"Bloody elf!" Ron exclaimed, wondering for about the 100th time why he'd decided to surprise Hermione this way. "Just a stupid, crappy piece of wood! Cantarim Jingle Bells!"

Once again, all the sound that came from the ornament was a strangled, sad noise. "Argh, bloody hell!"

He looked at the clock standing above the mantelpiece, trying to judge how much time he had left.

But that proved to be a bad idea. "Oh, shite!"

He ran to the bathroom unclothed and jumped into the shower. Swearing profusely, he tried to be as fast as he could. Hermione would be home in 15 minutes, and the surprise had yet to be finished.

Ron felt like he'd been in a hurry the whole day. As soon as Hermione had left for her mandatory morning meeting, he'd jumped out of bed and had gone out to buy the special present he wanted to give her.

Choosing the perfect ring had taken longer than he'd expected.

That had set him back on his schedule, so he barely had time to cook her favourite meal and try to charm the Christmas tree's ornaments. Considering how things had gone, there was no bloody way he could make them sing Jingle Bells at his command when Hermione arrived.

As soon as he finished getting dressed, he went downstairs with his wand at the ready. Spells started flowing from his mouth, and he watched as several things came floating from the drawers and shelves and landed in the right place to set table.

In the exact moment in which he set a couple of candles on the table, he heard the loud crack! that signalled Hermione's arrival.

Inmmediately he turned to see her, expectant.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione."

She looked lovingly at him and then hugged him tight.

"So you found a way of giving us a private Christmas meal, after all."

Ron had known Hermione wanted them to celebrate their first Christmas in their new house on their own. She had been disappointed when Molly had insisted they spent it with the whole family like they always had.

Still, surprising her with a special lunch meal fit perfectly with his plans.

She looked at him, thankfulness in her eyes. "Thank you, Ron. I love you."

He kissed her, forgetting all about his earlier troubles. This was worth it. "I love you, too."

Smiling, she said, "What about some music?"

"Oh, right." He took out his wand and pointing it to the tree, he tried the spell again. "Cantarim Jingle Bells!"

Nothing happened.

"Cantarim Jingle Bells!" he tried again.

"Ron," Hermione said taking out her own wand. "You're saying it wrong. It's not CANtarim Jingle Bells, it's CanTArim Jingle Bells."

Ron rolled his eyes, but could only smile when her laugh reached him.

He only hoped she'd enjoy his present just as much.

This Drabble was written originally for my friend, honouraryweasley12 for the CM Christmass drabble exchange.

Thanks to Pili for betaing!