The Sunrise of My Heart

As the days passed, leading up to when we would return to Hogwarts, Sirius become more and more grumpy. I knew he hated the thought of being alone in his house again, unable to leave, but I wished he wouldn't be so damn moody about it. It made everyone else just as gloomy as he was.
I didn't want to have to leave him all alone again, but there was nothing we could do about that. Harry, I knew, was also feeling bad about leaving Sirius on his own. We could hate it as much as we wanted, but we still had to face the fact that we would soon be leaving him.

On the last day of break, I was wandering around the house, humming to myself, when I heard voices in the kitchen. I ignored them for awhile, continuing on my humming and walking. When I realized one of the voices was Snape's, I paused, wondering why he was there. Still, I didn't go down to investigate. Not until I recognized Sirius's voice did I start to wander closer, knowing that those two should never be in the same room together. "I wonder what they're up to," I muttered to myself.

I made my way to the kitchen, walking in on a rather awkward scene. Both Snape and Sirius had their wands drawn, aiming them at each other. Harry was in the middle, trying to keep them from attacking each other. They didn't even notice me when I stepped into the kitchen. "Snape, Sirius, stop this," I snapped. "You're acting like petty children!"

They both cast me sideways glances, but otherwise ignored me. "Boys, don't make me beat both your asses! I'll bloody do it if you don't behave!" My arms were crossed and I was glaring at them. Harry's eyes widened at my remark, and I saw him glance at Snape. Snape, however, ignored me again. I noticed, though, that both of their wands had lowered an inch or two. I smirked softly at that.

"Cured!" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see the Weasleys and Hermione walking into the kitchen. "Completely cured!" It was Mr Weasley who had spoken, talking cheerfully, glad to finally be out of the hospital.

When everyone saw Snape and Sirius, they froze, staring at them in shock. Slowly, grudgingly, the two lowered their wands, but they still looked like they wanted to kill each other.

"Stupid boys," I muttered darkly. "Always so moody and dumb." I turned and walked from the room, still muttering under my breath about how ridiculous Sirius and Snape had been behaving.

The next day, I couldn't find it in me to still be annoyed with Sirius for acting like such an immature child, so I hugged him good-bye just like always, smiling and waving in farewell. I still didn't want to leave him. With a sigh, I followed everyone else out the door, wondering what new pains Umbridge would have in store for us.

The ride back to Hogwarts was much more nauseating than it should have been, but that's only to be expected when riding the Knight Bus. Ron looked green by the end of the ride, and I was afraid he might get sick. Thankfully, he managed to hold it in, and we arrived back at Hogwarts without much of a fuss. After hugging Remus tightly good-bye, I followed the others up the drive toward the castle.

When I got back to the Slytherin Common Room, only one person was in there. That person was, not surprisingly, Draco. He was sitting in a chair by the fire, his face cast in shadows. I noticed a parcel wrapped in blue sitting on his lap.

"Hey, Draco," I said pleasantly. "Have a good Christmas."

"It was all right," he said with a shrug. "Did you enjoy yours?"

"Yup. I got some really great gifts. So, um, just to be sure, since I never received an answer from you, are we friends again?"

He was silent for a moment, gazing at me with an unreadable expression, before he nodded. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Good. So what's with the package?"

"It's a Christmas gift."

"Who for?"

"You."

"Ooh yay! What is it?" I bounced over, excited by the prospect of a new gift, and eagerly tore into the wrapping. The gift was a pair of silver silk gloves and a vial of green powder. "Ooh, pretty gloves! So soft and silvery!" When I saw the powder, I paused, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't some kind of drug, right? Because I definitely don't do that."

He rolled his eyes at me. "No, it's not a drug. It's a plant powder. Plants will grow from anywhere that you put it. I thought you would like some flowers in your room since you're so fond of nature."

"You mean this will make plants grow in my room? Without soil?"

"Obviously, since that's basically what I just said."

"Draco, that's wonderful! Thank you!" I leaned forward and hugged him briefly, then turned and ran to my room to try it out. Picking a spot in between my bed and the wall, I sprinkled some of the powder there and waited, staring avidly at the ground. As I watched, the powder seeped into the floor, and soon a small bush began growing, little rose buds forming on it. I beamed at the rosebush, thrilled to have it.

"Oh, Draco, it's perfect!" I called to him, still crouching on the floor beside my little bush. Finally, I got up and went back to him.

"I'm glad you like it," he said, sounding honestly pleased.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you a gift. I wasn't sure if we were friends again or not, so I didn't want to get you something that you'd never receive."

"Don't worry about it," he answered. The firelight caught on my necklace, making it glint, and I saw his eyes move to it. "Nice necklace. Who's it from?" There was a tense undertone to his voice that made me know he could guess who it was from.

"George. Isn't it pretty?"

"Looks fake to me," he answered, his voice going a little cold.

"It doesn't matter if it's fake or not. What matters is that it was a gift from the heart, it's pretty, and it looks good on me."

He scoffed softly at my views on what made a present enjoyable, but didn't say anything. We lapsed into silence for awhile, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

"Draco, why does your dad hate me so much?"

"My dad hates everyone beneath his status," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if that wasn't a bad thing.

"Still, I think he detests me for some reason, more than my mother being a Muggle and my friendship with Harry."

"I think," he said slowly after a pause, "I think he fears you, in a way."

"He what? He's never even met me! I'm a fifteen-year-old girl! Why would he fear me?"

"Because I'm a fifteen-year-old boy, and when I'm with you, my viewpoint seems to shift a bit. I think he fears that you'll make me like you. Silly of him, really." For a moment, the cold tone he always used had melted away, and he'd spoken with actual feeling. But then the ice barricade was back up, and his emotions were lost to me.

"You never know," I said with a smile. "A woman can sometimes change a man's heart, or vice versa."

"Not this time," he said simply. "I'd have to be madly in love with you for that to happen." He sneered at the thought, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Don't sneer at love, or it might come back for revenge later on."

He looked at me is if I were crazy, but at least he didn't respond with some rudely sarcastic answer.

"I'm gonna laugh when you fall in love with and marry a half-blood, or even the child of two Muggles." I smirked at him.

"Never," he said, looking appalled at the thought. "Besides, it's doubtful that I'll even marry for love. My family often marries for status."

"That's awful. You should at least be able to choose your own wife!"

"Status is just as important as love," he answered in his haughty drawl. "Only silly childish people put so much emphasis on marrying for love."

"And yet we silly, childish people are the happiest in our marriages."

"Status and wealth will make me happy enough," he responded with a shrug, obviously not caring about my ideas on love.

"I hope you're right, because otherwise you could be in for a very bumpy ride through life."