Draco Malfoy Promises To Be A Good Boy This Year

Part Eleven

A Hot And Cold Christmas Ball

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It was strange returning to Hogwarts after being gone for so long. As I sat there at the Gryffindor table I received some very odd stares but also a good many smiles. Everyone thought that Nathaniel was absolutely adorable and they all wanted to hold him. After awhile, they seemed to forget that I was Draco Malfoy, cruel Slytherin, and just started to enjoy my company. This made me shy, but also rather pleased.

Even the Slytherins smiled faintly at me. I think the potion explosion had calmed their desire for revenge against me, and they were staying out of everyone's way. I smiled back, at least until I saw Pansy give me a terribly dark look. That was one Slytherin who wasn't going to let her anger go too easily.

The rest of the evening at Hogwarts was like a dream. Fred and George took Nathaniel off to show him to all their friends, exclaiming loudly that, "He's going to be just like us!" Meanwhile, Ginny was eating some sweet cherries and looking very kissable. The third time she licked her lips at me, I was ready for the dance to start. Any excuse to get in the dark.

"Let's get this show moving, then!" I cried out.

We were to go to our common rooms for about an hour while the Great Hall was fixed up for the Holiday Ball. Of course, there was no Tri-Wizard Tournament this year, but the Yule Ball had been so enjoyed by all that they simply had to have another Christmas dance. Personally, I think it was because Snape wanted to blast apart more bushes.

Since there was absolutely no supervision at the time, the Gryffindor common room was a mad house. So much for boys not being allowed in girls' dorms - we were all back and forth and all over the place.

In fact, it seems that the Gryffindor fifth years all communed in Harry and Ron's dorm, including me and Ginny and Fred and George who brought in non-flammable firecrackers and promptly lit them all over the place. It was their last year and they were really going to live it up. The fireworks exploded with loud pops and multicolored lights. Ginny was very excited and hopped happily on Harry's bed. It was an hour well spent.

Ginny and I took Nathaniel down to the infirmary to hand Nathaniel over to my nurse. It wouldn't do to have a baby at the Ball, and besides, it was past his bedtime. We kissed him goodnight and promised to pick him up after the dance was over. Then we departed for Harry's dorm once more to deliver my offering of the evening.

As the Fifth Year Gryffindors gathered around, I pulled three bottles of Muggle champagne from my bookbag. "Ugh, no more…" Hermione rolled over on Ron's bed, pretending to be sick, after having just recovered from the bottle we had earlier.

As for everyone else, they were quite fascinated. Some of them came from Muggle families, but they hadn't much been allowed to drink champagne. "Our friend Thomas bought these for us in London using a…fake identification card or something of the sort."

Neville giggled, covering up his mouth with excitement.

"So I figured we could all have a little sip before the Ball."

I transfigured several small objects into glasses and we all sampled the champagne. Some of us had a little too much, I would say, including Ginny. It was very good, sweet and fruity and it was easy to have too much. I loved it, but didn't overdo it. Ginny, meanwhile, drank almost three glasses and in her small system this was quite a lot. Needless to say, we were all in a very good mood when it was time for the ball.

*****

The Hall had been turned into a winter wonderland. It was even more spectacularly decorated than the year before. There were magic snowbanks all around the edges of the Hall, which were not cold to the touch and never melted. Magic snow of the same kind drifted from the starry ceiling but vanished when it hit the floor or the students. Music seemed to burst out of every crevice of the hall and everything was excitement and laughter and color.

I grabbed Ginny and whipped her out onto the dance floor immediately. We had never gotten the chance to be together in public and we were going to flaunt it for all it was worth. Harry and the others were in excellent spirits and we danced like maniacs until we plopped down onto the snowbanks, exhausted.

"It's hot in here!" exclaimed Ginny. "Let's go outside?"

"Good idea. I'm absolutely sweltering."

Harry was sitting on Ginny's other side, a giggling Lavender Brown perched on his lap, oddly enough. Champagne did the old man good. "I say, where are Ron and Hermione?"

"I don't know…weren't they here with us while we were dancing?" After scanning the room and seeing no glimpse of them I suppressed laughter. "All right, now we're really going outside."

Harry looked at me. "Do you think…?"

"I do. Grab her hand there, and let's go." Harry and I took Ginny's hands…she was a bit tipsy. The three of us headed out to the little magical garden they had set up again this year and we looked around. There we various couples strolling along through the shimmering bushes but Hermione and Ron were nowhere to be seen. "They must be in the bushes…let me go find Professor Snape."

"That's so mean! Leave them alone!" Ginny leaned against Harry and tried not to laugh. "They'll be so mad!"

"No, this will be good…" I left them to go find Snape. The dance was just getting good.

I came back, dragging Professor Snape with me. Harry and Ginny were still standing there, trying to keep straight faces. I pointed to the bushes. "There are students in those bushes, there, Professor! I just thought you'd like to know." I gave him a winning grin.

Snape raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "And this concerns you because…?"

"I just thought you would like to know. You're so good at keeping order and such and it's so important to the reputation of our school."

He gave a dry laugh. "You're not fooling anyone, Mr. Malfoy."

Still, the temptation of taking points away from the students was too much to resist. He took out his wand and sent a spark into the first bush. A pair of students fell out with an 'oof', their hair smoking slightly. "Ten points from Ravenclaw. Get moving." Snape was smiling. You could tell he loved this.

"What about that bush?" suggested Ginny.

He shot her a suspicious look and shook his head. He never could quite figure out what made Ginny tick. He sent a lovely bolt of magic into the bush and Ron and Hermione rolled out clasped in each other's arms, a very surprised look on their faces. Ginny gave a whoop of delight and tipped over onto her bum. Harry and I just gawked, incredulous looks on our faces. Colin Creevy showed up just in time to snap a picture.

Ron looked up from his place on top of Hermione. "Hi…" He gave us sheepish smiles.

Hermione raised a hand and kind of waved. "Heh…"

Snape frowned down at them and then looked at us. "This is what you all really wanted to see?"

I spoke. "Well…kind of." I held back gasps of laughter.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Twenty points from Gryffindor. Get up off the ground will you?" He stomped away, a look of wicked delight in his eyes as he approached the other bushes.

"I knew it! I knew it!" cried Ginny, crawling towards them. "My brother and Hermione…I knew it!"

"Quiet, Ginny." Ron climbed off of Hermione and pulled her up off the ground. "We just had too much to drink."

Hermione brushed herself off. "That's right…we're just tipsy."

Ron pulled Ginny up by her arm. "And you're flat drunk."

"So?" she giggled.

"So? Wait 'till Mum finds out. She'll kill you."

"What, are you gonna tell? Don't be such a child, Ron." She whipped her hand at him and took my arm. "Come on, Love. I want to dance more."

I shrugged at them. "My woman knows what she wants."

"Your 'woman' is drunk." Ron glowered.

"Relax Ron. We'll keep an eye on them." Harry smiled at him.

I snorted. Pretty Potter, always keeping an eye on me, as if I was going to kill Ginny. What connection did he think he had with Ginny anyway? Ginny was mine.

Hermione had had it, so she went up to bed, but the rest of us all danced some more, enjoying the music and lights and magical snow. Ginny gradually became more and more giddy and a bit more touchy-feely than usual. I tried not to make unnecessary noise and kept my eyes on Harry and Ron to make sure they didn't notice. They were taking turns dancing with various girls, and they seemed happy enough. Maybe I could get Ginny back to the flat without them really knowing. I needed several good minutes alone with her. I tugged on her arm. "My place. Let's go."

She nodded. "I'll go get Nattie. Meet you at Snape's classroom." She hurried off.

As I left the Hall and neared Snape's room, Harry and Ron caught up with me. "Where are you going? Where's Ginny?" Harry asked.

I smirked. "Wouldn't you boys like to know."

Ron grabbed my arm, remembering what a dirty little mind I had at times. "Don't touch her, understand, little git?"

Harry pulled us apart. "Stop that, don't fight. It's Christmas, we're supposed to be happy. But Draco…don't do anything you wouldn't normally. She's had too much champagne. Just put her to bed, please?"

"What, so you can sleep with her instead? I don't think so."

"Don't you dare!" Ron cried.

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do. I do what I want!"

"Don't do it, Draco," Harry pleaded.

I snorted at them and shoved Ron backwards. "Children…You just wish it were you. You can't get girls to put out." I was feeling nasty.

Ron raised his hand to punch me, but Ginny appeared at that moment. She had Nathaniel clasped in her arms. Harry looked at her. "Ginny...."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You had years to crush on me, Harry. Come on, Draco." She headed into Snape's darkened classroom.

I looked back at the boys, Harry holding Ron back. I smiled with amusement. "I guess she's chosen, Harry-Boy. See you tomorrow, then!" I blew a fake kiss towards him and ran after Ginny.

*****

As soon as we got back to the flat, Ginny tackled me. "Kiss me."

I did for awhile, but I slowly started to come back to my senses. I was only a kid and I really couldn't do this. I felt awful about what I had said to the boys, and growing up too fast would just make everything worse. "Ginny...this won't work."

Ginny froze and pulled away from me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you need to go to bed."

Her lips trembled and her eyes took on a very dark look. "So you're going to treat me like a child too, are you?"

"Ginny, it's not like that."

"Just forget it. I don't care anymore. I'm just going to go." She wiped at her eyes.

"You don't have to leave." She was being irrational, but I hadn't stopped to think that she was also feeling vulnerable.

"No, I'm going to go. Just...Just stay away, Draco." She sniffled against embarrassed tears and ran out of my room.

I ran out into the main room and caught her before she touched the portkey. "Ginny, I love you." I pressed her into a kiss. "You will come back, won't you?"

She shuddered, but nodded slightly. She was exhausted. "Yes." She suddenly went stiff and shivered. I turned my head and Thomas was standing there, his hair falling down in front of his face. Ginny couldn't catch her breath from fear. Trembling, she reached out and touched the portkey, vanishing from my grasp.

I glared at Thomas. "Did you have to come out right now? We were having a conversation!"

"I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

I shook my head, suddenly very exhausted. "Let's just go to bed. Everything's fine." I dragged myself back to my room and lifted Nathaniel from his bassinet and laid him next to me in bed. He smelled sweet and felt soft. I wrapped an arm around him. "Mumma will be back tomorrow. Don't worry about anything." I closed my eyes and lay there, not even bothering to undress. Things were uncomfortable with Ginny, but they were easily fixed. She would be fine after she slept and got the alcohol and adrenaline out of her system. But I had this sick feeling that something else was very wrong. I felt suddenly very uncomfortable. I could only imagine what tomorrow would bring.

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