𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧

chapter 26

snow was falling outside when draco and talia woke up, talia having spent another night in draco's dorm. he insisted that she did last night, wanting to wake up with her on christmas.

as soon as they were both awake, talia ran over to the record player draco moved into his room and put a vinyl on that she had brought from home. the song that started to play was "lover" by taylor swift.

"why are you playing music? and who's taylor swift?" draco asked, walking over grimacing. talia looked over at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"um, taylor swift is the best singer ever." she explained. draco made his eyes get wide and put his hands out.

"o.m.g. no way. really?" he asked, mocking talia's american accent. she playfully hit him in the shoulder, both of them laughing.

"and the song will set the mood for us while we open each other's gifts, anyway. just go with it." she said. draco rolled his eyes and grabbed a gift bag that he had been hiding under his bed.

"how did i not see that was there?" talia asked. draco smirked.

"there's a lot under that bed you don't know about." he said. he put his foot out and wiggled his sock, making talia cringe and lightly hit his shoulder again. draco laughed.

tal moved away from him and grabbed his gift, which was placed outside of his bathroom. they handed each other their gifts at the same time, but talia stopped when draco started opening his. she wanted to see his reaction to make sure it would be okay.

"do you like it?" she asked when he pulled out the ring. he smiled and put it on his finger right away.

"i love it. i'll be wearing it all the time." he said. talia shook her head, looking down at it. she grabbed his hand and pointed at it.

"but there's more. the ring can keep memories. then, when you spin it, the memories will play in front of you. i can put the first one in for you if you want. you can do it on your own, too. i mean, you don't have to. i was just offering-"

"talia. that's incredible." draco said, cutting talia off from her nervous rambling. she smiled and put her hands down, happy he liked it.

"and yes, i'd like you to put the first one in for me. get your wand. i'm thinking about it right now. you can show me how." he offered.

tal nodded and went across the room to grab her wand. when she did, she lightly pressed the tip of it to draco's forehead, pulling a thin yellow strand of memory from him. then, the brought the strand down to the ring, it circling it before going inside.

she put her wand back down, and lightly took draco's finger to spin the ring carefully.

when she did, they both looked up and saw talia and draco standing at the astronomy tower, looking out at the view. then, draco grabbed talia's neck and started kissing her.

it was them from the night before.

"draco..." talia said, looking at it in awe. draco touched the ring, making the memory go back into it.

"open your gift now." he said.

talia walked over and picked up her present, pulling a small box out of the gift bag. she opened up the box and saw one of draco's rings. it was the thin black one with a snake rapped around the ring part talia saw the morning after the first time she slept in draco's bed. the one that drew her in, and she didn't know why.

but it wasn't just the ring. it was on a small chain, put into a necklace.

"i knew you liked it. but i knew it wouldn't fit on your finger so..i'd figure a necklace would have to do." he explained.

talia looked up at draco and smiled, dropping the gift bag to the floor. she gave him the tightest hug she could, wrapping her arms around his neck.

draco smiled, hugging back. talia hugged him like his mother did, and it reminded him of home.

he felt at home with talia.

"i'll put it on you." draco recommended, taking the necklace from tal's hands.

she turned around and he undid the clasp, putting it around talia's neck. he kissed her shoulder, and she turned around and gave him a kiss on the lips.