Chapter Nineteen

Merry Christmas, Weasley

Ginny rubbed her face and focused on the parchment before her. She still had six inches to go and only three hours before lights out. She knew she could just camp out in the Prefect's study room. As a Prefect she had the right to walk around after lights out but she prefered to get it finished.

She looked up as someone nudged her elbow. She smiled at Draco as he sat down across from her.

It was almost three months since their truce. Halloween had seen them together as Hansel and Gretel for the Hogsmeade masked ball. Fortunately Ron had no idea. He and Parvati had been so wrapped up in each other it never occured to him that his kid sister might have been there too.

Ginny had had her own reason to be there. Hermione and Pansy were seen going to the party. While the girls still weren't public, Hermione had dressed in a night gown, going as Maria from the Nutcracker and Pansy was seen in heroic garb as the Nutcracker Prince.

Ginny found herself remarkably comfortable around Draco, even knowing what she knew. There was no need to pretend around him.

Draco leaned over her essay. "What's that about?"

"Anchient Runes. An essay on why we think the Romans preferred Runes to more typical methods."

Draco lifted his eyebrows. "Sounds like fun."

Ginny scowled at him and returned to her essay for a few minutes. After another three inches she stopped, hitting a mental block. She glanced up at Draco through her eyelashes. He was staring off into the distance, his goregeous green eyes unfocused. She pressed her lips together to resist a smile. He had this habit of being so adorable at times. She sometimes forgot he was supposed to be her enemy or something.

"Hey, Gin?"

"Yeah?" SHe answered, not looking up from her essay.

"Why are you taking Runes? I would have pegged you for a Divination kind of girl."

Ginny smiled down at her paper, scrawling a few more words. "Well, I was going to, but then I decided what I wanted to do with my life."

"And that is?"

"Translate anchient potions."

"Not experiment with them?"

She grinned up at him quickly before turning back to the paper. "I'd like to eventually. But most of the anchient potions are transcribed in runes which means knowing enough to be able to translate them."

Draco nodded and hunkered down to wait. He watched her pen fly over the parchment. Although she was fast, she had to pause every so often to think of what she was writing next and it took her another two hours to get the final three inches.

"So what now?"

Ginny rolled up her essay and put it down in her bag. "Well, what do you want to do with your life?"

Draco smirked, "What, not gonna ask me if I want to be a Death Eater?"

Ginny lashed out an arm to punch him gently. "If you wanted to be one you wouldn't be hanging out with me."

He smiled. "I don't know."

"You're in advanced potions, so you must have some idea."

He eyed her warily. "You won't laugh?"

She grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Alright. I want to be an Auror."

To her credit, Ginny barely smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Cool. What spured this decision?"

"Spite."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, Seriously." Draco returned with a smile. "I don't like my father."

"I don't blame you. There's not much to like."

"I decided about a year ago that I disliked him enough to become someone he hated."

"And he..."

"Has no idea, naturally."

"That's nice." Ginny glanced at her watch, surprised to see it was past lights out and almost midnight. "Damn. We'd better get back to our rooms."

Draco rose, gathering his things as he did. He took Ginny's bag to be polite. Ginny smiled inwardly at the little gesture.

They talked quietly as he escorted her to her tower. Peeves popped out at them at the one point but couldn't get them in trouble so he made kissing noises. Both ignored him. By the time they were at Gryffindor tower, it was well past midnight. Ginny took her bag from Draco and riffled through it for a moment. Draco watched, amused.

Finally she pulled out a book and handed it to him. "Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it."

"What's this for?" He asked, looking curiously at the book as he took it.

"Well, technically it's Christmas."

Draco stared down at the book then said in a small voice. "I didn't get you anything."

Ginny fought off the sudden bitter taste in her mouth and forced herself to appear cheery. "That's okay, I un-"

"No, it's not." He said. Then he leaned forward and kissed her. It was GInny's first kiss. It was short but the mere contact left her dizzy and wanting more.

"Merry Christmas, Weasley." He whispered, then was gone before she could do something she might regret.

(A/N: As I said, the next dozen chapters will be pure toture for any DG fans.

To Ami- Glad to see I've got you hooked!