Who: Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger When: December 13th, 2001 Where: Hermione's parents' house, Australia What: Ron surprises Hermione in a big way. Warnings: Ron being sappy Rating: PG Status: Private/Complete
He and Harry had stayed at a hotel last night so that they could get some proper sleep and not be suffering from the time difference. Talking to Hermione's mum, Ron was pretty sure he had even finally mastered the tellyphone; he was lucky his future mother-in-law was so patient with him.
Speaking of which, Michelle had cried when he had shared his plans with her. Ron had found himself getting a bit emotional, too, and he was really kind of terrified about how Hermione react. He never did like it when she cried, even if it was good crying.
Arriving at the house, he was shown out to the garden where Hermione was reading in the shade. Ron took the opportunity to watch her for a few moments, realising just how much he had missed her. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Hey."
Hermione had been outside reading one of her law books for what seemed like the entire afternoon, and she really couldn't think of a better way to spend the day. It was warm, and she'd played Scrabble with her dad earlier because he'd wanted fresh air- he'd been feeling a bit restless.
But it was just her now, and she was feeling dozy and lazy and- was that Ron?
Looking up, a ridiculous smile spread across her face and she stood, going to him immediately. "Hi. What are you doing here?" she demanded, smacking his shoulder even as her arms went around his waist. "You just went back to England. Besides, I would've been home in less than a week anyway."
"Ow." Ron couldn't even rub his arm because she was hugging him. "I come halfway round the world and you smack me? Makes me feel really loved, you know."
He grinned despite this and kissed her. "Wanted to come back out here. Missed you."
"Missed you too," she said softly, lifting her face and rising on her toes a bit to make it easier for him to kiss her. "But don't you have to work or something?"
She paused, just leaning into him and breathing in his scent and enjoying the fact that he was there with her. "Not that I don't want you to be here. I'm really, really glad that you're here."
"Luckily," Ron informed her, "my boss is surprisingly understanding. Especially given recent circumstances." He kissed her again, just because he could and the house in Hogsmeade had been far too lonely without her. Ron could never really get used to being by himself.
"Doing anything tomorrow?" he asked idly, a hand stroking her back.
She let her head rest on his shoulder, chuckling when he mentioned George. He- and everyone, really- had been fantastic with everything lately, she thought, and silently gave thanks for having such great friends in her life.
"Not that I know of. Why?"
Ron's heart was pounding really rather fast, but he did his best to seem nonchalant.
"Nothing, really. Just thought we could get married."
Hermione's eyes snapped up to meet Ron's. He couldn't possibly have said what she just heard him say. Because that would be crazy. And impulsive.
"Tomorrow?"
But wait. She wasn't particularly averse to the idea- in fact, she was so much more than ready to be married to him that not waiting sounded like a damn good idea. She felt a bright smile spread across her face as she nodded slowly. "Yeah. We could."
Oh, Merlin, that smile was good. Ron's chest didn't feel like it was going to burst with anxiety when she smiled at him like that.
"Really? 'Cause I might have already organised the venue and the rings and the dress and - actually, well, Fleur did the dress because I'm rubbish at that sort of thing - and I've got my best man skulking around at the hotel and..."
Ron swallowed. "Marry me tomorrow?"
Hermione's jaw nearly dropped. Well, no, because that was impossible without some sort of severe physical injury, but that was hardly relevant at the moment. "T-tomorrow? Ron- that's- you- you already?"
She couldn't finish her sentence, she found, which mildly annoyed her because it was a bit difficult to render her speechless (although he certainly managed to do it often enough) and so she just sort of looked at him for a moment before bursting into tears and throwing her arms around his neck, nodding and being all weepy.
"Yes. Please. Absolutely."
Now she was crying. Ron had really kind of hoped that he could avoid that, but apparently not. Damn. She was going to make him all emotional and Ron really had hoped to avoid that.
His hand cupped her cheek, kissing her briefly. "Good. I just thought, you know, with everything that's happened... I thought your dad would want to see you get married, you know?" Then, he grinned because he was getting married tomorrow.
Oh, and now the tears were coming faster because he was being thoughtful. And really, this was why she loved this man so much. "Yeah. Thank you. So much." She threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him for a moment.
"Love you. God, so much."
"Love you, too," Ron whispered against her hair. It was her, it had always been her and it was always going to be her. No-one else fit him quite like she did.
"Come on," he said softly. "Your mum's got a bottle of champagne open and apparently we need to pick a tie for your dad to wear."
Hermione sniffled a bit, wiping at her eyes as she stepped back and nodded, grinning. "Yeah. We probably do, he's rubbish at picking out his own ties. Mum and I have been doing it my whole life- sometimes I wonder if he's a tiny bit colorblind, because he can never pick one that matches."
Sliding her hand into his, she tugged on it as she started walking. "Let's go. We can call Harry at the hotel and tell him to come over too."
Ron squeezed her hand tightly, glad for every bit of contact after their time apart, even if it hadn't really been more than a few days.
"Yeah. I'll do it. Ask your mum - I've finally perfected my tellyphone voice." He grinned, kissing the top of her head. "She's sorted us out a wedding cake, too. I can't wait to see it."