TITLE: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

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BILL AND HERMIONE

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Hermione had fallen asleep in her notes again. Bill Weasley smiled fondly from the doorway as he stared at his girlfriend of one year. She was so serious about her work and it drove him crazy and he loved it at the same time. He was content just watching her for a few minutes. She was on her bed surrounded by parchment and books and an inkpot had spilled over and stained her poor dark pink duvet. She snored quietly and looked so peaceful. She was even holding a quill in one hand and snuggled close to a book like it was a teddy bear.

Bill stepped into the room and sat by Hermione and gently shook her. "Mione…Mione, baby, wake up."

Hermione jerked away. "What? Bill? Oh hi," Hermione said, yawning and sitting up. "Damn it!" she exclaimed, looking at the ink. She summoned her wand and he smiled as he watched her try to take out the stain and shuffled all of her books into a pile and her parchment into a stack, yawning widely every few seconds. He reclined back onto her bed and waited patiently while she cleaned up before sleepily walking back over to lay down next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," Bill said with a smile. "It's something from work and I can't get it open…Something to do with riddles and runes and I know how good you are at them," he confessed. "I can wait until morning, though, I didn't even think of the time."

"No, no, let me at least look at it," Hermione said.

He knew she would say that. He opened the bag he brought with him and pulled out the box. It had no openings anywhere on it. It was just a large blue square that had something in it. It had engravings in runes all around it that made out a very complicated riddle. Hermione furrowed her eyebrow and set to work. It frustrated her and Bill took a small nap while she got into her zone, though he really enjoyed watching her get into things. Eventually she got it all figured out. She had to take a potion that cleansed her system of any poisons or potions and even Muggle drugs like caffeine until she was "pure" and then she took Veritaserum so that she could assure the box that her intentions were pure and that she had no agendas. Then she had to turn the box around at least twenty times in all sorts of confusing directions and then had to run her fingers along the edges, touching it in just the right places before the box finally cracked and the blue shattered revealing another box that looked like a miniature treasure chest.

"Any key will do?" Hermione muttered, rereading the runes to make sure she got it correctly. Bill opened his eyes and smiled when she summoned a key and hesitantly fit it inside, surprised when it fit and twisted and opened for her. Hermione raised an eyebrow when she pulled out a large golden egg with more runes on it.

"There is a very important question you must answer to get our treasure," Hermione read quietly. "Twist to the left?" She twisted it and it opened to reveal a silver egg. "Are you in love? Well, yes, of course," Hermione said with a small blush. Bill's grin grew wider. "Good, twist to the right." She twisted it. Bill grinned even more. "Will you marry the man you love?"

"I…I dunno…I would like to, one day," she said, eyebrows furrowed. "It's a yes or no question, dear? What the bloody…"

"Hermione, will you marry me?" Bill asked, sitting up with a grin.

Hermione blinked up at him. "What?"

Bill laughed. "Will you marry me?"

Hermione looked stunned. "I…Oh!" she said, looking down at the egg in her hands with realization crossing her face. "Oh my God, Bill! Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Bill chuckled and took the egg from her and twisted it to present her with the engagement ring inside of it. It was a white gold band with a modest sparkling diamond. Bill didn't have that much money to buy expensive diamonds, but even if he did this was exactly the one he would have gotten her. Hermione didn't like flashy things and this one suited her perfectly. He took the ring and slid it onto her finger while she grinned, tears in her chocolate brown eyes.

"I love you so much!" Hermione whispered, emotion thick in her voice.

"I love you, too, darling," Bill assured her with a sweet smile. He leaned in and kissed his fiancée's lips lightly. "Do you want to go back to sleep now?"

"I feel like I should say no," Hermione said, giggling. "But I am quite tired."

"That's alright. I'll stay with you," Bill told her. Hermione grinned and together they snuggled under the blankets. Bill smiled when Hermione started snoring only moments later. He imagined Hermione waking up thinking this had all been a dream and he grinned more. He would make it a very pleasant surprise for her that it had truly happened.

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