He looked over at a clock on the wall, which read that it was nearly nine in the evening. Ginny had probably been home for a few hours by now. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Just then, something fluttered out of the fireplace. It was a letter. Since the Slytherin common room was in the dungeons, therefore did not have any windows, owl post that did not make it for breakfast arrived through the fireplace.
Draco sat up immediately and eagerly grabbed the letter. In a matter of moments he had it open and read:
Dear Draco,
You must think me foolish writing so soon. It seems weird not to have you around to talk to, though. The train ride was miserable. Perhaps worse than the one at start of term, if you can believe that. When I arrived, half of my family was standing on the platform waiting for me. Honestly, you'd think that I was a celebrity the way they treated me! That or they were trying to kill me- I had so many smothering hugs it's a wonder I am still breathing…
I rather envy you at Hogwarts, I must admit. They won't let me out of their sight- It's as if they expect me to run away like that ruddy boy I call a brother. I only just managed to escape by telling them that I needed to sleep after the journey. My mother just about had a nervous breakdown. It's a wonder she didn't follow me up here and crawl into bed with me. She means well, but it's a bit annoying, really.
Anyway, I hope you have a nice, relaxing night and look forward to lots of owls from me. I expect you'll be so tired of me by the time this break is over that you'll just wring my neck when I get back. Sorry about that.
Your friend, Ginny
Draco smiled. She hadn't even been gone for a day and she already sent an owl. He assumed that meant that she missed him as much as he did her, and he cheered a bit at the thought. He spent the next hour writing a long letter about how thrilling it was to do absolutely nothing and that if her mother did smother her to death that he would be very angry indeed. Any actions that resulted in her death should be refrained from at all costs.
The next evening he received another letter at about the same time. He had spent half of the day glancing every few moments into the fireplace. At one point he could hardly read the words in his book because he was still seeing spots from looking into the fire.
Dear Draco,
My brother Bill and his wife arrived today. Let's just say that my brother has got the worst possible taste in women that the world has ever seen. Do you remember Fleur Delacour? Well, she is now Fleur Weasley, and she is a positive menace to society. That may be a bit harsh, but she is certainly a menace to me. As if I wasn't already having a little too much "people time." She is so needy! And Mum can only put up with her because of how she reacted when Bill was injured, so more often than not she gets shoved off to me. If you are feeling lonely I would be glad to throw her your way. And I mean throw literally. I think I'd like to toss her off the astronomy tower if I had the chance, though I doubt Bill would appreciate it.
Other than that nothing is really happening. I caught Mum crying this afternoon. Am I good or what? I always know how she will react to these situations. It was the same way with Percy. Someone would say how disgustingly filthy it was that they stepped on a dung beetle, and she would go into a right fit because Percy was about as ugly as a dung beetle. No, that's not fair to the beetle… but you get the idea.
I hope you are well. I miss you already.
Your friend, Ginny
Draco smiled broadly. Though the letter didn't really say anything that he really understood, he knew that she cared enough to write a letter. She had mentioned Fleur a couple of times, though she usually called her Phlegm, and he knew some of the situation regarding Percy the prat. He immediately sat down with a quill and piece of parchment on which he proceeded to detail all of the ways that he suggested to get rid of Fleur without raising suspicion.
Dear Draco,
You should know that I received your owl over breakfast this morning and laughed so hard that I shot pumpkin juice all over Fleur's new dress. I daresay she did not appreciate it, but it just made me laugh even harder. My Mum wanted to know what the letter said, though, so I had to run away as quickly as possible and got a lot of strange looks for the rest of the afternoon. They reckon I've gone mental.
Fred and George spent the afternoon trying to convince me to try out one of their new products, but as they would not tell me what it was supposed to do, I opted for the safe route and declined. I would hate to spend the rest of the holiday breathing fire out my nose or something equally dreadful.
Other than that, everything is fine. And boring.
Wishing you were here, Ginny
Ginny's letters arrived at the same time everyday, so Draco was always sitting in his chair waiting. He suspected that she wrote every night as she went up to bed and received his owl early in the morning, though he spent so long on last night's letter that it must have arrived later than usual.
Her letters for the first week were all fairly innocuous, but on Christmas Eve morning as he was sitting down to play himself in wizard's chess, a letter came through the fireplace. Since her letters never came so early, he was startled and worried. He immediately saw what had caused this letter to be scribbled out so quickly and frantically.
Dear Draco,
They are back. When I went down to breakfast they were there with my mum sobbing and checking them over for signs of injury, though all I could see was that they looked exhausted.
I should be happy that they are back and safe. I should be happy that I get to see Ron for Christmas. I should be happy that my friends have come home. But I am not. Well, sure I am glad that they are safe, but I thought that it would've been… I don't know, more exciting. Well, it wasn't. I think they thought that I had turned dumb or something. I just stared at them as they greeted me. Harry smiled at me, and I thought I was going to be sick. I ran straight back up to my room without a word. I expect someone will be up here to talk to me in a minute or two, but I had to get this to you! Oh, I wish you were here so badly. Or that I was there. I think I would prefer that. I can't do this!
I hear someone coming- I'll write again as soon as I can.
Love, Ginny
If Draco was surprised by the content of the letter, it was nothing compared to her closing statement. Love, Ginny. He stared at it wondering if she meant it or if she was in such a hurry that she hadn't even looked at what she wrote. Then it sunk in why she was in such a hurry. They had come back!
Draco wasn't sure what to think of that. He was angry at them for leaving her- not that he needed an excuse to be angry with them. Though he had befriended Ginny, that amiability did not extend to the trio. Even more than that, though, he wondered if they were staying or just stopping by to spend Christmas with the family. His stomach clenched at the thought of them leaving her again. He was inexplicably angry and determined that it must be because of the thought of how it would hurt her. It was foreign for him to get so worked up about the emotions of another, but Ginny was not just anybody. She was his friend, his best friend, his only friend. And she was really upset.
He steadied his breath before sitting down at the table to write a response. He wrote that he understood her surprise and even her reaction. He said that surely they would forgive her silence, because they had startled her. He wrote that in fact, they could not blame her for her silence when they left her almost four months with one lousy letter. He suggested that she confirm her mother's worst fears, run away, and they could spend their holiday on the beach in Greece.
That evening, he received his response at the usual time.
Dear Draco,
I am so sorry for that awful letter this morning. Your offer is tempting, but unfortunately it cannot work. Though if I could get out of here, mark my words, I'd be there in an instant. The beach in Greece! It's awful to tease me, you know.
To more pressing, and depressing, news. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are indeed staying for Christmas, though they are leaving again the day after. Turns out that when they arrived they said that they would not step foot in the house until they had my mother's word that she would let them go again afterwards without a fight. So they are leaving again. I shouldn't be upset, because what else could I have expected? Did any part of me honestly think that they would come back and say that they were wrong to leave me and that if I ask them to stay they will? That or beg me to join them, because I am now a master at potions (I had a very good tutor, you know). Then I ask, would I even want either of those to happen. I expect not, but then why does it hurt that I know they will leave again? It is all so confusing.
One thing, however, is not confusing. I am utterly miserable without you. My family is so ridiculous that there would be endless opportunities for your snarky comments. I made one under my breath tonight at dinner because Harry was being unusually thickheaded. I think Ron heard me- he gave me a very strange face. I think he thinks that I am in love with Harry or something. How wrong he is.
I know that this is probably all very boring to you, and I apologize. It seems awful of me to complain that the people who were supposed to be my friends came to visit me and my family when you are locked up in those dungeons. I mean it when I say that I would rather be there. You are ten times the friend that any of them are. You would never leave me unless it was for something very important- a photo shoot for your article as sexiest man alive, for example. All they can say is that they are working against Voldemort. Lame excuse if you ask me… I know that you will have some wonderful comment to that, so I am counting the minutes until I get your owl.
Expect something from me in the morning. I will claim the honor of being the first to wish you a Merry Christmas, so Merry Christmas!
Your friend, Ginny
Draco found that her reversion back to "your friend" was slightly depressing. He was feeling good, though, that she did not have an undeniable urge to runaway with the trio. And she did not love Harry Potter, though it was strange that she should feel the need to clarify that. He reread the portion where she said that he was ten times the friend that any of them could be and felt incredibly elated. He spent a good fifteen minutes staring at that sentence with a goofy grin on his face- and Malfoys do not make goofy grins, so it was a strange sight indeed.
When he finally came to his senses, Draco reached for Ginny's Christmas gift and set it beside his empty parchment on the desk. He gazed appreciatively at the small box before beginning her letter. He thanked her for saying what a good friend he was because he was sure that he was absolute rubbish and that the only reason that she pretended to be his friend was that he was so attractive. He also admitted that he may leave her if the opportunity arose for the sexiest man alive photo shoot, though it was more likely that he would bring her along because all sexy men need an entourage. Finally, he wished her a Merry Christmas, and said that he regretted that she had to spend her Christmas with a load of prats because it is much more exciting to spend it in a dungeon where the only company was the Bloody Baron.
He was of course, giving her a hard time, but he did wish he could see her. She had upheld her portion of the agreement, however, and written him often, though he could not spend his time with Potter's owl because she did not go down to the dungeons. When he was feeling particularly lonely, he would reread her letters. Some of them were worn from being handled so frequently over the last week.
As much as he was regretting spending his Christmas alone, it was not so bad. He did not really miss his father, but he did miss his mother. Ginny had been able to help him through the loneliness though because he could imagine the way her eyes were dancing as she joked. He remembered how happy he had been that last night in the astronomy tower. While nothing could replace the memory of his mother, Ginny had filled him with a fire that he had never felt, even with his mother's love. She was special and he was glad to have a friend like her.
Finally, he scooped up her gift and the letter and made his way up to the owlery to send them off straight away. He wanted her gift to arrive before she woke up.