"Ginny, how do you propose to someone?"
Ginny blinked. The question had come out of the blue. "Wow, Ron. I didn't think you'd ever want to make any sort of commitment in your life," she sniggered, assuming that it was a joke.
"Ginny, this is serious!" Ron protested. It was true. Ron had been thinking about this for a long time. He had bought the ring weeks ago, but just hadn't been able to pluck up the courage to ask Hermione. Would she feel they were too young, that they were rushing into things? Did she simply not feel the same way as him? Although they had only been going out for six months and they were still eighteen and nineteen, cliché as it sounded, Ron was certain that Hermione was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Maybe Hermione thought they were still too young to tell.
"Oh," said Ginny in surprise. She had wondered why he had come up to her room (she was back from Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays), claiming that he needed to speak to her. Ginny hadn't expected him to be asking her for advice - normally he went to one of their older brothers. "Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask Bill?"
"I did," Ron admitted. "He wasn't very helpful. 'Say what you feel.' That was all the advice he could give me. He doesn't know Hermione, anyway."
"Well, I don't really know about this stuff," Ginny said. "Why don't you ask one of the others?"
"Hmm, let me think," said Ron sarcastically. "Charlie wouldn't get married if his life depended on it. Can you imagine him wanting to 'settle down'?"
"No," Ginny admitted.
"So I can't ask him," Ron continued. "And Percy?" They both snorted. "Need I say more? And George..." He couldn't finish his sentence. George still hadn't recovered from the loss of his twin. Well, none of them had. They still couldn't say his name around the house, and George spent all his time either at work or shut up in his bedroom - he had moved back in with his parents, as he hated the emptiness of his flat. He rarely spoke more than a couple of words to anyone, although he had been making progress over the last few weeks, and the family were starting to worry less about him. Nevertheless, Ron didn't think he was ready for emotional conversations just yet.
"I understand," Ginny said softly.
"And I don't want to ask Mum or Dad, because they'll just lecture me and tell me I'm too young. So you're the only person left," said Ron, and after her indignant noise, he added, "and besides, you're a girl. You're good at emotions and stuff. How would you want Harry to propose to you?"
Ginny considered for a moment. "Well, it's like Bill said. Say what you're feeling. One of the things that really annoys girls about guys is that they never say how they're feeling, so we just have to guess. And we sometimes get it wrong. Just tell her exactly what you're thinking, and don't leave her in any doubt."
"That's not very helpful," Ron complained. "It's a bit vague. When do I do it? Do I just say to her as soon as she walks through the door, 'Oh hey Hermione. Wanna get married?' Or do I cook her a big romantic meal with candles and all that?"
"Well," said Ginny, "you have to bear in mind that it's Hermione you're proposing to and not me. What do you think she would like?"
"I don't know, really."
"Well, I'm sure she'd want a bit of warning so she knows you're serious," suggested Ginny. Ron sent her a death glare, which she ignored. "And as for the romantic meal idea, well maybe she doesn't strike you as the type to appreciate having a big fuss made over her, but girls can surprise you about that sort of thing. Personally, I wouldn't go for it," Ginny admitted, wrinkling her nose a little, "but Hermione might."
"I guess I could try," said Ron doubtfully.
"But don't cook," Ginny ordered him.
"Why not?" Ron asked, confused.
"Because your cooking is dangerous, Ronald. It does things to people. I learnt by the age of three not to touch cookies that you'd helped Mum with. I hate to think what would happen if you were let loose on a three-course meal."
"Hey!" Ron protested.
"Sorry, you asked for my advice, so I'm giving it to you," Ginny said defensively. "Take her to a restaurant."
Ron had chosen the restaurant carefully - a Muggle Italian. Hermione liked it when he tried Muggle things. He sat at the table nervously, tapping his foot, glancing out of the window now and again and compulsively checking his watch even though he knew that the time had not changed from when he last looked. People kept staring at him. He was not used to arriving anywhere earlier than Hermione, so he was anxious. To be fair, it was because he was early, rather than because she was late, but it still panicked him.
He needn't have worried; the door opened and in she walked, seven o'clock on the dot.
"Hi, Ron," she said guiltily as Ron got up and they kissed quickly and then sat down. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
"No, no," he said thickly, slightly lost for words.
"What's the matter?" asked Hermione, concerned.
"Nothing. It's just... you look stunning."
Hermione blushed. She was wearing a simple black dress with a white shrug and had her hair up in an elegant knot. "Thanks."
Ron cleared his throat. "So... shall we order some drinks then?"
"Yeah, go ahead," she told him, recovering.
They called the waiter over and ordered some expensive red wine. If he was honest, Ron didn't usually care about the quality of wine he drank, if it was booze, it was booze. Normally he would have had this argument with Hermione, but tonight he wanted everything to be perfect.
"So how's Hogwarts?" he asked awkwardly. It was so weird thinking of her being back there, in the same classes as his little sister, while he had jumped straight into working at George's shop.
"It's good," she told him. "A bit weird, being with the year below, but I'm getting used to it. It's not like I exactly find it challenging, after everything we did last year. But the teachers are giving me extra extension work which is fascinating. I'm even contemplating doing further research once I leave school."
"Sounds... interesting," Ron offered, not knowing what else to say. It wasn't usually this hard to make conversation with Hermione; usually they just clicked. It was probably because Ron was treading on eggshells trying not to get into any kind of disagreement.
Hermione laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, Ron. It would hardly be your scene."
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as intelligent as -" Ron started hotly.
"Hey, Ron! It's not a criticism!" Hermione assured him. "It's just that you're you. You don't have to pretend to be someone else around me, you know. Sometimes you just try too hard."
The waiter arrived with the wine before Ron had time to respond to this. He began to pour it into Hermione's cup when Ron stopped him.
"No, no, I'll do that," he said. Hermione raised her eyebrows in a "you just proved my point" manner, but Ron either didn't notice this or ignored it, because his wine pouring was so enthusiastic that it splashed everywhere, including onto Hermione's white shrug.
"Oh, Hermione! I'm so, so sorry!" Ron exclaimed, and in his hurry to prove this he knocked over the wine bottle as he reached for a napkin to hand her. "Oh, no!"
Ron was expecting Hermione to give him one of her looks, but to his astonishment, she giggled. "I do love you, Ron. No matter how many silly things you do. They're starting to make me love you more."
"Really?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"Really."
Ron couldn't wait any longer. "Hermione, I was going to ask you this after the meal, but this seems like the perfect time. I've been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but I haven't known how. So I'm just going to say what I feel. I love you, Hermione Granger, and I want the world to know it. I think you're the most beautiful, perfect, amazing woman on this planet, and I know it's a bit soon, but I know for certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He got out the ring and got down on one knee. Hermione gasped. "Hermione, will you marry me?"
She was speechless for a moment. "Wow, Ron. I... I love you too. You know I do. But marriage... it's not just something you jump in to. I never imagined I would be married as a teenager." Ron's face fell. "But you know what? What the hell. I love you, Ron Weasley, and I want the world to know it."
They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, and before they knew it their lips melted together, their tongues explored each other's mouths, there was nobody else in the world, their arms snaked around each other and it could have lasted for so much longer, had the waiter not coughed not-so-subtly behind them.
"Should I get you another tablecloth?"
A/N: I know, I know, clichés galore, but I don't care, I had fun writing it. A little bit of (slightly late) Romione Valentine's fluff for LoveGreenEyes001 on Gamma Orionis's Valentine's Day Exchange/Challenge... ish thing on HPFC. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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