Graduation

The seventh year girls woke up with the alarm the next morning, sitting up in bed and looking rather rough. Hermione's hair looked like a rats nest, Ginny fell asleep in her dress, Poppy looked like a raccoon with her smudged mascara, and Romilda's fake eyelashes had come off of her eyelids; one ended up on the bridge of her nose and the other ended up on her forehead.

"We look rough!" Poppy exclaimed, taking in the other girls appearances.

"I feel rough." Romilda complained, her voice raspy. She crossed her eyes, trying to look at the bridge of her nose and pulled off the fake eyelash. "Where'd the other one go?" She asked the girls, touching her cheeks and turning to look at her pillow.

Ginny laughed. "On your forehead, you nutter!"

"Like you have room to talk! At least I made it into my pajamas last night!" Romilda admonished, making the others giggle.

"I was too tired… Harry got a bit frisky last night…" Ginny said, grinning.

"Ew, Gin!" Hermione scrunched her nose.

"I saw you two coming out of the Transfiguration classroom… wondered what you were doing!" Romilda told her.

"You didn't!" Poppy gasped.

Ginny grinned. "On the professor's desk too... thought it'd be a nice way of saying farewell to Hogwarts."

"I hope McGonagall washes that desk!" Poppy mentioned, cringing and making the other girls laugh. "I'm going to miss this."

"Me too." Hermione nodded.

"Me three." Ginny added.

"I fourth that!" Romilda finished.

XxXxXx

Pigwidgeon dropped two copies of the Daily onto the middle of the breakfast table, not stopping before heading back out.

"That's not a good sign…" Ginny mentioned, setting down her fork and grabbing her copy. Hermione followed her lead.

Hermione unrolled it to find a large picture of Hermione and Harry as they were walking into the Great Hall. The heading read 'The Memorial Ball Edition: The Inside Scoop'

"The whole paper? You'd think the Queen had arrived..." Ginny admonished, rolling her eyes.

Small headings appeared around the picture: 'What have the surviving two-thirds of the golden trio been up to? Turn to page 11!', 'Is the Chosen One off the market? Turn to page 5 to see the red bombshell who calls him her boyfriend!', 'The beauty of the trio: A lovely, sweet-natured girl or a coldhearted, manipulative witch? Hermione and her entourage of men and how she's learned to juggle them all on page 7!', 'How the boy who lived x2 brought down the house with his emotional, heartfelt speech at the unveiling of the memorial on page 14!'

Hermione grinded her teeth and flipped to page 7. As her eyes scanned the page, she felt her anger start to rise. Different pictures of her dancing with the Weasley men, including Sorin, and Cormac framed the article. A large picture of the twins, Sorin, and Charlie scowling at the camera sat in the middle, the only shred of evidence that Hermione was even in the picture was the presence of her hand resting against Fred's chest.

She read through the article slowly, not wanting to miss a thing that the terrible woman had put into it.

The article did play Fred against Ron, stating that an 'unnamed source' stated that she got over the death of her 'so-called boyfriend' pretty quickly and had no problems moving on to his 'more successful' brother. The same 'unnamed source' stated Hermione started wearing a Gryffindor jersey with the brother's number on it instead of Ron's as soon as she got back to Hogwarts to finish her education. The source also stated that she has a way of 'manipulating men however she pleases' and that they flock to 'save the trio princess whenever she feels the need to play victim'.

The article went on to explain who all the men were, stating how she manipulated each of them and how all the men, except for Fred, were innocent and unable to control the pull they felt toward Hermione.

The article stated that Fred was just as guilty as she was in 'desecrating Ron Weasley's memory'. The 'unnamed source' stated that Ron 'was probably turning in his grave over the betrayal from the woman he loved and his own brother'. It went on to explain what Fred did for a living and stated that 'by supporting Fred Weasley's business, you are actively condoning the betrayal of the highly respected, dead war hero'.

Hermione's heart dropped. She wondered what was going through Fred's mind at the moment. He was having a hard time the night before and now it was shoved in his face yet again. His name and his business were both dragged through the mud just because he loved Hermione.

She wondered how the other Weasley men felt about being thrown into the spotlight and basically being called spineless for coming to Hermione's aid.

Cormac, on the other hand, was a different beast all together. Hermione wasn't stupid. She knew who the 'unnamed source' was, even if she hadn't seen him speaking to the reporter. He sucked up the attention willingly, always loving to dip into some drama, especially when Hermione was involved. He was such a cocky prick. Hermione felt herself becoming angrier at the thought of him. She hoped she wouldn't see him anytime soon, because she'd be forced to hex his bullocks off.

XxXxXx

The seventh year Gryffindor's stood on the grounds in front of the lake taking pictures before graduation. The four girls agreed to wear white sundresses, while the boys wore scarlet button downs with gold ties.

Hermione had on a white, a-line, eyelet sundress that flared at the knees and a pair of white, woven, wedge sandals to match. Her hair was down with the front pinned back to the sides. Their graduation robes were black with the Gryffindor emblem on the front and black, pointed wizarding hats. Everyone left their robes open so that they could get their new outfits in the pictures.

Around noon, the families started arriving, taking pictures with their graduates. The Weasley's came together, Hermione noticing that Fred wasn't with them. Her heart lurched at the realization.

Hermione gave the family a worried smile. She felt terrible seeing the men. "I'm sorry…" she announced, not knowing what else to say or how to make it better.

"Don't worry about it!"

"It isn't your fault!"

"We adore you!"

"She was a terrible woman!"

Everyone said at once, making her smile. She bit her lip and looked toward the gates of the castle, hoping to see Fred.

Mrs. Weasley told them to line up for pictures and they spent the next half hour taking pictures with random groups of Weasley's, friends, and professors. Hermione kept swallowing back tears, the closer it got to graduation. It should have been a bittersweet moment for her, but all she could think about was Fred.

When the students were given a fifteen minute warning was when Hermione gave up hope. She let a few tears fall and she blamed it on the day. She couldn't help but wonder if Fred was busy moving her boxes back into the burrow.

Her eyes drifted over to George and their eyes connected for a quick second before he shrugged; he didn't know where Fred was either.

At the five minute mark they started to fix their robes and line up.

"HERMIONE!"

Hermione's head snapped to the side and she saw Fred come running toward her.

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her quickly. "I'm sorry I'm late! I'll explain later…I just wanted you to know that I was here."

"Fred… I… I'm sorry… I…"

"Hermione… everything is fine… we'll talk later! Enjoy your graduation… I'm going to grab a seat! I love you!" He called, finishing while he walked backward towards the seats.

The music started and they filed up the stairs of the stage that was set up in front of the lake and took their seats.

Headmistress McGonagall welcomed the guests and made an introduction speech. The headboy and headgirl then got up and made speeches themselves before handing the floor back to the headmistress.

"As you know, water is very symbolic within the history of magic and at Hogwarts, we begin the young student's educations with a boat ride to the castle on their first day and we send them away on their last day as students the same way.

"When your name is called, please come up and we'll present to you your certificate of completion. You will then continue down the middle of the rows of students and down the stairs to the boats, where each one of you will be taken to the dock at Hogsmeade, where Professors Sprout and Flitwick are waiting. Families… please wait until all the students are finished before proceeding to Hogsmeade to meet with your child. Now, let us begin!"

One by one, the names were called in alphabetical order, the student population slowly starting to diminish as they climbed into the boats.

"Fortescue, Poppy!"

Hermione grinned as Poppy stood, clapping and cheering as she made her way across the stage.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Even though she knew it was coming, she still gasped that her name was being called and that her time at Hogwarts really had ended. She stood up and made her way across the stage, hearing many cheers and applause from her family and friends.

Seeing Headmistress McGonagall, she smiled.

"I will miss you, Ms. Granger… I know you will go on to do great things… just remember to breathe and take in the present… you have time to change the wizarding world… right now, take some time for you. Life will pass so quickly; you'll regret it if you don't." Hermione was a little taken back by her professors words. She had never spoken so casually to Hermione before. Hermione found herself welling up in tears.

"I'll miss you, Headmistress. You have been an incredible mentor. I look forward to owling you." Hermione smiled at the wise witch and she was surprised again by being pulled into a hug by her headmistress. Hermione eagerly hugged her back, trying to calm her own crying.

XxXxXx

The four Gryffindor girls stood on the Hogsmeade dock wrapped in a group hug and crying while they waited for the families to make their way over.

"I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you too!"

"You girls are the best!"

"I'm not ready to leave this!"

Neville and Nick huddled around the girls, throwing an arm around each girl.

"Neville!" Hermione and Ginny both exclaimed, turning and crying into his chest, each having an arm around his waist.

He chuckled and rubbed their backs to sooth the girls. "It's all right. We'll still see each other…"

"But now we have to be big people!"

"The word is adult, Ginny!" Hermione laughed.

Ginny shrugged. "Yea… well, what if I'm not ready to adult, yet?"

"Not sure if we'll ever be ready… just have to get out there and do it anyway!" Neville answered.

"I think you're right, Neville. Where's Luna?" Hermione asked, looking around for the blonde.

"We… well… let's just say she apparated home." Neville explained, shrugging.

Ginny and Hermione's eyes widened with realization.

"Oh, Neville…"

"Nev, we're sorry!"

The girls squeezed him again.

"Don't feel too bad girls. I've got my eye on another." Neville grinned.

A rowdy crowd came around the corner, towards the dock and Hermione winced.

"It's ours, isn't it?" Hermione asked Ginny as she released Neville.

"How much do you want to bet?" Ginny asked, without bothering to look.

"Bet? What are we betting dear sister?"

"Betting is our specialty!"

An arm slipped around Hermione's waist and she leaned back into the chest she knew to be Fred's.

"I'm sorry I was late. I was awaiting an owl… didn't want to come without your graduation present."

She turned in his arms and looked up at him. "I thought you decided not to come because of the paper."

"Hermione…"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry that you were attacked by that awful woman just because of me. It's all my fault! She said terrible things that weren't true and now your business has been compromised because of the whole situation and-" Hermione's voice was shrill as her words came out to fast, he barely understood her.

He grabbed the tops of her arms. "Hermione! Breathe! It's alright. I don't care what that bloody woman wrote."

"But the shop-"

"Will be fine! People are too curious… she unknowingly extended our customer base. People will be flooding in wanting to see the drama themselves… nosy little prats!"

She gave him a small smile. "You think so?"

He nodded.

"Let's get some pictures!" Mrs. Weasley said a few feet away. Hermione and Ginny said goodbye to their friends before Mrs. Weasley attacked them with the camera once again.

Hermione took her small handbag out of the pocket of her robes and took her robes off, shoving them into the bag she magically extended. She did the same with her witches hat. Ginny followed her lead and shoved the robes into Hermione's bag, as well.

Fred took in Hermione's appearance. She looked radiant in her white sundress with her rosy cheeks, pink from the sun overhead.

"Let's take a few more pictures, Mum!" Fred told his mother. "Let's get all the family in it."

His mother hurried to set the camera on the tripod and had everyone move in so that they all fit. Fred made sure he and Hermione were in the middle and as his mother started to count down from five, he grabbed Hermione's hand, took a deep breath and kneeled.

Feeling the tugging on her hand, Hermione turned, her eyes traveling down towards her kneeling boyfriend. "Fred!"

Everyone's heads snapped toward the couple as the camera went off, getting a perfect picture of everyone's reaction to Fred on his knee.

There was a collective gasp as Fred kneeled, his hands shaking as he held out a box. He gave a shaky laugh. "No wonder blokes do this on their knees, they're too nervous to stand!" There was a collective laugh.

Gasping and covering her mouth with her hands, Hermione's mind finally caught up with her eyes and she dropped down onto her knees in front of him.

He set down the box and grabbed both of her hands. He needed something to hold on to.

"Fred… are you crazy? This is too-"

"Stop. Just listen to me. I know that we're young and you wanted a career before taking this step, but know that I will support you in every career decision you make. Taking this step only makes us stronger; your old soul balances my young one. We're meant to be, Hermione. You keep me grounded and I keep you laughing.

"You were the only girl I ever knew that had the confidence to stand up to me. No matter how hard I tried to fluster you or charm you into getting my way, you always stood your ground. Sometimes I purposely let you catch me slipping products to first years so that you would come stomping over with your hands on your hips, putting me in my place." Hermione and the others gave a small laugh and Hermione released one of his hands to wipe the tears off of her cheeks.

Fred's eyes welled up and he gave her a small smile as he took her hand again. "The war came and went and afterward, everything changed. I saw how lost you were and I was determined to find you again. I remember trying so hard to make you laugh and when I finally did, it was the sweetest sound to ever hit my ears. After that, all I could think about was how I could make you laugh again; it became an insatiable high that I couldn't stop chasing.

"When you went off to school, the silence was almost unbearable. By the time you left for the last time after the Easter holiday, I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to be able to spend each and every day with you. I want to spend every moment of my life trying to make you laugh. In return, I want you to keep me grounded, putting me in my place when need be… even if it means stomping around with your hands on your hips, threatening to owl my mother." Hermione laughed at this and Fred smiled.

"You were always meant to be a Weasley. I know it's sooner than expected, but marry me Hermione. I need you… to be soul bound to you. "

Her heart was beating into her throat and she tried opening her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. So, instead, she settled for a nod.

"Yeah?" Fred asked, unsure.

She cleared her throat. A raspy 'yes' came out.

He reached down to the ground, his fingers fumbling as he reached for the ring box.

For the first time, her eyes landed on the box and her eyes widened. The box was tiffany blue with the familiar white satin ribbon tied around in a bow.

She watched as he untied the box and choked back a sob. How did he know? It wasn't just a muggle jeweler… but an American born company. There was no way he just stumbled upon the store. She only ever told one person that she dreamed of having an engagement ring from Tiffany's.

She looked up to Ginny and Ginny gave her a watery smile. She looked back down at his hands to see him turning the box over, the smaller black box tumbling out into his palm. With shaky hands, he opened it and showed her the ring inside.

Hermione let out her sob. He looked up at her and smiled.

"This is it, right? The one that you daydreamed over?" It was a platinum band, with a round diamond in the center, a halo of diamonds surrounding it. The Tiffany Embrace.

Hermione nodded and sniffled. He pulled it out of the box, setting the box down and reaching for her left hand.

She held her hand out and found that it was shaking as much as his were. He slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Ah, perfect fit." He ducked his head and kissed her finger.

She searched his face. "I just… I never expected… I don't know what to say!" She wiped at her tears again with her right hand and looked back down at her hand in his; at the beautiful ring that she knew he spent way too much money on. It was larger than she remembered the caret and a half being, and wondered if he picked one of the larger carets. She didn't want to demean him by complaining it was too much money or too big for her; she knew he thought through his decision and wouldn't appreciate her admonishing him for it. She was a simple, low maintenance girl, but she couldn't help but love the ring. It made her feel feminine and special and the fact that he did his research to find out what she wanted just made her heart swell.

"Write it down folks! Hermione is speechless!" George exclaimed.

"Shut up, you git!" Ginny whispered.

Fred ignored them. "You said yes. That was enough. There is something you could do for me though."

She smiled. "Anything."

"You could kiss me."

She laughed and nodded. "I think I could manage that." She straightened up on her knees and he cupped her face pulling her lips against his. She cupped the back of his neck, deepening the kiss.

Everyone looked on, a grin forming on all of their faces as everyone started to cheer. George threw up a couple of fireworks, pointing his wand at them, making them go off with a loud pop.

Hermione and Fred both jumped and looked up at the colorful explosions.

"We're absolutely crazy… you realize that, right?" Hermione asked him while the fireworks exploded.

He laughed. "Maybe, but would you want me any other way?"

She smiled and shook her head. Less than an hour ago she was a student and now she was an engaged woman, moving in with her fiancé and planning their life together. She wanted to tell herself that it was too soon and to think logically about this, but to be honest she didn't really want to. She wanted Fred to be hers, and for her to be his, forever.

She felt herself being pulled up by her underarms from behind. When she was standing she turned to find Mrs. Weasley, who threw her arms around Hermione and sobbed. Hermione let out an airy laugh and patted her back, lovingly.

"I always knew you'd be a Weasley! You are so good for Fred! We must start planning right away! I have so many ideas!" She pulled back to look at Hermione, whose brows were stitched together with sudden anxiety. She patted her cheek. "Don't worry dear… I will take care of everything… the flowers, the colors, the theme… just tell me who your bridesmaids will be, and who is going to give you away and I'll do the rest! Unless you want to help of course… then… we'll work on it together."

Hermione's eyes got wider, her heart pounding. "I… I… I need to breathe… I need to think…" She stepped backwards out of her future mother-in-law's grip trying to keep her breathing steady as to not hyperventilate.

Fred grabbed his mother by her shoulders and steered her towards his father. "Come on now, Mum… we don't even know when this is happening, let Hermione process this."

Hermione's face went pale as she chewed on her bottom lip, a hundred thoughts passing through her mind.

"Harry…" Hermione said, starting to panic. Harry grabbed her around the shoulders and steered her toward the boardwalk and away from the others so she could breathe.

"Is this a good idea? Did I just agree to something I can't handle?" Hermione asked Harry quietly.

He gave her a small smile. "You can handle Fred… it's Mrs. Weasley that's a little overbearing. You're stuck with her if you're married or not."

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "She's just… excited. I just wish she'd let me navigate this on my own for a little while before jumping in to all this wedding stuff… oh Merlin. Wedding… I'm going to be married? Am I crazy? What am I thinking? I don't know if I'm cut out for marriage… what if I'm a terrible wife? I'm no Mrs. Weasley! What if we can't work it out? It could be eighty more years of Fred!"

Harry laughed and held out his hands to calm her down. "First of all, I don't think Fred is wanting or expecting a wife like Mrs. Weasley… he knew what he was getting into when he fell in love with you. He knows your career is important to you. As for the eighty year thing… do you not want to be with him that long?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I do! It's just… we're so young. I feel that way now, but am I mature enough to know if it'll truly last forever? I'm nineteen… technically still a teenager! How am I allowed to make such a serious decision?" Hermione looked down at her left hand as she chewed her lip, angling her finger so that the sun caught the diamond and made it sparkle.

Harry lifted her chin with his forefinger, making her look at him. "We have had to grow up quite fast… not just in the wizarding world, but before then, too. You have never made a bad decision in your life. If you love Fred and feel that he is the one and that you made the right decision saying yes, then don't second guess yourself. Now if you felt pressured into saying yes because everyone was there or because you were in shock, then take your time and think it over… but make sure you communicate to Fred what is going on. He will understand.

"Don't let anyone else persuade you into a certain decision. Don't let Mrs. Weasley push you into something you aren't ready to do and certainly don't let her scare you into running away from Fred if you want him. Remember, at the end of the day it is you and Fred… no one else." Harry kept eye contact with his finger on her chin until she gave a slow nod. He dropped his hand and smiled, pulling Hermione in for a hug.

"May I have a moment with my fiancé?"

Hermione's body startled at the new title. Harry looked at Fred over Hermione's shoulder as they hugged and nodded, squeezing Hermione tight one last time before releasing her.

"Take it easy on her." Harry told Fred as he passed him.

Hermione turned towards Fred as he made his way over, giving him a small smile and taking his hand when he reached her.

"Are you alright? Do we need to talk about this? I didn't mean to overwhelm you… I didn't think it through. I should have done it in private." Fred shook his head, looking a bit deflated.

She squeezed his hand. "No, Fred, it was great. Everything will be okay… I just need some time to process everything."

He bit his lip. "Oh… um… okay. Should I stay at George's tonight? Give you some time to process things? Mum had a graduation party for the two of you planned, but I could come up with an excuse to get you out of it-"

"Fred, stop. I don't want you to stay anywhere except with me. I'm just overwhelmed and want to let it settle and think it over a bit. It really was a shock… I didn't expect it so soon. I want to go to your Mum's. I did graduate today; I want to enjoy it." Hermione saw that he still looked worried, so she lifted her chin and kissed his lips. There was an upside to wearing those high heeled wedge sandals; she didn't have a problem reaching those lips of his.

When she pulled away, she saw his lips twitch upward, so she leaned in again. This time his arms wrapped around her, pulled her against him as he kissed her. She cupped his face with one hand, enjoying the feel of his stubble against her fingers and slid other hand through the hair on the back of his head.

His tongue slipped into her mouth and she could feel her toes start to curl as the kiss turned more intimate.

"Calm down, brother! We're in public! Save it for later, mate!" George said, in a hushed tone, suddenly right next to them.

Hermione jumped, but Fred held her against him, pulling his mouth away slowly and pressing his lips to hers a couple more times before straightening back up. He wasn't about to let that kiss be ruined.

Hermione licked her bottom lip, her hands sliding down to rest on his chest, while she tried to catch her breath.

"Give your future twin-in-law a hug!" George demanded, tearing Hermione out of Fred's grasp and picking her up, squeezing her and spinning her around. Hermione squealed, trying to hold the hem of her dress down as he spun her. "Don't worry about showing your knickers Herms. I'm sure no one minds seeing that arse."

"Ugh!" She smacked his chest. "You're so crass! Put me down!"

Ginny came bouncing up to Hermione as George set her down and squeezed her. "We're going to be sisters!" Ginny squealed, jumping up and down, making Hermione laugh.

"We're gonna be brothers!" George squealed in the same high pitched voice, grabbing Fred and throwing his arms around him as they jumped up and down.

"You're already brothers you arseholes." Ginny said, scowling at their teasing.

"What?"

"We are?"

"We're brothers!" They squealed together, jumping up and down again.

Bill pulled Hermione in for a hug. Hermione felt her heartrate quicken, worried he'd start on her over the engagement.

"Congratulations, 'Ermione!" Fleur called from over Bill's shoulder. "Can I see zee ring?"

Bill let Hermione go and Hermione held out her hand and felt like she had it out for a good ten minutes while everyone took turns inspecting the ring. Eventually, Mrs. Weasley shoo'd them toward the apparation points so they could meet at the burrow.

Fred pulled Hermione to the side as everyone started disapparating to the burrow.

"Don't feel pressured into setting a date or making arrangements right now. Just let me know when you're ready to talk about it. Until then, I'll try to keep the women and George at bay." Fred wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for being so understanding about this. I just need some time. I'll help deal with your family. It isn't your fault so you shouldn't have to do it alone. It'll take a lot of deflecting." She kissed his cheek before they side-by-side disapparated.

XxXxXx

"Hermione," Mrs. Weasley started as soon as everyone was seated at the dinner table, "Who were you thinking of having in your bridal party? Anyone you want to walk you down the aisle?"

Hermione went pale. "Er… I haven't had the time to think about it…" Did she have to have someone walk her down the aisle? It wasn't like her father was there. Her heart dropped at the realization.

Fred could feel her start to tense and gripped her knee in support. "So, Angelina… what did the doctor say? Are we going to be seeing the twinsters anytime soon?"

Hermione sighed in relief about the change of subject and squeezed the hand of Fred's that sat on her knee in appreciation.

Hermione tried to listen as the others talked through dinner, but she couldn't get her mind off of everything that happened that day.

Fred noticed and tried to lighten her mood by making his hand creep up her leg, pushing her sundress as he went. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her lips twitch upward as she pushed his hand back to her knee.

He lifted his hand again, using the pads of his forefinger and middle finger like legs, walking up her soft thigh. This time he saw bite her lip, trying to suppress a smile as she pushed it back down.

The next time he used the tips of his fingers, barely touching her skin as they ghosted slowly up her thigh and gave her goosebumps. She picked up her hand and smacked his this time, making him suppress a laugh.

She looked up and met his eyes and he saw the traces of a grin in her sparkling brown eyes. His mission was now complete.

He reached across her lap and took her left hand in his, playing with her ring between his thumb and forefinger, making it twirl around her finger, slide side to side, and up and down.

His heart swelled at the thought of her wearing his ring and being his for the rest of their lives and he was happy to reciprocate it for her. He knew she had a lot to think about, but he was willing to wait as long as she needed. It hurt him at first, but once he realized that she wasn't moving out or leaving him… or even handing him his ring back... he found it more bearable.

"I still think we should do a double wedding… it isn't until October, Herms… you should think about it!" George mentioned in the middle of talking about he and Angelina's wedding.

Angelina smacked his arm. "Leave the poor girl alone! Give her some time to wrap her head around all of this."

Hermione smiled warmly at Angelina. The girl was great at reading Hermione and was always so helpful.

"I don't understand why you had to shock all of us like that! Why couldn't you have warned us like George did?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"The point was to surprise everyone… well, George and Ginny knew… but I knew Hermione wouldn't want to be the last one to know, so I thought surprising everyone would be fun." Fred explained.

Hermione smiled at him, realizing he was right. She wouldn't like the fact that everyone knew what was coming, staring at her like an animal behind the glass at the zoo, waiting for something to happen.

"So, do you absolutely love your ring, Hermione?" Penelope asked, grinning.

Hermione smiled and looked down at her hand, nodding. "It's perfect. It's like a dream."

"The ring is actually why Ginny knew about the engagement. I went to her asking for help." Fred explained.

"Well, Ginny… you did a magnificent job!" Angelina said.

"I can only take credit for listening to Hermione. She had once told me about the Tiffany ring she once saw when her family visited New York. She went on and on about it for a half hour one night and I finally made her show me on her laptop computer." Ginny answered.

Hermione smiled. "I've never been one to swoon over anything materialistic… but for some reason that ring made my heart go pitter-patter. It was one of those things that I never really thought would happen…just something a girl dreams about. I would never ask anyone to drop so much gold on something like that… I didn't expect Ginny to tell anyone… and I certainly didn't expect anyone to buy it." Hermione said, eyeing the two culprits.

"So it's exactly like the one you saw in New York?"

"No… hers is bigger." Fred said proudly, a large grin on his face. Hermione bit her lip. She was having a hard time with the amount of money he spent. "Go big or go home right? That's actually why I was late today. I was waiting for the owl to bring the parcel. Tiffany's only keeps certain sizes on hand at the store, so you have to order and wait for it to be made if you want a different size.

"I had to owl an old mate that lives in America back and forth about the sizes and the price, then get the gold changed into muggle money so he could change it to American money and order it and then pick it up and owl it back to me. It was a long process and it took until the very last second. I didn't even know what the ring looked like until I got it today. Thought I was going to have to propose another day." Fred finally finished, feeling winded.

Hermione sat there, her jaw almost on the floor. She had no idea of what he had to go through to get this ring when he could have walked down Hogsmeade and bought one for a fraction of the price.

"Fred, all of the hassle for me? I'm just a simple girl; nothing special. You know I love you and would marry you even if you didn't give me any ring at all…"

He looked into her brown eyes. "You're more than just a simple girl, Hermione. You're worth every second, every knut. Don't you like it?"

"I already said that I do… I love it." She did in fact love it and it bugged her a bit that she did. She prided herself on only needing the bare essentials and her books. She was proud that she was low maintenance and it annoyed her that she liked the extravagant ring. She told herself that maybe she should allow herself to have one extravagant thing in her life.

"It bugs you that you love something so expensive doesn't it?" Ginny asked, as if reading her thoughts.

Hermione looked down at the ring in her lap and nodded. Fred lifted his hand and rubbed the base of her neck. "It's okay to splurge every once in awhile. I don't work hard to just throw everything into savings. I like to play every once in awhile."

"That's just it. I know you work hard. You should be spending it on you. I hate that I'm not annoyed that you bought it. I hate that I love it so much when it's just a ring. It's wrong." Hermione explained, shaking her head.

"It isn't just a ring, Hermione. It's a promise. You will be wearing it every day for the rest of your life. You never ask for anything and you didn't ask for this. Like you said, you would have said yes even if I never bought you a ring and you would be perfectly happy without it. I didn't feel pressured to buy it and you never even mentioned it or asked me about it. Don't beat yourself up over something I wanted to do. I wanted you to have that ring because it caught your eye. Just enjoy it and get over it." He told her, smiling at the last bit.

She smiled up at him. "I'm sorry I'm making everything so complicated. I'm sure this isn't the romantic engagement you had in mind…"

Her grinned, a mischievous look in his eye. "The romance part doesn't come until later this evening." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, stop teasing poor Hermione, Fred. She's a good girl. It'll be refreshing to have a daughter in white on her wedding day." Hermione felt horrified by Mrs. Weasley's words as everyone snickered or coughed, trying to hide their snorts. Hermione had an inkling that Fred's mother said this on purpose, passive-aggressively trying to get the truth.

"Isn't that right, Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley continued on.

"Er… right." Her face reddened and she looked back down at her lap. Fred tried stifling his laughter and Hermione smacked him hard on the thigh.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Mr. Weasley realized he needed to intervene. "Molly, dear… why don't you let Hermione decide what color she'd like to wear? There is plenty of time to decide that later…"

XxXxXx

Hermione stepped out of the floo to their flat and was gobsmacked. Hundreds of candles were lit around the flat, rose petals were everywhere, a line of them leading into the bedroom.

"Tonight is all about you."

She turned and smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him to her. "This is perfect. You are incredible."

"I know."

"I'll let you get away with that cheekiness this time, Weasley." Hermione told him as she pulled away and leaned down to take her shoe off.

"No, you don't." He told her, picking her up under her knees and lower back.

"Fred! My feet are killing me! I need to take these shoes off." She complained as he carried her into the bedroom and set her on the edge of the bed.

There were more rose petals and candles around the bedroom. The center of the large bed had flower petals in a shape of a heart.

"Let me." He told her, picking up one of her feet.

He slipped her left shoe off, allowing the shoe to drop to the floor as he started to rub her foot. She sighed and laid back against the bed, allowing him to continue.

He kissed the inside of her ankle before resting the back of her ankle against his shoulder to continued the massage up her calf.

"That feels wonderful." Hermione commented, closing her eyes and letting her mind concentrate on the massage.

When he worked his way up to her knee, he set her left foot down and pulled off her right shoe, doing the same with it.

"You spoil me."

He chuckled. "You deserve it." He saw her grin, her eyes still closed.

When he was finished with the right leg, he set it down and told her to sit up. She complied and he pulled the dress over her head and told her to climb up the bed and lay on her stomach.

He climbed up to her and straddled her waist as he began to massage her shoulders and neck, working his way down her back.

"Your muscles are in knots, Hermione. Shouldn't have carried around so many books in that book bag of yours." He admonished while he used his body weight on some of the tighter muscles.

Hermione just hummed in agreement, her brain feeling like mush as he worked down her back. On his way down, he unclasped her bra and she bent up to slide it off her shoulders and throw it to the side before laying back down flat.

He continued his ministrations down her back and leaned over to press his lips over her skin while he worked. She sighed deeply as goosebumps covered her back and arms.

"Okay, your done." Hermione told him, flipping over and grabbing the hem of his shirt so she could pull it over his head.

"But you still have a bubble bath to go..." He told her, pointing to the loo.

"Later."

He grinned. "Impatient little witch, aren't you?"

She answered by hooking her arms under his shoulders and pulling him down on top of her.

He gasped dramatically. "Hermione Granger! What would mother think?"

"If you're going to keep talking, I might as well get up and take that bubblebath!" She said, trying wiggle out from under him.

"Shutting up!"