The cover of Witch Weekly that week was, in the humble opinion of Cho Chang, owner and editor-in-chief, a simply gorgeous piece of photography. The viewer could see the full height of the tall, golden Eiffel Tower shining against the dark sky, and yet the two figures below it, one on bended knee and the other nodding in such a way as to make her scarlet locks bounce, were still clearly recognizable. One could even see the tears on Gin Weasley's face as she said yes. And apart from a few vague blurs around the edges, they were the only people in the image. Very nicely done.
But it was all the more impressive because Miss Granger had, of course, decided to propose on a Friday night. Cho, who always went home early on Fridays, had been called away from her exclusive party to make an executive decision about what to do with the story. It had been an obvious choice, as the cover had been a lame story about Lucius Malfoy going back into rehab the day before a ball he was supposed to host, something that happened once a month or so. A proposal from the brightest witch of the age to the most beloved fashion icon was much better, especially because their relationship had previously been only vaguely speculated about.
Their boss's decision, while not unexpected, had not been welcomed warmly by her staff. The cover picture had had to be rushed through the necessary manipulation and then hastily developed around one in the morning. On top of that, the event being totally unanticipated, Dennis Creevey had actually had to write the entire story after it had happened. And there were just a few picture of the evening, so the layout staff had to dig through old pictures to find visuals of the newly discovered couple. Most of these had then had to have Harry Potter and Ron Weasley cropped out. But now, at eleven o'clock, a copy of the completed magazine lay on the editor's desk, and all the other ones had been sent out to the devoted readers on time.
The editor leaned back in her chair and smiled. Cho was thoroughly proud to be in charge of Witch Weekly right now. It would be the only magazine even mentioning the proposal this week. Why Miss Granger had even proposed was anybody's guess, as marriage between two witches was still illegal, though marriage between two wizards had been legalized after Dumbledore's sexuality had come out. Maybe it was a publicity stunt, or maybe it was just a promise that just as soon as it was legal, they would be married. Either way, it was not Cho's job to question the decisions of celebrities; she left that to her readers. All she had to do was get the news out to them. And that had been done most spectacularly. Maybe…
Cho smiled and rang the bell on her desk. The door to her office opened and Parvati Patil, her secretary, stuck her head in.
"Hello, Parvati."
"Good morning, Ms. Chang."
Cho sat up at her desk and opened her filing cabinet. "Give a 100 Galleon bonus to everyone who stayed up last night working on the cover story."
"One hundred Galleons, Ms. Chang?" Parvati gaped.
"Yes. To everyone." Her secretary nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and Parvati?" She stopped. "Tell Mr. Creevey that Ginmione is officially his couple to cover. That piece he did last night was simply fabulous."
Parvati nodded again and left, looking very confused. Cho Chang smiled. Sometimes, she could afford to be a little generous. After all, this issue was a sure sell-out. The wizarding world would be totally shocked this news. For herself, she just wanted to sleep.
Approximately seventy-two miles away from the tall skyscraper in London that housed the Witch Weekly offices, outside the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole, the traditional Saturday brunch was being held in the backyard of the Burrow. All seven of Mrs. Weasley's sons, including the non-biological one, Harry and Neville (who had been unofficially adopted after his grandmother's death), were in attendance that day, after many pointed hints from Hermione about the necessity of her brothers supporting Ginny whether she accepted the proposal or not. Mr. Weasley, unfortunately, was not able to attend, having been called away early in the morning to disable an enchanted air conditioning unit that was causing some problems at a Muggle school in Edinburgh.
So the Weasley daughter and her girlfriend, no, fiancé, were the last to arrive, Apparating together with a loud crack, causing Ron to drop the orange juice pitcher whose contents he had been emptying into his cup.
"Morning, all." Ginny called, waving her left hand rather obviously. Luna, there as Neville's date, made an unfortunately loud remark to him about the subtlety that Gryffindors, honest to the core, seemed to totally lack. But she did it in such an off-hand and vague voice that not even Mrs. Weasley could find it in her heart to be offended. Besides, they had other things to fill up their thoughts with.
"Morning, Gin!" George called back, winking at his family. "Come have food before Ron eats- or spills- it all."
That earned him a light laugh from Hermione, who had apparently never understood in her fifteen years of knowing the youngest Weasley male how he could consume the enormous amounts he could. As the two girls neared the table, Hermione pulled out a chair for Ginny, prompting an incredulous look from Charlie, the only Weasley brother who had never had time to observe Ginny and Weasley as a couple, as he was normally in Romania. Bill just laughed and whispered something in Charlie' ear.
Ginny, perhaps feeling the glance or hearing Bill's laugh, looked up as Hermione sat down. "Charlie! You're not breakfasting with dragons this week." Katie Bell, Charlie's girlfriend, nodded approvingly at that description.
"No, I'm not. I decided that my family members might be better conversationalists than dragons after all." He had learned from the twins that saying something funny could distract almost anyone from the course of questioning they were about to undertake. Indeed, everyone laughed at his response and Ginny just stood up to hug him, not questioning why he was really there. They could all clearly see the ring flashing in the sunlight, and they were pointedly ignoring it. Ron, it was true, opened his mouth to say something, but he shut it again when Harry elbowed him and interrupted.
"Hey, 'Mione, are you two going to the ball at Malfoy Manor tonight?"
"Yeah," Hermione responded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You?"
"Ron's got Quidditch practice." Harry said. "But I have to. Kingsley says that it is important for the people to see that the Head of the Auror Office is alive and well and not yet killed."
"Just don't show up in scarlet and gold," Angelina said, and the talk moved on to other matters, including anything and everything but the shining bands non the girls' fingers.
It was, as usual, Percy who ruined the joke. He had been inside, preparing brunch, trying to copy his mother's every movement in order to impress Penelope, his longtime girlfriend. Now he strode out, his head held high, carrying several platters of food to replace the ones his brothers had devoured. He then nodded pompously at Ginny. "Congratulations, Ginevra. I see you accepted Hermione's proposal."
Ginny looked up, slightly startled. "You knew?" But Percy was already following his mother back inside.
"Hermione asked your parents and every one of your brothers for their permission to marry you as soon as it was legal." Neville explained, smiling at the bewildered redheaded girl.
"And then she made a big deal about all of us attending brunch this week." Charlie added. "You've caught yourself a control freak."
"Besides," George said, his voice innocent. "The two of you are just so sickly sweet, you know. Snogging in the park and all."
"Oh, please," Ginny scoffed, punching him. "We're not as bad as you and Angelina."
"You are bad enough zat ze public haz noticed you are togezzer, it seems." Fleur put in from her seat next to Bill. At the others' questioning glances, she held up a copy of Witch Weekly. "Zis just came."
They gaped at the front cover. "Blimey, Gin, do you really like Hermione so little that the prospect of marrying her makes you cry?" George asked, making a weak attempt at a joke. Ron could have told him that was a bad idea. Hermione's expression was dangerously close to explosion. She shot up from out of her chair and snatched the magazine from Fleur's hand, ignoring the part-veela's haughty glare.
"I will kill Cho Chang." She screamed, bringing Percy and Mrs. Weasley running from the house, wands held high, only to stop when they notice the cover of the magazine she was staring at. "And I will do the same to whichever creepy stalker who dares to call himself a journalist took this photo." She was now flipping through the pages to the very back, where Ms. Chang had the credits done in tiny font so as to give her staff as little credit as possible. "Aha!" She breathed, jabbing her finger at the page.
Ginny rose from her seat and stood behind her fiancé. "Hermione?" She said, touching the other woman's shoulder softly. When all she got in response was a look thrown back at her, a look that showed that Hermione Granger was too angry to even be logical, she tried again. "Who took the picture, love?"
That got her attention. "A scheming little rat named Michael Corner!" Hermione proclaimed. "I will hex him into a thousand pieces if he ever stalks us again."
"Oh, just Corner?" Ginny asked, looking over Hermione's shoulder to where her finger was still pointing. "We already knew he was worthless, right?"
"Yeah." Hermione said, relaxing. "I guess this confirms it, right?" She flipped back to the article and gave the other pictures a quick glance. "These are all old anyway."
"What does the article say, 'Mione?" Ron asked, breaking the bubble that had come into being around the two lovers.
"Oh, something dumb." Ginny laughed, taking the magazine and reading it aloud in a mocking voice. "'Did you know that major fashion designer Gin Weasley and dark arts researcher Hermione Granger were together? Nope, neither did we. But apparently they are, as Hermione proposed to Ginny last night under the Eiffel Tower.' Blah, blah, blah.… Who wrote this junk?" She skimmed the rest of the article and stopped at the end. "'In conclusion, it appears that Ronald and Harry will not be getting their former girlfriends back.'"
"Well," Hermione grinned over her shoulder at the redhead as she finished reading. "That is going to make several young witches very happy."
"Excuse me, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, obviously confused.
"Well, you know, Harry and Ron are now officially free." Ginny said, grinning slyly.
"Ginny," Harry said, concern in his voice. "You and I have been, well, over, for almost three years now. There was no way we were getting back together."
"Yeah, and I am most definitely not free, 'Mione." Ron said, folding his arms and sitting back in his chair. "I have a girlfriend."
"It wouldn't be the first time you used Lavender to make me jealous," Hermione pointed out.
"So," Neville says, "you mean that everyone has spent the last three years just not going out with Harry because…" He trailed off, unsure of what he was saying. It seemed so absurd.
"Because they thought he would eventually end up with me?" Ginny finished his sentence, flipping her hair over her shoulder in that way that meant she was annoyed. "Basically, yes. Apparently I didn't send them a strong enough message when I was always with and holding hands with Hermione."
"But now Harry Potter, Chosen One, adorable multi-billionaire designer of magical defense products, youngest ever Head of the Auror Office, and probable next Minister of Magic is free." Hermione said, flashing a smile. "And no self-respecting witch would ever let a ditzy blonde stand between her and handsome Quidditch star, model, and war hero Ron Weasley."
"On second thought," Harry groaned, "Forget Kingsley. I think I'll not go to the ball tonight."
A/N: So what'd you think? I personally like that part at the beginning with Cho, but not the rambling stuff at the Burrow. I wanted to write a Ginny/Hermione one-shot, but Cho kept popping up as a waitress, or a former girlfriend, or anything. I think this works, right?
Don't just nod or shake your head at the computer screen. I cannot see you because, unlike Michael Corner, I am not a creepy stalker. You actually have to press that not very little button and type out what you think of it. So please review? *adorable puppy dog eyes*
Oh, and I actually think Percy is even more adorable than puppy dog eyes, but I needed him to be kind of stuck-up in this.