-Chapter Fifteen-
Ginny and Draco descended down the staircase towards the fireplace with their heavy winter coats and money in hand. Charlie, Percy, Harry and Ron had decided to go to Diagon Alley as well. Molly held the pot of floo powder out for everyone except Draco and they all took a pinch. Molly threw her pinch into the flames and stepped inside, clearly saying, "The Leaky Cauldron!" Then she disappeared in the emerald swirl.
"I'll wait for ten minutes before I go," said Draco, settling into an armchair.
"Okay," affirmed Ginny. "I'll meet you at Florean's ice cream place at one, after we've bought each other's presents."
"I'll see you there Ginger," said Draco with a soft smirk. Ginny smirked herself which caught Draco off-guard. Since when did the ever lovely Ginny smirk? Anyway, Ginny turned back to the fire and flooed her way to The Leaky Cauldron, seeing her family plus Harry waiting for her.
"Good, you're here. We thought you got lost, you took a while," said Molly, brushing some soot off Ginny's nose. "You can either go shopping with me, Charlie and Percy or Harry and Ron. And no dear, you cannot go by yourself."
"Okay, um, I'll go with you mum," answered Ginny after a moment's indecision. She could have gone with Ron and Harry, but they had their own stuff to discuss and Ginny felt she would be left out. Charlie was great to talk to, and so was Percy… at times. But Ginny felt sometimes the conversation would dry a bit due to the age difference. The last choice was her mum. Which was fine, Ginny hadn't really chatted to her mum for a long time and besides, there'd only be an hour before she caught up with Draco again.
Everyone split up, agreeing to meet back at The Leaky Cauldron at four, the latest. Molly and Ginny went out the store in the direction of more trinklety stores. Ginny protested when her mother put her arm in Ginny's. "Mum! You don't need to pull me to your side."
"Nonsense dear, I don't want you to get lost," replied Molly firmly. However, Diagon Alley had only half of its usual customers. Ginny kept her mouth shut though she knew her mother was actually afraid. After a few minutes of window shopping, Molly asked, "so what do you have in mind for Draco?"
"Well, I'm not too sure. There's really no reason to get him anything too flashy or pricey. You know he has a hundred times the amount of money in his vault than ours. I'm going to see if I can get him something more personal. I mean, have you seen the necklace he got me?" Molly hadn't so Ginny hastened to show her.
"Ginny. That's beautiful. And I'm guessing the dragon is Draco and you are the heart?" asked Molly.
"You got it. And he just bought it for me, out of the blue." Molly simply looked ahead in wonder. She recognized the craftsmanship of the pendant, it was top class. The chain itself looked to cost a galleon or two.
"Mum, stop. I think I know what I want to get Draco," said Ginny suddenly, stopping in front of a crystals shop.
"You want to get him a crystal?" questioned Molly, her eyebrow rising.
"Not just any crystal, a personalized one," gushed Ginny excitedly, entering the shop with a tinkle of a bell. Inside the little store named Korrect Krystles, an elderly but kind man came up to Ginny and Molly and greeted them.
"Good afternoon," he announced smiling. "How may I help you?"
"I was wondering if you can make a personalized crystal for me," said Ginny as Molly looked around the shop. Down lights were placed strategically along the walls and ceiling to capture the shine of the gems. Hundreds and upon hundreds lined the walls, tables and cabinets. The sparkle from the crystals dazzled Ginny and Molly whilst the shopkeeper remained quite unaffected.
"Personalized crystals? I sure can. What did you have in mind?" replied the shopkeeper, who had a badge which said Jacques.
"I was wondering if you could draw a ferret and a weasel with their necks intertwined, and write 'Weasel for Ferret'?
"Of course," replied Jacques. "If you just come over here, I'll show you some designs and sizes we have." And the next ten minutes was spent creating a five centimeter plaque consisting of solid crystals, cut to perfection. On the top left hand corner in childish script wrote, 'Weasel for Ferret!' and on the bottom right hand corner there was a ferret and weasel. The ferret had green and silver scarf whilst the weasel had a red and gold one. The design was deceptively intricate yet simple at the same time.
"That's absurdly cute," commented Molly after the final touches to the crystal were done.
"I never realized how similar weasels and ferrets look. Oh well, Draco will like it, it'll definitely make him laugh," said Ginny in response. All up, the crystal cost one galleon and five sickles. Ginny paled at the price but Molly offered to pay half of it, of course demanding chores from Ginny in the future.
As soon as Ginny and Molly left the store, Jacques got to work. Seeing Ginny's fair skin and crimson hair inspired him to create a crystal ice skating figurine. His skilled hands worked very quickly, he had after all been in the crystal business for over fifty years. After twenty minutes, he had completed the sparkling ice, which was only a six centimeters in diameter. The skates, fine legs, dress, shoulders, face and hair had all been sculpted to perfection. All that remained now was to polish the rest of the figure and add colour. Jacques also decided he would add a charm that would change the stance of the little skating figurine. One day it would have both skates on the ice with her hands flat on the side of the body. The next day it would change slowly so her hands were up in the air and the legs would motion she had just landed from a jump.
The finished product was hard blue sparkling ice, white skates, clear legs, a deep blue dress which finished just before the knees, clear skin, brown eyes and deep red hair. Jacques gazed at it for a long hard moment, memorizing the intricacy, the shape, the colour. It was already one of his favourites and he put a hefty price on it. Ten galleons for an ice skating figurine which was only ten centimeters tall.
Jacques settled back into a reclining chair behind a cluttered desk and closed his eyes after setting the figurine on a shelf. A few minutes later, the bell tinkled again and Jacques cracked one eye open. A tall, self assured figure had just entered his shop but he couldn't quite make out the features since the figure was standing in a spot where there was a lot of sparkling going on. Jacques approached the customer and said, "good afternoon sir."
"Afternoon," he replied. It was only then Jacques started thinking about the tall blonde, grey/blue eyed teenager in front of him. His clothing stated he was wealthy, and the way he spoke and the way presented himself told Jacques that this person was of high class. Then it hit him, this had to be a Malfoy! Which immediately put him on his guard.
"How may I help you?" Jacques prompted, his friendly tone not wavering, but his mind was calculating.
"Just browsing," replied Draco casually. He walked around the room slowly, his eyes drinking in the site of the bright wares. Draco, surprised at himself, was impressed by a bunch of crystals. The quality of the ones in Korrect Kyrstals was quite high. However, none of them really interested him, until, he saw the ice skating figurine. "This is beautiful," he muttered, unable to control his mouth for the moment because in front of him, was a crystallized version of Ginny. On ice.
"Yes, it is," agreed Jacques, hoping that the Malfoy wouldn't buy it straight away. He wanted to keep on the shelf so he could appreciate it more.
"It reminds me of my girlfriend. Actually, it looks just like her," Draco breathed, marveling at the likeliness. The hair, the eyes, the lips, the shape of the body. Everything. Jacques was glad that Draco's back was towards him because his eyes had widened in surprise. Malfoy's girlfriend was the lovely customer who just bought a plaque, declaring the attraction of two rodent-like animals?
"Really," managed Jacques in a calm voice, though the surprise was only starting to wear down.
"How much is it?" asked Draco, the words Jacques had been dreading for the whole time they conversed about the figurine.
"Ten galleons," he replied with a sigh.
Draco considered it for a moment. Just because he had money, he had learnt not to throw it around stupidly. He had learnt the hard way through Lucius's cane. However, the figurine simply sparkled at him, constantly reminding him of Ginny. It practically was Ginny. If Ginny ice skated however, the likeliness would start to get creepy. Deciding that the crystal was the gift for Ginny, Draco responded by saying, "I'll take it."
Jacques decided he would save his disappointed sighs for later.
"Thanks for the ice cream mum," said Ginny, seating herself inside the ice cream joint.
"That's alright dear. Ah, look, here comes Draco," replied Molly, inclining her head towards the entrance of the shop door. Draco looked up and sought out the two red head females straight away and made his way towards them.
"Hi Mrs Weasley," greeted Draco softly. "Ginny," he nodded towards his girlfriend.
"Well, I'll leave you two to it. Ginny, I'll see you at The Leaky Cauldron at four, Draco, can you apparate?"
"Yes, I can," replied Draco, seating himself next to Ginny.
"Okay, well could you please apparate back to our place just a little after four? It wouldn't be appropriate for you to floo back to ours and saying 'The Burrow' in front of everyone," continued Molly, digging around in her hand bag.
"Sure thing," replied Draco whilst Ginny licked her ice cream.
"Bye mum," Ginny said and Molly waved her goodbye. "So Draco," Ginny continued, turning around to face him. "What did you get me?"
"Lazy and impatient, what trouble am I dating now?" teased Draco, taking a bite out of Ginny's ice cream.
"Rude and thieving, what trouble am I dating now?" shot Ginny back, eating her ice cream quickly before Draco could get to it.
"Sexy trouble," replied Draco stupidly, tossing his hair back and winking at Ginny in an extremely corny manner. Ginny simply rolled her eyes at Draco and concentrated on her ice cream, trying not to give Draco the satisfaction of laughing.
After Ginny finished her ice cream, the pair set off to finish their shopping and Draco surprised Ginny by asking what her family would want.
"You're getting something for my entire family!" exclaimed Ginny.
"Yes, yes I am. What would Percy want? Something to wedge that stick out from his arse?" replied Draco distractedly.
"Why are you buying them presents though?" continued Ginny, ignoring Draco's amusing remark about her third eldest brother.
"They're your family. Plus I'll feel bad if I don't."
"You?" laughed Ginny finally. "Feel bad about my family? Now that's something I don't hear everyday. So what, you're going to make them feel guilty? Because I'm fairly sure they're not even going to think about getting you anything."
"It's a win-win situation Gin," smiled Draco. Ginny simply sighed and shook her head.
By four o'clock, Ginny had purchased a beautiful handcrafted photo frame for her parents, to replace the one the ghoul broke, a new fanged earring for Bill, an imitation-real perfume for Fleur, a book called A Comprehensive Guide to Dating for Charlie, who for some reason kept getting let down in the relationship department, next years desktop calendar for Percy, a self help book called The Art of Responsibility for Fred, for George she got him a book called The Art of Responsibility 2; a sequel, for Harry she got him a book full of useful potions and for Ron she bought him a baby niffler because she knew how badly Ron wanted one. Luckily Draco covered six galleons of the six galleons and one knut it cost. Ginny wouldn't stop thanking him and apologizing, so he kissed her for some silence. The last thing Ginny managed to afford was a special roll of film for Colin which could be developed at the touch of a wand a mutter of a spell.
Draco himself bought Molly and Arthur a voucher for a complete set of family photography after taking Ginny's advice. For Bill he bought him an ancient set of special curse breaks that weren't too easy to locate on the market. For Charlie, there was five book series of the lost dragons of England. Draco himself had the series and loved it to pieces, so he supposed Charlie would too. For Percy was a pricey set of stationary, for the twins Draco bought them an ugly toad because Ginny convinced him it was what they really wanted in their store. Much to Draco's reluctance, he bought Harry a magical compass which tells more than direction and for Ron there was a collectors edition of Chudley Cannon's quidditch team figurines. Finally, Draco bought one last thing. A pale blue pair of ballet slippers for his cousin Annabelle who lived in France and was the same age as Ginny.
Ginny was surprised that Draco bought something for someone else out of her family. When she asked him about it, he told her it was because Annabelle was just about the closest family member he had.
So with money supplies appropriately exhausted, (well, Ginny's anyway) Draco walked Ginny back to The Leaky Cauldron where the two promised to see each other in a few minutes time.
When Ginny walked into the pub, everyone was there waiting for her anxiously. Everyone sighed with relief when their eyes lay on hers and then they all started bustling to get home.
"Ginny, you were late," reprimanded Molly as she neared her daughter.
"What? I was like, five seconds late after four," defended Ginny. "What time did you all get here? Quarter to four?" However Molly only responded by giving Ginny a disapproving look.
"Ginny, the streets are getting dangerous, with the impending war and all," whispered Molly, fright edging into her voice.
"Mum," said Ginny calmly. "Relax."
"Ginny! It's very hard when you have seven kids!" continued Molly with her nerves frazzled. Soon it was their turn to pinch some floor powder to go home. After everyone yelled, 'The Burrow' and went home, everyone dropped their shopping to rest. A few minutes after everyone had gotten home, the doorbell rung, announcing that Draco had apparated successfully. Ginny bounded back down the stairs and opening the door hurriedly, revealing a relaxed looking Draco leaning against the wall outside.
"Yay, you didn't get splinched," said Ginny happily, stepping aside to let her boyfriend enter the threshold. Without getting thrown out by magical force. But before Ginny could shut the door behind Draco, her brothers, not including the twins or Percy barged their way through it, jostling an old quaffle and a bludger between them.
"Quidditch's up!" said Harry as he rushed down the stairs with his Firebolt, passing Draco and Ginny on his way.
"Dump your stuff, and let's play!" said Ginny enthusiastically, grabbing some of Draco's shopping and running upstairs.
Before Draco knew it, he had his broom thrust into his hands and was being shoved outside by an enthusiastic Ginny. "Hey guys," yelled Ginny to her brothers as she neared the field. "Draco and I are playing," she announced. Bill turned around and nodded and Ginny began describing the rules. "Those two trees are the goals, beaters will rotate and there's no snitch," said Ginny in one breath.
"No snitch?" questioned Draco, quirking his eyebrow.
"Yeah, poor thing ran out of magic. The bludger took a beating as well. Excuse the pun."
"This game is extremely disorganized," commented Draco dryly.
"Oh whatever. You'll like it. Charlie is one beater, since there's only one bludger. Ron's keeper for one side, Harry, you and I are chasers while Bill is the other keeper. Got it?" continued Ginny.
"Got it," repeated Draco. Ginny turned to mount her broom but not before Draco claimed a kiss from her, making her sway slightly after they broke away. Draco got on his broom and kicked off hard from the ground, relishing the wind passing his face as he shot upwards.
The game actually had no team. The chasers scored on the other goal after one of them scored and the beater hit the bludger wherever he or she pleased.
Ginny regained composure and flew upwards and joined Draco high in the air. Then the two flew to the centre of the "pitch" and joined Harry who had the quaffle in his hands. "One, two, three!" yelled Charlie who was hovering near the chasers. On 'three' Harry tossed the quaffle to Ginny who immediately sped after it. Draco flew fast and hard on his Nimbus 2001 and appeared cut across Ginny, changing her path completely. Ron, on the other side of the field whistled to himself in admiration. Not many people have the skill to overtake someone who had had a head start and cut them off cleanly.
Ginny was forced to careen to the side, again exercising great skill as to not fall off her broom even though she was only holding on with one hand. However in this moment of weakness, Harry swooped in and stole the quaffle from Ginny's hands. He tried scoring but the quaffle was taken off course when Ginny gathered speed and intercepted it in mid-air. Then she dodged around Bill and put the quaffle cleanly past one of the trees. Bill smiled and said, "you're too good for me Gin. Either that or I'm getting old." Ginny laughed and went to fetch the quaffle.
The game continued on for two hours, with Ginny scoring most of the goals since she was one of the best chasers around. Also there was the fact Draco and Harry were seekers, so they weren't quite as adept at catching and throwing bulky quaffles instead of snatching little snitches out of the air.
At around six o'clock, Molly called everyone in for dinner. Dinner that night was a touch more relaxed. The Weasleys were slowly coming around to the idea of a Malfoy in their house, though the hands on their wands never relaxed.
The lead up days to Christmas in The Burrow were exciting yet calm, as all the children had grown up quite a lot and were not as prone to jumping around beds and wishing Christmas would hurry up. Ginny spent the majority of her time in her room snuggled up with Draco, just appreciating the fact Draco could be with her, even for just two weeks, without having to hide. Of course Ginny's bedroom door had to be left half open, although it required a lot of effort from Molly and Arthur to climb up two flights of stairs to check on their daughter continuously.
By Christmas Eve, all presents were wrapped and all cards were written out. Ron's baby niffler which was yet to be named scuffled about in his cage which was in Ginny's room, not finding anything gold.
Ginny and Draco could be found however, curled up against each other under the sheets to try to block out the cold. And to well… get close to each other. Ginny could feel herself falling asleep with Draco's strong arms wrapped securely around her but she tried to fight the sensation.
Just before Ginny dozed off to the steady beating of Draco's heart, he murmured, "I better go before your parents get too suspicious." Ginny shook her head violently and held onto Draco tighter. "Ginny, I'm serious," said Draco again, though his heart wasn't in what he was saying.
"Don't go," mumbled Ginny into Draco's chest. "Stay," and somehow her grip tightened even more. Draco seriously thought if he tried walking, Ginny would still be clinging onto him. Finally, for once, he gave into his desires and stayed in bed with Ginny. Besides, it was warm. Draco reached out for his wand and with a silent spell turned out the lights. Getting into a comfortable position in bed again, which was skin close to Ginny since her bed was meant to be for one person, Draco's hands slid their way up Ginny's neck in search of her face. In the dark, Draco hoped he was kissing Ginny's lips and leaned his head in.
Ginny woke up early on Christmas morning due to someone in her bed turning around in his sleep and jostling the bed. Ginny snuggled back underneath the covers with her mind suddenly preoccupied with the thought of Draco's kisses. Did he kiss her night before? Because she could still feel his lips on her, however when she turned to face him, the back of his blonde head was facing her. Suddenly Ginny's eyes caught onto the niffler which was trying to burrow in its cage. Then she remembered.
"Christmas!" she yelled, which made Draco wake with a start.
"Wha? What's going on?" he asked groggily, hair askew.
"It's our first Christmas together!" continued Ginny excitedly. Draco simply looked at his watch and groaned.
"That's great Ginny, it really is. But can this wait till I'm more awake? It's five thirty in the morning," muttered Draco, burying his face in Ginny's neck.
"Don't you wake up at six?" asked Ginny, a bit distracted by Draco.
"It's still half an hour though," mumbled Draco into Ginny's neck which sent pleasant shivers down her spine. "I've been really tired lately, must be because I'm having too much fun with you."
Ginny smiled to herself, glad Draco admitted what he just did. She was afraid that he might get bored in their boring house. At one point, after the fourth day or so of lounging around, Ginny decided to show Draco all the rooms. Arthur and Molly's of course was off limits since it was the parents bedroom. Bill's was quite empty since he had moved out. Charlie's was painted an off-cream colour, though it didn't really matter since most of the walls were covered in dragon posters. It was when Draco saw Charlie reading a popular dragon magazine called Dragon's Draw, he finally decided to approach him on the topic of dragons. Of course the two clicked once that topic of conversation got rolling.
Percy's room was boring to the extreme. The walls again were a shade of off-cream, though nothing covered it. A large mahogany desk, just like Ginny's, (it made Draco wonder if they bought desks in bulk) took up a lot of space and piles of paper stacked it neatly. In the corner, was a diagram of a cauldron with measurements written all over it. Ginny explained it was from Percy's obsession with a report on cauldron bottom thickness.
Fred and George's room was a vivid contrast to Percy's. The walls were painted stripy and dotty with all the colours of the rainbow. It actually hurt to look at sometimes. The bedsheets were a contrasting white to the walls and on every free surface was some little invention puffing smoke or some dangerous looking product plopped haphazardly everywhere.
Last but not least, was Ron's room. There was general surprise when Ginny knocked on Ron's door, because Draco was the last person Harry and Ron expected to see in Ron's room. When the door was opened, Draco literally got dazed by the amount of orange was in the room. Ron even managed to get the ceilings orange. The only break from the orange were images of the actual team which was splattered here and there.
Ron, despite his obsessive love for the Chudley Cannon's, wished he had toned the orange down a bit when Draco stepped through that door.
Then, that was it. The whole house. Despite the contrasts of rooms and the shabbiness of some of the furniture, Draco found he really did like The Burrow.
Back in bed, Draco and Ginny snoozed for another three hours when they were woken up again by raucous caroling, no doubt from Fred and George. So Draco and Ginny groggily got up and went downstairs for the opening of presents since there was no point in trying to get back to sleep. Besides, it was time to open presents!
Downstairs by the Christmas tree was attended by Fred and George. Arthur and Molly were still in the kitchen and everyone else was sleeping.
"Morning you two," said George cheerfully, levitating a log into the fire to feed it.
"I hope you slept well," said Fred, still with a cheery voice.
"Was it a tight fit in my sister's bed?" demanded George, the cheerfulness dropping an edge.
"Okay, okay. So Draco slept in my bed last night. No biggie. We didn't do anything. I've heard, some of the things you do when you sneak Angelina and Katie in at night. So shush," said Ginny grumpily as the twins both gasped dramatically. At that moment, Molly arrived with a tray full of milos, saying, "merry Christmas kids!"
Everyone wished her a merry Christmas back, she then departed, muttering about waking the others. Then Arthur walked into the room and sat himself in his armchair, still in his pajamas. He rubbed his hands together excitedly and chatted to everyone about the upcoming presents, including Draco. Over the days, Ginny and Draco had noticed the hard edge in Arthur's eyes whenever he looked at Draco had started to ebb away. Now he was starting to treat Draco with an inch more of respect.
"Ooh, I wonder what we'll all get this year," Arthur said excitedly, reminding Ginny of a young child. Charlie, Harry and Ron decided to stumble in looking excited yet sleepy at the same time. Then Arthur counted to three after everyone was positioned around the Christmas tree, their presents around them. On 'three,' everybody shouted excitedly, ripping into their gifts.
"Oh my god!" shouted Ginny all of a sudden, holding some silky material in her hands.
"What is it dear?" said Molly kindly, knowing what the fuss was about.
"You bought me dress robes!" cried Ginny happily, standing up and letting the deep green ankle length dress robe extend to its full length.
"Do you like them?" smiled Molly.
"It's, beautiful. I love it. Oh my god, I actually have nice robes!" yelled Ginny some more. Draco paused and looked at the dress robes himself. He could definitely imagine Ginny wearing it. Her red hair would make a beautiful contrast to the green.
After Ginny had gotten over her initial excitement and began digging into her next batch of gifts, Draco did the same with his meager pile. The first one was from Molly. When Draco unwrapped it, he found a brown jumper with a white 'D' in the middle. He looked around and saw all the other Weasley kids and Harry had received a hand knitted jumper with the first letter of their name on it. Draco was touched!
"Thanks Mrs Weasley," said Draco, holding up the jumper. He even pulled it on over his pajamas to show how much he appreciated it. He also made a mental note to ask Ginny whether she wore hers outside of the house. Draco's next present from his cousin Annabelle. Enclosed in the package was a vanity mirror. It was thirty centimeters by thirty and it could reflect any part of the body desired without having to move it around. It was powered by thought. Draco wondered if it would work if he thought about other people… the perfect perve tool. He made a mental note to send a letter back to Annabelle to thank her.
Then there was only one present left, and it was from Ginny. Draco worked hard to hide his disappointment. He already knew that his parents weren't going to send him anything, and he kept telling himself he didn't care about it. But denial only goes so far. So ignoring the sudden sadness that gripped his heart, Draco carefully unwrapped the rectangular wrapped present from Ginny. What he saw when the final wrapping paper fell away suddenly lifted his spirits.
It was a crystal plaque that said 'Weasel for Ferret!' Draco could tell it was personalized because who in their right mind would make a plaque which declared one rodent's attraction for another? The more Draco studied it the more he smiled and loved it. Ginny had even managed to get the right coloured scarves.
"Like it?" asked Ginny curiously, leaning over to take a good look at Draco's face. 'Success! He's smiling!' thought Ginny triumphantly.
"I love it. Reminds us that we're furry little rodents in love," replied Draco, kissing Ginny on the cheek.
"Truth hurts doesn't it?" laughed Ginny, getting back to her massive pile of presents. The next one she got to was from Draco. "Ooh, I wonder what we have here," commented Ginny, lifting up oddly shaped gift which was covered in silver wrapping paper.
"Open it and see," said Draco, smirking as he did so.
"Gah, knowing you it'll be expensive," said Ginny with a furrowed brow as she tried to unwrap the present carefully. What Ginny found underneath the paper took her breath away. She held it up to see it in better light and the flames from the fire danced through the flawless crystals, shining its light in many colours of the rainbow onto Ginny's stunned face.
"Do you like it?" prompted Draco after a few moments since Ginny hadn't said anything.
"Oh, my god. This is beautiful. She's so elegant… she looks like me. Draco, this is beautiful," gushed Ginny finally, not taking her eyes off the crystallized figurine.
"Yeah, it is. And it should, because it looks so much like you," commented Draco, his eyes on it as well.
"Did you ask someone to make it especially?" asked Ginny, finally tearing her eyes to look at Draco.
"No. That's the surprising thing. I walked into the shop and it was there," he replied, looking bewildered.
"That's some weird stuff. But thank you, so much. I love it." It was then Draco noticed the ice skater wasn't standing in the same position as it was in the shop. Now both skates were on the ground and her head was dipped backwards, back curved and arms thrown up elegantly, as if the skater had just finished a routine and the music had just stopped.
"You know what? I think she moves as well," commented Draco. Ginny simply sighed with happiness.
"Ginny!" yelled Ron loudly. "YOU BOUGHT ME A NIFFLER! I LOVE HIM! THANK YOU GINNY!" shouted Ron some more. Ginny gave Ron a happy thumbs up whilst Molly and Arthur looked horrified. 'Hide your galleons!' they were thinking.
It was about then the rest of the family got to presents that Draco had given them. All their eyes widened in shock when they read the card that came with it.
"Draco! I love these books! I've only read one of them from the library but it was so tattered I didn't bother getting out the rest! Thanks man! I feel bad for not getting you anything though," said Charlie, holding up the set of dragon books. Draco simply smiled softly in return.
"Wow," said Bill simply, holding up the guidebook of curse breaks.
"A toad!" yelled Fred and George happily, throwing the poor amphibian into the air despite its frightened croaks. "It's so ugly too! Thanks Malfoy!" the two said in unison.
Harry looked quizzically at Draco and was about to say something about the compass he received but Ron opened his trap before Harry. "Wow! Malfoy! Thanks! I was just staring at these in Diagon Alley!" he yelled excitedly, cradling the figurines close to his chest. "I can't pay you back though," he added seriously.
"Don't worry about it," replied Draco indifferently whilst Ron furrowed his eyebrow in thought. Then Ron decided to not care and went back to admiring his Chudley Cannons set.
"Draco dear," said Molly happily, holding up the voucher for photos. "Thank you very much for this. It's exactly what we needed." Then she turned to Ginny and said, "thank you dear, the photo frame fits our wedding photo perfectly."
Soon, everyone was done unwrapping presents and now they were admiring their gifts. Ginny still couldn't get over the skating figuring Draco had given her. The likeliness was uncanny. Then the rest of Christmas was spent with the family drinking lots of eggnog and eating snacks that had been placed around the house. Throughout the house carols sung and even the ghoul banged the pipes in time to the music. Yet still all Draco and Ginny could pay attention to was each other. This did not go unnoticed by Arthur and Molly, and their opinion about Draco kept changing positively.
Dinner that night was an enjoyable affair. The main meal of course was this massive roast which sat in the centre of the table. Around that were side dishes of potato and gravy, pies, salads and ham. Everybody dug into the food Molly prepared and everyone seemed happy for the occasion. Even Percy cracked smiles at Fred and Georges jokes.
Arthur and Molly had their reasons for being happy. Both were well aware of the current situation the wizarding world was in and knew of the many deaths that occurred due to Death Eater attacks. They were extremely gratefully that all seven of their children were still alive and well, despite their battle scars.
Ginny felt elated due to the fact the person she fell in love with was hated by many but accepted by the people who meant the most to her. It was really becoming real to Ginny, that Draco was sitting right beside her, their legs intertwined underneath the table. In made Ginny smile uncontrollably when for once Draco's head wasn't always turned to hers because his attention was held by Charlie, and they were talking about dragons. But she didn't care, because Draco was there, with her, with her family for Christmas.
Draco had his own reasons for smiling all night long. For once in his life, he felt truly accepted. It didn't matter that sometimes Ginny's family would run out of things to say to him, or that they had to watch what they were saying. He was still in The Burrow, having dinner with his family's so called enemies. Draco was happy with himself because he found he didn't care. All his life he desired to be wanted, to be cared about, and he found it all when he met Ginny. He found it refreshing that he was sitting at a lively table, full of people and mess instead of the cold Manor dining room. The table was five times as long as the Weasley's and his mother and father sat at one end whilst Draco sat in the middle, alone. Draco wasn't too sure how to explain how he felt. Though, it felt like his heart was finally full. He had always gotten whatever had wanted in life, but what he had with his stay with the Weasley's could not be bought. Ginny's love could never be bought. Draco found he actually had purpose.
Then Christmas was over as soon as it had crept up on everybody and then the attack came.
It happened four days before Draco and Ginny were due back at school and the two could be found in Ginny's room, pashing, hoping to god that their hormones wouldn't get the better of them.
Ron and Harry were in the living room, practicing game plays with the Chudley Cannon figurines and Percy was at work, writing furiously away at something boring. Fred and George were in their shop, trying to sell something stupid and Arthur was in his office at the Ministry, writing a follow up report on illegally charmed umbrellas.
Charlie was back in Romania, feeding a Hungarian Horntail a cow as part of his dragon keeper duties. That Horntail had just killed a whole fleet of Voldemort recruits so Charlie decided to give it a side dish of goat as reward. The Horntail breathed fire appreciatively.
Molly was in her room, letting herself have a well-earned afternoon nap. It was two thirty in the afternoon and none of them had any inkling of the batch of Death Eaters heading their way. It was only Bill, who was stationed on the other side of England on curse watch who detected the Death Eaters making their way to The Burrow. Horror seized Bill when he realized the bastards were making their way to his family home and immediately alerted his superintendent about it. He then asked permission to go home to warn his family. The superintendent, Michael Chalmers was reluctant, but he knew Bill would have left anyway even if he said no. So he granted Bill permission to apparate home.
Bill hastened home and breathed a sigh of relief when no one had arrived on the scene yet. He swirled his wand around complicatedly and muttered soundlessly a spell which would alert the Ministry of any evil disturbances. Then, he requested a squad of Aurors to The Burrow, since Bill had the authority to, since he was a curse breaker and such.
Needless to say, the Aurors were very efficient. Within one minute of Bill's request, they were on the site, the captain of the squad looking to Bill for advice. Bill ordered the captain to station themselves around the perimeter of the property and to attack and detain the Death Eaters that would approach. Bill also added that if it was necessary, the Aurors could kill out of self defense. He then hurried inside of the house, warning everybody inside of it.
"Harry, Ron," said Bill, surprising the two who were cheering on the figurines. "There's going to be a Death Eater attack. Lock everything you see. Windows, doors, mouse holes, whatever, just get ready!" Ron and Harry stared at him in surprise. "Hurry up!" roared Bill, charging up the stairs. Then they snapped out of it and began doing what Bill ordered.
On the second floor, Bill knocked hurriedly and waited for his mother to tell him to come in. Despite the severity of the situation, Bill couldn't forget his manners. "Come in," came the tired voice of Molly, and Bill's anxiety deepened.
"Mum, there are Death Eaters coming. I've sent for Auror reinforcements and they're already here, guarding the house. The Death Eaters will be here at any moment. You've got to help secure the house," said Bill seriously and quickly. Pure fear gripped Molly and she clutched her chest, finding she couldn't breathe.
"Mum, mum. It's okay. It's going to be okay. They won't get past the Aurors, I promise you," consoled Bill, wrapping his mother in a hug.
"My children. My house," said Molly in a frighteningly soft voice.
"Mum, don't panic. I'm here. I'll look after everything. Look, if you want, stay here, I'll help secure the house," but then Bill got cut off.
"You go do whatever you have to do to make this house safe, I'll get in contact with Arthur, Percy, Charlie, Fred and George. Go!" urged Molly, swinging her legs out of bed and now looking determined. Bill nodded and rushed out of his parents' bedroom and raced up another flight of stairs to Ginny's. For a moment he forgot that Draco was staying with them and he also forgot to knock in his haste. He just charged there and came face to face with Draco lying on Ginny, kissing her furiously. It was that moment that Bill completely forgot about Death Eaters.
"Malfoy! Get off my sister!" roared Bill, clenching his fists. Sure, he accepted the fact his baby sis was dating Malfoy, but kissing her, on her bed? Lying on top of her? With the doors shut? Merlin forbid. Draco suddenly wrenched himself off Ginny and looked up, panting with surprise.
"Bill?" said both Draco and Ginny at the same time. Pinkness tinged both their cheeks as they remembered how passionately they had just been kissing.
"Knock much?" cried Ginny, exasperated, straightening up her shirt.
Bill ignored that and said, "don't let me catch you doing that again," with a growl. Ginny and Draco simply nodded, embarrassment still hassling them. Bill glared at Draco for another moment or so before what he remembered what he was in there for. "Ginny, Draco, Death Eaters are heading our way, lock all the doors and windows. You two should work on the attic. Ignore the ghoul. You hear me?"
"What?" gasped Ginny, getting off the bed shakily. "Death Eaters? Here?"
"Yes," replied Bill, his heart and tone softening at the worried look on Ginny's face.
"But why?" asked Ginny, still surprised, fear settling in at once. Draco, who was still sitting on Ginny's bed began thinking. This couldn't be because of his presence, could it?
"They're Death Eaters Gin, that's what they do. Attack Wizards. Pretty soon they're be attacking the muggles. Come on, I need you to secure the attic."
"Are there Aurors down there?"
"Yes, attic, now Gin," said Bill in a rush. Ginny grabbed Draco's hand, knowing full well what was going through his mind. She then dragged him up the stairs to the attic whilst Bill went downstairs to help the Aurors.
When Ginny and Draco reached the attic, she slammed the door behind them and pressed Draco up against the wall ferociously. What Ginny saw of Draco didn't please her. Draco's previously cheerful expression and open eyes were now dark and a scowl was what Draco's lips consisted off.
"Draco, listen to me," hissed Ginny angrily. "This is not your fault. No matter what you think this is isn't your fault." And she gave him the roughest shake in the shoulder to reinforce her point. Of course her shake was futile, Ginny wasn't exactly strong enough to jostle him much.
"How do you know that?" asked Draco in a closed, and Ginny could tell, upset voice. "Someone must know I'm here. I've put your entire family at risk."
"That's fuckin' bullshit!" swore Ginny, stamping her feet in frustration. "I know, for a fact, that the Death Eaters were going to attack before that day in the library. I nicked one of Fred and George's extendable ears and listened in on Bill's conversation with mum and dad. I know it! So don't you dare beat yourself up about it, you've come too far to worry about that. Mum and dad will understand. I know it."
Draco felt the tension within himself ease off a bit, but not completely. "I'm still playing a dangerous factor in this Ginny. Don't deny it," he said in a flat voice.
"God Draco! Don't you think I know that? But what are you going to do? Run away? I love you! My family is stating accept you! If you leave, or do anything of that sort, you'll be hurting me more than staying," said Ginny fiercely, tears starting to prick at her eyes. Draco kept his expression guarded, though inside his mind was processing the information very quickly. Ginny really did know him too well. He was considering leaving, but what would that make him? A coward? And how could he ever leave Ginny? It was in those few moments, Draco made a resolve which he hoped to dear Merlin he would never break.
"Ginny, I'll never leave you," said Draco with equal fierceness. Then he placed a lip-crushing kiss on Ginny. The kiss physically hurt her, but it was what she wanted. The painful pressure of Draco's lips on her reassured her he wasn't going away. When the two broke away, Draco realized he had bit Ginny's lip in the heat of the moment and now it was bleeding steadily into her mouth.
"God, Gin. I'm sorry," he apologized, tilting Ginny's chin up to face to inspect it properly.
Ginny simply sucked on the cut and placed a gentler kiss on Draco's lips. The blood transferred to Draco's mouth and he was finding it hard to think.
"I don't care," whispered Ginny, who then proceeded to lock all the windows in the attic. Draco helped her and that was when they saw the sparks of curses flying below them through the windows. On closer inspection, Ginny and Draco found the Aurors and Death Eaters battling furiously. One of the Death Eaters swirled his wand arm around in an arc to deliver a pain inflicting curse on one of the Aurors who then fell to the ground, twitching with pain. Draco's heart hardened and he empathized with the fallen Auror. Why? Because Draco had been the recipient of that very curse, with that very arc, with that very Death Eater. Who was it? Avery. Avery and Lucius tortured Draco with the Cruciatus curse for spilling a glass of milk when he was six. That very wand movement imprinted itself in Draco's mind, and now anger flashed through Draco's eyes.
"Draco?" whispered Ginny with concern, touching his shoulder gently. Draco's eyes fell onto Ginny, but they weren't seeing her. Ginny could tell he was reminiscing about something, something painful by the looks of it.
"Draco, tell me," demanded Ginny softly. Draco eye's finally focused on his girlfriend but he didn't say anything to her. Instead, he kissed her, much too briefly for Ginny's liking and hurried out of the attic. Ginny followed him, hot on his heels and she shouted, "no!" when he headed out the front door with his wand drawn. Ginny, caught up in the moment rushed out the door after him, and Ron just missed diving and catching Ginny by mere centimeters. Suddenly, Ginny was caught in the melee of battle. She ignored the terrified screams of her family as she watched Draco make a beeline for the Death Eater who did a spell with an arc movement.
Then, the hairs on the back of Ginny's neck tingled so she did the first thing that came to her mind. She whirled around, whipping out her wand as she did so.
"Experlliarmus!" she screamed, pointing her wand at the dark figure approaching her. His extended wand soared into Ginny's outstretched hand and he looked stunned for a moment. Ginny took that as an incentive to rush up and punch him in the face, which stunned him even more. He staggered around, blood spurting from his nose, groping wildly at Ginny. That's when Ginny stupefied him and snapped the Death Eater's wand with her knee. Suddenly, somebody grabbed her from behind and held her with an iron grip. Ginny screamed and thrashed but he would not let go. She suddenly realized she was being hauled back to the house and was deposited just in the front door. Then, she realized it was Bill, looking extremely angry and worried.
"Look after her," he growled at Ron. Ron then proceeded to wrap his arms around Ginny's waist and kicked the door shut.
"Ginny, are you mad?" screamed Molly, enveloping Ginny in a hug, hugging Ron in the process who was too afraid to let his sister go.
"Argh! Get off me!" screamed Ginny into Molly's chest. "I'm fine! I'm fine!"
"Ginny, don't you ever pull a stunt like that again!" shouted Ron, shaking Ginny to reinforce his point. "I thought you were going to die!" he continued yelling.
"Ron! Shut up! I'm fine!" yelled Ginny, and she gave Ron a tight hug to reassure her head wasn't chopped off and her limbs were still attached. Her gaze fell onto Harry after she let go of Ron. He was looking at her with shock and admiration.
"You did great out there," Harry said softly, hoping that he wouldn't offend his ex.
"Thanks Harry," smiled Ginny, appreciating that for once someone complimented her.
Molly was standing by the window next to the front door, eying the battle with a worried eye. She had her rolling pin in hand just in case it needed to be used, and at the moment it did. Because as she was watching Draco take down one of the Death Eaters, she saw another creeping up behind him. Recklessly, she charged out the door and hurled the rolling pin at the sneaky Death Eater who was three meters away. The pin found it's target and knocked him to the ground, concussing him. Draco stupefied both Death Eaters and gave Molly a bloody thumbs up.
"Mum!" cried Ron worriedly and exasperatedly, dragging his mother back into the house. "Have you lost your mind as well?"
"Watch it," growled Molly menacingly, and Ron shut up.
By then, the battle was looking good for the Aurors. The Death Eater crew was dwindling, and they were finished off quickly. Percy, Fred, George, Charlie and Arthur all arrived when the lat of the stunned Death Eaters were being deported back to the Ministry, and they all just about cried with relief. Whilst everyone was exchanging hugs and talking to the rest of the Aurors, Draco leant against a wall and slid down it, holding his hands in his head. He was replaying that moment over and over again, when he nearly killed Avery out of pure rage. The scenes kept repeating over and over.
Suddenly, something petite and warm wrapped his still form. Draco knew straight away it was Ginny.
"You did great Draco," she whispered, resting her forehead on his.
"Yeah?" replied Draco hoarsely.
"Come inside. There's some soup for you to drink. It'll make you feel better," cajoled Ginny, giving his arm a slight squeeze.
"You're already making me feel better," smiled Draco. He could feel his dried blood on his face crack, from where Avery's ring scratched his temple.
Ginny and Draco walked hand in hand back to The Burrow which was full of recuperating Aurors and harassed but relieved looking Weasleys. When Draco entered, the Aurors swore and reached for their wands, but Ginny stepped in front of Draco defensively and said, "he's with us. Lower your wands." The Aurors looked on in surprise, but lowered their wands. Draco himself was too tired to care about what other people thought about him at that moment, and thanked Molly when she handed him a bowl full of warm ham and onion soup.
"Ginny, are you okay?" asked Arthur, wrapping his only daughter in a hug. "I heard what you did. It was extremely stupid yet very brave of you. Promise me you'll never do t again."
"I promise dad," sighed Ginny into his robes.
Draco thanked Molly for the soup before he walked wearily to Ginny's room for a shower. After he had washed off the blood, he simply fell onto Ginny's bed, and slept way past dinner. Ginny entered her room two hours after Draco did, since she had to stay and speak with her family. She found Draco asleep on her bed and she smiled happily. Yet that smile was tainted with the knowledge that were to be many more battles ahead for Draco if he still wanted a career as a Auror.
After Ginny herself had showered, she went downstairs for a quiet dinner. She told her family that Draco was too tired to make an appearance for dinner and she ate quickly and quietly herself. When she returned to her room, Draco was still sleeping. Exhausted, Ginny climbed into bed, trying not to wake him. Her efforts were futile though, since Draco opened one sleepy eye.
"Sorry Draco," whispered Ginny, then she proceeded to blow out the candle on her beside table. "Draco," Ginny whispered once more after a minute, hoping he hadn't fallen asleep yet.
"What is it?" asked Draco, holding Ginny closer to him.
"Thanks for not leaving me," said Ginny, resting her head in the crook of his neck.
"Never," said Draco quietly, reassuring Ginny and himself and then they fell asleep in each other's embrace.
Hey hey! Another chapter! I hope you liked this one. I do :D Anyways, please review, I want to know what you think about it. Heehee, I'm just happy because some plot is finally kicking in. Yay! Plot!
Anyways, review review review, lalalala-lala!
Love,
Jessica/yourbeautifulnightmare