Ginny, however, was not looking forward to her Christmas holiday. She sat at a table in the library staring blankly at her potions notes in an attempt to study. She had grown accustomed to her new routine at Hogwarts. I've also grown accustomed to Draco, for that matter. She sighed and wondered that he would be doing for the holiday since she was sure he had nowhere to go. I suppose he'll be staying at the castle. I wish I could.
Ginny, of course, missed her family, but was not too thrilled about seeing them because she knew that it would dredge up all sorts of things she didn't want to talk about. And she would be spending it away from Ron, and that thought made her sad. I miss the ruddy prat, she thought miserably.
She felt someone sit beside her and without looking up, said, "Hello, Draco."
"Why so glum?" he asked leaning to see her face, which was hidden by her hair as she leaned forward.
"Christmas."
"Christmas," he repeated and she saw a frown flit across his face. "You are going home, I suppose?"
"Yeah. I can't very well tell them I don't want to. Mum would have kittens. She's been really anxious about me being here all alone." Ginny rolled her eyes and looked down at her papers. "What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"I'll be here. Probably the only one in the castle." Ginny looked up sympathetically.
"Trust me, if I could, I would stay. I miss them, but I know what will happen… My Mum will spend half the holiday crying that Ron, Harry and Hermione are gone, and I won't be able to think of anything else."
"Should be fun," he said with a slight smile.
She grinned at him, "Oh yes. Lots of fun. So much so that I may not come back. I'll stay at home to cry with my mum. I hope you won't miss me too much." Draco's smile fell some and Ginny grinned. He would miss me.
"Yes, well, if that's the case, I hope you go home and get showered with attention and kisses and don't remember those prats once. Oh and lots of gifts, because we know that would sicken you and you'd have to come straight back here and complain about how awful it was."
"Mmm, no I think I like the first option better. Much less dreadful…" she elbowed him slightly and pulled her notes to her. "So, shall we?" she asked motioning to the potions books.
"Oh yes, you sure know how to get me excited! Potions, yummy."
Ginny laughed. "I know you don't need the revision, but you promised." She looked at him seriously.
"And a Malfoy always keeps his promise no matter how much he feels he was forced into giving it. I think I may have been imperiused into this one," he muttered playfully and she elbowed him again. "Fine, fine let the master teach you, young grasshopper."
For the rest of the afternoon Ginny's head was so full of potion ingredients, their effects, and formulas that she forgot their discussion about Christmas. And that was okay, because she actually preferred their little study sessions to anything she was expecting to happen over the holidays. She was actually quite proud too, because over the course of the semester she found that she was quite better at Charms than Draco so she got to play teacher during their charms revision and he hated it. He just doesn't like to admit that he isn't the best at everything.
The shells that each of them had been stuck under for the beginning of the year had finally broken. It was not unusual to see the two of them laughing at some hidden joke or passing meaningful glances across the room at each other before smiling and looking away. No one had gotten any sort of romantic vibes from the two, though. They were always together and smiley, but there was no covert hand holding or stolen kisses. Neville swore that he saw Ginny watching longingly as Draco walked out of the Great Hall once, but the look was gone as soon as it had come. Susan noticed that when they were studying, Draco would absentmindedly take a piece of Ginny's hair and twirl it in his fingers, but while she thought that it could have romantic connotations, he hadn't even noticed that he was doing it. When the two were together, they hardly seemed to notice anything going on around them.
Finally, the exams ended and it was the night before Ginny was set to depart back to the Burrow. She and Draco had spent a few hours in her dark corner of the library talking before Madam Pince ushered them out muttering angrily about not turning the library into a social hangout. It was too late to go outside, so they decided to climb the Astronomy tower and watch the stars until they were too tired to stand. Mostly this was Draco's doing because he wanted to see as much of her as he could before she left. The castle would be very lonely by himself.
When they reached the top, Draco conjured up some cushions and blankets and they huddled under them looking out into the sky that was littered with stars and constellations.
"What is Christmas like with your family?" Draco asked suddenly, not taking his eyes off of the sky.
Ginny looked at him, then back to the stars before replying. "Well, all my brothers come home so the house is so loud and full of movement that you can't think straight." She heard Draco make a noise, and continued, "But I don't usually mind it. It is comforting to know that there is so much going on around you and you aren't alone. That's partially why I freaked out when I got here. My house is usually so busy. But Christmas… that's a whole different story. Fred and George get all excited by the holiday spirit and test out their products more than usual, and there are generally some really amusing consequences. Actually, my mum gets so worked up about it that the punishments are usually pretty wild. It's fun to watch. And food. There is so much food every moment of every day that I always wonder if I'll ever be able to stand again with all the food that I carry around in my stomach. Christmas morning is fun, because no matter how old my brothers get, they act like they are five again. My oldest brother, Bill- the one who just got married, has this long red hair that he wears in a ponytail and an earring. Imagine that bouncing on your bed at the crack of dawn begging you to come down so that he can open his presents," she laughed at the memory and Draco looked over at her watching her eyes dancing.
"Sounds like you like Christmas then."
"Well yes, but there will be this thing hanging over us this year. I'll be constantly under the shadow of Ron, Harry and Hermione's departure. I'll have to answer questions. I'll have to talk to people," she have an exaggerated shiver as if disgusted.
"Ooh, yes, talking to people. Always scary. So what do you consider me, by the way? I don't see you cringe every time you open your mouth to speak to me," he raised his eyebrow playfully.
She looked at him thoughtfully before putting on a very exaggerated serious face. "No, of course you aren't a person. You are more like a… puppy." Draco coughed and looked at her incredulously and she fought not to laugh. "Yes a big, fluffy white puppy who keeps me company when I get down."
"Well, I am glad that I can keep you company, but can't I be something more… manly? I mean a puppy, honestly. Malfoy's aren't puppies! We are like polar bears-"
"Ah yes, the Malfoy icy charm. That would make sense," he glared at her.
"I am not icy."
She grinned and said, "Not anymore. You were. But I melted you." She said it very simply that it took Draco a moment to digest it.
He agreed, "Touché," and she smiled even broader. He agreed! And she was not entirely sure why his agreement heartened her, but she was sure that it had something to do with the fact that she had been the one to pull out the new, happy, playful Draco from the cold, closed Malfoy she once knew.
"I melted the Slytherin Ice King! Does that mean that you agree to be my puppy, then?"
Draco grumbled something under his breath and all she caught was "puppy… manly… icy… fair." Ginny noticed the way the moonlight reflected off of his hair and stared openly at him.
After a few minutes under her shameless gaze, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Like what you see?" Ginny blushed and looked away. What on earth am I blushing about! Draco noticed the blush too and smiled to himself, filing away that bit of information to think about when he was alone for the next two weeks.
"So what about you? What are your Christmases like?" She regretted the question immediately, because she saw his face darken and his smile fade. "That bad?" she asked gently.
Draco nodded once and said, "Mostly a lot of me alone while my parents continued ignoring that I was there. Every now and then there was a big party, and I was expected to show myself off as the perfect heir. That's about it. Won't be much different from here, I suppose. Alone and all."
Ginny frowned and watched his expression. As much as he likes to pretend that his parents' death doesn't bother him, it's obvious it does. And I don't blame him. Here I am complaining about going home because I'll have to talk to my family when he doesn't even have the opportunity if he wanted to.
Ginny scooted closer to Draco and he looked up at her. Her eyes were glowing with some sort of emotion that he couldn't quite peg. She draped her arm across his back and laid her head on his shoulder. He was caught off guard, but didn't mind her closeness. She seemed to make his sadness dissolve and had done so with a glance ever since the day he saw her on the train.
"Well, you won't technically be alone this year, because you'll spend half of your time with Hedwig receiving all the letters from me."
Draco grinned and replied placing his head on hers, "Telling me how great your holiday has been and how much time you've spent crying with your mother?"
"Of course," she replied sleepily. This is nice. He's so nice. He's so warm. He's so- and Ginny trailed off in her half coherent thoughts about Draco.
After a few moments, Draco was sure that she had fallen asleep and gazed down at her tenderly. A foreign emotion was stirring in his chest. He could not describe it and decided that he didn't much care. He started to doze twirling a bit of her hair between his fingers, knowing that one of them would wake up in an hour with a horrible crick in the neck and they would head back down to their dormitories, but for now he relished her closeness and tried to memorize it all so that he had something to think about while he spent Christmas alone in the deserted castle. He had never had a friend like Ginny before and was grateful that she was there to help him deal with his losses.
The next morning, Ginny trudged sleepily down the stairs and deposited her trunk outside the door to the Great Hall before going in to have breakfast. As she walked in, Draco's eyes shot to hers and they stared at each other before she sat down and smiled weakly at him. He tried to return it, but his smile ended up looking more like a grimace.
Ginny noticed that his plate was full, but food untouched, as she loaded some food onto hers. She ate half-heartedly and saw that he kept surreptitiously glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. They ate in silence, both a little sad that they were about to lose their friend for two weeks.
After she ate and he pretended to, Draco walked Ginny out front to the carriages before everyone else made their way outside. He looks so sad, she thought to herself. He probably feels like I do, then. Draco picked up her trunk and loaded it into the carriage for her and she nodded her thanks, unwilling to try to speak because she knew she would say something stupid.
"Well, have a good holiday, then," Draco said in a false cheery voice.
"You too," Ginny replied and hugged him. Draco lingered a moment longer than necessary, and when Ginny pulled away she saw a pink tint to his cheeks. Did I just witness Draco Malfoy blushing? She stepped into the carriage to wait for the others and he waved at her before saying, "I'll miss you," taking a deep breath and walking quickly inside. I'll miss you, too, she thought.
After about ten minutes, Ginny looked up to find Colin and Dennis entering her carriage. The three students sat in silence during the carriage ride to Hogsmeade Station, and as they descended from the carriage, Colin handed Ginny an envelope and said, "Merry Christmas."
Ginny pocketed the envelope without looking at it and got onto the train where she closed her eyes and willed sleep to come so that she wouldn't be forced to sit in silence with her own thoughts.