Merry Christmas! This story was written for SalamanderLights with the prompts tinsel, Grimmauld Place, and table with the quotes "What is that doing there?" "Do you fancy some hot chocolate?" "Be quiet or he'll hear us."

Hermione knew her life had hit an extreme low as she slumped down in a library chair at Grimmauld Place. She had never felt so pointless and lonely before. As she stared into the crackling fire, she thought back on exactly how her life had come to this.

First, she had spent a year traipsing around Australia in search of her parents. When she finally found them, they seemed happy with their new lives. Hermione could not bring herself to rip that away from them so they could remember everything they used to have. She scheduled an appointment with her mother, who complimented Hermione on how well kept her teeth were. As Hermione paid, Monica Wilkins's eyes glazed over, as if there was something she just couldn't remember. For a moment, her daughter hoped that simply being together would be enough to override the spell, but Monica shook her thoughts away and said, "Have a nice day." Hermione's heart sank as she left.

Before she left English, Hermione had intended on settling down with Ron as soon as she got back, but seeing a place so full of excitement gave her doubt. She sat down at a table with him one day shortly after her return to explain that things just didn't feel the same between them. She only meant to say that they should hold off on a wedding so soon, but he didn't take it that way.

His family wouldn't believe her that she hadn't meant to hurt him so much. Feeling so unwanted by their friends, she felt less like herself than ever before.

A job also seemed unlikely. The ministry, which had been happy to offer her several jobs before she left, seemed to have filled them all; the only remaining option was in the Centaur Assistance Office, and her pride refused to let her accept it. Without much money and few willing friends, Hermione had to take up residence with Remus Lupin in the only rent-free sanctuary either of them could find.

"Can't sleep either?"

Hermione broke free of her musings to see Remus standing in the library doorway. She shook her head, and he stepped forward.

Remus smiled. "I couldn't either. Do you fancy some hot chocolate?"

"I'd love some," she replied and stood up.

He led the way into the kitchen. While she watched him move around, Hermione took a seat at the table. As soon as he joined her with a mug in each hand, she asked, "Do you think Sirius is up as well?"

With a chuckle, Remus said, "Be quiet or he'll hear us. Just thinking his name is enough to make the troublemaker appear."

Momentarily, they both sat in silence, as if waiting for the brooding landlord to appear.

Hermione sipped at her hot chocolate and asked, "So what's keeping you up this fine evening?"

Remus sighed, placing his mug back on the table. Eventually he looked back at her with a tired smile. "I suppose it's because this is Teddy's second Christmas. It wouldn't be so bad," he continued, "if we at least had a tree. Last year, we went to Dora's mum's house, but she's in St. Mungo's until mid-January. Without her house, we don't have one at all."

"Why don't we?" Hermione asked. "They don't cost that much."

Rolling his eyes, Remus replied, "It's Sirius. He hated Christmas as a child and refuses to get a tree."

"That's ridiculous!" she snapped. "No home is complete during the holidays without a tree."

"He 'doesn't like the smell,'" Remus quoted. He picked up his hot chocolate to take another sip. "There's nothing I can do about it."

"Yes, there is." Hermione stood up, slamming down her now empty mug. "Come on!"

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm going to get a tree! Are you coming with?"

Remus stuttered, "At this hour?"

"It's not that late," she replied. "Besides, Christmas creeps closer every day. There has to be somewhere will be open, even if it's just a muggle place."

"I suppose…" Remus cautiously stood up and let Hermione sweep him to the door. "What if Teddy wakes up?"

"Sirius can deal with him," she replied. "He did when we went out to dinner last month." Her face tinged pink at bringing up the evening. They'd had such a great time that first night after her moving in to Grimmauld Place, but Remus had not brought it up since, leaving her to wonder if he had hated the evening.

"So he did," Remus mused.

Hermione bit her lip, unsure if he would change his mind, but he straightened up and opened the door.

"Let's go then."

Happy to follow, Hermione walked out. She waited as Remus shut and locked the door before leading the way down the block. It amused Sirius that both she and Remus refused to leave without locking up. "Nobody knows about this place," he liked to say. "Who's going to break in?" But he seemed to forget that no one knew how many Death Eaters had been through the house during the war.

"Here's a lot," she said after they had walked for a while. "'The Christmas Forest.'"

Remus let out a heavy sigh. "I have to admit I always hated this part. They all look so marvelous that I can't decide."

"This one seems nice," Hermione said as she stopped in front of a rather bushy fir tree, although it did not look any different than those around it.

Moving his head from side to side in indecision, Remus finally agreed. "Shall we buy it now or wait for Sirius's permission?"

Hermione snorted and pulled on his arm. "We'd better go pay. If we wait for his approval, it will be gone."

He knew as well as she did that the tree likely would still be there the day after, but Remus thankfully let her lead him to the man sitting at a fold-out table.

"Merry Christmas," the man said with a cat-like grin.

They dragged the tree all the way out onto the street and down a side alley. Once out of muggle sight, Hermione happily performed a disillusion spell, and Remus levitated it. He stashed the wand just out of sight in his sleeve before they returned to the street.

To keep muggles from cutting between them and running into the invisible tree, Hermione suggested, "We should stand extra close together. It might be a little awkward, but…"

She trailed off as Remus not only stepped closer to her but also took her hand.

To answer the confusion in her eyes, he said, "It might seem odd to be that close otherwise."

Hermione nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She thought over and over that this was no different than holding hands with Harry and Ron while on the run: a necessity, but she couldn't make herself believe it.

Remus dropped her hand to fish out his keys, but after unlocking the door, he took it once more. "Thank you for doing this," he said as they entered the house. "It means a lot."

"Don't mention it," Hermione replied as calmly as she could. With a flick of her wand, she removed the disillusion spell from the tree. "Do you want to put it in the drawing room or the parlor?"

"I was thinking the library," he said, letting go of her hand once more to lead the way. "It will look so pleasant sitting in the reading area."

Hermione followed, supervising as he set the tree down magically. "Not there," she told him. "It's too close to the fire." After Remus moved it over a couple feet, Hermione grinned. "That's perfect!"

She sat down at the little table to ponder the tree's spender. "You know," she continued. "If we just get some lights and maybe a little tinsel, we could have it completely decorated before Sirius gets up. Then he couldn't possibly say no! What do you think, Remus? Remus?"

He seemed to be completely in his own world as he gazed into the fire. Eventually he jerked his head up. "What? Oh, sorry, I wasn't listening. What were you saying?"

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked, choosing not to repeat herself right then.

With a heavy sigh, Remus sat down across from her. "I don't know," he admitted. "It's been a year and a half since Dora…"

Although he trailed off, Hermione did not want to interrupt.

Remus finally continued, "I've moved on. I've had to, what with Sirius breathing down my neck not to mope so much. But truly, I think it's Dora telling me to move on. She wouldn't want me to be miserable, and Christmas always was her favorite holiday. I need to make it cheerful for Teddy."

Hermione nodded, still choosing not to speak.

"The thing of it is, Hermione, I would have just moaned about it and not actually tried. I've had the presents for ages now, but it was you who finally got me to wrap them yesterday. And tonight, I'd have done nothing about a tree. Teddy wouldn't have had a proper Christmas, and it would have been entirely my fault."

"Remus—"

He held up a hand to cut her off. "I'm not beating myself up over it, I promise. That isn't my point."

"What is your point, then?" she asked.

He smiled. "Hermione, you're giving my son a proper Christmas, no matter what Padfoot has to say about it."

Hermione drew in a breath as Remus propped his elbows on the table and leaned closer to her. "You're welcome," she said stupidly, but she decided to worry about her word choice later. At that moment she was much more concerned with Remus's lips creeping closer.

"Oi, you two! Do you want me to get out the mistletoe and—Hey! What is that doing there?"

"That," Remus replied irritably as he sat back in his chair. "That is a Christmas tree, and we are going to decorate it tomorrow, Sirius."

"No, you are not," he snapped, sauntering forward. "I will not allow a Christmas tree in my house!"

"Yes, you will," Hermione said as she stood up. "You are not going to be Ebenezer Scrooge and ruin this Christmas for Teddy and the rest of us."

"Who?" he asked.

Hermione sighed. "He's a muggle man from a children's story. He hated Christmas, made life miserable for everyone else, was visited by three Christmas spirits, and changed his attitude. Point being, you are not allowed to ban holiday traditions."

Sirius grumbled for a moment as he stared at the tree. "Fine," he snapped, wheeling around to leave the room. "Keep the tree, but no tinsel!"

Hermione sighed. "There's going to be tinsel."

Sirius, although still within hearing distance, said nothing. Hermione took this as a victory, so she and Remus began planning their decorations for the whole house.

Neither noticed the mistletoe slowly covering the library ceiling.