Disclaimer: Hey,
these people belong to J.K. Rowling. I
am just playing with them.
Chapter One
Ron Weasley sat at his kitchen table thinking very
hard. So hard that his head ached. His sister, Ginny, sat across from him,
staring into his face. He glared at
her.
"What do
you want?"
"Nothing."
"You were
staring."
"Yes, but
had I wanted anything, I'm sure I would have said it."
Ron sighed
and went back to staring at the table.
He had been sitting there for the last half hour trying to decide the
best way to ask his girlfriend, Hermione, to marry him. He had been quite sure for at least the past
two years that he was going to do this.
It just occurred to him recently that perhaps he should actually go
ahead and do it. It was Christmas time
and all the Weasley children had come home to celebrate together. Ron saw how happy all his siblings were with
their spouses and even some with their children. This had not only reminded Ron how much he wanted to marry
Hermione, but that he was the only Weasley left who had yet to wed. He supposed he had better get on with it.
"What are
you thinking about?" Ginny asked,
suddenly.
Ron looked
up.
"What do
you care?"
"Well,
smoke's practically coming out of your ears, so I thought I might as well ask
before you burn the house down."
"I don't
want to talk about it." Ron snapped.
Ginny hid a smile.
Ron tried
to think back to the time when he and Hermione had started dating. How had he asked her then? Let's see.
It had been the towards the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts when
they had finally confessed their feelings for each other. Voldemort had been at the height of his
second reign of power and Ron and Hermione had slipped away one afternoon to
wander through the castle and try to not think about the horrible things
happening around them. Ron tried to
remember why Harry hadn't been there.
Oh yes. Harry had shut himself
away in the dormitory, in his bed, claiming that he needed to be alone to
think. That was when Harry still blamed
himself for all that had happened.
"Are you
despairing the horrible season the Cannons have been having?" Ginny's voice snapped Ron back to reality.
"What?"
"Still trying to decide what
your so wrapped up about."
"I'm trying
to remember something."
"What?"
Ron
glared. "Back to the time when I was
still the youngest." Ginny made a face
at him.
Ginny began
to open her mouth, but Ron held up a finger to his mouth to motion for
silence. "Shhh. You'll ruin the moment."
Ginny
rolled her eyes.
Ron went
back to his thoughts and recalled that late May evening. It had been storming and he and Hermione had
eventually ended up in the abandoned History of Magic classroom. How ironic that the best thing that ever
happened to Ron had started in the most boring room in the castle. They had been sitting on the floor in front
of Binns' desk. (Ron had always
wondered if Binns could have even opened the desk drawers, but that was not
helpful to him now.) They had been
discussing all the recent tragedies.
The fires. The families torn
apart. The deaths. Hermione had commented that is was nice to
always have someone you could trust and talk to about anything. She had looked into his eyes and Ron had
felt as if time had stopped completely.
And then it just happened. They
leaned in and shared their first of many kisses.
It was then
that Ron realized something. He had
never really asked Hermione to date him.
After that kiss, emotions that they had both been harboring for sometime
had poured out of them and an understanding had been formed that was never
really said aloud. They just knew they
were meant only for each other and didn't have to have it said. They just referred to each as boyfriend and
girlfriend after that. Ron grinned as
he remembered the first time this happened in front of Harry. They hadn't really said anything to him for
a day or so because he was so upset about everything. The look on his face was priceless.
Ron
sighed. That way of doing things was
not going to work for this situation. What
could he do? Just lead her to a church
and say, "Well, we're here. We might as
well get married." He grimaced at the
thought of what Hermione would do if he did that. He could almost hear her voice.
"What do you mean, bringing me to this church, without a proper
proposal? Have you finally lost your
mind? How dare you?" And on and on it would go.
Ron smiled.
"Just ask
her, Ron." Ginny's voice once again
interrupted Ron's thoughts and he stared at her in surprise.
"Ask who
what?"
"Just say,
Hermione, will you marry me?"
Ron
blinked. How could she have known that
was what he was thinking about?
"How did
you know that was what I was thinking?"
he asked in amazement.
Ginny
jumped to her feet and squealed. "Oh
Ron! I didn't know, but you just told
me!" Ginny sat back down and bounced
excitedly in her seat. "Oh, I am so
excited. This is so great. Hermione already asked me ages ago to be her
maid of honor. Well, matron of honor, I
suppose. Oh, do say that you are going
to get married after the baby comes.
I'd look awful in a bridesmaid dress as pregnant as I am. Wait till Mum hears…" Ginny would have gone on forever if Ron
hadn't stopped her.
"Wait a
minute, Gin. I can't just say it like
that. Shouldn't there be something before
that? Where and when should I do
it?" Ron decided to give up pretenses
and ask Ginny for advice. After all,
she had been asked to be married herself, just a year earlier.
"I mean to
say, how did Harry ask you?" Ron didn't
know if Harry had planned out the proposal or not. He knew that Harry had been desperate to marry Ginny before
anything else could possibly happen to them.
Voldemort had been gone since the middle of their seventh year and he
knew that Harry had been determined to move on as soon as possible. With that mindset, he may have just blurted
out the question in the middle of a Quidditch match.
Ginny's
eyes glazed over a bit, as if she were remembering the most wonderful
thing. Which Ron supposed she must have
been.
"It was wonderful. But simple.
Remember simplicity. Don't be
like Percy. I think he submitted a four
foot essay to Penny when he asked her."
Ron
laughed. It was a wonder that that
relationship had ever happened. Then
again, Percy had the most children of all the Weasley kids and Ron was still
struggling to ask Hermione to marry him.
"Well, what
happened then?" It occurred to Ron that
he had never really heard this story and reminded himself to kick Harry later
for not telling him it. Or himself for
not asking.
"Well, he
took me out to do something I absolutely loved."
"A
Quidditch match?" Maybe Ron hadn't been
so off with his Quidditch proposal.
"Absolutely."
If Ron was
a Quidditch fanatic, it was nothing compared to Ginny's obsession on that
front. She worried him sometimes.
"Anyway, we
went to go see the Cannons play the Wasps.
Harry made sure that the Wasps were playing the Cannons, so that they
would be guaranteed to win." The Wasps
were Ginny's favorite team and their rivalry with the Cannons was a source of
constant arguments between herself and Ron.
Ron made a
face and considered starting an argument, but then decided that this was too
important to interrupt.
"Ok, what
then?"
Ginny
grinned at what she perceived as a mini triumph and continued. "Then he took me to his house where he made
me my favorite meal and played all my favorite songs on the wireless. After that, he just basically told me how he
couldn't live without me and asked me if I would marry him." Ginny paused. "I think that involving something that Hermione loves in the
proposal will make it really special to her.
At least, it did to me."
Ron was
silent for a moment. Suddenly his eyes
widened and his mouth parted a little bit.
"I've got
it!"
***********************************
Thank you
to JessicaBlack for being my beta-reader and listening to me obsess about a
certain boy we both know.
