A/N: This was written for Eternally Seventeen (Sanch) for the Holiday Fic Exchange. I also wrote it for the 25 Days of Christmas Competition (with decorating the Christmas tree for the prompt), the Ron Weasley Appreciation Challenge, the Number of Your pen Name Challenge, and the Monthly Oneshot Challenge with Slytherin for my prompt. But this was mainly for the lovely Sanch. I hope you enjoy this! Merry Christmas! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I used a scene from the second book in this, and I don't own that either. JK Rowling does.

Ron and Hermione had just finished decorating the Christmas tree with their two children. They stood back to admire it, and Ron playfully ruffled his daughter's hair while they admired the tree. Hermione broke the silence a few moments later.

"The tree looks wonderful. Doesn't it look wonderful, Ron?" Ron looked away from the tree to look at his wife. He placed a kiss on her cheek before looking at his kids.

"Yes, it looks perfect." His voice trailed off when he looked at the time. His eyes widened when he saw that it was getting late. "I think it is bed time though, don't you agree?" He asked Hermione, nodding at her. Hermione nodded as he scooped Rose up on his shoulders and started to head toward the stairs. This was the first year Rose attended Hogwarts, though she had chosen to come home for Christmas to be with her family. Ron and Hermione had decided to put off decorating the tree until she came home because she loved it.

Ron noticed that Rose had pouted when he announced it was bedtime. "Aww, do I have to go to bed?" She asked. He chuckled lightly as Hermione gave him a look. It was widely known that he had a soft spot for his daughter and could easily do anything she wanted him to, though he was trying to get better about not spoiling her as much. He couldn't help it though. She was his only daughter.

"Yes, you have to," he said lightly as Rose groaned and sighed sadly. "But I could tell you a bedtime story before you go to sleep?" he said quickly, and Rose cheered.

Hermione chuckled from beside him. She had been carrying Hugo upstairs because he had fallen asleep standing up. Now he was sleeping in her arms. "Honestly, she's got you wrapped around her finger," she said in a teasing tone.

Ron could feel his face turning red as they got closer to the kid's bedroom. "At least I'm getting better at keeping the rules," he answered back quietly as he placed Rose on her bed. He had gotten better at keeping the rules on the ground during this past year. Hermione shook her head, looking amused as they started tucking the kids in their beds.

Ron looked at them back and forth a couple of times before he walked over to the bookcase. "What'll it be tonight?" He ran a hand down all of the books they had. "Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Quidditch Through the Ages, Tales of Beedle the Bard…" his voice trailed off before he started reading the rest. Rose cut him off quickly.

"I want to know how you fell in love with mommy," Rose answered in a determined voice. Ron raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione in surprise. Hermione was better at making up stories than he was. He didn't really know the exact moment when he fell in love with his wife, though he had an idea.

"Are you sure?" He asked, quickly trying to rack through his mind to make one up if that was what she wanted. Rose and Hugo both nodded their heads eagerly.

Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair nervously. He didn't like talking about his feelings with other people, though he supposed he could try for his children. He stared at Hermione intently. When did he first fall in love with Hermione? He asked himself. He knew it wasn't when they were in their first year, because he barely distinguished the fact that she was a girl back then. He had known he was in love with her when they were hunting for Horcruxes. When he glanced up, he saw that Hermione was even watching him curiously.

"Well…I think I knew in our second year. We started arguing more after that, but I only argued with her half the time because I liked her." He chuckled and shook his head at his younger self. He hadn't been the smartest teenager, though he definitely grew out of that stage when he decided there was probably a better approach at getting Hermione's attention.

Hermione smiled at him as she gave him a meaningful look. He had a feeling she knew where the story was going, but he still had to gather the courage to tell it now.

"When I was at Hogwarts, there was this boy that Harry and I didn't get along with at all. His name was Draco. Draco Malfoy." Ron made a face at the name, but he tried to forget his feelings. Hermione didn't want their kids to pick up the family's old prejudiced feelings after all.

Ron and Hermione had decided to watch the first Quidditch practice of the season. They had been hoping that Harry would be done early, though when they walked to the pitch they saw that the Gryffindor team was still practicing hard.

They chose a good seat to watch before Ron called out, "Aren't you finished yet?"

"Haven't even started," Harry answered him. "Wood's been teaching us new moves." Ron nodded as he trained his eyes on the players. He couldn't help but wish that he was playing as well, though he was glad that he didn't have to get up as early as Harry did this morning to play. He liked sleep too much.

After a few moments he turned his head toward the enterance right when his brother George noticed the Slytherin team come in. Ron groaned when he saw that they were dressed to play and he stood up quickly. "Come on… this can't be good," he said to Hermione, who agreed with him and stood up as well to head down to the field.

"Oh, look," he heard Marcus Flint say as they approached. "A field invasion."

Ron scowled and turned to Harry. He decided to ignore Flint. "What's happening? Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?" He had noticed that Malfoy was on the field for the first time. He noticed that he was also wearing Quidditch robes as well, and that made his scowl deepen.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Malfoy answered him smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team." He felt his jaw drop when he saw the new Nimbus models.

"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." Ron's eyes narrowed at this, but it was Hermione who spoke next.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," Hermione said sharply. "They got in on pure talent." Ron tried not to show that he was impressed by the fact that she had just stood up to Malfoy. But he knew his eyes had given him away when he glanced over at her. It grew when the smug look on Malfoy's face disappeared.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Malfoy spat out.

The team and Ron reacted immediately. Ron saw that the twins had tried jumping on him, but Flint stopped them. This caused Ron to plunge his hand into his robes for his wand. "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" He shouted angrily, pointing his wand furiously at him. He shot the first spell he could think of at him and all he saw was a green light coming out of it. He also heard a loud bang as he felt a pain in his stomach as he was thrown backward onto the grass. He winced in pain when he landed.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" he heard Hermione squeal. Her voice brought some comfort to him. The fact that she was checking up on him had to mean she was ok… he tried to assure her that he was ok, but before he could he belched out several slugs. That was what his spell had been, Ron thought to himself before he lost his thoughts completely. He heard Harry say something but he couldn't make out what he said.

Ron shook his head at the memories. He couldn't remember much about what had happened after that because he didn't like remembering those gross slugs. He gave an involuntary shudder and felt Hermione place her hand in his.

"I think that is when I fell in love with your mother," Ron finished finally. "I fell in love with her several times after that, but that was when I really knew. I always knew there had to be a real reason why I reacted like that about Malfoy's comment, and that was the only reason that made sense later on." He smiled and placed a quick kiss on her lips before looking down at his kids.

Rose was staring up at him in awe. "Awww, that was too cute. You defended her honor," she said teasingly, causing Ron's ear to go red.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he muttered. He avoided meeting their eyes.

Hugo sat up in his bed. "I would've done that as well," he said defensively. He didn't like being forgotten easily.

Ron smiled and looked down at his son. "I hope you will do that too. I hope you both will."

Rose glanced down at her hands quietly for a few moments. Hermione ran a hand through her hair and they waited before she finally spoke again. "Daddy, is it true that boys tease you when they like you?" Hermione smirked at this question, though Ron tried to ignore it while he carefully chose his answer.

"Sometimes it's true," he said carefully. He gave her a curious look. "Why? Is there a boy teasing you?"

Rose blushed as she shared a look with her mother. "Just Scorpius Malfoy…but we're getting along ok sometimes. We have all of the same classes. He just likes to tease me whenever he is around his friends. Mum said it was a boy thing. She said that he might mature later on."

Ron started to open his mouth, but Hermione nudged him on the side. "Let her make her own choices," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. He tried to protest a few more times, but then he nodded and forced himself to smile.

"Yes…he'll probably mature as he gets older," he said slowly. Hermione wore a pleased smile at his answer, and he sighed. He didn't like the idea of his daughter being friends with Malfoy's kid, but he supposed he could be civil about it as long as they didn't get married. He shook his head. He didn't think he could stand it if his only daughter married Malfoy's kid.

He sighed and finally placed a kiss on Rose's forehead. He also gave Hugo a hug before he turned off their light. "Good night," he said quietly, smiling at them. Hermione told them good night as well before she followed him. Ron decided that he could deal with his daughter's latest friendship later. It was the holidays after all.

A/N: This was my first story with the next generation kids in it. Thank you for reading this! Please leave a review!