The mask I took off of his face had me staring directly into the slate grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.
“Wh-…I, uhm,…you called me Ginny!” I sputtered.
“That wasn’t quite one of the reactions I envisioned,” Malfoy said with a slightly amused tone, but still looking very uncomfortable.
“Explain yourself,” I demanded, feeling a bit disturbed at this revelation. “Starting off with why do you have brown hair and who is that guy who looks exactly like you?”
Malfoy’s thin lips formed into a slight frown. “Well, I don’t know how to put this in any other words…so I’ll just be frank about it. It…it was for you. I did this all for you.”
“Did what? And why? I am completely lost,” I said as I buried my head in my hands. Then a theory came to mind. “Wait”was this all a joke? An elaborate prank?” I almost exploded.
“Oh no, no not at all,” Malfoy reassured me quickly. “Let me explain. Well I’ve been missing you quite a bit lately. I know I was the one avoiding you, but after I got over myself, I couldn’t quite gather the nerve to suddenly start talking to you again. And of course the masquerade came up, and I figured you would be going, so I decided that this was my chance. I supposed that even with a mask, you and everyone else would be able to deduce my identity because of my hair…so I got Theodore Nott to change his hair color with some hair potion I whipped up, and I, as well, changed mine. I just wanted to be with you on normal terms, you know?”
“How did Parkinson not notice the difference between you and Theodore?”
“You must be joking,” Malfoy scoffed. “Her IQ is equivalent to that of a rock. A very big one.”
I let a small giggle escape my lips. “All right, where did you learn to mix hair potion?”
Malfoy gave me a playful glare. “Professor Snape, if you really must know. He wasn’t even curious about the reason.”
“Why would you do this all for me?” I asked quietly, on a more serious note.
Malfoy’s features became darker as I noticed him trying to hide his emotions. “I don’t know how to explain this…and with my luck, it will come out of my mouth sounding incredibly stupid. I really like you. There’s something about you that I just can’t seem to put my finger on.”
I restrained my jaw from dropping open. Here was Malfoy, the boy I just spent an incredible night with, telling me wonderful things about myself. It was more than I ever dreamt could happen, but there we were, sitting on a bench together, and Malfoy was looking at me the way you would look at an angel: captivated, but pleased.
“You are never afraid to speak your mind,” he continued. “Especially to tell me off,” he chuckled. “No one really does that. They’re mostly all afraid of me. You also have the best sense of humor out of anyone I’ve ever met…which doesn’t say much when you consider the people I was raised with, but still. And, of course, it also helps that you are the most beautiful girl in school.”
“Do you really think so?” I asked, blushing.
“In my eyes,” he said, locking his gaze on mine. “By far.”
“I suppose I’ve got something to confess as well. I feel the same way about you. Ever since I’ve really started talking to you, I’ve been fixed.”
Malfoy’s grey eyes sparked as his jaw slackened. “I never knew that.”
“Well I obviously did a good job of hiding it then.”
Malfoy grinned as he put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. I could have never imagined this. A Weasley and a Malfoy. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin. This all seemed so unreal.
“You called me Ginny,” I said softly as I moved my head to the side, inhaling the faintest hint of expensive cologne.
“I had to say it out loud at least once. Especially since I thought when you found out that it was me, you were going to make a break for it and I’d never have a chance to say it again.”
“Never,” I assured him.
“So what do you think about the new hair color?” he asked, blowing at a dark tress that fell across his forehead.
“I love it, but personally, you just wouldn’t be Malfoy without the blonde.”
“So what do you say we go out there and dance some more before everyone finds about you and I?” he inquired as he reached for his mask.
“Sounds like a plan,” I answered, letting him take my hand.
It was all too dream-like, Malfoy and I…together. Was this even possible, let alone probable? Apparently it was. Malfoy cut down on the dancing when we returned to the dance floor, meaning there was much less waltzing as the Weird Sisters were back. I couldn’t fight the perm-a-grin that was plastered onto my face, so I let it stay there.
“Where did you learn to dance?” I asked suddenly as he gently dipped me during one of their slower songs.
Malfoy looked startled at first, but then regained his cool composure. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies, Weasley.”
“I see you have switched back to calling me Weasley,” I noted. “Any reason why?”
“It’s a habit,” Malfoy stated. “Think of it as a pet name. Don’t worry; I haven’t fooled myself into believing that you’ve once called me Draco, so I believe we’re square.”
We left the dance floor once again for some water. I sat down at one of the snowflake chairs as Malfoy went to get the glasses of water. Shortly later, two arms reached over each of my shoulders to set down the flutes filled with water. Then the hands covered my eyes.
“Guess who?” a soothing voice questioned.
“Malfoy,” I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes…not that he would have seen anyways.
“Nope,” the voice that was obviously Malfoy’s answered. The cool hands against my face that were covering my eyes still remained there.
“Well, hmm, I dunno then,” I said, but I was unable to say anymore as a pair of lips met mine in an exhilarating kiss. For every second that our lips locked, another jolt of electrifying bliss passed from his lips to mine. He finally released me, but not before tenderly kissing my forehead. He lowered himself and put his cheek against mine, which was in blazes, and kept his gaze forward.
“Wow, you are really warm,” he observed. “Do you have a fever?”
I shook my head. “No…I…I’m fine,” I said, feeling at a great loss for words.
As we finished our water, people slowly began to leave the hall and get ready for bed. After all, it was Christmas the next morning. Malfoy and I soon got up as well, with great reluctance. We were having an interesting conversation about poetry, surprisingly. We both agree that poetry is meant for the reader’s interpretation of the language and not whatever standardized thoughts other people try to force onto you. Malfoy wrapped his arm around my waist as I once again made use of his shoulder as a head rest, walking up to the Gryffindor common room.
“How do you know where the Gryffindor common room is?” I asked curiously.
He laughed as he squeezed my hand. “No offense, but who doesn’t know? With all of the Gryffindors proudly strutting around it all the time, it’s a bit difficult not to notice.”
When we finally reached the portrait after the final staircase, I had to let go of his hand, unfortunately.
“So this is good night then?” I asked meekly.
“It appears that it is,” Malfoy answered serenely. Then I noticed a small glimmer in his sharp eyes as he looked down the hallway and then back at me. As he smiled, he bit his lip, looking absolutely dashing. Before I knew what had hit me, I was once again wrapped up in his arms and receiving (and giving, I’m almost ashamed to admit) series of passionate kisses. Malfoy tilted up my chin as I somehow ended up against the wall, with my hands on the sides of his angular face, and his hands were lost somewhere in my hair.
“You are the most amazing girl I have ever met,” he breathed huskily into my ear.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and as I glanced over his shoulder, I spotted none other than Harry and Hermione walk past, arm in arm. Hermione gave me a very quizzical look as she passed. I coughed quietly, and then Malfoy looked up as well, with the faintest tinge of pink coloring his high cheekbones and dark brown hair disheveled. Harry raised an eyebrow as they went through the portrait hole.
I coughed again. “I…I suppose I should go then,” I advised, clearing my throat.
“I suppose you should,” he agreed, still looking uncomfortable.
I then turned for the portrait, where the Fat Lady was looking at me impatiently.
“You adolescents these days…can barely keep your trousers on,” she said, holding a glass of deep red wine. “Any day now, please. Violet is having a party, and I would very much like to attend. Whenever you’re ready.”
I reddened at her comment. Then I felt Malfoy take my hand in his slender pianist hands once more as I took a step towards the Fat Lady. I turned around to see him bow his head down to kiss my hand. When he lifted his head, he winked at me.
“Good night, gorgeous. Merry Christmas,” he murmured to me as he watched me go.
I wanted to die. It was the best night of my life, and I wanted to die happy.
“Password?” The Fat Lady asked shrilly. “I can’t wait for you all night.”
“All right, all right,” I responded. “Mistletoe.”
The Fat Lady’s painting moved to the side so I could crawl through the portrait hole. When I entered the common room, I noticed Harry and Hermione sitting on the sofa in front of the fire. They were doing a bit more than sitting, actually. I grinned widely as I made my way up to the dormitory and collapsed onto my four-poster bed for some well deserved sleep.
The next morning, I awoke to the enthusiastic chatter of Anabelle and Madeline. Ice frosted the window panes next to my bed and the fire crackled friendlily in the fireplace across the room which was decorated with holly and red velvet bows. It was Christmas morning. I shuffled through my trunk to fish out the snow globe I bought a couple weeks ago at Hogsmeade when I was feeling terrible at Malfoy. I took my wand and tapped it so that it was wrapped in silver paper and tied with curls of green ribbon. I planned to take it down up to the Owlery after I opened my presents.
Anabelle and Madeline giggled as they saw that I had awoken.
“Did you have a good time last night?” Anabelle asked curiously.
“Yes,” added Madeline. “We caught a glimpse of you last night, and it appeared that you were having quite an enjoyable evening.”
“So who was he?” Anabelle asked, beaming from ear to ear.
I looked from Anabelle to Madeline. Thankfully, at that moment, Hermione came into our dormitory holding Crookshanks. Crookshanks looked like he was full of Christmas cheer as he wore a collar with a giant jingle bell on a red bow.
“Merry Christmas!” Hermione exclaimed as she saw me. She dropped Crookshanks on my bed as she walked over to me.
“Merry Christmas, Hermione,” I responded as I ignored Anabelle and Madeline. They frowned at each other as they went back to opening their presents at the foot of their beds. Hermione looked quite ecstatic this morning. More than usual. I knew why, but I wasn’t about to say anything…yet.
“Have you unwrapped your gifts yet?” Hermione asked as she took a seat on my bed.
“No, actually,” I answered. “I haven’t even seen them yet.”
“Oh?” she said surprised. “I was about to compliment your flowers.”
“Flowers?” I asked, slightly intrigued. “I’ve gotten flowers? But how? It’s winter.”
“I dunno,” Hermione said carelessly. “Magic, maybe?” she said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Shut up,” I said as I gave her a shove and went to see the presents at the foot of my bed.
Incredibly, there was a massive arrangement of flowers in a red tinted glass vase bordered with fake snow. The flowers inside were absolutely extraordinary. Gold roses, red daffodils, and exotic-looking flowers that I couldn’t identify filled it. A note was attached to the vase.
It read, “You, Darling, are the best Christmas present I could’ve ever asked for. You bring me joy…and as odd as this sounds, you remind me of cinnamon. For the loveliest girl in the whole school. Love, DM.”
I couldn’t suppress the vast smile that had crept onto my face.
“I think I know who that is from,” Hermione said in an ominous tone.
“Oh, I bet you do. Who do you think it is?” I asked, challenging her.
“Does the name Terry Boot ring a bell?” she said smiling.
My eyebrows rose in confusion. What? Then I realized what she was talking about. I forgot to tell her about Malfoy. All she saw was the dark brown locks, like I did at first sight.
“Um no,” I said. “Actually, it’s Malfoy,” I said quietly.
“Oh, Gin,” Hermione said, putting her hand on my back. “Forget about him.” She obviously didn’t understand what I was saying.
“It’ll be a little hard to forget about him if he keeps sending me flowers,” I said excitedly as I pulled out a gold rose from the vase and waved it in her direction.
Hermione gasped and her eyes became big. “What do you mean?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“That boy wasn’t Terry Boot at the ball,” I said as I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around my knees. “It was Malfoy.”
“No way.”
I explained to her what happened over the course of the night.
“I can’t believe it,” Hermione said, shocked. “That was really sweet of him. I didn’t know Malfoy was capable of that. The flowers are amazing.”
“I still can’t get over it,” I said, nodding. “So how was your night?”
Hermione got a dreamy look in her eyes. “It was magical,” she whispered.
Apparently Harry finally got around to telling her how he feels about her. Finally. It’s took him long enough.
“And look what he gave me for Christmas!” she exclaimed, thrusting out a book. “Classic love stories of the seventeenth century…how incredibly thoughtful!”
I didn’t bother telling her that I suggested the gift to Harry. Instead, I opened the rest of my presents.
“Thanks for the book, Hermione,” I told her. Unsurprisingly, she had given me a copy of Hogwarts, a History. I had foreseen this coming when she was completely shocked that I didn’t own a copy of the “most ingenious book of the century.”
“I saw you and Malfoy last night when I came upstairs,” Hermione recalled coyly. “You know, it’s a bit tasteless to do that stuff in public like that.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed. “First of all, there was no one in that hallway to begin with. Second of all, don’t be such a hypocrite. I saw you and Harry on the common room sofa last night. That isn’t the most private place either, you know.”
Hermione turned pink and didn’t say another word about it.
Hermione later got up to go and eat breakfast down at the Great Hall. I reached out for my gift to Malfoy and went to follow her.
“Who are the flowers from?” Madeline asked me as I was about to walk out. Anabelle nudged her.
I sighed. “Can you keep a secret?” I finally said.
Madeline nodded eagerly.
“Good, so can I,” I stated as I turned by back to them and walked down the stone stairwell.
After dropping the gift off at the Owlery, I went down to the Great Hall and sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were talking seriously in hushed tones.
“Merry Christmas,” I said as I grabbed a bagel. “Mind telling me what the matter is?”
“Can I tell her?” Hermione asked the boys.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. “Yes,” Ron said, “But don’t tell anyone else. This information is important.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Well,” Harry began, “We’ve found out that Snape is going to be a Death Eater spy.”
“You mean he’s joining the Death Eaters?” I asked, shocked.
“No,” Ron said. “He’s going to spy on the Death Eaters for the Order of the Phoenix.”
“What if he gets caught?” I asked. “What will happen to him?”
“That’s a risk he is willing to take,” Hermione said sadly. “We need to do something as soon as possible.”
“Like what?” I inquired.
“I still need to figure that part out,” she said as she rested her head in her hands.
“Wait a second,” I said slowly. “How did you find this out?”
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron who looked at each other nervously.
“Well, uh,” Harry began, “We kind of passed Snape’s classroom this morning where he was talking about this with Dumbledore. We couldn’t help but overhear.”
“As usual,” I said as I spread jam on my bagel.
When owl post came, I was anxious to see Malfoy’s reaction to my present. I hoped he would like it. A flurry of various owls swept over the Great Hall, and I saw a familiar green and silver package drop in front of Malfoy at the Slytherin table. I uneasily watched for his reaction as he carefully opened the paper. When he unwrapped the snow globe, he held it up to the light, and when he set it down, he looked over to me and smirked. He then got up and began to head over to the Gryffindor table. Was this how everyone was going to find out about us? Right at that moment? I slowly stood up as heads began to turn.
“Thank you for the present, Weasley,” Malfoy said as he wrapped his arms around me. I laid my head against his chest.
Harry’s expression morphed into horror, and Ron got up and started yelling.
“Get you filthy hands off of my sister!” Ron said, his face turning red. Malfoy stepped back. “What do you think you’re getting at, you miserable ferret? That’s my sister! What in the bloody hell could possibly be going through your mind right now? She’s my sister! I don’t want to see anybody, especially you, touching her!”
“Ron, calm down,” I told him as Hermione tugged at the sleeves of his robes, getting him to sit back down. By now, everyone in the Great Hall was staring at us. Harry and Ron both looked like they were about to strangle someone. Especially Ron.
“What’s going on?” Harry demanded, as Hermione attempted to cool Ron off.
Malfoy looked down at me. “Well, like it or not, Potter, Weasley and I are…together,” he said softly. “How we can either fight about it, or treat the matter like civilized human beings,” he said, extending his hand.
Hermione pulled Harry and Ron’s heads into a huddle as she talked to them and explained quickly. Ron came out of the huddle looking horrified, but he didn’t say a word. Harry solemnly took Malfoy’s hand and shook it.
“Truce, then?” Malfoy asked. Ron looked at him, disgusted.
“Fine,” Harry said firmly.
“You better treat my little sister the way she deserves to be treated, or else you’re going to have to answer to me,” threatened Ron.
“Let it go,” I told Ron. “I can handle things myself. I’m fifteen, not five.”
Ron glared at Malfoy before sitting back down and muttering to Harry angrily.
“C’mon Malfoy, let’s go,” I said leading him away from Harry and Ron, in the direction of the library. We received many odd stares from other students as we walked out of the Great Hall. An unthinkable thing had happened. A relationship between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin now existed.
The next few days were the hardest to overcome. I kept getting awkward stares, and even Anabelle and Madeline had let the subject go. Whenever Malfoy and I were together, other students would look away, or straight past us, as if they were ashamed for us. Malfoy’s old fan club seemed to enjoy giving me the death glare whenever I passed them.
One day, while Malfoy and I were sitting by the frozen lake, I got fed up as a third year Hufflepuff walked past, giving us a dirty glare. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do something about all of this. I was lying in Malfoy’s arms, but I suddenly sat up with tears forming in my eyes.
“What’s the matter?” Malfoy asked, concerned.
“Is it really worth it?” I choked out, my eyes shining with tears. “You know, you and me? Doesn’t everyone just make you feel terrible? The way they look at us…it’s as if they’re looking at the reptile house at the zoo. I thought it would be okay if everyone knew about us. It would’ve even helped the school, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin becoming friends. I suppose it only made things worse.”
Malfoy wrapped me up in his arms as I sobbed quietly on his shoulder. “You were making things better,” he said. “You were doing the right thing and you had good intentions. Don’t you remember everyone at school droning on about how all of the houses need to form relationships with each other? Especially Granger. So you did the right thing, and you were the only one who managed to break through to us Slytherins…or at least to me. It just turns out that the rest of the school is a bunch of filthy hypocrites,” he comforted me as he rubbed my back.
I talked to Hermione about this later that day, and she sat quietly, listening.
“I’ve noticed what you’re talking about,” Hermione said. “I’ve tried talking some sense into them, but they just won’t hear it. I have, though, thought up something.”
“Go on,” I said miserably.
“Well you know how Malfoy practically rules the Slytherin house. If you could convince him to talk to the other Slytherins about interschool relations, they would probably listen to him. I mean, we need to do this as soon as possible. If he could get that lot to join the D.A., the entire school would be united. Okay, get this,” Hermione said, placing her hands on her knees of her crossed legs. “New Year’s Eve party in the Room of Requirement. It’ll give me a chance to talk to everyone about our goal as a school. It would really help if Malfoy could get his Slytherin cronies to attend.”
“New Year’s Eve party?” I repeated. “But that’s tonight. We’re going to have to do this all today?”
“Just take care of the Slytherins,” Hermione told me, “And I’ll take care of the rest. Gin, don’t mind the other students, I’ll have them taken care of by tonight. They’ll see how wrong they were about judging you two.”
“Thank you Hermione,” I said as I gave her a hug.
I left the common room feeling much better about everything after Hermione assured me that things would be fine. I walked downstairs aimlessly, hoping to run into Malfoy somewhere in the castle. Thankfully, this was achieved when I spotted him in the Great Hall at the Slytherin table. I sat down with him, and he agreed to Hermione’s request full heartedly.
“Don’t worry,” Malfoy said. “I can get the whole house to come.”
“Okay,” I said eagerly. “Just remember that when pacing in front of the Room of Requirement, they’re looking for a party.”
“All right,” Malfoy said as I got up to leave, ready to face everyone again at the party tonight.
I spent most of the time leading up to the party in my dormitory, hoping that Hermione was taking care of things like she said that she would. I knew she would keep her word, but the whole thing just made me really anxious. At eight o’clock, I knew it was time to head down to the Room of Requirement. I gathered myself, and went walked downstairs, and out of the common room, as everyone else seemed to be leaving for it as well.
When I reached the Room of Requirement, someone was all ready pacing in front of the door, and everyone else waited behind him for the door to appear. On the boy’s third pace, a large mahogany door appeared with a giant gold handle. The boy opened it to reveal the decorated room. I stepped inside to find an enormous countdown clock on the opposite side of the wall counting down the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds until it was the New Year. The people around me seemed much friendlier to me than they had been these past few days. Apparently Hermione had talked some sense into these people when she invited them all here. Thank Merlin for Hermione. Multi-colored streamers hung against the walls and different colored lights constantly flashed around the room.
“What do you think?” Hermione asked from behind me.
I turned around. “It’s amazing!” I said.
“It looks like you have someone here for you,” she said nodding her head in the direction of the doorway. In the door, Malfoy stood, and behind him crowded what seemed to be the entire house of Slytherin. They were looking around at everyone apprehensively, and didn’t look quite sure as to what they were doing there in the first place.
Malfoy spotted me and came over as his kissed me on the cheek.
“You brought everyone,” I said, amazed.
“I told you I would do it,” Malfoy said, pleased with himself. “It wasn’t too difficult either.
As everyone began to fill the room, music began to play from nowhere. People crowded to the center of the room and started dancing.
“Does this remind you of anything?” Malfoy said as he took my hand and led me to the dance floor.
We spent hours dancing, just like at the masquerade, and then stopped to pass by the large table of assorted food that Hermione had provided us all with. I only took a goblet of water as I was still full from dinner. When I set down my goblet, Malfoy took my hand and twirled me, pulling me closer to him.
“Would you mind answering me one thing?” Malfoy requested.
“Anything,” I said as I placed my hands on his shoulders.
“Why are you so incredibly astonishing?”
“How did I get lucky enough to meet you?”
“They say you should never answer a question with a question,” Malfoy advised.
“Since when do we listen to what they say?” I asked alluringly as I pulled him forward in an enticing kiss.
Malfoy pulled me even closer when he placed his hands on the small of my back. My hands were on his chest and clenched a fistful of his robes as he gave me another thrilling kiss. When our heads moved away from each other, I looked at him almost timidly. I let one of my hands carelessly comb through Malfoy’s tresses that were back to his natural white blonde color.
“May I have your attention please?” I heard Hermione’s voice call out as the music volume lowered. She stood on a table in the middle of the dance floor with Harry next to her. The clock behind her kept on counting down, very close to midnight. “I would just like to thank you all for coming here. You have no idea how much this means to me. I’m sure the New Year will bring us plenty of good prospects to look forward to, like defeating Lord Voldemort. I would like to say that I am glad our school has finally been able to unite, and that everyone here has accepted that we need to be friendly with everyone…and that’s including the Slytherins,” she said as I got a couple glances my way. “I know that this will pay off in a very big way, and none of you will forget it. The D.A. will continue meeting every week, so I except all of you to come,” she said as she turned her head to the clock, which was seconds away from reaching zero. “Oh, and one more thing,” she added, grabbing Harry’s hand. “Happy New Year!”
A bunch of fireworks exploded high above our heads in the high-vaulted ceiling as the clock hit zero. “Fireworks courtesy of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes!” I heard Ron shout out from the crowd.
Confetti and streamers rained down on our heads as cheers broke out among the students. I smiled to myself as I saw Harry kiss Hermione, all the while still standing on that table. I then turned to Malfoy, who also gave me a kiss.
“Looks like everyone is on our side again. Even if they weren’t I know that you would get through it,” Malfoy said to me.
“Of course,” I answered him. “What do think I’m made of?”
“Sugar,” Malfoy said decidedly.
“You forgot spice,” I said wagging my finger at him. “I’m mostly made of spice.”
“Naturally,” Malfoy retorted as he gave me a charming smile and then pulled me in for another kiss. I must say, I definitely was excited about the prospects of this New Year.