Friday, 1 January 1999
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Ginny exclaimed enthusiastically as she flung herself forward and threw her arms around Hermione's neck. The older girl had to brace herself to avoid falling over but she let out an amused laugh as she hugged her friend back.
"Happy New Year, Ginny!"
Harry freed himself from Mrs Weasley's bear hug and rushed towards them, engulfing both girls in a tight group hug. "Happy New Year!" he called out happily, kissing Hermione on the cheek before letting go of her and planting an enthusiastic kiss on Ginny's lips while embracing her. Leaving the two lovebirds to enjoy their first snog of the new year, Hermione went on to wish the various other present people a happy new year as well.
The Burrow was becoming far too small to accommodate all the Weasleys, not to mention all the friends that had become like family through the years. Apart from herself and Harry, the Weasleys had also invited Lee and Angelina and Andromeda and little Teddy.
The Lovegoods and the Longbottoms had been invited as well, but Luna had politely declined, stating she wanted to spend some alone time with her father. Neville and his grandmother had planned on spending the night in St. Mungo's with his parents, but Neville had been called in for an emergency shift at the Auror Department, and so Augusta Longbottom had decided to go there by herself. The two most notable absentees were Percy and Ron, and ironically, both of them had voluntarily decided to remain at work.
Once the midnight excitement had mostly ebbed away Hermione decided to step away from the champagne and have a cup of tea. Minutes later she sat at the dinner table by herself with a steaming mug of tea between her hands, enjoying the peace and quiet for a moment when Harry entered the kitchen, smiling down at her and closing the door again behind him. "A Knut for your thoughts," he chuckled as he sank down on the chair next to her and whipped out his wand, creating a hot beverage for himself before turning his undivided attention to her.
Hermione smiled and then sighed a little. "I'm just being a little bit unreasonable," she admitted.
"You're angry at Ron for not being here," Harry concluded between sips.
"Well, not really angry. Just… disappointed. I was really looking forward to catching up with the both of you. They called us the Golden Trio all summer but after Fred's funeral, we haven't spent any time with the three of us. Between June and now, yesterday was the first time in six months that we were complete. I just really miss spending time with the two of you."
Harry laughed a little. "You know, I said exactly the same thing last week, and I can assure you that Ron feels the same. It's just…" he paused and glanced at the door for a moment before leaning closer to Hermione. "This is classified information, very confidential," he whispered. "There is going to be an arrest tonight. We have received information on where several Death Eaters will be tonight. That's why Neville was called in, and that's why Ron volunteered to stay."
"What? Are they going to be involved?" Hermione hissed anxiously.
"No, probably not. We're still in training, they have only allowed us in the field in extraordinary cases or for tail work," Harry answered hurriedly. "But Neville is fantastic at paperwork: he is really good at filling out the appropriate warrants and getting them approved because everyone likes him so much, and they had to be taken care of at the very last minute. And Ron… well, he really just wants to be the first to know when, in his words, Death Eater scum is taken off the streets, so he volunteered to assist wherever they would need him."
The door opened and Andromeda shuffled inside with a bundle of blanket and sleeping Teddy in her arms. She smiled down at them as she hugged her grandson close and apparently didn't notice that they both had their shoulders tensed at the unexpected interruption. "He's finally sleeping," the older woman chuckled. "Can you believe it? He has got to be the only baby in the world who falls asleep to Celestina Warbeck's music." She moved to the stairs and disappeared upstairs to put Teddy to bed.
Hermione let out a string of air as she eyed the staircase. "An arrest… this is huge. I'm so glad there is finally some progress," she muttered, and Harry nodded.
"Me too. If everything goes to plan the Death Eaters we've been tailing will want to try to go further underground now, but we know their patterns by now so we should be able to catch some of them before they manage to do that."
They sat in silence for a while, drinking their tea and just being content with each other in the peace and quiet of the kitchen while simultaneously enjoying the muffled sounds of happiness from the other room. A moment later the door opened and Ginny stepped into the kitchen with a glass of champagne in her hand, grinning at the sight of them with their mugs of tea.
"There you two are! I was beginning to worry you had left." Ginny dropped down on a chair across from them and put her feet up on the chair to her left. She gulped down her champagne and conjured up a mug of tea for herself. "You weren't gossiping about me, were you?" she asked with a mischievous smile and Harry grinned.
"Well, if I have to be honest, we were, actually," he teased.
Ginny laughed at that. "I'm not that interesting!" she protested. "Let's gossip about Hermione instead."
"What's so interesting about me?" Hermione snorted. "You two are far better gossip subjects. Harry is living the exciting Auror-life and you are dating the Boy-Who-Lived!"
"Yes, so exciting," Harry muttered sarcastically. "All I do is study and take exams and when I'm lucky I get to practice duelling with a dummy doll."
Hermione and Ginny both laughed at his dejected tone. Hermione waved her wand and refilled her and Harry's mugs with more hot tea as they listened with amusement to Mrs Weasley loudly singing along with Celestina Warbeck's latest hit. Andromeda came down the stairs again and made for the kitchen counter. They watched her move around for a little while as she made herself a cup of coffee before disappearing into the living room again.
"So Hermione," Harry started slowly, drawing their attention back to him, "how are things with Malfoy going back at Hogwarts?"
"You know, that is honestly quite difficult to answer," Hermione sighed after briefly considering the question.
"Allow me," Ginny said with a slight hint of anger in her voice. "Malfoy hexed her into the hospital wing when she wouldn't tell him that I was the one responsible for Pansy Parkinson's unstoppable nosebleed."
The kitchen went quiet for a little while. Harry frowned at Ginny before shifting his glance back over to Hermione. "I have so many questions," he muttered dryly.
"People have been punishing Parkinson for trying to hand you over to Voldemort. Ginny gave her one of the earlier Blood Blisterpods. You know, like the one Katie had been given during that disastrous Quidditch practice back in fifth year?"
"Ginny, you didn't," Harry sighed.
"Not apologising for it," the redhead stated firmly. "She brought this on herself."
Hermione shook her head at her younger friend, showing her disapproval, and then turned back to Harry. "It really is quite complicated," she started. "After all these years it's quite impossible to start over. Malfoy is just not someone I could see myself being friends with and that's just purely because of his personality, I'm not even talking about the despicable things he has done beyond the bullying. But," she emphasised, "while I question his life decisions so far, I do sympathise with him somewhat. He was in quite an impossible predicament with his mission, and I do think he is growing out of his bully personality. I think he finally understands that actions have consequences."
Ginny scoffed in response. "I think you're giving him too much credit. He is still a pain in everyone's arse. How often does he still call you derogatory names? And he was incredibly nasty to Ron in Hogsmeade."
"He was," Hermione agreed. "That's why I slapped him, even though I really shouldn't have done that. It's unacceptable behaviour for a Head Girl."
Harry put down his mug at once, causing his tea to slosh over the sides and pool around his mug on the table. He stared at her with the biggest grin Hermione had seen in many months and she couldn't help but laugh softly. "You slapped Malfoy again?" he exclaimed. "That's great! I would give up my Firebolt again just to be able to witness that."
"Please don't," Ginny protested as she waved her wand to clean up the mess he had just created. "I've become quite fond of it."
Hermione shook her head with amusement. "It wasn't as satisfactory as it was back in third year. He was really angry and in hindsight, I should consider myself very lucky that he didn't retaliate. It was a stupid and irresponsible thing to do."
"I might be wrong here," Harry began as he raised his eyebrow, "but Ginny just said that he hexed you into the hospital wing. That sounds a lot like retaliation to me."
"I guess that's true, though that happened much later. You know what he did afterwards?" Hermione let out a disbelieving laugh. "He sat by my hospital bed and begged me to give him another chance. He offered to take the Unbreakable Vow to swear to me that he would be a perfect Head Boy from now on."
Ginny snorted mockingly in response. "I hope you took him up on that offer."
"That would be quite illegal," Hermione replied with a small smile. "But I have to admit that he has made good on his promise so far. He was even perfectly polite to my parents."
A stunned silence spread through the kitchen and both Harry and Ginny stared at her with wide eyes. Though she had told the youngest Weasley about the forced arrangement, she hadn't yet had the chance to update her. After a long moment, it was Harry who broke the silence.
"Wait, what? He met your parents?"
"Yes," Hermione answered carefully. "One of the conditions Professor McGonagall set for his return was that he has to take Muggle Studies. If his performance is unsatisfactory he will not be allowed to take his N.E.W.T.s., and because he's four years behind he had to catch up on a large part of the curriculum. A compulsory part of the sixth-year course is spending a day with a Muggle family to observe their life and write an essay about the experience. Because Malfoy had failed to make arrangements himself, Professor McGonagall made the arrangements for him. She thought it would be best if he spent that day with me because of our Head student partnership this year. Malfoy came over last week and he behaved surprisingly well."
"Unbelievable," Harry muttered in stunned disbelief. "Maybe the War really did knock some sense into him."
"He's still a git," Ginny stated softly, and Hermione chuckled.
"I don't disagree," she said. "But this does give me hope that we might make it through the rest of the school year without murdering each other."
A wave of sound entered the kitchen when the door opened again and Lee Jordan stepped inside. He flashed a bright grin their way and stumbled towards the chair that Ginny was using as a footstool. She quickly withdrew her feet and Lee clumsily dropped down, clearly quite drunk. "What's going on here, party people?" he slurred loudly. "Has anyone seen George? He's disappeared ages ago. I miss him."
They burst out laughing. "No, he hasn't been in here, but let's get you some fresh air, shall we?" Ginny chuckled. She got to her feet, grabbed Lee's arm and pulled him up. She put his arm around her shoulders and supported him by holding him at his waist. They made their way outside and Hermione shuddered from the cold air that sneaked inside through the open door.
"Merlin's sweatpants!"
"Oh my Godric!"
Hermione and Harry both jumped up at Lee and Ginny's exclamations and hurried at the door, wands at the ready as they rushed outside. Ginny briefly glanced at them with wide eyes before grinning and pointing at two people who stood a little further removed from the house. Lee was doing some silly dance while continuously chanting "I knew it, I knew it," and Hermione squinted her eyes to see in the dark, finally identifying the two people as George and Angelina. It would be impossible for them to stand any closer to each other if they tried. Both had their arms wrapped around the other and they were snogging as though their lives depended on it.
When they finally broke apart to look at their spectators Hermione was overjoyed to see that George's eyes displayed nothing but genuine happiness, but just as she flashed a smile his way the happiness seemed to melt off his face. He glanced back at Angelina as he stroked his hand through her hair before stumbling backwards and falling to his knees, burying his face in his hands. With an enormous pang of hurt in her chest, Hermione realised that George had broken down in tears. Angelina kneeled down next to him and took him in her arms, her own eyes overflowing with tears as well.
"I can't do this," George uttered between sobs and shaky draws of breath. "It's not right… it's not… I can't do this…"
"I'm getting Mum," Ginny breathed in a hoarse voice that was thick with emotion. She whirled around and ran back inside, and Hermione stepped forward just in time to catch Lee and steady him. The dark-skinned boy was no longer grinning or dancing, and he stared down at his two best friends with a look of pain in his eyes.
The door behind them creaked open again and Mrs Weasley hurried past them with Ginny on her heels. She rushed to her son's side, sank down and carefully embraced him with one arm as she gently wiped Angelina's tears from her face with her other hand. Hermione put her wand away and signalled for Harry to take Lee before stepping forward with Ginny to help Angelina up. The three of them followed Harry and Lee back inside the Burrow, leaving George and Mrs Weasley alone in the garden.
Back in the kitchen Hermione conjured up new steaming mugs of tea and Accio'd a pile of blankets to wrap around Lee and Angelina. The older girl leaned against Ginny, her shoulders shaking and with one hand clasped in front of her mouth to stifle her sobs. The door opened and Charlie and Mr Weasley entered the kitchen, both with concerned frowns on their brows. Bill, Fleur and Andromeda followed closely behind.
"What is going on?" Charlie demanded harshly, glancing down at Angelina with worry. "Where is George?"
"Outside, with Mum," Ginny answered quietly as she slowly rubbed on Angelina's back. Mr Weasley grabbed Charlie's shoulder to stop his son from going outside and then resolutely made for the door himself, exiting the kitchen. Fleur kneeled down next to Angelina and softly murmured sweet nothings in an attempt to comfort her, Bill folded his arms across his chest and remained in the doorway beside Andromeda while Charlie sank down on the chair next to Lee and Harry as he glanced at Angelina once more.
"What happened?" he asked again, softer this time.
"George told me he has f-feelings for me," Angelina said after a long silence. Tears were still streaming down her face but she was considerably calmer. It was, however, very evident that she felt embarrassed about sharing this piece of information. "He has for years, b-but he never s-said anything or acted on it b-because I went on a f-few dates with…. with Fred. It's just… it's just that F-Fred was b-bold enough to… to ask me out and while it was so m-much f-fun, I only ever s-saw him as a f-friend." She drew in a deep, shaky breath and wiped the tears from her face. It was no use: they just kept coming. "With George it's different. He's more t-thoughtful. He—he's gentler. And I—I love him."
Hermione inhaled sharply and wiped the tears from her face. She was not the only one overcome with emotion: nearly everyone in the kitchen had tears in their eyes. Ginny and Fleur were both comforting Angelina and made no attempts at getting rid of their own tears. Lee sat motionless at the table, staring unseeingly at the center of the table. His left elbow rested on the tabletop and his fist was balled and pressed against his mouth, undoubtedly to keep any noise from escaping. Harry sat leaned back in his chair, his green eyes all glossy and wet as he stared at Angelina.
"I love you, too," a soft and fragile voice sounded from the back door, and everyone in the kitchen turned around as one to stare at George, who had apparently quietly entered when everyone was still focused on Angelina. Mrs Weasley stood beside him, her hands rubbing his arms as though trying to both warm him up and comfort him at the same time.
George closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He liked you," he whispered hoarsely. "He asked you to the Yule Ball before I had the chance and afterwards he told me that he really liked you." Tears fell from his eyes and Mrs Weasley sniffled as well. "Even after you had shot him down at the start of our seventh year I never told him I liked you as well. And that's why… it's—it's why…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "I can't do this," he whispered, repeating his earlier words. "It's not… not right."
Mr Weasley appeared behind his wife and son and moved past them, glancing around the kitchen as he did so. "Everyone, let's give them some privacy, shall we? Back to the living room, please." He turned back to his wife. "You too, Molly, come." Mrs Weasley opened her mouth to protest but was gently pushed to the door before she could do so.
Hermione gently squeezed Angelina's shoulder as she walked past her and followed the others into the living room. She sat down on one of the couches next to Bill and sighed. Every time it seemed as though the War was finally over, a harsh reminder came to tell them that the aftermath was only just beginning. People were still mourning their losses, and though some were remarkably strong and managed to move on with their lives again, not many people had suffered a loss as great as George had. She could only imagine how guilty he must feel for enjoying life when his other half was no longer here, even just for tiny, fleeting moments.
A loud whoosh pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Neville step out of the fireplace, followed by another whoosh and the accompanying green flames that revealed Ron. "Happy New Year, everyone!" Neville called out happily, but his wide grin weakened when he noticed the looks on everyone's faces.
"Yeah, Happy New Year!" Ron echoed goodnaturedly. He then finished tapping the dirt off his robes and looked up and his smile disappeared. "What's going on?" he asked as he glanced around the room, an urgent tone to his voice.
"George," Bill answered softly. "He's not well." He got to his feet and made his way over to his youngest brother in three large steps, pulling him into an embrace. "But Happy New Year to you too, brother dear."
Bill's movement snapped everyone out of their trance and Hermione immediately jumped up to give Neville a long, tight hug. Despite the fact that George's heartache had brought out her own sadness as well, she was immensely happy to see Neville again. He had, after all, been her friend since the moment they had met during their very first journey on the Hogwarts Express and she had missed him dearly in the past few months.
After letting go of him she waited impatiently until Fleur released Ron, throwing her arms around him the second he was free. "Ron! Happy New Year," she smiled against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pressed a kiss on top of her head. "You too, Hermione," he murmured in her hair. "I've missed you so much."
Harry came up behind them and playfully pushed Hermione out of the way to embrace his best friend. They quietly exchanged some serious-sounding words before letting go of one another so that Ginny could greet her brother as well. Harry pulled Hermione towards him as he walked past her. "Come to Ron's room when everyone has gone to bed, okay?" he murmured. "He has an update for us." She nodded her head to indicate she had understood.
The rest of the night was quite enjoyable again. George and Angelina eventually joined them again in the living room, both in somewhat better moods though they seemed to avoid being near each other. Bill and Charlie had brought some magical fireworks and they put on a wonderfully colourful show with dragons, stars, swirling rainbows and more.
Neville stayed long enough to catch up with Hermione and Ginny before leaving through the Floo Network again in the hopes of catching his grandmother before she left St. Mungo's. Shortly after, Bill and Fleur left to go back to Shell Cottage and Charlie went with them, stating that he didn't want to burden his parents with so many guests despite Mrs Weasley's loud protests. Andromeda retired to Bill's old room where Teddy slept as well, and Angelina went upstairs shortly after, retiring to Percy's old room. Almost immediately afterwards George took it upon himself to carry a drunk and sleeping Lee upstairs. They would sleep in Charlie's old room, as George couldn't yet bear to stay in the old bedroom he once shared with Fred. Mr and Mrs Weasley disappeared upstairs shortly after.
After a lovely and nostalgic hour of catching up and sharing meaningless pleasantries—like they had so many times back when they still spend countless carefree evenings together in the Gryffindor common room—Ron stretched on the couch and yawned loudly before collapsing into the pillows again. "Bloody hell," he mumbled softly. "I haven't been this tired in a very long time."
"We should probably head to bed as well," Harry muttered as he attempted to stifle a yawn of his own, and Hermione found herself silently agreeing. It was nearly three in the morning and the combination of sleep deprivation, alcohol and the stress of the evening had made her quite exhausted. Ginny seemed to be the only one who had any energy left, though she didn't argue against going to bed.
The four of them made their way over to the stairs and Hermione grabbed Harry's arm before he could begin his ascend. He turned back to her, his green eyes silently questioning her. "I know you asked me to come up to Ron's room," she started quietly, "but don't you think Ginny should come too? It just doesn't sit well with me that we're excluding her. She's your girlfriend, after all, and she's of age now."
Harry hesitated briefly. "I've considered it," he answered. "But I have to go back to work in the afternoon and Ron has the evening shift. This is the only moment we'll have with the three of us before you have to go back to Hogwarts on Sunday. Ginny will get all the details from me tomorrow, I promise."
Hermione nodded slowly, quietly accepting his reasoning before following him up the stairs again. Ginny had already disappeared into her bedroom, and upon entering she found her younger friend passed out on top of her covers. She smiled fondly and carefully moved the blankets to tuck the redhead in before quickly changing into her pyjamas and a warm robe. She exited the first-floor bedroom and quietly made her way up to Ron's bedroom on the fifth floor. Pausing in front of the door, she raised her fist and knocked softly.
When the door opened Hermione was greeted by a shirtless Ron. He wore dark brown pyjama bottoms and held an old long-sleeved Chudley Cannons shirt in his hand. He grinned sheepishly when she walked past him and into the dimly lit bedroom and quickly threw the shirt over his head, but not before Hermione had gotten a glimpse of the large and ugly scar that covered his entire left shoulder. The scar she was responsible for when she had made the mistake of Disapparating from the Ministry of Magic with Yaxley in tow, splinching Ron as a result. She tried to control the wave of guilt that overtook her for a moment and dropped down on the camp bed that belonged to Harry for the night.
"Are you okay, Ron?" she asked quietly, looking up at the redhead as he clumsily folded his work clothes and put them away on a chair in the corner.
"Yeah," he replied with a quick smile in her direction. "I'm good. You too?"
Hermione nodded at him, at which he smiled again. The door creaked open and Harry slipped into the bedroom as well, wearing pyjamas and holding his clothes and a toothbrush in his hand. He walked up to his camp bed and put his stuff away in his bag before sitting down on the bed next to Hermione.
"So, how did things go tonight?" Harry asked bluntly, clearly having run out of patience. Ron sat down on his own bed and opened his mouth before closing it and getting to his feet again. He pulled his wand from the pocket of his folded trousers and cast a silencing charm on his door and walls. He then climbed back into bed and put his wand down on his nightstand.
"It was bloody chaos at the office," Ron started. "It was clear from the beginning of the afternoon that something big was going to happen, but no one knew the details. I think I might have a permanent cramp in my hand from all the temporary-transfer papers I had to fill in." He turned his gaze to Hermione while massaging the hand in question. "The recruitment of new Aurors is still going slowly, and the candidates that are accepted into training won't be allowed into the field for at least another six months. We didn't have enough manpower for the arrest so we had to temporarily hire half the Hit Wizards and Witches from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad."
"Merlin be damned," Hermione muttered quietly. "That must have been one hell of an arrest."
Harry and Ron exchanged an amused glance, smirking at her uncharacteristic language. "I think it was around 10 p.m. when Robarts finally gathered everyone around to inform us what was going to happen," Ron continued. "There was a New Years' party at the Parkinsons and several Ministry officials were there to confirm whether or not the information we had received checked out. It did, so we could set everything in motion. At midnight the squad made it inside. Robarts was there himself. They arrested three Death Eaters and four people in total."
"Who did they get?" Harry asked immediately, and Ron frowned a little as he seemed to dig through his memory.
"Selwyn, Crabbe and… I think it was Mulciber."
"And the fourth?"
"Parkinson himself. He hosted the event and is apparently suspected of aiding the Death Eaters. They were at his party, after all."
The room went quiet as Harry and Hermione took in the news. Three Death Eater arrests in one night was great news, and even though it had taken a while until the first fugitives were arrested again, the papers would probably be gushing tomorrow. After a few minutes of silence, Hermione realised that there was one question left she wanted answered, even though she suspected she already knew the answer.
"Ron," she started, and the redhead looked up at her, awaiting her question. "Do you know who the informant was?" She watched his facial expression darken and had her suspicion confirmed before he spoke.
"Lucius Malfoy," he answered softly, his voice full of unspoken hatred.
"Unbelievable…" murmured Hermione after a short pause, shaking her head.
"Really?" questioned Ron harshly. "It surprises you to hear that dear old Lucius Malfoy is a self-serving snake who betrays his chums at the first chance? Because I never expected anything less."
"You know she didn't mean that literally, Ron," said Harry before Hermione could speak up herself. "Don't bite her head off for asking a simple question."
The redhead muttered something under his breath before glancing up at her again. "Anyway, how are things with your Malfoy?"
"My Malfoy?" scoffed Hermione. "Fantastic, Ron. We really are the best of friends these days." He shot her a glare and opened his mouth but closed it again when Harry held up his hands.
"Don't do that," the bespectacled boy interjected forcefully. "No bickering, not tonight. I asked about it earlier and honestly, Ron, it seems like Malfoy is actually trying to do better. He even met her parents for a Muggle Studies assignment and he was only ever polite."
Instead of calming Ron down, this last bit of information only seemed to anger him even more. He narrowed his eyes at them and inhaled sharply. "You invited that snake into your home?" he bit out harshly as he stared at her in unflattering disbelief. "What the hell were you thinking?! Do you honestly believe you two are all chummed up because he hasn't called you Mudblood in a while? That you can trust him now? This has got to be the stupidest thing you've ever done! And you're supposed to be the smart one!"
Hermione immediately got to her feet, and despite the fact that she was utterly furious she was pleased to notice that Ron had the grace and good sense to look bewildered — scared, even — as she towered over him. "Apologise!" she snapped at him, her voice slightly shrill with anger and suppressed emotion. "Right now!"
Both Harry and Ron stared up at her with tense shoulders, but she only had eyes for the latter. The redhead seemed to shrink under her glare and his anger slowly turned into visible embarrassment. He swallowed with difficulty. "I'm—I'm sorry," he offered quietly. "That was… that was obviously not your idea. I shouldn't have said that, it was uncalled for. You're not… Obviously you're not stupid."
"This is the last time you lash out at me, Ronald," hissed Hermione angrily, only barely allowing him time to finish his sentence. "I have never asked for any of this. All I'm doing is trying to make the best of an undesirable situation and the next time you have the nerve to punish me for that I will hex you into the next century and you will beg me for that flock of yellow canaries instead of whatever else I'll have in store for you. Have I made myself clear?"
"Y—yes…"
"And another thing," she continued venomously. "You would do well to remember that you ignored me for nearly four months, and that I have been understanding enough to not hold that against you. And while the two of you still have each other to fall back on, I am all alone at Hogwarts in some godforsaken tower with Draco Malfoy, who has actually been decent enough to offer some sort of comfort when I wake up crying in the middle of the night from whatever post-war nightmare I just had." Ron's eyes widened in shock, but Hermione was not finished yet.
"We just finished fighting a war caused by prejudice, and I am so sick and tired of hearing the same old bloody nonsense that I've been hearing for the past eight years," she continued crossly. "Draco Malfoy is not my friend but I have spent enough time with him in the last four months to see that he is genuinely trying to do better, and given the way he was raised it's going far better than anyone could have hoped for."
She paused to take a breath and held his gaze with a passionate glare. "You do not get to judge me for trying to hold on to my optimism and for believing that despite his unpleasant personality, Draco Malfoy is not the greatest source of evil since Voldemort. Prejudice goes both ways, Ronald, and the fact that you can't seem to get over your hatred for everything Slytherin is really childish. You're not even in school anymore. Houses don't define us, and neither do our families. I understand that you thoroughly dislike Malfoy, and you have every right because he's an enormous git, to you most of all, but that doesn't take away the fact that he is trying to make up for what he did."
Ron said nothing, merely staring up at her with wide eyes that displayed confusion and fear. He gulped and nodded his head again.
"Don't you dare to give me a hard time about this ever again. I mean it, Ron," said Hermione, her tone finally softening again. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and glanced over at Harry, feeling a little regretful that he had gotten caught up in their crossfire. When he caught her eye he smiled a little, and the twinkle in his eyes told her that he agreed with her.
"I'm going to bed," she murmured finally. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Or, well… later today," she corrected herself, realising it was hours after midnight.
She turned and opened the door to leave, but not before she heard Harry quietly and sarcastically mutter "good job, Ron," which made her smile a little. She closed the door behind her and quietly made her way back to the first floor.
When Hermione had finally settled into her own camp bed for the night the realisation of the fierceness with which she had defended Malfoy fully dawned on her. Had he really deserved that? He had come a long way, sure, but he had only reached the 'decent'-stage yet.
She closed her eyes to try to numb the conflicted feelings that battled inside her and was grateful to notice that exhaustion was finally overtaking her body. Soon after, she drifted into a dreamless slumber with no Ronald Weasley and most importantly, no Draco Malfoy.