Remus wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers. He was quite sure he had never been this nervous in his life. Coming to the decision to ask Hermione to marry him was requiring him to make some major changes. Most of those changes revolved around the way he thought his life should be.
He was a monster.
He shouldn't inflict his curse on his loved ones.
He should be alone.
While being with Hermione had helped him see that he was deserving of love, he could not seem to make the final commitment in their relationship. They've lived together for the past three years, moving in together after being together a year. He had tried to talk her out of it because he knew people would judge her for it.
She didn't care.
It was so rare, so refreshing to see someone who truly did not care what others thought. He loved that about her.
He loved her.
He also loved that she never pressed him about marriage. He knew she wanted to get married, could see the sadness underneath her joy when all her friends married, one by one. The worst, in his opinion, was when Sirius got married. He was overjoyed that his friend finally found someone to make him happy, and he knew that Hermione was too. But there was… defeat in her eyes when Sirius broke the news.
Even the self-confirmed bachelor was getting married. She never said a word, however.
He hated seeing the sadness in her eyes, knowing he was the one that caused it, so he decided he was going to do something to make it go away. He was going to propose.
Finally.
He had convinced Ginny to take Hermione out shopping, not that it took much convincing. While the two witches were out, he got busy setting the scene. He cleaned the whole apartment top to bottom without using magic. While he was doing that, a roast (her favorite) was in the oven. He might not be the best wizard to ever use the kitchen, but he did know how to whip up a few dishes, most of them being Hermione's favorites.
He re-arranged the dining table four times before he declared it was perfect. Candles in her favorite color stood in the middle of the table, surrounded by their best china. The side dishes for the roast were set around the table, held under a statsis charm until Hermione came home.
Which should be any minute.
He took a deep breath when he heard the front door to their flat swing open.
… And promptly fumbled with the bottle of wine he had been holding and then watched in horror as it crashed to the ground. Swearing under his breath, he quickly waved his wand at the mess and hoped Hermione had not heard it.
"Remus?"
"In here!"
He heard her intake of breath before he saw her. Turning to face her, he almost made the same noise as he took in the gorgeous woman in front of him. One that was wearing something completely different than when she left the house.
"Hermione… you look stunning."
Her cheeks turns slightly red, as they usually did whenever he gave her a compliment.
"Thanks. Ginny made me buy it and then insisted I wear it right then. It looks lovely in here, Remus. What's the occasion?"
"Do I need a reason to do something nice for you, love? Come now, sit and let's have dinner."
He barely paid her any attention as she talked about her afternoon with Ginny because he was too busy going over his speech in his head.
"Remus? Remus!"
Startled, his hand knocked over glass, sending water spilling all over his trousers. Sighing inwardly, he cleaned it up before turning his attention to Hermione.
"What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Is everything okay, Remus? You've been awfully jumpy, and you haven't paid a bit of mind to anything I've said."
"Fine. Everything is fine. I have been meaning to talk to you about something though."
"Okay then. I'm listening."
So intent on getting this right, he missed the fact that Hermione's back had gone stiff and she looked nervous.
"We've been together for four years now, and you know I love you but –"
"Oh my gods, Remus. How could you?" she interrupted, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"I… what?"
"Was all this some sort of set up to let me down easy? Let me tell you right now, I will not stand for this. If you think I am going to let you go without a fight, you have another thing coming."
Remus was now thoroughly confused. She couldn't possibly think that he was… breaking up with her, could she? He jumped out of his chair and walked around the table until he was standing in front of her. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees.
"Gods, Hermione, no. I love you. I love you more than life itself, more than any words I could possibly say at this moment. I'm not trying to leave you. I'm trying to ask you to marry me. I… please, Hermione. Say yes."
He lifted his head then, looking into her beautiful dark brown eyes that were still wet with tears. Suddenly he found his arms full of a sobbing witch.
"Yes. Yes, of course I will marry you!"
As they both fell to the floor and her lips attacked his, he only had one thought in his head.
Why did he wait so long?
Hogwarts: Ancient Runes class – Write about someone going through a major life change.
Prompt: Hermione/Remus