Before The Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade, Draco had personally spoken to every student who had been at Hogwarts over the holidays and warned them not to mention anything they had seen over the holidays. With the decision made to inform their friends after dinner, he didn't want rumours to start swirling in The Great Hall thanks to other people gossiping. Luckily, he had enough sway both as Head Boy and an intimidating Slytherin, to ensure no-one let the news of his romance with Hermione slip before they had the chance to alert their friends to the situation. As such, neither he nor Hermione were worried about their friends discovering their secret early, and were able to relax and enjoy catching up with their friends over dinner.

The Slytherins arrived at the castle first, and they were settled at their table, laughing and catching up with Draco, when Hermione's friends entered the Great Hall. Jumping up, Hermione greeted everyone and wished them a happy New Year.

"I hope you all had a good Christmas," she said as she settled down with Harry, Ron and Ginny, while Luna headed off to the Ravenclaw table with a cheery wave.

"It was great," Ron replied with a grin. "How was your Christmas?"

"Really good," Hermione answered with a grin of her own. "And thank you all for the presents, I loved every one of them."

"You're welcome," Harry said, flashing Ginny a look that Hermione couldn't quite read. He almost looked smug, but that really wasn't like Harry.

"I especially want to thank you for the bracelet, Ginny," Hermione said to the younger witch, whose returning smile seemed a bit brittle. "It was really unexpected. You really shouldn't have spent so much money on me."

"No, I shouldn't have," Ginny muttered under her breath as Ron asked Hermione if she could get him some more muggle sweets, meaning she turned her attention away from Ginny and missed her remarks. Harry, however, did not miss the remarks and he gave his girlfriend a warning glare, before joining in the conversation about muggle sweets.

The discussion on what was the best muggle sweets was brought to a halt by Dumbledore welcoming everyone back and the feast starting. Once the food arrived, conversation drifted onto other matters and the Gryffindors chatted merrily as they caught up after a couple of weeks separation. The only person who didn't really join in the conversation was Ginny, but while Hermione hadn't noticed, Harry and Ron had and were trying to keep their best friend from realising something was going on with Ginny. To be honest both boys were still hoping to dissuade Ginny from asking Hermione about the mystery presents she'd seen in her room, but if there was to be a confrontation they were at least hoping to avoid it happening in The Great Hall.

"I was hoping you would all come back to the head dorms with me," Hermione said as the feast began to wind down and people began to head back to their respective common rooms.

"Right now?" Ron asked, eyeing up his sister who was looking increasingly like she was raring for a fight.

"Unless you've got other plans," Hermione replied. "There's something I want to discuss with you, and I would rather do it in private."

"It's nothing bad, is it?" Harry checked with a frown, wondering if there had been a more sinister motive for Hermione remaining at Hogwarts for Christmas.

"No, it's good news," Hermione assured her friend. "Or at least, I think it is. Ron, why don't you go and ask Luna to join us?"

With Luna joining them, the group headed up to the head dorms. Leaving her friends to get settled in the common room, Hermione headed into the kitchen alcove and began sorting drinks. Since she knew Draco and his friends would be up shortly, she made sure there were enough glasses for everyone and made two large jugs of juice. As she was finishing up with the juice she heard the door open and the mutterings as her friends and Draco's came face to face. Quickly checking she had everything, she grabbed the tray she'd prepared and returned to the common room.

"Oh, and of course she was expecting this," Ginny remarked, gesturing to the amount of glasses Hermione had on the tray of drinks. "Didn't I tell you so?" she crowed to her boyfriend, brother and Luna.

"Tell them what?" Hermione asked in genuine confusion. She had expected there would be a bit of a fuss when both her friends and Draco's realised they'd been gathered deliberately, but she was rather baffled by Ginny's reaction.

"That you've got new friends," Ginny spat. "The Slytherins."

"Ginny, stop it and let Hermione explain," Harry said. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for Malfoy and his friends to be here."

"We're here because we were invited," Pansy Parkinson remarked.

"By her," Ginny accused, jabbing a finger in Hermione's direction. "You see Hermione, we know all about your new friends. Although they can't be real friends if you had to buy their friendship. Was that what those ridiculously expensive presents were about? Getting in with the stuck-up Slytherins."

"What are you talking about, Ginny?" Hermione snapped, growing impatient with Ginny and her antics. She really felt as though she was being accused of something, she just couldn't work out what it was.

"I know everything," Ginny announced with a snort. "I saw those expensive presents you had in your room. I foolishly thought they were for us, your real friends. But no, they were for these snakes. That shirt Zabini is wearing, I thought it was for Harry. Parkinson is wearing the necklace I thought was meant for Luna, Greengrass is wearing my jumper and either Nott or Malfoy have a Cannons jersey which Ron would have loved. Not to mention the sweets, fire-whisky and perfume."

"Oh my god," Hermione muttered, her attention flicking between Ginny and Draco's friends as she quickly put the pieces together and worked out what had happened.

"You thought we would never work it out, didn't you?" Ginny sneered. "You thought we would never know about the money you spent buying the Slytherins friendship, while palming us off with cheap presents."

"Don't you bring us into this, Gin," Ron hissed at his sister. "I loved Hermione's present. Yeah, I'm a Cannons fan and a vintage jersey sounds good, but I wouldn't swap it for what she did give me."

"I'm with Ron on this one, I loved my present from Hermione," Harry agreed as he, Ron and Luna subtly moved a few paces away from Ginny. "Besides, that shirt Zabini is wearing is really not my style."

"You couldn't pull this off, Potter," Blaise Zabini agreed with a smirk. "Your look is far more casual."

"That shirt would have been perfect for you, Harry," Ginny insisted. "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to take more pride in your appearance and wear better clothes."

"I'm happy with the clothes I wear," Harry said shortly, glaring at his girlfriend, not at all liking the witch he was seeing.

"Let's get back to the point in question here," Draco interrupted. "Am I understanding this correctly, Red. You saw presents in Hermione's room and assumed they were for you and your friends?"

"Who else would they have been for?" Ginny snorted. "I wasn't to know she was cosying up to you lot and buying your friendship."

"I haven't bought anyone's friendship," Hermione said softly as her attention fell to the delicate bracelet on her wrist. "Oh," she whispered as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. "That is why you spent so much money on me. You thought I had spent a fortune on you, so you went out and got me something expensive. You didn't get me this bracelet because you thought I would like it, you got it to keep score."

With a sad shake of her head, Hermione flicked open the catch on her bracelet and removed it from her wrist. She then handed it back to Ginny, who automatically opened her hand to take it.

"Take it back to the shop and get a refund, or keep it yourself, but I don't want it," she said to the younger witch.

"You ungrateful cow," Ginny hissed, her hand closing over the bracelet in her hands.

"Me ungrateful?" Hermione snorted. "I am not the one prying in people's bedrooms looking for presents and then assuming things are for me when they're not. Let's be honest here Ginny, you're not mad because you think I bought presents for the Slytherins, you're mad because you didn't get an expensive jumper. Well guess what Ginny, I didn't buy those presents you were looking at."

"There's no point lying, Hermione, I know what I saw," Ginny insisted. "Those presents were in your room."

"Yes, they were, but they weren't mine," Hermione retorted. "Why don't you ask someone who they got their gifts off."

"She doesn't need to ask, I'm happy to tell her," Pansy said with a smirk. "I got my necklace from Draco."

"Same with my shirt," Blaise added.

"And my jumper," Daphne Greengrass remarked, emphasising the fact the jumper was hers and not Ginny's. "It was a Christmas present from Draco."

"Those presents were mine," Draco said, spelling it out for Ginny in case she hadn't yet worked it out.

"I told you so," Ron crowed, looking smug.

"Ironically I hid the presents in Hermione's room so that my friends wouldn't go snooping and see what I had bought for them," Draco said. "I didn't expect her friends to pry instead."

"So those presents were never for us," Ginny whispered. Over the course of the last couple of minutes she'd been stunned into silence, and she was now horrified at the fact she'd made such a fool of herself.

"No, they were never yours," Hermione said coldly. "But that isn't the point, Ginny. Even if I had bought them and gave them to the Slytherins, that would have been my business. It really is nothing to do with you who else I buy presents for, or what I spend on them. I try my best to buy presents I think people will like, and I'm sorry that what I got for you wasn't good enough."

"That wasn't it," Ginny protested. "I really liked the necklace."

"Just not as much as you liked Daphne's jumper," Hermione snorted.

"I'm sorry," Ginny muttered, flushing as every eye was on her, and not one was looking at her kindly.

"I don't think sorry is going to help at this moment in time," Draco remarked, easily able to see how upset Hermione was at what had happened. "I think it's best if you leave."

"You're kicking us out?" Ginny gasped, taken aback by Draco's words.

"Just you," Draco said. "Unless anyone else has a problem with that?" he asked, looking towards Harry and Ron, whom he noticed had distanced themselves from Ginny and her accusations.

"It might be best if you leave, Gin," Ron said to his sister.

"Harry?" Ginny whined, turning to her boyfriend.

"Sorry Gin, but we warned you," Harry said with a shake of his head. "We told you that you'd made a mistake, but you wouldn't listen. And now you've hurt Hermione, which we told you not to do. I agree with Malfoy and Ron, you should go."

For a long moment, Ginny remained frozen on the spot, but then she suddenly let out a cry and bolted for the door. As the door slammed behind her, no-one moved to go after her. Instead, Harry and Ron headed for Hermione and assured her that they didn't think like Ginny. They weren't at all disappointed in the gifts they'd received from her.

"I'm just sorry we couldn't get her to see sense," Ron said with a sigh. "From the moment she told us about the presents, we tried to tell her that she had the wrong idea, but she just wouldn't listen."

"And now she's gone and made a complete and utter fool of herself," Harry remarked. "Not to mention hurting you. We're sorry, Hermione."

"It's not your fault," Hermione assured her friends.

"As entertaining at this has been, weren't we invited here for a reason?" Theo Nott interrupted.

"Oh yes," Draco said with a nod as he turned to Hermione. "Do you still want to do it now, or would you rather wait?"

"No, let's do it now," Hermione replied. "I don't want to hide any more."

"A-ha," Blaise cried with a snap of his fingers. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Daphne asked with a roll of her eyes.

"I knew that Granger was involved in what Draco wanted to talk to us about," Blaise replied. "Why else would he insist we come to the head dorms when we could have just as easily talked down in the dungeons. Granger had to be involved."

"Enough," Draco called, sensing his friends were going to descend into full on bickering. "This was not how we planned this, but by now I think we should just get it over with. Hermione and I invited you here to let you know that we're together."

"As in boyfriend and girlfriend?" Theo asked in amazement as everyone stared at the head students in obvious shock.

"Yes," Draco confirmed, reaching out to grab hold of Hermione's hand.

"Wow, I did not see this coming," Harry remarked.

"Not as perceptive as McGonagall then," Draco chuckled. "She made rather a bit of money over the holidays thanks to us being together."

"Are you saying she'd bet on you getting together?" Theo gasped. "Can Professors do that?"

"Dumbledore paid up, so I guess they can," Draco replied with a shrug. "But that isn't the point here. We're more interested in what you all think."

"I think it's lovely," Daphne said, giving the couple a warm smile. "You look cute together."

"Yeah, good on you, mate," Blaise said with a grin.

"If you're happy, we're happy," Theo said.

"Theo's right, this is your choice, and since we're you're friends, we'll support you," Pansy said, giving Draco a reassuring smile. "Although I guess this means we'll have to get used to having Gryffindors in our lives," she added with a sigh that Hermione suspected was exaggerated for effect.

"At least one," Draco said with a laugh.

"Hopefully more," Hermione said, turning to her friends. "I know this is a shock, but we're serious about each other."

"You love him?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I think I do," Hermione replied, keeping her focus on her friends even though she could sense Draco preening at her words beside her.

"Then how can we not accept it?" Ron asked with a smile. "I wouldn't have put the two of you together, but I trust you to know what you're doing. As long as you're happy, Hermione, we'll support you."

"Of course we will," Harry agreed with a grin as he and Ron hugged Hermione and assured her that no matter who she was dating, she was still their best friend.

"He's very handsome," Luna said with a smile as she hugged Hermione and gave her approval to Hermione's new relationship.

"Don't say that too loud, it'll go to his head," Hermione joked.

"Too late, I've already heard and filed it away for future reference," Draco laughed. "Now I'm the very handsome Slytherin sex god."

"Sex god?" Pansy scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "You're far too young to have that title. You need someone experienced to hold that title. Someone like your father perhaps. I bet he knows what's what in the bedroom department."

"Ugh Pansy, don't say such things," Draco begged.

As everyone laughed, Hermione handed around the drinks and the two groups settled down to get to know one another a bit better. There and then they decided to put the past behind them and start afresh. Maybe they would never be best friends, but they were determined to get along for the sake of their two friends and their burgeoning romance.