Chapter 38

"RON!"

The quill slipped from Ron's hand as the sound of Hermione's voice filled his ears from all the way downstairs. He was in one of the spare bedrooms, sitting at the desk they'd set up as a little study.

His final Auror tests were coming up soon, and there was a theory component. It felt like being in school again, except this time it actually mattered. His results would determine his future.

And he cared about that now.

"RONALD WEASLEY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Ron looked hesitantly towards the closed door. He could hear Hermione's footsteps thumping up the stairs. She was angry about something, and it sounded as if he was the cause of that anger.

What on Earth had he done? He'd been in the study virtually all day, taking liberty of the whole day off he'd been given to practice for the tests. She'd been at work — he wasn't even there to annoy her in the office.

"Er, in here!" he called nervously, and a moment later the door opened.

There stood Hermione in her work robes, hair out of the ponytail she'd tied it in that morning. She was red in the face and her eyes glared down at him to where he sat at the desk.

"Explain," she said.

Ron stared at her, unsure what he was supposed to be explaining. He glanced at the door. She was blocking it. "They gave me a day off to study?" he tried. But she knew that already.

Her expression darkened. "Explain," she said through gritted teeth, "why one hundred and fifty three Galleons were taken from our account last Friday. Taken out by you?"

Ron paled. He said nothing.

That was the wrong thing to do.

"Ron!"

"I… I had to get something," he said. "Something important. Essential."

"What is so essential that it cost you one hundred and fifty Galleons?" Hermione fumed. "You're lying. Why are you lying? Are you doing something illegal?"

"What?"

"Well, I can't think of any other reason as to why you wouldn't tell me about something that costs so much. You spent so much of our money. Not just yours. Ours. What did you spend it on? And don't lie to me."

Ron averted her gaze, staring down at his scribbled notes. "I… can't say."

"So it's something I won't like. Right. Got it."

A silence filled the room, and it wasn't a pleasant one. Ron shifted in his chair.

"Is this how our life's going to be?" Hermione suddenly asked.

Ron looked back up at her. "What do you mean?"

"You doing things with money secretly that… that greatly set us back? We have a house, Ron, and you may not be used to it, but houses come with bills. Tell me, honestly, are you doing something I won't like?"

Ron said nothing again, which Hermione seemed to take for a yes.

"Great," Hermione said. "Just great. I thought I knew you better than that. I thought…"

"You thought what?" Ron asked, and he finally stood up from the chair.

"I thought we were always honest with each other. We have been. If I needed something that cost so much, I'd tell you. I'd make sure we could actually afford it first." She paused. "This… changes things."

"What, in our relationship?" Ron asked, panic suddenly coursing through him. This was the last thing he needed. Everything was all ready for next Saturday. He couldn't tell her, but he couldn't have her angry with him either.

Hermione nodded.

Ron stared at her. Her eyes were brimming with tears. He took half a step towards her, wanting to comfort her, assure her that it was okay, but then didn't. He wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"So, because you found out that I took money out of our account without telling you, you're now questioning whether we should be together at all? You feel as if I've broken your trust? Is that what you mean?"

Hermione hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. She looked tearfully up at him. "I don't —"

"Alright," Ron said, and he walked past her and out into the landing.

"Ron!" Hermione said, coming after him. "Ron, don't walk away from me! I want to talk to you about it. If you need something —"

"I'm not doing anything bad!" Ron said. "I don't know why you'd think that!"

"I don't think… Ron, why are you walking away?"

She followed him into their bedroom. He was kneeling in front of the open wardrobe.

"What are you —"

Ron took out the shoebox that had been safely kept there for a week. He'd resisted the urge to open it again since placing it there, knowing that he only had one more Saturday to go after tomorrow.

He passed it to her. "I was going to surprise you, but it's not worth you thinking I've betrayed you," he said. "Or wondering if I'm hiding something from you." He tapped the box with his wand, removing the disillusionment charms. "Open it."

Hermione moved her gaze from Ron to the box that was now in her hands and back to Ron again. She looked a bit stunned. Clearly, she'd been gearing up for a massive argument, which Ron wasn't giving her.

"Open it," Ron said again, this time with a small smile.

Eyeing him with suspicion, Hermione did as he asked. The moment that the lid came off, her eyes darted back to him, wide with surprise. The last time she'd looked in it, it had been filled with Chocolate Frog Cards.

Ron's smile grew a little. "It's exactly what you think it is. I've had the knowledge of it hanging over me for too long now, and I'm sick of it not being put to use. Open the other box."

Hermione discarded the shoebox on the floor. She had the ring box in her hand, but she hesitated with opening it. She kept looking at Ron, not speaking, and he was very aware of the fact that he was still kneeling on the ground.

"For the love of Merlin, Hermione, just do it, would you?"

"Ron —"

"Open the damn thing."

Casting another look Ron's way, Hermione opened the ring box, her eyes widening even more as she saw what was inside.

"Ron, I —"

"Marry me," Ron said from the ground before she could say anything else. "I mean, will you marry me? Please?"

Hermione was staring at the ring in her hand, her mouth now slightly open. She had not expected this at all if her expression was anything to go by, and Ron felt pleased. It really was all he had wanted — to surprise her.

Her mouth moved silently like a fish.

"I love you, Hermione... I love you so much, and I should have asked you a long time ago, but I'm asking you now." For the first time, a moment of panic washed over him. She had been pretty angry with him… and he'd half been expecting an instant yes, which he hadn't gotten. "Please say you'll marry me."

"You… this was what you…"

"Yeah," Ron said. "I told you it was very important and essential. Can you give me an answer now?"

Hermione still looked dumbfounded at the fact she had come home expecting to engage in a massive argument and instead found herself holding a ring in her hand and Ron asking her to marry him.

"Read what is written on it first," Ron said, "then give me an answer."

Hermione took the ring from the box and peered at the band. "It's now or never," she read. "You said that —"

"I know when I said it," Ron told her. "And I've lived by it ever since, including this moment. I have delayed this for way too long. Hermione, will you marry me?"

And for the first time since he'd seen her that afternoon, a smile formed on her lips. The ring was in one hand, the box in her other. "You know, I should just leave you on the ground for a little bit longer as punishment. I'm not worth that much money, Ron."

Ron grimaced. "We'll talk about that later. And for the record, you're worth every damn Knut I spent on that. I have no regrets. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. But now you're starting to worry me. Even a no would be okay right now."

Hermione's smile widened. "Oh, Ron," she said. "I'll marry you. Of course I will. I just… wasn't expecting this. I was…"

"Ready to murder me?" Ron offered.

"I didn't know… I thought…" She beckoned him off the ground, and the moment he was on his feet, she had her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long, deep kiss. Ron could have stayed there forever, arms around her, breathing her in as if his life depended on it. He'd done it. He'd asked her.

And she'd said yes.

He cupped her face, returning the kiss with as much as she was giving him.

When they finally pulled apart — it could have been after a minute or after an hour, Ron didn't care — she looked up at him with tearfilled eyes and smiled. "I love you," she said. "I love you so much. I'll absolutely marry you." She took her hands from around his neck and Ron dropped his from her face.

He wanted to cry, too. He didn't know why, he'd never thought he'd feel the need to do so, but having her standing in their room, tears now running down her face, he couldn't have been happier.

He didn't need fireworks, or a picturesque background, or even a fancy formal picnic. He didn't need an expensive ring. He just needed her. He just wished he'd realised that sooner.

"Put it on," he said, nodding at the ring.

Hermione held it out for him. "You do it," she said.

Ron looked at her, smiled, and then accepted it from her. He slid it onto her finger, and it was the perfect fit.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

Ron grabbed her face again and kissed her once more, hard and firm. Her arms went limp at her side.

"Are you glad this is what I spent our money on? You're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked, grinning.

"I'm furious with you," she said through a smile. "But, I can live with that, I guess."

"You're worth it," Ron said. "This whole process has been worth it to get to this moment. It's been a shambles, it's involved Harry and Ginny telling me on multiple occasions how much of an idiot I am, but it's all worth it to hear you say yes. It's all I wanted."

"You planned it like this?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"To ask you on our bedroom floor after you discovered that I'd taken a big portion of our savings from our account without telling you, leading you to believe I was doing who knew what with it? Not exactly how I envisioned it, but I planned to ask you soon, yes."

"You were so calm," Hermione said.

"Trust me, if it was next Saturday and I had another week to stew over the whole thing, I wouldn't have been this calm. I had zero time to think about it before you told me to leave." He kissed her again. "I'll have to tell George to cancel the fireworks."

"Fireworks?" Hermione questioned.

"I had plans." He shook his head. "This is better, though. Way better. I love you. I love you so much it actually hurts. I never thought I could be so in love with someone, so happy, so incredibly happy. You make me feel a lot of things — all good things, all amazing things —"

Hermiones's lips were on his. So soft, so gentle, so loving. "You're rambling."

"Sorry."

She smiled up at him and then laughed. And then she looked down at the box still in her hand and the shoebox on the floor.

"So you don't have an abnormally large collection of Chocolate Frog cards?"

"Somewhere," Ron said. "Not here, though. Probably still at the Burrow if Mum hasn't tossed them yet." He picked up her hand. "It looks good on you. I knew it would. It was the right one. I love you."

For a while they stood in the centre of their bedroom, looking at the ring. Ron's heart was pounding in his chest, filled with love and relief and pure happiness.

"We should keep it between us for the moment, though," Hermione said after a moment.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Well, wouldn't we be treading on the toes of Harry and Ginny?" she asked.

"That git knew I'd been planning it longer than he had and he just jumped right on in before I even had the chance," Ron scowled. "I would take no greater pleasure than stamping on his happiness with my own." He looked at her raised eyebrow. "But yeah, it's why I wasn't planning it until next week. But I'll have you know that I was planning on marrying you since Percy and Audrey's engagement last year. I just… couldn't afford this straight up." He touched the ring.

"You didn't have to spend one hundred and fifty Galleons," she said. "It's stunning, but that's not a deciding factor in my decision. Not at all. I'd marry you no matter what."

Ron smiled at her, not finding the heart to tell her the real story about the ring. "That's what Harry said. And Ginny. But I wanted to. I don't regret it. I'm going to marry you and I'm the happiest man alive right now. Can we tell someone? Harry and Ginny? They won't care, they knew anyway."

"How about Mum and Dad?" Hermione said. "We have lunch on Sunday with them anyway. Let's tell them. But if we see your family… I'll just… not wear it for a while. Let Harry and Ginny have their moment."

"Okay," Ron said. He held her tightly against him and added, "I'm so happy right now." He kissed her again.

It's always been my head canon that Ron always accidentally asks Hermione to marry him before his initial romantic plan - but I have a million different scenarios and reasons why that I have never fully settled on one. This is the one that kind of flowed best with the story.

I hope you all enjoyed.