Christmas Story 2018 - In the Spirit, part 10 (H/D)
Title: In the Spirit - Part 10
Author: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompt 4: Malfoy family ring (picture under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompt 2: snowball fight
Word Count: 1.5K
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: none
Summary: Harry had a rough Christmas last year, to say the least. But things are looking up this year, and he plans to embrace the season, even if he is still single.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge.
On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
OR on AO3
[Part 10]
In the Spirit - Part 10
Harry ducked out of the way of a rather large snowball and heard it connect, not with the door behind him, as he’d expected, but with a person. "What the --?"
He recognised the voice and turned to see Malfoy spluttering and wiping snow off his face. Then another snowball connected with the back of his head and he whipped around to see Teddy laughing at them both.
As he reached down to pick up more snow, he called back to Malfoy, "Well, are you just going to stand there spluttering or are you going to get him back for that?" Then he lobbed another ball of snow at his godson.
"Really, Potter? You think we ought to gang up on Teddy? The way I see it, he was aiming for you."
Then Harry felt a snowball hit him on the back of the neck. "Hey! That’s not fair, two against one."
Malfoy laughed.
"You mean like it wasn’t fair when you used your wand to dump a huge pile of snow on me?" Teddy called from behind their still as yet unfinished snowman.
"He did what?" Malfoy asked. "You mean like this?"
And before he could even pull out his wand, Harry found himself buried neck-deep in a mound of snow Malfoy had dumped on him. He suspected the neighbours all the way down the street could hear Teddy’s laughter now. Harry managed to get hold of his wand and banish the snow surrounding him, before conjuring up a whirlwind of snow and whisking Malfoy up in it, then tossing him across the lawn to land by Teddy’s now doubled-over form.
Malfoy jumped up and sent a wave of snow towards Harry who flicked his wand, turning it to ice.
"Cool!" Teddy said.
With another wave of his wand, Harry formed a dozen snowballs, pelting them at the other two, and Malfoy responded with a dozen of his own.
"Oof!"
They all turned to see Narcissa standing in the doorway and, like Draco before her, dripping with the remains of a snowball that had hit her on the cheek.
"Mother. So sorry. I-- We--" And with a wave of her wand, Harry’s ice wave disappeared and both he and Malfoy were whisked up into a cloud of snow and tossed unceremoniously into a hedge. And before they could react, she’d conjured snow ropes that bound them both to the bush.
"Theodore, you need to go inside and wash up for dinner." She shuffled him - giggling heartily at their predicament - into the house, then turned to Harry and Malfoy. "I wasn’t Slytherin’s snowball fight champion, three years running for nothing, gentlemen."
As she turned to follow Teddy into the house, Harry felt the ropes melt and he could move again. Laughing, he jumped up and offered his hand to Malfoy. "Your mom’s alright."
With only a slight hesitation, Malfoy took the proffered hand and allowed Harry to pull him up. "You should see her when she’s mad."
They made their way to the door, both feebly attempting to brush off the worst of the damage. Unable to resist, Harry reached up and ruffled Malfoy’s hair, shaking off some snow. Laughing at the shocked look on his face, Harry said, "You look better like this, all messy," and he went inside the house before Malfoy could retort.
"Ah, ah, ah. I don’t think so," Narcissa caught them about to walk into the dining room. "Dry yourselves off first before you sit down at the table." Her lips twitched at the sight of them. "Boys may be boys, but we will have a civilised meal." She nodded emphatically at Teddy who barely contained his giggles.
"Yes, Mother," Malfoy replied.
Harry chuckled. "Sure thing, Mrs Malfoy."
She rolled her eyes. "And do call me Narcissa, will you, Harry?"
Harry blinked. "Er ... sure ... Narcissa."
Harry got to his wand first and dried the both of them off with a quick wave. Malfoy’s hair hung dry but limply over his forehead and Harry couldn’t help but think he really did look better all mussed up.
The look of incredulity was even better. "I’m perfectly capable of drying myself off." He ran his hand through his hair only for it to fall back over his eye.
Harry laughed. "You’re welcome." And he walked into the dining room to join the others.
"Draco, you look different with your hair like that," Teddy said.
Andromeda studied her nephew and nodded. "I like it."
"See?" Narcissa said. She turned to Teddy. "I always tell him to leave that gel out."
"Mother, really."
"What? You have such nice hair. Why you pull it back with that gunk is beyond me."
Harry snorted. He agreed but didn’t dare say anything. Not with Malfoy glaring at him like that. He raised his hands in defeat, barely holding back laughter. "I didn’t say a word," he said. "I wouldn’t dare comment on someone else’s hair." He ran his hand through his own, now suddenly self-conscious.
"I should say not."
"Draco!" his mother said.
"It’s no problem, Mrs Malfoy." At her look, he corrected himself. "Narcissa. I’ve never been able to tame it. Family trait, I’m afraid." He rubbed the back of his head like he used to in school. Damn. He thought he’d managed to rid himself of that nervous habit.
"I have a couple of spells I could show you, if you’d like."
He wasn’t sure if she was serious, insulting him or just taking the mickey. When he caught the satisfied smirk on Malfoy’s face, he opted for serious. "Thanks, Mrs - Narcissa. I may take you up on that offer." Once more he ran his hand through his hair before tucking the offending hand under his leg.
Malfoy, perhaps equally uncomfortable with his own hair’s current state, ran his hand through his hair too.
"What’s that?" Teddy asked Malfoy, tapping his own finger. "Is that new?"
Malfoy looked down at his hand and removed the ring he had on his finger and passed it to Teddy. "No, it’s not new. It’s my family ring. See that? It’s an ‘M’ for Malfoy. And that’s our family crest. My father gave that to me when I turned seventeen."
"Oh, I thought it was good luck to give a watch," Harry said.
Malfoy looked at him curiously, as though he were some oddity. Harry was about to apologise for being rude ... or something ... when Malfoy said, "Yes, it is. I’m surprised you knew that."
"Mrs Weasley, Ron’s mom, told me."
"Ah, of course. Yes, it is customary to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age, but in some pureblood families a ring may also be bestowed upon him. My mother gave me a pocket watch - it’s reserved for more formal occasions, so I don’t have it with me now - and my father gave me this ring."
Glad he hadn’t, in fact, made some grave social etiquette mistake, Harry smiled. "That’s ... nice, actually." Again, Malfoy gave him that strange look. Narcissa smiled and nodded at him.
"Do you have one?" Teddy asked Harry, passing Malfoy’s ring to him.
"No." He took the ring from Teddy and looked at it, wondering if his father would have given him a Potter family ring, had he lived. "My father died when I was a baby. I don’t have anything like this from him." He handed it back to Malfoy, avoiding the other man’s eyes.
A couple of uncomfortable moments later, Teddy said, "Maybe Uncle Lucius can get a ring like Draco’s made for you, too."
Harry choked on the mouthful of water he’d just made the mistake of sipping. Malfoy looked horrified and Narcissa cleared her throat. Andromeda pressed her lips together in what looked like a concerted effort not to laugh. Once he recovered, Harry asked, "Why would your Uncle Lucius do something like that for me? He’s not my father." Thank Merlin.
"Because you’re family, silly."
Harry looked at Malfoy, but he was looking at Teddy. "Harry and I aren’t family," Malfoy said.
"Sure you are. You’re my mom’s cousin, which makes you my cousin, and Uncle Harry is my godfather."
"Well, yes, but --"
"And Uncle Harry’s godfather was Grandma and Aunt Narcissa’s cousin, right?" Andromeda nodded. "So he’s family twice over."
Malfoy smiled. "Well, I suppose that’s true, in a way. But he’s not a blood relative, at least not a close blood one."
"What do you mean, ‘not close’?" Harry asked.
"And Uncle Harry says we’re family, no matter about blood," Teddy added.
Narcissa smiled at Teddy. "Your Uncle Harry is correct. He is your family," she assured him, surprising both Harry and, if the look on Andromeda’s face was any indication, her sister as well. "But he’s not a Malfoy, even if--" She turned to Harry now "--somewhere back in our family tree, there may be a connection to the Potters."
"Well, now that’s settled," Andromeda said, putting an end to the decidedly awkward conversation, and leaving no room for more questions on the topic, "shall we eat?"
Part 11
Author: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompt 4: Malfoy family ring (picture under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompt 2: snowball fight
Word Count: 1.5K
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: none
Summary: Harry had a rough Christmas last year, to say the least. But things are looking up this year, and he plans to embrace the season, even if he is still single.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge.
On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
OR on AO3
[Part 10]
In the Spirit - Part 10
Harry ducked out of the way of a rather large snowball and heard it connect, not with the door behind him, as he’d expected, but with a person. "What the --?"
He recognised the voice and turned to see Malfoy spluttering and wiping snow off his face. Then another snowball connected with the back of his head and he whipped around to see Teddy laughing at them both.
As he reached down to pick up more snow, he called back to Malfoy, "Well, are you just going to stand there spluttering or are you going to get him back for that?" Then he lobbed another ball of snow at his godson.
"Really, Potter? You think we ought to gang up on Teddy? The way I see it, he was aiming for you."
Then Harry felt a snowball hit him on the back of the neck. "Hey! That’s not fair, two against one."
Malfoy laughed.
"You mean like it wasn’t fair when you used your wand to dump a huge pile of snow on me?" Teddy called from behind their still as yet unfinished snowman.
"He did what?" Malfoy asked. "You mean like this?"
And before he could even pull out his wand, Harry found himself buried neck-deep in a mound of snow Malfoy had dumped on him. He suspected the neighbours all the way down the street could hear Teddy’s laughter now. Harry managed to get hold of his wand and banish the snow surrounding him, before conjuring up a whirlwind of snow and whisking Malfoy up in it, then tossing him across the lawn to land by Teddy’s now doubled-over form.
Malfoy jumped up and sent a wave of snow towards Harry who flicked his wand, turning it to ice.
"Cool!" Teddy said.
With another wave of his wand, Harry formed a dozen snowballs, pelting them at the other two, and Malfoy responded with a dozen of his own.
"Oof!"
They all turned to see Narcissa standing in the doorway and, like Draco before her, dripping with the remains of a snowball that had hit her on the cheek.
"Mother. So sorry. I-- We--" And with a wave of her wand, Harry’s ice wave disappeared and both he and Malfoy were whisked up into a cloud of snow and tossed unceremoniously into a hedge. And before they could react, she’d conjured snow ropes that bound them both to the bush.
"Theodore, you need to go inside and wash up for dinner." She shuffled him - giggling heartily at their predicament - into the house, then turned to Harry and Malfoy. "I wasn’t Slytherin’s snowball fight champion, three years running for nothing, gentlemen."
As she turned to follow Teddy into the house, Harry felt the ropes melt and he could move again. Laughing, he jumped up and offered his hand to Malfoy. "Your mom’s alright."
With only a slight hesitation, Malfoy took the proffered hand and allowed Harry to pull him up. "You should see her when she’s mad."
They made their way to the door, both feebly attempting to brush off the worst of the damage. Unable to resist, Harry reached up and ruffled Malfoy’s hair, shaking off some snow. Laughing at the shocked look on his face, Harry said, "You look better like this, all messy," and he went inside the house before Malfoy could retort.
"Ah, ah, ah. I don’t think so," Narcissa caught them about to walk into the dining room. "Dry yourselves off first before you sit down at the table." Her lips twitched at the sight of them. "Boys may be boys, but we will have a civilised meal." She nodded emphatically at Teddy who barely contained his giggles.
"Yes, Mother," Malfoy replied.
Harry chuckled. "Sure thing, Mrs Malfoy."
She rolled her eyes. "And do call me Narcissa, will you, Harry?"
Harry blinked. "Er ... sure ... Narcissa."
Harry got to his wand first and dried the both of them off with a quick wave. Malfoy’s hair hung dry but limply over his forehead and Harry couldn’t help but think he really did look better all mussed up.
The look of incredulity was even better. "I’m perfectly capable of drying myself off." He ran his hand through his hair only for it to fall back over his eye.
Harry laughed. "You’re welcome." And he walked into the dining room to join the others.
"Draco, you look different with your hair like that," Teddy said.
Andromeda studied her nephew and nodded. "I like it."
"See?" Narcissa said. She turned to Teddy. "I always tell him to leave that gel out."
"Mother, really."
"What? You have such nice hair. Why you pull it back with that gunk is beyond me."
Harry snorted. He agreed but didn’t dare say anything. Not with Malfoy glaring at him like that. He raised his hands in defeat, barely holding back laughter. "I didn’t say a word," he said. "I wouldn’t dare comment on someone else’s hair." He ran his hand through his own, now suddenly self-conscious.
"I should say not."
"Draco!" his mother said.
"It’s no problem, Mrs Malfoy." At her look, he corrected himself. "Narcissa. I’ve never been able to tame it. Family trait, I’m afraid." He rubbed the back of his head like he used to in school. Damn. He thought he’d managed to rid himself of that nervous habit.
"I have a couple of spells I could show you, if you’d like."
He wasn’t sure if she was serious, insulting him or just taking the mickey. When he caught the satisfied smirk on Malfoy’s face, he opted for serious. "Thanks, Mrs - Narcissa. I may take you up on that offer." Once more he ran his hand through his hair before tucking the offending hand under his leg.
Malfoy, perhaps equally uncomfortable with his own hair’s current state, ran his hand through his hair too.
"What’s that?" Teddy asked Malfoy, tapping his own finger. "Is that new?"
Malfoy looked down at his hand and removed the ring he had on his finger and passed it to Teddy. "No, it’s not new. It’s my family ring. See that? It’s an ‘M’ for Malfoy. And that’s our family crest. My father gave that to me when I turned seventeen."
"Oh, I thought it was good luck to give a watch," Harry said.
Malfoy looked at him curiously, as though he were some oddity. Harry was about to apologise for being rude ... or something ... when Malfoy said, "Yes, it is. I’m surprised you knew that."
"Mrs Weasley, Ron’s mom, told me."
"Ah, of course. Yes, it is customary to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age, but in some pureblood families a ring may also be bestowed upon him. My mother gave me a pocket watch - it’s reserved for more formal occasions, so I don’t have it with me now - and my father gave me this ring."
Glad he hadn’t, in fact, made some grave social etiquette mistake, Harry smiled. "That’s ... nice, actually." Again, Malfoy gave him that strange look. Narcissa smiled and nodded at him.
"Do you have one?" Teddy asked Harry, passing Malfoy’s ring to him.
"No." He took the ring from Teddy and looked at it, wondering if his father would have given him a Potter family ring, had he lived. "My father died when I was a baby. I don’t have anything like this from him." He handed it back to Malfoy, avoiding the other man’s eyes.
A couple of uncomfortable moments later, Teddy said, "Maybe Uncle Lucius can get a ring like Draco’s made for you, too."
Harry choked on the mouthful of water he’d just made the mistake of sipping. Malfoy looked horrified and Narcissa cleared her throat. Andromeda pressed her lips together in what looked like a concerted effort not to laugh. Once he recovered, Harry asked, "Why would your Uncle Lucius do something like that for me? He’s not my father." Thank Merlin.
"Because you’re family, silly."
Harry looked at Malfoy, but he was looking at Teddy. "Harry and I aren’t family," Malfoy said.
"Sure you are. You’re my mom’s cousin, which makes you my cousin, and Uncle Harry is my godfather."
"Well, yes, but --"
"And Uncle Harry’s godfather was Grandma and Aunt Narcissa’s cousin, right?" Andromeda nodded. "So he’s family twice over."
Malfoy smiled. "Well, I suppose that’s true, in a way. But he’s not a blood relative, at least not a close blood one."
"What do you mean, ‘not close’?" Harry asked.
"And Uncle Harry says we’re family, no matter about blood," Teddy added.
Narcissa smiled at Teddy. "Your Uncle Harry is correct. He is your family," she assured him, surprising both Harry and, if the look on Andromeda’s face was any indication, her sister as well. "But he’s not a Malfoy, even if--" She turned to Harry now "--somewhere back in our family tree, there may be a connection to the Potters."
"Well, now that’s settled," Andromeda said, putting an end to the decidedly awkward conversation, and leaving no room for more questions on the topic, "shall we eat?"
Part 11