Deck the Halls; {draco/ginny}
Title: Deck the Halls
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters//Pairing(s): Draco/Ginny, Blaise/Luna
Rating: PG 13
Summary: It's Christmas but Ginny isn't feeling very charitable. It'll take a special someone to put her in the holly, jolly mood.
A/N: A Christmas fic. Beta’d by darkhamadryad. I disclaim.
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Deck the Halls
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December 19
A thick, white blanket of snow covered the Hogwarts castle and the neighbouring village of Hogsmeade. The magical castle was well warded against the cold by warming charms and happily blazing fires.
Ginny Weasley and her blonde Ravenclaw companion were patrolling the halls during the lunch break to ensure that no one was breaking the rules. After coming up on the fifth couple in a row involved in a heated snog under mistletoe, Ginny had finally lost her temper. Instead of letting them off with a warning, she had deducted ten points from each of their houses for inappropriate public displays of affection. And one of them was a Gryffindor.
‘Ginevra,’ Luna never used Ginny’s full name unless she was concerned or very, very peeved. ‘I’m not one to condone the inappropriate use of mistletoe, especially considering the risk of Nargles, but don’t you think that was a tad excessive?’
Ginny glared at her friend. Luna just stared back with mildly protuberant eyes.
‘Excessive? No, that’s not excessive, Luna. Excessive is finding a couple who can’t keep their hands off each other in every bloody alcove. Excessive, Luna, is spotting mistletoe at every bloody turn and someone under it SNOGGING.
‘Excessive is the incessant public displays of affection from every member of every house behind every bloody tapestry in the whole bloody school!’ Ginny was working herself into a fine rant. Her normally placid brown eyes were blazing and her fiery red hair seemed to crackle like the flames.
‘Excessive isn’t docking points for kissing, Luna, oh no, excessive is being forced to track down wayward couples in every deserted classroom in this godforsaken den of Christmas inebriation taking advantage of the holiday spirit to go after each other like-’
The rest if her sentence went unheard as Ginny’s voice was muted by Luna’s Silencing Charm. Her mouth still opened and closed but no words came out. Whatever it was Ginny had been about to say, Luna was sure it shouldn’t be said within earshot of the staffroom. Ginny seemed to calm down enough to close her mouth and glare at her friend. Luna removed the charm but didn’t lower her wand in case she needed to use it again. She decided to try a different tactic.
‘What’s happened to your Christmas spirit, Ginny? Have you been attacked by Momeraths recently?’ The blonde peered at her friend in concern
Ginny was usually full to bursting of spirit and good cheer, almost nauseatingly so at times. Her chipper attitude extended beyond the realms of Gryffindor to invade other houses through her classes. As of late, Ginny had become increasingly irritable and snappish. Luna would have assumed it was a bad break-up if not for the fact that Ginny hadn’t dated since her fruitless attempts at making Harry jealous in her fourth year. Maybe she was just upset about Harry finally getting together with Hermione.
‘Christmas spirit, my arse,’ Ginny scoffed. ‘None of these prats have any Christmas spirit. They’re just taking advantage of everyone else’s good cheer to sneak extra eggnog and snog under shrubs. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with my Christmas spirit, Luna. It’s that every one of these self-absorbed gits spends their time kissing some other self-absorbed git, whereas I haven’t had so much as a brotherly peck on the cheek SINCE LAST MAY!’
Her hair was crackling again. Luna steered her friend around the corner and into a more deserted corridor. They were beginning to get a few stares. Well, Ginny was getting the stares. It was a novel feeling for Luna not to be the focus of curious gazes.
‘Gin, you’ve got to calm down.’
‘I am calm, Luna.’ She pointed at herself. ‘This is me calm, see: CALM!’
Luna refrained from pointing out that Ginny was in fact the very opposite of calm as she was raving and waving her hands rather wildly. Luna hadn’t known that going this long without a snog could have such disastrous symptoms.
‘There’s mistletoe everywhere-EVERYWHERE-Luna! Why can’t I find someone decent to get stuck under it with? It’s Christmas, for Merlin’s sake; I want to be kissed! I demand-no, I DESERVE-a curl-your-toes, turn-your-knees-to-jelly, once-in-a-lifetime-is-it-ever-this-good, full-blown, honest-to-goodness snog.’
Luna regarded her friend warily. Ginny didn’t blow up at just anything. Obviously this mistletoe thing was a sore issue with her. But, Luna wondered, why now? Why hadn’t she acted out before?
Ginny continued to fume as Luna took her hand to lead her on the rest of their rounds. She threatened Ginny with another Silencing Charm if he kept up the unfair punishments.
Neither girl noticed the presence of the Head Boy and his best friend behind them. It began with a chuckle.
‘Fancy that, Zabini, the littlest Weasel’s feeling deprived.’
‘She’s not the only one who’s sexually frustrated, Malfoy,’ the Head Boy rejoined.
Draco scowled.
‘Yes, well, not all of us have the advantage of a different wench gracing our bed every week,’ Draco shot back.
‘You could if you wanted to,’ Blaise said dryly.
Draco said nothing, verifying Blaise’s statement.
‘You’ve just had your eye on the youngest Weasley for quite sometime now,’ he continued.
Draco remained silent, fixing his friend with a cool stare.
‘You can be as impassive as you like Mr. Slytherin Prince, but I know better, just remember that.’
‘Yes, Blaise,’ Draco said finally, ‘But I know that your current tastes run to willowy, blue-eyed blondes.’
Blaise glared at him. Draco smirked in return, knowing the comment had hit its mark. Blaise was far too easy to provoke sometimes, especially for a Slytherin.
‘Blaise, darling,’ a simpering voice purred from their left.
Draco and Blaise turned as one, their features indifferent, to face the new onslaught: Pansy Parkinson. She latched her overly adorned figure onto Blaise’s arm while still managing to stare adoringly at Draco beneath her eyelashes. Blaise rolled his eyes, impatience and annoyance playing undisguised on his face.
‘Darling, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I wanted to remind you about our date tonight.’ She licked her lips hungrily. Blaise cringed. Draco raised a sardonic eyebrow.
‘Pansy,’ Blaise said as he attempted to detach her vice-like grip on his arm, ‘I don’t have a date with you tonight. You must have me confused with Nott. I hear he’s indiscriminate enough when he’s completely pissed.’
Blaise’s words were hard, but no less than Pansy deserved. She had been flaunting herself around Slytherin ever since Blaise had dropped her as weekly entertainment. That had been around the time a certain blonde Ravenclaw had caught his eye and he had lessened his nightly indiscretions to almost non-existence. Pansy’s attempts to make Blaise jealous had been unsuccessful, to say the least. Right now, Draco was sure they were beginning to piss Blaise off.
Pansy’s blank face would have amused Draco if he had been in the mood to be amused by her. But quite frankly, he too was getting upset with her actions, especially after she had attempted to use him last week in another desperate bid to garner Blaise’s attention.
‘Pansy, darling,’ Draco shot Blaise a look: he didn’t think Blaise should be encouraging her, sarcastic or otherwise. ‘It’s been over between us since the end of September when I caught you tonguing Crabbe at the monthly Slytherin party. I know you weren’t drunk. Actually, I think it’s a bit sad that you can’t move on from me. I obviously won’t take you back, Pansy, because I’ve set my sights a bit higher, you know, like on the rest of the female population.’
The girl’s face had metamorphosed from blank to simpering to upset and, finally to irate in the few seconds it took Blaise to finish his speech. Her indignation at Blaise’s rejection showed that it stung more than his dig at her character. Shallow, shallow bint, Draco thought. Blaise was extremely patient to have put up with her for so long. But everyone has their breaking point.
Blaise walked away from the girl now sputtering curses and imprecations about whatever new bint Blaise was bedding-as if it was any of her business. Draco followed at a measured pace, his long legs easily catching up to his friend’s short strides.
‘Irritated?’ Blaise flashed him a smile.
‘Relieved.’
Draco smirked at his friend’s reply. Pansy had been bothering him for far too long. It was Christmas; Blaise needed a break, and the bint needed to get a life.
‘What do you plan to do about your current fixation?’ he asked.
Blaise’s usual modus operandi was to bed the wench as often as it took to get her out of his system. Somehow Draco thought it wouldn’t go over well with this particular wench. After being friends with the redhead, she must have picked up a few nasty hexes and probably wouldn’t hesitate to use them. Draco was fairly sure there was a quick mind hidden under that absentminded exterior; she was a Ravenclaw, after all.
‘I’m not sure.’
Draco looked at his friend curiously. Blaise had never not known what he wanted to do.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Draco.’ He hadn’t turned around.
‘Like what?’ Draco asked innocently.
‘Like you can’t believe this is Blaise Zabini, Head boy, bedder of bints, and violator of virgins.’ His lips twisted wryly.
‘I can’t, but people change, Zabini.’
A flash of red around a corner caught Draco’s eye.
‘Aye, Draco that they do.’
Draco scowled at his friend’s smirking face, and they walked back to the dungeons in contemplative thought.
December 21
Two days later, Ginny was once again patrolling the corridors, this time by herself. She had her wand out and was twirling it between her fingers. Feeling mellow and very charitable, she refrained from blasting down the mistletoe branches and didn’t dock any points for the snogging in the hallway. She merely reminded the last couple she had caught that the first years might be alarmed by the excessive groping. It turned out the couple had been second years.
The next corner she turned, she found herself confronted with Malfoy and Zabini, Slytherin prats extraordinaire. They were arguing heatedly and hadn’t noticed her in front of them. She thought of turning around but that would look like she was running away and Ginny was nothing if not a Gryffindor. She stuck out her chin defiantly and continued walking. As she neared she heard her name and Luna’s. Frowning in confusion, she wondered what the two seventh years could be plotting that included her and her friend.
She was almost on top of them when they noticed her. Malfoy stopped short, looking alarmed before schooling his features into a look of haughty disdain. Blaise acknowledged her with a nod.
‘Weasley,’ Draco said arrogantly. ‘Can’t watch where you’re going can you?’
Ginny glowered at him with all the strength her five foot four inch frame could muster. It was quite a glower. Zabini looked reluctantly impressed. Malfoy was unfazed. She stepped away from him; his cologne was impairing her judgment. Arching a cinnamon eyebrow, she responded with disdain equal to Malfoy’s, ‘Why, Malfoy, if you wanted to stand this close to me all you had to do was ask. No need to get nasty about it.’
Ginny felt a surge of pleasure as Draco tinged pink. She smirked devilishly at him while employing the coyest look she could muster.
Draco looked taken aback at her expression, before covering his surprise with a smirk. He closed the distance between them, and Ginny was alarmed for a brief moment before she remembered her wand dangling limply in her hand. Draco was much too close for Ginny’s comfort; they were practically sharing the same air. Before she could tell him so, he had raised a hand to stroke her cheekbone. His grey eyes bore into hers, and Ginny found she couldn’t look away. The stormy grey orbs resembled tempestuous storms revealing a myriad of emotions to which she was sure Draco never gave free reign.
She drew in a shuddering breath, finding suddenly that she didn’t have enough oxygen. Every time she inhaled she smelled more of his cologne; it was wreaking havoc with her senses, just like his fingers now tracing her lips. He leaned in closer and Ginny realized with a horrible certainty that she wanted him to kiss her.
‘Don’t flatter yourself, Weasel,’ he whispered softly. The critical words sounded like a caress but were cold water to Ginny’s consciousness.
Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him, not remembering when she closed them in the first place. He was smirking at her, knowing he’d had an effect. Damn him, Ginny thought angrily. She raised her wand and found her voice, surprised that it sounded so steady in contrast to the emotions raging within her.
‘Sod off, Malfoy, before I hex your bits to hell in a hand basket.’
Zabini chuckled. She glared at him. He looked at her in mock innocence. Narrowing her eyes, she returned her attention to Malfoy.
‘I didn’t know they had hexes for that,’ he said wryly.
‘Make no mistake about it, Malfoy, they do and I won’t hesitate to use them on you if you ever pull that stunt again.’
An angry redhead with a wand should be considered armed and dangerous, Ginny thought, particularly one that grew up around six annoying brothers.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow but backed off. Zabini was still smirking. Thought it was funny, did they? She’d give them something to laugh about. She gave a smirk of her own.
‘Rictumsempra!’ she cried, hitting both of them simultaneously using the wand movement she had learned from Bill.
They doubled over laughing, and Ginny allowed herself a moment or two to gloat. They were so easy. She took her time walking down the length of the corridor, debating whether to end the jinx or leave them to the mercy of whoever happened on them first. The Gryffindor in her won out, and before she turned the corner she fired the counter-jinx at their prone figures. Still smirking, she continued on her rounds with an unidentified spike in her Christmas spirits.
December 24
The dark night complemented with twinkling stars was a picturesque backdrop for the enchanted school. The village beside it looked cut out of a Christmas card, with the snow topped houses and chimneys curling smoke. The branches of the Forbidden Forest swayed menacingly in the wind and deep within, a creature howled. There was a full moon, and the orb shed its pearly glow on all inhabitants of the Earth. Santa Clause, if you believe in him, had the perfect weather to do his rounds.
Luna skipped along the corridors letting her fair hair fly behind her like a cape. She was in good spirits: it was Christmas Eve and she still had most of her belongings. It was a first in all the time she had been at Hogwarts; her personal Borogove must have been looking out for her. She whirled around the corner, blissfully happy in her own daydreams, and struck a warm body.
He smells nice, was the first thought that floated across Luna’s head before she stumbled backwards and was caught by a pair of equally warm arms. She rested her hands against a muscled chest to get her bearings before looking up at the face of her rescuer. Her breath caught in her throat as her misty blue eyes met eyes the colour of dark chocolate. Rich, dark chocolate: the creamy kind that you love to swirl around your mouth and hope the flavour never goes away.
Luna was shocked at her wayward thoughts and some of her confusion must have shown on her face because Blaise Zabini smirked down at her, an amused glint in his eyes. Luna suddenly found it very hard to breathe. They were standing very, very close, and she could smell his cologne with every breath. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt and she unconsciously leaned closer.
‘So, what’s a girl like you doing out on a night like this?’ his voice was husky, and its timbre made her shiver. He pressed her closer.
Luna had to smile at the overused line. She felt unidentifiably pleased that Blaise Zabini was flirting with her, Luna Lovegood. He glanced above their heads. Luna shut her eyes to avoid the cliché that was certainly coming next.
Blaise (when they were standing this close, last names seemed a bit too formal) chuckled.
‘Mistletoe,’ he pointed out unnecessarily.
‘Nargles,’ Luna whispered.
He laughed at that before allowing his lips to descend on hers. Soft, was Luna’s first scattered thought. His lips were indefinably soft and velvety and warm despite the chilly air. They were firm where hers were yielding, and he took control of the exchange. Flicking his tongue against the seam of her lips, he coaxed her to open them. She whimpered against his lips and felt him smirk in return.
Luna wished she had Ginny’s backbone to step away and smack him solidly across the cheek. Though if her friend was in her position and Malfoy took the place of Blaise, Luna wasn't sure that Ginny would have pulled away. She was beginning to lose her ability to rationalize as Blaise continued to plunder her mouth. Luna had never been kissed like this before-she had never been kissed, period. Blaise definitely knew what he was doing, and Luna wasn’t going to pass up the chance to learn from a master.
Before she realized it, her knees had given way, and the only force keeping her upright was Blaise’s arms around her waist. Not content with simply being kissed, Luna decided to kiss back. Threading her forgotten hands through Blaise’s dark hair, she was both surprised and pleased at its rough texture. Its short locks felt crisp and slightly damp as if he had just washed it; he probably had. Using some of the tricks Blaise taught her, she repaid him in kind, teasing his tongue with her own and deepening the kiss as they stood pressed closely together.
Blaise’s arms tightened around her waist as he pulled away, brushing butterfly kisses along her jaw and throat. Luna gasped for air and took several shaky breaths. Clinging to Blaise’s shoulders was unbecoming, but she couldn’t help it. He had lifted her feet clear off the ground with his strong grip around her waist. If this is what walking on air feels like, Luna thought, I never want to come down. But gravity worked its ageless magic, and slowly, reluctantly, it seemed, Blaise lowered her to the floor. She kept her head down, not wanting to look up for fear of seeing a look of great disappointment on his features. She wasn't that good a kisser, she knew, but she thought she hadn’t done very badly for a first timer.
Blaise tilted her chin upward with his finger and stared at her with eyes darker than before. Luna’s breath caught-again. She felt like a Wrackspurt had messed with her brain, but remembered that she still wore her lucky Gurdyroot. The sensation was all Blaise, then. Her reactions scared her. Luna’s arms were still linked around his head and his rested casually at her waist. He touched his forehead to hers, breathing deeply.
‘Wow.’
Luna couldn’t resist the smile that spread across her face. So she hadn’t been terrible after all.
‘Christmas may just be my new favourite holiday,’ she said quietly, smiling faintly.
Blaise’s lips quirked.
‘It’s all the mistletoe. The eggnog may loosen inhibitions, but the mistletoe gives people a reason to act out their latent desires.’
His voice was husky again and it was affecting Luna deeply. Before she could pull him down for another snog he said, ‘Let’s find somewhere private, so that red-headed friend of yours doesn’t dock any points.’
She giggled softly and put her hand in his as he led her to less public accommodations.
December 25
Christmas morning dawned subtly, clinging to its cover of night until the sun broke over the horizons. It was not the only reluctant riser, as Ginny groaned and turned over, facing the poorly decorated wall in her dormitory.
Happy bloody Christmas indeed. Ginny was not in a good mood. She threw back the covers savagely and stalked over to her trunk to get dressed. She ignored the presents waiting on her bed, figuring that she was in no mood to open them right now. She couldn’t stand the thought of another Weasley jumper clashing horribly with her hair, and though her mother’s cookies were to die for, she had absolutely no appetite this morning.
She really shouldn’t be complaining, she realized, while donning comfy dark blue jeans. She had a family that loved her. She pulled a dark green jumper over her navy Weird Sisters Tee. She had friends that stood by her. She stuffed her feet into a pair of hand-me-down sneakers that had seen much better days. She shouldn’t need a corny snog underneath the mistletoe to make her Christmas bright. She stomped downstairs.
This thought process was not doing wonders for her mood.
Ginny decided to go to the library to get some homework done. She was disgusted with herself. It was a perfectly lovely day outside, freezing cold but also beautiful. If she had any spine at all, she would head outside and join one of the impromptu snowball fights that cropped up around this time. No, she thought firmly, what good was going outside and getting cold if you had no one to warm you up? Her thoughts were much too maudlin. She was acting like a sentimental simpering school-girl.
Ginny gave herself a very firm shake mentally and told herself, in no uncertain terms, that she was to get her act together or risk being weepy when she went back to the common Room. She was in no mood to answer unwanted questions and continued bravely to the library. Ahead of her in the corridor were, for the second time in four days, Malfoy and Zabini, arguing. Well, it looked more like Zabini trying to tell Malfoy something that he was desperate to ignore. Knitting her brow in curiosity, she moved forward, eager to hear their argument.
‘-should just go ahead and kiss her!’ Zabini was saying, but Malfoy remained stubborn.
‘It’s not as easy as you make it sound. It’s all well and good for you when you’ve nabbed yours-and that sounded remarkably easy by the way-but the rest of us don’t have swooning romantic targets.’
‘Maybe if you stopped thinking of her as a target and more of a GIRL you may be inclined to get her. And Luna was not a swooning romantic. She was skipping, if you must know.’ Zabini sniffed indignantly.
Ginny would have laughed if she wasn’t so confused. They were talking about Malfoy’s next conquest? And what did Luna have to do with anything?
As she neared, Zabini broke off and motioned to Malfoy to turn around. He did so impatiently, but when he caught sight of her, his eyes widened. Ginny was becoming more befuddled by the second. She was beginning to think that one of Luna’s famed Wrackspurts had gotten her. Her confusion increased when Zabini smirked at her and wandered off, leaving Malfoy on his own.
The boy in question ran a hand though his hair distractedly. He’s stopped gelling it back, Ginny noticed and wondered when he’d let off the hair products.
‘Hi.’
Ginny was even more confused. No scathing remark? No dig at her family? Something was most definitely afoot. She said nothing. Malfoy moved closer, and for some reason, Ginny couldn’t find the will to move her legs.
He stopped when he was a few inches away and lifted a pale manicured hand to touch her face. Hesitation showed in his eyes even as the grey orbs darkened to charcoal, and his hand hovered above her cheek. He almost towered over her, he was that tall, and Ginny realized the next move was up to her. She could get her Christmas snog after all, and from Malfoy no less. All that was missing was-she looked up and sure enough a sprig of the shrub was hovering a few feet above them-the mistletoe.
She smirked and leaned forward, deciding to throw caution to the winds. She already knew Malfoy had technique. All that remained was to see if he was as good a kisser as the gossip girls of Hogwarts said he was. Surprise flared in his eyes as she moved closer, and he cupped his hand to her face, sinking lower to bridge the distance between them. In between feather light kisses brushing her eyelids and nose, he murmured, ‘I’ll give you a curl-your-toes, turn-your-knees-to-jelly, once-in-a-lifetime-is-it-ever-this-good, full-blown, honest-to-goodness snog. So enjoy, little Weasel. This is Malfoy at his best.’
At any other time, his arrogance would have irked Ginny greatly but now she only wanted him to shut up and kiss her. Merlin, he was taking his time about it, lavishing attention on her neck, ears and jaw line. She was getting weak-kneed, and he hadn’t so much as touched her lips yet. The man was good at what he was doing. She clutched at his shoulders for support, and he gave a low chuckle as if he knew exactly what effect he was having on her. Of course he knows, damnhimdamnhim, but oh she never wanted him to stop.
She became aware that she was mumbling incoherently when he told her to be quiet. He framed her face with his hands and pierced her with stone grey eyes, only they weren’t stone grey anymore. They were a dark slate, swirling like a tumultuous ocean betraying the fighting emotions inside him. Ginny was in awe of the effect she had on him. He moved closer and Ginny, who didn’t think she could stand another bout of teasing kisses growled out, ‘Malfoy if you don’t kiss me now, I will walk away and get my snog elsewhere. I’m sure any Gryffindor boy will be happy to oblige.’
Draco gave a growl of his own that did wonderful things to Ginny’s heartbeat and sounded suspiciously like, ‘Kiss any other bloke and he’s dead, Ginevra.’
She hadn’t known he could be so possessive and they hadn’t even kissed yet. She smirked and he rolled his eyes.
‘Gryffindor wench,’ he teased lightly.
‘Malfoy, I suggest you take my threats very seriously.’
He gave a dramatic sigh. ‘If I must.’
Ginny attempted to pull away, but Draco was stronger and pulled her to his chest, trapping her arms effectively. Any protest she could have made was silenced by his mouth covering hers entirely. She sighed happily into the kiss and slid her arms around his shoulders to find purchase in his gossamer hair. Draco’s arms around her waist tightened as she moved against him, eager to get closer.
Ginny’s insides were performing somersaults as Draco kissed her. This was the Christmas snog she’d been waiting for. Every snappy comment, every mistletoe branch blasted, every point docked, this was more than worth it. Her knees wobbled as she deepened the kiss, giving as good as she got and tipping on her toes to press against him.
Ginny didn’t stop until Draco broke the kiss, hugging her close and taking deep breaths. His death grip on her waist prevented her from doing the same, and she wiggled uncomfortably to get him to let go. He chuckled.
‘Sorry.’
‘ ’s okay.’ She mumbled, her face pressed into his jumper, taking deep breaths of her own.
She was shaking, she realized, and holding Draco tightly to keep herself standing. Merlin, he was a good kisser. The gossip girls didn’t know the half of it. She felt a hand brush her hair away from the side of her face and shivered in delight as he blew against her ear.
‘So.’ She looked up at him.
‘So,’ she mimicked.
He smirked, his grey eyes alight and dancing with mischief.
‘Why’d you kiss me?’ she asked, curious.
‘Because I wanted to,’ Draco said simply.
‘But why?’
‘Because you’re beautiful,’ he kissed her forehead. ‘Because you’re smart,’ he kissed her nose. ‘Because you’re sexy,’ he kissed her on the lips.
‘But you’re a Malfoy.’
‘I know.’
‘And I’m a Weasley.’
‘I know.’
She bit her lip in confusion.
‘But-but-oh sod it all,’ she said breathlessly, pulling his head down to hers for another kiss that took their breaths away.
-fin
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters//Pairing(s): Draco/Ginny, Blaise/Luna
Rating: PG 13
Summary: It's Christmas but Ginny isn't feeling very charitable. It'll take a special someone to put her in the holly, jolly mood.
A/N: A Christmas fic. Beta’d by darkhamadryad. I disclaim.
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Deck the Halls
--*--
December 19
A thick, white blanket of snow covered the Hogwarts castle and the neighbouring village of Hogsmeade. The magical castle was well warded against the cold by warming charms and happily blazing fires.
Ginny Weasley and her blonde Ravenclaw companion were patrolling the halls during the lunch break to ensure that no one was breaking the rules. After coming up on the fifth couple in a row involved in a heated snog under mistletoe, Ginny had finally lost her temper. Instead of letting them off with a warning, she had deducted ten points from each of their houses for inappropriate public displays of affection. And one of them was a Gryffindor.
‘Ginevra,’ Luna never used Ginny’s full name unless she was concerned or very, very peeved. ‘I’m not one to condone the inappropriate use of mistletoe, especially considering the risk of Nargles, but don’t you think that was a tad excessive?’
Ginny glared at her friend. Luna just stared back with mildly protuberant eyes.
‘Excessive? No, that’s not excessive, Luna. Excessive is finding a couple who can’t keep their hands off each other in every bloody alcove. Excessive, Luna, is spotting mistletoe at every bloody turn and someone under it SNOGGING.
‘Excessive is the incessant public displays of affection from every member of every house behind every bloody tapestry in the whole bloody school!’ Ginny was working herself into a fine rant. Her normally placid brown eyes were blazing and her fiery red hair seemed to crackle like the flames.
‘Excessive isn’t docking points for kissing, Luna, oh no, excessive is being forced to track down wayward couples in every deserted classroom in this godforsaken den of Christmas inebriation taking advantage of the holiday spirit to go after each other like-’
The rest if her sentence went unheard as Ginny’s voice was muted by Luna’s Silencing Charm. Her mouth still opened and closed but no words came out. Whatever it was Ginny had been about to say, Luna was sure it shouldn’t be said within earshot of the staffroom. Ginny seemed to calm down enough to close her mouth and glare at her friend. Luna removed the charm but didn’t lower her wand in case she needed to use it again. She decided to try a different tactic.
‘What’s happened to your Christmas spirit, Ginny? Have you been attacked by Momeraths recently?’ The blonde peered at her friend in concern
Ginny was usually full to bursting of spirit and good cheer, almost nauseatingly so at times. Her chipper attitude extended beyond the realms of Gryffindor to invade other houses through her classes. As of late, Ginny had become increasingly irritable and snappish. Luna would have assumed it was a bad break-up if not for the fact that Ginny hadn’t dated since her fruitless attempts at making Harry jealous in her fourth year. Maybe she was just upset about Harry finally getting together with Hermione.
‘Christmas spirit, my arse,’ Ginny scoffed. ‘None of these prats have any Christmas spirit. They’re just taking advantage of everyone else’s good cheer to sneak extra eggnog and snog under shrubs. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with my Christmas spirit, Luna. It’s that every one of these self-absorbed gits spends their time kissing some other self-absorbed git, whereas I haven’t had so much as a brotherly peck on the cheek SINCE LAST MAY!’
Her hair was crackling again. Luna steered her friend around the corner and into a more deserted corridor. They were beginning to get a few stares. Well, Ginny was getting the stares. It was a novel feeling for Luna not to be the focus of curious gazes.
‘Gin, you’ve got to calm down.’
‘I am calm, Luna.’ She pointed at herself. ‘This is me calm, see: CALM!’
Luna refrained from pointing out that Ginny was in fact the very opposite of calm as she was raving and waving her hands rather wildly. Luna hadn’t known that going this long without a snog could have such disastrous symptoms.
‘There’s mistletoe everywhere-EVERYWHERE-Luna! Why can’t I find someone decent to get stuck under it with? It’s Christmas, for Merlin’s sake; I want to be kissed! I demand-no, I DESERVE-a curl-your-toes, turn-your-knees-to-jelly, once-in-a-lifetime-is-it-ever-this-good, full-blown, honest-to-goodness snog.’
Luna regarded her friend warily. Ginny didn’t blow up at just anything. Obviously this mistletoe thing was a sore issue with her. But, Luna wondered, why now? Why hadn’t she acted out before?
Ginny continued to fume as Luna took her hand to lead her on the rest of their rounds. She threatened Ginny with another Silencing Charm if he kept up the unfair punishments.
Neither girl noticed the presence of the Head Boy and his best friend behind them. It began with a chuckle.
‘Fancy that, Zabini, the littlest Weasel’s feeling deprived.’
‘She’s not the only one who’s sexually frustrated, Malfoy,’ the Head Boy rejoined.
Draco scowled.
‘Yes, well, not all of us have the advantage of a different wench gracing our bed every week,’ Draco shot back.
‘You could if you wanted to,’ Blaise said dryly.
Draco said nothing, verifying Blaise’s statement.
‘You’ve just had your eye on the youngest Weasley for quite sometime now,’ he continued.
Draco remained silent, fixing his friend with a cool stare.
‘You can be as impassive as you like Mr. Slytherin Prince, but I know better, just remember that.’
‘Yes, Blaise,’ Draco said finally, ‘But I know that your current tastes run to willowy, blue-eyed blondes.’
Blaise glared at him. Draco smirked in return, knowing the comment had hit its mark. Blaise was far too easy to provoke sometimes, especially for a Slytherin.
‘Blaise, darling,’ a simpering voice purred from their left.
Draco and Blaise turned as one, their features indifferent, to face the new onslaught: Pansy Parkinson. She latched her overly adorned figure onto Blaise’s arm while still managing to stare adoringly at Draco beneath her eyelashes. Blaise rolled his eyes, impatience and annoyance playing undisguised on his face.
‘Darling, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I wanted to remind you about our date tonight.’ She licked her lips hungrily. Blaise cringed. Draco raised a sardonic eyebrow.
‘Pansy,’ Blaise said as he attempted to detach her vice-like grip on his arm, ‘I don’t have a date with you tonight. You must have me confused with Nott. I hear he’s indiscriminate enough when he’s completely pissed.’
Blaise’s words were hard, but no less than Pansy deserved. She had been flaunting herself around Slytherin ever since Blaise had dropped her as weekly entertainment. That had been around the time a certain blonde Ravenclaw had caught his eye and he had lessened his nightly indiscretions to almost non-existence. Pansy’s attempts to make Blaise jealous had been unsuccessful, to say the least. Right now, Draco was sure they were beginning to piss Blaise off.
Pansy’s blank face would have amused Draco if he had been in the mood to be amused by her. But quite frankly, he too was getting upset with her actions, especially after she had attempted to use him last week in another desperate bid to garner Blaise’s attention.
‘Pansy, darling,’ Draco shot Blaise a look: he didn’t think Blaise should be encouraging her, sarcastic or otherwise. ‘It’s been over between us since the end of September when I caught you tonguing Crabbe at the monthly Slytherin party. I know you weren’t drunk. Actually, I think it’s a bit sad that you can’t move on from me. I obviously won’t take you back, Pansy, because I’ve set my sights a bit higher, you know, like on the rest of the female population.’
The girl’s face had metamorphosed from blank to simpering to upset and, finally to irate in the few seconds it took Blaise to finish his speech. Her indignation at Blaise’s rejection showed that it stung more than his dig at her character. Shallow, shallow bint, Draco thought. Blaise was extremely patient to have put up with her for so long. But everyone has their breaking point.
Blaise walked away from the girl now sputtering curses and imprecations about whatever new bint Blaise was bedding-as if it was any of her business. Draco followed at a measured pace, his long legs easily catching up to his friend’s short strides.
‘Irritated?’ Blaise flashed him a smile.
‘Relieved.’
Draco smirked at his friend’s reply. Pansy had been bothering him for far too long. It was Christmas; Blaise needed a break, and the bint needed to get a life.
‘What do you plan to do about your current fixation?’ he asked.
Blaise’s usual modus operandi was to bed the wench as often as it took to get her out of his system. Somehow Draco thought it wouldn’t go over well with this particular wench. After being friends with the redhead, she must have picked up a few nasty hexes and probably wouldn’t hesitate to use them. Draco was fairly sure there was a quick mind hidden under that absentminded exterior; she was a Ravenclaw, after all.
‘I’m not sure.’
Draco looked at his friend curiously. Blaise had never not known what he wanted to do.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Draco.’ He hadn’t turned around.
‘Like what?’ Draco asked innocently.
‘Like you can’t believe this is Blaise Zabini, Head boy, bedder of bints, and violator of virgins.’ His lips twisted wryly.
‘I can’t, but people change, Zabini.’
A flash of red around a corner caught Draco’s eye.
‘Aye, Draco that they do.’
Draco scowled at his friend’s smirking face, and they walked back to the dungeons in contemplative thought.
December 21
Two days later, Ginny was once again patrolling the corridors, this time by herself. She had her wand out and was twirling it between her fingers. Feeling mellow and very charitable, she refrained from blasting down the mistletoe branches and didn’t dock any points for the snogging in the hallway. She merely reminded the last couple she had caught that the first years might be alarmed by the excessive groping. It turned out the couple had been second years.
The next corner she turned, she found herself confronted with Malfoy and Zabini, Slytherin prats extraordinaire. They were arguing heatedly and hadn’t noticed her in front of them. She thought of turning around but that would look like she was running away and Ginny was nothing if not a Gryffindor. She stuck out her chin defiantly and continued walking. As she neared she heard her name and Luna’s. Frowning in confusion, she wondered what the two seventh years could be plotting that included her and her friend.
She was almost on top of them when they noticed her. Malfoy stopped short, looking alarmed before schooling his features into a look of haughty disdain. Blaise acknowledged her with a nod.
‘Weasley,’ Draco said arrogantly. ‘Can’t watch where you’re going can you?’
Ginny glowered at him with all the strength her five foot four inch frame could muster. It was quite a glower. Zabini looked reluctantly impressed. Malfoy was unfazed. She stepped away from him; his cologne was impairing her judgment. Arching a cinnamon eyebrow, she responded with disdain equal to Malfoy’s, ‘Why, Malfoy, if you wanted to stand this close to me all you had to do was ask. No need to get nasty about it.’
Ginny felt a surge of pleasure as Draco tinged pink. She smirked devilishly at him while employing the coyest look she could muster.
Draco looked taken aback at her expression, before covering his surprise with a smirk. He closed the distance between them, and Ginny was alarmed for a brief moment before she remembered her wand dangling limply in her hand. Draco was much too close for Ginny’s comfort; they were practically sharing the same air. Before she could tell him so, he had raised a hand to stroke her cheekbone. His grey eyes bore into hers, and Ginny found she couldn’t look away. The stormy grey orbs resembled tempestuous storms revealing a myriad of emotions to which she was sure Draco never gave free reign.
She drew in a shuddering breath, finding suddenly that she didn’t have enough oxygen. Every time she inhaled she smelled more of his cologne; it was wreaking havoc with her senses, just like his fingers now tracing her lips. He leaned in closer and Ginny realized with a horrible certainty that she wanted him to kiss her.
‘Don’t flatter yourself, Weasel,’ he whispered softly. The critical words sounded like a caress but were cold water to Ginny’s consciousness.
Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him, not remembering when she closed them in the first place. He was smirking at her, knowing he’d had an effect. Damn him, Ginny thought angrily. She raised her wand and found her voice, surprised that it sounded so steady in contrast to the emotions raging within her.
‘Sod off, Malfoy, before I hex your bits to hell in a hand basket.’
Zabini chuckled. She glared at him. He looked at her in mock innocence. Narrowing her eyes, she returned her attention to Malfoy.
‘I didn’t know they had hexes for that,’ he said wryly.
‘Make no mistake about it, Malfoy, they do and I won’t hesitate to use them on you if you ever pull that stunt again.’
An angry redhead with a wand should be considered armed and dangerous, Ginny thought, particularly one that grew up around six annoying brothers.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow but backed off. Zabini was still smirking. Thought it was funny, did they? She’d give them something to laugh about. She gave a smirk of her own.
‘Rictumsempra!’ she cried, hitting both of them simultaneously using the wand movement she had learned from Bill.
They doubled over laughing, and Ginny allowed herself a moment or two to gloat. They were so easy. She took her time walking down the length of the corridor, debating whether to end the jinx or leave them to the mercy of whoever happened on them first. The Gryffindor in her won out, and before she turned the corner she fired the counter-jinx at their prone figures. Still smirking, she continued on her rounds with an unidentified spike in her Christmas spirits.
December 24
The dark night complemented with twinkling stars was a picturesque backdrop for the enchanted school. The village beside it looked cut out of a Christmas card, with the snow topped houses and chimneys curling smoke. The branches of the Forbidden Forest swayed menacingly in the wind and deep within, a creature howled. There was a full moon, and the orb shed its pearly glow on all inhabitants of the Earth. Santa Clause, if you believe in him, had the perfect weather to do his rounds.
Luna skipped along the corridors letting her fair hair fly behind her like a cape. She was in good spirits: it was Christmas Eve and she still had most of her belongings. It was a first in all the time she had been at Hogwarts; her personal Borogove must have been looking out for her. She whirled around the corner, blissfully happy in her own daydreams, and struck a warm body.
He smells nice, was the first thought that floated across Luna’s head before she stumbled backwards and was caught by a pair of equally warm arms. She rested her hands against a muscled chest to get her bearings before looking up at the face of her rescuer. Her breath caught in her throat as her misty blue eyes met eyes the colour of dark chocolate. Rich, dark chocolate: the creamy kind that you love to swirl around your mouth and hope the flavour never goes away.
Luna was shocked at her wayward thoughts and some of her confusion must have shown on her face because Blaise Zabini smirked down at her, an amused glint in his eyes. Luna suddenly found it very hard to breathe. They were standing very, very close, and she could smell his cologne with every breath. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt and she unconsciously leaned closer.
‘So, what’s a girl like you doing out on a night like this?’ his voice was husky, and its timbre made her shiver. He pressed her closer.
Luna had to smile at the overused line. She felt unidentifiably pleased that Blaise Zabini was flirting with her, Luna Lovegood. He glanced above their heads. Luna shut her eyes to avoid the cliché that was certainly coming next.
Blaise (when they were standing this close, last names seemed a bit too formal) chuckled.
‘Mistletoe,’ he pointed out unnecessarily.
‘Nargles,’ Luna whispered.
He laughed at that before allowing his lips to descend on hers. Soft, was Luna’s first scattered thought. His lips were indefinably soft and velvety and warm despite the chilly air. They were firm where hers were yielding, and he took control of the exchange. Flicking his tongue against the seam of her lips, he coaxed her to open them. She whimpered against his lips and felt him smirk in return.
Luna wished she had Ginny’s backbone to step away and smack him solidly across the cheek. Though if her friend was in her position and Malfoy took the place of Blaise, Luna wasn't sure that Ginny would have pulled away. She was beginning to lose her ability to rationalize as Blaise continued to plunder her mouth. Luna had never been kissed like this before-she had never been kissed, period. Blaise definitely knew what he was doing, and Luna wasn’t going to pass up the chance to learn from a master.
Before she realized it, her knees had given way, and the only force keeping her upright was Blaise’s arms around her waist. Not content with simply being kissed, Luna decided to kiss back. Threading her forgotten hands through Blaise’s dark hair, she was both surprised and pleased at its rough texture. Its short locks felt crisp and slightly damp as if he had just washed it; he probably had. Using some of the tricks Blaise taught her, she repaid him in kind, teasing his tongue with her own and deepening the kiss as they stood pressed closely together.
Blaise’s arms tightened around her waist as he pulled away, brushing butterfly kisses along her jaw and throat. Luna gasped for air and took several shaky breaths. Clinging to Blaise’s shoulders was unbecoming, but she couldn’t help it. He had lifted her feet clear off the ground with his strong grip around her waist. If this is what walking on air feels like, Luna thought, I never want to come down. But gravity worked its ageless magic, and slowly, reluctantly, it seemed, Blaise lowered her to the floor. She kept her head down, not wanting to look up for fear of seeing a look of great disappointment on his features. She wasn't that good a kisser, she knew, but she thought she hadn’t done very badly for a first timer.
Blaise tilted her chin upward with his finger and stared at her with eyes darker than before. Luna’s breath caught-again. She felt like a Wrackspurt had messed with her brain, but remembered that she still wore her lucky Gurdyroot. The sensation was all Blaise, then. Her reactions scared her. Luna’s arms were still linked around his head and his rested casually at her waist. He touched his forehead to hers, breathing deeply.
‘Wow.’
Luna couldn’t resist the smile that spread across her face. So she hadn’t been terrible after all.
‘Christmas may just be my new favourite holiday,’ she said quietly, smiling faintly.
Blaise’s lips quirked.
‘It’s all the mistletoe. The eggnog may loosen inhibitions, but the mistletoe gives people a reason to act out their latent desires.’
His voice was husky again and it was affecting Luna deeply. Before she could pull him down for another snog he said, ‘Let’s find somewhere private, so that red-headed friend of yours doesn’t dock any points.’
She giggled softly and put her hand in his as he led her to less public accommodations.
December 25
Christmas morning dawned subtly, clinging to its cover of night until the sun broke over the horizons. It was not the only reluctant riser, as Ginny groaned and turned over, facing the poorly decorated wall in her dormitory.
Happy bloody Christmas indeed. Ginny was not in a good mood. She threw back the covers savagely and stalked over to her trunk to get dressed. She ignored the presents waiting on her bed, figuring that she was in no mood to open them right now. She couldn’t stand the thought of another Weasley jumper clashing horribly with her hair, and though her mother’s cookies were to die for, she had absolutely no appetite this morning.
She really shouldn’t be complaining, she realized, while donning comfy dark blue jeans. She had a family that loved her. She pulled a dark green jumper over her navy Weird Sisters Tee. She had friends that stood by her. She stuffed her feet into a pair of hand-me-down sneakers that had seen much better days. She shouldn’t need a corny snog underneath the mistletoe to make her Christmas bright. She stomped downstairs.
This thought process was not doing wonders for her mood.
Ginny decided to go to the library to get some homework done. She was disgusted with herself. It was a perfectly lovely day outside, freezing cold but also beautiful. If she had any spine at all, she would head outside and join one of the impromptu snowball fights that cropped up around this time. No, she thought firmly, what good was going outside and getting cold if you had no one to warm you up? Her thoughts were much too maudlin. She was acting like a sentimental simpering school-girl.
Ginny gave herself a very firm shake mentally and told herself, in no uncertain terms, that she was to get her act together or risk being weepy when she went back to the common Room. She was in no mood to answer unwanted questions and continued bravely to the library. Ahead of her in the corridor were, for the second time in four days, Malfoy and Zabini, arguing. Well, it looked more like Zabini trying to tell Malfoy something that he was desperate to ignore. Knitting her brow in curiosity, she moved forward, eager to hear their argument.
‘-should just go ahead and kiss her!’ Zabini was saying, but Malfoy remained stubborn.
‘It’s not as easy as you make it sound. It’s all well and good for you when you’ve nabbed yours-and that sounded remarkably easy by the way-but the rest of us don’t have swooning romantic targets.’
‘Maybe if you stopped thinking of her as a target and more of a GIRL you may be inclined to get her. And Luna was not a swooning romantic. She was skipping, if you must know.’ Zabini sniffed indignantly.
Ginny would have laughed if she wasn’t so confused. They were talking about Malfoy’s next conquest? And what did Luna have to do with anything?
As she neared, Zabini broke off and motioned to Malfoy to turn around. He did so impatiently, but when he caught sight of her, his eyes widened. Ginny was becoming more befuddled by the second. She was beginning to think that one of Luna’s famed Wrackspurts had gotten her. Her confusion increased when Zabini smirked at her and wandered off, leaving Malfoy on his own.
The boy in question ran a hand though his hair distractedly. He’s stopped gelling it back, Ginny noticed and wondered when he’d let off the hair products.
‘Hi.’
Ginny was even more confused. No scathing remark? No dig at her family? Something was most definitely afoot. She said nothing. Malfoy moved closer, and for some reason, Ginny couldn’t find the will to move her legs.
He stopped when he was a few inches away and lifted a pale manicured hand to touch her face. Hesitation showed in his eyes even as the grey orbs darkened to charcoal, and his hand hovered above her cheek. He almost towered over her, he was that tall, and Ginny realized the next move was up to her. She could get her Christmas snog after all, and from Malfoy no less. All that was missing was-she looked up and sure enough a sprig of the shrub was hovering a few feet above them-the mistletoe.
She smirked and leaned forward, deciding to throw caution to the winds. She already knew Malfoy had technique. All that remained was to see if he was as good a kisser as the gossip girls of Hogwarts said he was. Surprise flared in his eyes as she moved closer, and he cupped his hand to her face, sinking lower to bridge the distance between them. In between feather light kisses brushing her eyelids and nose, he murmured, ‘I’ll give you a curl-your-toes, turn-your-knees-to-jelly, once-in-a-lifetime-is-it-ever-this-good, full-blown, honest-to-goodness snog. So enjoy, little Weasel. This is Malfoy at his best.’
At any other time, his arrogance would have irked Ginny greatly but now she only wanted him to shut up and kiss her. Merlin, he was taking his time about it, lavishing attention on her neck, ears and jaw line. She was getting weak-kneed, and he hadn’t so much as touched her lips yet. The man was good at what he was doing. She clutched at his shoulders for support, and he gave a low chuckle as if he knew exactly what effect he was having on her. Of course he knows, damnhimdamnhim, but oh she never wanted him to stop.
She became aware that she was mumbling incoherently when he told her to be quiet. He framed her face with his hands and pierced her with stone grey eyes, only they weren’t stone grey anymore. They were a dark slate, swirling like a tumultuous ocean betraying the fighting emotions inside him. Ginny was in awe of the effect she had on him. He moved closer and Ginny, who didn’t think she could stand another bout of teasing kisses growled out, ‘Malfoy if you don’t kiss me now, I will walk away and get my snog elsewhere. I’m sure any Gryffindor boy will be happy to oblige.’
Draco gave a growl of his own that did wonderful things to Ginny’s heartbeat and sounded suspiciously like, ‘Kiss any other bloke and he’s dead, Ginevra.’
She hadn’t known he could be so possessive and they hadn’t even kissed yet. She smirked and he rolled his eyes.
‘Gryffindor wench,’ he teased lightly.
‘Malfoy, I suggest you take my threats very seriously.’
He gave a dramatic sigh. ‘If I must.’
Ginny attempted to pull away, but Draco was stronger and pulled her to his chest, trapping her arms effectively. Any protest she could have made was silenced by his mouth covering hers entirely. She sighed happily into the kiss and slid her arms around his shoulders to find purchase in his gossamer hair. Draco’s arms around her waist tightened as she moved against him, eager to get closer.
Ginny’s insides were performing somersaults as Draco kissed her. This was the Christmas snog she’d been waiting for. Every snappy comment, every mistletoe branch blasted, every point docked, this was more than worth it. Her knees wobbled as she deepened the kiss, giving as good as she got and tipping on her toes to press against him.
Ginny didn’t stop until Draco broke the kiss, hugging her close and taking deep breaths. His death grip on her waist prevented her from doing the same, and she wiggled uncomfortably to get him to let go. He chuckled.
‘Sorry.’
‘ ’s okay.’ She mumbled, her face pressed into his jumper, taking deep breaths of her own.
She was shaking, she realized, and holding Draco tightly to keep herself standing. Merlin, he was a good kisser. The gossip girls didn’t know the half of it. She felt a hand brush her hair away from the side of her face and shivered in delight as he blew against her ear.
‘So.’ She looked up at him.
‘So,’ she mimicked.
He smirked, his grey eyes alight and dancing with mischief.
‘Why’d you kiss me?’ she asked, curious.
‘Because I wanted to,’ Draco said simply.
‘But why?’
‘Because you’re beautiful,’ he kissed her forehead. ‘Because you’re smart,’ he kissed her nose. ‘Because you’re sexy,’ he kissed her on the lips.
‘But you’re a Malfoy.’
‘I know.’
‘And I’m a Weasley.’
‘I know.’
She bit her lip in confusion.
‘But-but-oh sod it all,’ she said breathlessly, pulling his head down to hers for another kiss that took their breaths away.
-fin