hoped that if she dropped it at the last second, her kids would be mad enough that they would try and avoid her. Thus, getting the result that she was wanted.

Why, you ask, would their mother not want to see her precious children for the Christmas Holiday? The answer, Ron the fucking Weasel King. That's strange, Mila, you say; because you were sitting next to your mother a month ago when she dumped Ron's ass in front of fucking everyone at the three broomsticks. What could Ron possibly have to do with her mother heavily suggesting no one come home for the holiday?

"Doxies. The mother fucker released a case of fucking doxies in the house." Mila half shouted at her brother, slamming her hands on the table that was separating them in the common room. "And he did that last week, and she's just now telling us about it!" The look on Milo's face suggested that Mila's hair was possibly sparking blue like their mother's often would when she was aggravated. Just another trait that mother and daughter shared.

"She said she hoped that it would only be a two-week job for the exterminators, and that we'd only have to stay with her at the motel for a week. Then, we'd be free to go back home with her to finish up the holiday." Milo explained, still holding the crumpled message from their mother in his hand. "The exterminators weren't able to get them all out last week, and they aren't working this coming week because of the holiday, unless mum pays them overtime. So, she's looking at being able to possibly go back home around the second week of January." Milo finished, tossing the letter back to his sister, who caught it with her outstretched hand, still scowling.

"Pregnant doxies that laid eggs. Sweet Morgana's sagging tits, I knew the weasel was vindictive, but this is low even for him." Mila muttered, reading over the letter from their mother. Sitting up straight and looking back across the table in horror as a thought occurred to her, "Just a moment, Malfoy was supposed to be coming for Christmas Eve. Fuck!" Mila said, tossing the letter to the side and running her fingers through her hair. "Well that just mucks up that, can't exactly invite his posh arse to visit us at some run-down motel, now can we."

"I highly doubt she's staying in a run-down motel." Milo started to say, when Mila shot him a knowing look. A pink blush crept up his neck, knowing that he'd likely misspoken.

If there was one thing that Hermione Granger had become along with single motherhood, it was notoriously cheap. Raising the two of them on her own, their mother had learned to penny pinch where she could. Meaning, all their robes and books came from second-hand shops, but they received the best potions kits and cauldrons as well as all the books they could possibly need. If it wasn't going to negatively affect their schooling, the twins weren't about to be afforded the newest of anything. Their Quidditch equipment and brooms were all gifts from their Uncle Harry, as when he'd seen what their mum had tried purchasing after they'd both made the house team the year before, he'd shouted at her that his niece and nephew were not going to be stiffed on the Quidditch front.

"Okay, well, I don't know why she didn't ask Uncle Harry if we could stay with them instead of wasting money on a ruddy motel room anyway. It's not as if Grimmauld Place doesn't have enough space for us to squeeze in for two weeks." Milo grumbled, catching the attention of the younger Potter boy as he and Scorpius were passing by.

"Mum and Dad are in France for the holiday this year." Said Remy, inserting himself into their conversation, "they already left to go stay with grand-mere and grand-pere, like, two weeks ago. Going to be there for a full month, some weird Veela thing with great grand-mere that Izzy has to be a part of, I don't really know. Me, Jack, Dom, and Louie have to stay here because there's no way to communicate with them and Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill are with them as well. Why? What's happening? What do you need to stay at my house for anyway?" Remy asked, looking between the twins while Scorpius stood off to the side with his hands shoved in his pockets looking down at the ground, trying to not draw attention to himself.

"Ron released an infestation of pregnant doxies into the house and now it's uninhabitable until the exterminators can clean it out." Mila explained leaning back and rolling her shoulders, trying to release the tension that had built up from sitting in one spot for so long. "Mum's staying in some shoddy motel and told us we should stay at school." Looking at Scorpius, she continued, "you and Malfoy were supposed to come to ours for Christmas Eve, but it seems that's out."

At being directly addressed by his older half-sister, Scorpius finally pulled his eyes up from the floor with a wide-eyed look, as if he were surprised by the act of being addressed directly by Mila without any bite in it. When he didn't say anything, Mila decided to continue, "Knowing our mother, she probably just canceled the plans on him without telling him what happened, so that it wouldn't give him any ideas to just change the venue to your house. Of course, she waited until the night before to write to us, probably trying to clear them out herself, thinking she could get some headway and if it didn't work, she'd upset us enough to make us want to stay here instead of going home. Bloody irritating woman, I swear." Mila muttered that last part low enough so that only Milo would be able to hear her, nodding his head in a silent agreement.

The thing that happened next shocked Mila so much that she damn near fell out of her chair. "Um, we have lots of empty rooms at the manor." Scorpius said in a voice so low that Mila had to lean in to hear him properly. "I'm sure dad wouldn't care if you guys stayed the holiday with us." He finished looking back down at his shoes.

Glancing over at her twin, Mila could feel the smile spreading while Milo slowly shook his head. "No, no, Mila. No." Mila's smile only got larger as she leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers behind her head as the full smirk settled on her face. "Mum is going to kill you and then I'm going to be an only child. You do realize this, don't you?"

"Nonsense," Mila said, waving her brother's concerns away, "besides we have him now, don't we?" Motioning towards Scorpius, still standing there, with her head before turning her attention back to her twin. "So, even without me, you won't be an only child." She finished, sitting back again with a smug look.

"You really are the worst sister, aren't you?" Milo said, throwing his hands over his face, as he slumped back into his own chair.

ooo

The ride back on the Hogwarts Express was long enough that the twins knew their return owl to their mother they'd sent first thing that morning, would have arrived in time for her to know that they weren't going to be staying at Hogwarts. That they would, in fact, be coming home to spend the holiday with her. Well, with her, Malfoy, and Scorpius at Malfoy Manor, she just didn't know that last part yet.

Before she'd written to her mother, Scorpius had confirmed that his father would be picking him up from the train station and not his assistant. Had his assistant been picking Scorpius up, Mila would have had to come up with another plan, but the stars were aligning for her.

Not willing to be turned down, Mila decided against writing and asking Malfoy and thought that bombarding him on the platform would put him and her mother both in positions where they wouldn't be able to say no. As they wouldn't want to cause a scene in front of a platform full of people. Then again, her mother was always a wild card with her temper, and Mila really didn't know what to expect from Malfoy.

"And what happens when she says no to staying with the Malfoys? I really don't think you thought this through." Milo grumbled for the hundredth time.

"That's why we aren't going to ask her first, plus she's been sleeping on a motel mattress for a week, she's going to jump at a chance of getting into a real bed." Mila replied, letting her eyes roll over to their compartment companion.

With the Potter brothers staying at Hogwarts, the twins and Scorpius were without their respective best mates. Realistically, Mila could have sat with the other third year Slytherin girls, but they'd recently decided that Milo was 'hot' and she was tired of sending hexes at her supposed friends for pining after her brother.

Realizing that if she was going to be spending a two-week holiday at the manor, Mila decided it might be time to finally get to know her younger half-brother a little better. For all the snide comments that she had thrown at him earlier in the year, Scorpius had never said anything back to her, or tried defending himself against what she was saying. It had always been Remy who had stood between them and shouted at her, even going so far as calling her a cow once.

"Anyway, Scorpius, what do you do for fun? Flying? I bet the manor grounds are great for flying." Mila said, directing her attention away from her twin and towards her other brother.

Clearly, this new attention surprised Scorpius as he lifted his head from the book he was reading, quickly looking at Milo who only shrugged before going back to his chess board that he was charmed so that he could play by himself.

"Um, well, I don't exactly like flying, or really heights for that matter." He answered after a long pause, making sure that no one else was going to answer for him.

"You don't like flying? Okay, well do you at least like to watch Quidditch?" Mila asked, being alarmingly reminded of her mother as she looked at her half-brother in horror.

"Not exactly, but dad owns the Tutshill Tornados, so we go to a lot of their home games when he isn't busy with Malfoy Incorporated." Scorpius said as Mila's jaw dropped open. This bit of information also pulled Milo from his chess game, so that both twins were now invading the younger boy's personal space.

"Your dad owns the Tornados!" Mila shrieked while Milo pulled out the game schedule that he always carried with him.

"They have a home game for New Year's Eve, Mila, do you realize what this means! Mum would never have taken us, but maybe Malfoy will!" Milo said, for the first time showing some interest in spending time with Malfoy.

"Um, I mean, if you ask, I'm sure he'll take us. He doesn't usually work the week between Christmas and New Year's, unless something really important happens." Scorpius commented, looking slightly alarmed at his half-siblings' enthusiasm.

"Do you think mum got us the new jersey? Too bad Aunt Gabby isn't here, she could have braided the ribbon into my hair, but whatever, I'm sure I can get mum to charm it so that it's blue for the game. Milo, we could dye your hair too, then we could be twins! Merlin, a real in person Quidditch match in the bloody owner's box!" Mila squealed, falling backwards, kicking her feet in the air in her excitement.

"Sorry about that, so, Scorpius, if you don't like Quidditch that much, what do you do for fun?" Mila heard as Milo asked Scorpius the question, bringing Mila back to the conversation that she'd been having before she'd gotten distracted by the idea of getting to see the Tornados play in person.

"I read" the younger boy answered with a pink blush taking over his pale skin as he looked between the twins. When he seemed like he wasn't going to elaborate anymore, Mila waved her hand to prompt him to continue. "Well, you see the manor has an extensive library. So, uh, that's what I've always done. Before, er, that is with mum, she couldn't spend a lot of time outside, so we would read through all the old texts and journals from the ancestors. She always said to make sure we don't repeat the mistakes of the past, we need to understand it. So, when I'm home I read a lot of those, because I know that she didn't want me to believe in the pure-blood supremacy that caused the two wizarding wars." The blush on his face had only deepened in colour at the mention of his mother and the war that their parents had been heavily involved in and on opposite sides no less.

Reaching out to touch his hand, Mila didn't want him to feel awkward about talking about his mother in front of them. "I'm sorry about your mum, Scorpius." Mila murmured, looking him over while Scorpius looked towards the ground. While Mila knew what it was like to grow up without a parent, she didn't know what it was like to have a parent, that she'd grown up with, to die and have no hope of seeing them again. Remembering how lost she felt all those years without having a father, made Mila's heart go out to her half-brother, because while she was gaining a relationship with her other parent, there was no bringing Scorpius' mother back for him.

"Thanks" Scorpius muttered back, still keeping his eyes low. When he didn't say anything else, Milo looked up from his game and cleared his throat, realizing the tension that had settled between his siblings.

"Do you know how to play chess, Scorpius? This charm is shit and always too easy to beat." The older brother asked, gesturing to the game in front of him. "Mum always complains that Wizard's chess is barbaric, so we aren't allowed to play at home unless we're using a muggle board. Mila refuses to play because she always loses." He explained as he reset the game, nodding towards the seat across from him.

With a small smile brushing his lips, Scorpius moved from his seat so that he was in front of Milo. The rest of the train ride passed as the brothers played against each other, their sister cheering them on, trying to give instructions or tips that neither used.

ooo

Stepping off the train and pulling their trunks behind them, the siblings were met by the sight of their mother standing at the opposite end of the platform from Malfoy, which boded well for the plans of convincing their mother to allow them to stay at Malfoy Manor for the holiday.

Following Scorpius, the older siblings kept close to him, pretending that they hadn't seen their mother yet, even when Milo grumbled into his sister's ear that this was a horrible plan. He only received a slight shrug, because this was the best Mila had come up with on such short notice.

When they got close enough, Malfoy's eyebrows raised in surprise at seeing all three of his children together and walking towards him. "Scorpius, Mila, Milo." their father greeted his children as the older children's mother stood away from them huffing in irritation waving her arms trying to get their attention. When neither twin responded to her efforts and didn't go to join her, she began crossing the platform to gather her kids so that they could leave.

"Hey Malfoy," Mila quickly said, watching as her mother was already on the move towards them. She was going to have to move fast to make sure that her plan worked. "Sorry about not being able to spend Christmas Eve together. You know how bad doxies can be, it really sucks that we're going to be stuck in a blasted motel for the entire holiday." She rushed out quickly as her mother stormed closer towards her children, her face slightly flushed in irritation that they would ignore her. "Really, we are disappointed about the turn of events, we were looking forward to picking your brain about potions some more."

"You're staying at a motel for the holidays?" Malfoy questioned looking between the twins, Milo nodded his head confirming what his sister had just said. "When did this happen?" He asked looking back to his daughter, who was more than forthcoming with any information.

"Last Friday, mum of course called the exterminators, but they weren't able to clear out the damn doxies in time and now they're on holiday so it won't be done until after we've already gone back to school." Mila finished just in time for Hermione to reach the kids.

Looking over at her mother, Malfoy raised a brow and without greeting her properly just said, "Doxies?" Causing her mother's face to turn red with embarrassment.

"I have it under control, Malfoy. I apologize for my children bothering you, now come on kids. Let's go grab lunch before we head back to the room." Hermione quickly rushed out as she tried to round her kids up and usher them towards the gate into muggle London.

"Granger, you're not staying in a bloody motel room with two teenagers for two weeks. We have more than enough space for you all to have your own rooms." Malfoy said, rolling his eyes as his three children looked at each other standing behind him, sharing his signature smirk behind their hands, not wanting Hermione to see.

"We aren't staying at your bloody manor, Malfoy. I've already rented the room for the night and that's where we'll be staying." Hermione said, putting her hands on her hips and stomping her foot in frustration, only making the children snicker in amusement at their mother cursing.

"Could you please be reasonable for a moment?" Malfoy said as Mila moved to make sure that he was standing between her and her mother. Hermione's wild hair had already started to let off blue sparks. Sensing the incoming danger, Milo grabbed Scorpius by the hand and started walking towards the Floo network asking if they would be able to get in without Malfoy. When Scorpius said anyone with Malfoy blood was able to get through the wards, the two brothers stepped into the fireplace and disappeared right as Hermione's temper exploded.

"I'M NOT STAYING AT YOUR BLOODY MANOR, MALFOY! AS IF I'D SLEEP UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS YOU! I'LL STAY IN THAT BLASTED MOTEL ROOM UNTIL THOSE FUCKING DOXIES THAT WERE RELEASED INTO MY HOUSE ARE ALL TAKEN CARE OF!" She shouted at him, standing on her tiptoes, still hardly coming up to his chin; while Mila was still safely huddled behind Malfoy, thoroughly enjoying the show of her mother's rage.

"YOU BLOODY STUBBORN WITCH!" Mila looked up in shock that Malfoy was now shouting back at her mother. Well, this was an unexpected, and rather entertaining, turn of events. "I'LL MAKE SURE THAT THOSE DAMN DOXIES ARE TAKEN CARE OF, UNTIL THEN, YOU'LL BE STAYING AT MY BLOODY HOUSE SO THAT YOU AREN'T SPENDING CHRISTMAS IN A MUSTY OLD MOTEL ROOM!"

Mila couldn't help but snicker at the sparks coming from her mother's hair as she shot out a stinging hex that hit Malfoy right in his arm, clearly putting him in a right mood, only making Mila double over with her laughter. "THAT'S IT." He yelled as he scooped her mother up and flung her over his shoulder and stormed off towards the fireplaces that her brothers had just recently disappeared through.

Watching her mother pounding on Malfoy's backside was one of the funniest things Mila had ever witnessed, gathering up her trunk and her mother's tote that she'd dropped when Malfoy had decided to man handle her, Mila skipped behind her parents grinning like the fool she was. That was easier than she'd thought it would be.

It was when she'd smirked that Hermione lifted her head to look at her daughter, and realization crossed her face at what had just transpired. "I birthed you and raised you," her mother said, narrowing her eyes at Mila, who was still beaming triumphantly at her mother. "And you still turn out just like him," she finished going back to hitting Malfoy in the back, only to make Mila laugh even harder.

Looking over his shoulder, Malfoy looked at his daughter and couldn't stop his own chuckle as he realized that he'd also just played into her hand. "You little snake."

With a smirk and a shrug, Mila motioned towards her green and silver scarf and simply said "Slytherin." With another barking laugh, and still holding her mother, Malfoy threw a handful of powder down as he called out 'Malfoy Manor' before disappearing in a flash of green.

Following his actions, Mila decided this might just be the most entertaining Christmas Holiday she's ever had.

A/N: Fucking Ron! So, Hermione will be spending parts of the Christmas holiday attempting to get the doxies out of her house. Why is Hermione staying in a motel and not at the Leaky? She doesn't want Ron to know that he 'ruined' her Christmas.

Mila had my chuckling so much through this entire chapter. She had a plan and she was NOT about to let Ron Weasley ruin her plans. Finally getting some sibling love and my heart grew three sizes. Learned a little bit about how Astoria was raising Scorpius. HMMM The plot THICKENS! What's to come now that the kids have free range of the manor?

I wonder if Mila will mind herself and not go digging into places she shouldn't be? Absolutely not. Next update, maybe next week, maybe this week. You have one to be looking forward to though!