Epilogue



Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked to the library. He knew that she would be there; the N.E.W.T.s might have been over, but he knew that she would be studying, still. Walking through the doors, he saw her near the back of the library, facing away from him. He grinned and walked up to her softly, his hands coming around to cover her eyes. She gasped quietly.



"Guess who," he whispered into her ear. He felt her smile.



"Harry," she breathed, turning around. He let go of her eyes and leaned down to kiss her on the lips, their breaths mingling as he felt her hands come up to his neck.



"Pansy," he said, pulling away. "Do you want to come outside with me? To the lake?"



She glanced at the windows, raising a brow. "Harry, it's raining."



"So?" he asked. "Live a little."



Pansy shook her head, smiling. "Only you could make me do this." She stood, picking up the book she had been reading and putting it back on the shelf. He grabbed her hand and walked with her to the entrance to the Great Hall. She stopped. "Harry, what about our raincoats?"



"A simple spell will work," he grinned, performing it on both their robes. "Hermione taught it to me."



"I still can't believe how well everyone took our relationship," she said softly as they walked outside.



Harry shrugged. He didn't really care what anyone thought anymore. He reached into his pocket, fiddling with the box in his right hand. They reached the lake, sitting under the tree next to it, which repelled some of the rain. A flash of lightning lit the sky, thunder coming just a few seconds later. Pansy sighed, leaning against Harry's shoulder. They both loved the rain. Harry had once said it was the only thing that had made him feel good back at the Dursleys'. The rain. It had made him feel… Not quite so alone.



Pansy had felt the same way a lot of the time. Her mother had not been the easiest person to live with, and although her father was better, he had still been not all there, thanks to her mother.



Harry kissed Pansy on the forehead and pulled away slightly. "Pansy, we need to talk."



She frowned, feeling a little nervous. Did he want to break up? Maybe that was why he was being so quiet.



"Well," he said slowly, "to be more specific, I need to ask you something."



Pansy nodded slowly, her initial fears receding, although the nervousness increased tenfold.



"Pansy, I love you."



Tears filled her eyes. "I know," she whispered, "I love you, too."



He smiled at her, pulling her towards him for a quick kiss… Or at least it was supposed to have been quick. But it lasted a good five minutes, and when they finally pulled away they were both nearly out of breath. "Where was I? Oh, right. Well, I honestly don't know how to say this… Gods, I guess I should just come right out with it." He took a deep breath, and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. "Pansy Parkinson, I love you with all my heart; will you marry me?"



Tears filled Pansy's eyes and she threw her arms around him, the sudden movement pushing him to the ground. She kissed his lips with renewed fervor, and he responded just as passionately. "Oh, Harry," she whispered as she pulled away, looking into his eyes, "I love you so much; of course I'll marry you!"



"Good," Harry grinned, slipping the ring onto her finger, "'cause if you'd said no I would've had to go find Ginny."



Pansy rolled her eyes, grinning, and slapped him playfully, looking down at the ring on her finger. It was a simple gold band with a diamond in the center, two smaller ones on either side. Leaning down, she whispered against his lips, "Well, we can't have that, now can we?"



And they didn't come up for air for a long, long time.



~fin~