Disclaimer: If I own Harry Potter, Sirius would still be alive, and Ron would have already asked Hermione out!
A/N: Dedicated to Arwen-Georgie-Skye, who requested me to do this outtake.
Harry's Bridal Pretence
"Hermione, you are my life, my passion, my heart, my everything. I love you. Will you marry me?" asserted Ron Weasley. "Nah! Too melodramatic!"
The cabin door opened, and in came Harry Potter with a cup of steaming hot coffee in hand. He stopped and stared at his colleague inquiringly, who was at the moment kneeling on a bended knee, with an arm outstretched.
"Ron, what are you doing? And what's that you're holding in your right hand?"
"Oh! Nothing." Ron stood up abruptly, his ears turning to a shade of red. "Just a paperclip. It was falling, and I leaped to catch it."
Harry merely raised his eyebrows. "You make a good human sculpture."
Ron rolled his eyes and held out his hand to take a drink from his friend's cup. Handing the cup to the waiting hand, Harry pulled open the window blinds of the room, giving them a perfect view of the whole office.
"What are you giving Mione?" Harry asked nonchalantly.
"Aside from the ring, I'm giving her a bracelet. It's made out of pure white gold," Ron replied in a boastful tone. "I've been saving money for it. Mione has always the liking for white gold… What are you giving her?"
"Oh, I'm giving her a muggle watch. Don't look at me like that! It's a branded one. Pretty costly too. It's of Longines."
"What?"
"It's the brand's name."
"Oh."
Sitting down on an armchair, Ron gave out a heavy sigh.
"The birthday party is in four days. And I've yet to get the right words to propose to her," Ron complained exasperatedly.
"What do you have in mind?" asked Harry, now looking through some files on his friend's messy desk.
Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Well.., I don't know. Some rubbish. The only right words I know are 'will you marry me'."
"So? What's wrong with that?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course I have to say something more than that! I can't just ask her right away! She would think I'm some dunderhead!"
"Ron, just say whatever comes from your heart. You can't recite some poetic lines when they don't mean anything to you."
"Easy for you to say. You're not proposing to anyone," Ron said dejectedly.
"You know what? You need some practice," Harry simply suggested.
"I did when you barged into my compartment!"
Realisation hit the scarred young man. Taking the paperclip on that jumbled table, he asked, "So this is your engagement ring? Quite unique, no?"
"Not funny, Harry."
"Ron, my friend… what you need, is somebody who can impersonate your darling Mione to practice proposing to."
Ron kept quiet for a while before turning back to face his friend.
"You're right. Good idea, Harry. Come.., you stand here," dragging his confused friend to the middle of the room.
Harry looked around the cabin nervously when he noticed his friend's blue eyes stared dreamily into his emerald ones.
"Stop moving, Harry! I'm trying to imagine you as Hermione."
Harry felt himself choked.
"Mione, through the nine years we know each other, I watched you grow. From a bushy haired girl, to a breathtaking beauty."
Harry cringed at the affectionate voice his friend was directing to him.
"I grew to love you, to worship you. I would love to have a family with you, children with you. You became the keeper of my heart. Now, I would like to become the official keeper of you. Will you marry me?"
A loud gasp was heard. Looking into the direction of the sound, the two gentlemen saw Mrs Morllegan, a fat old woman, watching them with mouth wide opened, just outside the window.
"Aww!!" Harry whined, covering his face with his hand.
"Is that even possible, Mr Weasley?"
"It's not what you think, lady," Ron retorted, shutting the blinds back rudely.
Walking back to his friend, he asked, "So, what do you think?"
"Sounds a bit irky, to me," Harry replied, earning him a groan from Ron.
"Okay. How about this?"
Taking Harry's hand in his, he kneeled on one knee. "Hermione, you have been the ocean of my heart. Ev-"
He was cut off by Harry saying, "No, no, no, no. If I know our Mione correctly, she's not the kind to be flattered by flowery words. Just say something more direct from your heart."
"You're right. Okay, listen to this one."
Taking his friend's hand again, he took a deep sigh and started to look at Harry deep in the eye.
"Hermione, I love you. I love you, I love you very, very much, Hermione. When I close my eyes, I see you. And when I opened my eyes, I long to see you. Even when you are not near me, I feel you in everything I'm surrounded by. Every second… every minute… all the time… My eyes search only for my dear Hermione. Call it love, madness or just my heartbeats… it's the same thing for me. A lot of people have loved before, but my love stands apart from all of them because they don't have you… I can never forget you, Hermione. I don't want to forget you. You are mine. And I will love you forever. I will love you till I die.., and even after that! Will you marry me?"
Harry couldn't believe he was on the verge of tears. Ron really had it hard for Hermione. He could really feel the sincerity in his lovesick friend's compassionate voice.
"Well?! Say you'll marry me!"
Harry grinned and quickly clasped both his hands onto his cheeks. "Oh YES! Yes, I'll marry you, Ron Weasley!" he said in a high pitched voice, clearly imitating a hyperactive girl, making Ron rolled his eyes.
"So? What do you think of it this time?"
Harry smiled. "Beautiful. But I'd suggest you to cut it short."
Ron sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I'll never get it right."
"Hey! You were doing great. You just need more practice."
"Yeah… come, let's practise some more," he said, earning him a stern look from Harry.
"Oh, please. C'mon!"
Harry sighed, and relented. A few more takes took place. Each time, the sentences became richer, despite Harry's insistence for simple basic English.
They were in the middle of yet another rehearsal, when the door pounded.
"Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, the Head wishes to speak to you."
"Okay, we'll be there," called Harry.
"Harry, I'll need you to practise with me some more, sometime."
Harry huffed and said, "Fine!"
On the way to their Head's cabin, Harry stated, "You know, you made me feel like Hermione, a while there."
Ron looked at his friend sceptically, before distancing himself from him.
A/N: This is a 'deleted scene' of my fic 'The Future Awaits'. You can read the whole story by clicking on my hyperlinked name above. Though that fic is not purely R/Hr, it's actually also a Sirius/Hermione fic.