A/N: Thanks for all the love, you wonderful people!

Steve felt a sense of Déjà vu as he and Bucky trod the now-familiar path towards The Crown pub. The streets were much chillier than they had been two months ago but everything looked much the same as it had before their exploits on the Continent. The main difference between today and the day Steve had first trodden this route was the energy Bucky was giving off. Back then, Bucky had been almost giddy with excitement at the prospect of seeing Hermione again but Steve could tell how anxious Bucky was at finally finding out the answer to his marriage proposal.

Since his unusual conversation with Hermione a few days ago, Steve felt pretty sure that she was going to say yes but he had no way of reassuring Bucky without him becoming suspicious. Steve did have sympathy for his friend but Bucky had chosen an inopportune time to ask her. The look of shock and anguish of Bucky's face when he'd taken his seat after failing to get a response from Hermione hadn't been funny at the time – and Bucky certainly hadn't enjoyed the teasing from the team he'd been forced to endure ever since – but now that it seemed there was going to be a positive result, Steve couldn't resist a smile at his friend's expense. It was almost ironic that the smooth-talking sergeant had made such a mess of winning the hand of the woman he loved – or maybe Steve felt it was justice after suffering a lifetime of awkward encounters with women in comparison with his best friend!

For the tenth time in the last few minutes, Bucky self-consciously squeezed the small box that was in his trouser pocket. Steve had very much intended for Bucky to make this journey on his own and had merely approached Bucky to wish him luck, but then he found himself forced to help his best friend buy an engagement ring.

"I've got to show her I was serious," Bucky had explained. "That it wasn't just my mouth running away from me."

"But it was, wasn't it?" Steve replied.

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Bucky had admitted. "But I meant it: I do want to marry her, and a ring is going to show that."

The two men spent a surprisingly long time picking out the engagement ring. Steve had wanted to settle for the first good one they saw but Bucky was very indecisive – as though Hermione's opinion on the piece of jewellery he chose was going to be the deciding factor in her answer. After a while, all the rings started to look the same to Steve and he was beginning to despair that Bucky would never find one that he liked. Finally, after visiting their fifth shop – and viewing close to sixty rings by Steve's estimate – Bucky chose the ring. Steve wasn't sure what made that particular item of jewellery so special but if it meant that he could stop looking at rings, he was very happy to support Bucky's choice. When the store owner had named his price, Bucky had hesitated a little bit and Steve had offered to provide him with funds from his short-lived movie career.

"No, it's alright," Bucky had answered, delving into his pocket for the money. "If a man's going to get his girl a ring, he's got to be good for it himself, right?"

Again, Steve had intended to leave Bucky to it but, with The Crown so close, Steve decided to walk with his best friend most of the way before he would duck into the pub ready for the celebratory drinks that he anticipated would commence soon after.

In the meantime, Bucky had moved from checking that the ring box was there every few seconds to not removing his hand from his pocket at all. Steve clapped him supportively on the back as they took the penultimate corner before they expected to see Hermione dishing out more supplies to the poor in her usual spot. "Good luck, Buck," he said, "Drinks are on me when she says yes."

"If," Bucky corrected, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.

"When," Steve insisted as The Crown came into view and, a moment later, Hermione. Both men paused, watching as Hermione spoke comfortingly to an elderly couple and pushed supplies into their objecting hands.

"Have it; I won't take no for an answer," Hermione was saying to them and Steve heard Bucky sigh in relief – possibly just reassured at the sight and sound of her.

"Thank you, Hermione, love," the elderly gentleman said. "You're a Godsend."

"Not at all, Bill," she said modestly, "It's the least I can do. We've all got to look after each other, haven't we?"

"But who's looking after you, dear?" the old woman asked. "When's your young American feller due back?"

"Soon, I hope, Mary," she sighed.

"How about right now?" Bucky called over to her. Hermione looked surprised for just a moment before she sped over to Bucky and threw her arms around him. Steve enjoyed the sight of his best friend looking far happier than at any other moment over the last few weeks.

"I've missed you so much," Hermione said, her voice thick with emotion. "I hate it when you're away."

"I know," Bucky replied softly, "But I'm here now."

Hermione nodded, her lips pulling into a wide smile. "You're here. Finally."

Steve started to cross the road to the pub to give the couple some privacy but his movement drew Hermione's eyes to him briefly before she refocused on Bucky.

"Bucky, there's…there's something I need to talk to you about," she said nervously and Steve stopped in surprise.

Bucky's face instantly grew concerned. "Oh. Is it about…what I said?"

Hermione gently placed her hand on Bucky's cheek to try and soothe his fears. "There's something you need to know before you ask me again – that is, if you actually want to."

"Of course I… Hermione, what – I don't," he spluttered.

Steve was quite taken aback that Hermione wanted to have the conversation in the middle of the street. Maybe she was hoping that Bucky wouldn't overreact if they were in public.

"Bucky, my love," she said, making sure that his gaze was focused upon her, "there are things about me – my past and present – that I haven't told you, that I can't tell you."

Bucky looked at her in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not allowed to."

"According to whom?"

"I can't tell you that," she admitted. "I hate that there's a part of me that you can't know, but I think that you should be aware of that fact before you decide whether you want to marry me or not. It wouldn't be fair to you if you didn't know…"

Bucky stared at her wordlessly and Steve saw Hermione lick her lips nervously. "W-what are you thinking?" she asked.

He took a deep breath and frowned. "Will you ever be able to tell me?"

"I hope so," she said earnestly. "When the war's over and we've started a new life together somewhere else – there's nothing I want to do more, believe me."

Steve could see that Bucky wanted to but uncertainty lingered on his face. "It's nothing bad, right?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head slightly. "No. It's just extremely restricted information, I swear. I'm still the same person, the same girl who loves you more than words can say." Her eyes flickered to Steve again and he flushed, embarrassed to be seen eavesdropping on their conversation. "But there's something else," she told Bucky. "Steve knows a little of what I can't tell you."

Steve gaped at her. What was she doing?! Was she involving him so that he could back her up – to tell Bucky it was OK to trust her? Was she just selfishly using him to get what she wanted?

"What?" Bucky said, looking over at him. Steve wanted to move but he found that he couldn't.

"We encountered each other professionally," Hermione elaborated as far as she dared. "I begged him not to breathe a word and explained that I have to keep things confidential, but he's hated having to keep this from you. The last thing I wanted to do was come between two best friends." She turned to Steve. "I don't want you to feel like you're deceiving Bucky by pretending that you don't know. It would be selfish of me to clear my conscience, to an extent, while not letting you do the same, and I would be disrespecting your friendship."

Steve was rather astonished by her speech and he felt bad about his earlier assumption that she was involving him for her own gains. He appreciated that she was trying to repair the damage – even though Bucky was probably unaware that things had been strained between them.

"Wait," Bucky said, a look of understanding settling on his face. "Is that why you two have never really gotten along?" he asked, quickly proving Steve wrong.

Both Steve and Hermione wore looks of surprise that he'd noticed the tension despite their best efforts to hide it. "Please," Bucky scoffed, seeing their expressions, "I know you both so well." He frowned. "At least I thought I did…"

"You do," Steve insisted. "We didn't see eye-to-eye at first but we do have one main thing in common."

Bucky looked confused and Hermione laughed lightly. "You," she told him because he didn't seem to be able to work it out himself. "We would both do anything for you."

Bucky scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's comforting to know," he murmured.

"You OK, buddy?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Bucky shrugged, "It's come a bit out of the blue but, to be honest, when you said we needed to talk," he said to Hermione, "my mind pictured much worse scenarios. So, if you tell me that this classified part of you shouldn't change anything between us, then I believe you – I trust you."

Hermione took Bucky's hand and moved it to rest against her heart. "James Buchanan Barnes, I promise you with all my heart that you have nothing to worry about."

He held her gaze for a moment and then nodded, seemingly content. "Well, if you've already gone down the full name route," he murmured, taking his hand from her embrace and moving it to his pocket, "I'm going to do it properly this time."

He removed the small box and opened the lid as he got down on one knee. "Hermione Jean Granger, will you do me the honour of agreeing to become my wife?" he asked.

In contrast to the shock and uncertainty felt by all three of them the last time that Bucky proposed, Steve watched serenely as the scene played out in front of him.

"Of course I will," Hermione answered, a huge smile on her face as Bucky swept her up into his arms.

And that, Steve thought hopefully, would be the end of all the unwanted tension and deception…

A/N: Aw, a nice fluffy drama-free chapter, for once! Well, if you ignore the somewhat ambiguous ending!

Hope you enjoyed!

Love,

Red