Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter... I just dream about it :)
Couple: Ron and Hermione
Location: Right before the day when Harry and Hermione go to Godric's Hollow, at Deathly Hallows.
Where are you, Christmas?
by Lorelai Grint
Hermione woke up suddenly not realising the reason. She laid in her bed for a few seconds trying to understand what was it that had taken her away from her sleep. She felt cold, pretty much like she had been feeling ever since Ron had left, which eventually drove her to think that this cold was more psychological than physical. Not that it really mattered to her, anyway, for the emptiness and sadness filled her just the same, whether it was one or the other.
However, this time was different. Looking at the tent entrance, she noticed that it was slightly open. She got up quietly, her heart beating fast, for all she could think of was that a Death Eater had somehow caught up with them, making his way into the tent or something of that sort. Hermione retrieved her wand from under her pillow carefully, trying as hard as she could not to make a noise. She then walked carefully near the entrance, looking around frantically; even so, she could not make out anything weird or different inside the tent, for the lack of light was not helping either.
Getting to the exact spot where a couple of months ago the three of them had been listening to Mr Tonks, Dean and the goblins, Hermione's heart sunk, for the painful memories became clearer in her mind. Suddenly, in that one second of distraction, she felt an arm around her waist, pulling her from the back, one hand promptly silencing the scream she was to leave out. Then, a soft, warm voice whispered in her ear.
"Shh, it's me. It's OK".
Hermione's eyes widened, not believing in the voice she was hearing. Her heart took a tremendous leap as Ron's strong arms held her close, driving her of the tent. She felt rather annoyed that he still had his hand over her mouth, stopping her from saying a word. When they got outside, Ron released Hermione but he didn't remove his hand from her mouth until he murmured 'Muffliato', pointing his wand to the tent's entrance.
'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, RONALD?!', Hermione yelled, forgetting any security precaution. 'WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT? YOU – YOU LEAVE LIKE THAT AND THEN YOU PULL THIS ON ME AND – OOOH, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!'
Hermione started punching Ron's chest as hard as she could, tears falling from her face, out of rage or relief she did not know. He tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen to a word of what she was saying.
'Hermione – OUCH! – Listen, I have to talk –'
'YOU have to talk? YOU? How about me, how about Harry? How could you just walk away like – and how come you didn't just talk to us now – and we need Harry now!'
'No, we don't', Ron mumbled, turning pink on the face. 'Not just yet. I need –''
'I don't care about your needs right now, Ronald Weasley', Hermione articulated bitterly. 'Why did you do that Muffliato thing anyway?'
'Well, if you'd just let me talk', Ron said, rolling his eyes, 'maybe I could explain myself –'
'Hardly, I'd say', Hermione's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms.
'Mione, please', Ron pleaded, and there was something whether in his voice or his eyes that made Hermione's heart soft. 'Could you cut me some slack, just for a second or two?'
Hermione sniffed what she thought was a rather acceptable answer. Ron's lips curled, trying to hide a smile at the sight of such a wound-up Hermione.
'I – I need to talk to you', Ron continued quickly before Hermione could argument. 'To you first, not Harry right now, Hermione… please, don't make this harder than it is'.
Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she gulped – what was he talking about? Then she realised they weren't outside the tent anymore, they were at what looked liked Hogwarts' grounds. Ron was wearing elegant dark blue ceremony robes that suited him beautifully, bringing the blue out of his eyes, now so shiny reflecting the moonlight. Hermione then realised she too was wearing an outfit quite close to that she had worn to their Fourth Year Yule Ball – only this one was a soft shade of silver, now shining ever so bright with the snow under her feet reflecting upon it.
'I'm sorry I left, and I understand that you and Harry probably got something going on now, but I-'
'What?!', Hermione whispered in utter disbelief. 'What are you talking about, Ron?'
'It's been a while, I'm sure you two got it together –'
'Got exactly what together, Ron?', Hermione asked, her voice suddenly much sweeter.
'You – you decided to stay with him, wasn't it?', Ron blushed.
'No… I decided to keep the promise we'd made to our best friend – the one I'm sure you would have kept as well had not been for that locket-'
'I wouldn't be so sure about it', Ron stared at the snowy ground.
'Well, I am', Hermione's voice came out steady, she didn't even feel like it was her own.
Ron smiled brightly at her. The moonlight was lighting up his face (or was it something else?) so that he was even more handsome than Hermione had ever thought. She smiled back at him.
'Mione… Will you dance with me?', he whispered, taking her head and laying is arm around her waist. Just as suddenly as they had left the tent's entrance, they were inside the Great Hall, the twelve Christmas trees around the dance floor, silky fake snow flake falling from the enchanted ceiling.
'Where are we?', Hermione asked Ron, spinning gracefully in his arms, entwined with him like she had never been before.
'We're at the night we should have had three years ago', then Ron kissed her cheek gently.