Harry continued to lay there in his bed for minutes, but minutes felt like an eternity. Harry looked at his wristwatch. It appeared to be 6:30 in the evening. Hermione should be at dinner by now, he thought to himself. He sat up in bed, swung his feet off the edge of the bed, reluctantly placed his glasses back on his face, and started to make his way downstairs to the Great Hall. He had relished the thought of telling Ron about his dream, but decided against it. Now was definitely not the right time.

Harry met up with Ron, Ginny, and Neville on the main staircase around the second floor corridor. They too were on their way to dinner. 'You alright, Harry?' said Ginny with a smile, gently patting him on the back, 'Are you still shook up about Hermione – she's doing a bit better you know. I saw her after lunch and she looked pretty good…' said the youngest Weasley.

'That's…that's good Ginny, ' said Harry, not looking at Ginny. For Harry was still a bit shaken from the dream he had prior to dinner. As Ginny and Neville walked in front of Harry, continuing their conversation regarding the purpose of muggle paperweights, Ron fell into step and walked along with Harry. 'You know I didn't tell them yet…' he said in a hushed tone, pointing to Ginny and Neville who were chatting away in front of them. 'I didn't tell anyone…about…about the baby,' whispered Ron. And for this, Harry was grateful. Today had brought about enough excitement already and he didn't think he could tolerate any more unfortunate and unplanned drama.

He made his way to supper with Ron by his side, and walked through the giant doors of the Great Hall. The fireplaces on either side of the hall were blazing, and as Harry glanced up at the head table, he noticed that most of the teachers had left the head table already. Harry scanned the crowd, and immediately saw the soft brown waves that belonged to the back head of Hermione Granger. As if on cue, she turned around from where she was seated, locked eyes with Harry, and an unmistakable grin spread across her lips. She motioned for Harry to sit next to her, and he obliged. Ron followed suit, and both boys placed themselves on either side of Hermione, and immersed themselves in good conversation. Harry looked at Hermione: Ginny was right. She looked great. She looked like she was…glowing. At this, Harry placed his dream at the back of his mind and vowed to focus on the here and now, at least for the moment. He would focus on what he saw right in front of him. And what he saw, was beautiful.

After a hearty meal complete with blueberry pie for dessert, the three made their way to leave the Great Hall, along with Neville and Ginny, when Harry grabbed onto Hermione's arm for just a brief moment.

'Hermione…' Harry said, 'would you mind meeting me in the courtyard in a few moments?…I…well…maybe it would be good for you to…to get some fresh air, you know? I mean, you look great and all, but...well, maybe some air would do you good…' he said to her.

Ron, always noting the blatantly obvious, stated with an odd look on his face, 'Harry…are you nuts? It's 50 below out there…do you want her to freeze to death-' and before Ron could continue, Ginny had swiftly kicked Ron in the shin, and with a sweet smile, apologized for Ron's lack of tact, gave Harry a wink, and left the Great Hall, locking arms with Neville and Ron. You see, Ron had forgotten about this evening's planned events.

But Ginny hadn't.

…For Ginny knew that Harry had a plan. And she had known for weeks.

Hermione looked somewhat confused at her friends leaving the hall, and turned to Harry, 'Erm… ok,Harry…sure!' she said with a smile, and a bit of excitement. ' I…I think some fresh air would be lovely, I…I just need to grab my coat from upstairs, and I'll be down in a few minutes,' she said to him, eyes lit up at the prospect of spending some quality time with the boy she had grown to love.

Love.

Now this, was at the center of it all.

Harry and Hermione had not "officially" begun their relationship until that school year. That previous summer, they had grown quite close, but had not begun deepening their relationship until this very year. Over the past few months, Harry had decided that he wanted Hermione. Forever. He didn't want her in the possessive sense, no. Rather, he believed that she complimented him. He wanted to wake up to her bushy hair and inquisitive thoughts each and every morning. He loved the way she looked, the way she smiled, the way she looked at him with…well…love.

Harry first went to Ginny. After all, Ginny was Hermione's best girl friend. Harry loved Ginny as a friend, and likewise she respected their platonic relationship. One sun-filled moring, a few months ago, he had asked her what she thought about asking Hermione to be his wife. She immediately squealed, knocked him over in the library with an enormous hug, and likewise earned a deduction of 10 house points from Madame Pince for disturbing the peace. He took this as her blessing.

He went to Ron next. He knew in his heart that this would be somewhat tough for Ron, because Ron loved Hermione. Well, he loved her as a friend, that is. For Hermione and Ron had a huge…shall we say, discussion (in which some would call argument of the century) last summer in the backyard of the Burrow regarding their friendship/non-existent love life. And after an hour of arguing and dueling, in which Mrs. Weasley swore that the two of them would end up in Saint Mungos, they eventually agreed on being just friends. Best friends in fact. Harry believed that they needed that argument in order to clear the air, to make sure that the two of them were…on the same page, as one would say, and it all actually turned out rather well in the end.

In the beginning of December, Harry had approached Ron in the living room at Grimmauld Place, after one of the Order meetings, and asked him what he thought if he were to ask Hermione to marry him. Ron inhaled and exhaled deeply without looking at Harry. He looked down at his feet, and then he looked at his best friend with certainty: 'I think you two would be perfect together. I honestly do,' he said, with a typical sideways grin.

And here Harry was now. In the middle of the courtyard at Hogwarts. In January. On a Tuesday evening. Freezing his arse off.

…And with a ring box nestled in the pocket of his black pea coat.

He paced back and forth, back and forth, in front of the fountain, reciting what he was planning to say to Hermione. There was still plenty of snow and ice on the ground, and as he paced, one could here the 'crunch crunch crunch' after each footstep.

Suddenly, the doors opened, and out stepped Hermione. She looked very cute, all bundled up in preparation for the typical January weather. It made him love her even more.

She approached him slowly.

'Hi,' she greeted Harry, a smile on her face. She continued to walk closer to him, her boots making footprints in the snow. 'You know, it's actually not that bad out here…I'm surprised,' she said to Harry, taking a moment to breathe in the night air, and looking around at all the snow that still covered the ground, as well as the clear night sky full of bright shining stars.

'Yeah, I know…listen, Hermione…' Harry began, motioning her to take a seat with him on the ledge of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. The fountain had frozen over, so there was no chance of the two of them being splashed. For that, Harry was grateful. He took a breath, grasped her hands in his, and began to speak:

'Everything that's happened…' he began, looking into her warm brown eyes, '…everything that we've been through so far…I honestly don't think it's been by accident…I know…I know that things haven't turned out exactly as planned,' and at this Hermione gave a small chuckle and looked down towards her feet, 'But…' Harry continued, '…I mean what I say. I do love you, Hermione Granger. I have loved you for a long time now. And the fact now that we're going to have a baby…well…I think…I think I love you even more…' Harry said smiling, not being able to hide the excitement in his voice.

'…Mione, what I'm trying to say, is that…is that I love you. Very much. So much, in fact, that…that I want to spend the restof my life with you, and with our child…' At this, Harry broke eye contact with her, reached into his pocket, and grabbed the black velvet ring box.

He proceeded to get down on one knee, upon which Hermione's eyes started to well and she cupped her hands over her mouth to hide her smile. Harry looked straight into her chocolate eyes on bended knee. He had purchased the ring from a store in Diagon Alley, and he had to admit that he was really pleased at how it looked. He opened the box to reveal a solitaire diamond ring, plain, yet absolutely exquisite; a silver band that sparkled in the moonlight anchored the petite diamond.

And ever so quietly, in the middle of the deserted courtyard on that cold January evening, Harry spoke to Hermione:

'Hermione Granger…would you…do me the honor…of being my wife?'

And with that she closed her eyes tightly, letting the tears fall as they may, and removed her hands to answer Harry, 'Oh Harry…yes…YES!' And he smiled the biggest smile he could ever remember. He shot up, and grabbed Hermione, and hugged and kissed her for what seemed like an eternity. Both of them were crying tears of joy, echoes of laughter, and nothing, nothing could ruin this wonderful moment…

…And just then, a black raven flew off in silence, unbeknownst to Harry and Hermione. The raven had few delicate markings, and also had quite an impressive wingspan. But perhaps the oddest thing about the raven was its wild eyes – the kind of eyes that would put a fright in anyone who made eye contact with it. The raven made its way through the mountains, through the brisk wind and falling temperatures, travelling for quite some time that evening until it reached the home of none-other than Lucius Malfoy, where upon the bird flew onto a stone balcony located outside one of the rooms upstairs. The bird transformed into a woman with horrifically tattered clothing and wild, frizzy, long ebony hair. She advanced through the unlocked French doors that separated the warmth of the room from the bitter cold. The woman entered the room, closed the door quietly behind her, and bowed down on one knee. With her head bent, she spoke wildly:

'Master, you will be pleased to know that there have been new…advancements regarding Potter and that filthy mudblood!' she said excitedly. The person to whom she had been speaking to suddenly turned away from the roaring fireplace, rose from his chair, and peered at her with his slit-like eyes and almost non-human form. He said in a hoarse tone, 'Good…good…my my Bella, you must tell me what you have seen this evening…' and Bellatrix Lestrange popped her head up, eyes wild, and began to convey exactly what she had witnessed.