"'I love you,' the prince told the princess. And do you know what the princess said? She replied with "thank you." And they lived happily ever after-"

"James!"

Peering up, James's glasses almost slid off his nose and he resembled a little boy about to be scolded by his parents as he was surrounded by the other children. They all looked as though they had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to as they were gathered around the armchair closest to the fireplace in the Burrow. However, James attempted to flash a smile in Renata's direction as she stood in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, a flushed red to her face as she looked embarrassed.

"What? It's just a story," James said with a grin as he watched her arms folded across her chest, " the children liked it, right, everyone?"

"Oh, I get it!" Bill piped up bringing everyone's eyes to fall on the eldest Weasley child. "I get why she said 'thank you' instead of 'I love you.' It's because the prince was the first person to tell her that and mean it because her parents were evil, right? They told her they loved her but they didn't mean it, not like the prince, so when he said it, she was thankful. Thankful that someone could love her for who she was."

The room grew silent as the other children looked at Bill as if he had shoved a stick up his nose, but Renata and James, the only adults currently in the living room were quiet as they were caught off guard with how precise and spot on Bill was.

"Wow, Bill," James cleared his throat after a few seconds, " that was really deep."

"Yeah," Bill nodded with a smile, " can we go play now?"

At the mention of playing, all of the children seemed to dart off in different directions to go play something different besides engaging in another storytime. Harry was dragged out of his father's lap by Ron and as Ron pulled him along, Harry made a grab for Ginny and pulled her along until all of them were out of the room.

It was Christmas time and Molly decided that she wanted everyone to come to the Burrow to celebrate the holidays together. James and Renata had shown up earlier along with Harry as they had cooked a couple of dishes to share. Since then, between Arthur and James, they were in charge of keeping the children out of the kitchen and out of Molly's hair, but at one point, Molly called for Arthur's assistance, leaving James alone with the entire group.

But as they all raced upstairs with the exception of Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who gathered near the Christmas tree to marvel at the stacks of presents and the beautiful ornaments, Renata made her way over and sat herself down in James' lap, giving him a stern look.

"Oh come on, Ren," James chuckled, " don't give me that look! Did you hear Bill? He understood you perfectly."

"Yes, but did you have to tell all of them that I said 'thank you' after you said 'I love you?' I told you it was an accident and you caught me off guard!"

Renata knew that James was only teasing her with the story, but still months after James had confessed his love to her in the middle of the hallway of their flat, he couldn't help but poke fun that her response had been to thank him. She still couldn't forgive herself over it even though they had both said "I love you" to each other half a dozen times since then. But she still couldn't look back on that moment without becoming extremely red.

Wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back into him, James brought Renata to look over at him by directing her by her chin with his hand. "I don't tell the story to embarrass you, you know?" he told her. "I tell it because it's one of my favourite moments with you. I actually like that you didn't say it right back to me, it made the moment unique, something I can remember for years and years to come. And with Bill's analysis of the story, it makes even more special."

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?" she questioned, trying to hold back the smile that was forming on her lips.

"No, I mean every word I say," he said, "and it just so happened that they all really loved the story."

"Well, if it makes the children happy, I guess it's fine that it's at the expense of my embarrassment," she said before James pulled her into a full hug. "You're lucky I love you."

"You love me? Well, thank you- ARGH!"

As soon as he tried to make fun of her, Renata started to tickle him to get her revenge and it was completely worth it as James let out a shrill giggle that he tried to cover up with a deeper laugh, but it was too late by that time. Renata was practically in tears with her own laughter at the sound that had emitted from him, leaving James to make a face at her before he decided to tickle her in return. It would have been an all-out war that would probably take Molly and Arthur to separate them if it hadn't been for the knock at the front door alerting them of the arrival of more guests.

Since Molly and Arthur were occupied in the kitchen, Renata fought off James and pushed herself up to answer it.

Opening the door, she was happy to see her brother, Adelmo leading his way in first with Sirius behind him, the two of them smiles as they called out "Merry Christmas" as they walked in. Enzo raced inside as well, running over to where Harry, Ron, and Ginny were to lick their faces.

Adelmo pulled Renata in a hug as James pushed himself up to greet the other couple as well. Of course, it wasn't like it had been very long since they had seen each other, as they all nearly saw each other every day. However, it was nice to see Adelmo up and about, moving on his own especially since his recovery had been quite slow.

But as long as he took his time, he was able to walk and he was able to eat regular food just in time for the holidays with Molly's cooking. Molly swore up and down that Renata and Adelmo were going to eat like they never ate before because they needed to put on some weight still.

"Is this everyone?" Sirius asked as he removed his coat and then proceeded to help Adelmo remove his. "Where's Moony?"

"We're still waiting on him to show up," James said, " says he's bringing a guest, so we're all curious as to who that's going to be. And we're still waiting on Augusta and Neville, but I think they're still at St Mungo's visiting with Alice and Frank. But once they get here that will be everyone and I think that's a good thing, Molly's already cooking enough for an army in there. I thought we were baking enough this morning with the amount of Christmas biscuits Renata and Harry made."

Everyone settled in with Adelmo and Sirius greeting Molly and Arthur before they found Adelmo somewhere to sit where he could be comfortable. Since Enzo had greeted the children, he made his way over to settle in his owner's lap and it seemed Adelmo and Enzo had finally established a positive relationship as he continued to pet the crup pup with a smile on his face. And shortly after came another knock on the door, leaving James to answer it that time as Renata shared in a conversation with Adelmo about dealing with his stiff joints in the morning.

As James opened the door, it was Neville who came bursting in, Augusta fully prepared to scold him for just running in, but she didn't have time as Neville had already spotted his friends and was out of earshot.

"It's Christmas," James said, telling the woman to shrug it off, " he's excited."

She didn't say anything, letting out a small sigh paired with a nod of her head, knowing that she had to be easier on Neville. She greeted James with a hug and proceeded to make her way over to Renata, who stood up to hug her.

It seemed they were only waiting on Remus and his guest, and everyone was quite curious as to who he was bringing. Molly and Arthur were finally finished in the kitchen, Arthur looking quite exhausted while Molly looked like she had just come back from war as the victor. The adults just seemed to gather around and talk, watching as the children came in and out of the room as they played. They were all remaining particularly close to the living room, hoping that it would be time soon to open up presents. They were like little sharks, circling the room and Christmas tree, waiting for one of the adults to tell them that it was time.

And eventually, there was one more knock at the door, signalling that Remus had finally made his way home.  Since Renata was closest to the door at the time, she volunteered to answer it and Harry figured Uncle Moony had finally arrived and it had been too long since he had last seen him, he got up to see him as well.

As Renata opened the door, Remus smiled her and wished her a "Merry Christmas" which she said in return with her own smile. However, it seemed everyone was leaning over to see who he had brought with him, even though they didn't see anyone at the time.

"How are you, Remus?" Renata asked him as they pulled away from their hug. "You look great."

"I feel great actually," Remus said with a nod, despite the full moon taking place earlier in the month, " I've been doing really well, but it's really good to be home for the holidays."

"Of course, everyone is really happy to have you home and I think it's safe to say that everyone is quite curious about your guest," she said before looking over her shoulder where the two could see where everyone was looking in their direction.

"Oh, well I assumed, he's here, but he's actually rather shy..."

Harry made his way over, holding onto Renata's leg as she and Remus spoke, but at his height, he was able to see Remus' guest, who was hiding behind the man's legs. The little boy who appeared to be around the same age as Harry peered out cautiously but as soon as he caught sight of Harry, he darted back to hide again.

"Mummy!" Harry tugged on Renata's hand. "Mummy! Look!"

Renata knelt down and caught sight of the little fellow that was attempting to hide behind Remus, pulling the back of Remus' trousers to cover him. Finally, Remus turned around and lifted up the toddler from the top step to place over the threshold that placed him into the Burrow. The boy immediately began to protest as he tried to scramble up into Remus' arms to escape. However, it was Harry who became thrilled at the prospect of there being a new friend for all of them to play with.

And it seemed that everyone's curiosity got the best of them as they jumped up to see who the little boy was. Eventually, Remus lifted him up into his arms and the child buried his face into his shoulder.

"Everyone this is Huxley," Remus informed them, " I hope you don't mind-"

"Oh, not at all!" Molly exclaimed as she looked quite excited. "Everyone is welcomed here, Remus. I'm sure he'll warm up once he gets used to the new surroundings. Why don't we just give him some space."

Remus had to pry Huxley off of him and place him down and as the child was faced forward, James made the connection that Huxley was the little boy that Remus had been trying to save during the boy's first transformation with the wolfsbane. He could see the scars on the child's neck where he had been initially bitten and infected with lycanthropy, paired with the small scars that were on his face. His brown gaze scanned the room nervously and his dark hair was just long enough that he believed that he could hide behind it.

As soon as he was forced to face everyone, Harry noticed the scars on the boy's face as well as he walked over to him reaching out his hand to touch them. Huxley flinched and took a step back, but to show him that he meant no harm, Harry lifted up his own hair to expose his scar. Huxley's eyes widened for a few seconds as they settled on the scar and after a few seconds, he finally grinned.

"Come to play!" Harry said grabbing him the wrist and directing him over where Ron and Neville were.

From where James sat, a bright smile took to his face, the same one seemed to find its way onto Sirius' face as well as Remus' as they watched the four boys gather near the Christmas tree. Remus made his way further into the Burrow, hugging Sirius and then making his way over to hug James as well.

"Looks like the Marauders are set to live again," James said pointing in the direction of the little boys, " did you plan that, Moony?"

"No, not at all, but I figured he deserved a nice Christmas."

"Well, if he goes to Hogwarts," Sirius added in, " I think we have some tips to pass along to help, don't we?"

It finally came time for the children and everyone else to open presents as Renata came to sit in James' lap as the presents started to be handed out. From toy broomsticks, Quidditch supplies, knitted jumpers, and sweets galore the children all seemed to be in a frenzy, leaving the adults to watch slightly intimidated to get in the middle of it. In possible fear that they would be ripped up similarly to one of the presents that they witnessed become massacred in a matter of seconds.

"Well, while they are occupied, "James said over the noise, " I don't see why we all can't open gifts as well, we'll just keep our distance from them."

He started digging into his pocket and before Renata could offer to hand out presents to the others, he presented her with a small wrapped box.

"You first."

The box was placed in her hand leaving her confused and it brought the attention of everyone else to look over at her with knowing smiles. She was about to question what it was but Renata knew better than that because she was either going to get no answer or an answer so far-fetched that didn't make sense just for the sake of a laugh.

Pulling the bow and wrapping paper off, Renata was presented with a small jewellery box that looked like it contained a ring. She looked over her shoulder at James, and Adelmo seemed to perk up quite a bit at the sight of the ring box as well wondering just what the hell was going on.

"Go on, open it," James encouraged her as he watched as she opened up the top and saw a thin golden ring.

Although it was slightly puzzling to her as it didn't look like a traditional ring, leaving her even more curious as she pulled it out of the box. And there was a reason as to why it didn't look like a regular ring because it turned out to be a key ring. She pulled out the key ring to obviously find a key attached to it, but she didn't understand what the key went to.

Turning to face James once more, she could see the look in his eyes and the man nearly looked ready to burst with his own excitement.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," she said, " what is the key for? The flat?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

She wasn't even going to bother guessing because she assumed she was going to be wrong no matter what. She thought maybe that James had finally gone through with purchasing another house that he had been talking about for the last several weeks, claiming that he liked the flat, but he wanted to live in a house again, possibly in the countryside. However, that answer seemed too obvious so she didn't think that was the case.

"Come on, James, just tell her!" Sirius called over to him, as he was gently patting Adelmo's shoulder, who appeared to be recovering from a slight heart attack thinking he was about to be a witness to a proposal.

"Well," James said pulling Renata into him, " you always had the dream about becoming a chef and opening your own restaurant, right? And I promised you while you were in hospital that I was going to help you achieve that dream and that I was going to be the best damn egg washer for you."

Renata stared down at the key once more as her eyes were completely wide before looking back at him.

"You mean...the key...it goes to..."

"It's nothing much right now, I figured I would leave all that decision-making to you to add your own personal touch. But yes, this key is the key to your very own restaurant."

Not doubting James, but for some reason, Renata believed it all to be a prank and waited for a few seconds to hear someone break out into laughter and give away that it was indeed a joke. However, everyone just watched her waiting for her reaction, leaving her to stare at the key. She didn't expect her eyes to start welling up either but she couldn't help it as she quickly used her sleeve to wipe the tears before they fell.

"You did this for me?" she asked, thinking about the smaller gifts that she had gotten for him and how they didn't compare in the slightest.

"After everything you've done for me and Harry, I can only hope this scratches the surface to show you how much we appreciate and love you."

She opened her mouth to say anything but she seemed to be left speechless before just giving in and hugging James as tight as she possibly could. Eventually, she did manage to find her voice and thanked him profusely.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

It only brought James to let out a light laugh as he held onto her. "Yes, I love you too, Ren. I love you very much and Merry Christmas."

The adults watched as the couple shared in a kiss and while it was cute at first, after a minute or so, Adelmo cleared his throat to bring it to an end.

"So, Renata, any idea of what you're going to name your restaurant?" he asked, hoping to change the topic a little bit, leaving Sirius to snort at Adelmo's protective older brother state.

Renata lifted her head up and looked around the room for a few seconds, she obviously didn't have to give her answer right away. But as she was surrounded by friends and family, hearing the laughter of the children around her, smelling the mixture of delicious foods in the kitchen, she couldn't believe that she had found such happiness when she could remember a point in her life when she felt like such a failure.

She had met a man stricken with grief, a little boy who needed help and decided to take a chance to help them, never believing it would go so far. And in return, they had opened up an entirely different world to her, showing her that she could be happy too, even if she wasn't perfect. Seeing how far they had all come, knowing what they had all lost, but seeing that everyone had found a source of happiness, an idea finally came to mind which made Renata look over at her brother with a smile.

"I think I have an idea..."

NEPENTHE

A/N : Despite this being the epilogue, please stay tuned to the little surprises that will follow this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this and don't worry, it's the end of this book, but not the end of the adventures for Renata, James, Harry, and the entire crew.  Thank you so much for reading!

-Kitty