"Hermione, please open up! I know you're in there. Please. We need to talk."
I was walking up the stairs to my flat after having just arrived back in London. I'd rented a car to make the drive back. If I'd waited for a bus or train, I wasn't sure I wouldn't have turned back to the Burrow.
I stopped before I rounded the corner, trying to make sense of everything. If it had taken me two and a half hours to get home, how was Ron standing at my door? It was barely twelve! He couldn't have seen my letter more than an hour ago.
"Hermione, please! I'll stand here all day if I have to."
"Ron?"
My heart all but stopped when he turned to look at me.
"Hermione," He breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing here?" I managed to ask.
"Not letting you go."
"But...how?" I didn't understand.
"Can we talk inside?" he asked.
I fumbled with my keys as I approached the door and shakily unlocked it. Ron held the door open before entering behind me. I set my bags down on the sofa before rounding on him for an explanation.
"Ron, you shouldn't be here. I still don't even know how you're here!"
"Well, I was waiting where you said you'd meet me until Ginny called to tell me you weren't there. You really thought you could just leave like this and get away?" He pulled the letter out of his pocket and held it out to me.
"Ron—"
"Hermione, stop. I should have said this when we spoke this morning, but I wanted it to be more romantic."
"What are you—" I was so confused.
"I don't want to fake this anymore."
"I don't either," I told him. "That's why I left."
"No, you're not understanding me. I don't want to fake a marriage or a relationship."
But I did understand him. "Neither do—"
"I want it to be real."
His blue eyes sought mine, waiting for a response, but for the first time, I was speechless. I watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a small ring box. He slowly sunk to one knee as I covered my mouth with my hands.
"Hermione Granger, when I first met you, you were a hard ass and extremely difficult to work with."
I couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the way he'd started this. I certainly did try to make his life a living hell initially, but I wanted to see if he'd be able to handle the job as my assistant.
"There were several days I almost gave in and quit, but then I started to get to know you through all the overtime and late nights, which eventually turned into our occasional dinner dates, and you weren't so bad." He grinned as I tried to blink back the tears that were threatening in my eyes.
"I know this all started as a way to get your Mum off your back and to save you from an asinine arranged marriage. But at some point over the last few days, I realized that what I felt for you wasn't pretend. Maybe I've felt this way for a while and mistook it for friendship, but all I know is that I can't stop thinking about you. Everything I said was true, and everything we did was real to me. I wasn't just looking for a good time, and I wasn't only trying to convince my family."
I couldn't believe it. I'd left because I didn't want a broken heart. I was sure Ron didn't feel the same for me that I was feeling for him! Yet he was here, kneeling in front of me, just as I'd imagined yesterday at Goldstein's when I first laid eyes on the wedding ring set.
"At some point this weekend, I fell in love with you, and that is the reason I'm here. I want to do this the right way. Marry me, Hermione. Or, at least, date me first? For real, this time."
He opened the box to reveal the ring I'd been longing after in the shop. The one I'd convinced myself not to get. He'd actually gone back and purchased the ring and had been intending to do this all along. I'd been so stupid!
"Y-yes, I'll date you! And I'll marry you. For real," I said as he carefully extricated the ring from the box and placed it on my finger.
The seconds felt like hours as I waited for him to get to his feet and wrap me in his arms. As he leaned down to meet my lips with his own, I finally felt relaxed for the first time since I'd fallen asleep in his arms two nights ago.
The rational part of my brain wondered whether we needed to be back in Devon for whatever celebration was supposed to be happening, but I was more concerned with the growing want and need for him. As if sensing my thoughts, his hands moved down under my bum to lift me up, and he carried me to my bedroom.
"Don't we need to get back to the Burrow?" I asked between kisses.
"Only if you actually want to marry me today."
"Yes."
"Wait, what? Really?" Ron pulled away to look at me.
"I do."
"You're not just saying that to save face with my family?"
"I mean, maybe a little," I teased as Ron shot me a look. "No, really. I actually do. I left because I didn't think you'd really want to be married to me, and after your mum mentioned something about having a marriage certificate and us needing to sign it after the ceremony, I kind of panicked."
"So...instead of talking to me about it, you took off instead? Hermione, if we're really going to do this, then you need to promise to talk to me instead of running away next time we have a problem."
"Well, you could have said something, too, you know," I challenged.
His playful demeanor had disappeared, and he was looking at me seriously. "I was planning on it. But you snuck away before I had the chance. How many times did I tell you things were going to be okay?"
I looked up at him sheepishly. "Fair point."
"So, does that mean you promise?"
"Yes, I promise."
"Why didn't you before?" His eyes were searching mine as he waited for an answer.
"I—I was afraid to open up only for you to not feel the same way. It was easier to walk away than face rejection. I'm glad you came after me."
"Me too," he said.
Our lips met again, and I forced myself to pull away to ask the question before I decided to forget returning to the Burrow completely.
"Now, seriously, when do we need to leave to get back in time? Because I still have to get ready and—"
Ron cut me off as he pressed a finger to my lips. "It's only a fifteen-minute flight. We've got at least an hour before we need to leave for the airport."
"Airport. What are you—does your family—don't even tell me you flew here on your dad's private jet!" Part of me couldn't believe him, but the other part was swooning at how romantic the gesture was.
"So, we've got time if you wanna…"
I grinned as my fingers reached for the buttons on his shirt.
Ron"So, where did you disappear to?" Harry asked me as we were waiting for the cue to take our spots at the head of the aisle.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
"Oh, don't bloody give me that. You really think I wouldn't notice if my best friend up and left on his wedding day for a few hours?"
"I had to go after my bride, didn't I?"
"She really took off?"
"Yeah. Something about being noble and not wanting to really marry me. I guess faking it was bad enough," I joked.
Harry laughed. "And your family still doesn't know?"
"Only Dad does. He's promised to keep the secret, and no one needs to know I took the jet to London."
"So, you're really doing this, then? You're actually going to marry the woman you only just sort of started dating three days ago? I mean, Hermione seems great and all; I just don't want you to make a terrible mistake."
"Nah, mate, she's the one. I knew it the first time we kissed."
"In the middle of that party?"
"When you know, you know."
"Well, I'm happy for you, then. And I'm honored to stand next to you."
"Ron! It's time!" Mum chirped from the doorway.
When Hermione and I had returned, I called Dave, the officiant, and asked to meet with him. We'd explained the situation, and luckily he was okay with changing from a vow renewal to an actual wedding ceremony. We signed the marriage certificate ahead of time, but that was only after I'd made sure this was what Hermione wanted about five more times.
I did feel bad that she wouldn't exactly get the wedding of her dreams with an extravagant gown and the works, but she assured me that what she'd chosen was perfect. She wanted to change into the dress before we flew back down, but I insisted she wait. According to Mum and Muriel, it was already enough bad luck that I'd seen her before the ceremony, but I didn't believe it.
Once we got back to the Burrow, she'd been whisked away by my sisters-in-law, who had dubbed themselves as her 'glam squad' to get her ready for her walk down the aisle. We told everyone there was a work emergency, and since Dad and Ginny were the only ones who knew, everyone thought I went to meet her in London.
While we waited for the women to finish getting ready, I'd gotten to meet Hermione's father, who was really quite pleasant. He apologized for his wife's rash behavior, and insisted it was only because she wanted to see her daughter happy. Mr. Granger agreed her methods were a little flawed, and if it came down to it, he never would have let her go through with the arranged marriage. It was all still strange to me, but I didn't feel like getting into it because soon, it wouldn't matter.
I took my place at the head of the aisle and waited for my bride. I'd explained to the family that Hermione and I thought they'd like to experience an actual ceremony, and not just a vow renewal, so that's why things had been adjusted slightly. Mum broke out in tears and wrapped me in a bear hug, so I knew we'd done the right thing.
"Last chance to back out," Harry whispered jokingly in my ear.
It was only fair since I'd done the same thing to him just before Ginny walked down the aisle for their wedding. People could say we were crazy if they'd known we'd barely been together three days, if you could even call it that, but I'd known Hermione for three years. I'd never been more sure about anything in my life, despite how quickly things had happened.
"He's right, you know," Dave interrupted my thoughts. "Though, she might leave you after experiencing one of my signature lap dances."
I couldn't help the snort that escaped me. "Thanks, Dave, but somehow I think we'll be okay."
I heard the music start and looked up to see Hermione round the corner, her arm through her dad's as she approached the aisle. She looked stunning in the flowy, white dress she'd chosen, with a bouquet of wildflowers I was fairly certain my nieces had picked out hours earlier. As she made her way towards me, I couldn't suppress the grin that had spread from ear to ear. It was ironic, really, how the strangest situations could bring people together.
I was sure our newest arrangement would be the next greatest adventure, and I was relieved to now know there wouldn't be an end in sight. If you'd have told me three years ago I was going to marry my boss, I would have laughed in your face, but now that this was real, I couldn't wait for Dave to pronounce us man and wife, even if he was threatening to steal Hermione away from me with a lap dance. I didn't have the heart to break it to him that she didn't actually enjoy it.
Hermione's father kissed her on the cheek before she walked up to stand at my side, smiling shyly up at me.
"You look beautiful," I whispered in her ear. "Are you sure you want this?"
She rolled her eyes at me, and I couldn't exactly say I was surprised, given how many times I'd asked her that question lately. "Positive," she said firmly.
"Brilliant," I said as I took her hands in mine as the ceremony began.
I wasn't expecting to come out of this trip actually married, but I couldn't be happier that I was.