disclaimer. i don't own harry potter!
It's 3 weeks before the ball and before the trio knew it, it was the night before the ball. The guys were in their dorms and the girls in their's.
"Come on Ron, tell me what you bought. Tell me what you're going to do at the ball." Harry whined.
"No, I'm not telling you. You'll have to wait until tomorrow at the ball." Ron explained.
"Maybe he's going to tell Hermione, he loves her." Dean suggested.
"No he's already done that. And even if he was going to do that, what does it have to do with what's in the bag he brought back from Hogsmeade?" Harry asked losing patience.
"True," Dean stated,"unless he bought something like a bracelet or something for her."
"Yes, but he got a bracelet for Hermione for Christmas." Harry explained.
"Yes, unless there is nothing in the other bag and he's just trying to drive you nuts."
"Too late for that Dean." Ron said laughing. "And if it hasn't happened yet, it's a very short drive."
"Ron is there something in the bag?" Harry asked.
"Yep." Ron said.
"Damn it." Harry said. Then he ran over adn jumped on the bag and tried to grab it, but as soon as he got near it, he flug backwards onto his bed.
"Sorry, mate, but I put a repelling charm on it." Ron explained.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Harry asked himself.
"Because you're going nuts. Remember?"
"No."
The next morning Ron got out of bed to find Harry already gone. He looked at the bag and looked in it and said, "Good." to no-one in particular. He got dressed and went down to breakfast to find Harry, Ginny, and Hermione already there. He sat down next to Hermione and started to pile food onto his plate.
"I love you, Ron. Happy Christmas." Hermione said.
"Oh my god," Ron said dropping his toast,"today's Christmas."
"Yea."
"I was so busy trying to figure where Harry went I didn't notice," Ron said picking back up his toast,"I'll go back up once I'm done and open my presents. What did you guys get?"
"Well, I got," Harry started,"a book on "Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them' and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and some Chocolate Fogs fom Ginny, Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and Droobles Best Blowing gum from you and a Weasley sweater from your mum." He pointed to the green sweater he was wearing.
"I got," Ginny said, "This necklace from Harry" She pointed to the necklace she was wearing,"some Muggle candy called 'Hot Tamales' from hermione and some chocolate frogs from you and a weasley sweater from mum."She pointed at the red sweater hand knitted by Mrs. Weasley that she was wearing.
"I got some Chocolate Frogs from Harry and Ginny, a Weasley sweater from your mum," she pointed to her yellow sweater,"some sugar free candy and a picture of my mum and dad and a new baby they just had from mum and dad and as I recall nothing from you."
"Don't worry, I'll give it to you when we go upstairs for me to open my presents. I wanted to give it to you personally."
"How sweet."
"What is the baby's name and is it a boy or a girl?"
"It's a girl and her name is Ginevra Granger, or if you would like to shorten it, Ginny. I asked my parents to name her after my best friend since they didn't have a name."
"That's cool. Let's go upstairs so I can open my presents and give hermione hers." Ron said after they were all done eating.
"ok." they all said together.
They walked up to the boys dorms and Ron opened up one present after another. He got a box of chocolate frogs from Ginny, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Harry, some chocolate frogs and an orange velvet covered cudley cannons book from hermione and of course-
"Not another maroon Weasley sweater. she knows I hate maroon, but yet she still makes me one every year." Ron half screamed in the dorms.
"Ron, calm down." Hermione said.
"Oh yea, Hermione, here's your present," He pulled a red box out of his back pocket,"Here you go."
She opened it up to find a bracelet with 'I LOVE YOU" going all the way aroun it and Ron's signature engraved on the inside. She gasped with her mouth wide open and then ran over to Ron and flung her arms around him nearly knocking him over and choked,
"Ron, I love it. It's so beautiful. And I love you, too!" She said in tears.
"I love you, too. You'll get the rest of your present at the ball tonight."
"You mean there's more?"
"Yep."
"But Ron, this is enough."
"Not for you, it's not. You're the the woman I love and I want you to have more!"
"ok." She said wrapped her arms around him.
Later that night
"Are you ready yet mate, the girls are going to meet us in the common room," Ron yelled from outside the door.
"Almost," Harry yelled back.
Ron was wearing red dress robes, without lace (halleljuah) and black shiny shoes and feeling a little lump in his pocket. Harry walked out of the room wearing blue dress robes and also black shiny shoes. You could also tell that he tried to do something with his hair because he looked like Alfalfa.
"How do I look." he asked.
"The truth, mate, is that you look like Alfalfa."
Harry ran his fingers through his a couple times, shook his head a couple and his hair was back to normal.
"ok lets go meet the girls." harry said.
"ok."
They walked down to the common room and saw the girls waiting by the portrait hole. Ron's mouth dropped open, but quickly realized this and closed it again. He walked up to Hermione and hugged her and whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful." And Ron wasn't lying. She had that beautiful red and gold dress on that she had bought, but no make up as she didn't believe in such a thing, and her hair was sleek and shiny and Harry wondered how may bottles of Sleek Easy's potion she had used to get it like that.
Harry saw Ginny automatically. he ran over to her, lifted her off the ground and spun her around in circles. Once he put her down he hugged her and also whispered, "You look beautiful." She was wearing that green dress she bought and it really did bring out the green in Harry's eyes. As like hermione she wasn't wearing make up as she didn't believe in it either. Her hair was also sleeked back and shiny but naturally. It was in a bun on the top of her head.
"May I?" The guys asked holding out their arms.
The girls looked at one another and said together, "Why certainly." and took the guys arms and they walked off to the Great Hall together arm in arm.
Once they reached to Great Hall everyone stopped what they were doing, including the teachers and stared at Hermione. Professor McGonnagal scurried over to Hermione pushing a couple kids out of the way on her way there, grabbed Hermione and pulled her over to the corner and ordered everyone to continue dancing and then started talking to Hermione once everyone started dancing again.
"You look great Miss Granger, what did you do with your hair?" Professor McGonnagal asked.
"Sleek Easy's Potion." hermione replied.
"How many bottles did you use this year."
"Only half of one this year." she replied.
"Well anyway, you look lovely, just lovely darling. I'm gonna let you get back to your date."
"ok, thanks."
"What did she want 'Mione?" Ron asked once she walked over to him.
"She told me I looked beautiful-"
"And she wasn't lying." Ron said giving hermione one of his lopsided grins.
"Ron- . . . , and she asked how many bottles of sleek easy's potion I used."
"And what did you tell her?"
"Only half a bottle this year."
"Improving.Improving. Wanna dance?"
"Absolutely."
They walked onto the dance floor and started to dance to the slow song that just came on.
"Are Harry and Ginny dancing?" Hermione asked scanning the crowd.
"No, they're outside snogging. He told me so before he left." Ron answered.
"oh."
"Hermione, can I ask you something very important? You have to think it over very good. Even you, the smartest witch of you age can't just blurt out the answer without thinking it through." He asked with a smile on his face.
"Ok." she said sounding kind of nervous.
"Hermione Jane Granger, I love you with all of my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Ron said sweetly.
He then got down on one knee, his right knee to be presice, and reached into his pocket and took out a red hinged, velvet covered box and said while opening the box, "Hermione Jane Granger, I love you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" She blurted out with tears in her eyes.
"I told you no to blurt and to think it through." He said with a small laugh and a large smile.
"I have thought it over, since the first time you told me you loved me. And I love you, too." She said crying. (a very emotional girl now isn't she?)
"here's your ring." He said putting the ring on her left ring finger.
"I love you," She said flinging her arms around him,"Let's get married on the most romantic day of the year. Valentines Day."
"Ok. Hey Hermione, I have another question for you."
"Yea."
"Do you know why people put their wedding and engagement rings on their left ring fingers?"
"No. Why? Do you?"
"Yep."
"Well."
"Because it's said that the left ring finger is the only finger that has a vein that leads straight to the heart."
"I didn't know that."
"One question that Hermione Granger doesn't know."
She playfully slapped him on the arm.
"I love you. Let's go find Harry and Ginny. He's been wondering since Hogsmeade what I was going to do tonight."
"Ok."
They left and found Harry and Ginny outside snogging on a bench.
"Hey love birds." Ron said and they broke apart.
"Harry do you want to know what was in the bag?" Hermione said sticking her left hand under his nose.
"A ring! A RING! You kept a ring from me,"Harry nearly screamed, looking at Ron.
"Not just a ring. Look at the finger it's on." hermione said.
"An engagement ring." Ginny said seeming awestruck.
"Yep."
Ginny jumped up and hugged her best friend.
"Let's go inside and dance." Hermione suggested.
"ok."they all said together.
Ron and Hermione walked hand in hand back into the Great Hall as did Harry and Ginny. As they were dancing to yet another slow song the professor's seemed to figure out that hermione and Ron were engaged by the glinting of teh ring in the darkness.
"Look at that ring Minerva." Dumbledore said.
"I know, I know." Minerva McGonnagal said in awe.
The couples danced all night (Harry and Ginny were actually not snogging for once). Then Dumbledore got up and made and announcement.
"I would like to say that this party was a hit unlike the Yule Ball a couple years ago and that, sorry to say, that it is after midnight so I would like everyone to go to bed. Thank you."
The trio and Ginny walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower hand in hand. Because the twins were gone it was up to Ron and Ginny to keep up the party tradition after balls. First everyone went up to change and then Harry and Ron snuck into Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks and came back with lots of snackfoods and candy and butterbeer and firewhiskey. Once they were all back into the common room Ron jumped onto a chair and started to speak.
"Ok, since Fred, George, and Lee are gone, it is up to me, Ginny, Harry, and sometimes Hermione to continue the tradition of parties after balls. Ok now, before this party gets started, I would like to say something," Ron motioned for Hermione to come up mext to him and he put his arm around her, "At the ball tonight I asked Hermione to marry me and she said, 'yes!' "He was looking into her eyes the whole time.
"Awww . . . "said the whole common room.
"Well, kiss her already." Harry screamed.
They turned to look at each other and looked deeply into each others eyes and he kissed her. A couple seconds later they broke apart and the whole crowd started clapping.
"So." Said Professor McGonnagal who appeared from behind a table.
"Oh, hi Professor." Said Hermione afraid she might get expelled in front of a teacher, but then remembered Madam Pince and Harry and Ginny.
"Hello, us Professors guessed you guys were getting married by the glinting of the ring in the darkness, but we weren't positive."
"Ok." Hermione tried to hide the nervousness in her voice, but failed terribly.
"Congratulations!" McGonnagal said running over to them and hugging both of them.
"Thanks, Professor." The couple said together.
Just then an owl flew through the window. It was Hermione's parents owl. Hermione went to get the letter. Once she got it off the owl's leg it flew away. She opened it up and everyone's eyes were on her. They could see tears gather in her eyes, her hand cover her mouth, and then she dropped the letter and then ran out of the room. Ron picked it up and read:
Dear Hermione,
I am sorry to say that Death Eaters came to our house and killed your mom. I tried to save her, but she told me she had no chance and not to put the baby in danger. The house is destroyed, but the Weasley's found out about it and said that they would let us stay at their house until we get a new house. The baby and I are fine.
Love,
Dad
p.s. Your moms funeral will be held on December 27th at 2:00pm. Hope you're well.
"Oh my god." Ron gasped.
He handed the letter to Harry and Ginny and ran out of the room to find Hermione. Harry and Ginny read the letter with McGonnagal reading over their shoulders. Ginny started to cry, McGonnagal covered her mouth with her hand, eyes big as galleons, and Harry just kept a straight face with fear evident in his eyes and ran out of the room with Ginny and Professor McGonnagal behind him.
Ron found Hermione sitting by the lake with her arms around her legs crying her eyes out. He ran over to her as fast as he could and sat down next to her and put his arms around her and rocked her back and forth saying "Shh . . . It'll be Ok." She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Ron saw Harry, Ginny, and McGonnagal coming out of the entrance hall and waved them back into the school.
"C'mon 'Mione, lets go back up to the common room and you can talk to me there, ok, I'll get the party to stop."
"Ok." Hermione sobbed.