Chapter 3

Christmas at the Burrow was always an interesting affair. In typical Weasley fashion, everyone was bustling about the house, putting up Christmas decorations, cleaning the kitchen, and in the case of the twins who had decided to come home for the holiday, cause as much chaos as possible.

Having stayed at the Burrow twice before during the summer, Hermione thought she would have been used to the constant movement of the house's occupants, but she had thought wrong. Every person in the house was constantly moving from one place to another carrying wreaths, ornaments and other decorations, while also trying to tidy up the house as best as they could. It seemed that the Weasley matriarch was hell bent on making her children all drop from exhaustion.

Mrs. Weasley had at first been reluctant to have Harry and Hermione help with the decorating, but relented when the pair refused to sit back and watch. They almost regretted the decision soon afterwards, when she had the pair of them rearranging the furniture in the sitting room. It was only a passing thought as they both knew that their friends' family didn't have to house them over the holidays and it was the least they could do. This was especially true for Harry who didn't have anywhere else to spend the holidays besides Hogwarts, whereas Hermione was only here because she wanted to spend this Christmas with her boyfriend.

Once the sun had long drifted below the horizon, herself, Ron, Ginny, and Harry plop themselves into one of the many seats in the living room, getting themselves some much needed rest. Hermione had immediately taken position next to Ron on a small two-person loveseat, but she soon noticed that it had taken Harry several moments to sit down, choosing to briefly stare at the couple, before taking a seat away from the happy couple, not too far to make it awkward, but it was enough for Hermione to notice that he wanted to put some distance between her and Ron.

She found his actions strange. Harry had never acted like this before had he? Her mind quickly searched through her memories of the past few weeks. It took her a few moments to realize that this was a recurring thing. Nearly every memory she had of Harry since she and Ron had begun dating included some little detail of Harry seemingly wanting to not get too close to the pair, which was incredibly shocking.

Hermione was puzzled as to what would cause Harry to act this way, and had begun to go over her memories once again before she made another startling discovery. It had passed her judgment before but now with all her interaction with her best friend for the past few months fresh on her mind, she figured out why it had been easy for her to reach her previous conclusion. The fact of the matter was that despite not meaning to do it, her and Ron had effectively neglected Harry by choosing to spend most of their time by themselves. It explained why Harry had recently taken to talking and spending more time with the likes of Ginny, Neville, and Luna lately instead of his two best friends. It also revealed why he had been so eager to leave the pair of them alone at Slughorn's party; Harry had the impression that they didn't want him around and was simply trying to do as they wished.

This epiphany saddened her, as she realized that she hadn't been a very good friend to Harry lately. Though she supposed she could easy shift the blame over to Ron's desire to spend quality time together, she couldn't completely absolve herself of the blame, especially since her actions prior to their relationship also could be construed as an attempt to distance herself from him. She suddenly felt ashamed for badgering him about that damned potions book and his theories about Malfoy.

She decided that from now on, both her and Ron were going to try and make time for Harry, and was about to walk over to him and say as much, but decided at that moment to pull her closer and drop a quick kiss to her lips. She was very briefly distracted from her endeavor and when she managed to pull herself back from the moment, it wasn't until after Harry had risen from his seat, stating his intent to turn in early from exhaustion, and promptly left the room, leaving Hermione to stew with her guilt for even longer.

He tried. He really did try, but watching the two of them together was still too much for him to bear.

Harry continued his self-appointed exile from his friends, and now that they were all together for the holidays, it made it increasingly difficult for him to separate himself from the two of them. Yes, he did enjoy their company from time to time, even going s far as to believe that the trio's relationship was on the mend. That was until the two would transition into couple mode and he would try and excuse himself as quickly as possible, either to go and hang out with Ginny or whatever other kind of excuse he could come up with.

This time, he decided to head out into the garden after lunch, claiming to need some fresh air, and had taken perch next to one of the trees in the garden as his mind slowly began to drift. The more he thought about, the less his feelings were surrounded by confusion. He had come to the realization that he did harbor feelings for Hermione that went beyond friendship.

The thought both made him feel flighty and morose at the same time. On one hand, his recent confusion was banished away and generally set his emotions at ease. On the other hand, he realized that she could never be with him while she was dating Ron, that very thought alone was nearly debilitating. Still he resigned himself to his eternal role as 'best friend', and decided to work on getting his emotions in check so that he could re-establish and maintain a normal relationship with the two most important people in his life.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar ethereal sounding voice.

"Hello Harry Potter."

Quickly standing and turning towards the voice, Harry was almost able to keep the grin off his face. "Luna! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, me and Dad live over the hill. I used to come over here and play with Ginny a lot when I was younger." Her turned slightly unfocused as she appeared to be reminiscing about the past. Harry could only smile fondly at the girl's antics. Moving before he had a full grasp on what he planned on doing, he wrapped Luna up in a quick hug catching her off-guard.

"It's good to see you."

She in turn wrapped her arms around Harry before returning the sentiment.

"How's your holiday been so far Luna?"

"It's been fun. My dad returned from an expedition looking for a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. He was back in time for when I got home, but he's out today looking for new stories to write in The Quibbler, so I decided to come over here. How about you?"

"It's been okay," Harry only partially lied, "There's never a dull moment at the Burrow. Sometimes I wish I could get some peace and quiet."

Luna suddenly got a large grin on her face, before grabbing ahold of Harry's hand, pulling him away from the Burrow.

"If you want to get away for a little while, I could show you where I live. I've never had any friends over before." The last statement was stated a little sadly, fading away any protest that Harry was about to have. He quickly ran inside to let Mrs. Weasley know where he was going, before returning to Luna to begin the walk to her house, unaware that the pair had caught the attention of someone else in the Burrow.

It was the day after Christmas when Hermione finally found the opportunity to confront Harry. Every time she tried the previous day, he was quick to escape, thwarting her attempts at every turn. She had assumed that he was avoiding her and Ron to either give them time in their new relationship or because he felt awkward in their presence, but his aptitude at dodging her at every turn was something she didn't expect.

Her resolve only strengthened when she witnessed Harry and Luna leaving to go somewhere, she later found out to be Luna's house. The pair didn't return for some time, making Hermione even more anxious as she wanted to have this conversation with Harry as soon as possible. The longer it took them to resolve this tension between the three of them, the harder it would be to repair any damage that may have stemmed from it.

She later saw them return to the garden and talked briefly amongst themselves. What truly shocked her was when after a brief hug, Luna leaned forward and kissed Harry on the cheek. What was even more startling, was the fact that, after recovering from the initial shock, she saw Harry return the gesture, before Luna skipped off back to her house.

Hermione decided then and there to force Harry to talk with her tomorrow and save their friendship. It didn't truly hit her at how much she had actually missed out on her friend's life until she had witnessed the display of affection that Harry and Luna shared. She was convinced that Harry had only asked Luna as his date to Slughorn's party because he had run out of options. It appeared as though the two of them were closer than she had realized.

Hermione got her opportunity after breakfast when Harry had once again decided to sit down in the living room. Before he had the opportunity to notice her actions and find a way to avoid her once again, she placed herself in the seat right next to his, startling him, but ensuring that he couldn't avoid her.

"Hey" she started somewhat timidly. She wished that she had come up with something better to start this conversation, but all her thought processes were used on getting him in the same room as her, let alone actually going through with it.

"Hey." This was exactly what she had feared, and why they needed to have this talk; the awkwardness in the room was oppressive, and if their friendship was to survive, they needed to fix it. Before she could properly formulate a proper response, her mouth began without her.

"I'm sorry."

This was apparently what Harry hadn't expected to hear as his head whipped around so fast that if this wasn't a serious situation, she might've laughed.

"What for?"

"For ignoring you, abandoning you. For letting myself get so wrapped in my relationship with Ron, that I forgot about our friendship and how important it was."

"You didn't abandon me," Harry tried to reassure her. Though she appreciated that he was trying to make her feel better, it hadn't completely rid her of her guilt. "If anyone abandoned anyone, it was me. I'm the one who wouldn't stay in the same room as you to."

"It's not your fault Harry. I mean… it must've been awkward, your two best friends begin seeing each other and spending all their time lone together, leaving you by yourself." She noticed a brief look of confusion on Harry's face, before it was schooled to a normal expression, so she chalked it up to her imagination. "I'm sorry for putting you in that position Harry, I just want to be friends just like we used to."

"Yeah mate." Ron entered the room and sat down across from Harry and Hermione, initially annoyed that he couldn't sit next to his girlfriend but he quickly got over it. Harry cast his eyes down to the floor, his expression unreadable for a few moments before a small smile graced his features.

"Me too guys," was all he said before Hermione launched herself at him wrapping him in one of her trademarked hugs. Once she released him, Ron gave him a brotherly pat on the shoulder, while Hermione got up from her seat and sat next to him.

Light conversation began between the three of them, and it quickly became just like old times and the here of them basked in the returned comfortableness of their friendship.

AN: Not too much to say about this one, just part of the natural progression of the story. Sorry if this chapter seems a little like filler but the next one should further the plot along nicely.

As always, thanks for reading.