I don't own anything...seriously, not even this computer...

It was September, the twentieth, 1998. The day after Hermione's nineteenth birthday. Her golden birthday. She clambered out of the bed in her recently acquired flat in London, near the Leaky Cauldron. For someone who had moved in only weeks earlier, it was probably the cleanest, most organized flat in all of Europe.

She went into the bathroom to begin her morning ritual. Get up, brush teeth, then take a shower. Get dressed, do something with her hair, and apply the little makeup she wore. Make her bed, tidy her bedroom, eat breakfast, and head into work. It was a pretty average morning schedule, but today was Sunday, and she didn't have to go into work. She took an extra long time getting ready this morning. She brushed her teeth one by one, and even bothered to tame her bushy head of hair. She didn't want to have time to think. She had to keep herself busy so as not to bring up the events of the previous night…

Ron had taken her to a fancy muggle restaurant for her birthday. You know, the kind where they even place a napkin on your lap for you, because apparently you are too lazy to do it for yourself. The dinner was wonderful, but Ron was acting strange all night. Hermione was used to him not being himself on dates, generally because he was always so nervous about messing things up, but this was different. He hardly talked at all, and didn't even ask about any of the strange muggle artifacts surrounding them.

At one point after dinner, he turned to Hermione and asked her to follow him outside, to the garden behind the restaurant. She kindly agreed and proceeded to follow him out. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that there were fairy lights twinkling all around them. When she looked down in front of her, Ron was on one knee, gazing up into her eyes.

"Hermione, I have always loved you…even since first year, I think. And, er…well, oh, bloody hell, I'm rubbish at this… Umm…I guess what I'm trying to get at is, Hermione, will you marry-"

"NO!" she yelled suddenly. It was just sort of an instinct reaction and she felt terribly guilty when she saw the look of vast disappointment and shame on his face. "I mean, just not…um…now?"

Ron stood up and gave her a fake smile. "Of course. Why would you want to marry me? I shouldn't have asked…I'm sorry, I just…never mind, then. I'll just take you home."

She stood at the door to her flat a few minutes later, waiting for him to say something, anything to her, but he didn't. He just gave her that same fake smile, kissed her cheek and said, "I get it, Hermione. It's fine…you must know loads of handsome blokes from work. Why would you choose me? Goodbye, Hermione." And then he simply walked away…

"ARGH!" she yelled at herself.

She was picking up the dress she had worn the previous night from the floor, where she had left it, when Ginny apparated directly into her bedroom. She flinched at the noise, but did not look up from the dress she was holding. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to apparate into someone's house? It's rude."

Ginny shushed her, and asked, "So, how was your date with Ron last night?"

"Umm…it was really great. He took me to a fancy muggle restaurant. Our meal was wonderful. We really did have a great time…" she said sadly. "He, er, proposed to me," she added as an afterthought.

Ginny let out a high, girlish scream that Hermione would have never expected from her. "Oooh! Can I see the ring?" she asked grabbing Hermione's hand. Her face fell when she saw that there wasn't a ring on her finger. "Wha- What happened?"

Hermione shrugged and finally let the threatening tears spill over, "I said no."

"What?!" Ginny shrieked. "How in the name of Merlin's pants could you say no? To Ron! Fragile little baby Ron! You know, that guy you've loved since first year? Ron, Hermione!"

"I didn't mean to," she mumbled, tears streaming down her pale face. "I just…panicked…"

Ginny pulled Hermione into a comforting hug. "Well, I think you're going to need to talk to Ron. Mum sent me over here to invite you over tonight. That seems as good a time as ever…"

Hermione shook her head slightly and gave a watery smile to her practically-sister. "Thanks Ginny."

Update ASAP...don't know how soon that will be though...