Disclaimer: This fanfic author does not own Harry Potter.
"Stop fussing, it's going to be great," Ron informed her as he came up behind her and stilled her hands from smoothing out her dress.
"I'm just nervous," she informed him.
"I know. But I'm sure your parents will love me." He winked at her in the mirror.
"Oh yes, because you made such a good impression in Australia; staying in a hotel room with their daughter and yelling at them about how much I sacrificed in the war."
"They should appreciate my standing up for you, even to them. And as for the hotel room, you're an adult."
"Barely," she mumbled. He rolled his eyes.
"I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"
"They could hate you, we would fight because I love you, and then they would hate me again."
Ron frowned. "Okay, true. But I think you're forgetting a very important fact."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Which would be?"
"Your mum thinks I'm incredibly handsome."
This tricked a laugh out of her. Leave it to Ron.
"Right. How could anything go wrong?" she asked between giggles.
She should not have said that. Dinner was incredibly tense, as her father stared menacingly at Ron almost the entire night. To her boyfriend's credit, he had continued his outwardly pleasant demeanor, and hadn't shrunk from her father's gaze once. Her mother was pleasant but clipped, as if she and her father had been fighting all day. Finally, Hermione couldn't take it anymore, and decided to do something entirely un-Hermionish.
"What is your problem?" she demanded of her father. His mouth dropped open. Ron's eyes widened and her mother frowned. "We've been making so much progress since you've been back, but now you're acting like you did when you first learned everything."
"He took you away from us and made you this person who's been tortured and fought in a war," her father declared. Hurt bloomed in Ron's eyes and Hermione ground her teeth together.
"He most certainly did not. You chose to let me go to Hogwarts when we found out I was a witch. Ron had absolutely nothing to do with my entrance into the wizarding world, or my choices in the war."
"But he has everything to do with keeping you in the wizarding world," her father accused.
"No, he doesn't. He would accept me and still love me if I decided I wanted to move away to the muggle world." She declared, not looking at Ron and really hoping that was how he would feel.
His hand covered hers under the table. "I would snap my wand if she asked," he said quietly. Her heart thrummed in response.
"I hate what he represents." Her father glowered at them.
"Meaning?" Hermione asked in a deadly voice that made Ron cringe. She was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, and she was barely holding in her rage.
"Magic," her father snapped, and wind roared through her ears as she fought to control her breathing through her fury.
"Magic is who I am," she said quietly, fighting for control of her emotions.
"Richard." Her mother reprimanded urgently, reading everything on Hermione's face.
"No Jean. I don't agree with this anymore, her being a witch." He turned to Hermione. "Look what it did to you! You took away our memories and shipped us off the continent."
Hermione reeled back in shock and Ron opened his mouth. She stepped on his foot and shook her head emphatically when he looked at her. No. This was between her and her father.
"I thought we'd gotten past that," she said quietly.
"We never will." Her father declared icily. Hermione's heart shattered as she stood abruptly from the table, chair scraping across the floor.
"Merry Christmas." She whispered before turning her back on them and dissolving into tears.
"Hermione!" Her mother called after her. She saw her Mum wince at the tears on her face and she said nothing as her mother gathered her into her arms.
"I love you," her mother said firmly. "I always have, and I always will. Your dad does too, he's just…" she trailed off. "I forgive you, my love."
"I love you too Mum," Hermione said quietly, still crying. Her mother pressed Christmas presents into her hands and waved the whole time Hermione walked to the apparition point. Ron walked behind her but didn't say anything or make a move to touch her.
Hermione's emotions tore through her and she slammed the vase at their front door into the wall before sinking to her knees and dissolving into tears. Ron pulled her up and she stumbled into his arms.
"I told you your Mum liked me," he muttered after her sobs had subsided and she laughed, wiping tears out of her eyes.
"Dad does too, he just doesn't want to admit it." She said quietly.
"I'm sorry Hermione."
She shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He frowned. "I meant everything I said. I make my own choices."
"We don't have to go to my parents tonight if you don't want. We can have a nice quiet Christmas, just the two of us." He offered, and Hermione's heart ached at the gesture.
"No," she said quietly. "I would love to have a quiet Christmas with you, but we have to go to the Burrow." She had not forgotten it was the first Christmas without Fred, though Ron tried to hide his feelings on that front.
"It might be…sad." He said quietly, looking at the ground.
"That's okay." She said, pulling him to her. "Christmas can be quite sad sometimes."
"I love you," he said, and she beamed.
"I love you too. Besides, I don't want to miss your brothers taking the mickey out of Perce about his honeymoon." He grinned.
"I love you so much." She rolled her eyes at that but kissed him tenderly anyways. His thumbs brushed her hips, and she buried her face in his shoulder, taking a deep breath.
"Want to open the presents from my Mum?" She knew he didn't miss how she had left out her father, but he didn't comment on it. He opted instead for plucking a present off of the counter while she murmured a reparo at the vase.
They had given Hermione a yearly subscription to a muggle book service where she could take out as many books as she wanted. She lit up at that, despite her mood, and Ron chuckled. They had given Ron books on football since he had become enamored with it after watching some by accident on their TV. He was thrilled. To Hermione's utter amusement, he and Dean flooed each other each Monday to discuss the previous Sunday games.
"Wicked!" He declared. Hermione shook her head fondly, unable to comprehend how he only liked reading books that were about sports. She had read Quidditch Through the Ages and found it…lackluster to say the least. She shrugged and went to collect her overnight bag. She left Ron reading through the table of contents of his books on the couch and walked slowly up the stairs to their room.
She sat down on the bed and sighed, tears falling even though she tried to stop them. He would come around. She knew he would. But her and her dad had never fought until she sent them to Australia, and it cut her deeper than she was willing to admit. She dried her eyes and grabbed her bag off of the floor. She felt desperately guilty at being relieved to be going to the Weasley's when things with her own family were falling apart. At least she hadn't lost her mother. And she wouldn't lose her father, if she had to fight tooth and nail, she was never losing either of them again.
She smiled at Ron when she came back down the stairs but scowled as he used his wand to have his suitcase zoom down the stairs.
"Work smarter not harder," he teased, winking. She wanted to strangle him. In a good way though. Pretty soon they were zooming through the floo and greeting all of the Weasleys with hugs.
"How was your parents?" Ginny asked her once they were all settled.
"Could have been better. Could have been worse." She said with a lopsided smile, determinedly not looking at Ron.
Harry winced. "Sorry Mione." She shrugged and let them change the subject. Her demeanor didn't really alert anyone since everyone was pretty subdued. It was the first Christmas without Fred, after all. More than that, it was the first Christmas after the war.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had excused themselves much earlier than normal, and George hadn't appeared at all in the time Ron and Hermione had been there. She wondered if he was even at the Burrow.
"It feels weird. For it to be Christmas." Charlie said, finally voicing it. They all nodded. "George hasn't left his room all day. Angelina arrived around noon and demanded to see him, but we haven't seen her either."
Hermione leaned into Ron instinctively. His arm came around her side, squeezing a little too tightly as he shot her a grateful smile.
"I remember when I asked him to stun the gnome for the tree two years ago; he stared at me for a second in total shock and then he laughed so hard he nearly fell over," Ginny said, smiling softly and laying her head on Harry's shoulder. "He only laughed harder as I stuffed it into a tutu." A tear fell down her cheek. No one mentioned it.
"I remember in fifth year when I'd just realized I liked Ron," Ron gave a jerk as he realized Hermione was speaking, "and he was horrid to me. He teased me about not having a Weasley sweater and then told me it wouldn't be long until I'd become a Weasley, looking meaningfully at Ron. I couldn't speak for a solid five minutes." Ron chuckled softly.
"I remember when he and George were three and Charlie and I snuck into their room, remember?" Bill asked Charlie, who nodded sadly. "We picked them out of their cribs, warned them to be quiet, and took them outside to play in the snow in the middle of the night. Mum found us and lectured us for another hour about giving them pneumonia."
George had made his way down the stairs and was leaning against the wall, half in the shadows. He was listening with a sad smile on his face. Hermione swallowed and let him remain unnoticed.
"When they were four and I was six," Percy began, "George was sick and in bed. So, I read to Fred in front of the fire, just the two of us. It was the only time I can ever remember one of them letting me read to them. And then of course there was my fifth year when he and George made sure I spent Christmas with the family. Always looking out for me when it should have been the other way around."
"That Christmas when we were on the run, Fred and George hosted a special Potterwatch. He didn't know it, but I was at Bill and Fleur's." Ron said softly as he clutched Hermione's hand. "He and George told us that if we were listening to have a Merry Christmas and that they loved me. They told Harry and Hermione they loved them too, of course, but they'll never know how much hearing that meant to me."
"I think they do," George said softly. Ron's eyes snapped to his brother's. He stood swiftly, disentangling himself from Hermione and enveloped George in a hug. They muttered things to each other and neither of them pulled away with dry eyes. Hermione met Harry's gaze, eyes shining, and smiled at him. His answering smile was just as full of emotion. They were both glad for Ron bonding with his brothers. He had changed a lot from being their youngest brother, the one they always teased, the one he was always measured against.
"He always loved Christmas." George said, moving into their circle. "He would make me go to sleep before midnight every year, even when we were grown and living above the shop because otherwise Father Christmas wouldn't come." He chuckled wetly. Angelina laughed softly, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of George.
"What about that party in fourth year when the Chamber was open, so all the teachers were distracted?" Angelina mused. "He got ridiculously drunk and insisted on braiding my hair. He sat there and talked nonsense to me for the four hours it took him to do it." She laughed. "I kept it in the next morning so he could see it sober, and just the sight of it made him go bright red. It wasn't often you saw Fred or George sporting the legendary Weasley blush."
There was a very wet laugh from the stairs, and they found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing there. "I remember when we gave them their first brooms when they were three," Mr. Weasley said quietly. "They were absolute menaces, but I'd never had so much fun zooming after them on my own broom that December." Tears fell thick and fast down Ginny's cheeks and she swiped at them, but they didn't stop. Hermione was crying pretty steadily herself. Tears were falling down Ron's long nose. She clasped his hand tighter.
"I remember two years when they bought me those fancy new robes. I thanked them profusely and told them they didn't need to spend so much on me. George just shrugged awkwardly and walked away smiling, but Fred kissed my cheek and told me I deserved it." Hermione was amazed she got that whole story out with a smile, despite the steady stream of tears falling down her face.
They all say there in silence for a good long while. Finally, everyone seemed to get up at the same time. Hermione pulled Ron to his feet, and they stumbled up to his room.
"It felt like he was here tonight." He said quietly while unbuttoning his shirt.
"He was," Hermione said softly. "He's always with you." Ron nodded and then pulled her into his arms. She sighed into his shoulder.
"I miss them all," she whispered. For her dead had been haunting her all day.
"I know you do. I do too." He tugged her gently into bed and they lay there in each other's arms as they slowly let sleep claim them.
The next morning dawned very brightly, and loudly. Charlie woke them with an air horn as George screamed Merry Christmas from somewhere far away in the house, but not far enough for them not to hear it. Hermione groaned and covered her head with a pillow, but Ron just chuckled thickly and pulled it off of her.
"C'mon love, it's Christmas!" Hermione grumbled something unintelligible, but Ron just laughed, pressing a kiss to her lips before rolling out of bed. She threw on a bra for modesty and followed him. Ginny was sitting in the middle of all of the presents on the floor, leg bouncing in anticipation and irritation.
"Finally," she said in exasperation. Hermione stared at her incredulously. It was six a.m.! But sure enough, they were the last ones to file into the Weasley's living room. It occurred to Hermine that this was the last time they would do this without any grandkids. Speaking of Fleur, the veela looked much more worn out than normal. She was positively pale as she sat slumped in an armchair chair. Bill perched on the edge of it, trying not to hover and failing rather miserably.
Ginny threw presents at everyone and then tore into her own. Hermione took one look at the one from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and burst into tears. Ron swung around to look at her in alarm and then softened as he saw what they had given her. She held her very first Weasley Christmas sweater in her lap.
She bawled all over his parents and then pulled it on immediately. Ron gave her a crooked grin and she was aware of just how much she loved that man. Ron had gotten her a locket with a picture of him in one side and Harry in the other and she had snorted but kissed him anyways. She would cherish it always. She had given him new kitchen accessories and an apron that said kiss the cook. He winked wolfishly at her, and she couldn't quite put a stop to her blush.
The most thoughtful present had come from all of Ron's siblings put together. They had started Ron and Hermione their own personal photo album. It was full of pictures of them over the years. Hermione found her eyes fill with tears once again. There they were with Harry at eleven years old just after the philosopher's stone was destroyed, her and Ron third year scowling at each other in the Leaky Cauldron when he accused Crooks of eating Scabbers, them at fourteen hugging, soaking wet, after the second task. There they were laughing at something ridiculous in the common room, a picture that was taken by Harry. Hermione watched as Ron gave her perfume and the secret smile that spread across her face when he turned around. Ron laughing and putting his arm casually around her, him watching her warmly in the library.
There were ones of the two of them with every member of the family. There was even one of Hermione in between Fred and George who had their arms around her and were needling her about something. Her and Ginny in their Yule Ball gowns, Hermione throwing herself into Ron's arms after Mad-Eye had died, her and Ron dancing at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Hermione blushed thoroughly at the picture of them the night after the final battle, snuggled into each other in his four-poster bed in the boys' dorm. Ginny winked at her as Hermione turned to stare at her incredulously. She knew she'd heard a camera. Then there they were with Teddy, his features a perfect mix of them.
She gaped at one of her in the Australian jail, passed out on the stone that had served as her bed, Ron's hand holding hers through the bars as he kept watch. There was even one their bubbly tour guide had snapped of them as merpeople. There they were jumping off a cliff and soaring through the air on parasails, there was Hermione kissing Ron when he became Deputy Head Auror, him swinging her through the air when she had passed the wolfsbane legislation. They watched as picture Ron dropped picture Hermione into a dip at Percy's wedding.
Hermione was literally speechless. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given her. Her eyes met Ron's and found a similarly gobsmacked emotion written across his face.
"Thank you," she breathed earnestly, knowing it wasn't enough to convey the meaning.
"Anytime," Ginny beamed, and Hermione knew it had been her idea. "The plan is to keep photographing the two of you so we can add to it."
"It's bloody amazing." Ron said and everyone chuckled.
"I have to say, that one of the two of you with Teddy is my favourite," Mrs. Weasley said, eyes twinkling. Hermione scowled at the meddling but Ron just grinned.
"I love you all." She declared to the room at large. "And Harry, I had no idea you took so many pictures of us in school!" He grinned.
"I wanted pictures of my best friends. By the way I'm pretty sure that one," he turned back to the one of them laughing in the common room, "was when you told Ron he had the emotional range of a teaspoon." Hermione grinned.
"It's about the size of a regular spoon now," she teased. Ron rolled his eyes but he was smiling.
They had a gigantic meal at lunch and Mrs. Weasley had invited everybody she could. They were joined by Kingsley, Andromeda, Draco, Teddy, Minerva, Hagrid, Grawp, Luna and her father, Neville, Hannah, and even Dedalus Diggle. She saw Remus and Tonks as she watched Teddy crawl around the Burrow's garden but this time, instead of crying, she smiled.