Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Roses in December

Christmas seemed to arrive suddenly that year.

It was as though one minute, Draco was waving goodbye to Scorpius back in September as he prepared to board the Hogwarts Express to begin his sixth year at Hogwarts (with Astoria reminding their son to write to them as often as possible), and now, although it only felt like moments later, he was back at King's Cross station, with the crisp winter snow falling steadily outside, and his son was due to arrive home for the Christmas holidays.

Hand-in-hand with Astoria, Draco headed towards the barrier that would take them both through to platform nine and three-quarters.

His wife had not-so-subtly tried to hint that maybe they shouldn't go through the barrier this time; that maybe they should wait outside the station and meet Scorpius there before they went for their traditional evening of strolling around Diagon Alley and sharing food and drink at the Leaky Cauldron; because maybe Scorpius was getting too old to be constantly under the watchful eyes of his parents whenever he came home for the holidays; and maybe Scorpius would rather have more time on his own to talk to his friends on the platform; but Draco hadn't been able to bring himself to agree with her.

He was the first to admit that he had always been protective and perhaps over-cautious when it came to his son, although he was sure that most other parents who had lived through a similar atmosphere of uncertainty and hostility after the Battle of Hogwarts would also have gone out of their way to ensure that their children were always safe and protected.

However, his wish to always be standing on the platform whenever his son came back from Hogwarts was about so much more than over-protectiveness; even though the majority of the wizarding world seemed to expect Draco to be cold and distant when it came to being a parent (following a pure-blood and a Malfoy family tradition), the truth was that Draco loved spending time with his son.

He always felt happy when he knew that Scorpius would be back home for holidays; he felt a rush of pride every time Scorpius achieved good marks in his exams; he enjoyed taking Scorpius to watch games of Quidditch (even though Draco and his parents were no longer welcome to sit in the Minister's Box); and he even enjoyed taking Scorpius to the shops in Diagon Alley every summer and Christmas before they went to eat at the Leaky Cauldron.

He also knew that he wouldn't be able to do this for much longer; in less than two years, Scorpius's Hogwarts years would be over, and he would then be an adult with his own career in the wizarding world, and perhaps he would have a whole separate life of his own.

Soon, Draco and Astoria would no longer be travelling to King's Cross at the start of every school year, or helping Scorpius to prepare for a new term at Hogwarts.

Draco wanted to make the experience last for as long as he could; he wanted to witness as many happy moments as possible for the rest of his son's school years; he wanted to appreciate the look of happiness on Scorpius's face as he talked about all of the fun events that had happened at school. After all, it was a form of happiness that Draco had never experienced first-hand back when he was a Hogwarts student.

Besides, Scorpius had been acting rather…strangely lately, in Draco's opinion.

Of course, his only son had always been fairly shy and quiet, and there was an awkwardness to him when he was among large crowds or groups of strangers, and he definitely lacked the confidence (or arrogance, as a lot of witches and wizards called it) that Draco had possessed in his youth, before the horrors of the war and its aftermath had caused him to rethink a lot of his behaviour; yet there had been something else, something different about Scorpius's personality over the summer holidays that Draco couldn't quite explain, and Draco found that he was worrying about him even more than usual.

Scorpius had spent most of the summer walking around the Manor in silence, looking like he was deep in thought, or daydreaming and staring morosely out of his bedroom window.

He had also taken to drawing pictures of flowers all over his rolls of parchment when he was supposed to be doing his homework, which was certainly out of character for Scorpius, as it was usually rather difficult to distract him when he had essays to write, with Scorpius often studying to the point of obsession when he was preparing for tests or exams.

Therefore, Draco was feeling even more reluctant than usual to leave Scorpius alone for too long if something really was troubling him, and he wondered if his behaviour on platform nine and three-quarters with the other Hogwarts students might shed some light on the situation.

The second they walked through the barrier and the Hogwarts Express was in sight, Draco started looking around the platform for Scorpius, trying his best to see clearly through the steady flow of steam that was still coming from the train.

He had never liked the thought of his son being out of sight for too long (even though he was sure that Scorpius was now more than capable of taking care of himself), and today was no exception.

Astoria squeezed his hand and looked at him with her usual reassuring look, trying to ease the unspoken tension, silently reminding him that everything would be okay.

"He's probably still on the train, like most of the other students," she whispered, and Draco nodded in agreement, trying not to let his concern show in his facial expression.

At the very least, these moments on platform nine and three-quarters were nowhere near as bad as they had once been, especially during Scorpius's first couple of years at Hogwarts, when memories of the war were still strong, and tensions had still been running high in the wizarding world, especially when it came to attitudes about former Death Eaters.

While they waited, Draco looked around at the other parents and Hogwarts students on the platform. Throughout Scorpius's early years at Hogwarts, this had been more a defence mechanism than out of curiosity, as he had always paid attention to who was standing close to him; which families were throwing angry glares in his direction; which ones could potentially start any arguments with him; who could be a threat.

Now, times had definitely changed, because the few families that actually noticed his presence waved or nodded politely, and, to Draco's relief, they weren't just 'Slytherin' families, but also parents and grandparents of students from other Hogwarts houses.

He knew that really, he had Scorpius to thank for the gradual change in attitudes towards the Malfoy family, as Scorpius seemed to get on fairly well with most of the Hogwarts students, in spite of his shyness, and Draco would always be grateful to his son for easing some of the tension and hostility aimed at pure-blood families.

He then recognised a few familiar faces, like Teddy and Victoire Lupin, who smiled and said hello as they walked past, a young child in Victoire's arms.

Then Lily Luna skipped past with a wave and a grin as she headed in the Lupins' direction, closely followed by Lorcan and Lysander Scamander.

James Potter also swaggered past with his usual gang of friends in tow, pausing his discussion about Quidditch so that he could say hello.

A few years ago, it would have been unheard of for any members of the Potter family or their close friends to even acknowledge him; now, the younger members greeted Draco and Astoria like old friends.

Next, Albus Potter walked past, looking a lot more uncomfortable than his older brother among the crowd, mumbling something about how Scorpius was still on the train and promising that he would be out in a couple of minutes.

Draco couldn't help but notice that Albus sounded even more anxious than usual, and his head was bowed as though he had something to hide. It was almost unbelievable, at least to Draco, that he now knew Albus Potter's behaviour traits so well as to suspect that there was something dubious about his mannerisms today.

Draco was distracted from Albus Potter when a few of the former Slytherins came over to talk to him and Astoria. It was almost a relief, to have the Slytherins here, as they had all acted as a form of support and protection for each other over the years.

They fell into a polite but easy conversation, discussing their families and the most recent parties they had attended, with Astoria making vague plans to invite a few of them to dinner at the Manor.

However, Draco was stopped mid-sentence in his conversation when he heard a loud cry of, "Rose!" from behind him.

He jumped and turned around slowly, noticing Ronald Weasley, who was standing as though frozen to the spot with his mouth open, his ears bright red and his eyes wide. He was pointing at something in the distance with a shaking hand.

Then, as though everything was happening in slow motion, the steam cleared, Draco turned back around with a confused frown, and a couple of people in the distance gradually came into focus.

Suddenly, Draco worked out the exact reason why Weasley looked so shocked.

There was Scorpius, standing further down the platform, close to the end train compartment. But he wasn't alone. His arms were wrapped tightly around Rose Weasley, and the two of them were kissing.

Kissing as though nobody was watching. Kissing as though they weren't from two rival families who had traded bitter words and accusations for years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Kissing as though Draco's father hadn't clearly told his grandson years ago that he would be disappointed if he ended up with a Potter or a Weasley. Kissing as though they didn't even care anyway, as though families and blood purity and rivalries no longer mattered.

Draco stayed still, not knowing what to do, what to think, what to say, not knowing how to process the scene playing out in front of him.

The only other presence that he was aware of was Astoria's, who held his hand and whispered frantically, "Please, Draco; please don't make a scene…"

He wasn't surprised that Astoria expected him to be angry or shocked, or perhaps to start shouting or arguing with the Weasleys. After all, the kiss might have seemed like nothing important to other wizarding families-it might have been written off as typical teenage behaviour, something to laugh about, something that simply merited an exasperated roll of the eyes from the parents; but Draco knew that the fact that the girl Scorpius was kissing was a Weasley meant that it was so much more than all of that.

This seemingly innocent moment could potentially change his family's life and the course of his future, for ever.

"Rose, what in Merlin's name are you playing at?" Weasley shouted, finding his voice again, even if his voice sounded a lot more high-pitched than usual.

"For heaven's sake, Ronald!"

Next, Draco heard the anxious cry of Hermione Weasley, just before Weasley started running in the direction of his daughter and her apparent new boyfriend, with his wife taking off after him, still shouting something about staying calm.

He then noticed Ginevra Potter, who seemed to appear on the platform from out of nowhere, running after her brother and her sister-in-law.

"You stay here, Draco," Astoria instructed him, her voice shaking. "I'll handle this."

With that, she followed Ginevra and headed in Scorpius's direction, her steps a lot more tentative than those of the Weasleys'.

Draco didn't need telling twice. He might have looked for any excuse to cause trouble back at Hogwarts, but nowadays, after learning a few very harsh lessons in the years that followed the war, it was almost second nature for him to stay away from arguments and conflict. Almost.

Moreover, in spite of his own personal feelings of animosity towards Rose Weasley's father (feelings which, if he was being honest, were nowhere near as negative as they had once been), he knew that Scorpius would get upset if Draco did anything to embarrass him in public, and he was certain that Astoria would handle the situation with a lot more tact and decorum than he ever could.

Anyway, the Malfoys now had the attention of every family on platform nine and three-quarters, and that in itself was embarrassing enough.

Draco remained still, watching Rose and Scorpius spring apart as the adults approached; watching Ronald Weasley as he practically jumped up and down and his arms flailed wildly; watching the women trying to talk calmly; watching Astoria shuffle nervously, as though she didn't really know what to say for the best; watching Rose glare at her father as Scorpius looked down at the floor; watching Weasley throw his head in his hands in apparent disbelief before Ginvevra snapped and told her older brother to shut up.

He wondered if he should be angry. Not at Scorpius, but at the situation, which would inevitably bring him even closer to the Weasleys and the Potters.

But perhaps surprisingly, the angry feelings just weren't there.

He could barely even feel a sense of surprise, as the whole thing seemed so obvious now, when he thought about it...

Scorpius drawing pictures of rose-like flowers all summer; Scorpius talking about Rosie Weasley at every opportunity when he was home at the Manor, going on and on about how intelligent she was, how brilliant a friend she was, how good a dancer she had been at the most recent Hogwarts Ball, how much he liked her hair...with Astoria raising her eyebrows at Draco every single time, giving him the look which conveyed that she knew something he didn't. Which was hardly surprising, in Draco's opinion, given that he had never really experienced genuine romances as a teenager, meaning that he was still rather clueless when it came to matters of the heart.

Rose and Scorpius had even worn matching red Weasley jumpers last Christmas for Merlin's sake, as though their knitted clothing was somehow conspiring against Draco, setting him up for a good dose of karma after years of tormenting the Weasley family.

It was as though all of this had been planned somehow, like it was inevitable, or some twisted turn of fate.

"Oh no! Wait until your father hears about this!"

Draco was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the words, words that sounded like they were spoken with a heavy tone of amusement, sarcasm and a sense of smugness.

He knew exactly who had just spoken them without even having to look; he knew after seeing his wife running down the platform a few minutes ago that he'd have to be around here somewhere, but still he glanced over his shoulder to see the unmistakable jet black hair, glasses, green eyes and scar of Harry Potter, who was walking slowly towards him with an annoying grin on his face, stopping when he was standing right by Draco's side.

At Draco's glare, Potter's grin widened.

"Really, Potter?" Draco couldn't help sneering. After all, old habits died hard. "How long did it take you to come up with that one?"

Yet there was no genuine anger behind his words now, and the comeback lacked Draco's usual venom. It was almost as though the two of them were sharing a joke, or an amusing memory. It was as though they no longer despised each other.

As concerned as he had felt when he caught Scorpius kissing Rose Weasley a few minutes ago, Draco was now struggling to suppress a grin, feeling almost relieved that this could all be turned into a joke.

At Draco's comment, Potter grinned again.

"Er…for about six years, from the moment Ron told Rose not to marry Scorpius Malfoy…"

As he finished speaking, Potter was no longer trying to hide his laughter.

Draco knew that he should get annoyed and offer another insult in return, something to stop Potter's laughter, but strangely, he found that his half-hearted grin was now turning into a full smile.

Potter might have been laughing at him, but at the same time, for the very first time, it was like Draco was also laughing with him, like they were laughing at the absurdity of this situation together.

When Scorpius started at Hogwarts, and Draco first discovered, much to his dismay, that his son would be in the same year as two of the Potter and the Weasley children, this almost-friendly exchange and their shared amusement would have been impossible, completely unheard of.

At first, there had been nothing but tense silences and uncomfortable glances from across the platform.

After their children had started talking to one another on the Hogwarts Express, and then at school, and Scorpius, Rose and Albus had become friends, the silences between the adults gradually turned into polite greetings and formal conversations, still mixed in with awkward silences.

Eventually, as the children got older and the friendship between the three of them deepened, Draco had managed to share even longer conversations with Albus and Rose's parents, even going as far as writing letters to them to discuss where their children would be staying for the school holidays, and, every now and again, politely asking permission for Albus and Rose to come and stay with Scorpius at the Manor, or occasionally going to The Burrow to take Scorpius to visit his friends.

They had all had their difficult moments, of course, as the friendship between Albus, Rose and Scorpius hadn't magically healed the past tensions between the adults; there had been arguments, tense discussions and accusations about past behaviour.

In addition, Draco had been forced to share a lot of long discussions with Harry Potter, and sometimes with Ronald Weasley, where they talked in detail about events in the past that had happened during their Hogwarts years and during the Battle of Hogwarts, trying, based on their wives' advice, to find some sort of closure, some sort of compromise.

Draco highly doubted that he and the Potters and the Weasleys would ever become the best of friends, given everything that had happened back at Hogwarts, but their open discussions about the past had definitely helped, and over time, Draco had learnt to deal with all of the negativity, often reassuring himself that as difficult as things got, they would all eventually work things out between them and find ways to resolve any argument they had, if only for the sake of their children, and that the friendship between Albus, Rose and Scorpius would remain strong no matter what.

After a while, Draco had come to realise that spending time with them all was no longer as stressful or as tedious as it had once been.

However, his shared moment right now on the platform with Harry Potter was the first time that Draco actually felt like things were almost friendly and light-hearted between the two of them. He had a strange feeling that this almost-happy moment wouldn't be the last.

The two of them watched Rose and Scorpius and the others for a while, and Draco could see Harry Potter throwing him questioning glances out of the corner of his eye, as though silently wondering why Draco wasn't furious, why he wasn't going to react to the joke at his expense, or why he wasn't running towards the potential argument, ready to voice his disapproval of his son's behaviour.

In a way, Draco was asking himself the same questions, but in many other ways, there was something calming about not responding to the situation with anger and instead just standing there next to Harry Potter without feeling the need to argue or get defensive, the two of them being almost friendly, and finally accepting, after years of Harry Potter and the Weasleys playing such an important role in so many aspects of Draco's past and present, that perhaps it was inevitable that they would also play a significant role in his future, too. It was as though all of their lives had always been magically interwoven, and always would be.

Draco was brought back to the reality of the situation when he noticed his son walking back towards him, hand-in-hand with Rose, with the adults following close behind the new couple.

He felt himself tense up, already preparing for a possible argument or the accusations that were sure to follow.

Still Potter grinned like the whole situation was hilarious, which helped Draco to feel an odd sense of reassurance that everything would be all right.

"I'm so sorry, Father," Scorpius whispered, as soon as he was within earshot.

Draco noticed that Scorpius's face was flushed, as though he was embarrassed to have caused a scene and attracted attention.

Albus, Lily Luna and Rose's brother Hugo found them all among the crowd and moved to stand close to Scorpius and Rose, as though they were getting ready to protect them.

Draco was still no expert on finding the right thing to say or taking part in intense, emotional moments, but his reassuring nod of the head and a casual wave of his hand, as though Scorpius had done nothing to offend him, appeared to be enough, as Scorpius seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Then he grinned happily, and Rose and Albus also managed a smile.

Weasley glared at Draco accusingly as he approached.

"This is all your fault," he muttered, pointing in Draco's direction. Annoyingly, Weasley still assumed that everything was somehow Draco's fault.

Draco folded his arms and glared back.

"I'm sure opinions will vary on that one, Weasley," he sighed.

Because it wasn't as though Draco had desperately wanted his family to be linked with the Potters and the Weasleys for the rest of his and Astoria's lives. It wasn't as though Draco didn't already see enough of them all. And it definitely wasn't as though Draco was going to relish the opportunity of potentially sharing grandparent duties with Ronald Weasley in the future.

He couldn't help but shudder as that particular 'grandparent' image came into his head. He hadn't even thought about that one, until now.

However, after at least five years of previous experience of classic Ronald Weasley arguments, he had a feeling that Weasley would come around to the idea eventually, and that a lot of his anger was for show, or a spur-the-moment reaction, a reaction that the rest of the wizarding world expected.

It almost wasn't necessary for Rose to snap, "For heaven's sake, Dad!" at her father, or for Hermione Weasley to warn him to calm down again, or for Astoria to glare at Draco warningly.

Draco had experienced all of this before during some of his previous arguments with Weasley, and he decided that he would offer to buy him and his wife a few drinks, at some point over the holidays, as a subtle peace offering, in the hope that this gesture might go some way in helping the situation.

The situation would just take some getting used to, for all of them.

They all stood staring at one another for a while, as though uncertain what they would do next, where they would all go from here.

"Er…" Ginevra was the first one to bravely attempt to break the silence. "We were all planning on getting something to eat at the Leaky Cauldron later. Do you want to come with us?" She sounded rather uncertain as she aimed the question at Draco, Astoria and Scorpius.

Annoyingly, both Scorpius and Astoria looked at Draco almost pleadingly, as though they could think of nothing more incredible than spending their free time sitting at a table with The Boy Who Lived and his family and friends (and probably the Lupins as well).

It was as though Astoria was thrilled with the way that this had all worked out; as though Draco would personally be spoiling their fun if he refused to go.

They apparently hadn't realised yet that this seemingly casual lunch was probably going to turn into a detailed discussion about how they were going to deal with everything now, in light of very recent developments.

"Fine," Draco sighed eventually, deciding that even if he was going to go along with this, he wasn't going to let the Malfoy side down and act all enthusiastic about it. "I suppose we might as well, given that we were going to go there anyway…"

Scorpius grinned, as though this was some sort of victory, and Draco looked from him to Rose, noticing that they were still holding hands.

In many ways, the two of them were so similar, with their competitiveness and their obsessions with memorising textbooks and getting the best marks, and perhaps everybody had suspected that they would be rivals, once. But now they were here, together, united, the perfect complement to one another.

After a while, they all headed towards the barrier that would take them back out to the main station.

In a strange way, it seemed to make perfect sense, for all of them to be leaving platform nine and three-quarters together, especially when this was the place where they had all started, or started again, nineteen years after the end of the Battle of Hogwarts.

Draco was starting to feel like everything in his life started and finished with the Potters and the Weasleys-past, present and future-and it therefore seemed like a fitting ending to this particular chapter of his life.

As he approached the barrier with Harry Potter, Ronald and Hermione Weasley standing directly in front of him, Draco took a good look at the people around him and thought about his present.

His son was happy, much happier than Draco had ever been at Hogwarts. Scorpius was in love and he was accepted by the majority of the wizarding world. He had been able to choose his friendships and his girlfriend based on genuine emotions, rather than family connections.

His son didn't hate him or resent him, the way Draco had sometimes resented his own father over the years.

Astoria was by his side, supporting him through the good times and the bad.

Draco's father didn't hate him.

Harry Potter didn't hate him.

Ronald Weasley…well, Weasley probably still didn't like him very much, but Draco got the impression that he no longer hated him.

Perhaps he could even consider Potter and the Weasleys as his sort-of friends, one day.

There were no more trials to attend at the Ministry, no more nightmares, a lot less pain, a lot more hope for the future.

The war was over. It was really over, at long last.

For Draco, finally…

All was well.