***DISCLAIMER*** I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with the
series; JK Rowling and Warner Bros do. The poem in this chapter belongs to
me, solely me.
A/N It's been quite a ride! Here is the final chapter of "How Many Ways."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
How Many Ways
Chapter 17 ~ How Many Ways
By AmericanAngel
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The party at the Weasley's house was scheduled for Saturday, December 7th at 8:00 in the evening. Hermione spent the day window shopping in Diagon Alley, trying to decide what to buy for her friends and family for Christmas.
As she looked down the alley through the light snowfall, she saw Ron Weasley walking through looking in the windows as well, hands in his pockets. Smiling, she hurried to where he was standing.
"Ron! How are you?" she said, giving him a warm hug.
He returned it, warmth coming into his eyes as he felt the familiar tingling sensation in his spine, "Hermione, I'm wonderful." She looked at his eyes, however, and saw that he seemed preoccupied.
"Ron, what's wrong?" she asked him slowly.
"Nothing! Nothing at all," he replied quickly, "I'm just getting some items for Mum. I guess I'm a little worried about the mission."
Hermione nodded, "Yes, always about the mission of course."
He looked into her eyes, "Why are you here?"
She smiled, "I'm window shopping, trying to decide what to buy for people for Christmas."
He beamed at her, "So soon? You are on top of things, my dear!"
She blushed, "Well, you don't seem to have any bags. You better get off to do your shopping so your mother has proper time for everything she has to accomplish."
"Yes, you're right," he agreed with her, blue eyes never leaving her own, "I'll see you tonight. I can't wait, really."
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "See you then."
Hermione returned home around five and set about to get ready for the party. She took a shower and dried her bushy hair, using a potion to make it behave and then letting it fall around her face and down her back. Sighing contentedly in the warm, humid room she put on again the shirt she had worn to the Lifehouse concert; she figured it would match the cranberry wreaths with which Mrs. Weasley had decorated the Burrow. She put on also the crème sweater; however, instead of Muggle jeans she wore a pair of nice black trousers. After she had applied lipstick, blush, mascara, and perfume she looked and felt full of Christmas spirit.
Ginny was already at the Burrow helping her mother with the desserts and tea for the evening. Hermione ate a quick bit of meat pie before Apparating to the Burrow.
"Hermione! Our first guest," Ginny said, greeting her best friend with a hug.
Hermione smiled, "What can I do to help?"
Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room, carrying a large plate of biscuits and placing it on a table nearby.
"Nothing, dear! Just enjoy yourself; that's what the evening is about, after all. Ginny, darling, don't neglect the next batch of biscuits!"
Ginny rolled her eyes when her mother was out of sight and motioned for Hermione to follow her into the kitchen. The Burrow had been carefully and elaborately decorated with all sorts of Christmas decorations. There was a tree in the family room, under which were many presents. Hermione stole a glance at them and saw the names of each Weasley child, but also the names of guests.
Mrs. Weasley had placed a wreath on each door, with cranberries just as Hermione had suspected. The house smelled strongly of pine and fresh biscuits and served to put Hermione further into the Christmas mind set. Charmed candles hung in the air, and there was a bit of mistletoe by the fireplace, unnoticed by Hermione because of its size.
Ginny turned towards Hermione, "Mum has been working all day on this party! She's very excited, but starting to get a bit annoying." Hermione snorted. "Hermione! Well, it's true. Anyway, you can help me with the rest of the food if you fancy to."
Hermione nodded and set to work with the tea as Ginny took the biscuits out of the oven and arranged them on another plate to take to the family room. Other guests began to arrive; Fred and George with their girlfriends, Angelina and Alicia; Bill and Fleur with little Kristy and Kevin, who ran to give their grandmum a big hug. Harry and Cassie, Marc, Remus, the Grangers, Ron; and finally Mr. Weasley arrived home from the Ministry. Charlie was caught up with work in Romania, but he sent his love. Percy had to stay in the Middle East, but he sent his love as well.
The house was cramped with the nineteen people filling its halls, but it felt cozy to those inside who were enjoying one another's company and the atmosphere was one of love and togetherness.
Hermione and Ginny sat on the floor with the little twins and entertained them while all the others caught up with one another and met Cassie. Harry and Ron were engrossed in discussion in the corner of the room. Hermione looked up to meet Ron's eye and he beamed in her direction. Marc was talking with Mr. Weasley, although the conversation did not seem to be going well. Marc kept looking helplessly at Ginny as though he would do anything to get out of the situation, but she did not notice as she helped Kristy get a biscuit from the table. Hermione sat with Kevin and told him stories and he begged and begged for more.
She smiled, "What kind of story would you like to hear next, Kevin?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment and ran a hand through his red and whitish hair, which Hermione had to admit was amazing to look at, "Tell me a Christmas story! A Muggle one, not a wizard one, because Mum and Dad have told me all of those."
"Alright, well, let's see. Would you like to hear about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?" she asked him.
He looked thoughtful again, "Alright."
"Well, Santa Claus had eight reindeer that used to pull his sleigh. Do you know their names?"
Kevin nodded with excitement, "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and, um, and . . . I don't remember."
She smiled, "Blitzen."
He nodded, "Yeah! Blitzen!"
She continued, "So, Santa had eight reindeer that he used to pull his sleigh to deliver presents to all the children around the world. There were other reindeer that lived in the North Pole and one was called Rudolph. He was teased by the others because he had a red nose, which glowed at night like a light bulb."
Kevin giggled, "What's a light bulb?"
Hermione laughed, "Well, it's something Muggles use so that they can see when it's dark. It uses something called electricity, which is the same thing that makes lightning in the sky."
Kevin looked at her in wonder, "Muggles use lightning to be able to see?"
She laughed, "No, silly, they use electricity, which helps to make lightning."
Kevin nodded, "Oh, ok."
Hermione started again, "Anyway, the other reindeer didn't really like Rudolph and it made him very sad. One year, it was very cloudy outside and Santa wouldn't have been able to see to deliver all the presents to everyone in the world . . ."
Ron gazed over at his girlfriend sitting with his nephew by the Christmas tree, "Merlin, Harry, she's so beautiful."
Harry grinned, "Yeah, she is. We've been friends for so long; I think I know almost everything there is to know about her."
Ron nodded and couldn't stop smiling, "Gosh, I was so mean to her at first. I was mean to her throughout a lot of Hogwarts."
Harry nodded in agreement, "Yes, but you were also a teenager then. No one can blame a teenage bloke for acting the way he's designed to. And she has forgiven you; Merlin, I do believe she loves you."
Hermione looked over for a moment as Kevin went to get a biscuit and gave Ron a warm smile. He raised his glass to her and took a drink as a pink blush came across her cheeks. Kevin returned and sat in her lap; Ron heard him ask for another story and Kristy came up to sit with her, too. Hermione wrapped an arm around the second twin and launched into "Twas the Night Before Christmas," embellishing it and making the twins laugh in all the right places.
"She's my life," Ron whispered and Harry clapped a hand on his back.
"I know, mate, I know."
At half past nine, noticing the sleepy looks in her grandchildren's eyes, Mrs. Weasley made an announcement, "Everyone! It's time for presents! Everyone has a present underneath the tree, go on, open it! To you from Arthur and me."
"Molly, you really shouldn't have," Remus protested as she handed him his gift.
She pressed it back towards his chest, "Remus, it's our gift to you. Please accept it."
He finally sighed and sat back in his chair to open the gift as the others around the room opened theirs as well. The ladies each received a necklace with a charm shaped as the first letter of their name, while the chaps received knitted scarves, red and gold as all of the ones who had attended Hogwarts had been in Gryffindor. Kristy and Kevin received the same, as well as a bag of sweets for each. Fleur quickly snatched these away and put them up on the counter for the following morning; the family was staying at the Burrow until the next day, when they would take a Portkey back to Egypt.
Hermione stood and gave Mrs. Weasley a hug, "Thank you so much; this necklace is beautiful."
Mrs. Weasley smiled, "Oh, you're quite welcome dear."
Ron grinned and winked at his mother, "Yes, thanks Mum. This scarf is a welcome change from the maroon jumper."
She glared at him, "Ronald, you will still be receiving that jumper. Never fear."
Sighing, he turned and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, "Well, it was worth a try." She laughed and leaned against his shoulder.
"Kids, say goodnight to your Grandmum, Grandpa, uncles, Aunt Ginny, and friends. It's time for bed," Bill said as he scooped one twin up in each of his arms.
They wrapped their arms around his strong shoulders, "Daddy! We want to stay! We want to stay!" However, their yawns proved to their parents that they were exhausted and Fleur took them up to the room in which they were staying to put them to bed.
The adults settled into the cozy family room and told stories of their lives at present and their future plans. Ron was asked about his mission, of course, but as he could not comment they moved on to Harry.
"Well, Defense against the Dark Arts lessons are going well; I can't say there are any students which worry me. It's harder with the older ones because they were at Hogwarts when I was, but it's getting easier," he replied, "Quidditch is going well. We beat Ravenclaw," Cassie scowled at him, he grinned, "And we are going to play Hufflepuff next."
Mr. Weasley laughed, "That's great, Harry. Marc, how are things with you?"
Marc sat up, "Well, I've gotten a few new patients recently. Work is taking up a lot of my time, and I might go back to the relief stations soon."
Hermione furrowed her brow, "What about Ginny?"
Ginny looked embarrassed, "Well, er, we hadn't told anyone yet, but we decided to break up."
Both Ron and Hermione rounded on her and exclaimed, "What?!"
Marc squeezed Ginny's hand and continued the explanation, "Well, it's been a lot of fun and I really love Ginny as a friend, but that's all we really are. Friends. Plus, since I'm being transferred back to the relief front, we'd be away for a long time. It just wouldn't work."
Ginny nodded, "It was mutual, so it's alright, as evidenced by the fact that I still invited Marc tonight."
Cassie told the group that she was finishing work on a story about the continuing war against the Death Eaters, to be published the next month.
Remus gave an update on his position at the ministry; aside from a few attempted Death Eater break-ins, which had all been avoided, nothing really new had happened.
The Grangers didn't have any real news either, and most of the group knew what Hermione did for Percy. There was a bit of a silence until Ron cleared his throat.
"Well, er, I have something to say," he said a bit shakily and he got up from his place next to Hermione and stood by the fireplace. All eyes were on him as he began his monologue.
"I'm glad you all are here for this because I wouldn't be able to do this unless I knew I had your complete support and love behind me. Christmas means a lot to me; it's one of my favourite times of the year, not just because of the presents, but because people are always warm and cheery at Christmas. I'm glad that I got to spend some time with you this year to help get in the spirit.
But right now I want to talk about something else, someone else. Hermione, I've told you before, and I'm telling you now. I love you. I love you more than I love life itself, heck, you are my life. You are everything I live for and everything I want. I don't know how better to express my love to you than this."
He pulled out a piece of paper and read it aloud, "How Many Ways, by, well, me.
How many ways can I prove my love to you?
What can I think of to show you it's true?
I gave you flowers, but they wilted away
I made you a picnic one autumn day
I made a mistake, but you forgave
I asked you out again, so very brave
You said yes! My heart began to soar
I came over to help you with a chore
We went to a party, it didn't quite work out
But it strengthened our love, without a doubt!
One mean git wiped the grin off your face
I tried to comfort you with a warm embrace
I gave you a promise I'd always be true
I'd always be full of love for you
We had fun with our friends one lovely night
And climbed up a bridge, what a sight!
We went to a concert and they played a sweet song
Something happened there, something strong.
Last week I showed you a winter wonderland
We had so much fun walking hand in hand.
I can't think of what else to say
To show you why I feel this way
I just pray that you know how much I love thee
And ask you this, will you marry me?"
Ron's voice was steady throughout, even to the last line. He got down on one knee, presenting her with a small velvet box. She could see his passionate love reflected in the way he looked deep in her eyes, as if he was looking into her very soul.
Hermione's heart raced; this was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She loved him. It was time.
Tears fell from her eyes and Ron didn't know whether they were tears of joy or tears of sorrow. His heart was pounding in his chest. He knew he had just taken a chance; he didn't even know if she loved him! But he also knew that it was for the best, whatever the outcome.
Hermione knew all eyes were on her. Suddenly, her face brightened into a large smile and she whispered, "I love you. Yes."
Ron barely heard her, "What?"
Hermione repeated herself louder so they could all hear, "Ronald Weasley, I love you. I love you, I love you! Of course I will marry you!"
His face broke into a grin and he stood, picked her up, and twirled her in a circle, "You will?!"
She nodded, tears of joy streaming down from her eyes, "Yes, yes, and yes!"
He set her down and placed a light kiss on her lips before kneeling again to place the ring on her finger.
"I was in Diagon Alley getting this ring today," he told her, "I was so worried you had seen me coming out of the jewelry shop!"
She smiled through her tears, "I didn't, oh, this is so amazing. Ron, I love you so much."
He looked at her, "When did you know? Why didn't you tell me?"
She blushed, "I knew you loved me at the concert, and I knew I loved you last week."
Ron felt a clap on his shoulder; he had forgotten anyone else was in the room! He turned around to see his best friend; Harry.
"Congratulations mate. I knew you could do it," he then turned his green eyes to Hermione, "And you, my other best friend, I am so excited for you too!" He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a big hug, "Aw, I love you both. I'm so glad you are getting married!"
The Weasleys and their friends all came forward to congratulate the couple and it wasn't long before the wedding became the topic of conversation. The coming weeks brought joy to all as they watched Ron and Hermione grow deeper in love with one another and enjoyed the Christmas season.
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Review!
Thank you to all who were with me the whole time I was writing this! Your support has helped me greatly and your reviews always brought light to my day!
I am planning four more stories; the first chapters of which will not be posted for a few weeks, maybe not even until August, as, again, I will be out of town!
Enjoy Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!
I know I will!
Have a great summer! Be safe, God bless, and "never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
~AmericanAngel
A/N It's been quite a ride! Here is the final chapter of "How Many Ways."
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How Many Ways
Chapter 17 ~ How Many Ways
By AmericanAngel
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The party at the Weasley's house was scheduled for Saturday, December 7th at 8:00 in the evening. Hermione spent the day window shopping in Diagon Alley, trying to decide what to buy for her friends and family for Christmas.
As she looked down the alley through the light snowfall, she saw Ron Weasley walking through looking in the windows as well, hands in his pockets. Smiling, she hurried to where he was standing.
"Ron! How are you?" she said, giving him a warm hug.
He returned it, warmth coming into his eyes as he felt the familiar tingling sensation in his spine, "Hermione, I'm wonderful." She looked at his eyes, however, and saw that he seemed preoccupied.
"Ron, what's wrong?" she asked him slowly.
"Nothing! Nothing at all," he replied quickly, "I'm just getting some items for Mum. I guess I'm a little worried about the mission."
Hermione nodded, "Yes, always about the mission of course."
He looked into her eyes, "Why are you here?"
She smiled, "I'm window shopping, trying to decide what to buy for people for Christmas."
He beamed at her, "So soon? You are on top of things, my dear!"
She blushed, "Well, you don't seem to have any bags. You better get off to do your shopping so your mother has proper time for everything she has to accomplish."
"Yes, you're right," he agreed with her, blue eyes never leaving her own, "I'll see you tonight. I can't wait, really."
She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "See you then."
Hermione returned home around five and set about to get ready for the party. She took a shower and dried her bushy hair, using a potion to make it behave and then letting it fall around her face and down her back. Sighing contentedly in the warm, humid room she put on again the shirt she had worn to the Lifehouse concert; she figured it would match the cranberry wreaths with which Mrs. Weasley had decorated the Burrow. She put on also the crème sweater; however, instead of Muggle jeans she wore a pair of nice black trousers. After she had applied lipstick, blush, mascara, and perfume she looked and felt full of Christmas spirit.
Ginny was already at the Burrow helping her mother with the desserts and tea for the evening. Hermione ate a quick bit of meat pie before Apparating to the Burrow.
"Hermione! Our first guest," Ginny said, greeting her best friend with a hug.
Hermione smiled, "What can I do to help?"
Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room, carrying a large plate of biscuits and placing it on a table nearby.
"Nothing, dear! Just enjoy yourself; that's what the evening is about, after all. Ginny, darling, don't neglect the next batch of biscuits!"
Ginny rolled her eyes when her mother was out of sight and motioned for Hermione to follow her into the kitchen. The Burrow had been carefully and elaborately decorated with all sorts of Christmas decorations. There was a tree in the family room, under which were many presents. Hermione stole a glance at them and saw the names of each Weasley child, but also the names of guests.
Mrs. Weasley had placed a wreath on each door, with cranberries just as Hermione had suspected. The house smelled strongly of pine and fresh biscuits and served to put Hermione further into the Christmas mind set. Charmed candles hung in the air, and there was a bit of mistletoe by the fireplace, unnoticed by Hermione because of its size.
Ginny turned towards Hermione, "Mum has been working all day on this party! She's very excited, but starting to get a bit annoying." Hermione snorted. "Hermione! Well, it's true. Anyway, you can help me with the rest of the food if you fancy to."
Hermione nodded and set to work with the tea as Ginny took the biscuits out of the oven and arranged them on another plate to take to the family room. Other guests began to arrive; Fred and George with their girlfriends, Angelina and Alicia; Bill and Fleur with little Kristy and Kevin, who ran to give their grandmum a big hug. Harry and Cassie, Marc, Remus, the Grangers, Ron; and finally Mr. Weasley arrived home from the Ministry. Charlie was caught up with work in Romania, but he sent his love. Percy had to stay in the Middle East, but he sent his love as well.
The house was cramped with the nineteen people filling its halls, but it felt cozy to those inside who were enjoying one another's company and the atmosphere was one of love and togetherness.
Hermione and Ginny sat on the floor with the little twins and entertained them while all the others caught up with one another and met Cassie. Harry and Ron were engrossed in discussion in the corner of the room. Hermione looked up to meet Ron's eye and he beamed in her direction. Marc was talking with Mr. Weasley, although the conversation did not seem to be going well. Marc kept looking helplessly at Ginny as though he would do anything to get out of the situation, but she did not notice as she helped Kristy get a biscuit from the table. Hermione sat with Kevin and told him stories and he begged and begged for more.
She smiled, "What kind of story would you like to hear next, Kevin?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment and ran a hand through his red and whitish hair, which Hermione had to admit was amazing to look at, "Tell me a Christmas story! A Muggle one, not a wizard one, because Mum and Dad have told me all of those."
"Alright, well, let's see. Would you like to hear about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?" she asked him.
He looked thoughtful again, "Alright."
"Well, Santa Claus had eight reindeer that used to pull his sleigh. Do you know their names?"
Kevin nodded with excitement, "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and, um, and . . . I don't remember."
She smiled, "Blitzen."
He nodded, "Yeah! Blitzen!"
She continued, "So, Santa had eight reindeer that he used to pull his sleigh to deliver presents to all the children around the world. There were other reindeer that lived in the North Pole and one was called Rudolph. He was teased by the others because he had a red nose, which glowed at night like a light bulb."
Kevin giggled, "What's a light bulb?"
Hermione laughed, "Well, it's something Muggles use so that they can see when it's dark. It uses something called electricity, which is the same thing that makes lightning in the sky."
Kevin looked at her in wonder, "Muggles use lightning to be able to see?"
She laughed, "No, silly, they use electricity, which helps to make lightning."
Kevin nodded, "Oh, ok."
Hermione started again, "Anyway, the other reindeer didn't really like Rudolph and it made him very sad. One year, it was very cloudy outside and Santa wouldn't have been able to see to deliver all the presents to everyone in the world . . ."
Ron gazed over at his girlfriend sitting with his nephew by the Christmas tree, "Merlin, Harry, she's so beautiful."
Harry grinned, "Yeah, she is. We've been friends for so long; I think I know almost everything there is to know about her."
Ron nodded and couldn't stop smiling, "Gosh, I was so mean to her at first. I was mean to her throughout a lot of Hogwarts."
Harry nodded in agreement, "Yes, but you were also a teenager then. No one can blame a teenage bloke for acting the way he's designed to. And she has forgiven you; Merlin, I do believe she loves you."
Hermione looked over for a moment as Kevin went to get a biscuit and gave Ron a warm smile. He raised his glass to her and took a drink as a pink blush came across her cheeks. Kevin returned and sat in her lap; Ron heard him ask for another story and Kristy came up to sit with her, too. Hermione wrapped an arm around the second twin and launched into "Twas the Night Before Christmas," embellishing it and making the twins laugh in all the right places.
"She's my life," Ron whispered and Harry clapped a hand on his back.
"I know, mate, I know."
At half past nine, noticing the sleepy looks in her grandchildren's eyes, Mrs. Weasley made an announcement, "Everyone! It's time for presents! Everyone has a present underneath the tree, go on, open it! To you from Arthur and me."
"Molly, you really shouldn't have," Remus protested as she handed him his gift.
She pressed it back towards his chest, "Remus, it's our gift to you. Please accept it."
He finally sighed and sat back in his chair to open the gift as the others around the room opened theirs as well. The ladies each received a necklace with a charm shaped as the first letter of their name, while the chaps received knitted scarves, red and gold as all of the ones who had attended Hogwarts had been in Gryffindor. Kristy and Kevin received the same, as well as a bag of sweets for each. Fleur quickly snatched these away and put them up on the counter for the following morning; the family was staying at the Burrow until the next day, when they would take a Portkey back to Egypt.
Hermione stood and gave Mrs. Weasley a hug, "Thank you so much; this necklace is beautiful."
Mrs. Weasley smiled, "Oh, you're quite welcome dear."
Ron grinned and winked at his mother, "Yes, thanks Mum. This scarf is a welcome change from the maroon jumper."
She glared at him, "Ronald, you will still be receiving that jumper. Never fear."
Sighing, he turned and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, "Well, it was worth a try." She laughed and leaned against his shoulder.
"Kids, say goodnight to your Grandmum, Grandpa, uncles, Aunt Ginny, and friends. It's time for bed," Bill said as he scooped one twin up in each of his arms.
They wrapped their arms around his strong shoulders, "Daddy! We want to stay! We want to stay!" However, their yawns proved to their parents that they were exhausted and Fleur took them up to the room in which they were staying to put them to bed.
The adults settled into the cozy family room and told stories of their lives at present and their future plans. Ron was asked about his mission, of course, but as he could not comment they moved on to Harry.
"Well, Defense against the Dark Arts lessons are going well; I can't say there are any students which worry me. It's harder with the older ones because they were at Hogwarts when I was, but it's getting easier," he replied, "Quidditch is going well. We beat Ravenclaw," Cassie scowled at him, he grinned, "And we are going to play Hufflepuff next."
Mr. Weasley laughed, "That's great, Harry. Marc, how are things with you?"
Marc sat up, "Well, I've gotten a few new patients recently. Work is taking up a lot of my time, and I might go back to the relief stations soon."
Hermione furrowed her brow, "What about Ginny?"
Ginny looked embarrassed, "Well, er, we hadn't told anyone yet, but we decided to break up."
Both Ron and Hermione rounded on her and exclaimed, "What?!"
Marc squeezed Ginny's hand and continued the explanation, "Well, it's been a lot of fun and I really love Ginny as a friend, but that's all we really are. Friends. Plus, since I'm being transferred back to the relief front, we'd be away for a long time. It just wouldn't work."
Ginny nodded, "It was mutual, so it's alright, as evidenced by the fact that I still invited Marc tonight."
Cassie told the group that she was finishing work on a story about the continuing war against the Death Eaters, to be published the next month.
Remus gave an update on his position at the ministry; aside from a few attempted Death Eater break-ins, which had all been avoided, nothing really new had happened.
The Grangers didn't have any real news either, and most of the group knew what Hermione did for Percy. There was a bit of a silence until Ron cleared his throat.
"Well, er, I have something to say," he said a bit shakily and he got up from his place next to Hermione and stood by the fireplace. All eyes were on him as he began his monologue.
"I'm glad you all are here for this because I wouldn't be able to do this unless I knew I had your complete support and love behind me. Christmas means a lot to me; it's one of my favourite times of the year, not just because of the presents, but because people are always warm and cheery at Christmas. I'm glad that I got to spend some time with you this year to help get in the spirit.
But right now I want to talk about something else, someone else. Hermione, I've told you before, and I'm telling you now. I love you. I love you more than I love life itself, heck, you are my life. You are everything I live for and everything I want. I don't know how better to express my love to you than this."
He pulled out a piece of paper and read it aloud, "How Many Ways, by, well, me.
How many ways can I prove my love to you?
What can I think of to show you it's true?
I gave you flowers, but they wilted away
I made you a picnic one autumn day
I made a mistake, but you forgave
I asked you out again, so very brave
You said yes! My heart began to soar
I came over to help you with a chore
We went to a party, it didn't quite work out
But it strengthened our love, without a doubt!
One mean git wiped the grin off your face
I tried to comfort you with a warm embrace
I gave you a promise I'd always be true
I'd always be full of love for you
We had fun with our friends one lovely night
And climbed up a bridge, what a sight!
We went to a concert and they played a sweet song
Something happened there, something strong.
Last week I showed you a winter wonderland
We had so much fun walking hand in hand.
I can't think of what else to say
To show you why I feel this way
I just pray that you know how much I love thee
And ask you this, will you marry me?"
Ron's voice was steady throughout, even to the last line. He got down on one knee, presenting her with a small velvet box. She could see his passionate love reflected in the way he looked deep in her eyes, as if he was looking into her very soul.
Hermione's heart raced; this was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She loved him. It was time.
Tears fell from her eyes and Ron didn't know whether they were tears of joy or tears of sorrow. His heart was pounding in his chest. He knew he had just taken a chance; he didn't even know if she loved him! But he also knew that it was for the best, whatever the outcome.
Hermione knew all eyes were on her. Suddenly, her face brightened into a large smile and she whispered, "I love you. Yes."
Ron barely heard her, "What?"
Hermione repeated herself louder so they could all hear, "Ronald Weasley, I love you. I love you, I love you! Of course I will marry you!"
His face broke into a grin and he stood, picked her up, and twirled her in a circle, "You will?!"
She nodded, tears of joy streaming down from her eyes, "Yes, yes, and yes!"
He set her down and placed a light kiss on her lips before kneeling again to place the ring on her finger.
"I was in Diagon Alley getting this ring today," he told her, "I was so worried you had seen me coming out of the jewelry shop!"
She smiled through her tears, "I didn't, oh, this is so amazing. Ron, I love you so much."
He looked at her, "When did you know? Why didn't you tell me?"
She blushed, "I knew you loved me at the concert, and I knew I loved you last week."
Ron felt a clap on his shoulder; he had forgotten anyone else was in the room! He turned around to see his best friend; Harry.
"Congratulations mate. I knew you could do it," he then turned his green eyes to Hermione, "And you, my other best friend, I am so excited for you too!" He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a big hug, "Aw, I love you both. I'm so glad you are getting married!"
The Weasleys and their friends all came forward to congratulate the couple and it wasn't long before the wedding became the topic of conversation. The coming weeks brought joy to all as they watched Ron and Hermione grow deeper in love with one another and enjoyed the Christmas season.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Review!
Thank you to all who were with me the whole time I was writing this! Your support has helped me greatly and your reviews always brought light to my day!
I am planning four more stories; the first chapters of which will not be posted for a few weeks, maybe not even until August, as, again, I will be out of town!
Enjoy Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!
I know I will!
Have a great summer! Be safe, God bless, and "never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
~AmericanAngel
