This was written for a Christmas challenge at The DG Forum. The rules are listed at the end. Thank you for reading.
Of Nests and Rings and Other Things
Nursing a headache, Ginny pressed her head against the cool glass of the window. Despite being several floors above the chaos of her family and their holiday celebration, the laughter and glee rose through the floors high up to her childhood bedroom. It had gotten late, and most of the boys were cups deep into their Ogden's Old, so the sounds were more raucous than usual.
Sliding her head across the window, seeking a new cool spot for her pounding temples, she noticed the moonlight glinting around the room as it bounced through her engagement ring. Five perfect emeralds, set high in an art deco platinum band. It was extravagant. It made her smile. She had begged for something simple, a plain gold ring, and if there had to be a stone, a ruby. Her then fiancée had shuddered at the thought, dismissed her as being a stereotypical Griffyndor, and used the patient voice he saved for idiots and the elderly when he pointed out the symbolism of the five stones. "A stone for every year I've loved you, for every year we've been together before you agreed to be my wife." She then made a plea for five gold stacking rings, something simple and discrete, which had been met with rolled eyes and the reminder that "Malfoys are neither simple nor discrete."
She could hear someone coming up the stairs, and hoping to hide how poorly she was feeling, she settled into the rocking chair. She loved the chair and what it stood for – it had been the chair her mother had rocked each of Ginny's siblings in, moving it from room to room, starting in Bill and Charlie's nursery, and then never leaving once it had finally trickled down to her room. It was worn and comfortable and unlike anything she could imagine in her new home. A pity really, she thought.
From her new vantage point she gazed out at the tall tree that had somehow survived the attack on the Burrow, branches tapping at the lower panes of glass. She smiled at the memories of how often she'd sneak out on those branches, often to descend to the ground for a bit of freedom, but more often to rest amid the branches, seeking out silence. She smiled again when she heard the door creak, and her husband's voice ring into the room.
Breathless, "Merlin's beard those are a lot of stairs. No wonder you were always so skinny as a child." She could hear the smirk in his voice, tempered with warmth, as he was never one to miss an opportunity to tease.
She turned to look at the tall, broad shadow that now filled the doorway, "Are you out of shape Mr. Malfoy?" Her happiness at their banter made her glow, the hallway light reflecting back a twinkle in her eyes.
"Shove over," he grunted, slipping under her and adjusting so that she now perched on his lap, "I need to rest." He pretended to be spent, nestling his head on her shoulder, eyes closed. "Why are you hiding up here? The fun has just truly begun," he snuggled in closer, relishing in the vanilla smell of her hair, nuzzling the crook of her neck .
She giggled as his attentions, tickling along her neck, but wrinkled her nose as the smell of fire-whiskey wafted off him. Damn that George, I do believe my husband is drunk, she thought. "I needed to take a break from you and George and your attempts at turning Ron into an official Scrooge." She sighed, "I swear I rue the day that you two realized that you have the same sick sense of humor."
She could feel the smirk of his lips against her neck. "Oh please, he gives as good as he gets. Plus, there's a fifty-galleon bet on which of us can actually get him to say 'Bah Humbug' first." He paused for a moment, and in a more sober voice asked, "So what are you really doing up here?"
Ginny sighed, and braced herself. Now was as good a time as any to tell him, she realized; she had run through several extravagant scenarios as to how she wanted to break the news to him, but now she just decided to go in the moment. Avoiding his direct question, she pointed out the window to an abandoned nest on the outer sill. "Do you see that nest?" she asked.
Draco rose his head from its resting place behind her shoulder, and peered over her into the darkness. Wary, he replied, "Yes, what does that have to do with why you're hiding from your family?"
"Hush," she replied sharply, and smacked the hand that had started to creep up under her blouse. "Listen to me. That is a dove's nest. For as long as this has been my room, a pair of doves has returned to that tree every year. Did you know that doves form lifelong pair bonds?"
He snorted into her shoulder. "Are you going to teach me about the birds and the bees?" With one arm he grasped her more tightly to him while he tried again to move the other under her blouse. "I assure you, that's not a lesson I need to learn."
Again she smacked him, but continued with her story. "It's one of the things I loved the most about being in this room. I know it's not much, it's tiny, and the sounds of the house all rise here, but every year I could watch them build their nest, lay their eggs, and start their family. That nest represented something beautiful every year Draco," she turned so that she was looking at his beautiful profile, silhouetted in the darkness. "Something I wanted to share with you."
He leaned up to kiss her in the darkness, the light from the hallway striping shadows across the small dark room. "That's a charming story my love, but one you could tell me anytime. Tell me the real reason you're hiding up here, missing Christmas."
This time she picked up his roaming hand and placed it under her blouse, resting on the bump of her stomach. His eyes widened at the change in his wife's body, a change he had somehow missed but that she could no longer keep to herself. She leaned in and kissed him with all of the love in her heart, whispering against his lips, "Because it's time for us to start building our own nest."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he held the back of her neck, resting foreheads together, pleading eyes locked onto hers.
"Merry Christmas papa," she smiled, and he whooped with excitement as he leapt up from the rocker, holding her tight in his arms. He swung her around the room, making her dizzy and her headache worse, "Put me down Draco! Oh my head!"
Wrapped around her from behind, he placed both hands across her stomach, rubbing it contentedly. "When? How long? Have you seen the healers?" Any sign of his previous intoxication had evaporated with the news.
"June," she leaned back into him, his enthusiasm chipping away at the throbbing in her head. "I wanted to be sure, so I waited a bit, especially after the troubles we've had," she murmured. Her mother's easy fertility had not been an inherited trait. "Yes, I've seen the healers, and we're both fine." She turned to rest her head on his strength, wrapping her arms around him. "We're all fine."
"Does your family know?" he asked, lips kissing the top of her head as he held the embrace.
She shook her head, still resting against his chest. "I'd like to tell them tonight though." He released her, heading for the stairwell, tugging her by the hand behind him, causing her to nearly stumble. "Draco," she laughed, "slow down! I've waited this long, we can wait a few moments more to break the news."
He stopped, a few steps below her, one of the rare times in life that they appeared the same height. He pecked her quickly on the lips before declaring with a devilish grin, "Hell no, we've got to go now. I can't wait to see your brother's reaction when we tell him. Those fifty galleons are mine!"
The Obligatory Christmas Challenge
Prompt: Write a DG fanfic including or inspired by at least one of the Twelve Days of Christmas. That does not mean you have to be limited to one—you can include them all if you want—but make sure you use at least one. Try to be creative!
Word count: Minimum of 500 words.
Bonus Points: If you somehow include all of the Twelve Days of Christmas. If Snape or at least one 'humbug' character is involved.
Deadline: 25th December, whenever that is for you.
A/N: My days of choice were five golden rings and two turtle doves.
Happy holidays to everyone, and thank you for reading. Please give me a gift and let me know what you think?