A/N: I couldn't just leave well enough alone. I wanted to add a little something extra just so everyone knew where the three stood with each other. So this is officially the last chapter. It's an epilogue of sorts.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the Harry Potter series.
Things had turned out better than Ginny had thought they would. The few days left between her last big encounter with the Slytherins and departing from school for Christmas holidays were very odd for her. She'd no longer felt a need to avoid the pair and they had no reason to avoid her anymore so they crossed paths a few times each day. In the corridors no more than knowing looks were exchanged, but last Friday, on her way into breakfast, she'd been ambushed as she passed the Slytherin table. Okay, maybe not really ambushed, but she definitely had not seen the road block coming until it was there – in the form of Malfoy, Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle.
Malfoy had sneered at her and mentioned her "play date" with Crabbe. She'd flushed and said she was not, under any circumstances, playing in the snow with Crabbe who, to her utter surprise, had frowned upon hearing so. It was obvious Crabbe was still in the confused acceptance stage he'd fallen into the last weekend in the Three Broomsticks. Zabini had smirked at the shocked look on her face, telling her he'd had Crabbe collect all his good snow attire so they could have their snowy adventure before she'd left for the holidays. Ginny glared at him and sidestepped the group, this time being the one to walk away with out a goodbye.
That had been the last time she'd seen them before holidays – having bunkered down in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with her friends and not moved until reaching the end of the journey. She had thought about them fleetingly, but unlike the last month or so of her life, she was not constantly worrying about what they would do or how to deal with them. When she thought of them now the thoughts were generally wondering if they were enjoying their holidays. She hoped when the break was over and they went back to school that everything would be the same between them. She liked where they were now – friendly but not friends. It worked for them.
Now, on Christmas Eve, she received two gifts via owl; neither package was signed, but she knew who they were from. The first one was a moderate sized box wrapped in shiny silver paper with a gold bow. That was Malfoy's with out a doubt. She'd begun to recognize silver or gray as being his color of choice. The second was a large, heavy box that was wrapped in a brilliant blue color with a purple bow – that was definitely from Zabini. As soon as she realized who they were from excitement bubbled up inside of her. She couldn't believe they actually had gotten her gifts. And they said they my weren't friends, she thought slyly. She had sent them something small as well of course – as a thank you for listening to her and considering her argument on the Death Eater topic – but she had never expected anything in return. She took them to her room to open them in private, just in case they were not being as friendly as she thought but rather vile as they liked to think they were.
She decided she'd start with Malfoy's box first as it was the smaller of the two. She pulled the bow off carefully, making sure to keep it in pristine condition as she had a tradition of reusing them whenever possible. When she removed the paper and opened the box she smiled at what was inside. He had sent her two shirts that she didn't doubt were expensive – one black and one deep blue. There was a note settled in the bottom of the box that read, "We can't all be rich, but for once you'll be able to wear something I can afford rather than those rags you call clothes." She shook her head and laughed to herself. Only Malfoy could be thoughtful enough to send such a gift and still insult her with no problem.
When she opened Zabini's gift she laughed even harder. Once she'd removed the bow and paper she opened his to find it was full of sand. There was a note in his as well that said, "You like a Christmas with snow. I like one with sand. Cheers to you getting the best of both our holidays. P.S. If you dig, you'll get a real present." Naturally, she'd stuck her hand straight in the box full of sand, trying to find what else was in there. She dug until half of her forearm was buried in the sand when she felt it. She knew it couldn't have been the bottom of the box because there was a bow attached and she shifted around until she found an edge and retracted her hand with a second box held in it. The wrapping was the same and she wasted no time in removing it. There wasn't a note, but she didn't need one to know why he'd bought her what he did. It was a thick wool cloak very similar to the ones him and Malfoy had been wearing during their Hogsmeade encounter. For being vile, Death Eater types who thought that they were better than everyone else Ginny couldn't help but notice that they were damn well thoughtful.
When she went to bed that night it was with a box of sand stashed beside her bed and a silver, silk handkerchief with a small emerald DM in the corner held tightly in her hand.