A/N: This is in response to a challenge from fic-princess at rowangreenleaf's DG Forum.

.net/forum/rowangreenleafs_DG_Forum/54059/

This is a D/G centric forum but not limited to that pairing. There's lots of fun to be had there. You can get sorted, give Fic recommendations, discuss HP pairings and so much more. We also have our own Room of Requirement amongst many other hidden treasures. It's quickly growing so come on by.

And I should never fail to mention that Rowan is a godess in human form. And a Puffle hybrid.

I disclaim.

HAVE YOURSELF A MALFOY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

The world seemed to have tilted off its axis somewhere between dinner and what was now approaching midnight. Ginny had not suspected a thing as she entered the common room thinking only of the hols that began in a few days. She vowed to herself to finish all homework before she left the castle so that she could fully enjoy her holiday this year.

But fate, it seemed, had other plans for her. She had been sitting quietly at a table with Colin finishing her Charms essay when Ron sat next to her and called Harry over for a game of Wizard's chess. Ginny grew slightly self-conscious knowing Harry was sitting next to her, but not as much as she would have a year ago.

As Ron flopped into his usual seat he tossed a piece of parchment into her lap. "Mum sent you a letter yesterday. Forgot to tell you."

Ginny didn't bother berating him for his lack of consideration and simply opened the letter. A moment later she had thrown it at his face and stormed out of the portrait hole. Ron barely glanced up and simply shrugged his shoulders at Harry's inquiring look.

That event a few hours ago had prompted her heated trek around the halls of the castle, bringing her back towards the Entrance Hall and on the lookout for Filch or any prefects on patrol.

Warily checking around the corner she prepared to step out into the large, exposed area. She found the lavish Christmas decorations annoying, whereas a few hours ago they had seemed cheery and bright. Red and green ribbons along with bright silver tinsel hung from almost every surface. Someone had charmed it so that it looked like it had snowed in the Hall and it had been shovelled off to the sides looking like a cleared path.

Fighting the urge to sneer at the happy appearance of the Hall she took a breath and started towards the stairs to take her back to the tower and her warm bed. She had stomped off most of her anger and was now feeling worn out from her emotional exertion. She had almost made it to the stairs when a chilly voice stopped her.

"Well, what have we here? A weasel lost in the castle? I thought your animal instincts would lead you back to your nest."

Ginny was exhausted and her nerves were frazzled. She just wanted to get out of this quickly before she did something foolish. Malfoy had been taunting her endlessly the past few months and tonight was not the night to get into a bout of heated bantering with him.

"Just give me my detention and let me get to bed, Malfoy." Her voice sounded listless even to her own ears, but Malfoy was not to be deterred in his quest to torture Ginny.

"I don't think detention is appropriate, seeing as how the hols start in a few days." His voice was thick with promises of misery for the tired redhead. "I want to make sure you get what you deserve now." He was looking intently at her but with no clear expression in his face. "I don't want to wait for the new year to see you pay for your indiscretions."

"C'mon Malfoy, I'm only out after curfew. I haven't done anything terrible to warrant this revenge of yours. I can serve detention tomorrow night and be done with this."

"Ah, but tomorrow night is the leaving feast, then I won't see you again for three weeks. I don't think I want to wait that long for satisfaction." His husky voice was rough with some unknown emotion that belied his calm demeanour.

Ginny was starting to feel a little dizzy from her emotional upheaval earlier and the angry exercise. She felt confusion over what exactly Malfoy was getting at and started to tilt towards him a little. He was standing very near to her and she wondered when he had moved into her personal space. A moment later she swayed and caught a whiff of him.

He smelled warm and slightly sweet. 'Great, Ginny, now you think he smells like some freshly baked bun.' She shook her head slightly in an effort to clear it but it couldn't be helped. He smelled like a combination of sandalwood, amber, vanilla and a hint of musk. She wanted to curl up in front of a fire in a blanket of him.

In an effort to get away before the madness took hold of her completely she snapped back at him, "Then tell me what you want me to do Malfoy. If you haven't noticed it's late, and I want to be in bed."

Draco fought the urge to tell her he wanted to go to bed with her as well. She had been driving him mad for months now.

It started with a dream, a rather sexy dream. That alone didn't cause him any worry; he was a healthy young wizard with copious amounts of hormones. It wasn't at all unusual to wake up with messy sheets after dreaming of some young witch. But after that first night he started observing her.

He watched her for a few weeks before he started wanting more. He began approaching her and teasing her. He found it delightful. Never having interacted with her before, he was surprised to find that she was a witty girl. She had the stones to stand up against him and the sharp mind to retort to his every taunt. He was intrigued by her and after two months of this he wanted to take the next step. But how to get her to relax long enough to realise she wanted him as well?

Draco was convinced she wanted him. He was a Slytherin and a Malfoy. That meant he was able to see every layer in an opponent. To manipulate someone you have to understand them. Within a five minute conversation you had to be able to see where a weakness was or to see what they wanted out of the deal.

Ginny was fiery and full of passion. She could barely contain herself sometimes from just blasting him to kingdom come. That's when he wanted her the most. When her eyes were so bright they almost looked like a deep gold instead of the usual light brown. Her hair would come to life and her small frame would tremble. Looking at her now, he could see that she was not in a good state tonight and he didn't want to push her so far that she would never consider admitting her hidden desire.

"I'll tell you what Tiger, I will consider the appropriate punishment and let you know at breakfast tomorrow what I decide. Will you be going home for Christmas?"

Draco hadn't expected what came next from his little passionate lioness. The blond found himself speechless as he saw her face crumble and tears begin to rush out of her eyes.

"That's none of your concern. I don't care what you do to me; it can't be any worse than my already horrible life is right now." With those words she spun around and ran towards the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, leaving Draco to walk slowly to the dungeons, wondering what had happened to her tonight.

Ginny slid down the wall outside the Fat Lady's portrait and tried to pull herself together before entering the common room. She took a deep breath and attempted to look objectively at the events of the night.

The letter from her parents had upset her deeply. They wanted her to stay in Hogwarts for the holidays because it wasn't safe to be at the Burrow. The castle was heavily guarded and they only wanted to make sure she would be safe. But Ron was going home, along with Fred and George. She was the only Weasley staying and she thought it truly unfair. Wouldn't she be safer if she was with the whole family? She was to be alone on Christmas while the entire family was together. Even Harry and Hermione were going to the Burrow this year.

It was clear they thought her a child. She knew she was no longer the little girl they all thought she was. She was smart, she was the smartest of her year in Potions and Charms, and she excelled at hexes in her DADA classes. She had made the team for Quidditch and still kept up her scores.

Didn't they see all of that? No, they saw a little girl who needed a hero in her first year, and hung on Harry Potter's every move until this year. They didn't even notice that she had stopped obsessing over Harry and was now at the point where she only harboured a little hope that someday he might see her for what she really was- a girl just on the edge of becoming a woman.

Of course she threw a tantrum and proved that she was, indeed, still a young girl. Stomping around the castle and using all the hidden passages she could remember had brought her to her next problem; the ever present Slytherin Prince.

Malfoy had been less than his usual pompous self tonight and it had Ginny curious. There had been no real edge to his taunts and he seemed hesitant to skewer her with words as he usually did. He had been reluctant to give her detention, yet was determined to see her suffer for her late night excursion. He wanted to think about it and tell her tomorrow.

What was there to think about? One might have to clean the bathrooms with Filch or go pick Night Roots in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, but it was still just detention. And he called her Tiger, since when did terms of a personal nature get used between them? She was always Weasley, Weasel or even the ridiculous Weaselette on occasion, but never anything close to an intimation of friendliness.

Pushing herself up off the floor with a sigh, she turned to the Fat Lady. "Puffle".

Ginny was glad to find the common room empty and went straight up the stairs to her dorm. She quickly shed her uniform and put on her warmest pyjamas and crawled into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

X

Draco woke up late the next day and almost missed breakfast. He'd slept badly last night. In his dreams, Ginny was running into his arms, crying; he woke every time she started to tell him why, only to dream it all again.

He realised he had yet to think of a punishment for Ginny, and he had promised she would receive it at breakfast. He decided to tell her to meet him after, giving himself time to come up with something. He quickly scratched a note on a piece of parchment and sent it off with his owl to take it directly to her room. After his careful grooming he went to the Great Hall for breakfast.

X

Ginny lifted her head groggily from her pillow at the sound of tapping against her window. Realising it was an owl she quickly got out of bed, feeling sorry for the winged creature whose master sent them out on a bitterly cold morning like today.

She gave the lordly bird a piece of fruitcake her mum had sent her, and the owl nipped her finger affectionately. Ginny patted him on the head and let him back out the window. She thought it sweet in nature, and was surprised to find its note had been from Malfoy. How such a sweet bird was owned by him was truly a mystery.

Frowning, she read his note to meet him after breakfast in the library and wondered how he knew that she had a free period at that time.

'Well at least he had the courtesy to let me know when and where to meet him. I expected him to just walk up and tell me in the middle of breakfast so that everyone would know what I'd been out doing last night.'

Gathering her clothes, she went to take a hot shower to wash the chill from her body due to the cold morning air.

X

Ginny was browsing through the Magical Creatures section of the library while she waited for her tormentor to arrive and deliver his punishment. She wanted to keep her mind from his impending arrival and thought to look for a book to read over the hols as well. She jumped slightly when he spoke in her ear, as she hadn't heard him approaching.

"Looking for your family tree?" His words were the usual jibe at her family's expense, but the soft voice breathing on her cheek was entirely new. Ginny shivered slightly and was surprised to find that it wasn't in repulsion. Ignoring his weak attempt at condescension, she turned to face him.

Although she knew he was standing directly behind her, she wasn't prepared to be looking directly at his chest. His admirable torso was pressed against her nose and she was enveloped in his lovely scent again. Subconsciously she breathed deeply and exhaled with a content sigh. Draco smirked to himself at her actions and bent lower to speak to her again.

"Did you want to admire my chest all morning or shall we get down to why we're both here?"

Ginny was immediately aware that he must have seen her appreciating his toned upper body and she blushed a dark pink. Embarrassed at being caught, she lashed back.

"Well if you weren't such a giant I might have a chance to hold a conversation with your face. Do the Malfoy's have Giant blood or something in their past?" She knew it was a lame comeback but she was feeling off kilter being so close to him.

In all reality she liked his impressive height. He was well over six feet and she was a smaller five foot five. She had the same body her mum had when she was young, but Ginny was determined not to get as heavy. She wasn't too worried though, as she didn't plan on having seven children. She liked her body and was comfortable with the soft curves on top of the toned muscles.

Draco smirked at her attempt and knew that he was affecting her in exactly the way he had planned. She was off her game and he was going to take full advantage of it.

"There is only one part of me that has gigantic proportions and I'll not be showing that to you at this meeting. Now, to make it an even playing field let us sit at a table and discuss your situation in a civil manner."

Ginny had to pull her mind out of the gutter at the images that his brazen words prompted but chose to ignore his blatant taunt. She stepped to the table next to them and sat down. Instead of sitting across from her as she expected, Draco sat next to her and slid his chair as close to her as he could.

She felt her cheeks heat up and wondered what he was up to with all of this flirting. She thought he had started a new method of torturing her, and she hoped that this meant he might be accosting her in the halls a little less frequently.

She avoided turning towards him and asked what he had in mind for her punishment. Draco leaned towards her as if he was going to tell her a secret, and placed his arm across the back of her chair, caressing her neck as he did so with his long fingers.

"What I have in mind will involve no punishment for you. You will be in my presence this afternoon as I put the special decorations up in the Great Hall before dinner. Meet me at the entrance at four o' clock exactly. Do not be late."

He quickly pushed his chair back rubbing his thigh along hers as he did. He bent down and placed a quick kiss on her blushing cheek and gracefully strode away.

Ginny was left in a daze. She thought the last ten minutes must have been a dream. He had flirted, touched and then kissed her. She couldn't wait until her detention this afternoon.

X

Ginny's last class got out at three and she headed to her dorm to prepare for her work with Draco. She mentally stumbled when she realised he had become Draco and not Malfoy to her. She was a little nervous as this all seemed to be happening very fast. And just what exactly was happening?

Draco was being very forward in his advances and that both pleased her and made her nervous. What if he was teasing her? What if this was all some cruel Slytherin hoax against her? There was really no way of knowing without meeting him later and seeing what his next move might be. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on her bed.

Some time later Ginny woke with a start and saw that she had only ten minutes to meet Draco. She quickly changed into a pair of faded jeans that were soft and fit her curvy hips just right. Then she pulled on a rich purple coloured jumper and a pair of pointy toed boots with a three inch heel. Pausing to run a comb through her hair, she ran out the door of her dorm.

Running through the common room she didn't bother answering Ron's questions on where she thought she was running off to. She arrived at the doors to the Great Hall with one minute to spare, fighting to catch her breath.

"Eager to see me are you?" Ginny spun around to see him smirking at her with a twinkle in his eyes. She gasped at how handsome he looked and covered it up with her heavy breathing from running.

He was wearing a dark charcoal grey jumper that looked like the softest thing she'd ever seen. Ginny longed to run her hands across his chest and feel the muscles that she knew lay under the exquisite looking jumper. The colour made his icy grey eyes warm to a shiny dove grey, and she thought she had never really looked closely at how beautiful Draco Malfoy really was.

His shiny platinum locks were soft looking and he styled them so they hung down his forehead giving his face a frame of spun silver. His features were sharp, but proportioned well so that he looked aristocratic rather than pointy. He had high cheekbones and a sleek, straight nose. His lips were a deep pink colour with the bottom lip slightly fuller than the top. His skin was clear and unblemished and his cheeks held a slight golden tone that appeared as if he glowed slightly. All in all, she had never found anyone so perfectly crafted. He looked as if he was waiting just to be touched and adored.

Her voice shaking slightly due to her sudden realisation of his stupendous beauty, Ginny inquired as to what they were to do. Opening the door for her and placing his hand on the small of her back, the Slytherin lead her into the Great Hall.

Looking around Ginny saw that many changes had already been added since everyone had taken lunch earlier. The ceiling was charmed to look as if it was snowing, never reaching the floor. In addition to the large decorated tree at the front of the hall, four smaller trees had been placed at the head of each table decorated in the appropriate House colours.

The stained glass windows had been charmed to show scenes of famous Christmas children's stories, and the candles on the wall sconces were scented in woodsy scents mixed with a light hint of floral. The overall effect of the room was lovely and Ginny couldn't see what needed to be added to the scene.

Draco's hand was still on her back and he softly slid it around so that his arm was around her tiny waist. Ginny felt the movement and found herself leaning into him a little bit. It felt lovely to be in his warmth and she felt comfortable in his presence.

As they stood in the doorway Ginny found herself thinking how nice it would be to have this closeness to Draco all the time. "Are you going home to your manor?"

Draco breathed in the soft scent of her hair, the light clean smell of a delicate spring flower. "No, I've decided to stay in the castle this year."

In the hopes that he had decided to stay due to her, Ginny felt her heart skip a little beat. She turned slightly, placed her arm around his slim waist and put her tiny hand on his hip. "So what can possibly be left for us to do here Draco?"

The sound of his name on her lips sent sparks up his spine. He had never had actual feelings of attraction towards any of his girlfriends before; they had all been a means to an end, or someone to pass the time with. But with Ginny he felt affection, desire and a high regard for her as a person.

This was all new and he felt like he had been merely practicing with his previous girlfriends; he hoped that she might allow him the chance to make her the reward for his previous searching.

Pulling his wand from his pocket he turned her towards him as he levitated something behind her back. She tried to turn and see, but he held her firmly against his chest.

A small flick of his wrist and he replaced his wand to its original resting place. "There's only one thing left for us to do now, Ginny."

Saying this he tilted her chin up slightly so she could see the mistletoe that was now above them. With a silly grin forming on her rosy lips she brought her eyes to Draco's and stepped into his embrace.

Draco placed both arms around Ginny's waist and pulled her fully against him. He slowly bent his head towards her waiting mouth. He pressed his lips against hers with a soft pressure. Ginny immediately placed her hands upon his shoulders trying to angle him down a little more so that she could deepen the kiss. He hummed in appreciation of her receptivity and nipped at her bottom lip.

Ginny felt her knees weaken and her heart beat was a thumping wildly in her chest. She tugged on his hair and he thrust his tongue into her warmth. He teased her tongue with his and delicately flicked it upon her lips. He knew how to probe without choking her and he knew just when and where to apply his sweet firmness. Ginny was now clutching at his shoulders to stay on her feet.

Draco picked her up and carried her to the nearest bench. He sat down and placed her across his lap. Now that they were able to reach each other easily, they both began to kiss passionately. His hand was softly stroking up and down her thigh as he kissed Ginny, and she had never felt so wanted and cared for. Draco was now trailing kisses across her jaw towards her ear. He grabbed her lobe between his teeth and gently tugged at it. The sensation caused Ginny to give a little squeal.

His chuckle sent warm vibrations through her and she thought that she never wanted this kiss to end. Draco was tugging on her hair and was now thoroughly mapping her neck with open-mouthed kisses. He found her pulse point and gave a quick bite, following with a soothing sensuous lick of his talented tongue.

"Draco." Her groan of pleasure increased his already obvious excitement. Ginny took his cheeks in her hands and brought his lips back to her mouth. They kissed deeply for a few more minutes than slowly drew apart, Draco peppering her lips and cheeks with quick kisses.

As they both recovered their breath Draco adjusted Ginny in his lap so that she was not sitting directly upon his problem and Ginny laid her head against his shoulder.

"You know Draco; I think that's the best detention I ever had."

Draco smirked sown at his little redheaded vixen and said, "Happy Christmas to me."