Song: No Judgement by Niall Horan;

We're cuddled up under Susie's soft and plush comforter in our pajamas, ready to talk the night away. I already know what the hot topic of tonight will be, so I prepare myself for her many questions.

"Okay, well, are you going to tell me about what happened tonight?" she asks with excitement in her eyes.

It hasn't been long since we've gotten to Susie's house from Malfoy Manor, but this is the one time where she seems to be impatient. It's quite hilarious because Susie is the most patient person I know.

I playfully roll my eyes at her before saying, "Well, it started when you ditched me to dance with Ernie—"

"—hey! you told me I could go dance with him! You were supposed to find us when you felt better!" Susie interjects, grabbing her pillow and lightly hitting my arm with it. We both giggle as I grab mine and hit her back.

As she's about to swing her pillow at me again, I say, "—to be fair, I sort of got whisked away by Draco before I could tell either of you."

With this, her arms drop along with the pillow in her hands. Her eyes full to the brim of curiosity.

"Oh?"

Placing the pillow on my lap as I lean back onto her backboard more, I say, "yeah...I had went up to the bar and wanted more Gillywater—actually, I wanted a stronger drink just because I was bored—but anyways, the bartender was acting as if I should know who he is as he spoke to me—speaking of, do you know of a Felix Rosier?"

Her face scrunches up at my question as she nods.

"He's such a creep. My family and I had met him at a dragonology event. He was awarded a special award, and he was so cocky about it. I find it hilarious he was bartending ..."

"Yeah ... well, he asked if I was seeing anyone which is—"

"Inappropriate!! He's like at least your sister's age!" Susie finishes for me with wide eyes. "What a foul man!"

I grimace, remembering how his eyes openly checked me out.

"Well, Draco made sure to tell him how foul and pathetic he really is... if that reassures you."

Her jaw slackens at my words, her eyes wider than before. "Are you serious?"

"Mhm. He even had his arm around my waist and told Rosier that we were seeing each other."

"Oh my!!—" she squeals out. Both of us lay back down, nestled comfortably under the covers again while facing each other. She props a hand under the side of her face while saying, "okay...what happened next?"

"Draco led me up to one of their rooftop decks to get fresh air, and there was a blanket laid out and—"

"—a blanket?!" Susie shrieks out. "What on earth?!"

My face begins to flush at her assumption. "Oh Merlin, no! I think he had it set up for himself earlier. At least that's what I assume...he wasn't very clear on his answer when I asked him about it."

"Libby!"

I cover my face with my hands, letting out a groan. "Susie...I swear it wasn't like that!!"

She takes my hands from my face as she asks, "then how was it like?"

"We talked for a bit and stargazed. It was—I don't know—nice. He then gave me his jacket because I was cold and complimented how I looked in too."

"Draco Malfoy gave you his jacket and complimented you? Are we sure this wasn't someone else who drank polyjuice to look like him?"

I laugh at that before shaking my head. "No... it was for sure him. Kissing him confirmed that."

"What?!?!" Susie yells out, her voice most certainly ringing through the halls of her home.

Just as I'm about to respond to her outburst, I hear Mrs. Bones' voice call out, "keep it down girls!"

"Sorry mum!" Susie answers back before we giggle. I'm covering my face with a pillow to hold back the laughter. "Okay...okay continue with your story!"

"Alright, well, after we kissed he led me to his room-" I start to say before she cuts me off, making sure to keep her voice lower.

"—his room?!" she whisper-yells, her eyes wide.

"I haven't even gotten to the good part!" I say, the heat rushing to my cheeks upon remembering what happened in his room.

"Alright, alright. I'll keep my comments to myself until you're done," she says with a slight eye-roll.

Taking a deep breath, I continue with, "his room is dreadfully dull, might I add, but the way he kissed me was—well—amazing. I didn't want it to end, but I had to since he had been drinking prior." I watch as she nods along in understanding; her face still showing that she's still fully intrigued. "He suggested I get back to the party, and so as I was leaving I realized I left my hair clip in his room. I knew you would notice it gone, so I walked back to his room only to find—oh Merlin I don't know how to put this—well, I heard him moaning."

I pause, waiting for her to squeal or laugh, but she just blinks a couple times, seemingly trying to figure out what I'm meaning. Her face morphs into worry as she says, "oh dear...was he hurt?"

I clap a hand over my mouth, trying to cover the snicker that wants to escape.

She quirks an eyebrow at my action before saying, "what? What's so funny?"

Taking my hand off my mouth, I reply, "he wasn't hurt, Susie. He was—you know—" she shakes her head, still not understanding, so I continue with, "—he was wanking off!"

She lets out a gasp, covering her mouth with her hands. At her expression, I begin to laugh, which causes her to do the same. Our laughs are muffled by our pillows, not wanting to wake up her parents again.

Once we've settled down, she says, "I don't think I can ever look at Malfoy the same."

Shaking my head, I say, "you and me both."

...

After talking with Susie a bit more, we both fell asleep sometime within the wee hours of the morning. Her parents dropped me back off at my house the next morning to which I almost immediately began to bake the Christmas cookies as both my parents were still at work.

Taking the last batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, I hear the front door open. I quickly set the pan of desserts on the stove, and rush over to the front door to see my mother standing with her briefcase in hand, and very red cheeks. Her coat is dusted with snow, and as soon as she takes it off I wrap her in a hug.

"Hello sweetie," she says softly, hugging me back with a tight squeeze.

I smile against her shoulder, feeling full of warmth and comfort. "Hi mum. How was work?"

She pulls away gently, setting her briefcase down as she says, "it was alright, nothing too special. Shall we get started on dinner so it's ready when your father gets here?"

"Sure! I'll clean up my mess in the kitchen before we get started," I offer with an even brighter smile. It's usually our thing when she gets home from work. We make a Christmas Eve dinner before my father gets home and Nymphi is usually here to help us, but she's been so busy as an Auror this year with everything going on in the Ministry. I'm really upset because I always look forward to seeing her on my holiday breaks, but this year it seems like she won't be coming home at all.

After cleaning all of the dishes I used for my baking and cleaning the counters, which took at least half an hour, mum and I start on a delicious dinner of roast beef, roasted potatoes, and carrots. I begin to peel the carrots as she seasons the meat with various spices. We work in silence for a few minutes, but she then breaks it by asking, "so, how was your time at the Malfoy Manor with Susie and her parents?"

"It was pretty fun!—" before I can finish what I'm about to say, she interrupts with "—did you talk to the Malfoys at all?" I stay quiet for a moment, debating if I should tell her about my interaction with Mrs. Malfoy. Surely I won't say anything about Draco, there's no way I can tell her about what happened between him and I.

"Well, actually, Mrs. Malfoy was exceptionally nice. She even told me to say hello to you, and she also talked about you and dad not getting along with Mr. Malfoy when you went to Hogwarts," I answer, now looking up in her direction to see her face falter into a thin line from the smile she was wearing moments before.

She lets out a sigh, straightening out her skirt as she walks towards me. "Let me tell you something that I maybe should have told you before."

Something she should've told me before? What has she not told me?

"Come sit, dear. It'll take me a bit to tell you about my time at Hogwarts," she says softly, gesturing to the seat next to her at the dining table. I slowly sit down, confused and curious about what she's going to tell me. She and my dad have told me about their time at Hogwarts many times, but now I'm wondering if she's been hiding something from me.

"When I was little my family lived near the Black family, and their eldest daughter, Narcissa, was my best friend. We were inseparable, even with our slight differences." She takes a second to grab the pitcher of water on the table, pouring herself and I a glass.

I'm shocked at the information, never having heard that my mother and Draco's mother were best friends growing up. She must have a reason as to why she's never told us this before.

"We were so excited to start Hogwarts together. She was hoping to be sorted into Slytherin, whereas I would be happy to be sorted wherever she would be." She takes a sip from her glass before continuing. "She, of course, got sorted into Slytherin...and as did I."

"What?! B-but you've always said you and dad were Hufflepuffs!" I exclaim out, completely taken aback.

"I was, but not until my fifth year," she says calmly, but her green eyes tell me otherwise. "Things were going well until our fourth year when Narcissa and Lucius became an item. I never quite liked him as he was always so vocal about his hatred for those who aren't Pureblood like him. Fourth year is when I had also taken a liking to a certain Muggle-born Hufflepuff boy—"

"Father."

She nods at this with a soft smile. "Yes. Lucius constantly made your father's years at school a living hell; always belittling him for being Muggle-born. I never looked at "blood status" as anything important as, you know, my family never looked at that. Narcissa's family, however, did believe in the importance of "blood status," but she never looked at it until she and Lucius began dating."

I see sadness cloud her vision, as old memories are resurfacing. "One day, about a month before Christmas break my fifth year, she snapped at me for being with your father and told me I have no right in being a Slytherin or a Pureblood. I was heartbroken. It was Lucius putting her up to this as he snickered beside her when she yelled at me." I reach over the table, placing a hand on hers. "I was isolated from everyone after that. No-one from my house cared to associate with me, so I found myself spending more and more time with your father and his friends in Hufflepuff, who all gladly accepted me as one of them. I felt like I was in the right place, and so, a week before we were supposed to go home for the Holiday, I asked Headmaster Dumbledore if I could be re-sorted again."

"You asked Dumbledore to use the sorting hat on you again?! That's a thing?!" She nods at my exclamation with a bigger smile.

"Yes. Though, it's only ever occurred a few times before, it is something that can happen. Once Headmaster Dumbledore listened to my story and predicament, he gladly placed the sorting hat back on top of my head, and much to our surprise, it placed me in Hufflepuff." I smile as my mother's smile widens more; this is clearly one of her happiest moments at Hogwarts.

"What happened next?"

"I waited for Christmas break to let my parents know, having not told your father yet either as I wanted to surprise him and our friends after break. My parents were happy that I was happy. Though your grandfather was a bit upset he had to switch out Slytherin items for Hufflepuff items, you know how your grandfather used to be."

I nod with a laugh. "Yeah. He was a frugal man; I remember when he scolded me for not being able to finish my slice of cake at my eighth birthday party. He was upset I had thrown it out instead of offering it to someone else as it was a waste." She laughs along at the memory.

"Yes. The man grew up in a time where even food was never wasted." She lets out another sigh, and there's a moment of silence as we remember the late Mr. White: her father and my grandfather.

"What happened when you got back? How did Narcissa react to the news?"

Her face falters at my questions. "Your father and our friends were most excited, warmly accepting me as a Hufflepuff immediately. Narcissa, on the other hand, was hurt and appalled. She apologized for what she had said, hoping it would make me change my mind, but my mind was already set. I fell in love with the Hufflepuff common room and people within it. The ideologies of our house aligned with mine, and people valued others regardless of their "blood status." After her apology that day, we never spoke to one another again."

A slight frown forms on her mouth as she finishes speaking, and I can't help but to feel sad afterwards. I could never imagine never speaking to Susie ever again, let alone switching houses like that.

"I'm sorry, mum."

She looks up from the table. "Oh sweetie, there's nothing to be sorry about. I was honestly happier to be in Hufflepuff with your father. Things at Hogwarts went significantly better after the switch."

"How come you never told us this before?" I question, until it hits me. "Does Nymphi know about this?"

She immediately shakes her head 'no.' "She's never asked so I've never said anything. I honestly was never going to say anything about it as it's in the past and has never been brought up—"

"Until now," I cut her off, and she nods at this.

"Yes. Now you know why I was so eager to let you go to the Malfoy Manor ball and ask you about it. I would hope she would be nice to you. It never was in her nature to not be, but she is quite the follower and lets her love for Lucius blind her."

I glance down at my hands, feeling the sudden urge to tell her about Draco and I, but before I can, father steps through the entryway to the kitchen.

"Hi dad!" I exclaim, rushing towards him and giving him a big hug.

As he hugs me back, he sniffs the air. "Smells amazing!"

"Your daughter and I have been busy cooking up a great Christmas Eve meal while you've been at work," my mother says, circling her arms around both of us.

"I wish Nymphi was here too. It's not the same without her."

...

We're sitting down at the dinner table, enjoying the Christmas Eve dinner mum and I made for all of us. It's so odd to not have Nymphi sitting here with us as she usually makes our meals much more livelier.

"So, Libby, how was that ball? Stay away from the Malfoy boy like I asked?" my father asks with a teasing look.

I take a gulp, shifting my gaze from him to my plate. "It was fun. Ernie and his family ended up going too, which was a nice surprise." I decide to ignore his question about Draco as I don't know if I could completely lie to him.

I feel sick that I ignored his wishes of staying away from him already.

My dad seems to perk up at the mention of Ernie. "Oh the Macmillan boy? I like him. Good family, too!"

"Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise, especially for Susie!"

"Oh? Does Susie fancy Ernie?" My mother asks, shifting my attention to her.

I nod at her question with a smile. "He fancies her as well. It's only a matter of time before they start dating."

My dad seems to frown a bit at this. "That's a shame. I always thought you'd end up with him."

At this, both my mother and I give him a surprised look. Father has always voiced his liking for Ernie, but has never suggested the idea that he liked Ernie and I together. We've been friends since we were young, so I can't see us becoming anything more than that. Plus, knowing that he and my best friend fancy each other a great deal deters me from even the slightest thought of us being together.

My dad takes notice in our shocked faces as he says, "oh wipe those looks off your faces. It was just a random thought I voiced." He looks towards me with a smile. "I'll be happy with whoever you end up with...as long as it isn't the Malfoy boy."

"Speaking of the Malfoy boy...how did he act at the ball? I would assume he had to greet the guests alongside his parents," my mother asks, her question throwing me off a bit due to its randomness.

I take a sip from my glass of water before answering with, "he was fine. A bit rude towards his mother though which was upsetting since she was incredibly nice." My answer is honest as Draco was overall fine towards us, but quite rude to his mother with his words and attitude. "Mr. Malfoy took the cake of being the rudest though. He called me a blood traitor—"

"—that bloody bastard! Why I oughta give him a piece of my mind!..." my father jutts in, clenching his fork angrily.

"Ted...calm down. He will get what's coming for him soon enough," my mother says, placing a comforting hand on his clenched fist. I watch as he relaxes a bit at the action, giving my mother a soft smile.

"Sorry, sorry. I just can't stand that man."

My mother pats his hand. "How did Draco look? I'm sure Narcissa had him dressed nicely."

I quirk an eyebrow at my mother's odd question. What has gotten into her?

"He looked like he normally does except with more hair gel and a slightly fancier suit."

My father snorts at this, covering it up quickly by shoving more food in his mouth as my mum shoots him a playful glare.

I try to eat more as well, hoping she's done with the questions as I don't think I can continue talking about Draco to them without spilling the truth. I'm already feeling wretched for lying.

"I always thought of Draco as a handsome, young man—"

"—with a foul disposition and arsehole of a father!" My father buds in loudly, cutting off my mother's nicer words.

I place my fork on my plate before standing up and grabbing it. Letting out a yawn, I say, "I'm quite stuffed and tired. I think I might go to bed early, if that's alright."

"Of course, dear."

After I bring my plate and utensils into the kitchen, washing and drying them, I make my way towards my room. Briefly saying goodnight to both my parents on the way there.

Placing my pajamas on and nestling further under my comforter, I fall asleep to the memory of Draco kissing me under the stars.

...

"Libby! Get up! There's a surprise for you under the tree!" I blink my eyes open, looking up at my mother's face.

Sitting further up on the bed, I give her a strange look. "Happy Christmas mum..." I mumble out, weirded out by her strange behavior.

Mother usually lets me sleep in... she never wakes me up like this.

"Happy Christmas! Come on now!" She tugs at my arm firmly, her voice sounding a bit odd too.

She drags me out of my room as I let out a yawn. "Mum, you're acting strange."

She only smiles at that as we continue towards the living space. Once we make it there, I see a familiar man sitting at one of the chairs beside the tree.

"Remus?!" I exclaim out, rushing over towards him and giving him a hug. He hugs me back with a low chuckle.

As I pull back I look all around the room. "If you're here... that means Nymphi must be here—"

He shrugs his shoulders, laughing a bit more.

"Perhaps I just came..."

"Without Nymphi? Yeah, alright, Remus," I retort back sassily, earning another laugh and shake of the head from him.

"Turn around!"

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**unedited**