Hi all...Yes i am alive! I am so, so , so sorry its taken me so long to get this chapter out, but i have been very ill for a while and unable to work on my stories.

I am back now and pretty much fully recovered so have more energy and time to devote to finishing off my stories.

Thankyou to all my loyal fans that have continued to send me reviews and pm's even after all this time, i cannot tell you how much they helped me :-)

well here you go its one of my shorter chapters and i could have taken it furthur but i felt that where i ended it was better for the next chapter which is nearly 1/3 of the way written so the update shouldn't take too much longer

I doubt that there will be many more chapters to this story as i believe that it is nearing as far as it can in this timeline.

I hope that you all enjoy this chapter :-)

Disclaimer: the usual i own nothing but the plot.

Chapter Twenty Five: A Moment of Understanding.

It had been two days since the New Years Eve party and Classes were due to begin the following day. The Hogwarts grounds were splendid in their glory, fresh snow had fallen overnight and the pristine white grounds sparkled in the midday sun that the weather had graciously bestowed upon them for the last day of their Christmas holidays. The grounds were teeming with students all enjoying the rare mild day and sunshine. Groups of friends had snowball fights, couples strolled along by the frozen lake. First years tapping on the ice at the sleeping giant squid beneath the frozen water, a couple of brave fourth years were ice skating on the frozen lake. Everywhere there was laughter and shrieks of happiness, but in among the joyful banter and fun, a lone figure sat on a boulder, watching as a group of six played in the snow.

Pansy Parkinson felt tears gather in her eyes again as she watched Draco and Hermione play together in the snow. The couple were having a snowball fight with Theo and Lavender and Blaise and Ginny who had become an official couple the day after the party. Pansy watched broken hearted as Draco chased Hermione through the snow, a smile on his face and laughter escaping his lips as the blonde tackled his laughing girlfriend into the snow, repaying her for the snowball that she had managed to shove down his back. Lavender and Ginny were making snow angels, while their respective boyfriends threw snow at each other. Pansy's tears fell as she watched Draco kiss Hermione before he rose to his feet and helped her up, tenderly brushing the snow off her robes and out of her hair.

"It's hard isn't it?" a male voice asked softly from just behind her. Pansy swiveled in surprise, not having heard the person approach her solitary boulder. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw that it was Ron Weasley who had spoken to her, she was about to snap a biting remark when she noticed the look on his face as he watched the six of them playing.

"What's hard?" she asked, remembering his question as she surreptitiously wiped the tears from her face. Ron noticed but didn't comment, instead he replied to her question.

"Watching the person you have feelings for, being happy with someone else" he clarified. Pansy sniffed as she nodded.

"Yes, and it hurts" she responded. Ron nodded his own head in understanding before taking a seat beside her on the boulder.

"So why do you torture yourself by watching them?" he asked once he was settled. Pansy sighed.

"Because I keep hoping that he will change his mind and want me instead of her" she finally replied. Ron nodded.

"I can understand that" he responded.

"Why do you?" Pansy asked suddenly. Ron turned towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do I what?" he asked,

"Why do you watch them? Are you hoping for the same thing I am?" she explained. Ron shook his head.

"No, I may not be the smartest bloke, but I do know that if she hasn't shown any sign of wanting to be with me before now, then she isn't going to while she is with him" he answered quietly.

"Then why do you watch them?" Pansy asked again perplexed.

"I like seeing her happy" Ron answered with a shrug "Even if it's not with me" he added softly. Pansy was silent as the two of them watched the couple. Hermione had just sprung onto Draco's back, the laughing blonde had caught her legs behind her knees and bent over to steady himself as the brunette kissed his neck, holding a camera as she took a picture of the two of them. The happiness on their faces was a sight to behold as she took a couple more pictures, one with them both smiling at the camera and one with Draco twisting his head to place a kiss on her cheek. Then when the other four started teasing them, Hermione shrunk her camera, put it in her pocket, then took her wand and sent a flurry of snowballs towards the other two couples who ducked out of the way. Draco took off with his girlfriend on his back, the two of them laughing madly. Ginny was quick to leap onto Blaise's back and sent him after the laughing duo, her own wand sending a shower of snowballs towards them. Draco and Hermione dodged the attack, as Lavender, with Theo's urging, pounced onto his back and took off after the other four. What followed was a piggyback snowball fight that had them dropping to the ground exhausted.

"I've never seen Draco so carefree and happy" Pansy finally murmured. Ron glanced at her before replying.

"Normally Hermione would be holed up in the library studying for classes tomorrow, it's nice to see her out and enjoying herself with others, instead of locked away alone with a bunch of books" he mused.

"Have you considered trying to break them up? We could do it you know if we worked together" Pansy stated quietly, not really expecting him to agree. Ron shook his head.

"No, as much as it hurts seeing her with Malfoy, I couldn't and wouldn't do that to her. Besides what would be the point? Instead of being happy they would be miserable, and they would never come to us, they would hate us for destroying their happiness" he responded.

"They wouldn't have to know it was us that did it" Pansy stated. Ron turned to her with a disbelieving look.

"Are you mental? Those two are the smartest we have in our year and are probably going to be the heads next year! You really think that we would be able to hide it from them? That they wouldn't work out that it was us?" he asked disbelievingly. Pansy slumped as she realized that the red head was right, it was only really her hurt that had caused her to make the suggestion, and only a half hearted one at that, she knew that she would never actually try to pull it off, not anymore at least, not since her punishment for throwing the unforgivable at the muggleborn.

"You're right, it was a stupid idea. And I can't afford any more trouble, I'm in enough as it is" Pansy sighed.

"Yes I know, it was bloody stupid what you did you know, you're lucky that Dumbledore didn't report it to the Aurors. Casting an unforgivable on someone is a one way ticket to Azkaban these days, regardless of what age you are" Ron stated candidly. Pansy stared at him in shock, not having known that he knew what she had done. Ron saw her look and smiled grimly.

"You're wondering why I'm talking to you aren't you? After what you tried to do to Hermione" Pansy nodded slowly.

"Yes" she replied simply. Ron sighed and fidgeted with his hands before he spoke.

"Because a year ago I would have probably done the same thing if the roles were reversed. It's not a thing that I like to admit, and I hate myself for the knowledge that I'm capable of something like that. But I have a bad temper with a short fuse, I don't often think before I speak or act and I have ended up in some pretty nasty situations because of that" he replied.

"You seem to be handling yourself better these days" Pansy stated quietly. Ron nodded.

"Yes, but it took some pretty harsh words from Harry and four months of silent treatment from Hermione and most of my family to get me to see what I was doing. I've matured up a lot since then. Don't get me wrong, I still have periods where I don't think before I speak, and I still have a bloody temper, but I try not to let it get the best of me now. It has been hard though" Ron responded.

"I saw you at the party, about to storm over and punch Blaise before your mum stopped you" Pansy smirked slightly. Ron flushed red and a flash of anger was present in his sky blue eyes.

"It's a little harder being objective with Ginny, she is my baby sister, and when we were growing up it was always her and I versus our older siblings. Its hard to remember that she is fifteen now and that in just two years she will be classed as an adult and able to marry if she wants to" Ron grumbled.

"Was it just because Blaise is a Slytherin? Or would you have been that way even if it was Potter she was kissing?" Pansy asked curiously. Ron grimaced but answered truthfully.

"It would have been the same regardless of the guy, Zabini being a Slytherin is just the excuse I told myself for my lapse in control of my temper. Even after mum had a go at me I still wanted to punch him for touching my sister, but then the party finished and I talked to Harry. I honestly have nothing against Blaise personally, its just his house really. Old prejudice's die hard I suppose" he sighed.

"And yet here you sit talking to a Slytherin as if it's an everyday occurrence. Has it come to your attention that I could possibly use everything you say to my advantage and for blackmailing purposes?" Pansy asked. Ron shrugged.

"Yes, but then again what would you gain from spreading all this knowledge about?" he asked. Pansy smirked slightly.

"Touché" she whispered, a slight hint of surprise in her tone.

"You sound surprised, I'm not dumb Parkinson, I'm just lazy when it comes to schoolwork. I admit that more often than not, I convince Hermione to check over it for me, and her being her, she corrects everything that's wrong with it, pretty much ending up writing my essays fully. And yes I have used that to my advantage more than once, by just writing rubbish so that she would redo it" Ron stated, seeing the gleam that entered Pansy's eyes.

"It seems that there is a bit of Slytherin in you Weasley" Pansy murmured.

"There is a bit of each house in all of us I think" Ron replied.

"Possibly" Pansy agreed. Ron nodded and walked away, not noticing when the raven haired Slytherin followed his progress with her eyes before turning back to the three Gryffindor/Slytherin couples as they began to walk towards the castle. She saw Theo speak to Draco and the blonde glowered and sent her a glare before turning back when his girlfriend spoke to him, the six of them ignored her as they walked past and entered the castle.

"Hey Draco, Parkinson has been staring at you the entire time we've been out here" Theo stated quietly as the six of them made their way to the castle for lunch. Draco scowled in annoyance and glared at the girl in question.

"Draco, just ignore her, she cannot speak or approach you" Hermione urged. Draco turned to her with a smile.

"I know Mia, it just annoys me the way she stares at me all the time" he sighed.

"Just ignore her mate, that's all any of us can do" Blaise advised. Draco nodded and wrapped his arm over Hermione's shoulders, making sure that he ignored Parkinson's presence entirely as the six of them passed.

There you are, i'm sorry that it is so short but please read and Review...no flames, i'm hard enough on them as it is. :-)