Hermione, Ron, and Neville were on the move once again. They had been traveling now for nearly a month with little rest. It was mid December and it was growing colder and colder; nights- even with several warming charms—were unbearable. The only thing that kept them moving was the fact that, due to quickened pace they were right on Harry's tail. Hermione believed that if they didn't stop for more than five hours every two days then they would reach him by Christmas. And so they kept their pace. They walked through the frigid December nights, Hermione carefully studying the map all the while.

On the twenty-third of December, the three were out of the dense wood and were now trekking through abandoned farm land until they came to a old wooden farmhouse. A barn behind the house was caving in and weeds grew thick in the back garden. The house, like the land, seemed empty except for a small flickering light that shone in an upstairs window. Hermione's eyes suddenly welled with tears and she dropped the map at her side. "Harry," she said so quietly that no one else heard. And she began to run with a new burst of energy that you would never think someone who had just walked for forty hours could exert.

"What?" Said Ron groggily. He tried to follow but his exhaustion prevailed. "Will you wait a second? Where are you going?"

"Come on, Ron." Neville, who now was more fit from their journey then he'd ever been before, grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him to follow Hermione.

Hermione burst through the front door and ran straight up the stairs. "Harry? Harry!" She was trying, unsuccessfully, to be quiet and hide her excitement. There was a sudden BANG and the bustling, and Harry ran to the top of the stairs. "What? Who--?" He managed to get out before Hermione tackled him.

"Oh my Gods, Harry. I'm so Happy to see you! So Glad you're all right!" She was squeezing him tightly.

"Jeez, Hermione, I'm lucky you're not a death eater or something. And you're lucky I didn't think you were." Harry chuckled slightly. You could tell it was the first time he'd laughed in months. His eyes were bright upon seeing his friend and his smile the same as always, but he was as worse for wear as Hermione had ever seen him. His hair was more unkempt than usual, his clothes torn and grubby, and his skin was dirty and heavily scratched. The lines and scars on his face and the dark bags under his eyes made him look as though he'd aged twenty years.

Ron and Neville had just burst through the door. "Hermione are you alright? Where did you— HARRY!" Ron smiled widely and ran over as well. Ron (to Harry's relief after the incident with Ginny) even joined in and embraced his best friends. "How've you been, mate? Can't believe you thought you could get away from us like that."

"How'd you find me anyway?"

"This," Neville spoke up holding the map that Hermione had dropped. Harry looked confused.

"How's the Horcrux hunting coming along?"

"Oh, we've got time to talk about that. Come up here. I've expanded one of the rooms, I'm planning on staying here for a few weeks." He lead them upstairs to a room which was magically expanded-quite like the tent at the quidditch world cup in their forth year. "So, how've you all been? How's everyone at home?"

"Well when we left everyone was really a mess. Mum's worried about you. Everyone is worried about you, actually. And the war is really becoming a threat, loads of people have gone missing or been found dead." Ron said.

"And…And they've closed Hogwarts." Hermione injected sadly.

"What!? Gods, this is bad. I can't believe it." Harry buried his face in his hands. The others fell into a said silence.

The next day, Harry still refused to discuss horcruxes or anything of the sort, but they decided to spend their time making the best of their situation. They talked and reminisced about old times determined to, just for the holidays, forget about the war. And so the war seemed to forget about them too. They were to be blessed with a blissful holiday.

They woke up late Christmas morning, thought there were no presents to look forward too. Between the four of them, they managed to make a rather nice Christmas feast, but not without Neville blowing up a pot of soup in the process—some things never change. For the first time in a long time they were all able to relax and have fun. Even Harry seemed to be in better spirits than when they found him. They spent the evening eating the lasts of the chocolates Ron had stored in his bag and playing exploding snaps. By eleven they had all decided to retire, none of them having slept much in the past weeks.

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Ron was just drifting off to sleep when he heard his door creek open. (Harry insisted that they all sleep in separate room for fear they would be attacked in the night, that way the others had more of a chance if one was attacked.) He sat up, it was Hermione. She was wearing a short pink night dress. 'What the hell?' he thought—as it was a bitter night. She crawled under the blanket on the cot Harry had conjured for him. She was smiling slightly and Ron looked at her, slightly confused. She moved even closer and Ron was beginning to get warm; he knew his face was reddening.

"I've been thinking," she began, her eyes staring straight into his. "About what you said. And I—well—I know I'm being quite tactless—But I love you too. And I have quite as long as you have." She kissed him, this time, softly on the lips. "I want to, show you just how much, before it's too late, before I lose my chance." Ron's eyes widened but she ignored his expression and kissed him with so much intensity and passion the Ron let out a soft moan. She smiled mischievously and made to remove Ron's shirt. He stopped her.

"Hermione? What are you doing? Are you sure?" This was so completely uncharacteristic of her.

"Of course," she said lightly, but then got serious. "I couldn't bear to think what would happen if I never had another chance. Like you told me, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring, there is no denying that anymore. I want to live while I have the chance."

"But it's me, you know you could have so much better. I don't want it to be just because you may never have the chance with anyone else. I'm not anything special." Ron was now becoming unsure of himself.

"Ron, I want you. I love you." She continued with his shirt. Ron was smiling now. "I always have, really."

She began kissing him again now; it grew more passionate both giving all they had. They both said so much with this one kiss. When they'd kissed before it was never like that. Ron hesitantly put his arms around her; he could feel her curves through the thin material of her nightdress. She pressed her body to his and her warmth overcame him. He began to trail kisses down her neck and shoulders while his hand wandered to the end of the smooth, thin material that stood between them. He slid his hands up her thigh, over her stomach, finally coming to rest on her chest. Hermione let out a soft sigh before kissing Ron more deeply. He took this as an encouragement and tried to remove the offending garment. She quickly took the initiative breaking their kiss to pull off the fabric roughly. By now her eyes were hazed with lust and she returned to kissing Ron's bare, freckled chest.

"Hermione, you're beautiful," Ron breathed heavily. He caught her lips again as she smiled.

They continued to remove their clothes; both breathing heavily, both in a rush of passion. They're bodies pressed together under the blanket causing Ron's arousal to reach its peek. He positioned himself over Hermione. "You sure?" he groaned, almost begging her to say yes. His dreams were finally being turned into reality, it was surreal.

She grinned and kissed him lightly. "Yeah," she looked straight into his eyes. She inhaled sharply as he pushed into her.

They made love that night not caring that it may be the first as well as last time, nor that they were in an abandoned farm house hiding from evil wizards, or even that in the next room Neville was trying very hard to pretend that he did not hear the sounds coming from Ron's room. They were together for now and that was all that mattered.

There was another knock at the door, this time it was morning. Harry's voice startled Ron now, "Ron? Have you seen Hermione?"

"Hold—hold on." There was a great scrambling as Ron threw on his previously discarded pajamas. He ran out and shut the door behind him. He was grinning like a mad man and his ears had gone slightly pink, anyone could tell something was up. "What? What is it?"

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked again, suppressing a laugh; Ron had his shirt on backwards and his hair was sticking up in the front.

"Oh, no," he replied trying to be casual but turning even more red.

"Er—Alright. Well Neville's started breakfast. If you want to go…"

"Yeah, right—I'm starved." He hurried into the other room. But Harry, who was suspicious, held back, waiting quietly. A few moments later a figure with bushy brown hair came through the same door as Ron had. Hermione came out carrying a bundle of what seemed to be a blanket to cover the rather short nightdress she had hastily thrown on.

"Oh, Hi Harry! I was just um…" It was one of the first times that Hermione was lost for words, she settled for just hurrying off toward her room.

"Ron looked like he had a good night," he smiled a rather Fred and George type of smile as he said it. Oh and Hermione, you—uh—dropped something." Harry pointed to a pair of lacey pink panties that had fallen to the floor. Hermione shot him a very angry, yet embarrassed look and grabbed them. Harry only laughed and went to join Neville and Ron in the other room. "Finally," he thought.

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Hope you liked the chapter. I know that seems kind of uncharacteristic of Hermione but, i needed that to happen somehow and I think that after it finally clicked with her the despiration of their sitiation that Hermione would be the one to take the initiative rather than Ron. Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, I was pretty busy lately.