A/N: Made changes to this too, hope it is not too bad. I feel like I've just rambled towards the end so I'm very sorry :(
It was the 23rd of December. Mrs. Weasley drove Ginny to the stables, but this week Ginny was not having a lesson. She had an important notice to give to Draco. Ginny wasn't sure if he would accept, but secretly, she hoped he would. She exited the car and skipped into the office and was glad to see Draco there. He frowned slightly and was hunched over the desk. He was involved in some sort of task that he obviously found boring.
"Hi Draco" Ginny greeted him cheerfully. He looked up, his frown decreased a bit.
"Oh hey, I put you on Gracie today" He said and gave her a small smile and pulled her into a hug.
"Oh, I'm not having a lesson today, we did ring" Ginny told him. She wished she could be riding, but she was happy as long as she got to see Draco.
"Oh okay, what brings you here then?" He asked. Ginny smiled at him and pulled out a small leaflet from her pocket. It read:
Hogwarts Equine Show.
23rd December.
Includes: Dressage, Cross Country and Show jumping.
Entry fee £10.00
1st prize = £1000
2nd prize =£500
3rd prize =£250
"Everyone's going to be there, I thought you might want to come." She suggested.
Draco sighed. "Yeah sure, I'll come. Come on then, you can ride behind me." Ginny nodded but then gave him a funny look. "Is something wrong?" She asked. Draco sighed again, pointing to a donations box on the table. "Funds are running low" he explained.
"If it keeps going this way, we'll have to sell up. " Ginny opened her mouth in shock. But suddenly, she had an idea!
"Do you have a tenner on you?" She asked him and smiled slyly.
Draco nodded. "Why?" He asked, one eyebrow raised, looking down at her.
"If you enter the Hogwarts equine show and win first prize, you won't have to sell!" Ginny exclaimed happily. But Draco still didn't look very happy.
"Who says I'll win. Thousands of people will probably enter and I highly doubt the headmistress would want me around, after all I've done." The memories of his past school years brought tears to his eyes, but Draco quickly pushed them away. Ginny placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry; everyone knew you didn't want to do it" Ginny told him truthfully. Draco smiled warmly at her.
"Come on, were gonna be late!" They ran towards the barn, but Draco stopped at the entrance.
"Hmm, I think I'll take Gracie, she's fast. Or maybe Danny, nah he's too naughty. Puzzle maybe, she's docile." He walked to the back of the barn.
"Hmm, I'll do a blind vote." He covered his eyes with one hand, and spun around, the other arm outstretched. When he opened his eyes, his hand was pointing to a small 11hh dapple-grey pony named Twiggy.
"Maybe not" Draco laughed sheepishly, the thought of him jumping round a course on Twiggy was too amusing.
"Ah what the heck, I'll take Puzzle!" He exclaimed. Ginny chuckled to herself while Draco chose. She couldn't imagine him riding Tiny Twiggy. Draco undid Puzzle's head collar with lightening speed.
Once they were all saddled up, they left without a moment's hesitation. It was only a short hack to the gateway that took them to the Hogwarts Show in the other world. They were going so fast it only took them a few moments to arrive. They went to sign in at reception. The lady behind the desk looked up at them.
"Are you Draco Malfoy?" She asked, delicately pushing her glasses further up her nose. Draco nodded, a bit confused.
"How did you know? I only decided to come this morning He gave a pointed look at Ginny.
"Do you have something to do with this?" he chuckled. Ginny looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry." Draco shrugged, not minding.
"Horse's name?" The receptionist asked.
"Puzzle."
"Okay Sir, if you would like to get ready. The events will be starting soon."
The first event was cross-country. For this event, Draco wore a red long sleeve t-shirt, with a black body warmer with no sleeves with a number eight on his back, red jodhpurs, the same colour as his top and black boots. Puzzle had a red saddle blanket and red gaiters to match Draco. Ginny watched at the sidelines with a camera.
The first two jumps were small and simple. There were twenty-two jumps in total. He rounded a corner, where a third small and simple jump was. So far so good. The next jump was a lot higher, a proper gate. The crowd gasped as Puzzle's hind legs almost hit the fence. When Puzzle cleared the gate without a problem, the crowds let out a relived sigh.
The next fence was further away, so Draco and Puzzle had a quick gallop to get there. Three stone circles with a log on top, very small, and another one about ten strides away. Naturally, they cleared this with ease also, Puzzle flying over the jumps like a professional. The next section was shady and Draco had to concentrate to see where he was going. The next jump was a large thick log. Clear. They kept cantering round a corner and down a steep hill. A thinner log awaited them with two simple jumps behind it in a double combination. Draco smiled as he heard the clicks and flashes of the cameras all around him. Next, they galloped over a bridge.
The next jump very wide, but not very tall. It was a while away so they had a small trot for Puzzle to regain her energy. After another quick gallop, they were met with a triple combination of two thin logs and one large log. They cleared them all with ease again. Fourteen jumps gone, eight to go.
Another small and simple jump was halfway up a hill; with a quick kick they cleared it. Another triple, containing three small simple jumps, easy as pie. Another gallop, round a sharp corner, over a rather high jump, quick gallop. Last triple, three very wide jumps. Draco and Puzzle crossed the finish line in the nick of time.
"Clear round for Draco and Puzzle!"
Next was dressage, they started off with an ordinary trot and a halt and salute and then moved onto a collected trot. For this event, Draco wore a black show jacket and black and white jodhpurs, whereas Puzzle wore her normal saddle pad and saddle, but no gaiters. The two swiftly moved onto an extended trot and completed a variety of different sized circles, and then back onto collected trot during the last circle. Everything was going smoothly. They moved onto an extended canter, doing some serpentines.
The next figure was a half pass in canter, which was slightly more difficult. The crowd cheered and clapped as Draco and Puzzle moved onto a collected walk, and half pass in canter again. He clearly had very good control. They did half pass in canter diagonally across the ring, and then moved onto an ordinary canter. They did a few laps of this before moving onto an ordinary trot, changing the rein from M to X to E. Next, they did some ordinary walking before moving onto a half pirouette in walk. The crowd cheered and clapped more as they moved onto a collected canter. Ginny was clapping like a madman by the time they had moved on to another extended canter down the middle of the school. They did a few circles in ordinary canter before coming up the centre line in ordinary trot to halt and salute. The crowd went wild.
"10/10 for Draco and Puzzle!"
The final event was Show Jumping, Draco's personal favourite. There were 13 jumps, and this time, Draco decided to stick with his dressage outfit. The first jump was simple; they turned to the left and over a green triple bar, they turned right and over a blue triple bar, knocking the top pole over. The crowd was silent as they approached the next jump. This one was blue, and it had four poles. No problem. They turned left again and over a water jump. They went straight ahead over an oxer, then a double bar, and another oxer in a triple combination. Another turn over a double pole and then two more and they were done.
"Four points to Draco and Puzzle"
Draco dismounted and joined Ginny in the crowd, waiting for the final results.
"…And in first place we have…Draco and Puzzle!"
Draco and Ginny were jumping up and down in joy, he had won and could keep the stables.