Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 12:
Holidays Unwrapped
It was two days after Christmas when Bill finally came to talk to her.
Ginny was in her room, leafing through the book she had received from Hermione and feeling generally miserable – her mother had been less than pleased with her, to say the least, and on top of that the ache had returned with a vengeance, making her weak, dizzy, and hardly able to sleep. That was more than enough to put a damper on her spirits, try as she might to ignore it all and focus on celebrating the holidays with her family.
She hadn't complained of feeling ill to her mother, or anyone else for that matter, because she really didn't want to be doted on and because part of her still entertained the ludicrous hope that if she ignored it long enough, the illness (if that's what it was; she was beginning to have her doubts about it) would simply fade away.
It showed no signs of doing so, of course, but she continued to apply 'storm-tactics' to the situation – in other words, she would simply have to wait until the symptoms abated. Lucky me…
All she could really do was try to continue on with life as usual – and at least there was one good thing about that. 'Life as usual' no longer included angsting over Draco.
Yes, she could miss him all she wanted without having to justify her actions! All things considered, it wasn't too much of an improvement.
"Hey, Gin."
She glanced up at Bill – her brother was a welcome distraction. She closed the book and tossed it on to her bed. 'The Magic of Good Study Skills' didn't really interest her, anyway…
"Hullo," she answered, smiling as she made room on the bed for him to join her. He'd been a little… off since the trip to Diagon Alley, acting as if he wanted to say something and then hesitating at the last second. It was becoming a bother, and if he wanted to approach her now, she was all ears. "You don't have to stand in the doorway, you know. You have permission to enter."
Bill let out a short, nervous laugh and crossed the room to sit beside her on the bed, leaning his elbows on his knees.
"That's an easy thing to forget with all your griping about never getting enough privacy," he said, clearly trying to conceal his apprehension with light banter. Ginny decided to play along, giving him a sisterly shove.
"I don't gripe," she pouted. "It's the truth."
"Ah, I see. It's not complaining if it's true."
"That's right."
"Does this incredible concept apply to everyone or just you?"
She made a show of pondering the question before finally answering with a flippant, "Just me," and a short nod.
His lips quirked just a little and he paused before forging on.
"Gin, I didn't really want to bring this up –" he pulled a face "– makes me feel old."
"You are old," Ginny couldn't resist pointing out. She merely smiled when he eyed her shrewdly in response.
"Yeah, yeah – just wait until you're my age…" Bill grumbled, though she could tell he really wasn't upset, just like she didn't really believe he was old.
"You'll be decrepit by then."
"And you'll be married to that Draco fellow."
The smile froze on her face…
"W-what!?"
…But not for long.
"What are you talking about!?" she spluttered, incredulous.
"That time, in the Leaky Cauldron – Percy told me that –"
"Wait," she stopped him. "Are you sure no one else is listening?"
It was a valid question. Extendable Ears were a common household appliance in the Burrow.
"The twins are playing Quidditch with Charlie and Ron in the back, Percy has already gone back to the ministry, Mum's in the kitchen, and Dad's busy sorting some new plugs into his collection," Bill told her factually, ticking off a family member for each finger. Ginny couldn't help but feel a little disappointment.
"Alright, then, go on," she said dourly, though she'd really rather he didn't. "What'd Percy say?"
"Just that the boy who followed you through the fire wasn't Colin Creevey."
It was only very nearly that Ginny managed to stop herself from falling off the bed completely.
"Percy knows I was with him?!" she yelped, not caring if it was undignified. If Percy knew, he would probably send the authorities after Draco on charges of harassment – or maybe he wouldn't. Lucius Malfoy was, after all, fairly high up on the Ministry food chain.
Her fears were assuaged when Bill frowned, nonplussed. "What? Oh – No, Percy didn't see you at all. Just your boyfriend and he didn't seem to like him much."
Boyfriend. Ginny had to bite her tongue to keep from correcting him. That still sounded strange to her…
"I suppose Percy told you all about him…"
"Not really – Just said he was a git. But in this house that's the general impression of all the Malfoys and you know how it goes; don't judge a book by its cover and all that." He gave her a smile before his expression turned serious. "Look, Gin, I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into."
She barely contained a snort. "Don't worry. I know what I'm getting into, alright."
"Yeah, well, I'm your big brother, right? S'my job."
She couldn't hold back a genuine smile as he slung an arm around her.
There was a moment's pause before she asked, "Bill?"
"Yeah?"
"You know that was really corny, right?"
"Yeah, I know." He stood up and shrugged, the box-spring mattress protesting loudly. "Couldn't help it."
Silence reigned once more as Bill moved to the window and Ginny just watched him, still seated and suddenly feeling that the world wasn't such a bad place after all. It was actually kind of a relief; after all, if Bill could handle it, there might just be hope for the rest of her family.
"Say, Gin, this guy – he's not as bad as everyone seems to think, is he?"
Ginny laughed outright. "No, not really… but I don't think many people would believe that – you won't say anything about this, will you?"
Her family's most likely negative interference would complicate, or maybe even prematurely kill, her fledgling relationship with Draco.
"Nah, but you ought to, eventually."
"Oh, I will – just not now." She half-grinned. "Mum's already mad about my running off; I don't think she'd handle things very well."
"Probably not," Bill smiled in return and headed towards the door. "Well, I'm off – you've an owl, Gin."
That last was arbitrary enough to make her frown in confusion before it occurred to her to look out the window. There was indeed an owl tapping at the glass. It was a male owl, no larger than Pigwidgeon and had the most becoming black plumage. He was bristling in apparent impatience by the time Ginny crossed the room to let him in, dark feathers standing up to their fullest (though the effect was hardly threatening).
Flinching at the rush of cold air, she held open the window and allowed her visitor to zip into the room, immediately settling himself into her pillow as if it were his own. If she didn't know better, she'd say the owl was glaring reproachfully at her.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling only a little ridiculous. "I wasn't expecting any mail."
The owl made a movement with its foot, indicating the package attached to it. The box was wrapped tidily in inconspicuous brown paper and appeared to be about the same size, if not large, as the bird that had brought it over. How on earth did the little thing manage? She wondered as she untied the package and accompanying note from the owl's leg and set them on the bed.
She glanced at the seal, a bold and heavy dark-green wax molded into a serpent that encircled the letters D.M. written in a beautifully sinuous script. It's from Draco…Ginny didn't notice she had begun to smile until the paper was halfway off the box.
When the wrapping lay crumpled and discarded on the floor and the box sat naked on her lap she paused, fingers poised about the lid. It was a very ordinary sort of package, black and unassuming, made of run of the mill cardboard – the flimsy kind that was sleek on the outside. A gift, perhaps, for Christmas.
The package she had sent him just that morning rose in her mind.
What could you get for the man who has everything? The very idea of the question had never been of relevance to her until now.
Ultimately she had decided that if his family didn't celebrate her personal favorite holiday, he must not have a lot of happy memories involving the winter break. So, she had bought an empty snow-globe and charmed the image of their snowball fight into it. She had wrapped it in a pair of gloves, nearly identical to the ones he regularly wore on Saturdays, that she had charmed in the same fashion as his socks and told him he could wear them while they danced if he was so inclined.
Well, it had seemed adequate at the time, but now that she had actually sent it off and was staring what was presumably his gift in the face that niggling doubt at the back of her head had grown into a monster the size of her father's plug collection. In other words, it was gigantic.
Draco would undoubtedly show her up in the gift arena as he did in every other – with his abundant wealth, what else could she expect? Looking back on it, her own present seemed kind of lacking and that burned her. A sense of shame churned her stomach and she bit her lip.
Or maybe… maybe it wasn't a gift at all. Maybe Draco didn't like her at all and the whole thing was some sort of joke…
That's stupid, the more sensible part of her piped up, if he wanted to play a joke on you he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.
That was probably true, she conceded, but that doubt still remained, paralyzing her hands where they hovered at the sides of the box. Ginny chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, debating whether to quash her insecurities and just open the damn thing or… or… well, she didn't know what.
A sharp pain brought her back to reality and she gave a startled jerk. The owl had been nibbling her finger, she realized, staring down at the little thing where it had landed on the floor at her feet. Expressing as much ruffled dignity as an owl possibly could he flew back up to perch almost clumsily on her knee.
An owl with an ego. How very… Draco.
She stroked his feathers apologetically.
"You startled me, you know," Ginny murmured to the bird whose eyes had drifted shut in ecstasy. He ignored her, more intent on the finger running repeatedly down his back. A cross between a giggle and a snort escaped her as she turned her attention back to the box in front of her.
She flipped off the lid before she could give her doubts time to manifest and had to clamp her jaws together to keep from laughing out loud.
Pajamas – that was all. She had been foolish to worry. They were very nice too; the flannel drawstring slacks were an enchanting forest green and the shirt, sleeveless and in excellent taste, was a lighter version of the same color. Upon closer inspection the minute details of the gift came into view, leaving her absolutely certain they had been hand-sewn and very probably custom made.
She picked up the note and slid her thumb beneath the seal. It wasn't addressed to anyone, but the owl had clearly been given specific directions to come to her. She scanned the first line and smiled.
'I could have done worse,' it said and Ginny couldn't agree more.
'But that fact remains, I did not. Merry Christmas – or whatever formality is appropriate after the actual holiday has passed. The owl is yours, by the way.'
And that was all. She read the last line once more to be sure and glanced from the parchment to the owl and back. Clever – the owl could be a consolation if she found the first gift too intimate or suggesting something she wasn't ready for just yet. Had Draco not made so many caustic remarks about her current night dress she might have. However, it seemed a perfectly practical, thoughtful even, present to her…
The owl nudged her arm and she glanced down at it. A fond smile wound its way onto her lips.
"What to name you…" she cooed, lavishing attention on it once more.
The owl was already lost to the warmth of her hands.
If there was one thing Minerva McGonagall couldn't stand about being a member of the Hogwarts staff it was the faculty meetings.
She took a lengthy sip of her chamomile tea and settled back into her high-backed chair – one of the many that surrounded the long table in the center of the staff-room. This was going to be a long one.
To be sure, not all such meetings could be described as less interesting than the legendary tedium of Mr. Binns's History of Magic course – on the contrary, some could be quite entertaining – but this wasn't turning out to be one of them. And understandably Minerva had other things she would rather be doing. It was, after all, winter break.
As Professor Trelawney stood from her seat to address some mundane matter or another, Minerva was quite sure she would not be the only one wondering if this would be an opportune time to take an afternoon nap.
It was rare enough for Sibyll to leave the tower that was her sanctum, much less attend something that involved the responsibilities that came with the teaching profession. Rarer still for her to contribute like this. So Minerva supposed it would be prudent to at least make an attempt at staying awake – though the chamomile tea wasn't helping. Resolutely, she set the cup back in its saucer and sat up a little straighter as Sibyll cleared her throat and began to speak.
"As some of you are aware, I do in fact read the Fates when I am not weighed down by my responsibilities to my students," said Professor Trelawney, her voice deep and throaty in a stab at sounding mysterious. Minerva doubted very much whether anyone knew anything – or particularly cared to – about the personal doings of Sibyll Trelawney.
"As of late I have taken to letting the stars guide my path. On a clear night one can see destiny in the making – it was on such a night that I was able to discover the source of the shifts I have been sensing for some time.
"We are all born under a star; the movements of that star control our destinies and it is Fate that controls the movements of the stars. Fate works in subtle ways, but I have seen a sign that cannot be mistaken. It is very rare for Fate to intervene so clearly; however, there have been accounts of similar occurrences, though extremely few and far between –"
"And exactly what, Sibyll my dear," Albus broke in, though he managed to make even that sound polite, "would those occurrences be?"
"Why, the aligning of two destinies! The intertwining of two fates! The crossing of two stars!"
Minerva bit back a sigh as Sibyll began an overly enthusiastic explanation of whatever nonsense she had seen fit to bring to their attention. Albus, at least, seemed to be taking the eccentric and reclusive divination teacher seriously, but then, didn't he offer that courtesy to everyone?
Perhaps a short nap wouldn't be such a bad thing after all…
Ginny bit back a yawn as she watched the little owl stretch his wings and make short circuits around the compartment ceiling. The poor thing had been forced to remain in hiding up until now, but it was only necessary. How on earth would she have explained a new owl – Lewellyn as she has taken to calling him – to her family?
She had been lucky enough to find an empty cabin in the back of the Hogwarts Express – which would be leaving in just a moment if she wasn't mistaken – where she could let him out for a while.
A yawn managed to make its way past her lips. Now, if she could only stay awake…
Her exhaustion was understandable, really. She'd been sleeping restlessly, if at all, for the last quarter of her winter break and all that lost shut-eye had apparently decided to catch up with her now. At least she wasn't feeling so sick anymore; that was something.
Suddenly the door slid open and Ginny tensed, startled, then relaxed. It was only Draco.
"Hm. Figured you'd end up in the last car," he said, tossing his bags inside haphazardly. Lewellyn gave an excited sort of hoot and dropped from the air to make a nest of Draco's hair. Draco made as if to brush him off and muttered, "Gah – damn bird. This is why I got rid of you."
Ginny decided not to comment on that one. "You were looking for me?" she asked brightly as Lewellyn took the hint and made himself comfortable atop a pile of luggage instead.
"Not particularly."
She had to smile because she knew that was as close to a yes as he would ever give her. The train lurched to life just then and the moving scenery captured her attention. It rushed past in blurs of green and brown, so fast that her eyes could hardly take in any of it.
"Are you tired?"
Ginny glanced up. "I guess so – why?"
Actually she had noticed a marked increase in her exhaustion level in the last few moments.
"It's just that you've yawned at least ten times in the last minute – I'm getting tired of staring down your throat."
"Sorry," she mumbled, too sleepy to retort, then yawned again as she stretched her legs out across the seat.
"Go to sleep."
A short time later she did. Draco was quick to follow her.
A/N: Ugh – sorry for the lateness. I had 3 pages done, but then the second two made me sick so I scrapped them and re-did the chapter from there. That set me back a bit, but after that my computer was being mean (it still is) eh… so, my apologies. I doubt you'll have to wait this long again.
Queen of Night: Hehe… I'd be surprised that you were addicted to my story period ^^!
Miaka Summers: Gasp! Someone appreciates my sense of humor! Heh – I'm pleasantly shocked.
NightLight4: Yeah, I think you could say the have a relationship… erm… when you say 'Draco is so…' do you mean a good thing or a bad thing?? It worried me when you trailed off there ¬.¬ … *sighs* I hope your not disappointed with the Bill thing – I think Bill is way too cool to over-react so it seemed sorta anti-climactic to me… Gah – sorry for making you wait so long!
Dudet: Haha… my ears are burning… I just had to say that -.-;; Thanks so much!!
Socchan: Agh! I know what you mean!! If I wasn't obligated to finish this, I would be enthusiastically slaving away over an IY fic this very minute! …Eh… well, maybe… I dunno, the summer is making me lazy. But anyway, I sent you the chapter; however, I think I may not write that fic after all. For one thing I discovered 'Starbreak' which is a much better werewolf fic than mine would have been and for another I would have to do research – Gasp!! How'd you find out about my birthday??? I usually don't tell my friends when my birthday is coming so they won't do anything for me… Yeah, I'm strange….Oh well. Write something if you must, but if you do you'd better tell me when your birthday is – who knows, it may be the incentive I need to write a complete one-shot…
Yami's Girl Forever: I'm not too much of Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, but I do know my stuff! Ah! So many compliments!! Help me, I'm melting! I'm melting! – oh, wait… no, I'm not… hm. I did have that nice tingly feeling, though… Um, I'm almost afraid to ask, but what'd you think of Bill in this chapter? I think it was a little anti-climactic, but Bill is too cool to get mad, you know?? Oh, you don't. Well, you learn something new every day – for instance before this I didn't know you could describe a tiger as cuddly… ehehe… *clutches first aid kit*…
Rachel: It does!? I had no idea… well, too late. Sorry for being inaccurate. Research + me = …um… well… I was never any good at math. My apologies.
Forestfire: It's not that he knows more than he lets on, it's that he's just… so… well, Bill ^^, need I say more? You're absolutely right, you gotta love Bill! Hehe… glad you liked the socks…
Emily22: Aw, no need to thank me for the story! I'm the one who should thank you for reviewing. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside when I read your review… ^^
Bulma Greenleaf: Eh? Cheese-cookie?? I think my dog eats those… oh well. *eats cookie* Mmm… cheese… Oh – what? I'll never escape your reviews?? Damn! – er… I mean… uh… *points* look a stampede! Run for your life!
xXxmandyxXx: It is happening, but not for long… muahaha… Draco doesn't slick back his hair in the PoA movie?!? …Must… see… urgh. Don't talk to me about summer reading. I'm having nightmares over the guilt of not working on it as much as I should. Seriously. It's interfering with my sleep.
Black_Dots: Eheh… Ok, are you disappointed this time?? Gah – I hope not – anyway, D/G won't be getting all mushy – that's just not them… so, don't expect confessions of undying love anytime soon… Major Global Warming? *sighs* I don't think so – I want to keep their relationship relatively innocent… and besides, they act too childish, in my opinion, to go too far in that direction. Ha – I don't think I could if I tried – romance scenes tend to be my least favorite when it comes to the writing ^^; … Well, at any rate, I guess you can't say I update very quickly anymore… 2 out of 3 isn't bad, right??