He had to get a move on. His own younger sister was getting chained before he was. He needed to act now.
Ron loved Hermione more than anything and he knew he was going to be with her forever. He just needed to do the hard part and hope for the best: propose.
Harry and Ginny's wedding had finally arrived. Ron was Harry's best man, while Hermione had been chosen for the maid of honor.
Ron stood in his old room with Harry at the Burrow, where they were having the wedding. So far, all the Weasley children had been married at the Burrow. However, Ron wanted to be different, and he hoped Hermione felt the same way.
Ron was watching the guests gather down in the backyard as Harry would nervously pace the room, checking his reflection in the mirror every few moments, and constantly smoothing his dress robes. Ron ignored him. He knew Harry was just suffering from too much wedding preparation, as his own mother had overdone it on her child's wedding…again.
Ron continued to watch the guests gathering. He spotted Hagrid (who wasn't too hard to spot, anyway) taking up four seats in the back. A few of their old professors (McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn) were seated next to Hagrid. George, Percy, Bill, and Charlie were seated in the front. Harry and Ginny had tried to keep the wedding as small as possible, as to avoid Daily Prophet reporters finding out about it.
Harry's pacing had finally annoyed Ron to the point that he could no longer watch the guests. He turned around and gripped Harry's shoulders. "Mate, it's Ginny. Why are you so uptight?"
"I'm not nervous about Ginny. It's the whole fact that I'm getting married. It's really…mind-blowing."
Ron was silent and Harry turned back to the mirror to straighten his tie for the hundredth time. "You can't understand, mate. You're not chained."
"Yet." Harry turned to see Ron looking slightly hurt.
"What, are you planning to - ?" Harry stopped when he saw Ron take a small box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a brilliantly sparkling diamond ring. It had cost Ron half his savings, but it would be worth it to see Hermione's face when he finally proposed.
"I want to do it tonight, at the reception, if it's alright with you. It is your wedding, mate," Ron looked apologetically at Harry.
"No Ron, its fine. I would like nothing more for you and Hermione to get chained…finally." Harry grinned, and Ron smiled nervously back.
"Do what you've got to do, mate," Harry said. "Shall we go downstairs - ?"
"Yeah," Ron said quickly, hastily stowing the ring safely in his pocket. He followed Harry down the many flights of stairs in the Burrow to the kitchen. Ginny was in her room, still getting ready. Harry rushed outside to greet the many guests. Luna Lovegood was already getting ready to walk down the aisle first with Neville. Luna was dressed in a gold bridesmaid dress, her long waist-length hair up in an elegant bun. She was wearing the legendary radish earrings, and held red roses in her hands. Ginny had insisted on red and gold in honor of Gryffindor.
"Hi Luna, Neville," Ron said. "Have you seen Hermione?"
Luna shook her head, her prominent eyes getting seemingly bigger. "I think she's still getting ready in Ginny's room."
"What is it with women and taking forever to get ready?" Ron said exasperatedly. Luna and Neville laughed, but the creaking of the Burrow's stairs made Ron turn his head and crick his neck. Rubbing it, he turned to see Hermione descending the stairs.
She had the same dress on as Luna, but in Ron's eyes, she was much more beautiful. Her hair wasn't straight as she had done on numerous occasions, but Ron felt he liked it better natural. However, she had gathered all her hair into a bun on top of her head. She flashed him a radiant smile as she approached him, and Ron thought he had never seen her look better.
She reached him and he held out an arm for her to take. "M'lady," he said jokingly, making her laugh. She took his arm and they lined up in front of Luna and Neville, waiting for the wedding to start.
Ron couldn't stop staring at her and Hermione seemed to notice. "What?" she asked.
Ron shook himself from his reverie and decided to just say it. "You look beautiful," he said with true sincerity. Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet. Ron knew she wasn't used to getting compliments, especially since (in the opinion of others) there were girls far prettier than her at the wedding. However, in Ron's eyes, especially now that he was no longer an ignorant fifteen-year-old, Hermione would always be much more beautiful than Fleur, or Lavender Brown, or anyone else for that matter.
Ron turned around to see Neville and Luna lined up behind them. Behind them, he saw Ginny clutching his father's arm. Ron shot her a grin, which she nervously returned. Ginny was, as always, beautiful. Her long red hair was in a similar bun to Hermione's, and there were three roses tucked in the elaborate curls. Her dress was spectacular, a long, billowing gown that flooded Ginny down to her ankles that was made out of some kind of silky material.
Ron turned back around and faced the front as the music started…
The reception after the ceremony distracted Harry and Ginny with guests whom wanted to congratulate them. Ron and Hermione hung back, for they both wanted to congratulate their best friends privately.
Ron led Hermione to the empty table they were to sit at with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna and they both watched Harry and Ginny get bombarded by family and friends.
After about half an hour, everyone was seated, and Hermione stood up, clinking her fork to her glass of firewhiskey. Everyone fell silent and every eye landed on her.
"I just wanted to say a few words," Hermione started. "Harry and Ginny, you both are my best friends and I love you both so much. I don't think I would've made it through Hogwarts without you two befriending me when Ron was being a prat."
The crowd laughed, and so did Ron. The statement couldn't be truer. Hermione began to wrap up her speech. "To Harry and Ginny! May their marriage last for an eternity!"
The crowd repeated after her, "To Harry and Ginny!" and they all drank to the bride and groom.
After dinner was served, Ron decided to make a speech himself. He stood up and mimicked what Hermione had done. Every head in the room turned to him.
"In our sixth year at Hogwarts School," Ron started. "My best friend started dating my sister. And being the prat I've always been, I didn't know how I felt about it. I didn't like it at first."
He paused, then continued. "But now, I know that I couldn't find anyone who could love my sister more and who I could trust more than my best mate." He raised his glass. "Harry, Ginny, my best hopes for the both of you." He sat back down and others started to applaud. Harry was looking at Ron and Hermione with great sincerity.
The first dance for the bride and groom was about to start, but before the music started, Harry put his wand to his throat and started making a speech of his own. "I just want to thank everyone for coming out here," he started. "And that I don't think I could find a more perfect family to be married into than the Weasleys. I want to thank Molly Weasley and so many more people for helping us plan this." He looked over and Mrs. Weasley, who smiled and blushed. "And I want to thank my best friends, Ron and Hermione, for sticking by me for more than ten years, no matter how hard anything became for any of us." He looked over at Ron and Hermione, who both beamed. "You guys are the greatest!"
The reception proceeded, and the music started as Harry and Ginny started dancing to a slow song by the Weird Sisters. Ron looked over at Hermione and noticed tears pouring down her face. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked, startled at her sudden emotions.
"It's just – I can't believe we got this far," Hermione said. "I can't believe we're all alive and that we're all still together…"
"Well, what made you think of that?" Ron asked, putting an arm around her.
"Harry's speech," Hermione said thickly. "And yours. I'm just…so happy that it's been ten years and that Harry, you and I are still together. It's amazing."
Ron wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. Hermione did cry a lot, but it was a rare occasion that the reason was because she was happy. Either way, he hugged her, not sure what else to do.
"I love you, Ron," Hermione said into his ear. Ron grinned, knowing he had waited to hear that from her for three years.
The first song of the night had finished, and Harry and Ginny had stayed on the dance floor. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and said, "C'mon, let's dance." Hermione smiled and eagerly followed him.
Slowly, the night wore on, and Ron became more nervous about his plan for proposal. At one point, Harry was able to escape Ginny and a number of other guests to grab Ron's arm while he was dancing with Hermione.
"Hermione, can I talk to Ron for a moment?" he asked.
"Of course," she said, a little taken aback. Harry dragged Ron inside the Burrow, away from anyone else.
"Have you asked her yet?" Harry asked frantically.
"Did you see a ring on her finger? No!" Ron said. "I'm not sure if I'm going to do it tonight."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Are you joking? Ron, its Hermione. She's mad about you, and of course she's going to say yes! Is that what you're afraid of?"
Ron nodded. "What if she thinks I'm moving too fast? I know she wants to get married eventually, but..."
"Mate, she's been waiting for this forever. Trust me," Harry said.
"How d'you know?" Ron asked.
"I heard her talking to Ginny one day about getting married," Harry said. "She said she really wanted you to get a move on."
Ron sighed. "I must be mental for thinking I could do this."
"You're not mental, mate," Harry said firmly. "D'you think I was nervous when I asked your sister to marry me?"
"No," Ron said automatically.
"Well I was. Now go out there and ask her."
Harry turned and led the way back to the dance floor. He grabbed Ginny and stole her to the dance floor, glancing at Ron and giving him a do- it- now look. Ron looked around the room and spotted Hermione sitting at an empty table. She caught his eye and smiled at him, that smile that made his stomach drop several floors. He strode over to her and held out a hand for her to take. "Come and dance," he said, just as he had said almost four years ago at his brother's wedding. She took his hand and he led her out to the middle of the dance floor, not far from where he knew Harry was watching.
Ron was silent for a few seconds, then he looked at Hermione. "Hermione."
She had been staring into space, but her attention came back to him when he said her name.
"Right, I'm not quite sure how to do this so I'm just going to do it," Ron said. He got down on one knee in the middle of the floor and held out the ring to her. "Will you marry me?"
Hermione's hands flew to her mouth and she started to cry. She frantically nodded, and Ron got to his feet again. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, might I introduce the newly engaged couple, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger!"
Harry's booming voice rang throughout the room; Ron and Hermione's heads swung around to see him on the stage he had stood on to make his speech a few hours ago, his wand to his throat. He was grinning at them and they grinned back. The crowd started to applaud and Ron leaned in to kiss Hermione.
She had said yes.
