The Proposal

He was very nervous. And sweating. A lot.

This was not how he imagined it would be like. Well, okay, maybe a little.

'Why is she taking so long?' he thought, wiping his sweaty hands on his dress pants. He paced around the living room, trying to calm himself down. 'Okay, okay. You can do this. It's not that big of a deal..."not that big of a deal"?! You're asking her to marry you and-' His train of thought left him as she walked down the stairs to meet him she looked radiant as ever.

Her hair was down, falling gently around her shoulders, and held back away from her face with 4 barrettes, 2 on each side. Her make-up was natural, giving her face a soft and radiant glow. Her dress was simple: black, falling a little below her knees, with two thin strips holding it up (which exposed her shoulders, something that he loved). Her shoes were also black with the little "diamonds" on the straps, a pair that complimented her legs nicely.

She smiled shyly at him, with his mouth open and whatnot, and wringed her hands.

"Hi," she said, looking up at him. She laughed a little and gently closed his mouth. He gulped and managed a shaky, "Hello."

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Good," she replied . "It was murder getting into the dress. Hopefully it won't be too hard getting out it." She winked and he gulped again. "Shall we?"

"Let's."

**********

Dinner went by smoothly (except for the part where she got chocolate sauce on her finger and she licked it off...), so now it was time to go home. Yes, home. He wasn't going to do it in the restaurant, too...cliché.

They arrived at her flat and he opened the door for her. She gasped when she went in. All of her furniture was gone! Her sofa, her coffee table, bookshelf, everything! Instead there were rose petals scattered everywhere, candles floating gently in the air, and a blanket in the middle of the room. She looked back at him and he smiled, gently prodding her to walk.

She looked down, not wanting to step on the petals but he nodded and when she took a step, the petals parted to make a pathway.

She looked questionably at him, silently asking, "Where did you learn that?" He shrugged, took her hand and led her the rest of the way. Once they were seated and comfortable, she smiled at him.

"So, what's all this then?" she asked, looking around.

"For such a smart witch, you sure are daft," he replied, laughing a bit. He decided that now was the time so he stood up, bringing her up with him.

"What?"

"Well, okay, I love you. You know that, right?" he started off.

"What? Wait, what are you saying?" she asked, a worried expression now on her face.

"Oh, well, do you love me?"

"Yes, of course! But..."

"Um, well, okay," he muttered and took in a deep breath. "You have been by my side since we were eleven and-"

"Ten," she corrected.

"Right. You were ten and I was eleven. But that's not the point. Anyway, you have been there since the beginning and I want to thank you for it. You were there for me in my darkest and toughest times, when no one would believe in me or trust me. So, thank you. I love you for everything you've done. And, well, because you live and breathe; because you made me believe in myself when nobody else could help; because you live, my world has twice as many stars in the sky. But you know, even through all the pain and sufferings, I survived, I'm alive again. I'm so glad I found an angel, someone who was there when all my hopes fell...that angel was you. You...because you live there's a reason why I carry on when I lost the first fights. I kept going and because of you my world has everything I need to survive. I love you, so much," he breathed out and got on one knee. She gasped and clapped her hand on her mouth. "Hermione, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Harry, yes!" she cried and lifted him up. Immediately she kissed his forehead, his cheeks, and finally his mouth. She laughed as he tried to put on the ring and he laughed too. Hermione had tears running down her face and she hastily wiped them away when they pulled apart. "Nice little speech."

"Thanks," he said. "It was hard to come up with that. Anyway, are you ready for bed?"

Hermione laughed and nodded. "Just let me get washed up and write to my parents. They'll want to know."

"Right, okay, meet you upstairs then," he replied and started to walk off to the bedroom. She sighed and looked down at her new ring.

"God, I love that man. I love him so much," she muttered and smiled. It was going to be a good life.