This fic was written as a gift for SunnyStorms for The DG Forum's Operation: Stop the Grinch Who Stole DG Christmas (also known as the 2013 Holiday Gift Exchange). The prompt was 'Missing Ginevra Weasley.'
Merry Christmas, Sunny! ^_^
Of Denial and Tacky Tinsel
Draco drummed his fingers against the desk. Tap, tap, tap. The sound reveberated around him in a tune of unconscious agitation. He knew that he should have been happy. For once, his office had not been invaded by a swarm of multi-coloured lights and tacky tinsel, all decked out as garishly as possible like some neon signboard to proclaim the festive season. There was no Christmas tree stealing all the room on the desk he shared with his partner, and the caterwauling cats that tortured his ears with carols every year (he refused to believe the noise could come from a human) had been silenced with a simple click of his fingers.
No, there was nothing to disturb his peace or make him want to gouge out his eyes with a spoon. His office was blissfully, unalterably non-festive. It was as minimilistic and silent as he liked it, but try as he might to enjoy the atmosphere, he couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Something that a sly little voice whispered had obnoxiously red hair, brown eyes and—
"I don't miss her," Draco announced to no one in particular.
Ginevra Weasley was an uncultred shrew with not enough manners and far too many freckles. He most certainly did not care that she had been transferred to a new city and was no longer his partner. So what if his new co-worker was old, balding and wouldn't know a joke if it danced naked on his fat, shiny head. So what if Draco kind of liked the way she laughed with her eyes, or the way the light caught her hair and danced like flames, or how she scrunched her nose in that cute little way of hers when she thought he was being stupid. Because she was not cute, damn it, and he did not miss her!
"You look pathetic."
Draco flinched at the sound of the unexpected voice and spun around in his chair to see Theodore Nott leaning against the doorframe. "What do you want?" he muttered with a scowl.
Theo unfolded his arms and dropped a stack of files on Draco's desk. "I came to give you these, but I got distracted by your general air of lovesick patheticness." His brow furrowed. "Really, Draco, if you miss Weasley that much you should just go see her. It's not like she's on the other side of the world."
"I don't miss her!" Draco snapped.
Theo raised his eyebrow. Now Malfoys were known for their mastery of Eyebrow Snark and abilitiy to reduce the masses to grovelling defeat through the lift of a brow, but with Theo it was like a super power. No one could withstand its sceptical mockery, and Draco was no exception.
"Alright, fine," Draco admitted, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I miss her a little. But have you seen my new partner? The man is like an oily, sweaty Santa Claus who lost his red suit. It's disgusting, and he's always so serious and—and boring! Anyone, even Ginevra Weasley, has to be better than him!"
"You keep telling yourself that, mate," Theo said dryly. "In the mean time, those of us who are not living in denial have a date to attend."
Draco scowled as he watched his friend leave. Once the door had shut behind the brunet, he let out a sigh. Stupid Theo. What did he know? Draco was not in denial. He was just bored and restless because his new partner was an idiot; he did not care about Ginny in that way. It didn't matter if he kind of missed their banter (because she always had a comeback), or that the office just felt weird and empty without her vibrant presence. After all, it was difficult not to notice her absence. The woman was like a mixture of colours splashed against a canvas: a little chaotic, a little eccentric, but always bright and interesting. Unfortunately, now he was stuck with Sweaty Santa.
He sighed again and resumed drumming his fingers against the desk. It was a moment before he realised he was tapping one of Ginny's favourite Christmas carols.
"Oh, for the love of—" Draco curled his fingers into a fist and glared at his hand as if it had committed a terrible crime. "Bloody Theo and his bloody meddling."
The blond continued to mutter under his breath about all the reasons for why it was his friend's fault that he could not get Ginny Weasley out of his head. Unfortunately, no amount of expletives or sour words could cure his problem: he missed the damn little bint. Hell, he even missed her caterwauling carols and tacky tinsel. She might be an obnoxious redhead with too many freckles, but she was his obnoxious redhead, and he was damned if he was going to spend the rest of the night bemoaning the distance between them.
Without a second thought, Draco removed his wand from the holster strapped to his waist and then Disapparated with a pop. He could still remember the address Ginny had given him ("In case you get over that inflated ego of yours and decide to visit," she'd told him with a grin), so in no time at all he found himself standing outside her door. Naturally, there were multi-coloured lights everywhere, sparkling with all the garishness she loved to embrace at Christmas time. A shudder of acute horror crept down his spine, and he probably would have turned around right then if his hand hadn't developed a mind of its own and knocked on the door.
"Well, damn," he muttered.
There was no turning back now. Especially since he could hear footsteps coming towards him from behind the wood, and now the handle was turning, and now—
"Draco?" Ginny said, looking a bit stunned. Then a broad grin curved her mouth and she threw her arms around him in a hug that knocked all the breath from his lungs. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you!"
"Clearly," he commented, pulling away. "Do you always tackle people that knock at your door?"
"Only blond gits that don't send owls or visit."
Draco smiled lazily. "Missed me, Ginevra?"
"Don't let it get to your head, blondie." She nudged him in the ribs. "Besides, I think it's you who missed me. Why else would you be here after all this time?"
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, not quite sure how to respond.
"Aww, you really did miss me," she observed, and her smile widened so that he could see the laughter glinting in her eyes.
That did it. He'd never seen her look more beautiful than she did in that moment, despite the fact she was wearing sweat pants, a stained T-shirt, and her hair was in a messy topknot. It also looked like there was a smudge of flour on her cheek. Hardly the stuff of romance. But she was smiling at him in that warm, cheeky way of hers, and his heart was pounding, and damn it if he didn't think that he might be in love with the redheaded bint.
"Look up," he told her, making an impulsive decision.
"Huh?" She raised her head. "What are you—Oh. Mistletoe."
His mouth brushed against hers, feather-light and teasing, as if to dare her to take the kiss further if she wanted. Ginny did. Her arm curled around his neck and then she was deepening the kiss, slanting her lips against his and indulging in velvet caresses. By the time they broke apart, both were a bit breathless.
"That was rather smooth of you to conjure mistletoe like that," she teased, playing with the collar of his coat and looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "And here I was thinking you didn't like Christmas traditions."
Draco shrugged. "I don't. Tinsel is tacky and ugly as hell, don't even get me started on Christmas lights, and carols are an abomination that should have never been created." A smirk curved his mouth. "But mistletoe isn't so bad. At least not when it means I can do this—"
He gave her a long, lingering kiss. Needless to say, Ginny could not argue with his logic and was more than happy to cultivate his newfound love of mistletoe.
So, this ended up a lot shorter than I planned, and I'm sorry for that. Basically, my laptop crashed, I got busy, and then I just ran out of time. That said, I hope you liked the fic, Sunny!
Also, if you spot typos, please do point them out to me and I will go back and fix them. I wrote this at like 3am when I was super tired, so my editing skills were pretty much shot. Doesn't help this programme I'm using doesn't seem to have spellcheck. Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you all have an awesome day and New Year! ^_^