Sweet Simplicity

Sweet Simplicity

Disclaimer: You know the drill. JKR rocks, Scholastic…blah blah….*nods off*…

Summary: A quiet night in the common room just before graduation.

Author's note: While my stories on Portkey are short, this one is about half the length of my other two. For this reason it sat in my notebook for a very long time and then, when no ideas came, I typed it up, hoping something would come to me. It's been sitting on my computer for awhile now, and when a friend told me it was perfect just the way it was I relented and decided to post it. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys, and for those who read all of my stories, I have an angsty/sad story coming out soon (I know, can you believe it?).

And on with the story…

~*~*~

Hermione sat on the couch, reading a book containing past speeches made by former head boys and girls, trying to find a hint of inspiration. It would only be a week more until she and her friends would be departing on the Hogwarts express for good, and she could almost feel the homesickness developing already.

She didn't know yet what she would be doing after it was all over. As far as she knew, she was going back to the home of her childhood and Harry would pack up and leave the Dursleys for good. He would stay at the Burrow with Ron and the Weasleys and things would remain this way until the three of them found a flat that they could share. It would be hard, Hermione thought, to be away from him for that first month or so. Now that they were together, she didn't like the idea of being apart from him so long.

As she continued flipping through the book in front of her she began to wonder where Harry was. It was quite late, and everyone else was in bed, sleeping soundly, including Ron, but Harry had asked her to wait for him, so of course she did. They didn't have class the following morning anyway, and NEWTs were already over.

Her thoughts continued to wonder and eventually she was so lost in them that she didn't even hear him walk through the portrait hole into the common room. She was startled out of her reverie when he sat down next to her.

“Good evening,” he said, giving her a swift kiss on the cheek. “What have you been doing?”

“Just thinking,” Hermione failed to stifle the yawn that escaped her mouth, “And waiting for you.” She smiled sleepily.

Harry gave her a sympathetic look. “You look tired.” He gently turned her and had her rest her head on his lap as he ran his fingers through her hair. She yawned again. “So where have you been for the past hour?”

Harry shrugged, “Just running an errand. It was very sweet for you to wait for me. Are you sure you don't want to go to bed?”

Hermione blushed just slightly at how sweet he was being. “Of course I waited. You asked me to. And no, I would much rather stay up and talk.”

Harry grinned, clearly pleased that she had no intention of leaving. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

Hermione thought for a moment. “The future.”

“What about it?”

“Well, we're going to get married someday, right?”

Harry laughed slightly. “I should hope so, unless of course you're just with me until someone better for you comes along.”

“Well, I'm sure Dean…”

“Isn't good enough for you,” said Harry in a stern but joking tone.

Hermione chuckled. “What's it going to be like?”

“Being married or the wedding?”

Hermione pondered this for a moment. “The wedding.”

Harry stroked her hair. “However you want it to be.”

Hermione smiled. “Even if everything is pink?”

“Everything except hair and my tux.”

“I bet you would look quite dashing in a pink tuxedo, Harry Potter.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and Ron's dress robes for the Yule Ball were designer quality.”

Hermione giggled. “Okay, well that's covered. Now how about the honeymoon?” Hermione smacked Harry lightly to wipe the grin off his face.

“I'm sure that anywhere we go will be wonderful as long as you are there.”

“Brown-noser.”

“Liar.”

“I think I'd like to go to Hawaii.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Did you have somewhere you wanted to go?”

“Hawaii sounds great, hon.”

“Okay…” Hermione thought a moment before bringing the next question up. “What about children?”

“What about them?”

“Do you want any?”

Harry nodded, unfazed. “Definitely.”

Hermione let out a relieved sigh. “Me too. How many?”

Harry pondered this. “Well, being an only child, not counting Dudley, I've always thought it would be nice to have a big family, but not too big so we could spoil them properly.”

“Because they wont be spoiled enough by being children of the famous Harry Potter.”

“And Hermione Potter, certified genius,” Harry tried out the name for kicks.

Hermione replied, not noticing or not caring, “But geniuses aren't cool.”

“And four-eyed demon fighting scar faces are?”

“So how many?”

“I suppose three or four, but I think I would really leave it up to you, since you are the one who is going to carry them for nearly a year.”

Hermione smiled. “You're too good to me.”

Harry grinned, “I believe that's part of the job description. `Make the one you love feel like she's the most important person in the universe.' You are anyway, though, so my job is pretty easy. Plus, there's that whole thing about me being hopelessly and desperately in love with you.”

Hermione sat up next to him and looked into his emerald eyes, searching, while her hands traced his face. “Do you really?”

Harry gave her a quick, but warm and soft kiss. “More than you know.”

Hermione tilted her head slightly, still deep in thought, “It's a bit hard to comprehend sometimes. A little to good to be true.”

Harry smiled, “I promise it is.”

“You promise it isn't a dream?”

Harry nodded and Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. “I can't believe that someday we'll have all of those things.”

Harry got up and kneeled on the floor at her feet, looking her straight in the eye. “You better start believing it, or I don't know what I'm going to do with this.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a single diamond on a platinum band. It wasn't fancy, but it was much like their love… sweet simplicity.

Hermione looked up at him with tears in her eyes as he spoke. “Hermione Granger, will you marry me?”

Hermione nodded slowly. “Yes,” she whispered, “YES!” She squealed as he slid the ring onto her shaky finger and pulled her into his arms.

Curious about who was yelling in the middle of the night, the Gryffindor boys and girls watched as the young couple embraced, Harry spinning Hermione in his arms. Never had they before and never would they again see two happier people in the world.

THE END

A/N: Please review! I can't stress this enough. I never used to review, but now I get it. When you don't review, I have no clue that anyone has read my story! Even if you didn't like it, criticism (no flaming please) is more than welcome, and I'm overjoyed to receive writing tips. As I've said, with every story I try to improve. It doesn't take long, and you get points for it (if you have an account). Thank you, in advance, if you do, and thank you for reading! I hope you liked it.

-->