When the Hogwarts Express arrived in King's Cross, the two couples were among the first people to get off the train. But they couldn't go to the Burrow just yet, as they were supposed to apparate there and Luna and Ginny, being sixth years, couldn't do it on their own.
Therefore, they could only do the side-along apparition.
"I'm not apparating with her." Harry said, referring to Ginny.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I volunteer to apparate with them." she said, then she walked to the girls. Ginny was visibly tense as she saw her approach.
"Take my arms, you two." Hermione ordered.
Luna linked her arm with hers, smiling. "I love apparating. It's so cool, it makes you feel like you're stuck in a vortex of fun."She said. The bushy haired girl giggled at her excitement.
Hermione noticed Ginny's uneasiness, so she turned to her. "Hey, Gin, it's ok. I'm not mad at you anymore. I can see that you regret what you did. And soon, Harry will come around."
Ginny nodded, then she grabbed her arm.
The three girls apparated, Luna screaming of joy.
Ron followed suit.
Harry and Draco, though, were still on platform nine and three-quarters.
"Babe, are you ok?" Harry asked, since his boyfriend looked like he was about to pass out.
"Yeah, just... a bit anxious." Draco said. His anxiety hadn't left him, on the contrary, now that he was about to go to the house of a family who didn't see eye to eye with his, it was increasing by the second.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm not that relaxed, either... with Ginny and all... and I feel like I'm introducing you to my parents, really." Harry chuckled nervously.
"Ah, fuck it." said Draco, turning around to face his boyfriend. "Who cares what they say? All that matters is we're together." He then offered his forearm for him to hold.
Harry grabbed it with a smile and repeated, "Together." Then, they disapparated from the Platform.
The six of them were all outside the Burrow, now.
Luna was not over the apparition yet, as she was jumping around contentedly.
Ginny had to fight the urge to grab her and kiss her.
"Mum, it's us! Open up!" Ron shouted.
It was Bill , the oldest of the Weasley children, who opened the door. "Hey family!" he exclaimed, with open arms.
Ron and Ginny accepted the hug invitation.
"Hey, bro!" Ron said happily. "How are you? How's Fleur?"
"Oh she's fine." Bill responded. "She's helping mum with some preparations for tomorrow." His attention then settled on the others. "Hi Hermione, Luna! And of course, Harry!" Bill shook his hand. He didn't seem to have noticed Draco, so it was Draco who greeted him.
"Hi, Bill, right?" he said.
"Oh, right, hi, Malfoy." Bill said, no emphasis whatsoever. "So it's true, then? You're together?"
Harry nodded, then everyone entered the house.
Draco had never seen it from the inside before. It looked definitely old, he observed, but it had that atmosphere of cosiness that he could not ignore. It looked much like the tree house that he used to have in his own garden as a kid, for there was a lot of wood on the walls and ceiling.
He had the impression that it would fall apart any minute, as the floor creaked after he stepped foot on it, but it surely felt warmer than his enormous Manor.
"Oh, here they are!" said Molly, as she ran towards the children with open arms and the brightest smile Draco had ever seen.
Ginny was the first one she greeted, pulling her in a bone crushing hug.
Ginny smiled, apparently her mother couldn't stay mad at her for too long.
She felt so silly for thinking that her own family wouldn't have given her a warm welcome.
"I hope you behaved." Her mother whispered to her, then she pulled away and pinched her cheek.
Molly then went to hug Hermione and Ron. "I hope he's treating you right, dear!" She said to Hermione, winking.
"Oh, yeah, he's very lovely." the girl said with a smile. "But, really... I can't get him to match clothes!"
Molly glared at her son, putting her arms on her waist. "When will you learn?" But it was clear that she wasn't really scolding him, as her smile betrayed her.
Last but no least, she threw herself at Harry. "Oh, Harry, dear!" she said, still smiling.
Draco stood there, awkwardly. He watched as the woman planted a kiss on Harry's head, they looked so cute it made him a little sad. He wonder if he would ever be this adorable with his mother again.
"Ah, and who do we have here, little Malfoy." Molly finally said, acknowledging his presence.
Draco couldn't read her facial expression, he wasn't sure what it meant, to be honest. It felt a bit weird for him, since he had called her the worst fat shaming names in the past.
"Hello." He simply said, waving his hand. The Weasley mother walked closer to him and hugged him. "Welcome to the family." She said, leaving Draco at a loss for words.
Then she pulled away and went to say hi to Luna.
So, it had gone well with Mrs Weasley, but her husband was nowhere to be found, still.
Turns out, Arthur had gone to fetch George and Angelina in Diagon Alley, but they were stuck inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, due to the snow.
The floo powder was not at option, as the snow had fallen inside of the chimney, thus blocking it.
And, since all three of them were too tired to apparate, they thought it would be best to wait until the morning after.
Draco felt his anxiety grow. He had to wait one more day to face him.
Everyone moved to the living room, where Fleur was meticulously setting an ornament on the Christmas tree. It was a snow ball containing a small replica of the Beauxbatons castle.
"Oh, Arry, how good to see you!" She said at the sight of her former Triwizard fellow.
"And Rrron! My brother in law!" She greeted him with a sound kiss on the cheek.
"Hi, Fleur!" Ron said, blushing instantly. He was looking at her with dreamy eyes and his mouth dropped, waving his hand like a fool.
Hermione slapped him across the face so hard that her hand print exceeded the redness of the blushing.
"Ow, baby! You know I only have eyes for you, that's just the quarter-veela thing!" Ron defended himself, massaging his cheek.
"Do it again and I'll hex you." his girlfriend warned.
Harry, on the other hand, wasn't affected by Fleur's presence, at all. He exploded in a sound laugh. "Ron used to have a crush on her, once." he explained to his boyfriend.
"So did you." Draco said, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
Harry's face turned as red as Ron's hair. "Not at all!" he said.
"Not what Hermione told me." said Draco.
"It was four years ago! I was confused!" Harry said, defensively.
Draco made a face that seemed angry, but he was hiding a smile. He wanted to play a little.
"Be careful, if you don't want your pants to catch fire!" he said, trying to suppress a sneer.
"Oh, come on!" Harry said, putting his arms around his lover's neck. "You know that my biggest crush was you."
"That's what I thought. She's simply a magical skank." Draco said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You're cute when you're jealous." Harry giggled, then he pulled him into a sweet kiss.
"Ah, aren't they cute?" Luna said to Ginny, while rocking slightly back and forth. "they don't need a mistletoe." she said vaguely.
Ginny caught her subtlety immediately. Their kiss had not been mentioned, until now.
"Look, Luna," Ginny began, after taking a breath. "What happened between us... it was just a kiss... no more. We are just two friends who happened to kiss." she said, although she knew that this sentence was inconsistent with her real thoughts on the matter.
"If you say so." Luna shrugged. "Ah, it's so warm here, don't you think?" She said, removing her coat, revealing a low-cut purple dress, with a giant bright pink bow tied around her waist.
She was definitely teasing her, now. Ginny couldn't help staring at her cleavage.
They all spent a very calm , happy Christmas eve night. They went to bed pretty early, as they were knackered because of the long journey from Hogwarts.
Because the Burrow had five bedrooms, each couple was granted their privacy, at least for the first night.
Ginny had to share her bedroom with Luna, so they slept in the same bed, Luna sporting a provocative position now and again. She was determined to seduce her, it seemed. But Ginny fought her urges.
The next morning, everyone but Fleur, Bill and Molly woke up late, at around eleven.
"Morning, dears! Merry Christmas!" said a singing Molly as Ron, Hermione, Harry, Draco, Ginny and Luna descended the stairs, looking very sleepy. "The journey to London killed you, eh? But no worry, the lunch Fleur and I prepared is enough to wake you up." Then she trotted to the kitchen.
"Where is my Luna?" Luna's father's voice echoed through the Burrow.
"Dad!" Luna said, then she ran to him.
Everyone watched as they greeted each other with a weird secret handshake, which ended in the father flying his daughter in the air.
"Did you find a way to fight crumple horned snorkacks?" Xenophilius asked his daughter, after he put her down.
"Not yet, but I'm not giving up." Luna responded.
Draco looked at them, smiling.
However, his smile was cut short when he heard voices coming from outside.
They were George, Angelina and Arthur. Draco gulped nervously.
Seconds later, the door flung open, revealing the three of them, covered in snow from head to toe.
"Ah, what an adventure!" Arthur exclaimed while entering the house. Molly ran to him, gave him a kiss on the lips and then removed his coat. "Finally! We were beginning to worry!" The woman said, putting her husband's coat on the hook.
"Hello, everyone!" Said George and Angelina in unison.
"Hey, guys!" Harry said, running happily to them. "Quidditch is too weird without you!"
George didn't look so good, but his recent attachment to his ex class mate, Angelina Johnson, had brought him back to work, at least. He had an unkempt beard and his hair was all over the place, but at least he was out of bed.
Percy suddenly appeared.
"Hi, Percy." he said to himself, in a mocking tone, since no one was giving him a shred of attention. "So good to see you, brother." he said.
"Well, Merry Christmas everyone!" Arthur said, happily. "Hope you behaved!" He chuckled, but his happiness was cut short when he noticed that Draco, Lucius' son, was standing right in the middle of his house.
"What is he doing here?" he said. Everyone fell silent.
"Oh, he's spending Christmas with us, dear." said Molly, giggling nervously.
"You're joking, right? What were you thinking, inviting Malfoy's son to our house?"
"Oh come on, Arthur! He's Harry's boyfriend, he wanted to spend-" Molly began, but her husband cut her off.
"I do not want him in my house!" He snapped furiously.
"He's right." Draco said. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have..." that said, he rushed off upstairs.
"Babe, wait!" said, Harry, running after his boyfriend.
"What is up with you, dad?" Ginny yelled to her dad. "You'll ruin Christmas for everyone!"
Then, she ran after the pair.
"Happy now, Arthur?" Molly said in a reprimanding tone.
"But, he's Lucius' son, honey!" Arthur argued.
"So, what? Could have been Voldemort's son for all that matters, if Harry loves him!"
When the Weasley girl arrived upstairs, in Fred and George's old bedroom, where Harry and Draco had slept the night before, she found the couple sitting on the bed. Draco was crying, arguing that his boyfriend should have left him at Hogwarts.
"I never would have left you alone." Harry was saying when Ginny spoke.
"This is all my fault." she said. She was standing at the door, thus facing the two of them.
"What do you want?" Harry spat. "Can't you see that this is not a good time?"
"Please, listen to me." Ginny pleaded. She was fidgeting with her hands, apparently from the nervousness.
"I don't want to listen to-" Harry said, but he was interrupted by a nudge in the ribs from his boyfriend. "ow!"
"Let her speak." said Draco.
"What I did," Ginny continued, wiping her sweaty hands on her legs. "I know that there are no excuses, but I did it out of jealousy, anger... but mostly, I acted like a little girl. I wish I could take it all back, but here we are. I'm really, really sorry. I was a bitch and I ruined your lives... especially yours, Draco."
"Yeah, you were a bitch." Draco confirmed.
"I know, I should have accepted this... Harry loves you. And I see that, every day at school... and I'm happy for you. Yes, and I will try to make life easier for the both of you." Ginny finished. She swallowed, anticipating their response. She was hoping they wouldn't kick her out of the room.
"Look, Ginny," said Draco, looking at her. "My dad is a piece of shit. I didn't lose much, really."
Ginny nodded.
Harry sighed, then he spoke, "Ginny, I'm really sorry if I hurt you. But, I figured it would be best to break up with you than actually cheat on you." He got up and walked over to her.
"And I'm sorry if I fooled you, in any way. I was going through emotional turmoil, as I didn't know who I was. Now, I do. And I am, as you said, in love with Draco." As he said that, he looked at his boyfriend, who was smiling. He turned back to Ginny and continued with his speech.
"Lastly, know that I don't think you are unworthy of love. Someone will love you, I'm sure of it. It just won't be me. As for your Great Hall thing- you know me. I believe in second chances. I figure you deserve it, too."
As he finished, he put his hand on her shoulder.
There it was, forgiveness. Ginny couldn't believe it, Harry had just forgiven her. She let out a long sigh of relief.
"Oh, Harry! Thank you!" She said, wrapping her arms around him. "I hope we can be friends now."
"It's what we've always been, after all, friends." Harry observed. True, their relationship wasn't much more special than a friendship, except for the kissing bit.
"Oh, and, Draco..." the girl said as she pulled away from Harry. "Don't mind my dad. You will see, he will be fine with it. Let's go back."
"Fine, Molly. But I'm only giving him one chance!" Arthur said, ready to walk upstairs to talk to Draco, but stopped as he saw that he, Harry and Ginny were all coming down.
"Don't bother, dad, I retrieved them myself." His daughter said.
"Oh, Draco..." he said, looking at Molly, who nodded for him to continue. "I think I owe you an apology."
"All water under the bridge, Mr Weasley." Draco said with a smile.
Arthur nodded in response.
"Well, won't you go to the kitchen now! Christmas lunch is ready!" Mrs Weasley said.
"Bon appetit!" said Molly ten minutes later, as everyone was now in their seats.
The line went Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna on the right side of the table, while on the left side sat Molly, Percy, George, Angelina, Bill and Fleur. Arthur was the head of the table, sitting between his wife and Harry.
That said, everyone happily dug into the turkey and roasted vegetables.
Arthur cleared his throat. "I'd like to make a toast." He shouted, capturing everyone's attention.
He looked at the head seat opposite his, which was empty. "To our Fred, hoping he's spending a marvelous Christmas in Heaven if there is one, filled with fireworks and jokes. Fred, we miss you every day!" As he finished his speech, Arthur gave a sob. His wife hugged him from her seat, fighting her own tears. Everyone was sad, now. George fought the urge to leave the room, but his girlfriend grabbed him by his hand, giving him a comforting smile.
"To Fred!" Bill said, breaking the tear-filled silence.
"To Fred!" the others repeated, smiling through the tears and raising their glasses.
The lunch went on fine and it culminated with a chocolate sponge cake log called a "bûche de Noël", a dessert that was usually eaten in France as a Christmas Tradition. Fleur had spent a good amount of the afternoon of the day before making it alongside Mrs Weasley.
"Time for the presents!" Molly said excitedly.
"I wonder what it will be." Ron said, jokingly.
"I can already see the jumper through the wrapping!" said Ginny, shaking her head.
Ron wasn't surprised when he saw that his package contained a red jumper with a brown letter "R" knitted on. Well, at least it wasn't maroon.
Everyone received their own Weasley Christmas jumper, even Draco, much to his surprise.
His was grey, with a green "D" on top. The whole ensemble suggested Slytherin.
"Wow, they are not so bad." Draco said, wearing his jumper. "It keeps me very warm."
Harry looked at him with widened eyes. "Are you serious? You're, like, the only one who truly finds it appealing!"
"Just wear yours." Draco said, rolling his eyes.
Harry eventually did. Molly had made his opposite to Ron's. - brown, with a red "H".
"Oh right, shoot, almost forgot." said Harry, flicking his wand. Then, a present appeared. "My present for you."
"Oh, I have yours, too." Draco said, then he summoned a package. It was quite big, but harry couldn't make out what it looked like.
"You, first." said Harry, putting his present in his boyfriend's hands.
Draco slowly unwrapped it, Harry watching while smirking.
The boy gasped at the sight of a mini potions set.
"Given your love for potions," Harry explained, "I thought you'd like this miniature set, so that you could make any potion you like, wherever you go. Courtesy of George there."
"Wow, it's really cool! I guess I will make some irritating potion for you when you get under my skin, Potter." Draco said teasingly. "Now, yours."
Harry's gift looked a bit heavy as Draco lifted it with difficulty.
Harry proceeded to open it as fast as a kid would.
The moment he began unwrapping, he knew what it was. His mouth dropped as he saw a cage with a tiny owl inside. It was a snowy owl, looking exactly like his late Hedwig, except for some brown spots on its head.
"Ron and Hermione played a part in this." said Draco.
"Yeah, I heard you cry at night, sometimes, because of Hedwig!" said Ron.
"I picked him!" Hermione intervened, smiling. She was holding a book, which Ron must have given her as a gift.
"He's... he's great! Thank you!" Harry said to the three of them, wiping a tear. "Thanks, babe, I love you." he then said to Draco.
"You, too." said Draco, giving him an Eskimo kiss. "Oh, he already had a name, though. He's called Viridis, if that's alright."
The rest of the Christmas day was spent exchanging presents, singing and eating biscuits in front of the fireplace.
Hermione had given Harry a box of Chocolate Frogs, while Ron had bought him a decoration for Viridis' cage. Harry had given Hermione a new quill. His gift to Ron was a box of Honeydukes exploding bon bons.
Luna had made a miniature mistletoe for Ginny, while Ginny had bought her a pair of shoes. "So the nargles won't leave you barefoot." She said to her.
Luna's mistletoe was yet another way of reminding the redhead of their kiss, but, still, she wouldn't acknowledge it.
That night, as Draco lay in bed next to a sleeping Harry, he thought that this had been the best Christmas of his life.
Could have ended even better if it weren't for the fact that they had to share their bedroom with Percy.