When the doorbell rang, Katherine immediately jumped up from the sofa and rushed to greet their guest.
After she flung the door open, her eyes fell on none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Thanks, but it's not actually Christmas yet."
"For us, it's Christmas through the entire break, but okay. You actually found us, though!" She grinned, stepping aside and gesturing for him to come inside.
"You gave me the address, Katherine. It wasn't that hard."
"It could have been, not all people are good at directions and stuff, you know."
"Do you mean yourself?" He glanced down at her with a smirk.
"That's a possibility," she looked away. "Give me your coat."
"Wow," the Slytherin put a hand on his chest. "I just got here and you already want me to take my clothes off? At least show me around first."
"Very funny," the girl rolled her eyes at him with a smile. "Now give me your coat, please."
"Fine," he gave in, doing as she asked.
"Thank you," she nodded, then put his coat away. "Shoes go there," she pointed towards a rack. "I put those slippers out for you."
The blonde turned his attention to the floor, where he noticed a pair of green slippers.
"How thoughtful," he smiled.
She grinned as she saw him slip them on his feet.
"Alright, are you ready?"
"I think so," he nodded.
"Okay. Let me warn you, though."
"About what?" Draco's eyes widened.
"I know I told you that my parents are very nice and stuff... They might just be a little bit too welcoming, so please don't freak out."
"Uh... I'll try?"
"I guess I'll take that," Katherine nodded. "Let's get going, then. The living room is this way."
The Slytherin followed her as she opened a wooden door, revealing a cosy looking living room.
"There he is!" He heard a male voice.
The girl's parents stood up from the sofa, walking over to the boy to greet him.
"It's an honour to meet you, Mr and Mrs Bright. I'm Draco Malfoy," he introduced himself politely.
"Yes, yes, pleasure and greetings and all that," her father nodded with a smile. "I'm Cyrus Bright, please call me Cyrus. I feel old enough anyway, I don't need to be called Sir or Mister or anything along those lines, okay?"
"Got it," Draco nodded. "Although I must say, you don't look old."
"I like this kid," he turned to look at Katherine, who just shook her head at him.
"It's nice to finally meet you too, Draco," her mother gave him a warm smile. "My name is Joanna Bright, feel free to call me Joanna."
He nodded again, starting to feel a bit more relaxed.
"I can see where Katherine got her beauty from, now," he complimented her mom.
"Oh, wow," Cyrus widened his eyes. "He's really trying, that's good," he said, showing his daughter a thumbs up.
The Hufflepuff facepalmed herself as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
"Don't worry, we're going to get even friendlier in a minute," her father spoke up again. "But before that happens, I have something I need to say to you."
He straightened his back, looking at Draco with a serious face.
"If you ever hurt my little girl, let me just say that I was an Auror and I will not hesitate to take my wand out and kill you," he said with a low voice. "But just in case my wand fails me, I also have a gun –"
"No, you don't," Katherine cut in, furrowing her eyebrows at her dad.
"Why would you blow my cover?" He snapped his head towards the girl. "I'm doing this for you!"
"I think he gets the idea, love," Joanna placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Did I make myself clear?" Cyrus looked back at the blonde.
"Crystal," he nodded.
"Alright, then! Let's get back to being friends now."
The woman shook her head with a smile, then she turned to her daughter.
"Darling, why don't you show Draco around while I prepare the cookies?"
"Sure," she nodded with a smile, looking at the boy. "Follow me."
Katherine showed him around the entire house, then when they arrived at the last door she broke out in a wide smile.
"And this..." she said, grabbing the handle. "This is my bedroom."
"Leave the door open!" Cyrus shouted from the living room. "Let's not rush with the baby making, alright? You still have to take your N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, you'll have a whole year to do that after you're done with your exams. Remember, education first, Marriage Law second!"
"Dad!" Katherine shouted back, her face heating up in embarrassment.
Draco let out a quiet chuckle at them as she opened the door to her bedroom and left it open like requested.
The Slytherin took a look around, the corners of his mouth turning upwards at the sight.
"Am I in your bedroom or the Hufflepuff Common Room? I can't tell."
The walls were a bright yellow colour, all the furniture being dark brown. There was a queen-sized bed pushed against one of the walls that had yellow bedding and a bunch of plush pillows on it.
The girl plopped down on her bed, hugging one of the pillows to her chest.
"Not like our bed at Hogwarts is bad, but I really missed my baby," she sighed.
"Your baby?" The blonde asked back, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Yes," she nodded. "Softie is the love of my life."
"Softie?"
"Because it's so soft, duh."
He shook his head, then turned his attention on a pastel yellow object that was on one of her shelves.
"What is that?" He asked curiously.
She turned to look at what he was staring at, then broke out in a grin.
"Oh, yes!"
Jumping up from the bed excitedly, she went to take it off from the shelf and stood next to Draco.
"This..." She said, holding the thing up. "Is a Polaroid camera. My dad got it for me."
"A polaroid camera?" The boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"I'll show you."
She swung an arm around his neck and pulled him down so their faces were next to each other and held the camera up in front of them.
"Three, two, one, smile!"
Draco tried his best to do so but was taken off-guard when a flash suddenly blinded him.
He started blinking repeatedly, while Katherine let him go to take the Polaroid out and started shaking it like a maniac.
"What are you doing?"
"Just a minute," she said, continuing what she was doing.
After a while, the corners of her mouth turned upwards and she handed the Polaroid over to Draco.
"Here."
He took it from her hands and held it up in front of his face, seeing the two of them staring back at him.
"Oh," his eyes widened slightly, a small smile forming on his lips.
"You can have it," the Hufflepuff grinned.
"Really?" He looked back at her.
"Yes, it's all yours," she nodded.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. But since the tour is over, we should get back to the living room now."
He put the picture away and nodded, then they left her bedroom.
"So," her father spoke up when they stepped inside the room again. "Will you buy it?" He asked jokingly. "We have a few serious buyers already, but I like you, so I can give you a little discount if you say yes right now."
"Do you want to sell our house to him now?" Katherine's eyebrows shot up.
"Your home is lovely," Draco decided to say.
"Thank you, dear," Joanna came back from the kitchen with a tray of fresh cookies and placed them on the coffee table. "Take a seat, kids."
They sat down on one of the sofas, facing Katherine's parents.
"Now," Cyrus leaned forward, staring at the Slytherin intensely. "Before we can accept you into the family, you have two things that you need to do."
"Okay..." The boy nodded slowly.
"First, you must say what you think about Joanna's famous cookies. You shall take and eat one right now," he gestured towards the tray dramatically.
Draco did as he was told and ate one of the cookies, while her father watched his every move.
"So?"
"It's delicious," he said simply.
"Thank you," Joanna smiled. "I'm glad you like it."
"You passed the first test, I see," the man put his hands together. "But the question is, will you be able to pass the second one?"
The boy just sat there in silence, waiting for him to continue.
"Now we must play a deathly game of Uno," Cyrus squinted his eyes.
"Why do you have to make it sound so serious?" The girl shook her head.
"Do you know how many families Uno has split apart, Katherine? How many relationships it destroyed?"
"It's just a card game," she glanced over at Draco.
"Just a card game?!" Her father raised his voice, standing up from the sofa. "Get out of my house, you're disowned!"
Immediately after he said that he sat back down with a grin.
"So," he put a deck of cards on the table. "Should we go over the rules?"
Cyrus started explaining how the game worked, while the boy was trying his best to observe all the information.
"And from now on, we're enemies. Let the game begin."
The four of them started playing, everyone focusing on the cards.
"Boom," Cyrus said, putting down a +2 card.
"I don't think so," Joanna shook her head, placing another +2 card on top of his.
"Not today, mother," Katherine put down another one.
"Wait, what?" Draco narrowed his eyebrows.
"Do you have a plus two card?" The girl asked.
"No..."
"That's unfortunate, kid," Cyrus laughed. "Draw six," he nodded towards the deck.
"Rubbish," he mumbled while doing as told.
They continued playing, then a few minutes later the Slytherin broke out in a grin.
"Uno!"
"No way," the man gasped.
"Yes way."
When it was his turn again, Draco straightened his back, getting rid of his last remaining card.
"Looks like we have a winner," Joanna smiled at the boy.
"Beginners luck," Cyrus leaned forwards, putting his cards down on the table. "But I guess we have no choice but to accept you into the family," he smiled.
"Okay," Katherine clapped, standing up. "Now that that's over, I promised Draco that I would make him a Vanilla Mocha Hot Cocoa, so if you'll excuse us, we'll head over to the kitchen now."
"A Vanilla Mocha Hot Cocoa?" Her father asked in disbelief, looking over at the blonde. "You're one lucky man."
"Is it that good?"
"You won't know what hit you," he shook his head, staring into the distance dreamily.
"Let's just go," she grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen.
"You know the rule, door wide open!"
"The kitchen doesn't even have a door!" She shouted back.
"You're a witch, Katherine. Make one and do as your father tells you!"
"Leave them alone, Cyrus," Joanna slapped his arm with a scowl.
When they went inside the kitchen, she made Draco sit down while she grabbed two mugs out of a cupboard.
She started humming to herself quietly as she worked on the drinks, her hands almost moving on their own as she prepared her favourite Christmas beverage.
Taking a last glance at the drinks, she nodded happily, then brought them over to the table and sat down opposite of him.
"It looks great," Draco admitted, taking one of the mugs in his hands.
"Just wait until you taste it, it gets even better," she beamed.
He brought the mug up to his lips, taking a sip of the drink slowly.
His eyes went wide, then he went to take another sip.
"How is it?" Katherine asked with a smile.
"It's phenomenal," he answered. "Honestly, it's really good. I'm kind of blown away right now."
"Yay!" She started clapping happily.
When they finished their drinks, Draco let out a sigh.
"This was fun, but I think I should get back home now."
"Oh, okay," she nodded, then she put the mugs in the sink before telling her parents that he was leaving.
They walked out to the hall, where he put his shoes and his coat back on.
"Thank you so much for having me," he said, looking at her parents.
"Of course," Joanna nodded with a smile, handing a little box out for him. "I packed some cookies for you and your parents. Can you tell them we wish them a Merry Christmas?"
The corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly.
"I will, thank you again," he nodded.
"You're welcome. We'll leave you alone now," she said, pulling her husband into the living room and closing the door after herself.
Katherine shook her head, then turned to look up at Draco.
"They're really nice," he smiled.
"I'm glad you like them."
After staring into her eyes for a few seconds, he leaned down, kissing her gently.
When they pulled apart, he grinned down at her.
"I'm sure there's a mistletoe somewhere."
Katherine let out a laugh, then she wrapped her arms around him.
"Get home safely."
"I will."
He pressed a quick kiss on the top of her head before stepping away.
"I guess I'll see you back in Hogwarts."
"Yeah. Have a great rest of the break!"
"You too. I should really go now."
"Okay..."
She opened the front door for him and he stepped out into the cold.
"Goodbye, Katherine," he waved at her one last time.
"Bye-bye!"
After closing the door, she closed her eyes with a smile.
She was really looking forward to going back to school.
A/N:
Plot twist: Draco doesn't get home safely and dies. THE END. (Nah, I'm not that cruel, don't worry.)
I don't know when I'll be able to update, because I have a few online classes and stuff I need to do, but I'll update as soon as possible, I promise! (Hopefully in a few days max.)
I hope you liked this chapter! Thank you so much for reading & have a nice day!