Part Forty-Three:  You want to do what with my daughter?

Kali looked up overhead, scanning the many owls flying into the Great Hall to deliver the morning mail and grinned when she spotted her tawny owl, Calypso.  She soared down toward where Kali sat at the Gryffindor table and perched herself on Kali's shoulder, holding out her leg for Kali to remove the letter tied to it.  Giving Calypso a pat, she slid a goblet of pumpkin juice toward the owl and checked the postmark of her letter.  A squeal of glee followed and Kali slid the letter down the front of her school robes before turning to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and grinning.

"Why do you do that?" asked Harry.  "Every week Calypso brings you a letter, you squeal, and you shove it in your robes without reading it as if it's no big deal.  You used to say that it was Servius writing you but we all know that can't be right as Servius now goes to school here and you continue to have this weekly mail ritual."

"I read my letter," she replied.  "I just don't like to read my private and personal mail in front of everyone else."

"You read it in front of us most of the time.  It's just that one letter a week."

"It's none of your business, Harry Potter, and you are nosy."

"Kali, we all knew that already."

"So what did you get, Ron?" Hermione interrupted, looking at Pig zooming around Ron's head.

"A letter from Charlie," he replied, vaguely as he scanned over the letter and then shoved it in his robes, too.

"What did he have to say?" asked Harry.

"Just hello and a report on Norbert.  Nothing much."

"Let me see.  I want to know how Norbert's doing."

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I wrote Charlie about something personal and it happens to be in there, too."

"Since when do you write Charlie about personal issues?"

"Since Christmas when he told me to write him if I ever needed any advice or someone to talk to.  What's with the inquiry?"

"Kali is being weird with her weekly mystery letters, you're hiding you letters from your brother . . . I just curious."

"It's none of your business, Harry."

"That's twice just this morning it wasn't my business," Harry informed Hermione.  She gave him a wan smile and nodded.

"Good morning, Harry," said Draco, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

"Aren't you in a good mood this morning?"

"Yes, I am," he replied, giving Harry a quick kiss before sitting down next to him.

"Draco, you do know you're a Ravenclaw, right?"

"Of course.  Why would you say that?"

"Because you always sit at the Gryffindor table," answered Kali.

"That's because I like you lot so much better," he answered, grinning.

"You like eating our food," quipped Harry as Draco started piling food on his plate.  "Not that I'm complaining.  You do need to eat.  We don't want you wasting away to practically nothing again.  I would have nothing to fuck."

"Harry," Draco protested, sighing.  "I know Servius brings out the worst in you, but could you please refrain from talking about fucking me at the breakfast table."

"I'll try.  The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw match is coming up.  My team yelled at me at the practice yesterday because they think you were spying for your team last Friday when you came to watch practice.  Apparently, they don't care whether you're my boyfriend or not, you were once a Slytherin and that means you're going to cheat for your house."

Draco laughed as Ron quickly finished shoving a slice of toast in his mouth and stood up.

"I'm going back to the common room before class," he said.  "I have to get my books and everything."

"I have to drop by the owlery so I'll meet you in History of Magic, then," said Kali.

"Okay.  See you all later," he said, giving Kali a quick kiss before rushing out of the hall.

"So what do you think he wrote Charlie about?" asked Harry once Ron had gone as Servius sat down next to Hermione.

"Who's Charlie?" asked Draco.

"His brother."

"He wrote his brother?"

"Yes, he wrote his brother.  He said it was about something personal.  What do you think?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, looking at Harry as if he were dense.

"Er - no?"

"Harry, you really are a fuckwit," said Draco, grinning.

"I am not."

"You are too.  You really are just an ignorant fuckwit.  You exude fuckwittage."

"I exude fuckwittage?"

Draco nodded.

"I don't know what Ron wrote to Charlie about, either," said Kali, folding up the letter she had been writing.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Hermione a second time.  "It's not what he wrote about, it's who."

Four pairs of eyes turned to land on Kali.

"Me?  You think he wrote Charlie about me?  What would he write to Charlie about me for?"

"He has been acting curious lately," said Harry, carefully as if he were examining the situation.

"Now I'm nervous," she whined, looking around for Calypso.  "Why does my owl always think she can just flutter away after drinking my pumpkin juice?"  Kali gave a big, long sigh.  "I guess I'm just going to have to send one of the school owls.  Calypso deserves a break, anyway."

"Don't worry about Ron," said Hermione.  "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"I guess not," she said, grabbing her letter.  "I'll see you in class, okay?"

"Sure.  Bye," Hermione called, and Kali waved before setting off for the doors.

~*~

"What are you doing?"

Hermione had said goodbye to Harry, Draco, and Servius to return to Gryffindor tower before History of Magic to get her bag, which she had left in the common room before going down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  Upon returning, she found Ron sitting at one of the tables, bent over it, and examining a sheet of parchment, his quill ready at hand.  Every so often he would scribble something down, sigh, and rub his forehead as if the contents of the parchment were greatly distressing him.  On closer observation, Hermione saw that there were numbers all over the parchment and the figures were not pleasing Ron at all.  Lying next to his parchment was the letter from Charlie, folded up but already looking worn as if Ron had been going over it repeatedly since returning.

"Ron," she said, poking him in the arm.

His head snapped up to see Hermione sitting across from him.  "Oh - hey, Mione.  What's up?"

"I was about to ask you the very same thing.  I know you don't take Arithmancy and it's the only subject that involves that many numbers, so what exactly are you doing?"

"Going over my finances."

"Your finances?"

"Yes, Hermione.  My finances."

"You have finances?"

"Yes, I have finances.  It's a side effect of working at the ministry and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

"Why are you going over your finances?"

"Because we're going to be leaving Hogwarts in a month.  One month, Hermione.  And not just for the summer.  We're leaving Hogwarts for good.  We have to go out into the real world.  Grow up.  Be responsible.  Everyone's getting these job offers already.  Harry's already been offered reserve positions for Quidditch teams.  You already know what you're doing.  I don't want to be a burden on my mum and dad when I'm done here."

"I'm sure you won't be a burden on anyone, Ron."

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared, Mione.  You taught me that."

"Don't worry so much, Ron.  You'll do fine."

"I want to do better than fine, Mione.  I've been fine for so long.  I don't think it's selfish of me to want more."

"It's not," she reassured.  "We have class, though.  Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he said, sighing as he balled up the parchment and shoved it into his bag.  Stuffing the letter from Charlie in a pocket of his robes, Ron followed Hermione out of the portrait hole as they headed for History of Magic.

~*~

Checking the time, Ron saw there was still ten minutes to go until Kali and Hermione would be out of Arithmancy and then ten more minutes until they had Potions.  Harry had gone off some time ago to talk to McGonagall about his Transfiguration N.E.W.T. and Ron hadn't seen him since then.  Collecting his things together, Ron grabbed his bag from its place on the library table, said goodbye to Madam Pince, who was eyeing him as if he were about to spread marmalade on every book in the library, and headed out into the hallway.

He made it to the dungeons far faster than he would have wished and paused just outside the door of the Potions classroom, having second thoughts about whether he really wanted to go in there or not.  Pacing in front of the closed door, Ron began to wring his hands, going over in his mind thousands of times on why he should go in that classroom and not be afraid of what the penalty was.  However, Ron never got to make up his mind as Snape came striding down the hall and took one look at Ron before ushering him into the classroom.

"Is there a reason you're so early to class, Mister Weasley?" he inquired, moving behind his desk and studying his lesson plan for the day.

"Actually, yes," he replied, figuring it was now or never.  "I need you to keep me after class."

"Excuse me?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about.  Something important."

"And so you want me to keep you after class?"

"Yes.  Kali can't know so I can't just say I'm staying after.  She'd insist on staying, too."

"What could you possibly have to talk to me about that Kailah can't know about?"

"That should wait for after class, don't you think?"

"If I ask you to stay after, Kailah will just wait back for you."

"So tell her to leave.  She'll listen to you."

Snape stared at Ron for a very long time, trying to figure out what he was up to.  When no answer immediately came to mind, he sighed and nodded, figuring if it was something terrible, he'd have the opportunity to poison him without witnesses.  If it was something positive, he wouldn't be in the dark wondering just what Kailah wasn't telling him now.

Less than five minutes later, the Slytherins and Gryffindors began to pour into the classroom for Potions.  For most of the class, Snape had been more focused on trying to figure out what Ron wanted to talk to him after class than being menacing to the students.  They were working over their individual cauldrons on an invisibility potion, a choice that Snape picked as he wished his students would disappear most of the time.  As it was, without Snape looming over him, Neville actually managed to make his potion correctly without any assistance from Hermione.  Most of the class was doing well, he was glad to see, especially with graduation so close, and he took the opportunity to test the potions on the students (mainly Pansy, Neville, and Seamus) just so that he didn't have to look at them.

"Mister Weasley," said Snape, just after dismissing the class.  "Please stay after class.  We need to go over your essay."

Ron gave a brief nod of acknowledgment.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" asked Kali

"Mister Weasley can find his way back to the Gryffindor common room on his own, Miss Strauser."

"Yes, Daddy," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It's okay, Kali," Ron told her.  "You go ahead.  You don't want to wait for me, anyway. For all you know, he could decide that, as long as you're here, you should start working on some Potions for your N.E.W.T.s.  The last thing you want to do is end up with more brewing."

"You have a point," she said, before kissing him on the cheek.  "I'll see you up in the common room."

Ron watched as Kali collected her things and left the classroom with Harry (Hermione had already left, probably to see Servius).  Once the class was empty, Ron made sure that the door was completely shut before he walked up to the front where Snape was standing, his stomach in a series of knots.

"Come with me, Mister Weasley," he said, motioning for Ron to follow as he led him through one of the side doors and then into his office.  "Have a seat."

Sitting down in the chair across from Snape's desk that he had motioned to, Ron swallowed and looked around the room at the strange things floating in jars.  More than anything, he did not want to be here at this moment about to say what he was about to say.  Fate seemed to have to take a cruel twist.  It just wasn't right that it was Snape he had to be sitting here with.

"Any time you're ready, Mister Weasley."

Looking up, Ron took a deep breath and decided to jump headfirst into it and keep running his mouth without being able to think.  Thinking caused hesitation and hesitation was not good.

"I want to ask your daughter to marry me."

Whatever Snape had been expected, it hadn't been that.   His eyes had gone huge and his arm slipped off the arm of his chair, causing him to shift into an awkward position.  Straightening back up, he looked to Ron, and opened his mouth to speak, but Ron got there first.

"Before you say no, please hear what I have to say."

"Mister Weasley -"

"Please.  You can say no all you want after I present you my case, but don't tell me no until I've presented you with all the facts."

Exhaling the large amount of oxygen he had been holding, Snape nodded and waited for Ron to continue.

"The past few months with Kali have been the best in my entire life.  She makes me happier than anyone ever has.  I'm well aware that I don't know her all that long, but I love her.  I always thought that when you meet that one person you're meant for, it doesn't matter how long you know them because you know right away that this person is special.  You just know its the person you're meant to marry.  I know I'm meant to be with Kali.  I've been taken away with her since the very first moment I laid eyes on her.  I'm well aware of how special she is.  Kali is a beautiful person.  She deserves the best and though I know I can't give her everything, I do the best I can.

"I've been thinking about this for awhile.  I didn't jump into this, even though I know that's what it seems like.  It wasn't a decision I made on the spur of the moment.  My whole life I've had very little and I'm not about to jump into anything that wouldn't be able to work.  I've been working summers filing at the ministry for my dad and I've been working since after the Christmas holiday at Fred and George's store.  It's not much, but I've still got some money saved up.  Being Head Boy and having good marks this term, I've gotten a few offers from the ministry already to start work after I graduate depending on my N.E.W.T. scores.  I wrote my brother, Charlie, about it and he's got a friend who's got a place in Hogsmeade he's looking to sell.  I was planning on moving there regardless of what happened with Kali.  It'll be hard at first, but I'll be able to take care of her and I know she's worth it.  The only thing I don't have is the ring because I wasn't about the spend the money in case you said no."

Ron took a deep breath, his head feeling very light from spitting out all of the words without taking the time to think.  Sitting across from him, Snape was staring at him and looking very deep in thought.  His stomach was lurching, begging to empty anything he had eaten in the past five years.  Ron wanted to retreat back to his dorm, lay down, and never face Snape again.

"As you've clearly thought about this, Mister Weasley," Snape finally said, "I won't argue with you that this isn't a spur of the moment decision as I thought it was.  However, if marrying Kailah is so important to you, why are you asking for my permission?  Wouldn't you marry my daughter anyway, providing she accepted your offer?"

"I'm asking you because you're important to Kali and your blessing would mean everything to her.  That and, frankly, sir, you terrify me.  I'm scared of doing something that you would be angry over, especially when it's something of this caliber."

"So you're requesting my blessing?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not sure about this, Mister Weasley."

Slumping, Ron nodded, unable to talk and not trusting himself to do so even if he had words to say.

"As you said yourself," continued Snape, "Kailah is special and she deserves the very best.  If she's going to get engaged, I think she deserves a ring."

"But I said that I didn't get a ring because . . ." started Ron as Snape stared at him pointedly.  "Oh.  I have no other words but thank you, Professor.  It doesn't seem like enough, though."

"First, Ron, call me Severus, unless you're in class because I don't even take Kailah calling me Dad in class very well."  Ron, gaping, nodded.  "Second, if you call me Sev or Dad, I reserve the right to retract my blessing.  Third, you get my daughter a nice ring.  She's only going to be engaged once."

"I feel like I'm going to throw up, Pro - er - Severus," he said, the name sounding very foreign on his tongue.  Snape gave a short laugh.

"When do you intend on asking her?"

"Graduation Ball."

He made a curt nod.  "You treat her right, Ron."

"I will."