Author's Warning: If you don't like fluff, leave now. ;-)
The teens returned from Diagon Alley a bit subdued. All four had garment bags. Hermione and Ginny had new dresses and Harry and Ron both had new black dress robes, fancier than anything worn for the Yule Ball. They had dropped hints about the upcoming wedding, at least the one in September, all over Diagon Alley. Rita Skeeter's article was only going to confirm the rumors that were probably already circulating.
Before they went to hang their clothes, Harry said, "Hermione, meet me downstairs in half an hour. Wear something pretty."
She gave him a quizzing look.
"Just do it," he said.
So, she did. In thirty minutes, Hermione met Harry as requested. She was wearing a yellow sundress and had her hair pulled back and tied with a yellow ribbon.
Harry gave her a bouquet of red roses as she met him at the base of the stairs.
"Oh, they're beautiful," she gushed. She inhaled their sweet fragrance, "Nice."
"They don't compare to you." He took her hand and led her to a room that was bewitched to look like their own private restaurant. There was a single, small marble-topped table and two cloth covered burgandy chairs. A podium with a vase stood beside the table ready to hold the flowers. The room was lit with at least a hundred white candles.
Harry escorted Hermione to her seat and pulled it out for her to sit down. "This is how it's supposed to be done," he said as he pushed her chair closer to the table.
"This is so sweet," she said. "How did you arrange it?"
"I had some help from Mrs. Weasley, er, Mum." Even though Harry would keep his surname, the Weasleys had told him he could call them Mum and Dad if he felt comfortable with it. He had taken it as a request for him to do so and was working on the comfort factor. He did not want to disrespect his own parents, but he did not want to hurt the Weasleys. They had practically adopted him. He justified it by reasoning that many people called their in-laws Mum and Dad or called non-relatives Aunt or Uncle. It was nice to have someone to call Mum. He could not imagine that he loved Mrs. Weasley any less than the idea of his own mother.
Hermione nodded, understanding the myriad of emotions that Harry was going through by calling someone other than Lily by Mum.
Dobby appeared, "Mr. Harry Potter, Sir," he started. "Ms. Granger, Dobby is serving you tonight. What can Dobby bring to drink?"
"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said. "I'd like pumpkin juice. Hermione?"
"Me too," she said.
"Right away, sir and miss," he said.
"He's cute," Hermione commented.
Harry reached across the table to take her hand, "No, you're cute."
"No, you're cute," she argued teasingly.
"No, you're cute," As they argued, they got closer and closer until they were both standing and kissing over the middle of the table.
Dobby squeaked and they both returned to their seats. He set down their goblets, two plates of salad, and a basket of different kinds of breads. "Enjoy!" Dobby said, disappearing.
In a moment, Dobby was back with a violin. He played parts of "Someone to Watch Over Me," "It Had to Be You," "Th Way You Look Tonight," and "You Belong to Me."
The clapped exuberantly between songs. "I didn't know you could play!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Neither did Dobby, miss," he answered with a bright blush on his cheeks.
He brought their entrees: filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots and green beans. He then left to give them privacy.
"I can't believe you did this," Hermione said lovingly.
"I figure I have to squeeze about two years worth of courtship into one night," he joked. He took her hand again. "But don't worry, I'll still be trying to court you when we're eighty. I plan to sweep you off your feet for the rest of our lives."
She sighed, "You're off to a great start."
Neither brought up the subjects of Voldemort or Rita Skeeter or even their first wedding though they would be legally married in twenty four hours. They talked about their future as if it were certain. They would both be aurors or maybe professors at Hogwarts or maybe they would disappear into the Muggle world. Hermione worked her way down to six kids as they laughed over the image of sending their "spawn" (as Lupin so eloquently described their future children) to Snape.
"And if Neville and Ginny get together, he could be teaching Weasley-Longbottom spawn at the same time as the Granger-Potter spawn," Hermione giggled at the mental picture of an incredibly distressed Severus Snape.
"Don't forget the Weasley-Lovegood spawn," Harry added. "Hey, maybe I should hyphenate my name to Potter-Weasley and we could call our kids Granger-Potter-Weasleys. They'd terrify every teacher at Hogwarts that way."
Hermione laughed, but then said, "Ewww."
"What?"
"I just realized... the Slytherins will reproduce too."
Harry blinked twice, "Ewww," he agreed. At the same time, they both said, "Goyle Spawn!" and fell into fits of laughter.
"I think I've lost my appetite," Hermione coughed.
They were laughing again when Dobby brought in a desert, pumpkin cheesecake.
"I couldn't eat another bite," Hermione declared after finishing her desert.
"Me either," Harry agreed. "But I have another surprise for you," he told her.
"As long as you don't want me to eat it," she grinned. "I'm not going to fit into my dress tomorrow."
"No, I don't want you to eat it." He stood and helped her to her feet.
The violin started again, though Dobby was nowhere to be seen. Harry pulled Hermione into his arms and they danced slowly and very closely. He smelled the familiar faint scent of her hair. He realized it was the most comforting smell to him as he kissed her ear.
Hermione giggled as Harry's breath at her neck tickled. She turned to meet his lips and they kissed deeply and more sensually than ever before. Harry's hands were around her waist and she had her fingers in his hair while rubbing his back with her other hand. They had stopped dancing. He kissed a trail down her neck to the porcelain skin just above the top of her dress. Hermione did not want him to stop, but he did.
She opened her eyes to find Harry on one bended knee. She met his striking green eyes and felt as though she had stopped breathing.
"Hermione," he began, "I wanted a moment for just you and me, to let you know how much I love you."
She felt happy tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Circumstances have put us in a difficult position, but I think circumstances have prepared us too. I know that I could do nothing without you. You're my strength, my saving grace. You're the voice in my head that keeps me going. I didn't know what love felt like until you came along. You've taught me so much more than charms that have saved my life. You've taught me how to be a friend, how to find hope, how to believe in something. You've taught me what love feels like and you've taught me that," his voice broke. "That someone does love me." He tried to fight all the negative memories of his relatives spitting that he was a worthless freak. "I lived thinking that was impossible for so long."
Hermione's tears spilled as she thought of how much Harry's relatives had hurt him emotionally, not just physically.
He continued, "You've give me possibility, brightness in the darkest times, and a reason to fight whatever I have to in order to secure our safety and future. More than anything else, it's you. Hermione, my Mione, I love you." He opened a black velvet box to reveal the ring he'd bought her.
With tears that were now of joy streaming, Hermione answered with a resounding, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Harry slipped the ring onto her finger and hand trembled as she raised it to get a better view. "It's beautiful!" she gasp. "Stunning!"
Harry got to his feet, "No you're beautiful."
"No, you're beautiful."
"No, you're beautiful," she ended the argument with her lips meeting his again.
Somewhere in the room, a very happy hidden house elf began to play another song.