This is an entry to:

- "The Latin Challenge" the latin word I chose was "pax" meaning "peace."

- "HP Potions Competition" under Death-Cap Draught (write about a nightmare).

- "The Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" under Ton-Tongue Toffees (write a fic without dialogue).

All on HPFC.

It had taken a while.

And by that, I mean a very long while.

But, it had happened, Draco and Hermione were now friends, more than friends.

They no longer argued, hexed or, in Hermione's case, slapped, each other. For over six months. They still bickered every so often, as was natural, but it never escalated.

It had been a ridiculous idea, having them as Head Girl and Boy of the school, but Minerva McGonagall had been insistent, as had the portrait of Albus Dumbledore that hung in the office. Severus Snape's hadn't been so optimistic about it, but resentfully agreed. For the first term, it had been utter chaos, fights would happen every five minutes and one, usually Draco, would end up in the hospital wing. And neither would apologise for it, which meant they just continued on and on and on until somebody risked their lives and intervened. This was normally Ginny Weasley, but she could only hold the scorning comments at bay for an hour at most.

They were not exactly setting a moral example of behaviour to students.

However, the students seemed to know this and did not follow their example. In fact, it was a topic for great debate and bets. Knuts, sickles and galleons would be spent on predicting who was going to the hospital wing this time. Among them all, of course, were a few romantics. For example, Luna was thoroughly convinced the reason for the fighting was a deep attractive that their sub-conscious was repulsed by and so projected negative thoughts into their minds. Very few did agree though. One of the ones who did agree was Blaise Zabini, but he did not believe Hermione Granger was in love with Draco Malfoy, merely that Draco had always harboured feelings for the Gryffindor Princess who had never been within his grasp. Those feelings, according to Blaise, only existed because he didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell's with her. This caused arguments between Blaise and Miss Lovegood.

Their fights, however, weren't publically displayed, and mostly occurred when he came across her while on Prefect Patrols and had to escort her back to her dormitory. Though, recently, it had been to his dormitory after one particular argument in which Luna looked so fiercely determined (and to him, beautiful) to prove she was right that Blaise could not help but kiss her.

But, when it came to Draco and Hermione, however provocative the other had been neither would respond with that ardent response. No matter how suitable it would seem.

But back to the present, which saw Draco and Hermione laughing and teasing as if they had been friends since birth. It hadn't been a sudden turn around, but a most gradual one. Occasionally, one would spot something about the other that they saw in themselves, like a love for the same book, or the same passion about a subject. This meant they started conversing, like civilised people, and they were followed by the occasional playful tease till it reached the point that instead of glaring, they would offer each other a small smile or a nod as they passed in corridors. As time passed, they realised they had more and more in common, such as a favourite colour (silver), or fruit (apple, green in particular) and finally, they came to a break through.

When Draco returned one night from his patrols, he came across a sobbing Hermione in their shared common room. He was so stunned that the war hero had been reduced the tears that he did not move for several minutes, until he realised that she was also human. Being a war hero didn't make her immune to suffering and pain, it simply meant that she'd stood up for her beliefs and survived to tell the tale.

As he came to this conclusion, he was already moving to her shaking form and wrapping his arms securely around her petite figure and whispering sweet nothings in her ear as he rocked her gently, cradling and protecting her.

Through her tears, she slowly began to tell him why she was so unhappy, why she had nightmares and why she was currently burying herself in work. She told him about the loss of her parents, how her memory charm had been too powerful and irreversible. She told him about how disappointed and alone she had felt when Ron and Harry had told her they wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts to complete their education. She told him why she would never become an Auror, how she'd had enough of war, and pain, and suffering. She spoke about how she wanted to do some simple after school, like perhaps open a book store, but how she had this pressure to become the best, the high expectations that she'd do something fantastic with the remainder of her life. Why hadn't she done enough already?

Draco listened in silence to her speech, rubbing comforting circles on her back before starting to tell her things he always thought he would have nobody to tell. He told her how he was pressurised into becoming a Death Eater, how he was jealous of Gryffindors because of good reputation and how the name of Malfoy was left on his shoulders to rebuild. He told her about how he was rejected by all outside of Hogwarts, how his future career was going to be non-existent, about how terrified he was to even consider having a family, that is if he could find someone willing to marry him first, because of how they'd be shunned throughout their life for being "Death Eater spawn." He told her about how he always wanted to become a Healer, or search for cures to diseases and not follow in his deceitful father's footsteps. He talked about how glad he was to have Blaise for a friend, as he was as loyal as a person could be and how despite how much he had mocked him during sixth year, that he had never abandoned him.

They opened up to each other as fully as they could, talking about painful memories and taking comfort in each other's nods and gentle touches. A pain shared was a lot less burdening than one compressed and bottled up inside.

The day would bring light-hearted chatter about daily life, as if the war was just a thing of the past, but the dark always brought around the nightmares. Many times Hermione had crawled into Draco's bed late at night with terrified, tear-filled eyes that he would soothe and once she fell back asleep, safe in his arms, she would be at peace with her mind for a few blessed hours. Although it was a bit less rare, Draco would crawl into Hermione's bed just the same, though most recently, those nightmares of his had taken quite a different turn. Too often, they were of Hermione, in particular, him losing her and he knew he would never be able to sleep until he had her close.

He knew Hermione suspected the subject of his nightmares even if he refused to tell her. Too often had he failed to compose himself properly and had come charging into her room, petrified that she would be gone. It was not until he had his arms around her and could feel her delicate form that he could calm down.

It wasn't hidden from her forever. He did tell her, one night when the nightmare had been especially bad, why he came. In a desperate whisper, he told her about how she'd been snatched away from him as punishment. As punishment for being Lucius Malfoy's son, for becoming a Death Eater, for everything he'd ever done wrong in his life. He would have her, for a fraction of a second, before she was ripped away and decided deserving of punishment for even thinking about loving a Malfoy. He would fight, shout and cry for her to be given back, and all he could hear was her screams of terror echoing around him, driving him crazy until he was jolted awake in sheer panic for her wellbeing.

She was stunned, shocked and dazed by his revelation that she stared at him, speechless and slack jawed. She never knew he cared so much. She never knew he was virtually in love with her, and in that moment, she realised she was, and had been, falling for him and for a very long time. Her grip on his had tightened and very slowly and shyly, she had placed a tender kiss to his lips. His lips softened and parted slightly in surprise at her actions, now realising how much she had always meant to him.

He wrapped his arms more securely around her and she snuggled further into him than normal, a symbol that their relationship was now more than platonic, and they fell asleep in each other's arms and they knew they would be doing for many more nights to come.

And now, finally, they would be at peace with their dreams rather than at war with their nightmares.

Thank you for reading, please leave a review letting me know what you thought!

- Rhiannon