I feel like I say this every time I update a chapter but I'm sorry it's taken so long! School and college applications have taken up more time than I would like to admit. But here it is now so I hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter Quote:
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light."
~Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 18

Ziva

"Ziva!" Jade shouted. Ziva scrambled up into sitting position. A piece of parchment stuck to her face as she stared at her friends.

"Hmm? What? I'm awake," Ziva mumbled.

"How late were you up last night?" Ellie queried.

"Uh, that's a really good question. I don't even remember falling asleep," she admitted.

"Come on, last finals of the day. You'll be fine," Jade promised. They helped Ziva appear that she'd actually gotten sleep last night and that she'd actually taken a shower. They then ran to Transfiguration, barely getting there on time. The three of them took their seats and began the exam. Next was Charms, and they finally finished with Study of Ancient Runes. Ziva wanted to go to sleep and just stay asleep until tomorrow, but she was also quite starved so she decided to eat first and sleep later. They were on the second floor when Draco brushed past her. Jade and Ellie didn't notice his face, but Ziva did.

"Oh crap, I think I left my book in Ancient Runes. You guys go on ahead to the Great Hall. I'm going to go get it real quick," she lied.

"All right, see you in a minute," Jade replied. Ziva started walking back towards the classroom, only breaking into a run when she was out of sight from her friends. She went straight to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It was one of the few places hardly any Hogwarts student entered. She checked her surroundings to make sure no one was around to see her go in. No one was in sight. She slipped into the bathroom. The only sound was of the faucet running, but Ziva couldn't see anyone. Maybe Draco hadn't come in here. But where else was there to go?

A high-pitched squealing made her cringe. It originated from Myrtle who floated from the stall area over to the sinks. "Are you okay?" she asked someone.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just stressed," a voice answered, one immediately recognizable as Draco.

"If you need any help, I'd be glad to give some to you." Myrtle giggled before looking over at the Gryffindor. She sneered at Ziva. "Your girlfriend is here."

"Who?"

"The blonde one you're sneaking around with."

"She's not my- wait, she's here?!" Draco exclaimed. He suddenly came out from behind the sinks. His eyes were puffy, and his clothes were in disarray like he'd tried loosen them because they were suffocating him. Myrtle rolled her eyes at the two students and dove into a toilet.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned hesitantly.

"You brushed past me in the hall and I saw your face. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean, no offense, but you don't look okay," Ziva explained bashfully.

There were multiple tics in Draco's jaw. He wanted to tell her something, but he obviously fought against the urge. Ziva walked up to him.

"You've been acting weird all year. What's going on?" she prodded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I… can't tell you. I just can't Ziva," he said, his face contorting in pain. "I do want to tell you, but I can't."

"I get it, you can't, although I really believe you want to tell me. I can't stay here much longer or my friends will get suspicious, but I don't want to leave you here distraught either."

"I'm not distraught!" he exclaimed.

"There's the old Malfoy," Ziva laughed.

He stared at her in shock before giving her a small smile. "I hope I'm never Malfoy to you."

"Listen, if you ever want to tell me, just let me know okay?" Ziva gave him a hug. He returned it.

Just as she was about to leave, he stopped her. "Are you going to be here for the holidays?"

"Yeah. Jade's mom is going to be on a business trip so Ellie and I didn't want her to be here alone so we're staying. Why?"

"I just wanted to know how I should give you your present," Draco told her with a smile. "Want to meet up Christmas night? Say… midnight in the Room of Requirement?"

"I might be late because Ellie and Jade like to stay up on Christmas night but I'll come, definitely," Ziva promised.

"Good. Now go to your friends. They're going to get suspicious. I'll see you soon okay? Four days," he stated.

"Four days," she repeated. "I'm already counting down. I'll have your present too. Bye!" Ziva gave Draco another hug before leaving the bathroom and running to the Great Hall. Jade and Elliot were already seated with Neville and Seamus. Seamus gave Jade a kiss on the cheek after she said something. Neville and Ellie were discussing herbology.

"Hey, did you find your book?" Ellie inquired.

"No. I think I might've left it upstairs," Ziva grumbled.

"Way to go blondie," Jade complimented.

"Oh shut it," Ziva snapped airily, but she smiled.

Four days.

December 25, midnight…

It was twelve-thirty by the time Jade and Ellie fell asleep. Ziva snuck out her present for Draco from her trunk and slipped it into her bag before running down the stairs to the common room. She performed the DisIllusionment spell and left, bolting to the Room of Requirement. She had to slow down when Professor Snape came into view. Ziva sidled along the wall to avoid detection; once away from him, she continued her mad dash. She reached the Room of Requirement quickly overall; or at least the old one. This was the one that Dumbledore's Army had used last year, but Umbridge had blown a hole in the wall to get to them. Now it was used as a storage place for, well, everything. The place was kind of creepy with all the trinkets and the objects covered by blankets. Dust covered practically everything, and a few spiders scuttled in front of her, making her jump. She hated spiders so much…

"Draco?" Ziva ventured to pipe up.

"Over here," his voice responded. She let out a sigh of relief that he was still here. She would've felt horrible had she been so late that he decided to go back to his dorm. Ziva padded over to where his voice had come from. A surprise greeted her. He'd put a blanket on the floor and put out sweets from Hondeyduke's out. He had a fire going in a jar for lighting.

"Merry Christmas," he said.

"Merry Christmas," she replied, smiling and sitting down. "Sorry I'm late. Jade and Ellie-"

"Don't worry about it," he laughed. "I knew you'd come."

"Well now, that's unacceptable. I'm supposed to keep you on your toes," She retorted.

"Oh trust me, you keep me plenty on my toes too."

"I'm glad you're in better spirits," Ziva observed.

His cheerful expression faltered for a second. "I'm in good spirits around you. It's hard not to be."

"Draco, whatever's wrong you can tell me."

"Honestly, I can't. We may be friends but we're still in different houses, we still have different morals. You would hate me for it."

"Honestly, how could I hate a guy that's saved my life more times than I care to admit? Draco, we're already supposed to hate each other and we don't. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. But what could be so bad that I would hate you for it?"

He fell silent, mulling over something in his head. When he looked up, he appeared to be paler than before. Was he that scared of this? "I… I'll show you something that's part of it but promise me you won't scream or bolt out of here."

"I do not scream," Ziva protested.

Draco gave her a weak smile before pulling up his left sleeve.

She didn't feel the urge to scream. She didn't feel the urge to run. She honestly felt nothing. Shock certainly made its presence known when she put her hand to her mouth. The mark made her apprehensive of what Draco's future was now, but it didn't scare her, nor did it make her scared of him.

Draco

He saw the horror that momentarily flashed across her face. Adding to the fact that she covered her mouth with her hand, Draco decided he shown it to her long enough. He shoved his sleeve down in agitation.

His sudden movement startled her, making her jump. "When did you get it?"

"The day you got attacked by Bellatrix. That's when the Dark Lord also gave me my task. That I won't tell you, but please believe me when I say I have to do this."

"He'll kill you if you don't succeed, won't he?" Ziva put it more as a statement rather than a question.

"Among others… but listen, it's Christmas. We're going to have enough doom and gloom in the future. Why don't we open the presents?" Draco suggested. He wanted to do anything to get her thoughts off his Dark Mark.

"Sure! You want to go first or me?" she asked, pulling out an immaculately wrapped present out from her bag.

"How about you open yours first?" He pulled out his present from his school bag and handed it to her. She unwrapped it quickly. Her gasp told him he bought her something she did not expect or really enjoyed.

Ziva

"Draco…" she breathed. Inside the box lay a matching jewelry set with earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet. Emeralds and diamonds glittered as she picked up the necklace, then the bracelet, and then the earrings. And there's wasn't just one emerald or just one diamond on the necklace and bracelet. No. The emeralds and diamonds went around the entire piece of jewelry. "How much was this?"

"For me, not much at all."

"This is incredible! I mean… wow. I can't even- I don't deserve this!" she exclaimed.

"You're the only girl I know who does. Pansy certainly doesn't," Draco commented.

Ziva snorted as she took the jewelry out of the box and put it on. "How do I look?"

"It looks incredible on you," he assured.

"I'm not taking this off the rest of the night. Thank you so much, Draco! Honestly, this is an amazing gift! Okay, now I'm sort of embarrassed to give you mine because it's not near as extravagant as what you got me…" Ziva admitted, handing her present to him. He smiled at her while opening the paper.

Draco

She'd gotten him a book. But not just a normal book. A scrapbook. Filled with pictures of them together or ones of Draco she'd taken or ones of Ziva that he'd taken. The scrapbook was thick, making him wonder how many pictures she'd put in it. The more the better. He absolutely loved it.

"I just remember saying you wanted to remember the good times during all the bad times and that a lot of good memories came from hanging out with me," Ziva explained shyly.

"This is going to be the best gift I receive. Actually, this is the best gift I've ever received. Thank you," Draco said sincerely. She scooted next to him to look at the pictures. They discussed the pictures for probably two hours, going back to the times when the pictures were actually taken. It was only when Draco check his watch that he realized it was three in the morning. As they got up to leave, something above them caught Draco's eye. He looked up. A blush soared its way onto his cheeks.

Mistletoe.

"What are you- oh." There was silence before Ziva giggled.

"You know," Draco began, "it's a rule that you have to kiss someone if you're under mistletoe."

"Is that so?" Ziva replied.

"And it's bad luck if you don't."

"Well then, we shouldn't let that happen. We have enough bad luck already," she remarked. He looked down at her. She was blushing, making him feel better because he knew all too well that he was doing the same thing. He cupped one of her cheeks and thought: "Just go for it, Malfoy."

And he did.

Some people say they feel sparks when they kiss, others say they see fireworks. Draco experienced wildfires. He brought his other hand to her cheek and he felt her arms wrap around his neck. They broke off the kiss so they could catch their breath.

"I should say that I lied about the bad luck thing," Draco commented.

"I know you did," Ziva laughed before kissing him again, if only briefly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Would you be my girlfriend?" He sort of blurted it out in a huge rush because he was really nervous about what her answer would be.

A radiant grin spread across her face. "I would love to be."

So they're finally together :D Hope you enjoyed! Please review!