Remus and Tonks looked up at the same time to see the mistletoe hanging above them. Tonks took an involuntary step backwards up the stairs before she realized what it was and grinned down at Remus. He’d turned with a frown at Lily, who merely stuck her tongue out at him.
“Looks like we’ve got to kiss now, doesn’t it?” Tonks said cheerfully as he looked back at her, his cheeks reddening.
“Erm…well, yes, I suppose…” he stammered as she stepped down the stairs to him.
They locked eyes again as their faces moved closer together, and Tonk’s smile softened as she saw his uncertainty.
“I understand “ you barely know me,” she whispered, and he flushed even more.
“It’s…it’s not that…I’m just a more…private, person, I guess…I’m not really one for public displays,” he murmured back.
“Oy you two, we don’t have all night! Snog her already, Moony!” Sirius yelled, making Remus turn his head to glare at him. Tonks grinned and reached over to turn his face back to hers. His eyes widened in surprise as she breathed, “If it’s a show he wants, then we should give him a show.”
He grinned back at her as he bent his head. She threw her arms around his neck as he kissed her soundly on the mouth, bending her back into a dip so that she nearly touched the stairs. Everyone else shouted and clapped as Sirius let out a loud wolf whistle.
Moments later he pulled her out of the dip and broke the kiss. She smiled up at him, eyes sparkling. “I guess we showed him,” she said quietly, and he smiled back, though he looked slightly stunned.
“Yeah…yeah, I guess we did,” he said, searching her face. Their kiss had unsettled him, and he wasn’t accustomed to being unsettled. “Erm, I guess I’ll go up to the loo now. It’s where I was headed before. Erm…yeah.”
She laughed and patted his shoulder as she stepped past him. “Go on then,” she said, scooting past him so that he could get to the stairs.
“Thanks,” he said, but only took a step before she called back, “Oh, and Remus?”
“Yes?” he asked, turning to see that she’d taken a step towards him.
“It’s cute when you blush,” she murmured, making his cheeks turn red again.
“Erm…thanks,” he said as she turned and walked towards the others, who’d turned away from them as soon as they broke their kiss. He shook his head slightly, as if to clear it, before heading up the stairs to the loo.
Lily watched Remus out of the corner of her eye as Tonks took the seat she’d held earlier.
“Well, well,” she said to herself. “That was interesting.”
“Wasn’t it?” Ginny replied, winking at Harry while his mother was distracted.
“It was,” Lily answered, turning abruptly to Harry and Ginny. “And just how does your friend Tonks know Remus in the future? I mean, I know you said she’s Sirius’ cousin, but what’s her relationship with Remus like?”
Harry opened and closed his mouth soundlessly as Ginny started giggling. Finally, he managed to get something out. “Well…erm…they’re…well, they’re friends,” he said lamely.
“Really good friends,” Ginny added. “Even though she’s so much younger than him.”
Lily eyed them suspiciously. “And is that all they are to each other? Or is there something you’re not telling me?”
Harry and Ginny looked helplessly at each other for a moment, and then Harry shrugged as if to say, “What can we do?”
“You don’t miss a trick, do you?” Ginny said ruefully. She stood and grabbed Lily’s hand to take her into the kitchen and away from the others, but they were stopped in their tracks by raised voices. Lily looked at Ginny, eyebrows raised, and muttered, “Sounds dangerous “ let’s go upstairs, shall we? We can pretend we’re powdering our noses.”
Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment before a sly smile spread across her face and she said, “Or we could be nosy and eavesdrop.” She dug in her pocket and came up with a couple of pieces of long, flesh-colored string.
“What on Earth are those?” Lily asked.
“Extendable Ears, invented and patented by my older brothers, Fred and George,” Ginny said as she sent the Ears to lurk at the edge of the hallway as she and Lily stood near the Christmas tree.
“I’m sorry, Hermione, really,” they heard Ron say, followed by Hermione’s sharp intake of breath.
“Why are you so sorry, Ron? I wasn’t,” Hermione said, and Ron stared at her, his mouth slightly open.
“Well, I just…I dunno, I thought we were just going along with it because Harry was there “ I didn’t think you really wanted to, so I didn’t want you to get mad at me. We fight enough as it is,” he said slowly.
“I just don’t understand, Ron,” Hermione said in a heated voice. “Am I not good enough? I mean, I know I’m bookish and bossy and have this annoying hair, but I’d think that even all of that wouldn’t make kissing me so unappealing that you were just doing it so you wouldn’t be embarrassed!”
Ron shuffled his feet and muttered, “It wasn’t that…I like your hair.”
“Then what was it?” Hermione snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
“It’s…well, it’s just that…we’re so different.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I mean, our backgrounds are so different “ I feel lost sometimes when you talk about Muggle stuff, especially when it’s something I should know already…and you know practically everything about everything and I’m just an ordinary bloke...and we already fight all the time “ and we’re just friends now. Imagine what it’d be like if we were together more than we already are!” he said, but she cut him off.
“So that’s it? You feel threatened because I’m smart? Because I’m so different from you? Well, if I was really smart, Ron Weasley, I would never have let you kiss me in the first place!” And with that, she whirled on her heel, stalked out of the kitchen, and up the stairs. Ron trailed after her, red-faced, before flopping down on the sofa next to Sirius.
Ginny looked after them briefly, frowning as she rolled up the Extendable Ears, before Lily pulled her into the kitchen.
Once there, Lily gave Ginny her best “tell me or I’ll drag it out of you” glare.
“Well? What’s going on with Remus and your friend?” she asked.
“You’re as good as my mum at that,” Ginny mumbled, and Lily smiled. Ginny continued, “All right, I’ll tell you the full story, but you may not want to tell James, and you really, really mustn’t tell Remus.”
“I’m listening,” Lily said, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms.
“It’s like this,” Ginny began. “You know how Remus underestimates himself a lot because he’s a werewolf?”
Lily rolled her eyes and nodded. “Yes, he’s always done that, even at school. He never tried to draw any attention to himself, even when he was a prefect and he needed to. Hell, the only reason he thought Dumbledore made him a prefect at all was so he could control James and Sirius! He never got it all the way through his thick skull that it was also because he got top grades and was a good leader!”
Ginny smiled. “Right, well, he’s the same way now. Thinks he doesn’t deserve to be happy because he’s a monster - ”
“Now that is complete rubbish!” Lily shouted before Ginny covered her mouth.
“Shhhh!” Ginny hissed. “I know that, you know that, and everyone else knows that, but Remus doesn’t seem to get it. Tonks loves him, and he loves her back, but he keeps pushing her away because he thinks he’s too old, too poor, and a werewolf to boot. It was hard enough for her to convince him that he was being stupid “ if he thinks he’s predestined to love her, he’ll fight it even more! That’s why we felt she had to disguise herself.”
Lily nodded slowly as Ginny took her hand away. “I can see Remus thinking exactly that quite easily,” she sighed. “All right, I’ll let it drop.” She suddenly smiled mischieveously. “But I do think that we should try to get them together under the mistletoe as much as possible.”
Ginny laughed as they walked back into the sitting room. “We could all do with a good snog.”
In the sitting room, Sirius was needling Ron, who was almost purple. “So, you’re going to stand there and tell me that it was just an innocent kiss under the mistletoe after you were gone for ten minutes? You even missed Lizzy and Remus’ spectacular snog!” Sirius said, the smirk audible in his voice.
“Yeah…well…we’re just friends, all right? Leave it alone!” Ron yelled at him before slumping back into the couch. “Besides, why would she want me anyway?” Ron asked hoarsely. “I’m poor, rubbish at school when she’s brilliant, and I’m nothing special to look at. She’s…she’s really smart and funny and…and beautiful...” He rubbed his hands over his face, looking dejected.
Sirius patted him hard on the back. “Buck up, mate! You’ll get the girl eventually!” He winked at him. “I always did.”
“Yeah, but you’re a Black, you’ve got money, and you’re good-looking. I’m just…normal.” Ron said, and Sirius shrugged modestly before responding, “Well, yeah, but you’ve got your own something. Besides, it’s obvious she’s got eyes for you. Take it from a fellow chick magnet.”
Ginny snorted as she snuck by them and up the stairs to check on Hermione, who’d hidden in the guest room were sharing.
Ginny pushed open the door slowly. “Hermione? It’s Ginny “ is it okay of I come in?”
She was sitting on the bed, her eyes red and swollen. “I suppose,” she mumbled, staring down at her hands. Ginny sat next to her and put an arm around her.
“What’s wrong? What happened between you and Ron?” she asked, pretending that she hadn’t heard anything. Hermione gave a bitter laugh.
“We got stuck under the mistletoe when Harry hung it up, and Ron got all serious about how it was tradition and everything. Then he bent down to kiss me and…and it lasted two seconds before he pulled away, like he couldn’t wait to get away from me as soon as Harry walked off. It’s hopeless Ginny “ he doesn’t want me. So, I kind of yelled at him about it, and now he’s angry with me.”
Ginny sighed. “Trust my brother to cock that up,” she mumbled, and Hermione jerked her head up to stare at Ginny.
“Didn’t you hear me, Ginny? He doesn’t like me like that “ he made it perfectly clear that he thought we weren’t suited for one another,” Hermione said slowly.
“What exactly did he say, Hermione?” Ginny asked patiently.
“He…he said that he was sorry, that he felt like he had to kiss me because Harry knew we were under it, and that he didn’t mean it. So I asked him why it was so painful for him to kiss me, and he said that we were too different and that I was too smart for him,” Hermione said, her voice wobbling.
Ginny sighed and shook her head. “My idiot brother…” she muttered, and Hermione stared at her again.
“He did have some valid points,” she said, her voice wobbling even more. “We do fight all the time, and we do have really different backgrounds “ ”
Ginny cut her off with a wave of her hand. “Rubbish! I’ll just to talk to him, Hermione, don’t worry.” But as she stood to leave, Hermione lunged at her and grabbed her arm.
“Please don’t, Ginny, it’ll only make things worse,” she pleaded. “We’ll get over this “ we always make up when we have a big fight. I don’t…I don’t want to lose him completely.” She whispered this last, as if afraid to admit it to herself.
“Don’t worry, Hermione, I know what I’m doing,” Ginny soothed, prying Hermione’s fingers off her arm. “I’m not going to go in and start hexing him, I promise. Now, why don’t we go downstairs? You can play with the baby “ that’ll take your mind off of things.”
Hermione bit her lip worriedly, but allowed Ginny to lead her out of the room and downstairs, where her arms were suddenly full of a cooing baby, and she smiled.
As Hermione cooed back at baby Harry, Ginny walked over to Ron and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up with a hangdog expression.
“What? I know I cocked up “ I’ll…I’ll fix everything when she’s not so mad at me, don’t worry,” he said quietly. Ginny smirked.
“Well, at least you know you cocked up. But I don’t think you really realize why…can I have a private word, brother dear?” Her voice left no room for argument, so he shrugged and followed her into the kitchen.
“All right, have at me,” he said as soon as they entered the room, though he sat at the far end of the kitchen table, away from the cutlery drawer.
“Oh, Ron,” Ginny said, shaking her head as she sat next to him. “Believe it or not, it’s really hard for me to kick you when you’re so down, so I won’t do it very hard. It’ll be more like a nudge, promise.” Ron snorted, but remained silent as she continued. “You’ve got to learn to communicate with her, Ron! Now, tell me how you really feel about her, even though it’s obvious to everyone.”
He looked at her suspiciously and asked, “If it’s obvious to everyone, why do I need to tell you?”
She sighed. “Because I want to make absolutely sure, you dolt. I want you to be happy, believe it or not “ I’m on both of your sides. If you really only care for Hermione as a friend, then I’ll tell her that and you two can go back to bickering about the weather. But I think we both know there’s more to it than that.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue, and then sighed, hanging his head in defeat. “I dunno why I’m telling you this, Ginny, but I’m so miserable right now that I really don’t care,” he said in a monotone voice before raising his head to look her in the eyes.
“I’m in love with her, Ginny. I’m in love with her, but I’m not good enough for her, so there’s no hope,” he said simply. Ginny nodded.
“I thought so,” she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. He squirmed under her gaze, as she looked uncannily like her mother at that moment. “You know, that’s one thing that you and Harry have in common “ you’re both so bloody noble that you’ll make yourself and the people you love miserable because it’s best for them. I suppose it’s why you’re such good friends…anyway, pay attention to me Ron, because this is very important.”
He nodded silently as she began.
“Right. When a person falls in love, it doesn’t matter if the one they love deserves them or not “ love doesn’t know boundaries like that. You’ve just told me that you love Hermione, which, by the way, everyone else has known since your second year “ I was just a first-year, and I caught it.”
Ron opened his mouth furiously, and she hurried on. “But that’s not really my point “ the point is, that love doesn’t care about things like social status or money or even intelligence “ it’s an emotion, and as long as you both share it, you’ll be happy. Hermione loves you too, Ron.”
His eyes widened as his mouth dropped open and he stared at her for a full minute. “Say that again,” he said, stumbling over the words. Ginny smiled.
“She loves you, Ron. She doesn’t care that you’re poor, or average at school, or an annoying prat. She loves you because you’re you.”
He continued to stare at her, a wide grin spreading slowly across his face until it was transformed. “She loves me. She loves me!” He stood suddenly and laughed out loud, as if he couldn’t contain it. “She loves me! Me!”
He pulled his sister into a crushing hug, and then abruptly let her go. “And I love her. I’ve got to go and tell her!”
“Go ahead, big brother. Good luck,” Ginny said, wincing as she rubbed her sore ribs. “Try not to muck it up, will you? I don’t want to fix things for you again.”
“I won’t,” Ron called over his shoulder as he hurried out of the kitchen to the sitting room where Hermione was still playing with the baby.
“Ron!” Hermione said in a startled voice, her eyes huge as he pulled her to her feet. “What’re you doing?”
He dragged her upstairs and into the spare room, where Hermione sat on the bed as he knelt in front of her, panting slightly from his efforts.
“Sorry,” he wheezed. “Had to come…before I lost…my nerve. Had to…tell you…”
“Tell me what?” Hermione broke in. “That we’re not suited? That all we’ll do is fight all the time? That “ ”
“No! Hermione, will you just listen?” he exploded suddenly, and she stopped talking to stare at him with huge eyes. He took a deep breath.
“Hermione,” he began shakily, taking both her hands in his. “I…I’m not good with words, and no matter what I do, I seem to muck it up. But…but I had to tell you, even though it’s crazy.”
He looked up then, meeting her gaze. “I…I love you, Hermione. I have since at least second year, if not before that. I don’t even remember how it happened it just…happened. And I know I don’t deserve you,” he hurried as she opened her mouth to say something. “But I just had to tell you after talking with Ginny “ she made me get the nerve to finally say something and “ ”
Hermione silenced him with her fingers and smiled as she slid off the bed to kneel next to him on the floor.
“I love you too, you idiot,” she murmured before pulling his head to hers and kissing him deeply. He wrapped an arm around her waist and stroked her hair with his other hand as he lost himself. This went on for several long, long moments that seemed like hours before they finally broke apart, grinning like fools.
“I “ I can’t believe this “ I feel like I’m going to explode, I’m so happy,” Ron said blissfully before frowning. “It must be a dream, then.”
Hermione snorted and pinched him hard on the arm.
“Ow!” he yelled, rubbing the sore spot.
“Does that feel like a dream?” she demanded before pulling him down and kissing him hard. “Does that? Honestly, Ron, you’re hopeless.”
“Hopelessly in love with you,” he replied, kissing her back. This continued for sometime before they finally decided to rejoin the party.
“My knees hurt,” Ron complained as he stood, helping Hermione up. “Yours okay?”
She shrugged and smiled. “Not really, but it was worth it, so I’m not complaining.” She arched an eyebrow. “Unlike you.”
“Ha!” he laughed, grabbing her hand. “I guess that means I really am your boyfriend now instead of just pretending,” Ron joked as she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t ever assume, Ron “ you never quite know what will happen,” she said primly, and he frowned. However, as he opened his mouth to argue, she smiled at him. “Though in this case, your assumption is right,” she teased, kissing him on the cheek before leading him downstairs to join the others.
Of Christmas Past by Chaser921
Chapter Notes: See? I'm doing better about posting! Aren't you proud? Believe it or not, I plan on finishing it now. I'm actually working on Chapter 19 as we speak.