A/N: Sorry this took me so long…I've had almost three chapters typed for a couple of weeks now, but we're in the season of midterms and my beta doesn't have time to spare for reading my chapters. Forgive me. And I promise you that the questions will be answered…in the next chapter, and the few chapters after that. No answers in this one, though, I'm afraid.

(I'll try to post the next two chapters soon, though, since they're both finished and waiting to be beta'd.)

Christmas came and went, and I kept hoping against hope that some kind of incident like the mistletoe would come along again. But no such thing happened, and before I knew what was happening, the holiday was over and Ginny had gone back to her dormitory. I was alone once more.

I returned to my routine, exhausting myself with my labors. As usual, I studied hard and worked even harder. Quidditch practice was beginning to tone and build muscles I didn't even know I had. I began to add to my regime, just to find new ways to occupy myself. I found a spell to expand an empty closet into a room, and converted it into an exercise room, filled with weights and other devices to enhance my muscles and strength.

One particularly cold day on a weekend, I was forced to remain inside. While I was lifting a particularly heavy set of weights, a scrawny-looking owl tapped impatiently on the window I'd added. I set my barbell down, sliding down the bench and out from beneath it, walking over and pushing the window open. The owl settled on the windowsill, a rather bulky package clutched into its talons. It released its load and I gave it a scratch of appreciation. Satisfied that it had done its duty, the bird gave my fingers a gentle nibble and swooped back out the window, leaving me with the parcel.

I picked it up, squeezing it. It gave beneath my fingers, and I tore away the brown paper, revealing a cheery red-wrapped present tied with a silver bow—perfect union of Gryffindor and Slytherin, I thought to myself—and then proceeded to destroy that paper as well.

Wondering what was inside, I opened the package to find…a jumper. I frowned slightly, shaking it out. It was dark green, emblazoned with a huge "D" on the front across the chest. A letter dropped from within, and I bent to pick it up so that I could read it.

Dear Draco,

Sorry this took me so long. I couldn't work on it while I was staying with you, so I had to wait to finish it. Happy Christmas!

Ginny

I smiled and set the note aside, shucking my shirt and pulling the jumper over my head. The wool was warm against my skin, and I felt a wave of comfort roll over me. Ginny had taken the time and care to knit me a jumper. Some dark corner of my mind suggested that there would be a matching sweater on another man, bearing a large "T"; but I pushed the possibility from my mind.

Now we had each shared a bit of ourselves with one another. I had given up a drawing, and she had given up a piece of her handiwork. I figured that, on some level, the two of us were even.

Satisfied, I returned to my bench, where I found my way underneath the barbell, my hands closing around the metal and gripping it tightly. I pushed with my arms, enjoying the way the weight itself resisted my efforts.

Then I heard someone banging on my door, sighed, and again set down my weight. I wormed my way out from beneath it and grabbed a towel from a small stack in one corner of the room, throwing it about my neck and wiping the sweat from my face as I opened the door. "Yeah?" I said, my face buried in terrycloth.

"Draco," said Ginny, "Todd's missing."

I blinked, and let my towel fall back down against my chest. He was missing? What luck!

She smiled weakly at me, one hand coming up to rest on my chest, right in the middle of the D. "Nice jumper, by the way."

"Why thank you," I replied with a hint of a smirk, pulling the door open fully and allowing her inside. I gave my face and neck a thorough swabbing with the towel, though my hair still remained damp with sweat. "So when did you see him last?" I asked, trying to sound concerned. It wasn't working. I came off as cold and professional. But maybe that's what Ginny needed right now.

"I saw him this morning at breakfast. And he asked me to meet him in the Common Room just before lunch, and I waited all the way through, but he wasn't there!" she said, sounding upset. She didn't sound as upset as someone who was head over heels for their significant other, though. No, she wasn't terrified; she was merely extremely concerned.

"So breakfast. Hm…that's not much help," I said. I figured that the only reason Ginny was here asking my help was because I was strong, trustworthy, and I was always the one to save her arse. Somehow she seemed to have gotten it into her head that me finding Todd for her was another form of saving her ass. And, I supposed, it was.

After a moment of thought, I finally nodded. "Well, alright. We'll go look for him," I said, scrubbing the towel over my head, my voice a bit muffled by the cloth.

Ginny sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you, Draco," she replied, leaning against my wall. I grunted a reply and grabbed my cloak and my wand, tucking my wand into my pocket, shoving on my boots and putting on my cloak.

"Let's try the pitch first," I said. Despite the bitter cold, there were still some people who braved the weather to practice. They were the die-hard Quidditch players; I had been known to be among that group until I created my weight room.

The two of us left my rooms and the castle, trudging across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch, our teeth chattering as we shivered in the cloaks we clutched tightly to ourselves. As we reached the pitch, the wind began to blow into our faces, and the sky opened, unleashing flurries of snow. We stayed out in the open only long enough to see that those who had been practicing were now hurrying from the changing rooms back to the castle. I looked at Ginny, and with a nod we both headed into the changing rooms, myself to the boys' room and Ginny to the girls' room.

Once inside, I stamped my boots clear of snow and looked around. I called for Todd in the empty changing room, but there was no answer except that of my own voice echoing back to me.

The room was warm from the steam of the recently used showers, so I took off my cloak and took a seat on one of the benches, dropping my head into my hands as I closed my eyes and thought about where Todd might have gone. When I finally had an idea about where to look, I got up and put my cloak back on again. I went to the door and opened it, only to have a huge gust of wind blow a stinging wave of snowflakes into my face. I shoved the door closed again and sank down to the floor with my back against it.

I stared at the floor in dismal defeat for a while until I heard the door between the boys' and girls' changing rooms open. I looked up to see Ginny sit down next to me. I gave her a questioning glance, and she shook her head, her mouth set in a grim line. I sighed. "Damn," I muttered, cradling my chin in my hand.

We sat there together for a moment listening to the howling of the wind outside the door. Ginny crawled over to me and curled up next to me, leaning against me. "Draco?" she asked, her voice soft and quavering.

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid."

I hesitated before saying, "I'm scared, too."

I put my arm around her and she snuggled into my warmth. It wasn't long before I felt her hot tears soaking my sweater, and heard her soft whimpers and sobs echoing through the empty room. I pulled her closer, rubbing her back in soothing circles, letting her cry herself out. I wasn't sure why she was crying, but it didn't really matter. I had the sense that she needed to get whatever stress it was that was upsetting her so out.

After a while her sobs died down into vague sniffles, and she wiped at her eyes and her nose, slowly drawing away from me. I continued to rub her back gently, and she looked up at me, her dark eyes gleaming, rimmed in red from her recent tears. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice a bit hoarse. I gave her a nod, and she once again buried her face in my chest, not caring about how damp it was.

Soon she drifted off in my lap, and I was left to my own thoughts. I realized dimly that the wind had stopped its dreadful howling; just when it seemed everything was peaceful, my arm began to throb with fire, and I hissed with the pain. Ginny woke up for an instant, her body rigid, her eyes wide, another tear escaping down her face before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into my lap again.

I took the time to transfigure our clothes into the suitable garb, and with a grunt from the pain of the Mark, I took Ginny into my arms, wrapped her in her cloak, and stood, opening the door onto the beautiful, snowbound world tinted red from the setting sun. I trudged through the snow with a look of determination on my face, realizing in some dark corner of my mind that Ginny seemed to weigh almost nothing in my strong arms.

I carried her through the snow and into the forest, where we were wrapped in a blanket of silence. As my arm stung, I finally carried Ginny into the clearing where we were to meet, setting her down gently on the cold ground and shaking her before I even bothered to look around. What I saw didn't serve to calm my nerves.

A/N: So there's the end of this chapter. See you in the next one, which should follow shortly!