It had taken them nearly ten minutes to drag themselves out of bed, and not without a much earned yelling by Mrs. Weasley. She would lose her voice by the end of the day if they kept falling asleep like that, especially since the dinner tonight was bound to be a big affair. Hermione knew that she was attempting to mend all of the broken hearts around her. It would be their first Christmas without Fred, and even Lupin and Tonks, as well. Teddy would be coming over to spend some time with Harry so he could get to know his godson much better than he did; despite the fact that he was just a mere child. It had taken Molly's strongest of efforts to convince George to come tonight, and had to resort to sending her formerly estranged son to do more pleading for her on the days that she was busy. Which lately? Had been most of the time. If she kept herself constantly busy, then she wouldn't have to think about the death of one of her children. One of her twins. He was her baby! She was aware that he had given up his life for a good cause, and she was truly grateful that she hadn't lost and of her other boys or her daughter. But she desperately missed the other half of her human bludger set.

Ginny staggered down the stairs and to the table first, her red hair in a ponytail to keep the mess of it from showing. Her and Harry had been nearly inseparable since the end of the war. Everyone needed to be comforted during this time, but Harry had been through so much over the years and instead of having the weight all upon his shoulders? He deserved to relax and be coddled for awhile. Though it could get a little awkward when Ginny insisted that he put his head in her lap when they would all be sitting in the living room together. Harry would always throw an apologetic look at Ron before going ahead and doing it, and Hermione would politely keep her eyes off of them so she wouldn't stare. She secretly longed to be that way with Ronald.

Harry and Ginny had almost immediately gotten back together after the end of the war, and spent almost every moment of every day together. Which, in return, left Hermione and Ron alone for considerable amounts of time. Ever since her assault of a kiss right before the final battle, things had been rather semi-awkward between them. Neither of them had the courage to bring it up, and both of them were too stubborn to decide to give in and bring it up before the other one did. It was as if they were playing a game of wizard's chess and were at a stalemate. Either they would both give in and leave the game as an even win, or one of them would concede and be the victorious one.

A yawn and the sound of a person tripping into the kitchen woke her up from her momentary reverie. She recognised the mop of raven hair immediately as Harry sleepily shoved his glasses onto his nose. He fell into the seat next to Ginny, and Hermione distinctly saw Harry's green eyes grow more alert than they had been, and he looked at Ginny with a small smile. She noticed his arm flex and assumed that she had taken his hand beneath the table. It really was sweet to see them like this, and to see Harry happy for once. Happy looked nice on her best friend.

"Where's Ron?" Molly demanded, waving a spatula around in the air. "He had better not still be asleep!" she threatened her non-present son.
Harry shrugged. "He said he'd be down in a minute. He was awake when I left, but I think he was looking for something to change into or something."
Molly sighed heavily and looked as if she wanted to beat her youngest boy with her cooking utensil. Hermione perked up and smiled kindly at Mrs. Weasley. "I'll go and get him, Mrs. Weasley," she said before quickly shoving her chair back against the floor. It squeaked from the friction, but she swiftly exited the kitchen and made a beeline for the stairs. They creaked beneath her feet loudly, but Hermione was far from being concerned about waking Ron up as she neared his attic bedroom. She knocked upon the middle of the door and waited for Ron to answer her before poking her head in, this time. She heard a grunt through the door and a mumbled phrase that she supposed was 'come in'.

"Ron?" Hermione asked as she stepped in quietly. Ron was sitting on his bed with a slightly pink face, and looked up at his best friend a bit pathetically. "Ron, your mum wants you to come down for breakfast.. it smells great," she tried to smile, but it was useless by the look on his face. She sighed with resolve and closed the door behind her. She found herself moving forward to sit beside him, gently taking one of his larger hands between her two smaller ones. She tried not to notice how warm his hand felt within hers.

"I don't know if I'm hungry, 'Mione," he grumbled. Hermione squeezed his hand a little tighter.
"Ron, you have to eat.." Hermione tried again, this time in a softer voice.

A sudden burst of frustration overcame him and he stood abruptly, startling Hermione in return. "Hermione, I don't know.. I can't bloody well handle this, okay? Seeing George without Fred, especially on sodding Christmas?" He clenched his fists together, and Hermione got to her feet to gently take his arm.

"No one expects you to handle this or be okay with it.. everyone is on edge. But please, just try to relax? I'll be with you the entire time, I promise," she sighed when he didn't respond, and reached up to pull his chin toward her to force him to look into her eyes. "I promise." She felt his arm flex beneath her hands again, but he finally released a breath of air and his arm went limp. "Okay," he murmured and ran his fingers through his red hair.

Hermione released her hold upon his arm, and opened his door. She stepped out of it and waiting for him on the landing. "Come on. It won't be so bad. Your mum made pancakes," she smiled, trying to tempt him, but the scent that rose up the stairs from the kitchen was enough to make his stomach growl. He grinned weakly, and started down the stairs at a fast pace. He had enclosed his hand around Hermione's along the way, and was practically dragging her down the stairs with him. "Ronald! I can't keep up!" she snapped. He heaved a heavy sigh and let go of her. He continued quickly down the stairs and made it to the kitchen in record time. He could at least try to put on a braver face for his mum, yeah?

Hermione sure hoped so. This was going to be a long day, especially since she still had to visit her parents, as well, given that she had elected to come over to the Burrow. Her parents had been too understanding of the entire matter, but Hermione knew that it was important to be here with them during all of this. Especially for Ron and Harry.