Christmas morning found Hermione sitting in front of the fireplace, a letter from Ron in her hands. It didn't say much really; just that he wished her a merry Christmas, that he hoped she wasn't working too hard, and also that he loved her and missed her. But for some reason, that last part made her feel uncomfortable.

Recently, when she thought about Ron, she got this feeling; not a bad feeling, just a feeling that she was doing something wrong. Maybe she felt that he would think being friends with Draco was somehow betraying him. That made no sense of course, because they had done nothing more than laugh with each other on their nightly patrols, and she and her ginger friend were not technically together, but Ron had a tendency to overreact, and she knew that just being alone with the Head Boy would be enough to send Ron into a frenzy. She had a feeling that something inside her, something about her feelings was changing, but she wasn't quite sure what...

It was then that Draco Malfoy burst out of his room, singing a muggle Christmas song. She had taught him a few, purely for academic purposes, but he clearly had seen a use for them. She laughed as he made his way across the sitting room, dropping to his knees in front of her chair and continually getting louder in his voicing of Deck the Halls. He grabbed her hands and brought them above their heads, swaying from side to side. He kept singing as he released her, switching his tune to Joy to the World, and he made his way over to the tree and grabbed two of the packages beneath it, their gifts to each other. He finished his singing and gave her a smile as he handed her his present.

She unwrapped it slowly, exposing a jewelry box, and he said to her, "I know you were probably expecting a book, but I wanted to get you something you could keep with you." She opened the small box, and pulled out a silver bracelet. There were a few charms dangling off of it; a book, a treble clef, and a lion, as well as a small red pendant framed in gold. "I tried to find a lion with the Gryffindor colors, but no one had one. But I hope you like it anyway." He smiled at her, and she resisted the urge to hug him, instead just saying to him, "it's beautiful. Thank you so much." He shrugged, then moved to his own present. His eyes widened as he saw the arrowhead, and Hermione's first thought was that he hated it, and she immediately began apologizing.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not much. I would've done something more but that was all I could afford at the time-" and then he interrupted her. "Granger. It's fine. I like it." He held it up and the fire glinted off the pendant, making the black shine clearly. "It's actually awesome. Where did you find this?" She smiled at him and explained about the antique shop in Hogsmeade, and he made a plan to stop down there some weekend. They finished unwrapping their presents (a book from Harry and Ron, a handmade sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and some new joke items from George), then they made their way downstairs together, stopping only once to separate a couple fifth year students who claimed they saw mistletoe and had been attached at the lips.

McGonnagal stopped at their end of the table to compliment them on the decorations, especially the popcorn that was currently wrapping itself around Slughorn's bald head. They laughed at the sight, and Hermione even more so when Draco tried to sic a strand on the Headmaster, only to have it turn on him instead. There were only a few students at the castle this year, so McGonnagal told them they were free from their Heads duties today. Malfoy went off on his own, and Hermione slowly made her way up to the common room, to try to continue learning her song.

Draco had gone back up to his room to get a quill so he could write a letter home. As he was rummaging around in his desk, he heard singing coming from the sitting room, and he held his ear to the door so he could make out the words.

"Best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting,

Could it be that we have been this way before?

I know you don't think-"

The voice cut off with the sound of clashing keys; she had struck a wrong note. Muttering under her breath, she tried again, with the same results. She didn't sing the next few times, which strangely disappointed him, because he thought she had a nice voice. After about the tenth time she messed up, she gave up. He heard her sigh, heard the faint sound of her closing the lid over the keys, and heard her walk out and shut the door behind her.

He exited his room, staring at the piano, then at the door she had just walked through. He sat down at his desk and wrote his letter home, telling his mother that yes, he'd write more often and yes, everything was fine. He walked to the owlery alone, and sent out the letter with a school owl.

During this, Hermione sent a letter back to the Burrow. She thanked everyone for the presents, and told Harry and Ron about her and Draco's new friendship. She didn't expect they'd take it very well, but she didn't want to lie to them or keep it a secret. So she told them that they were friends, and that she was fine. The next day she received a letter back from Ron, demanding that she either stay as far away from Malfoy as possible, or that she come home immediately. She responded with a letter that spit water at him when he opened it.

New Years was boring for the Heads. They sat in their common room, passing the time with homework and studying. While everyone else was out partying, the pair sat silent, lost in their own thoughts. It was after Malfoy had gone to bed that Hermione went to the piano. Very slowly, very quietly, she started playing the song. And for the first time, she didn't make any mistakes.

The Head Boy was listening at the door. She wasn't singing this time, but he heard her making her way through the song and getting all the right notes. From what he could tell, she was right; it was a beautiful song. He didn't know all the words yet, but he was sure she'd sing again sometime, so he'd learn it then.

He took a moment to think about how far they'd come as friends. They had hated each other, more on his end. And yet, here they were, sharing a common room, exchanging gifts, laughing with each other about crazy things. He regretted now more than ever all the times he had called her a mudblood or some other nasty name, so he decided he'd do something for her to show that he was sorry.

For the first time that night, Hermione hit a wrong key, but by then Draco had fallen asleep, wondering how he could get the Gryffindor princess to truly forgive him.