Saving Each Other - Dramione

Christmas

When I was little I would always wake up really early on Christmas morning because I was so excited for the presents and the food. This year, thanks to the dreamless sleep potion, I wake up to my dad knocking on my door. 

'Hermione, your mother wants you to help her with the trifle!'

'I'll be down in a minute,' I mumble.

I find a red shirt to wear with my jeans and I pin a gold bow in my hair in an attempt to at least look a little more Christmassy.  It's hard not to think about the fact that this time last year Harry and I were camping in the woods on our own. 

The pile of presents that I had wrapped last night is sitting neatly in the corner, ready to take to the burrow.  We had all agreed to wait and open our presents together this year. 

I go down to the kitchen to find Mum icing the two Christmas cakes she'd been working on for months.

'Hermione! There you are!' She is looking slightly flustered which is unusual. 'I need you to start assembling the trifle. Everything should be there, it just needs to be put together.'

'It's okay I can do this super quickly,' I say, pulling out my wand.

I see my mum flinch ever so slightly but she just says 'are you sure it'll still taste the same?'

'Yes Mum it'll taste exactly the same.'  I had thought that her distrust of magic would go away a few days or weeks after I restored her memory but it didn't.  It's only really been a couple of comments, and the fact that she'll always keep an eye on my wand if I have it out, but I can tell she's uncomfortable. To be honest I can't really blame her.

I take out the massive trifle bowl that Mum bought specially, and start assembling the layers.

'I hope this is going to be enough,' Mum worries.  'There's just going to be so many people.'

'I'm sure it'll be fine Mum. We've got all those cookies you made as well remember?'

When we all agreed that everyone would bring something to contribute to Christmas lunch so it wasn't all on Mrs Weasley, Mum had insisted that she could take care of dessert.  She had always been good at baking but she'd hadn't quite realised at the time just how many people she'd be cooking for.

***

A few hours later, Dad pulls up the car in front of the Burrow.  I hadn't even bothered to suggest they use the floo. If I had apparated I wouldn't have had to balance this trifle on my lap the whole way but I didn't want to fight about it.

As we get out of the car, Mr. Weasley, Harry and Ginny come out to greet us.  Mr. Weasley quickly says hello to my mother and me but then immediately starts firing questions at my dad about his car.

'Come on, let's get inside,' Ginny says.  'It's freezing and they could be out here a while.' 

Mum and I follow Harry and Ginny into the cosy Burrow.  All of the Weasleys are already assembled here. Fleur and Percy are deep in discussion on the couch while George is reading Christmas jokes to Bill by the window.  Charlie is helping Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen but Ron is sitting alone in an armchair, staring into the fireplace with a glass of what I assume is firewhiskey in his hands.

Mum and I take the deserts through to the kitchen.

'Those look lovely Mary!' Mrs. Weasley exclaims as my mum places the Christmas cakes on the counter. 'I hope you didn't go to too much trouble.  I know they can take ages when you do them the muggle way.'

'Oh no it was nothing,' Mum smiles, pretending she hadn't spend more than a month fussing over them.

'I just wanted to say thank you for including Draco and his mother Mrs. Weasley,' I say.  'You didn't have to do that and I just really appreciate it.'

'I'm not going to pretend that it was an entirely popular decision but I trust your judgment Hermione.  When I heard that it was just going to be him and his mother I knew I had to invite them.  Christmas is a time to be together. I've made all of them promise to be nice, even Ron.'

'I'm sure he's not too happy about this.'

'He's just going through some stuff at the moment but he'll get past it.  I think he mostly just misses you and Harry.'

'We miss him too.'

Mrs. Weasley's attention is pulled back to her cooking by a timer going off so I start making my way around, greeting the rest of the Weasleys. I'm wondering what I'll do when I get to Ron to minimise the awkwardness but when I turn around he's disappeared.

I try to ignore it and instead I focus on adding my presents to the already enormous pile under the tree.

'The Malfoys are here!' Someone announces just as I am checking my bag to make sure I haven't left anything in there.

I jump up and rush to the door to greet them. Harry and Ginny follow me.

Draco and his mum are walking slowly towards the house. Mrs. Malfoy looks slightly nervous but Draco's face breaks into a smile when he sees me.

'It's lovely to see you again Mrs. Malfoy,' I say as they approach us.

'Likewise Miss. Granger, Miss. Weasley, Mr Potter' she says stiffly.

'It was very nice of Mrs. Weasley to invite us,' Draco adds.

'She is always happy to have more people around at Christmas,' Ginny replies. Come in and I'll introduce you to everyone.

Mrs. Malfoy follows Ginny and Harry into the house but I stay back with Draco. Once the door has closed behind the he leans down to kiss me.

'I missed you,' he says.

'It's only been a few days,' I laugh.

'Yeah but I still missed you.'

'I'm sure this will be very different to the Christmases you're used to,' I comment, thinking of the huge, ornate rooms of Malfoy manor compared to the modest living room with its mismatched furniture that all the Weasleys are currently crammed into.

'Hermione, the only time I would see my parents on Christmas Day was for lunch when I would sit in the middle of a long table with my father at on end and my mother at the other. We would barely talk and the rest of the day I just had to amuse myself. I am very much hoping that this will be different from the Christmases I'm used to.'

'In that case I can promise you it will be.'

A/n thank you so much for 200k reads!  I can't tell you happy I am.  I remember getting excited when I had 100 reads. I know that updates have been super slow but I want to assure you that I am still writing and I definitely haven't abandoned this story. Thank you for all your love and support.