Unofficial Portkey Archive

What is Love?

A/N: This is for those who wanted this so badly… To be honest, I looked forward to writing this chapter at some point hehe. You can interpret the song the way you want, that's why I chose it ^_~

Happy reading! And please R&R.

CHAPTER XVI

Sweet Surrender

I wonder how,

I wonder why,

I wonder where they are?

The days we had

The songs we sang together.

And oh, my love!

I´m holding on forever

Reaching for a love that seemed so far

.- My Love by Westlife

2004 - Grimmauld Place

After one more day in the hospital, "just in case", the midiwizard had said, and she agreed with him completely. What had happened to Harry hadn't been something you just get over it. He went back to Grimmauld Place with a two week break, which he took very reluctantly and just because the head of his division lived with him.

As they flooed back to the house, Lariana and Tonks were desperately trying to carry all of Harry's things. "It's all right, I was just injured in duty, I didn't nearly-"

"Oh, yes you did. Don't even try and use that excuse on me," Lariana told him with a warning tone.

Harry had to stop in mid-sentence because she was certainly right. "Fine! I did, but I can still carry my things."

"I am sure you can but you are in leave, and that means that at least for today, you won't move a finger," Tonks interjected, smirking at the pair discussion and obviously taking Lariana's side, as she'd always done.

Harry opened his mouth to argue back, and kept quiet for a moment until Remus appeared from the emerald flames. "Remus! Please tell them!"

"Merlin! I just stepped into the house and you're already pulling me into your discussion! Unbelievable!" he protested with an amused smile.

"Well, tell them I'm not seven."

"Oh no! I'm not getting involved here," he said with both hands up after leaving one bag on the floor. Harry started objecting back and Remus sighed before he could continue. "But If I MUST take a side, then I'm with the girls on this one."

"What?! I can't believe you just-"

"Balance altered, so you better head up to your room and shut up," Lariana told Harry with a satisfied smile.

Harry threw his hands in the air. "Fine!" he said and apparated up to the top room, the one Sirius used to own. A moment later, he apparated back to the hall and looked at the three with a high profile. He started walking to the stairs and climbing them… ALL three flights. He didn't care if it still hurt to move, but if they were to get away with it, it wouldn't be as easy.

"I don't believe this!" Tonks exclaimed indignant and burst out laughing a second later.

"Does it hurt, dearest Harry?" Remus asked with a mischievous sneer.

"Not at all!" he said firmly as he winced while getting to the second floor.

"You're definitely your father's son," he laughed when seeing how stubborn he was being. "And your godfather's godson," he added after a moment with a faraway, melancholic expression he often got when talking about his lost mates.

"Shut it, Moony!" Harry snarled and kept climbing, cringing with each step.

"Honestly! Wingardium Leviosa," Lariana waved her wand and Harry lifted a good ten feet in the air. "I don't reckon you want to rid yourself of the spell and fall, do you?" she said with sarcasm.

"Put me down! Lariana Stephanie Holmes! Put. Me. Down!"

"When you're up in your bed, I will."

"Ugh! Holmes! Let go!"

"When you're up in your bed, I will."

"Argh! You're impossible! Now I understand why I didn't-"

"Don't. Even go there," she warned him and breathed in relieve when he stayed quiet.

Finally they reached Harry's room and Lariana put him down on the big four-poster bed. "There, now you have to rest," she said kindly and her eyes sparkled as they locked with Harry's. "Are you going to stay mad?"

"You know I don't like to be forced into anything," he responded sulkily.

"And you know you were being stubborn to the last bone. I believe we're even then."

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"About almost- you know.'

"Well, you were mad; I know you speak without thinking when you're having a fit." She laughed at herself when seeing Harry's reaction.

"You do," he replied quietly. "I'm still sorry, it wasn't nice of me."

She came to his bed and sat next to him. "It's all right, Harry." She said and placed a hand on his cheek. "I understand."

Harry took his hand to hers and smiled. "You were always the rational one. And the gentle one," he said fondly and sat back against the pillows without taking his eyes from her dark green ones.

She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again, chuckling a little and looking down. "I should go," she said and kissed his forehead before standing to walk out. She placed a hand on the doorknob and stopped, not turning around. "Why, Harry? We were so great toghe- back then when…" she trailed off, not quite able to bring herself to finish the question, afraid of the answer she already knew.

She sighed at the lack of response and opened the door, walking out. Before closing it, she looked up, eyes shining, and smiled. "Good night, Harry. Sleep tight," she finished and closed the door.

Harry stared after her and sighed heavily. Why had he really? He honestly didn't understand why she didn't hate him after what he'd done. One more side effect of Hermione… One more thing I caused myself, he thought, resigned.

September 2000 - Downtown London

It was past midnight, no girls tonight. It had only been him, his firewhisky and his thoughts. Harry was in his week off; normally that would be good, because he'd had a rather tired one, but it wasn't as good now because he had time to think of other stuff, and that wasn't good for his psyche or his liver.

Hermione had turned him down for the last time and he hadn't heard of her ever since, nor he wanted to. For the past two months, he'd buried himself in his work, and the weeks off he got per month had been dedicated to self-pity and trying to do more work.

Remus had obviously been there for him, taking him places and telling Tonks to accompany him everywhere, even if they weren't as close by the time. At first, Harry was rather pissed at his old professor; he thought Remus pitied him, but when looking into his soft and concerned brown eyes, Harry had accepted.

He had to recognize that Remus and Tonks had indeed cheered him up whenever they tried anything, and was very grateful for it. But the both also had jobs; they had to be at the office and their days off sometimes didn't coincide with his week. Those were the moments in which he tried to understand it all and find an answer, which never came.

He stumbled a bit as he walked out of a muggle pub he'd picked on going at least once a week, and twice or thrice in his week off. He was a regular and well-treated costumer now and every once in a while, the owner hooked him up with either another costumer or a whore. In this pub, he wasn't Harry Potter, the grand auror; or Harry Potter, the boy who ridded the Wizardring World from The Dark Lord twice. He was just Harry, a costumer at "H&H Pub".

As he passed the streets, some people saw him with disdain, and some just laughed or didn't even bother. He was going to the alley he always used to apparate back home; it was about three blocks away from the Pub, and it wasn't really in a nice place but he honestly didn't care.

As he reached his apparating point, a black form was noticed by his auror eyes. He frowned and turned slightly to check on it… People dressed in all black, in the middle of the night, in a street like this, was either a muggle crook or a Dark Wizard.

It moved with grace through the night, and he could see through the hood a lock of long dark hair. He did a double take at deducing it was a woman and kept an eye on her as she moved along the dark street.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, three more black figures appeared. Dark Wizards, he confirmed as he saw them taking her by force. In the struggle, her hood fell back to reveal olive skin and dark brown wavy hair down to her mid-back.

Harry did his best to sober up and help her. He darted towards the fight, and the girl was putting a fairly good one, if you asked him. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he exclaimed to get the wizards' attention.

"Mind your own business, drunken!" one of the attackers spat and went back to the task at hand, which earned him a good kick on the inner thigh, and he doubled over.

"You little bitch!" the other wizard said and slapped her so hard she fell to the ground.

"You bastard! NEVER, did you hear me? NEVER lay a hand on a woman!" he roared and his hood fell back as well. At that, the wizard gasped and looked at his fellow; they both apparated away in a snap, leaving behind the first one, who was still curled on the ground.

Harry walked to him and grabbed the wizard by the neck of his robes. "What the bloody hell did you want with her, huh?" he asked dangerously.

"We were only following orders, I honestly don't know!" the wizard cried.

"Liar!" he spat at him, the wizard's mind was so weak that Harry's very primitive ligilimens ability and his inebriated state still allowed him to see the truth. Indeed, the wizard didn't know. He threw him back. "Go, now!" he roared again and the wizard backed, apparating away a split second later.

When sure that they weren't coming back, Harry turned to the girl lying on the ground. "Are you all right?" he asked, offering a hand to help her up.

She looked at him and a hesitantly accepted the extended hand. Her nose was bleeding, and the right side of her face was swelling quickly.

Harry frowned and took a hand to her face, she winced at the touch. "Uh, that looks nasty. Do you have a place near here to go, where we can tend to that?" he asked, the world around him still spinning a little, even though the adrenaline rush had sobered him slightly.

"I- yes. Are you-?"

"I'm afraid so," Harry said with a chuckle. Even if he'd let go off his fame-love already, he still liked it when people looked at him with awe and admiration. "I take it then that you're a witch," he said a bit seductively, something he couldn't help sometimes. "So, anywhere?" he continued.

"Yes, I am," she smiled, a beautiful soft smile. "My place is only a few blocks away, just that this is the only muggle-safe apparating spot."

"I bet you it is," Harry laughed. "I wonder why we've never seen the other while apparating?"

"Must've missed each other…" she replied."Besides, it's not been long since I hang around here," she said while leading the way.

Harry followed, tripping occasionally with his own feet or an irregularity of the sidewalk. He nearly fell on his nose in one of those and the girl caught him before he did.

"Seems like someone's been drinking a little…" she commented, noticing for the first time the smell of alcohol of Harry's.

He coughed, trying to appear sober. "No, not at all. Just that the sidewalk is terrible."

She laughed. "It sure is… I have a sobering potion at the bar, if you wish…" she offered.

Harry tripped over once more and she caught him yet again. "Uhm- maybe it'd be good," he accepted, resigned. "At the bar, you said? Wouldn't it, by any chance be the H&H, would it?"

She chuckled. "As a matter of fact, yes. I am part owner now, that's why I came back from the U.S."

He noticed for the first time that the girl had dark green eyes, olive skin and dark hair; her family was definitely not originally from the UK. After getting lost in her spheres for a moment, he shook his head with a smile. "America? That would explain the accent, though it's not too noticeable."

"I know, I was there for only six years. I went to Hogwarts my first year and then transferred there. I actually was in Dennis Creevey's class. You sure remember his brother, Colin."

Harry rolled his eyes. "How could I forget the little bugger? Always with his camera, following me."

"Indeed. Well, I transferred to Salem on my second year and finished there. I had to come back to take over my dad's business."

"So it's Harris, then? Or Holmes?" he asked as they reached the bar again and entered. The Barman saluted him warmly once more and then noticed the girl.

"Lariana! So nice to see you! Isn't it a bit late?" the old man asked in a London-deformed French accent.

"I know it is, Carl. I got caught up at Brinna's."

Then, he noticed the bruise on her face. "Jesus Christ! What on Earth happened to you?" The man that went by Carl exclaimed, taking a hand to her face. He glanced at Harry, puzzled.

"They came again," was all she said. Quickly, Harry was becoming more interested in her and the reason why those Dark Wizards attacked her that night.

Carl looked really upset and concerned. He sighed. "Oh, goodness, when will they stop? Isn't it enough that they already-"

"Carl, please." The girl Carl had called Lariana lifted a hand to stop him and he obliged. "Thank you. Harry, here, saved me."

"How did he-? And why didn't they-?"

"He's one too. And an auror, for that matter," she informed.

Carl seemed to understand immediately. "Oh, I see." He turned his attention to Harry. "Thank you very much Monsieur Potter, you will definitely be getting some drinks on the house from now on!"

He chuckled; apparently he was a muggle that knew about the Wizardring World. "It is not necessary at all, Carl."

"Like hell it isn't! You saved my goddaughter; Robert would've wanted it that way!"

"We were about to go upstairs to check on this," she interrupted before the two men could continue. "Shall we?" she ushered Harry.

He frowned at her and shrugged as they went up to the third floor. The first was the bar and the second story was the rooms; but the third had a sign that said 'Authorized Personnel Only'.

"So your name is Lariana…" Harry tried to move on with the conversation, perceiving that she wasn't too comfortable talking about whatever Carl was talking about.

"Yes, it is. I am Lariana Holmes. A pleasure, Mr. Potter."

"Please, call me Harry," he insisted as she opened the door.

"All right… Harry. A pleasure." She flashed him another smile and took off her cloak to hang it by the door.

"The pleasure is mine."

"I'm glad you were there, they would've definitely hurt me," she said and took from a small cabinet a small vial with a green liquid inside. "This should help you."

"I'm glad too," he agreed with a smile and then noticed the liquid inside the little bottle and made a face.

"I know it doesn't look very nice, but I've made it so it tastes of kiwi. You like kiwi?"

"Uhm… it's better than the taste of aconite," he granted and she laughed.

March 2001 - Grimmauld Place, London

The usual Annual Weasley dinner had been necessarily split into two dates because of obvious reasons. Although Ron was her son, Harry was as good as and she couldn't leave him out of it.

It had turned out to be quite good in the end, as much as it pained her. One dinner would take place on February, celebrating the Lunar New Year, with Ron, Hermione and the Weasley Family at the Burrow. The other one would take place at the old Headquarters… No. Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

This had been quite a night, actually. Charlie had announced that his wife, Carolina was pregnant with their second child and that it was most likely they were twins. Fred and George had seemed ubberly pleased at this, much to Molly's dismay; she didn't even want to think of what those two would teach the still unborn children.

Bill had come to dinner with his current partner and fiancée for the first time, and everyone but Ginny had loved Alexis. Ginny hadn't liked Fleur (Bill's first wife) or the next girl he took to the annual dinner, about a year after he'd gotten the divorce.

Harry had been dating some girl that was applying for a Ministry position, for the past five months, and Molly was pleased to see that he was happy when he was with her. She had only met Lariana twice before, and she'd noticed that for the first time in a long time, Harry's smile reached his eyes. The old emptiness and sadness was gone, except for a few unguarded moments in which she caught him. But overall, she made him happy, and Molly was glad about it… maybe in time she would even be able to gather her whole family together once again.

When dinner was long over, and they had all had tea, it was almost ten at night. She stood and glanced at her oldest two. "Boys, I believe it's time to take Sammy and Ryan to bed," she stated.

The two had been deep in conversation while the little ones played with anything and everything they found around the old house. Bill looked up at his mother. "Right mum, it's rather late." He searched around for his four year-old and found him and his three year-old cousin playing with a silver thing in a corner. "Ryan! To bed!" he called to the beautiful strawberry blond little boy. He looked a lot like his mother, but he could definitely be recognized as a Weasley by the eyes and the freckles all over his face and body.

Charlie stared fondly at where his little girl was and smiled. "Sammy, it's time for bed sweetheart," he said softly.

The little girl with Weasley hair and her mother's face turned her attention to her father. "Yes, dada," she chimed and merrily walked to where Charlie was sitting. She climbed to her father's lap and grinned. "Stowy?"

Charlie laughed. "It's quite late, hun," he said and put a finger on her small nose. "Story for tomorrow, all right?" She pouted but finally nodded. "Now go to mummy, she'll take the two of you to your room."

He stood and took the little girl across the room, to her mother. Ryan and Bill followed close. "Would you please, Carolina?" Bill asked the brunette and she smiled and rolled her eyes. "Thanks a bunch!" Bill said happily and watched as his sister-in-law took his son and goddaughter up to the second floor bedroom that had once been Harry and Ron's.

Lariana was sitting on the huge table at the kitchen, staring idly at the two eldest Weasleys, their partners and children. Her expression was one of sweet calmness and a small smile decorated her beautiful face. She had a slight longing sensation… maybe a little jealousy.

She was more than happy with Harry, but sometimes she wondered where they were going; what would happen to the "us" in the long term. Every so often, she noticed things that made her doubt a little; doubt if he was capable of real commitment… The sole thought of it not happening made her shudder, so she usually chose to ignore those things.

As her mind traveled and rambled incessantly, it always went to that dreadful spot; the one locked under seven keys; the one about Harry and his past love life… more exactly his love life with Hermione.

Lariana was very aware of the ghost she was 'competing against'; she had heard a bit too many times of the eternal love Harry and Hermione shared, and how horribly it had ended the unconquerable trio when the two had broken up and she'd chose to be with Ron; Harry's former best friend.

Every now and then, Harry liked to sit on his overstuffed armchair by the fire, and just stare into it. Lariana had, more than once, watched him while he was alone with his thoughts. Even though he looked peaceful in the outside, there was something about his demeanor that told her it wasn't so. Deep into that thoughtful expression, Lariana was sure of what was in his mind… and she didn't quite like it but couldn't do anything about it.

Sometimes she even wondered if she'd ever had all of Harry… or if she'd ever do. When getting to that point, she had learned that the best thing to do was shake herself away from the thought and move on; she was with him, and he had chosen her; that had to be good enough or she'd go mad.

She had also heard things on how Harry used to be ever since his godfather's death and the war. She had heard about how he was a big-headed prick back then but she never wanted to believe it because the Harry she knew and loved wasn't like that; at least not generally.

Sure, sometimes she noticed "slips", and they annoyed her a little, but some part of her was happy to see it because that meant that he wasn't lying to her and she saw a part of Harry that had marked his past; just like when he had nightmares about Lord Voldemort and his school days… That showed her she wasn't with some empty being, but with someone with a harsh past that had grown to be a wonderful man.

Harry had offered to do the dishes while Molly and Arthur went out for a stroll under the moonlight. When he was done, he turned from the sink towards Lariana. She had that dreamy look again, and Harry had to smile when seeing the smile that had captivated him that night at the alley.

She definitely was no Hermione, but Harry was almost sure he loved her, and he was more than positive that she would never, in a million years, do anything to hurt him. He didn't know if she couldn't or wouldn't… but in the end, what mattered was that she made him happy, just about complete. He knew he would probably never forget Hermione, but Lariana was special, and Harry considered himself lucky to have found someone like her to love and be loved in return.

She yawned, her right hand covering her mouth, and Harry couldn't help but smile again. In three long strides, he covered the distance between the sink and the table and wrapped his arms around her. "What is it, hun?" he asked softly.

She jumped a little when feeling his strong arms around her and then smiled, throwing her head back to look at him. "Nothing, I'm just tired," she stated.

"Would my lady like to be escorted?" he asked, kissing her on the lips.

She sighed. "Yeah, I should get going to my flat."

"I thought you were going to stay here tonight as well…"

"Harry, I haven't been to Larcy in almost a week."

"I know, but still."

"Why don't you come over for a change?" she asked. Harry hesitated for a moment and she felt a growingly annoyed sensation towards her partner. She sincerely didn't know why, but at the moment, Harry not wanting to go to her apartment was a reason to be upset about. I'm prolly approaching those days… she thought resignedly. But even so! She argued with herself.

"Well, my bedroom is much bigger, and more comfortable. Besides, Remus will be back tomorrow, when the full moon is over, he'll need tending to."

"Oh, please! That is so lame!"

"What? He does!" Harry argued defensively. "What's going on, Lar?" he asked helplessly.

"Nothing! Just that you never want to stay the night at my place, that's all."

He sagged. "You know I'm not much at ease with that."

"Harry, it is important that we share that too."

"It is not necessary, and you now it."

"It is for me."

"What's the point of this, really?"

"The point is that you're just having a fit and being stubborn about it. You know it is not much, what I'm asking for."

"You're doing it again!"

"So are you! You're being terribly willful!"

"And you're pushing me on something I don't want to do!"

"I am asking you to do this for me!"

"Fine! Let's go to your place!" he snapped sulkily.

Lariana's shoulders slumped. "Harry- let's not. I'm sorry."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Sorry, Lar. You know how I get with these things."

"Same here."

"Besides-" he turned his eyes to her, a hopeful and rather naked expression on them. "I wanted to ask you something," he said taking a hand to the back of his neck.

She frowned, Harry only did that when he was nervous or anxious; she cocked her head to a side. "What is it, Harry?"

"I- well, I wanted to- You know how you haven't been spending much time in your flat? Well, I was wondering if you- if you'd want to make that change permanent," he finally blunted out, avoiding her eyes.

She was shocked for a moment; all traces of anger vanishing in one second and her face softened. "You- really mean that?"

He focused on her again, his eyes shining. "Yes, I do. I want this to last, I want you to move in with me… if that's all right with you, that is," he added like a little boy.

She stayed silent, and Harry expression in those seconds was priceless. Finally she regained control of her body and use of her throat. Jumping on him, she let out a happy yelp. "Harry! I would love to!"

He was taken aback by her reaction and stumbled a little when she threw herself at him, but quickly recuperated balance and wrapped his arms around her. "Really? That is brilliant!" he exclaimed and claimed her lips passionately.

Her arms went to his neck and her hand to his messy black hair. "I love you, Harry," she let out from the deepest of her heart.

Harry gaped at her for a moment and then smiled. "I love you too, Lariana," he whispered those wonderful words in her ear and she smiled contently.

October 2001 - Grimmauld Place, London

It had only been a few months since Lariana had moved into Grimmauld Place. People always said that the first months of co-habiting were the hardest to get by… they had been right when Harry and Remus had started living together, and even more when Tonks moved in. But surprisingly, with Lariana it had been different; they had barely had a few misunderstandings and rows, and they were both astounded at this… flabbergasted but happy.

"I still don't know how those two manage, honestly," Tonks was commenting as she and Remus were having breakfast at the kitchen.

"Guess there aren't many differences to settle."

"But still, you can't deny it's strange."

"Gratefully peaceful, I would say," he affirmed with a smile.

"What's peaceful?" A young man, with untidy black hair asked as he came down the stairs, looking as if he'd just woken up, which he had.

"You know what time it is?"

"Uhm… not really, but judging by how the two of you are almost done with your breakfast, I would say it's almost late for work."

"Bingo, Sherlock!" Tonks chimed. "You really need to keep down that diet of yours," she smirked.

Harry turned red and narrowed his eyes at her. "Didn't the spells work?" he asked, grimacing.

"Must I remind you that in moments of ecstasy, a wizard's controlled magic levels down?" Remus asked with a mischievous sneer.

"Basic auror training, my friend," Tonks chimed in.

Harry turned a deeper shade of red. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

The both rolled their eyes. "You should hurry, here's your breakfast," Tonks told Harry, levitating a plate with toast and eggs to him, and with a wave of her wand, making a cup of latte fly to him as well.

"Thanks," he muttered and proceeded to eat fast and in silence.

"What you up to today, huh?" Remus asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen you do preparations for the past two days. You must excuse my curiosity for getting the best out of me."

"I heard that he had reservations at Spacey's," Tonks said with an impish grin.

"That idiot!" Harry swore out loud. "Luckily she doesn't work with us…" he added as an afterthought.

"Well? Speak up!"

"It's nothing. I'm just taking Lar out for dinner."

"So you're taking your girlfriend out, on a Tuesday evening, to the absolutely most expensive restaurant in all England, just for a night out?"

"Exactly," Harry stated firmly.

"And wouldn't the most romantic vantage point, by any chance, have anything to do?" Remus asked calmly.

"No, not at all," he assured a little annoyed.

"Right. And I guess that the fact that today is your ten month anniversary doesn't have anything to do either, correct?"

"Yes," he said and the sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. But Tonks, I swear that if anything gets to her ears, I'll perform the Jack the Ripper stunt."

She flinched and laughed. "All right, Mr. Ripper. Spit it out!"

He smiled and made a movement with his hand. A moment later, he opened his fist and a small blue velvet box was there. It opened up after a second and he searched for Tonks and Remus' reactions, grinning broadly at the response.

October 2001 - Spacey's Restaurant, Lancaster

"I still don't understand why we had to come in a limo," Lariana was saying as the long white car approached their destination. "And anyway, where are we going? You had me get all dressed up?"

"Oh, come on! Don't spoil the moment! Besides, you're forgetting you have a rich boyfriend," Harry said and winked at her with a mischievous grin.

"That's hardly the point, you know I don't like to spend so much money in fancy things," she protested.

"Would you please let me have my way? Just for this once?" Harry pouted and Lariana had to roll her eyes. He grinned as the car pulled over. "We're here!" he exclaimed and kissed her. "Now, close your eyes."

She frowned. "Why do I have to close my eyes? I'm going to see it eventually…" she tried, unable to contain her excitement.

"You're so lame when trying to give excuses," Harry laughed and got off the car. Before closing the door, he peered his head inside once more with a smile. "No peeking!"

Lariana laughed and put a hand over her eyes, careful not to ruin her make up because she hated putting the thing on again. Soon enough, Harry opened the door and took her hand, leading her through what seemed a long sidewalk and then inside a place, where the music floating in the air reached her ears and made her smile.

Harry let go off her hand with a fond smile. "Here we are, you can open them now…" he said softly.

When the soft light reached her eyes, she looked agape. The marble staircases were just telling her she looked beautiful and that everyone in the room wanted her. She looked at Harry, who was holding his hand out for her to take, a couple steps down.

He couldn't help but smile broadly at her reaction… it was her eyes that said everything and he would give the world to see those eyes sparkle like that. For a slight second, he remembered that same look, when they were sixteen, and spaced out, but recovered quickly enough and focused once more in the beautiful woman coming down the stairs to him.

She looped her arm on his and they walked together the rest of the steps. At the bottom, there was a waiter, dressed in white, waiting for them. He escorted the pair to the balcony; a sole table was in the center, and they could see the best of Lancaster Countryside -and probably all of England- from their spot.

It was easily the best night she'd ever had so far. Harry had done quite a few romantic things during their relationship, but none like this. He had hired a small band of musicians to oblige any and every request she might have. He had ordered Crystal Champagne, and flowers, and candles… it was any girl's dream romantic dinner.

When they were halfway through dessert, Lariana stopped for a moment to gaze at her boyfriend. "Harry, what's this all about?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer. The insecure nineteen year-old girl inside her pictured the most dreadful situations and explanations… she knew most were silly but still couldn't help the uneasy feeling that flooded her. The strongest thought in her mind was, And if this is his "I had a good time but so long" dinner? Oh! He's probably just doing this so I get a nice memory! But she hid all this very well as a matter of fact.

Harry frowned a little. "Why do you ask? Is something wrong?" Harry asked in return. He himself was starting to freak out at her question. What if she was planning on breaking up with me? The unconfident Harry Potter asked the twenty-one year-old / almost a man Harry Potter. Come off it! She wouldn't! Besides, she wouldn't have had that look when we came in if she was to break up with me, would she?

"I- uh, nothing. Just curious. Why?" Her eyes glowed with anxiousness and anticipation as she spoke.

Ok. Do it, Potter. It's now or never, you have nothing to lose. Only a VERY nasty embarrassment if- oh shut up and speak! He thought all this while holding Lariana's gaze, and finally he took a deep breath and tentatively took her hands between his.

"Lar, I know we've been dating for only ten months, but-"

Harry started his speech with that statement and Lariana's insides crumbled. Holy shit! He IS going to break up with me!

"-but you know I love you."

Oh, it's even worse than I thought! She was telling herself as Harry continued to speak.

"And- well, it may come out as a little sudden, but I believe that it may be time to move on-"

I am NOT going to cry, I am NOT going to cry!

"-uhm… to take the next step and…"

She did a double take and her insides gave a loop at this last sentence. She gaped at him, bewildered.

Harry noticed the change in her demeanor and stopped talking. Oh, bloody hell! It WAS what I thought. Hang on for the ten floor free-fall!

A short silence that felt like forever fell between the two, and Lariana took the word a moment later. "Harry? What are you trying to say?" she asked softly.

He bit his bottom lip and searched for her eyes, finding what he was looking for and feeling much more reassured now. He took a deep breath and took one of his hands back; pulling it into a fist.

He stood and walked to the other side of the table and looked down at Lariana, who was staring at him expectantly. He closed his eyes and smiled, getting down on one knee. He opened them again and looked up at Lariana with bright green eyes. "Lariana Stephanie Holmes. I cannot promise a quiet life, I cannot promise a smooth happily ever after. I can, however, promise you that I will love and care for you from now to the end of this journey; one that I want to share with-" He stopped for a moment and the focus on her was lost for a split second; and just as fast as he'd been gone, his eyes was back on her. "-with you. Would you do me the honor to marry me?"

She was slightly taken aback by the interruption, but it had been so fast that she shrugged it away in the excitement of the moment. She gazed at him for a moment, with a blank expression, and then she got down to her knees, to be at level with him. "Oh Harry! I would love to!" Lariana exclaimed as she threw her arms around her boyfr- her fiancée.

He wrapped his arms around her; shocked for a moment, and then pulled away and looked at her with a smile. "I love you. Thank you," he said honestly and kissed her passionately.

She returned his kiss and parted her lips to give him full access. An instant later, he had swooped and started swinging her around, making her dress fly with the wind and the movement. "This is wonderful!" he cried and put her down, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. The other one took her right hand and lifted it slowly, kissing it and sliding the handmade diamond ring on her finger.

"I love you, Harry," she whispered when he'd put the ring on her finger and hugged him. They stayed like that for a long moment; just enjoying being in each other's arms.

He smelled her hair and stroked it softly, not letting go. "Sweet Vanilla," he whispered barely audibly. "Sweet surrender…" he finished more to himself. As this moment passed, inside him, he was swollen with happiness… but at the same time, a part of him felt terribly sad. The sensation of losing something was almost as overwhelming as the warm feeling of what awaited him… them in the future. He decided not to dwell on that anymore and let the vanilla scent of his fiancée soothe his mind and relieve him from those thoughts.

A/N: That was long, wasn't it? Almost as long as the H/Hr first getting together chapter! I hope you liked it, and that you don't hate Hermione any further, lol. Harry is no fool, he won't sit about and cry forever; you know it.

PLEASE R&R, Usually I don't post a chapter unless I'm completely positive that it's perfect (and my standards are high, lol), but I am not sure if I'm entirely satisfied with how this turned out, so I would REALLY like to hear your opinion, k? Thank you.