The Wedding

The day of the wedding had arrived. Ginny gazed at herself in her mirror in her bedroom. The Burrow was decorated in every corner with gold trimming and bows, and through the window, out of the corner of her eye, Ginny could see that guests were already arriving through the front gate.

Ginny turned on her heel to examine what her dress looked like from the side. As the dress was a shimmering pale gold color, and her hair had been toppled onto her head into a loose curly knot, she thought most closely resembled a champagne bottle that had caught fire. Her dress stopped abruptly above her knees. For this she was glad, because today was supposed to be one of the hottest days of the summer, so the weather-witch had predicted early that morning. She wore flat shoes that were also gold; she thought fleetingly that they would probably look age-appropriate for Gabrielle, but they certainly looked too young for her to wear.

A quick knock at her door sounded and Ginny snapped her gaze away from the mirror. ("I thought you had looked quite long enough!" reprimanded the mirror.) She strode over to her door, annoyed by the swooshing sound that her dress made as she walked. Ginny swung the door open.

"Mum says to come down now. You're supposed to help Phlegmmm...eur with her veil or something," Ron said as he attempted to hide what he had been fiddling with when she opened the door.

"What was that?" Ginny said, distracted by Ron's poor attempt at nonchalance.

"Er, nothing. Get downstairs before Mum has another fit," Ron said as he began striding back toward the stairwell.

"Was that...." Ginny said as she lunged to grab Ron's arm, and dragged him until he faced her again. Ginny pried Ron's hand open with her fake nails (which she despised almost as much as the shoes she was forced to wear). Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized what was in Ron's hands.

"Ginny! Gerroffme!" Ron protested Ginny's grasp but failed: she was much stronger than she looked, as Ron already knew from previous sibling fights. The nails did not help matters for Ron either.

"What are you going to do with that? Does Mum know you have it?" Ginny whispered in a stern tone.

"Yes, it's none of your business Gin. I didn't want you to be the first to know," Ron nearly whined at her.

"Too late. Why did you get it? Why didn't Bill or Charlie?" Ginny asked as she took the precarious object out of Ron's hands.

"I was the only one that asked, alright? Quick! Give it here!" Ron whispered suddenly in a panicked tone. Ginny handed over slowly, confused as to why Ron needed it back so suddenly. Then, she quickly understood. Heartache in the shape of wild black hair, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, glasses, and fine black wizards' robes, was coming nearer with each passing second.

"Erm..." Harry began, looking pointedly away from Ginny.

"Hiya, Harry," Ron said, feigning causality.

"Right, Molly says you lot ought to come down now. She's starting to look a bit..." Harry tried to explain in the politest terms he could think of. Ginny's eyes were burning a hole somewhere in the vicinity of his jaw bone, and yet he refused to even glance at her.

"Ron's got something he doesn't want to show you," Ginny blurted out. This broke Harry's concentration, and he looked directly into Ginny's eyes as his mouth hung slackly open.

"What?" Harry asked, completely thrown. He held his eye contact with Ginny only a few seconds longer and then turned his attention to Ron again. Any thoughts of coming downstairs had flown from Harry's head.

"What's she on about?" Harry asked.

"It's nothing. You don't want to know, really." Ron would not meet Harry's eye.

"If it's nothing, why wouldn't you just show me? Why are your hands behind your back? Are you hiding something? Let me see it!" Harry and Ron had now begun an awkward dance of Harry-trying-to-get-the-hidden-object-but-Ron-was-too-tall-for-Harry-to-reach-it.

"Oh for goodness-sake! Harry, Ron's got..." Ginny began but was cut off by a bushy-haired blue-dress-clad witch in the stairwell.

"Would you three get downstairs! Molly is in a right state! Having to do everything herself with guests arriving already!" Hermione said exasperatedly but then she allowed her words to trail off when she noticed the guilty expressions on her three friends' faces. All three of them were staring avidly at her, Ron and Ginny with their mouths hanging open.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, fear ebbing its way into her voice.

"Nothing!" Ron answered a little too loudly and a little too quickly.

"I was just trying to find out..." Harry began to explain, but Ginny cut him off.

"What Ron was going to say in his speech. You know, each of us were going to have the chance to say something, a speech, you know, and Ron didn't know what he'd say, so we were trying to find the right words for him, you know, to help out, since Ron's so bad with words and speeching, er, I mean speaking and speeches, you know how he can be." Ginny's words seemed as though they'd never stop falling out of her mouth.

"Right, we thought maybe you could help," Harry said to Hermione after a moment of silence rang through the air following Ginny's ramble.

"No!" Ron shouted abruptly. Harry visibly jumped.

"Your pride has never gotten in the way of you begging me for help with such things before. But fine, Ron. I won't help you. Anyway! Please, will you three come downstairs? Now?" Hermione spoke quickly before any of them could make the situation any worse. With one swoosh of her long, light skirt, she was down the stairs. Once Hermione was fully out of sight, Ginny made a noise like an angry cat, pushed her way between the boys and jogged down the steps after Hermione.

"She'll never say yes," Ron said under his breath.

"Say yes to what?" Harry asked, almost as a reaction. Ron's face told Harry that he was not supposed to have heard that whispered remark. After a moment's hesitation, Ron finally held out to Harry what he had kept so well hidden in his rather large hand.

"Here," he said, "but we'd better hurry. I really don't want Mum coming up here after us." In Ron's hand sat a red velvet box about the size of a large walnut.

"Well? Take it!" Ron said hastily. Harry snatched the box off of Ron's palm with his seeker-quick reflexes and snapped the box open. Inside sat a gold band with a sizable diamond sitting on top.

"Is this a..."

"Engagement ring. Yes, Harry," Ron said in a defeated tone.

"But... but who are you going to ask?" Harry stammered. The last he could recall, Ron and Lavender were still broken up- something Harry had been very happy about and was not keen on the prospect of anything changing that.

"Hermione," Ron said simply.

"Are you two dating?" Harry was confounded. How could he have missed this crucial factor in their friends' relationship?

"No, but Harry, that's why you must not let anyone know that I have this ring, especially Hermione. I need to explain some things to her first- work up to it. I've felt erm... a certain way about her for quite some time now... and, erm... I'm quite sure she feels the same way towards me... and... well she and I got to talking last year a few times, you know, when you weren't around as much- what with your private lessons all the time and she and I having prefect duties together..."

"I figured this would happen one day. But don't you think you should ask her around a few times? Date for awhile?" Harry felt his face turning red as all the blood rushed to his head. Suddenly, he felt as though he needed to sit down. Stars appeared before Harry's eyes and a whooshing sound was pounding through his ears. Ron was asking Hermione to marry him? They were only friends- his best friends- this would be like Harry himself asking Hermione to marry him! It was just absurd. Well, thought Harry, But, were they really only friends? Not really, not this whole time....

"Ask her around a few times? I spend every waking moment with her," Ron shrugged. "There has never been a moment in my life as long as I've known her that I didn't fancy her. I love her," Ron explained quietly but calmly. A gaping moment of silence followed Ron's effortless statement. When Harry was done talking to himself in his head, he realized that Ron was waiting for him to say something. They made eye-contact.

"Right.... Right...mate, well, congratulations! I hope she says yes- well I know she will! Just, be careful," Harry said as he pulled Ron into a hug and tapped him on the back a few times (as men tend to do when they hug).

"So this is what you two are doing up here? Hugging? Get downstairs!" Molly said from the stairway. Pieces of hair were already freeing themselves from what had been a very clean-looking hairdo only a few hours earlier. She wore her apron over her white, tailor-fitted dress which appeared to be the grown-up version of Ginny and Gabrielle's dresses.

The boys quickly broke their hug and obeyed Molly's command. Finally, it was time for the Bill and Fleur's wedding. As they made their way toward the staircase, Harry snapped the box shut and handed the ring back to Ron. Something passed between them- the understanding that only the closest of friends could share. Everything would work out, or so Ron thought at that moment that Harry smiled kindly at him.

Ron and Harry scurried to the front of the rows of chairs facing the flowered archway which was to be where Bill and Fleur said their vows. The music had already begun to be played by the wizard ensemble off to Harry and Ron's left. Bill, followed closely by Charlie, walked slowly to the side of the archway from the backyard. Harry noticed that Bill did the same thing that Ron did when he was nervous- he would not stop fidgeting and picking at anything he could. First his boutonniere. Then his fingernails. He leaned over to whisper something to Charlie and then laughed nervously. In the sunlight, Harry could hardly notice Bill's scars. Harry soon wished he had not allowed the word sunlight enter into his consciousness because now all he could think of was how hot he was with his black robe on. He slipped his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at his bare wrist.

"Aguamenti," Harry said flatly. Water poured from his wand over his wrist and into the grass. Then, he repeated this for the other wrist. He felt minimally better. Hermione sat down on the end of the aisle, next to Ron.

"Harry, what are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"Trying to cool off," he said distractedly as the water stopped pouring from his wand again. He had accidentally gotten some water on his sleeve this time, but he did not care.

"Oh. Well, here," she said as she got her wand out from somewhere hidden near her ankle. She flicked her wand at him and did a silent spell. Harry felt as though he had just spent a minute in a freezer and stepped out again.

"Very, refreshing... I'll have to learn that one," Harry commented, but his attention turned to the aisle as the music changed. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were now making their way towards the front, arm-in-arm. Mrs. Weasley's hair had magically been repaired only moments earlier. Then, Mrs. Delacour, accompanied by both Fred and George, one on either side of her, made her way down the aisle. Next was Gabrielle, who was smiling politely, but her smile did not stop a few tears from trickling down her cheeks. Following Gabrielle was Ginny. Harry felt himself relax as he looked at her. Perhaps he was just contented by the fact he was allowed to look at her for a few moments without everyone thinking what he was trying so hard to hide: he still was not over her. Her hips swayed gently to the delicate music, Harry noticed. Ginny licked her lips, most likely out of thirst, and Harry transiently recalled kissing her for the last time only weeks before this moment. Harry pried his eyes away from Ginny; he was no longer allowed to stare at her without people wondering. Finally, Fleur, accompanied by her father, walked down the aisle.

Harry stood, as did the rest of the gathering. Somehow, Fleur reminded Harry of Ginny. Fleur's white-blonde hair was down and catching the light breeze that was unfortunately not blowing anywhere near where Harry sat. Fleur's eyes glistened with tears and she gently shook with light laughter. She was looking at Bill and smiling magnificently. Harry glanced at Bill and saw that he had stopped fiddling and was smiling back at Fleur. Jealousy reared its ugly head from the depths of Harry's being. Why could not he be standing in the front of these people, smiling dopily at Ginny? Harry wondered this and groaned softly to himself. It was going to be a long day: he found himself staring at Ginny again.

Ginny noticed that Harry was staring at her and she wished he would not. She had the worst itch on the back of her knee and there was no way to itch it gracefully while he stared at her. Oh well, she thought, he's seen me at my worst, I don't care... With that, she leaned over and itched her knee and found that a bee had landed where she itched.

Damn it! The bee buzzed around her knee with one swoop and swiftly flew up her dress. Any thoughts of magically making the bee disappear, or die, or change form, never entered Ginny's head. As discretely as possibly, Ginny began to panic. She could hear the bee. She could feel the bee near places that bees should never be. Oh damn it, damn it, damn it. The bee was definitely beginning to fly faster and seemed to be getting angrier and was bound to sting soon.

Harry was only sitting in the fourth row and he saw the whole thing. Harry got his wand out, dropped it because his hands were still wet, picked it up again and concentrated as well as he could will himself while Ginny was squirming around. Thinking quickly, Harry thought banishing the bee would be the best idea. Concentrating on the bee (please don't let me banish something else around Ginny Harry thought fearfully), Harry swiftly and silently did the banishing charm. Then he allowed himself to open his eyes again. Ginny, thankfully, was still standing in the same spot, clothed, and only looked mildly confused.

Then, the wedding was over. Fleur and Bill were making their way back up the aisle. The rest of the wedding party followed them. People began getting up and making their way to the backyard, where the reception was to be held.

Harry, however, did not move. It seemed as though something was bursting to get out of his chest- quite literally. Under his robes and under his shirt, there seemed to be an angry, rapidly-flying insect bursting to be free of its confines. Harry was startled to realize that perhaps the bee he had banished from under Ginny's skirt somehow now resided under his clothing instead. Slowly, Harry looked down at his chest. The bee was bouncing lightly against his shirt now, but his shirt would not free the captured. Bursting into action, Harry stood and tore his robe off, leaving him covered by a dress shirt, slacks, and of course shoes.

"Harry, whaddareyou..." Ron began, but Harry pushed past him. Harry had to get his shirt off, or at least unbuttoned, but he could not possibly do so in the middle of a crowd at such an event as a wedding. Why are they moving so slowly?! Harry thought desperately of the crowd he was pushing against. Finally he was through the crowd, and as he finally allowed himself to begin unbuttoning his shirt, he dashed through the front door, directly into what he thought was a deserted kitchen.

Harry had completely unbuttoned his shirt now, but the bee finally seemed to be contented with its surroundings. Somewhere along Harry's run, the bee had settled himself onto Harry's chest and was peacefully crawling around. Harry looked at the bee, dumbfounded.

"Get away, you stupid bug," he said to the bee but did not attempt to swat it away. Harry blew lightly onto the bee, which the bee did not seem to mind. Harry blew a little harder. Still, the bee did not seem to care. Losing patience, Harry thought that maybe if he flicked the bee hard enough, he would flick it to the ground and then he could step on it. So, Harry flicked the bee. The bee, however, did not enjoy being flicked nearly as much as being blown on. Though the bee left Harry's chest, it naturally took flight as it began to fall, took one great loop in the air, and stung Harry squarely in the chest.

"Ah! Damn it all to bloody Hell!" Harry shouted. "I can't even defeat a bee, how am I going to defeat Voldemort?!"

"Oh Harry, please don't say the V word so often, it makes me jump... I have to say though- essentially, you did defeat the bee, as it will die after it stung you," said a voice from the stairwell. Harry looked up and saw the source of all of his pain: both figuratively and literally (as he would not have been stung if it were not for banishing the bee for her in the first place).

"Looks like you need to work on your banishing charm..." Ginny said as she finished walking down the stairs. She walked bravely over to Harry, who had forgotten that his shirt was hanging widely open.

"Ginny," Harry began, but he did not know what he wanted to say.

"Yes?" she answered as she gathered some of her skirt in her left hand as she walked. As she did this, her skirt lifted ever so slightly, revealing her knee. And now the bottom of her thigh. And now a bit more of her thigh.

"Ginny, what are you doing?" Ginny suddenly stopped walking towards Harry and smirked wickedly at him. Without a word, she reached her right hand down to her left thigh, the same thigh that was being revealed ever slowly only a moment before. She bent over slightly as she reached her hand under her skirt and then straightened up again. Her wand now was proffered slackly in her hand as she let go of her skirt with the other. The dress made a rustling sound when it swayed back into its original position.

"I'm going to heal you. What did you think I was going to do?" Ginny said, bearing the same smirk on her face as before. Ginny snapped her gaze from his face to his bee sting. She stared at it for a moment, and then did the charm. Harry felt better, but he was not sure it was simply because he no longer had to endure the pain of the sting.

"You better button up before people think we were up to something in here," Ginny said as she slipped her wand back beneath her skirt. Harry did not attempt to button his shirt- he was staring too fervently at Ginny to move.

"That's some place for a wand, Gin..." Harry remarked before he could stop himself. Ginny straightened up before replying. She tilted her head as she looked at him.

"You think so, Potter?" Ginny said quietly, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth, but quickly faded away. She took a few steps closer to him.

"Does it hurt anymore?" she asked without taking her eyes away from his gaze.

"Does what hurt?" Harry whispered. They were now inches away from one another. Ginny laid her hand softly onto his chest. Her hand covered both where the bee sting had been and where his heart was caged inside his ribs. Willing his heart to slow, Harry tried to answer.

"Ye-yes Ginny. It still hurts." Harry's mouth had gone very dry. Ginny bit her lower lip, much the same way that Ron sometimes does. Speak of the devil.

"Oh bullocks. I'm leaving, I don't want to know, please, just forget I was ever here," Ron said from the doorway and turned to leave. Harry and Ginny froze in place; Ginny still had her hand on Harry's bare chest. Harry's heart had no chance of slowing any time soon.

"Ron, what are you doing? I thought we were going to..." Hermione said from behind Ron and then saw why he was attempting to leave.

"Oh. Well, right. We'll be going now," Hermione said as she grabbed Ron's arm in attempts of hastening their departure. Ginny seemed to have finally realized that her hand was still on Harry's chest and pulled it away promptly. A cold spot was left where her hand had been. Ginny and Harry caught each other's eye ephemerally- only long enough to convey the longing, embarrassment, sorrow, and love that each felt for the other. Ginny stepped away as Molly stepped through the door, followed closely by Ron and slightly less closely by Hermione.

"Please, Mum, I need you to come with me to the side of the house, to um, help Hermione with uh..." Ron tried but Molly made her way through the doorway in time to see Harry have a half-buttoned shirt and Ginny in her best impression of a deer caught in the headlights, standing close-by. Stopping abruptly, Molly surveyed the scene.

"He had a bee sting. I healed it for him," Ginny explained quickly.

"Under his shirt?" Molly asked perplexed.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley I banished a bee for Ginny and the spell must have backfired and it went under my shirt..." Harry began as he finished buttoning his shirt, but stopped when he looked at Mrs. Weasley's face. She looked at Harry in a way that she never had before: skeptically. It was reminiscent of the way Aunt Petunia would look at him when she suspected he had unintentionally done some sort of magic. Her look felt like a stab somewhere in his gullet region. At this moment, Harry realized that Ginny must have spent the last few weeks crying over him whilst receiving wearisome sympathy from those around her.

"Oh God, I'm such an idiot," said Harry unexpectedly. This made Ron, Hermione and Ginny all turn to look at him. All of a sudden, Harry felt violently hot within his collared shirt.

"Excuse me, please," Harry said and slid between Ron and Hermione out the front door, into the blazing sun again.

"I, erm forgot something in my room. I'll just be..." Ginny said as she made her way back upstairs. Molly turned her gaze to Ron.

"Hermione and I were just going to go to the reception, right 'Mione?" Ron said with a polite grin plastered onto his face.

"Yes. We'll see you out there, Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione said in a voice that was slightly too cheerful. Mrs. Weasley had forgotten why she needed to go inside and decided it would be best to sit down for a few moments. Gingerly, she slid a chair out from under the kitchen table and sat down.

After dinner and toasts, Bill and Fleur took the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife. Hermione, Ron and Harry sat together at a table near the front. Hermione was leaning forward with one elbow on the table and she rested her face against her palm. Ron watched his brother dance with his new Veela-wife but could not stop thinking about how he was still hungry after that buffet and wondered if there was any way to sneak back for seconds. Soon, however, he was subdued with the wedding cake. Harry imagined himself dancing with Ginny as newlyweds, fought the image out of head, and then willed the image to return again. Then, after Ron ate his cake and Hermione's (with her permission), and Harry had finished his cake, Fleur danced with her father.

As other couples began taking the dance floor, Hermione looked expectantly over at Ron and Harry, waiting for one of them to ask her to dance with her. Harry was the only one to notice this and so he nudged Ron sharply in the ribs. After Ron simply looked stupidly at Harry for a few seconds, Harry nodded once toward the dance floor. Ron thought for a moment that Harry wanted to dance with Ron, but knew that could not be the case. After a few long seconds, Ron realized he was supposed to ask Hermione to dance. And so he did.

Harry found Ginny standing across the dance floor, near the small make-shift bar. She did not see him, so he felt it was safe to watch her for awhile. She was talking to the twins, and smiling. She laughed jovially at something one of them said. Harry felt his heart break a little and had to look away.

"'arry Potter, will eww dance avec moi?" came a small voice before Harry. He looked up and saw Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, looking hopefully at him. He really did not want to dance at all, but did not want to disappoint the little girl. So, he conceded.

"Erm, sure," Harry said and got up. Gabrielle did not hide her delight. Harry glanced at Ginny once more and saw that she was now watching him. He took Gabrielle's still-childish hand and walked a few steps to the edge of the dance floor. Harry never became a very good dancer even after the Yule ball, but Gabrielle did not seem to mind.

When the song ended, Gabrielle said a quick "Merci!" and disappeared into the crowd. Harry made his way to the bar without having made a conscious decision to do so. He found Ginny still standing there, with an empty glass in her hand, talking to one of the twins.

"How's business?" Harry asked the twin casually.

"Business is booming. We've just started a new line of products for Mum's age," said Fred, handing Harry a glass of champagne.

"Week-long vacations that last only an hour. Lay the kids down for a nap and off you go!" George said as he returned from the restroom.

"They're flying off the shelves like hotcakes," Fred said happily.

"Speaking of cake..."

"Think there's any more?"

"Let's go see," said George and they were off on a hunt for cake. Ginny and Harry were left alone. Setting down his glass, Harry took Ginny's glass and set it down on the bar. Without caring that Mrs. Weasley may give him another skeptical look again, he took Ginny's hand and led her onto the dance floor.

He held her close to himself; as though she really was his girlfriend and they really were not broken up.

"Harry..." Ginny began to protest.

"Please Ginny, just be with me," Harry whispered into his ear.

"What do you mean, be with you?" Ginny said and then tightened her hold around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I mean be with me. Forget what I said before. I can't stand not to be near you."

"What about all that stuff with you-know-who?" Ginny asked, almost against her will.

"He'll know about you and me after Draco's spoken with him, anyway. It'll be better for you to be near me- especially with Dumbledore gone. I'll protect you Ginny. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe, I promise," he said and kissed the side of her head. Over his head, he saw Mrs. Weasley looking at him skeptically. Harry held Ginny closer and smiled at Mrs. Weasley. She smiled kindly back.

Hermione and Ron left the dance floor and were now walking past where the wedding ceremony had been held. All of the chairs were still in their neat rows. Nervously, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and held it in his. Glancing at him, Hermione noticed that Ron was sweating quite profusely and his cheeks were as red as ripe tomatoes despite the fact that the weather was no longer blazing hot. Though she had been pleasantly surprised by his gesture of hand-holding, she was quickly wishing he had not done it because now both of their hands were becoming copiously sweaty. Hermione wished she could somehow inconspicuously reach her wand, which was still strapped to her ankle, and do the cooling charm she had performed earlier on Harry.

Maybe I could try wandless magic... Hermione thought. Throwing caution to the wind, she imagined she had her wand in her hand and was moving it in the correct manner to incant the spell as she concentrated on the spell's words.

"Whoa! Hermione, that was wicked!" Ron commented a moment later, looking down at their interlocked hands. "Since when could you do wandless magic?"

"Erm, today I suppose," she said, slightly embarrassed.

"Come here, I want to show you something," Ron said suddenly as he pulled her to the right, passing past the crowd that was the reception. They were veering into the woods. In the distance, Hermione thought she heard a wolf-whistle. Fred or George noticed us, Hermione thought.

"Where do you think they're going?" Fred asked George as he gestured to Hermione and Ron with his chin. (Consequently, George's wolf-whistle then ensued.)

"To the rock?"

"Yeah I bet," said Fred. "Think Fleur's seen it?"

"I know she has," George said with a wink.

"How do you know that?"

"I heard her complaining to Tonks last summer how Bill's name was imprinted in places it shouldn't be."

"You mean how he engraved his name on the rock?"

"No, bro, no."

"Ha! Bill, the devil. I wonder where Fleur's imprint was of Bill's name."

"Oh the places Bill's name will go..."

"Oi, you two stop talking about my wife, or I'll have to bite you," Bill said from behind Fred and George as he half-heartedly rung them around their necks simultaneously.

"Oh that reminds us Bill..." said Fred.

"You better be careful tonight..."

"Don't want pretty little Fleur to get any hickies..."

"Or become a werewolf."

"Okay, which of you wants to go first? The ugly one or the stupid one?" Bill said and bared his teeth in warning.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked as she broke her hand-holding with Ron so she could hold her dress up above the brush. She had to jog a little to keep up with his quickened pace.

"And why are you walking so fast?"

"Sorry, forgot you were in a dress," Ron said as he stopped to allow Hermione to catch up. As she caught up, he took his robe off, clutched it around the middle in one hand, and then unbuttoned his top button of his dress shirt.

Trying vainly to control her breathing after her jog, Hermione asked again, "Where are we going? I've never been out this far in your woods." Ron's eyes searched her flushed face before answering.

"You'll see," Ron said and smiled innocently down at her. This time, Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and she smiled weakly back. Ron closed his hand gently around hers and lightly squeezed it once.

Would I do this with Harry? No. Definitely not... But, why doesn't it feel strange to be holding his hand like this? Okay, yes I've hoped this would happen for ages... are we really holding hands? Hermione wondered to herself as he guided her gently by her hand toward their destination. She watched his slouched shoulders as he pushed a low branch aside to make sure she was not hurt by it. When did his shoulders begin looking like men's shoulders? Hermione thought as she passed the branch, and he smoothly allowed the branch to swing back into place. For a moment, they were inches apart in order for them both to avoid the branch. Hermione could feel his breath on her cheek and neck before he turned indifferently and continued their hike. Absent-mindedly, he rubbed the back of his neck- an idiosyncrasy that she could not recall him ever lacking.

Ron glanced over his shoulder, seemingly to check on her. He met her eye and smiled kindly at her. Awkwardly, she returned his smile. Is it because I witnessed a wedding today? Am I drunk on butterbeer? ...I didn't drink any butterbeer yet today. Maybe he is drunk. Why do I suddenly feel nervous? I wonder how long until the sun sets? It's already dark but that's only because of the canopy. We're probably going to have to walk back in the dark...well, he probably knows these woods quite well, or I hope so anyway...What am I thinking, I can just Apparate... he can't yet though...well, side-long apparition then. Though, it could be nice walking back with him alone in the dark...Okay, Hermione, relax!

"Almost there," said Ron over his shoulder.

"Ron wait." Hermione surprised herself with her words.

"Sorry, am I walking too fast again?" Ron said stopped, turned, and faced her.

"No, I just have to say something," Hermione said. Ron glanced over his shoulder and back at her again. His expression was that of nervousness.

"Well, what I wanted to show you... could you tell me when you get there?" Ron asked, tugging lightly on her hand.

"No, Ron. Wait," Hermione said again and pulled Ron towards her. In one swift motion, she took a step toward him, put a hand on his shoulder while putting the other on his boyishly crimson cheek, and kissed him squarely on the mouth. Ron's entire body tensed when this happened, which she could feel beneath her hands, but he soon relaxed into her. He slid his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him, kissing her more passionately. He gently broke their kiss a few moments later.

"The sun's setting. Come on, let's dash," Ron said as Hermione bunched her skirt up in her free hand once more. Though her knees felt weak (a new experience for Hermione), she ran after him, holding his hand again.

"See the clearing up ahead? There's a cliff there- we'd better slow down," Ron panted after about two minutes of full-out running. Both of them attempted to catch their breath as drank in the summer air. Now, they had slowed to a stroll and neared the precipice. Finally, they had reached their destination.

"You can see for miles from here," Ron said unnecessarily. They stood on a large boulder which was anchored into a sharp cliff. The boulder was surrounded by various types of trees, all of which were in full foliage. The trees grew all along the sharp edge of rock which descended down into a ravine. Hermione guessed it had to be at least a quarter of a mile's descent or more to the bottom. At the bottom of the ravine ran a brook and in the distance were other large hills, crossing over each other into infinity. As Ron had predicted, the sun was now setting. Fierce shades of red, pink, and purple, which contrasted sharply with the woods, fought each other to stain the sky.

"Beautiful," Hermione gasped. She collapsed into a cross-legged squat onto the boulder, and Ron shortly followed. They sat in a peaceful silence, watching the sunset for a few moments.

"Did all seven of you sign this rock?" Hermione mused as she looked around her feet at the various engravings and paintings on the rock. She had found Fred and George's paint first, next to her foot. It read "Fred and George, future masters and rulers of the universe", and then she found Ginny's loopy cursive paint: "Ginny + Harry Potter", with a smiley-face next to it. Ron watched her intently with a contented grin on his face.

After that, she found Bill's sharp, jagged engraving in front of Ron, which simply read, "Bill was here". Then, she found Charlie's engraving- more patiently done than Bill's engraving- behind Ron, which only read "Charlie".

"Yep, every one of us... well, except for Percy." Hermione looked at Ron as soon as he said this and they sniggered lightly together.

"So where's yours?" Hermione asked, returning her gaze to the stone. Ron pointed to the far corner of the surface of the boulder. She took the two steps it required to get there and bent down. Engraved with Ron's etch-writing was "Ron + Hermione Granger". She looked at it for a moment without speaking. Then, she turned to look at him, her smile wide.

"Ron, how old were you when you did that?" Hermione asked in a tentative tone.

"Twelve," Ron said without stopping to remember. Hermione's expression did not change as she walked toward him and sat down next to him. He turned to face her and took both of her hands in his.

"Hermione-I-love-you," Ron said hurriedly.

"Ron... I... um...how is it that this morning we were having a row and now we're holding hands? And you tell me you love me? I feel.... confused!" Hermione said, tears slowly coming to her eyes. She looked down at the signatures surrounding Ron in attempts to hide her countenance.

"Well there is a first time for everything," Ron joked forcedly. Hermione could tell that Ron had gone from slightly nervous to the fidgeting-nervous.

"Ron, you know that I love you, too." It was not a question, it was a statement. She met his eyes once more and a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. Reflexively, Ron reached up to brush the tear away. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he kissed where the tear had been. Hermione felt the warmth of his lips stay on her cheek briefly. Without preamble, Ron reached into his pocket, withdrew the red velvet box, snapped the box open with one hand (as his other hand with preoccupied still preoccupied with Hermione's hand), and lifted it to Hermione.

"Marry me, 'Mione," Ron said in a hushed voice, "and not because of the war. Marry me because we're meant to be together and because if we're apart for a moment, we can't stand it and because it's been that way since we met each other. Marry me, and be my wife," Ron put a hand on her cheek. Tears were threatening to pour down Hermione's cheeks now. She was trying to cover it up by hiding her face, but it wasn't working. Ron gently tilted her face to meet her eye.

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you Ron. Yes!" Hermione said into his ear when she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Ron hugged her in return. Ron pulled away from Hermione's hug far enough to kiss her deeply and then broke the kiss so he could slide the ring on her finger. She kissed him again.

"What will everyone say?" Hermione said suddenly, eyes slightly widened.

"Probably congratulations... Ginny and Harry already sort of accidentally know, though," Ron said off-handedly. He got up and then helped her up.

"Why don't we Apparate back? It'd be impossible to fight my way through the woods in the dark in this dress," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Good idea, but why don't we just watch the sun set entirely first?" Ron asked lightly.

"Right then, let's go back to the wedding later," Hermione said. Then, she turned, placed Ron's arms intently about her, and leaned her head against his chest, as he leaned his against a tree. Together, they watched the sun complete its setting.