He stifles her, and she hates it. When she's with him, she's a ladybug, crawling around aimlessly on his hand. He acts as if she's made of glass, beautiful and delicate. He loves her, she knows, but oh, she wishes she could be herself.

"Mione, are you sure it's right for us if you take that job?"

"Mione, this flat's close to my office…we'll take it."

"Mione, that's not safe."

Her life goes on like that, her tolerating, him loving…or so he claims. The day she found him with Lavender Brown didn't make her cry. No, she'd shed her tears the day she realized he loved her, but he didn't care. That's the day she stopped loving him.

And she's dealt with it for so long that she can't take it anymore.

She's still a ladybug, but now she's spreading her wings.

She picks up the Floo pot on the mantle and throws a pinch of dust into the flames. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," she says, her voice strong and sure. Harry will be there. Harry will understand.

As she steps out of the fireplace she is greeted by none other than Harry himself. And he looks at her with such love and care and adoration that she breaks down in his arms.

"Hermione, sweet, it's okay," he murmurs, trying to comfort her.

She sobs, unable to speak as a million thoughts run through her head. The way Ron never minds her feelings. The way she hasn't had a decent conversation in months. The arguing. The yelling. Finding her boyfriend kissing Lavender Brown. Harry. Sweet, loving, Harry. The Harry she will never have because that's not the way things work. The Boy-Who-Lived, with so many troubles, and not enough time to deal with them, or a girlfriend. But then she realizes how much he completes her, and maybe he feels the same way, because he knows everything about her and doesn't even need to ask what's wrong. And the stress she has with Ron just melts away in Harry's arms.

Oh, Harry, he's so beautiful, and in that instant she knows what was missing between her and Ron, but as soon as she acknowledges it, she thrusts the thought back, because it can never be, she's not for him, she's supposed to marry Ron and he's supposed to marry Ginny, but the tiniest part of her can't help saying "What if…?"

"Mione, I know this isn't the best time right now, but…will you marry me?"

And as she looks up in disbelief, somewhere deep inside her she knows it's true, and she loves him more than life itself. And her whispered answer is the way she begins to show that, yes, she's a beautiful delicate ladybug, but she can still fly.

"Yes."