Chapter 7

It was a mess of trunks, pets and students in the compartment. Everyone was trying to grab their items. A normally simple task became much more difficult with everyone attached to someone else at the wrist. It ended up being quite an adventure. Hermione, who had escaped the fray earlier on, was watching with interest. Millicent was reaching up to get her luggage, as she was the only one who had not gotten it yet. Ron was holding Pig's cage, and just avoided being wacked in the head by Millicent's foot. Harry and Pansy were trying to avoid everything but were trapped in the back corner. Harry was holding Hedwig's cage in front of him almost as for protection.

Draco and Ginny were gathering up their books and bags as neither of them had a pet to carry. Millicent's hold on her suitcase suddenly slipped causing not only the suitcase to fall, but Millicent to fall as well. The suitcase narrowly missed Ginny's head, but only because Draco had pulled her back onto the seat. Millicent fell unceremoniously onto Ron with "Oof"! This caused him to drop Pig, which in turn caused Pig to become loudly agitated in his cage. Hermione was laughing loudly at the affair. Finally, after much more squeezing shoving and dropping all seven teens made it out of the compartment and ultimately out of the train. They were all thoroughly exhausted and dishevelled when they finally arrived at Mr. And Mrs. Weasley.

"Well, you lot look like you ran all the way here!" Arthur noted, chuckling slightly at their appearances. Molly looked as though she wanted to know what happened, but changed her mind. Arthur and Molly greeted their children, Harry and Hermione happily, but their smiled faltered when they noticed the Slytherin's. Hoping to break the awkward moment, Ginny spoke up first.

"Mum, Dad, this is Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode." She said, pointing to them as she introduced them. The Slytherin's looked just as awkward standing with the Weasley's. Ginny gave Draco a nudge, so he moved forward slightly, holding out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'd like to thank you for inviting Pansy, Millicent and I to spend the holiday with your family." Draco said smoothly. Ginny had no doubt that he would be fine with her parents; he was very good with words. Arthur looked at Draco for a moment, switched his gaze to Ginny, then Ron, then Harry and finally back to Draco. He accepted Draco's hand.

"Well it's a pleasure." Arthur responded, his smile back in place. He knew better than to hold grudges against people's children. Arthur and Molly introduced themselves to Pansy and Millicent as well in turn.

"Alright then, let's get going." Molly said making her way through the barrier. Everyone followed through, two by two.

It took a while to eventually get everyone settled in at the Burrow. Draco and Ginny's belonging's went up to Ginny's room on the first floor. Harry and Pansy's luggage was brought to the twins' old room, Harry's spare room, on the second floor. Hermione, also on the second floor, had Percy's old room to herself; this was normally her spare room. The hardest part was bringing Ron and Millicent's things up to Ron's room on the fifth floor. Levitating the cases up the winding staircase proved to be very difficult. It took the pair twenty minutes, managing it when Mrs. Weasley finally shrunk the cases, patronizing Ron.

Once everyone's luggage was settled into the appropriate rooms, the seven teens made their way to the sitting room to lounge, before dinner. Draco, along with the other Slytherin's was quite nervous about the dinner. Mrs. Weasley had informed them that the twins and Bill would be joining them for dinner. Draco had experience the twins in all their glory, when they had attended Hogwarts. From what he had heard from Ginny, not much had changed since the twins graduated. He had never met Bill, but Draco was sure nothing could match up to the Weasley twins. He was just worried about turning into a canary.

From what Ginny had explained to Draco on the train ride in, he was in for a dinner which he was definitely not accustomed to. Draco was used to silent dinners, usually with only his mother. A dinner with twelve people in attendance was definitely something new. Draco looked around the room. Ron and Harry were playing a game of chess, with Pansy leaning against Harry and reading a book. Millicent was sitting on the floor near Ron looking deeply confused by her Potions text. Hermione was, unsurprisingly, reading a book in a sagging armchair in the corner, occasionally making comments to Ron or Harry.

Draco's eyes fell on Ginny; the two of them were occupying a surprisingly comfortable couch. She was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, getting ahead on her homework most likely. The lighting in the room was quite dull, considering there was only oil lamps. However, even in the dull light, Draco couldn't help but notice how pretty Ginny looked. Her nose was scrunched up in concentration, and her hair was draped over her shoulder. Gold shone through the bright red in the lamp light. Running a hand through her hair, Ginny sighed and leaned back into the couch. She loved being home, especially around Christmas time. With the Slytherin's around this year, Ginny knew that Christmas would be even more...interesting, than usual. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Ginny turned to her left to see Draco watching her.

"Something I can help you with, Malfoy?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. Draco was successfully snapped out of his revere.

"What? Did you say something, Weasel?" He responded casually.

"You were staring." Ginny stated simply, challenging him to disagree.

"You're right, I was staring..." Ginny looked smug. Draco smirked back.

"At the lovely cabinet of Firewhiskey you have there." He finished, watching Ginny's smug expression drop. She whipped around, only to note that there was indeed a cabinet of Firewhiskey right in viewing sight of her. She turned back to him, and just glared.

"Oh, don't be so cross Weasel, but the bottle has much more curves than you could wish for." Draco said arrogantly.

"Prat."

"Wench."

They glared at each other. Their inevitable battle of the wits was cut off by a call from the kitchen.

"Dinner!"

The twins and Bill had cracked into the Burrow shortly after Mrs. Weasley had called for dinner. Draco found it strange; it was almost as though they could hear their mother from wherever they were. He could tell that Mrs. Weasley had tried desperately to expand the table to fit as many people as possibly. Molly caught sight of Draco watching her curiously,

"Normally, we would eat out in the garden with this many people. But it's much too cold, and it would take too long to cast that many warming charms." She said with a smile. Draco was shocked, making a note not to show it, it was like she had read his mind. Everyone was rushing about, trying to bring everything on to the table and take their seats. Once the initial rush was over, Draco expected it to be quite normal. He was wrong, as he normally was with the Weasley clan.

Dinner was an event in itself. Everyone was grabbing here and there for food. Draco could have sworn he saw, out of the corner of his eye, one of the twins throw a chicken leg down across the table to Ron. He knew he must have been imagining that. The conversations did not still at all, once everyone had received their food. Draco would have figured that with food in their plate and mouths, they wouldn't talk so much. Wrong again. It had actually gotten louder, if that was even possible. Mr. Weasley was in some deep discussion with Ron, Harry, and a timid Pansy at one end of the table. The twins were arguing loudly with Bill on one side of Draco. Millicent was looking rather lost in between Ron and one of the twins. At the other end of the table, on Draco's other side, Ginny and Hermione were talking to Mrs. Weasley about some business or another. Draco had been taught at a young age not to interrupt or eavesdrop on other people's conversations. So he was sitting quietly, observing and eating. A booming voice pulled him out of his observations.

"What do you think Malfoy?" Asked Bill. Draco could tell he was trying to be polite, probably at the insistence of Molly.

"Think about what?" Draco asked, completely lost as to what they were talking about.

"We were talking about the regulation the Ministry is thinking of passing." Bill explained.

"The one that says instead of being seventeen to get your apparition licence-" One of the twins started.

"You have to be nineteen!" The other one finished, with a shout. Ginny watched her brothers drag Draco into their conversation with interest. He had been sitting there quietly for some time. Ginny was glad that her brothers were actually making an effort to talk to him, because she knew what it was like to be left out. With a smile, she turned back to Hermione and her mother and rejoined the conversation.

After dinner, Molly had shooed everyone out of the kitchen so that she could quickly and efficiently clean up. It took a mere wave of her wand for the dishes to clean themselves and zoom back into their proper cupboard. Everyone had retired to the sitting room to hang out before bed. It was surprising; yet again to Draco that it was quieter in here than it had been at dinner. Around midnight people started to disperse, the twins apparating out first, with Bill following a few moments later. Hermione was the first to head up to bed, with Ron and Millicent following her up. When Draco and Ginny moved to go upstairs Molly stopped them with the clearing of her throat.

"And where is it that you two plan on going?" She said slowly, causing the teens to turn to face her. Harry and Pansy eyed the argument warily before deciding to sneak upstairs, mumbling their goodnights.

"To bed, mum. Goodnight." Ginny answered, turning back to go upstairs. Draco looked torn, and slightly uncomfortable.

"In the same bed? I don't think so." Mr. Weasley added. Ginny turned around, looking very upset.

"And why not? What about Ron and Harry?!" She snapped.

"Don't speak to me that way, young lady. They are older than you are." Ginny was going to interrupt her mother, but didn't get the chance.

"No, my mind is made up. You will be spending the night in here. Draco can stay on the floor and you can stay on the couch." Molly finished. Ginny was fuming; Draco saw her ears go red. Before she could burst, Draco spoke up.

"That will be fine, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for the accommodations." Successfully silencing Ginny, Draco conjured up a small cot for the floor. Molly nodded politely, as her and Arthur headed up to bed.

"I can't believe them!" Ginny whispered, finally bursting.

"Don't worry about it. They don't trust me enough to be in their home, let alone in the same bed as their daughter." Draco said calmly. Ginny was surprised by how quickly and easily he managed to calm her down. It normally took a few hours for her to completely calm down. She nodded, as they continued to ready for bed.

The same general thing carried on for the rest of the break. A Quidditch game or Diagon Alley trip were thrown in, here and there.

When Christmas morning finally came, Ginny and Draco awoke to joyful shouts, and the smell of baked good. A great thing to wake up to, in Draco's opinion. There was a lot of running around and loud shouts, but it was decided that everyone would have breakfast before opening presents. Everyone, including the Slytherins, scarfed down their breakfast, excited for presents. Once everyone was finished eating, Hermione and Ginny helped to shelf all of the pates, to hurry along the process.

After this, everyone headed to the sitting room to grab seats around the decorated Christmas tree. Once Molly and Arthur sat down, everyone began opening presents. Quidditch equipment, books, and articles of clothing were opened. Each of the Slytherins received a Weasley sweater with their own initial on it. They all smiled politely, and thanked Molly. After all of the presents were opened, Draco went around the back of the couch to get two packages out of his bag.

"The last two presents." He said quietly, handing one to Molly and the other to Ginny. Molly opened hers first, as Ginny was still in shock. Molly unwrapped the box and pulled out a beautiful mahogany coloured dress robe. Molly gasped.

"Thank you, Draco!" She exclaimed, standing up to give him a large hug.

"It was just a small thank you, for allowing me into your home." He answered simply. Molly's eyes filled with tears as she looked back at the robes. She had never had something so lovely.

"You are always welcome here." Molly said with a warm smile. She sat back down, as everyone watched to see what Ginny got. Ginny took a deep breath and peeled back the wrappings. When she opened the small box, she gasped loudly. Nestled in the velvety cloth was a gorgeous necklace. The pendant was in the shape of a butterfly. The wings made of peridot, Ginny's birthstone, and the body made of diamonds. The chain was made of white gold, as were the fastenings around the gem. Putting down the box carefully, Ginny threw her arms around Draco's neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She murmured into his chest. The rest of her family had turned to admire the stunning piece of jewellery. Ginny looked up at him

"I can't accept it! It's too much!" Draco just shook his head.

"Accept it as a thank you, for putting up with all of my nonsense." He said simply, offering her one of his genuine smiles. She got caught up, as she told herself later. A mix of the Christmas spirit, the happiness of receiving the gift, and the effect his smile had on her. No one was looking at them, as they were all admiring her necklace. Staring Draco dead in the eyes, she leaned in. And then they were kissing, so softly, so gently, Ginny didn't even know if it was real. And then it was over, as quickly as it had begun. They looked into each other's eyes again, and then looked away, slowly disentangling themselves.

Author's Note:

Hello again, so I hope the ferret in the burrow is up to everyone's standards!:) Thank you to owlish quagmire, royko, nightcrawlerfw, iceprincessfirequeen and angeltearston for your reviews, I really appreciate them! And of course thank you to my fabby beta team, couldn't do it without you! So read and review! Thanks,

aos

ps. I'll let you all in on a little secret, reviews make me update faster:), just thought you might like to know

pps. this story will e drawing to a close in just a few chapters, so you dont have too much more time to let me know what you think:) review!