Author's Note: Hope you like it...get ready to join these hogwartians on a drama packed christmas day!! :) i know it's early but you'll forgive me. So christmas will be next chapter...this is the warm up to the drama...go on, by a chum, REVIEW me :) it really makes my day thanks. xx
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Ron and Cho
The least week of term was jam-packed for Cho; she had a million things to be doing. On top of regular school work and organising Ron, which was enough to keep anyone busy, she had to organise the committee as they decorated the castle, she had two Christmas parties for the younger students to over see and she had to buy everyone's presents. Not an easy feat. So usually Luna Lovegood would have been the last person on her mind; but not this week. Cho felt awful for what had been said between her and Harry, whatever he thought, she wasn't a mean person.
"Luna?" Luna looked up at Cho who stood awkwardly above her. "Can I sit with you?" Cho asked, even though Luna was obviously alone,
"This isn't your table." Luna pointed out blankly. Cho cursed inwardly, obviously Harry had told Luna about what he thought had been said. Damn him and his typical over reacting.
"But you're sat on your own, I just thought-" She blushed. Luna regarded the cool, sophisticated Cho who was now obviously flustered.
"Course you can." She smiled vaguely. "Why are you here this late?"
"Organising Christmas things, I'm behind on everything." Cho rested her head in her hands and glanced at Luna's open book; it didn't look like she'd been doing work at all before Cho sat down. "Why are you here late?" She asked,
"I just am. I do stay sometimes." She nodded and smiled, expecting Cho to grasp some underlying meaning from this. "I don't know what to get Harry for Christmas." Cho started, and took in the sharp subject change. She noticed Luna's face had changed too, it was tense,
"I was thinking the same about Ron." The two girls looked at each other with identical frowns. Luna blushed,
"I could ask Harry what he thinks you should get Ron? But I can understand if you think I would be interfering or something."
"No that would be great." Cho smiled at her warmly, maybe there was more to Luna than met the eye, "And I could ask Ron about Harry too." She said, her eyes lighting with inspiration. A look of relief crossed Luna's face,
"Would you?" Cho nodded happily and they both sat in contented silence for a few minutes.
"Hi Lu!" Harry's voice interrupted the girls' thoughts. Then it became suddenly guarded, "Er, hi Cho. What are you doing here?"
"I was just chatting." She said nervously, looking to Luna for support, "I'm going to go now, leave you two to it. I'll erm…I'll get back to you on that thing we were discussing Luna." Luna smiled in vague reply,
"Yes, that sounds good. Maybe we could meet on Saturday?" Cho looked flustered,
"Oh to…erm…go shopping? Sure I-"
"Twelve, outside Honeyduke's then?" Cho nodded and hurried off towards the main doors, with a quick wave over her shoulder. She had a smile in place despite her quick exit because she really did want to show Harry that she hadn't meant to be mean, she also wanted to involve Luna as a friend and put right any mistakes she had made; though Luna had seemed it ease anyway, it was really with Harry that the problem lay.
Harry and Luna
"Harry, what should Cho get Ron for Christmas?" Luna asked over dinner that night,
"How should I know?" Harry answered through a mouthful of food, and then replied more politely, "Sorry, why do you need to know anyway?"
"Well Cho asked me to ask you. I thought it would be a good idea. Seeing as she's helping me with your present too."
"Oh I see." Harry said, somewhat fazed by all this, "So you're – well, you're friends now then?"
"Oh yes." Luna nodded and smiled at him, "No need to look so surprised, Cho isn't half as bad as you say she is. She's perfectly friendly."
"Hmm." Harry though to himself why is she suddenly being so nice? "Well I guess, well, that's good then." He decided against starting a debate, it was much too close to Christmas for that.
That night Harry lay awake, he tried not to turn over too often because he knew Luna would hear him from her bed. He couldn't shake the feeling that he ought to make up with Ron. Ron was his best friend, his one person he could always count on no matter what; that wasn't something to be given up lightly. If only there was a way that he could magic things back to normal. But of course there was only one magic word for that and it was sorry; not exactly the easiest word in the book, especially when you knew you'd been wrong in the first place,
"Harry?" His thoughts were interrupted by Luna's quiet voice from the other end of the room, "You're still awake aren't you?" Harry half smiled,
"How can you tell?"
"I don't know. I just can." Luna replied, "What are you thinking about?"
"You." Harry lied well, Luna laughed,
"That's a lie Harry, I know. But it's a nice one; I think I'll take that. Goodnight then." Harry opened his mouth and then closed it again, shaking his head.
"Well…come over here and it wont be a lie will it?" He whispered into the dark. For a moment Harry thought that she was just going to go back to sleep and ignore him, then he heard the footsteps and saw her face. He smiled, rolling over to face her, and reached out a hand. "Now this is more like how we should be spending the nights." He whispered in her ear.
Ron and Cho
Ron murmured an inaudible swear word and pulled the duvet further over his head.
"Why so early?"
"I'm going shopping with Luna." Cho clucked and continued tidying up around him, slightly irritably.
"Yeah…why so early?"
"For your Christmas present Ron so be grateful."
"Yea but…why so early? And why do you have to wake me up?"
"It's nearly 11.30 Ronald."
"Oh ok." For a minute it looked like the discussion was over and then the bedclothes talked once more, "I don't suppose you'd just make me a coffee, love?"
"Oh for heavens sake…I suppose I could do it quickly before I go."
"And some breakfast?" Cho snapped
"For crying out loud Ron I am not your mother, nor am I a servant." She snatched her bag from the floor and stalk out of the room and out of the house in double time.
"You're-"
"Late I know, I'm sorry." Cho ran a hand through her usually perfectly set parting,
"Well I was going to say on time, but you can always be late if you like." Luna smiled, "Where did you want to go first?" She blinked her eyelids a few times dazedly,
"Oh I-" Cho felt a sort of thought curtain twitch in her brain, she tutted exasperatedly and tried to think of all the ideas her and Ron had come up with, "Oh I have no idea…Ron was- Oh he's just so…"
"Coffee then." Luna nodded decisively and when Cho didn't move she took her hand and steered her towards Pumpkin Patch.
Once she had drunk a few mouthfuls of coffee Cho felt a lot calmer.
"Sorry for being so spaced earlier. It's…Oh it's just nothing's what you think, is it?"
Luna laughed, her gentle, trickling laugh. "What?" Cho looked a little startled,
"Well it's just…Well that's what Ron is like."
"What do you mean?"
"He's not what people think he's like…he's just random. I mean, one day he'll be his usual mildly stupid and very funny self, the next day he'll be in a nightmarish mood and keep coming out with philosophical answers to questions. He's not an easy person to deal with, but if you can he's a very good friend." Cho spluttered, she hadn't imagined Luna was really that close a friend with Ron, she's thought it was just something they said to indulge Luna.
"Oh, well, yea I see what you mean I suppose. I just thought that- I didn't think, that's my problem, I just let myself get pulled into this relationship."
"That's not how I'd see it." Luna's blunt manner took some getting used to but Cho was beginning to find it endearing.
"Go on."
"Well I'd see it that Ron really likes you, he is just a bit of a goof, and you really like him you just don't know it yet. Everyone has bad days in relationships, sometimes everyday feels like a bad day. You and him are just a slightly unconventional couple that's all, but don't let that put you off, I know he's crazy about you."
"How do you know?"
"I just do." She closed the statement with a swig of coffee, "Like I know he wants a Chuddley Cannons Team Year Book for Christmas, or some of his favourite chocolate, or a nice perfume or aftershave."
"Oh well…" Cho was flushed with happiness, "Well thanks that makes it a lot easier. I was actually going to suggest perfume or aftershave for Harry. Or maybe a nice shirt, depending on what you're willing to spend on him of course."
"That's settled then. Let's shop." The two girls smiled at each other happily; the true beginning of their friendship.
Draco and Hermione
Hermione and Draco prepared the house for Christmas together, it was something Hermione hadn't done in a long time and Draco hadn't ever done; as you can imagine, his parents weren't very Christmas-y people.
"Phew!" Hermione sighed and threw herself onto the sofa between the Baubles and the pile of silver Tinsel. "I'm wiped out. All this decorating you'd think we'd have enough for Hogwarts between the two of us."
"Yeah," Draco yawned and stopped sorting through the Fairy Lights, lying back on the soft red carpet contentedly, "I've never done this before." He added quietly, Hermione looked away,
"What's it like at home? With your parents?" She whispered, Draco sat up sharply
"It's not home." He replied stiffly, looked mutinous for a second and then added, "Nowhere is."
"Oh!" His tone of voice bit at Hermione, but he didn't seem to notice and once the outpouring had started he couldn't seem to stop it,
"My parents always expected more, or different, I don't know what they expected but I'm not it. They never 'did' Christmas; I guess I wasn't worth the effort. Their jobs are too important, or their work is. So I'm used to feeling alone, I feel comfortable with it- I don't feel as comfortable with this," He gestured around at the now forlorn-seeming effort of decoration,
"Are you saying you don't want this?" Hermione couldn't help her voice rising with the anger she felt,
"No! I'm saying…I'm saying…I don't know what I'm saying."
"Then don't say it." Hermione muttered under her breath, absently chewing on a fingernail,
"Shut up! Just shut up! Don't ever ask me about my family." Anger sliced through the air with knife like action and both people rose to their feet.
"Fine." Hermione said very loudly and clearly, implying many other things but none of them were 'fine' in any way. She walked icily to the door and pushed her feet into her trainers, then grabbed her coat with one look back at Draco, "Fine."
In Draco's head he wanted to say, "Hermione, I'm so sorry, don't go, I didn't mean it- I just get angry sometimes." But that wasn't what he said. He just looked away and listened to her leaving with hollow ears.
Hermione headed away from the house and it's dreary, forgotten part of Hogsmede, she made for the town centre, with glamour and lights and carefree people. On her way towards the main street she had to pass an old run down house, it usually seemed unnatural and creepy so automatically she crossed to the other side of the street. As if reading her mind, the door of the old house swung open and an older couple came out. They must have been mid seventies, wrapped up thickly in their his-and-hers woollies, Hermione had to giggle a little. The woman waited for her husband to lock the door and then their woollen fingers interlocked. Hermione stood staring at the house for a few minutes, Odd. That house looks like the scariest, most neglected and rundown place I've ever seen, but they obviously love it; and they love each other. Why? She shook her head and continued down the street, counting the cracks in the pavement for something to do.
"Hermione!" She looked across the road to where her name was being called, it was Luna, waving happily, and Cho by her side, giving a somewhat reserved wave. Since when where they friends?
"Hi." She called reluctantly and recognised the unspoken yet compulsory invitation to cross the street and begin a conversation. "Why are you two out so late?" They now stood in a trio and only Luna seemed at ease on the edge of the busy street,
"We were doing some Christmas shopping." She nodded to Cho then looked back at Hermione, letting the conversation come to a flop. Luna never felt the need to say anything extra, and Cho didn't appear to either,
"I'm just out for a walk." Hermione was forced to point out,
"No Draco?" Luna asked, using his first name, Hermione noted, even though she barely knew him.
"No. He's…no." Cho shuffled her feet,
"You could come with us?" She asked. Hermione's eyes snapped upwards, and then when she realised Cho actually meant it they looked around wildly for an excuse; she had wanted to be alone.
"Yes!" Luna enthused, verbally cutting Hermione's escape routes, "We could all go for a coffee or something before we head home, it's getting rather chilly."
"Now I know how she stays so calm all the time," Cho interjected looking directly at Hermione, "This girl," Pointing a playful finger at Luna, "Drinks more coffee than I've ever seen anyone else drink in my life. It's crazy." The girls chuckled and Hermione found herself drawn in,
"Oh alright then, just a quick one." Her face found its smile again.
When she trudged reluctantly up the drive, later that night, Hermione could feel the snowy tang in the air. Wow, looks like I'll have my first white Christmas. She thought with little enthusiasm. If only she could spend it with her mum and dad. Her eyes pricked and she blinked back the impending tears, crying would solve nothing; she had to carry on.
The door creaked on entry and Hermione tried to ignore the silence and pretend things were somehow normal. She took off her coat and shoes and stepped through into the living room, she stifled a gasp. The room was softly lit by the side lamp and every decoration seemed to dance with it. Draco had obviously finished the decoration, and with some style, the room had the touch of care about it of someone trying for perfection. As she moved past the sweet smelling pine branches and up the stairs Hermione noticed that star-lights had been wound up the curving banisters, tinsel bedecked the lamp shade in the hallway, and he had hung mistletoe between their beds. Hermione suddenly heard something that made her laugh; Draco's terrible singing. He was singing his own awful rendition of Walking In A Winter Wonderland, very off key, and coming from the bathroom of all places. Hermione pushed open the door and the crack of visible light widened, she stopped for a second and closed her eyes to drink in his singing, then went into the room.
Draco was lying in the smiling, and singing, his hair messy. The singing instantly stopped and her regarded her with a strange look,
"Are we in a fight?"
"No." She replied, perching on the edge of the bath,
"I'm sorry I flew off at you like that, it's just-"
"You never talk!" Hermione snapped exasperatedly
"Neither do you." He pointed out, his tone perfectly even. Hermione bit her lip,
"We never talk. Why don't we talk? Is there something wrong? When people are together they're meant to talk." She knew it sounded childish, even to her own ears, but she just didn't know.
"We just don't. You can't define a relationship by what you read in books Hermione, it just doesn't work like that. Ok so maybe we do need to talk more, so we just be honest with each other and go out for a walk one day and talk. There's no way you have to do it. Life doesn't have rules like that."
"Tell me about it." She gave an unenthusiastic laugh, "Have you been in a lot of relationships? You know what you're talking about, don't you?"
"Honestly? Yes I have. But Pansy was my longest…I guess every cloud has a silver lining, I learnt from my many mistakes with her." Hermione had to really laugh then, "Join me?" He asked her playfully, feigning a face of total innocence.
"After you've looked at me like that I have to don't I?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're a dog that's been well behaved all through dinner time and now wants a bone." She giggled and began to undress.