Why are we doing this?

By Nazlie

"Could you please tell me WHY we are doing this?" the blonde man whined to his companion.

"Because this is just the way it is! It's a tradition." he other man explained tiredly. He shook his head to get rid of the snowflakes that slowly had landed one after another on his dark brown hair.

"Well, it's a bloody strange tradition." He looked over at the other man to see if he was listening. His back was facing him so he was probably ignoring him. "Are you even listening to me?"

"No." A short and simple answer. He lifted up a tree and spun it around.

"Yes you are, because if you weren't listening, you wouldn't be able to say 'no' to my question, therefore, you are listening to me, maybe you are ignoring me BUT you are listening." the blonde man said.

He only got a growl as a response.

After some time the dark haired man gave up "Ok, smart ass, you have made your point clear, now would you please stop whining." the other man said, gesturing with his hands. "The sooner we are done here, we can go home. Ok?" He looked at another tree, but quickly dismissed it.

"Well hurry up then 'cause I'm bloody freezing my holy parts off out here." Just to make his point he started to shiver.

"This would go much quicker if you helped me pick out a tree."

"I've already done that, but oh no! Mr. Perfect wouldn't be satisfied with whatever tree I choose. No it wasn't good enough!"

"You picked the first tree you found. It was too small, wasn't thick enough and it looked dead!" The dark haired man was getting tired. Tired and cold. And none of trees were good enough for him.

"I wanted to get home!" He sounded like a five year old. "Besides it is a strange thing to do."

"It's a tradition!" Soon he was going to give up.

"It's a stupid tradition." He sounded indifferent.

"So you have said, about a million times." The last part he whispered to himself. He went towards another section. The blonde man followed him.

"Come on, you have to agree with me. Bringing in a tree, that belongs in the woods, indoors, putting various hideous things in it and dancing around it! That is NOT sane." He sounded like everything was hopeless.

"I don't dance around it, there are only some people who do that. Look, it's only for two weeks or so, and then it's out." He explained slowly hoping to settle this. He had stopped and turned around to look at his companion.

"But it's a tree! They are supposed to grow together in the woods, be big and do what ever trees do. They are not supposed to be cut down and be sold to people who think taste is having the ornaments in the same colour." The man sounded like a dog that just had his favourite tree cut down.

"Yeah, I got your point, forest man." He turned around again and continued the search.

"If the tree wanted to be indoors, would it make such a mess, shedding all its needles? I think the needle shedding is a sign of protest. It wants to be free." It was uncanny how much he sounded like some obsessive environmentalist that thought trees had feelings.

"It will be set free again, after two weeks." He tried to sound educational.

"After you have killed it." The man pointed out.

Another growl. Another tree dismissed, too small.

"It's a stupid tradition."

A growl and another tree thrown away, to thin.

"You are ignoring me again, aren't you? I know you are, don't even try to deny it."

"I am not denying anything, I am just being quiet." Patience was slowly running out. Another tree dismissed, to ugly.

"Ok, I'll be quiet, silent as a mouse, silent as a soft summer breeze, as a…" He was interrupted.

"Yeah, I get it, now begin being silent, please. I'll try to be finished in a few minutes."

Thirty second of silence.

"I need to use the bathroom." He got no response. "Hey, I need to pee!" But the other man was busy.

"Look." He said mesmerized.

"It's a tree, a tree with needles, one of hundreds trees with needles here. Oh, and it's green!" He didn't sound impressed.

"Look." He repeated.

"Yeah, yeah."

"It's perfect. It's thick, it looked healthy, the trunk is straight and the needles look thick and nice." He looked admiring at the tree.

"Thick and nice, that's good. Let's buy it!" The faked enthusiasm was missed by his companion.

"Yes, this is the one, you're right, lets bye it!"

A 'finally' was mouthed behind him.

As the walked home with their new friend the blonde man once again broke the silence.

"One week." The other man looked strangely at him. "It stays one week." He clarified as they stopped at a round about waiting for most of the cars to pass.

"One week and five days."

"One week and two days."

"One and a half week."

Silence.

"Hmpf, ok. But not a day longer you hear me!"

"Not a day longer. Promise."

They crossed the street, soon they were home.

"But you are cleaning up the needles."

He got an exasperated scream as an answer.

Slut (The end in Swedish…)

I got the idea to this story when I was shopping for a Christmas tree last year (the story has been sleeping in my computer for quite awhile). I started to think about how it would sound if my dear friend Anna would accompany me when I hunt for the perfect tree. I live for Christmas and midsummer (a very strange tradition we celebrate here in Sweden) and she don't celebrate Christmas and she pretty much think I go crazy in December with all my Christmas shopping and decorating.

For those of you who is now wondering what I was thinking about when I wrote this story and mixed HP in it, lets just pretend that the Malfoy's don't celebrate Christmas and Draco really can't see the point in brining a tree inside and decorate it with strange tasteless things.

If you think this story has a lack of names in it, well that is sort of the point. Almost all of my short stories are like that, no names. I like it like that, a bit mysterious, it doesn't say who it really is about but since I'm posting it here you won't need many guesses and if you do, then you must be pretty new at HP fan fiction and especially slash.

I have some other short stories that I think I'll post but my other fiction, the looooong one, well, we will just see how that one goes…

Now I hope you all are having I nice summer, mine couldn't start any worse but I will not bore you with that!

One last thing; If Nine Inch Nails will play anywhere nearby you, GO AND SEE IT! You will not be disappointed, I sat all the way in the back under fifteen layer of clothes because I just had to get pneumonia when he came to Sweden to play, so go and see him. If not for yourself then go for me!

Nazlie – the one and only