When Hermione realized that Christmas was coming she insisted on celebrating it. Draco thought that it was a ridiculous distraction. Silently Harry agreed with him; they had far more important things to worry about. However, when he saw the look of glee that lit up Ron's face at the suggestion of celebrating, Harry decided that a small distraction might actually help to bolster the mood in Grimmauld Place. Before he knew it he found himself searching the attic for the decorations that Sirius had put up two years before.

"A little more to the left, I think," Hermione directed. Harry glanced at Draco and rolled his eyes. A smirk lit up Draco's face as he positioned the long garland where Hermione directed.

Ron walked into the room, his mouth open in something between awe and laughter. "Think you're overdoing it on the mistletoe?"

Harry stifled a laugh as Draco slid his wand out of sight up his sleeve. He had multiplied a sprig of mistletoe hung in the corner. Now there was a large clump of it hanging directly above Hermione, moving along with her.

Hermione glanced up and glared at the ceiling. "Very funny, Draco," she said dryly.

"How do you know it wasn't Harry?" Draco's smirk grew even wider.

Hermione glared straight at Draco. "Because Harry isn't that good at hiding his wand."

"Hey! I'm right here!"

Draco turned his smirk on Harry. "Hear that Potter? I'm better than the precious Chosen One!" He ducked as Harry threw a large ornament at him. It crashed into the wall and shattered into a thousand pieces.

Ron shook his head as he waved his wand to clean up the mess. "I can't believe you two!"

It was Harry's turn to smirk. Lately Ron had made a point of being the mature one in an obvious attempt to impress Hermione. They had to admit, it did seem to be working.

Hermione smiled at Ron as she dispelled the clump of mistletoe above her head. "Thank you for cleaning up." She turned to look at Harry and Draco and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Three voices asked at once.

"Right there!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't move, either of you!"

Harry wandered around the house on Christmas Eve. He was amazed by the transformation that the decorations had wrought on the normally gloomy interior. There were wreaths hanging on every door and garlands strung down the hallways. Hermione had even decorated the curtains covering the portrait of Sirius' mother. Best of all were the paper chains that they had made as a group that were draped from the bannister. He smiled as he saw the books that Fred and George had found from them, pushed to the side and barely opened. He was glad that Hermione had insisted on them taking a break from planning to celebrate the holiday.

He stepped into the living room where enchanted candles twinkled from the small tree. They had been surprised when Kreacher appeared with the tree, bent nearly double in an effort to support it. Hermione had glared at the boys angrily, demanding who ordered him to get them a tree.

"We didn't need a tree!" she had declared. "And besides, we could have gotten one ourselves! Kreacher didn't have to hurt himself getting one!"

"Kreacher did not hurt himself," the house elf replied in a perturbed tone. "And Kreacher was not ordered to get a tree. Kreacher got a tree to help decorate the house!"

Ron laughed. "See Hermione? Even Kreacher is getting into the Christmas spirit!"

Hermione put her hand to her mouth as Harry took the tree. "Thank-you Kreacher!" she exclaimed. The house elf backed away as Hermione advanced towards him, her arms open as if for a hug.

"Kreacher likes the young master," the old house elf had declared. "Christmas should be a special occasion for Harry Potter and his friends."

Hermione dropped her arms and smiled instead. "I know just the place for it!"

Harry grinned at the memory as he pushed three small packages beneath the tree. These he had asked Kreacher for. He frowned in surprise as he noticed a small pile of presents already waiting there. Kreacher must have been very busy running errands for them the last few days.

Christmas day dawned bright and clear. Harry woke up to find a purple jumper sitting at the end of his bed. He glanced across the room to see that a grey-blue one was waiting for Draco. He looked at the jumper curiously. It couldn't be from Mrs. Weasley; she didn't know where they were, and sending an owl to any of them was far too risky. Even the owls that they had exchanged with Fred and George about the Gringotts books had been done in complete secrecy. He lifted the jumper and a note fell to the floor.

Merry Christmas Harry!
Since Mrs. Weasley couldn't make us jumpers I did instead. Ron and I are waiting for you downstairs.

Hermione

Harry grinned and pulled the jumper on over his pyjamas before throwing a pillow at Draco. "Oy! Wake up, it's Christmas!"

Draco blinked blearily as he sat up. He noticed the jumper at the end of his bed and gave Harry a questioning look.

"Gifts from Hermione," Harry replied, holding up the note. "Let's get downstairs!"

Draco mirrored Harry in pulling the jumper over his pyjamas. "I didn't know Hermione can knit."

Harry chuckled. "You should've seen her in fifth year, it's all she ever did! She got this idea that if she hid hats and socks around the common room the house elves who found them would be freed. Instead they stopped cleaning Gryffindor Tower, and Dobby took all of them and piled them on top of each other. He looked ridiculous!"

Draco laughed. "He always was a weird elf. I wish I had seen that!"

Hermione and Ron were waiting by the tree. As Harry and Draco came into the room Kreacher bustled over and presented each of them with a plate piled high with breakfast.

"Thanks Kreacher," Harry mumbled as he bit into his toast. "This is delicious!"

"Not as delicious as the feast that Kreacher is making for Christmas dinner!" The old house elf beamed with pride.

Harry smiled and reached into his pocket. "This is for you," he said as he withdrew a small silver figurine. "I found it in Regulus' room and thought you might like to keep it.

Kreacher left the room after many thanks, beaming and carrying his gift proudly.

Ron rubbed his hands together. "Let's open our presents now!"

It seemed that they had reached an unspoken agreement: no Christmas gifts were to be things that were meant to be practical. As a result the group found themselves having a good deal of fun as they opened books, toys, and joke items from Fred and George's shop. Soon snarling frisbees were flying up and down the hall as Hermione smiled into a new novel and Draco played with a remote controlled car that Harry had managed to acquire from a muggle shop. It seemed like hardly any time had passed before Kreacher called them to dinner.

Harry heard Hermione gasp as she stepped into the dining room. He gazed at the large table, impressed by Kreacher's ability. A turkey sat in the center, flanked by potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, cranberry sauce, and at least four different types of vegetables. His mouth watered.

"Pull my cracker!" Draco said eagerly. He held it up to Harry, who gave it a tug. Instantly it burst open, scattering what Harry recognized as Fred and George's edible glitter across both of their places. Across the table Ron and Hermione pulled one as well, shooting off miniature fireworks.

Harry smiled in contentment as he loaded up his plate. Christmas had never felt so special.