Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to ObsessedRHShipper, who is beta-ing this story.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Proposal
Ron really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. He had thought about proposing to Hermione many times before, but he had never thought that there would be a time restriction or that she would know that he was going to ask her. Yes, it was nice knowing that he would get a positive answer, but he had hoped to surprise her whenever he asked, and he didn't think he could do that now. Not for the first time did he wish that he could have recognized the signs she had tried to give him; this time though it wasn't because he had made her so worried about his feelings, but because this could have been a surprise.
It had annoyed him more when they had visited Hermione's parents that weekend and Duncan had called him in for a conversation in his study.
"I'm not sure if I still need to have this conversation," Duncan had said after they had exhausted the small talk. "But I'll take a stab at it anyway. I noticed the last time that you came here, something seemed to be wrong between you and my daughter …"
"I'd said," Ron sighed and was about to say more but Duncan continued.
"You also seem to be doing better now, which I'm glad of," Duncan said. "I've gotten pretty used to you Ron, and I would hate to see trouble between you and my daughter."
"Did you think it was that bad?" Ron questioned.
"It's not that it was bad," Duncan qualified, "It was just that … well, I don't think you realized what Hermione was trying to do and that could end up being bad."
"Sir?" Ron questioned, suddenly feeling grumpy.
"She has been acting like her mother had when …," Duncan said with a thoughtful smile, "you remember the discussion we had the first time you came here…about your intentions with my daughter?"
"Argh," Ron groaned, shaking his head. "Why couldn't you have said this the last time?"
"What?" Duncan was caught off guard by the question and the anger the boy seemed to have now.
"You're going to tell me that Hermione is ready to get married right now, aren't you?" Ron grumbled.
"Well, not in those words, but yes," Duncan admitted. "She reminded me a lot of Juliet right before I asked her. She would say something hopeful and then grimace as if I didn't understand what she was saying. It was only afterward that she admitted that she tried to get me to ask her for months."
"Well you were quicker than I was," Ron grumbled, even more upset than he was before.
"Did you ask her?" Duncan said eyes wide and Ron wondered what the expression was that Hermione's father had.
"Not exactly," Ron admitted. "But I'm going to, soon. No, what I'm saying is that Hermione and I just had a fight and it came out that she has been waiting; it would have been nice if you gave me this warning last time, sir."
"Sorry," Duncan sighed, looking thoughtful. "I wasn't sure …"
"It's okay," Ron sighed. "You are okay with this, aren't you?"
"I've already told you that I've gotten used to you," Duncan said shrugged, "and I know you're good for my daughter. It's just that she's growing up much too fast, but there's nothing I could do about that."
Ron smiled. It was nice that Hermione's father had come to accept him and had even tried to help him out, especially when he thought about what happened the first time he came to this house as a boyfriend.
O
It was eight days after their fight and it was Hermione's twenty-fifth birthday. Ron was planning carefully for a special night. He was going to make sure it was going to be a night that she didn't forget.
"Why can't you tell me where we're going?" Hermione asked. She was in her best dress and looked at Ron, who was in a nice suit that seemed to highlight his best features.
"Because then it wouldn't be a surprise," Ron said as if that should be obvious. "Now be quiet and close your eyes."
Hermione grimaced but did as she was told. She didn't know how, but her breath would still catch whenever he would hold her, like he was doing now, firmly to him so he could Apparate them to wherever it was they were going. He put his hands over her eyes as he turned her around.
"I hope you like this," he whispered in her ear, causing her heart to hammer in her chest as he removed his hand. She was standing in front of a restaurant that she had been dying to go to for a long time now.
"How did you know?" Hermione gasped as she turned back to Ron, smiling.
Ron answered her question with a smile and a shrug.
"I never told anyone," Hermione mumbled, still confused how he could have known.
"I could see your eyes twinkle whenever it was mentioned," Ron explained. "I might not notice everything, but I've been trying to plan a perfect night for you for a long time now."
"Well, you've started in the right direction," Hermione said, touched by his actions, and then she leaned up to give him a quick kiss.
"That's good to know," Ron chuckled, and moved her forward. If he let her kiss him much longer, he wasn't going to be able to control himself. She looked incredible in her dress.
Ron could see Hermione look at the champagne they ordered expectantly and then sighed before she smiled as he toasted her birthday. The food there was wonderful, though the price wasn't. It didn't really matter to Ron at all. He just enjoyed watching Hermione's eyes light up when he ordered for himself in French; he had Fleur teach him enough so he could surprise Hermione. It wasn't that it was necessary to learn this, but it was just that he loved seeing the prideful surprise in her eyes when he did something she didn't expect. He could see her eyes look hopeful again, when the dessert came and then fell. His mouth pulled thin and she glared at him.
"You're not going to ask me any questions today, are you?" Hermione said frowning.
"I'm sure I'll ask you something …" Ron started to say with a chuckle.
"You know what I mean."
"No, I'm not," Ron smiled at her.
"I thought you said you wanted this day to be perfect," Hermione pointed out.
"I don't need that to make today perfect," Ron chuckled. "In fact, the face you're making is only improving my day."
"I thought you wanted to make today perfect for me," Hermione pouted, causing Ron to laugh more. She was not really upset about this; how could she be when he was laughing and smiling like he was.
"And you don't think this is so bad," Ron informed her. "Hermione nothing needs to be added to this day to make it special. I'd rather spread the special days out so I'll have more to remember in the future."
"You're such a romantic, Ronald," Hermione said, with the prideful surprise back in her eyes. Then her eyes twinkled in amusement. "I should really inform your brothers about this."
"Whatever. They'll never believe you," Ron shrugged, trying not to laugh. That was made easier when Hermione leaned in to kiss him. It took longer than was strictly polite for them to pull away from either other. "Perhaps we should get this dessert to go."
"Perhaps," Hermione giggled, but she picked up her fork and took some of the dessert.
Although she had been hopeful that Ron would ask her to marry him tonight, she found that she wasn't disappointed at all when she learned that he wouldn't. She loved that he liked treating this day as special on its own and that he honestly loved to make memories of their relationship stand out. She loved that he could make a day perfect just by being the man he was.
O
Since Hermione's birthday, he tried to think of just how he was going to ask her to marry him. He wanted to surprise her, but that was made almost impossible by the fact that she knew the question floated in the air. She would know immediately if he did anything out of the ordinary, and she would expect the question to come. It was like her birthday, but this time she would have been right. How was he supposed to surprise her now? When Ron had finally asked her to marry him, he was just as surprised as she was.
It was early in the morning, Ron had made eggs for them and Hermione was just about ready to leave to go to work. She got up and gave Ron a quick kiss.
"Marry me," Ron gasped, the words stumbling out of his mouth before he knew what he was saying.
"What?" Hermione said; she had already started heading for the door, but she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him in shock.
"Marry me," Ron repeated, a smile growing on his face as he realized that he picked the perfect way of asking her.
"This is how you ask?" Hermione said still shocked. "Right before I have to go to a meeting …"
"I suppose," Ron shrugged, "it would be nice if you answer me."
"Oh," Hermione said while a wide smile that she could no longer hold back spread across her face. "Of course, I'll marry you."
"Good," was all Ron could say before she was in his arms, sitting on his lap and kissing him.
"Seriously, Ronald, why did you have to ask me now," Hermione grumbled as she pulled away, realizing that she only a few minutes before she really needed to be at work and she never wanted to stay home more than she did now.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Ron said, one of his hands was massaging her thigh and the other was on her back, holding her close to him. "After that kiss …"
"That kiss?" Hermione questioned, "You mean the one I gave you when I said goodbye?"
"Yes, that one," Ron chuckled, realizing only now that she didn't know how that simple kiss had always meant so much to him. "The first time you kissed me like that, I knew that I loved you. It was the morning after …"
"… you came over for the second time," Hermione finished, she might not have known the importance of the kiss, but she had remembered giving it.
"Exactly," Ron beamed at her for remembering. "That kiss almost seemed to tell me that you wanted more than what you told me you wanted…that you wanted to have a relationship with me like I had already known I wanted with you. It was so unlike any kiss that you had given me before because it wasn't about sex or anything physical, it was a kiss of promise."
"You are such a romantic," Hermione was in tears about what he had just said…about how much love he had shown with his words. She kissed him slowly, not caring anymore where she was supposed to be. It wasn't long after that that Ron picked Hermione up, and led them to their bedroom so he could make love to her the proper way.