One Year Later
"God you're beautiful." Harry's arms wrapped around her where she stood looking down at millions of lights.
Harry had spent the entire weekend spoiling her. Breakfast in bed, lunch on the Seine, candlelight dinners. There were trips to the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame, and some of the grandest opera houses in the world. There were kisses in the sun and long walks under the moonlight. And everything was leading up to this, their anniversary and last night in the City of Love and Lights.
They currently stood on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower, the lights of Paris sprawling at their feet. They had just finished a wonderful meal at an exclusive wizarding restaurant. He had even taken her shopping, buying her a new outfit just for this occasion. Hermione tried to object only to be silenced by kisses and his desire to spoil her simply because he wanted to and he loved her. She eventually gave in and went dress shopping while he worked out last minute details of the night. At the end of the day, she picked a dark purple strapless dress. It fell just past her knees, a layer sheer material in the same purple and two of black under the solid top layer of satin. A wide belt of the deep purple wrapped her waist and fell into a bow at the small of her back. She felt so loved when his hands slid around her and thought nothing could be better than this.
Kisses peppered her neck, punctuating the words he praised her with. "Brilliant." Kiss. "Incredible." Kiss. "Caring." Kiss. "Loving." Kiss. "Amazing." She sighed as he kissed her again. "Is something wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, no." She smiled and snuggled deeper into his arms. "Everything is perfect."
He smiled against her skin, saying, "Not quite," as he pulled away.
"Harry?" She turned to him.
On his lips was the special smile reserved just for her. He took her hands in his. "I love you, more than anything, you know that. Do you remember what I said a year ago?"
"Which part? You said many things that night."
"The part where I said I'd prove to you that I love you as many times as you needed."
She smiled softly. "And you've done very well. I've never felt so loved in my life."
"What about the part where I said my heart belonged to you and it always would?"
"I've never doubted you."
"Will you let me prove it to the world?"
Her brows furrowed. "What?" Brown eyes widened as he held onto her left hand and knelt on one knee.
"Will you let me prove to the world that my heart is forever yours? Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?" In his right hand appeared a simple gold band with an oval emerald sparkling in the city lights.
Tears prickled in her eyes, tears of happiness. "Yes, Harry James Potter, I will marry you. We'll prove it to the world, together."
"Together," he agreed as he stood and slid the ring in place. "Together where we belong always." They sealed the promise with a kiss.