A/N: I had a blast coming up with the snow war idea and I'm offering 100 imaginary house points to the person who can guess which character Ian hits with a snowball on accident. Since they're imaginary, the points don't matter, and I'd love to hear if you were right or who else you thought would make a good candidate. Next update on Wednesday, July 26, 2006.

Warnings: None.

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. Such belongs to JKR.

I Never Thought I Would Be A Hero

Original Dark Angel

Chapter 10: Snowball Fight

"It's cold!" Ginny rushed into the Great Hall, and stood there shivering while she waited for Draco to catch up. He laughingly did so. "How can you stand that? It's so cold! I don't remember it being that cold last year, at least not by the first day of December."

"It wasn't, but the cold wouldn't be so bad if you dressed properly for it," he teased lightly. "I still say that we should have a snowball fight."

"Too cold. I got all the exercise I needed today by walking around Hogsmeade with you for no apparent reason," she complained. "You could have sent those owls from Hogwarts just as easily."

"True, but I was in the mood for a nice refreshing walk in the snow."

"And ice, and wind, and bitter, bitter cold!"

"It was lovely."

"It was miserable, and you will make it up to me."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And how your highness, do you wish for me to do so?"

"I'm thinking a kiss would do the trick. Not a snog. A kiss."

"Like this?" His lips grazed hers and she lost track of all thought.

When Ginny could think straight again, she realized that they were no longer alone. The first years were sitting on the steps, waiting fairly patiently with only the occasional gagging noise. Andy stared off into the distance, but whether it was a vision, or one of her self-imposed silences, Ginny wasn't sure. Blaise was watching them with an almost sad expression. Ginny felt guilty enjoying her time with Draco when Blaise had no one. She wondered if Eryn Thurn would make a suitable match for her friend. Eryn was pretty, smart, and had a wicked sense of humor. She would speak to her old roommate tonight and see if Eryn was interested. Playing cupid sounded like fun.

"Um, hi everyone," she stuttered a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Um, been there long?"

"Forever!" Ian complained, before ducking behind Rowan as Draco glared.

"Not long at all, Ginny," Blaise soothed. "Did you have a good time in Hogsmeade?"

"Pointless errands in the middle of winter, Blaise?"

"Well, we'll have to do this snowy day right then. Massive snowball fight. Us against the cannon fodder. What do you say?"

"No more snow," Ginny pleaded, helplessly. She tried to dart around her boyfriend but he was quicker. In an instant she was over his shoulder and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. "Oh no! Bad Draco! Put me down!" She was giggling too hard to succeed in freeing herself. "Draco!" Her boyfriend hurtled out the doorway and down the path before toppling them both into a giant snowdrift. Ginny sat up and smacked him lightly. "You're evil."

"Never said otherwise, luv." His smirk was so . . . so . . . damn infuriating. She gave in to her impulse and grabbed a handful of snow throwing it into his face. Then she was on her feet and running as fast as she could. Only a few yards from the door, she was tackled into yet another snow bank, but this time she rolled with it, until she was on top, pinning his wrists above his head, and kissing him quickly. "Now that's fighting dirty, kitten."

"YOU . . .YOU . . . FERRET!" Another condescending smirk. She glared at him, her temper aroused. "I told you not to call me that!"

"It's so cute-"

"I'll give you cute," Ginny muttered under his breath, using her free hand to deposit snow down the front of his shirt, before leaping off of him. She used the few seconds he needed to empty his shirt of the icy burden to gain the last few yards to the castle doors, where the rest of the Slytherins were laughing themselves hoarse. "Move. I've got to go take a hot shower and move into the common room fire."

"Oh, come on, Ginny," Ian begged. "You can't possibly get any wetter. Please stay and have a snowball fight with us. Blaise promised to show us some cool spells to use. Pretty please?"

Ginny was on the verge of giving in when she noticed him step on Rowan's foot and the girl jumped before picking up the case. "I've never had a snowball fight, Ginny."

The heartbreaking tone ensured that Ginny would remain outside for the snowball fight, but now she was wondering what the whole lot of them were up too. She hadn't missed the significant look that Blaise had thrown Draco when he brought up the idea of a snowball fight.

It was fun and frantic. Ginny was positive that Ian would never recover from the sheer number of times he was hit, while he tried to master Blaise's spell for control of multiple snowballs. He dove in the old-fashioned way for a while, but never stopped trying the spell every couple of seconds.

Ginny had just caught Draco in the back of the head by 'accident' when she heard Ian yell excitedly. "Blaise, I've got it!" The boy then threw the barrage of snowballs at the seventh year with all his might. Blaise prudently ducked. The person behind him didn't.

Professor Severus Snape froze for a second when they made contact. Then he calmly swept off his robes. "Ten points to Slytherin for mastering Bruma Leviosa, Mr. Sparks. Five points from Slytherin for your miserable aim and bad luck to have hit a teacher." Ginny would never forget what the potions master did next. He bent down, molded a snowball and flung it at Ian, who avoided it, but didn't manage to duck the next missile.

"Good one, sir," Ian called with a wide grin. "Care to join us?"

"I think I shall decline. You had best give up. Draco and his teammates have certainly overwhelmed you, and Miss Samuels is shivering and quite damp. There should be hot cocoa in the common room."

"Yes, sir." Ian noticed his housemates' surprise, as the professor left. "What's the matter with you lot?"

"I've been Snape's favorite pupil since I was eleven and he has never ever played a game with me. The last person to hit him with a snowball still won't talk about the detention Snape gave him. How on earth did you manage to come out of that alive?" Draco asked in awe.

"He used to check on me at the orphanage," Ian shrugged. "He's the one who gave me my Hogwarts letter and brought me here. I don't get why everyone is so terrified of him. He's got a wicked sense of humor, when he's not terrorizing everybody."

"Snape with a sense of humor? I think I need to sit down," Ginny joked. "He snaps at everybody."

"Not really," Ian shrugged. "Shall we go in? Blaise?"

"Yeah, we can go in now."

Blaise and Draco hung to the back as Ginny joined the kids, and shed their brightly colored cloaks at the entrance, where a waiting house-elf took care of drying them. Ginny looked back at them once, but immediately stopped short at the sight of Blaise revealing a large burn on the back of his wrist to Draco. "What happened!"

Blaise looked up startled. "Uh, potions accident. That's all."

"You should go to Madame Pomfrey and get that healed so it doesn't scar."

"No, I'm fine. Come on, I'm hungry and wet. Let's go remedy that." He caught her arm and pulled her towards the common room. She noticed him glance up warily at the ceiling before sighing in relief, but wasn't given time to ponder it. In the middle of the green room was a flash of bright red hair that didn't belong to any Slytherin, honorary or otherwise.

"Charlie!" Ginny flung herself at her older brother in excitement. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

He laughed and mussed her hair. "It's good to see you too, Ginny. Bill had to leave for Egypt on short notice so I came home to keep an eye on my younger sibs in his place."

"I hardly need a babysitter. And if I did, Ron would more than suffice."

"True, but I brought you a present." He offered her an elaborate golden birdcage, and she gasped at the sight of what was inside of it. A tiny dragon, that seemed to be made from molten glass. Clear with just a hint of metallic gold, and pink under the surface.

"What is it?"

"We're not sure exactly. Some deatheaters were performing spells on a nest of Romanian Raynes. All the others died from various curses, but this one survived and seems fairly normal. Miniaturized obviously, and somehow turned to glass. It makes an odd chiming noise, but as of yet seems perfectly healthy. I was hoping you would take care of it for me, until we figure out what to do with it. Or what You-Know-Who was hoping to do with it."

"Of course. I'll have to think up a name for it."

"How about Houdini?" Ian suggested. "The thing got out of it's cage and had us all chasing it through the house. Nightmare."

"Too muggle. I'll think of something."

While the first years were suitably distracted, Draco looked at Charlie. "What were the deatheaters doing in Romania?"

"Something to do with these dragons, and killing sprees. Took out a full village and two aurors along with it. Remus Lupin got caught down there in the middle of a transformation. He's alive, but not doing so well."

"How's Harry taking it?" Ginny asked in concern.

"Hasn't left Remus's side. Luna takes him food, but it hasn't been touched as of yet."

"More people are going to die. This isn't going to just end. Voldemort's going to take as many as possible down with him," Ginny whispered.

"It's war."

"I hate it."

"We all do."

"It's Christmas! Everybody get up! I've got presents!"

Ginny pulled her pillow over her head to block out Ian's happy cries. "Too early. Way, way, way to early." A moment later there were at least two people hammering at her door. "Go away! I'm not getting up 'til noon!"

Everything was silent for a few minutes, and she heard footsteps (Blaise or Draco's. She couldn't tell which.) fade away, but then someone else approached the door. "Ginny, puhlease get up. Draco says we can't open presents until everyone comes down."

Ginny groaned, and reached for the robe that she had stolen from Draco after the snowball fight. Fastening the belt, she opened the door and ruffled Ian's hair. "Don't worry. I'm coming, sweetheart. Go tell Draco to behave himself."

"No way! He could crush me." Ian bounced back into the common room where Draco, Blaise, and Rowan waited for them. Ryan and Andy had gone back home for the holiday. Rowan's parents seemed to have forgotten their daughter completely.

Ginny dropped into the chair next to Draco and smacked him lightly up the backside of his head. "Don't you dare traumatize the poor child, and blackmail is entirely inappropriate to use on your girlfriend."

He leaned over and kissed her. "Entirely appropriate. If I have to deal with them, then so do you. Besides, there is a very pretty silver box somewhere under that tree with your name on it."

Ginny dropped to the floor, and began to handout presents, keeping an eye out for the silver one Draco had mentioned. She had forgotten about the presents. She had a pile of ones from her family, the traditional Weasley jumper, sweets and the like, but there was no sign of the silver box.

"This is so awesome!" Ian exclaimed throwing his arms around her neck, before returning his focus to the comic book. "Marvin the Mad Muggle: Encounter of the Enchanted Eggbeater. Thanks, Ginny! Thanks, Draco!"

"Thank you for the pin, Ginny and Draco," Rowan said a little softer, admiring the pewter and garnet clasp. "It's beautiful."

Ginny unwrapped a vial of her favorite perfume from Blaise and gave him a peck on the cheek for his trouble before she spied it. The box sat innocently on top of a large green one addressed to Ian. She pushed the long narrow box over to the excited eleven-year-old and carefully opened her present from Draco. Then she gasped. She had withdrawn a long silver chain with a dragon pendent on the end of it.

"To remind you that you are and always will be mine," Draco whispered into her ear. She kissed him for an exceedingly long period of time.

The mood was broken when Ian leapt up holding his gift high above his head. "A Nimbus 2006! This rocks! Blaise, look what Sev got me!"

"Sev?" Ginny wrinkled her nose. "You're a very brave little boy to call the potions master by his given name."

"He told me I could, but, uh, not in front of other students. Don't tell, please," he pleaded, looking slightly panicked.

"Our lips are sealed," Ginny reassured him. "That's a very nice broom."

"Yeah! I gotta go say thanks. I'll meet up with you guys at the feast. Thanks for the presents. They were the best I've ever gotten, 'cept my Hogwarts letter."

"Crazy kid," Draco muttered under his breath. "So now that Rowan is going to meet up with her friends in Ravenclaw, and Blaise plans on studying in the library for some inexplicable reason, what are our plans for today?"

"I'm thinking a nice day in front of the fire, AFTER we pick up the common room. Prefect, remember?"

"Royal pain."

"But then I'll give you my Christmas present."

"Alright, let's get to work. I'm only playing house-elf for so long."