The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower

On Christmas morning, Ginny awoke early, and got dressed excitedly. She loved Christmas, all the presents, and all the great food. She could contain herself no longer and ripped the wrapping off of the first parcel on her pile.

Another sweater from mum, she thought. The sweater was dark green, a nice change from the purple one she had received the previous year. Ginny hated purple.

Quite soon, everybody in Gryffindor tower was ripping paper off of parcels and excitedly babbling about their presents, thanking each other, and trying on new clothes.

***

Draco made his way down to the Slytherin common room where Blaise was waiting for him.

"For you," she said tossing him his gift, which was wrapped in Slytherin colours.

He smiled. "Thanks. This one's for you," he said, tossing her an almost identical package. Draco was suddenly hit in the head by a small box wrapped in gold paper.

"That's my present, Drakey-poo!" Pansy (who still had the remnants of a beak)Â squealed.

Draco pulled his wand out of his pocket, along with a bit of parchment. He transfigured the parchment into a card, and tossed it in Pansy's direction. Pansy squealed with delight.

Blaise laughed. "Well well, Draco, what's that you got from Pansy?"

Draco unwrapped the gift from Pansy. "A ring?!"

Blaise's smirk faded. Draco dropped the box, and Pansy squealed with delight, once again.

***

Ginny went to breakfast with Seamus, Ron, and Hermione. Seamus and Ginny had come to an unspoken agreement to forget about the events of the previous night. Ron and Hermione, who were so happy it was sickly, found their seats across from Harry. Harry was still upset about Cho, but talking to Ron and Hermione definitely helped a great deal.

Ginny looked over in the direction of the Slytherin table. There were only three people there, none of them Draco or Blaise. Ginny was disappointed because she had never got to see Pansy after she'd been hexed, and probably wouldn't get to see her until she was fully cured. Such a disappointment. She was also disappointed that Blaise and Draco weren't at the Slytherin table; she'd wanted to spend Christmas with them.

***

The Slytherin common room had exploded like a firecracker. Draco had dropped the ring, which burst into flames at his feet, Blaise had once again hexed Pansy, who now had horns sticking out of her head, and Millicent Bulstrode, Morag MacDougal, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle had been blown out of the window for unexplainable reasons. Some of the fourth years were running around in madness, and some of the seventh years who had heard the commotion from their dormitories had bounded down the stairs and put Millicent in a full body-bind.

Draco was standing in the middle of the room, looking completely dumbstruck, and Pansy was standing to his right, looking completely bull-like.

"Why?" she shrieked. "Why Draco? WHY?"

"What the Hell was that?" Draco said, pointing at the ground, toward the ring.

"MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO YOU!" cried Pansy.

"SOME PRESENT!" yelled Blaise. "That could have killed him!"

"NOOOOO!" Pansy cried. "It wasn't supposed to explode like that!"

"Well, I'm lucky it did," said Draco, "what if I had been stupid enough to keep it?"

"That's what your supposed to do!" said Pansy.

"Don't you ever try to pull a stunt like that again!" Draco shouted.

"I have a feeling we aren't talking about the ring just exploding any more," said Blaise.

"No, that repulsive bitch over there, she's trying to bind me to her," said Draco.

"What the Hell? You're really messed up. Both of you," said Blaise. "How's that stupid ring thingy supposed to bind you two together? Or is it an engagement ring? Because if so, Ginny wouldn't like it, and she's capable of doing a lot of damage, trust me."

"Blaise, shut up a second and give me some time to explain, dammit," said Draco, almost yelling.

Blaise obeyed.

"Okay," said Draco. "The thing is, this ring, if that's what you want to call it, it has these charms on it. There's a tracking charm, and loyalty charm, and a binding one, and a few others, and it's really dangerous."

"How do you know about it?" Blaise questioned. "I mean, how did you know that this ring has those charms on it? And what other ones are there?"

"Well, I know because my mother has a necklace that's been charmed, and there's something about it, you can just tell if it's been charmed," Draco replied.

"What other charms are on it?" Blaise repeated.

"Well, there's one that wouldn't allow me, to, er... Do stuff, with other girls," Draco said.

"What about with other boys?" Blaise asked.

"I suppose not. It's sort of a, er, possessive thing. It's rather stupid, and it's plain pathetic, receiving one from someone you can't stand," said Draco, turning to Pansy. "Are you completely stupid?" he asked. "Or are you just desperate?"

Pansy didn't reply, instead, she ran out of the common room, tears streaming down her face.

"Well," said Blaise, "I think that means both."

***

After Ginny had finished her breakfast, she didn't feel much like being around Harry, Ron, Hermione, Colin, or anybody else in Gryffindor, so she decided to go for a walk in the grounds. She stopped near the lake. She could stand here forever, just looking into the lake, seeing how unpredictable life could be, how spontaneous love was...

She used to sit by the lake and read in the summer, it was so relaxing to listen to the chirping birds and to get lost in a book. She always felt as though she could sit there forever, but she always ended up going back to the castle, and resuming normal every-day life.

She stood still, the wind fluttering through her red hair, the cold stinging her ears and nose. She stood silhouetted in her black robes against the white snow. She stood alone.

This is what peace is, thought Ginny. This is something nobody in the world can have at this moment. This is what Blaise will never have. This is peace.

"Happy Christmas," said a voice behind her, bringing her back to Earth.

It was Draco. He was smiling, and she smiled back. He looked different, somehow, his face and hair was the same as always, but his eyes, his cold grey eyes were so warm, and happy? Could a Malfoy ever be happy?

"And Happy Christmas to you, Malfoy," said Ginny, still smiling.

"It's Draco," Draco said. "Call me Draco."

"All right, Draco," said Ginny.

"Only special people can call me Draco, well, except Pansy, she's just dense," said Draco. "And you're special, so you can call me Draco."

Ginny smiled. She really didn't know what to say. She wished he hadn't called her special, it made her feel uncomfortable. "You're special too," she said.

"Am I?" said Draco, slightly shocked, or as shocked as it was possible for him to be.

Ginny nodded. "Of course you are. Aren't we all?" Ginny instantly regretted saying those words.

"Oh. Yeah... Aren't we all," said Draco, feeling sadder than before.

"Er, especially for a Malfoy, you're really nice," said Ginny.

"Well, you're all right for a Weasley," he replied. "You know, my father wouldn't want me to be with a Weasley."

"Yeah, my parents wouldn't want me to be with a Malfoy, and neither would any of my brothers," said Ginny.

"How many brothers do you have again?" asked Draco, nervously.

"Six," replied Ginny.

Draco whistled. "The Head Boy, the dragon keeper, the beaters, the bad tempered one, and there's another?"

"Bill," said Ginny. "He works for Gringotts."

Draco looked startled. "I'll have taken a million bludgers to the head, have all my money taken away, be burned to the core by dragons, and be burping up slugs in Azkaban by the time I'm seventeen at this rate."

"Or you could just not break my heart," Ginny suggested.

"How could I?" Draco asked. "You're threatening me."

"Oh, sorry."

***

Blaise was sent to Professor Snape's office for the fifth time that month, but her spirits were still high.

"How many times, Miss Zabini, must I tell you, DO NOT hex your class mates," said Snape in exasperation.

"But Professor! It was Pansy's fault!" Blaise protested.

"You need to control your actions Blaise!" Snape shouted.

"Okay, I'll try," Blaise lied.

"Don't lie to me," said Snape, his voice amused.

"Okay, I'll try," Blaise repeated.

"Don't lie to me," Snape said again.

"And we're back here again," said Blaise.

"All right, Zabini, now get out of my office."

Blaise left the office, closing the door behind her. She ran outside and to the lake. Finally! she thought. Free at last! Damn Pansy to Hell!

She looked up and spotted two people standing by the lake. One with silver blonde hair, the other with fiery red hair. Draco and Ginny. She decided not to interrupt them just yet, she'd break their hearts later, so she went back into the castle.

Harry and Cho were in the Entrance Hall, talking. Shit, thought Blaise. Dammit... Not this again!

They must be meant for each other to still be together after all that had happened just the previous night. There didn't seem to be any way to break them up. Blaise headed back to the Slytherin dungeon to rethink her entire plan. Maybe if she killed off Cho, then Harry would be devastated, and then she could dispose of all his friends, one by one...

***

Blaise had been in the Slytherin common room for a few hours now, all alone. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to write up the murder of Ginny Weasley. She'd already planned the murder of every Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in the school, except Ginny Weasley.

Blaise made a sound of frustration and tossed her little black book across the room. Draco, who had just entered the common room, caught the book.

He was smiling, looking genuinely happy. What now? thought Blaise.

"Thanks Blaise," he said. "Thanks for everything."

Blaise rolled her eyes. "What's gotten into you? This Christmas spirit thing is turning everyone queer. First Terry's acting like a pathetic love fool, then Potter and his girlfriend get back together, and now you."

"Sorry Blaise," said Draco. "But for a Gryffindor, and a Weasley, Ginny is really great, I swear."

Blaise wanted to say something like, 'she's using you,' or 'she's just lying to you,' but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead, she said, "I'm happy for you."