Fuckboy {Draco Malfoy 18+}

17. the true meaning of christmas.

I walk past the shops of Hogsmede, having successfully secured everything on my shopping list.

My bag is heavy and it overflows with gifts, meant to be sent out the following day to my friends at their respective homes.

We always send each other gifts, and this year is no exception. But there's some dissimilarities between this year and last. I still have the same number of people to send presents to, but the names have changed.

Last year, it was Blaise, Onyx, Pansy, Theo, and Hagrid. This year, it's Blaise, Onyx, Malfoy, Theo, and Hagrid.

I always give gifts to Blaise, Onyx, Theo, and, up until this year, Parkinson. Usually I give Blaise some sort of fancy clothing article such as a new shirt or a nice wristwatch. This year, I got him a fashionable silver bracelet. It's pretentious but he'll love it. I got Onyx a box of chocolate from Honeydukes, a bath set from the local apothecary, and a cute, handwritten note. Theo is receiving Zonko's best array of mischief toys and a bottle of firewhiskey, since I know his father doesn't allow Theo to bring alcohol into the house. And I got Hagrid a new pair of gloves, luxurious dragon hide, specially made for his huge hands.

And as for Draco. . . an array of items. Because I can't stop worrying about him. And I'm worried he's going to have a god awful Christmas so I want to make him smile.

As expected, the Weasleys left for the holidays. So when I go down for the Christmas Eve feast, the Slytherin table is deserted and the Gryffindor table is occupied by only a few first and second years. The Great Hall is decorated in the same flavor as the previous six years: giant trees, magical ornaments, crackers littering the tables. The feast is already set out when I arrive, but I don't plan to linger to enjoy it. There's a sprinkling of other people at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, but none that I want to talk to.

So I decide to give Hagrid his present and leave.

"Evangeline!" Hagrid exclaims, his eyes growing teary. "You didn't have to do tha'!"

"Anything for my favorite professor," I say with a smile. I've given him a gift for several years now, but he always acts so surprised.

I catch Snape's eye, sitting at the staff table, but immediately turn away. I didn't think my disdain for him could grow any further but after this year, I'm downright murderous. It's his fault that Draco is miserable, and I find myself wanting to hex Snape, just for a little bit of payback.

Hagrid thanks me profusely, saying that he can never find dragonskin gloves in his size, and I make my way out of the Great Hall, not wanting to sit and eat alone. That would be depressing as all hell.

So I take a walk around the grounds, looking out at the snowy landscape. My last Christmas at Hogwarts has a kind of poetry to it, with the icy Black Lake and the glittering leaves and whitened sky. Although it's beautiful, I'm glad it's the last. Seventh year is full of 'lasts' and this is the most refreshing. It's a release.

I decide to sit by the Black Lake, toying with the ice. I'm waving my wand over it and making cracks in the glassy surface, watching the water spread out from the punctures. I cast a heating charm around myself and huddle up, wrapping my legs around myself and settling down into my scarf. Snow falls onto my head in little tufts and my nose is red from the cold, but it's nice here. I look out onto the landscape of my home for the past seven years, feeling nauseously nostalgic.

"How lonesome."

I start, jumping in my fright.

Was that the voice I thought it was?

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" I ask, standing up. My excitement bursts out and I immediately start running towards him.

Malfoy looks pitiful, red faced and shivering, a black cloak and scarf doing little to protect him from the icy wind. But when I throw my arms around his neck and hug him, he sighs from the warmth of my warming charm.