Training for the Inevitable

Chapter Six: The School Reacts

The day after they left found the school in an up rage. They had learned through the grape vine that Harry and Ginny left the school against the teachers wishes on a flying carpet being flown by Ginny's older brother Bill Weasley. There was rumors about Ginny being pregnant and being forced to flee the wrath of her brothers, to them being taken by Voldemort himself through Bill being under Veritessarium. Of all the rumors that were being thrown around, none of them were even close to the truth. The only ones that knew the whole truth were Harry, Ginny and Bill, and none of them were there to tell them. As far as they knew, the three of them left the night before in a huff with Harry and Ginny's bags packed and ready to go. They were in a meeting with the headmaster telling him that they were going no matter what he was going to say, and that they were last seen heading in a general southerly direction. No one knew where they had went, but they knew that Bill worked for Gringotts in Egypt as a curse breaker.

The two students that knew the truth about what was going on, but not tho whole truth, weren't talking. Ron and Hermione were smiling with the knowledge that the three of them were going to be ok, and that they were going to support them in whatever may happen. They knew that they were going to be joining them in a couple of months for their wedding along with the family. They were told that they could invite some of their friends from school to come along with them, and that the wedding will be happening when the school gets out in June. They had quietly made arrangements to have the friends and supporters meet them at the train station when they got back to London, and they would go from there. The 6th years and below all had permission to go with them and were going to be coming back from Egypt shortly after the wedding. There were two 6th years, and a 5th year that were going to be going to the wedding. The sixth years were Ginny's best friend from Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood, and Colin Creevey from Gryffindor, the 5th year was Colin's younger brother Dennis. The rest of the guest list consisted of 7th year friends from the Gryffindor house, and a couple from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. They were all excited and promised not to tell any of the Order or the Professors what was happening.

The Professors for their part were completely clueless, even tho people were thinking that Dumbledore knew more than he was letting show. When the students looked up to him for advice about why their Quidditch Captain, and star Seeker, all he said was, "don't worry about it, I'm sure that Harry and Ginny are fine. We had an argument, but it isn't anything for you to worry about. He has taken a leave of absence from the school, and since the Quidditch season and his testing was over, he has decided to leave school early. As for the fight that we had, those are just rumors. They left with one Bill Weasley late that night, and won't be back this year." He made the students seem to think that things were going to be alright, even tho the ones that didn't talk to him about it, and already knew, weren't contradicting what he was saying. Of course they weren't agreeing with him either. They were just being quiet, but could be found in the last couple of Hogsmeade weekends spending it shopping for unusual things, and getting warm weather clothing for the weekend. Most of the students were thinking that they were getting the stuff for one of their own weddings after school, but weren't sure.

FLASHBACK TO A FEW MONTHS AGO, WHEN RON PROPOSED TO HERMIONE!

The rumors were now going around that Ron and Hermione were going to be getting married after school got out, but they weren't quite sure about that either. When Ron heard about this, he was getting contemplative, and decided to go ahead and look into getting her a ring for asking her about it. He smiled at the thought that it took these rumors to get him get serious about his thoughts about her. He stopped by the jewelry store in the village, and smiled as he saw Hermione looking through some rings daydreaming. She hadn't seen him yet, and he decided to keep it like that. He just watched her through the glass and smiled at the rings she was looking at. After she left the store, and he got out of the way before she saw him, he slipped in to talk to the owner. "Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you could show me the rings that the young lady was looking at just then." He smiled at him to let him know that he was serious about this.

"That would be these rings sir. Let me guess, you're the young man that she was talking about in there. Mr. Weasley I presume, well she was looking at some engagement rings, hoping that one day you would get the idea that she was interested. She knew you were out there, but didn't want to say a thing, knowing that you probably were going to get the hint and come in here. Don't worry, I won't tell her that you know now. Now would you like to see the ring that she was most interested in." He showed her one of the beautiful rings, but wasn't the most expensive either. He knew that Ron wasn't the richest wizard in the realms, but he also knew that he was in love with the girl.

Ron looked at the ring, and knew that it wasn't the one that Hermione wasn't really interested in. He knew that this was the one that she was wanting him to see, because she didn't know that he was saving up the money for this moment for the last three years. "Will you please show me the ring that she was truly interested in, I know that she has her heart set on a different ring, and that she asked you to show me this one because she doesn't think that I can afford it. I love her for that, but I have been saving money for the last three years to buy this ring, and I can afford the ring that she wants." He smiled at the owner as he pulled out the box from the safe in the back that he had been keeping the ring that she wanted in. He knew love when he saw it, and was going to do his best to help the young couple get the ring that they wanted even if he had to do it at a loss.

Ron's jaw hit the floor when he saw the ring, and saw the diamond on it. He rubbed his eyes, and was happy to have made the choice to save the money for this moment. "I will take it, here is the information for the account for my money. You can take it directly from there." He then took the ring and looked at it.

The owner didn't have the heart to tell the young man that he was about 1000 galleons short, and decided that he had loved the ring so much, that he would eat the cost, and have him pay only half price for it. "It's all your sir, and I hope that you think of our store when you get your wedding bands. I hope you and the young Ms. Granger live happily ever after." He smiled as Ron took a look at the ring, and didn't notice when the owner took the price tag off before he gave him the ring.

"Thank you sir, this means so much to me. We definitely will remember this place when we come to get our wedding bands. Thank you again for your help in this, I just hope that I can keep up the courage to do this. I mean I have loved her for many years, and we have been dating for a few years now. Our best friend and my little sister are off right now, and getting married in a couple of days. Please don't let anyone know that especially the professors, they don't know where they are, for he had a falling out with our headmaster when they tried to stop him from leaving." Ron liked this guy a lot, and was glad that he came to this place for the ring.

"Don't worry sir, I won't say a thing, I have the utmost discretion in these things. Yes I know about the young couple you are talking about, I didn't know that they had left, but I knew that they were going to be getting married this summer. Now run off, I think I heard young Ms. Granger say that she was going to the Three Broomsticks to get a drink. I think that she meant for you to get that message so you can meet her there. Now go, have fun and good luck, she's a great catch that you got there." The old man smiled as Ron walked out of the store with a bounce in his step, and walked towards the tavern. "Well Albus, looks like you have another match made in that school that everyone knew about. Of course I won't tell any of the professors Ron Weasley, but there is at least one that already knows where they are." The old man smirked and went back to his own business.

Ron practically ran all the way to the Three Broomsticks going in through the door and running up to Hermione. "Hermione, I need to talk to you now before I lose the nerve." He took her by the hand and led her out and towards the shrieking shack where he knew that they could have some privacy. He also knew that this was where they shared their first kiss, and he had told her that he loved her for the first time. He remembered that day three years ago quite well. "Hermione, do you remember what this place means to us. I mean what happened here three years ago. Will you please do what I asked you to do again please." He looked really nervous, but not as nervous as Hermione was looking when Ron gave her that look he was giving her.

Of course she remembered what this place meant to them. She remembered exactly what happened three years ago, and was smiling as she closed her eyes and said. "Ok Ron, my eyes are closed, what is the big secret you have for me?" She said this just the same as she did those years ago, but was hoping that this was going to be different than what happened back then.

Ron got down on one knee, and took her left hand in his. "Ok Mione, you can open your eyes again."

When she opened her eyes, she let out a loud gasp. She saw the ring that she knew that he couldn't possibly afford with any of the money that he had, or might have saved up. She looked him in the eyes, and smiled. "Well well what do we have here Mr. Weasley, you are on your knees with a ring in your hand, does this mean what I think it does? I hope that it does, because if it doesn't and this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don't like it." She had tears in her eyes, but Ron could tell that they were tears of joy, and hope that this was what she thought it was.

"Mione, I would never do that to you. This is what you think it is. Three years ago today, I brought you here and told you my feelings. You made my life the best over the last three years by staying by my side, and letting me love you. I want to make you believe that I will love you for the rest of our lives, and that I will never leave you. Hermione Jane Granger, will you do me the biggest favor in the world, and agree to marry this red headed wizard, and make my life complete?" He held out the ring with a bit of nervousness. He knew that this was what she wanted, but was hoping that he wasn't wrong in doing this.

She looked at him with love in her heart, and a smile on her face. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you don't know how long I've been wanting you to ask me this. You have had my heart for the last three years, and my love for a couple of years before then. If you will have me, I will agree to be your wife, and to wear this ring to acknowledge our love and engagement." She had tears of joy on her face and running down her cheeks when she allowed Ron to slip the ring onto her left ring finger. She helped him up, and gave him a great big hug, and a deep love filled kiss to seal the deal. "Shall we head back to the Three Broomsticks so I can show off my ring?" She was smirking at this, and Ron fell head over heels in love with her again.

"Sure, I would also love to show off my beautiful fiancee to the other guys and make them jealous." He smiled and winced a little bit when she playfully slapped him on the arm. They walked hand in hand back to the Three Broomsticks to tell everyone and to enjoy the rest of the day and school year. They had graduated at the top of their class and were happy to be finally done with the school year.

A/N: I hope that you liked the school's reaction, and we will be getting back to Harry, Bill and Ginny next chapter. I thought I would throw in the bit about Ron and Hermione getting engaged officially at the end for a bit of fluff and filler. Please as always read and review.This is a fix if you have read it already,I put in the part about that being a flashback, becauseI had completely forgotten that I had said that Ron and Hermione were already married. Please don't kill the writer, wecan even make mistakes, at leastI went back and fixed it.—Donald Next chapter, the wedding.