"I'm not wearing it!"

"Yes you are because I paid good money to get it made especially for you."

"Well you needn't have bothered because there is no way in hell I'm ever going to put it on!"

"Look, wearing it can be your Christmas gift to me. Please, come on! We are like the only students here. The teachers will love it. Besides, I got myself one too and I'll be wearing mine. Different design, of course."

In the end Draco grudgingly went back to his room, whilst I quickly disappeared back to mine.

Five minutes later we were stood back in front of one another, Draco's face filled with horror.

"Very fetching," I said, nodding my head impressively as I admired my gift to him.

For instead of his usual black tie and shirt, Draco was wearing a dark green knitted jumper decorated with little white ferrets in Santa hats.

"But yours is just plain red!" Draco spluttered.

"Patterns don't really suit me," I shrugged, smoothing my hands down my sides, happy with the flattering fit.

Draco muttered something under his breath about 'Gryffindor lover' as he huffily crossed his arms.

"Now come on you cute ferret," I said brightly, playfully pinching a cheek on his scowling face, "let's get to the Hall in time to see Dumbledore carving the turkey. We wouldn't want to miss him asking Snape whether he's a breast or leg man."

*****

I made sure to pile Draco's plate high with turkey and roast potatoes.

When he gave me a funny look, I just shrugged and told him I was looking after him. He said nothing but instead found my hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze as his eyes twinkled warmly into mine.

I noticed he still didn't eat much, but he at least looked less broken than he'd done in ages; the greying tinge to his skin already having vanished.

The teachers all chatted merrily amongst themselves as we sat with them at the long table; each of their faces becoming rosier and rosier as wine was consumed in copious amounts.

I realised not one of them seemed in the least bit concerned about Draco's appearance or once asked him if things were okay.

The only teacher that showed any signs of acknowledging him was Snape, who every once in a while just glowered in his direction as Draco did his best to ignore everything except for the food on his plate and me.

The teachers in Hogwarts were such dicks.

Afterwards, when we got back down to the empty common room, Draco told me to wait on the sofa whilst he quickly disappeared into his room. He emerged later with a deck of cards in his hands.

"I'm afraid the monopoly board is still in the treehouse," he explained apologetically as he sank down heavily onto the sofa next to me, "but I've missed playing cards with you, Zabini. So, what do you say - best of five?"

I grinned, my heart swelling with love at hearing him say those words again. And, as I watched him expertly shuffle and deal the cards, I saw a glimpse of the golden haired boy who had asked to share a compartment together on that very first day.

"What?" He asked, noticing me watching him.

"Nothing," I smiled, shrugging my shoulders, "just thinking that I'm glad you asked me to sit with you all those years ago."

A sort of wistful look flickered in his eyes as he lowered his cards down and reached a hand up to brush my hair behind my ear. "You and me both, Zabini," he said, his voice hoarse and thick with emotion.

We sat looking tenderly into each other's eyes as I nuzzled my cheek against his warm hand, sighing softly at his touch.

"I missed you so much," I breathed, closing my eyes as an onslaught of emotions came over me.

I felt him scoot closer to me and all of a sudden I was being wrapped in his embrace as he held me tightly to him.

No sooner had I opened my eyes than our lips were connecting, and we were kissing, softly at first; sweet and tender.

But it didn't take long for the fires to start burning and it was as though we were being taken over by some sort of uncontrollable desire.

A longing sigh sounded in the back of my throat as our mouths started working more furiously against each other. I ran my hands greedily through his hair desperately trying to deepen the kiss which had turned into a thrashing of tongues and teeth attacking lips.

His hands hungrily ran up and down the length of my body, making me shiver and cry as his fingers groped and stroked. I found myself straddling his lap, grinding myself against his hardness, making him shudder and groan with utter longing.

I was desperate for him, desperate to feel him inside of me and to lose ourselves in one another.

Without breaking the kiss, I dropped my hands from his head and grappled down at the hem of his jumper, eager to yank it off him and feel his skin against mine.

But I got only as far as pulling it up to his mid drift when he suddenly froze and grabbed my wrists; violently yanking my hands away.

"No," he said breathlessly, as he pulled his mouth away from mine, "we- we can't do this."

I was consumed with a sudden rush of confusion and disappointment.

"Drac? What is it?" I frowned, my chest rising and falling heavily as I slid off his lap onto the sofa next to him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," he choked, shaking his head as he looked regretfully into my eyes. "I- I just can't do this-"

"It's okay," I said at once, my heart racing in concern as tears started to swim in his eyes. "Drac, it's okay, I promise you."

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him to me as he emitted a loud, aching sob; his thin frame juddering against me.

"I'm sorry," he kept saying over and over again, my heart utterly breaking for him as I held him as tight as I could, trying to absorb some of his pain.

After a while, when his sobs subsided, I asked him what I could do to help.

"Play cards with me, Zabini," he simply said, looking at me sadly. "That's all I ask."

And so I did. For the rest of the day, we played game after game, just like we used to do.

He was clearly exhausted, and I could tell his mind was mostly elsewhere. But as promised, I didn't question him about anything, just played cards in a companionable silence, every now and then telling him little anecdotes about the Slug Club. He especially enjoyed the ones involving Harry.

Eventually, after he'd stifled yet another yawn, he threw down his cards, twisted round and swung his legs up onto the sofa.

"Come 'ere," he said, his voice hoarse and groggy as he opened his arms out to me.

I smiled, throwing my own cards down before crawling up the sofa into his arms and curling myself into his embrace.

He gave a content sigh as he tightened his arms around me, my body relaxing into him as he pressed his lips down on top of my head.

"I'm glad I had you by my side this Christmas," he murmured tiredly, "thank you."

"Don't thank me," I said, lifting my head to look into his exhausted eyes, "I'm just glad you're allowing yourself to lean on me."

I cupped my hand to his cheek, brushing my thumb gently over his almost translucent skin. He sighed again, closing his eyes; and I took the opportunity to lean in and press my lips softly against his.

When he didn't react, I pulled back to look down at him.

He had already fallen fast asleep.

******

Draco tightened his arms around the weight curled into his body as his eyes slowly fluttered opened.

He looked down at the sleeping beauty in his arms and he felt his heart lift when he realised she had stayed the whole night with him on the sofa.

And then it quickly sank again when he realised he'd spent an entire day away from the cabinet.

Not that he hadn't needed it; it had been his wish, after all, that he could spend time with Blaire and forget about the horror of his task.

She had been like a tonic to him; he'd felt better than he had in months. But as much as he longed to, he couldn't stay here with her like this. He needed to get back to the Room of Requirement as soon as possible and make up for lost time.

With a heavy reluctance, he started to shift himself out from under her as gently as he could. But his movements caused her to stir awake and he watched her face as her eyes slowly opened and a smile tugged instantly at her lips the moment she registered the scene.

"Morning," she murmured sleepily, nuzzling her face back into his chest; against the ridiculous jumper she had forced him to wear.

"Blaire," he said, his heart twisting at the thought of leaving her. "I need to go. I- I'm sorry, but I can't explain why-"

"Drac, it's okay," she said at once, quickly placing her fingertips against his lips, "as I said yesterday, you don't need to tell me anything. I understand, okay? Just promise me you'll make time to eat."

He nodded, suddenly feeling completely and utterly grateful for Blaire; for everything that she was and that, for some reason unknown to him, she actually genuinely cared about him and never expected anything in return.

And so, sticking to his promise, as soon as they had both freshened up, they went up to breakfast together where he made sure to eat enough to satisfy her before leaving her to go up to the seventh floor.

She was there for him at both lunch and dinner too, never once asking questions about where he'd been; just served up his food as she chatted idly about nothing in particular, almost as though she sensed his need to get lost in her voice as he silently ate.

At the end of dinner, it took him everything not to go back down to the dungeons with her and ask her to come to bed with him.

It was what he wanted more than anything. But not only did he need to put the hours into the cabinet, he had to accept that sex was well and truly off the cards if he wanted to keep her as safely in the dark as possible.

So, sighing heavily, he made his way up to the seventh floor, the skin on his left forearm burning accusingly underneath his sleeve.

*****