A/N: I've decided to divide this into two parts, because the chapter was getting quite long, so there will be another chapter for this prompt before I move on to the next one.

ooo

The next day at breakfast the whole evening still felt like blur to Greg. It hadn't helped that after the candle lighting ceremony, Seamus Finnigan had pulled out a large bottle of Firewhisky and they had all sat down, finding comfort in their shared grief, as they drank to the people they had lost.

It was a completely new experience for Greg, so different to everything he had learned growing up. In his world, showing emotion had always been deemed as weak, and that honesty always led to failure. He had been taught very early on that the only way to succeed in life was to lie and cheat and never, under any circumstances, show how you really feel.

So to see people be so genuine and honest, their innermost feelings bared in front of everyone to see, as they shared their favourite stories of their loved ones, was surprising to him to say the least.

What had baffled him the most, however, was that no one had seemed to care about him and Draco being there. If he was entirely honest, he had expected people to be more hostile towards him, to resent him for choosing the wrong path, or even blame him for the suffering they had gone through. But no one had. Some of them had been a little stiff, and there was a general guarded cautiousness about them when they approached him, but no one had shown any open resentment towards him.

It had confused him, even worried him a little. It had felt liked handling a Blast-Ended Skrewt. One minute everything's fine, and the next the whole thing explodes on you. And you'd never see it coming.

But then Hannah Abbot had approached him and thanked him… THANKED HIM… for being there. He'd been so stunned that he couldn't even form a response. So she went on to say how she really appreciated him making an effort to leave the past behind and show that he didn't believe in the outdated views he had been taught by his parents. That he, just like them, was trying to move on.

'After all, we all fought so hard for a future where we won't be divided by bigotry and hate. So what good would it be to dwell on a past where that's not the case?' she had said, offering him a kind smile, before she left to sit with her friends.

It was the first time that Gregory had experienced genuine and unconditional forgiveness. There was nothing more to it. He didn't have to apologise or make promises, there were no further actions required, nothing to prove himself or his intentions. All he had had to do was show up.

He was pulled out of his musings about the previous night when Pansy slid into the seat next to him, looking a little more rumpled than usual.

"How was last night?" She asked, pulling a small compact mirror out of her bag to check her hair and makeup. Using her thumb, she wiped a smudge of ruby lipstick from the corner of her mouth, before angling her head, so she could see her hair, and combing her fingers through her fringe. When she was satisfied with the result, she dropped the mirror back into her bag and used her wand to pour herself a cup of tea, her eyebrows raised at him expectantly.

"Surprising." Greg replied, pulling his shoulder into a noncommittal shrug. "Where have you been? Breakfast is almost over."

There was just the fraction of a second where Pansy stiffened slightly, but the moment was gone before Greg could properly register it, and her expression had turned haughty.

"I'm always fashionably late. You know this. It's become part of my personality by now."

Greg snorted. She wasn't wrong.

It wasn't until her gaze flickered to the other side of the Great Hall, where a ruffled looking Harry Potter had just dropped into a seat at the Gryffindor table, cheeks flushed and glasses slightly askew, that Greg connected the dots and flashed a knowing smirk at Pansy.

He had a sneaking suspicion that the Chosen One would start to be more 'fashionably late' from now on, too.

"What's that mean? Surprising?" Pansy asked, pretending she hadn't seen Greg's amused expression.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Everyone was really nice."

"Nice?" Pansy's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"That's what Draco said, too." Theo chimed in from Pansy's other side. "Makes sense though, don't you think? We're all tired of hating each other. Besides…" his mouth tilted into a lopsided grin. "Inter-house unity can be a lot more fun than house rivalry, if you know what I mean."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Merlin, Theo. You always have to have you mind in the gutter, don't you?"

"Oh, cause you're one to talk…" Theo drawled.

At that point the owl post arrived, which was a good thing, because it put an end to their bickering, before it had the chance to get too heated.

Greg rarely received post these days. He didn't have anyone who would send him letters anymore, and he wasn't subscribed to any newspapers or magazines either; so while everyone else was busy reading their post, he let his gaze wander, which inevitably ended with him stealing glances at the Gryffindor table, where he knew a certain redhead was having her breakfast at the moment.

Ginny was sat between Neville Longbottom and her brother, and was absentmindedly feeding a rather old and tattered looking owl cornflakes, while simultaneously reading her post.

Whatever the letter said, it must have been good news, because half-way through it, the witch's face lit up and she bit her lip to hide a wide smile, before her eyes flicked up and landed on him.

Greg's heart stuttered in his chest, as her soft gaze locked onto his, and her bottom lip sprang free from between her teeth to reveal a brilliant grin that reached all the way to her eyes and set them alight with shimmering flecks of gleaming gold.

A shiver, hot and wanting, travelled up his spine as he fought to pull his lips into a responsive smile, and watched as she got up; the letter still tightly clutched in her hand as she strode across the hall, straight towards him.

"Hi." She breathed, coming to a halt on the other side of the table.

"Hi." Greg croaked back, shifting nervously in his seat.

"So…" Ginny carried on, an eager, if not slightly nervous expression on her face. "I was talking to my mum and…well, I hope you don't mind, but I kind of told her that you haven't had a family Christmas in so long, and…"

She trailed off, her hand snatching up to push a strand of coppery hair behind her ear, – something Gregory knew she often did when she was nervous – before she continued. "…well, Mum said I could invite you to stay with us this year."

"Huh?" Greg's eyes grew huge as she gaped at her. He must have misheard. Surely, she hadn't just invited him to spend Christmas with her and her family.

"Only if you want of course!" Ginny urged, her hand clutching the letter in her hand so tightly that it was beginning to crease. "And you don't have to decide now. I'm just letting you know that… well, I'd really like it if you came."

Greg felt paralysed. Somewhere in the back of his mind her knew that he needed to respond in some shape or form, but he just couldn't get himself to say something.

"Anyway." Ginny soldiered on, when the silence between them reached an unbearable level. "That's all I had to say, really. So… let me know what you think?"

It took Gregory a tremendous amount of willpower to nod and huff out a shaky "Sure…err, I mean…I will." But it was enough to put Ginny a little at ease and the bright smile returned to her lips as she physically relaxed.

"Great!" she beamed. "I guess, I'll see you later then."

And with that she turned around and left, her red hair billowing behind her as she marched out of the Great Hall.

"Uhm…What the fuck just happened?" Pansy said, gaping at the spot where Ginny had disappeared mere seconds ago.

"I believe…" Theo replied, a mixture of wonder and glee on his face. "our little Greg just got invited to a Holiday Sleepover!" he barked out a boisterous laugh and raised his eyebrows teasingly at Greg. "You sure you're just friends, mate? Cause it looks like Weasley didn't get the memo."

That finally pulled Greg out of his stupor.

"Oh, will stop it with the teasing, already?" He groaned, shooting Theo an irritated look. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Holy shit." Theo swore, looking surprised. "You really do like her, don't you?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake." Pansy cut in, clicking her tongue annoyedly. "Of course, he fucking likes her. Don't be thick, Theo."

Theo waved a dismissive hand at Pansy, seemingly not bothered about the jibe and turned back to Greg. "So you're going, right? You have to."

"I don't know." Greg answered honestly. He couldn't deny that the idea of spending two whole weeks with Ginny sounded amazing, but to stay in her home? With all of her family? It was daunting to say the least.

"I don't want to intrude." He concluded, thinking that he'd probably decline and feeling quite miserable about it.

Pansy tutted audibly and rolled her eyes.

"Darling the girl invited you." She said in a tone that suggested that she was stating the obvious. "It's not intruding when you're being asked to come."

"Yeah!" Theo chimed in, nodding eagerly. "Some would even argue that it would be rude to decline an invitation like that. Especially when it was so enthusiastically presented."

"Exactly!" Pansy agreed, flashing the brunette an approving smirk and, when Greg still looked unsure, added "So pleaseee don't make your life more difficult than it already is, and just say yes! I'm sure it'll be fun."

Greg pursed his lips and exhaled deeply through his nose, his nostrils flaring as his gaze travelled over to Ginny's vacated seat at the Gryffindor table and his heart sank at the thought of having to look at it like that for two whole weeks, - empty and cold, as it waited for its usual occupant to return from her Christmas break.

"I'll think about it." He said, deciding that two weeks away from the spirited redhead was entirely too long.

"Good!" Theo and Pansy blurted unanimously. "That's a good man!" Theo added, giving him an approving pat on the back, while Pansy gave him one of her rare, genuine smiles. "I'm sure it'll be great."