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"Why are you doing this?" Malfoy asked from his perch in one of the stools in his (their) greenhouse as he drank a Mystick Ale.
"I don't understand the question." Neville replied trying to focus on bending the holy branch so it would tuck properly without also scrating his forearm on its way.
"This, man" Malfoy said waving his arms vaguely towards his work bench which was littered with pine, holy and some mistle toe for good measure.
"I am getting in the festive spirit." Neville answered nonplused as he took a sip of his own beer before assesing how much he had to go.
"You know she is more bark than bite. You can't allow her to step all over you." Malfoy said always clever enough to zero just left of the issue.
Sure Neville was terrified of Pansy Parkinson. Honestly he didn't undertand how anyone wouldn't be. However that wasn't exactly why he was doing this. She had asked for him to make some wreaths and he was in very simple terms gone for that woman and would do as she said. Maybe eventually he'd get the nerve to ask her out… or drunk enough.
"I am not scared of Parkinson she is tiny," He said taking a sip. "But she is living here for now and it's not a bother to do something to make it more festive for her."
"She needs her own place. I don't know why she didn't find a place as soon as she got that job." Malfoy answers sullenly. "Or why she needed to be in our house couldn't she go to Theo's?"
Privately he'd been elated that Pansy had chosen to stay with them. The unruly crush he had been harboring since he saw her a few years ago when she first visited from Paris had been extatic to get to see here every day this past two weeks. Not that he would admit it to Malfoy. "Would you move in with Nott?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, which made him wonder if that was a slytherin trait they all learnt in the common room. "Okay no; but why our house. She is distracting you from your job. Instead of fullfilling orders for the apothacary you are playing decorating winter wonderland."
"First of all I have not been distrated." He was absolutely distracted. "Second she is here becuase you didn't just offer you made sure she came to ours. You even asked me if I needed the guest room for the next couple of months. Which means you knew that she would be here a while. I don't know why you are whining so much."
"Hannah is scared of her." Malfoy answered in a mumble.
"Is she really? Hannah may be a number of things but I would have never thought her to scare away easily. Plus Hannah and Susan hang out with Parkinson all the time." He looked at Malfoys appauled face and smirked and his friends discomfort. "Is it actually that you are scared that they will become too good of friends and make your life a living hell?"
"I thought I was your friend how come you are taking her side?" Malfoy replied sullenly.
"We are not friends. We agreed on that ages ago. We are house mates and business parteners." Neville responded with a measure of disgust. "As such seeing you suffer brings me in measurable amounts of joy. Especially considering you are dating my ex while bringing your ex into my home."
"Fuck off Longbottom. Don't come to me when Pansy eats you alive." Malfoy said as he strode back inside the house. Letting him finish the wreaths in peace. If only Malfoy know that Pansy eating him alive would not be a problem.
He couldn't find the god damn sweater. He knew Draco had been appauled at him just scourgifying it and had taken it so that it could be properly cleaned but Neville needed it, tonight.
He was trying to open Malfoys door when he heard her. "Can I help you?"
Neville could not deal with her right now he could not get distracted he was already late. "It's fine Parkinson. Malfoy just took a few of my things to be laundered properly, and I need one of the things for a dinner today." He said still at Malfoy's door, looking a bit defeated.
"I could open that door for you." She said tone bored.
She had done what? "You break his wards?" He asked as he turned to look at her and quickly realized he had made a horrible mistake. He had to take double take of her whole body. He shouldn't have but he couldnt stop himself. There in his living room was the woman of his dreams in what looked like nothing but his sweater and knee high dark green stockings. He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor knowing he had been caught stairing and realizing how bad that was.