A/N1: Fluff! Just enjoy it while you can, if you knew what happens in the chapter I've just finalised you'd understand why the fluff's there...

Harry's hand hovered consideringly over the black knight. Christmas day had been fun and, in the time honoured tradition, they were playing chess to avoid ending the day so early. Ron and Harry, in new Weasley jumpers, were at the chess board. Hermione seemed to have been given nothing but books and had stacked them up around her on the sofa. The fact that she could barely lift her new Runes book didn't seem to dissuade her from burying her head in it to the exclusion of all else.

Ginny yawned. 'I'm going to bed, okay?'

'It's only...'Ron protested, looking at the clock, 'one o'clock...Okay, you should probably sleep.'

She nodded sleepily. 'Quidditch tomorrow morning. Whether you're awake or not!'

'I'm a year older than you! We need less sleep.'

'Fine, Ron. But remember the girls are allowed into your dorms. I'll come in and toss water over you if you don't wake up.'

Ron glared at his little sister. 'You wouldn't dare!'

'Wouldn't I?' she asked airily. Ginny turned on her heel and vanished up the stairs.

'Is it just me, or was I a lot more scared of Fred and George than she is of me?' Ron inquired in bemusement.

'You never turned her toys into spiders,' Hermione pointed out distractedly. 'You're more worried about her boyfriends hurting her than pulling pranks on her. I think she may be on to you.'

Ron grumbled to himself as he turned back to the board. Harry still hadn't made a move. 'Harry! Either move the knight or pick something else, mate.'

'I know,' he answered in defeat. 'I just don't know what else. The pieces are insulting me again.'

'They're not saying anything,' Ron observed reasonably.

Harry looked glum. 'They don't need to.'

True enough, Harry's pieces were conveying their contempt perfectly adequately just through their expressions. Ron looked torn between sympathy and the knowledge that this was still one thing he would always beat Harry at. He decided on a noncommittal nod.

Harry lifted his hand towards the knight again, but instead levitated the bishop across the board.

Ron was confused. Harry's strategy was mostly an ad hoc kind of defence of his king, with occasional forays towards Ron's pieces, mostly ending in massacre. Moving the bishop didn't take or defend any pieces, so was a bizarre move for Harry to make. When he looked up at the other boy, he was grinning in a slightly confused manner himself. Ron shrugged and moved his own knight.

Half an hour later, Hermione came to stand beside Ron. 'Are you two not finished with that yet?'

'We should be.' Ron grimaced. 'Normally he's done twenty moves back from this.'

Harry gave him the same puzzled smile.

Hermione watched them both for a few minutes. Neither boy seemed to pause much between moves, which was unusual in itself. And Harry's surety was completely unknown. When she looked at Ron, he was smiling confidently.

'Checkmate.' He declared, grinning wildly when Harry conceded defeat. 'One other thing. Tell Draco to come up and play me for real. I want to see who'd win if he didn't have to start from where you left it.'

Hermione looked at Harry. 'What did you do?'

'Nothing!' Harry protested, before laughing helplessly. 'Sorry, Ron. I didn't ask, but apparently I'm so bad that he had to step in.'

Ron was still smiling. 'Best game I've had in ages. Seriously, Harry, tell him to come up. Bet there's no one awake in Slytherin anyway. There's just a couple of first-formers, right?'

'Wait a minute,' Hermione interjected. 'I thought you said you couldn't share magic so far apart?'

'Umm...' Harry prevaricated. 'We don't know. We haven't really tested it. So far all we've worked out is that line-of-sight spells are easier.'

'Legilimency uses line-of-sight,' Hermione said. 'So that makes sense. But I can't believe the two of you! This shouldn't even be possible, and you're not testing it! I know you can't see him very often, but you have met up a few times over the holiday. Why haven't you been practicing?'

Harry turned away so neither of his friends would see his blush. He glared pointedly into one corner of the common room. 'Well?' he asked the air. 'Do you want to come up?'

There was a pause. Harry tilted his head to one side. 'What?... Oh. Okay, I'll meet you by the statue of Cliodne... Hmm?... She's the one with the birds... Okay, I'll see you in a minute.'

When Harry turned back, both Hermione and Ron were giving him odd looks. 'That's just weird,' Ron observed after a moment.

Harry nodded amiably at them, ran to get his Invisibility cloak, and then out the portrait-hole.

By the time Harry and Draco had reached the Gryffindor common room Harry had become rather giggly. Most of this was explicable by the fact that they were two nearly-grown teenagers trying to crush under one invisibility cloak. Harry elbowed Draco firmly out of the way when they reached the sofa, still only half-visible under the cloak. He pulled the cloak off, and sprawled over the seat.

Draco was looking around curiously. 'So this is where the Gryffindors hide.'

'Nicer than yours,' Ron pointed out.

'And how would you know?' Draco challenged. When Ron blushed, and Harry fell into another fit of laughter, the blond turned to Hermione incredulously. 'Are they drunk?'

Hermione smiled at the two of them in affectionate resignation. 'No. I think it might be Christmas spirit. Or maybe it's just late.'

'And they regress into infants at midnight?'

'Hey!' Harry protested, flailing an arm at Draco ineffectually.

Draco grabbed the offending appendage. 'I was nearly killed less than a month ago you know. You could be a little less violent. Or give me the chair.'

'There's plenty of chairs,' Harry responded. Then he laughed again, and pulled Draco down onto the chair with him.

When a soft flush worked its way up Draco's face, Hermione looked at the two of them consideringly. Seemingly without anything particularly dramatic happening she squeaked and placed her hands over her mouth.

'What is it?' Ron asked.

'Nothing,' she answered quickly.

'That sounded like a "something" noise,' Ron pointed out, but didn't press. 'So, Draco. You want a game?'

He nodded. 'It would be good. I've been bored stiff this holiday. As you might have guessed…'

'You took over one of Harry's games, you must have been bored!' Ron grinned.

'Hey!' Harry protested again, but it was obvious to everyone that he had no intention of moving from the sofa to enforce his threats.

Ron moved the chess-board to a table between two sofas. He and Hermione sat on one side, with Harry and Draco on the other. He and Draco became embroiled in complex tactical decisions while beside them Harry and Hermione read quietly.

Harry looked up to find Hermione watching him. 'Hmm?'

She crept over to his chair and whispered in his ear, 'Are you and Draco…you know?'

'Umm…' he tried. Swiveling around so he was just talking to her, he spoke quietly. 'We're something.'

'What does that mean?'

'We kissed?'

There was a silence. Hermione and Harry looked round to see that Ron and Draco had apparently reached a lull in the game. Harry looked at Ron in concern.

Ron looked at Draco, 'I hope for your sake it's you he's talking about, mate.'

Draco gave one of his half-smiles. 'Me too.'

Hermione smiled in relief. She went back to sit with Ron and watched Harry ever so slightly lean back against Draco. Ron and Draco went back to the game, but Harry kept half his attention on Hermione. Later on he would swear that he saw the exact moment she decided to act.

Her expression turned determined, although not a little nervous. She walked into the middle of the common room, and looked over at Ron. 'Come here a minute, would you Ron?'

He threw Draco an apologetic look, and walked to meet her. She looked up, and he followed. Mistletoe.

She leant towards him and kissed him quickly and sweetly. 'Will you go with me to Hogsmeade on the next weekend?'

Harry silently willed Ron to get this right.

Ron bent down a little and met her eyes. 'I'd love to.'

'Good,' she answered, a little high pitched. 'Okay then…that's…I'm going to go to bed now, okay?'

'Okay,' Ron answered. He caught her before the entrance to the staircase and gently kissed her goodnight. All three boys heard her soft squeak and flustered canter upstairs.

Ron was looking remarkably pleased with himself when he returned to the table. 'Checkmate,' he fired at Draco.

'Are you pleased because of the chess or because Hermione kissed you?' Draco wondered.

'I can be pleased at both,' Ron said, still grinning from ear-to-ear. He walked towards the staircase. 'I'm going to bed now. The day's not going to get any better, and I don't want anything to make it worse.' He paused and Draco and Harry heard him mutter, 'Bloody hell,' before going up.

The two remaining boys sat in a comfortable silence before Draco reluctantly moved. 'Perhaps I should go. It's probably not advisable for me to fall asleep in the Gryffindor common room.'

'Probably not,' Harry agreed. He was walking Draco to the door but paused under the mistletoe with an odd smile.

'What are you smirking about,' Draco asked.

'I was thinking about Luna.'

'Excuse me?' Draco exclaimed. 'You're standing under mistletoe with your…'

'You can say boyfriend.'

'Must I? It's so…ordinary. Juvenile.'

'Partner?'

'Boyfriend it is then. Anyway, you're standing under mistletoe with me, thinking about Luna Lovegood?'

'She caught me under it a few years back,' Harry remembered. 'This was back when she scared me, so I jumped three foot backwards. She tells me that's very sensible, or something like that, because "nargles" like to live in it.'

'Oh she's clearly cracked,' Draco replied nonchalantly. 'No doubt about it. Wasn't there a rumor that you were dating her last year?'

'Well I kissed her,' Harry answered offhandedly.

Draco was taken aback. 'That could explain things!'

'It was a friendly kiss.'

'You kiss all your friends?'

'A few.'

'So when you kiss me, what's that?' Draco challenged.

Harry put his hands on Draco's shoulders to pull him down. 'You tell me.' He kissed Draco firmly.

'If that was a friendly kiss I may finally understand why you have so many friends.'

A/N 2: Cliodne (the statue) is one of the witches on the Chocolate Frog cards. She's an Irish druidess with three magical birds. Just so you know. The Lexicon has more for anyone who's very enthusiastic. Reviews?

Thanks to crystal, HecateDeMort, Cithara and Fayet for their reviews. angel of chaos: It was a 'finally' for me too. That kiss has been written for months! I was so glad when I could finally write it properly...