Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) Term 12
Challenges listed below
Word Count – 1802
"Ron! Are you even listening to me?" Harry tossed a crumpled ball of paper on Ron's head.
"Aye, mate. I'm listening to you. I'm just not paying attention."
"Oh, for crying out loud." Harry threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "This is what I get for dating my best friend's sister."
"Look, mate, I love you. I do. I'm just not the best at those things, alright? You know Ginny better than I do and I have this insane report to finish," he said looking up from the stack of paper in front of him and dipped his quill in ink.
Harry shot him a dirty look and plopped down on the couch, resting his head on Ron's thigh. "Fine," he said begrudgingly. "But you're going to be petting me while I think, because I'm in need of attention today."
Ron laughed. Harry had been having these moments lately where he would demand cuddles from just anybody that was around. It all started when, after a lot of talking, he had finally realized that he didn't need to be ashamed or afraid of asking for a little bit of affection, and he decided that he was going to make up for all the lost time. Hermione would always run her fingers through his hair, Ron would tap his fingers lightly over his forehead and rub his shoulder, and Ginny – well, Ron really didn't want to know what Ginny did in those situations.
"You know, I think I know who can help you with this," Ron said after a while. Harry looked up at him. "Ginny and George have always been quite close. He may have some ideas."
The pair of them left the Aurors Office in the Ministry as soon as Ron sealed his report on their latest raid and archived it. Harry had finished his report the previous night, having woken up from another one of his nightmares. It was pretty late for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to be open, but too early for George to have already gone home. He always did inventory of Tuesdays, because it was Angelina's day off and she would help out.
Ron had a key–since he also helped out when he could, like opening or closing the store on weekends so George could have some moments alone with his wife– and only announced his presence once inside the shop with a loud "GEORGE!"
"Oh, hey, there!" George popped up from behind a shelf. "Came to help?"
"Not tonight, no," Ron replied, while Harry waved the older Weasley hello. "We need help with a proposal."
"Did I hear you right?"
"Yeah, you did. Harry–"
"Don't say anymore, little brother," George interrupted. "I have just the thing. Hermione will love it!"
"WHAT? No! It's not me! It's Harry!" The boy's eyes went as big as a house elf's. He thought about marrying Hermione, no question about that. Just not at the moment.
"Harry, huh? So, my little sister is getting married?"
"That's the plan, yes." Harry smiled timidly.
"Oh, congratulations!" Angelina climbed down the huge wooden ladder she was up to count the products from a top shelf nearby. "Hi, Harry. Hi, Ron."
"Hi, Ange." They replied at the same time.
"So, you came here for advice? I'm afraid I'll have to charge you for it."
"Always the business man, I see." Harry laughed and handed George a galleon.
"Okay, Harry. Do you have any ideas you want to explore?" asked George, ushering them to the Romance section of the store. "Any of our products that you have in mind?"
"Well, all I want is for it to be special, you know? Something she'll always remember. I asked Ron for help, but he said he didn't know what Ginny liked." Harry glared at Ron.
George took a minute to think. He looked over at his wife with a knowing look in his eyes and she nodded. Her husband really was the perfect person to ask about it, because when George had proposed to her, Ginny was the one who helped him with it. She gave him the idea of doing it during a Quidditch match and he had masterminded a whole plan around it.
"What about Wildfire Whiz-bangs?"
"The profane Fireworks?" Harry raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Harry, what do you take me for?" George rolled his eyes at him, while Angelina laughed loudly at her husband's side. "We have the Couples Line. They're not going to offend her. They will explode in a 'Will you marry me?' formation."
Harry looked at Ron a little lost. He wasn't exactly comfortable with things taking shapes in the sky. It triggered him, no matter what it looked like. Ron shared the same sentiment.
"No sky things, George. Please. I don't think we've recovered from that enough," said Ron.
"All right. How about shaped on the floor, then?"
"Now you're just being lazy," intervened Angelina. When they got engaged, George had enchanted the Quaffles, so that every time she scored a goal the red orb would plow to the floor and dent it in a certain formation. By the end of the match, the dents spelled out "Will you be by my side forever?" and she hadn't known whether to cry or answer him. "You're ripping off your own proposal."
"You're a tough crowd," he complained. "Okay. So maybe you'll want to take her out to dinner at a very fancy restaurant, and then tell her you want to finish the night with drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. You can hit up Hannah and Neville and have them set the whole place up with flowers and hearts and pink decoration."
Ron looked horrified. Flowers? Pink? Hearts? Were they thinking about the same Ginny at all? He started to think that it was probably not the best idea to involve George in all of this, and, looking at Harry, he could see that his best friend had the exact same thoughts.
"I'm not sure if she'll buy that I want to end our night at the Cauldron," Harry spoke up.
"Ugh, fine," George grunted. "What if you take her to Hogwarts under the pretense that you want to see Minnie and Neville, and we get Neville to organize the Frog Choir to sing a love song by Celestina Warbeck and then you can propose."
Harry was absolutely mortified at the thought of going through with that. He couldn't imagine doing that in front of so many people. It was supposed to be their special moment. And that's when it hit him.
"I have to go," he announced, already getting up.
"Already? But we haven't even decided on what you're going to do yet. Are you going with the Choir idea?" George asked.
"Hm, not exactly. But thanks anyway. I'll figure something out." Harry got up and started moving towards the door. "Bye, Ron. Bye, George. Bye, Ange. Have a good night and thanks for all the help."
George hugged his wife with a mischievous glint in his eyes. She smiled knowingly and Ron just looked at them confused.
The following weeks passed in a blur. Harry was extremely nervous all the time and Ginny was getting suspicious. He would always downplay it by saying that he was thinking about what to cook for her family when they came over the house for dinner on Sunday or how frustrated he was that he couldn't get Walburga's portrait down or just shut up for once.
Harry had invited all the Weasleys over to Grimmauld Place under the pretense that they always had dinner at the Burrow, but now it was time for him to cook something for them. The only people who knew the truth were Ron, Hermione, George and Angelina.
Harry got up pretty early on Sunday to pick up the ring from the shop and the ingredients for dinner. Cooking had always calmed his nerves, but this time it did nothing to sooth him. He started preparing the meal, cleaning the place and setting the table up, and by the time it was done, he had 20 minutes to get ready. He had asked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to arrive earlier than the others, so he could ask them for permission. Permission that they granted through tears, hugs and smiles.
Harry was shaking like a maniac throughout the whole meal, dropping his fork once and nearly splashing wine on the table cloth-which surely would prompt an hour-long rant from Walburga Black, no question. Ron had pink ears from holding his laughter all evening long, Hermione had rolled her eyes so many times she had lost count, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had the biggest smile on their faces, and George and Angelina were just having the time of their lives watching everything unfolding. Bill and Fleur hadn't been able to Apparate due to Fleur's pregnancy, Charlie was off in Romania and Percy had a trial to sit through. Harry had invited all of them, but was going to settle for an announcement via owl.
Harry had almost died twice, fought countless Death Eaters, enemies and even the Dark Lord himself, but nothing felt as life changing as that moment right there. When he finally got down on one knee, holding out the ring in the prettiest little box, Ginny was ready to riot and make him tell her what was wrong with him. She was shocked. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. For a whole minute, she didn't speak at all.
"YES," she shouted, jumping into his arms, not really caring about the ring.
The room burst into applause and cheers.
While the newly-engaged couple were congratulated by the others, Ron and George watched with tears in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces.
"You knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you?"
"Of course, I did," said George smirking. That was the thing with George and Ginny. They didn't want people to do things for them, they just wanted to be nudged in the right direction, and the only people who really understood that was the other. "Ginny likes Harry especially for his simplicity. All we needed to do was make him uncomfortable enough to give up on the grand gesture idea."
"That was fast thinking, even for you."
"What can I say? I run a joke shop, Ron. It keeps me on my toes."
Ron nodded and looked ahead thoughtfully.
"Hm, hey, George," Ron started in a low voice, a little embarrassed. "Would you help me plan mine too?"
George smiled widely, reaching sideways and throwing his arm over his little brother's shoulder. He pulled Ron closer and ruffled his hair. "Of course. And I have just the perfect idea for it. But, if you'll excuse me, I have a galleon to give back."
Hogwarts: Assignment #10
Perfumery - Task #1 – Write about someone making a romantic gesture.
Insane House Challenge: #221 - Dialogue – I'm listening to you. I'm just not paying attention.
Writing Club May
Showtime -#6. The Lonely Goatherd - (characters) Weasley Family
Scamander's Case - #15. (emotion) unimpressed
Film Festival - #14. (word) home
Spring Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year: March 22nd - National Goof Off Day. Write about someone refusing to take something seriously.
Geek Pride
59. Supernatural – Write about someone who is fast at something.
May Fortnightly Challenges
Choose a Side - Jedi.#5. (character) Harry Potter
International Workers Day – Karl Marx [Era] Golden Trio Era / Shopkeeper [Character] Fred and/or George Weasley
Gobstones Club
Copper Stone – Happiness
Accuracy – (genre) friendship
Power – (object) Galleon
Technique - (object) engagement ring