November, 1998. Auror training camp.
"Come off it mate, what's up with you? You've been off all evening," Ron said as he approached Harry's camp cot.
Harry looked up, his pensive green eyes having been elsewhere in his mind. "Oh, hello Ron. I think…well…I've done something quite daft, I think. I know." he finally responded.
Ron raised his brow and chuckled. "That's all, is it? I'm sure it's nothing dafter than anything I've ever done. Come on, tell it, then. Unless it's Ginny, then we might have some issues...but you know that."
Harry didn't chuckle back, still looking antsy. "I'm serious Ron! It's bad! You might hit me, actually. And, it's not Ginny yet, kind of…but, well, here's what happened. After Ginny had to leave Hogsmeade today I went back to Diagon Alley and decided to walk around a bit, before I came back here for supper. And I walked in to Jordan's –you know, Lee's dad's place, the jeweler's –and though maybe I'd look around for a Christmas present for Gin, maybe a bracelet or something. But then...Merlin, you really are going to hit me, but there was this ring…" – Ron blanched at this – "and I don't know why I did it, but it was just perfect, and sitting there staring back at me, and…I bought it." After a few moments of silence, Harry looked at Ron, uncertain at his best friend's lack of response.
"Ron! Say something! You know I love your sister, so please don't be mad. I know it's completely ridiculous that I bought a ring right now, so you don't have to tell me that either...but say something!"
Ron was still speechless. "Like I said, it was perfect," Harry blurted, "and I thought to myself that whenever I did propose I wanted it to be with that ring right there...so I got it." Ron raised one eyebrow and moved his mouth, but still no answer came. Harry tried to explain himself some more, stating, "I swear I hadn't planned on even looking for a ring so soon. I mean, we've talked about it, our future, but always as a future type of thing! She's just now of age, and we just ended a great ruddy war! But someday later on."
Harry threw his arms up dramatically, having risen to his feet while speaking, then sat down on his cot with a thump. "Ron…I don't know what to do with it now!"
"You. Bloody. Idiot." Ron finally spoke. "You propose to my sister, that's what you do with it! You don't have to do it right away, but you better bloody do it! Though I expect to see that ring sometime, if it's so bloody great you had to buy it right now! Wait," Ron paused as Harry reached into his pocket, "you have it right right now?"
"...yeah. It was getting late, and you know how the Gringotts goblins have been around me, still, so I didn't want the hassle of getting it in to my vault. Plus, I sort of wanted it near me. And I obviously wasn't thinking straight anyways. So, here, look!" Harry exclaimed as he pulled out a little blue velvet box and opened it.
Ron looked in and his eyes grew wide. Sparkling up at him, a round peridot stone sat encircled by smaller pavé diamonds, flanked on both sides by peridot leaves set upon a simple gold band. "She told me one time that she loves her birthstone," Harry blurted out, "because it looks good on her skin and hair. She told me green had been her favorite color ever since she was a little girl. At the time I had joked about whether peridot compared to the "fresh pickled-toad" of my eyes, and she hit me with a book," Harry smiled.
"For some reason that's the moment and the comment that I thought of when I saw this ring. It's simple but unique, and reminds me of her somehow. It gives me the same feeling I get when I see her, I guess. Maybe it doesn't make sense to you but I swear it's just perfect..." he trailed off.
"No, I see it," Ron replied. And he could, envision that ring sitting perfectly on his bold, clever, confident not-so-baby sister. "You better bloody ask her," he said, turning to look Harry dead in the eye, "it's perfect for her, and the two of you are too sodding perfect together anyways."