Chapter 1: Getting Ready

Ron was completely flustered as he put on his tie. It had been years since the war, yet he still had problems with getting flustered around Hermione; she just had that effect on him. But now, if everything went right, things would become a bit different. He sighed as he stopped fiddling with his (blasted) tie, and looked down at the little box he had taken out of his trousers. He popped it open and stared at the ring again. He would never get tired of looking at it. It reminded him too much of Hermione. It was simple, with a plain gold band, nothing fancy, yet if you tilted it just right, you could see the thin webbing of platinum underneath. He had looked long and hard (not to mention scrimped and saved) for this one object, and now he was determined not to mess it up.

Hermione, however, wasn't fretting at all. Ron hadn't even mentioned asking her something, so what had she to be worried of? She simply smiled to herself and giggled every once in a while (in a way very unlike herself) as she put on her dress and did her hair. She sighed once everything was perfect. It was just a year and a half after Harry and Ginny had gotten married, and she was very happy for them. They had always been perfect for one another, so why shouldn't they get married? She couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy, though, because she would have liked to at least been proposed to by now, but she knew that Ron took his time. At this she laughed out loud.

Yes, Ron always had taken his time, and it wasn't from lack of feeling, rather the opposite, actually. It was Ron's abundance of caring and love that kept him going a little slower than everyone else. He always thought about things having to do with family through very carefully. However, he would protect things very vehemently when need (or what he thought was need) be. For example, take Ginny. Ginny, always his kid sister, he had tried to protect her from everything, yet she did not want to be held back by Ron, or any of her family for that matter. She had always been the youngest. Ron also protected Harry, forever his best friend (even though he wouldn't admit it at times). Ron had protected Harry not only from others, but at times, himself. Harry was prone to beat himself up for not being perfect, and Ron was good at cheering him up. Hermione...well...Hermione had always thought Ron picked on her because of Lockhart, Victor (more commonly refered to as Vicky), and McLaggen. At first, she had thought it was just him trying to be a git, but when they had gone off in search of the Horcruxes, she noted that it may have been something more. Hermione herself had liked him since she had seen him use that pitiful spell on his rat and the dirt on his nose. She didn't know what Ron thought of her, but she was pretty certain that he had liked her all those years, and had been rude to the aforementioned people because of that fact.

"Hermione, Come on! We're going to be late!" called a voice from down stairs, and she grinned.

"Coming, Ronald!" she said, and he groaned at her usage of his full name.

"My NAME is Ron, I will not answer to Ronald." Ron said, turning away from her playfully.

"Even if I told you to 'Come snog my brains out, Ronald'?" she asked, and she could almost feel Ron hesitate. She laughed, effectively cutting off the teasing moment.

"Nice one, Hermione, very funny." he said, in a clearly sarcastic tone. She simply grinned back and took his arm.

"Shall we? I do remember you saying something about being late." Hermione said, and Ron nodded, quickly stepping into the fireplace so that they could Floo over to George's shop.

This wasn't a regular date, but a family one, so to speak. They were having a birthday bash over at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for George, who had insisted on having it at the shop. Why had Ron chosen this occasion for proposing, you ask? Well, Ron was rather tired of waiting to propose, so he decided to take her aside during the party and propose then. That was why Ron was jumpy, not because he was unsure about his choice, or about Hermione's answer. Hermione had talked ot him about the future once or twice, and they had agreed that they wanted to get married some day, but they wanted to take it slow (as usual). So now, he had to endure the teasing of all his siblings (plus Harry, his mum and dad, and his sibling's assorted spouses). Oh joy. Ron grimaced as he stepped out of George's fire place. This was going to be...interesting.