Disclaimer: looks around Anyone been living under a rock lately? Raise your hand if you REALLY think JKR would publish stories on when she could get these published and make money off them Looks around to see no hands raised Now that that's out of the way this WILL most likely be SLASH, it probably won't take too long to get to the citrus part of the story, Harry and Draco will NOT be jumping into bed to have hot slashy sex in the first 5 paragraphs (I have to do SOMETHING to set the story up)
Summary: A not so long Christmas fic that jumped into my head and insisted I write. I WILL get back to "A Different Year" I'm stuck halfway through Chapter 3 – and I will not leave it hanging where it is at the moment. No real plot advance has happened – well not enough.
A/N: A quick thanks to my reviewers. imLittleLily, xunderdogx, hpdmslashrocks, SLNS and harrypottermoveover. My deepest apologies for the wait for this next chapter – the wait won't be as long for chapter 3 it's half written now. RL crap came up and bit me in the butt big time.
A/N 2: Yes I KNOW that Draco is OOC, it's fan fiction of course he's OOC, I'm not JKR
Chapter 2: A solution of sorts…
"So Malfoy, just out of curiosity were any of the great Muggle authors actually muggles?" Hermione asked as they all looked for the spell that Draco knew he'd seen in the library but couldn't remember where.
"The Bronte's were muggles but most of the rest were actually wizards" Draco replied absently
Meanwhile Blaise had taken to reading page titles out loud while he flipped them "Two cities tale spell, Talking cat spell, Orgia familiaris natilis natilis Christ spell, Past live re-"
"What was that last one Blaise?" Draco asked suddenly interested
"Past lives relived?" Blaise said looking up
"No before that" Ron put in his stomach twisting
"Oh, Orgia familiaris natilis natilis Christ spell. What does that mean anyway?" Blaise replied.
Hermione and Draco both opened their mouths to reply but Ron was faster still "Literal translation 'Festival of mysteries belonging to birthday Christ' colloquially –" Draco cut him off
"It's the spell we're looking for Zabini, check the book and let's go cast it then."
Hermione raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Ron on the other hand couldn't keep quiet "And just where are we going Malfoy, and shouldn't we check the spell before we cast it?"
Draco just glared, "No Weasley we don't need to, I've read it before, and the only items needed are three wizards or witches and their wands. We've got 4 people with us and we're running out of time"
"You still didn't say where we are going Malfoy" Hermione put in coolly
"Gryffindors!" Draco exclaimed throwing his hands in the air "The only place we can cast this spell is wherever Harry is. We have to cast it on him after all"
Hermione and Ron exchanged a look. That was the second time Malfoy had called Harry by his first name.
-- Gryffindor Tower --
Harry was in a filthy mood. He'd really had enough of all this Christmas crap, and the sickly sweetness of Ron and Hermione, not to mention the fact that he just knew Dumbledore was keeping things – important things – about Voldemort from him, the whole Voldemort wanting to kill him factor and on top of all this, the general hormonal teenage male maladies. He'd been walking around all day with a half hard cock and he hadn't been able to catch Draco's eye at dinner to set up a meeting that night to ease at least one of the frustrations he was having. So he did what any teenage angst-ridden male would do under those circumstances – he went to bed. He was asleep five minutes later after taking care of the easiest problem he had by himself.
Meanwhile outside the common room the four "Angels of Mercy" as Blaise had coined their little group were having a little trouble themselves.
"You are prefects Miss Granger, Mr Weasley, you know better than to let those slimy Slytherins know where the tower is, let alone what the password is" the Fat Lady was saying.
Hermione rolled her eyes at this and firmly clamped a hand over Ron's mouth, forestalling the angry outburst.
"Let me try Granger" Draco murmured. He turned and addressed the portrait "My fair lady I do humbly beg your forgiveness for being here in the first place, but my friends and I simply must be permitted to come in. You see there is a severe problem in our own dorm room and Mr Weasley and Miss Granger have graciously allowed us to spend the night in the Gryffindor Common Room to avoid it"
The Fat Lady looked suspicious "What kind of problem? I won't let you in to terrorise my charges without fair reason Slytherin"
Draco smiled gently "My lady, my name is Draco Malfoy and our problem is Death Eaters – namely their children. Neither myself nor my fellow Slytherin here wish to become Death Eaters and Mr Zabini here let that fact slip at dinner time this evening, thereby putting our lives in danger, hence Mr Weasley's invitation to the safest place for a Slytherin 'turncoat' to hide – In Gryffindor Tower." He said sincerely
The Fat Lady's hostility melted instantly. "Of course my dears, I do apologise for the delay, come right on in, and for you two, if you ever need sanctuary again your personal password is 'Dragon Tamer'" so saying she swung open and allowed them access.
Ron just looked at Malfoy in awe. "Nobody's ever been able to do that before – not even Neville and he's a Gryffindor. But aren't you afraid she will spread the news? She's a bigger gossip than Lavender and Parvarti."
Draco shared a long look with Blaise who nodded solemnly, "Weasley, with the exception of you actually inviting us in here everything I said was the truth. Zabini did let slip that neither of us want to be Death Eaters. What I left out was that we've already told Professor Dumbledore who promptly owled our parents telling them that we will be in isolation until our severe dose of magical chicken pocks have cleared up. Apparently we're in the "delirium stage" right now, so no one should take anything we say seriously. After that we had to go through the rigmarole of having delusions at the dinner table – so now the whole of Slytherin thinks that I want to get into Harry Potter's pants and shag him silly and Zabini wants to get into yours Weasley, with any luck those two titbits will stop anything from being sent to our parents"
Hermione giggled "So you told everyone the truth Draco when they are less likely to believe it, I'll buy that, but why did you go to Dumbledore? Why not Professor Snape?"
Draco glared at her, but Blaise was the one who spoke "Snape is a Death Eater; Dumbledore on the other hand is just like us – a Slytherin on the opposite side of Mouldy Voldie."
Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and shook their heads ruefully, both thinking the same thing 'How little they know him, but he's a brilliant actor if he's convinced them'
Draco butted in quickly "Which way to the boy's dorm? We have to cast this soon"
Zabini opened the book that he was still carrying and read over the spell again carefully. When he finished he started laughing "Draco, I'm volunteering to be lookout for this one. You, Weasley and Granger are doing this one alone, I don't fit any of these requirements, I'm an acquaintance not a friend" he managed to say through his laughter, shoving the book at Hermione.
Hermione read over the spell and paled, "Draco Malfoy I am going to kill you slowly and painfully over this. I'm going to take the Christmas Present, as I don't know if either of you can pronounce that charm correctly but I know that I can, you can fight over the other two, however Ron, I suggest you take Christmas Past" she said through her teeth, shoving the book at Draco.
Draco raised and eyebrow and quickly read the instructions, "Hmm, Weasley I agree with Granger, you take Christmas Past, after all I'm not sure that you would care for an exchange of bodily fluids with Harry any time soon now do you?"
Blaise started giggling as Ron's face turned white, then a bright red colour that rivalled his hair. "What exactly do you mean by 'share bodily fluids' Malfoy? Ron asked suspiciously.
"Ooh let me" Blaise said excitedly, taking the book back off Draco. "The Orgia familiaris natilis natilis Christ spell was designed to halt the nasty cycle of self pity and self destruction that can cause previously happy and cheerful people to become Christmas hating scrooges. The charms themselves are simple enough to understand and perform, however to really summon the true feelings behind the Ghosts of Christmas Past Present and Future there needs to be more than just a charm and fancy wand movements. There needs to be a human element. For the summoning of the Ghost of Christmas Past there is required a strong bond of friendship between the caster of the charm and the recipient of the charm. (n1) For the summoning of the Ghost of Christmas Present there is required both a strong – yet different - bond of friendship between the caster and the recipient, as well as some chocolate sauce (n2). For the summoning of the Ghost of Christmas Future there is required another strong – yet different again – bond of friendship, as well as the chocolate sauce and a small exchange of bodily fluids from the caster to the recipient. (n3) The charms to use are the following:
Past: Memoria Vetustas
Present: Impraesentiarum Vetustas
Future: Futurus Vetustas
Use this spell responsibly at all times and be careful to take note of the fine print in all situations." Blaise finished reading the particular reference and beamed at the other three.
Ron stared at Draco "Why on earth would Harry want to share bodily fluids with you? And by the way, that is phrased really gross, how old were these guys when they wrote this?"
Draco smirked, "Weasley, don't ask questions that you and I both know you really don't want the answers to. Just take your wand, memorise the charm and go and cast it on your best friend. We all know that your friendship with Harry is the strongest."
Ron nodded, quickly wrote down the charm he had to perform on a scrap of paper and dashed up the stairs to the boy's dorm.
Hermione looked at Draco knowingly "You're not bothered with sharing a little bit of spit with your biggest rival now are you Draco?" she asked slyly.
"How right you are Granger," Draco laughed "But don't ask me why, as I really don't wish to tell you that"
Hermione chuckled "I already know why Draco – "
"Why are you calling him Draco, Granger?" Blaise interjected curiously
"Because it's his name, and I figured that all things considered, I have the right to use it now. Especially since he's using the first name of his greatest rival in front of us uptight bloody Gryffindors without batting an eyelash. Besides, I read the fine print on that charm"
Draco's usually pale skin, paled even further "Oh no, I forgot about that" he mumbled, sinking into a chair.
Hermione just smiled and settled in to wait for Ron.
--
A/N 2: Okay everyone, I just thought I really should stick this in here, yes I know I've got 3 "notes" in the chapter – they will become clear in future chapters…. As they are notes to the spell, not to the story.
R/R and tell me what you think! I've got the next two chapters written, just gotta type them up before I can post them, while I do that, you review and make me happy! Slash in future chapters, not the next one, or really the following one (Although if you read between the lines it's implied) but full out slash by chapter 5 :D