Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 11:
Snow Day
Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace and into the laughter and din of the Three Broomsticks. The tavern was full and no one seemed to notice her added presence. She coughed and wiped the soot from her face with a sleeve.
Light sifted through the room from the wall sconces – lit even though it was day outside – so everything appeared to be bathed in gold. The patrons all looked happy, crowded around their tables in groups of threes and fives, laughing uproariously every now and then, and just sitting and talking over a warm meal and a butterbeer. Madame Rosmerta shifted around the place like the hostess of a family reunion, stopping here and there to take an order and smiling and making unnecessary conversation.
There was a familial glow about the place; it was cheery and warm and Ginny wondered that Draco had never withered and died in such atmosphere.
Behind her the flames spit out another person.
Speak of the Devil…
"Did it occur to you that we could have pretended not to know each other?" were the first words out of his mouth.
"O-obviously not…" Ginny faltered.
Why did he always make her feel stupid?
"We could have skipped the whole 'Draco's a puff*' thing, you know – no one would really believe it of me, anyway."
"Bill sure seemed to," she pointed out.
"Oh, shut up."
Alternately stupid and sugar high?
She tried to stifle the giggles stemming from her throat – it didn't work. Draco let out a long-suffering sigh as he came up beside her. She looked up at him, cautiously studying his scowl.
"You have soot in your hair," she said after a moment.
"So do you." He shrugged as if he didn't care, but ran a hand through his hair anyway. Where before there had been only a fine layer of black dust, there were now numerous gray streaks among his near-white locks. For some reason that bothered Ginny a little more than it should have.
"Jeez, you've made it worse," she mumbled, reaching up before she could stop herself.
Dusting the ashes out was an easy job, but his hair was incredibly fine beneath her fingers and maybe that was why she spent a little longer on the task than absolutely necessary.
When she stepped back to admire her handiwork, she noticed his eyes were a bit wider than usual. Good; she wasn't the only one left in the dust sometimes.
Draco blinked out of his stupor and scowled.
"Thanks, Mum," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets as if they had somehow offended him.
"Your welcome, dear," said Ginny without missing a beat. "Ah… should we… find a table? Or something?"
It had just occurred to her that this was the first time they weren't sharing presences out of absolute necessity – what if she had misjudged him? What if he just… walked away?
But he didn't. He only shrugged in the aloof kind of way that he did when he wanted you to think he didn't care.
And so it was that Ginny found herself sitting across from Draco at a table for two and feeling as if she were on her first date – which she certainly was not!
"Why were you visiting Diagon Alley, anyway?" Ginny asked as the thought occurred to her.
"I had some extra cash lying around," Draco said, as if it were nothing at all, "so I thought I'd see if there was anything worthwhile to spend it on."
"Don't you always have cash lying around?"
"Well, of course – but this is… you know, Christmas money, I guess…"
Ginny frowned. "Aren't you supposed to spend that on gifts?"
"I am."
"Gifts for other people?"
"Other people? You mean my family, don't you?" Draco snorted. "You would think something like that."
"But it's almost Christmas! Who else are you going to spend it on?"
"Myself, I suppose."
"Yourself!? But that's so –"
"Ginny –" Draco's voice was measured and patient and it was more than enough to cut her off.
He said her name. A giddy thrill rushed through her before she could tell herself it was stupid to make anything of it.
Still, she couldn't keep her face from flaming as she met his eyes. To his credit Draco seemed surprised to have spoken at all. He swallowed before continuing.
"Can you honestly imagine my family hanging stockings? Trimming a tree? Making houses out of gingerbread?"
She could only mutely shake her head.
"We don't do Christmas – my father gives me a bag of Galleons every year so I can say I got something." He frowned at her and added, "It's no big deal," because he knew that to her it would be.
The words 'I'm sorry' froze on the tip of her tongue. He was probably too proud for her sympathy – and if she knew him, he would most likely mistake it for pity, anyway.
If he said it was no big deal, then that was how he wanted her to act.
"Well," Ginny grinned. "I guess it's a small wonder you're so ill-mannered."
"Coming from the girl who told her family I was a Potter-worshipper, that's not very offensive."
"You're still mad about the Colin thing, aren't you?"
"I'm surprised you picked up on that," he said dryly.
"Oh, come on – I don't think you're… um… not interested in the opposite sex –"
"Because you know how highly I value your opinion."
Ginny ignored him.
"– and Bill was the only other one there and he doesn't even know who you are, so what's to be mad about?"
"It's the principal of the matter."
"In other words, you know I'm right and don't want to admit it."
"That's not it at all."
Ginny just laughed.
"Can I get you anything?"
She glanced up at Madame Rosmerta in surprise. She hadn't noticed the older woman approach. She was shocked again later when Draco offered to take care of the bill for their meal and couldn't decide which was stranger – the offer itself, or the fact that they were getting on rather famously.
It wasn't as if they hadn't gotten along before and she could decipher nothing different in their treatment of each other, but there was something… It was as if they were… more conscious of their situation and of each other – well, she was, at any rate. She liked being around him, and she knew it.
She couldn't really speak for Draco, but he was still walking down the snowy streets of Hogsmeade by her side and that spoke volumes.
They had left the Three Broomsticks on full stomachs and were now ambling down the road, window shopping and talking about everything and nothing at all. It was so frighteningly normal that Ginny had to bite the inside of her lip to make sure it was real.
"So that really was an accident?" she asked, her words frosting in the air.
"No – I wanted to be mauled by the thing," Draco's voice oozed sarcasm. "Of course it was an accident! Bloody bird…"
"I always thought you'd insulted Buckbeak on purpose – you know, to get Hagrid fired…"
"Well, that too…"
"You're awful."
"Too right."
They had been walking for some time now, and Ginny decided that maybe she ought to pay a little more attention to their surroundings. She looked up and found they had just passed the shrieking shack. They'd gone farther than she'd thought.
Now that they were on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, though, large, open expanses of untouched snow were becoming visible. She stopped to stare at one of them – the ground was pure, pristine white, dotted with glazed shrubs and trees, and it was calling to her in a way she could not resist.
Laughing, she ran out into the snow and knelt down to gather some in her gloved hands, packing it solidly together.
"What are you doing?"
Ginny looked from Draco to the ball of snow in her hand and back.
"I was going to make a snowman, but now I think I'd rather do this."
The snowball impacted against his chest in a spray of white. He stared at her in a shocked sort of silence for a moment.
"You're murder on my dignity, you know," he finally said, "look at that, it's bleeding all over the place. If you hit me one more time –" she did "– alright; you've killed it. Don't think you're going to get off easy."
He was already coming towards her as he said those last words, and it was all Ginny could do to give a little shout before she took off running. She ducked behind a tree and began fervently packing the snow in her hands. A snowball whizzed by and struck the ground in front of her – how close was he?
Ginny peaked around the trunk and was nearly caught in the face with a chunk of snow the size of a baseball. She sent her own ammunition out and missed by a mile. It continued on that way for some time, snowballs flying in every direction until both participants were panting and dusted from head to foot with white.
Ginny backed as far as she could into the snow-bank, eyes trained on Draco as he came ever closer. His snowball flew off somewhere to her left and she outright laughed at him – the laughter came to an abrupt stop as he managed to hit her directly in the shoulder.
She held up two hands in desperation.
"Ah – truce, truce!"
Draco shook his head. "Now, why would I agree to that? I've got you right where I want you…"
Ginny quickly decided she didn't much like the devilish gleam in his eyes. She made a break for it, running as far as she could to her right; as it turned out, that wasn't such a good idea. The deepening snow made it slow going and that allowed Draco the time he needed to catch up with her.
She couldn't hold in a frightened yelp as he hefted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"W-what are you doing?" she asked, squirming as much as she could within his grasp. It was to no avail; his arm was like a vice. When he replied she could hear the smirk in his voice.
"I'm avenging my dignity."
That tone was one of the most fearsome things she had heard in her life. Twisting around so she could see where Draco was heading, her eyes widened.
"Oh, no – you're not gonna –"
But he was.
Ginny 'eep'-ed as he dropped her in a snow-bank that must have been nearly as tall as she was. Any part of her than wasn't wet from the snowball fight was now as drenched as the rest of her. She was soaked to the bone and she had never been so cold in her life.
"Is your need for vengeance satisfied?" she asked dully, scowling up at him from the brand new Ginny-shaped crater in the snow.
"Yeah… yeah, I think that'll do."
"Good." She stuck her hand out. "Now I hope it isn't beneath you to help me up."
"It is, but I'll do it anyway."
Sucker! She crowed in her head as he grabbed her hand and she pulled him down into the snow with her.
Of course, all didn't go according to plan – as things rarely did – and Draco ended up more on top of her than in the snow, but still… she couldn't hold in a giggle.
"I can't believe you fell for that," she laughed at his tragically resigned expression.
"I really ought to learn to trust my instincts – I knew you were up to something…"
"Yeah, you… should…" Ginny trailed off, her voice dying beneath his stare and her own realization – their position was rather compromising… She felt her face heat up, but made no attempt to stop it. She was too engrossed in the fact that he was staring, not at her, but at her lips.
He was going to kiss her again. Her mind whirled – she really should do something to stop him only she wasn't sure if she really wanted to stop him and she really must look a mess – how could he possibly want to kiss her if she looked so horrid? – and she was only going to become cross with him again because this didn't really mean anything to him and it did to her, but this was the second time so maybe it meant something to him after all, only she couldn't be sure so – Oh, what the hell…
He leaned in just a little and she met him halfway.
Let's just say they… melted snow for a while.
Ginny was grinning like an idiot and she knew it, but there was nothing she could do. They had walked back to the Three Broomsticks in a comfortable silence, neither willing to relinquish the good will between them with any sort of disagreement.
The day had turned to late afternoon and Ginny knew she had to make it home before evening if she ever wanted to leave the house again, so they had gone directly to the fireplace and were now drying off in front of the flames. If she turned up soaking, her mother would have kittens.
Well, eventually she had sat down to pull off her boots, and Draco followed suit – that's when she saw them and her face broke out into a smile.
"I don't believe it," was all she could think to say. It came out in an excited squeal no matter how hard she tried to produce a more becoming tone.
"Yeah, well… they're comfortable, okay?"
He was wearing the socks. The socks. And, if she wasn't mistaken, he was blushing.
Ginny had never wanted to hug anyone so much in her entire life, but she refrained, of course, for pride's sake. She was still unsure of him and he would probably be embarrassed by such a display of affection even if he did have some sort of romantic interest in her, the jerk.
She settled for inching closer to him and inspecting the smiling, knit animals as if unsure that they were real.
"And here I thought you hated them…"
"Where could possibly have gotten that idea?" Even Neville, who was not known for his extreme perceptiveness, couldn't have missed the cynicism in that sentence.
"Well, you never thanked me properly," she sniffed, as if offended.
"Yes, that must have been a devastating blow for you."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" she laughed, then added dryly, "Don't worry, I think I'll recover."
"Worry? About you? Never." He paused and then stood abruptly, tugging his boots back on. "I'm about dry now, I think," Draco told her as he prepared to leave via the fireplace.
She blinked in surprise. "You're going? Now?"
"That was the general idea, yes," he said, turning to look at her from where he stood before the hearth. She got up and came closer, nervously wringing her hands.
"Wait – do you… I mean, are we…? I just… I wanted to know if… ah…" Ginny trailed off, blushing to the roots of her hair and looking anywhere but at the person she was speaking to. Draco seemed to understand.
"Twit," he muttered as he pulled her close enough to drop a kiss onto her head. The word could have been an endearment the way he said it… but that didn't change the fact that he had just insulted her.
She hmph-ed and crossed her arms beneath her breasts as soon as he pulled away, hoping the action would express her (semi-non-existent) anger. In actuality she was all bubbles inside; however, she was not about to let him know that.
"What? You don't like that pet name?"
Draco became the unlucky recipient of the patented Ginny Weasley Death Glare. "Pet name, my arse."
He only chuckled and she immediately decided she liked the sound.
"I'll have to think of a new one then… how about –"
"Don't even," Ginny countered flatly, eliciting a grin from her… boyfriend…? She mused. The term didn't sound right when applied to Draco, but nothing else really came close to describing their… relationship.
"I ought to leave, you know," his voice called her back to reality.
"And so should I…" She was quite dry by now. "Goodbye, then, Draco."
"Goodbye… Weasel," was the last thing he said to her before he disappeared in a rush of green flames. She could still see his teasing grin when the fire had returned to a cheery orange-red.
It was this kind of thing that made her wonder what on earth she saw in him.
"Prat," she mumbled allowed. It came out rather fondly in her ears.
Pushing thoughts of Draco from her mind, she stepped into the fire and headed back to the Burrow where the Christmas spirit was the only thing that saved her from the full brunt of Molly Weasley's wrath.
A/N: * puff is a term for a gay person, right? Does everyone remember the socks from… chapter six, I think it was? Well, those are the ones Draco is wearing… sorry if that wasn't clear…I know this is a bit late… or at least I think it is… but I had insane writer's block – I've never experienced anything quite like it. For about two full days I would stare and stare at what I'd written so far and absolutely nothing came to me. Nothing – my mind just went completely blank! It was scary… then I watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and my inspiration mysteriously returned – I love that movie ^^! Ok, on to the reviews – again, skipping some one-liners:
Black_Dots: I'm speechless – you're too kind! You think the story is realistic _and_ funny?? Such high praise… haha… you're embarrassing me ^^! Hmm… I think the Draco/Ginny pairing is unrealistic too, but that's one of the things that appeals to me… putting them together is so unlikely that it makes sense in a strange sort of way… eh… did that make any sense? Oh… well… I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you!
Bulma Greenleaf: Mmm… pineapple… so delicious… Hehe, that was my first real, conscious attempt at humor, so I'm glad it didn't fall flat… aw, you don't have to apologize for not reviewing – it shouldn't be an obligation… though, I confess, I did miss your input. Here I was, thinking you had lost interest in my story…
Yami's Girl Forever: Sigh… Yami as in Yami-Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh, right? Or am I way off? …Yup, I'm about a month away from 15 and I am a proud cartoon-addict! Whoooo!! I like anime/manga, though, better than a lot of American cartoons… but still, anything with at least semi-decent plot and animation can draw me in – anyway, about the chapter: I know the Colin thing was a bit of a stretch, but so many people make Colin gay, that I just couldn't resist… and Draco was following along more than anything – I think at this point there's very little he wouldn't do for Ginny, albeit grudgingly. Ah, well, I know you wanted to see what Bill's gonna do, but that'll have to wait for the next chapter – Ack! *hides behind Diana* Diana will save me from the Chainsaw of Death! …Eh… right? Ah!! She bit me! *runs around screaming in circles* …Looks like I'm gonna have to take a trip to obedience school…
Socchan: I wouldn't be annoyed with you for not reviewing, so don't worry about it! And I'm _always_ insecure, so don't worry about that either… So, I can expect more updates soon, yes? Good – and I know just how you feel with that new fic idea… I'm going through the exact same thing… I need about ten more chapters on this story too before I start my new idea…speaking of which, can I send you the first chapter? You probably won't be able to get to it for a while, and that's fine because I can't post for a while anyway, but I want a second opinion on it – I've already got the rough draft typed up, so tell me if you've got time to take a look, okay? Thanks ^^!
Mandy8: Oy, you changed your name! Oh, well, there were too many mandy's anyway… Glad you thought it was funny – I've never tried to write anything remotely humorous before this, so I was pretty nervous about it!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! Without you guys, I don't know what I would do!