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It had all started because of that godforsaken holiday, Draco thought to himself grimly as he trudged back to his dormitory, his gorgeous girlfriend uncharacteristically absent.  “Who celebrates a fat little man shooting people with arrows, anyway? Insane people, that’s who,” he grumbled aloud to no one in particular, not acknowledging the fact that he was the one talking to himself and therefore just as certifiable. “If it weren’t for Valentine’s Day, I might be enjoying a snog right now,” he continued.

A portrait nearby of a group of giggling, fancily dressed young women flirting with knights-in-shining-armor caught Draco’s attention. One older woman, sitting glumly nearby, had overheard and replied, “You and me both, sonny,” as she rearranged her many bright pink skirts. 

Draco, slightly disconcerted to be wallowing in loneliness with a portrait remained silent. Minutes passed as he leaned against the opposite wall, and finally the woman said, “I’m Josephine, by the way, but my portrait mates,” she scoffed then, gesturing to the ladies that seemed to be completely ignoring her, “call me Auntie Jo. Why don’t you tell me what the matter is, dear? Perhaps it’ll make you feel better.”

Unaccustomed to sharing his feelings, except for those of a physical nature- and if then, only with Ginny, Draco hesitated. Shrugging, he thought to himself, “What the hell,” and he began to regale Auntie Jo with the day’s events.

With the dawn of Valentine’s came Draco’s migraine. He knew something was off when he trudged into the Slytherin common room only to see couples paired off everywhere, girls giggling and boys looking much too smug and lovesick for their own good. Thank Merlin the common room was decorated in its dark greens and greys, as usual. A shrieking giggle made Draco wince, though he wasn’t surprised to see that Pansy Parkinson was the source of such a horrible, grating sound. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Draco!” Pansy all but squealed in his direction.

He smiled tightly but added under his breath, “Annoying bint. And light pink is most definitely not her color...” No Slytherin pride, that’s what the problem was with the lot of them. Except for Draco. He, of course, had his priorities all in order. Breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, dinner, some studying, snogging, and finally, bed. He nodded to himself and exited the common room to accomplish his first task of the day.

“Snogging, you say?” asked Auntie Jo shrewdly. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“I’m getting to it,” he said impatiently.

“Well, excuse me if I’m not completely enthralled by a little boy’s daily schedule,” the woman replied sassily, throwing her hands up.

“I’ll just continue, shall I?” Draco inquired politely, feeling more than a little chastised.

“By all means,” said Auntie Jo with a grand gesture.

When he reached the open doors of the Great Hall, he nearly gagged at what he saw. Pink. And Red. And Purple. Everywhere. Draco began backpedaling, his mind screaming, “No, no, no!” but then he caught sight of the “lucky girl” in question, laughing with a group of friends over at the Gryffindor table. Sighing morosely, Draco put on a brave face and traveled to the Slytherin table, keeping his head down to avoid seeing the heart-shaped baubles and balloons floating in midair. 

“Disgusting, isn’t it, Malfoy?” queried Blaise Zabini while eating his breakfast nonchalantly. 

“More than disgusting,” agreed Draco, loading his plate with breakfast items. At least they hadn’t added anything...festive... to the menu.

Owl post came with even more of a flurry than usual. “Valentines,” Draco said grimly, glaring at any owls nearby and almost daring them to approach him, all the while thankful that Dumbledore hadn't brought back those creepy little men dressed as cherubs. 

More giggling ensued as girls and boys alike opened the awkward, hormonally charged missives. Draco spied Granger going pink, turning, and then kissing Weasley on the cheek, who turned even redder. Blech. Draco turned away only to see Ginny looking at him with mirth in her chocolate brown eyes. He lifted an eyebrow, pleased that they’d mutually agreed that Valentine’s Day was a silly holiday, and as such, they shouldn’t do anything equally silly like give the other a valentine, or worse, a gift. She smiled warmly at him, which always did something funny to his stomach, which he never admitted to anyone, least of all himself. Ginny shifted her attention to an owl that had swooped down in front of her, offering its foot. Ginny looked at it confusedly before she grinned and took the note from the bird. She opened what looked like a delicate white card, Draco watching from across the way with more than a little annoyance.

Other People didn’t send his Ginny valentines. Other People kept their bloody paws- or notes- away from her. Ginny looked up after a moment and gave him that pretty smile again before putting the card in her bag and moving to finish her breakfast. Well, that was odd. Who in the world would be impertinent enough to even look Ginny's way? Draco's head quickly swiveled over to where Potter sat, further along the table. Judging by the way his eyes were glued to a Gryffindor girl a year below them that the Slytherin didn't know, Draco doubted that the other boy was the sender. Noticing the increased flow of students leaving the hall, Draco looked at his watch and realized there were only ten minutes until classes, so he focused on shoveling food into his mouth- in a dignified manner, of course- for the remainder of breakfast, deciding to corner Ginny and find out exactly who the mystery person was later.

He was done with classes for the day and heading to dinner when he was waylaid by someone grabbing him around the middle and holding on for dear life. With an “Oof!” Draco took a few steps back from the momentum of the person- Ginny- and looked down at his girlfriend, who was doing an amazing impression of a koala bear. 

He asked, “What’s this then?” reaching down to brush her vibrant hair away from her face. He was startled when he saw tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Oh, Draco, you said you hated Valentine’s Day!” she exclaimed, squeezing a little too hard for Draco’s liking.

“I still do,” he said slowly.

“Well, all right, but I can’t believe you still bothered to send me a valentine- even after we agreed not to! It was so sweet of you- wait, I almost forgot, you don’t like when I call you ‘sweet.’ It was so wonderfully cunning of you to do.” Ginny finally pulled away so that Draco could breathe properly, despite the bruised ribs of which he was most likely the owner.

Draco, for his part, was still very confused. “Er, Gin...I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t send you anything, just like we agreed.” 

“You didn’t? Nothing? Then...” she pulled the card he’d spotted her receiving at breakfast out of her satchel, “who’s this from, then?”

He picked up the card, noticing the subdued outline of a single rose in silver on the front of the cream colored, obviously expensive paper. He opened it and read the brief message ‘To my beautiful, smart, sexy, and all around breathtaking one and only. Happy Valentine’s Day. Love- Draco.’ Draco was absolutely gobsmacked. He really didn’t send her anything! Didn’t he? Ginny was looking up at him expectantly, so Draco felt obligated to say something. 

“Look, Ginny, I didn’t send you this ridiculous valentine. Obviously, someone’s just trying to have a laugh.”

All the hope and warmth left her face at once. Whoops, wrong thing to say. “So I suppose I’m just as ridiculous for actually liking it?” Ginny asked heatedly.

“No! That’s not what I said. I don’t know why you’re overreacting about this. It isn’t as if you thought I was going to get something for you,” said Draco logically.

Ginny scoffed and rolled her eyes. “And now I’m overreacting. I guess I’ll just foist my vapid, overreacting presence on someone else.” She continued more quietly, sounding a bit hurt, “God forbid I hope for a little affection from my boyfriend.” 

Draco hated it when she got like this. Like she was...disappointed in him. “Ginny, wait...”

“Forget it.” She said shortly, walking in the direction of the Great Hall. Draco stared after her, feeling as if this was all his fault in some way, which, of course, he didn’t feel often. He followed Ginny’s path to the Great Hall, not at all hungry.

“And now... I’m here,” finished Draco with a bitter edge to his voice.

“You say that as if you weren't the one to muck things up in the first place!” replied Auntie Jo with a shocked tone. “What kind of boyfriend are you?”

“The kind that listens to what his girlfriend says,” he retorted. “She agreed to no gifts! She agreed!”

“Draco, dear, sometimes, there’s a difference between what a girl says and what a girl means,” Auntie Jo explained in a motherly manner. “I have a feeling your Ginny agreed to no gifts because you were so adamant about it. She didn’t want you to feel obligated to buy something for her. She wanted you to...want to.”

Draco stared at the kindly woman in the painting, after a moment replying, “That makes absolutely no sense. Why wouldn’t she say that?”

Auntie Jo made a clucking sound, “Honestly, Draco, people don’t want to have to say anything. That’s a part of love, isn’t it? Knowing someone well enough to do the things she doesn’t explicitly ask of you, valentines or otherwise.”

He muttered, “Apparently, I’m not so good at this love business.” He heard Auntie Jo snort and mutter something that sounded suspiciously like ‘You think?’ but chose to ignore it. “So what do I do?”

Auntie Jo smiled mischievously then, and Draco decided to be a bit more on guard. “I know just the thing.”

The next day saw Draco putting his- well, Auntie Jo’s- plan into action. He walked casually into the Great Hall for breakfast, doing his customary sweep of the Gryffindor table to see Ginny. He saw her, but she was studiously avoiding his gaze, as was her wont to do when they had a row. He made his way over to his house’s table, not letting his gaze leave his girlfriend. 

“All right, Malfoy?” asked Blaise suspiciously, looking from Draco to Ginny. 

“Fine,” Draco replied in a clipped tone, waiting for the post to finally arrive. 

When the owls swooped into the Hall, the atmosphere was much more subdued than that of the previous morning, which was perfect for Draco’s- Auntie Jo’s- plan. Suddenly, a mass of three owls came in, all hefting the same parcel. They landed squarely in front of Ginny, causing quite a bit of mess by upending the platter of scrambled eggs, the jug of orange juice, and her own untouched plate. 

Draco watched avidly as Ginny looked in confusion at the huge package that, all on its own, burst open only to shower everyone within a five metre radius of the recipient with red, white, and pink rose petals. Then a noise started emitting from it that sounded uncannily like a live string quartet playing one of Celestina Warbeck’s newest hits. By this time, Ginny was almost as red as her hair, Draco noted with glee. 

She moved her hand warily to what remained of the package to remove the card and a much smaller item that came in a little red box, topped with a modest white bow. She met Draco’s eyes across the way with a hint of a smile playing on her lips, nodded once, stood up, and left the Great Hall. Draco, of course, followed, leaving the catcalls and murmuring behind him.

“’Who needs Potions when you Charm me all day long? Happy Belated Valentine’s Day. Love- Draco.’ This is, for lack of a better word, the sweetest thing you’ve ever done, Draco,” Ginny said, stressing the hated word.

Draco tried to hide his smug smile and instead of replying, said, “Open the proper present. The rose petals and music were just filler.”

She slowly untied the white bow from the gift and opened the top of the box, gasping just as Draco knew she would when she saw its contents. “Draco, a bracelet? Oh, it’s lovely!” She fingered the silver charm bracelet, noting with glee the care he took in picking out the charms: a broom, a star (she secretly loved Astronomy class), a tiny replica of a Pygmy Puff (she laughed aloud when she saw it), a book, a quill, and lastly, a little silver heart. 

“Put it on for me?” asked Ginny, holding out the bracelet and her wrist. Draco came closer, took the bracelet, and deftly clasped it onto her proffered wrist, his fingers lingering a bit longer than strictly necessary.

Once he was finished, she wrapped her arms around his neck and went to kiss him when he said, “Wait. I have to apologize for yesterday. You had every right to be upset, and I shouldn’t have made you agree to that silly ‘No Gifts’ rule,” sighed Draco sincerely, stroking her back with his hands.

She smiled and said, “Apology accepted. So, who helped you this time?”

Draco said grudgingly, “Auntie Jo- I mean, a lady from a portrait near the dungeons.”

“I may have to go thank her,” said Ginny thoughtfully.

Draco’s smile turned distinctly wicked and he said, “Luckily, it’s right on the way to the Slytherin dorms, so we could visit her right before...”

Ginny laughed, and practically purred, “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. I do have to give you a present, after all. “

“It’s only fair,” nodded Draco piously, his face moving closer and closer to Ginny’s own.

“Absolutely sick-making. Get a room, you two,” drawled Blaise, interrupting what was going to be a very thorough kiss.

“Planning on it,” replied Draco, glaring pointedly at the other young man who had just walked out of the Great Hall.

Blaise smoothed a hand over his dark hair and said sheepishly, “I take it my little plan didn’t work so well.”

“What little plan?” asked Draco. Then it dawned on him. “You sent Ginny that bloody valentine, didn’t you?”

“I was trying to save your arse, mate. Honestly, who doesn’t give his girlfriend anything for Valentine’s Day and lives to tell the tale?” Blaise asked reasonably. “I just happened to overhear the two of you making your ‘agreement’ and decided to take matters into my own hands, you know, do the right thing.”

Draco snorted in disbelief. “And I suppose your girlfriend had nothing to do with it? Lovegood is one of Ginny’s closest friends and much, much smarter than you.”

“Than the both of you, to be fair,” added Ginny. “Thanks for trying, though, Blaise.”

“Anytime,” he said, smirking.

“No longer necessary,” retorted Draco. “I can be very romantic all on my own, can’t I?” He all but puffed out his chest with pride.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Yes, Draco, you’re a regular Cassanova. Now when are you going to show me that painting?”

“After this,” said Draco softly, just before his lips gently pressed against hers, saving the heavy snogging for later so as not to psychologically damage the firsties or Blaise, for that matter.

After a moment, they broke away from one another, Ginny's cheeks flushed and Draco’s eyes dancing playfully.

“Let me show you that...painting now,” murmured Draco, pulling Ginny along with him.

“Sounds lovely. Draco? Happy Valentine’s Day,” Ginny said, looking up at Draco with that smile again.

“I guess it’s not such a terrible holiday after all,” conceded Draco.



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