Chapter 6- Correspondence

Charlie and Bill had gone back to their families Friday night. Ron had told Harry he would be staying at The Burrow, and Penelope had decided to visit her own parents for the weekend, leaving Percy with no one to cook for him unless he stayed.

After a long interrogation, coming mainly from Ron, Ginny turned in early, finally getting to be in her own room for once here. She almost went back to her flat when Ron came and started asking her more stupid questions, but knew she had to talk to her mother the next morning.

Ginny was up before almost everyone else. Molly was already cooking in the kitchen, and Ginny took to helping. "Good morning," Molly said cheerily. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," Ginny answered while attempting to wake herself up. "I had something I wanted to ask you while no one else was around."

Molly's expression changed to one of concern. "What is it?"

"Nothing bad, but," Ginny took a deep breath, not sure of how her mother would take this, "I was wondering if we could ask Draco if he'd like to spend Christmas with our family."

Molly let out the breath she had been holding and went back to enchanting the dough to knead so she could make some fresh bread. "I'm not sure about that, dear. I'm sure he'd be much happier with his own family, seeing how your brothers acted last night."

"He doesn't have any family to go to, Mum. Mrs. Malfoy apparently died a few years ago, and Draco's all alone now." Ginny sat on a stool and started to chop up some fresh dill that was sitting out for the omelets her mother was making.

Molly's eyes were tearing up at the idea of a child not having Christmas, even if this 'child' was twenty-three. "Oh, that poor boy," Molly said, able to forgive much easier than the others. "I still don't know," she added, not wanting to cause chaos within her own home at this time of the year either.

"Please, Mum, I have six weeks to get them all to settle down. Besides, Draco's not as bad as he used to be," Ginny added with a shrug. She wouldn't say Draco was exactly an angel at this point, but he had faced down all her brothers and father to take her on a date. That had to be worth something.

"I believe you, dear, but what will that do to your brothers? What about Harry?" Molly asked, looking at Ginny.

For the first time in days guilt sunk into Ginny causing her heart to pound a little faster as she took a gulp and looked down at the handful of dill chopped on the cutting board. She put it into the bowl and grabbed the next herb. Bringing the cilantro up to her nose Ginny breathed it in deeply, letting the smell fill her senses and calm her thoughts slightly. "Isn't that just it Mum? We're the closest thing Harry has to what a real family should be and we would never let him spend Christmas alone, right?"

"How do you think Harry would think about you bringing another boy home for the holiday's, though?"

"Mum, it's not like I'm going to start exclusively seeing Draco Malfoy," Ginny said with a laugh.

"Really? Draco seems like he might be a bit sweet on you," Molly said, starting to crack eggs into a bowl and getting the wisk to start wiping them as she summoned the dill Ginny had already chopped up.

"Mum!" Incredulously, Ginny stopped what she was doing, thinking no such suggestion could be possible. "Draco wanted to vex me by tricking me into that date."

"I wouldn't be so prideful if I were you," Molly said with a smile as Ginny began to send the knife back across the herbs in small and tedious motions. "Most boys wouldn't go that far just to vex a girl."

"Well, the point is, I'm not interested and he can't force me into that the way he did with the date," Ginny stated factually. "I still can't stand to think of anyone spending Christmas alone."

"Alright," Molly conceded. "You get to tell your brothers, though."

"Okay," Ginny said, not liking that part of the deal.

"And that means Harry too," Molly added.

"Right, Harry too," Ginny said, her stomach cringing at the thought.

Draco was looking through his books of finances of the last year. Something he liked to do when no other occupation of his time presented itself. He would check and double-check his accountant's work, though he had yet to find a mistake. He would smile proudly when he finished a book. I always hire the best, he thought. His accountant was half-blood, on his mother's side, but he was the best, and Draco knew it.

Ever since he became in charge of the Malfoy fortune at the ripe age of 19, Draco had run things this way. His father would be turning in his grave, knowing that Draco hadn't hired a pureblood for any task no matter how small, but Draco found it more important to have the best. Draco wanted to show people that he still had power and respectable money, even if Muggle-lovers were taking over at the Ministry.

Of course, that was another reason for mixing blood at least with business matters. The Ministry was highly suspicious of Draco after his father's death. They had ideas that Draco would avenge that incident and become higher in Voldemort's ranks than even Lucius had been. They kept a annoyingly close watch on Draco after that, as if losing his father hadn't been enough when he had only been seventeen.

They had lightened up since that time, but Draco still kept his accountant. He still kept a couple of people around as advisors too. He still had the house elves, but they were always out of sight. Even with all the life and happenings of the Malfoy Mansion, Draco felt it too empty. The hallways echoed too much for his liking, and if anyone spoke, it was in normal tones and nothing but matters of importance. Words were conserved for times when they were needed, and nothing more.

The only creature that gave Draco companionship was his Eagle owl, Kieran. The owl had been gone for a couple of days. Draco figured it had gone hunting after dropping a short thank you note off to Ginny Weasley. One that Draco had been sure to make very platonic in case it got into the hands of any older siblings or parents, for that matter. Draco had also told Kieran specifically to drop it off at Ginny's flat and could only hope his friend hadn't been barbequed should he have not follow Draco's explicit instruction.

As Draco opened another book of numbers, Kieran swooped through the room, gracefully landing in front of Draco with a letter in tow. "Good job," Draco said, taking the letter off, then took a treat out of his pocket and tossed it up in the air for Kieran to catch, like he enjoyed doing.

Draco broke the red seal to the response and opened it to see the neat and careful handwriting of Ginny on the page.

Dear Draco,

Thank you again for dinner the other night, I enjoyed it. Also, thank you for the flowers. Cathryn loves to have them in our flat whenever possible, so I dare say they've been enjoyed by more than myself. I was talking to my parents, and we would like to invite you to Christmas this year, if you opt to stay away from whatever resort you were looking at spending the holiday at. Just let me know as soon as you can so that Mum can make plans.

Ginny

Draco smiled without realizing it. Once he had, Draco cleared his throat and put the letter to the side. Kieran cocked his head and looked between Draco and the letter in misunderstanding. "I'll answer it later," Draco said to the bird, trying to decide if he dared another round with the Weasley boys.

It was a week before Christmas and Ginny was walking down the streets of Hogsmeade looking for some last minute gifts. After Ginny had picked up some toys that only Granny Grads carried, she decided to go to The Three Broomsticks for old time sake, even though it was full with students. Madam Rosmerta came up to her, looking as perfect as ever, as though she hadn't aged a day. "What can I get for you today Ginny?" she asked, a notepad in hand.

"Two butter beers," a voice said from behind her. There stood Draco Malfoy in Silver robes.

"Yes, two butter beers," Ginny repeated with an amused smile as Draco sat down next to her. Madam Rosmerta left to fulfill the order before Ginny spoke again. "You never responded to my letter."

"I was thinking it over," Draco said.

"For five weeks?"

"Well, I had to wait to find if there were any other obligations."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "So what's the verdict then? You're going on that cruise?"

"I was actually going to write and see if the invitation was still open," Draco said. He looked at the napkin in front of him as though there was a deep regard and interest in the weavings of the red and green Christmas material.

"Sure," Ginny said. She was surprised that after this long Draco was still considering the idea. "Mum and Dad are fine with it."

"Your dad is fine with it?" Draco raised his eyebrows skeptically. It didn't seem possible that the man who had shot the pistol (as Draco later found out it was called) would be fine with his coming.

"Well," Ginny tried to suppress a laugh, "Mum said she'd do to him whatever he did to you, so I think you're safe."

Draco laughed. "I hope so. Is she making the same threat with your brothers?"

"Well, they generally follow Dad's lead. Besides I kind of put them up to that," Ginny said with a sly grin.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"You wanted to be treated the same, and I make all of my dates meet my family," Ginny said with a tone of 'as-a-matter-of-fact'.

"And they always do that?"

"Not exactly," Ginny admitted. "But is it my fault you never got on their good side?"

"No, I guess not," Draco said. Silence took over until their drinks arrived. "So when do I need to be at the joyous occasion?" Draco rolled his eyes in his usual show of indifference, though he was quite gratified not to be alone in the manor on such a holiday.

"We always dress the tree on Christmas Eve, so if you arrive that morning I'm sure people will be doing things," Ginny told him. Draco nodded. "I've got to get going with finishing up Christmas shopping. Mum wanted me to come over tonight and help Dad hang Muggle Christmas lights."

"Oh, about gifts," Draco said, stopping Ginny with a touch of his hand. It seemed so natural that it almost made Ginny shiver involuntarily. "What kinds of things would your family like?"

"You don't have to—"

"I want to," Draco said. "They've invited me for Christmas, so I'd like to do something to participate."

Ginny hesitated. "Dad likes anything Muggle. Mum has wanted one of those self greasing pans for a while now."

"What about the rest of them?"

Ginny wondered if he was serious. Sitting back down, Ginny thought through and started to tell Draco about each of her brothers.

"Don't you have any nieces and nephews?" Draco asked. He highly doubted that any of the Weasleys weren't planning on having children. That just didn't add up.

"Four," Ginny said, still in disbelief that Draco was actually digging up this information. She continued on to tell her the ages of her niece and nephew and what they were particularly interested in. "I've really got to go," Ginny said after talking to him about Jason for quite some time. "Do you need a way to get there?"

"I'll just apparate," Draco said. Hopefully Ron won't be there to pin me against a tree this time, he thought with a smirk.

"Okay," Ginny said. She concentrated on making sure she had all of the bags she had come in with. "See you then."

Draco watched as Ginny walked out of The Three Broomsticks. "'Bye, Ginny," he said quietly when she had gone. He got Madam Rosmerta's attention and ordered a Firewhiskey.

The only downside to having Draco over, Ginny realized, was that she would have to talk to her brothers about it. Worse than that, she would have to tell Harry about it. Ginny decided to kill three birds with one stone by going over to Harry and Ron's when Hermione would be there as well. Again, this would be the hardest part. Ginny was sure she could convince Bill and Charlie to be nice, especially since they both had wives that would keep them in line. Fred and George would likely play pranks, but she didn't worry about more than that. Percy probably didn't care too much one way or the other.

Ginny sat at their shabby dinning room table. The one Molly had given them when Arthur told her he was getting a raise, enabling her to purchase a new one. Ginny's index finger felt a small indention in the wood from when her father was trying to teach her to whittle the Muggle way. Harry walked back in with a glass of water, handing it to Ginny before sitting down. "Ron and Hermione should be back soon," he said.

Ginny nodded. "What were they doing today?"

"Pictures," Harry said with a lopsided grin. "Ron woke up late."

"Oh, and I suppose that didn't have anything to do with you right?"

"We were just having a bit of fun last night," Harry said. "He was the one that forgot to set his alarm."

"Right," Ginny said with a smile of amusement.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Harry asked.

"I just wanted to tell all of you something," Ginny said, going slightly red. Harry looked disappointed at this answer. "I think I should wait and tell you all at the same time, though," Ginny added.

"Okay," Harry said. The same disappointment that had shown on his face was apparent in his voice. "Are you going to The Burrow for Christmas?"

"Yeah," said Ginny.

Another awkward silence. Ginny started thinking of how many of these she had shared with Harry lately. Luckily Hermione saved either of them from breaking it by coming in. "Honestly, Ron, it would have been done hours ago if you had just paid attention."

"We went to the pitch the Cannons practice at, and you wanted me to pay attention to a camera?!" Ron said incredulously.

Harry looked at Ginny to see if she was as confused about that statement as he was. "They started using the pitch as an on site photography studio to make the team some money, since they never win," Ginny explained. One of the reporters at Quidditch Monthly had written an article on it for the next edition.

"I told you we could take pictures there if you would pay attention, and you told me you would," Hermione accused.

"When was that?!"

"A few weeks ago when—" Hermione trailed off, seeing Harry and Ginny sitting there, watching the conversation unfold.

"When what, Hermione?" Ginny asked, one eyebrow raised while her smile widened.

Hermione started to blush. "When we went out for dinner, isn't that right Ron?"

"Right, dinner," Ron muttered as his face started to match Hermione's. "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, sitting down next to Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to get them drinks.

"Mum wanted me to tell you we're having another guest at Christmas," Ginny said, trying to ease them into this.

"Why did she want you to tell us?" Ron asked with a bewildered expression.

"Because it's Draco," she said.

Hermione stopped pouring. Harry's jaw dropped. "You said it was one date!" Ron shouted.

"Date?" Harry asked, looking at Ginny.

"It's not that, Ron. He would be alone on Christmas otherwise so I asked Mum and she said—"

"That's it, I think we need to check you into Mungos," Ron proclaimed standing up.

Hermione had stood frozen in the doorframe until that accusation. "Ron, stop," she said, walking in and sitting next to Ginny. "You know that you can tell us if he's done something to you right? You don't have to go through your first year again."

"Draco's not possessing me," Ginny said, laughing slightly at the idea. "I just don't want him to have to spend Christmas alone. Did you know his mum died a few years ago?"

"Who cares?" Harry finally chimed in. "Serves them all right! They were a bunch of Deatheaters!"

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed in disbelief. "Draco was never involved in that. Neither was Narcissa."

"So you're on first name basis with his family now?" Harry asked, standing with his hands at the table.

"It's not like that, Harry, Draco's just going to—"

"Oh, it's not? Why didn't you tell me you went on a date with him?!"

Ginny turned red. "I don't have to answer to you," she said fiercely.

"Why did you tell Ron then?"

Ron was about to answer, but Ginny jumped on the question first. "Because he was helping me with something."

"What?"

"Again none of your business," Ginny answered. Ron and Hermione had been looking back and forth between the two as words were exchanged.

"How is it not my business Ginny? My girlfriend going on a date with Draco Malfoy!"

"I'm not your girlfriend," Ginny whispered in a deadly fashion, looking down at the table after saying so.

Harry opened and shut his mouth a few times, trying to think of some comeback that would cover that fact, but his mind was drawing a blank. He sat and settled for looking angry and hurt.

"So what now?" Ron asked. "We're supposed to get all buddy-buddy with Malfoy?"

"I didn't say that," Ginny said, already tired of this conversation. "Just be nice okay?"

"And what about him?" Hermione asked, knowing she would most likely be the object of rude and hateful comments.

"I've already talked to him about that," Ginny said with a reassuring smile towards her bushy haired future sister-in-law. "I told him if he had one rude comment he could go back to his manor." Hermione seemed to accept this. The other two still didn't seem so sure. "I've got to go see Fred and George now, so I guess I'll be seeing you three around?" she asked, smiling specifically at Harry.

Harry nodded, trying to avoid her smile. Ron stood up to escort her to the door. "Okay, just nothing… weird with Malfoy alright?" Ron asked, his nose scrunched at the thought of Draco and Ginny even hugging. Ron realized that at this point there was nothing he could do about Draco coming to the Burrow since Molly had approved the idea.

"Alright, nothing weird," Ginny said with a laugh. She waved at the other two and walked out the door.

Ron returned to his seat and looked tentatively over at Harry. "You alright mate?"

Harry nodded.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded.

"What?" Hermione asked, getting up.

"Something strong," Harry said. He put his head in his hands on the table.

A/N: Awwwww poor Harry…. I really do feel bad for the guy…. I mean, how was he supposed to know that if he broke up with Ginny for a while that the first person to try picking her up would be Draco? Anyway, next chapter should be interesting with Christmas and whatnot! Hope you enjoyed this one…

And now… for a public service announcement…. .beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… REVIEW… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Thank you:

US HP Fan: Thank you! Keep reading and you will find out ;)

Darkangel20108: I don't know that you can call any plot completely original… I've got ones that are much more original than this one (see Resentment wink wink) but I do try and stay away from it being cliché.

Eggo Waffles: You sound like me when I'm reading a book or watching a movie… I tend to ask a bunch of questions that are going through my mind but that I don't want answered, but I'll answer yours…. I don't know what the pairing will end up as. I don't want to make it obvious so I don't know myself. I personally tend to swing toward the HG side of things, but I do like a good DG one. I've even been thinking… what if I don't end with a ship at all? It might tick some of you off, but it would be interesting…