Chapter 36

"Mate, I don't know why you've enlisted me to help you do this. Not only is it weird because she's my sister, you're giving me a lot more credit than I deserve. You should have asked Hermione. She is good at this kind of thing — planning and all. She'd have an idea for you in three minutes."

Ron had thrown out every possible proposal idea to Harry that didn't involve his own plans for Hermione, and so far, nothing had stuck out. They weren't great ideas anyway, so Ron didn't blame Harry for rejecting them. But he was becoming tired. It had been a long day at training, and it felt even longer sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place talking about it.

"Does it really matter how you do it, anyway?" Ron pressed, stifling a yawn. "I mean, you could probably shout it across the house at her and she'd say yes."

"This might be my one and only chance to be romantic with her," Harry said. "You know what she's like —"

"I don't, and I don't want to." Ron stifled another yawn.

"Well, it's great, because we both like Quidditch and we have a lot to talk about, and I love her, but she's not into the hand holding or any of that stuff. It's fine, but I would like a tear or two every once in a while."

"That's romantic," Ron said. "Tell her that. Tell her you want to make her cry." He just didn't care anymore. All this talk about engagements was making him miserable. He only had himself to blame, he knew, but it didn't change the fact that he didn't want to discuss this with Harry. Why had he agreed? His own stupidity aside, it felt very, very weird to be helping his best mate plan how to propose to his sister.

"Maybe I should have asked Hermione," Harry said. "All you seem to know is how to delay an engagement, not do one. I'll take note that if I want to put it off, I'll just go and buy a ring that costs too much."

Harry had meant it as a joke, and maybe if it wasn't eating into his time he usually spent with Hermione, Ron might have laughed. Instead, he just said, "I've given you a million ideas. It's not my fault you're not liking them."

"What are you planning on doing for Hermione?" Harry asked, and his tone changed to curiosity.

"I'm not telling you," Ron said, turning red.

"I won't steal it," Harry promised. "But it might give me some kind of idea."

Ron hesitated. He didn't want to share his plan with Harry, not because he was worried Harry would steal it, but because he felt kind of silly saying it out loud. He'd concocted the plan in his head since the day he decided he was going to finally ask her. And it had gradually built up, developed, and changed over the months he'd been forced to wait. But he still wasn't confident in it, especially since Hermione had revealed her enthusiasm for being proposed to over a quiet dinner at home.

"I guess I was just going to take her to this lake. It's in the middle of nowhere, we've been there before. It's one of our favourite spots to go if we want a quiet date. Only accessible via Apparition. And I was going to ask her there, I'm not sure how exactly. In the evening, though, so maybe over food. Food is good. I was even thinking of asking George if he could organise some fireworks or something…" He blushed. "That sounds cheesy, doesn't it?"

"Nah," Harry said with a huge grin on his face. "I think that sounds fantastic. Just not for me and Ginny. But you should definitely do it that way. You two are pathetic like that. Hermione will love it."

"I'm still tossing up about the fireworks," Ron said. "But I do want it to be special. To be romantic. I just want her to know how much I —" he paused. He'd been going to say I just want her to know how much I love her. But the thing was, she already knew that. He told her every day; he did his best to show her in as many ways as he could. He couldn't really do much more.

Misery washed over him as he realised that Harry and Ginny had been right when they'd called him an idiot.

He threw the quill onto the table.

"I just want to marry her."

Harry gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, you will. Just… not soon."

"I want it to be soon, though," Ron said. "We've been through so much, and she knows I'm going to do it soon. She knows I've been thinking about it." He looked at Harry. "I've been an idiot."

"Yep," Harry said. "I told you that. Why did you do it, Ron? I mean, why did you go out of your way to get her something you couldn't afford?"

"She's just so perceptive. I knew the moment I asked her to do something special, she was going to work it out. We've been talking about it, so I thought if I at least got her a ring then that would be an element of surprise for her — there's so many options there's no way she'd guess what it looked like."

"True," Harry said, "so why such an expensive one? You could have chosen a cheaper one and had it straight away."

Ron didn't respond. He felt embarrassed now. When the knowledge had just been with him, it had been easier to not think about why he'd made the choice. But now…

"I just wanted to prove I could do it," he said.

"Do what?" Harry asked.

"Afford things. For me. For her… for us. I always watched Mum and Dad struggle. I always got secondhand stuff from all my brothers. I just wanted to be able to buy something that felt important — this is important — on my own. Plus… I really liked that one. I decided on it before I knew the cost."

Harry said nothing. He looked at Ron with sympathy, which always irritated Ron. Since they'd known each other, Harry had always seemed to pity Ron when it came to money. He claimed it was understanding, for he had spent eleven years of his own life having no money at all. But Harry had almost lived just as long with all the money he could wish for.

He just didn't get it.

Before Harry could say anymore, Ron looked down at the ideas they'd come up with, and he pointed to the third one. "That was Hermione's idea. I think that one would work for Ginny. I think you could crack her with that."

"Dinner at home doesn't sound as thrilling as fireworks by a lake," Harry said with a wry smile.

"You just said it wasn't you and Ginny."

"Yeah, but I daresay Ginny would be as perceptive as Hermione in this situation. It's not like it's common for me to cook a romantic dinner in the house."

"Then don't tell her," Ron said. "Make it a surprise when she comes home one time."

"Or…" Harry's face brightened, apparently getting an idea. "Or... I could do it in her place in Holyhead. I have a key. While she's at practice one day, I can get it all ready, and then she'll come home…"

"Sounds great!" Ron said. "I think she'll really appreciate it if you were to surprise her. It's just a matter of when."

"Next weekend," Harry said, and he nodded.

"So soon?" Ron asked.

"Why wait?" Harry said, and then he looked rather guiltily at Ron. "I mean… yeah."

"It's alright," Ron said. "I only have myself to blame for putting it off for so long. I could have bought her something I could actually afford."

"Is it just the cost of the ring that is holding you back?" Harry asked after a moment of thoughtful pause.

"Well… yeah," Ron said. "I want to marry her, and I weirdly don't feel nervous about asking, or anything like that. I thought I would, but I know I can do it. It's just.. I don't have the ring, and I want the ring."

"How much do you have left on it?" Harry continued.

"One hundred and fifty Galleons, thereabouts," Ron said.

"Blimey! How much did it cost you to begin with?"

Ron didn't answer. It felt ridiculous now. He felt ashamed, almost. He'd been so caught up in wanting to surprise Hermione that he'd completely forgotten about the most important part in it all.

Hermione.

He wanted to marry her. He wanted to be able to call her his wife. He wanted the fact that he loved her with everything he had to be public knowledge. He wanted it written down that Ron Weasley was married to Hermione Granger.

A stupid ring didn't matter, and neither did a fancy wedding. If he had to marry her in a rundown shack in the middle of England with no one else present, then he would. She was all that mattered, and he knew that she wouldn't have cared about a ring or what one he got, if he'd even gotten one at all. She loved him, and all she wanted was to be with him.

Why had it taken him so long to realise it?

"Do you need a loan?" Harry asked after a moment.

"What? No!" Ron said. He wasn't going to accept money from Harry, which he knew was what Harry was suggesting. "I'll just… I'll just do it."

"Ask her?" Harry said.

"I'll give the stupid ring place one hundred and fifty Galleons," Ron said. "Otherwise, this whole thing would be pointless if I go without it now."

"How about half of it?" Harry said.

"No," Ron said firmly. "I'll cover it."

"It would just be a loan. You could pay me back —"

"No. I'll do it. Hermione will murder me for it, so there'll probably be no wedding, but I'll get it. I'll pay it outright. And I'll ask her. A little bit after you and Ginny, so as not to step on your happiness. Will give me time to think it completely through, plan it out."

"And make me look like the most unromantic person in the world when all I do is cook a dinner," Harry said with a smile.

Ron shrugged. "I've got to get the better of you on something, don't I?" Something heavy had lifted from his chest all of a sudden. Something that had been weighing him down.

Regret. Guilt. He'd been lying to Hermione about the money. She'd never asked — not even once — but he hadn't told her about it either. And he'd promised her a year ago now that he would ask her soon, and he hadn't. That was a lie, too.

He had a plan now, though. He would get the ring, and he didn't care that it would put a large dent in their Gringotts vault. He just wanted to marry her, and more than anything else, he wanted her to agree to marrying him, hear her say the words and see what he hoped would be indescribable happiness on her face when he asked. He wanted it to be the most romantic thing he'd ever done and catch her completely by surprise.

And he should have done that a year ago.

Idiot.

Harry gave a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"Look at us sitting here discussing our plans to propose and when we should do it."

"Don't you like the normality of it all?" Ron asked. "I mean, I'm quite comfortable with the idea of my biggest problem being that I can't afford to buy the ring for Hermione that I want to, but doing it anyway. Beats living under a regime of Death Eaters. Or being dead."

"Absolutely," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. "I hope that this is as stressful as life gets from here on in. I've had enough excitement, enough near death experiences, to last me a few lifetimes."

"Yeah," Ron said. He liked the fact that they had reached a point where they could talk so openly about what had happened to them. It erased some of the trauma he was sure they all still felt.

"I guess there was just a stage in my life where I believed that something so normal wasn't made for me," Harry said. "That is, never make it to the age where I could get married. I also thought there was a chance I'd be too damaged for anyone to want to marry me."

"Well, she hasn't said yes, yet," Ron said with a smile.

"Neither has Hermione," Harry replied, and Ron's smile faltered.

"Fair."

"Well, at least if they reject us," Harry said, "we still have this friendship. You can come and live back here. We'll live a life as bachelors."

"No offence, mate, but I like where I live now and I'm quite comfortable there. I hope we never have to live together again."

Harry laughed, looking around his kitchen. "Well, I can't say I like living here, but I see your point. Here's to two yeses and a happy life from here on in with two amazing women who are mad enough to have us."

Thank goodness for Harry talking some sense into Ron! I hope you enjoyed and Ron is finally going to get his act together!