Author's note: This is it, boys and girls. The final chapter. Hopefully it will answer a couple of questions that have been raised earlier.
I want to thank everyone who was patient enough to hang with me until the end. I hope it was worth it.
Disclaimer: The usual applies. Ms. Rowling is the owner of these wonderful characters.
Chapter 7
It's About Time!
Following the incident with the bludger, Harry spent the night in the hospital wing with a concussion. With her Head Girl duties as well as her studies, my human had not been able to see him since she had levitated him to Madame Pomfrey the day before. As it was, she was now pacing the floor of the Gryffindor common room, anxiously awaiting his arrival. Most of Gryffindor House was present, either studying or engaging in recreational activities. I was there for moral support.
The portrait hole soon opened and Harry entered the common room. My human dashed to his side, threw her arms around him, and pulled him into a tight embrace. He laughed and returned the hug.
"It's good to see you too, Hermione," he said.
"Oh, Harry!" she said. "I've been so worried!"
"There was nothing to worry about. It was just a glancing blow to the head from a rogue bludger. I've suffered much worse before."
"It's not just the bludger." She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "It's everything that's been happening these past few weeks."
Harry extricated himself from her arms and walked over to the fire, glancing at Ron along the way. Ron, in turn looked at Dean and the rest of The Conspiracy, who became immediately interested in the chess game they were playing, the books they were reading, and the crud underneath their fingernails. I tried to whistle and turn my attention elsewhere, but it just came out as a hacking sound and the people around me gave me a disgusted look as if I were coughing up a hairball. I refused to dignify them with a stare.
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Harry asked nervously.
My human quickly crossed the room and began combing the hair from his forehead. She looked at his eyes with a worried expression. "Harry, are you feeling okay? Did the bludger do something to your memory?"
Harry shook his head and I could tell he immediately regretting doing it. He grabbed his head and winced with pain. "No," he said finally. "I remember. It's just that I've still got a bad headache."
That seemed to satisfy my human and she continued. "I'm talking about all the strange things that have happened lately. At first, I thought it was a joke, what with the flowers saying that funny message and all. But now I think that was a warning."
"A warning," Harry repeated.
"Yes," she said. "Then there was the bubble, and that awful noise. I didn't think I would ever get my hearing back! McGonagall said it was days before the ringing finally left her ears.
"And let's not forget the statue. You remember, you were with me when that happened. The statue came to life and tried to attack us!"
"Hermione, I don't think . . ."
"I really became suspicious when I found that letter tied to Crookshanks' collar," she continued as if he had not said anything. "The fireball that erupted nearly burned down my room! What was even worse is that someone forged your signature to make me think it came from you!"
Harry's face turned red and he stared into the fire.
"That's when I knew someone was out to get me," my human said. "Yesterday only confirmed it."
"Yesterday?" Harry said.
"Yes. If you hadn't been outside my window at the time, that bludger could have come through and hit me! You happened to be right in the way!" A puzzled look crossed her soft features. "By the way, what were you doing singing outside my window yesterday?"
Several of the Gryffindor girls snickered at this. Harry shot them a dirty look. He then glanced at Ron, who just shrugged his shoulders. Harry sighed and took my human's hands in his.
"Hermione," he began nervously. "Everything that has happened these past few weeks has been because of me."
"Are you saying that someone is trying to get to you through me?"
"No," he said. "I mean that I did all of those things."
"But Harry," her voice quavered. "Why are you out to get me? Don't you love me anymore?" She pulled her hands away from his.
I sighed. My human is the most brilliant witch to attend Hogwarts in many years. However, where Harry is concerned, she can be a bit dense.
"No, no, no," he said hurriedly. "That's not what I mean at all. I mean, that's not what was supposed to happened."
"What are you talking about?"
Harry took a deep breath before answering. "I mean that over the past few weeks, I've been trying to tell you something. Only everything I tried has backfired."
"What have you been trying to tell me? You want to break up with me?"
"No!" Harry cried. "I've been trying to tell you how much I love you!"
"By trying to kill me?!"
"No, by trying to propose to you!"
Every eye in the common room was on them now, except Ron's, who had his head buried in his hands. For her part, my human stood there with a shocked expression on her face.
Harry looked at the floor, before coming to a decision. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small velvet box. He then knelt down on one knee, took her left hand in his right, and gazed lovingly up at my human.
"Hermione," he said softly. "I've often looked back at my life and everything that has happened to me; and I have to admit, the best thing that ever happened was the day when a bushy-haired, bossy little girl came bursting into my compartment on the Hogwarts Express looking for toad named Trevor. For six years now, you've been by my side, through good times and bad. You're my best friend in the world. You taught me how to love when I really didn't know what love was.
"Whenever I've tried to picture my life without you in it, it has scared me. You are my life. You're the very air I breathe, and I can't imagine living a single day without you."
He let go of her hand and opened the box. Light sparkled off the diamond as he extended the ring to her.
"Hermione Granger," he continued. "Will you marry me?"
Tears trickled down my human's cheeks, and she smiled warmly at him. "Yes. Yes! YES!"
Let me say that it was not the fact that there were several squeals by the female members of Gryffindor that caused me to jump three feet in the air, but rather it was the frequency of those squeals that set my cat nerves on edge. Really, the idea of me being startled like that is quite ludicrous!
Grinning from ear to ear and with trembling hands, Harry placed the ring on my human's finger. He then stood and cupped her face in his hands, brushing the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
"I love you," he said tenderly.
"I love you, too," she replied and leaned in until their lips met.
After a few moments, when it was obvious that neither was going to come up for air soon, Ron took it upon himself to ensure them a little privacy. Rising from his seat, he quietly went around the common room, shooing everyone to their dormitories amidst much grumbling. The male Gryffindors complained about having to spend their free time in their rooms, while the females wanted to stay and watch the two lovebirds a little longer.
Eventually Ron, with his sister's help, was able to clear the common room. The two Weasley's smiled at each other and retreated to their rooms leaving my human and her fiance alone. I, of course, stayed. After all, I wanted to witness the fruits of my labor.
A lack of oxygen forced the couple apart. They gazed into one another's eyes for a moment before seating themselves on one of the couches.
"It looks like we've run everyone off," Harry said.
"It looks that way," my human replied. "And not a moment too soon!"
Harry smiled and pulled my human closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. They seemed content to sit there in silence, enjoying the closeness of each other. Not wishing to intrude on their moment, I closed my eyes intending on getting some well deserved sleep. However, my human's next statement piqued my curiosity.
"Harry?" she said.
"Mmm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly, love."
"Why did you go to all that trouble to propose to me?"
I opened one eye, curious as to how he would answer this.
"Well," he started. "Ron thought I should try to do something special. He thought that me being who I am, I should propose in a magical way and not the traditional way."
"But where did you get the ideas from?"
Harry chuckled. "That's kind of funny. The day I told Ron I wanted to propose, Crookshanks bit him on the hand. Ron picked up this magazine and chased him around the room with it."
"He did what?!" she said and sat up straight.
"It's okay!" Harry said and pulled her back to him. "I took the magazine away from him. It turned out to be a copy of Witch's Bridal Monthly. There was an article about the Top Five Magical Proposals of the Ages. Ron thought we should try those."
"I had forgotten about that magazine!"
Harry had a puzzled look on his face.
"Parvati had several bridal magazines that she and Lavender kept reading. I asked her if I could have them when they were through. When I finished with them, I stuck them under my bed and forgot about them! I wonder how it got down here?"
She looked over at me, and I quickly closed my eye, feigning sleep.
"I don't know," Harry said. "But we tried all five, and you see what results we got."
"`We'?"
"Umm, yeah. After the bubble attempt, Dean, Neville and Seamus kind of got involved."
"Oh, no wonder things went wrong!" She playfully slapped him on the chest. "Seriously, though, why didn't you just do what you did tonight?"
"Because Ron said . . ."
"Well, that was your first mistake right there," my human interrupted. "What you did tonight was what I've always wanted; you pouring your heart out and showing how much you love me."
"So everything these past few weeks could have been avoided?"
"Exactly."
"I'm going to kill Ron," Harry said quietly and my human laughed.
"Why don't you wait until later? I'm rather enjoying our time alone" she purred (She actually purred! And take it from me, I know a purr when I hear one!).
"Yes, ma'am," he said and leaned in for a kiss.
Content with the world, I laid my head back down and settled in for my nap. Just as I was about to drift off, I heard Harry's voice.
"Hermione. I think Crookshanks is smiling again."
Post script: There you have it kids! Harry and Hermione are on their way to the altar! Thanks for sticking with me throughout all the disasters. I hope it was worth it.
I will be adding a short epilogue in a day or two. It's just something I wanted to add that I think kind of sums up both "Have a Nice Trip" and "To Lend a Helping Paw".