'Here comes Percy at last,' Molly Weasley said happily as she looked out of the window. She turned to take the kettle off the stove and poured the boiling water into an enormous teapot. 'I think we're all here now, aren't we?'

Hermione felt her heart beat more rapidly at Mrs Weasley's words. She wondered whether she could leave the room before the errant son arrived but knew she was too late, the door was already opening. In a few seconds he would be in the kitchen with them.

She was going to see Percy again.

Hermione was surprised and a little disconcerted to feel the nervous butterflies swooping around in her stomach at the thought of seeing him but then realised it was quite natural. When she had finally left him, the day after giving herself to him so completely, she was elated from their lovemaking and fully expected him to contact her again within days, if not hours, to continue the relationship she was only too happy to become involved in.

But after a week, she still hadn't heard from him and she began to wonder whether Percy really had meant what he had said. As another week rolled by and then another, still with no word from him, Hermione began to realise that Percy had just been playing with her. He obviously had no intention of making her his girlfriend, and she suddenly understood why he hadn't mentioned anything about her relationship with Ron.

Over the weeks since she had last seen him it had become clear to Hermione that once Percy had sobered up and realised what he had done with her, his guilt had kept him as far away from her as possible. He hadn't even contacted her to admit he had made a mistake and apologise for raising her hopes. Instead, in an act of cowardice that hurt far more than she wanted to admit, he had just ignored her completely.

She was just glad that she hadn't told anyone else about what had happened between them that night, otherwise her life wouldn't be worth living. At least no one knew there had ever been anything between them except the occasional friendship and hopefully, she could keep it that way. When she had ended her relationship with Ron she kept it general, saying the things both of them knew but had never got round to admitting to each other, not yet sure that she wanted him to know about her love for his brother. Now she was glad she hadn't told him.

Hermione now understood that Percy didn't love her, as he had told her he did that night when she had done things with him she had never even considered doing with anyone else. He had only told her that to get her to do what he wanted, and stupid fool that she was, she had believed him, thinking that even with all the changes he had made to his life, deep inside he was still essentially the same staid and trustworthy Percy she had always known.

Upset and bitterly disappointed by Percy's treatment of her, Hermione had briefly considered trying to rekindle her relationship with Ron, but she knew it was no good. She didn't love Ron and however much she tried she never would. He would always be her best friend, of that she had no doubt, but she was in love with Percy and it hurt to know that she wanted him so very badly, whilst he had taken what he wanted from her then discarded her without even a word.

Now she was going to have to face him again, and in front of all his family, too. She could feel her breathing quicken as her heart continued to pound. God, she had to calm down or she was going to make a complete fool of herself.

Fortunately, Mrs Weasley was still busy making tea and hadn't noticed her distress. That was a good thing, or being as tactless as she could be sometimes she was sure to say something. Hermione glanced at Ron but he was still reading the newspaper and hadn't realised that something momentous was about to occur either.

'Afternoon all.' Percy's voice sounded pompous as he stuck his head round the door, his body following a moment later. 'Sorry we're late. We haven't missed anything, have we?'

Hermione looked up at Percy's words, determined to smile and be happy, wanting to make him realise what he was missing by not contacting her. But the smile froze on her lips when she saw the woman who walked into the room behind him and she was sure that for a moment her heart had actually stopped beating. What was she doing here?

'Penny was running late and, of course, I didn't want to come without her,' Percy said. 'Still, we made it eventually.' He kissed his mother on her cheek, taking the offered mug of tea.

Penelope Clearwater, the woman Hermione hated more than any other person in the world at that moment, smiled as she, too, kissed Molly before taking a mug.

'Thank you, Molly,' she said pleasantly. 'I did tell Perce to come along without me and I'd catch up, but you know what a sweetheart he is.' She simpered at her boyfriend. 'He wouldn't think of it and insisted on waiting for me. I hope we're not too late, are we?'

'Of course not, Penny dear,' Molly replied happily. 'We're just waiting for Arthur. He had to go to a meeting this afternoon and hasn't got back yet. Everyone else is around here somewhere, in the garden or the lounge or wherever. You're welcome to go and find them and say hullo.'

She looked fondly at her son. 'If you want to take your stuff upstairs you can get settled in. You're in your old room, sharing with Charlie — now don't look like that, Percy,' she admonished having spotted the baleful look he gave her at this pronouncement. 'We're at a premium for space around here with the whole family at home and it's only for a couple of days,' she continued cheerfully. 'Penny will be sharing with Hermione and Ginny — a bit of a squash, but I'm sure you girls will manage to rub along okay, won't you?'

'I'm sure it'll be great fun, won't it, Hermione?' Penny said, smiling as she looked towards the table where Hermione was sitting.

Hermione had to fight hard to bite down the comment she wanted to make and to push from her mind the vision of her strangling the saccharine woman. Penny had always been too sweet and squeaky-clean for her liking but now she hated her with a vengeance. Penny, standing in the kitchen at that moment, was an unpleasant reminder of how badly Percy had used her. Unable to speak, she smiled weakly and nodded.

'Oh, hullo, Hermione,' Percy said pleasantly as he walked towards the table. 'How's things? I see you're still keeping my brother under control.' He bent down at Ron's side. 'What's that you're reading, Ronald?'

Hermione pulled her hands under the table, clenching them tightly into fists as she rapidly counted to ten in an attempt to calm down.

'I'm good, thank you, Percy, and I hope you are as well?' Hermione was pleased to hear her voice sounded almost normal. Without waiting for his answer, she stood up. 'Come on, Penny. Let's leave the boys to it. I'll help you take your stuff up to Ginny's room.'

Hermione saw Percy stare at her but was unable to work out what the look meant. Determined to prove she didn't care about him she gave him the biggest smile she could manage before walking out of the kitchen.

'I was going to contact you, Hermione,' Percy said quietly.

He had cornered her in the lounge after they had all moved in there after dinner. She had managed to avoid being anywhere near him until then, but as she had helped Mrs Weasley clear up after the meal, everyone else was already in conversation when she entered the room and she hadn't had time to join in elsewhere before he collared her, pulling her towards the Christmas tree as if examining it as they talked.

'So what stopped you, then?' Hermione asked offhandedly.

Percy looked a little hurt at her tone. 'I've been really busy . . . with work.' He looked around quickly to make sure no one was looking at them then took Hermione's hand, squeezing it tightly. 'I'm really sorry, darling.'

Hermione pulled her hand away, responding tartly, 'Why are you sorry? For not contacting me or for not ending it with Penny, and instead bringing her here to play happy families?'

'Hermione, I—'

'Forget it, Percy,' Hermione hissed angrily. 'You got what you wanted. No need to pretend it was something it so clearly wasn't. I just wish I'd realised because I wouldn't have . . . .' She broke off, realising she was about to lose it and she didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone else.

'Hermione, please,' Percy sounded as unhappy as she felt. 'Give me a chance to explain.'

'I can't talk to you, Percy,' she said quietly, 'not now.'

She started to move away. Percy grabbed her arm. 'Then meet me later, after everyone's gone to sleep. Please, darling, I need to talk to you.'

Hermione shook her head. 'That's ridiculous. There are too many people here. Anyway, I don't want to talk to you. We've got nothing to talk about.'

'That's not true and you know it,' Percy whispered in her ear. 'Meet me in the kitchen at three o'clock. Everyone will be asleep by then, and if they aren't we're just getting up to get a drink.' Hermione continued to shake her head as Percy talked. 'Please,' he pleaded.

She gave an ostentatious sigh. 'Okay, I'll get up at three. But if there's anyone else around I'm going straight back to bed and that will be it. I don't want tomorrow ruined by stupid discussions.'

Percy stroked her arm for a moment. 'I'll see you later,' he said, sounding happier.

Hermione walked away from the Christmas tree and joined Ron and Harry where they were sitting with Ginny playing Exploding Snap. She watched them as they finished their game, both boys getting annoyed when Ginny won, then sat down to join in the next game. She tried to concentrate on the cards but found herself looking over at Percy several times. He was talking to Bill and Fleur and Penny had joined him, sliding into his arms as she gave him a big kiss. He stood with his arm around her waist as the two couples talked. Hermione grimaced with disgust.

'Are you all right, Hermione?' Ginny asked after she had easily won the game, looking worriedly at her friend. 'You don't look very happy and you're playing really badly this evening.'

'I'm okay,' Hermione said, trying to flash a small smile. 'I've just got a bit of a headache, that's all, and I'm finding it hard to concentrate. Do you think anyone would say anything if I called it a night?'

Ginny smiled sympathetically. 'Of course not. With the number of people in here I doubt anyone will even notice you've gone. Do you need anything for the headache? We don't want you being ill and missing all the fun tomorrow.'

Hermione shook her head. 'I've got some Ibuprofen tablets in my case. I'll take some of those. I'm sure I'll be fine after a good night's sleep.' She rose and having given Harry and Ron a brief hug goodnight she made her way up the stairs to Ginny's room.

Percy watched her go, looking worriedly after her. Penny noticed.

'What are you looking at?' she asked, giving him a squeeze.

'Hermione,' he answered quietly. 'I hope she's all right.'

'She certainly doesn't look very happy,' Penny said. 'Perhaps she's not getting on very well with Ron. They don't seem to be particularly close anymore.' She giggled. 'Not everyone can be as much in love as we are, Perce. I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning, though, once Santa's been. Everything will be fine in the morning.' She hugged him tightly.

Percy looked at Hermione's retreating back.

'I hope so,' he said softly.

'Come to the barn with me,' Percy said, taking her hand as Hermione entered the kitchen. He had been right; they were the only ones still awake.

'I'm not going out there, it's cold,' Hermione replied, sounding unhappy.

'Please, Hermione. We can't talk properly in here in case someone comes down.' He stared at her intently. 'Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg you? I will if that's what it takes.'

Hermione sighed loudly, and tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling as if in exasperation, then she looked back at him. 'No, of course not, Percy. Come on then, let's get this over and done with so I can get back to bed.'

She watched as Percy unlatched the door, opening it slowly to ensure it made no noise. She shivered as she stepped outside into the cold garden and wrapped her dressing gown tighter around herself before following him to the barn. Neither of them said a word as they walked, the frost-covered grass crunching loudly beneath their slippered feet in the still night air.

As soon as they entered the barn Percy grabbed Hermione, wrapping his arms around her tightly as his mouth covered hers, tongue pushing into it as he kissed her deeply. Hermione kissed him back but as soon as the kiss finished she pulled out of his arms, moving away from him before he could hold her again.

'Hermione, darling, please let me hold you,' Percy said, sounding agonised. 'I really want to be with you. You know how I feel about you.'

Hermione snorted derisively. 'Do I? You told me you loved me, Percy. You told me you were going to finish with Penny because you didn't want to be with her any longer, you wanted to be with me,' she said, trying not to cry. She wrapped her arms around herself, needing the comfort it brought. 'Instead, you completely ignore me for over a month then bring the woman you assured me you had no feelings for to spend Christmas with your family and you play all lovey-dovey with her in front of me. How the hell am I supposed to know what you feel for me?'

'I do love you, Hermione,' Percy said, looking contritely at her. He moved a step nearer. Hermione shook her head and moved back a step. 'I honestly am sorry about Penny being here but Mum invited her and I really didn't know what to do for the best.'

'You said you were going to break up with her,' Hermione said accusingly. 'You told me you wanted me to be your girlfriend, remember?'

'And I meant it,' Percy replied. 'Believe me, Hermione there's nothing I want more. You've no idea how I felt when I woke up and you were still lying next to me that morning. It was the most wonderful feeling I'd ever had in my whole life. Everything was finally completely perfect.'

'So why didn't you do anything about it, then? All you had to do was split up with Penny and send me a message or something,' Hermione said sounding distraught. 'Surely that wasn't too hard to do, was it?'

'I know I've been incredibly stupid,' Percy said ruefully. 'But I really was extremely busy with work. There was a major problem with the Ministry's entire fleet of cars, which took me weeks to sort out and lots of sleepless nights so I didn't have time to contact you, and then as time went on I began to doubt that you really meant what you said.

'Stupidly, I convinced myself that if you really wanted our relationship to continue you would have made some attempt to contact me, and because you didn't you had changed your mind about us. It honestly didn't occur to me that you needed me to contact you first. I became convinced that you had only done it because you were drunk, so then I didn't want to remind you of it, especially if you were embarrassed about what had happened.

'But because of all that bloody work I didn't get a chance to talk to Penny either, and then when I did manage to finally get hold of her I discovered Mum had already invited her here for Christmas and she had accepted and started buying presents for everyone, so it was too late for me to split up with her then without causing a major problem. By that time I had convinced myself that you didn't want me and had decided you would rather stay with Ron.'

'So what were you going to do,' Hermione asked, sounding a touch belligerent, 'just ignore me and hope I'd go away?'

'I was going to do whatever you wanted. I thought you'd changed your mind about me, remember? But as soon as I saw you this afternoon I knew it didn't matter if you didn't want us to be a couple any longer because I was going to fight for you anyway. I'm completely in love with you, Hermione, and I want to be with you, not Penny. That's why I had to speak to you tonight, so I could tell you that.

'If you really want me to leave you alone I will, but it won't stop me from loving you and wanting you to be mine. Unfortunately, we're stuck with things as they are for the next few days, but I promise you as soon as Christmas is over I will talk to Penny and I'll end it with her.'

'You promised that before,' Hermione said quietly. 'I did things with you I'd never done with anyone else, Percy because you said we were a couple. But we weren't.'

'But we are,' Percy said gently, 'or at least we will be properly after Christmas. Please, Hermione, don't desert me now. I want so much with you and it will happen. I promise, my love.'

Hermione still looked apprehensive but she didn't move any further away, even when Percy walked towards her and pulled her into a kiss that went on for several minutes.

'I want to make love to you,' he told her, several kisses later.

'We should go back to the house,' Hermione replied worriedly. 'What if someone wakes up?'

'They won't,' Percy said, his voice soothing. He had been untying Hermione's dressing gown and his hands slid into the top of her nightdress to stroke her breasts as he kissed her again, fairly certain that despite her bluster she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted her. 'They're all asleep and dreaming of Father Christmas.'

Hermione couldn't help but grin. 'Well, I don't think I'll be getting many presents from him this year. I haven't exactly been a good girl.'

'Oh, I don't know,' Percy said, raising his eyebrows lewdly. 'I thought you were very good.' One hand lifted her nightdress, the other stroked her bottom. 'Let me give you your Christmas present, darling.'

'I hope it's something I want,' Hermione said breathily. Her hand stroked the front of Percy's pyjama bottoms, causing him to give a sharp gasp.

'Mmmm . . . I can guarantee you'll want it,' Percy said, his voice darker now. His hands were still working to remove Hermione's dressing gown and nightdress. 'And better still, it's exactly what I want for Christmas as well.'

Hermione didn't even notice the cold air of the barn as her clothes were removed. Already aroused by Percy's touches, her skin burned with the desire coursing through her body. As they kissed again and again, she pulled off his dressing gown and then his pyjamas, her hand caressing him in return.

'Happy Christmas, Percy,' she whispered as he pulled her to the floor; his lips finding hers, cutting off the salutation as their hands moved, exploring and arousing, their bodies melded together as if they had always meant to be joined.

For a long time afterwards they lay holding each other, enjoying being together, knowing it was likely to be the last time until the festivities were over as there were too many people staying at the Burrow for them to get much time alone.

Eventually, they knew they had to go back to the house. Reluctantly they re-dressed, kissing each other whilst they did so. Then, after one final magnificent kiss they made their way quickly back to the Burrow. Once inside the kitchen, Percy pulled Hermione to him, gently stroking her face as he gazed at her adoringly.

'Happy Christmas, Hermione,' he whispered as his lips brushed over hers.

'Happy Christmas, Percy,' she replied breathlessly before pulling away and leaving him alone in the kitchen.