Part VI
"Draco?" The blonde's head snapped up at the sound of his name. Struggling to hide his tear-stained face, he turned to the voice. "Draco, are you alright? What happened?"
"It's nothing, Pansy, really…" Draco said, dropping his head into his hands again.
"It's not 'nothing' or you wouldn't be crying." Pansy sat down next to him. She stared into the fire, waiting for him to speak, then something caught her eye. "Did you move my book?"
"Actually, I was reading it. I hope you don't mind…"
"It's all right. Now, what happened? Did you trash Dumbledore's office?" She sat back and faced the Malfoy heir.
"No." Pansy was shocked. She blinked a few times, wondering if she heard right.
"What? You didn't? Why not?"
"I was stopped," Draco started.
"By a teacher?" Pansy breathed.
"No…by the Sorting Hat. Stupid thing."
"The…the Sorting Hat stopped you from trashing the headmaster's office? Wow. So, what happened?"
"The Hat told me to come back here, to the Common Room, and wait for visitors. I fell asleep at ten to midnight, because no one showed up. Then, a voice woke me up. It was my old house elf, Dobby. He took me back through time in the fireplace to when I was seven, and then to my first year here." Draco explained.
"How in Merlin's name is that possible?" Pansy whispered. Draco shrugged and continued with his story. About half and hour later, Pansy was still sitting there, dumbstruck.
"Wow…so…Trelawney, the batty old Divination teacher, showed you a future where Potter and Weasel were married and that freaked you out?"
"Yeah, it did. She said that Potter would be sad in that future because I never made a move on him or something…Pansy?"
"Yes?"
"Will you help me…get Harry?" Draco asked, eyes hopeful. Pansy smirked.
"I thought you'd never ask! I have the perfect plan!"
"What?" the Slytherin Prince asked, suddenly afraid.
"It's Christmas Day, right?" At Draco's nod, she continued. "It just so happens to be a very old tradition to kiss the one you love under a sprig of mistletoe!"
"What are you getting at? There's no logical way I'll be able to trick Harry into standing under the mistletoe!"
"You don't have to trick him, sweety. Just leave everything to me!" With that, she was gone, back up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
Ron Weasely sighed deeply as he soared through the crisp Christmas morning air. He had gotten up early and left his presents at the foot of his bed in favor of flying around the Quidditch Pitch. He couldn't understand it. How could Harry have acted like that toward him yesterday? Why hadn't he come back to the common room last night? For that matter, why hadn't Hermione come back? Ron could think of a million different reasons, but he didn't like to.
"There has to be something useful in here!" Hermione sighed. Frustrated, the three of them had gone through just about every book the Room of Requirement came up with, none of which seemed to help. She closed the book with a loud 'thump' and glanced apologetically at the Boy-Who-Lived. "Sorry, Harry. There just doesn't seem to be anything."
"She's right, mate," Blaise said, gently closing his own book. "But, then again, she's always right."
"Not always," Hermione corrected. "Maybe we should go down to the Great Hall and get something to eat. We're not going to find anything." Harry nodded reluctantly and the three of them left the Room. At the staircase, they met someone.
"Guys! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
"Pansy? What's up?" Blaise asked. "Why were you looking for us?"
"It's Draco! He needs your help!"
"All of us?" Harry asked.
"Yes! Now come on!" Pansy led them all down to the Quidditch Pitch. Draco turned to meet them as they got to the entrance.
"What is it, Draco? What do you need our help with?" Harry asked, concern evident in his green eyes.
"Um…Nothing, actually. I need to tell you something, Harry." Just as Harry nodded for him to go on, there was a movement behind Draco as Ron landed.
"What's going on, guys?" he asked, looking between them.
"Ah…Hi, Ron," Harry faltered. This was going to be difficult.
"Enough with the chit-chat! We got work to do!" Pansy shouted.
"Work?" Ron asked faintly. "But it's Christmas!"
"Not that kind of work, Weasely!" Pansy shrieked. "Now, Hermione, Blaise, stand back." They did so, and Pansy continued. "I have here a piece of the oldest Christmas tradition known to mankind. You two," she pointed to Draco and Ron, "are the contestants on my holiday game show!"
"What are the rules, Parkinson?" Ron asked, growing impatient with Pansy and her annoying voice.
"Ohh…feisty! I kinda like that." Ron rolled his eyes and Pansy continued. "The rules are as follows: You will each have an equal chance to claim the prize. There will be no foul play, and the contest is not rigged in any way, shape, or form. This is merely a contest of your skill, speed, and…dare I say it…attractiveness." Here, she smiled shyly at Harry. "Sorry to have to do it this way, love. But, it has to be done." Turning her attention back to the boys, she twirled the sprig of mistletoe she held behind her back. "Go for it, boys!" Suddenly, Harry was standing under the mistletoe in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch on Christmas morning with Ron and Draco fighting over him. Before the black-haired Gryffindor knew what had hit him, there was one warm arm around his waist and another caressing his neck, and a pair of lips pressed tightly against his.
When the kiss was broken, green eyes blinked wildly, their owner wondering whether or not he was really seeing the steely gray eyes in front of him. He stopped blinking and sighed. But then, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Ron was sitting on the ground staring heartbrokenly at the couple.
"Ron…I'm sorry…I just…I don't love you like that…" Harry stammered, then closed his eyes as Draco laid Harry's head on his shoulder, stroking the black hair.
In a tall window overlooking the Quidditch Pitch, four figures congratulated themselves and each other.
The End.
YAY!!!!!! Finally! Now I can concentrate on my other fics...not that this one wasn't fun to write. It was actually quite enjoyable writing this in my Anatomy class instead of taking notes...but that's probably why I have a B...
I hope you all enjoyed this fic. I surely did. But, I must say farewell to Mr. Potter for now and focus on my ToS and SW stories.
See you all at one of my other fics! ---GundamDelta6