Disowned (Drarry/Pansmione)

Chapter Twenty Four

Despite it being the night of Christmas Eve, Draco wasn't feeling very happy. He felt too out of place without Ron here, even if Fred and George were there for him. He couldn't get used to sleeping in silence again. Well, technically it wasn't silence; the house creaked like it was going to fall apart at any second, which was extraordinarily disturbing to Draco, who was used to structurally sound buildings.

Draco, having been trying but not being able to fall asleep for hours after the rest of the family had, decided to take a walk outside to try and clear his head. He cringed as the stairs made a loud creeeeeeeeeeeeeeak  as he climbed down them.

"Draco?"

Draco jumped and nearly shrieked at the young girl's voice that was suddenly behind him. He turned and looked up at her. She must have just exited her room. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were still half shut.

"Sorry, Ginny, go back to sleep."

"What're you doing?"

Draco shrugged. "I need some fresh air."

Ginny started down the stairs. "I'll come with you."

Draco decided that would be alright and walked with the girl through the house. After putting shoes and coats on they opened the squeaky front door as quietly as was possible and stepped outside, each taking a deep breath.

"Would you like to stargaze?" Ginny asked, looking up at the night sky.

"Sure, I guess."

The two hopped off of the porch and Draco followed Ginny up a small hill a short ways away. Ginny lay down in the snow on top of the hill and looked at Draco.

"Come on."

Draco figured clothes could be dried and lay down next to Ginny to look up at the stars. There were at least a million in sight. Draco grinned when he found his constellation and pointed it out to Ginny.

"That's what you're named after? That's cool. I'm named after Guinevere. You know of her?"

"Of course. Great story."

"I'd rather be named after stars. They're cooler."

Draco didn't have a response to that. He agreed with her completely.

"Do you like dragons?" Ginny asked. "Y'know, since you're named after the dragon constellation?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah. They're awesome. I heard one of your brothers works with them."

"Charlie. He's obsessed. Has been for as long as I can remember." Ginny looked over to Draco. "I hear you're getting a new sister soon. How do you feel about that?"

Draco sighed and flopped his arms out. "I just hope they like her better than they liked me."

Ginny turned her head back to the stars and closed her eyes.

"Aren't you cold?" Draco asked. He was starting to feel a chill, which made sense, since it was December and they were lying in snow.

"No. Mum sews a heating charm into all of our pyjamas. I'm sure that if you asked she'd make you a pair."

"No, no, I don't need them. Let her save her fabric."

Ginny opened her eyes to look at him. "You realize you'll be getting a sweater tomorrow, right?"

"Huh?"

"Mum makes sweaters for all of us every year. I saw her making Harry one, so I'm sure she made you one too."

"Oh."

Draco shivered and focused back on the sky above him. The moon shone brightly up above his head. He knew his ex-mother would be looking at the moon too. She never slept well. He missed being able to have hot chocolate with her by the fire when neither of them could sleep.

"Are you cold?" Ginny asked quietly.

"A little."

Ginny rolled over to stand up. "I'll make you some tea."

"That's okay, I don't need - "

"I'll make you some tea," Ginny repeated more forcefully.

"Okay. Thank you."

Draco followed Ginny back down the hill to the Burrow and they stepped inside and shut the door behind them. Ginny brought Draco to the kitchen and poured some water into a kettle to put on a stove. Draco sat down next to Athena, Aphrodite, and Errol's empty perches. They must be out hunting. He winced at the wet pants. He really should've changed into jeans or something.

Ginny set a cup of tea in front of Draco and sat down next to him with a cup of her own. Draco picked his up and swirled it around. It smelled amazing.

"What kind of tea is this?"

Ginny shrugged. "It was too dark to read the boxes. I just grabbed the first one. I think it might be Egyptian."

"Where'd you get Egyptian tea?"

"My brother Bill sent it. He works in Egypt."

Draco took a sip and felt the hot liquid burn his mouth slightly, but it was a pretty welcome feeling after being outside for so long. The cup was wonderfully warm against his cold hands. The tea was too hot to taste any flavor.

Ginny crinkled her face. "I'm not a big tea fan. I don't know why I made myself a cup."

Draco chuckled. "At least it'll warm your hands."

Ginny smiled and flipped her head to get her hair out of her face. "Want a snack? I'm starved."

"I'm okay," Draco responded.

Ginny placed her tea down and stood up. She walked over to the counters and took an apple out of the fruit basket. She washed it and sat back down.

By the time Draco was finished with his tea it had cooled off enough to taste. He liked it, but it tasted a little old. He wondered how long they had had it for.

Ginny wasn't finished with her apple yet. Draco sat quietly and watched her eat.

Once she was finished the two cleaned up after themselves and said goodnight at the base of the stairs.

"Are you going to bed now?" Ginny asked.

Draco shrugged. "Maybe in a little bit. I'm not that tired," he lied.

Ginny nodded and walked quietly up the stairs and into her room. Draco wandered into the main room and sat down on the ratty old couch. The coals were still lit from the fire earlier. Draco pulled a blanket over himself and watched them. Coals were gorgeous when they were hot. They were almost as pretty as the stars had been.

Draco spent a few minutes letting his mind take him back to the earliest Christmas he could remember. He had to have been around three or four. He had gotten a toy wand that could make things come to him like the spell Accio, only he had to be able to see and point at what he wanted to summon. He mostly used it when a toy was just out of his reach. A few years later the charms wore off and Draco had never bothered asking for a replacement, choosing to instead actually just get up and get whatever he wanted.

He chuckled and felt his eyes grow heavy. He was really warm right here, and his pants had dried off. The creaking of the house wasn't too loud down here either. He was so sleepy...