Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries

121) Big Snake Man

Sirius had changed quite a bit since the summer. His mood had greatly improved now that the house would be full for Christmas, and he wanted everyone to enjoy their time here just as much, if not more, than if we were at Hogwarts. He worked tirelessly cleaning and decoration, and with our help, the house was barely recognizable on Christmas Eve. The cobwebs on the chandelier had been replaced with garland and holly and silver streamers; magical snow glittered on the floor; a massive Christmas tree (obtained by Mundungus), was decorated with live fairies, bobble lights, and ornaments blocked Sirius's family tree from view; even the stuffed house elf heads had wore Santa hats and beards.

I woke up early Christmas morning so I could call Draco in the bathroom.

"Hey," Draco smiled brightly, talking quietly. He glanced up for a moment, then back down, the smile unwavering. He had a few new bruises I could see.

"Your dad's up?" I asked.

"No, but the big snake man himself is," Draco switched easily to Greek. "Is Mr. Weasley all right?"

"He's fine — we visited him and he was happy about this guy who didn't get arrested potentially getting arrested for a separate crime."

Draco nodded, then asked, "How are you?"

"Fine," I shrugged. "Harry was moody for a while — but he's having fun now. Otherwise everyone's been in a pretty great mood. Me included. Except for that time Ron wore my socks and tore a hole in them. His feet are too big to do that stuff. How are you?"

Draco shrugged, hiding a grimace. If I didn't know him as well as I did, I would've missed the pain on his face.

"What happened?" I blinked.

"I mentioned camp around the big snake man," Draco frowned, putting a hand to his shoulder. "The big snake man doesn't really care — he doesn't hate the whole demigod thing. He admires it, I think. To be a wizard and a demigod... my dad hates it though. He doesn't like acknowledging the fact that I'm a demigod, especially around Him."

"Is it bad?"

Draco thought about it for a moment, "No. Just sore, I think. Nothing worse than a bad bruise — maybe a bit of swelling, but not anymore. Mom gave me some nectar, so we're all good."

I wondered how bad it'd have to have been to still hurt after drinking nectar.

"Get any presents?" I asked after a beat of silence.

"Is this a hint that you want me to open the one you sent?"

"... Yeah."

"Well, I did get a present from my lovely boyfriend, and I opened the lovely present, and it's really freaking cool — a book on loads of architecture throughout the ages and a new pad for designing stuff? That's freaking dope stuff right there, I already copied over some of the designs and edited some and thank you so much."

"Nerd," a tired voice said. I looked up and saw Ron, who looked a bit awkward. He and Draco were on weird terms. The quest made them respect each other, but they weren't friends. Or enemies. I don't think they were sure of what they were.

"Idiot," Draco responded, glaring at Ron.

Ron seemed to get the message, "Just gonna grab my toothbrush — I'll catch you later."

"Have you opened your presents yet?" Draco asked, reaching over and grabbing a bit of chocolate, shoving it into his mouth.

"No," I said. "I wanted to make sure I could call you without the others up. That didn't turn out how I'd hoped."

"Eh, Ron's not a bother."

"He's not? Since when?"

Draco snorted, "How're things over there?"