Christmas had always been Draco's favorite holiday. As a child, he enjoyed waking up absurdly early to open the piles of gifts given to him by his parents and other various relatives. He had never paid much attention to who got him what. By the time lunch was served, he had left a mess of wrapping paper and ribbon all around the Manor. The gifts, while flaunted in front of his friends, were rarely touched once the holiday was over, except for one or two of his favorites. Christmas dinner was always grand, with enough food to feed the whole of Slytherin house even though it was just him and his parents. He would forgo the main dish, instead choosing to stuff himself with various desserts that the elves had made, though he had learned at a young age to not eat too much lest he end up vomiting.

As an adult, he still loved Christmas and while he loved spoiling Lyra, he made sure to not do so to the degree he had been—he didn't want her to grow up feeling entitled nor did he want her to get sick to her stomach.

His mother, on the other hand, held no such regard.

Every Christmas, she would appear in his home via an International Portkey, her bags laden with presents for her only grandchild, along with a house elf in tow with a full meal ready to be prepared.

He stopped arguing about extravagance years ago.

Christmas this year started like any other—he and Lyra opened gifts in the morning and then they ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Lyra spent the next few hours playing with her toys while Draco made sure the house was in order.

At noon, his mother appeared in the living room and Lyra ran over to her, arms stretched wide.

"Gramma!" she squealed!

His mother, regal as ever, knelt down and scooped up her granddaughter into a tight hug.

"Hello, my darling! My how've you grown!" she exclaimed, planting a kiss on the child's cheek.

Lyra giggled. "Uh-huh! I also lost another tooth, see!" Lyra opened her mouth and pointed to the space between two of her baby teeth.

"My goodness! Your pocketbook must be just filled with money you've made from the Tooth Fairy."

Lyra nodded enthusiastically. "I got five whole dollars last time!"

"Well, the Tooth Fairy seems surely generous this time of year." She glanced up at Draco and flashed a knowing smile.

"Yes, well, I suspect the tooth fairy was tired that night and might have accidentally put the wrong money under her pillow…. But I guess we'll never know." He smiled at his mother and engulfed her in a hug. "Happy Christmas, Mother."

"Happy Christmas, Draco," she said, kissing his cheek. She stood back and assed him. "You look good, my dragon. Perhaps a little slim, but nothing Mipsy can't fix with a good meal. I've instructed her to head straight to the kitchen so she can start on dinner."

Once again, Draco was glad to have remembered to shut the curtains before her arrival. "Shall I take your things up to your room?"

Narcissa waved a delicate hand. "No need." She pulled out two miniature suitcases from inside her cloak. Once enlarged, one took itself up to her room while she opened the other and gave her granddaughter a knowing look.

"Presents!" Lyra squealed again, jumping up and down.

Draco tried not to groan at the amount. "Mother, I thought we talked about how many presents were acceptable and how many were just too much."

"You may have mentioned something to that effect, yes, but I chose to ignore it. After all, it's not every day a grandmother gets to spoil her grandchild. Come, come." She took Lyra's hand and made her way towards the couch. The two sat side by side as Narcissa handed Lyra present after present, the smile on both of their faces radiating in so much such joy, that Draco couldn't stay mad at his mother for ignoring his request.

He sat in an armchair and summoned the awaiting tea he left in the kitchen, served both himself and his mother, then sat back and watched the two with a small smile on his face.

"I don't think I could possibly eat another bite," Narcissa declared as she dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "Mipsy, you have outdone yourself once again."

Draco gave the small elf a nod. "Yes. Thank you. Mipsy."

"Yous is very welcome, Mistress Malfoy. Master Draco," the elf squeaked as it gave a low bow.

"Thank you Mipsy! Can I have dessert?" Lyra asked.

Mipsy looked to Draco, who gave a nod. "Just once slice though."

As Lyra dug into her pie, Narcissa reached over and placed her hand on top of Draco's. "It is so nice to spend time with you, my darling. I sure do miss you. Both of you."

Draco gave her a smile. "We've missed you too, Mother. In fact, I was thinking maybe this summer, Lyra and I could come and visit you."

His mother's face lit up. "That would be marvelous! We would have such a grand time. We can take Lyra all over the city and show her the sights, both wizarding and Muggle, of course. And, if you're agreeable, I can introduce you to a few of my friends' eligible daughters—"
"I'm not," he cut in. "Agreeable, that is. I do not wish to be set up on any dates."

Narcissa gave a soft sigh. "Draco, darling, it's high time you found someone—a companion. A mother for Lyra—"

"Lyra is doing just fine without a mother," he said stiffly.

His mother smiled warmly. "My apologies, Draco. I didn't mean to discount that. You've done a fantastic job raising Lyra on your own, there's no doubt about that. But, if you find someone, you can share the load, maybe even have more children. Someone special to love who will love you back."

Draco sighed, knowing his mother only had the best intentions, and tried to tamper down his irritation. "I understand where you're coming from, I do. But that can only happen when the time is right, and the right person comes along. I don't want to be forced into meeting random witches and go on awkward dates."

"Well, how else are you supposed to meet witches, darling? It's not like there's an abundance of them here—"

"Miss Hermione's a witch," Lyra piped up.

Draco closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. Shit. With all the excitement of the holidays, he forgot to tell Lyra not to mention a certain Gryffindor to her grandmother. He didn't need his mother asking questions, though it seemed it was too late, as she was already looking at him curiously.

"Miss Hermione?" his mother repeated questioningly.

"Uh-huh. She went to school with Daddy," Lyra added.

Narcissa's eyes widened slightly. "Are you saying Miss Granger is here?"

Draco gave a nod. "She is. She moved here a few months ago. She works at the shop next to mine."

"That can't be a coincidence. Do you think she's here because of the Ministry? Perhaps to check in on you?"

Draco shook his head. "If that were the case, she would have come and gone. Yet, she's still here. According to her, she needed to get away from the Wizarding world. Being a public figure, she couldn't go anywhere or do anything without reporters and photographers from the Prophet following her. I'm sure you can understand." He gave her a pointed look. "So she chose a small town in the states in hope of finding anonymity."

"And you believe her?"

"She's given me no reason not to."

"It just seems awfully coincidental that she finds herself in the same town as you and Lyra…" She paused, looking between Draco and Lyra, when her eyebrows raised ever so slightly.

"Is Miss Granger, by chance, Lyra's….mother?"

"—No."

"—Yes."

Draco sighed and looked at Lyra. "Princess, we've talked about this. Miss Hermione is not your mother."

"Yes, she is!" Lyra insisted as she stood up from her chair. The light above them flickered ever so slightly and he wondered if that was due to his daughter's outburst or from the snow falling outside.

"We have the same hair and we're both smart and we both love books and reading and animals and all sorts of the same stuff."

Draco pulled Lyra into his lap and brushed some of the curls away from her face. "A lot of people have curly hair. And I'd like to think that you got some of your smarts from me as well as your mother."

Lyra crossed her arms in a huff. "I know, but–"'

"I promise we'll talk about it later, but for now, why don't you go upstairs and put on your Christmas pajamas?Then we'll watch a movie with your grandmother," he suggested.

Lyra sighed heavily. "Okay, fine." She hopped off his lap and made her way to the stairs, but before she reached them she turned around "But remember. If I'm right about her being my mom, I get two puppies."

His mother had the good mind to not say anything until Lyra was without hearing range. "Are you quite certain, Draco? Because looking at Lyra, and from what I remember of Miss Granger, there are some similarities."

"I'm sure," Draco said as he stood up. He went to gather plates when Narcissa placed a hand on his arm.

"Mipsy, would you please clear the table?" She called for the elf even though she kept her eyes on her son.

With a snap of the elf's fingers, the table was cleared and Draco could hear the sound of the dishes washing themselves in the kitchen.

"If I may be so bold to ask, what is your current relationship with Miss Granger?"

"We're friends," he admitted. "We ran into each other by chance and Lyra became enamored with her from the beginning, so much so that she invited her to dinner."

Narcissa looked at him, surprised. "You've had her over for dinner?"

"Several times. And we've eaten at her home as well. It's become routine to have at least one meal together a week. Not to mention that since we work next door to each other, we usually see each other daily."

His mother was silent for a moment, watching him. "It sounds to me that perhaps what you two have might be more than friendship, but you're too cautious to pursue anything more," she said carefully.

He thought about what she said. "I do enjoy her company and to say that I haven't thought about asking her out would be a lie. But, there are risks—our friendship for one. But most importantly, Lyra would be heartbroken if we pursued something and it didn't work out. She's become so integrated into our lives as is it, that if things were to go sour between the two of us, it wouldn't only affect me, but Lyra as well."

Narcissa placed her hand on top of his once more. "But darling, that would be the same with any woman you bring along. Are you going to avoid having any sort of relationship to avoid hurting Lyra's feelings her whole life?"

Draco frowned. "If it were anyone else, I would simply not bring them around Lyra until I knew it was serious. With her, that's not possible."

"Has there been anyone since you moved here that you have thought about dating?" his mother asked curiously.

Draco shook his head. "No."

"And yet, you've thought about asking Miss Granger out. That might be something to ponder," she said, giving him a knowing look. "Well, I suppose I ought to change into more comfortable clothes before the movie starts."

As she passed Draco, she leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Whatever you choose to do," she said softly, "I trust you'll make the right choice."

Draco sat at the table a few minutes more before he reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone. He hadn't texted Hermione since she left for London and wasn't planning on texting her. However, the conversation he'd just had with his mother made him realize that he wanted her to know he was thinking of her. And he hoped it might bring a smile to her pretty face.

Happy Christmas, Hermione.