The Proposal
Harry arose early the next morning to set up his plan for the proposal. Carefully, he shut the blinds so the sun wouldn't wake Hermione. As he was making her breakfast, himself included, he started thinking. By the time he was done eating he had the basic idea formulated. When he finished dressing and getting ready for the day, he pulled out some parchment and ink and started to jot down the basics.
It was about 8:30 by the time he had it all memorized, and before he left he put a warming charm on Hermione's plate to keep it that way and conjured up a long stemmed white rose. He'd read it in one of Hermione's Quick Gardening Tips books. Slowly, a ripe green stem came growing form the tip of his wand. Just as the end of the stem was coming out, the bud at the other end sprang to life. It seemed someone had pressed the fast forward button in time. The baby soft rose pedals grew large and brightened into a pure white as it opened up for the world to see. Harry stared in awe as it glowed for a moment, then broke form the wand into his hand.
He caressed the petals as he set it down gently next to the plate. He then placed a note underneath the delicate flower. It read: "My love for you is as pure as the white of this rose, and as soft as its pedals. May it never die." He hurried out the door and to the maze where he started to work. With a few simple spells, and a chat with the fairies, he drove to the nearest jeweler and prepared to purchase an engagement ring.
His wallet full of muggle money that he had just changed from galleons, he approached the counter and said bluntly, "I'd like to purchase the best engagement ring you have and I don't want any complications please." The stern looking elderly man behind the glass counter raised his eyes to look at Harry then followed with his head as well. Suddenly he seemed pleased and smiled widely with big, shiny, square teeth. Immediately Harry regretted his previous, far from subtle statement because this man's smile so reminded him of the heart warming grandpa type.
He walked toward the end of the long counter full of jewelry. Harry followed. Harry walked slowly in order to get a good look at all the other rings and their labeled prices. Then the very last ring was pulled out and it didn't even have a labeled price. The man cautiously handed it to Harry and waited expectantly. Harry held it closely to his eye. Squinting, he marveled at the marble sized diamond with its many sparkling three dimensional structures inside. Channels of mini round diamonds lined the sides of the gold band.
Before he became too entranced, he shoved the ring back into the salesman's hand. "It's elegant...too elegant." He thought to himself it was a bit on the gaudy side. He breathed deeply. "I don't want something too simple, but still something beautiful and stunning. Like her..." The man smiled that sweet smile again. "I think I have just the thing..." He ran his rough textured but gentle hands across the glass counter top, barely touching it. He stopped, then carefully removed one from its case and handed it to Harry.
It wasn't too big, but it definitely wasn't small. It wasn't complicated, yet it had a mysterious beauty to it. The crystals inside the diamond shaped gem were exquisite, almost like the other, but smaller. It sparkled as light reflected off the silver band. Harry smiled slightly then whispered, "It's perfect." He handed it back to the man who seemed very pleased with Harry's selection. "I'll 'ring' that up for you." He laughed heartily at his own joke. Harry only smiled.
"That'll be $2,100." Harry pulled out all the cash he had. They counted it, and he came up about $100 short. Harry thought for a moment, then decided he might be able to trick the man into thinking his gold galleons were worth more than they really were. After all, how would a muggle know? He smiled slyly, slipped a sack full of galleons on the counter and slid it across to the man. The salesman picked it up and examined the gold within closely. Harry stood with his arms crossed and tried to look confident. The man smiled and handed Harry the box.
But then he said to him with a raised eyebrow, "Do you think me a fool, Harry Potter?"
Harry froze with shock . "I– I'm – " but once again, he smiled.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, I am a wizard." Harry stood, arms at his sides now, and gaped.
"But - but a wizard – working here? How?"
"Well," he replied. "I own this shop and am the only one that works here. And to answer your next question, I made all these precious jewels." Now Harry stood fascinated.
"How?" He asked again.
"It's all in the wand." He chimed while motioning with his hand pretending he held a wand. Harry smiled and thanked him as he started on out.
"You've made the right choice, Mr. Potter." Harry smiled, thanked him again, and stepped out the door.
But little did he know that the kind salesman was not simply voicing his opinion on the choice of the ring. He, in fact, knew that it was the right choice because the same woman had been coming into his store several times a week very recently and she has had her eye on that very ring.
Harry disapparated soon after he was out the door and arrived at the maze. There, he gathered up the fairies that he talked to earlier and showed them what to do exactly. He then wound his way through the maze and reached the center. The first thing to meet his eyes was the dinky water fountain in the middle. He smirked at the thought of just yesterday when Hermione squirted water in his face.
"That'll never do." He said to himself. All through the afternoon he worked; worked until he felt satisfied there was nothing left to do.
His thoughts wandered as his feet led him home. Upon entering the house, he found himself face to face with Hermione who was still in her Pajamas. Harry smiled innocently, but before he could even open his mouth Hermione pointed a shaking finger at his face. He had always notice how much she looked like McGonnagal when she was mad. But this was not what Harry was worried about, at the moment. He wanted to know why Hermione was so furious with him.
"Mione wha-?" But he was cut off.
"Harry James Potter don't you 'Mione' me!" Harry looked dumbstruck. What could he have possibly done wrong? Was his cooking really that bad?
"I can't believe you-you-you just left without so much as a hint to where you might be! But of course you're Harry, Mr. I'm-so-special." She mumbled on and said something like, "that woman." Harry calmed her enough to ask what was going on. She seemed to come to her senses and buried her face in Harry's chest.
"Oh Harry I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "It's not you, it's just that horrible Skeeter woman. You'd think she's had enough by now." Harry was confused but let her continue. "I didn't have the heart to tell you," she looked up at him, "but only last week Rita Skeeter has been writing horrible stories again. About you, and-and me."
"But I thought- " Harry began.
"Me too Harry, me too. But she couldn't take it anymore and she started writing nasty things again. I turned her into the Ministry like I said I would, but they didn't care or want to believe me that she was an unregistered animagus. All it took was for her to deny it and that was good enough for them. They couldn't bear to loose their best writer."
Harry was shocked to see her so upset about this. "Well I'm sure it wasn't that bad," he
said softly. Hermione softened too and spoke quieter, "Oh but it is Harry. I suppose after all those years of not being able write those wicked things she just burst and went crazy with it."
"So what exactly did she say?" Harry asked though not sure he wanted to know.
"Just today I was reading it and it's on the front cover this time!" Just then Harry noticed the Daily Prophet open on the table beside the couch. Peering closer he saw a picture of Cho and him beaming at their wedding day. Right next to that was a picture of Harry walking out of the court room holding hands with Hermione. And a big heading: "The Boy Who Lived, Or The Boy Who Cheated?" Harry could only guess what was in it because he preferred not to read it.
"You know what Hermione, I don't really care anymore. All that matters is what you think." And at that he placed a finger on her nose and a small smile escaped her lips.
"Yeah, I - I guess you're right..."
"I know I am. Now listen. I want you to meet me at the entrance of the maze. I think I know something that will cheer you up a bit." She looked suspicious again.
"Why do I have to meet you there?"
"Cause it's a surprise, and...uh, you still have to get dressed!" Hermione looked down as if only just realizing she still had her pajamas on.
"All right see you there." With a smile Harry dissaperated right in the living room. Hermione ran upstairs, wondering what he was up to. There was always that option in the back of her mind...but of course she had thought that many other times before and was wrong. It could be any other assortment of possibilities. In the end Hermione decided to stop trying to guess and go and see for herself.
Upon apparating at the entrance, she discovered Harry was not there. But a shiny light caught her eye, and at closer inspection discovered it to be an arrangement of fairies in the form of an arrow, which was pointing towards the inside of the maze. So she followed. She noticed that the normally plain green hedges were not plain anymore, but intertwined with all kinds of flowers. She reached a fork and saw the same group of fairies fly over and form an arrow pointing to the left.
She turned and after walking a ways, saw that they lead her to a dead end. But it was not a mistake. Directly in front of her, part of the hedge was protruding outward like a table with no legs. And on it lay a single, dark red, thornless rose. Hermione smiled, picked up a small piece of parchment and read the gold embossed words. "Take this rose as a symbol of my love. Remember that I respect you, love you sincerely, and know that you have an unconscious beauty as I have never seen before. You are courageous, romantic, and passionate. All this the single, dark red and thornless rose symbolizes."
Hermione picked it up, turned around and headed back the other way , following the fairies directions. Along the journey, she came across 7 other roses; each with a letter in the same gold lettering. They were (in this order): white symbolizing purity, heavenly and charm. Red and white combined signify unity.
Light pink - grace, perfection, happiness, admiration, and gentleness. Dark pink came next saying, "Thank you for being there. You have my gratitude, and appreciation for the love and forgiveness shown towards me." After that came a startling yellow with red tips telling her of their friendship, and how he has fallen in love with her. Orange was saying that "I desire you and am fascinated by you." Lavender was telling of love at first sight. Then last of all came a yellow. "This flower I chose last because I am promising a new beginning in which we will have joy, gladness, friendship, delight, and to show that I care. Please accept this bouquet of roses, and remember what each means throughout the years that we have each other."
Hermione came to the center of the maze and found a spectacular sight. Instead of the small water pump that she saw before, there was a great, magnificent marble fountain shooting water about a foot in the air, then streaming down the sides into the larger bottom layer. Fairies were scattered everywhere, serving as lights. And the four grubby benches were now shiny oak ones with black metal arms rests that curved in an elegant way. The legs that held it were also the same.
Shrubs were placed on either side of every bench, each sporting various blooming flowers. But the most stunning sight of all was a handsome young man in his nicest button-up collared shirt. It had different shades of blue-green stripes going horizontally down his shirt. And for pants he wore a kind of beige-green pair that were dressy. All of which went nicely with a pair of sleek, black dress shoes.
Despite all this, his hair was still the same as always; sticking up in every direction. Although this was not a flaw to Hermione, for she found that trait very attractive. Harry sat leaning forward, staring at the ground on the edge of a bench with his elbows resting on his knees, his hands dangling between them, holding a delicate black rose.
And if one would observe even more so, you would notice how he waited with the air of a young boy waiting for his prom date. Hermione stepped toward him and, noticing her arrival, Harry looked up, smiled, and stood beaming at her. She grinned back.
Harry took her hand in his and spoke, "Hermione." He looked deep into her glistening eyes. "I have loved you for so long. With the deepest yearning in my heart I have loved you. And still do now more than ever."
Hermione interjected, "I love you too," he smiled again and continued.
"I want to give you this final rose," at that he took the bouquet gently from her grasp, added the black rose, then set it down on the bench. "symbolizing death." Hermione looked serious and nodded for him to go on.
"I want us to be together till death do us part. And even then, we will still be together in heaven. So in death, we will also be starting a new beginning. Hermione," Harry bent his right knee, kneeled on the ground, took out the dazzling engagement ring, and said while looking up at her, "I would be privileged to have the honor of being the luckiest man on earth forever, if you would answer this question correctly," Harry looked up at the starry sky and, following his lead, so did Hermione. She gasped and read the glowing fairies in the sky: WILL YOU MARRY ME?