Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the product of an extremely rich woman writer. I'm not her.
AN: This is another response to HedwigBlack's Weekly Challenge. This is also an entry for the cross-gen competition by TamariChan. Enjoy
Kingsley Shackbolt, Minister for Magic, veteran warrior of the Battle of Hogwarts, leading member of the Order of the Phoenix and extremely astute politician was absolutely terrified.
It could be argued that a man who had faced death and worse on more than one occasion shouldn't really be scared of a little thing like announcing his engagement to the world. People got married every single day, to people they met in all sorts of situations.
Kingsley first met his fiancé when he literally walked into her in Diagon Alley. He had been busy talking to the new owner of Madam Malkin's robes, a much scarred and very pretty girl called Lavender Brown. She was, like so many of her generation, a war hero of the Battle of Hogwarts and even with the mass of scars that criss-crossed her face, she was still very pretty. She wasn't really his type, but she was pretty.
If he hadn't been engaged in his conversation with her however, he would have seen the young woman who was carrying a pile of red and gold cloth so high that it effectively blocked her view and with an enormous crash the two of them crashed into one another.
"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he asked as the girl scrabbled about grabbing the colourful bits of cloth. He couldn't see her face, but her long black hair was familiar.
"Oh it's my fault," the girl said as she looked up and Kingsley felt his mouth suddenly go dry and his heart skipped a beat.
To say the girl was beautiful would be something of an understatement. Her beautiful dark brown eyes and dark skin accentuated one another perfectly, while her long silky black hair framed her face wonderfully.
"No, really, I should have been watching where I was going," Kingsley insisted and the girl smiled in a way that made him wish he was twenty years younger.
"Well in that case Minister, you can make it up to me by taking me out to dinner this Friday," she said with an amused smile.
"Wouldn't you rather be with someone your own age?" he asked uncertainly. "I'm not exactly a spring chicken."
"I had a crush on you throughout my eighth year at Hogwarts," she admitted with a seductive smile that hinted at a great deal of experience making men and boys alike feel a rush of feeling. It was a very effective tactic too, Kingsley noted ruefully as he was suddenly made to feel like a teenager again. "I'd love the opportunity to actually live my teenage fantasy."
"Well then, I shall try to avoid disappointing you," he said with an exaggerated bow that made her giggle. "And may I be so gifted as to know the name of my date?"
"Parvati Patil," the girl replied through a series of giggles and Kingsley suddenly remembered why the girl looked so familiar, he'd seen her at the Battle of Hogwarts. He'd seen her take down Travers in a skilful duel and he remembered being impressed at how well she'd handled herself.
"The I shall pick you up at seven, outside the shop, if that's okay with you?" he asked and Parvati nodded with a smile on her face. With that, he walked back to the ministry whistling away with a bounce in his step that he just couldn't hide.
When he met Parvati on Friday, her exotic red and gold robes made her look even more stunning if that was possible and much to his embarrassment, he could not tear his eyes away.
The meal itself was a pleasant affair, Parvati was good company and before he realised it, the date was over and he was standing at her door saying goodbye.
"So was it as good as you imagined?" he asked in an exaggerated voice with a bow and Parvati grinned.
"Much, much better," she replied and she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.
"And that's your reward kind sir," she added before closing her door. Kingsley stood there for a minute in stunned silence, before wandering back to his own home with a distinctly dreamy look on his face.
Over the next few weeks, Kingsley and Parvati met under a series of guises and reasons, both playing a dance that was based on the idea that they WEREN'T IN LOVE. He would meet her for dinner to discuss import licenses and she would meet him in St James's Park to discuss new uniforms for the aurors.
It worked well until several months after they first met, Parvati invited him into her flat and began to undress.
"Are you sure about this? Are you sure we're ready?" he asked and Parvati looked him in the eye.
"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives" she said and that night he shared her bed.
After that night, things simply moved faster and faster, the two of them taking great care to keep their relationship secret. Parvati's sister Padma realised and Lavender knew her best friend too well to not realise.
It had been a year since they first met and Kingsley was nervous about what he was about to ask. Parvati arrived as planned and they settled down to eat at a muggle café as planned. It was when the meal was finished that Kingsley got down on one knee and proposed.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" she asked and Kingsley smiled.
"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives," he said with a smile, before continuing. "Parvati Patil, I know better than most how valuable love is and I know that I love you with my very being."
"Then my answer is yes!" she cried excitedly and she hugged him so hard that they both fell to the ground.
Parvati's family were somewhat dubious about the marriage at the start. He's too old for you they argued and it was certainly hard to make them see otherwise. He's a politician; they aren't to be trusted was another. The press will savage you and he'll end up hating you for destroying his career. But Kingsley was nothing if not persuasive and this was helped in part by the fact that Parvati's sister Padma added her voice to his cause, noting that he was good for Parvati and that she hadn't seen her be so happy with someone ever and Kingsley made a mental note to be grateful that Padma was one of the few who knew that they were dating at all.
The next person to be told was Lavender Brown, the woman who had kept their relationship secret. At least that was the plan. But Lavender, it turned out, had already guessed.
"This is going to be so much fun!" she squealed, her face lighting up. "I've been looking forward to making your wedding dress for ages! Are you sure you're ready for this though?"
"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives" Parvati told her with a smile. "Thank you."
And now, with the collected weight of the wizarding press waiting just in the ministry doors, eager to see who has managed to snag their famously unobtainable minister.
"Here goes nothing," Parvati said nervously and Kingsley gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Just remember, I love you, no matter what. And that's what matters," he said and Parvati smiled.
"Remember that when your career goes down the tubes," she said with a nervous smile. "Ready?"
"No, but if we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives," he replied with a smile. "And life is far too short."