The guests at Teddy's party held their breath. Tears were forming in Mrs. Weasley's eyes. Harry turned weakly to Ginny, who beamed at Ron and the frozen Hermione. The look of shock plastered on Hermione's face started to worry Ron. Or perhaps it was the ache that had started radiating from his knee, which was rammed into the ground. If I lose balance and fall over…, Ron thought anxiously.

Suddenly, the shock disappeared from Hermione's face and was replaced by a look of pure joy. She still couldn't speak, and instead nodded vigorously. Ron's heart soared. She said yes, he thought, she said YES! Hermione pulled Ron to his feet and kissed him, and everyone began cheering.

This was too much for Mrs. Weasley, who broke into hysterical sobs. She bolted over to her son and his fiancée, and wrenched them apart to give them bone-crushing hugs. Teddy giggled loudly as he watched Ron wheezing for breath while Mrs. Weasley practically squeezed Hermione to death. In the midst of all the cheering and congratulatory handshakes and hugs, George stared impassively at Ron and Hermione.

He had not been fazed by his brother proposing to the girl of his dreams. George would have liked to think he didn't care, that it didn't matter that all of his siblings had moved on from the horrors of the war and were in loving, committed relationships. He would have liked to think that he was even happy for them.

Sighing, George hoisted the fake smile he used while at work to give his blessings to Ron and Hermione. Seeing them so happy and in love was almost too much to bear. He hated being alone. At least if he had no-one to share his life with, he would still have had a best friend in Fred. But that was gone too. The realization, that what he told Ginny was not just something he said in grief, struck him like a bolt of lightning. There was really nothing George had to live for anymore. Absolutely nothing.

With all eyes on Ron and Hermione, George quietly Apparated back to his empty apartment.

"Oh, Ron," Mrs. Weasley sobbed as she hugged her son again. "I'm j-just so h-happy for you, I'll t-take care of all the arrangements…oh, Hermione dear!" Ron rolled his eyes as his mother began crying uncontrollably onto Hermione's shoulder. She was quite taken aback, but kindly embraced her soon-to-be mother-in-law. "And from now on, you'll call me Molly. Fleur does, and Harry, and so does that charming Audrey Percy's gone and married…" Mrs. Weasley continued to babble to Hermione, who had an amused look on her face, but listened sincerely.

Meanwhile, Ron slid away from his mother and searched for Harry, spotting him talking to Kingsley. He had yet to say much to Harry apart from accepting his congratulations. Harry caught his eye as he approached, and excused himself from Kingsley before turning to Ron. Kingsley shook Ron's hand again and left the two. Suddenly, Ron felt slightly awkward, not quite sure what to say.

"Guess you got tired of living in sin, huh?" Harry asked with a grin. Ron rolled his eyes and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Well, I had been in love with her for about five years before I kissed her, so you can't say I'm not consistent," Ron responded, causing Harry to choke on his drink with laughter, before clarifying that Hermione had actually kissed him first.

"Seriously, mate, congratulations," Harry said, as he and Ron clinked their glasses together. "I'm really happy for both of you. And whoever you choose to be your best man…" Ron raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I thought it might be fun to have my mate from work or something…" he trailed off as Harry gave him a pointed look. "Oh, you could do it, Harry, if you wanted to," he said with mock realization.

Soon after, Hermione managed to escape from Mrs. Weasley, and went to join Harry and Ron. As she approached them, she noticed that George had vanished, causing her to frown inwardly. However, she quickly put this out of her mind as Harry hugged her tightly and congratulated her again. He couldn't help but smile as he saw his best friends beam at each other and intertwine their fingers.

"You are sure about this, aren't you, Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly. "You do know you could a lot better than this one." Ron made a big show of pretending to be offended, but before he could make a retort, Hermione sidled closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Probably," she said with a smile, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "But I think I'll keep him anyway."

"I hate you both," Ron said, shaking his head.

"No, you don't," Hermione responded playfully. Ron grinned and kissed her on the top of her head.

"No, I don't."

"Alright, you two. You better run along and get to dinner. I think I can hold off your mother for a bit," he added to Ron, as he and Hermione turned to the door. "Molly! Can you come try this custard of Kreacher's? I think he deviated a little from the recipe…"

Ron and Hermione grinned at each other, glancing back as Harry kept Mrs. Weasley busy. They stepped over the threshold of the house, and Ron slammed the door shut behind him. They both stood there for a second, not really looking at each other. Hermione then took Ron's hand again, squeezing it firm. Ron returned the squeeze and laced his fingers with hers. His other arm went around Hermione's waist, drawing her to him. Hermione released his hand and put her arms around his neck, kissing him softly, as Ron's hands slid up her back. Without initiating it, they began to Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron.

When their feet touched the ground, Ron was thrown off balance and fell to the floor. As his arms were wrapped around Hermione, who had her arms around his neck, she too was pulled to the ground. The customers in the inn began to laugh, as Hermione had landed on top of Ron. They quickly got to their feet, and began to laugh with them. Blushing furiously, they exited the Leaky Cauldron on the Muggle side, away from Diagon Alley.

"How did that happen?" Ron asked, the cold, night air stinging his hot cheeks. The redness on his face began to die down, but his ears were still indistinguishable from his hair. Hermione laughed, explaining something about spontaneous magic Ron didn't quite understand.

"…and so, we must have been thinking about our anniversary dinner. It happens when someone feels really strongly about something." Hermione smiled and slipped an arm around Ron's waist. "Where are we going, anyway?" she asked. Ron wagged his finger at her, refusing to ruin the surprise.

Ron had found out that Hermione's favorite Muggle restaurant in London was a riverside Italian place called Dominique's, and managed to make reservations on their telephone. At long last figuring out how to work the contraption, Ron made the reservations and surprised Hermione with the dinner plans, conveniently forgetting to mention the restaurant name, as they got ready for Teddy's party. He put an arm around Hermione's shoulder, leading her to the restaurant.

They didn't say anything to each other, and simply enjoyed being with each other. As they walked, they passed other riverside restaurants with other young couples having dinner. Hermione gave a sigh and rested her head on his shoulder. Ron's heart was thumping, as he hoped Hermione would still like the restaurant. Her parents had told Ron she had loved it when she was fifteen.

"Alright, close your eyes," Ron said, quickly stepping into her light of sight as Dominique's came into view. Hermione shook her head but obliged him. Excitement coursing through him, Ron took both of her hands in his and led her up the wooden steps to the restaurant. "Stairs," he warned, right before Hermione's nearly stubbed her toe on the bottom step. "Okay, open up." he said, stepping to a side.

Hermione opened her eyes, and smelt the familiar scents which transported her back to her childhood. Not daring to believe it, she looked up and saw the swirling, neon letters that spelt Dominique's in shining yellow. With a shriek of happiness, Hermione threw her arms around Ron's neck.

"You got us reservations here?!" she cried, covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god! Oh my god, I love you so much, Ron!" Ron's heart soared at the delighted look on Hermione's face. "I can't believe you did this! I haven't been here in-"

"Seven years," Ron broke in, opening the door for her. She smiled beautifully at him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Do you have a reservation?" asked the maître d'. Ron nodded, giving the details of the reservation. The maître d' typed in "Weasley" according to Ron's spelling, and frowned at the computer screen. "I can't seem to find your reservation, Mr. Weasley…hold on."

Ron's happiness started to subside. Hermione hadn't heard what the maître d' was saying, as she was gazing around the restaurant, obviously recalling her memories of the place. The maître d' shook his head, apologizing profusely. Ron clenched his fists. Hermione had heard that. Though she tried to hide it, he caught the disappointment on her face.

"What do you mean, you can't find it?" Ron asked angrily. Before the maître d' could answer, he ploughed on. "I called up weeks ago, alright? So, you can't just stand there and tell me that we can't get in because you mucked it up!"

"Ron, it's okay, really," Hermione murmured. Ron took no notice of her. He kept picturing how happy she looked a few seconds ago, and now she wouldn't be able to go to her favorite restaurant because the buggers were too careless to keep track of their reservation.

He continued to rage at the terrified maître d', eventually having the manager called. Hermione kept asking to leave, but Ron would not listen. He refused to relent, and was still furious when the manager guaranteed a complimentary dinner any night of Ron's choosing. Ron's complaints were so loud that the manager eventually forcibly asked him to leave. By this time, Hermione was also annoyed. But with him.

"I told you to just leave it alone, Ron!" she said, irritated. Ron narrowed his eyes at her. She was getting mad at him? He had been the one trying to get into the restaurant, and she had just stood there. For a second, he forgot what they were celebrating in the first place. "God, you really embarrass me sometimes," she said, turning on her heel and walking away.

"Me? What about you?" Ron yelled after her, running to catch up. Hermione turned back to him and glared, her arms folded across her chest. "You with your 'let's go, Ron,' making me look like some kind of idiot!"

"You can do that perfectly well on your own!" she snapped back.

"Oh, so I'm an idiot now?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"For the love of…oh, never mind…" Ron gave up, shaking his head at Hermione. He had tried to do a nice thing for her, and now she was yelling at him? It was their anniversary, for Merlin's sake. Wait, it's our anniversary, Ron realized, suddenly grateful Hermione had not Apparated back home.

"Look, let's forget this, okay? I'm sorry, alright? But it's our anniversary, and we just got engaged! Can't we at least try to have some fun?" Hermione turned her back to him again. "Oh, come on…you know you hate being mad at me," he said teasingly, grabbing her from behind.

"Oh God, Ron, let me go!" she shrieked as Ron lifted her into the air. He somehow managed to rest her on his shoulder. "Ron! Stop it, put me down right now!" She was laughing now, as Ron had started tickling her. "R-Ron! S-stop! People are st-staring!" she gasped between her giggles.

"I don't care," Ron said, refusing to relent. "You did say I embarrass you, right? I suppose if you were to forgive me…"

"Fine, I forgive you! Just put me…" Ron set her back down on her feet in the middle of her sentence. "Down," she finished lamely.

Several onlookers began laughing, and Ron grinned at her. Hermione gave him a hard look for a second, trying to decide if she was still annoyed with him. Something in Ron's smile broke her, though, and they both started laughing. Ron then turned to those watching, and gave an exaggerated bow.

"Sorry for the interruption, folks. Enjoy your evening!" he announced. A few people clapped, before returning to their meals. Ron turned back to Hermione. "Right, so…dinner?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Dominique's isn't the only place we can eat. Give me thirty minutes, alright?" Hermione paused, and looked off into the distance.

"No." she said, finally, her smile turning mischievous. Ron stared at her. Hermione shook her head and repeated herself. "For thirty minutes, you have to do something for me. I let you make both of us look like prats in exchange for forgiving you, so what are you going to do for me?" Ron thought for a minute, and then smiled. "What?" she asked, a little nervously.

Without saying a word, Ron began walking towards the river, and motioned for her to follow him behind a bush. After making sure nobody was watching, Ron performed a Disillusionment Charm on both of them. Hermione gasped, before craning her neck around the bush to check whether the Muggles nearby had noticed anything. Well, no screams of shock, so apparently not, Hermione thought, calming down, but still!

"Ron!" she whispered urgently. "What are you doing?! We can't-" before she could launch into her lecture on the International Statute of Secrecy, Ron pressed her fingers to her lips. He then climbed over the fence surrounding the river, and began descending the stone staircase down to the water's edge, again motioning for her to follow.

Hermione did as he asked, and joined him on the small platform at the bottom of the stairs. He was hunched over the edge of the platform, muttering to himself as he traced something in the air above the water with his wand. Hermione again looked around anxiously. They were about seven feet below street level, but she couldn't help but worry about someone seeing them.

"Ron Weasley, if you get us arrested on our engagement night-" she was once again unable to finish her sentence, as Ron stepped back from the edge of the platform.

Hermione's eyes widened. In the water, the words "I love you…just 30 minutes?" appeared as frothy bubbles. Ron smiled, admiring his work. The bubbles shone green and blue, sparkling in the water. Hermione looked at them with fascination, turning back to Ron with astonishment when the words disappeared.

"I assume that means I get thirty minutes?" Ron asked with a chuckle, having known Hermione well enough to figure that the best thing he could do was impress her with a clever bit of magic. Smiling at him, Hermione gave him a peck on the cheek. Ron gave her a quick hug and asked her to meet him in the little meadow next to their apartment building, before Disapparating.

Hermione Apparated to the meadow and meandered aimlessly, unable to stop smiling, the little spat she had with Ron already forgotten. As she looked up into the night sky, she decided that it was something of a blessing that Dominique's lost Ron's reservation. This was a far better way to spend their anniversary/engagement night.

As the feeling of iron bonds cutting off his circulation lifted, George found himself in his apartment above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Accio beer," he muttered, catching the plastic holder of the six-pack and throwing himself onto the couch in front of the worthless television. Just a stupid pile of metal, plugs, and elektrickery, or whatever Muggles call it, George thought with irritation. He drained the six cans in about an hour, before summoning some Firewhiskey.

It was almost midnight when he was so drunk that he could barely stand up. The pain of Fred's death was numbed. George almost didn't feel upset or angry about it. After all, he barely felt anything at all. He slid down the couch, falling to the ground and spilling his Firewhiskey.

"George? I just wanted to check on you since…GEORGE!" George looked up in the direction of the worried shriek and blinked stupidly. His vision was blurred, but he knew there was something familiar about the brown-haired woman screaming in his apartment…was it his apartment? Did he really live there? George shook his head, and started laughing after the hiccough burst out of him.

"Hey…Hermione, is it?" George said, gobbling up the syllables as he finally remembered her name. "You grook late...no…you look great, yeah…" he laughed weakly as he struggled to get to his feet. As he threatened to collapse onto the floor, Hermione quickly rushed to his side and held him up, struggling under his weight. After finishing dinner with Ron, Hermione had decided to stay up to get some work done while Ron went to bed. She soon recalled George suddenly disappearing during Teddy's party, and decided to check on him.

At that point, George lost the ability to speak in coherent sentences. He began muttering nonsense words as Hermione lifted him to his feet and guided him to his bed. There was a vague noise coming from her. Was she angry with him? George scanned the apartment (his apartment, was it? Didn't really feel like his apartment…) and noted a large pile of empty beer cans and two empty bottles of Firewhiskey, thinking that whoever lived here was a very heavy drinker.

"I don't believe this, George," Hermione said fretfully, allowing her new fiancée's brother to lean his weight completely on her. "Do you know how much your parents and family worry about you? And Harry and me? It's not healthy, what you're doing-"

"You're so great…" George broke in, still slurring his words. "You're just the best." Hermione shook her head, giving up. As they reached George's bed, Hermione was about to lower him onto it when George suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.

Their lips only touched briefly, but Hermione jerked back as if zapped by an electric current. In her shock, her hand instinctively sprang to cover her mouth, and she lost her grip on George, who promptly lost his balance and toppled to the ground. A burst of laughter escaped him. "Uh oh," he giggled. "Ickle Ronnie's gonna be mad…"

This was followed by a burp, which in turn was followed by vomit.

Hermione shrieked, leaping away from her soon-to-be brother-in-law's chunky expulsion. Her embarrassment at the kiss had turned almost immediately to anger as George threw up directly on her shoes. I just bought these! She thought, incensed.

Having just about lost her patience with George, she was about to leave him, strewn on the floor in his own sick, when he reached up and grabbed his bedpost, in a valiant attempt to stand, before failing miserably, collapsing, and passing out entirely. Unable to stop herself from pitying him, Hermione took out her wand and began cleaning up both George and his apartment.

"Up you get, Weasley," she said to a snoring George, as she hoisted him on to his bed and covered him with a blanket. As she turned to leave, his hand instinctively reached out and grabbed hers. Looking back, she saw his face twitching, saw him muttering in his stupor, and was reminded strongly of the nightmares Harry used to get. Her anger and her pity evaporated, and she was filled with a strong feeling of concern and sadness. After giving George's hand a squeeze, she gently peeled it away from her own, before leaning over and brushing a strand of hair out of his face. "Get better, George. Please," she whispered, before standing up and Disapparating back home.