Fledgling

Music wafted through the crisp, cold air and reached Ginny's ears. She recognized it as a Christmas carol, but was too occupied with sight-seeing to identify it. Hogsmeade was certainly worth the while.

There were shops lining the stone-cobbled street, roofs and doorframes piled with drifts of snow, displaying brightly colored clothes and fancy accessories on one side, carefully balanced stacks of books and sweets on the other. People filled the street, chatting excitedly, pointing at the large windows, bartering in loud voices and toting bags full of goods. The noise level was enough to give one a headache.

Draco strolled along beside Ginny, tall enough to see over most of the crowd. A faint red had appeared on his high cheekbones, evidence of the biting cold in the air. His hair was ruffled by the wind, a silver halo above translucent skin. His black attire and silver-blond hair were in direct contrast to Ginny's fiery locks and golden cloak.

Ginny nudged Draco in the ribs. "There's Honeydukes, and the Three Broomsticks," she said through chattering teeth.

Draco grinned down at her, showing no effects of the uncomfortable temperature himself. "Cold?"

Ginny nodded fervently. "Come on."

They pushed past a couple of people arguing over a box of lizards, and entered the sweets shop with sighs of relief. "Wow," Ginny exclaimed, shaking the snow out of her hair and taking a deep breath. "Look at all this stuff!"

Draco examined a jar labeled Cockroach Clusters. "Mmm."

"Look - Ice Mice, just like I told you," Ginny said with relish, wandering around the store. "Ooh - sugar quills! Stringmints... Candy Toads... Droobles Gum... Chocolate Frogs... I hope you brought money. Lots of it."

"Oh yes." Draco held up a drawstring bag and shook it, causing a loud jangling. "Do your worst, Weasley," he smirked.

They spent the next fifteen minutes selecting random tasty-looking treats from the shelves and barrels throughout the store.

When they had accumulated what seemed to Draco like enough sugar to keep the entire population of Hogwarts awake through final exams, they left the shop, Draco's money bag considerably lighter.

"Where to next, oh wondrous leader?" Draco asked Ginny with a sweeping gesture towards the packed street.

Ginny barely hesitated. "The Three Broomsticks!"

The pub was crowded with bodies, human and otherwise. Wizards and witches mingled with goblins, hags, and gnomes. Ginny even thought she saw a ghost in the corner. Warmth pervaded the entire room, and pipe smoke drifted in the air above their heads.

Her lungs filling with the smell of baking bread, whisky and human bodies, Ginny picked her way through the crowd to the counter, Draco trailing her.

"Two Butterbeers, please," she said to Madame Rosmerta, a slightly plump woman with an ever-present smile. The witch turned around at the sound of Ginny's voice.

"All right, dear, there's still a couple of tables left at the back," she said kindly, giving Ginny a warm smile and winking at Draco. Bringing their drinks, she set the two glasses down on the counter and slid them towards Ginny. "There you are, love."

"Thanks," said Ginny, and she followed close behind Draco to the back of the room, slipping into a large wooden chair beside the blond boy. "All right, now we've got about an hour and a half before dinner, so where do we want to go next?" Draco queried between sips of Butterbeer.

"Hmmmm... what else is there to do here?"

Draco snorted. "You name it."

Ginny grinned. "I know."

"What?" Draco asked.

"You'll see," Ginny said airily.

Draco rolled his eyes and took a swallow of Butterbeer. The little redhead was really rather adorable, blast her.

Finishing their drinks, they wound their way back through the crowd. Draco tossed a handful of sickles down on the counter and Madame Rosmerta swept them up with a nod to the boy.

Ginny took a deep breath of sharp winter air. "Come on, Draco," she told her companion, "let's go!" She dashed off over the snow banks and disappeared in the white landscape.

Draco shrugged and took off after her, plowing through the drifts of snow towards the Gryffindor girl. She laughed and dove behind a hill, spraying snow everywhere. Draco grinned and crept to the top of the hill, as quietly as possible, and peered over the edge.

"Weasley?"

"Ha!" A pair of hands shoved him from behind, toppling him over. Both Draco and Ginny rolled down the hill in a tangle of arms and legs and cloaks.

Draco struggled out from under Ginny and managed to prop himself up on his elbows. "Evil girl," he muttered, unable to keep a smile off his face. He surreptitiously gathered a fistful of snow and when Ginny had looked away, he flung it into her hair.

Ginny shrieked and threw a handful of snow at Draco. "Snow fight!" It caught him in the face and he sputtered, swallowing some of the fluffy substance. Ginny grinned and got to her feet, managing to 'accidentally' plant her foot in his ribs as she did.

"Owww," Draco complained, climbing to his feet and kicking snow at Ginny. The girl smirked and grabbed another fistful of snow, stuffing it down the back of Draco's shirt.

"Hey!" Draco gasped and did an odd sort of dance, tripping over a large snowdrift and ending up on his back in the snow.

"Cold! COLD!"

Laughing uncontrollably, Ginny threw herself onto the snowdrift beside Draco and sprinkled some snow onto his face. Draco shifted. "Ouch. I'm lying on something," he said suddenly. He rolled over off of a sharp stick poking out of the snowbank.

"Damn," he muttered, grimacing. "I think I scratched my back."

"Let's see-" Ginny tugged Draco's shirt up to reveal a long scratch, already tender-looking and swollen.

"This isn't a striptease, Miss Weasley. Leave my clothing alone," Draco ordered, although without much conviction.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ginny said absently, poking at the scratch. "Ah - stop that, it tickles," Draco mumbled, fighting back laughter.

She glanced up. "You're ticklish?"

Draco realized his mistake. "Uh... just a little."

Ginny grinned so deviously that Draco winced. "Somebody just shoot me now."

"Don't worry, I'm not that cruel," Ginny reassured him.

"Yes you are," Draco said immediately.

Ginny said nothing. Draco hoped she wasn't plotting something. On second thought, it's probably a bad idea to assume she isn't plotting something, Draco thought. Bloody Gryffindors.

xXx

Back in the castle, Ginny and Draco sauntered along the corridors with as much aloofness as they could muster. //Draco doesn't particularly need to force it,// Ginny thought ruefully, //seeing as his default expression is 'bored'.// Draco's face, however, was white with cold, and the tip of his nose was red. Ginny supposed she looked rather the same, although it wouldn't matter so much to her as to him, with his normally pale complexion.

As they reached the fork in the corridor that indicated the Slytherin's common room, Draco turned to Ginny. "See you around, Weasley," he muttered, and disappeared down the hall.

"Bye," Ginny whispered after him, hurrying back to the Gryffindor tower. The weight of the packages in her coat pockets were comforting, and she crawled through the portrait hole in high spirits.

The happiness didn't last long. She passed several tables with people sitting at them, playing cards or chess, or reading, as was Hermione's case. The older girl was sitting at a table beside Harry and Ron, the boys engaged in a chess match. As soon as Hermione spotted Ginny, the book was forgotten.

Ginny stopped and watched, perplexed, as Hermione made her way decisively towards the redhead. Guilt fluttered in the pit of her stomach, and she attempted to be completely expressionless except for puzzled curiosity.

"Hi, Hermione," she said as casually as she could. "What is it?"

"Ginny, we need to talk." Hermione glanced around them and promptly pulled Ginny to a deserted table in a corner of the room.

Ginny felt panicky. She prayed she wasn't going to be expelled, as she was sure Hermione knew about her and Draco's recent excursion.

Hermione sat her down firmly in a chair and then sat down herself opposite Ginny. "I saw you and Malfoy going to Hogsmeade," she began solemnly, and Ginny clenched her fists. She and Draco were as good as expelled.