Chapter 12
Saturday night came quickly and Hermione was anxious to find out what everyone had gotten her for her birthday. She dressed nicely in her favorite dark green robes.
"Severus," she said, "What are you taking so long for?"
Severus was standing in the mirror practicing something when she walked into the bathroom to get him. He abruptly stopped talking before she could distinguish what he was saying. Practicing his speech for my birthday party is he, she thought.
She pretended she hadn't seen him and said, "Let's go before they eat all the good food."
She turned to walk and Severus smacked her arse. She laughed and ran ahead of him out the door. He caught up to her and picked her up.
"Severus, let me go," She giggled.
"Never," he said back.
He carried her all the way to the doors of the great hall and to her surprise right through them. Normally he would be embarrassed to be acting like this in front of his colleagues. Hermione was staring so intently at him that she neglected to look around and see the great hall. It was decorated in silver and the wall was lined with her friends and the staff. Severus picked up her chin so that she would look around.
She gasped as she noticed the great hall saying, "This isn't a birthday party is it?"
"No you daft witch," he teased, "it isn't a birthday party."
He set her down in front of him and dropped to one knee. He took out a small black box and said, "Hermione, I have loved you for years and never had the courage to say so. I watched you grow from a know-it-all into a beautiful, smart woman. I was a depressed man. I didn't know happiness. I thought I would never be happy again and I lived in the solitude of my mind hiding from everyone. You saved my life that day in the Shrieking Shack and have been saving me every since. You've saved me from a friendless life, a sad life, and a lonely life. I know now what true love is. Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"
Hermione looked down at him, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Severus, nothing would make me happier."
The great hall erupted into applause as he slipped the emerald ring onto her finger. She cried as he picked her up and spun in a circle with her. They kissed and laughed and kissed again. All of her friends were there in an instant to hug and kiss her cheek. They offered her happy congratulations and Molly cried. Hermione had never been happier in her entire life