Chapter 19: Engagements Galore!
Dinner was well underway and Luna was passing around pictures of a winged serpent she'd called a lindwurm. Apparently they were related to Dragons and Charlie was completely fascinated, he seemed to be boring a hole through Luna.
"Who's this?" Charlie suddenly asked sounding upset, he lifted the picture towards the rest of the table and there holding the lindwurm was a handsome man with piercing black eyes and a warm smile.
Luna blushed, "that's Mike."
"Mike?" Fleur asked "and who exaclee is Mike?"
"Well his name is actually Mikhail Lomonosov and he's a teacher." Luna said.
Ginny looked dubiously at Luna elbowed her softly, "come on there's more to it that."
"He teaches Potions in Sviatoslav Shkola Volshaybstava, or at least that's what I think it's called, I think it translates to Sviatoslav School of Magic. He's researching the lindwurm because they are usually used in poisons and following some of Professor Snape's papers," everyone at the table fidgeted and became oddly quiet, Luna didn't seem to notice, "on using poisonous ingredients to create potions with the opposite effect and even simple antidotes for the poisons. He's had some success but it is difficult work."
"I've never heard of such a paper," Hermione said receiving a glare from Ron.
"His theories weren't well received in Britain in fact I don't think most of the academics even knew of them. They're terribly popular in Russia however, specially his papers on the long term effects of potions on the human body, specially the Blood Replenishing Potion."
"What?" Ron asked suddenly, "Did you say he wrote a paper on the effect of the Blood Replenishing Potion on the human body?"
"Yes." She said calmly.
"Do you have a copy?" Ron asked sternly.
"Ginny has" stopped after Ginny elbowed her, "a cauldron."
"That's nice, do you have a copy of Snape's essays?" Ron repeated slowly.
"Yes." She answered with the same serenity.
"Yes!" Ron yelled, "I love you Luna!" He then proceeded to wolf down half his plate in celebration.
"Back to this Mike," Ginny said, "how well do you know him?"
"Enough to know I'm in love with him," Luna replied as if she were commenting on the weather.
Ginny smothered a laugh as she saw Charlie pass on the picture glumly.
"Why that's wonderful dear!" Molly exclaimed. "We must have him and your father over for dinner soon, it is wonderful to hear that some young women can commit." She said and looked pointedly at Ginny who rolled her eyes.
Harry then cleared his throat and Ginny turned toward him thankfully. "As long as we are talking about relationships I wanted to make an announcement."
Everyone at the table turned towards him and knew exactly what to expect.
"On Thursday I finally got up my courage and asked Sally to marry me and she said yes!"
While everyone congratulated the happy couple Ginny's thoughts drifted off to two other engagements that had been important in her life. The first had been Ron and Hermione's engagement which had become for her a sort of ideal to live up to. It had been during Bill and Fleur's wedding and she had marvelled at how Ron, who never said the right thing, had managed to say everything right when it mattered.
Ginny walked out of the room with Harry a little confused and uncomfortable, she wasn't entirely sure they'd done the right thing. She couldn't blame Harry as it had been her idea but now that it was done she couldn't help but shake off the questions that plagued her about the future. They were walking hand in hand in the gardens when they saw Charlie, Fred and George walking purposefully towards them. Harry stiffened up and although she wasn't as worried she wondered if they maybe knew and had come to destroy Harry. Nah, Bill, Percy, and Ron would be with them too. Hell, Ron would have been running not walking. As they walked closer she noticed that her brothers looked concerned not angry.
"Have you guys seen Ron and Hermione?" Charlie asked.
"No, we've been," Harry began but stopped when Ginny elbowed him. "No."
Fred and George looked at them suspiciously but followed Charlie into the twisting hedges and flower bushes that created private "rooms" in the large garden. Harry and Ginny looked at each other before following her brothers and reached them in time to see Ron walk into one of the private areas. The boys rushed forward only to hear Ron say "Hermione, I love you, will you marry me?"
Everyone stopped shocked and quietly advanced with bated breath to hear Hermione answer.
"Oh, I don't know, Ronald, we're so young and times are so dangerous," she said with her typical logic and Ginny heard Fred, George and Charlie sigh with relief.
"Um," They heard Ron hesitate before he declared "our love is enough!"
Fred scoffed softly "that's not going to convince her you prat."
"Yes, Ronald, I will marry you." Hermione declared and stunning them all.
"Well, you've made me the happiest wizard on earth!" Ron squeaked ecstatically and for a long time they heard nothing so they snuck up only to see the two locked in a passionate embrace.
When the kiss ended Hermione smiled and threw her arms around him. "We're engaged!" Her exclamation somehow made them realize exactly what they'd just heard.
"We're too late," Fred said dazed.
"So, do you want to go back inside?" Ron asked. "We could dance. I'm not very good though."
"That's all right; you've got plenty of time to learn." Hermione said authoritatively as they exited the small clearing. "Oh, dear."
"Congratulations!" Charlie said nervously.
"I wasn't serious," Fred said and added nervously, "rather dramatic aren't you Ronald?"
"Yeah, I'm glad your love is enough!" George added shakily.
"That wasn't-" Ron started but Hermione elbowed him leaving him breathless.
"I thought it was very romantic." Ginny said wondering what Ron had been about to say.
"Yes," Hermione said, "he looked so dashing kneeling on the ground." Ginny looked at him sceptically but turned towards Hermione.
"He took my hand and held them tight and he looked straight into my eyes and he said 'Hermione, I love you, will you marry me?'" Hermione continued as they walked away from the boys, Ginny tuned her out as now more than ever she realized how wrong she was to think that sleeping with Harry had been the right thing to do. Ron and Hermione were starting a life together in spite of everything that they knew was happening. Ron wasn't forbidding Hermione from going on the search for the Horcruxes and he wasn't breaking up with her to "protect" her, and Hermione hadn't sleep with him in some desperate attempt to keep him.
Of course two years later she'd convinced herself that what she had done was right. The war had been over for a year and she had just graduated from Hogwarts. The world seemed full of options and opportunities and she was on vacation with Harry.
The waves crashed against the sand loudly and the wind blew recklessly through the palm trees. Ginny pulled her sweater tighter around her and smiled. After a week she still couldn't believe that she was actually in Cancun. The past few days had been amazing; she'd never imagined that life could be this way. After a lifetime of second hand clothing and picking up after herself she found that being waited on hand and foot was liberating. She looked around hoping to see Harry, he'd disappeared earlier in the day without explanation and she was wondering where he was as Hedwig had just delivered a cryptic note from him telling her to meet him on the beach. The sun was getting closer and closer to setting and the darkening sky wouldn't help her find him.
In the distant she saw a flickering light and having no other idea of where to go she followed it to a table sitting in the middle of the beach beautifully set. Nearby she saw a table with trays that she assumed contained that night's dinner. Suddenly one of the chairs moved back and she moved to sit on it. Harry removed his cloak and bowed to her; she couldn't help but smile.
"This is amazing! It's so romantic!" She gushed as he served her some champagne.
"You're worth it," he said simply and suddenly the doubts she'd been having over the past two years melted away. She felt so silly for having imagined the distance between them. Throughout the rest of the meal Ginny felt so grateful that he'd proven her wrong. Starting with her sixth year she'd felt a gulf grow between them as he, Ron, and Hermione left school regularly to go on their searches. She'd excused it as him being preoccupied with much more important things and now she saw that she'd been right. Of course last year he'd been busy with Auror training, how could I have been so self-centred as to think that he should have visited me more often?
"Ginny," Harry said nervously standing up.
"Yeah?" She asked looking up and when he kneeled down in front of her she squeaked "Harry."
He pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it; in front of her was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen and she couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her.
"Ginny, two years ago I promised I'd make you happy and tonight I'll try to achieve it, will you marry me?"
Yes, she thought and opened her mouth, she looked into his eyes; they were determined but were missing the light that used to fill them when he looked at her. She felt a frown crease her forehead and suddenly remembered Ron and Hermione's engagement, "Hermione, I love you, will you marry me?" Ron had sounded so happy, "You've made me the happiest wizard on earth!"
"Do you love me?" She asked suddenly.
Harry looked confused but answered quickly, "Of course!"
He wasn't lying, but she saw the truth, he wasn't in love with her, he was just being noble. She'd lost her virginity to him so he had to marry her it was definitely Harry logic. She found herself shaking her head, "I'm sorry, I can't marry you." All doubt fled her mind when she saw him sigh in relief.
"Why?" He asked her and she almost smiled at his reluctance to give up even though he didn't want to go through with it.
"Because, we've fallen out of love," she said suddenly knowing that it was true. She was so willing to see him drifting away from her that she hadn't seen herself growing away from him.
He lowered his head then smiled apologetically confirming her statement.
"So what are you still doing down there?" She asked. "Come and help me finish this cake." She said gesturing toward the chocolate cake that sat in the middle of the table.
"You don't have to tell me twice," he said getting up, "my knee's killing me!"
Everyone was laughing as she tuned in and she heard Ron say "You think that's bad? You should've seen mine and Hermione's. Yours was positively perfect compared to that disaster."
"What are you talking about? We were there." Ginny said confused. She remembered everything about it.
"For the last bit of it," Ron said.
"Ron, don't." Hermione said across from him.
"Ow, stop bloody kicking me woman," Ron said then laughed, "come on Herms, it's been what seven years?"
"Tell us," Charlie told Ron, "because what I saw was a disgustingly sweet idyllic moment in a garden."
"It was romantic!" Ginny protested.
"See," Hermione said, "let's leave it a romantic." Unfortunately for Hermione she was drowned out by everyone's insistence that the true story be told and so Ron began:
Ron was sitting trying to keep his eyes off of Hermione like he'd been trying to do since the beginning of the Wedding. It wasn't easy; she looked beautiful everyday, but today she looked stunning. She was talking to Gabrielle and some girl from Beuxbastons and he was trying to make up his mind about whether or not he should go and ask her to dance when he heard Fleur yell, "Alls zee zengle woman pleez come up to ze stage."
He watched as girls he hadn't even realized where here moved up to the stage where the band had now stopped playing. Hermione was being dragged forward by Gabrielle, but when the crowd moved forward she stayed behind and stood behind some ancient aunt of Ron's. She felt his eyes on her and she turned to give him an embarrassed smile, he grinned back as Fleur announced something else. It could have happened in slow motion because as Hermione turned back to the crowd the bouquet went flying in her direction. She reacted instinctively and raised her arms to stop it from hitting her and the bouquet landed right in her arms.
Ron knew he'd gone completely red, he could see the moment Hermione realized what had just happened because she too went red. All around the room married couples cheered, the other single women trooped back to their tables glumly and Hermione stood there shocked.
"So, when do you think you'd prefer to have the wedding?" One of the twins said coming up behind him, Ron turned around and saw Fred walking up to him. He looked around the room and saw that his other brothers were also laughing at him. He looked for Hermione to see that she was leaving the hall. Making up his mind he looked at Fred who was waiting for him to react.
"Don't know, she really likes winter." He said standing and walked away from a stunned Fred. He walked out and walked around the garden to find Hermione sitting on a bench staring at the flowers, a few tears falling upon them. He walked up to her and sat beside her, "so, do you want to?"
"Want to what?" Hermione asked looking at him bemusedly.
"You know, get married?" He asked.
"I suppose eventually, I mean every little girl dreams about it."
"I meant t-to m-me."
"Ron!" She yelled and turned her whole body to face him, "are you proposing?"
"I guess," he said feeling a blush spread over his neck and spreading quickly over his face.
"Are you daft?" She asked incredulously. "You don't have to just because I caught the bouquet and we're only seventeen and we're not even dating!"
"What do you mean we're not dating? In the hospital wing…we said…and I thought..."
"Ron, you had a girlfriend at the time." She said frustrated with the whole situation.
"That doesn't ruddy well count and you know it!" He said standing up.
"Well, then, fine! If you want to count from then, then we've barely been dating five months and we're still only seventeen."
"We're both adults legally you know, and we sort of- you know six years is a long time."
"You've gone absolutely mad." Hermione declared standing up and walking away.
"You haven't answered my question." He said standing up and walking towards her.
"You're serious?" She asked stunned.
"Well, yeah."
"I don't know, I mean I thought, eventually, but we're only seventeen!" She stammered.
"You've already said that."
"We're not dating!" She yelled.
"We already covered that."
"Yes!" She yelled.
"What?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes." She said and sat down quickly on the bench, "now I've gone completely mad."
"Wow." Ron said sitting next to her stunned.
"Yeah, we're engaged."
"And Harry thought I'd never have the balls to ask you out, and look we're engaged."
"You didn't ask me out." Hermione said picking up the bouquet from where she'd abandoned it earlier.
"Why were you crying?" He asked suddenly.
"What?"
"When I walked in, you were crying."
"Oh, I was just thinking that with the war and everything we might not get to- well, it doesn't matter anymore does it?"
He put his arm around her pulling her close to him, "no, it doesn't."
"No you don't!" She yelled throwing his arm off of her and getting up, "you've got to do this right. I will not tell people that we got engaged during a row."
"All right," he said standing up, thinking her completely barmy, but wasn't she always, "why don't you sit back down and I'll walk back in and we'll pretend that none of this happened." She nodded and sat down. "Wait, I don't have a ring."
"It doesn't matter, we'll get one later." She said anxiously.
"Right," he said and walked out, a few minutes later he walked in and kneeled in front of Hermione and grabbed her hand, "Hermione, I love you, will you marry me?"
"Oh, I don't know, Ronald, we're so young and times are so dangerous," she said breathlessly.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Just play along." She whispered back.
"Um," he said and remembering something he'd heard when his mother had been listening to some show on the wireless said awkwardly, "our love is enough?"
She looked at him and rolled her eyes, "yes, Ronald, I will marry you."
"Well," he said about to stand up, but she had a strong grip on his hand holding him down shaking her head, "um, you've made me the happiest wizard on earth?" She was still looking at him threateningly, so he decided to hedge his bets and kiss her, that always made her forget he was in trouble.
When the kiss ended she smiled and threw her arms around him. "We're engaged!" He held back a comment that they'd been so for at least fifteen minutes.
"So, do you want to go back inside?" He asked. "We could dance. I'm not very good though."
"That's all right; you've got plenty of time to learn." She said as they turned the corner and saw four astonished redheads and Harry standing there. "Oh, dear."
"Congratulations!" Charlie said nervously.
"I wasn't serious," Fred said and then as if coming out of a dream said, "rather dramatic aren't you Ronald?"
"Yeah, I'm glad your love is enough!" George added.
"That wasn't-" Ron started but Hermione elbowed him leaving him breathless.
"I thought it was very romantic." Ginny said.
"Yes," Hermione said, "he looked so dashing kneeling on the ground." Ginny looked at him sceptically but turned towards Hermione who was now recounting it as they walked back to the hall.
Ron was left with his brothers and Harry who still looked at him with a mixture of pity and confusion.
"You do realize that now you're stuck with her forever?" Charlie asked him.
"Yeah," Ron said completely happy for what seemed like the first time in his life and walked back towards the hall.
This version of the proposal threw Ginny off, everyone there thought that it was much better than the original story but Ginny was suddenly lost. In her mind Ron and Hermione's proposal, marriage and life had been perfect but it wasn't. If her view of their proposal had been so…wrong, what else was she wrong about?
After that it seemed the dinner flew by quickly, suddenly the house was almost empty. Fleur and Bill had left with their boys, Percy and Penny had taken George against his will, he was insisting he be allowed to finish his conversation with his grandfather, about electricity, and Angelina and Fred whisked off the twins hoping they didn't awaken. Molly was currently in the living room listening to her show on the wireless while Harry, Sally and Luna were outside putting away the tables and chairs and Hermione was sitting at the table reading Alchemist, a magazine that featured the latest wizard discoveries.
Ron and Ginny were washing the dishes, "Ron, why didn't you tell on me?" Ginny asked, levitating another plate unto the sink.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked sending a pile of forks that had just been washed into their drawer.
"About Draco," she said noticing him wince at the name.
"Hermione fed me this line about it being your life and your choice," he said dismissively, "and I figured that if it mattered you'd tell the family about it. Merlin, knowing you, you'd have brought him over to the house with out warning!" He said laughing.
Ginny was shocked by his assessment and felt her heart ache from its accuracy.
A/N: Sunday, May 15, 2004. Mikhail Lomonosov was an actual historical figure he was a peasant who lived in the north of Russia was so intelligent that he became the greatest scientist in Russia. He worked in physics, chemistry, math, literature and many other areas. The Russian is phonetically correct although that's not how the words are spelled. I do not know Russian in fact that was my first time coming anywhere near the language, thank the gods for the internet.