She nodded and sighed as well as Harry knelt down and bent his head. "It is."

"I've never…well, you know."

"That could cover a lot of ground, Ron," she said with a smile in her voice. "Unless of course you and Lav-Lav got up to more than you ever let on."

"Hermione!" He blushed several shades of red and kicked a rock near his foot. "I meant I've never not been home or at school for Christmas." He shook his head. "That's not the sort of thing you tease a bloke about."

"Oh?" Her eyebrow crooked in a question and she sighed, the smiling leaving her expression. "Just imagine that for Harry, every Christmas until Hogwarts was worse than this."

"He misses Sirius."

"He does." She sighed again and looked back at their camp. "We should give him some peace, do you think?"

"He'll come back when he's good and ready. We've learned that much at least." He bent his head sadly. "At least he's not wandered far."

"I'm afraid he'll wander off one day and forget to come back."

"He'll always come back to us, Hermione." Ron draped his arm around her, his earlier embarrassment forgotten. "Let's let him say Happy Christmas on his own, eh?"

She nodded and turned, heading back for the tent they'd pitched in a small grove. They neared the tent and she stopped, tilting her head curiously. "Is that…?" Her question drifted off as her eyes left the swath of small leaves dangling above their tent and moved to Ron's face. "Ron…"

"Happy Christmas, Hermione." He leaned in and kissed her, slowly and softly, taking his time before pressing his tongue against her parted lips. They broke apart at length and he pulled back, reaching for her hand and leading her toward the tend. "From me, of course." He glanced back to where Harry was standing, alone but smiling in their direction. "And from Harry."