Just a quick little one-shot… just because I'm in the mood and it IS that special day of the year ;)
Harry paced back and forth in his living room. 'Where could they be?' he thought. He had asked Hermione to take Ginny out for a few hours to distract her. He had pretended that he needed to work tonight and Ginny had been quite disappointed. Little did she know what Harry had up his sleeve.
He had planned the whole thing out. He had cooked – the muggle way (he thought it would be more romantic) – and without any help from anyone. Though he was tempted to ask Molly for her help, he knew she wouldn't be able to keep the secret. She'd be grinning from ear to ear and Ginny would know something was up. Her very presence in the house would have tipped her off. After all, who invites their girlfriend's mother over for the day on Valentine's Day? A complete nutter, that's who.
Now, after he had cooked manually and cleaned and decorated the dining room and living room magically – after all, what good is it being a wizard if you couldn't flick your wand to do the more menial or mundane chores and get them out of the way? – and began to wait.
It seemed as if he had been waiting an eternity. Or was it only 25 minutes? He couldn't tell anymore. He looked at the muggle clock on the wall and checked it against his wristwatch. Nope, neither was broken. They both told the same time.
What was taking them so long? He had told Hermione to spend a few hours (two, maybe three hours tops) with Ginny, not spend the entire day and night with her. If they weren't back soon, he'd have to go out and look for them. He couldn't just sit there and wait anymore. Actually, he had given up sitting a while ago and had begun pacing instead.
With all of the furious pacing that he was doing, Harry wouldn't be surprised if the carpet began to wear thin. Harry tried counting and slowly exhaling. He tried closing his eyes and picturing happy things, but his nervousness made those happy thoughts hard to access. Finally, when he thought he would surely burst from all of the tension and anxiety he was feeling, he heard a loud crack, signaling that someone had apparated to the front door.
Harry quickly made his way over to the table that he had set out with the finest cutlery and a deep red tablecloth. A bright yellow vase holding white lilies-of-the-valley and purple wisteria sat in the midst of the table. Yes, he had opted for Gryffindor colors where possible; he was even wearing a crimson shirt and golden tie! Harry began inhaling and exhaling in an attempt to slow his erratic heartbeats.
Ginny had bade Hermione good night and wished her a happy Valentine's day; it couldn't get any worse, could it? They both had boyfriends and it was the first time in many years that no impending doom or megalomaniac dark wizards threatened to take over the world – yet Ginny still couldn't get her boyfriend to put her before his job. "Being an auror is an import job, Ginny. We help people feel safe by catching the bad guys and locking them up in Azkaban. You know I love you, but I can't risk hundreds of lives being in danger because I decided to spend the day making doe eyes at my girlfriend. That's just too selfish!" Ginny had sighed, knowing that she had lost the fight. Harry's sense of duty and responsibility meant that he always put others first – always!
'I suppose it's just something I'll have to get used to. He IS the savior of the wizarding world after all. It's not like he can take the day off and…' Ginny gasped when she fully stepped inside the house. Her musings were cut short by the sight that awaited her. There were rose petals on the floor and they were leading her from the hallway to the living room. Along the way, the petals changed from those of white roses to those of yellow roses. Finally, the petals changed to those of red roses and when she looked up, she saw Harry standing there, a huge grin on his face.
Ginny glanced around the room and stood in awe of the twinkling fairy lights that had been strung across the ceiling. The roaring fire had made the room toasty and she shed her outer robe to reveal a beautiful forest green dress that hugged all her curves. She had bought the dress, along with some red lacy undergarments, hoping to surprise Harry tonight. When Harry had announced that he wouldn't even be home tonight, she had been angry and tempted to return the dress. She had kept it however and when Hermione asked if she wanted to go out for a bit, she had reluctantly agreed.
She had been about to throw on a black dress, to match her not-so-happy mood, but had caught sight of the green dress. Ginny looked it over for a minute before deciding, 'what the heck, might as well put it to good use. I bought it for today, might as well wear it. Show it off. That'll teach Harry.' Now, she was extremely glad that she had kept it because Harry certainly seemed to be appreciating her in the chic and flirty dress.
"You look… stunning." Harry breathed out. It seemed as if he was a loss for words. Ginny grinned and inwardly congratulated herself on a job well done. 'That'll teach him not to abandon me on another Valentine's Day.' Ginny smiled back when another thought struck her.
'But wait, he hadn't abandoned me… not really. He had clearly spent a large amount of time preparing all this, so he had to have been here for at least the past 3 or 4 hours. But how did he know that I'd be out of the house? He couldn't have… wait a minute! Hermione. Of course! He sent her here to distract me for a few hours so he could get things ready. How sweet!' Ginny thought to herself.
Her musings were interrupted when Harry cleared his throat and moved towards her. He gave her a lopsided grin and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her tenderly and she nearly melted at the gentleness of it all.
Pulling away for some much needed oxygen, Ginny looked into his emerald orbs and asked, "you did all this for me?"
"Of course. You deserve it! I know I don't tell you or show you often enough just how much you mean to me, but you do Ginny, you really do!"
"What's with the different colored rose petals? Flower shop run out of the red ones?" Ginny teased.
Harry smiled and replied, "No. The different colors were intentional. It's actually supposed to be symbolic of our relationship."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. You see, white signifies purity and innocence. Which was us when we first met. You were my best mate's little sister and I was your big brother's best mate. Not much there, really. But then, I got to know you and we became good friends. Hence the yellow rose petals, since yellow roses signify friendship. And finally, after spending loads of time with you both at Hogwarts and at the Burrow, I began to see you in a different light. The more time I spent with and the better I got to know you, the more I fell in love. Thus, the red roses, which obviously signify love."
"Ah. I see. So you – "
"Wait. Let me finish! Please." Ginny searched his eyes and when she saw the look of determination and steely resolve, she relented.
"As I was saying, I love you Ginny. I've loved you for many years now. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out. And I'm sorry I kept you in the dark when Ron, Hermione and I went off to search for the horcruxes. Believe me, I wanted to tell you. But I couldn't risk putting you in danger. I had already lost so many people I loved Gin, and I refused to lose you too. You were the only thing that kept me going many a sleepless night. Whenever I thought it was all hopeless, I'd think of you. I'd remember your fearlessness and that if I gave up, if I failed, then I couldn't come back to you and live the kind of life that I wanted to."
Here, he paused to take a breath and realized that Ginny was valiantly trying to keep the tears from streaming down her face. He tucked a loose strand of her bright red hair behind her left ear and continued with his little speech.
"I can't ever thank you enough for always having faith in me, when so many others had turned on me. I can't thank you enough for loving me, despite all of my flaws. And I can't ever thank your family for taking me in and treating me like I belonged, like I was a Weasley by birth. The Burrow has been my second home for half my life now and you have been that light, shining at the end of the tunnel, that beacon of hope that's guided me back every single time. I love you more than words could ever express. I'm not perfect, but I promise you that I will try to be friend, lover and husband that you deserve." Ginny's eyes widened when Harry used the word husband, but she dared not interrupt his heartfelt speech… which it seemed was really a proposal!
"I promise to love you more today that I did yesterday, and less than I will love you tomorrow. I promise to never go to bed angry and to listen to you, even when you rant and rave." Ginny glared mockingly and Harry smiled before carrying on. "I promise to tell you that I love you every day, because you deserve to hear it, to know how beautiful you are and how much I love you. My life isn't just incomplete without you; it's meaningless. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me. I want to be the father of your children and I want to tell our grandkids how I fell in love with a fiery redhead my sixth year at Hogwarts, but how secretly, she had me at 'God luck,' back when I was only eleven and about to start my first year at Hogwarts."
Ginny's chuckles had turned into full force laughter and she had tears streaming down her face by the time Harry mentioned having children with her. She didn't know how much more she could take. She needed him to ask the question already so she could respond.
Finally, Harry took her hands in his and placed a kiss on the knuckles of both hands before getting down on ones knee. Ginny's breath hitched as he pulled out a blue velvet box and opened it up for her to see. It was a gorgeous ring with a huge sapphire in the middle and smaller stones to the left and right of the sapphire. The smaller stones alternated between ruby and peridot.
"What, no diamond?" Ginny feigned disdain and Harry suppressed a laugh.
"No, Ginny. No diamond. The band is platinum though. But the stones represent something as well. You see, the alternating stones of ruby and peridot represent our birth months and the sapphire signifies the month in which we met for the first time. I just thought these were special months to us, so why not include them in the ring?"
Ginny smiled at the thoughtfulness that went into all of this and realized just how long he must have been planning this for – months at least!
Harry looked at her expectantly for a few moments before saying, "well, are you going to give me an answer or not?"
Ginny cheekily replied, "that depends on whether or not you actually ask me a question."
Immediately, Harry's cheeks flamed red and he cleared his throat and took a deep breath before locking his gaze with hers. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you – "
"Yes!"
Harry laughed and said, "hang on. Let me finish asking you. Will you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times, yes!" Ginny looked pointedly at the box and Harry removed the ring from it and slipped it onto her finger. Ginny screamed in delight and after pecking him on the lips immediately ran to their fireplace. She threw in a handful of floo powder and floo called Hermione. She showed her the ring and both women were screaming and giggling animated for about five minutes before Ginny decided to let Hermione get back to Ron. She then turned back to face Harry and said, "I can't wait to tell Mum and Dad tomorrow. Mum is going to freak out!"
"Why don't you tell them tonight?"
"Are you mental, Harry? If I floo call her right now, she'll want to hear all about it and we'd be there all night. Do you want to spend the night of Valentine's Day with my parents Harry? Because I'd rather spend it with just you. And since you proposed, we should… celebrate."
Harry didn't need to be convinced any further. He swept Ginny up, bridal style, and carried her upstairs to their bedroom – the dinner that he had slaved over for hours completely forgotten – so that they could celebrate their engagement the proper way.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ginny."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Harry."
AN: Harry's birthday is July 31st and ruby is the birthstone of July. Ginny's birthday is August 11th and peridot is the birthstone for August. And if you haven't guessed it yet, yes, sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September – when Harry and Ginny officially met on Platform 9 ¾. I'm not from England, but I think I've read enough Harry Potter fanfics to pick up a few British slang words, like nutter (which means crazy person). In future HP stories, I'll include definitions for any slang I use, for all my non-Brits who might be reading. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day. 3 3 3