Okay kids, it's Wednesday and I am at Ohio State University today. I have my orientation today and tomorrow, and I know I said there wouldn't be any updates these days, but my muse says differently. Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday she had me typing two chapters every day. That way I have the story finished and I'm just waiting for the predetermined day that I've decided to post every chapter. I hope you're enjoying everything. There's a surprise coming up in this chapter. And beware, mush and fluff ahead. I don't normally write fluff, but I want there to be some at the end of this. I think my characters have been through enough. They need some fluff. No smut though. I don't write that, so there isn't anything in here that any of you shouldn't read. I promise.
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Harry rose the morning after Draco and Ginny brought Carys home to the sound of her cries. Since it was already five, and he had to get up at five thirty for practice anyway, he climbed out of bed, left Hermione cuddling a pillow and headed downstairs. He found Draco sitting in the kitchen, baby cradled in one arm, bottle in the other hand.
"They're strange." Draco announced as soon as Harry sat down. "They wake up every two hours and need a new diaper or a bottle. Sometimes both."
"That's a baby for you." Harry companionably tossed a dishcloth over Draco's shoulder. He knew from other Weasley children just what could come out of a baby when it was being burped.
"Thanks. What's it for?"
Harry chuckled. "That would be the burping."
"The burping?"
Draco looked so confused and helpless that Harry took pity on him. "I'll show you when she's done. It's another thing babies do. Have you been getting up with her all night?"
Draco nodded. "Ginny needs her rest, and I work here. I can catch naps when she does if I need them." He watched the milk in the bottle get lower and lower until it was empty. "Now what?"
Harry took the towel, tossed it over his own shoulder and took Carys. He placed her gingerly against his shoulder and sat down. "This is next. You hold her against your shoulder and pat her back until she burps." Harry started patting the baby's back gently, rocking slightly. "Sometimes this puts them to sleep though."
"And the towel? What's the towel for?"
"Slobber, among other things. Sometimes they spit up a little. I learned that when Bill and Fleur gave me their kid to burp. It didn't go over so well."
Carys burped, and fisted her tiny hands in Harry's shirt. Across the room, Ginny and Hermione were watching the scene from the bottom of the stairs. "My God, they're so cute!" Ginny whispered. Hermione nodded, a soft smile on her face.
"Absolutely adorable. He's showing Draco how to burp Carys."
"He's really surprised me with how good he is with her. I didn't have to get up once last night. He says that I was her sole care giver for nine months. The least he can do is take care of her for a couple days while I rest up."
"That's so sweet! I wish-" Hermione trailed off.
"What? What do you wish?" the women made their way back upstairs.
"I've just always wanted a family. A big family. I was an only child, and I always wanted brothers and sisters. Kids running around underfoot, making messes in the kitchen, wrestling in the yard. A big sloppy dog racing back and forth getting them wet and slobbery."
"Does Harry know this?"
"We haven't ever talked about getting married, let alone children. I'm not sure it's something he wants. He has a wonderful job, doing what he loves, and I love him enough that I wouldn't give him up for anything, not even a family like the one I want."
"You're still young, Herms. There's plenty of time for marriage and children."
"Logically I know that. But I also know that Harry and I are getting to the point where we have to decide upon a course of action. If he doesn't want a wife and kids, I need to know."
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Harry finished Quidditch practice at one thirty, as he did three days a week during their off season. And as they'd just won the championship two weeks earlier, and didn't start the fall season for another two and a half months, they were well into the off season. They practiced six days a week, three in the morning; from seven until one thirty and three days in the evening from four to six. They'd get two weeks off in the middle of the break, around September first, but that was nearly a month away.
He entered the locker room just as sweaty as the other men. Their one female player, Alisa, had no problems showering with the rest of them. She wasn't the least bit self conscious, and had no patience for special treatment. She told them all that when they were on the field, she wasn't a woman, she was a Quidditch player. Her husband looked at it a little differently. He had a stall erected in the locker room because he didn't want anyone but him to see his wife naked. Harry couldn't say he blamed him.
But he needed to talk to Alisa, and while they were all showering was the best time. So he chose the shower closest to hers, risking the wrath of Wood, but not really caring. She just grinned and continued washing her hair.
"What's up?"
"I need your help."
Alisa leaned under the spray, eyes on Harry. "Okay, with what?"
"I'm going to propose to Hermione."
Alisa shrieked, wrapped a towel around herself and ran around the divider to hug Harry. That was how Wood found them. He lifted an eyebrow. "What's all this?" he kissed his wife. "You act like he just offered to baby sit Mikayla for an entire week."
Mikayla was their eighteen month old baby. She stayed with Wood's parents while her parents were at practice. "He's proposing to Hermione!"
Wood slapped Harry on the arm. "Congratulations. What does that have to do with my wife?"
"I need a ring. I have no idea what Hermione would want. I need help."
Alisa nodded. "Okay. Get clean, get dressed and let's go. I need to pick up the baby, and then we can go. Oliver, you'll come, of course. Harry may need your input, seeing as you did a phenomenal job with my engagement ring."
Wood perked up. "Thanks, honey." It had taken him a month to find the blue diamond she wore on her ring finger. He hadn't ever told her that. Whenever she had asked he'd just said that it hadn't been hard. He'd known exactly what she would want. Not. He hadn't had a clue. He chuckled as he showered. He wasn't going to be much help to Harry. That was for damn sure.
Alisa was back not five minutes later, daughter in one arm, purse slung over the other, her hand resting on the stroller. Not that Mikayla would stay in it for five seconds. She would demand to be carried. By her Daddy. Alisa laughed. At least Oliver had to carry her everywhere. His twenty pound rocket was a handful and a half.
"Ready boys?"
Wood and Harry looked at each other, then nodded. Harry answered. "Yeah. I called Hermione, told her that you had called an extra long practice and that I'd be home by dinner."
Wood groaned. "Now I'm going to be the bad guy again. Why do you always use me as your excuse?"
"Would you rather I told her that I was going shopping with your incredibly beautiful wife?"
"Point taken." Wood cinched an arm around his wife, then relinquished his hold to take his daughter, who had thrown out her arms with a joyful proclamation of "Daddy!"
"She looks like you more each time I see her." Harry told Alisa, who waved her wand and folded up the stroller to a size that would fit in her purse.
"I know. Oliver is so upset. She got his chin and his eyes. Everything else came from me." She touched her husband's arm. "Shall we?"
"Let's go. We'll start at the place where I bought your ring." The three adults Apparated, Wood took Mikayla with him. They popped up in the middle of Pelicula Alley, which was known for its jewelry. Wood nodded to a small shop, and they walked inside. A clerk was immediately in front of them.
"How may I help you, sirs, ma'am?"
Harry spoke. "I need an engagement ring."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Potter. Mr. Wood, Mrs. Wood? May I help you with anything?"
Wood shook his head. "We're just here to be friends and help him."
"Very good. Right this way. What size ring will you be needing?"
Harry had to rack his brain for the answer to that. "A uh, six."
"Very good. That size is the one for which we have the most selections. Have you an idea which stones you would be wanting?"
Harry shook his head helplessly, looked at Alisa and Wood. Alisa laughed again. "Let's see all the precious gems. No amethyst. She doesn't like them, and only natural stones."
Harry looked at Alisa. "Natural stones?"
"They're making stones like pink sapphires and blue emeralds in labs now. Hermione will want something natural that was made by nature."
"Right."
Wood leaned close to Harry. "Don't worry. I didn't know that either." They all sat down at a small round table and the salesman sat several cases of rings in front of Harry, from ones with small stones to ones with rocks the size of eggs. He felt hopelessness creep up on him.
Alisa patted his hand. "She won't want something either too big or too small." She gestured to two cases. "Those can go. Thank you. Now, Harry, do you have a preference on shape? There's Princess, which is like this." She plucked a ring and handed it to him. The stone was square. "Emerald, circular and oval, which are all self explanatory. There are tear drop cuts, pear shaped, radiant, asscher and marquis cuts. That's all I see here."
Harry shrugged. "All of her other rings are sort of all different kinds. She doesn't have two exactly the same."
Alisa sighed. "Well that makes it a little more difficult. Let's go with what you like then."
The salesman came back. "We also have antique jewelry here. There's one that you would like, Mr. Potter. The ring that Godric Gryffindor gave to his fiancée. It was just recently found and authenticated."
Harry felt a tug in his gut. "Let me see it."
"Right away, Mr. Potter."
Harry knew before he saw it that it would be the one. He didn't care about the price. It was the history, the significance. He knew it would mean more to Hermione than anything short of a ring he made himself. And to see her wear it would mean more to him than seeing her wear one he had made.
The ring was rubies. He'd known it would be. There was simply no other stone that it could possibly have been made of. The ring was big, but not too big. The center ruby was the biggest, and inlayed into it was a fiery diamond. The two rubies flanking the center one were slightly smaller, and also had the inlay of the diamond. The band was thick, and heavily encrusted with rubies and diamonds in an alternating pattern. It was alive. Harry could almost hear, feel, it breathe.
"The setting, though you can't see it, is platinum, which at the time this ring was made, was totally unheard of. But it's fully documented. I've never seen rubies inlayed with diamonds. And it's not simply that they're inside the carved ruby, they're forged. I've never seen magic like it. No one on the planet has a ring to rival this one. The center stone is three carats, the flanking ones two a piece. All the other ones are eighth carats each. It adds up to about nine carats total. There's a full authentication behind it, and it comes with all the paperwork."
Harry didn't hear a word he said. "I'll take it." He looked at Alisa and Wood. "You'll come to dinner?"
"Sure. We want to see you do this. Seven?"
"Seven." Harry handed the salesman his Gringotts card. "Here. Wrap it up. I want to take it with me."
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Harry arrived at the house at three. The ring shopping hadn't taken as long as he'd thought it would. He'd stopped by the market to pick up salmon for dinner. It was Hermione's favorite. And she always liked it when he cooked. That meant she didn't have to. And with Draco and Ginny concentrated on the baby, and Ron and Luna on vacation, the cooking duty fell to one of them.
He worked in the kitchen, opening wine, the Muggle kind she liked, lighting candles, tossing salad. And Draco sat at the island, critiquing every move he made, and enjoying himself immensely. He had the chance to hold his daughter while she was asleep, and torture Harry all in one afternoon. Coupled with the deal he'd made on a couple houses he'd been selling that morning, he was in a great mood. Good enough that he didn't even mind when Harry chucked a handful of lettuce at him. It hit his back, and didn't touch Carys, so he tolerated it.
"I don't know why it is, Potter, that you're so nervous about this whole thing. I did it. It's not that big of a deal. Men propose to women all the time."
"Not to Hermione Granger they don't. That woman could make the Pope nervous."
"She probably does. I imagine witches and wizards in general make the Pope nervous."
Harry hated that Draco had succeeded in doing exactly what he had set out to do. He'd calmed Harry down. "Probably. Here, taste this and tell me what you think." He handed Draco a small plate with bites of everything that he'd made and a half glass of the wine.
Draco sipped the wine, approved. "Good. French and fancy. She'll like it. Not too overpowering. Good crisp taste." He tasted the food, seriously considered falling off the chair to convince Harry that he'd been poisoned, probably would have had Carys not been in his arms. He didn't want her to get jostled around while she was napping. She slept so little for a baby. He briefly wondered if he should change her outfit to a more appropriate one for her first big dinner event, then went through the massive amount of clothing in her closet, mentally searching for the right thing. The forest green and gold dress would be good. And with the tiny bonnet, and the little white tights she had, and the black leather shoes.
"Draco!"
Harry's voice interrupted Draco's debate between the green bow and the gold one. "Huh?"
"The food? How is the food?"
Draco nodded absently. The gold bow, he decided. It would match her hair better. "Good. I have to go give the baby a bath." He headed up the stairs, already wondering if socks wouldn't be better with the dress. He'd just have to try both and see which looked better.
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Dinner went wonderful. The adults laughed and joked with one another, Carys slept peacefully in her bassinet beside the table. Mikayla had a high chair and kept trying to reach the baby. Draco had finally decided that the socks looked better. They were white, with sage green trim. Ginny had just rolled her eyes and humored him. If he wanted to play dress up with their daughter, who was she to stop him?
It was after dessert when Hermione stood to clear the dishes. "Why don't you guys go on into the living room? I'll take care of these and be in, in a couple minutes."
Harry caught Hermione's hand. "Not just yet." With that, he slid out of his chair and onto one knee. Hermione's eyes grew big as saucers.
"Harry! What are you doing? Get up!"
Harry laughed. "I will not. I have something to ask you."
"Harry."
"I'm starting to think you don't want to get married." Harry said, his eyes teasing.
"No, but now? Here?"
"Yes. I mean, no. We're not getting married right this second. I'm proposing right this second. Now shut up for a second so I can."
Hermione nodded. "Okay."
Draco rolled his eyes at Harry around Hermione. Harry ignored him. "Hermione Jane Granger, I love you. I always have, and I always will. There's no one other than you that I want to spend my life with. I want to have a family, and grow old, with you. Will you marry me?"
"Of course I will." Hermione said, pulling him to his feet. She kissed him hard. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever ask."
Harry pulled out the box and opened it. The ring flashed with life and light. Hermione's gasp was sharp. Harry looked worried. "Don't you like it?"
"I love it. Oh my God. Is that what I think it is?"
"It's the ring Godric Gryffindor had made for his wife. She was the bravest witch, one of the smartest, the most loyal, the toughest, and the most beautiful witches in the world. Until you."
Hermione teared up then, and let him slip the ring onto her finger. "I love it Harry. Almost half as much as I love you."
Harry gathered her close. "That was kinda cheesy, Herms."
"I know." Hermione said, laughing through her tears. "But that doesn't make it any less true."
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Chapter 18. Don't forget to vote in the name game and the competition. Voting starts Monday. Please review!
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