Disclaimer: Not mine. You already know that ;)
A/N: This is for Sirigorn, my Hogwarts for All Secret Santa recipient. I hope you like it, Siri!
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Merry Christmas, Hermione
Hermione woke up at the sound of the door being shut. She raised her head to see who was it and to her surprise she saw that she was alone in her room.
"I wonder where the girls are," she asked herself, "they don't usually get up earlier than I do."
She got up from her bed and with a flick of her wand it was tidied. She got dressed and took a last look of herself in the mirror before she headed to the door.
As she reached the door she noticed a piece of paper hanging from the doorknob.
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Good morning and Merry Christmas. I hope to see you in the Common Room.
Ron
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"Well, let's see what you've got in your mind now, Mr. Weasley," she said as she folded the paper and put it in her pocket.
She went to the Common Room and saw her roommates, as well as the rest of the Gryffindor students who were staying at Hogwarts during Christmas, gathered around something near the Christmas tree.
"What's going on here?" she asked as she approached the crowd.
Parvati Patil, who was one of Hermione's roommates walked to her side and whispered: "You're gonna love it!"
"What're you talking about?" Hermione asked.
The students moved aside to make way for Hermione to approach the main reason of the gathering.
"Oh. My. Goodness," she whispered with a gasp.
In front of the Christmas tree was a desk that had glowing edges and light fairies were floating above it. The desk had a large red ribbon tied around it and a little card was hanging from it.
"This is wonderful! Who is it for?" Hermione asked and turned to Parvati.
"It's for you," Parvati replied with a smile.
"It says so on the card," said Fred Weasley with a sheepish smile.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Hermione asked.
"Why should I?" Fred asked innocently.
"Your face is betraying you," she said.
"Go on and read the card," George said, "we want to know who is it from, too!"
Hermione took the card and opened it.
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Merry Christmas. Please meet me at Moony's place.
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"Moony's place? Is that a new room around here?" Parvati asked.
"I have no idea, and I'm not interested to know. Whoever sent this desk will receive it back," Hermione said dryly and left the Common Room.
The truth was, she knew exactly where Moony's place was, as well as whom she was supposed to meet.
"Of all the places around the castle, it had to be the shack!" Hermione muttered as she headed outside the school.
Hermione walked through the school grounds and headed to the Whomping Willow. She pointed her wand at it as she stopped on a distance.
"Immobulus!" she said and the tree stopped waving its branches.
She walked through the tunnel and reached the Shrieking Shack, but to her surprise, she found it clean instead of dusty as she remembered it the last time she came here.
Little pixies were flying in the air and pointing at a specific direction. She followed them and entered a room.
The room was lit by candles and there was a table in the middle of it. She approached the table and stared at the food on it.
"Merry Christmas, Hermione," came the sound from behind her.
"Ron!" Hermione jumped in surprise, "you scared me."
"Sorry, didn't mean to."
"What's all this about?" she asked.
"Er…" Great! Now you've spoiled it! Ron thought to himself. He was expecting another question. Something like, did you do this for me?
"Well?" Hermione asked again.
"You see… er… Hermione," he still couldn't say it.
Hermione noticed the confused and concerned look on Ron's face and realized that she has hurt his feelings on Christmas morning.
"Ron, I didn't mean to…"
"No, no. I'm sorry for dragging you all this distance…"
"You're what?"
"Sorry?"
"Ronald Weasley! I've opened my eyes to see the most wonderful desk waiting for me in the common room, and then I come to this place and see a romantic breakfast being prepared for me, and you say you're sorry?"
"Well… I…"
She sighed and turned to leave. As she reached the door Ron walked after her and grabbed her hand.
"Please don't go," he said.
"All right."
"Did you like the desk?" He wasn't sure if this was a good time to ask that question, but it was too late to take it back.
"I love it," Hermione smiled, "thank you so much."
"You're welcome," he replied.
"You know, I have a present for you, too. I didn't put it under the tree because I wanted to give it to you in person," she took out a golden chain from her pocket and put it around Ron's neck. Ron examined the necklace and looked at her.
"This is wonderful!" he said, "it must've cost you a fortune!"
"You're welcome, Ronald."
"You know, this is the first time that I get a Christmas present that I like," Ron said as he blushed.
Hermione was also blushing. She didn't know what to say at that moment and she stood there looking at the floor.
Ron looked at her and smiled. He liked her and he wanted to tell her about it, but he didn't have the courage to do so. He looked at the door and saw a pair of eyes watching them. He nodded at the owner of the eyes and looked at Hermione who was still looking at the floor.
Ron took a step closer and lifted Hermione's head by his hand. He looked into her eyes and smiled.
"Hermione, I want you to know that I like you," he said, "I've always wanted to tell you this but I never managed to do so."
Hermione didn't say anything. She just kept looking into his eyes.
"Ever since we met I wanted to tell you this, and…" he stopped. Hermione looked confused.
"And what, Ron?" she asked.
"And this…" he leaned forward and kissed her lips.
Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach as he put his arms around her. She responded to his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Behind the door, Harry smiled.
"Yes!" he whispered in victory. He has succeeded in helping his best friend to gather the courage and confess his feelings to Hermione.
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The end
A/N: Merry Christmas!! And review already!!!