Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

17 - Seasonal Spirit

Hermione was feeling the best she had done in ages. Her dreams were holding back most of the time and for the first time in nearly a year, she could sleep the whole night without waking in sweats and tears. The Support Group had grown a little and she felt like she was in control of her life again. She still left the dorm most nights, but mainly because she just wanted to talk to Malfoy - on the nights she didn't, she missed his company.

Malfoy was starting to come out of his shell. On a few occasions he stayed behind with the others to clear up after the Support Group and they chatted together; he was tentative at first, well aware that the others still did not like him, but Luna was so accepting and generous that the others soon - if a little begrudgingly - followed suit. Malfoy was careful not to outstay his welcome, but clearly enjoyed being a part of their group. All his life he had only ever been the leader of a gang - never an equal in a random tangle of friends, each with ridiculous habits and a shared sense of humour.

In the last few weeks of term, Hermione called the final Support Session of the year. She had told everyone the week before that it would not be a tense meeting about their problems, but a fun few hours of games and talking to help them relax and settle into the holiday season.

"OK," she said to the other Prefects. "We need to get this room sorted for a Christmas party. Decorations, food, music, the whole lot! See what you can do. I'm going to see if Neville has any normal holly by chance."

It turned out that Neville did have holly, but only a variety with berries that swelled and burst whenever someone tried to touch them.

"It's a defense mechanism against animals that try to eat them," he explained, as he wiped the juice off his jumper.

"It'll certainly make it interesting," Hermione mused. She carried the branches up to the classroom with the Levitating Charm, and warned passing students to stay far back if they could. One inquisitive first-year decided to poke one of the berries and had to duck into the bathrooms to clean up their robes.

When she got back into the classroom, she saw that the others had done a fantastic job. Luna had gone down to the kitchens with Dean and Seamus, and they had all brought up huge platters of food that the elves had provided with great enthusiasm. Ginny persuaded a few of the school's ghosts to steal a coat of armor, which was humming Christmas songs under its breath.

"When I said music, Ginny..." Hermione said, bemused.

"You got music, OK? Peeves was more than happy to assist." Ginny smiled, patting the armor. It creaked violently and she stepped away sheepishly.

Malfoy had asked Professor Feathersworth for a charm to create Christmas decorations, and he had used it to cover the classroom with streamers of tinsel, baubles and fairy lights. They had all managed to bring a tree in too, with the help of Hagrid. It stood bare in the corner, so they learned Malfoy's charm and covered it in decorations until the branches were hanging low under the festive weight.

Luna came back in, carrying a box that was rattling as she moved.

"I found the baubles from our Dumbledore's Army Christmas! The elves in the kitchen said Dobby had left them for them to look after." There was a sad pause after Luna said this as everyone remembered Dobby. Luna opened the box, and pulled out several baubles that read 'HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS', with a large image of Harry's face on them. Ginny giggled, and said she was going to send Harry a few in a box with no context after the party.

Once the decorations were done, the food was laid out and the clock had chimed four, the Prefects waited for everyone to arrive. Soon people started arriving with small packages of food in their hands. Hermione thanked them, and placed the various sweets onto the food table. As the room rapidly filled, it became clear that more people than ever wanted to spend the last few days of term with Hermione and her friends. When the amount of arrivals had died down, Hermione started the games. There was no intention to spend the time doing anything other than having fun, although Hermione said that if people still wanted to talk about a problem they could use the box, and they would address it at some point. Nobody did.