No clouds crossed the velvety midnight sky, as a couple of lovers lay on entwined together on the south tower balcony. The stars shined down on them, twinkling for the couple's private amusement. It was his last night in the castle that had been always there for them for the past seven years. He would miss this place… it's magical staircases, the paintings that were only silent at night and the memories that it held in stonewalls that would never share their secrets.
"You know, we should be at the leaving feast," a petite young woman reminded the young man in her arms.
"Nope, would rather be here with you," he said quietly, tightening his hold around her waist.
She nuzzled his neck and curled in tighter to his warm frame. "If the Head Boy wants to miss, then I guess I have permission."
"Yep, you do," he replied teasingly. "If you don't stay, I will make sure you have detention in the morning before the train leaves."
"Abuse of power, I demand a new Head Boy!" She stated, a bit of mock indignation in her voice.
With lightening quick reflexes that came from years of Quidditch, he rolled over and trapped her body beneath him. His eyes captured hers and refused to let them go. "As long as you don't demand a new boyfriend, then you can insist away." He lent down detaining her lips with his.
A familiar fire burned deep within her. "No, I love the one I have now. I think that I will keep him around for a while." Her chocolate brown eyes danced with mischief.
"Good, because I am too damned difficult for someone else to have to learn to put up with me." He kissed her softly again.
Her hands played gently in the soft hairs at the base of his neck. "That's true. It might be easier if you came with a users manual for the next poor girl that takes on the task."
The young man sat back on his girlfriend's thighs, reaching into the pocket of his robes. He pulled a small red velvet box out. "I have an idea, let's make sure that no one ever has to learn deal with our stubborn natures, hot tempers or impulsive desires."
She looked at the box in his hands and heard the words he was saying. They had talked about the future before, but didn't know if they would make it out of the school year alive, much less think about a life together.
He continued. "You have kept me sane this year and I love you for that. I love that you make sure that I eat and I love when you make sure I sleep. There is no one I love more than you. Other than this next year, I don't ever want to be apart. Marry me."
"What are you doing?" She gasped.
"Asking you to be mine for the rest of our lives. We don't have to get married this summer or even next summer, I just want you to know what my intentions are. Will you marry me?"
She could see the hesitancy in his eyes, the eyes she loved to gaze into. "Of course, Yes! Yes, I will marry you!" Her arms flung around his neck kissing him for all she was worth.
He pulled back and opened the small box in his Quidditch roughened hands. He took the ring from its case and slipped on to her finger and kissed her for all he was worth.
She gazed down at it and saw the diamond with two rubies on each side. One thing she noticed was some engraving on the outside of the ring. "What does it say?"
"Oh, it says, 'This is my beloved and my friend1'." Do you like it?"
"Yes, and you are my beloved and my friend. It's perfect." She captured his lips for another kiss.
They spent another hour together getting lost in each other, where kisses no longer were just a moment of sharing themselves, but also sharing their hearts and souls. They left the tower and headed down to the common room where their friends would be waiting.
---
The newly engaged couple walked through the portrait hole and tried to slip to their favourite window seat together, but their well-meaning best friends halted their progress.
"Where have you two been? You missed the feast!" The Head Girl questioned them with that same bossy tone she has been using for the past seven years.
"Calm down Hermione. We were on the south tower balcony, sharing one last night together." Harry Potter told her.
The tall redheaded man before them gave them a suspicious look. "You didn't do anything, did you?" His eyebrows slowly disappearing into his hairline.
Ginny looked at her older brother. "We didn't do anything that you and Hermione haven't done." The statement was left to anyone's interpretation.
Hermione glanced at her boyfriend of almost two years knowing what they had done, when something shiny caught her eye. She reached out and grabbed the younger girl's left hand. "Oh my God, you didn't!"
A one hundred watt smile crossed Harry and Ginny's face when Harry answered. "We did."
Hermione Granger, normally calm and collected unless Ron decided it was time to argue, shrieked, drawing the attention of the whole common room. "Oh Congratulations!" She threw her arms around the pair and hugged them.
The girls were the first to make it over to the foursome. They saw the ring and pulled Ginny from Harry's side to ask all sorts of questions. The boys hauled Harry with them to congratulate him.
The engaged couple caught each other's eyes from across the room and slowly started to make their way to the other.
Harry reached out and pulled Ginny to him, wrapping his arms around her lithe waist. "I love you."
She smiled up at him and caressed his cheek before directing his lips down to hers. "I love you too."
---
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were married three years later. He finished his Auror training and she became a Chaser for a professional Quidditch team. They had a small private wedding with only close friends and family in the back garden of Potter Manor, Harry's ancestral home. All had a fabulous time. The couple would later give birth to four children, and adopt three others that were left without parents from the war.
Their lives though lived in the spotlight due to who they were, was lived quietly at home with seven children, three kneazles, two freed house elves and one very snobby but loving owl.
A/N: How did Ron feel about his little sister and best mate becoming engaged? His opinion is in A Brother Remembers, which can be found on my profile.
1 This comes from the Song of Songs 5:16 also known as the Song of Solomon in the bible.