Oooh last chapter was a doozy. This one should hopefully set a lot of things right with their relationship. It's a long one, but there were still some things that both Ron and Hermione were sitting on that needed talking out. I looked at splitting it into two chapters, but it just didn't feel right no matter where I split it. A lot happens, so fasten your seatbelts! xxx

Hermione and Ron talk about the missing ring and everything it symbolises. Meanwhile, back at the Burrow Witch Weekly releases it Christmas Special edition.

Despite the late time they'd gotten to bed and the restless night of sleep she'd had; Hermione still woke up far too early the next morning. She peeled her eyes open with a small groan; she'd forgotten to take her make-up off before going to bed, another reason why she hated wearing it – it was always far too much effort for the little effect it had. With her eyes now open, she was greeted with the sight of Ron's freckled back, still shifting softly with his snores.

Her head was pounding and her mouth felt full of Pygmy Puff fluff. Sober-Up potions were notoriously bad for enhancing hangovers. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the bottom of Ron's neck before moving slowly out of bed, being careful not to wake him as she pulled the duvet back over him and tucked him in. She spotted his discarded shirt on the bedroom floor and pulled it on, buttoning it haphazardly over her body. She picked up the rest of their clothes, being careful not to move too quickly and folded them neatly back into the suitcase after digging out their clothes for the day. She noted with a smile that he hadn't bothered to pack pyjamas for them, so she left Ron's pile of clean clothes close to his side of the bed.

After quickly using the bathroom and digging a fresh bottle of water out of the mini-fridge, she settled into one of the chairs in the window; opening the curtains enough to read the book she'd found among their things. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, but she could see the signs of a garden glowing in the early morning light.

When Ron woke a couple of hours later Hermione was still sat in the chair, although she'd swapped her book for a cup of tea. She was staring out the window, watching the birds search for breakfast on the frosted lawn.

He proposed himself up on his elbows, squinting in the sunlight. He spotted the pile of his clothes on the chair near the bed, a fresh pair of boxers on top and smiled at her thoughtfulness; it was the little things that kept Ron happy and showed how much she really cared for him. He moved carefully out of bed, not wanting to upset his own hangover and pulled on his boxers and a t-shirt. He crossed the room quickly, pressing a kiss against the top of her head.

"Good morning beautiful…"

Ron's voice roused Hermione out of her daydream and she lifted her head up to smile at him. "Good morning…"

He leaned down to press another kiss against her lips before eyeing the plates on the coffee table. "Did you eat breakfast without me?" He helped himself to a cup of tea before topping up hers.

"No, I'm not hungry yet. I did, however, order your favourites and put them under a warming charm ready for when you woke up. I knew you'd be hungry…"

"Thank you, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?"

"No, not really…"

Ron sighed as he looked down at her, immediately feeling guilty. Her face was pale and she had deep circles under her eyes. His parents had always warned him never to go to sleep on an argument, but he never struggled to sleep so it wasn't really a rule he followed.

Hermione on the other hand hated trying to sleep when she thought people were annoyed with her, or when she was annoyed herself, or when she had anything on her mind. He rubbed his hand against the stubble on his jaw, desperately wanting to make her feel better.

"How long do you think the warming charm on the food will last?"

"At least an hour, I reckon…"

"Good…" Ron sat down on the chair opposite hers. "Can we talk?"

Hermione nodded but Ron noticed her shoulders tensing up. He held his hand out to her and laced their fingers together.

"I'm sorry about last night…"

"Me too. I'm really sorry I pushed you. I should know by now to recognise the signs I'm annoying you…" She sighed heavily. "I guess the sober-up potion has limited effects…"

"Plus you were trying to talk to me about something important to you and I should have realised that…" Ron let out a sigh that matched hers. "When I first gave you that ring, it was supposed to symbolise that me and you were forever. Like a pre-engagement ring, I guess. And even though we'd broken up, a part of me thought that as long as you'd kept hold of it, there might have still been a chance for us…"

"I didn't think of it that way. I just thought you wouldn't have wanted me to keep it because we weren't together anymore. Plus when I sent it back I was angry…"

"You were angry?" Ron laughed softly and stroked his thumb against the back of her hand. "I spent five days straight in the Leaky after getting that owl. I reckon Harry would have come and dragged me out if I hadn't bumped into Lav…"

Hermione tensed up slightly at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. She knew the circumstances of how they'd gotten back together and she was very aware that she was the reason they'd broken up. Her body language wasn't missed by Ron, despite his hangover.

"You need to move past the fact that Lavender and I were together Hermione…" He didn't let go of her hand, but his thumb stopped stroking her skin. "I wasn't going to save myself for you…"

"I know…" She rubbed her eyes with her spare hand, feeling frustrated with the whole situation. "I know, I'm sorry…"

"About Lav?"

"About the whole situation. I handled it all awfully and was a cow to her to boot. I'm not mad at you about it. I'm sorry about the way I handled it. I shouldn't have sent the ring back with a heated letter. When you didn't reply to it, I felt awful too."

Ron laughed softly. "Did you really expect me to reply?"

"No…" Hermione's frown dissolved into a small smile. "You were rubbish at replying to all the nice letters I've sent over the many years I've been sending them to you. I know better than to expect a reply."

"Well, you're right there. That's why we had those 'phones…" He leaned in to give her a kiss, grateful that their conversation was going a lot better than it did last night.

Hermione returned the kiss before pulling away, a serious look back on her face. "I know we've talked about it so many times, but I am truly sorry. You were my first proper boyfriend; I didn't have a clue what I was doing – I still don't and I don't really have friends to speak to about stuff like that."

"You have Harry and Ginny…"

"Oh yeah, ringing Ginny and asking her how to break up effectively with her brother would go down well!" Hermione gave Ron a friendly smile to show she was teasing. "It was never my intention to break up with you on the phone that day. I just let my anger dictate the call…"

"Well, we're both really good at letting our anger take control…" Ron stood up, pulling her up to her feet. He took her empty teacup from her before wrapping his arms around her in a tight bear hug. He kissed the top of her head again.

Hermione stood there for a few moments, just breathing in his scent. "I am really sorry about last night. I feel I ruined things…"

"You didn't ruin things; I had a fantastic night."

"Me too!" She nestled closer against his chest, seeking the comfort from his strong arms and chest. "Do you want to take a bath with me, see if we can get things back on track?"

"Yes please," Ron nodded into her hair. Reluctantly, he let go of her and walked with her slowly to the bathroom, trying hard to stay as close to her as possible as they moved. He sat her on the edge of the bath and started running it, adding all the luxury bubbles he could find in the bathroom, raising his eyebrows as Hermione laughed softly.

"You, Miss Granger, need to learn the benefits of a good bubble bath. I will convert you yet!" He helped her up and started unbuttoning the shirt. "Now, as sexy as you look wearing only my shirt; it cost me a fair few sickles and I don't want to ruin it with bathwater…"

This time, he hung the shirt on the bathroom door and removed his boxers. Once the bath was full, he turned the taps off and got in; leaning back to make room for her.

Hermione stepped into the water and settled between his legs, closing her eyes briefly. She was exhausted, and she still had to survive Christmas Eve at the Burrow before bedtime. She rested her head back against his shoulder, closing her eyes with a yawn and smiling as she felt him snake one of her arms around her waist, his thumb softly stroking against her stomach.

"Can I ask a favour?"

"What's that?" Ron rested his head against hers.

"Can we promise not to sleep on an argument, no matter how mad we are at each other? I'm exhausted, I'm not sure how I'm going to survive an afternoon with your family!"

Ron blushed, the tips of his ears turning pink. "Yeah okay, I forgot not everyone is as good as sleeping as I am…"

"You are brilliant at sleeping… I'm jealous…" Hermione giggled.

"I know something else I'm brilliant at…" He dropped his lips to just behind her ear, pushing her hair to the side to get at her skin and nuzzling at it affectionately.

"What's that?" She could already feel her heartbeat starting to speed up as she felt the hand that was stroking her stomach move up to cup her left breast, his thumb pressing against her nipple. She let out a soft moan as she felt his touch. He was being extremely gentle with her as he slipped his other arm around her waist, grazing his fingers along her lower stomach before dipping lower.

Ron didn't respond to her question, instead choosing to focus on pressing kisses against the side of her neck, her soft moans let him know when he was hitting the right spots. He grinned as he hit a particularly sensitive spot where her neck met his collarbone and she groaned his name so she worked on leaving a faint love bite against it; needing to mark her and let the world know that she was his.

He continued doing his best to make her feel good, feeling a little guilty that he was the reason she'd woken up feeling so shitty to begin with. He figured this would probably be the pattern of their lives together; both of them were champions at bickering and that would probably never change but Ron thought that as long as they both put as much effort into making up, they would be okay.

He felt Hermione slip a hand back between them and he let out a groan as she wrapped her fingers around him, starting to stroke him softly. The pressure he'd felt as her body moved in time with his fingers, his hard cock pressed tightly between their bodies had almost been enough anyway; but the feeling of her hand in the warm water made him throb in pleasure.

He carried on sucking softly on that spot on her collarbone, the bruise growing larger against his lips as he pleasured her with his fingers.

"Merlin, Ron…" Her eyes flicked open and she held eye contact with him as she shuddered against him, her hand reaching back to tangle in his hair so she could hold him as close as possible. He felt his own release not long after, craning his neck around awkwardly to try his best to kiss as close to her lips as he could get.

They carried on stroking their fingers against each other's skin, Ron talking in low, comforting words to Hermione. Her breathing soon turned steady and slow and he wondered if she'd fallen asleep in his arms until she shivered in the now cold water.

"I'm hungry…" She forced her eyes open again.

"Me too!" His stomach gave a growl in agreement, causing them both to laugh and break the post-orgasm bubble they'd been basking in. He pushed himself out of the bath, carefully climbing over her and reached for two towels, using a hot-air charm to warm them up.

He quickly dried himself off and fastened the towel around his waist before holding one out for her, wrapping her in it tightly. Once they were both dried and dressed in the cosy hotel dressing gowns, they ate their breakfast on the chairs in the window.

"I bet this place is beautiful in the spring and summer…"

Hermione smiled softly.

"Yeah, I think this garden underneath our window is a rose garden. The smell by itself would be stunning…"

"Roses are your favourite, aren't they?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

Ron shrugged and carried on chewing his toast. "Just one of those things I've picked up I guess. Don't get too excited though, you're not getting flowers off me too Hermione, you've had enough surprises already!"

Hermione pouted at him. "Does that mean I'm not getting a Christmas present?!"

"Well, I didn't say that!" He gave her a wicked grin and finished his breakfast. "How about we get dressed and wrapped up and take a walk through the gardens before we head to the Burrow?"

"That sounds perfect!" Hermione collected up their plates before moving to get changed.

XXX

Hermione apparated into the magical boundaries at the Burrow just after lunch. She smiled as she glanced up at the house; Christmas was practically pouring out of it and even the gnomes running around the garden were wearing little Santa hats. Crookshanks would have loved it. She could hear Celestina Warbeck belting out from the kitchen. With the sky looking like it was threatening to snow, she hurried up to the house and stepped into the warm kitchen, laughing as she was immediately pulled into Molly's arms.

"Happy Christmas Eve Hermione, love. Have you come alone?" The Weasley matriarch was always welcoming and Hermione was always grateful that she'd been accepted back into the large brood.

"Ron's on his way; he's just popped to the cottage to get our things…"

Molly pulled away from the hug. "Are you okay? You're looking peaky… do you want a pepper-up potion?"

"No thank you. We just partied way too hard last night…" Hermione gave her a sheepish smile.

"Well, why don't you go and make yourself comfortable in the front room. You missed lunch but I have plenty going spare; I'll make you up a plate…"

Hermione thanked Molly and shrugged off her coat, hanging it in its usual place with everyone else's. She wandered through to the living room, smiling at Harry and Ginny.

"Are you the only ones here?" She curled up like a cat on the loveseat, resting her head back against the sofa and closing her eyes briefly.

"So far…" Ginny watched her friend closely. "Did you have a good night?" She smirked at Hermione's appearance.

Hermione forced her eyes back open. "I forgot to take a hangover potion. I'm shattered…"

"Yeah, it's the hangover I'm sure…" Ginny's smirk grew wider, but she was prevented from teasing Hermione any further by the reappearance of her mum, who not only brought through a plate of sandwiches but a whole tray of snacks and cakes. Hermione was adamant that Molly's sole goal in life was to make sure visitors left the house at least a few pounds heavier, if not a whole dress size.

Ron soon arrived at the Burrow, dumping their things in the hallway much to his mum's chagrin. "Brilliant, there's food!"

He plonked himself down on the loveseat next to Hermione, pressing a kiss against her temple before reaching for the plate of food eagerly.

"So, have the two of you had the chance to see the Prophet or the Christmas special edition of Witch Weekly?" Harry asked almost nervously.

"No…" Hermione frowned. "I'd completely forgotten about it, how bad is it?"

"Well, luckily they've chosen to mostly focus on Ginny and me…" He rolled his eyes and pulled the offending articles out from the side of the sofa.

Hermione took them with a sigh and let herself sink back against Ron as she flicked to the features. The coverage of the party from the Daily Prophet wasn't too bad; mostly pictures of the group as they made their entrances and as they danced together but Witch Weekly seemed to have taken a different angle.

"It's nice to see they still have a strong dislike for me then…" She felt tears burn in her eyes and even though she hated herself for reacting this way, she let them fall angrily. She was tired and this was the last thing she needed; especially with Dobby's Law so close to launching. She let out a shaky breath, but it was no good; she was finding her cool slipping away and she hated the magazine even more for ruining the happy mood she'd been in. She abandoned the magazine on Ron's lap and stood up quickly.

"I think I'll take our stuff upstairs before someone trips on it!" She moved quickly, gathering their bags without reducing them down in size and starting to pull them up the stairs.

Ron frowned as he watched her leave and picked up Witch Weekly as he expertly shoved the last of his mine pie into his mouth. He waited until he'd finished chewing before reading the headline out loud.

"Harpy Hermione sinks her claws into Weasley: Now Potter is tied down; Granger sets her eyes on the remaining member of the Golden Trio!" He let out a loud groan as the picture they'd chosen to feature seemed to show a drunken Hermione throwing herself at Ron and giggling. It was a really unflattering and incorrect representation of what really happened.

"Oh for fucks sake…" He threw the magazine on to the coffee table in disgust and stood up, ignoring his mum reprimanding him for swearing and followed Hermione up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He headed into his childhood bedroom, sighing as he spotted Hermione sat on the edge of his old bed; her head in her hand as she sobbed quietly.

"Hermione…" He carefully dropped to his knees in front of her, taking one of her hands into his. "Come on now, you know it's all bullshit!"

Hermione used her spare hand to wipe her eyes shakily. "I know, it's just not fair! They're making me out to be a Scarlet Woman again and that's not how it is!"

"Well, they still haven't gotten over you breaking Harry's heart by going off with Krum and now you've moved on to me…" He gave her a smile to let her know he was joking. "At least there's no Howlers…"

"Not yet…" Hermione looked down at him with sad eyes and his heart broke for her. He knew how much she struggled with the attention they attracted to them given their positions in the Wizarding World. Despite the good work she did in the world, Hermione would never outlive the bad press she'd been given (undeservedly) during the Triwizard Tournament.

"Well if they do show up, you don't have to worry about them. My brothers will soon be here and we'll be on mail duty, okay? Unless it's got a Ministry stamp on it, it's going in the fire!"

She nodded weakly, a small smile finally forming on her face.

"That's better…" Ron reached up to wipe the last of the tears off her cheeks. "Today's been something 'eh?"

"Yeah… it has…" She ran a hand through her curls and Ron noted how exhausted she still looked. "Thank you for coming up to check on me…"

"S'my job… why don't you take a nap? I promise I'll come and wake you if anything exciting happens…"

Hermione nodded and watched as Ron stood up and toed off his shoes before climbing over her to get to the other side of the bed. He held his arms open for her.

Hermione laughed softly and moved into his arms. As soon as she was wrapped tightly in his embrace as she closed her eyes.

"I know you're not a Harpy, by the way…" He kissed the top of her head. "Fuck what the rest of the world thinks!"

Ron waited for the inevitable telling off he'd get for the amount of swearing he'd done today but she was already fast asleep in his arms. He lay there anyway with her until the sounds of his brothers' arrivals reverberated up to the top floor of the house. He carefully untangled himself and tucked her under the duvet, which was now a mute floral number. He shut the door tightly behind her and hurried back downstairs to greet his siblings.

XXX

"Ron love, maybe you should go and wake Hermione up. It's almost dinner time and she wouldn't want to miss out…"

Ron looked up from a particularly tricky game of chess with Harry. The git had obviously been practising and was almost beating him.

His mum was holding out a cup of tea, steam rising from its surface. He took the hint as its intended command and stood up, taking the tea off his mum before throwing a warning glance at Harry. "I know where my pieces are Harry, you cheat and I'll get Ginny to hex your balls off."

When he got up to his bedroom, he smiled as Hermione was still sound asleep. He put the mug down on the side table next to her and pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

"'Mione, it's time to wake up sweetheart…"

Hermione stirred, stretching lazily before reaching eagerly for Ron. He climbed over her again and onto the bed, spooning up to her. Her body was still had that delightful heat from sleeping.

"Dinners almost ready. Mum sent me up to get you. You've been asleep all afternoon." He nuzzled his lips against her hair.

"Have I missed anything?"

"George and Charlie have been playing out their favourite howlers. Luckily there haven't been that many, so people must be getting bored of reading about our love lives. They've saved some of the best ones to show you after dinner but don't worry, they only like the ones that target me!"

Hermione laughed softly and turned in his arms to face him, feeling less wound up now she'd had a decent amount of sleep.

"Were they ghastly?" She pulled a face.

Ron shrugged. "Some of them were. There were some nice letters too, wishing us luck and some mourning the loss of me from the Bachelor world. There was no Bubotuber pus this time though so that's a bonus!" He pushed her hair away from her face.

"Don't let all this over-inflate your ego Weasley…" She smiled fondly and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"I've never felt so wanted!"

"Shut up!" She punched his shoulder with a laugh. "I've told you all along you're free to go find yourself someone new if you want…"

"Nah, that's way too much hard work." He snuggled even closer to her. "I like it here…"

Hermione let out a happy sigh. "Me too…"

Ron leaned in for another kiss, a huge smile on his face but they were interrupted by Molly calling up the stairs that dinner was ready.

Hermione slid off the bed first, rearranging her clothes before waiting for Ron. "This room looks weird like this…"

Ron stayed on the bed for a bit longer, finally taking in all the changes. He rarely came up here on their weekly visits to the Burrow. "You're right, it's too boring…"

"Hmmm…" Hermione picked up her wand, her face scrunched in concentration for a moment. She chewed on her bottom lip then finally cast a spell, turning the room back into the bright orange they were used to. "That's better…"

Ron was now sat on the end of the bed, watching her with his mouth agape. He'd seen her do some pretty spectacular magic, but sometimes it was the smaller charms that made him catch his breath. He didn't know of anyone else who could change the appearance of a room with just a flick of their wand, apart from Dumbledore.

"You're bloody scary sometimes…" He held out his hand for her and pulled her out of his room with a grin, eager for one of Molly's feasts. The now cold cup of tea was left abandoned on the side table.