It's Only You, Beautiful
It's only you, beautiful
Or I don't want anyone
If I can choose
It's only you
The No Seat Belt Song::Brand New
Pulling his glasses off, twenty year old Harry Potter rubbed his eyes and stretched back on the lounge and closed his eyes. He was tired, so very tired. Even throughout the war he had never found himself this tired- not even after the final battle with Voldemort. He never realised how much hell he'd have to go through to become an Auror- but at least he was nearing the end of the two year training program.
The door to the flat opened and slammed shut, causing Harry to sit bolt upright. He'd completely forgotten- he couldn't believe it. Grabbing his glasses he ran quickly down the short hallway, into the bathroom and jumped into a shower.
It was Friday night. And it wasn't just any Friday night- he was cursing himself for forgetting. His exhaustion had driven everything else out of his mind. He was taking Hermione out for dinner- he'd gotten reservations at Mon Amie, an exclusive wizarding restaurant that was booked out for months in advance. But being Harry Potter, the boy who lived, had its advantages.
But they weren't just going out for dinner. As Harry got out of the shower, his thoughts turned to the ring that he had hidden so long ago. This wasn't the first time he'd planned to propose- he'd actually been planning to since before they left Hogwarts, but something always came up. But not tonight- tonight everything would be perfect.
'Goodness,' Hermione said to him as he entered the bedroom, wearing only a towel. 'I should wait in here more often.'
'Hello to you too,' he said jokingly, kissing her quickly. 'Shower is all yours.'
'Wonderful,' she said, picking up a pile of clothes and heading into the bathroom. Harry waited until he heard the water go on and rushed over to his old school trunk. Buried at the bottom, underneath all his old school things, was a small, dusty, black velvet box. He opened it and the small diamond ring inside was still shining away.
Dressing quickly, he had just slid the box into the pocket of his robes when Hermione came out of the bathroom. And, as normal, she took his breath away. It wasn't very often that Harry and Hermione did get dressed up to go out, and Hermione managed to blow him away each time. She was wearing deep purple dress robes, made from a flowing, smooth material. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head, with several tendrils flowing down in front of her face.
'Put your eyes back in,' she said, putting on some earrings and perfume.
'You- wow,' he managed to stutter, going up and standing behind her. He looked into the mirror and saw why people said they were such a striking pair- her robes went perfectly with his black ones and she went perfectly with him.
'Are we going to go then?'
'Mmm-hmm, I'll see you in a few seconds,' Harry said. With a pop, Hermione had Disapparated and Harry closed his eyes and then found himself standing outside Mon Amie. There was the usual crowd of wizard photographers standing around, hoping to snap someone famous. Hermione was standing a few feet away from Harry and he hurried over and they managed to make it inside before they realised that Harry had just appeared in front of them.
The hostess was incredibly flustered when she realised who Harry was, but managed to lead them to a table without causing a scene. A bottle of wine appeared several moments later, charmed to automatically serve them when the glasses were empty.
'Here's to world peace,' Hermione said, raising her glass. Harry grinned at her. The world peace toast had become a joke between them and Ron in seventh year. He raised his own glass and gently clinked it with hers.
'To world peace. And to Ron,' he added. Hermione started to laugh.
'I saw Ron today actually- he was at the ministry, screaming about some new regulation the Magical Sports people have passed. He looked possessed.'
'It was about Quidditch, he probably was,' Harry said with a laugh. Ron had begun playing professional Quidditch when they left school and had also just been made the Keeper for the English team.
They managed to eat dinner before people noticed that Harry Potter was in the restaurant, making Harry incredibly nervous. The waitress had just bought them another round of drinks and Harry knew he had reached a now or never situation. He took a deep breath and reached across the table and took hold of Hermione's hands.
'Hermione,' he paused and took a deep breath. 'Hermione, did you realise it's been nine years since we met?'
'Yes- I can add, Harry.'
'Yeah, I knew that.'
'Harry, are you alright?'
'I'm fine- I'm fine,' he paused again. 'What I'm eventually going to get around to saying is that it's been nine years since we met. I remember when we did meet- I wish I had known when you walked into that train compartment what you would become to me. For six years you were my best friend- and then you became something more. It took me so long to realise that I was falling in love with you- and even longer still to realise that you were in love with me. And when I did realise, well, it felt like I was caught in a windstorm. I was completely swept off my feet. And you continue to sweep me off my feet- you walk into the room and I lose track of what I'm saying. When you came out of your shower tonight, I almost couldn't function. And-'
'Harry, you're rambling,' Hermione said, pulling one of her hands free from his and gently stroking his cheek.
'Sorry… what I'm trying to say is, well,' again he paused, but this time he let go of her hands and dug into his pocket and removed the small box. 'Ever since that first meeting on the train, it's only been you. It's only you, beautiful, and it will only ever be you.'
He slid off his chair, onto one knee and opened the box up.
'Will you marry me?'
Hermione burst into tears and dropped onto her own knees and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing.
'Yes- oh, yes!' she managed to gasp, kissing Harry with as much fervour as she could muster.
Suddenly, the restaurant burst into applause and it dawned on both that they were in fact in public. Blushing furiously, they stood up and Harry tossed a pile of galleons onto the table.
'C'mon, let's get out of here.'
They Disapparated from the middle of the restaurant, straight into their living room, where Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and just hugged him tight.
'How- how long have you been planning this?'
'Since Hogwarts,' Harry said with a small smile, kissing the tip of her nose. 'Remember that night we snuck into Hogsmeade?'
'You were going to then?'
'Yup. But we had to go rushing back to school, so I scrapped my plan. And then I was going to at the post war parties- but we had too much other stuff to think of. And the day I asked you to move in, I was going to then, but I thought moving in was enough for then. And then-'
Hermione cut him off mid-sentence with an earth shattering kiss.
'I get the picture,' she whispered into his ear. 'And I love you for it.'
'You really love me?' Harry asked, looking her direct in the eyes. She smiled wryly at him.
'It's only you, beautiful.'
Harry kissed her deeply and let his hands creep onto her waist, where he started to tickle her. She shrieked for him to stop, but instead he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them.