And so it was that Draco Malfoy sat in the living room of the Weasley's ramshackle house on Christmas day, dressed in a wonderfully soft silver jumper and surrounded by a large stack of sweets. From her seat with her parents Hermione smiled as she saw him taking in the chaos of the room. He was a far cry from the boy who had sat across from her on the train only a few months before. He had been sleeping well in Harry and Ron's flat, and it showed. His face had lost its pallid sheen, and his eyes were no longer hidden in dark shadows. He had been nervous to come here, after all the harm that he had caused. But when he received a letter from Molly Weasley on December 23 personally inviting him to Christmas dinner, his face had lit up with excitement.
Christmas the last year had been bleak for everyone, with the possible exception of Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who had celebrated it in Australia. But this Christmas was truly a day to be remembered. There were mountains of food and gifts, endless games, and a general cheery atmosphere. When the guests left late the night, Hermione and Ron went arm-in-arm. Hermione was wearing a broad grin and a sparkling diamond ring.
The second week of Christmas vacation proved to be even better than the first. Hermione began to move her things into Harry and Ron's flat (hers as well, now, as soon as school was over), and the Weasleys were so overjoyed about her engagement to Ron that they completely forgot to forbid Ginny to stay there as well. With five occupants the flat was beginning to feel full, but in a comfortable sort of way. Hermione invited Luna to come over whenever she wanted, but the girl said something mysterious about a Hufflepuff named Rolf and effectively vanished.
There was one interesting effect of living together that none of them had anticipated: the frequency with which each was woken by nightmares became abundantly clear. When Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny returned to the flat, silencing charms were put on each of the bedrooms for privacy. This helped somewhat, as it made it impossible for anyone to wake up the entire household with their all-too-regular nighttime screams. But it was quite common to find two or even more of the housemates in the kitchen making cocoa or warming milk at any time of night.
"That's why I enjoyed the Ents so much," Harry's voice was low but clearly audible from the doorway of Ron and Hermione's room. She smiled and took a step towards the kitchen, ready to drink something warm and forget the horrors of her dreams.
"They were so slow. And besides, what good is a species who can't even keep track of their wives?" Hermione stopped suddenly; that was Draco's voice. He had been distant with Harry and Ron the whole Christmas break. In fact, he had seemed to be scared of them. But this sounded like a promising conversation.
"But they acted quickly when it was really necessary," Harry insisted. "If it wasn't for them, Isengard wouldn't have fallen!"
"The ring-wraiths are more my style." A long silence followed Draco's declaration, followed by a low chuckle. "I'm joking! Don't be so serious, Potter."
"Harry. Please Draco, call me Harry. Listen, I know we haven't talked much this holiday- well, we haven't talked much ever, have we?" Hermione heard Draco grunt in affirmation. "But I would like to get to know you better. Hermione says you're a really good friend. I hope, someday, we can be good friends too."
Hermione smiled and quietly stepped back towards her bed, her nightmare forgotten.