A.N.: So, I hope you enjoyed this little story, and that your holidays will be lovely. Bye!

December, 1998

"Can you believe that it's actually Christmas?" she whispered, turning around and beaming at Ron without ever leaving the circle of his arms. He smiled, eyeing her, taking in everything from her happy grin to her completely dishevelled, perfect bushy hair, and before he really knew what he was doing, Ron's mouth was pressing a soft kiss to her lips. How was it possible to taste so much like toothpaste after just waking up, Ron wondered? Was she secretly sneaking away at night, to brush her teeth over and over again? Ron considered asking her this, but the light pressure of her smile against his was just too sweet to end just yet.

When she finally pulled back, his Chudley Canons bedsheets had slipped several inches off of her bare shoulders, reminding Ron of the reality he was currently living in. Blimey.

"What?" Hermione asked, noticing his slightly dazed gaze. He laughed, pulling her closer across the mattress by her waist.

"Nothing," he replied, is voice uncharacteristically hoarse.

Hermione's left eyebrow furrowed (or maybe both of them did, but one was kind of hidden by the way it was pressed up against Ron's pillow, so he couldn't really tell right now from this angle). He knew that she was about to comment on how he needed to take better care of himself during all the outside units of his Auror training, wearing warmer clothes underneath his robes, and all that. But while her concern was appreciated, it really was unnecessary.

Ron had felt so much better, so much more contented and healthier again these past few days than during the three weeks before Friday, it was almost embarrassing. Except it wasn't because who could really blame him for missing his fantastic girlfriend like crazy? Exactly; no one could. At least no one who'd ever met the whirlwind called Hermione Granger.

But it was a good thing that she was back at Hogwarts, completing her last year. No matter how much it hurt to be apart, no matter how much his mind and body ached for her sometimes, it was worth it. She belonged behind huge bookshelves. And no matter what she said about being open to the idea of working at the Ministry straight away like he and Harry did, Ron knew what it really meant to her, completing her time in school. He would never have asked her to stay behind for him, just as she hadn't expected him to come back to Hogwarts with her. No matter how much they needed each other. Now more than ever.

His thumb found her cheek and drew lazy circles on her skin. Her answering smile and the way she closed her eyes and scooted closer made Ron's brain tingle.

"They have tons and tons of mistletoe everywhere again. In Hogwarts, I mean."

Her murmuring was soft and quiet, almost as if she was half-asleep. Her nose twitched adorably as she breathed deeply.

"They always do, don't they?" Ron replied, just as quietly. The light of dawn that slowly crept through his attic window made him wrinkle his forehead. As much as he'd like to unwrap Christmas presents, he'd much rather stay a little longer up here in his bed with Hermione in his arms. And, the perfect Head Girl and prefect that Hermione Granger was, she'd surely want to leave his sheets and quietly make her way back downstairs before someone noticed her absence in Ginny's room.

Someone not so much being Ginny (or Harry, for that matter), but rather Ron's parents. Although Ron was fairly certain that his parents had had their suspicions about everyone's actual nightly whereabouts a long while ago already. They probably wouldn't blame him for wanting to stay close to her after everything. They definitely wouldn't blame her for anything forbidden, he thought with a grin. His parents were ecstatic about his relationship with Hermione. But, well, if it made her feel better to sneak away each morning and pretend that no one knew about their "rule breaking", he'd play along with it.

Ron knew by now that there was quite a lot he'd do to make Hermione happy.

"They do, of course," she said, and it took Ron a moment to remember their current conversation.

"But this year, I noticed that, well..."

"What?" he wondered.

"They hung a mistletoe right at the spot where we... you know? During the battle."

He laughed at her sudden shyness, loosening his hold on her to search for her eyes. "You can use actual words, you know? We kissed. I mean, it's really not that much of a big deal after all the other stuff we did, right?" He grinned at his own suggestive tone, but her eyes widened in fake-indignation. Her bottom lip twitched, though.

"Kissing me is not that much of a big deal?" she asked, and he could feel his own features positively soften at her words.

"Oh, sorry. No, of course it is! See?" Ron offered, before dropping three quick pecks on her lips and declaring "Big deal!" "Big deal!" "Big deal!" between them. Hermione laughed.

"They really put a mistletoe there?" He asked her a few minutes later, as he reconsidered her words from earlier.

"M-hm. Right there. That's kind of... odd, isn't it?"

"Not the word I'd use. Rather...don't know, awesome?" He offered.

"'Awesome?'" She chuckled.

"Yeah, I mean, it's almost like the castle knows, isn't it? There were no pictures near, so it's like, you know, the walls themselves saw what happened, or something like that."

"Oh, sure, because it doesn't sound creepy at all if you say it like that," she laughed, and he poked her playfully in the ribs, only making her laugh harder.

"Remember that one time during prefect rounds, when we suddenly stood under a mistletoe?" Ron remembered suddenly. "Bloody hell, that was crazy. I mean, for a second I really thought I might do it..."

"No, you didn't!" she argued, her eyes twinkling. "That was fifth year, you'd never have gone through with it."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. I just didn't have a real excuse for doing it, that's why. I mean, I was kind of hoping Luna would come along and let some crazy comments about Nargles drop, you know? And then I would have pretended to believe her, or something, and kiss you as a safety measure against the Nargles. After Luna left, of course."

"Did you just make that up? Ron, tell me you did," she pleaded, looking shocked.

He grinned, smugly. "Nope. Just one of my actual, weird fifth year daydreams, I guess."

At that, Hermione seemed extremely interested. "So, there are more?"

"I could probably open up a whole library of weird daydreams about you, now that you ask."

"Are they all as unrealistic as this one? I mean, I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't kiss someone who actually believes in Nargles, Ron," she teased, failing to keep a straight face.

"Some of them are not as unrealistic, I guess. There's different floors in my fantasies-about-Hermione-library, you know? They are all sorted."

"Oh, that's good to hear. I like well-organised libraries, Ron."

"Don't you like all sorts of libraries?"

"I like you."

"That's good to hear, too."

Their softy laughter vibrated through the space between their mouths, the two of them sharing the same, confusingly toothpaste-scented breath. Her eyes were all the chocolate in the world, and nothing, not even the promise of presents could make Ron want to leave his bedroom right now. But the sun was already climbing up a little higher behind her, and the shimmering gleam of light that illuminated them reminded Ron on what was to come.

It would be an amazing Christmas, he'd decided. Even if it was one of so many firsts. The first Christmas with a pregnant Fleur (meaning, in other words, Ron's last Christmas before becoming someone's uncle), the first Christmas with Harry and Ginny being a couple, the first Christmas since the war. The first Christmas without Fred.

It would be a long and horrible and fantastic day, he knew. He wasn't sure if he felt quite ready for another tide of the feelings he'd glimpsed last night, on Christmas Eve.

But Hermione was there. That made it a first, too.

The best first of all.

"I love you, Hermione. So much," he confessed, and although saying that wasn't a first, she managed to answer in a way that he hadn't heard yet. And it was the second best first thing about this year's holidays, without a doubt.

"I love you too, Ron. Merry Christmas!" she said, and dropped another kiss to his ginger-stubbled cheek.