II.
The next day, during free period, Harry went up to Ginny and rubbed at his arm nervously. He'd just gotten out of Quidditch practice and had showered before he decided he was decent enough to go up to her. Ginny smiled at him. "Hey," he said, and shrugged. "You wanna go down to Hogsmeade now? Or if you're too busy, that's okay."
"No, it's okay," Ginny said, smiling. Her eyes squinted up when she smiled and it made Harry smile and feel happy. "Let's go." She grabbed her coat and they set off together, slowly easing into comfortable chatter before getting to the Three Broomsticks.
They sat at a small booth in the corner of the little pub, by a large Christmas tree decorated with floating candles. A couple fairies even fluttered through the branches, leaving golden dust on the leaves and whispers that floated throughout the pub. Harry saw Rosmerta come up to their booth and he glanced at Ginny, indicating her to order. They both got butterbeers and drank slowly. Harry found it easy to talk to her, and fun-he smiled and laughed and he was content with her, wishing he could always take refuge from the cold in a warm pub and drink warm drinks.
The bell at the door tinkled, meaning someone came in, and Harry and Ginny automatically turned towards the door out of curiosity. Draco Malfoy strode through the door, the bottom of his cloak soaked from the snow. He chose a spot near Harry and Ginny and shot them a sly glance, but it was a very brief one and Harry wondered if Malfoy had actually looked over or if it'd just been his imagination.
Ginny leaned closer to Harry and whispered so softly that Harry had to lean forward too. "Why is he here?" she said, frowning. "He's not with Crabbe or Goyle." Harry looked at Malfoy and noticed for the first time that he was, in fact, alone. Malfoy looked again at Harry and then looked up as Rosmerta approached his table.
"I don't know," Harry whispered back, shifting so that he sat against the wall, as far away from Malfoy as possible. Ginny did the same so they were still sitting directly across from each other. "But I don't think we should worry about it," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "I mean, he could just be wanting some time alone. Or something." Harry shrugged, feeling like what he'd just said was lame, as if Malfoy would never want or need alone time.
"Maybe," allowed Ginny, and then she let her hair fall over her shoulder like a curtain. Harry caught a scent of it, and it was just as he'd expected: fresh, flowery, sweet. Harry leaned a little bit closer until the table cut into his rib cage and he had to lean back. The move didn't go unnoticed; Ginny giggled a bit.
"Let's go," Harry suggested. "We could go back to the castle. It's almost time for class to start again." Harry didn't want to go to potions, which he had with Malfoy, and he just hated Snape, but he knew he had to go otherwise he'd be in more trouble than he should be in.
Ginny nodded and groaned. "I don't want to go to class," she said, and Harry nodded. They slid out of their booth and Harry shot one more glance at Malfoy, who was watching them, not even attempting to be sly. He didn't even look away when Harry looked. Harry turned and tried to ignore Malfoy sitting alone, and he led Ginny out of the crowded pub and into the cold village of Hogsmeade. Ginny wrapped her coat tighter around herself and Harry stepped closer to her, buttoning up his own coat to keep warm.
"C'mon," Ginny said lightly, taking his elbow in her hand and pulling him forward. "It's too cold to be out long." Her breath rose in front of her, freezing in little particles and then disappearing into the air as smoothly as it had appeared. Harry nodded in agreement, and his stomach did a flip at her touch. He pulled his elbow from her grip gently and then held her hand in his own, and it felt comfortable, like a puzzle piece locked in place. It even warmed him a bit, or it felt like it at least.
When they'd gotten out of the village and were walking on the narrow path that lead to the grounds, they heard crunching footsteps in the snow from behind them. Harry turned around and saw Malfoy, whose face showed alarm for the smallest second and then melted into that grin Harry knew too well.
"On a date," he said, not a question but as an acknowledgement. For some reason, it angered Harry more than it should. But he didn't answer. His free hand hovered over the pocket that held his wand. Ginny gripped his hand a little tighter and he could tell she was angry too.
"Just leave us alone, okay?" she said. "Why do you keep bothering us anyway?"
Malfoy shrugged. "Just want to keep up on the latest gossip, you know. I have a lot of people waiting for inside scoops and I need to satisfy them," he said and sneered.
Harry gripped his wand. "Shut up," he said. "Just get the hell away."
"Why should I? I have every right to be here, just like you," he said, shrugging. Harry noticed that he had his hand curled around his wand as well. "I think I'll stay and chat awhile." He shrugged. After a moment of silence he said, "You know, I never thought you two would make a great couple. Stupid red hair, freckles, poor, and a little orphan boy who hangs out with mudbloods."
Harry let go of Ginny's hand and stepped forward. Forgetting completely about his wand, he curled his hand into a fist and punched Malfoy hard in the jaw. He felt satisfied to know that Malfoy had not been expecting that; he reeled back for a second before drawing his wand and shooting spells at him. Harry was not paying attention to the words coming from Malfoy's mouth; in fact, Malfoy only had time to shout a few before Harry jerked his knee up and made contact with Malfoy, who crumpled to the ground holding his crotch. He looked back at Ginny, who looked stunned but had a smile on her face. Harry smiled back and then turned to Malfoy.
"Don't ever talk about my friends like that again," he said, pointing his wand at Malfoy, but Malfoy wasn't paying attention. He was just rolling around on the ground, groaning in pain.
Harry heard more crunching footsteps and he looked up, startled to see Professor Snape towering over him and staring down at Malfoy with something similar to disgust. He turned to Harry with clear anger. "What have you just done?" he asked, pointing to Malfoy without looking.
Harry stammered out a lame answer. "I-we were having a chat, and, um, my knee...it just...collided to Malfoy's, er, midsection, and I don't know what came over me-probably the nargles-"
"They what, Potter?" Snape raised his eyebrows and Harry knew he was going to get two weeks of detention minimum.
"Nargles, Luna Lovegood told me about them. She, um, said that they make your brain fuzzy-"
Snape cut him off. "Potter. Malfoy. In my office, now. Weasley, did you have anything to do with this?"
Both Harry and Ginny shook their heads in response and Snape told Ginny, reluctantly, to get to class before she was late. Ginny waved goodbye to Harry and began to sprint down the path towards the castle. Snape took Harry and Malfoy by the collars of their shirts and half dragged them to his office, not bothering to send them to class even though they'd be very late.
