The next day, Ron and Hermione went to the Burrow for Sunday lunch. Much to Molly's disapproval, Arthur inquired almost continuously about Hermione's parents, particularly the various Muggle appliances they had in their house. Hermione was in a very good mood after the previous night, so answered all his questions patiently. Still, she could not help but notice that Ron kept catching Harry's eye and grinning. Her suspicions were even more aroused when she noticed Ginny frequently glancing at her and Ron. Something strange was going on. However, no one else seemed to notice, or to be acting strangely. Eventually, Hermione caught Ginny's eye, and received an excited grin from the young redhead.

"What?" mouthed Hermione across the table, but Ginny only giggled quietly and winked at her.

The food was, of course, delicious. Molly was the best cook that Hermione knew, and she had been pleasurably surprised over the last year or so to discover that Ron had inherited some of his mother's talent. Not that he cooked very often; whilst Ron might have been quite good at cooking, he did not enjoy it much. However, despite Molly's excellent cooking, Hermione could not stop herself from dwelling upon what it was that Harry, Ginny, and Ron were hiding.

After everyone had finished eating, Molly levitated the dishes through to the kitchen with her wand. Everyone eventually moved through to the living room, sitting down on the various chairs and sofas. Hermione sat down on a sofa and waited for Ron to join her, but Ron left the room, muttering something that sounded like, "Back in a minute."

Hermione thought he had gone to the bathroom until she saw Harry and Ginny, who were both grinning broadly at her.

When everyone had finally sat down, Molly looked around and asked, in slight surprise, "Where's Ron?"

"He said he'd be back in a-"

Hermione never finished the sentence, for at that moment Ron came back into the room, his eyes fixed on her. She stared straight back at him as he cleared his throat. The whole room went quiet and he walked slowly towards her. Hermione's eyes seemed drawn to his hand, which was sweating profusely. He was clutching something small in it. Ron walked up to where she was sitting and stared at her for a moment. Then, he started talking, the whole room hanging on his every word.

"Hermione Granger," he said, his eyes locked on hers.

As she stared straight back into his eyes, something struck her. The force of her realisation was so powerful that Hermione was sure if she had not been sitting down, she would have been blown off her feet. It explained perfectly Harry and Ginny's peculiar behaviour, and the object clutched in his hand.

No, she thought, no, surely not...

"Hermione," continued Ron. "I told you once that you were the most wonderful person I've ever met. You still are."

She felt her heart pummelling her ribcage. Oh my God... She glanced around the room; even George was completely dumbstruck.

"You mean everything to me. There is nothing without you."

Hermione looked back into Ron's eyes and saw nothing but truth and love in them. She was speechless. She could hear Molly crying quietly into a handkerchief, but everyone else remained silent with his or her eyes fixed on Ron. Ron finally descended to one knee in front of her, and Hermione gasped. She could hardly believe that this was happening, especially not in front of his whole family. She thought it was the bravest thing Ron had ever done.

"I love you. I need you," he said, looking up at her from where he was kneeling. "I'm asking you to give me the chance I've always dreamed of, the chance to let you know exactly how special you are to me. And, if you let me, I intend to do just that."

There was a pause, and Ron held out the object held in his hand. It was a velvet box. He opened it, and Hermione gasped again. Sitting in the box was the most beautiful ring she could ever have imagined. The sapphire set into the centre was precisely her favourite shade of blue and it shone brilliantly along with the small diamonds encrusted around it. Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked at it.

"Hermione," Ron said after a moment's pause. "Will you marry me, Hermione Granger?"

She slowly stood up, looking through her watery eyes into Ron's blue ones. She noticed suddenly how perfectly they matched the ring.

"Yes!" she said, very huskily as Ron beamed up at her.

"YES!" she shouted delightedly, so loudly that Ron fell over.

And then everyone was laughing, and crying and cheering. Hermione helped Ron to his feet with trembling hands, and he gently slipped the ring on to her finger. They shared a kiss that was more passionate than any they had ever shared before. Every ounce of love the young couple had for each other was conveyed in one kiss, and it was a kiss that could have lasted years. They would not have cared. They could simply have stood there forever, but eventually they had to break apart to breathe. He beamed down at her and kissed the top of her head, and then held her close.

"Perfect," Ron whispered. "You're perfect,"

The following day, Ron and Hermione visited Hermione's parents to tell them the good news. They were simply ecstatic. It was obvious to them that it did not matter if Hermione was a witch or Ron a wizard; the true magic existed deeply within everyone's hearts.

"Of course," said Hermione, "we'll have to have a ceremony in a Muggle registry office, make it legal and everything."

"Registry office?" said Ron, confusedly.

He had never heard of such a place. Hermione's parents found this highly amusing; her mother, who had just been handing him a cup of tea, nearly spilt it over him. Apologising, but still chuckling, she returned to the sofa to sit next to her husband.

"Well, we need to make it legal in the Muggle world too, Ron, considering I'm Muggle born," said Hermione, matter-of-factly.

"I'm not disputing that, but what's a registry office?" asked Ron, causing Hermione to giggle.

"It's just a place where they keep records of people's names in the Muggle world, Ron," she answered. "We just need to sign a few forms so we can prove that we're legally married."

Ron refrained, with difficulty, from rolling his eyes. Bloody paperwork!

-End-

Thanks once again to my beta Chris, and to you for reading!