Chapter Fourteen: Days of Yuletide Cheer.

"So, where did you spend your night? Because your house elves told me that you weren't in your room when I asked to escort you to the train this morning," Scorpius asked me as we watched the younger kids play Exploding Snap. I blushed and gnawed on my lower lip.

"I fell asleep in front of the fire in Gryffindor when James took me up there to spend the night with the girls," I mumbled.

"What is it with you and falling asleep at the fire in chairs?" he chuckled.

"Potter promised to wake me," I told him. "The prick just left me there all night, and Lucy woke me up just in time to run back to the dorm, throw on some clothes, make sure everything was on its way to the train, and go grab some breakfast before we had to get in the carriages.

"You need to get into the habit of saying his first name on break," Albus said as he walked into the compartment. "We are going to be around family, and Potter could be Dad, Mum, Lily, me, or James. Although, the tone you use when referring to my brother might give away which one of us you are wanting."

"He insulted our House," I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a bag of goodies for the kids. I tossed the bag in the middle of the now empty space before they dealt another hand. "I have some pride in the fact I am in Slytherin."

"Sweets!" Lucy squealed as she tore open the bag and grabbed a couple of snack cakes. Colin bolted up from the bench seat, out of the dead sleep, and snapped his head around.

"Food?" he asked. Hugo flung a snack cake at him, which was caught in one hand and rewarded with a salute before Colin laid back and enjoyed the spoils.

"He can't help it you know," Scorpius said. "He grew up knowing what happened with the war, being the first born of the The Boy Who Lived, and being told stories from all of the people who were involved about people who came from there. When Albus came along, the frenzy had died down enough that when they went out in public the stories were told only once in a blue moon."

"When I was sorted into Slytherin, he didn't speak to me for weeks," Albus told me with a prod in my side. "So, you aren't the only one. Now get up and do your rounds."

"Ugggg," I groaned and stood. "Why do I have to make rounds? Can't I just hide here and fake it?"

"Now Emmy, you have to make sure no one is doing anything stupid," Colin droned from his bench. "And confiscate all of the stuff they are not supposed to have so we can use it when we get back."

"Is that where you guys get all of your joke gear?" I asked Albus and Scorpius, who blinked at me innocently. "You are supposed to turn those into Filch!"

"But, that would be a waste of perfectly good stuff," Albus replied. "However, since you are going to be such a stickler about it, James is the one that is collecting all of the stuff you confiscate from the other kids."

"I hate you so much right now," I told him with a playful glare before sliding out of the compartment door. I walked down the car to the very end, where Potter and Vickie were camped out. Poking my head in the door, I was surprised to see the large pile of things that I knew were on the list of things the kids weren't supposed to have. "Wow, people aren't gonna be happy with you two."

"If the other Prefects were like Fred and Rose, we would be able to give everything back to them," Vickie said with a roll of her eyes and pointing to the small stack that had labels on them. "You will label them, right?"

"Yea, I like being able to walk through the halls of Hogwarts without being hit with a color bomb, so labeling will happen," I told her with a grimace.

"Great, take these labels," Potter said as he tossed me a stack of cards and some twine. "Tell them to tap the cards and say their name. They are spelled to write down what the person says. You get the front car with Louis. Have fun since that is where most of the younger kids are."

"Thanks," I drawled, tucking the cards into my pockets and shutting the door. I made my way through the cars, occasionally stopping to confiscate some joke product or another. They were actually pretty cool about it once I told them they could have them back once we hit the train platform. I had a large bag full of toys by the time I hit the front car, and met up with Louis. He also had a bag in his hand, but he seemed angry at something.

"How the hell do they get so much in the last week and a half?" he growled, opening up his bag to show he had an extendibility charm on it. The amount that he had confiscated was staggering.

"At least you are labeling them so they can have them back," I said, grabbing the back of a First Year kid and pointing to the color bomb he had in his hand. He gave it over with a shrug, and tried to run off. Louis grabbed him and opened his palm.

"Hand over the rest Finnigan," Louis said.

"Aw, come on Louis," the kid whined.

"You will get them back if you fill out this card," I told him, holding out one of the cards that Potter gave me. "Tap the card and say your name." Finnegan made a face, but did as he was told and emptied his pockets. Louis and I wrapped all of the paraphernalia and dropped it labeled into my bag.

"Uncle George needs to stop shipping this stuff right before break," Louis sighed. "It would make our lives so much easier on the train rides back to the house."

"It would make our lives easier if he didn't ship it to Hogwarts at all," I joked while peeking into a compartment to see a bunch of kids asleep. "You seen Goyle?"

"He and Peakes have been with their cronies in one of the middle cars," Louis told me as he walked to the front of the car and peaked in both of the doors. With a nod he and I made our way toward the back of the car to see more compartments with sleeping kids. "You know, the excitement usually doesn't wear them out this bad. In fact, they all are sleeping so well, I wonder if Albus had anything to do with it."

"Weren't Albus and Martin assigned the next car?" I asked.

"Ummm, let's go check on them shall we?" he replied with a slight wince. We made it into the next car, and breathed a sigh of relief when we saw that most of the kids were awake and playing games in the cars or reading books. Martin peeked out of the last compartment and raised an eyebrow.

"Just checking to make sure that you didn't drug the kids in this car," I told him.

"What gave you that idea?" Rose asked, coming out of the same compartment as Martin with swollen lips. I figured it would be prudent to not say anything about that and winked in Martin's direction, who blushed and ducked his head back into the compartment.

"The entire first car is asleep," I told her.

"Oh, that was my fault," she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"What?" Louis replied with wide shocked eyes.

"I got tired of them running around and screaming while I was trying to study for my O.W.L.s so I gave them some knock out candy," she told us.

"Rose! You're a Prefect for Merlin's sake!" I shouted.

"Shhhhh," she said, motioning toward the other compartments in the car. She moved closer to us and continued in almost a whisper, "Look, the other kids were complaining too about the First Years being rambunctious. They were almost destructive in their behavior, so I took some of the knock out candy from the confiscated stash, with the Heads' permission, and spelled it to look like some other candies so the Firsties would take it. They will be awake in plenty of time for them to look refreshed for the parents, and if not I have the spray to wake them all up. I promise it is all good."

"Fine," Louis ground out. "Since you knocked them out you can Martin can quit making kissy face and keep track of these two cars while Emmy and I go back to the family compartment and relax the rest of the trip." He took my arm and guided me past a now sputtering Rose. We walked through most of the cars, checking in with the other Prefects as we went to make sure that they weren't having any problems with could help with and taking their bags of confiscated candy before reporting back to Potter and Vickie. Louis took my bag and gently shoved me back in the direction toward the family compartment. "I want to have some words with my lovely cousin and his counterpart. Why don't you head back and see how the family is faring?"

"Sure," I said. I really wanted to hear what he had to say to Potter, but the hunger in my stomach overpowered my need to hear Potter get ripped a new one. Plus, I had a feeling it would be in French which I had no idea how to speak. When I entered the compartment, Albus and Scorpius were using their wands to tell the kids a story with sparkles like Mr. Potter did for my sister in the hospital. I crept in, slid next to Scorpius, and leaned against the wall on the end of the bench. It was an amusing story, about some sort of pony on an adventure. The story had to be something from the magical world because I had never heard of it before. By the time that they were done, the sky had grown dark and the snow was falling heavily.

"It is almost time for us to get our things together," Scorpius told the kids. "Remember, if you forget anything on the train they will not let you have it back and Sprout will not mail it to you unless it is something important."

"I cannot wait to sleep in my bed," Albus groaned with a stretch.

"Gwen hasn't met you yet," I said to Scorpius as I gathered up all of the cards and other random toys in the floor of the compartment. "I wonder how she will react to you."

"I have been writing her little letters, just to say hi and things," he told me, which wasn't a surprise to me. Mr. Malfoy had been sending me letters once, sometimes twice a week, to inform me about how things were going at home and to ask how things were going at school. He sent me a really nice leather bound Herbology notebook for me to write my research in when I won the second game of the year. I was quite happy with how I could use it in correlation with studying for my N.E.W.T.S. in Potions. Gwen had always been a pretty friendly kid, so I wasn't really too concerned about how she would react to Scorpius the first time. He also looked so much like his dad I was pretty sure things would go smoothly.

"Hey, you guys know when you will be by The Burrow to see Gran?" Albus asked. "She wants to know when she can make your favorite foods."

"Mum will send her an owl to let her know when we might be by," Scorpius told him as Lucy came up to him and reached into his shirt pocket, taking a piece of what looked like peppermint out before scampering over to her bag. "We have such a large amount of things we need to do that I am not sure how often we can see her."

"Well, at least stop by a couple times? She is always happy to see you," Albus told us. I felt the train slowing down, and the commotion intensified tenfold inside and outside the compartment. Kids were rushing down the hall, and clamoring toward the doors.

"I better get out there and help keep them calm so we don't have a stampede getting off the train," Albus sighed as he slid out the door. His voice boomed over the herd of students, without the assistance of magic, and the noise quieted to a dull roar. I snickered and helped Lucy and Alice gather the random bits of cards while Scorpius prodded a still sleeping Colin to try and wake him up. Colin finally woke when the train came to a full stop that dumped him off his seat. We all had a good laugh, including him, and waited until the crowd in the hallway thinned out before heading toward the exit. I stepped off the train to see parents popping the kids and trunks out of sight, people running through the barrier, and loving reunions between parents and their kids. Our group scattered in several directions while we headed over to where Astoria and my sister were waiting.

"SISSY!" Gwen giggled as she did a flying leap into my arms. I hugged her tight, feeling how she put on some healthy weight before setting her in front of me. Her blue eyes shined up at me as I looked her over.

"You been having fun today?" I asked as Scorpius gave his mom a hug.

"Aunt Story took me to see Santa!" she squealed, jumping up and down. "We went to the mall, and the pet store, and Sissy I saw a tree with pretty lights on it! Aunt Story said we can get one too!"

"We can?" I asked with a playfully shocked tone.

"And we will also get to go play with other little kids too!" she told me before wrapping her arms around my neck in a chokehold hug. Scorpius and Astoria stood patiently as I held her. I had never felt any of my siblings be this excited over something like this.

"Hey Gwenie, I have someone who wants to meet you," I told her softly, disentangling her from me and turning her toward Scoripus. "This is your cousin, Scorpius."

"Hi Gwen," he said, kneeling down from his considerable height to get more on her level. "I hope you and I can get along, because I have several games I bet you don't know how to play."

"Yea?" she replied softly, leaning back against me.

"And I promise to play them with you both so I can learn too," I told her.

"You will?" she asked me with her head tipped back to look up at me.

"I don't know many magic games either," I told her.

"Okay," she replied with a grin as she grabbed my hand. "We can go home now? Uncle Draco said we have lots to do to get ready for Christmas."

"Yes, we can go home now," Astoria told us. "And if we hurry we can stop in the way home to pick up something to eat."

"Huzzah!" Scorpius said as he picked up Gwen and spun her around. Astoria just laughed and waved her wand toward our trunks.

"I take that as a yes. Come on, let's go."

"What should I wear to the Burrow?" I asked Scorpius a couple days later as we were getting ready to head out to the home where the Weasley adults grew up.

"Anything, Gran don't care," Scorpius told me as he moved a disc across the board of some sort of game that Gwen couldn't get enough of. I didn't know what it was called, but the glitter that came from the pieces when they reached the end of the board spews all over and covers the players for an hour before dissolving.

"I don't want to disappoint," I said, shifting from one food to the other.

"What you are wearing is fine," he replied with a grimace as glitter spewed from Gwen's game piece, much to her screeching delight.

"Are you losing on purpose?" I asked him, brushing glitter off my jeans.

"No, she is actually winning on her own merit, which goes to show how good I am at games like this," Scorpius sighed and motioned for the nearby house elf to clean up the mess. "I should know better than to play against her. Maybe I should move up to chess with her."

"Wizarding chess is pretty awesome," I told him as I scooped up my glitter covered sister and put her on my hip. I made a face at the glitter now covering my white button up shirt and poked Gwen's nose. "You ready to meet some of the most awesome people in the whole world?"

"Yes yes yes yes yes," she giggled, running her hand through her black hair and rubbing glitter all over my face.

"I see that the three of you forgot that I wanted you all to be sparkling clean for our visit today," Astoria said from the top of the stairs.

"We were clean, but we are sparkling now Mum," Scorpius quipped as he stood.

"I can see the sparkling," Astoria sighed as she walked down the stairs and doused the fire with her wand. "It is a good thing Molly has a sense of humor and raised so many kids herself. I don't know what I would do if she didn't. Now, into the fire with you two while I take Miss Gwendolyn there in a side by side."

"I hate Floo," I grumbled as Astoria took my sister from me and held her close, ignoring the glitter now getting all over her clothes.

"It is the best way for most people to travel darling," Astoria told me. "It is also easier for young witches and wizards to get around. Now, tell the fire to take you to The Burrow and that will be that." Gwen and Astoria disappeared with a pop, leaving Scorpius and I in the foyer.

"Seriously? Couldn't she just do that for the both of us?" I whined with a stomp of my foot. Yes, it was babyish but I didn't care. I really hated Floo travel.

"Well, I will go first to catch you," Scorpius mused, stepping into the fireplace and a handful of Floo Powder. "The Burrow!" he shouted clearly before tossing down the powder that engulfed him in green flames. I stood there in front of the fireplace, debating on going anyway because I was so nervous about meeting the elder Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I picked up a handful of Floo Powder, and stood right on the edge of the fireplace.

"You know, it works best when you are standing in the fireplace if you want to Floo somewhere," I heard Mr. Malfoy say from his study door. He had a hand full of official looking paperwork and spectacles on the end of his nose. His mouth set in a smile as he leaned on the doorframe. "Apparition takes a lot out of someone from long distances, and The Burrow for three side by sides would be exhausting for Astoria. If you want to travel before your seventeenth birthday then you need to get used to using Floo Network."

"I just hate how it feels," I grumbled.

"Just one more year, and you can apparate till you pass out from exhaustion," he chuckled.

"Why aren't you going with us?" I asked him, hopeful that he might go ahead and come with us so I didn't have to use the Floo. I saw his face change slightly, and he quit leaning against the doorframe.

"Best get going before they worry about you," he said softly as he backed into his office and closed the door quietly. I stared at the door for a minute, wondering what I said wrong, before stepping into the fireplace and throwing down the powder after shouting my destination. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as the spinning sensation lasted for what seemed like forever before dumping me right into Scorpius.

"Took you long enough," he said, helping me brush the soot off my pants.

"Where's Gwen?" I asked as I looked around the comfortable looking living room.

"Alice and Lucy took her to Aunt Ginny's old room to play with some sort of toy they found in a box somewhere," Scorpius replied with a grin. "Albus, Colin, Louis, and I are going to be upstairs in Uncle George's old room with the presents we bought for everyone else so we can wrap them without the little ones seeing. Rose and Lily went out with Mum and the rest of the women. I figured you would want to stay here with us so you can wrangle Hugo, Dom, and Roxanne when they are done playing in the garden."

"Sam gonna come soon?"

"She is already in the kitchen with Gran," he told me with a gentle shove. "Why don't you see if they need any help with the baking?"

"I can try I suppose," I replied and headed in the direction of the kitchen. The first thing that I saw was a long table filled with various looking Christmas cookies and cakes. It was astounding how much was baked, but with as many grandkids as Mrs. Weasley had she probably was playing it safe.

"I see you made it," Samantha said as she delivered another plate of treats to the table. She took off her apron and handed it to me. "You can take over for me while I go out to the garden with the others."

"But I-"

"You should be fine," Samantha said as she grabbed her coat and dashed back into the kitchen. I stood there with the apron in my hand, and wondered exactly what she left me with. The noises from the kitchen, as well as the smells, made me curious, so I put on the apron and walked into the kitchen. There was an older woman with red hair bustling next to the oven, muttering to herself and waving her wand at the frosting bag that was decorating cupcakes.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Weasley," I said softly, not wanting to disturb her if she was in the middle of something important. She turned towards me, and instantly smiled.

"You must be Emmy," she said in a kind booming voice as she came over and wrapped me in a hug. She then stepped back and looked me up and down. "My you are a tiny little thing aren't you? That's all right. It suits you."

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," I replied.

"Call me Gran dear," she told me as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me over to a bowl full of cookie dough. "I want you to tell me all about yourself while you place a small amount of dough on the baking sheets for me. See how I have started it? Now, I want to thank you for the lovely thank you note that you sent for your birthday gifts by the way. You rarely see such pretty calligraphy in young people these days."

"I picked it up here and there," I mumbled while dropping some dough on the baking sheet. It was a bit of a hobby I did while stuck in the house with my siblings with a book Maggie got me when I was twelve for Christmas. "Do you always make this much Mrs. Weasley?"

"Gran," she gently reminded me as she took the baking sheet off the stove top and sliding a blank baking sheet in its place. "I always make enough for all of you to take some home and to send to some members of the community who don't have families."

"That is awful nice of you," I said, continuing the job she gave me on the fresh pan. "Are you sure it isn't too much trouble to have us all in the house while you are trying to get stuff done?"

"I enjoy having a house full of children running about," she told me as she used her wand to float the now iced cupcakes to the almost full table. "Make things more like they used to be when my kids were young and at home."

"I mean," I said with a blush coming to my cheeks, "I just…we aren't really your family so I don't really-"

"Emmaline," she said softly, grabbing my now shaking hands in hers and turning me to face her. "You are as much one of my grandkids now as Scorpius is. I warn you, that means I will send Howlers when you misbehave, scold you when I catch you doing something you aren't supposed to, and occasionally spoiling you rotten when you deserve it."

"Oh," I breathed before taking my lower lip in my mouth and gnawing on it.

"I expect to see more of you in the future, and get more letters," she told me as she took my chin in her hand and kissed my forehead. "So, let's get to work on dinner hmm? I have a lovely piece of roast for our dinner, and you can help me chop up some of the vegetables to go into the pot while I recruit one of the others from the garden-"A loud pop interrupted us, and a crashing thud in the living room sent Mrs. Weasley and I rushing to see what the commotion was about. I skidded to a halt and my jaw dropped at the sight. Ed was laying across the trunk, one of his eyes swollen shut and blood dripping out his nose. He was clutching his side and gasping, trying not to cry as he started to babble.

"I wasn't sure this was gonna work," he gasped. "I mean, I have seen pictures of this place from Albus's room, but I thought you had to actually know the place you were going to go before you could apparate. I got my license yesterday. Thought it would be a while till I would have to use it. And then Dad started into me today, talking about how I wasn't associating with the right kind of people, pureblood or not, and one thing lead to another. I locked him in the pantry and ran upstairs. I started packing, figuring I could run off somewhere in a taxi or catch the Knight Bus-"

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Albus roared from the stairs, where all of the kids in the house gathered out of curiosity from what my best guess would be the noise that Ed made.

"Ed?" Lucy whimpered.

"Get them out of sight!" Potter roared as he came through the front door.

"Sorry, I didn't think…I just needed a place to run," Ed mumbled while Albus and Scorpius ushered the kids away. Colin just stared at Ed, white as a sheet, before Albus grabbed his arm and dragged him up the stairs.

"It's all right mate, come on," Potter said as he hauled Ed off the top of the trunk and flung one of Ed's arms over his shoulder.

"He wasn't going to stop beating me, he just kept taking anything he could get his hands on to me James," Ed cried as they went up the stairs.

"Put him in our Uncle Charlie's old room!" Mrs. Weasley called out.

"I knew he would find me if I ran to Scor's," I heard him say, more muffled now that the two of them were on the first floor. "I had to give your dad time to figure out something. I am seventeen, but Dad won't let me go. You know he won't…" His voice drifted off as a door shut. Mrs. Weasley quickly went into the kitchen and came back out with a tote full of stuff.

"Owl your Uncles," she called out of me as she ran up the stairs.

"Which one?" I called back, looking around the living room for some parchment and quills.

"ALL OF THEM!" she roared. I popped open Ed's trunk, rummaging through the objects and finding parchment and a quill with ink. I then dash out to the yard, and yelled at the people in the garden that I needed some help figuring out exactly how many uncles I needed to owl.

"Ed, your trust fund is still intact, thank Merlin," Mr. Malfoy told us at dinner a couple nights later. Ed was going to stay with us since he only needed a place to stay until he graduated with his N.E.W.T.S. and it made more sense for him to have a room of his own. Astoria joked that any more kids in the house and they would have to commission an addition onto the house or buy the one next door that came up for sale a couple weeks ago. Mr. Malfoy sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Luckily, your grandparents set it up in such a way that any money that went into the account cannot be legally accessed by anyone but you unless it could be proven that it was for some living expense for school or some such. Once you hit seventeen your dad lost what little control he had over it, which I am surprised that you were able to have that much money left if your father was able to take money out of it."

"Me too," Ed said. His face was still covered in bruises, and Victoire set his nose that day when the entire Weasley/Potter adult males descended onto the Burrow that afternoon. A day that was supposed to be filled with fun and games was instead spent scrambling to figure out how they were going to keep Ed away from his father until he went back to Hogwarts. The little ones did get to have some fun when we booted them out to the garden and they got Samantha to help them kick out the garden gnomes while the rest of us tried to keep calm about the whole situation.

"And, your mother is worried sick that you took some of her nice things in your trunk and wants them back," Mr. Malfoy told him.

"I will eat the Sorting Hat before I let my mum have my great-grandfather's jeweler's box," Ed roared, sending Gwen scurrying toward the kitchen where Astoria was observing the making of dinner. "He wanted me to have his watch and other sundries before he died, and I am not giving them back because she wants to pawn them for purse money!"

"Which I assured her that you had nothing that wasn't rightfully yours to begin with," Mr. Malfoy told him.

"Ed, I want to know how long you have been getting beat on," Scorpius said. "You could have come to us sooner."

"I figured that it would be all right as long as I could hold out until the end of the year, then I could just figure out something for the next couple months after, " he told us.

"Well, stay here as long as you like," Mr. Malfoy told him as he stood. "Just make yourself at home, and I am now going to do some paperwork in my office so the next few days I can actually spend with my family."

"So, what are the plans for the afternoon," Ed groaned as he stood and stretched his arms above his head.

"Sam is coming over later to help me dress for the affair that I have to go to this evening," I told him, making a face. "The Herbology Society wants me to make an appearance and give a speech. I wish they didn't want me to, but I have to go. They are giving me a lot of money to present my findings on-"

"We know we know," the boys said in unison. I had been practicing my speech on them for the last day and a half. Even my sister was probably tired of hearing about it by now.

"Hey, you got a second Em?" Ed asked me, making a follow me motion as he walked out into the foyer.

"Sure," I said as I picked up my mug of coffee and drained it. I followed him to the fireplace in the foyer where Ed was standing with a handful of Floo Powder.

"I have a four tickets for the muggle performance of The Nutcracker tomorrow, and Scorpius already told me he doesn't want to go, so I was wondering if you and Gwen would like to go," he asked me.

"Yes! I have always wanted to see it and I'm sure Gwen would love it," I told him.

"Good, because I don't want them to go to waste," he chuckled before stepping in the fireplace.

"Who is the fourth ticket going to?" I asked, so I could prepare myself for who might be in the seat next to me.

"I am on my way so ask the person now," Ed replied before throwing down the Floo Powder and shouting "The Burrow".

"Where's Ed?" Gwen asked, her arms full of cookies and standing in the doorway to the dining room.

"He went visit Gran Weasley," I told her. "Why don't we take those cookies back to the kitchen and then you can help Sam and I get me ready for my event this evening."

"Yea," she said as she turned on her heel and ran back to the kitchen, leaving a trail of cookies in her wake. I shook my head with a smile and followed her while the house elves picked up the dropped cookies in her wake.

"This is appropriate attire for the theater?" I asked Astoria while looking in the mirror at a semi-formal dark blue gown. It was similar to the design I wore for the Christmas Dance, but it didn't have the silver all in the less fluffy skirt or on the bodice. There were a couple of shiny beads on the bodice that looked suspiciously like sapphires, but I didn't ask Astoria if they were real or not. I didn't want the responsibility if something happened to them.

"I assure you, that is what you need to wear in box seats," she told me as she zipped up the almost identical blue dress on Gwen, just with sleeves and shorter in the skirt. "Your uncle and I will do a side-by-side with the two of you to the designated place for the occasion. Apparently, there are several other people from the magical community that are choosing to attend this presentation of The Nutcracker. This company must have some impressive skills."

"Will it be pretty?" Gwen asked with breathless excitement. Astoria used one of those sleeping blankets to get her to take a nap this afternoon to give all of us in the household some peace since she had been talking non-stop when she found out she was going out with us.

"I have seen this particular ballet, and I can assure you it is pretty," Mr. Malfoy said from outside my door. "Is it safe for me to come in?"

"Yes," Astoria called out while putting on Gwen's shoes. Mr. Malfoy walked in, dressed in a tuxedo much to my shock.

"Why are you dressed up so nice?" I asked. It really shouldn't be that much of a surprise to see him like that. Over the last couple weeks he had been attending various functions with and without Astoria, so tonight probably wasn't any different.

"I decided to go with you," he told us.

"Yay!" Gwen shouted and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his knees. Mr. Malfoy ran his hand over her hair with a smile.

"That was nice of you," I said.

"That dress is very nice Emmaline," Mr. Malfoy said, taking Gwen's hand and letting her lead him out of the room.

"Thank you," I called out after him. I heard Gwen shrieking in delight as I heard Ed complimenting her on her outfit while Astoria did one more adjustment to my hair. We pulled it back into a ponytail-like hairstyle, but all of my curls were lose so it was like a pile of curls on the back of my head in a bun shape. There was a circlet of sapphires and diamonds around the bun shape holding it up that I told Astoria I didn't want. She just responded with what I learned was a "mom look" and I just let her put it in my hair and left it alone.

"There now," Astoria said with a smile in the mirror above my head. "You look adorable."

"I hope Gwen has a good time," I told her.

"I am sure she will," Astoria chuckled with a wave of her wand toward my wardrobe. A lacy black shawl flew into her hand and she draped it around my shoulders. "Now, let's go join everyone else in the foyer, and hope that Gwen has at least kept herself in some semblance of order for the theater."

"I am pretty sure Ed and Mr. Malfoy have her in hand," I told her, adjusting my shawl before leaving my room. We walked down the hall and I stood at the top of the stairs, watching as Mr. Malfoy settled a deep blue cloak over her shoulders.

"Aren't you a vision?" Ed said with a grin at the bottom of the stairs, what I assumed was my cloak draped over his arm. His dress robes brought out the green in his normally hazel eyes, and I was shocked to see that he was even holding what I assumed was a purse that matched my dress. "I hope you won't be offended by going with a ruffian like myself to the theater."

"I suppose you shall have to do," I sighed sarcastically as I walked down the stairs to come standing a couple steps up so I stood eye to eye with him. "After all, you are the one who paid for the tickets."

"Ah. At least you told me the truth," Ed sighed. With a flourish, he settled the cape on his arm over my shoulders and buckled it. "Besides, truth be told, you aren't really my type."

"Oh?" I replied, trying to not be hurt since I had developed a bit of a crush on him much to my embarrassment.

"Yes, my dear girl," he told me with a smirk. "And if you play a good girl over the next couple of weeks, I just might tell you who exactly my type is."

"I would rather like to see that," I said with a grin.

"Can we go?" Gwen chirped as she tugged on my cloak.

"Yes, we can go," Mr. Malfoy said as he picked her up. "We will take my car to the theater instead of apparition. I rather have car to carry Gwen since she is still not used to popping in and out places."

"Good plan sir," I told him with a thumbs up.

"Off we go then," Ed said, turning and cocking her arm out to the side. I took it, and walked with him to the front door. Mr. Malfoy had the car pulled around and Scorpius was standing there to take Gwen from Mr. Malfoy's arm. As Scorpius settled Gwen into the booster seat, which was a task considering her clothing was going to be in the way as well as her being excited, and Mr. Malfoy went around on the other side to open the door for me.

"Why thank you good sir," I said with a fake English accent and a curtsey. All three of the males winced. "What? Not a proper curtsey?"

"Please never speak with a fake accent every again," Scorpius replied as he shut the door on Gwen's side of the car.

"You sound so terrible," Ed chuckled.

"Oh," I breathed, feeling my cheeks turn red.

"I promise you will eventually pick it up," Mr. Malfoy said softly. I went over to the other side of the car and slid in like Astoria told me to do. It was how a proper young lady was supposed to sit.

"Buckle up for me," Mr. Malfoy said softly as he closed the door. He slid in the right side of the car, which still messed me up after watching people drive on the left side of the car most of my life. Ed slid in seat in front of me, and Mr. Malfoy waved to Astoria who watched us drive away. Gwen babbled the whole way there while I watched the scenery pass by my window. It was amazing how the city looked with all of the lights up and other decorations. We even drove by Buckingham Palace, which Gwen shrieked was the biggest house she had ever seen. By the time we reached the theater, my ears were ringing from all of her shouting over the "shiny" that she saw as we drove by.

"We are going to valet the car, so everyone be prepared to get out," Mr. Malfoy told us as we turned down a street and seemed to get in a line of cars. "Are you ready?"

"Yes sir," I replied. My nerves got to me a bit as I saw people in far less fancy clothing than I was in go in the theatre doors, but it was assuring to also see people dressed in far fancier clothing than I was wearing when we drew closer. There were women in full ball gowns and some men wearing top hats with coats that had tails.

"Let me get the door Em," Ed told me softly when we approached the valet. I waited patiently as Ed unbuckled and got out of the car. I unbuckled myself, and was shocked that Ed was wearing gloves when the door opened and he held his hand out of me.

"Fancy," I said as I placed my hand in his, allowing him to help me from the car. It felt nice to be treated this way, since I hadn't had a real date ever. Even if I was there with a friend, I was very happy with the fact that he was treating me like a date and not just a friend he took to the theatre to not waste a ticket. He quickly led me to the sidewalk before a car could hit me with slush from the road.

"Is the fifth member of our little party here yet?" Mr. Malfoy asked while he helped Gwen out of the car and straightened her clothes up.

"Fifth?" I asked. "I thought you were the one who took the ticket that was spare."

"I bought another one when I was told you were going to attend," Mr. Malfoy explained with a smile as Gwen took his hand and led him to the doors.

"Come along Miss Emmy," Ed chuckled as he put my hand in the crook of his arm. "You don't want to miss seeing Gwen meeting her date."

"What do you mean date?" I asked, carefully stepping around the other patrons of the theatre. The two of us made it through the door and through the crowd to the bottom of the stairs where Mr. Malfoy and Gwen were waiting.

"Our seats are up here," Mr. Malfoy said as he gave over four tickets to an usher that was standing discreetly to the side of the stairs. A man came over and took my cape off, draping it over his arm before taking the coats and capes of the others. He handed a ticket to Mr. Malfoy and disappeared into the crowd. The four of us tromped up the stairs, me on Ed's arm and Gwen's little hand in Mr. Malfoy's. It was touching to see him so fatherly toward Gwen. She was babbling questions to him and he answered her with a smile on his face that I had never seen on my own father's face when my siblings would ask him questions.

"And keep your eyes in front," Ed chuckled softly as we reached the top of the stairs. I watched as we made our way down the hallway, and was shocked to see James Potter standing there.

"Hello Gwen," he said softly, kneeling down in his tux to be at least some semblance of on her level. He reached into his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a very small corsage made of little violets. "I was wondering if you would mind terrible if you would wear this for me." Gwen cowered away from him and tried to hide behind Mr. Malfoy. Potter wasn't put off that easily, and leaned over with a smile so he could see her face. "Oh come on now. You remember me surely? We played together at Gran's."

"Garden gnomes," Gwen said shyly.

"Yes, we played toss the garden gnomes," he chuckled with a slight scoot forward. "Would you please be my date? It would be a great honor if you said yes." Gwen creeped out from behind Mr. Malfoy, and held out her hand. Potter's smile grew into a grin, sliding the corsage onto her wrist. He stood up, and held out his hand for her to take. Mr. Malfoy let go of her hand, and Gwen took Potter's eagerly.

"Potter? Really?" I whispered to Ed as we watched Potter lead Gwen through the door.

"He wanted to spend some time with her," Ed whispered back as we followed Mr. Malfoy into the box.

"Couldn't you get Albus or Colin to come with us instead?" I sighed.

"Do you really want to try to keep Albus and Colin entertained during a ballet?" Ed laughed. I thought about it a moment, and shook my head.

"No, I don't," I replied pensively while I let Ed lead me to my seat. The box was the closest to the stage, and the seats were cushiony. Potter let her have the seat that was closest to the edge to she could see as much of the stage as possible. Mr. Malfoy sat in one of the seats behind us, and I took the seat next to Potter while Ed sat on the other side of me.

"This is supposed to be a rather nice performance," Potter said to me.

"I have read about this ballet," I told him as Ed dumped a program in my lap. "Well, there are muggles in the audience," Ed sighed, "and the stage elements are technically magic, so I suppose we shall have more fun watching the audience marvel then we will the show James."

"May I ask who is in the box this evening?" I heard a woman's voice say. I turned in my seat, and watched as Mr. Malfoy stood to help an older woman into the seat beside his.

"Mrs. Longbottom, we have a couple of my nieces with their dates this evening," Mr. Malfoy told her gently as he introduced us. Her eyes lit up at the mention of Potter, and she began to gush about how much she loved his father.

"Is she a relative of Professor Longbottom's?" I whispered to Ed while watching Potter politely converse with Mrs. Longbottom.

"His grandmother," Ed whispered back. "She took care of him after his parents were…injured by Death Eaters."

"Oh," I breathed. I buried my face in my program and tried to ignore the Mrs. Longbottom's voice. It was only a few minutes before the lights in the theatre darkened, and the voices quieted. My eyes were glued to the stage as ballerinas began to spin and jump around. It took a very trained eye to see the magic the performers were using that qualified as "stage tricks" to the normal muggle eyes. I was so into the ballet that it was a surprise when intermission came around.

"Sissy," Gwen whimpered as she tugged on my arm. Her bouncing indicated that she needed to use the restroom, and I excused the both of us to use the facilities located in the hallway near our box. It was a quick trip, and back in the box we went. Mrs. Longbottom was the only one in the box when we entered, her eyes moving across the crowd in a slow back and forth motion with her hands resting on her cane. Before I could stop her, Gwen bounced up to her with one of her famous million watt grins. "Hi," Gwen chirped.

"Why hello," Mrs. Longbottom replied with a smile as her gaze settled on my little sister.

"I'm Gwendolyn," my sister said while curtseying, which I had no idea why she did it. "I am Uncle Draco's special princess. My sister is Emmy, and she is also his special princess. And we are living with them because my parents went away. And they bought me this dress!"

"It is a very nice dress," Mrs. Longbottom said.
"I brought you a snack Gwen," Potter said quietly as he came up behind me. He took her hand and gently led her away from Mrs. Longbottom. I carefully inched toward Mrs. Longbottom and smiled at her.

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom. It is a pleasure to meet you," I told her with my right hand held out. Mrs. Longbottom took and shook it with a grin.

"Miss Moren, I am delighted to meet such a talented young woman," she replied. "I must say, you are a tiny little thing aren't you?"

"Yea," I said, my cheeks turning warm.

"My son has told me about you," Mrs. Longbottom told me as she withdrew her hand and placed it on top of her cane. "He said that you have a natural affinity to Herbology, much like himself."

"I do have a knack for it," I replied.

"I will say that it is nice to see a female excel in a particular field that males usually excel in," Mrs. Longbottom sniffed.

"Thank you ma'am," I told her as Ed came back into the box.

"I have a couple of snacks for you, and a drink or two," he told me with a gesture to my seat while handing off a box of something to Mrs. Longbottom. "Mrs. Longbottom, Uncle Draco said that you liked these."

"Why I haven't had these in years," she chortled in appreciation as she opened the box just as the lights began to flicker.

"Best sit down for the other half of the performance," Mr. Malfoy said quietly while closing the door to the box. "People have a tendency to get miffed if people aren't respectful of a performance."

"Right," Ed replied with a gentle shove toward my seat. "We don't want to piss off the important people." We sat down for the second half of the performance while Gwen stood and munched on her box of snacks. Once the lights dimmed, Potter somehow got her to sit in her seat before the curtains rose on the stage. I watched without a care enjoying the snacks and ballet, and barely noticed when Potter leaned over about twenty minutes in with his hand on mine.

"Your sister has fallen asleep," he whispered with a point to Gwen, slumped down in her seat with her mouth wide open and eyes closed.

"It is way past her bedtime," I sighed, smiling at the sight of her snack box spilled on the seat.

"It is rude to talk in the theatre," Mr. Malfoy chuckled softly behind us. We separated, but Potter kept his hand on mine. I tried to pull it away, but his hand quickly engulfed mine. My eye were glued to the stage and my body rigid as I tried to forget that he was holding my hand hostage. The performance was luckily so engrossing it made that part simple, until he started to occasionally run his thumb lightly over my palm in a circular motion. I would watch a few minutes, feel a brush of his thumb, watch a few minutes, and feel him brush a circle again. It wasn't annoying, which surprised me, just uncomfortable with Mr. Malfoy behind us. I didn't know what he would say or think about it.

The ballet ended with all the fanfare I always thought ballets ended with when other people described the performances, and Potter let go of my hand so all of us could applaud the curtain calls. People started to file out, and Mr. Malfoy picked up the sleeping Gwen.

"Astoria will have fits that she missed the end of the play," Mrs. Longbottom groused with a shake of her cane.

"We will have to see if there are any matinee performances," Mr. Malfoy replied, carefully adjusting Gwen in his arms. "However, I think that I need to get all of the children home before Astoria rings my neck for having them out so late."

"It is rather late," Mrs. Longbottom admitted with a sniff. She stood, and shook out her skirts. "I must be off. Give my regards to your parents James."

"I will Auntie Longbottom," Potter told her just before she apparated out of the box.

"Best go see if we can get to the valet before everyone else," Ed said, shrugging so his tux jacket was straighter on him.

"I will walk with you," Potter told us as he walked over and opened the box door. Mr. Malfoy walked out with Gwen in his arms first, followed by Ed and I. It was fairly easy to make our way down the stairs. Ed took the paper that Mr. Malfoy held out, and handed it to an usher.

"I see we aren't the only ones that were able to attend this particular performance," I heard Goyle's voice say somewhere to my left. I looked over just in time to see Mrs. Goyle and her son break through the crowd.

"Lovely to see you both," Mr. Malfoy replied while trying to put the cloak the usher handed him over a sleeping Gwen.

"We tried to get to the box to see you," Mrs. Goyle told us with a pout. "However, the security told us that we had to have a ticket in order to get up to the boxes. It was a disappointment to learn we would not be able to watch the performance with you."

"Perhaps I may take you to see a movie or play this week Emmy," Goyle said, smiling in what he probably thought was supposed to be friendly. It looked more like he was grimacing to me.

"She has a busy week ahead Greg," Potter replied as he stepped between us. "Christmas is this week, and you and I both know how many engagements the Malfoys are required to attend right before the holidays. Perhaps you should wait for the holidays to be over and when it slows down."

"You will send an owl if you have an opening in your schedule?" Goyle asked while Ed settled my cape over my shoulders.

"If I have a cancellation, I will make sure you are aware," I replied, taking Potter's arm without thinking and letting him walk me to the door. I felt Ed walking behind me as Mr. Malfoy with Gwen in his arms walked on the other side, effectively making it impossible for Goyle to walk with us to the car without looking like the creeper he was.

Author's Note: Don't hate me! I have been moving and trying to get my life in order. I love all of you and hope that you love this too! As always, reviews are welcome and I am looking for a beta if you are interested.