Ron and Hermione walked slowly up to the door of the burrow, hands entwined. The burrow had grown to be more of a home to Hermione than her own home had ever been. She would come every day while Ron was at work to help Mrs. Weasley around the house. He had thought it was a bit odd at first, but would quickly forget about it when he tasted the food she'd learned to cook.
"Do you think I'll get a sweater this year?" Hermione asked him. She had always wondered why she'd never received a sweater with a big G on it. Harry had gotten one after only meeting Mrs. Weasley once. She knew that Harry had been considered family way before she'd been, but Ron and her had been dating for almost six years now and they'd been friends since they were eleven. That seemed to be the only thing standing in the way of the relationship she'd formed with Mrs. Weasley from being perfect.
"You might. I don't know though. I haven't really talked to mum about Christmas." He said. He looked over at Hermione as she stared at her feet, a shadow of sadness taking place on her face. He didn't like seeing her this way and quickly reassured her. "Don't worry though. She's probably just waiting for the right time to give it to you." He said wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her tight against him.
"But, everyone else has got one. Harry's got one, Fleur's got one. Everyone's got one. Everyone except me."
"Just try and forget about it for tonight. Please?"
"Fine. I'll try."
"Thank you." He said quickly kissing her on the cheek. They had reached the door now and just as Ron was about to knock on the door it flew open revealing Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're both here. Everyone else is in the living room. We've been waiting for you two so we could open presents together." She said giving each of them a hug. They followed her into the living room where everyone else was waiting. The moment they walked in the room Ron was almost knocked over by Lily throwing her arms around his knees, hugging them tightly. Ron lifted her up and gave her a proper hug.
"It's about time. Lily's been bugging us to open presents and we had to keep telling her not yet because we had to wait for you two." Harry said from the couch. Hermione looked around and saw Harry and Ginny seated on the nearest couch. They had gotten married one year after the battle at Hogwarts and in their second year of marriage they'd had Lily Luna Potter, who was now three and a half years old. As she looked around the room again she saw Mrs. Weasley followed by George join Mr. Weasley on a couch on the other side of the room and Bill and Fleur sitting on the floor near the fire. She couldn't help but notice that everyone was married except for them and George, but George was getting ready to ask out one of his coworkers at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
Charlie and Percy were the only ones that weren't there. Charlie was with his fiancé in Romania. He'd met her during one of the times he'd had to go help bring a dragon back to Romania. Percy was married like the rest of them. He'd met her at the ministry and they'd eventually gotten married and had kids. They were at their home in London starting their own family traditions.
As Hermione thought about his she began to feel disheartened. Why weren't her and Ron married? Sure, she knew that he would do it eventually and that he was just waiting for the right time to do t, but five years was a long time. And, they didn't have to waste time waiting to fall in love. Ron had said he loved her a week after she'd kissed him. The fact that his brother had just died didn't stop him. Heck, she would have married him right there and then if he'd asked. They'd even talked about their future. They hadn't actually said the word marriage when talking about their relationship, but they'd talked about having kids which made Hermione assume that they would get married one day. So what was taking him so long?
"Hermione? Hermione?!" Ron said shaking her lightly, bringing her back to the present. He noticed the look of despair on her face and wondered what she'd been thinking about.
"What?" She said a little confusedly.
"Come on. Sit down. We're going to open presents." He said as he sat on the floor and gently pulled her into a sitting position on his lap. She'd been quick to move off his lap and onto the floor, leaving him with a worried look on his face. Was she mad at him?
The room was quickly filled with "Thank you's" and "How wonderful's" and "Your welcome's" as everybody stared to exchange gifts. They'd given Harry and Ginny three tickets to wherever they wanted to go for a vacation; George had gotten a book of fun enchantments and jokes he could use in the shop; Bill and Fleur got a huge portrait of an ocean that would look nice in their house; Mrs. Weasley had gotten a Celestina Warbeck album and Mr. Weasley had gotten yet another muggle device. A telephone. Ron and Hermione had received gifts separately. Ron had gotten another book about charming witches from George, a Weasley sweater from his parents, a razor like the one Harry had gotten from Bill and Fleur, and tickets to a Chudley Cannons quidditch game from Harry and Ginny. Hermione had, of course, gotten books from everyone. She was still disappointed about not getting a Weasley sweater even though she hadn't expected to. She looked over to her side and saw a small package. She'd forgotten to give Ron his present.
"Merry Christmas." She said quietly as she placed the box into his hands. When he opened it he was surprised to find a watch like the one he'd gotten for coming of age. His had been hit with a spell during the battle. Hermione had been asking him if he'd like a new one for a couple weeks now, but he'd never realized that it might be what she was getting him.
"Thank you. I love it." He thanked her as he pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. When he pulled away Hermione looked at him expectantly. He'd been asking her what she'd like since the beginning of November. She was anxious to see what he'd gotten her. When he was still staring at her after a couple minutes the look on her face became stern.
"Ron, what did you do? Did you forget that Christmas was drawing near even though you've been asking me what I'd like? Of all the people t forget about, you forget about me!" She yelled, but in a sort of whisper so no one else could hear what she was saying.
"No, I didn't forget. I just…I want to give it to you in private." He said as Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.
"Come on then." She said, sounding as if she still didn't believe him. She stood up and Ron followed her through the hall until they came to an empty doorway. Hermione leaned against one side and folded her arms. Ron could tell that she was mad at him. he walked over to her and put his arms around her waist, trying to break the tension. She stood there trying to show no signs of weakness, but he was so close that her defenses just broke down.
"Look." He said nodding to the growing mistletoe above them.
"Mistletoe." She whispered as they both leaned in for a kiss. As soon as his lips touched hers she forgot about everything she'd been mad at him for. She couldn't think about anything except the feeling as their lips moved against each other's in sync. The only thing she seemed to notice was that Ron was taking her hand and slipping something on her finger. She pulled back to look at her hand and saw a diamond ring glittering on her left hand. Tears automatically started to run down her face as Ron got down on his knee and took her left hand.
"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" He asker her.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Hermione answered with excitement as she threw herself at him in a hug. He was almost knocked over by the force, but was able to balance himself quick enough. He stood up with Hermione still hugging him.
"Why don't we go tell everyone else?"
"Okay." She said taking a deep breath.
"I love you." He said staring into her eyes.
"I love you too." She said as she swiftly kissed him. they made their way back into the living room holding hands.
"Ahem. We have an announcement to make." Ron said as he cleared his throat.
"We're getting married." Hermione shrieked and was instantly bombarded with congratulations from everyone. Everyone except Mrs. Weasley. Instead of congratulating them she pulled out another present from behind her back and made her way over to them.
"I think it is in order to give this to you now." She said handing Hermione the present. She quickly unwrapped it to find a navy blue sweater with a big golden W on the front instead of a G. her eyes started to water again as she gave Mrs. Weasley a big hug.
"Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. You're now officially part of this family." She said with a large smile.