Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it except the plot.

A/N: Thanks to Aliya, my beta.

Chapter 12

"Fred, George, this is my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy," she introduced nervously.
Both of the twins quickly scanned the room and glared at Draco. "Why would you want to go out with scum like him?" George demanded nastily.
"He was the guy I was talking to online," Ginny explained.
"He's Hotdragon?" Fred exclaimed in surprise.
"But you said he was nice," George said, shocked.
"He is nice," Ginny protested.
"You've got to be kidding, right?" Fred explained.
"No, I'm not," Ginny replied, her eyes filling with tears. Suddenly, she pushed past the twins and rushed to her room.
"Gin," Draco called in genuine concern. He was about to follow her, but Mrs. Weasley put a restraining hand on his arm.
"Let her cool down," she advised wisely. "If you go now, she'll probably snap at you."
Draco sighed in defeat and sat back down. "You guys are so worried that I'm going to hurt her or take advantage of her, but in actuality, you're hurting her and taking advantage of her," Draco began heatedly. "You try to keep her away from me so I don't hurt her, but you're hurting her by taking her away from me when I make her happy. You don't want me taking advantage of her, but you think that just because she's your little sister, you can do whatever you want to her. You're just hypocrites, and you disgust me," With that, Draco glared at the twins and then stared pointedly at the table.
There were a few minutes of stunned silence after Draco's outburst. Then George broke it, protesting, "Mum, you can't let him stay here after what he just said!"
"You know what, George? I think he's right. You two and Ron are always trying to protect Ginny from things that make her happy, and you're always trying to boss her around and make her do things she doesn't want to do," Mrs. Weasley fumed at her sons.
The twins both adopted looks of astonishment. Their own mother had sided with Malfoy. "You can't be serious," Fred said, beginning to get angry. "Dad, talk some sense into Mum."
"No, I think that both Draco and your mother are right," Mr. Weasley informed his indignant sons.
The twins just shook their heads and Apparated out. Silence reigned for a few seconds. "I'm going to go check on Ginny," Draco announced, breaking the silence. He stood up and climbed the stairs to Ginny's room. When he arrived in front of her room, he knocked on the doorframe. She was lying on her bed, crying into her pillow. Her head whipped up. "Finally decided to check on me, have you?" she snapped nastily.
"Maybe I should come back later," Draco said warily.
"No," Ginny stopped him quickly, "I'm sorry, just don't go."
Draco nodded and walked over to her bed. He sat down on it and put an arm around her shoulders. "Look, Gin, your brothers, well at least some of them, are gits. I know they just want to protect you, but you don't need protecting, not from me at least. I like you, I like you a lot, and I'm not going to hurt you anytime soon," Draco informed her truthfully
"I know that, my brothers don't though," Ginny said miserably.
"I think I straightened them out, the twins at least," Draco replied with a smirk.
"Why? What did you say?" Ginny asked in amazement.
"Basically that they're hypocrites and do the things they try to stop me from doing," Draco told her smugly, still smirking. "Your parents even agreed."
Ginny smiled and threw her arms around Draco's middle. "Thank you," she said gratefully, burying her head in his chest.
"It was nothing," he replied modestly, kissing her on the top of the head and stroking her hair.

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, downstairs, Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Charlie had gone in search of the twins, leaving Arthur and Narcissa in the kitchen. "I know you still haven't forgiven me for marrying your enemy, but I didn't have a choice. I know we were friends in school, and you hated Lucius. I really didn't have a choice," Narcissa told Arthur suddenly.
"I'm sure you did," Arthur said coldly.
"You don't understand. Please listen to me," she pleaded.
"What?" he asked emotionlessly.
Narcissa told him all of what had led up to her marriage to Lucius. When she had finished, Arthur was rendered speechless. "I'm so sorry, Narcissa," he said contritely after finding his voice.
"It's alright, you didn't know," Narcissa forgave easily.
Arthur was about to reply when Draco and Ginny appeared in the doorway. "Hello, dears. Are you alright now, Ginny?" Mrs. Malfoy asked in concern.
"Yes, I'm fine now, thanks," Ginny replied with a smile.
"Draco did a wonderful job of standing up for you after you were gone. You should have heard him. You would've been proud," Narcissa said proudly with a tender smile at her son.
"He told me the jist of it, and I am proud of him," Ginny replied. "Where's everyone else?"
"The twins left after Draco made his speech, your mother, Percy, and Charlie are looking for them, and Harry and Ron are in the backyard," Mr. Weasley explained.
"Oh. Let's go see what Harry and Ron are up to," Ginny suggested to Draco.
"Alright," Draco agreed with a shrug.
They exited the kitchen and headed towards the back door. When they entered the backyard, they saw Harry and Ron hitting a ball with a stick. It appeared to be some sort of Muggle game.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked, the usual nastiness gone from his voice.
"Playing baseball," Harry replied. "It's a Muggle game. Wanna play?"
"Well, I kinda figure as much," Draco said. "How do you play?"
"You hit the ball with the stick," Ron explained sarcastically. "And I don't think you should be playing with us."
"Well that's just too bad, Ron, because, believe it or not, I want him to. Besides, you're going to have to get used to having him around, it appears he'll be around for awhile," Harry told him.
"Whatever, if he's playing, I'm not going to," Ron shot back stubbornly.
"Fine, don't play," Harry replied indifferently.
Ron gaped at Harry in surprise, he obviously hadn't expected that reaction. "Fine," he said huffily. Then he was gone. He whipped open the backdoor and stormed into the house.
Ginny rolled her eyes when he'd disappeared. "He's too stubborn and dramatic for his own good," she commented to no one in particular.
"You're telling me," Harry mumbled. "So, I'll pitch, and you hit the ball."
Draco nodded and picked up the bat that Ron had discarded in his retreat. He looked at it warily, as if unsure what to do. "Here, let me show you," Ginny said, taking the bat from Draco.
She lifted it and prepared for the pitch. Harry pitched it to her, and the bat connected with the ball with a loud, resounding crack. It sailed over Harry's head, and he ran to retrieve it. Ginny ran the bases and then turned to Draco with a satisfied smirk on her face. "That's how it's done," she drawled arrogantly.
"Oh my, you' have been spending way too much time with me," Draco teased. "You're borrowing my facial expressions, and you're starting to sound like me too."
Ginny rolled eyes and handed the bat to Draco. "Beat that," she challenged.
"You're on," Draco replied.
Harry had come back by now, and Draco stepped to the "home plate." It was really an old Frisbee. Harry pitched the ball, Draco swung, and he missed, causing him to spin around from the momentum of the swing. This caused Ginny to burst out laughing. "Nice one there, hot shot," she choked out sarcastically.
Draco glared at her. "Shut up," he snapped. "Let me try again."
Harry pitched the ball to Draco, and the same thing happened. This caused Ginny to burst into another fit of giggles. "Again," Draco commanded. This time when Harry pitched the ball, Draco hit the ball, but barely. It was a foul tip, going behind him. Draco growled in frustration as Ginny continued laughing at him.
Draco tried for another hour, hitting the ball forward only about ten or fifteen times. Finally, Draco sighed in resignation. "I guess baseball's just not my game," he said in defeat.
"Well obviously," Ginny sniggered, and Draco glared at her. "I'm only kidding, Draco."
I response, Draco turned pointedly away from her. She snuck up behind him and hugged him from behind. "I didn't mean it. Come on, Draco, look at me. The sooner you look at me, the sooner we can kiss and make up," Ginny coaxed.
After a minute, Draco turned around slowly, a smile on his face. "I know you didn't mean it, but I WAS pretty bad," Draco admitted. "Now, I believe you mentioned something about kissing.
Ginny laughed and leaned in for a kiss. Harry, who had been watching the scene unfold with amusement, tried his best to scowl in disgust. It didn't work very well, and his scowl soon turned into a smile. He could tell they were in love, even if they didn't realize it yet. He could tell by the way they looked at each other. They looked just like him and Hermione. He gave them one last glance and then went inside the Burrow.

*~*~*~*

About fifteen minutes later, Draco and Ginny entered the Burrow, looking a little disheveled. "Have you two been at it again?" Charlie asked good-naturedly when he took in their appearances.
"Oh shut up," Ginny said without much conviction as she blushed.
"It's disgusting really," Charlie teased. "A person can't walk around this house without catching you two snogging beach other's brains out at least once a day."
This comment caused Ginny's cheeks to turn even redder than before. "You look absolutely adorable when you're face matches your hair," Draco cooed sarcastically.
"Have you told me that before?" Ginny asked, turning, once again, redder.
"Yes, I believe I did. When we were in Diagon Alley," Draco remembered and leaned into kiss her. He did it purposely just to amuse Charlie, who would probably mention it to Ron, who would be ticked.
Charlie rolled his eyes and was about to leave when he seemed to remember something. "The twins want to talk to you, Gin," he called over his shoulder.
Ginny broke away from Draco, who looked slightly annoyed. "I gotta go talk to the twins, I'll be back," Ginny said regrettably.
"Fine, I'll be in your room, okay?" he asked.
"That's fine. I'll see you in a few minutes," Ginny replied, then went in search of her twin brothers.
Draco trudged up the stairs and sat down heavily on her bed. To be perfectly honest, he was glad Ginny was talking to Fred and George. Maybe she would be able to talk them out of playing one of their famous gags on him. Now though, all he could do was wait.

*~*~*~*

Downstairs, Ginny found the twins sitting and waiting impatiently in the kitchen. "What's up?" Ginny asked curiously when she entered.
"We don't like your choice of boyfriend," Fred began emotionlessly.
"I know that, but you're just going to have to deal with it," Ginny told her brothers.
"Has he done anything to you?" George demanded anxiously.
"No," Ginny replied firmly.
"Are you sure?" Fred asked.
"Yes," Ginny snapped, annoyed. Then a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Nothing I haven't wanted anyway."
The twins bath jumped, out of their chairs, ready to beat Draco to a bloody pulp, or at least hex him into next week. "Don't you dare go anywhere near him," Ginny commanded threateningly.
"How far have you two gone, Gin?" George asked urgently.
"If he took your virginity, I swear, I will beat him to death with my bare hands," Fred added.
"What makes you think I was a virgin before I started dating Draco?" Ginny questioned coyly. Then she ran up the stairs before either of the twins could respond.
When she entered her room, she quickly closed the door and locked it. It had a charm on it so that it couldn't be opened with the Alohomora Charm. Draco raised one eyebrow in question, and she began to explain, "I don't want the twins coming in."
"Did you convince them to leave me alone?" Draco asked hopefully.
"Not exactly," Ginny said sheepishly.
"Ginny, there's something else isn't there? Ginny," he prompted.
"I kinda made them think that we had sex," Ginny replied quickly. "And that I wasn't a virgin before I started dating you."
Draco's jaw dropped open in shock. "You did WHAT?" he exclaimed in surprise. "What happened?"
"Well they asked if we'd gone all the way, and then they said if you'd taken my virginity, they'd kill you. Then I asked them why they thought I was a virgin before I started dating you," she explained. "Then I left."
"Ginny," Draco whined. "You were supposed to stop them from doing something to me, not make them hate me more than they already do."
"I'm sorry, but sometimes they get me so upset that I don't think straight," Ginny apologized.
"It's alright, as long as you protect me from your brothers," Draco said. He was remembering all of the twins' previous pranks, and he shuddered to think that pretty soon, he would probably at the receiving end of one of them. Why, oh, why, did Ginny have to make them even madder? He thought grimly. I don't stand a chance.

*~*~*~*

It was soon time for dinner, and Draco and Ginny took seats next to each other for dinner. The food was magically transferred from the kitchen to the plates on the table. It had a spell on it so that they didn't have to have all of the dishes on the table as it took up too much room.
For dinner that night, they were having pork chops, corn, green beans, and Mrs. Weasley's famous home style French fries. The first half of dinner passed by rather uneventfully, with Draco glancing at the twins, who were sitting across from him, glaring at him, once in awhile. Draco had finished everything else on his plate, except his fries. That's where the trouble began. He picked up one of the fries with his fork and took a bite. In hindsight, Ginny could remember the twins holding their breath in anticipation, but didn't notice it at the time. Upon swallowing his bite, Draco was immediately turned into, none other than, a ferret.
At this moment, chaos ensued. Mrs. Malfoy, Mrs. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley looked on in horror. Harry was trying his best not to laugh, but wasn't succeeding, and all her brothers, who had all heard about the ferret incident in Draco's fourth year, were not even trying to hid their laughter.
"What are those things?" Ron sputtered between bouts of laughter.
"We call them Ferret Fries," George announced proudly. "Soon available from Weasley Wizard Wheezes located in Diagon Alley and soon Hogsmeade. We made them especially for Mal-ferret over there."
"That should teach him to stay away from our sister," Fred added.
Glancing at Draco, Ginny could tell, even though he was a ferret, that he was very irate. He was doing his best to glare at the twins, but they didn't notice him. "Sorry," Ginny mouthed to him. He just sat there waiting for the charm to wear off, which it did, about ten minutes later.
If Draco had looked irate as a ferret, he looked absolutely livid now. Ginny was almost afraid he would start shouting out Unforgivables. That didn't happen however. Instead, Draco took a deep breath and surprised them all by sitting down calmly and acting like nothing had happened.
The six Weasley brothers and Harry stared at him in shock. They had all expected him to start yelling or make some sort of scene. It never happened. Draco merely continued eating his dinner, getting seconds of everything but the fries. He wouldn't take that chance again.
Soon everyone else at the table began to follow Draco's lead. They went back to eating their dinner. After everyone was finished, Mrs. Weasley brought out dessert. It was a homemade apple pie. Mrs. Weasley handed Draco a piece, and he stared at it suspiciously. It looked really good, but he wasn't sure if he should take the chance. He wasn't sure how the twins could have done anything to it, but he couldn't be too sure. They were sneaky.
Eventually, Draco couldn't help but eat it, it looked too good. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a bit. He waited a few seconds and then cautiously opened his eyes. He looked around, everything appeared to be the right size, meaning he wasn't any smaller or bigger than usual. He looked down at himself, everything appeared to be normal. Nothing had happened. Draco sighed in relief and took another bite. He was almost done with is pie when it happened. The remaining pie on his plate seemed to explode, hitting Draco with bits of apple and pie crust.
Again, the male Weasley offspring burst out laughing, mostly at the look on the Draco's face which was looking completely shocked and the fact that the usual immaculate Draco Malfoy was covered in apple pie. The adults and Ginny looked horrified. Harry however, managed to keep from laughing this time, and Ginny shot him a grateful smile. Everyone was waiting with bated breath for Draco's reaction. He was just sitting there, blinking in surprise. Then he turned to Mrs. Weasley and asked, "Can I have a towel?"
"Oh, of course," Mrs. Weasley said, jumping up to get it. She handed it to him, and he smiled gratefully. He then continued to wipe off his face. Though no one else noticed, Ginny could tell that Draco was absolutely livid again and slightly embarrassed, but he was trying his best to hide it and doing a pretty good job. He also looked slightly hurt that her brothers didn't accept him, not that he'd expected them to, but it still hurt that they weren't giving him a chance to prove that he wouldn't hurt Ginny.
When Ginny detected the hurt look on his features, her heart broke. "Would you guys just leave him alone?" she snapped. "Why don't you just give him a chance?"
"Why should we?" Fred demanded.
"Because he's my boyfriend, and he won't be going away anytime soon," Ginny informed him.
"Why do you like him? He's a Malfoy," George pointed out.
"No, really? I had no idea he was a Malfoy," Ginny quipped. "I like him because he's sweet, he understands me unlike you two, he's got a sense of humor, and he was brave enough to face all of you. He could have gone back home but he stayed, and I think I'm in love with him." Having said this, Ginny got up from the table and ran to her room.
A shocked silence followed Ginny's departure. Everyone was shocked at her words, but no one was more surprised than Draco. She loved him? It was a little overwhelming to think about. Only two people had ever loved him in his life, his mother and Christina. Did he love her? He wasn't sure, but he was sure that he had to talk to Ginny.
"Should I go talk to her?" Draco asked uncertainly.
"No, you should never go anywhere near her again," Ron snapped.
"Boys, stop picking on Draco. Has he done anything to Ginny? No," Mrs. Weasley reprimanded.
"Yes he has!" Fred exclaimed.
"They went all the way!" George added.
Everyone at the table turned to stare at Draco. "You told me you hadn't done anything that night," Mrs. Weasley accused.
Draco was seriously wishing he wasn't in his current situation. He wished Ginny hadn't told the twins that. He wished they hadn't just told everyone. He wished Ginny was here to help him. "We didn't do anything," Draco protested.
"Don't even try hiding it, Ginny told us you did it. It's too late. She confessed," Fred said.
"She never confessed. She couldn't have because we've never done it!" Draco exclaimed defensively.
"Fred, what exactly did she say?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"She said that Draco didn't do anything to her that she didn't want him to, and that she's no longer a virgin," Fred said.
"That's not what she said! You said that if I had taken her virginity that you would kill me, and she asked you what made you think that she was a virgin before she started dating me," Draco pointed out.
"So that's pretty much admitting that you two had sex, but it wasn't her first time!" George retorted.
"Alright, we're going to settle this once and for all," Mrs. Malfoy announced. "Veritas!" she uttered the truth spell, pointing her wand at her son. "Did you and Ginny have sex?"
"No," Draco replied.
"Have you ever done it?" Ron cut in before anyone could stop him.
"No," Draco repeated.
"Are you a Death Eater?" Narcissa asked, to prove that the spell had worked.
"No," Draco stated.
Narcissa pushed up the sleeve of Draco's sweater to prove that he was indeed not a Death Eater. "Is everyone satisfied that he's telling the truth?" Mrs. Malfoy questioned.
Everyone nodded, and she took the spell off her son. "See, I told you," Draco snapped.
"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," Mrs. Weasley said, urging her sons to do the same with her eyes. They either didn't notice, or they pointedly ignored her. She suspected that it was the latter rather than the former.
"Maybe someone should check on Ginny," Mrs. Weasley suggested.
"I'll go," Charlie volunteered and then went to do just that.
When he arrived in front of his only sister's door, he was surprised to see that she was crying. "Ginny?" he called softly from the door.
Her head snapped up and looked at him. "Oh good, it's you. Come in," she said in relief. She had thought it was Draco, and at the moment, she didn't really know what to say to him. Charlie entered the room and sat down next to Ginny on her bed. "What's wrong, Gin?" he asked gently.
"I'm scared, Charlie," she began, her voice quivering slightly. "I think I might be in love with Draco, but I shouldn't be. For one, he probably doesn't love me back, and for two, he's a Malfoy and half of my family hates him."
"Now, that's not true," Charlie comforted. "Half of our family does not hate him, and for the ones who do, they'll come around. As for Draco, I think he loves you too, he just doesn't know it yet."
"Do you really think so?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"I really do," Charlie assured.
"Thanks, Charlie," she said happily, giving him a hug. "What do you think I should do about Draco?"
"I think you should give him sometime to work out his feelings. Don't push him for an answer, he'll figure it out soon enough," he advised wisely.
"I guess that makes sense," Ginny conceded.
"You ready to come back down now?" Charlie asked. "Everyone was worried about you."
"In a minute. I heard yelling before, and I heard the twins saying that Draco and I went all the way. Just so you know, we didn't," Ginny informed him.
"We sorted it out," Charlie told her.
"That's good. Let's go downstairs," Ginny said and exited the room, Charlie at her heels.
When they arrived back in the dining room, everyone's eyes were focused on Ginny. "You alright, Ginny?" Draco asked hesitantly.
She nodded in reply and gave him a huge smile. Then she said down calmly and finished the rest of her pie. She then yawned and announced that she was going to go to bed. "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, after all," she said. Everyone said good night, and then she disappeared up the stairs.

*~*~*~*

A few hours later, everyone else was beginning to yawn also and decided to turn in for the night. "Where's Malfoy sleeping?" Ron asked curiously, hoping to wasn't his room.
"My room," Charlie replied.
"Maybe I should stay in your room. Then, Harry and his new best friend, Malfoy, can stay together," Ron suggested sarcastically.
"Oh come one, Ron," Harry said, exasperated. "Can't you just get over it?"
"No. No, Harry, I can't. I thought you were my friend, but you betrayed me," Ron snapped.
Harry merely rolled his eyes. "Please, I didn't `betray' you. All I did was try to help Draco feel more comfortable. God knows you weren't helping," Harry retorted.
"Oh, so it's Draco now, is it?" Ron asked nastily.
"Ron! Why don't you wake up and realize that he's not going anywhere anytime soon and make the best of it. Ginny is your sister after all, and it's the least you could do for her. All she wants is for you and the twins to approve. She doesn't want you to hate her boyfriend! So, for Ginny's sake, make a truce," Harry lectured sternly. He was sick and tired of Ron overreacting about everything. This was the second big fight that they'd had in less than six months, and both had been started by Ron overreacting.
Ron only glared at him for a minute. "You know what, Harry? You think that just because you're the famous Harry Potter that you can boss e around. But, guess what? You can't," Ron yelled.
"I'm not trying to boss you around! I'm trying to talk some sense into you!" Harry shouted back.
"Alright, that is enough! You are going to wake up Ginny," Mrs. Weasley interrupted sharply. "Now, everyone, go to bed!"
All of the assembled Weasleys and guests quickly obeyed. They all hurried up the stairs to their respectable rooms. "Hey, Draco?" Charlie called as they were getting ready for bed.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Do you know what Harry and Ron were fighting about?" Charlie asked.
Draco nodded. "Earlier today they were playing baseball, and Harry let me play. Ron got mad and quit," he replied.
Charlie shook his head. "Ron can be a real prat sometimes," he commented.
"No kidding," Draco agreed.
"Hey, Draco, can I ask you something kinda personal?" Charlie asked after a few minutes silence.
"Sure," he replied after a moment's hesitation.
"Do you love my sister?" he inquired.
Draco thought about it for a minute and then answered slowly, "I think that I do, but I don't want to. I don't want her to be estranged from her brothers because of me."
Charlie smiled. "Very noble of you. Are you sure you're a Slytherin?" he teased.
"Yeah, I am, but I think for me, the Sorting Hat based it more on my outward actions and family history," Draco said. "It would have been a lot easier for me at school if it hadn't."
"Wouldn't your father had been mad?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, he would have, but at least. I would have had friends to help me and confide in. I always wished I had someone to help me," Draco admitted. "So when my sister started teaching at Hogwarts, I was really happy."
"Ginny told me about her when she first started teaching there, and how she was so unlike you," he told Draco. "I guess she was wrong. You're more like your sister than any of us would have expected."
"Yeah, well that's my fault. I never gave you any reason to believe that I was a nice person. I've always regretted that," Draco said.
"Hey, I don't blame you. You must have had a horrible childhood," Charlie said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, but it could have been worse," Draco replied.
"How?" Charlie asked disbelievingly.
"My mother could have been cruel too," Draco began ticking off possibilities. "My father could have been home more. We could have been poor." Then, seeming to remember who he was talking to, he added, "Not that there's anything wrong with being poor, but it wouldn't have helped my situation any. One of the things that helped me get through it was being able to stay in my room all day when Lucius was in a bad mood, and I had so much stuff to do in it I never got bored."
Charlie nodded. "When I was little, I always wished our family was rich, but as I got older, I realized there were more important things, like a loving family," Charlie said.
"I wish I would have had one, I would have given anything and everything for a loving family, well a father at least, my mother loves me," Draco agreed. "Heck, I would have settled for a father who didn't beat me."
"I can't imagine what that would be like," Charlie told him, sharking his head. "We ought to get to bed, it's getting late."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Draco conceded. "Good night, Charlie."
"Good night, Draco," Charlie replied. Then he turned off the light, and they were plunged into darkness. Draco soon heard Charlie's breathing turn steady, just before he fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ginny woke Draco up at about ten thirty. "What time is it?" he mumbled grumpily.
"Ten thirty," Ginny replied cheerfully, she had already been up for an hour and a half already.
Draco groaned and put his pillow over his head. "Five more minutes," he grumbled sleepily.
"Come on, Draco, I want to talk to you before everyone comes looking for you," she pleaded.
"Oh fine, just give me a few minutes to wake up," Draco said.
"Okay," Ginny consented. "Come in my room when you're ready. No going back to bed."
Draco groaned again, but agreed anyway. Five minutes later he was in Ginny's room, looking only a little more awake. "You people keep me up late and then wake me up early," he complained.
"Who kept you up late?" Ginny asked.
"Charlie. We were talking for awhile last night," Draco explained.
"About what?" Ginny inquired further.
"You, Harry and Ron, my childhood, family," Draco replied.
"You called them Harry and Ron," Ginny pointed out in amazement.
Draco shrugged. "Harry's not so bad, he calls me Draco now, and I can't call Ron Weasley because I could be talking about a number of people. When I'm talking to him, he knows I'm talking to him and not his brothers or sister," Draco reasoned matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I guess," Ginny agreed.
"Now, what did you want to talk about that you had to wake me up at this ungodly hour of the morning?" Draco questioned.
"Last night. I'm sorry about what my brothers did," Ginny apologized.
"It's not your fault," he said truthfully, "but, boy, would I love to hex those two into next year. I can't believe I was turned into a ferret, again. Just when the ferret jokes were dying down and getting old, they have to refuel them. Then they lulled me into a false sense of security. I was almost positive after taking a few bites that the pie would be fine, but no. They had to make it explode. Then you abandoned me, to convince your family that we didn't have sex. What a nightmare that was. The twins even had your mother believing them, and you should have seen the look on her face. She looked so crushed when she thought that we'd lied to her." When Draco had finished his venting, he turned to see Ginny's reaction. She looked very stunned.
Then she walked over to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry," she sobbed into his bare chest. "I shouldn't have let you stay here. I should have told you that when you wanted to stay after Lucius was arrested. I should have stayed at your house or something. I should have-"
"It's not your fault," Draco cut her off reassuringly. "It wasn't that bad, I'm not hurt or dead, am I? I just don't like being humiliated like that in front of my girlfriend. That's why I was so mad, I was embarrassed."
"I know you're right," Ginny admitted. "About the thing I said last night, I meant it, but I'm not going to push you for an answer. I don't care if you feel the same way. Well, I do, but if you don't know how you feel, that's fi-" She would have continued if it hadn't been for Draco's lips attaching themselves to hers. His kiss was absolute bliss. He was kissing her gently, but still conveying all of his feelings. At that moment, she realized that he loved her back and was showing her in this one kiss. She never wanted it to end.
They stood there, kissing, for a few minutes before Draco pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. "Does that clear up my feelings?" he asked, smiling.
"I don't know, why don't you try it again?" she said flirtatiously as she leaned in for another kiss.

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile downstairs, Charlie and Bill were wondering where exactly there sister was. "Where are Draco and Gin?" Bill asked.
"Probably somewhere snogging," Charlie answered with a snicker. "When are they ever not snogging?"
"True," Bill agreed.
"I'll go find them. We need them to start the baking," Charlie said.
"I can't believe Mum is still making us do this," Bill complained.
"I can, she always was big on family traditions," Charlie reminded his older brother.
"I guess, but can't she give us a break this once?" Bill whined, somewhat half-heartedly.
"Oh, come one, you know you love it," Charlie observed with a smile.
"Yeah, I do," Bill admitted. "But I wish she didn't make me wear that bloody apron."
"Well, that's what you get for spilling all over yourself the first time we did this," Charlie scolded.
"I was eight years old! You would think they would let it slide almost twenty years later!" Bill exclaimed indignantly.
"Have you two gotten Draco and Ginny yet?" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.
"Sorry Mum, we got distracted," Charlie called back. "I'll get them now."
As he went up the stairs, he heard Mrs. Weasley said irritably, "Yes, Bill, you still have to wear the apron! It's tradition!"
Charlie laughed quietly to himself and went in search of his sister and her boyfriend. He checked in his room, but they weren't there. Then he checked Ginny's room and found them snogging in the middle of the room. "Oh for Heaven's sake!" he exclaimed good-naturedly.
Ginny broke away from her boyfriend and glared at him. "What do you want?" she snapped.
"Mum wants to start baking and requires your presence," Charlie said.
"Fine, we'll be right down," Ginny replied, shooing Charlie out the door. "Do you think we should tell them?"
"Tell them what? It's not like we're engaged or anything," Draco pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ginny agreed.
"What did Charlie mean when he said your Mum wanted to start baking?" Draco asked curiously.
"Every year we bake cookies as a family and our assorted guests on Christmas Eve day," Ginny explained.
"Oh," Draco said, following Ginny out of the room and to the kitchen.
When they arrived in the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley greeted them warmly. "There you two are! Now we can start," she announced cheerfully.
"One word of advice to you, Draco, don't spill anything on yourself, they'll make you wear an apron for the next twenty years," Bill advised wisely. All of the collected Weasleys laughed as Draco shot Ginny a questioning glance.
"When my Mum first started this tradition, I wasn't born yet, Bill was eight years old. He tried to do everything Mum said so he wouldn't mess it up, and he did, except when he was carrying the bowl with the batter in it, he dropped it on himself and made a huge mess. Ever since then, he's had to wear an apron when we do it," Ginny explained with a laugh.
Draco sniggered, and Bill glared at him. "You shouldn't be laughing, Draco," Mrs. Malfoy said in warning. "I could always tell them what you did when you were little."
That shut Draco up right away. "What did he do?" Ginny asked.
"Well, at Christmastime, we always used to have various friends over, and every year I would bake cookies. One year, when Draco was about five or six, he insisted he help me. I agreed to let him help, but I told him that he had to wear an apron so he didn't get his clothes dirty. Well, being the sneaky Slytherin that he was, he came down to help me bake cookies, but didn't want to wear the apron so he took off all of his clothes. He then informed me that he couldn't' get his clothes dirty because he wasn't wearing any. I thought that was very clever of him, but still made him wear the apron. I told him he could put his clothes back on, but he was too stubborn and adamantly refused. So, he helped me back cookies in the apron and nothing else," Narcissa told them. By the time she was done, all of the Weasleys were laughing and Draco was about as red as their hair.
"Mum," he mumbled, mortified. "Did you have to tell them about that?"
Mrs. Malfoy merely rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's not that big a deal; it was over ten years ago," she scoffed.
"I think it's adorable," Ginny comforted, trying to keep a straight face. Then she promptly burst out laughing again. This caused Draco to groan in frustration.
"Ginny dear, you obviously have forgotten what you used to do at Christmastime when you were little," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Oooh, what did she do?" Draco asked with interest.
"Well, when Ginny was little, up until she was about six, she was always so eager to open presents and didn't like to have other people go so slowly when passing the presents out. So, every year she made it her duty to pass out the presents. All of the boys used to argue that she took too long and didn't deserve to pass out the presents. Ginny would always inform them that she got to pass out the presents because she was the cutest. They would scoff and say the only time she was cute was when she was a baby because she was so little back then. Then they would tell her that she had grown up and wasn't a baby anymore. She would protest, and her brothers would say that she was wearing big girl clothes so she had to be a big girl. To prove that she wasn't, she would strip off all of her clothes and insist that she was so cute and still little. It was the most adorable thing, and it happened every Christmas, even when we had company," Mrs. Weasley said.
By this time, Draco was laughing very hard.
"I remember that," Bill said. "She used to look so cute. That was until she did it in front of my friends." At this remark, Draco began to laugh even harder.
"I think it's adorable," Draco mimicked her earlier words, stifling laughter. Then he burst out laughing again.
The rest of the day passed in this fashion. They traded stories from Christmases passed and baking cookies. And for once in his life, Draco felt that he was getting a real Christmas with a real family.

A/N: Don't forget to review! I'll get the next chapter out ASAP.

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