Hermione appeared outside of the burrow at seven. After waiting all day to see if ron would return, she'd decided that she didn't want to spend the rest of her Christmas alone. She'd sat in her flat all day by herself watching TV. When she'd gotten up in the morning she found a note on her counter from Ron, telling her that he'd been called to work and that he'd try to be back as early as possible. She understood that he had to go to work, but she wished that he'd just said he wouldn't be back for Christmas at all. Then she would've gone to her parents house or somewhere so she didn't have to be alone all day. Instead she'd waited in the hope that he would come back.

She hadn't realized how long she'd been standing there as she was brought back to reality by snow falling on her. She pulled her coat tighter around her and started to walk towards the burrow. When she opened the door she felt an almost instant warmth flow through her body. She loved the homey feeling this house gave her. Light covered almost everything in the kitchen and all sorts of Christmas desserts sat on the table. Just as she was about to grab a cookie, Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen.

"Hermione, dear. Where's Ron?"

"Oh, he got called in for work. He's been gone all day." She said with a bit of disappointment in her tone.

"Oh, well everyone's in the living room. Just go on in." Mrs. Weasley said as she moved over to the sink to start cleaning the kitchen. Hermione walked into the other room where Harry and Ginny were sitting on the couch by the fire. Ginny was lying on Harry and Harry's arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight to him. Hermione looked at them and felt a longing for Ron so unbearable that she was surprised she wasn't in tears.

"Oh, hey, Hermione. What are you doing here? I thought you were spending all day with Ron?" Harry said.

"I was, but he got called into work and he's been gone all day. I just didn't want to spend the rest of Christmas alone."

"Oh, well did the git even give you a present or something since he's not here?" Ginny asked, her head still lying against Harry's chest.

"Well… he left me a note and a present, but I didn't want to open without him."

"Where's the present?" Ginny asked excitedly. Hermione reached inside her bag and pulled out a small rectangular silver box with a bow on it. Ginny came over and took it out of her hands. "I wonder what it is. Come one, Hermione, open it."

"No, Ginny. I want to open it with Ron. What if it's something special and I open it now. It won't be special if I open it without him." Hermione said taking the box back and putting it gently back in her bag. "I think I'm just going to go up and sleep in Ron's room. I'm so tired."

After Hermione had said goodnight to everyone she went upstairs to Ron's room. It looked exactly as it had two years ago when he moved out minus a few things that he'd brought with him. Even his dresser still had clothes in it. She grabbed one of his sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants and put them on. He was so much taller than her that she was practically swimming in the clothes. She took the orange chuddley cannons blanket and wrapped herself in it as she lay down on his bed. Everything still smelled like Ron and it was extremely comforting as she fell asleep.

Hermione woke up several hours later. She could feel the moonlight shining brightly through the window even through her closed eyes. She felt a slight movement from next to her and she could hear someone's shallow breathing. She opened her eyes to find Ron's amazing blue eyes staring at her.

"Ron!" she said as she threw her arms around Ron excitedly. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"I missed you. I'm so sorry I wasn't here. I didn't think I'd be gone all day. What did you do all day?"

"I laid in bed watching movies waiting to see if you'd come home earlier."

"You should've gone to your parents or something. I feel bad now. You spent Christmas alone. Did you at least get my present?"

"Yeah, but I didn't open it. I wanted to wait for you." She said as she grabbed the present out of her bag on the nightstand. Ron stared at her intently waiting to see her reaction. She unwrapped the paper slowly being careful not to rip it. After unwrapping it she lifted the lid to reveal a key. She looked at it with confusion. "What is it?"

"It's a key…to my apartment." He said cautiously as he looked at her.

"Ron…" she whispered.

"It's okay. I'll get you something else. You don't have to move in with me. I just-"he was cut off by Hermione putting a finger to his lips to make him shut up.

"I love this. I want to move in with you." She said as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her. "I love you." She said against his lips. It was the first time she'd said it and she hoped her wouldn't completely reject her and change his mind. He pulled away and stared at her.

"I love you too." He said softly as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Hermione couldn't help herself. She threw herself at him and kissed him passionately.

"I love you. I love you. I love you." She repeated as they continued to kiss. She was so happy that he felt the same way. She had to force herself to stay still and not jump up and scream out of excitement. They'd finally said I love you. They were moving in together. Everything was juts turning out perfect. As they fell asleep all they could think about was their future together and how everything was going to be perfect.