Dean laid the parchment down on the table before him, amazement mixing with amusement as he turned the envelope back over in his hands to admire his name in neat curling letters on the front. A more bizarre love letter he had never read, but it was just like Hermione to write a short essay to put her point across. In around six-hundred words she had outlined a solid argument, listing all of the reasons she believed them compatible, including her proficiency in many spells that he apparently performed unsatisfactorily. When it came to cleaning, hedge-trimming, and binding hexes, she would be his perfect counterpart.

He scanned over the neat script once more, a smile touching his lips, before quickly tucking it back inside the envelope and stuffing it in his jeans pocket. He chucked his breakfast dishes in the sink, grabbed his jacket from a chair and headed out the door.

It was a glorious summer day outside, and he took a moment to soak it in before setting off down the sidewalk towards the Ministry. He and Hermione had been working together for two years now at the Ministry of Magic, and in that time they'd closed a record number of cases together. Hermione was a brilliant, sharp-witted, and hard-working Auror, and Dean knew he couldn't have hoped for a better partner. She was, of course, also beautiful, ingenious, vivacious, and at times hilarious. He had thought of asking her out almost every day since they began working together, but up until now he'd only had to watch the way she casually chewed on the end of a pencil, or tucked a stray lock of hair behind her perfect ear, to forget how to even pronounce his own name.

Inside the Ministry, Dean felt his nerves grow as the distance between them shrunk. As the doors to the lift pinged open and muscle memory propelled him into the open office of their division, his stomach began acrobatic feats he'd previously believed impossible. It took him only half a scan of the room to spot her damn gorgeous mess of hair near their adjoined desks. As their eyes met over the sea of tables, her face lit up with a brilliant smile.

Suddenly confronted, Dean froze. He had absolutely no idea what to say. He wiped his hands on his jeans for about the millionth time, and glanced down at the letter still in his hand, fingering the torn edges of the envelope and attempting to swallow his nerves.

When he next looked up, he found Hermione still watching him, but all the radiance was gone from her face. She looked as nervous as he felt, and perhaps a little… embarrassed? In a rush he realised what a complete idiot he was being, and had been. The most intelligent, stunning, kind and brave witch of the century had written him a love letter. What was he doing, standing around?

Without further hesitation he covered the space between them, and in one swift movement pulled her against him. Holding her firmly against his chest he kissed her with all the admiration and adoration that he had been harbouring. She instantly melted into the kiss, her arms coming up to wind about his neck and pull him closer.

When they finally broke apart, both a little flushed and embarrassed, but both grinning without regret, Hermione glanced down at the letter he still clutched. With an amused smile, she sighed and said,

"If I'd known a measly six-hundred words is all it would take, I would have written that months ago."


Written for: the 'Fill the Calendar' Challenge. Feb 24 – Prompt: 600 words

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

CC cover image (entitled 'Once in 1640') courtesy of Dominik Bartsch on Flickr.


A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please do review to let me know what you thought :) GG x