The Dragon's Savior

Chapter 13

The next morning, Ginny woke up at seven o'clock and rushed into Charlie's room to wake up Draco. She was about to jump on top of him to wake him up, but instead she decided to watch him for a few minutes. He looked so peaceful with his face unguarded and his usually slicked back hair falling in his face. He wasn't wearing a shirt, it could get quite warm in the Burrow with all of the people and heating charms, and Ginny couldn't help but notice how much he'd grown since she first met him. Back then, he was only a skinny, twelve year old boy, but now he was a muscular seventeen year old man.
"Gin? Is that you?" Charlie murmured sleepily from his bed.
"Yeah," she replied. "I came in to wake up Draco."
She then jumped on his aforementioned chest, causing his eyes to fly open in surprise. "Wake up, it's Christmas," she squealed excitedly.
Draco groaned and asked, "You're not going to leave until I get up, are you?"
"Nope," she replied cheerfully.
"How can you be that cheerful this early in the morning?" Draco grumbled.
"It's Christmas, that's how," she explained.
Draco sighed and sat up. "Well, Happy Christmas then," he said as he pulled her in for a kiss.
"Happy Christmas to you too," Ginny replied once they'd broken apart.
"Now, if you get off of me, I can get dressed, and we can go downstairs," Draco commented.
"I like it here. Besides, I think you look perfect just like that," Ginny whispered the last part seductively in his ear, her breath tickling his ear.
"I don't think your brothers would appreciate me walking around bare-chested," Draco pointed out.
"Oh, screw them. Please, Draco," she pleaded, putting on her best puppy dogface. "It can be my Christmas present."
"What if I told you I already have a Christmas present for you?" Draco asked.
"How could you? You didn't know you were coming to the Borrow until you got here. Once you were here, you were with me the whole time," Ginny answered matter-of-factly.
"What if I told you I bought it before I came here?" Draco teased.
"Why?" was all Ginny said.
"I actually bought it for you at the last Hogsmeade weekend. I was going to send it to you with an apology for acting like I did," Draco explained. "Then I got here, and we started dating before I sent it."
"Ooh, what is it?" Ginny exclaimed.
"You'll just have to wait and see," Draco replied cryptically.
"Fine, don't tell me," Ginny said with mock hurt entering her voice.
Draco rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to," he informed her.
"Good 'cause I don't want to know," Ginny shot back stubbornly.
Draco only snorted in reply. "Are you going to get off of me now?" he questioned.
"No," Ginny answered mischievously.
'Then I guess I'll just have to remove the problem," Draco said, an impish smile on his face. Before Ginny could figure out what he was going to do, he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and he then he proceeded downstairs.
"Draco," she shrieked in surprise. "Draco, put me down."
"No," he replied simply.
"Put me down," she repeated, but Draco knew she was enjoying every minute of it. She was laughing, and he knew if she really wanted to get down, she would be able to.
When they arrived in the kitchen, all eyes turned to them. "Happy Christmas, everyone," Draco greeted cheerfully.
"Happy Christmas," Ginny called, still slung over Draco's shoulder.
"Why is Ginny over your shoulder? And why don't you have a shirt on?" Ron demanded angrily.
Draco was about to answer, but Charlie beat him to it. "Calm down, Ron," he began, rolling his eyes. "It was hot in my room last night, neither of us were wearing shirts. Then Ginny bounced into our room this morning and jumped on top of Draco. She must have refused to get up, so he picked her up, you know how stubborn Ginny can be when she wants."
Draco nodded to show that he was correct. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly... Ron," Draco said. "Remember, assumptions make an ass out of everyone."
Ron was about to retort, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off, wanting to keep the peace. "He's right, dear. You get yourself worked up about nothing. Now, stop fighting, everyone, it's Christmas. And now, breakfast is served," Mrs. Weasley announced.
Everyone moved from the kitchen to the dining room. There were all kinds of different foods ranging from things like pancakes and waffles, to steak and eggs. Draco was about to dig in when he suddenly froze. "Alright, which foods are cursed?" he asked to twins.
"I swear that we didn't do anything to any of the food, and we won't for the rest of the day. Consider it your Christmas present," Fred informed Draco.
Draco breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat. "Well, thank you," he said. "I think this is better than any material possession you could have bought me."
"Why? Because you have everything else?" George asked nastily.
Draco decided to ignore the nastiness. "No, because I want this Christmas to be perfect and being the butt of another one of your pranks would ruin it," Draco corrected.
George seemed to accept this answer and turned back to his breakfast. Once everyone had stuffed themselves with Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking, they moved into the living room to open presents.
Ginny was so anxious that she was bouncing up and down impatiently. "Someone still doesn't like to wait for presents, does she?" Draco joked.
Ginny stopped her bouncing for a second to turn around and glare at Draco. Then she resumed her previous activity. As the presents were passed out, Draco was surprised to see that he had something from Mrs. Weasley. He hadn't expected to get anything from anyone except his Mom. He had come on such short notice, after all.
When all of the gifts had been passed out, Draco cleared his throat and began to speak," I didn't get anything for any of you because I didn't know I would be here. I can still give something, though, and that's an apology. I would like to apologize for everything I said about your family or anyone else. Now, I know the prejudice against the Weasleys and Harry was stupid, and I'm sorry."
A stunned silence followed his apology. Everyone had silently agreed to a truce, but they hadn't expected something like this. As for who was the most surprised, it was a close call between Ron and Ginny. Ron was surprised that he had swallowed his pride long enough to say all that, but Ginny was more amazed than surprised that he'd done it, knowing that if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have done it.
"Apology accepted," Harry said, breaking the silence. "I'd like to apologize to you also. I've done and said some pretty nasty things to you, even if you did provoke me most of the time. I'm still sorry. But, Ginny, why couldn't you have started dating him when you first got to Hogwarts? You could have saved me a lot of detentions, house points, and trouble."
This earned chuckles from everyone at the table. "Yeah, really, why didn't you start dating me sooner? I could have been spared almost every humiliation of my Hogwarts career. Like being turned into a ferret that would have never happened, or being attacked by Harry and George. Or being slapped by Granger," Draco teased. "Apology accepted, by the way."
"Excuse me, but it's not my fault that you were such a prat. Maybe if you'd been nicer then I would have started dating you sooner, but then again if you were nicer, none of your humiliations would have happened," Ginny pointed out. "And why didn't you start dating me sooner?"
"Good point," Draco conceded.
Silence reigned once again as everyone watched the interaction between Harry, Draco, and Ginny. "In behalf of the entire Weasley family, I accept your apology," Mr. Weasley announced.
All of the Weasley boys, excluding Ron, nodded in agreement. Draco was surprised when he saw the twins nodding with the rest of the boys. They might just approve of me yet, he thought happily.
"Can we open presents now?" Ginny asked impatiently.
"Yes, go ahead," Mrs. Weasley said.
As soon as the words had left her mouth, all of the Weasley children, along with Harry and Draco, picked up a present and began to rip it open.
It appeared that Ginny did, indeed, care what Draco had gotten her because that was the first present she opened. When she had it unwrapped, she gasped. It was, of course, the pair of barrettes she's seen at the new store in Hogsmeade. She turned around; she was sitting on his lap, and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much," she squealed. "How did you know I liked these?"
"I didn't. I saw them when I was shopping with my Mum and thought you'd like them," Draco replied, giving her a kiss.
"I saw them while I was doing some last minute shopping. I fell in love with them, they'll go perfectly with my new dress robes," Ginny said excitedly.
"Well, I'm glad you like them," Draco answered with a smile.
Draco then turned to the present he was unwrapping, it was from Mrs. Weasley. When he saw what it was, he was touched. It was some of her homemade fudge, but that wasn't what surprised him. In the package there was also a green sweater, handmade, with a silver D in the middle. He recognized it instantly as a "Weasley" sweater that Mrs. Weasley made for all of her children every year. He was speechless for a minute before Ginny snapped him out of it. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," he said.
"You're welcome, Draco, dear. I thought that since you'll soon be part of the family, you deserved one," Mrs. Weasley replied cheerfully.
"Mother," Ginny said, shocked at what she'd just implied.
"Oh you know I'm right," Mrs. Weasley pointed out.
"You don't know that," Ginny retorted. "Something could happen. We could break up."
"You could," Mrs. Weasley acknowledged without much conviction.
Ginny was about to say something, but Draco cut her off. "Just leave it, Gin," he said gently. Then he gave her a kiss on the lips to insure that she didn't say anything else about it. When he broke away, she smiled at him. "I love you," she mouthed to him.
"Love you too," he mouthed back and gave her another kiss.
"Spare me," Ron groaned. "Must you kiss in public?"
"Oh, leave them alone, Ron. I think it's cute," Mrs. Weasley reprimanded.
"How could you possibly think that THAT'S cute?" Ron demanded incredulously, pretending to gag.
"Sod off, Weasley," Draco snapped, his voice void of its usual nastiness.
Ron only glared at him when Mrs. Weasley gave him a warning look. "Can't we not fight for one day, Ron?" she pleaded.
"Don't blame me, blame-" Ron began.
Ginny cut him off, "Ron, shut up. It is your fault. You are to blame. When you're mad at Harry or Hermione, you're always looking for a fight. Why don't you just make up with Harry and leave my boyfriend alone?"
"Now, next person to start a fight today, will have to answer to me," Mrs. Weasley threatened. "Now, go back to opening your presents."
They didn't have to be told twice. Everyone immediately went to their gifts.

*~*~*~*

Later, when everyone had opened all of their gifts, Draco and Ginny were the only ones left in the living room. Draco was sitting on the floor with his back against a chair, and Ginny was sitting in between his legs, which were spread apart in front of him. She was leaning back against his chest, and he had his arms around her waist.
"Hey, Draco?" Ginny said, turning around to look at him.
"Yeah?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
"You know when we went to your house to get some of your stuff?" she began. Draco nodded, and she continued, "You got something out of your desk right before we left. Was it my clips?"
"Yeah," Draco replied. "I was hoping you didn't see what it was."
Ginny smiled at him, and he returned it. "Okay, can you keep a secret?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah," he said slowly. "It's nothing illegal, is it?"
"No, but my mother would kill me if she found out," Ginny explained. "I got you a Christmas present."
"That's the secret?" he asked, nonplused.
"No, it's the way I got it. I snuck out last night," she told him.
"So, that's why you went to bed early," Draco observed, realization dawning.
"Exactly, and the stuff that happened before hand was a perfect cover story," Ginny pointed out, an impish grin on her face.
"So, what'd you do?" he asked, the suspense was beginning to kill him.
"Open it first," Ginny commanded, handing him a package.
Draco took the package from her and began to unwrap it. He opened the box, and inside of the box, was a golden Snitch. "Read the inscription," Ginny said excitedly.
Draco looked closer and noticed the inscription. "To Hotdragon, you're the best boyfriend ever. I love you, Draco. Love, Fierysprite," he read aloud.
"That way you'll never forget how we met. Draco?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. How could anything be wrong? Everything's perfect," he replied dazedly.
"Do you like it?" she asked apprehensively.
"Do I like it? Of course I like it. I love it. Gin, this is without a doubt the best Christmas present I've ever gotten," Draco raved. That's when she noticed his eyes were over bright. She was about to comment on this, but decided to let it go.
"Good," Ginny said as she leaned in to kiss him.
"I love you too, Gin," Draco whispered just before their lips met for a gently, love-filled kiss.
When they broke away a few minutes later, Draco asked Ginny curiously, "How'd you get it engraved?"
She blushed slightly before answering, "Well, I wasn't sure how I could do it. Almost all of the stores were already closed, it was Christmas Eve, and it was late. Then I thought of one of the wizards and witches in our house. I couldn't ask my Mum or Dad because they'd ask too many questions, so would Bill, Charlie, and Percy. The twins wouldn't ask anything, but I didn't trust them to inscribe the right thing. That only left your Mum."
"My mum did that for you?" Draco questioned, Ginny nodded. "And she didn't tell me?"
Ginny had to laugh at his reaction; the look of mock hurt on his face was priceless. "Of course she didn't tell you. It would have ruined the surprise!" Ginny exclaimed.
"I know, I was only kidding. I'm glad she kept it a secret. It made this moment all the better," Draco assured her with a smile.
"You are so odd sometimes," Ginny commented playfully.
"I think you've told me that a few times, and I'll say, once more, I know," he replied.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.
"Draco? Ginny? Time for lunch," Mrs. Malfoy called from the kitchen.
As Ginny walked passed Narcissa, she said gratefully, "Thank you so much, for inscribing it and getting everyone out of the room so I could give it to him. He loved it. He said it was the best Christmas present he'd ever gotten. It brought tears to his eyes."
"I knew he'd like it, and I'm glad I could help," Mrs. Malfoy replied with a genuine smile. "Now, go sit down."

*~*~*~*

After lunch, which went by without a hitch, everyone gathered in the living room. It was snowing outside, and Ginny couldn't wait to get out there. "Hey, anyone want to go outside? I love going outside when it's snowing!" she exclaimed.
"Good idea, Gin. Let's go, maybe we could play Quidditch," Ron suggested.
"We don't have enough people," Charlie pointed out.
"Well, if everyone plays, we play six on six," Ginny said.
"That would work," Fred added. "There's either one Beater or two Chasers. Captains can choose which."
"What does everyone think?" George asked, looking around expectantly.
The only one's looking a little reluctant were Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Malfoy. "I haven't been on a broom since my first year at Hogwarts," Narcissa said uncertainly.
"Neither have I," Mrs. Weasley told them.
"You'll be fine, you never forget how to ride a broom," Draco assured.
"Oh, alright," Mrs. Weasley conceded.
"I guess I'll play too," Mrs. Malfoy relented.
"Alright, so who are Captains?" Bill asked.
"How about Draco and Harry?" Ginny suggested. "Keep some of their rivalry alive, Draco quit the Quidditch team, after all."
"That works for me. What about everyone else?" Charlie questioned.
Everyone nodded, and the teams were picked. Draco, Ginny, George, Bill, Mrs. Malfoy, and Percy were one team, and the other team was Harry, Ron, Fred, Charlie, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Let's get started," Draco said once everyone had a broom. They'd had to transfigure a few things so they would have enough. Each team had decided to have one Beater instead of two. The twins, on their respectable teams, were the Beaters. On Draco's team, Ginny, Bill, and Percy were the Chasers, Draco was the Seeker, and Mrs. Malfoy was the Keeper. On Harry's team, Mrs. Weasley was the Keeper, Mr. Weasley, Charlie, and Ron were the Chasers, and Harry was the Seeker. There had been some debate on who should be the Seeker, Harry or Charlie, but they'd chosen Harry because he hadn't ever lost to Draco.
Then the game began. The Snitch was released along with the Bludgers. Then Mr. Weasley threw the Quaffle up and jumped on his broom. Ginny caught the Quaffle and was off towards the goal. She was in the middle, Bill and Percy on each side of her. Ginny passed the Quaffle to Bill who passed it to Percy, who passed it back. Then Bill faked a shot, but instead, passed it to Ginny, who threw it into the far hoop from where her mother was. It went in easily. "Ginny Weasley shoots and.... SCORES! And the crowd goes wild!" Ginny announced excitedly.
Then the game continued, Ron had the Quaffle, and he tried to pass it to Charlie. A Bludger, sent by George, whizzed past Charlie, throwing off his balance. Bill took this as an opportunity to intercept the pass. He tossed it down the pitch to Ginny. She passed it to Percy who shot it in the left hoop, scoring another ten points. "That's twenty for Draco's Dragons, zero for Harry's Lightning Bolt," Ginny exclaimed playfully.
"What are you? Chaser or the commentator?" Harry asked. "I like those team names though."
"Why do they get to be the Dragons?" Charlie whined.
"Because we have Draco on our team," Ginny explained.
"Whatever," Charlie said sulkily.
Ginny only rolled her eyes and turned back to the game. Ron had the Quaffle, and he passed it to Charlie. He faked a left shot, but then threw it towards the right hoop. It went in, but barely. Narcissa hadn't fallen for his fake and had almost stopped it.
"Nice try, Mrs. Malfoy," Ginny encouraged over her shoulder as she sped to the other half of the pitch.
"Oh, the Lightening Bolts score, the score is now ten to," Ron began, but trailed off as a scene developed. Draco dove sharply and leaned down on his broom. He'd seen the Snitch! What made Ron stop his commentary was the fact that Harry took off after Draco, but knew he'd never make it. Draco was already too far ahead. His fingers were only millimeters away from the Snitch, and it disappeared. It had flown away. Draco pulled his broom out of its dive disappointedly. He'd almost had it. Oh well, I'll get it next time, he told himself reassuringly.
A half an hour passed with no more sightings of the Snitch. The score was Draco's Dragons, eighty, Harry's Lightning Bolts, fifty. Mrs. Malfoy turned out to be a pretty good Keeper, stopping a lot of the other team's shots. Ginny was beginning to wish that she had a pair of gloves. Her hands were starting to get numb.
Then Draco dove again. This time, Harry was closer, but Draco still had a big lead. This time, he wouldn't let it get away. He stretched out his arm, and felt his fingers close around the little gold ball. He'd caught! He held it up and heard his teammates cheer. "We won! Dragons win! Dragons win!" Ginny shouted.
"I caught it! I caught the Snitch! I beat Harry! Finally!" Draco yelled happily.
He laughed at he saw Ginny flying toward him. She skillfully slid off of her broom on to his. He was afraid it was going to tip forward, but it was fine. Once she was situated, Ginny gave Draco a big hug and then kissed him. "You finally beat him!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, I did," he said in amazement.
"Let's go in and get some hot chocolate," Mrs. Weasley suggested.

*~*~*~*

Everyone quickly agreed to Mrs. Weasley's suggestion. They all filed into the house and continued into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley conjured up a pot and began to make some hot chocolate. Gathering around the table, both teams waited for the warm drink to be ready.
"Everyone sit down, I'll hand you each a cup," Mrs. Weasley announced.
They all sat down in chair, all except Ginny, who opted for Draco's lap instead. "Hey," Draco squawked. "Every time we sit down are you going to sit on top of me?"
"Well," Ginny began thoughtfully. "I could always sit on Harry's lap. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." after finishing this, she gave Harry a discreet wink.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind at all," Harry agreed, playing along. Ginny even began to get up off of Draco's lap, before he intervened. He wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her from getting up.
"Don't you dare leave, I wasn't complaining, I was just asking," Draco said quickly.
"Alright then, yes, I am going to sit on you every time we sit down," Ginny answered, giving him a kiss.
"Great game, that was," Bill commented, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "A little short though."
"You just say that because you won," Harry teased. "The only reason you won was out of pure luck."
"Hey," Draco snapped mock indignantly. "I resent that."
"Resent it all you want, but it doesn't change anything," Harry pointed out.
"You're just jealous," Draco shot back, sticking his tongue out like a three year old.
"Oh, real mature, Malfoy," Harry retorted.
"Oh, so it's back to Malfoy, is it?" Draco asked, his voice tinged with mock hurt.
"Only when you act stupid," Harry informed him.
"I was not acting stupid," Draco protested.
"Yes, you were," Harry argued.
"Was not."
"Were too."
"Was NOT."
"Were TOO."
"Alright, children, stop fighting and apologize," Ginny commanded, feeling very much like a mother, trying to keep the peace between her three year old sons.
"No," they said in defiant unison.
"Yes," she insisted, giving them each a stern look.
"Fine, sorry," Draco spat.
"I'm sorry too," Harry shot back nastily.
"God, you too really are like three year olds," Ginny said, shaking her head.
Draco was about to protest, but thought better of it. It would only serve to prove her point. "Yeah, we were acting like little kids," Draco admitted.
"It beats really fighting with each other like we used to," Harry pointed out.
"You got that right," Draco agreed.
There was a comfortable silence following this comment, only broken by the sipping of hot chocolate and the clanking of the mugs being set on the table. The silence let Draco revel in the joy of being in such a warm environment, both in temperature and affection. This was definitely the best Christmas he'd ever had. It was as close to perfect as Christmas could be.