Chapter 14 - Merry Christmas Happy Holidays

"Uh, hello Mr. Weasley," Draco said nervously, still lying on the ground, looking up.

Ginny was petrified that her father caught them out there and she scrambled up to her feet.

Draco sat up and before he could say anything he saw Arthur Weasley smile down at him, "Hello, my dear boy." Surprisingly Mr. Weasley did not sound upset. "Need a hand up?" He held out his hand.

"Uh..." Draco was completely confused and grabbed the hand of the older man.

As soon as Draco was standing up, he looked at the man who were a few inches shorter then he, and said, "Uh, Mr. Weasley, it's like this."

"Nope, don't bother saying anything yet, Draco. Mrs. Weasley is inside making us some tea. I'm sure she would love to hear everything too."

Ginny, like Draco, was confused. Her father just caught the two kissing, on the ground, in the snow even, and he didn't even sound the least bit upset. Arthur grabbed her arm and led her back into the house with Draco following behind them.

When they entered the house, Draco saw Mrs. Weasley in her night gown and bath robe, in the kitchen making tea.

"He's here, Molly!" Arthur called out to his wife.

"Oh good. Hello, Draco," Molly called from the kitchen.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley."

"Dumbledore told us you were coming!" Molly said coming out of the kitchen and into the family room.

"Dumbledore? What does he have to do with this?" Ginny asked.

"Dumbledore contacted us and told us that Draco was on his way over. Saying something about someone named Billy..." Arthur said trying to remember everything.

"My former house-elf." Draco said.

Arthur nodded and continued, "Well, Billy told Dumbledore what happened and that you got thrown out of your house." Draco looked down at his feet as though he was for some reason ashamed that they knew that. "Dumbledore told us to keep an eye out for you and sent us your stuff."

"My stuff?" Draco asked, and sure enough his trunk was there. "What's it doing here?"

"You'll be staying with us for the rest of the vacation," Molly told him. "I can't believe that your father would throw you out of your own house on Christmas Eve!" She then noticed his face covered in cuts and bruises, "Oh my! Look at you! What happened!"

"What?" Draco looked alarmed as she stared at his face. Ginny took a look at his face and noticed the same thing that her mother saw for the first time and gasped. He knew that his cuts and bruises were showing, "But how?" He asked to himself, though, not noticing that he said it out loud.

"Draco, how do you think I've kept my house in one piece with 6 boys running around the house with wands?" Draco just shrugged his shoulders at Mrs. Weasley's question. "Mr. Weasley and I put up a ward years ago! No magic can be done in the house, meaning that any spells, even concealing charms will break once stepping into this house." She moved closer to him to examine his cuts, "Ooo, it looks bad."

"It's fine, Mrs. Weasley, really."

"This is not fine! Now come into the light so I can see it better," Draco let out a small sigh, but followed her orders. As Mrs. Weasley touched the back of his head she noticed him wince in pain, "Does your head hurt too?" Draco nodded. "Take a seat on the couch!" Draco once again did as he was told and allowed Mrs. Weasley to make an examination of his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you have some nasty bump on your head. Stay here," she looked up to her daughter and said, "Ginny come with me!"

Draco sat and watched Mrs. Weasley and his girlfriend walk into the kitchen. "Girlfriend," he said in his head; he just had to smile at that thought. Ginevra was his girlfriend. He wiped the smile off his face when Mr. Weasley sat down next to him. "Sir," Draco said with a nod.

"Oh relax, Draco. It's not like I plan to come after you with a shotgun," Mr. Weasley laughed and Draco forced out a laugh; he didn't know what a shot gun was. But then Mr. Weasley got serious, "Not yet at least."

Draco sighed and said, "Sir..."

"Stop calling me Sir, you make me sound like an old man!"

"Sorry. Mr. Weasley," Draco started again, "I don't want to intervene with you and your family's Christmas activities. You already have a lot of people here. If I stay, I'll feel like I'm intruding."

"We already have 15 people staying at the house. One more isn't going to be any trouble."

"That's not the point, Mr. Weasley. This is a family gathering; I really shouldn't be here."

Mr. Weasley thought for a moment and said, "By the looks of it, I'd say that you and my daughter are an item now, yes?" Draco nodded. "Well, there you go!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed and slapped the boy on his back. "You may not be related to us yet," Draco's eyes widened when he heard the 'yet' coming from Mr. Weasley, "but like it or not, boy, you're already a part of this family. I will be very insulted if you don't stay."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. That means a lot to me. But I must say all your sons, plus Harry, really don't like me."

"Well, they are just going to have to live with it," and the two men smiled at each other.

Meanwhile in the kitchen...

"Mum, say something," Ginny practically pleaded.

"I'm tickled pink that you and Draco are finally together." She beamed and hugged her daughter.

"Really? Wouldn't you rather me be with someone who wasn't a Malfoy? Aren't you going to say something like, 'He's a Malfoy, it can only be assumed that he'll grow up to be like his father' or something like that?"

Molly sighed and thought back to the time when she was younger. "Ginny, you are my only daughter, and I want you to be happy. I know that he makes you happy and you make him happy." Ginny smiled. "And honey, I know that you are wise enough to make that decision if the event ever arises," Molly said remembering her past experiences.

Ginny smiled and hugged her mother. "I love you, mum!"

"I love you too dear. Now grab the ice from the refrigerator and come into the living room!" And Ginny did just that.

Molly came into the room holding a bottle of peroxide, cotton balls, and band aids, while Ginny brought in a bag of ice. She sat down next to Draco on the couch and handed him the bag of ice, "Put this on your head where it hurts." Draco took the bag and placed it on the back of his head. He took a sharp intake of breath when it made contact with his head, but was amazed at how the coldness made it feel better. "It'll help make the swelling go down."

"Why don't you just use a healing spell? Even with the ward, can't you do a healing spell?"

"Only if it's dire, besides, Mr. Weasley enjoys all the chances he can to use Muggle products. Hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all," Draco said finally relaxing himself.

They suddenly heard a slight snoring sound and all three of them turned and saw that Arthur had fallen asleep. Ginny giggled and said, "Mum, why don't you take Dad and go back to sleep? Penny's going to be up in a few hours and you're going to need the rest. I can take care of Draco."

"Okay, dearie," Mrs. Weasley woke up her husband and the two of them went upstairs to bed.

"Can I take this ice off my head?"

Ginny laughed and took it from him. "Go grab your pajamas and you can change in the bathroom down here."

Draco leaned over, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and went to his stuff to grab his things, before heading to the bathroom. Ginny sat there with a smile on her face. She hasn't felt this good, since Halloween, before everything started to go bad. Now Draco was hers. This time she decided that she was going to tell everyone that she could, and the hell with Ron. If they came across anymore problems, they will handle it together, head on.

Ginny was in deep thought when Draco reached a hand down and touched her on her shoulder, Ginny jumped and heard Draco laugh, "Daydreaming, huh?"

"Something like that." she looked up at him and saw that he was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a white t-shirt. "Good to see that you do actually own some pajamas." They both laughed and then Ginny said, "Sit down on the couch so I can clean your cuts up before they get infected." He sat down and Ginny grabbed the bottle of peroxide and cotton balls and straddled his lap.

Draco placed his hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, "This could be fun."

Ginny smiled and said, "Yes, and I have seven brothers upstairs, that's including Harry."

"I don't care," he said and kissed her neck.

"Draco," she moaned, "I have to finish cleaning your cuts."

Draco leaned back with a pout on his face, "Fine."

Ginny pulled out the peroxide and said, "This may sting a little."

"Sting?" he asked as she dabbed some on his cut. He had to bite his tongue to keep from yelling out.

"Oh stop it, you big baby." She leaned down and blew on it to cool the sting down. "Better?" Draco nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Draco knew exactly what she was talking about. "Not really, but I should, huh?" Ginny nodded her head. "Well, first of all, Potter came to talk to me."

Ginny practically dropped the peroxide on the floor; her eyes widened and her mouth hung open in surprise. "Harry? Harry Potter went to your house to talk to you?"

Draco nodded. He told her what they talked about and what his father said when he found out that Draco was playing the guitar. "I'm just glad that it was my old one and not the one you got me," he smiled up at her and continued to tell her what happened. Ginny was just about to put on a butterfly band aid when Draco hugged her close to him and said, "I'm so sorry, angel."

Ginny held his head close to her chest and ran her fingers through his hair, being careful to not touch his sore spot, "For what?"

"For what happened Halloween night."

Ginny sighed, pulled his head away, and said, "I know you are and I know you won't ever intentionally hurt me."

"Never again," Draco mumbled against her.

"Then we just need to put this behind us." Draco opened his mouth to say something when Ginny said, "You really need to stop beating yourself up over this." As she said the words her mouth went wide, "That's why you let Ron beat you up."

"What?"

"Oh don't give me that, Draco Malfoy! I can beat him up, hell even Penny my three year old niece could probably take him too."

Draco laughed and said, "That's really sisterly of you to say."

Ginny only shrugged, put a few small band aids on his cuts, and let out a rather large yawn.

Draco laughed, looked up at her, and said, "You want to go back to bed?"

"No, I want to stay here with you."

"Well, we can do both," he had Ginny stand up and situated himself on the couch. He then held his arms open, and Ginny slid right into them.

"Your father and I had a talk," he said placing his arms around her, holding her close to him.

"What did he say?" Ginny asked as she ran her fingers up and down his arms.

"He's happy that we're together and considers me to be part of the family."

Ginny yawned and said, "I'm so happy! There's a blanket behind you."

Draco reached up behind him and covered them both in the blanket and held Ginny close. Ginny yawned and said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Draco said and kissed her forehead. "Uh... what's a shot gun?"

Ginny laughed, "If it's ever needed, you'll know."

Draco kissed her again, and Ginny fell asleep with a huge grin on her face.

A few hours later...

"GIN GIN!" Penny screamed as she ran down the stairs to find her favorite aunt.

Draco and Ginny sprang up from their sleep and sat up.

Ginny saw Penny running towards them and opened her arms, "Penny!"

"Merry Christmas!" Little Penny said and hugged Ginny.

"Happy Christmas, Penny!"

Penny, standing on Ginny's lap pulled away, looked at Draco and asked, "Who you?"

"Penny, this is Draco. Draco, this is my niece, Penny."

"Hi, Penny," Draco said in a sweet and tender voice.

Penny waved shyly at him and asked, "You Gin-Gin's friend?"

"Yup."

"Okay."

Draco smiled; at least he got one Weasley's approval.

Penny turned towards Ginny and said, "Open presents now?"

Ginny laughed and said, "No, you have to wait for everyone else to get up."

Penny jumped off Ginny's lap and ran up the stairs screaming, "Mommy! Daddy! It's Christmas!"

Ginny turned towards Draco and said, "I'll be right back." She kissed him quickly and ran up the stairs after her niece.

A few moments later...

Charlie came down the stairs with Penny on his back and Sara behind him when he noticed someone on the couch. He took Penny off his back and grabbed the broom next to the stairs.

"Hey!" Draco turned around and stood up. "You have one minute to explain yourself, boy, or I start swinging!"

"I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Ginny's boyfriend."

"Ginny's boyfriend, huh," Charlie said as he put down the broom.

"Draco Malfoy?" Sara said from behind Charlie.

"Yes?"

"Oh, my gosh!" Sara said with enthusiasm, "I heard all about you!" She gave him a hug; Draco was shocked with the gesture.

Draco hugged the girl back and said, "You must be Sara." The woman stepped away and nodded, "Ginny can't stop talking about you. I'm finally glad to have met you." Draco turned to Charlie and said, "You must be Charlie, the one who works with the dragons."

"Why yes, I am."

"Good to meet you," Draco said and put out his hand.

Charlie took it and said, "It's good to meet you too." He released the younger boy's hand and said, "You seem okay, but I swear if you hurt Ginny, I hurt you."

Draco swallowed hard and said, "Gotcha."

Bill came down the stairs with a girl by his side.

"Hey, Bill, come meet Ginny's boyfriend."

"Ginny's boyfriend? Well, it's about time. I didn't think she'd ever get one," he walked up to Draco and stuck out his hand, "Bill Weasley."

Draco took his hand, shook it, and said, "Ah yes, the oldest Weasley brother. Nice to meet you. I'm Draco Malfoy."

"You seem like a fine good chap, but if you--"

"I got the threat from Charlie already."

"Just remember when he gets done with you, I get what's left." The girl next to him cleared her throat. "Oh, let me introduce you to my fiancée, Fleur Delcore."

"I remember you from my fourth year. You came to Hogwarts to play in the Tri-wizard tournament and what a great job you did. You made an impression on me." He smiled.

Fleur grabbed onto Bills arm and said, "Oh Bill, he'z zo zweet!"

Draco was about to say something when he heard someone call him from the stairs, "Malfoy!"

"So it starts," Draco said under his breath.

Percy, followed by, George, Fred, and Ron came barreling down the stairs and stood in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, getting all red.

"I was invited to stay, Weasley."

"By whom?" Fred asked.

"Your parents."

"It's a trick! He's put everyone under a spell!" Ron said.

"Whoa, there little bro, calm down." Bill said, "This is Ginny's boyfriend."

"What?" Fred, George, Percy, and Ron all said at the same time.

"Bill, this Malfoy!" Ron interjected.

"He's on the dark side, mate." Fred said.

"Evil!" George said elongating the word to emphasize its' meaning.

"Last time I checked, little brothers, it was his father who's the death eater, not him." Bill said and then turned to Draco with a sympathetic look, hoping Draco wouldn't be insulted by the comment. But instead of noticing that Draco was insulted, he noticed that Draco looked a bit grateful of Bill's words.

Before another word could be said they heard Ginny, Lavender, and Hermione run down the stairs.

"Ron, what are you doing?"

"Malfoy, Ginny, Malfoy?"

Lavender came around and pulled on Ron's arm, "Ron! Stop it and sit down."

"But... but..."

"Sorry about this," she said quietly to Draco.

"It's okay. I guess this is what brothers do. Though, I am very grateful to your mother for having a ward on the house!" Ginny laughed.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs and saw her four youngest sons standing around Draco. "Percy! George! Fred! Ron! Get away from that boy! He's had enough trouble already," Mrs. Weasley said trying to get the boys to back up and sit down, "You have no right to be acting like this."

"Uh... Mrs. Weasley?" Draco said.

"Yes, dear."

"I... well, actually they do. I never gave them a reason to like me in the first place when they were all at school, and I didn't expect them to like me when I came here." Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to say something, but Draco kept on talking. "I would like to... to a... a... apologize," he choked out, "for everything and maybe get a second chance?" No one said a thing. "Come on guys, everyone deserves a second chance, why not me?" Still no one said a word. "Any of you willing to give me just one more chance?"

Lavender elbowed Ron in the ribs, but he still said nothing.

"I will." everyone turned around and saw Harry speaking. "I was the first one to say that you couldn't change if your life depended on it, so I guess I'll have to be proven wrong," Harry said with a smile. "Welcome to the good side, Draco," Harry said, putting out his hand.

"Thanks, Harry."

Ron sighed and said, "Fine. Fine. I guess even you get a second chance, Malfoy." He put out his hand. "I still don't like you, though."

"Thanks, Ron." Draco said as he shook his hand.

"Presents now?" Little Penny asked.

Everyone laughed, but before sitting down, Charlie said, "Us first," Charlie said. "I have a new job." Everyone gasped. They all thought that Charlie was going to be working with dragons all his life. "Well, now that I am getting older and have a growing family," he said patting Sara's stomach. "I want to be close to my family. I have been offered a job in the department of magical creatures and I accepted."

Mrs. Weasley let out a squeal of joy and hugged her son.

Penny was getting a little impatient now. "Presents now please!"

Everyone took a seat, with a few of the boys having to sit on the floor, for there wasn't enough places to sit.

A little while later, Mrs. Weasley took a present from under the tree and handed it to Draco, who was sitting next to Ginny on the couch.

"For me?" Draco asked.

"For you," Mrs. Weasley smiled.

Draco took the gift in his hands and looked around at everyone. He looked down at his present, smiled, and ripped it open like he was a five-year-old. It was a one-of-a-kind Weasley sweater. It was green with silver "D" on it and a snake going through the letter. He looked shocked at the sweater, and at that moment, he knew that they really accepted him, even though he was a Slytherin.

He slipped the sweater over his head and was amazed that it fit perfectly. He stood up and gave Mrs. Weasley a hug and said, "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it, dear." Mrs. Weasley let go of the boy and took her seat next to her husband.

Ron looked at Harry and said, "Now this is too weird."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone." Ron looked confused. "I'll explain it to you later."

Ginny turned to Draco and whispered, "Please tell me you still have the presents for Hermione and Lavender."

"Yeah, they're in my trunk." Draco got up and went to his trunk and took out some presents. Taking the smallest one and putting it in his pocket. As he came back into the family room he said, "Uh... I regret that I don't have presents for everyone. I didn't know that I was going to be here for Christmas."

"That's all right, Draco," Sara said. "There will be other Christmases." she smiled. Draco looked at the woman and smiled back.

He handed a gift out to Hermione and said, "From Ginny and I." Hermione opened it and revealed a rather large spell book that she had never seen nor heard about before. "This is great! Thank you!"

"Open it up," Draco said with a smile.

Hermione did so and realized that the reason why she never heard of the book was because it wasn't real. The whole inside was hollow and contained a few small novels. Her eyes went wide; they were Romance Novels. She slammed the book closed and just smiled at him

"Thought that maybe you should read something new." Ginny said with a smile and watched as Draco handed Lavender her present. "That's from Draco and I too, Lavender."

Lavender opened it and revealed a photo album. On the first couple of pages were pictures of her, Ginny, and Hermione, and then there was a very large picture of herself and Ron in their Halloween Costumes. She squealed, jumped up, and hugged Draco and then Ginny. "Thank you!" She was really obsessed with pictures and already had three photo albums.

"You're welcome, and last, but not least, for you, Mrs. Weasley," and he handed her a present. Ginny was even shocked to see him have something for her mother.

"Thank you, dear." She took the gift from the boy and opened it. She let out a small gasp and put her hand to her chest. It was a glass daisy in a glass vase. "I love daisies. Thank you!"

Before Draco could say a word, he felt someone tug on his pant leg. He looked down and saw Penny.

"Do I get a gift?" she said with sad eyes.

"Penny!" Sara said, upset that her daughter said that.

Draco waved his hand and said, "No. It's okay." He looked down to the little girl and said, "Of course I have something for you." He picked the little girl up, brought her back to the couch, and sat her on Ginny's lap.

Draco turned towards the little girl and said, "So, Ginny tells me that you like dragons."

Penny smiled and said, "Love 'em!"

"Well, then my present is suitable for you." He snapped his fingers and a ball of fire formed in his hand.

Penny's eyes widened, "Wooww!"

Draco clamped his hand on top of the fireball and smothered the flame. When he removed his hand, there was a miniature dragon in his hands. Draco touched the Dragon's back and flames came out of its mouth. Penny jumped back.

"Great, just what we need now is a fire breathing dragon in the house," Charlie whispered.

"Shhh!" Sara said and elbowed him in the side.

Draco looked up at the two and said, "Actually it's not real fire. Watch." He touched the dragon's back again and touched the fire. Nothing happened. "It's like a pet, but better. You don't need to feed it or walk it, it gets as big as a puppy, and it'll follow Penny around until she tells it to stay."

Penny smiled, grabbed the dragon, and said, "Thank you, Draco!" She kissed him on the cheek and jumped off of Ginny's lap to show her parents her present.

"Wow," the twins said together at the same time. "Were did you get that?"

"I made it myself. I do have some talent." Draco smiled.

"That's bloody awesome, mate." George said. "Think we can use that at the shop?" He asked his brother.

"Don't know, bro, maybe if we can find an angel to make it a joke." He turned to Draco and said, "Malfoy, interested in a little business talk?"

Draco smiled and said, "Yeah, sure."

There was a moment of silence until Ginny said, "Okay, your turn, Draco." She got up, took a present from under the tree and handed it to Draco.

Draco looked a little shocked. He really didn't expect a gift from Ginny considering that he was being such a bastard for the past two months.

He picked it up and shook it. Ginny laughed and said, "Just open it!"

Draco tore through the gift paper and lifted the top. When he saw what was inside, he was totally and utterly surprised. It was a complete set of Bryan Adams guitar sheet music. He was totally speechless. "How... what... when... How did you get this?"

"Hermione and Lavender made me go shopping the other day with them and I found that. I knew that I just had to pick it up for you."

"The other day?"

Ginny nodded Draco grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. He rested his head on top of hers and kissed her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Ron stared at Harry and said, "He plays the guitar?"

Harry shrugged and started to sing the song from "The Twilight Zone". "Do do do do do do do..." Before he could do anymore "Do-do's," Hermione smacked him.

Draco felt as though they were all looking at him expecting him to give a gift to Ginny. Draco let out a little sigh and said softly to Ginny, "I was hoping to give this to you when we were alone, but considering that everyone will find out about it, it'll be easier to tell the story just once." He let out a small laugh, and then leaned forward to put his elbows on the top of his thighs. He took a deep breath and said, "You remember when I found out in July when I found out that your name was really Ginevra, not Virginia?" Ginny nodded.

"Hey, you were the one that got her the bracelet!" Fred stated.

"Well, at least more people will know her real name." George said.

"What are you talking about; you didn't even know her name was Ginevra!"

"You didn't either!" After Fred stated that everyone went quiet.

"Was that it?" the twins nodded in unison. "Wonderful story, mates," Draco said using their phrase. "Can I continue now?"

"Sure," Fred said.

"You got our full attention." George said.

Draco let out another laugh and shook his head, "Anyways, well, I knew that that name sounded very familiar, being that Ginevra is a unique name, not too many have that name. Well," he said, not even giving a moment to let anything register. "when you left the manor," Ron was standing up about to say something when Fred and George grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down, "I went to St. Muggles to visit my Great-Grandmother Black. She's well into her 90's by now, but still one tough lady. Well, I told her about you, Ginevra, and well she went to tell me how she used to be the best of friends with one, Ginevra Prewitt."

Draco waited until he heard everyone gasp, he opened his mouth to continue when Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh my gosh! I remember that! We used to spend so many summer days up at Victoria Black's house. That's where I met Narcissa."

"You and my mom were friends?" It was Draco's turn to be shocked.

"The best of friends until our 7th year."

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

"Oh dear, that's a whole different story. Very long story. Go on, Draco, with your story."

"Wha… Oh yeah." He grabbed a small box from his pajama pocket and said, "Well, she gave me something that was in the Black family for nearly 300 years. She was supposed to give it to my grandfather, but she hated my grandmother so much," he let out yet another laugh. "It was then supposed to go to her grandson, Sirrius, but he never had the chance to use it and I'm her last great-grandson. So," he said taking a breath, "she took it off, putting it in my hand saying that it was now mine to use." he opened the box and in it was a beautiful ring. It was a ruby stone sitting on a platinum band. Ginny gasped and held a hand to her chest. Draco took the ring out of the box and said, "It even has house crests on it." He showed it off; one side had the Gryffindor Lion on it, and the other the Slytherin Snake, "Each member of the Black family has either been in Gryffindor or Slytherin for the past 300 years.

"Oh, Draco…" Ginny started to talk, but she was lost for words.

Draco smiled, "This ring was my Great-Grandmother's engagement ring. But," Draco quickly added and stressed the word, "I thought we'd use it as a promise ring." He said as he slipped it on her finger.

Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck, gave him a quick kiss, and hugged him saying, "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Draco said and watched as Sara and Fleur whacking both of their men up side the head, saying, "How come you never do anything that romantic anymore?"

Ginny sat back against the couch looking admiring her ring when she said, "Do you think you can bring me to see your Great-Grandmother one day?"

"I think I can arrange that," Draco said as he too sat back and held Ginny in his arms. He then released her and said, "I almost forgot." he put his hand in his other pocket and took out her 'Ginevra' bracelet and fastened it around her wrist.

Ginny kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, "One of these days, I'm going to have to thank you properly." Draco's eyes widened at her suggestion and Ginny just giggled at him as she snuggled closer to him and the two watched everyone finish opening their gifts.

To Be Continued…