Christmas Collection Challenge. Prompt: (plot theme/action) Giving/Receiving Gifts

Epilogue

(One Year Later)

They had just finished dinner, hats resting on their heads, when Remus cleared his throat nervously. His gaze fell on Sirius, who gave him a supportive look, and Hermione looked between them.

Remus dropped down from his seat, reaching for Hermione's hand.

"Is he going to -"

"Shut up, Draco!" Harry hissed, nudging the blond in the side, effectively silencing him.

"Hermione," Remus said, ignoring Harry and Draco. "I've been trying to think what to say for a long time now, but I can't put into words how perfect this has been, with you. I know we've been celebrating our second Christmas together, but we're also celebrating our anniversary, so I wanted to give you a special present."

Hermione merely stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Remus could see the anticipation in her expression, but couldn't tell what her reaction would be.

"I love you," he stated. "I've loved you for a long time, and I can't see a future without you in it. You're a part of this family already, but there's nothing I would love more than to see you wearing my ring on your finger, to have you live here with me and Teddy, spending every night with me. To call you my wife. Hermione Granger, will you do this old Werewolf the biggest honour of becoming my wife?"

"Of course," she said, the moment he had finished, throwing herself into his arms before he could even open the ring box to show her the ring he had bought. "It's about time, I've been hoping you'd ask me. Yes, Remus. Yes!"

Remus kissed her softly, before standing up, Hermione's arms around him. He managed to open the box, presenting the ring to her.

"It's just like my bracelet," she murmured, staring at it. "It's beautiful!"

"Like I said before, heirlooms have to start somewhere," he said. "and one day, these will we passed down in our family." He shot a warm smile at his son, who was watching the proceedings carefully.

"Does this mean you're getting married now?" Teddy asked, as the adults all lifted their glasses in celebration.

"Yes, it does," Hermione confirmed, extremely happy. "Me and your dad are getting married! Is that okay with you, Teddy?"

Teddy nodded. "It's great. You've been taking ages to get married. When's it going to happen?"

"We haven't planned that far yet, sometime next year, if Hermione is happy with that."

"What do you think, Teddy. Summer wedding?"

"I like Autumn, because the leaves are crunchy and fun," Teddy replied.

"I'd rather have it sooner, if that's okay? What about Spring?" Remus suggested.

Hermione looked torn in her choice.

"Teddy, Spring is closer than Autumn. Would you rather we get married sooner rather than later?"

Teddy nodded. "Spring is nice and warm. You can get married outside."

"Outside sounds perfect. Outside this cottage, perhaps?" Hermione suggested. "The grounds around here are beautiful after all, and there will be flowers in the spring."

"That sounds perfect," Remus murmured, taking the ring from the box and sliding it onto her finger, where it quickly resized to fit her.

"And you can help me plan it," Hermione suggested to Teddy.

"And me of course. You need my expert eye in this," Draco added.

Hermione beamed at him. "As long as Molly has to take a back-seat. Once she catches wind of this, I'll not be able to do a thing."

"Don't worry, I'll be your official wedding planner," Draco decided.

"Molly will kill you," Harry whispered.

Draco just raised an eyebrow at him. "Is now a good time to discuss moving in together? If Granger is going to live here, there's a nice flat that I could be moving my stuff into as we speak."

Hermione glanced at Remus. "I'm not sure if Remus wants to now, or would rather wait until the wedding to -"

"You can move in today," Remus said. "I've wanted you to live here since we started dating, I just didn't want to scare you away."

"Okay, I'll move in now," Hermione decided, cuddling against Remus once more. "Give me a few days to move my stuff. I can't believe it. A year ago... this was all new and exciting, and now I'm engaged to Remus! I'm going to be Mrs Lupin!"

"And is it still exciting?" Remus asked.

"How could it ever not be?" Hermione asked. "I love you, Remus."

"I love you too, Hermione," he murmured, letting their lips meet once more. "I can't tell you how happy you've made me."

"I'll guess it's somewhere close to how happy you've made me," she replied.

"Do we have to watch this?" Draco asked, pulling a face. "Surely they have a bedroom for... all that stuff."

Remus merely smiled at her. She was about to be made even happier, though he wasn't going to be the one to tell her the news - he was going to let her discover it for herself.

The news that she wasn't giving off one heart-beat anymore, that a second one had joined it. It was so quiet, he could only hear it in the silence of the night, but it was there.

Remus silently thanked anyone who was listening for giving him and Hermione this recalled her story, where the doctor had said that there was the slimmest chance. He was already slipping a potion into her tea, that would help the baby stay strong and safe. So far, she hadn't noticed the potion.

He knew he wasn't the only one to hear it either. Sirius had been in Padfoot form earlier, and had immediately sniffed at Hermione's stomach, before turning back and sharing a pleased look with Remus.

They couldn't wait for her to find out. He would talk to Andromeda about helping Draco plan the wedding, so that Hermione didn't have any unneeded stress.

Teddy was going to get a little brother or sister after all, and Remus couldn't wait for his family to grow. A wife and another child.

He couldn't be happier.

Review please :)

1007 words

So - this chapter originally wasn't supposed to end like that. It was just going to be a proposal because I thought it'd be too cheesy and cliché for Hermione to get pregnant after all.

But then I realised that there's nothing wrong with cheesy or cliché and I live for happy endings, and what's happier than Hermione getting the baby she craved?

So - this is the end. I hope you've all enjoyed. I'll have the alternate chapter (the Hermione/Sirius/Remus version of the ending) up in the next couple of weeks, but for now, I'm marking this as complete as this story is finished.

I also have another Hermione/Remus fic - time-travel - that I'll be getting to work on. Go and check it out! :D