AN: Hey, I'm back! Sorry it's been so long, but I've been so busy with all of my other Christmas preparations. Anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

December 17th—The Fourth Day of Christmas

" 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house," he muttered sweetly, reading from a library book he had recently borrowed from the library. There was a small stack of other books, Hogwarts: a History included, lying in the corner of the room, just waiting to be read. He enjoyed reading to her, especially as her due date came closer.

"Don't stop, love. She's finally stopped kicking," his wife sighed contentedly, her eyelids closed in relaxation.

"Not a creature was stirring…not even a mouse," he continued. His wife sighed happily. The baby always kicked the least when he talked, which was why he had borrowed so many books from the library. Reading stories meant less thinking to keep up the one-sided conversation.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there," he muttered right against the bulge of his wife's belly, then kissing that spot as soon as he had finished his sentence. The baby was coming very soon, and he positively couldn't wait. She would be his little Christmas miracle.

By the time that he had finished the relatively short story, his beautiful wife had fallen fast asleep. He pulled her nightshirt back over her beautifully rounded belly, then tucked her in gently. He then began to undress himself, preparing to join her in bed. Their bed.

Just as he slipped under the cotton covers, his wife began to stir and her eyelids slowly cracked open. If Remus had thought she was beautiful before pregnancy, she was a goddess now in comparison. Her curly hair was silkier, her complexion brighter, her breasts larger…

"Shhh…it's okay. Go back to sleep, my love," he whispered to her.

She nodded and her eyelids fluttered closed again. She snuggled into her pillow further to get comfy. "Remus?" she asked sleepily.

"Yes, love?"

"You know you're going to be an amazing dad, right?" she yawned.

Remus just smiled sleepily and kissed her on the top of her head lovingly. "I know, love. I know that thanks to you."

"Love you," she slurred sleepily.

"I love you too, Hermione."

Remus woke with a start, turning his head frantically to the right side of his bed, where his wife had been just seconds ago. Remus wanted to smack himself. Of course it had only been a dream! He was such an idiot…and a pervert, for that matter. Dreaming about impregnating Harry's best friend…he was totally going to hell.

But the smitten part of Remus' mind, frantically searching for any excuse to allow him to get into her knickers while allowing him to remain honorable, reminded him that she was an adult and there would be nothing illegal about pursuing her. Nothing illegal, and yet it would still be frowned upon by the rest of the wizarding world. What a dilemma…

But looking back on the events of the previous day, Remus was much more inclined to give up on his morality, so long as he could have the temptress known as Hermione Granger all to himself. After their make-out session in the kitchen yesterday, they proceeded to eat the cold and all-around disgusting scrambled eggs that Hermione had attempted to make. Once they had done that, they resumed their kissing in the living room. And then the parlour. Then the hallway, the staircase, and finally Remus' bedroom. But they never went further than that.

He wasn't sure if Hermione had expected to go further, but Remus stopped them before they could. Sure, the full moon was far enough away for it to be quite safe, but he still felt as though doing anything more than kissing would be very wrong.

And so instead of doing the thing that Remus craved more than anything, they cuddled for a while until they both fell asleep. When he woke up later on in the day, Hermione was no longer in bed. This confused Remus quite a bit. When the girl left before the guy woke up, wasn't that code for 'this is just a one-time thing' or something? But then again, Hermione couldn't actually leave—well not properly, anyways. She was still living with him. Merlin, what a mess…

At that point in the day, Remus had decided to cook up something to eat. Hermione's door was closed, and so he assumed she wanted some alone time. He left some extra food on the stove for Hermione if she ever decided to eat and decided to retire to his room for the evening.

And so that led to now. It was about 8:00 am on Sunday morning, and Remus was scheduled to meet with Sirius in Hogsmeade for lunch. As he made his way to the kitchen, though, Remus heard Hermione's voice. She seemed to be talking to someone.

"Ginny…Gi—hey, can you hear me now?"

"Yeah, I think it's clearing up a li…" (a muffled, crackling noise cut her off) "where are you? Are you still at Grimmauld Place?"

Remus stopped and pressed himself against the wall next to the kitchen doorframe so that Hermione wouldn't see him. He wasn't sure why he was so keen to eavesdrop, but he chose to simply attribute it to his old marauding habits.

"Yeah, I am. What's going on? Why—"

"I can't hear you, 'Mione! Speak up."

"I was asking why the Floo network is acting up!"

"Why the—'Mione, haven't you looked outside at all in the past thirty-six hours? There's one hell of a…(connection breaks again)…storm happening. Where the hell have you been? Nearly…(more crackling)…snowed in!"

"Wait, what? Snowed in?! But—but this is London! We can't be…"

Remus was thinking along the same lines as Hermione, but as he glanced out the window at the end of the hall, it was obvious Ginny was right. There must have been more than four feet of snow piled everywhere, covering all the streets and driveways and blocking anyone from leaving, and the snow was still falling hard and fast. Remus doubted he would be able to so much as get out the front door without being swept away by a miniature avalanche.

Ginny began scolding Hermione. "Are there no bloody windows in your room at Grimmauld Place? Hermione, you need to get a life outside of your stack of books!"

"I haven't been…never mind," Hermione muttered, and Remus could nearly hear her blush from where he was. "Wait, if the snow is interfering with the Floo network then how will we get together today?"

"HERMIONE GRANGER, DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE TERM 'SNOWED IN'?"

"Sorry! Damnit! Okay, that was really stupid of me. So I assume the ministry has deemed it unsafe to apparate in this weather?"

"Yep, and they're refusing to authorize portkeys for anything other than emergencies…(connection breaks for a little longer this time)…nearly the entire staff can't even make it to work, so it's all a big mess. So we'll have to get together with the girls another time."

"That's too bad. I was really looking forward to it," Hermione sighed.

"So was I, and now I'm really looking forward to when we reschedule it so you can tell me what had you so distracted if you weren't reading," Ginny said mischievously. Remus could picture the eyebrow waggle she was giving Hermione through the Floo call.

"Ginny, please don't read too much—"

"OH MY GOD HERMIONE! YOU AND LUPIN? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! THAT IS WAYYYY TOO PERFECT!"

"Wha—I didn't even—?"

"You didn't have to. That blush tells me everything I need to know, and who else would you be trapped with all day in that creepy house? I need details! Is he a good kisser? Oh, and how good is he in bed?"

Remus' jaw dropped almost as low as his stomach. He loved the Weasley family, but he wasn't sure if he trusted any of them to keep a secret. Not only were they the most loving family he knew, but also the most social. If Ginny grew to be anything like her mother, Remus was sure there would be people in Papua New Guinea who would think that he and Hermione were together by the end of the week.

Hermione's voice sounded slightly panicked when she spoke next. "Oh, Ginny! The connection is getting worse. You'll let me know when the Floo network is fixed, won't you?"

"Oh, sure thing, Hermione! Talk later!" Ginny drawled knowingly.

Remus heard Hermione sigh and could tell that Ginny was no longer in the fire. He waited just a moment before entering the room.

"Good morning, Hermione."

Hermione startled a bit at Remus' abrupt appearance, and Remus pretended not to notice the guilty blush that painted her cheeks. He wondered if his cheeks were just as red. He opened the fridge and pulled out an apple for his breakfast. He was very surprised to find Hermione's eyes carefully observing his every move with a hungry expression in them. When she licked her lips as he took a bite from his apple, he had reached his limit.

"What is it that you want, Hermione?" The question burst from his lips before he could stop it.

"I'm sorry?"

"What are you looking for from this thing between us? Is it a sex thing? Is it a company thing? Is it a…is it more than that?" Remus asked with a desperate note in his voice. He couldn't stand not knowing anymore, though he had nearly screwed up in his last question and asked if it was a love thing. He just thanked Merlin he caught himself before he actually said it.

Hermione seemed quite taken off guard by all this, though there was a sort of resignation in her face. Almost as if she had been expecting this question.

"All of the above," she answered, not meeting his eyes.

It was Remus' turn to be taken aback. "What?"

"I'm looking for—oh, you won't make me say it all, will you? I feel anxious enough admitting this to you, I don't need to be forced to tell you that I'm falling for you," Hermione said, looking up at him with a nervous and embarrassed smile.

"I…uh…" Remus stammered, warring with himself on the inside.

Hermione sighed frustratedly. "Remus, for once in your life can you just do what feels right? Who cares about what society's expectations of us are? For once, just cut yourself some slack! If you don't want me, just tell me, but I can see in your eyes that you're conflicted. I'm right here Remus. I'm here and I want you," Hermione ended in a whisper, her eyes shining bright with suppressed tears.

At the note of desperateness in her voice, Remus stopped caring. All he wanted to do was to reassure her that he wanted her more than she could even fathom. And so, Remus set his apple on the counter and crossed the room in three large strides so that he was standing face-to-face with Hermione. As if she already knew what he was up to, she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck as his own wrapped around her back. They proceeded to kiss just like yesterday, though this time with so much more passion and emotion. It was positively toe-curling and shiver-inducing.

When they broke apart for air, Remus whispered "I want all of the above, as well" onto her lips. Hermione's lips broke into a massive smile, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck, squeezing him more tightly to her and breathing in his scent. Remus smoothed her hair soothingly and enjoyed the warm, feminine scent that was signature to Hermione.

"So what do we do now?" Hermione murmured into his neck.

Remus thought about this for a moment. "I have no clue. I would suggest going out together for a first date of sorts, but seeing as the weather is…" Remus indicated outside as he trailed off.

Hermione pulled out of his embrace. "That's right! Did you have any idea about the travel ban going on right now?"

"I heard of it this morning," Remus replied vaguely, hoping he wasn't blushing too hard. He always blushed when he lied or told half-truths.

They were silent for a moment before Hermione piped up. "Hey, we could always watch a movie! I have a portable DVD player and I'm sure I have a Christmas movie somewhere in my movie collection."

"I'll make the popcorn, then," Remus smiled. Movies were a great first date in his opinion because it involved all the cuddling and making out without all of the small talk and awkward silences that he usually experienced with women. Though, this was Hermione that he would be with…she was different from all the other girls he knew.

And so within ten minutes, Hermione and Remus were snuggled together on a sofa in the parlor, a blanket draped over their laps, the fireplace crackling in the background as the movie played out on Hermione's miniature muggle television.

Remus' arm had curled around her shoulders about thirty minutes into the movie, and Hermione had somehow snuggled herself into his chest, which she apparently found quite comfortable. Remus couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy. Was this what contentment felt like?

Once they finished the movie, Remus decided that he had a craving for cookies, and so he asked Hermione if she wanted to learn how to bake them. Of course Hermione Granger was eager to learn anything and everything.

And so they began baking, and boy was it messy. Remus was pretty sure that a four-year-old would be less clumsy than Hermione. And she kept asking the most ridiculous questions all the time that made him laugh, but it just made her more endearing in his eyes.

"Remus?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

"What size of cups are they asking for? We have all sorts of different sizes of glasses in this kitchen…

Remus simply laughed, explained to her the function of measuring cups, then returned to his own bowl where he was making the dry mix. It was only a few seconds before Hermione piped up again.

"Remus, it says to beat the eggs…that honestly sounds very violent…"

"Just mix them in, Hermione," he laughed.

There was soon a lull in questions as she began to understand the cookbook's instructions. So, to fill the silence, Remus started whistling Hand of Doom by Black Sabbath just to get a rise out of her. It worked.

"Oh, shut up, you!" She said, brandishing a fork covered in molasses at him and accidentally flinging a big glob of the goop right onto his shirt. It definitely would have been smart to wear an apron…

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She looked for a second as though she was about to apologize, but then began to giggle quietly. Remus, biting back his laughter, simply opened his arms wide and began to walk towards the little rascal, poised to hug her. She squeaked when she realized what he was up to, but she was cornered between the fridge and the counter.

"No! Ahhhhh…don't you dare, Remus. Don't you—ah, dammit!" Hermione cursed in between giggles as Remus enveloped her in a big bear hug, effectively smearing the molasses goop all over her shirt as well.

"Serves you right for flinging the wet mix at me!" Remus laughed.

"Hey, I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't started whistling like a calling bird at me."

"And I wouldn't have done that if the way you danced to that song hadn't been so hot," Remus retorted, his voice dropping to a lower tone as he realized just how close they were now. He had Hermione pressed up right against him, his arms wrapped around her back to trap her.

Hermione seemed to be realizing the same thing as her breathing seemed to become slightly heavier. Remus could feel her breasts pushing against his abdomen, and her arms slipped up between his own to wrap around his neck, pulling him even closer. The make-out session that ensued was heavenly.

They ended up finishing the molasses cookies a little later than they had expected, but the end result was quite satisfying.

The rest of the day was spent doing pretty much nothing. They watched another movie together, talked a little more, then cuddled on the couch as they each read their own books. Remus was reading one of his all-time favourites, The Great Gatsby, and Hermione was reading an old tome on the Goblin Rebellions. Hermione actually ended up falling asleep on Remus' chest (and he didn't blame her for it, what with the book she had chosen to read), but Remus didn't notice until he realized that she hadn't turned a page in over twenty minutes. He thought about moving her, but he realized that he was quite comfy where he was. He ended up falling asleep as well, watching the flames begin to die in the fireplace and the snowstorm slowly come to a stop outside the window.