Summary: When Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express on the first of September, she was surprised to come face-to-face with the last person she expected to see back in school. He was still the same prat she remembered from years before, but now he has a much higher authority than ever before: he was this year's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Ginny wished this was all a dream, but to her dismay she was stuck with him for an entire school year!

Disclaimer: Once again I don't want to go through all the mumbo-jumbo of having to write this out, so I'm saying this now: NOT MINE!!! I keep on forgetting to add this on to this one: MAIN HP CHARACTERS AREN'T MINE, those other names you don't recognize are mine as well as the plot, and also other stuff that you don't recognize, kapish?

Setting: Ginny's in her 7th year; Draco graduated the year before

PhoenixRae's Notes: stupid hotmail said I already sent my maximum amount of emails to send in a 24-hour period so I only got to send an update notice for chapter 26 to the peeps in my first batch of email update list! I can't believe hotmail has a limit on how many emails you can send within a 24-hour period! anyways, last chapter was a really long one. I couldn't believe how long it was, actually. anyways, I hope you enjoyed and with this next one I'll try to get a bit more fluffness between Draco and Ginny...and perhaps Harry and Hermione...Percy and Twyla...or even Ron and Janelle! ::giggles::: we'll just have to see really how many fluffies & snogginess I can insert in this chapter

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XXVII. I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Ginny peered out the kitchen window later that night after everyone has settled in for the evening. Her parents were in the living room enjoying a hot cup of cocoa while watching the fire. Bill and Charlie were keeping their parents entertained by catching-up with the goings-on in their lives. The twins were up to no good, as usual, reading up on the book Draco gave them and practicing the hexes on poor Ron. Twyla was still sporting a turtleneck and couldn't be left alone with Percy in the same room without blushing furiously (they were no where to be found right now). Ron and Janelle were engaged in a deep battle of wizards chess using Janelle's new chessboard (Ron's losing terribly to a girl). Harry and Hermione were in the kitchen talking about whatever it was they often talked about--Ginny noticed how close they were sitting beside each other--while Draco was outside wearing a black jacket with the parka over his head (probably to stop the cold air from freezing his ears).

Setting down the cloth she was using to wipe her hands dry, she looked over her shoulder and told the couple occupying the kitchen that she was just going to step outside. She shouldn't have bothered, really, since neither one seemed to notice that she had spoken. Grabbing her coat hanging from the peg near the kitchen doors leading to the back patio, she slipped it on and her gloves before stepping outside into the cold night. It snowed a few days before they came home from Hogwarts so the snow on the ground were pretty much shoveled off the pathway.

Draco stood by the shed, his hands in his jacket pockets whilst his head was slightly tilted back, gazing at the night sky. It was a clear night tonight. There was a full moon shining down on them and casting the entire backyard with its light.

"Nice night," she decided to break the silence and alert him of her presence.

Draco tore his gaze from the night sky and looked over his shoulder at the petite redhead standing just a few steps away from him.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I could ask the same about you," she replied, slipping her gloved hands inside her jacket pockets and closed the distance between them, standing right beside him, her brown eyes meeting and holding his gray ones.

"I needed a quiet place to think. You have such a big family it was damn near impossible to think in there," he replied, breaking eye contact with her and stared ahead.

"You need to think about what?" she asked, intrigued at him suddenly retreating back into his shell. She watched him all day and he looked like he was having fun. No, scratch that. He was having fun today with her family.

Draco remained quiet for a few seconds, the only sound could be heard was the wind gently blowing some snowflake from the pile that was shoveled aside to create a path. Ginny made sure her jacket was zipped up nicely so she wouldn't be cold, she even flipped the parka over her head to help alleviate the stingy cold wind from turning her ears to icicles.

"Draco?"

Draco turned at the sound of his given name from her lips, "I never had what you have in there," he jerked his head towards the direction of the house, his gray eyes holding her brown gaze. "I grew up in a house that wasn't a home. We celebrate Christmas. Gifts were given. My father throws a party every once in a while. My mother never cooked us a Christmas dinner, she always left it for the house elves to do. I'd be lucky if my father was home to have dinner with us on Christmas or even on Christmas Eve," he said.

Ginny's eyebrows furrowed at the center of her forehead, "I don't understand."

"Ginny, what you have in there is a family. Your parents, your brothers, Potter, Granger, Twyla, and Janelle. They are your family and I feel like an intruder, a spectator watching from the other side of the window," he explained with a heavy sigh.

"You're not an intruder, Draco," she told him, reaching out a gloved hand to cup his cheek. "You are part of this family. You are family now."

"Am I?" he sounded whimsical.

Ginny tilted her head to the side and stepped up closer to him, "When I told you that you're coming home with me for the holiday, I thought you'd have a hard time fitting in with everybody here in the house," she paused and gave a slight shrug, "And probably I'd feel some sort of grim satisfaction at you feeling uneasy around my family and probably get your arse kicked by any one of my brothers or even Harry for that matter, but after my parents welcomed you with open arms into our home and the rest of my brothers and Harry followed their example I realized that the real reason why I told you to come was because I wanted to share my family with you."

Draco grabbed her hand cupping his cheek and removed the glove to plant an affectionate kiss on the palm of her hand and whilst it was still pressed against his cheek he covered her hand with his own.

"Then I should thank you for sharing your family with me then. I never had a happy childhood Christmas memory, but this year...you changed it for me," he admitted, "Now I'll have a new memory that is definitely worth cherishing."

Ginny smiled, "Well I'm glad I was able to provide you with one."

Draco returned her warm smile. His eyes holding her gaze still, he moved his head slowly until their lips were just a fraction of an inch apart. Ginny held her breath for another kiss that would sure melt the icicles forming on her legs. She counted one heartbeat...two...three...her eyes closed instantly when Draco's cold lips pressed against hers, gently caressing her frozen lips until the ice melted and they were responding to one another.

His hands dropped to her side, grasping her tiny waist before closing his arms around her and hauled her up against him, hearing her whimper as the slight movement caused their teeth to scrape against each other's. Ginny's arms snaked up and wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him closer to her and deepened the kiss. She was bold enough to let her tongue snake out and cajoled his lips to part. They were oblivious to the sudden picking up of the wind or the white flakes that suddenly fell from the sky, covering them in the glittering white snow as they continued to kiss.

From the kitchen window Hermione couldn't stop herself from letting out a content sigh as she watched the couple making out outside. Harry stood beside her, his shoulder being used as a pillow by her as they watched Ginny and Draco.

"They should really stop that before any one of her brothers catches them," Harry said, looking worriedly at the madly in love couple.

"Shh," Hermione placed her index finger against his lips to shut him up, "Just let them be. Those two have been screaming attraction since I first saw them in the train compartment our first day at Hogwarts this year. They've both been playing down their mutual attraction to one another since then, I think it's high time they both act on it."

"As long as they're bloody careful not to get caught. And that git better not think of hurting her or else he'd wish he was never born," Harry's hand clenched into a tight fist on the counter where he placed it, his eyes fixed on the blond sucking faces with the girl whom Harry came to love as the sister he never had.

"I don't think Malfoy will actually hurt Ginny," Hermione said confidently, "He loves her."

"Are you sure?" Harry sounded skeptical and Hermione couldn't really blame him. After all, a Malfoy that knows how to love? It just sounded too ludicrous to be true! "I still say they stop snogging or at least get a room before anybody else catches them," he insisted.

Hermione chuckled and pushed herself away from him. Turning her back to the window and the couple outside, she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"Must be fun to fall in love," she cooed, a dreamy look glazing her brown eyes.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her comment, "What makes you say that?"

"Just look at Malfoy and Ginny," she jerked her head at the couple outside, "They're so madly in love with each other it's so sweet! And they're happy."

"Yeah, they're happy 'coz they can suck each other's faces anytime," he commented dryly.

Hermione gave him a swift jab on the rib and shook her head, "It's not just about snogging, Potter. Did you see their faces when they gave each other gifts? That was amour," she emphasized more on the French word for love, watching Harry's face as he rolled his eyes at her romanticism.

"Jeez! Guys and romance doesn't always go hand-in-hand," she muttered and pushed away from the counter, "I pity every girl who ends up with a guy who doesn't have a single romantic bone...in his..." Hermione's voice trailed off when Harry's hand grabbed her by the wrist, turning her around to face him, his green eyes holding her brown gaze steady as he closed the distance between them.

Hermione held her breath until Harry's dark head slowly came closer to hers.

"...body," she whispered before Harry's lips covered hers.

Anybody believe in hearing or seeing fireworks when being kissed? Hermione sure did. How many years of pent-up emotions came with this kiss, and she was enjoying every moment of it!

Meanwhile in the dimply lit room of Percy Weasley, two bodies lay on the rumpled bed, a blanket haphazardly thrown over their sweat-soaked bodies as they listened to the muffled sound of their family on the other side of the closed doors.

Twyla lay on her stomach, her face propped against Percy's chest while the third Weasley son twirled her curly blond hair on his index finger. They both looked exhausted, but happy; extremely happy that their stupid, dopey grins couldn't be erased from their faces.

"Now we can't tell people we're not together after what just happened," Twyla broke the silence by stating what first came to her mind.

Percy chuckled and leaned down to plant a loving kiss on the crown of her head. Falling back against his pillows propped against the headboard, he let out a content sigh.

"I love you, Twyla Isaacs," he admitted after a few seconds lapsed.

Twyla lifted her head from his chest and searched his face for any indication that he was joking, but his expression was dead serious.

"Are you serious?" she asked when she could no longer stand the suspense. "You love me? You really, truly, madly, deeply love me?"

Percy chuckled at the mixed emotions he was getting from Twyla. She was surprised at his announcement, and so was he! He has had feelings for the bubbly blond since he first met her, but he only put it down as brotherly affection; nothing more, nothing less.

"Why is that hard to believe?" he asked.

"Because you never showed any indication that you love me as more than just a sister until last night, that's why!"

"That's because I didn't realize how much you mean to me until after Penny did what she did," he explained.

Twyla frowned. "Huh?"

"When I was with Penny, I never felt like I'm in a serious relationship. I kept on thinking about you when I should be concentrating on just her. Sure Penny and I went out for how many years and got engaged even, but the odd thing about it was...well, let's just say that I look forward to seeing you more when you visit compared to when I am to see my fiancée."

Twyla's eyes widened. "You're kidding!"

"I wish I am, Twyla, but I'm not," he answered wholeheartedly.

"Oh Percy Weasley, I love you too!" she squealed in delight, framing his face in her hands and pulled him for a chaste kiss on the lips. She pulled away almost reluctantly, she held his gaze and smiled, "I thought last night was just a dream, you know? You and me making out on the top landing of the stairs instead of going down to join Ginny and Malfoy for a cup of chocolate, but then I woke up this morning and saw that huge hickey on my neck! I was mortified. My making out with you in the dark on top of the stairs wasn't a dream at all! Good thing I was the only one left in the room. I don't think I would've been able to explain the hickey marks to the others," she admitted.

"But I think wearing the sweater gave it away," he chuckled. "Bill and Charlie obviously knew you were hiding a hickey," he pointed out.

Twyla made a face at him and rested her chin on his chest, her eyes gazing at him lovingly. "That's because wearing a turleneck isn't really that subtle, you know," she reminded him.

"You could've used a concealing charm," he answered matter-of-factly.

"How? I'm still an underage witch away from Hogwarts," she reminded him.

"Good point," Percy nodded, "But still, you could've always asked me to perform the charm on you," he shrugged.

"Well the damage's been done. Anyway, it was only Bill and Charlie who made such a big deal about my turleneck."

"And I'm sure they're over the issue by now," he said dryly.

"Right, but something tells me your brothers won't let it slide so easily," she answered.

"Oh they will, unless I spill their secrets to Mum and Dad," Percy had a menacing grin on his voice at the thought of his secret weapon against his older siblings.

"What is it?" Twyla's curiosity was piqued.

"Promise you won't tell?" he grinned.

"Percy Weasley, I'm being teased mercilessly by your two older brothers. It's good to have a weapon to use against them, you know?"

"Good point," he agreed. "Anyway, I heard that both Bill and Charlie are courting a couple of nice ladies. Bill likes this French girl who grew-up in Egypt who works with him. Charlie is fancying Fleur Delacour whom he met briefly--and quite by accident--when he went to France last summer with a couple of his friends. Fleur instantly recognized him for being a Weasley since...well, since she fancied Bill a while back."

"Oooh...and your parents doesn't know about this?" Twyla giggled.

"Bill and Charlie are trying to keep their so-called romances under wraps for now. They don't want to keep everybody's hopes up until they're certain it's going to last."

"Ooh, cela est magnifique!" she giggled, using the native tongue of her mother that she hasn't used in a long while.

"Oui, ma' suis," he replied, using the same tongue she just used.

"I sure hope Bill and Charlie's French ain't rusty," Twyla chuckled, turning on her back and pushed herself against the headboard.

Percy looped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, "Charlie admitted to be needing lessons in French since half of what he and Fleur talked about he didn't understand! As for Bill, he said Antionette is pretty good in English unlike Fleur whose main language is French."

Twyla laughed and shook her head, "Well I'm sure this won't be too hard for anybody to understand. Je vous aime, Percy Weasley," she smiled.

Percy grinned and captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, "Et je vous aime aussi, Twyla Isaacs," he answered back before covering her lips with his once again.

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A/N: aaaaalllllrighty! a bit shorter than the previous chapter, but there's fluff-galore here! *lol* I mean, I got 3 out of my 4 couples to make out--isn't that an accomplishment? hehehe :::winks::: anyway, did you like it? did you enjoy the Percy/Twyla fluffiness? guess their love story played out real good. as for the French phrases/words, here's the translation:

cela est magnifique: that's magnificent

Oui, ma' suis: yes, ma'am

Je vous aime: I love you

Et je vous aime auss: And I love you too

A/N2: French is not my first language and I am not at all familiar with that language so please, if these ain't all right, I do beg your pardon. I just used an online translation dictionary to base these phrases on so they could be right or they couldn't be right.

A/N3: jeez, aren't my a/n's getting longer and longer? anyways, I know I skipped out on individually responding to my reviewers in the previous chappie, now that I'm feeling a bit better, I'll do my best to respond to as many reviewers as I can, alright? and to those that I may miss out in my individual shout-outs, I'm sorry but you know I love you all and thank you all soooo very much!

goodgirlsbadboys: D/G are ooc in this one, eh? I know they are, but I just can't seem to write a D/G fic (or any other fic) where I actually stick the actual character's character in the books (or TV or movie), hehehe

Mystical Starlight: so...you're inspired to snuggle beside some hunky guy in front of a roaring fire and make out?

hasapi: glad you enjoyed chappie 26. I enjoyed writing about it. when I was done I couldn't believe I wrote a really long chapter!!! @_@ anyways, yep, so Percy ain't dense and he gave Twyla a hickey and now...hehehehe, well, I think he and Twyla did more than just suck each other's faces in this chappie :::winks:::

Cay: sometimes when Draco's being silly he's always sexy and dreamy *lol*

buttercup_rc: I know, ff.net's giving me a hard time too quite a lot of times now

Megan: thanks!

Hunter: Draco's kinda having a hard time thinking happy thoughts since he's not really used to the kind of 'family' the Weasleys have

hpangel: mmm....steamy, hot chocolate on a cold, gray, rainy day....yummy!

Quis: thank you

Kim: sometimes ff.net takes forever to upload the chapters

Xtremegrl2020: I posted chapter 26 and didn't take it out. ff.net's doing its usual funky thing again @_@

Beccs: 200% adorable??? wow...hehehe, well, uhm...I'm speechless! :::grins:::

Lia: I'm glad I made it another kick ass funny chapter. and I did enjoy writing about the twins kissing Jan and Mione--they just looove pissing Harry and Ron off 'coz they're too damn chicken to act on their feelings! *lol*

Cassandra Sisenta or Krey-Zey: HERE'S what happened next, hehehehe

Excillian: thanks for liking the fic! and my first finished D/G fic took place when Draco was in his 7th year and Ginny was in her 6th year...it took me a while to conceive the idea for this story

Miss Marauder: the book titles are all hilariously funny! of course the only book idea I conceived was the one Hermione gave Draco, the one Ron gave Draco, the one Twyla gave Draco, and...hmmm....can't think of what else but the others were ideas from my lovely reviewers who helped me with gift ideas

Crystal: I know it was a very long chapter...I couldn't believe it after I was done writing it! *lol*

death: books became a somewhat theme for the gifts, but of course giving away books is a nice way of giving out hints so the books got stuck there as the majority of the gifts given and received *lol*

avapouhi: I thought making them call each other by the pet names they gave one another would add a much nicer, more meaningful touch near the ending of the chapter

DannyGirl: I didn't have time to think of the gifts the other guys got (if I did I think chappie 26 would've been really long) *lol* and yep, I enjoyed them picking on Percy

MelissaAdams: hmmm...well the crystal dragon figurine is like an art...well, it's a figurine (or statue) of a dragon made out of real crystals....hmm...well, more like a sculpture of a dragon made out of crystal--did that make any sense? and the figurine was housed in a glass case if he wants to put it on display