A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update!!! My computer decided to get a virus, but it's all up and in working order now, so I'm back!!! :-) Thanks to BlackHawk13 for looking this over for me. And, I know that cookies in England are called "biscuits"... but I left it this way cuz it sounds nicer somehow. I know, I'm a damn Yank for doing it. You'll have to just forgive me. :-)

Disclaimer: I only lived in the UK for 5 months, and therefore I cannot be J.K.

Hermione lifted a tray of piping hot Christmas cookies from the oven. The sugary smell reminded her of her own childhood, back before she knew she was a witch, before she got her life changing letter from Hogwarts. This Christmas Eve, she was at the Burrow, and tomorrow she'd be home with her parents.

It felt wonderful to be home. Hogwarts just wasn't the same without Harry and Ron… most specifically Ron. Hermione, truth be told, did not miss the constant adventures with her two best friends. She loved the times where she could research for fun, read for pleasure, and write simply because she had homework due next week. She didn't miss the danger, the rule-breaking, the constant fear of death. That, she could always do without.

She did, however, miss spending time with them. The nights they'd play chess and she'd scold them for not finishing their homework. The rare times when they'd get to relax and not be "The Golden Trio," but simply friends who cared deeply for each other.

And she missed Ron more than she cared to admit (to anyone other than herself). She hadn't realized how much she needed him when he wasn't there every day. They'd been by each other's side for the better part of seven years, and now it was difficult to be apart, even if it was voluntary.

It was Christmas Eve morning, well before most others were awake. Hermione had needed the time alone to think, and to make the treats for the Weasley family.

"Whatcha thinking about, love?" asked Ron, wrapping his arm around her waist. Hermione gave a tiny yelp of surprise, but sunk back into his arms when he began nuzzling her neck.

"You've been staring at that tray for a long time. Are you expecting them to jump up and do a dance for you?" Ron looked extremely amused.

"Hush you," she said, blushing. "I was just thinking… about us. How much I've missed you." She leaned forward and brushed a kiss against his lips. "And why are you awake so early?"

"I've missed you, too," he admitted. "George has been driving me barmy the last few months. That weekend at Hogsmeade was not enough, love. And I'm awake because I don't like sleeping without you in my arms. It feels wrong somehow, especially when I know you're just a room away."

"Mmm, I agree," Hermione murmured, turning in the circle of Ron's arms until she was facing him. "I wish we could sneak away right now. Too bad Harry's asleep in your room and I share a room with Ginny…"

She reached between them and cupped Ron through his trousers, causing him to gasp in shock and instant desire.

"Hermione!"

She had to laugh, his expression was a mixture of disbelief and need, his eyes bugging nearly out of his head. Hermione nipped at his bottom lip, then turned to remove the cookies from the tray.

Ron was having none of that. Hermione couldn't see the devilish look on his face, but if she had been able to, she would have shrunk against the counter nervously.

He stood closely behind her, his mouth hovering close to her ear, her round arse close to his clothed erection. Ron had never been so grateful that Hermione was wearing a skirt in his life.

Hermione noted that her boyfriend had moved more closely to her, but she ignored him, thinking she was teasing him, wanting to drive him crazy for her until he cracked and dragged her upstairs to his room, Harry or no Harry.

The cookies were nearly all off the tray when she felt Ron's hands, slightly cold in contrast with the warm kitchen, meandering on the backs of her thighs.

"Ronald, what are you doing?" she demanded, but Ron didn't respond. Instead, his hands moved up and down the soft and smooth skin of her thighs, dangerously close to her arse and knickers.

He began nibbling on her neck, right at the spot beneath her ear that drove her mad with desire. She bit her lip and threw her head back, eyes tightly closed, encouraging his ministrations on her neck. It felt good, much too good, to make him stop.

"Ohh, Ron," she moaned. Her knees were incredibly close to buckling when his fingers slipped beneath her knickers and brushed against her clit.

"OH!" Hermione's eyes flew open in shock, and was torn between pulling away, for fear of being caught by his family, and thrusting her hips back so he would continue the wonderful sensations.

"Relax, Hermione. No one will know we're here. I've cast charms to protect us. I just want to make you feel good. Let me make you feel good."

She moaned and involuntarily bucked her hips towards his hand.

Moments later, Ron's long fingers were plunging deep inside her slick core, his thumb circling her clit at the same time. Hermione was gripping the spatula in her hand with a vice-like grip, panting and gasping with each tiny movement of Ron's hand.

"So… good…" she gasped out, finding herself close to the edge faster than she would ever expect. There was just something about fooling around with Ron in the Burrow's kitchen… with his family just a room away…

It only took Ron a few more thrusts with his hand before Hermione was crying out and her inner muscles milked his fingers with her release. Ron kissed her, swallowing most of her cries. He loved how he could make her fall apart. It made him feel masculine and strong.

"Oh, Ron," she sighed, kissing him all over his face. She groaned as he pulled his fingers from her core, making sure her knickers were covering her once again. Her inhibitions were down, but he knew that soon… too soon, she'd feel embarrassed for being reckless in the kitchen, when anyone could walk in at any moment.

He sucked her sweet juices from his fingers, and she blushed furiously. "Ronald!"

"You taste good, my love."

"I can't believe I just let you do that." She turned back towards the tray of cookies, knees still shaky and heart pounding in her chest.

"You know you love it."

"I did… which worries me."

Ron hugged her from behind again, biting on her ear lightly. She shivered in his arms.

"I'm just not used to losing my inhibitions like that…"

"I liked it. Very sexy. I suggest you lose your inhibitions more often." He kissed up and down her neck until she forgot where she was, or even who she was. Ron was the only one who could ever do this. He was the only one who relaxed her, made her lose control.

And he was right, she did love it.

Moments later, the charms Ron had set up around the kitchen walls began to hum, signaling someone approaching. He flicked his wand out of his pocket, and muttered the counter charm.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, looking ready to make a meal fit for the more than dozen guests who would be seated at her table.

"Good morning, Ron, Hermione," she said with a smile. She was pleased her son and the girl she considered her daughter looked so happy together. In fact, Hermione's cheeks had never looked rosier…

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, still a brilliant shade of red, much like Ron's ears. "Do you need any help?"

"No dear, not right now. Later, I'll need some helpful hands, though, so stay close. And Ron, Hermione? Make sure George doesn't go overboard with the mistletoe. Last Christmas, he and Fred had so many sprigs of it around the house you couldn't walk five feet without getting stuck under it, waiting for a kiss."

She smiled at the memory. It hurt to think of Fred, especially at this time, but she had resolved herself to remember the many good memories of him, as often as possible. Fred would have wanted it.

"We will," Hermione promised. "That would be rather inconvenient."

Ron grinned at her, and Molly noted Hermione's telltale blush. Oh, to be young again, Molly thought to herself. She knew full well what was going on with those two, and remembered her own youth, with an equally young Arthur, and therefore couldn't find it in her to be upset.

Celebrate life, now more than ever, Molly thought to herself.

"Hermione, did you make cookies?"

"Yes. I used my mother's recipe."

"They look and smell delicious. Thank you, my dear."

"So… Hermione… what do you say we go look for that mistletoe?" Ron asked suggestively. Hermione's face lit up with embarrassment, but she nodded her head, and he practically dragged her out of the kitchen, up the stairs.

Molly smiled at their retreating backs, and faced the huge task at hand for feeding a small army this Christmas Eve.