A/N: Another chapter closer. Only three more.

Draco awoke in the morning to the feeling of a cold breeze stinging his cheeks. He slowly opened his eyes, first noticing the other side of the bed was empty before looking past it to the open balcony doors. Hermione's back was to him, staring up at the gray sky, watching as a soft rain trickled down. No snow. Just rain.

With a heavy sigh, Draco stood. He went over to the desk and searched the drawers for stationary. Once he found some and a quill, he scribbled down a quick note and folded it. After locating a clean pair of boxers and the pajamas he promised Hermione he would wear, he put them on and stuffed his note into the silky pocket.

Hermione still hadn't moved from the balcony. Draco walked outside and hugged her from behind. She was frozen to the touch.

"Staring at the sky won't make the snow come any faster," he said, kissing her neck. "It's freezing out here. Come inside."

Hermione sighed and pressed her back into him. "I know. I just really hope it snows for Rose."

"It will. Now, come inside," he said again, this time much firmer.

Hermione nodded. She let Draco take her hand and followed him inside, shutting the doors behind her.

"I can't believe we let ourselves go to sleep so late," she said, collapsing onto the bed and groaning into a pillow. "I'm exhausted."

"Me too," said Draco, collapsing beside her. "But I think it was worth it."

Hermione turned her head sideways on the pillow and looked at him. "I suppose it always is."

They smiled at each other. She leaned over and kissed him, happily cuddling her body up against to his.

"So does your family always open presents this early?"

Hermione groaned again. "Yes. When the kids were young they would always be wide awake and jumping on our beds by sunrise so it kind of just stuck. As they've gotten older we've compromised with seven. I'm just happy the doors here lock."

"Why -"

Right as Draco was about to ask, a loud banging began on their door.

" Muuuuummm ," Hugo sang on the other side. "Rise and shine, it's present time!"

Hermione looked at Draco and rolled her eyes. She chuckled before standing up and heading for the door.

"Ten minutes to seven!" shouted Hugo as he came barreling through the door. "You know the rules. We start on the dot with or without you!"

"I heard a rumor that we get to jump on the bed," said Scorpius, coming in behind him.

Hermione nodded and motioned them over. Draco grunted as both boys ran over and jumped on, Scorpius tackling his father a bit and stealing his pillow away when he tried to cover his head with it.

Hermione laughed as she watched, but then she looked out the door and saw Rose keeping her distance. She obviously didn't want to see.

"Do you know what room your father's in?" asked Hermione.

Rose nodded. "Yes. He's down on the first floor so we'll be hitting him on the way to the tree room."

"And Scorpius' mother?"

Rose chuckled softly. "I don't think she'd like it very much. She already refuses to wear her pajamas."

"Even so, I think she would still like to be thought of."

"Yeah, maybe," said Rose. "I guess we can stop by her room and feel out the situation. Tell her it's time to come down or something."

Hermione nodded. "I'll bet she already looks perfect."

"Yeah, she seems like one of those woman who probably really does wake up looking like that."

They both laughed.

"I could never be like that," said Rose. "I asked Scorpius once if he ever wished I was one of those put-together girls. He said no, because I'm one of those girls you just look at and want to snuggle, even when my hair is a windswept mess."

"Those are my genes. Sorry, sweetie."

Rose smiled. She took a step closer and looked inside, her smile turning slightly genuine as she watched Draco grab Scorpius' legs as he ran circles around him on the bed and tackle him down. Then he grabbed Hugo's ankle and he fell flat on his back. They were all laughing.

But then her eyes drifted past the cute seen to the pouring rain outside. She frowned.

"Come along, you two!" Hermione called. "You still have two more rooms to hit."

"Two?" asked Scorpius as he rolled off of the bed, landing smoothly on his feet.

"We're stopping by your mother's room," explained Rose.

"To jump ?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"We'll feel it out," she said.

Scorpius ran out of the room, his cheeks already flushed, and took her hand. Hugo was right behind him.

" Eight minutes, Mum!" Hugo said sternly, following the others towards the stairs.

Hermione shut the door. She looked over at Draco laying spread eagle on the bed and smiled. "Ready?" she asked, going over to her bag and searching for the slippers she had packed for each of them.

"Actually, I have to head down to the concierge's desk really fast and have him send an owl for me." He turned his head and looked at her. "Urgent matter."

"Urgent?" she repeated.

"Yes. But do not fret. It's already written and if we leave now I very well might make it there before eight minutes is up."

"Seven now," said Hermione with a smile.

Draco grunted and stood, walking over to where she had put his slippers on the floor.

"You're really going to go to the concierge's desk in your pajamas?" she asked.

"Guess I have to," he answered, putting his slippers on and giving her a kiss. "Have a coffee ready for me. Strong coffee."

"Will do," said Hermione, kissing back before they both headed for the door.

Draco watched in fascination as they reached the second floor, where the majority of their party was staying. Weasleys ran from room to room, most doors just open now as they all jumped around. Lily's squeal of joy was especially loud.

He stopped for a moment when he spotted Victoire, riding on Teddy's back while Dora was strapped to hers. She spotted him and waved.

And then he saw Scorpius, Rose and Hugo running out of somewhere, Hugo shouting out the time while they sprinted past them and down to the first floor.

Astoria stepped out of the room they had come from, actually wearing pajamas. Well, a nightgown, silky and green with a matching robe. The rest of her looked perfect, of course, unlike all of the Weasleys stumbling around in their flannel pajamas and tangled red hair, but Draco felt a slight sense of relief that she was at least attempting to participate.

Astoria caught his eye, motioning with her head towards the chaos and rolling her eyes. He laughed.

"Draco."

Draco turned to see Hermione being dragged towards the stairs by Lily.

"Hurry up and send that owl. I'll save a seat for you, if I can."

Draco nodded. Suddenly, Astoria was hurrying past him, now not giving him a second glance as she followed the crowd down the stairs. Draco sighed and followed after. They had almost had a decent moment there.

As Draco moved away from the crowd, the sounds of their laughter seemed to move with him. Their voices echoed along the high ceilings and long corridors. He quickened his steps as he heard someone call 'two minutes'.

When he got to the concierge's desk, he was happy to find no line. He expressed the urgency of the owl and gave the man a few extra Galleons to make sure any response he received was delivered to him immediately.

Once that was taken care of, he turned back around, just catching sight of Theo grabbing Blaise's arm, whispering something harshly before pulling him away. Draco grunted. He knew his time was up, but the look of determination he just saw in Blaise's eyes could not be ignored. He followed them.

"What are you up to, Zabini?"

"And there I am, Zabini again," said Blaise with a sneer. "I'm not up to anything."

Draco looked to Theo, who shrugged.

"I don't know what he's up to. He just keeps trying to go and talk to the bloody concierge, and then they give each other this look." Theo did his best to replicate it.

Draco looked at Blaise and cocked an eyebrow.

"All I was going to do is request more ice for my room," Blaise said innocently. Then he looked Draco up and down. "Are you wearing jammies?" He smirked.

"It's a bloody Weasley tradition or something, which I'm now late for," said Draco. "Theo, keep an eye on him."

"Will do," said Theo. "And I'll, uh, recruit wifey number one when she gets here."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Zabini wifey number one?"

Blaise groaned. "She decided she wants to spend Christmas with her son at the bloody last minute. Wants us all waiting down here when she arrives to drag us to some restaurant in the nearest town for breakfast. There is a perfectly good restaurant here, I don't see why -"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," said Draco, already turning to leave. "See you shits later."

"Bye, Draco! Enjoy your Weasley family Christmas in your sexy jammies!"

Draco looked over his shoulder and sneered at him before continuing on. He considered giving him the bird, but there were so many children running around this place that he didn't want to risk one of them seeing.

Draco arrived in the tree room in less than a minute. Simultaneously, everyone in there looked at him and said, "You're late!"

"They made us all wait for you, Father!" announced Scorpius. "When the snow comes quite a few people plan to attack you with snowballs."

"Bloody fantastic," said Draco, stepping farther into the room.

"Alright, everyone! Let's get started!" shouted Arthur Weasley who, for some reason, was wearing a Muggle Santa Clause costume.

He began going around the tree and handing out gifts. Even though the youngest ones here were Hugo and Lily at sixteen, aside from Dora, all of the Weasleys looked like children with the light of Christmas in their eyes. The holidays at Malfoy Manor had always been pretty boring. Just Draco opening gifts alone when he was growing up, then just Scorpius alone. It definitely made him see the appeal of a larger family.

Hermione stood from a very crowded sofa and tiptoed around Weasleys and presents to bring him a mug of coffee. "Your father came by a moment ago," she said as he took a sip. "Your mother isn't feeling well this morning so she decided to miss the presents and get some rest."

Draco pulled his mug away slowly. He blinked. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, he said she's just tired."

Draco gulped. He located his son in the crowd and shouted, "Scorpius, do not open anything from your grandparents! We will go and open with them after!"

"Already got one off to the side!" Scorpius shouted back, lifting one of his gifts.

Hermione noticed the way Andromeda eyed them as they spoke. She had been right there when Lucius came up to Hermione, actually looking slightly worried for her sister.

"Draco!"

Draco looked over just as Arthur Weasley tossed a gift at him. He ducked, so Hermione turned quickly and caught it midair, even though one hand was carrying her own cup of coffee. Not a drop spilt.

"Just takes practice," she said, handing Draco his gift. "That's just a small one from me." They had planned to exchange their more personal gifts upstairs later since everyone would, undoubtedly, be watching them. In fact, looking around Draco saw quite a few faces turned in their direction now, including his ex-wife's, who sat in an armchair near the back looking particularly uncomfortable.

Ignoring these people, Draco put down his coffee and opened his gift. He wasn't about to sit on the floor and even Hermione's spot on the sofa had already been taken over. Letting the wrapping paper fall to the floor, he opened the box. Inside was next year's day planner, green leather with his initials in gold letters on the front.

"Open it up," she said.

Draco did, stopping on January 1st, where Hermione had placed the photo of them under the mistletoe next to the words 'Kiss Hermione at midnight'.

Draco smirked. "Is that an order?"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Draco. But I highly suggest that you do."

"I was already planning on it," he said, taking out his wand and giving it a wave. Soon, each date read 'Kiss Hermione'.

She looked at it and smirked. "You're so cheesy."

"But you love the cheese."

Hermione attempted to object but the words wouldn't form. He was right. She did love the cheese.

Draco smiled and said, "Thank you, love. It's perfect."

Several more heads turned towards them, probably expecting to see a kiss, but Hermione and Draco had spoken about this ahead of time and decided they didn't want to step on too many toes over the course of the next couple of days. That was why they reached out and shook hands, both laughing at the absurdity of it all.

"Hermione!"

Hermione released Draco's hand, turned quickly and caught the gift flying at her. She really was a pro at this.

Draco had to admit, opening presents with a big group of people was definitely more fun. Anyone who didn't want coffee had hot chocolate, trays floated around with biscuits and stollen, and the whole Santa Claus thing was actually quite enjoyable.

Once all of the gifts were unwrapped, everyone was given thirty minutes to take their gifts to their rooms and change before they needed to be down at breakfast.

The moment Draco and Hermione were alone in their room he had his hands all over her.

"Draco, we don't have time for this," she said, pushing him away but taking that extra moment to caress his chest while she was doing it. "We need to get ready."

Hermione let him kiss her once before moving out of his grasp. She hurried over to her bag and dug through it until she found her fitted red jumper, jeans and black boots. Her casual Christmas outfit.

"Should we exchange gifts now?" asked Draco.

"Well, one of mine will have to wait until we actually do have time to be alone," she said, looking over her shoulder and smiling mischievously at him. "But, I suppose, you can have the other."

With a quick swivel, she tossed a gift wrapped box that she pulled out of her bag at him. He caught it with only a slight fumble.

"Improving already."

Draco smirked and began unwrapping his gift. Slowly and tediously. For Hermione, at least.

"Please, stop torturing me."

"But it's so much fun," said Draco with a laugh. After one hard look from Hermione he opened much faster, ripping the paper and discarding it on the floor. The box was small and rather light. He opened it, only to find a postcard of the resort they had stayed at in Switzerland.

"Turn it over."

He did, smiling when he found a handwritten note from Hermione on the other side:

From July 10 th through the 13th, 2025 you and I will be enjoying the beautiful and romantic trip I ruined for us. Only, this time, I will be the one romancing you. I hope you are ready for it.

Love always,

Your Hermione

"Why all the way in July?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Umm … Well, I just wanted to be sure that …" Hermione sighed. "Your mother," she said. "She isn't doing very well right now and while she may get better again before she gets worse, I didn't want to take the chance that you would be away from her when she goes. July seemed safe."

Draco nodded. "Thank you, Hermione," he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. "Just the fact that you think we'll still be together in July is gift enough for me."

She rolled her eyes and kissed him again. "You're welcome. Now, hurry up and locate mine while I get changed."

As Hermione moved away, Draco pulled her close one last time and kissed her hard. She laughed and put her hands on his chest, gently pushing him back.

"You were already late once to the Weasley family Christmas and there will be retaliation. Are you sure you want to risk being late again?"

Hermione winked at him before going over to where she had set her clothes down and began changing, distracting Draco as he attempted to search through his own bag. Then he found it. The gift.

Hermione felt him approaching as she pulled her jumper over her head. Once it was in place, she turned, happy to see him standing there with a small box.

"What's this?" she asked, giving it a shake. "Jewelry? I've already got a necklace." She reached into her jumper and pulled out the locket he had given her. "Perhaps it's matching earrings."

"It's not earrings," he said.

Hermione kept her eye on him as she began to unwrap the gift. Once the wrapping paper was discarded she suddenly found herself face-to-face with a small box that, if it didn't hold earrings, could only possibly hold one other thing. She became frozen, unable to bring herself to continue on.

"It's not what you think."

Hermione blinked, her eyes focusing on Draco.

"As thrilled as you look by the prospect that there's an engagement ring in that box," he said disdainfully, "I did hear you the other night. I won't be asking you anything until I know your answer is yes."

Hermione gulped. "Sorry."

"Just open it."

She nodded, lifting her shaky hand and popping open the box. While there was a ring inside, Draco was right. It was definitely not an engagement ring. There were no diamonds, and it was bulkier. Almost like costume jewelry. There was a trio of emeralds in the center with an intricate gold band and splashes of what looked like jade.

"It was my grandmother's," said Draco. "Before she died she gave that to me, telling me to hold onto it until I found the right girl. While I'm positive she would have hated you -"

Hermione laughed.

"- you're the only one I've ever wanted to give it to."

She smiled. "It's beautiful."

Hermione took it out of the box, testing it on several fingers before finally deciding that it fit best on the middle finger on her left hand.

"Is it really alright that I'm accepting this?" she asked. "Considering your grandmother was more than likely prejudiced against Muggle-borns."

Draco smirked. "She was. But that ring's been in the family for generations, and not always the Malfoy family. I'm sure there was one tolerant owner down the road."

"Thank you," she said, putting her ringed hand on his cheek and kissing him. When she pulled away, she looked him over. "You really do not to get changed. I'm going to head down now and make sure everything with breakfast is running smoothly before the bride can have another panic attack."

"Alright," he said, giving her another kiss before heading over to his bag.

"This time I will successfully save you a seat," she said, walking toward the door. "More coffee will be waiting."

"Make sure it's strong."

"You know I will."

Hermione exited the room, stopping just outside of the door and taking a deep breath. She looked down at the ring on her finger and took a good look at it. While it may not have been an engagement ring, she was fully aware of the implication of it all. It was a family heirloom. One meant to be kept in the family. A promise.

Her feet moving slowly, her head feeling light, Hermione headed for the stairs.

She loved Draco, there was never a doubt in her mind about that, and maybe she even wanted to be with him forever. There were definitely moments when she certainly felt like this was it. But, once upon a time, she had felt that same way about Ron, and now they were divorced, barely able to speak to one another, though they were trying. And while she knew it was over between them, she would be lying if she said her feelings for him were really all gone. He was her best friend. The father of her children. Her husband … And giving that last title to someone else just didn't seem like an option right now.

"Hermione!"

Hermione turned at the sound of her name, only now realizing that she was on the second floor. The older Molly Weasley was hurrying towards her.

"Let me guess. On your way to make sure everything's running smoothly?"

Hermione smiled. "You know me too well. And let me guess, you're doing the exact same thing?"

Molly smiled back at her. "You can never trust these swanky places to host Christmas breakfast right. I still say this wedding would have been just as lovely in our backyard."

"Well, I know my wedding there was lovely," said Hermione. "But the venue was really Scorpius' only say in all of this and I think he made a beautiful choice."

Molly leaned in and whispered, " Expensive choice."

Hermione chuckled. "That too. It's definitely something," she said, looking around as they descended the grand staircase towards the first floor.

"But, I have to admit, aside from our extravagant surroundings the Malfoys do seem to be trying."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I think Scorpius is actually really excited about the prospect of a big family."

"He seems to be," said Molly. "But he isn't really who I was talking about."

Hermione smiled, looking down at the ring on her finger.

"So I hear there will be a formal announcement about your running for Minister next year soon. Any truth to that?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "I have decided to run."

"I do think that's great, and that you'll be a fantastic Minister, but when are you planning to go to Prague?"

Hermione chuckled, pursing her brow in surprise. "Prague? Why would I be going there?"

"That's what you always told me when you were a girl, wasn't it?" said Molly. "That you were going to go to Prague and walk across the Charles Bridge. You had a strange fascination with bridges."

"I just think they're so pretty," said Hermione with a laugh. "You're right. I was going to go to Prague." She suddenly wondered what had ever happened to that.

"With your job now you're already so busy," said Molly. "I imagine that will only get worse once you're the Minister. Considering how few holidays you've taken over the years I imagine you have months of time off just waiting to be used."

Hermione glanced sideways at Molly.

"Go to Prague," the other woman said earnestly.

"I'll consider it," said Hermione, suddenly thinking of how nice it would be to take a real holiday somewhere. Not just a long weekend but a week. Maybe two. But then she thought of Draco, and how he would never be able to take that much time off of work to go see a bridge in Prague. Not to mention all of the other bridges she once had a list of that she wanted to see.

And then she realized. For years she had been so focused on her family that she never did anything for herself. Draco was her first selfish act. But now, here she was again, not thinking about what she wanted but instead thinking about how doing something for herself would affect the person she was with. That was how she had lived her entire marriage.

When it had first really hit Hermione that she and Ron were over she had set out to make a change. She had cut her hair, started sleeping in the center of the bed, but then she had forgotten all about this newfound independence when Draco first started to make a real impact on her life. How had she let that happen?

Christmas was one of those days that just seemed to be absolutely nonstop. Once breakfast was finished Hermione, Draco, Rose and Scorpius went to Lucius and Narcissa's room with food and their gifts. They were there for a while, only leaving when it was time to catch lunch with the Weasley clan. Narcissa wasn't hungry, but she still wanted to come, sitting quietly and observing the wild group as they ate.

When that was done, Hermione finally had a chance to escape to her room to shower while Draco went to go check on something with the concierge. He made it back to the room just as she was about to get out, stripping down and keeping her in the water a little bit longer. He shagged her against the glass wall with the mirror just behind it, wiping away the steam continuously so they could watch themselves. While Draco was busy staring at how her breasts looked pressed up against the glass, Hermione was happy staring at his face, still filled with as much pleasure and desire as when they had first began all of this.

Hermione pushed him back and turned, suddenly finding herself wanting to kiss him in that moment, her hands resting on the back of his neck as he lifted her up and entered her again. She reached up and pushed the wet hair on his forehead away from his face, looking into his eyes and wondering how she could ever not be sure about her future with this man.

Hermione was the first to get out of the shower while Draco still had to wash his hair. When he got out, she was already dressed, her hair dry and standing on the balcony. Changing quickly, he went out to join her.

"Staring isn't going to make the snow come any faster," he said, just like that morning.

"I know," said Hermione. "I'm just … hoping."

Draco hugged her from behind and put his chin on her shoulder. He looked down at the gardens below them. "Do you want to head down there?" he asked. "Have a walk through the gardens before we have to participate in any more Christmas festivities?"

"Alright," she said. She turned in his arms, looking at him and brushing his still-wet hair back. "But dry this first, will you? We don't want you catching cold."

Draco did just that, with a little extra help from Hermione and her wand to hurry the process along. When that was done, the two of them put on their coats, gloves and scarves, linked hands and left their room, walking down the stairs and, surprisingly, not running into any Weasleys along the way. At least, not until they arrived in the entrance hall, where Hermione immediately recognized her son standing near the door in a pretty heavy lip lock with someone.

"Hugo?"

Hugo opened his eyes, quickly pulling away from the girl he was kissing. "Mum!"

The girl turned, her eyes immediately drifting to Hermione and Draco's entwined hands.

"You remember Pauline," said Hugo, putting a slightly shaky arm around her.

"Hi," said Pauline with a small wave. "And hi, Uncle Draco." She looked down at their hands again. "Do I still call you that?"

"If you want," he said. "I thought your family wasn't coming until later tonight."

"We weren't but everyone was really bored at home so Parker and I convinced Mum and Dad to come here early. It wasn't hard. Aunt Stori really wanted us here."

"They're having dinner with us," said Hugo. "I've already asked Rose and told the kitchen. Everyone's fine with it."

"Okay," said Hermione with a slightly awkward smile. "You two have fun then. We'll see you later."

Hermione began pulling Draco towards the door. On their way out, he grabbed onto Hugo's shoulder, leaned in and harshly whispered, "You better be a gentleman."

Hugo tensed. He nodded nervously.

Once Hermione and Draco were outside, she immediately started leading him towards the rose garden just beneath their balcony. But, only a couple of turns in and they ran into another member of her family.

"Lily!"

Lily, who was on a bench practically on top of Parker as he awkwardly squeezed her breast over the top of her jumper, suddenly jumped up and wiped her mouth.

"Aunt Hermione, hi!" she squeaked. "Umm … You're not going to tell my mum about this, are -"

"Go!" ordered Hermione. "Go back to where people are and just … just go."

"Right!" said Lily, smiling through the awkwardness and pulling Parker up from the bench. "Come on, Parker. Let's go find … people, I guess."

Parker nodded nervously, avoiding his ex-uncle's eyes and blushing as he passed him.

"Are you not going to tell him to be a gentleman?" asked Hermione.

"The kid already fears me," said Draco. "He knows I'll find out if they go somewhere private again. He wouldn't dare risk his life like that. Besides, it looked like she was the one not being a gentleman." He winked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't know what's happened to this generation but I was not like that when I was sixteen."

"I was," said Draco with a smirk.

"I believe it."

Finally, the two of them were able to make it to the red rose garden without running into anyone, aside from the occasional stranger. It was just as lovely up close, with lush roses in all shades of red covering the high walls. It smelled beautiful.

"Where to next?" asked Hermione, pulling him around a corner, only to find themselves among purple roses.

They were able to make it through several rows of different colors before they finally came across people they knew again. Theo and Gregory Goyle were standing near a corner, whispering harshly to each other and glancing around the edge every few seconds.

"Well, aren't we lucky," said Draco. "Another Goyle."

They both turned and looked at them their eyes widening. Theo put a finger to his lips and hurried forward. "Keep it down, will you?"

"Why?" asked Draco in his regular voice.

Theo threw his hands over his mouth. "I'm serious, Draco."

"Why?" Hermione asked now, making sure to whisper. "What's going on?"

Draco removed Theo's hands from his mouth. "Where's Zabini?"

"He's looking for Alex," answered Theo.

"Why?" Draco asked again.

Theo took a deep breath. "Look, as much as I don't condone him or anything he normally does, she needs to know about this. And it's one of those must see to believe things."

Draco and Hermione looked at each other, pursing their brows. They hurried forward, Theo right behind them and reminding them to keep quiet.

Draco shoved Goyle out of the way and both he and Hermione carefully looked around the corner, their eyes bulging at what they saw. When Draco knew Hermione was about to gasp, he put his hand over her mouth, pulling her back.

Draco looked at Theo and said, "What. The. Fuck ."

"Blaise, seriously, where are you taking me?" said a voice from only a few turns away.

Everyone looked around at each other in a panic. Hermione was the one to take out her wand and put up a Silencing Charm around the area.

"I just want to show you something," said Blaise, turning the corner.

"This is getting ridiculous," said Alexandra. "I need to find Owen."

Blaise and Alexandra both stopped when they saw the group of them standing there.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" asked Blaise.

"Just bloody lucky timing," he answered, tensing as he looked at Alexandra.

Looking over her shoulder once, Hermione rushed forward. "You know, it's really cold out here. Alex, why don't we get inside and find some hot chocolate." She grabbed Alexandra's arm.

"No," said Blaise, pulling her back. "I came out here to show her something and she's not leaving until she sees."

"She doesn't need to see, Blaise," said Hermione, pulling Alexandra towards her again. "Not like this."

"Not like what?" asked Alexandra, getting a bit annoyed with this game of tug-of-war as Blaise pulled her again.

No one answered.

"What's going on?"

"Don't act like you know what's best for her, Granger," spat Blaise.

"Don't act like you aren't out here for purely selfish reasons," Hermione spat right back.

"So you don't think she should know?"

"Of course she should! But not like THIS !"

"Stop it!" shouted Alexandra, pulling both of her arms away from them and stepping forward. "I don't care what any of you have to say right now! It's Christmas and I'm trying to have a good time! Just leave me alone and stop telling me what I do and do not need!"

Alexandra continued forward, ignoring everyone's gasps and shouts of protest as she turned the corner they were all standing near, hoping it was an exit. Draco tried to grab her but she pulled away, freezing practically the moment she turned the corner. There, right in front of her, was Owen, his lips and arms entangled with those of the concierge. The male concierge.

"Owen?"

He didn't hear her, since Hermione's Silencing Charm was still up. When Draco gave her a look, she raised her wand and removed it.

"Owen!" Alexandra said again, much sharper this time.

Owen's eyes snapped open. He pulled away from the concierge slowly, looking at Alexandra and the five other people watching him closely from behind her. He gulped.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I … uhh …"

"Well, I think that's bloody obvious," said Blaise.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Blaise!" shouted Alexandra. "Owen! Answer me! Answer me right now!"

He didn't.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Fine." She turned to leave.

"Alex! Alex, wait!" shouted Owen, hurrying forward and stopping her. "I promise, this isn't what you think."

"You know, Owen, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here," said Alexandra. "You and I are not exclusive. I've openly admitted to you that I'm seeing someone else. He's standing right there, actually." She pointed at Blaise. "You most likely recognize him because he is a manipulative prick who took it upon himself to learn more about you. But that's not important right now. What I need is for you to answer one question for me. That's it."

Owen nodded.

Alexandra took a deep breath. "I understand we are living in a modern world and there are people out there who do not see gender. They like who they like. So tell me this, Owen. Do you like women at all?"

His eyes began to sink. He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

"Oh my gods." Alexandra hurried away, covering her face from the embarrassment.

"I don't see why that's important," Owen called after her.

She turned and blinked. "What?"

"Alex, be honest," he said. "Our relationship was never about liking each other. My father told me he doesn't care what or who I do, as long as I marry a powerful woman and carry on his bloodline. That's all."

She blinked again.

"Who cares if I like men or women, it's all about status. You want to get married and have kids, and I can give you that. My father handpicked you himself to be a Sharrow, doesn't that mean something to you?"

Her brow furrowed. "Are you kidding me?"

"If this is a proposal then it's bloody terrible," muttered Blaise.

"Shut up, Blaise!" shouted Alexandra. "Don't think for one second that I believe you just happened to stumble onto this! How long have you known?"

"Not as long as you're implying," he said. "I saw him looking at our lovely concierge last night. Only about twenty minutes ago was it confirmed for me."

Alexandra crossed her arms. "How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much did you pay the concierge to get him out here?"

Blaise narrowed his eyes. "I haven't paid him anything."

She scoffed. "Interesting wording. So you'll be paying him after he shows results then, is that it? You're a manipulative bastard, Blaise. You could have just told me what you were thinking but, instead, you decided to do this !" She motioned to what was in front of her.

"You wouldn't have believed me."

"As terrible as you are, I know that you are not a liar! And you know what? If I had to make a choice right now, marrying a gay man or you , guess what? I'd choose the gay man!" Alexandra turned on her heel and marched away. "And that is not an answer to your terrible proposal, Owen!" she shouted over her shoulder. "Your things will be waiting outside of my room for you."

"This was really your father's idea?" asked Draco once she was gone.

Owen looked at him. "Yes," he answered.

Draco nodded. "Well, tell that man that Malfoy Enterprises will no longer be requiring his business." He smirked. "If you will."

"What?"

Without another word, Draco took Hermione's hand and pulled her away.

The concierge walked up to Blaise, who then reached into his pocket and handed him a pouch of Galleons. Owen's eyes widened.

"Sorry," the concierge said to him, blushing slightly. "Eet ees just business." He hurried off.

Owen moved his eyes to Blaise.

Blaise smirked. "It's just business," he said with a shrug. "I guess she really does know me. Now, get your arse out of here. And happy Christmas."

He walked away, Theo and Goyle walking closely behind him.

Hermione and Draco didn't even bother to stay in the gardens. After that disaster they just wanted to get out. Besides, it was beginning to rain and they didn't much feel like getting caught in it. Not today.

When they got back inside, suddenly Molly Weasley was running up to them. "Hermione, we have a problem," she said.

"Oh, lovely," said Hermione, expecting that one would hit eventually. "What is it?"

"There was an issue in the kitchen. Half of the staff up and quit. Meaning, there will be no Christmas dinner."

"That's ridiculous," said Hermione, pursing her brow. "Who's in charge?"

Molly led the way to where Arthur and Ron were talking animatedly with an important looking man. Rose was rocking nearby while Scorpius tried to comfort her. Several other Weasleys were sprinkled around, along with Parker and Pauline, the former taking a clear step away from Lily when he saw Draco.

"So what exactly is the problem?" asked Hermione.

"It wasn't our staff who quit," explained Ron. "It was the main staff so he took the people who were supposed to cook our dinner to help out over there. And they aren't going to have enough time to cook for us, too, so he wants to order us take out."

"Take out?" Hermione said, looking appalled. "On Christmas? Are you kidding?"

"I apologize, Mrs. Malfoy -"

There were groans all around.

"- but we 'ave no other options."

"Why can't we cook our own dinner?" said Hermione. "You will give us access to your kitchen and will not charge us for anything we use. For our trouble."

"I cannot -"

"Oh, I believe you can," said Draco. "We are here for the holiday and a wedding. A very important, high profile, wizarding wedding that millions of people will be reading about. Do not make us speak poorly of the venue because, believe me, we are not above that." He glanced around the room at all of the innocent-looking Weasleys. "At least I'm not."

The man gulped. "Of course. Right zis way."

He started leading everyone towards the kitchen. Hermione turned around when all of the younger generation tried to follow them.

"You kids go have fun. We don't need everyone helping with this."

"But I wanna help!" said Lily. "So does he." She held up Parker's hand.

Hermione's eyes widened. Lily was a bit of a disaster in the kitchen.

"Lily, sweetie, why don't you go find your mother and father for us," said Molly, putting her arms on the girl's shoulders.

"Okay!" said Lily, not even fazed. She pulled Parker with her as she ran down the corridor. Some of the other Weasleys scattered, but Rose and Scorpius stayed behind. Hermione knew they would. Rose was like her. She would want to know everything was running smoothly, or else she would drive herself insane worrying about it.

Once in the kitchen, Hermione started barking out orders to everyone. Molly, as a Christmas dinner veteran, would work on the roast, Arthur would mash some potatoes and make the gravy, Scorpius would make the salad - the easiest task - Rose would work on the pies, Ron would make the stuffing, Draco was in charge of the vegetables and she would make the Christmas pudding.

A short while later, Bill and Fleur arrived. They were put on minced pie duty. Then Harry and Ginny. Harry helped Rose while Ginny helped her mother. George and Angelina came in and said they were going to make a quiche. Percy and his wife Audrey decided they wanted ham as well as a roast, and Charlie kept it simple with cranberry sauce.

"And here I was thinking we'd escaped this for once," said Ginny.

Everyone laughed

"Found one more!" shouted Lily, running into the kitchen and dragging Astoria along with her.

"I'm really not much of a cook," said Astoria, resisting as Lily pushed her forward. "But I can call my house-elf -"

"No," everyone said quickly, many eyes glancing towards Hermione. No one wanted to deal with that drama on Christmas.

"You know how to make bread," said Draco. "Do that."

"Oh my gods! Bread!" shouted Rose. " How could we have forgotten?"

Everyone laughed again.

"I haven't made it in years," said Astoria. She looked at Scorpius, who gave her a sharp look. "But I suppose I can try."

She walked toward the pantry. Lily lingered around, looking over everyone's shoulders and watching them from an uncomfortably close distance.

"Lily, honey, don't you want to be off somewhere with Parker?" asked Ginny.

Lily rolled her eyes. "No. I can't be too available for him."

"Why don't you help Scorpius chop some vegetables for his salad?" suggested Rose. "He's not doing a very good job."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes. "Oh, ha ha."

She chuckled and blew him a kiss.

Astoria came out of the pantry a short while later, looking around several times before she accepted that the only spot in the kitchen still available was right next to Hermione. She unhappily went over there.

Hermione smiled as she set her stuff down. "So where did you learn how to make bread?"

"My childhood house-elf," Astoria answered simply.

Hermione nodded. She stirred something in a bowl, looking around at everyone's progress. She made her pudding fast, knowing a bit of magic would be required to speed the process along, since it really should have been made that morning or even the day before. But she had looked and there was no pudding anywhere.

Once it was steaming, set to cook in one-fourth of the time, Hermione went around helping anyone who needed it, including helping Scorpius improve his chopping skills before getting him started on the dressing.

Astoria watched her for a while, but eventually found herself staring at Draco, carefully seasoning some asparagus before cooking it in a pan. He was taking great care in his work, and seemed to really know what he was doing.

"When did you learn to cook?"

Draco looked at her. "Just recently."

"Over the past six months?" she asked in a harsh tone.

"More like three." He went over to another burner and checked on his carrots, which were steaming. "You should see me flip a pancake." He smiled at her.

Astoria did not smile back. She continued kneading her dough, keeping one eye closely on Hermione - who was still helping Scorpius - at all times. Her son laughed as she said something to him, seeming to really be enjoying himself.

Hermione returned a short while later to check on her pudding. She watched as Astoria put her first two loaves of bread into the oven, now working on some sort of garlic rolls.

"Do you need any help with that?" asked Hermione.

Astoria gave her a sour look, but then she noticed Scorpius watching her from across the room. "You can get the next batch of rolls ready while I finish up these ones," she said, handing over a pan while beginning to brush the top of her rolls with butter.

Hermione was just about to grab a handful of dough when she paused. Astoria watched as she suddenly lifted one hand to the other, slipping a ring off of her finger. A very familiar ring.

Astoria went white, staring at that ring while Hermione looked around, trying to find a place to put it. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

Hermione looked back at her, following her eyes until she was also looking at the ring. "This?" she said. "It was a …" She looked over her shoulder at Draco.

"You gave her that?" asked Astoria, moving her increasingly angry eyes to Draco. "Your grandmother's ring. The one you had always said meant too much to give to me."

Draco looked at Hermione, both of them tensing before he finally glanced at Astoria and said, "Yes, I gave it to her." There was no point in lying. She knew the ring, and he had never really thought about her recognizing it.

Astoria's nostrils flared. She began to slowly shake her head. "You know what. No."

Draco pursed his brow. "No?"

" No , Draco!" she suddenly shouted, tearing off the apron she had put on and slamming it down on the counter. "I have had enough of this … this shit !"

Everyone in the kitchen's heads popped up.

"You already love your new girlfriend more than you ever loved me in twenty years? Fine, whatever! I don't bloody care anymore! But you ." She moved her flaming eyes to Hermione. "You always being so bloody perfect! Your niece telling me how you were fixing Christmas dinner. The future bloody Minister, turning down famous authors and professional Quidditch players to date my ex-husband! To move in on my family!"

Hermione gulped. "I … I'm not -"

"Mother, stop!" shouted Scorpius, hurrying forward. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Astoria shook her head. "I get it, Scorpius. I do. She is the perfect mother and I never will be. I don't work, I don't cook, I don't know how to teach you to chop a carrot, but I gave up my family for you. I have been disowned by my parents only to have someone else move in on my life! And I'm done with it."

Scorpius went white. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm done, Scorpius," she said, turning and walking towards the door. "Enjoy your wedding, but I won't be part of it."

"Mum!" shouted Scorpius, tears in his eyes as he ran after her. "Mum, wait!"

Everyone else just stared after them, the entire kitchen completely silent. What in the name of Merlin had just happened?