Chapter 31 - The proposal
Saturday morning soon came and found Hermione and Harry spending a leisurely morning in bed and ordering brunch from room service. Harry wanted to spend the rest of the day in bed but Hermione insisted that she wanted to see Paris from a Muggle perspective and not just astride a broomstick so Harry reluctantly agreed.
They spent the warm sunny afternoon strolling along the Champs Elysees, stopping into the shops to pick up presents for their children. Family was topmost on Harry's mind as they shopped. As he and Hermione walked hand in hand towards the Arc de Triomphe he decided to broach a subject that had been on his mind ever since his divorce was finalized two days ago.
"Hermione, do you ever think about remarrying?" Harry asked out of the blue.
Hermione raised her eyebrow at him. "Is this your backhanded way of proposing, Harry?"
Harry looked at her a bit sheepishly, but he saw the affection in her eyes and continued.
"Well, not exactly, but I just wanted to know how you felt about the matter. I mean, some people get divorced and vow never to marry again. I wondered if you were one of those people."
Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm not one of those people, but I can certainly understand why someone might feel that way. Divorce is a traumatic experience and is something I never want to go through again, especially with children involved. If I get married again, I want to be absolutely sure that I'm marrying the right person."
"How will you know that he's the right person?" Harry asked, stopping in front of the Arc and facing Hermione.
"I'll just know." She said cryptically and smiled at him.
"Do you think I could be the right person?" Harry asked coyly.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, I think you could."
Harry smiled. "Good, because I want to marry you, Hermione."
"Are you proposing, Harry, for real?"
"I'm just announcing my intentions. If you want to take it as a proposal, so be it."
"You're so romantic." Hermione said, her sarcasm mixed with affection. "Well, it is my intention to become your wife."
Harry smiled and squeezed her hands. "Good, so we're in agreement, then?"
Hermione beamed back at him. "Yes, we are." She stood on tip toe to kiss him.
"You do realize that we're going to have to make up some romantic proposal scenario when we go back to England when we announce our engagement." Hermione said.
"Well, people will just hear Paris and Arc de Triomphe and they'll fill in the blanks."
Harry chuckled.
"So where to now? Do you want to go back to the hotel or go to the Louvre?"
"Let's just walk back to the hotel, I want to have this all sink in." Hermione replied.
"I don't think I could concentrate on art right now."
Hand in hand, they walked in silence. Hermione felt like this was out of some dream, she was in Paris with Harry and they were engaged. Suddenly a nagging doubt hit her.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"What about the kids?" She said anxiously. "Do you think they'll be happy for us? Do you think it's too soon for them?"
Harry shook his head. "I hope they'll be happy for us, but I don't think it's too soon. They know how we feel about each other, so I think making it permanent will be a good thing, rather than have them wondering when it will happen."
"I hope you're right."
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When Harry and Hermione reached Place Vendome, they passed Cartier's window. There were some beautiful engagement rings on display.
"So do any of these catch your fancy?" Harry asked.
"Oh, no, Harry." Hermione protested. "A Cartier ring is too expensive; we can get something at home."
"This is coming from a woman who got me a Patek Philippe for Christmas." Harry teased, brandishing his watch at her.
"I told you, I got a good deal." Hermione folded her arms, looking up at him. "Harry, are you serious?"
"I want to buy you an engagement ring, Hermione. One that you will treasure for the rest of your life."
"Harry, honestly, the ring doesn't matter." Hermione insisted. "You are the thing I will treasure for the rest of my life."
"You are too sweet, love." Harry gave her a quick kiss. "But this ring will be a symbol of our love and I want it to be something special. Please let's just look around, if there's nothing you like, I won't buy it."
Hermione looked at Harry's pleading face. "All right, it won't hurt to look."
Harry opened the door to the shop and ushered Hermione inside. A saleswoman approached them. She spoke to them in English with a heavy French accent. She reminded Hermione of Fleur before she lost her accent.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, we are interested in engagement rings." Harry said.
"Ooh, congratulations. Do you have a price range in mind?"
Harry shook his head. "Um, I am keeping an open range, depending on what my fiancée likes."
Hermione blushed, this was the first time Harry had called her his fiancée. "I'm just looking for something simple - platinum band, brilliant cut diamond solitaire, under 1.5 carats."
"Ah, yes, we have something like that from our Solitaire 1895 collection." The saleswoman showed Hermione some simple classic rings. They were beautiful, if a bit boring.
"Do you have anything a bit more modern looking?" Hermione asked.
"Our Honeymoon rings might just be vat you want."
The saleswoman pulled out two rings, one decorated with pave diamonds on the band and the other was a simple solitaire. Hermione chose the simpler of the two. "Ooh, I like that one, Harry."
The saleswoman slipped it onto Hermione's ring finger, it was a little big but Harry saw Hermione's face light up. She had found her ring.
"You want that one don't you?" Harry said.
"I don't even want to know what it costs." Hermione said, closing her eyes.
The saleswoman wrote the price on a business card and handed it to Harry.
Hermione opened her eyes and watched Harry's eyes grow wider behind his glasses as he looked at the price but he didn't bat an eyelash.
"We'll take it."
"Wonderful. The ring needs to be resized and will be ready on Monday."
"Monday?" Harry asked. "We're only here until tomorrow night."
"I am sorry, sir, we are closed Sunday. We'd be happy to ship the ring anywhere, at no extra cost."
Considering the money he was spending, Harry would've been insulted if they charged him extra for shipping. Although he was sure the ring would be insured, he didn't want to risk it being sent via courier.
"You know what? I will pick up the ring in person."
"Fine, it will be ready on Monday afternoon, anytime after 3PM."
Hermione was confused. "But Harry, we'll be gone by then."
"Don't worry about it, Hermione, you'll have your ring."
The saleswoman measured Hermione's ring finger and then Harry handed her a charge card to ring up the purchase.
"Harry, how are you going to pick up the ring on Monday?" Hermione asked in a low voice. "Are you planning to disapparate?"
"No, I'll just fly over here on my broom. It only takes about an hour on my Firebolt."
"You could just have them ship it."
"I know, but I want to be the one to deliver it to you and put it on your finger."
"Well, then I guess you really are romantic after all." Hermione chuckled.
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Monday afternoon, Hermione was sitting in her office at the Ministry, catching up on paperwork and filing her executive summary from the conference she had attended the week before in Paris. But her mind wasn't on work, she was thinking about Harry who was flying back to Cartier to pick up her engagement ring. She hadn't shared her news with her co-workers yet, she wanted the ring to make things official.
Hermione and Harry had flown to Hogwarts on Sunday afternoon to break the news to the kids. Hermione would always remember the looks on her children's faces when they took them to dinner in Hogsmeade and told them the news.
"Well, you are probably wondering why Harry and I surprised you all with a visit today. We have what we hope you will all think is good news… Harry and I are engaged to be married."
Hermione looked around the table to the stunned faces of her and Harry's children.
"Married?" Rose repeated. "But you and dad just got divorced!"
Harry gave Hermione's hand a squeeze of encouragement.
"I know, Rose." Hermione said. "But Harry and I love each other and want to make this permanent. We both know that the last few months have not been easy on you. We think by getting married, we will be able to offer you all a more stable environment."
"But what about dad?" Hugo asked. "Is Uncle Harry our new dad?"
"And is Aunt Hermione my new mum?" Lily asked.
Suddenly the table was filled with questions from the five children.
Harry took out his wand and muttered a "Silencio" charm on the children.
"One at a time, please. We will answer all of your questions to the best of our knowledge." He took a breath. "To answer Hugo and Lily's questions, your parents will always be your parents. Hermione has no intention of replacing Ginny and I have no intention of replacing Ron. You can continue to call us Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione if you wish, or even by our first names."
Al raised his hand. "Where will we live during the summer?"
"We haven't figured that out yet, Al." said Harry. "Where would you like to live?"
"I like the townhouse in London." Al asserted. "It would be big enough for Rose and Hugo, too. I could share my room with Hugo."
"Rose could share my room." Lily offered.
Hermione saw that Rose didn't look happy at that suggestion. Not that she didn't love her cousin, but she knew that a 13 year old didn't want to share a room with a girl almost three years her junior.
"Well, there is a guest bedroom at Harry's house that we could use for Rose." Seeing Lily's crestfallen face, Hermione added. "I'm sure Rose is thankful for your offer, but she's growing up and needs her space."
Rose gave her mother a grateful look. "So does that mean you'll be selling our house on Windward Circle?"
"Is that all right?" Hermione asked. "That means we won't be living right near the Burrow anymore. But you will still see your grandparents at holidays and whenever they want to visit."
"And we will still see Mum when she's home from touring with the Harpies?" James asked.
"Yes, of course." Harry said. "We'll still be one big family. Hermione and I know that this will be a transition time again as we settle into our new lives. But we all love you and hope that you will be happy. You've all been close as cousins and now you can call each other brothers and sisters."
Lily raised her hand. "Yes, Lily?" Hermione asked.
"Are we going to have any more brothers and sisters once you get married?"
Hermione blushed, she and Harry hadn't really discussed this in detail.
Harry squeezed her hand. "That's a good question. I think that's up to Hermione, isn't it?"
Hermione took a deep breath before answering.
"Lily, I can't say for sure if you will have another brother or sister, but if it happens we will definitely share the news with you all first."
Before Lily had brought it up, Hermione hadn't really thought about having another baby. Although witches did live longer than Muggles, their childbearing years were only extended by a few, meaning if she wanted another child, she and Harry would have to make a decision soon.
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That evening, Hermione arrived home at her house on Windward Circle only to find Harry waiting for her.
"I had a feeling you would be here." Hermione said as Harry greeted her with a kiss.
What she hadn't expected was to find Harry in an apron, cooking dinner. He handed her a glass of wine and told her to relax. A few minutes later, Harry came out of the kitchen.
"Dinner's almost ready. But before we eat, I have something for you."
Hermione knew what that something was. What she wasn't expecting was Harry suddenly kneeling in front of her, with a small box in hand.
"I know I really didn't propose properly the first time, so now I have the ring, I want to do it right."
Hermione sat up, her heart accelerating.
"Hermione Jane Granger, you have been my best friend since I was eleven years old. You have always been by my side, looking out for me, protecting me and saving my arse more times than I can count. Without you, I wouldn't be alive today. I owe you so much and you owe me nothing. But now you are much more than my best friend, you are my soulmate and my lover and I want you to be my wife." Harry took a deep breath.
"Will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Harry Potter?"
Hermione's eyes filled with tears. She threw her arms around Harry and showered him with kisses.
"So I guess that's a yes?" Harry asked.
"Yes, a thousand times yes!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry then opened the box and took out the Cartier ring and slipped it onto her left ring finger.
"Oh, Harry it's perfect. You'll never tell me how much you paid for this will you?"
"It doesn't matter the cost. It's your ring and you'll wear it for the rest of your life."
"You bet I will." Hermione said gazing at the diamond ring and then into Harry's eyes as they kissed.
TBC
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