Ron had it all worked out. Once Hermione, Ginny and Luna came back from their dinner, he would put his plan into action.
He was sitting in the kitchen of his home, thirty minutes until the girls were supposed to get back, when he encountered his first obstacle “ his family came home.
“No, no, no!” he muttered, jumping to his feet at the sound of the popping coming from the lawn. He sprinted outside to find his father and Harry supporting a drunken and beaten George up to the house.
“Ron, could you open the door for us?” Arthur called out.
“Yeah, Ronniekins. Help out your dear old brother,” George slurred, stumbling up the steps with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Ron was surprised that he didn’t have a Firewhiskey bottle in his hands.
Ron held open the door long enough for his dad and Harry to shove George through before he collapsed at the table and buried his head in his hands.
Stage one of his perfect plan was already ruined.
“Sorry ’bout that, mate,” Harry apologized, sitting down next to Ron. “Someone in the bar said something about someone named Fred and Voldemort and that got George all riled up. I don’t even think that they meant your brother Fred.”
Ron didn’t reply, or even look up. He was too busy trying to revamp his plan.
Harry sighed. “I’ll try and keep them out of your way.”
The sound of a chair sliding across the tile told Ron that Harry had left him.
Of all of Ron’s family and friends, Harry was the only one who knew what Ron intended to do that night. Everyone else was just making his life difficult.
Another pop from outside and Ron heard his mother conversing with Percy about Audrey, Percy’s girlfriend. Eager to avoid them, Ron dashed to the sitting room and sat on a couch, not realizing at first that George was sleeping off the Firewhiskey on the other couch.
Ron swore under his breath. The only place he could go now was his room and he didn’t want to carry out his plan there. He shuddered at the thought.
Ron took out his wand and was about to call Harry in to help him levitate George up to his room when he heard a sound to make his heart stop “ three pops coming from the lawn.
A sinking feeling settled into his gut. The girls were home early, and he wasn’t ready!
“Harry!” he cried, calling his best mate into the room.
“What’s up, Ron?” Harry glanced over Ron, taking in Ron’s wand in his hand and the panicked expression on his face.
“We need to get George out of here. Help, please!”
Harry looked slightly alarmed at Ron’s harassed demeanor, but he hoped that once they got George up to his room that Ron would calm down a bit.
Once they had safely hovered George, snoring soundly, to his room, Ron took a moment to prepare himself. He smoothed out his hair, checked his breath and called forth the words he had practiced so many times from his memory.
It took all of his self-control to not go flying down the stairs, but Ron took them two at a time all the same.
“Hermione, could I have-” he broke off when he entered the kitchen and found that the three people seated around the table were not, in fact, Hermione, Ginny and Luna, but Bill, Fleur and Charlie.
“Hey, Ron!” Bill called out brightly. Ron just stood in the doorway, stunned.
“Ron?” Charlie called out tentatively. All three pairs of eyes watched him cautiously.
“Wh-What are you doing here?” he managed to choke out.
Fleur smiled. “We came to tell you the news. We are going to ’ave a daughter!”
Ron was barely able to manage a small smile and a “That’s great” before he had to escape the kitchen.
Back on the couch, Ron swore again. Now everyone would be so focused on Bill and Fleur that no one would be paying attention to him.
By the level of volume coming through the door from the kitchen, everyone else had come down to greet the happy couple. His mother was chatting away with Fleur loud enough that Ron didn’t hear the final three pops coming from outside.
Sitting on the couch, Ron decided to shift the location of his plan. Instead of the sitting room, he would go outside. He got up to wait for the girls outside, but his hand froze on the handle. Her voice came through the door, “Oh, Fleur, congratulations!”
Could this night get any worse? Ron moaned to himself. Gathering what dignity he had left, he strode into the kitchen.
Everyone was gathered around the table, congratulating Fleur and Bill, giving her hugs and wringing his hand.
Ron walked over next to Hermione. “Hermione, could I have a word outside?” Why, oh, why did his voice have to waver and crack now?
She started a little at hearing his voice right next to her, but she smiled a small smile and agreed, following him outside into the crisp, clear and starry night.
Ron led her a little ways away from the house before turning to talk to her.
“Hermione,” he started, reaching into his pocket for the ring and realizing that it wasn’t there. He froze momentarily, panicking.
“Yes, Ron?” she prompted him.
“Uh, could you give me a second?” Ron mumbled, frantically searching his pockets. There was no ring to be found.
Ron’s plan was shattered; even what he had tried to scrounge from the scraps of the original plan had fallen apart. There was no way she’d say yes to him now, but he had to try. Wand tip illuminated he searched the ground along the path they had walked. Glancing through the window he saw Luna sit on the couch he had collapsed on and jump right back up.
There’s probably a Nargle or something on it he thought distractedly, continuing his search.
The sound of the window sliding open distracted him. When he looked up, Luna was leaning out the window, her hand outstretched.
“Are you looking for this?” she asked in her dreamy voice. In her hand was the ring that Ron had bought in Diagon Alley the week before.
“Luna, you’re a life saver!” Ron thanked her. As he took the ring and hurried back to Hermione, he thought he heard Luna saying something about thanking the Gernumblies. Ron grinned in spite of himself.
Hermione, on the other hand, was looking annoyed. “Ron, will you tell me what’s going on? You’ve been sneaking around these past two weeks and talking with Harry behind my back, stopping whenever I enter the room. Now you bring me out here and leave me standing here while you go running off. What’s going on?” She looked on the verge of tears and Ron immediately reached for her hand, abandoning the plan altogether.
“Hermione, you know that I love you, I’ve loved you since we were both fourteen. I know that I haven’t always been the best boyfriend, or person to be around in general. I have an unruly temper and a mouth that is too big for my own good. But, all that aside, I promise that I will love you until the day I die.” He paused to take a breath; tears were starting to fall down Hermione’s face as he got down on one knee and held out the ring. “Bearing that in mind, Hermione Granger, will you marry me?”
Hermione was openly crying now. “Yes, Ron, yes. I’ll marry you.” She smiled a radiant smile through her tears.
Ron beamed. He stood up and hugged Hermione, lifting her off the ground and spinning. After a quick kiss he slid the ring onto the third finger of her left hand.
“So, you don’t mind that my proposal was all wrong, that I messed it all up?” Ron asked.
“No, Ron.” Hermione assured him. “It was perfect.” Another kiss and they were both walking back to the house, hand in hand.
Fleur was the first to notice. Everyone was still crowded around her when she called out “’Ermione, what is zat on your ‘and?”
Instantly everyone’s attention shifted. They all crowded around Ron and Hermione, congratulating the couple and admiring Hermione’s ring. Ron caught Luna’s eye over the head of his mother, who was in the process of crushing him in a hug, and mouthed a “thank you” to her.
Harry caught his eye and gave him a thumbs-up, which Ron returned.
In all the commotion, only Ron, who was in on the plan, heard Harry ask Ginny a question. “Ginny, could I have a word outside?”
The Perfect Proposal by GinervaPotter213
Chapter Notes: Anything you recognize I probably don't own, it all belongs to JKR.
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