Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter etc.

Chapter 9:

Alison had spent most of the holiday up in her room, thinking about her aunt and uncle. Lucian had tried a number of times to distract her but she hardly enjoyed herself; some part of her mind was always thinking about her family and the lies that they had told her. By Christmas Eve, Lucian had decided to call in reinforcements. He called Alison into the living room that morning. She skulked inside but smiled when she saw why – Draco and Blaise were sitting on the sofa.

"Well, get a coat on – we're going outside!" said Blaise after she hugged them.

Alison nodded and hurriedly put on a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves. The four of them went out to the snow covered garden. It wasn't long before Blaise threw a snowball at Draco who shouted in response and threw one back, only to hit Alison. He tried to hold back a laugh as he apologised but failed and laughed at the look of shock on Alison's face. She frowned and picked up a handful of snow. Draco began to back away slowly as she approached him, his hands up in front of him. Alison charged at him as he turned to run away and leapt on his back, smothering his head with the freezing snow. Draco tried to grab at her but she jumped away and sprinted to hide behind Lucian.

"I'll get you back, Ali," said Draco confidently, running a hand through his hair to get rid of the snow.

Alison stuck her tongue out at him and hid behind Lucian again. Neither of them noticed Blaise sneaking up behind them. He picked Alison up, making her to scream and laugh, and he broke out into a run with her in his arms. Alison's flailing made them fall, both of them becoming covered in snow. Alison started giggling as she sat there whilst Blaise chuckled and got to his feet. Draco walked over to them and held a hand out to help Alison up. She took it and pulled him to the ground next to her.

"Too easy, Draco," she said through her giggles.

They had snowball fights for the entire day and finally dragged their feet inside once it started to get dark.


Draco and Blaise stayed for Christmas day. They gathered round the tree with Alison, Lucian and Mr and Mrs Bole and exchanged presents whilst sipping warm butterbeer. Draco sent Alison a smile whilst he handed Lucian his gift. He hadn't given her a present, not that she minded. She wasn't really in the mood for Christmas and getting presents.

Mr and Mrs Bole made their way to the kitchen to prepare dinner and everyone went their separate ways to their rooms. As Alison began to walk up the stairs someone grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the spare room. Draco closed and locked the door behind them.

"What are you doing?" asked Alison with her arms folded.

He smirked and dangled a small green silk bag in front of her face. Alison raised an eyebrow.

"How about, we go and see your aunt and uncle?"

Alison gasped and snatched the bag from his hand, jumping up and down on the spot. Draco took the bag back and threw some of the floo powder into the fireplace at the opposite side of the room.

'After you,' he said with a smile.

Alison hurried over to the fireplace and stepped into it. She shouted out her aunt and uncle's address. Keeping her arms folded, she whizzed through the network. It was a smooth journey until she was violently thrown in a different direction. She sped up and was hurled into a dimly lit room.

'You may want to move out of the way, Miss Lewis,' said a calm voice.

Alison shuffled to the side just as Draco came flying through the fireplace. He quickly got to his feet and scowled.

'What are we doing here?' he asked, helping Alison to her feet.

'The route to Miss Lewis' aunt and uncle's house has been blocked and redirected to here,' said Professor Dumbledore.

He stepped around his desk and stood in front of the two students.

'I told you that you do not need to know about your father, Miss Lewis, not yet at least. Your aunt and uncle will not be any help as I have instructed them to tell you nothing.'

'But, Professor, I have a right to know,' said Alison, stepping forward, 'I want to know who my family is.'

'You will in time, Miss Lewis, but for now, you must do as I say.'

'This is ridiculous,' said Draco, standing in front of Alison, 'it's her family.'

'I am aware of that, Mr Malfoy, but it is not yours or Miss Lewis' decision to make,' Dumbledore gestured towards the fire, 'I'd appreciate it if you will not investigate this further. You will know, eventually. Now, I'm sure that your new family are missing you.'

Stubbornly, Alison then Draco stepped into the fire and travelled back to the Bole house. They stumbled out of the fireplace, one after the other, Draco leaping straight to his feet.

'He can't do that, Ali,' he snapped, helping her up.

Alison looked as if all the energy had been drained out of her: her face was grey, her posture weak, her lips barely moved as she spoke.

'He's Albus Dumbledore, Draco. He can do what he wants.'

She dragged her feet as she approached the door, which swung open as she reached for the handle. Lucian stood in the doorway, a scowl on his face.

'So, what were you two up to?' he asked, folding his arms.

'Not now, Lucian, I want to go to bed,' sighed Alison, trying and failing to push past him.

Lucian looked past her and at Draco's hands. He was holding the small bag.

'Is that floo powder?' he didn't wait for an answer, 'I knew you would do this, Alison. You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?'

'This has nothing to do with you, Lucian,' groaned Alison, 'you wouldn't understand – you know who your family is.'

He shook his head and said quietly, 'I thought I did.'


Thank you for reading. Sorry about the lack of updates.