ambition

At Odds

It really was as if the world was against him. The morning after the full moon was even more awkward with James than before, and as if that wasn't bad enough, Lily dropped the bomb that they had been invited to the Burrow for Christmas day. Harry wasn't sure how he hadn't figured that this was going to happen, or that the Weasleys would join them. They did it most years after all. He'd been too busy inside his own head to really think about it, and now it had been sprung on him, it was all he could do not to scream into his pillow. He wrote Draco a very ranty letter about everything. He skipped the part about his argument with James being on an already inherently stressful night, for Remus especially, but included the rest. Draco got back to him almost immediately, which meant Hedwig waking him up in the middle of the night by rapping on his window. He grumbled for a few moments, but couldn't help but appreciate Draco's urgency.

Harry,

Your father sounds like he's being a git. He's had months to come to terms with your house, and frankly I don't understand how he perhaps didn't see this coming. You're a better Slytherin than I think you'd ever have been a Gryffindor. Maybe I'm biased, or maybe that's just the truth.

As for Christmas, if you really don't want to go, fake being ill. Or then again, if it was my mother, just simply asking her is usually enough to convince her not to make me go somewhere. Maybe your mother would be the same? It's not exactly a lie to say you've had a rough time with Ron over the last few months, and Christmas isn't the time anybody would want to deal with hostilities like that. Worst case, the offer is still there to come to mine. I can keep you away from my Father, and my Mother would love to have you I'm sure.

You'll make it through, and then when we're back at school you'll have all the delightful company you need with me. And Pansy I guess.

Draco

Harry considered lying to Lily about being ill for a total count of two seconds before realising that was maybe the stupidest thing he'd ever thought about trying. Lily was way too smart to not see through his childish deceptions, and he had never managed to deceive her before, so he had no reason to think this time would be any different. He was about to give in and prepare himself to suck it up and go, but considered the other option Draco had presented him.

He caught Lily alone late one evening when she was in the kitchen decorating a large ginger bread house replica of the Burrow. She was decorating it by hand, the way she always preferred, but it was so detailed and meticulously done that you might not have noticed the difference unless you looked carefully or knew the baker.

"Mum?" He began, internally rolling his eyes at how soft and quiet his voice sounded.

Lily picked up on it too, and stopped what she was doing immediately, wiping her hands on her jeans, and giving her his full attention.

"What's wrong?"

Harry usually might have laughed at her immediate assumption that something was dreadfully wrong, but he didn't have it in him. He moved over to the counter she was working at, and lowered his voice slightly, just in case anybody was to walk past the kitchen.

"Nothing's wrong. Well, not really." He looked at the gingerbread Burrow, and frowned a little. "I don't want to go on Christmas day. I'd rather just... stay here."

"Why's that?"

"Me and Ron sort of don't get on anymore. He got really annoyed about the whole Slytherin thing, and I think it might have been fine, but then I made friends with Draco. And when he got really mad, I might have made it worse. I played into the whole Slytherin stereotype, just to get at him, but I'd hoped he'd realise nothing changed because of my house but that's not what happened at all. And I just..." he took a breath and brought his gaze back to Lily. "We're just friends anymore, but things are pretty hostile between us, and I don't want to ruin everybody else's Christmas by going."