So, I wrote this Drinny Christmas fanfic last year and thought I might post it here.
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I saw Aunt Ginny kissing Santa Clause
Harry was truly desperate. He had a promise to keep. To his godson.
Eight months ago, Ron and his wife Natalie had managed to fulfil their dearest wish and adopt a child. Their son Benjamin was three years old and from the moment they met him, he held their whole hearts. The poor child had been given up by his birthparents for having magic and it was also the reason why he had remained unadopted until now. That poor boy had had such a bad start into life and was still very shy and timid.
But when he had heard his cousins Lizzy and Annie, George’s daughters, tell him about seeing Santa while they visited America, the little boys whole face lit up and he asked his parents if he would meet Santa, too. George’s wife Emma and Fred’s wife Marie had grown up together in America both practically being raised by Emma’s grandmother Elisabeth. The two friends had left America as soon as they finished school (and had shortly after met Fred and George), but the love for Elisabeth made them take frequent trips back there. And during the most recent visit, she had insisted to take all her great-grandbabies to take pictures with Santa. While Fred and Marie’s son Eddy and George’s and Emma’s son Jonny were still too small to appreciate the experience, the girl had talked of little else since.
And Harry had made the mistake to promise Benjamin that Santa would visit them on Christmas.
Harry had thought it would be easy. Just one of them had to dress up. Hermione, his fellow godparent, had however pointed out that while Benjamin might not understand it was one of them, the older children would most certainly do. He had wanted to convince Hermione’s fiancé Alex to do it, but they had already promised to join his family on a family vacation as Alex came from a muggle family as well as Hermione, sneaking away for a while wasn’t an option.
So, Harry had spent the day desperately visiting every single person he could think of. Sirius and Remus might have helped, but it was too close full moon. A time when Sirius never left Remus’ side.
Neville would have loved to help, but his wife was due to give birth to their son any day now, so he could leave her.
All this led to Harry standing in front of the office of one of the last people one would associate with Christmas cheer.
“Potter, will you just stand there all day or actually come in? I have other things to do, you know?”, came the voice of Draco Malfoy from the office.
Harry took a deep breath and marched in.
********
Draco almost burst into laughter after hearing this ridiculous proposition.
“Why on earth would I do that, Potter?”, he asked, not seriously expecting a reply.
Potter’s face grew from embarrassed to determined. “Because you owe me.”
Ah, there it was. Whenever Potter needed even the tiniest thing, he brought that up.
He wasn’t wrong, of course. Potter had spoke in Draco’s favour in his trial after Voldemort was defeated. It was probably the only reason Draco had not been sent to Azkaban and he was even allowed to keep his families fortune, which he had inherited after his father’s death in the last battle. He had even inherited his aunt’s fortune somehow, which he, of course, didn’t touch, but gave to Longbottom so he could use it for something good. And Draco had to admit he had really done well with it.
But all this support was not undeserved on his part. After seeing the horrors Voldemort’s minions had inflicted on the students in Hogwarts, he and a couple of his friends had discreetly started to help the other students. And he had also helped Potter find and destroy one of the horcruxes. That had to be good for something, right?
Still, every time Potter wanted something, he brought this up. And Draco was tired of it. That was ten years ago. He felt like he had really repaid his debt by now.
Just as Draco was about to tell Potter in a not so friendly tone that he was done with this “debt repayment” he caught a glimpse of someone walking past his office. Someone who always caught his eyes.
Instead of a vile refusal, Draco sighed in defeat. “I must admit I don’t understand why you didn’t ask one of the countless members of your fan club, that follow you around here.” Potter visibly flinched. Fair point, Draco also would never let any of the people that grovelled at his feet into his home.
“I will help you. But if I do, this is the last time you can use this ‘You owe me’ crap. This is it, understood?” Potter eagerly agreed and with a “You won’t regret it” and “I’ll owl you the details”, he quickly left Draco’s office.
He didn’t have to know Draco wasn’t doing it for him.
******
Harry was in the best possible mood as he made his way to the elevator.
“You’re in good spirits today. Did Jennifer give you a proper goodbye before she left to visit her family for the holidays?”, he heard a teasing voice next to him.
Harry laughed as he saw Ginny standing there.
In his sixth year, he had believed himself to be in love with her. When he had tried to kiss her, her reaction was to punch him and then laugh at him. And after a moment, Harry had laughed as well. It was quite an absurd situation after all. While he could admit that she was certainly an attractive woman, she was more like a sister to him, much like Hermione.
“Jennifer’s leaving tomorrow, so I’m still looking forward to my ‘proper goodbye’. What brings you here? You seem to be here more often as of late.”, he remarked as they stepped into the elevator together.
“Can’t I just be a good daughter and visit my dad at work? I don’t have that much to do during the Quidditch season break. And I can’t hang out with mum all day. As much as I love her, she is really driving me insane lately.”, Ginny complained. She was really agitated. Harry knew how much Molly was bothering Ginny about settling down and finding a husband. Ginny had only brought home two guys in the last ten years and both times it had gone terribly. So Harry really didn’t blame Ginny for not sharing details about her love life with her family, especially her mother.
****
Ginny was rolling her eyes at another of her mother’s tirades of being worried Ginny might end up alone.
It was Christmas Eve and Ginny was at her parents’ home along with Harry and Ron, Fred and George with their families. Percy and Bill and their families would join them the next day and Charlie would drop by tomorrow evening.
“Even Harry is in a happy relationship and ready to settle down.”, Molly exclaimed and turned to the man she had basically adopted as her son. Harry blushed. “We’ll see what the next year will bring.”
Damn, her brothers were all so not helpful. Ginny didn’t want to settle down at the moment.
She was at the peak of her career, finally team captain of the national team as well as the Holyhead Harpies. Holding the record for most goals in a game in world championships. And next tournament, she would take the record for most goals total in the world championship tournament.
What is more, she was perfectly happy with her life. Going out with her friends, enjoying time with her family, spoiling her ever growing number of nieces and nephews. Life was good. She wanted to settle down eventually, but she still had time. She was only 27! And she hoped she wouldn’t have to look for a guy to settle down with anymore. But of course, her mother didn’t know that last part.
“I’m so excited to see Santa.”, her wonderful sister in-law Natalie chimed in. Bless her, she was a good one. Though Natalie’s husband didn’t look happy at the mentioned. Ron at been furious when he heard who Harry had recruited as Santa. But his wife had quickly reprimanded him for it. Their son’s happiness was the most important thing and not holding onto old grudges, she had told him. To everyone’s surprise, Arthur had agreed with her and told everyone ‘What a fine young man’ Draco had become. When that hadn’t convinced Ron, Arthur had said that as a father it was his duty sometimes do things one might not be happy about. After a long list of examples, Ron was still not happy, but promised to behave.
Before anyone could add something to that, a knock at the door announced said man’s arrival.
Ginny watched with glee has her two nieces and three nephews took turns sitting on Santa’s lap. Emma and Natalie were busy taking photographs from every possible angle, much to Santa’s dismay. Fred whispered into Ron’s ear how he should simply enjoy his old enemy being humiliated in front of the whole family. That earned him a grin from Ron and an elbow into his side from his pregnant wife Marie.
But Ginny just stood there, impressed by how well Draco was taking the whole ideal and how sweet he was to the children. Especially with Benjamin who was very shy.
“What do you wish for this year, Benjamin”, he asked the little boy in a fake deep voice.
The little boy looked around to all his family members and was unable to speak.
“You can just whisper it into my ear if you want. I won’t tell anyone.”, Draco promised in a warm voice.
Benjamin considered it for a moment and then went to whisper something as well as he could with the white fluffy wig and beard on Santa’s head. Ginny saw Draco’s eyes water for a moment and flash the boy a smile. “I have no doubt at all that your wish will come true. An such a sweet boy as you will surely get many wonderful gifts as well.” Benjamin hugged Draco tightly before hopping of his lap and ran to his mother.
“I told them, he is a really good man.”, Ginny heard her father say while standing next to her.
“He is.”, she agreed curtly, not meeting her father’s eyes.
“Any woman would be lucky to have him. I’m sure he would take excellent care of anyone.”, he went on. Ginny looked at him in confusion, but he just chuckled lightly and went to see if Marie needed anything.
When Santa was taking his leave of the children, Molly ushered Ginny into the kitchen to take a basket of food out the back to Draco as a thank you. Her mother would never let anyone leave her house without food.
The children were all busy opening one present they were allowed to open this evening and their parents were all chatting about everything and nothing, so it wasn’t hard for Ginny to sneak out into the garden. And there was someone already waiting for her.
“You know, the beard really suits you.”, she teased him while he was practically ripping the fake beard and the wig off his head.
“Very funny!”, he said in a sarcastic tone. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
She chuckled at that as she presented the basket to him. “My mum packed all this for you. As a thank you for your help. And because she loves feeding people.”
Draco nodded. “That’s very nice of her. Though really not necessary at all.” He was sporting his proud face, as Ginny called it. Some prejudices were really drilled deep into one’s brain.
“Please. Don’t pretend you didn’t practically inhale the birthday cake she had sent to me. It wasn’t your poor house elves that ate it.”, she teased him, poking a finger into his chest.
He gently took her hand in his as his mask crumbled. “I didn’t say your mother wasn’t a great cook. You know full well I enjoy all the leftovers of her food you bring over to my place.”
For a moment, they just stood there and looked into each other’s eyes, countless emotions swirling in their gazes, their bodies filling with warmth, despite standing out in the cold winter air.
“I have to ask. What did Benjamin wish for?”, Ginny said, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
She knew she had to return inside soon even though she could stand out here with her boyfriend forever. Eight months they had been together now, though no one of her family knew that. Bringing home guys was already really rough for her but him? They would go insane.
But Ginny knew she had to eventually. And strangely, she wanted to.
Draco’s warm gaze turned to the hand he was holding. “I will not tell you. I promised him that it’s a secret.”
After giving him her most adorable pout, he added “but it was something very sweet and selfless. He’s a good kid. But don’t tell his father I said that. Don’t want him to get the impression I’ve gone soft.”
Ginny wanted to counter that he had, but she just opted for wrapping her arms around him.
“How did Harry even convince you to do it? I’m pretty sure my brothers made bets about that. I hope you didn’t let him use the ‘You owe me’ thing again.”
Draco was avoiding her gaze, concentrating on rubbing circles on her lower back where his hands were resting around her.
“Oh Draco, you can’t allow him to keep doing this. His requests get more ridiculous each time. It’s been ten years. At some point, it’s truly enough.”, she reprimanded him.
“In my defence, I told him this was the last time he could use that excuse. But it’s not the reason why I agreed. Maybe I just wanted to catch a glimpse at a certain someone. And give her something to smile about.”, he retorted, still avoiding her eyes.
Ginny’s heart warmed even more. She had offered to spend some time with him over Christmas, but he had insisted she should enjoy the time with her family as they rarely were all together these days. He was right about that of course. It still made her sad knowing he was all alone over the holidays. His mother had remarried a few years prior and was living in Paris with her husband and her young stepchildren. She had invited him, of course, but he had told his mother he didn’t want to spend Christmas around small children. In truth though, he always felt like he was disrupting her world when he visited her new family, reminding her of a past life and dark times. Ginny knew Narcissa wouldn’t have cared, but she also knew Draco loved his mother too much to do that. So he always met with his mother apart from her family. The one time Ginny had formally met Narcissa, not too long ago, she had looked at Ginny and told her she was hopeful that would change once she had grandchildren whenever that day would come. And Ginny had blushed at that, naturally.
“I can drop by later for a bit, if you want to.”, Ginny offered despite knowing he would refuse.
“I’m fine, darling. I’ve spent many holidays alone.” He must have seen on her face that had been the wrong thing to say, so he added. “Besides, I will spend the rest of the evening indulging in these delicacies your mother prepared, and I will probably pass out from it.” Ginny chuckled at that.
“I’m afraid I have to get back in now before someone misses me, but I think Santa deserves another reward for his efforts before that.”, she mumbled against his lips before claiming them. He pulled her even closer to him as they deepened the kiss.
****
The next morning, all the Weasley grandchildren were sitting together and the living room with Lizzy and Annie telling their aunts and uncles who hadn’t been present the night before about their meeting with Santa.
Bill’s and Fleur’s second daughter Claire was barely prevented by her mother from telling her younger cousins that there was no Santa Clause. But her older sister Victoire and Percy’s son Arthie were patiently indulging their younger cousins by agreeing how great meeting Santa must be.
Benjamin was opening a new gift, looking at it in confusion. Practically growing up as a muggle, he was not used to magical toys yet. Lizzy and Annie went to their younger cousin and tried to comfort him, believing he was disappointed in the gift.
“Don’t worry, Benny. If you don’t like it, Aunt Ginny can ask Santa for a new toy.”, Annie said to her cousin, while stroking his back.
All conversation stopped at that. Ginny looked at her nieces in confusion.
“And how would she manage that, sweety?”, George asked his daughters in unsuspecting amusement.
Lizzy answered, “Last night after we opened the presents, we went out and saw Aunt Ginny and Santa kissing.”
Everyone now turned from the girls to Ginny. Naturally, she tried to just play it off and gave a forced chuckle. “It was just a peek on the cheek. To say thank you for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come to you guys.”
But her nieces wouldn’t let her get away with it. “No!”, exclaimed Annie. “It was a grown-up kiss!”, she insisted.
“Like mummy and daddy do when they think we are in the other room.”; Lizzy added.
Well, at least George and Emma are blushing along with her now, Ginny thought to herself.
Before the two five-year-olds could go on, Penelope said “I wonder what’s in that big package.”
Ginny was so grateful at least her sisters-in-law were always willing to save her. But while Ginny was safe from the kids now, she could see she wasn’t so lucky with the adults.
“Well, young lady, I think we need another place setting tonight.”, her mother exclaimed in an upset voice.
****
Charlie didn’t come home too often. He loved his job, and it kept him very busy. But the rare occasions when he did come home, he always enjoyed himself. Seeing how his nieces and nephews had grown, hearing what was new in the life of his parents and siblings and their partners.
Tonight, there was a strange mood coming from some of his siblings. Well, mostly Ron, to be honest. But no one seemed to explain what had happened. Charlie had asked his father once, but he had only chuckled and mumbled “I knew it”.
But Charlie decided it didn’t really matter. He turned to his right asking his sister how training was going.
Ginny really seemed relieved for the conversation, though Charlie didn’t know why.
Ginny’s new boyfriend (though the couple didn’t seem like they had just started dating) seemed a bit stiff at first, but after a few dishes and some conversations with the women at the table, he seemed to loosen up.
At the end of the night, Draco was even cracking jokes with Fred and George, all the while holding Ginny’s hand under the table. Ginny mostly spent the night happily watching him interact with everyone. And when a conversation over Quidditch started, even Ron joined in.
Charlie chuckled at Ginny’s embarrassed and enraged red face when Molly asked Draco after the kids had gone to bed and they had had a round of fire whiskey how many children they were planning to have. And even more at Draco’s reply “That’s hardly for me to decide. I don’t have to carry them.”
Yes, Charlie thought it had been an perfect evening and he was looking forward to all of them being together again like this next year.
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