The Exchange – The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Draco was bored. It hardly felt like Christmas morning as no one was home except the house-elves. His week away from school was nothing but a bore, having no one to really talk to. He had already finished all of his assignments so he was left with nothing really to do. His only solace was in knowing that later today, he was allowed to return to Hogwarts. He had finished gathering his things and was once again left with nothing to do. And that's why Draco was currently lying on his couch, staring up the ceiling, twiddling his thumbs all the while still in his pajamas.
The blonde sighed. 'I wonder what Harry's doing…'
The one in question was anything but bored.
Haley, Ron and Ginny all arrived at the Burrow via Floo.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Ron called, looking around the room.
Just then, two identical heads of red popped in from around the corner, each bearing a grin from ear to ear.
"Merry Christmas!" Fred cheered, hugging his younger siblings.
"Oy? Who's this?" George asked as his gaze landed on the raven-haired girl in front of him.
"This is Haley," Ginny said. "Her family doesn't celebrate Christmas so she's spending it with us." At least that's what Haley and Ron made up back at Hogwarts to explain why she was going to the Burrow with them. It seemed to satisfy the youngest Weasley.
"I probably should've olwed first…" Haley frowned.
"Nonsense!" Fred perked, throwing an arm around the girl's shoulders. "We've plenty of room and we'll have plenty of food, too. We thought my dad and my brother Charlie were going to join us this year, but they're stuck in Romania. Apparently, some dragon ate a muggle automobile. Or something of the like." He laughed. "By the way, I'm George."
"Yes, and I'm Fred." George immediately smiled, playing the game he and his twin played so many times before.
"Is that so?" Haley smirked. She was used to these boys by now. It was clear to her who was who.
"Oh, honestly," Ginny frowned. She looked at their guest. "They do this all the time. That's Fred and that's George." She pointed at each boy. "You have to be careful around these two, Haley. They'll put gum in your hair when you're not looking. And whatever you do, don't accept any sort of toffee from them. They're just trying to trick you."
Haley smiled. "Thanks Ginny."
"Oh what's this? A new guest?" Mrs. Weasley's voice could be heard from around the corner. "Let's see, let's see." The elder woman walked into the busy room, wiping her hands on her apron. When she looked up at Haley she looked momentarily confused.
"Mum, this is Haley," Ron introduced. "It's all right if she stays right?"
"Well, of course, but… you're kidding me, right?"
"What are you talking about, Mum?" Ginny asked, perplexed.
"This is supposed to be some joke, right?" Mrs. Weasley said, looking up at Haley.
"I-I don't… I don't understand…"
"Mum, Haley is an exchange student from America," Ginny tried again.
"Oh, nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley laughed. She stopped once she realized no one was laughing with her. "Oh come on. You can put a wig on Harry all you want, but don't you dare think I won't recognize him."
All the teenagers in the room stared at the older woman before all the redheads in the room turned to one brunette.
The room suddenly felt hot. Haley looked at Ron, mentally asking her best friend for help.
"Mum," Ron laughed nervously. "Don't be ridic-"
It was too late.
"Harry!!" Both Fred and George burst out into laughter, both seeming to have agreed with their mother that this girl was in fact Harry Potter.
"Is that really you, mate?" Fred asked in wide-eyed wonder, taking the girl by the shoulders and turning her to face him.
"It's got to be!" George joined in, stepping in behind his twin. "Harry? What are you doing looking like a girl?"
"Harry?" Ginny stared, confused.
Haley tossed one last look of desperation to her friend, but Ron couldn't think of anything to say so he merely shrugged.
"All right, fine." Haley frowned. "Yes it's me."
At this, the twins burst into laughter once more, Ginny continued to stare at Haley in confusion, and Mrs. Weasley smirked, happy that nothing could get by her.
"Harry? What are you doing being a girl?" Fred asked.
"It was a potion gone wrong. Snape is trying to find an antidote for me so this is only temporary. So please, we'll just end it there."
"I never knew how pretty you were, Harry," George teased, twirling a bit of Haley's hair around his fingers. "Fancy a date?"
"Oh enough, already." Mrs. Weasley frowned, shooing the twins away from the girl. "You leave poor Harry alone. He's clearly quite uncomfortable with all this." She turned to the girl standing next to her. "So what happened, deary? Why do all these things seem to happen to you?"
Haley spent the rest of that afternoon explaining the details of her exchange. Ginny seemed a little bummed out that Haley couldn't confide in her sooner, but she understood. Mrs. Weasley just continued giving her surrogate child looks of sympathy and care. The twins on the other hand, despite having been told off by their mother, continued to tease the poor boy trapped in a girl's body. The worst of it came when Mrs. Weasley sent the two out with Ginny to pick up some last minute items for their meal. When they returned, Ginny stormed in through the door, her face as red as her hair.
"Harry, I had nothing to do with this! They snuck it in before I even had a chance to see it."
"What's going on, Ginny?" Haley asked, concerned.
"Fred and George! They-"
The two in question burst through the door, bags of groceries in their arms and grins all across their faces.
"Harry, mate! We picked a little something up for you!" Fred said, slyly.
"Don't you dare give that to Harry!" Ginny frowned. She resembled her mother more and more every year. "You're awful-"
"What's going on?" Ron asked, walking in.
"Ah! Here!" George grabbed something from inside one of his bags. He pulled it out for all to gaze upon.
Upon seeing it, Ron struggled to hold back his laughter, while all the blood seemed to rush to Haley's face. In George's hand was red and white outfit, not for Santa Claus, but instead for Mrs. Claus. A scantily clad Mrs. Claus.
"You get that thing away from me," Haley warned.
"Come on, Harry! We bought it just for you!" Fred smiled.
"Yeah, Harry. Where's your Christmas spirit?" George shook the outfit in his hand.
"I'll show you where it is if you don't get that away," she threatened. "You're both terrible."
"We only do it out of love!" The two boys surrounded the girl in a Weasley hug sandwich.
Luckily for Haley, this seemed to be the last of the boys' teasing. Instead, curiosity overcame the pair. Throughout dinner they continued to ask Haley various questions about what it was like being a girl. They wondered about how bras felt, what periods were like and other random female things. When Ginny asked why they just didn't ask her things like that, the two just snorted.
"That's cause you're a girl. And our sister, nonetheless. Harry understands, right?"
Haley nodded. She supposed that it would be weird to ask those things to a girl. But if she knew that this girl was actually a boy, something made it seem okay. Life is strange like that.
The whole group sat around their Christmas tree, getting ready to open gifts. The twins were on gift duty, passing the presents to their recipients. Not wanting to waste their purchase, the twins thought it fitting to wear the Mrs. Claus outfit themselves. Fred wore the cleavage-bearing top over his sweater while George wore the hot pants over his own pants. Mrs. Weasley took a moment to wonder where she had gone wrong with those boys. But when she opened a present to reveal a new set of cookware courtesy those same boys, she retracted her thought and smothered her children with kisses.
Haley loved watching the Weasleys during the holidays. Even though Mr. Weasley and Charlie were away and Bill was spending Christmas with the Delacour family, she could see how much this family truly loved each other. It was all she ever wanted. Despite not having this back at her own home with her own family, she knew that one day she'll find someone to start a family with so that they could make their own memories and forge their own bonds as the Weasleys have. She patiently waited for the day she was no longer alone.
With this thought, the image of Draco Malfoy flashed through her brain. She quickly dismissed it and focused on the family in front of her. 'Besides,' she thought. 'Malfoy and I could never start a family. He's got his heart set on some lucky girl and together they'll make beautiful Malfoy babies.' Again, Haley tried to shake her thoughts. She didn't want to be sad right now.
"And this one is for… H?" George read, holding a small package in his hands.
"It must mean Harry," Ginny pointed out.
"What are you talking about? It's clearly marked for Hred," Fred said, matter-of-factly, snatching the gift out of brother's hands.
"Hand it over," Mrs. Weasley said, sternly, pointing in Haley's direction.
"Joking of course, Mum," Fred smiled. "Head's up!" He tossed the package to Haley who caught it with ease.
The parcel was small, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. A small tag simply read "To: H From: D."
'Draco?' Haley pulled the twine off and tore up the brown paper. Underneath was a more elegant, shiny, green wrapping paper with a note attached to it. It read "You made me a cake, so I made this for you. Technically, I didn't make it. I had it made. But my hands are much too delicate for labor… unlike yours." Haley could picture the smirk in these words. "It seemed fitting. Anyway… Merry Christmas. –Draco."
Haley tucked the note away in her pocket before anyone could notice. She pulled off the wrapping paper and opened the box inside. There she saw a necklace. The pendant was a ruby encased in gold. Inside the ruby was the image of a lion rearing up on its hind legs. The markings surrounding the jewel were similar to that of the ring she had given the blonde boy.
'I'll have to ask him about it…' Haley made a mental note.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, crawling over from her spot on the floor to where Haley was sitting.
Haley snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, I-um-"
Ginny peered into the box before Haley could do anything. "Oh wow! That's beautiful! Who's it from, Harry?" The red head looked at the other girl eagerly. She spotted the tag attached to the twine. "Who's D?"
Ron's head snapped in Haley's direction, his eyes filled with suspicion.
"It's ummm… It's from D…De…Dean! Yes, Dean."
"Dean? Dean Thomas?"
"Yeah. There's a famous jeweler that lives in his area and I asked him to have this made for me. He owed me for… helping him." Haley hoped she was getting better at lying.
"Wow. Maybe one day I'll ask him to get something for me. This looks great. Put it on, Harry!"
Haley seemed well aware of Ron's eyes boring down on her. She also noticed that Mrs. Weasley's gaze had turned toward her as well. But Ginny's eagerness won over and Haley pulled the necklace out of the box and slipped it on. It was perfect. She loved it.
"It looks great! I wish someone would send me jewelry," she pouted. Haley could only offer the younger girl a smile as she made her way back to her gifts.
"All right," Mrs. Weasley called for attention. "Ron, Harry, please collect all the wrappings and bring them to the trash. Fred, George, set the table for dessert. And Ginny, dear, come with me. We'll finish off the pies. They should be just about done."
Everyone did as they were told. Haley picked up all the paper and bows strewn about the floor and placed it in a bag that Ron held open for her.
"That's not from Dean, is it? It's really from Malfoy, isn't it?"
"Ron, shush!" Haley frowned. "So what if it is?"
Ron lowered his voice. "He's sending you jewelry now? Harry, if he sends you a ring, I don't think I'm ready to walk you down the aisle just yet!"
Haley just rolled her eyes. "First of all, only girls get walked down the aisle and despite my current form, dear friend, need I remind you that I'm really a boy? And besides. That's never going to happen. I'm never going to marry Draco. He's in love with someone else, remember?"
"Well, all right. But I can't believe he sent you a necklace." Ron leaned over his friend, holding the pendant in his hand to get a good look at it. "And it's a bloody good one, too. Don't show it to 'Mione. She'll be wondering why I've never sent her anything like that."
Haley laughed. "Anyway…I suppose he only did it because of the ring I gave him-"
Ron's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. "WHAT?!"
In surprise, Haley quickly pulled Ron outside with the bag of trash in tow, hoping no one heard her friend's outburst. "I thought you knew about that. At least I was sure that Hermione would've mentioned it."
"Well, she didn't! What are you doing buying him rings? How come you never buy me rings?"
Haley dumped the bag into its respective bin. "A ring. Singular, as in only one ring," Haley clarified. "It was just a whim… an impulse buy. It didn't mean anything."
Ron looked skeptical. "Next thing you know, you'll be buying houses together…"
Haley just scoffed.
"Harry, mate, I'm just getting used to you liking, possibly loving Malfoy. But you've got to ease up. I don't think my heart can take it much longer with all these surprises and twists and turns. Think of my future children!"
"You needn't worry about that. Like I said, nothing's to come of it. In fact, I'm supposed to be mad at him right now."
"Well good. That I can handle," Ron let out a deep breath. "And next time, mate, if your impulse is telling you to buy a gift for Malfoy, just take a step back and realize that by Malfoy, you really mean your best friend Ron Weasley."
Haley laughed. "All right then. Sounds like a deal."
"Great! Now come on. I'm freezing my arse off!"
The two friends walked back inside, greeted by the sight and smell of Mrs. Weasley's freshly homemade pumpkin pie.
--
"Are you sure you won't stay the night, deary?" Mrs. Weasley smiled.
"Thank you, but not this time. I've left some presents in my room that should've been sent out earlier, but it slipped my mind. I should be heading back before it gets too dark." Haley really really hoped her lying skills were getting better. To be honest, despite how much she loved the Weasleys and how much she knew they loved her in return, Haley didn't want to intrude on the rest of their festivities. She knew that they would always embrace her and make her feel like one of the family to which she was grateful, but she felt that now was the time for just the family to be together.
The elder woman just smiled in knowing. She leaned in so that only Haley could hear. "I hope that next time, we get to meet your secret admirer."
Haley blushed. "What?"
Mrs. Weasley's smiled only seemed to grow. "You were smiling. When you read that note in your pocket, you were smiling. I love you, Harry, as one of my own sons and I know quite a few things about all my children. Believe me, I know that kind of smile when I see one. So bring whoever it is that makes you smile like that." Before Haley could say anything in response, Mrs. Weasley pulled the girl into a firm hug. "Merry Christmas, Harry."
Haley smiled. "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Weasley."
"Merry Christmas, Harry," Ginny hugged the other girl. "And don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I know it doesn't seem like much, considering how many people already know, but you know what I mean."
"Thanks Ginny. Merry Christmas."
"See you back at school, mate," Ron grinned. "And remember. Send me presents. I like presents."
At this, Haley just laughed. "But Ron, that's not what Christmas is about."
"Who said anything about Christmas? I'm just saying. If ever you have random impulses to buy anything for anyone, I'm around."
"I'll keep that in mind."
The twins took the opportunity to launch themselves at the brunette.
"Byyyyyeeee Harry!" Fred sang.
"You sure you don't want to wear it?" George asked, pointing to the hot pants around his hips. "They're actually quite comfortable."
"Definitely! I mean, look at the lift this top has given me!" Fred cheered, referring to the socks he stuffed in.
Haley laughed again. "Trust me. It looks much better on you two. I'll see you two later. Merry Christmas, Fred. Merry Christmas George." And with that, Haley hopped into the fireplace making her way to Hogsmeade. Behind her, she could here the twins call out.
"But I'm Fred!"
"And I'm George!"
She smiled and shook her head as she prepared for landing.
Author's Notes/Disclaimer: I own naught Harry Potter and other related objects other than Ethan, Leir, and… well… this story. Muahahaha…
How Many of you totally freaked out when you saw there was an update? Be honest! Haha. I think I would freak out cause that can only mean one thing: APOCALYPSE!! I seriously hope not though… eh.
Anyway… Let's pretend (cause I have no idea how it really works) that students are allowed to take two weeks from school for the holidays. But if they decide to stay, they are then allowed to go home whenever for however long during the break. Haha. In my Harry Potter realm that's how it works! And since Dean's not American… let's just pretend he has an uncle there that he visits often. Yes. Haha. I should let you know that I the biggest reason for the little hitch in my updates this time around was the lack of knowing a vital piece of information relating to Draco. But I figured it out now. Hopefully hitches will be minimum cause now I know how the rest of this will pan out. Most, at least.
Thanks for not ditching me! Thanks for your reviews! I love them all. Too bad it's not forum style where I can reply to all of them the way I want. Bah. If you read this far, humor me. Mention the thing I asked you to mention before. Anywhere. It doesn't even have to make sense. Heh. I just wanna know who's paying attention.
THIS IS A SHORT CHAPTER!! Shucks.