Draco and Missy held hands until they got inside. Missy let out an exhale of noisy air, glad to know that everyone was in the great hall eating. Smiling, she turned to Malfoy, who looked at her; and nodded. "We got to make this look natural" she said, and he agreed, then bellowed
"MISSY, WOULD YOU JUST LET IT GO?"
"I CAN'T LET IT GO WHEN YOU BULLY MY FRIENDS!"
"Meet you tomorrow?" he whispered in her ear
"IF THEY WEREN'T ALL MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS, I WOULDN'T HAVE TOO!" Missy tried not to giggle.
"Sure, eight?" she whispered back in return, before yelling; "AND IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A STUCK UP ARSE MALFOY, YOU WOULDN'T CARE!" Draco hugged her tight against him,
"By the staircase" he muttered back in return. "GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU NIGHT? YOU'RE SUCH A TRAITOR, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO CALL YOURSELF A SLYTHERIN!" He kissed Missy quickly.
"JUST, SHUT UP MALFOY, AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Missy grinned, "Can't wait"
"Me neither"
And with that; they broke apart and put on their masks, and Missy pushed open the wooden doors, storming into the great hall, sparing a poison glance at Draco, before jumping out of her skin.
"God Missy," said Fred,
"You've got a pair of lungs on you, you have" finished George. Missy pulled a face, and crossed her arms over her chest; finding it difficult to divert her eyes away from the slytherin table. "Shut it you too, not in the mood."
"Not in the mood?" they cried at the same time, sharing an astonished look. They then gripped her elbows and lifted her up, hurriedly moving her down the steps to the Gryffindor table; she kicked her legs hard; trying to escape. "It's Christmas Eve and she's not in the mood"
"We'll soon change that," said Fred, dropping her down between Jessica and Amy. Vee, who was sat opposite Missy, raised her eyebrows; but didn't ask about her yelling outside the wood. Ron offered her a Christmas cracker, and with a dismal dignity, she pulled it, squealing in delight before she could stop herself.
"Yaaaayyyy!" they yelled, clapping, and Missy tried her hardest to fit in, unable to dodge Iris's cool and studying gaze.
And then Christmas arrived in a sheet of snow
"Merry Christmas Missy!" yelled Iris, bouncing up and down on Missy's bed, she brought a pillow around and smushed it into Iris's face, knocking her to the floor; and she took a few of Missy's presents with her. "Oi, give them back!" she cried happily, leaping off her bed and play wrestling her pink box from her strong grip.
"Will you two stop it for a second? God, just open your presents." Vee tossed a big oddly shaped package at Missy's head, and she yelled out and the corner rammed into her ear and clattered to the floor. "Okay mum" she joked, hauling Iris to her feet, and pushing her back onto her bed, where she fell into a pile of presents.
"Good haul this year" said Missy happily, rubbing her hands together, diving for the package Veronica had thrown at her. Tearing off the wrapping paper, the earrings fell onto her bed.
"Oh my god thanks Sis!" she exclaimed, putting the jewel huge hoop earrings in, and grinning so they caught the light. Vee laughed and shrugged, "I guess I just know what you like."
Jessica held up a finger, her eyes still closed, Amy's face bumping into her hands. "If you say what I think you're about to" Jessica threatened, "I'll send Jason away with your present" Amy went quiet, before she yelled, "TOO LATE!" and Jess kicked her as Hermione laughed, patting Jessica's tawny owl Jason.
"Oh sis, I love it!" cried Vee, fastening the small golden chain around her neck, the ruby glinting in the hollow of her throat. "There's a pair of earrings with it" Missy was occupied with stroking a softly hooting Sophie, the small wrapped items she'd brought with her lying on the bed. Slowly, Missy picked up a small black and silver box, and stroked the top; the black velvet soft under her tip. She unwrapped it quickly, and popped open the lid; a small flash of brightness flickered onto the bed sheets, followed by a note.
She picked up the note first, and read it with growing excitement in her head and heart.
Merry Christmas Missy,
Don't forget that we have a 'date' tonight.
Draco.
She quickly tucked it away whilst her sister enthusiastically hugged Iris, 'thank you's' tumbling out her mouth like a river. "Hey Iris, where's my present gone?"
"It's under the bed baby sis" Missy lobbed a pillow at her.
"I'm not a baby" she fake growled, a smile playing on her lips and she bent down to retrieve the gift.
"Morin' Fred"
"Mornin' George" the twins smiled in the early morning light, surrounded by wrapping paper. Suddenly, Sophie, Missy's owl, rapped her beak on the window, and they got up to open it. She hopped down and bounced between them, carrying two small parcels, both oddly shaped. Fred stroked Sophie as George grabbed the gifts, giving the owl a treat. "Right," he said, rubbing his hands together and unwrapping the small thing, "Let's see what we've got"
Missy finished putting the wand crystals on the handle, and yet again thanked Iris. She turned her dark Mahogany wand this way and that, the white, blue and green playing in the light. "This is so me, it's just so creative" she breathed, and Iris hugged her in return for her new shoes.
Amy stuffed the fifth chocolate frog into her mouth and sighed in bliss, her eyes rolling back into her head. "Eewww!" Jessica exclaimed, "Would you stop doing that? It looks so wrong!" Amy rolled her eyes, and threw a chocolate at Jessica; which she caught and shoved in her mouth. "You know" Jess said around huge bites, "I think this is the best Christmas ever!" Amy huffed, unhappy. Confused, Jess stuck up her hand; and Amy answered her un-asked question.
"We didn't even get anything from Vee, Missy or Iris!" There was suddenly a loud crash as Shadow, Vee's falcon/owl thing, ran into the closed window, nearly dropping the gifts he was carrying. "You were saying?" Jess unlatched the window and let him in, and he soared around before landing on Amy's head and dropping a Christmas present into her lap.
"Yeah, this is the best Christmas ever!"
The small box exploded in George's face, blowing his hair on top of his head and soot turning his face black. Fred bellowed out his laugher, rolling around on the floor in tears. "Best present ever!" George managed a smile, but still looked slightly confused, his left eyebrow on fire slightly. Putting it out, he turned the box upside down, and found the small note.
'Merry Christmas Georgie! Don't worry, this isn't your real gift, it's inside the box. I invented this last week with some scales; turns out they're extremely explosive if you mix them with magnesium! Anyway, you might be able to sell these; they'd be a laugh on birthdays. Loads of love, and again; a merry Christmas!
Missy. x'
"Should I be afraid to open mine?" asked Fred gingerly, poking his present with his finger, George grinned; and pulled out his real present. "Maybe"
Dressed in her favourite pair of jeans and strappy black shirt, a yellow off the shoulders jumper over the top, Missy managed to escape the happy Christmas bedroom, the atmosphere threatening to kill her. Checking her watch, (the new one her dad had gotten her. It was demon powered, and if you shook it or tapped it, a little demon would appear and yell "I'm going as fast as I can 'ere!" before
Annoyed and still tired, she collapsed onto a sofa, and opened a curtain; letting light into the Slytherin common room for the first time in god knows when.
Still snowing, she thought, I wonder if Voldemort celebrates Christmas…she suddenly had a strange and weird image of a pale snake like man, evil to the core with red eyes and a slit nose, wearing a pink Christmas hat out of a cracker.
Sniggering, she stretched out, her arms pushed above her head and her eyes shut, the white light seeping through them.
Right now it was hard to even believe that there was a war raging on, and with a white blanket of snow tossed over the grounds and castle, it was hard to understand if anything was real. Missy could see the evil face behind her lids, and flinched internally; at least she wouldn't have to kill him…
"You" growled a voice in front of her. Missy opened one of her eyes to see Pansy standing in a pink fluffy dressing gown; and she held back the urge to laugh. "What do you want Parkinson?" she asked, her voice soft because of the recent sleep.
"I was my Draco back"
"I didn't touch your Draco" of which was a lie.
"I want you out of my life" she tried again.
"It's not my fault I'm in it in the first place" said Missy, her voice scratching in her throat. "If you don't want me here, keep outta my way; and I'll keep outta yours." Pansy made a weird noise, then the youngest sister realised she was trying to hiss. "Watch your back Night" she warned, pointing a finger at her "Because sooner or later, I'll be sticking my wand into it" And with that, she stalked off.
"Merry Christmas to you too!" Missy yelled after her, unfazed; sinking further down into the soft cushions, smiling. Nothing would ruin this holiday… NOTHING.
", HOOOONK HONK! !" Fred tossed the small object up in shock, the noise so loud it hurt their ears. "How do you turn the sodding thing off?" he cried, frantically pressing the small buttons in the remote, the small box continued to create noise. George laughed as a compartment open and four tiny men jumped out and began to run at Fred, who yelled out.
Finally he found the off button, and lapsed into silence, terrified after being chase by tiny men. Laughing, George reached into the compartment and handed Fred his note.
'Merry Christmas Freddie! Thought this would be a good idea for a joke, because as soon as you open the lid it starts making a noise, it'd be a good April fool's prank too! Your presents inside the box, so you'll have to be quick. Loads of love,
Missy. x'
"What are you doing?" demanded George, as Fred prepared himself to go at the box again.
"My gift's still in there!" he cried, before launching himself at the loud box.
Missy made her way to the great hall for breakfast, a Santa clause hat on her head and Veronica's present in her ears. She was twirling her wand as she hummed happily to herself, the present she'd gotten for Draco in her pocket. She'd found her old photo album at the bottom of her trunk, and had managed to produce a perfect copy, and was going to give it to Draco; along with some sherbet.
She found him sooner than she thought. "Draco!" she exclaimed, running up to him and giving him a hug; glad they were the only ones there. "I've got your Christmas present" she handed over the box, and kissed him on the cheek, before running off; hearing his gasp in surprise.
Draco sat at a table and opened the front cover of the album, the intricate swirl design amazing on the front. Missy had made it herself, he could tell. He read in his head the little inscription on the inside of the cover.
'Draco, I'm so glad I met you, and even through the ups and downs; I know we'll always be grateful. I hope you like this; I threw it together after finding some old and new photos of us. Loads of love, Your Missy. x'
He smiled as he flicked onto the first page, and saw a photo of them both when they were little; about four, dancing around in circles, giggling and holding hands. Below the moving photo read the words '1998. First dancing lesson, can you tell why I don't dance now?' A tear formed in his eye despite himself, and he continued to flick through; the pain of longing and loss playing through him.
The next page was of them flying around the house, James; missy's dad, chasing after them. The second last photo of them both was on the train to Hogwarts the first time, sitting opposite each other and laughing, their eyes flicking occasionally to the camera.
His favourite on was the final one at the back of the album, a few pages before the book of slips finished. It was their first Hogwarts Christmas. They were in each other's arms on the grounds, snow billowing behind them, and Draco was rocking Missy back and forth slowly, an unheard convocation going on between them. His photo self occasionally looked at Missy, and pushed his face into her hair. Suddenly, the photograph Draco lifted her up into a swirling hug, and she giggled.
He looked down and read the caption below.
'The happiest time…'