-Surprises in the Snow-

Ron/Hermione

Out in the snow, there played two red haired children. They were bundled up to the point of near immobility, and then a scarf was added to complete the outfit. Yet they still managed to build a whole snow fort and were currently working on a 'Snow Daddy' to guard the entrance.

Inside at the kitchen table sat a very stressed out Hermione Weasley. She poured over parchment after parchment, looking for the one piece of evidence she knew would surly help in the case against Robinson.

Her husband and children had been warned weeks ago not to bother her while she worked endlessly on the case that could put a guilty man in Azkaban for a very long time. That didn't stop Ron from making her a cup of tea and setting it next to her before walking out of the room again. Or even for him to come up behind her and drape a blanket over her shoulders when the house started getting cooler. Not even when she would growl in frustration as he came up behind her to kiss her cheek after three hours of straight work would stop his constant bothering.

Ron watched as his wife work continuously, both in the office and at home for the past month or more, finally he was tired of it.

Today he bundled up little Rose and Hugo to play in the snow as usual. While he put Rose's mittens on he thought of something to get his wife's mind off of work for just a bit.

Once the children were once more perfecting their snow art, Ron returned to the kitchen to see Hermione at the table with her work covering every inch of it. Ron snuck up behind his wife, making her jump as he whispered in her ear a simple "hey there."

Putting her hand over her heart, Hermione turned to her husband and looked prepared to kill. "I might have just found something on this guy and now you decide to scare the shit out of me?"

Ron allowed her to yell at him before he kissed her, signally that she needed to stop. Once their lips parted, he looked her in the eyes with a huge smile on his face. "You feel like sledding for old time sake?"

Hermione simply sighed and rolled her eyes and nodded. With a face that cute, how could she refuse?

Throwing on his jacket, Ron went to the shed to grab the sleds while Hermione started putting on her hat and gloves. Rose and Hugo continued to play house in there freshly finished igloo.

As they reached the top of the hill in the backyard, Hermione could feel the butterflies in her stomach. It had been years since she'd been up here, before Hugo for sure.

Ron set the old toboggan on the ground and gestured for her to sit in the front. She did so with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry. I've got you," was whispered in her ear as Ron sat down behind her and pushed them to start.

They flew down the steep hill at speeds Hermione never remembered speeding down before. The wind whipped her face, as cold as it was, still felt amazing and she felt herself wishing for more. She leaned forward in an attempt to get the sled to go faster. Ron tilted to the right as to avoid the children's snow fort before they came to a slow stop.

Laughing harder then she had in ages; Hermione got out of the sled and turned around to kiss her husband once more. "What a blast!" was all she could think of to describe the adrenaline rush she had just received.

Ron smiled down at her with that knowing smirk she knew he'd give her. "You needed that, love," he said, giving her a quick peck. He turned around and started dragging their sled back up the hill, "how about another go?"

She simply started laughing while she started running up the hill, jumping from one of Ron's large foot prints to the next all the way up.

The second ride down was even more fun than the first, Hermione discovered. And the third was even better. She could do this for hours and hours.

After Hermione's sixth time down with Ron, Rose and Hugo both wanted to join in the fun. Hermione took little Hugo down at the same time as Ron took Rose and challenged them to a race.

The whole afternoon was spent out in the snow on that hill; laughing, playing and have a great time in general. When everyone's fingers and toes were too cold to stand the weather anymore, they all went inside to make some hot chocolate.

Ronald Weasley looked at his wife and, for the first time in months, saw that beautiful smile he had fallen in love with years ago.

817 Words