The Cowardly Lion (Book 1)

10: Of Christmas Break and Fathers

The days seemed to pass by ever so quickly, Draco thought, as he trudged down to Potions with Harry. Christmas was coming, and it seemed that no matter how hard the blonde boy tried, the days moved faster. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his father had somehow managed to cast some sort of spell to make time move faster.

Snape's beady eyes had been on his godson recently, not that Draco ever seemed to notice; but Snape had noticed how Draco flinched every time somebody brought up Christmas, and he had been regretting how he'd acted the last time he'd been confronted by Draco and Potter.

Unfortunately, none of the platinum-blond's friends seemed to notice Draco's ever-worsening mood, as they were all talking about their own Christmases. Crabbe and Goyle, who had no reason to fear Christmas, were talking loudly about how they felt sorry for the people who "weren't wanted at home," but Harry didn't seem fazed by this at all, and Draco knew exactly why. Harry had informed him of how horrible the Dursleys were, and Draco had been there when Harry had signed up to stay at Hogwarts with no hesitation whatsoever. Draco, after Harry had left, had looked at the sign-up sheet wistfully.

Ron had signed up, too, Draco noticed - there was no one else in Hogwarts with the messy scrawl of Ron Weasley. When he asked Ron why he wasn't going home - surely his family was loving and caring and everything Draco had never had - Ron informed him that his parents were going to visit his brother, Charlie, in Romania, so every Weasley at Hogwarts was staying at Hogwarts.

Lucky them, Draco thought sourly. He began to take long walks in the snow, occasionally taking so long he nearly got frostbite. He'd been scolded by Madam Pomfrey twice now, but after the first time, Draco wondered - if he got frostbite, would he get himself into St. Mungo's? Surely his father wouldn't hurt him there, right?

He didn't even notice when he walked straight into an enormous fir tree. Draco poked his head through the branches to see Hagrid, beaming at him from the other end of the tree.

"Ah, Draco, where're Harry and Ron?" asked Hagrid.

"I was taking a walk by myself," muttered Draco. Hagrid frowned at him.

"Everythin' all right, Draco?"

"Yes, yes, everything's perfectly fine," Draco responded, far too quickly for anyone to believe him.

Hagrid looked disbelievingly at Draco. "Well," he finally said, "when yeh need somebody to talk ter, me door's always open fer you boys. Now come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas." Hagrid didn't seem to notice how Draco flinched at the word, as he continued, "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

"Oh, Draco, there you are!" Harry's voice said happily, and Draco let out a small sigh. Harry had been trying to make it his mission to try and cheer up Draco, recently; part of the reason Draco had been avoiding him. The other part was that he worried his father would somehow figure out how close Draco and Harry were, and threaten to harm Harry if Draco didn't obey him. "Where are you two going?" Harry asked Hagrid.

"Great Hall," rumbled Hagrid. Draco looked over to Harry to see that Ron and Hermione were both accompanying him. So much for a nice, lonely, freezing walk, he thought.

"Ah, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall greeted him. "The last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around at the festive Great Hall, decorated extravagantly for Christmas, but Professor McGonagall peered over her glasses. "Mr. Malfoy, might I speak with you alone?"

"Yes, Professor," said Draco reluctantly; he thought he knew what this was about.

Professor McGonagall led Draco into her office. "Have a biscuit, Mr. Malfoy," she said, pushing a tin of biscuits towards him. Draco blinked, but took one, dropping it immediately when he realized they were holiday-themed. Why was everything holiday-themed, these days?