A/N: For my purposes, Rose was 17 at the epilogue.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter etc. belong to Jo Rowling and Warner Bros. I appreciate being able to play with the characters. I'm not in this for profit, merely for entertainment, and hopefully you find it as entertaining to read as it was for me to write. The song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" belongs to whoever it belongs to...who is also...sadly...not me. XD And the same goes for The Night Before Christmas, which I quote in my story.

All That Glitters

I saw Mommy kissin' Santa Claus

Underneath the mistletoe last night.

She didn't see me creep

Down the stairs to have a peep.

She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep.

Then, I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus

Underneath his beard so snowy white.

Oh, what a laugh it would have been

If Daddy had only seen

Mommy kissin' Santa Claus last night.

The first thing Hermione saw when she walked into her house was a silver-headed creature toddling to the door to tackle her. Hermione set down her briefcase to scoop up her two-year-old daughter, Rose. Ron was right behind their little girl with matching silver hair and a peck on the cheek for her mother. "I can tell what you all have been doing," Hermione laughed as she began to pick tinsel from Rose's hair. Ron grinned as he began replacing it with tinsel from his own. Hermione rolled her eyes and swatted him playfully on the arm before shifting Rose so she could kiss him properly. "Do I even need to ask if you all had fun?" asked Hermione, giggling at her daughter. Rose immediately began to babble incoherently, too excited to enunciate. Hermione smiled, and then set her down.

"How about you show mummy the tree," said Ron. Rose took off.

"So, did the house survive?" Hermione asked with a wry chuckle. Ron grinned and took her hand as they followed their daughter into the living room. "Harry caught me as I was leaving the office," said Hermione. "He and Ginny have decided to delay their second honeymoon, so they're probably going to come over tomorrow for Christmas," Hermione stole a glance at Ron.

"That's great," he said. She continued, "And I got an owl from your dad this morning. Him and your mum are going to come over, and your brother Bill with Fleur too." Hermione glanced at him again, but Ron merely responded, "That's awesome! I was worried Bill and Fleur might not be able to make it since Victoire has been sick." Hermione looked at her empty ring finger and sighed petulantly.

When they reached the living room, Hermione looked at the tree. It was almost completely covered in tinsel. She saw several clumps of ornaments. There were the ones Rose and Ron had made last year, the new ones they'd all made last night, and some "First Christmas" ones from various family members. The tree leaned slightly to the left, putting several of the heirloom ornaments from the Weasleys and the Grangers in precarious positions. Most of the lights seemed to be concentrated at Rose's eye level, and the rest zigged crookedly from branch to branch. The star on top was cracked from when she'd tackled Ron for a kiss and knocked the whole thing over the first year they set up the tree together. That was the year before Rose was born. "It's beautiful," Hermione breathed, and she scooped Rose up again. "You did an excellent job honey." She grinned over at Ron. He was beaming.

Ron walked over and hugged both his girls, kissing each on the cheek. "I told Rose that she could stay up till you got home and saw the tree," he gathered his daughter into his arms and ruffled her hair, "but now it's time for bed you cheeky-monkey." Rose giggled, and Ron started bouncing her on his hip as they climbed up the steps laughing and singing carols. Hermione sighed, unaware of the goofy grin on her face as she watched. She thought to herself, "He's worth the wait."

Hermione ambled to the front room to put away her briefcase. She liked to let her career distract her from the impatience that grew every day. Once it was safely stored from Rose's curious hands, she climbed the steps to her daughter's room. She stood in the doorway at first, watching Ron. "And mama in her kerchief and I in my cap..." she heard him read, and she thought, "I bet they were married." She shook her head at herself, and then walked in to sit beside him and Rose on the bed.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night," finished Ron, and he leaned down to kiss Rose, but she squirmed away. "Dadda, when Santa coming?"

"As soon as you go to sleep sweetie," Ron chuckled, and then he swooped in for his kiss, slobbering on her cheek and making her giggle.

"Go to sleep and it will be Christmas before you know it," Hermione said, tucking Rose in and kissing her on the forehead.

Ron turned on the nightlight beside the bed, and met Hermione at the door as she turned off the main light. "Good night sweetie," they both whispered. Hermione backed quietly out of the room and turned from the cracked door, bumping into Ron, who was still waiting on the landing. He had a funny look in his eye. It reminded her of the look he got just before he surprised her with this house after his promotion at the Ministry, asking her to move in with him. Her heart swelled with hope, and she took a deep breath. "Yes?" He just kept grinning. She quirked her head to the side. Now she was beginning to think she had something on her face. "What is it?" she asked, wiping at her mouth. He laughed and grabbed her hand, dragging her into their bedroom. She rolled her eyes. He could be such a cad!

He hauled her across the room then...past the bed, causing her to raise an eyebrow. Then he let go of her hand, and crossed the space to the closet, which he began to fling open. She closed her eyes and silently prayed it wouldn't be more lingerie. When she finally looked, he was so excited she had to giggle...behind him was a bright red Santa Suit. "I want to do Christmas right," he said, "This is the first year Rose is old enough to get excited about Santa." Hermione walked over to him and threw herself into his arms for a passionate kiss. He always did things right...and that was why she couldn't take the joy of surprising her and proposing on his terms away from him...or herself. When they finally broke apart, Ron donned the Santa Suit, and he and Hermione tiptoed down the stairs to the tree.

Hermione crept carefully to the closet where they had hidden all the presents they'd bought for Rose. She pulled each one out and passed it to Ron, who had already taken the liberty of accio-ing the wrapping paper from where they had forgotten it upstairs. Hermione, in a sort of graceful origami, folded herself into a seated position on the floor and began to wrap presents with Santa. She frowned when she plucked a toy broom from inside a doll box that had been buried in the pile. "Ron...I thought we agreed that Rose would be waiting until she was three before we let her start flying?" He got a sheepish grin on his face, "It only hovers a foot off the ground," he whined. She rolled her eyes, but began to wrap it without argument. They wrapped presents for hours, occassionally taking a break to work the kinks out of each other's backs and necks. When they finished, Hermione began to get up stiffly, only to be pulled back down, toppling onto Santa. She grinned as she kissed him. Soon, she found herself on bottom, but she was uncomfortable. The corner of a present was stabbing her back, so she got up. When she looked where she had been laying, however, she couldn't find the offending package. She puzzled at Ron, who grinned like an idiot and revealed from behind his back a tiny box wrapped in silver with a scarlet ribbon, delicately curled into a bow.

"Hermione," he opened the box to reveal a tiny silver band, set with the most exquisite diamond ever seen by a Weasley, "I know it's taken me forever, but I've always loved you. Would you forgive me, and then, would you do me the honor of being my wife?" Hermione burst into tears. She proceeded to cry for the next five minutes while Ron waited, first worried, then horrified. He patted her back awkwardly while he tried to close the box and put it back in his pocket, but she stopped him. When she finally managed to quit crying, she could only breathe one word. "Yes." Ron scooped her up and swung her in a circle. He gave her a roguish smile then, and conjured mistletoe above them before kissing her. She beamed as he put the ring on her finger, and after admiring it for several minutes, she tickled him under his beard. "Santa, I thought you would never ask!" They both laughed for a few seconds before Ron heard a small squeak and turned his head to look at the stairs. He saw a tiny foot covered in footie pajamas peeking just beyond the corner's edge, and he looked back at his fiancee. "I think we have company," he whispered, and then shifted his eyes to the spot, grinning lopsidedly. Hermione looked and saw a little brown eye peeking around. She smiled and kissed him again before they both went to take their little girl back up to bed.

"Hey Rose honey...you ought to be sleeping," said Hermione.

"But mummy, why you kissed Santa?" asked Rose with a small, confused frown.

Hermione chuckled, "I'll tell you another time darling, but right now you need to sleep so you can open presents tomorrow." Rose looked at Santa, "Awww, couldn I open pwesents now?" She made her eyes go big and weepy, but Santa just shook his head, still smiling. Hermione began climbing the steps, one hand holding her precious baby girl and the other trailing behind her, holding hands with the man who would be her husband...Santa...in every meaning of the word.