Written for hogwartssharpist's Pyramid Food Group Competition. I used the prompt 'bottle' and I am batting for team Oils and Sugars (aka, Fluff!)

Written for Gamma Orionis' Favourite Genre Boot Camp (post-war) using the prompt 'Tarry - to linger, deliberate, wait, stay, or pause'

Questions and Answers

"… so you'll help me?"

"Sure… but what exactly am I helping you with? Would you like me there? To do it for you?"

"What? No, no, just help me set it up, you know. I'm hardly the romantic, and I don't really want to disappoint her with my lack of romance. And considering you've already proposed to my sister and she said yes, I'm guessing you didn't do too much of a bad job."

Harry could barely contain a laugh as he studied his best mate. Ron looked very frantic as he shuffled bits of parchment with his notes about his planned proposal to Hermione. He had it in his head that Hermione was expecting nothing less than perfect, and he was determined to make that happen for her.

If only he knew what Hermione really wanted….

"You sure this will work?" Harry asked. "I mean, I don't think Hermione would expect much. She's not –"

"That's where I've gone wrong," Ron interrupted. "Four years we've been together and I haven't given her much at all. Most of the time I'm bloody scared she's going to wake up one day and decide I'm not good enough for her. She keeps telling me I need to put in more effort, so I am… when I ask her to marry me."

"I'm not sure that's what she meant, mate."

"You think she'll say no?"

"No, I think she'll say yes. I just don't think you need to do… to do this to get her to say yes." He jabbed a finger at Ron's elaborate plan, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn't Ron at all, and Hermione would see straight through that.

"So, what do you suggest, then?" Ron snapped.

"I dunno… take her out for a nice dinner or something."

"In front of everyone? Mate, if she says no, it's going to be humiliating enough. I don't fancy doing it where everyone can see it."

"She's not going to say no."

"No, it's better if it's just the two of us. That way, if she wants to say no, well only I will be there to hear it… which reminds me. Don't mention this to anyone else. Not yet."

Harry nodded. "Very well."

"So, you'll help me, then? Don't worry, I won't steal yours or Ginny's thunder. I'll wait until after your wedding and your honeymoon and when everyone else is over the two of you. That way, if by some miracle she agrees to marry me, then all the attention will be on us for a while, alright?"

Ron's expression was so serious that Harry had no choice but to nod. "Alright," he agreed.

Ron beamed. "Thanks!" he said.

…

"It's so beautiful, Ron. Your mother did such a wonderful job in organising this wedding. Ginny looks stunning, and the setting is gorgeous. When we get ma –" Hermione stopped abruptly, realising what she'd been about to say, and looked at Ron, blushing. "It's lovely," she finished lamely.

"Hm," Ron agreed. "Trust them to get the fanciest, most expensive wedding of the lot of us. Mum was so delighted when they got engaged. You were there – Harry really would be a son now."

Hermione smiled. "Well, your family's been the only real family he's ever really had," she said. "What do you expect?"

"They look so happy."

"They do."

The pair of them turned their heads to the newly married couple who were dancing to the slow music. There were some other couples on the dance floor, but none of them stood out like Harry and Ginny did. They just looked very, very happy.

"We should join them, Ron."

"I don't dance."

"Oh, not that again. You said the same thing at Percy's wedding as well, yet you had no trouble with dancing with me at Bill's when Viktor was there."

Ron glowered at nothing in particular. "Well… that was then."

Hermione grabbed his hand and he was forced to put down his bottle of Butterbeer. "Come on, just one song. It's not that bad." She pulled, dragging him to his feet without much effort. A smile played at the corner of his mouth.

"You're too bossy," he accused.

"That's me," Hermione responded, and she led him to the centre of the dance floor.

"Everyone's watching," Ron said, resisting her arms around him. "And this song's too slow."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And the next one will be too fast," she said.

"Well, they can never get it right."

Hermione forced her arms around him again, and Ron struggled with her, his eyes darting to the happy newlyweds a few feet away from them. They probably looked a sight compared to Harry and Ginny.

"I don't like you when you're like this." He'd finally managed to break her hold on him and he took a step away.

"Like what?"

"Bossy and… forceful."

"Forceful?" Hermione withdrew her arms completely and pulled him to the side to divert attention from themselves. "You think I'm forceful?"

"No… no, I don't," Ron breathed, again looking to his sister and best friend. A pang of envy coursed through him. That should have been him and Hermione. "Just… I don't want to dance, alright? Can you accept that?" He didn't give her a chance to respond; instead, he pushed past her, ignoring her hurt expression, and left the tent, walking until he was a good one hundred feet away from it. He found a small clearing where no one else was and he felt like punching the air. He would have, too, had she not followed him.

"Ron, are you going to tell me what that was about?" He'd barely had a minute to himself before she'd joined him.

"No."

"I'm sorry that I made you dance," she continued. "I just didn't realise you felt so strongly about it."

Her response made him angrier than it should have. "You don't need to apologise," he snapped. "You did nothing wrong."

"Well, you're treating me like I did."

"I just don't want to dance, alright?"

"Okay. Can we just go back and enjoy the rest of the night, then? I won't ask you again." She gently took his hand and tried to lead him back, but he stood his ground. The moon was well and truly up now, and the reception was just getting started. Who knew how long they'd be there for. "Ron, what's wrong?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know. I just… being here… watching them being happy… it got me thinking."

"About what?"

"Us."

Hermione didn't say anything. She found a patch of grass and sat down on it, indicating for him to do the same. "What about us, Ron?"

"Well, are we that happy?"

"I don't know, are we?"

"I want to be. I love you, I know that much. And I feel happy with you. I just don't know if you are with me."

"Ron, I'm very happy with you." Hermione rested her hand on his back. "What does this have to do with dancing?"

Ron shook his head. "It wasn't the dancing," he said, "It was the dancing at a wedding. I'm the only one in the family who's in a relationship, but isn't married."

"So?"

"So? I wanted to ask you, Hermione. Ages ago, and then Harry got in first, and I couldn't because then it would look like I copied him. And then… I kept putting it off… until a few weeks ago."

"What?"

Ron paused, not sure whether or not to continue. After all, he and Harry had gone to an awful amount of trouble to organise it, and he'd hate to make all that effort for nothing. But there was one thing that bugged him about the whole plan – Harry was involved.

"It was all planned out," he finally confessed. "I wasn't sure if you were going to say yes or no, but I was going to risk it anyway. I was going to ask."

"When was this?"

Ron shrugged. "In a few weeks' time," he said. "I was going to wait for all the hype of Harry and Ginny's wedding to die down first, but Harry's been helping me plan it. And I just saw him there, dancing with Ginny, and I realised that I never should have asked him for help. He's not the one in love with you, I am. I guess I just needed someone to convince me it wasn't all for nothing."

"Ron, I'm not following."

Ron shrugged. "I wanted to ask you before Harry asked Ginny, but I was an idiot and couldn't do it, and then he got in first. This should be our wedding."

"Our wedding? Ron, do you think that that is what I want? For you to ask me to marry you?"

"Is it? I know that's what you were about to say back in the tent. You were going to say when we get married."

"I-I was just thinking, Ron! It doesn't mean I wanted it to happen right now. I was just… thinking of the future."

"And I'm in your future?"

"Of course you are!" Hermione reached out a hand, but he didn't respond. He was looking at her so fiercely, she almost wanted to take a step back. "Of course I'd love to marry you one day, Ron. Of course I would. I love you so much. But I don't sit around wondering when you're going to ask me. If I wanted it that bad, I probably would have asked you myself. We'd have to be both ready for it, and it's not something I'm going to force either of us into when we're not. So what, that Harry's married, or Percy, or Bill. We're not them."

"So, you don't want me to ask you, then?"

"I want us both to be ready."

"Are you ready now?"

"I –"

"Will you marry me?"

Hermione's head turned towards him, and the look she gave him caused Ron's heart to lurch in his chest. "Please don't say no," he begged. "It wasn't even supposed to happen like this."

"Like what?"

"At least no one else is here to see it."

"Ron, no, stop." Hermione moved so she was now kneeling in front of him and picked up both of his hands. "I'm not saying no," she said. "I just don't want you to feel that you need to ask me because everyone else is getting married."

"I'm not! Hermione, I swear, I've had this planned for weeks. Ask Harry if you don't believe me. And like I said, I wanted to do it even before Harry and Ginny got engaged. I –" He was stopped by her mouth closing over his in a warm kiss. She shuffled her body closer to his so her arms could easily fold around his neck.

"Then my answer is yes," she said, pulling away from him.

"Really?"

Hermione nodded, smiling. "Of course I'll marry you, Ron. I love you. I don't think that asking me at your sister's wedding is the best move, but I want to marry you."

Ron smiled. "I wasn't supposed to ask you here," he said. "There's this lake in Scotland… you can really only get there via Apparition, so I was going to take you there and then –"

"I don't need to hear about it," Hermione interrupted. "You can show me later." She gave him a smile.

"I had a ring, too, but not here. I didn't really expect for this to happen right now."

Hermione shrugged. "That's not important," she said, and she kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hermione… I can't believe you just said yes."

"Did you think I'd say no?"

"I thought you might realise it's not what you wanted and then… I dunno."

"Oh, Ron."

"I'm sorry."

"You're the only person in the world I'd ever want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Me, too."

"Maybe we should go back to the party now, though," Hermione said.

"Let's not tell anyone yet, though. Let Harry and Ginny have their moment."

Hermione nodded in agreement and she got to her feet, dragging Ron with her. "We'll wait a few weeks," she said. "Telling your family, at least. I've only got Mum and Dad to tell in my family."

At that, Ron swore loudly.

"What?"

"Will your parents be okay with it?"

"What do you mean?" They began walking slowly back towards the tent, Hermione holding tightly onto his hand.

"They don't like me very much."

"They love you, Ron. I promise."

"Hm."

"They do! They think you're very nice, and they'd be more than happy to welcome you to the family."

They'd reached the tent by now, and Ron had accepted another bottle of Butterbeer from someone standing by the entrance. "So, when should we your parents then?" he asked as they returned to their seats.

"Oh, not for a few days," Hermione answered. "They can wait. Let's just keep it our secret for now."

"You're not just saying that because you're embarrassed?"

"Do you want me to take back my answer? Because I can."

"No, no. I liked your answer." Ron grinned at her. "I liked it a lot."

Hermione returned his smile. "I think I liked your question even more," she said. "I liked that question a lot, too."

For some reason this has just always been my head canon - Ron proposes against his own plans at Harry and Ginny's wedding reception. I kind of imagine it being a bit more awkward than it was written here, but I had to write fluffiness :D

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and your reviews would be much appreciated.