I fly through the fireplace on the opposite side of the journey, sprawled across a tile floor, sending ash just about everywhere in my arrival.

"What the fuck?!" Someone jumps up onto their feet, pushing their chair away from the table they'd been seated at. As they grow closer, and as I wipe the ash out of my eyes, I can only assume it's Draco's father that's making his way towards me, given the near identical features he wears. "Who the hell are you?"

"Er…I'm a friend of Draco's." I say, pushing myself onto my feet, and glancing around the room. A massive table stretches from one end to another, lined with people, most of whom I don't know, but among them, I spot Draco, who's grey eyes are muddled with emotions I can't quite decipher.

He rises to his feet at my words, going around the table and stepping towards me, until we're only feet apart. "Meiqi, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I-"

"You can tell him later, girl." Draco's father snaps, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "He will be here any minute now, and we can't have this child around when he arrives."

Who he's talking about, I haven't a clue, but I can tell it's in my best interest not to ask questions, so I stay silent, wiping ash away from my face. Suddenly, I feel like it was a bad idea indeed, coming here. Not when I'm clearly not wanted.

"Draco, why don't you show your…friend the Christmas festival happening down the street? You can meet him another time." Draco's father continues, his voice strained. "Now."

Draco nods, reaching over and grabbing my hand without a second of warning. It isn't gentle, though, not like it was that night in Hogsmeade, but instead rough, urgent, as he practically drags me through the Manor, at such a speed I don't have time to admire the beautiful home he resides in.

"What the hell are you doing here, Meiqi?" He hisses to me as he practically shoves me through the front door and into the cold winter night. For a moment, I think he's going to lock me out, but instead, he steps outside too, shutting the door behind him and shivering at the cold, despite wearing a thick jacket.

I bite down on my lip, staring down at the snow beneath my feet, which are protected from the cold by a thin pair of slippers. "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go. I didn't think you were in the middle of something important."

Draco's gaze softens ever so slightly. "Did something happen? You look like you've been crying."

"Cho hates me." I sniff, sounding as pathetic as I feel.

"Didn't we just go over this? Fuck Cho. She isn't worth shit."

"She's my sister."

"And?"

I shake my head. "Never mind. It just hurt, hearing what she had to say to me. I reckon I'm not wanted, back home. Not by her or my parents."

"And your first instinct was to come to me." It isn't a question, the way he phrases it, but a statement, his tone impossible to read, without an ounce of feeling radiating from him.

"I'm sorry. I can go. I'm sorry."

"No." Draco interjects quickly, grabbing my wrist as though I'm about to take off running. "It's fine. You can stay. A…friend of my parents is coming over, so we can't be in the house for that. But he should be gone in a few hours. Then you can spend Christmas with us, yeah?"

The corners of my lips curl up. "It isn't a bother to you?"

"Never." He lets go of my wrist, and I find myself disappointed when our touch breaks. "Now, what do you say about going to a fair?"

"A fair?" I frown, following after Draco as he begins to walk down the massive entrance to the manor. "What fair?"

"Down the road. There's a muggle fair going on for Christmas, with those circle things that you can sit in, and those colorful explosions in the sky. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

I nod. There's a similar fair in the neighborhood I live in, every Halloween. We'd gone once, when I was four, and Cho five, and watched the fireworks from the top of the ferris wheel while eating pretzels. It's one of the only memories I have outside of St. Mungo's, and I've held onto it like a prized possession.

But now, I hold onto Draco Malfoy, like something far more cherish-able. It's time to let go of Cho, and memories I've made with her, and make new ones, with someone who cares about me.

Just as this thought grows in my mind, Draco's hand snakes over to mine, entwining his fingers with mine in a far more gentle manner than he'd grabbed me with earlier. My stomach does a backflip, but I try my best to play it cool, as the pair of us walk through the suburbs of whatever town it is Draco lives in - as I've never been here before - eventually reaching the sight of the fair.

The place is jam packed with people, despite it being later in the night, children and their parents huddled together for warmth, boyfriends playing games to win stuffed animals for their girlfriends, teens riding on the rides, pretending to be too cool for them, but I can tell they're secretly enjoying themselves.

"What do you think?" Draco turns to ask me.

"It's brilliant." Is all I can say in response - which is a complete understatement to the beauty that is the fair in front of us. My eyes travel towards the first ride I see - the ferris wheel, towering above everyone else. It's massive, the height far enough to kill if one were to fall off, but for some reason, this entices me, rather than scares me. "Can we go on that?" I point towards it with my free hand.

"Sure." He shrugs, in an attempt to seem unaffected, but I can see right through him. He wants to enjoy the childish ride just as badly as I do.

I begin to drag him towards the ride, which as it turns out, is free. A large, older gentleman lets us on, placing the bar over our chests so we don't slide out on accident. Draco's hand doesn't leave mine, even as we position ourself in the strange metal bench.

The ferris wheel begins to move, sending a jolt through my stomach as it takes off, moving us closer and closer towards the top, its pace ever so slow, as it stops every time to give the people at the peak a view of the town surrounding us.

"I'm glad I came here." I say without thinking.

Draco cocks his head to the side, eyebrows arched up.

"I think you're one of the only people I can rely on." I continue, and a smile tugs at his lips. "I'm happy I came here, instead of, say, Daphne's. I can't think of a better way to spend my Christmas Eve."

"I'm glad you came as well. It gave me an excuse to come here, too. Father would've never allowed it, had he not needed me to get you out of the house."

"Why did I need to leave, anyways? Who was coming that's so mysterious?"

He shakes his head. "It's a long story. Nobody you ought to concern yourself with, that's all you need to know."

"If you're certain." I shrug, feeling the urge to ask him more about it, but I manage to resist the temptation. If he wants me to know, he'll tell me. "Thanks for letting me stay, even though you have a super mysterious guest over that I can't know about."

"Anything for you, Meiqi."

Oh Merlin, the butterflies. I swear I'm going to pass out, they're so intense.

"Why do you like me so much, Draco?" The words spill out of me before I can think, before I can stop them. But now, I have to know, so I elaborate. "I mean, you don't seem to like many people. What makes me different?"

"Your hair. Duh." He says with a smirk, and I roll my eyes.

"My parents don't like it either."

"I can't imagine why. Bubblegum pink suits you."

My lips curl up into a grin.

"I found you interesting." Draco eventually says, breaking a silence that falls between us. "There was something strange about you, and you know Slytherins, with our natural curiosity. Then, as I got to know you…well, I don't know." He shrugs. "You're special."

"Special." I repeat, sounding out the word, testing how it feels on my tongue. "In a good way, or….?"

He lets out a laugh. "Yes, Meiqi. Definitely in a good way."

The Ferris wheel begins to move again, inching us closer and closer to the top, until we've reached the peak, and are looking down at the beautiful town around us. I can spot Malfoy Manor from here, tall and proud compared to the rest of the homes, drawing my attention. Though, when I turn to Draco to point it out, I find he's not staring at the town, but at me.

My breath catches in my throat.

Then, fireworks explode.

Literally.

In the distance, an array of colors shoot into the sky, red and green and white, the colors of Christmas, dancing in the night, colliding with the stars to make perhaps the most beautiful image I've ever seen. "It's beautiful." I breathe as I stare at the masterpiece in front of me.

"You're beautiful."

At first, I'm convinced I didn't hear Draco correctly, because there's no way in hell he just called me beautiful. But when I turn to look at him, I find that he's still staring at me, like the fireworks in the distance mean nothing to him.

I can't bare it anymore. Screw Cyril, screw Pansy, for the first time in my life, it's my turn to be selfish, to put myself and my wants before the feelings of anybody else. They don't have to know, and if they do find out, that's just too bad for them, isn't it?

With a deep, shaky breath, I lean in, and press my lips against Draco's.

I feel his lips curve up against mine, as he immediately leans into my touch, placing a hand behind my head, entwining his fingers with my hair as he pulls me closer to him. It's too much, it's not enough, it's nothing and everything all at the same time, in a jumble of perfection impossible to fully comprehend.

Time goes by too fast, eventually breaking us apart, when I should be spending an eternity against his lips, in his touch, against his skin.

"Well, you're certainly full of surprises." He lets out a breath. When I raise my eyebrows, unsure how to respond, he elaborates. "I always thought I'd be the one to snog you first, not the other way around."

A blush creeps across my face, and I gulp, meeting his eyes with a gentle grin. And oh Merlin, the fireworks. I don't think they'll ever fade, even as the night bleeds into day and the colors melt into the sky.