Here Comes the Sun

Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Little darling
It's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Little darling
The smiles returning to the faces
Little darling
I seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Rain rolled down Harry Potter's dormitory window. Harry changed into his robes to begin yet another day at Hogwarts. It was his seventh year now, and Harry was the exact picture of his father when James and Lily married. It was Saturday, which meant no class today, but he did have a two and a half hour Quidditch practice this afternoon in the rain, which was half his fault.

Due to the fact that Angelina graduated, Harry was offered the Quidditch Captain position by Professor McGonagall. He accepted without contemplation. With the war bantering behind Harry's back, Harry wanted some happy solace in his last year at Hogwarts: his home.

It wasn't as though his life was completely desolate now that the war finally commenced. He did have a little happiness by means of his girlfriend: his old friend, Ginny Weasley. Harry always wanted to be a part of the Weasley family, especially since Harry never truly felt he belonged to a family of his own. Besides that, Harry had an incredible attraction towards red hair, which he supposed he inherited from his father.

Harry walked slowly down the steps to the common room. Ron was sitting in a cushy chair by the fireplace. Because of the rain, there was a dank autumn chill in the castle and the overcast sky didn't permit much light through the windows. Hence, the fire had been lit. The light from the fire played upon Ron's already freckled red face. Because of this, Ron somehow looked much older than only seventeen.

Harry slumped into a wingback chair situated akin to Ron's. Ron looked up from the book he had been reading and grinned broadly at his best friend.

"Hiya, Harry," Ron said and closed his book.

"Hi, Ron. Bugger day, isn't it?"

"Oh, somehow, I don't think it will be..."

Then, Ron told Harry a secret, just as Ron always confided his secrets in Harry. Yet, this secret was somehow so much more important than any prior to now.

"You're going to what?" Harry shouted in a hushed tone.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me today," Ron said and laughed.

"Are you sure about this Ron? I mean, we're only seventeen." Harry was still surprised by the news.

"I've never been surer of anything in my entire life! I love Hermione. I always have. I want to spend the rest of my life with her," Ron explained.

"Well, this is some secret, Ron... Do your parents know yet?"

"No. No one knows yet- just you."

"How are you going to do it?"

"Well, that's what I need some help with..."

Just then, Hermione trotted down the steps from her dormitory. Under her arm was slung her usual gaggle of books.

"Morning," Hermione said brightly to the boys.

"Morning, 'Mione," Harry said.

"Hey, Herm-own-ninny," Ron said, wittily. By now, Hermione had reached the chairs Ron and Harry were sitting in. They stood, and Hermione kissed Ron briefly.

"Shall we depart for breakfast?" Hermione said, mocking her usual seriousness.

"We shall," Ron said.

"Wait, where's Ginny?" Harry asked innocently.

"Ah she isn't feeling too well. She's still up in bed," Hermione explained.

"Ah, okay," Harry conceded. A familiar picture could then be observed: Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked out of the Gryffindor common room together on Saturday morning, off to eat breakfast.

Hermione sat next to Ron and across from Harry. They chatted about the usual stuff- upcoming Quidditch games, the Order of the Phoenix, the war. Unexpectedly, Draco Malfoy came over to Harry. This was not a usual occurrence in the Great Hall. The three Gryffindors stopped talking at once and stared at Draco, a Slytherin, whose eyes were bloodshot and his face was puffy. He had been crying.

"Is this seat taken?" Draco managed to ask Harry. Harry shook his head.

"Okay," Draco said, but didn't sit down. He only stared at Harry. It looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to utter whatever it was. It was already extremely difficult for him to speak anyway, since his parents had just recently been killed. Hardly anyone knew, let alone Hermione, Ron and Harry.

Crabbe and Goyle no longer went to Hogwarts, as they left school to join Voldemort once they were "of age"- seventeen. Draco stayed at Hogwarts to finish his education against his parents' wishes (especially his father's). Truthfully, Professor Snape's influence over Draco became much stronger over the years than Lucius'. Because of this, Draco didn't want to join the Death Eaters anymore.

Except now, without Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy was pretty much a loner. This presented a slight problem: he didn't have anyone his age to talk to anymore. Even Pansy Parkinson wouldn't talk to him since he wasn't going to be a Death Eater anymore.

"Err... Professor Snape reckons it'd be fine to sit at the Gryffindor table today since I joined the Order of the Phoenix. Dare I say... we have something in common," Draco drawled, but looked at the floor as he said so. Harry looked to Ron and Hermione. They both looked as confused as Harry. Harry stood up and faced Draco.

"I think we aught to do something we should have done a long time ago, Draco..." Harry said slowly. Then, Harry stuck his hand out to Draco, anticipating Draco shaking it. Draco looked at Harry in the eye. Draco's brow softened. Then, Draco shook Harry's hand.

"Right... Shall we eat breakfast then?" Draco suggested. Harry and Draco sat down and began eating breakfast. Draco didn't speak; he only sat silently and listened to the conversation. Above them, the rain continued to calmly fall. Dumbledore, who was sitting at the head table, caught Harry's eye. Dumbledore looked at him pleasantly, grinning. Harry smiled back.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived back at the common room, they found Ginny curled up on the sofa by the fireplace, rapped in a blanket. Harry walked quickly over to her and kissed her forehead, which felt a little warm.

"Maybe you aught to go to Madam Pomfrey, Gin," Ron suggested, sitting down at his chessboard. He and Hermione were about to play.

"I already did. She gave me a potion. I took it about ten minutes ago, so I'll be better pretty soon." Harry seemed to be the most relieved about this.

"Oh good," Harry said and sat down on the floor where he was standing. He leaned back against the couch and Ginny absent-mindedly began playing with Harry's ever-messy hair.

"Guess who sat with us in your seat today at breakfast," Hermione said to Ginny.

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy. He and Harry shook hands since Draco joined the Order. I guess this means he's on our side now..." Hermione explained as she moved her pon forward.

"He probably just wants to spy..." Ron suggested.

"No, I doubt it. It probably has something to do with his parents dying..." Ginny said, sitting up.

"His parents died?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I heard McGonagall forewarning Madame Pomfrey this morning, you know, incase Malfoy needs counseling or anything," Ginny explained. Harry got up from the floor and sat next to his girlfriend on the couch. Just then, Harry realized how much he and Draco were alike. Aside from opposite hair color and houses, it was as Draco said: they had a lot in common. Harry wasn't sure how comfortable he was with the sudden shift in reality that just occurred. Ginny seemed to sense this and found his hand and held it.

"I guess reality never cared about timing before, why should it care now?" Harry thought, recalling how young he was when his parents died and all the times he's battled Voldemort.

Three o'clock came and Harry and Ron left Gryffindor tower for the Quidditch pitch. Along with being captain, Harry was still the seeker on the team. Ron, with his days of keeper long forgotten, had taken one of his brothers' places and was now a beater.

Walking down a corridor, Harry and Ron both had their brooms slung over their shoulders. Harry pointed his wand at his face and muttered the spell Hermione had used years before on his glasses to repel water. As Harry did so, Ron brought up their earlier conversation.

"So..." he began, "will you help me propose to Hermione?"

"Well, it depends," Harry said, uncertainly.

"Well, I want her to be surprised," Ron said.

"I think she'll be surprised anyway you do it..."

"Yeah probably..."

"Why don't you just get down on one knee and give her a ring like everyone else does?" Harry suggested.

"Well, I don't know. Hermione's so smart. I don't think she'd like anything corny or anything, you know?" Ron babbled.

"Did you get a ring yet?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yeah..." Ron and Harry stopped and stood at the door before going out into the rain. Ron pulled a small, crimson velvet box from his robe and opened it facing Harry. As he did so, a fifth year Hufflepuff girl walked by and giggled silently to herself. Harry ignored this and took the box from Ron. The ring was white-gold and had a round diamond with two garnet stones on either side, which were strikingly close to their house color.

"Where'd you get the money for this thing, Ron? You didn't sell your soul to Voldemort, did you?" Harry joked as he held the ring up to the window, which didn't help at all since it still wasn't letting in much light due to the storm. From the corner of his eye, Harry noticed that Ron still flinched at the sound of the word "Voldemort".

"Been in the family for ages, literally," Ron said.

"That still doesn't explain how you got a hold of it..." Harry shrugged.

"Well, Dad gave it to me when I was really young, after the twins had been teasing me. It was supposed to go to Ginny, but he was worried I wasn't getting enough attention, since Gin's the baby and all. In short, he told me to give it to the woman I'll marry," Ron explained. Harry snapped the box shut and handed it back to Ron.

"It's really beautiful..." Harry commented.

"Yeah. You know what else? I guess it glows if the marriage is true or something like that... like if it's true love. I don't remember everything my dad said about it since I was young and all. All I remember is that it better glow or you might as well call the whole thing off right then and there..." Ron rambled.

"I hope it glows, mate," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Me too..." Ron said. There was a moment of silence. Then, Harry spoke.

"It's so dark outside," Harry complained. Harry rarely complained, but he was simply tired of everything being dark anymore. It rained too often.

"But it's going to clear up tonight..." Ron said casually. Then, suddenly, "I know how I'll propose," Ron smiled. Harry and Ron finally went out into the pouring rain and stayed out there for the duration of practice.

Meanwhile, back in the common room, Hermione and Ginny were doing their homework while listening to Hermione's muggle music. Hermione had told Ginny about some music her parents always used to listen to and had promised her she'd play it sometime.

"Here comes the sun, do do do do..." sounded Hermione's Beatles record that she conjured. Ginny was fascinated, but could not get past the "funny sounding" instruments to actually listen to the music. That was alright with Hermione though. This didn't stop Hermione from nostalgically recalling her early childhood with her parents.

"Ah how ironic that we're listening to this song, it just stopped raining," Hermione said, looking out the window. Ginny laughed and nodded her head.

"Just Harry and Ron's luck: Quidditch practice should be just finishing about now..." Ginny said. No sooner had she said these words, Harry came unaccompanied through the hole into the common room.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny and Hermione both asked at once.

"Oh, he's still down at the Quidditch pitch, just getting changed. He asked me to give you this," Harry said, and then handed a piece of folded and sealed parchment to Hermione.

"Alright..." Hermione said slowly. Harry then ran up to his room to get changed into his usual robes. To Harry's amazement, neither girl realized that it wasn't normal to get changed down at the Quidditch pitch after a practice. It was only luck that they were both distracted: Hermione by her note and Ginny by the muggle music.

Hermione tore the seal and read Ron's letter. Written in Ron's small, indecisive writing was:

Dear Hermione,

Please meet me at eight so the evening might be ours,

Up where we use our telescopes to observe the stars.

I love you,

Ron

Hermione knew immediately that he meant the roof where they took their O.W.L. exam for Astronomy. She read the note three times, smiling at his little rhyme. Her heart lurched at the words I love you even though she's heard him tell her so perhaps a hundred times. Finally, she hurried upstairs to change into her finest dress robes, clutching Ron's note to her chest. She would need all of the two and a half hours she had until eight o'clock to get her hair to transform from fuzz to ringlets.

Ginny was still sitting at the table where she and Hermione were doing homework and listening to The Beatles. The record was now on the song, "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." Ginny scrunched her nose and furrowed her brow as she listened intently to the lyrics.

"So, how are you feeling, Gin?" came Harry's voice from behind her.

"Good as new," Ginny said.

"Great," Harry said as he sat down in the seat Hermione had been sitting. All of Hermione's books were still lying out, and she had stopped writing an essay in mid-sentence. Harry inwardly laughed at this.

"Only Ron could ever make her stop doing homework," Harry thought.

"What's funny?" Ginny said. She had been watching him.

"Oh... I know something you don't know," Harry said childishly.

"What?"

"Well, I can't tell you until after dinner..." Harry said.

"Oh! You!" Ginny said, pursing her lips. They held their gaze between each other until Ginny broke into a soft grin.

"Don't look at me like that," Ginny said, trying to still sound angry, but Harry knew she wasn't anymore.

"Well, how about going to dinner now? That Quidditch practice made me hungry," Harry said rubbing his stomach.

"Alright, but do you want to wait for Hermione and Ron?" Ginny asked.

"No, something tells me they won't be joining us tonight..." Harry stood.

Ron leaned over the edge of the cement barrier around the astronomy landing while he waited for Hermione. He took the ring out and stared at it.

"What if she says no? She won't say no..." Ron thought. He began twisting the ring from finger to finger in one hand. Suddenly, he heard Hermione coming up the steps. Startled, he dropped the ring three stories down, into a bush.

"OH SHIT!" He thought. Hermione's footsteps grew louder, signifying she was coming closer.

"Accio ring!" Ron whispered. The ring flew up into his hand a little too fast, due to the urgency in his voice. It stung his palm, but he ignored the pain. He shoved the ring into its box, snapped the box shut, and shoved it into his pocket just as Hermione reached the landing.

"Hey, Ron," Hermione said casually. She wore scarlet robes that accentuated her small waistline. Ron never saw these robes before. Instead of telling her how beautiful he thought she looked, he only said, "I like your robes."

"Thanks," she said, as she walked towards him. "So, why are we up here?"

"Well, I thought we could have dinner by candlelight up here and do some star gazing," he explained, gesturing the area where he magicked dry and carefully set up dinner and a telescope. "But..." he said suddenly. He had planned to wait until after dinner to propose, but now he felt the anticipation might kill him.

"Hermione, I love you," Ron began. Hermione smiled at him.

"I love you too, Ron," Hermione said sweetly.

"I have always known we'd end up together... or at least I hoped so," Ron explained. Hermione listened. Ron laughed nervously. Hermione could tell that he was nervous, and yet for as smart as she is, still didn't know why. She grabbed his hands to calm him and noticed they were shaking.

"Hermione, I will always love you. Who knows what these next few years might bring with what's been going on with the war? I don't want to regret anything," Ron said. He bent down on one knee. Finally, it clicked in Hermione's head as Ron pulled the small velvet box out of his pocket. So that's what he shoved in his pocket when I came up here. She thought.

"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" Ron finally asked. Hermione got down on her knees and hugged him.

"Yes," she whispered in his ear while they still hugged. Ron kissed her neck.

"Good, now you can wear this," Ron said gently pulling out of her embrace and slid the ring on her finger. Hermione laughed and cried at the same time. As Ron slid the band onto her finger, it began to glow.

"Oh my God, Ron..." Hermione said, gazing at the ring. For a second, Ron was afraid that it was hurting her finger, but then he remembered the ring was supposed to glow. "I'm going to be your wife..." Hermione said. She looked at him. He noticed her tears of joy reflected the ring's warm glow and she smiled happily. Hermione kissed the love of her life and one of her best friends.