Disclaimer: Not mine. You know how it would have ended if it was, right?
A/N: My response to the "Kissing Santa" Challenge by leochick, which can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26200. Hope you'll enjoy it, and please leave me a comment if you read, so that I know what you think of it.
Kissing The Wrong Santa
Chapter Twelve: Hard Choice
A month had passed since Harry had shouted at her, and Hermione had somewhat adjusted to him and Sarah dating. She was even able to tease them now, although, it was still painful to see them together. But, she had understood that if she wanted to keep Harry at least as her best friend she better learn to deal with it, and she definitely wanted to. Scratch that, she needed to have him in her life, even if only as a friend.
There had been a couple of awkward days between them after the shouting that took place in her office, but then they were good again, which was fine for her.
That night, Ron had told her he had plans for them, so she excused herself early from work.
"I'm sorry, I really need to go or Ron will go mad" she said, playfully rolling her eyes.
"I know, I know" Harry retorted with a smile. Then he turned to Sarah, whispering to her something about Ron's infamous appetite.
"Well, I'm sure the two of you won't miss my presence" Hermione said with a smile, making them blush.
Harry stuck his tongue at her at which she laughed and shook her head, leaving to go to her office and retrieve her belongings before going home.
Once at home, she hurried to her bedroom and looked through her wardrobe for something in tune with the night she and Ron were going to have. He had told her he had booked two seats at a very elegant restaurant for them, but he wouldn't reveal her the name of the place.
So, in the end she chose a velvety red dress which she had used just once before. It showed her cleavage without going too low, and clung to her curves perfectly. She twirled in front of the mirror feeling a bit of feminine pride, and she fleetingly thought that she would have loved to see Harry's face if he could see her at the moment.
Shaking herself from that particular train of thought, Hermione filled her small purse with everything she needed, and waited for her boyfriend to arrive. She expected him to be there at the last minute, pressuring her into not being late, instead he arrived there with half an hour to spare.
"Hey" he said softly, looking at her. "You're smashing tonight" he complimented her.
"Thanks" she blushed the tiniest bit. "You're not bad yourself"
"Shall we go then?" he asked, offering his arm for her to take it. She nodded, accepting the offer, and he Apparated them in front of the restaurant.
Hermione was speechless. It was the Merlin's Garden, the most expensive place in Wizarding Britain.
"Ron, really, you shouldn't have…" she started but he shook his head.
"I want tonight to be special" he said with a grin, then they walked inside where a waiter lead them to their table.
They ate quietly once their orders arrived, ("A Gryffindor steak for me and a Merlin's salad for her" Ron said to the waiter), and sipped their wine chatting, but Hermione could notice Ron was kind of nervous. He wasn't famished as his usual and that was a first for him, and when they finished eating he become a bit paler.
Then, as the waiter he had signalled to brought them some champagne, he took a small box from his pocket and got on one knee.
"He's not going to…" Hermione barely managed to think before he nervously stammered his question.
"He-Hermione, will you marry me?" he asked
Hermione froze. She had a life-changing decision in front of her and she wasn't prepared. Why hadn't she guessed it sooner? There were the signals for her to understand…the most expensive place in the wizarding community, the nervousness, the lost appetite…and yet she didn't take the hint, and now she was facing him, looking at her for an answer, not having the bloody idea what to say.
She knew she had been waiting for this moment to happen, before the blasted Christmas that changed everything. She would have said yes in a moment then, but now…
"Harry's with Sarah after all, and he seems happy enough with her. I don't see why I should hope to get together with him, since it was me who rejected him first, choosing the safe route" she reasoned. And yet, she couldn't see herself being married to the redhead man who was kneeling in front of her.
"Would it be fair for me to make him think I love him when I don't, not so much to marry him anyhow?" she asked herself. Of course, saying yes would be the safe route, and she had chosen it once already. But what had it led her to? Heartbreak over seeing Harry and Sarah together, and nothing else.
No, she couldn't be this unfair to Ron. He needed to spend his life with a woman who loved him truly.
She looked at him with sad eyes, and slowly started shaking her head. "No" she whispered, and she saw Ron close his eyes in defeat. Then, he straightened up, closing the box which contained a beautiful ring with a single diamond on it, and he sat back on his chair. Sighing, he opened his eyes again, and looked at her with a sad, and yet knowing, smile.
"It's Harry, isn't he?"
"What?" Hermione asked, shocked.
"Oh, come on. I've always know I could never equal him in your heart. I hoped, but I suspected in the end I was going to lose. And seeing how you reacted every time I mentioned him and that Sarah girl, or how you looked at the two of them when we would all go out together just strengthened my belief"
Hermione was there, mouth open, unable to say a word. She expected him to blow up, like he usually did, thanks to the infamous Weasley temper, but no. He was perfectly calm, instead.
"Go to him, Hermione. Tell him before it's too late, because he's really serious about this girl" Ron advised her. "Don't worry about me. I've been preparing for this day for a long time now" he said, anticipating her protest.
With a last look at him, and a last nod of encouragement from Ron, she fled from the restaurant and Apparated to Harry's flat.
The raven haired wizard had fallen asleep on the couch, watching the telly, a box of pizza in front of him, when he heard someone desperately banging on his door, calling him.
He groggily went to open and found himself in front of Hermione.
"Hermione? What are you doing here? What about your night out with Ron?" he said, noticing she was still all dressed up.
"He proposed, and I said no" she explained, then, before Harry's brain could completely comprehend the sentence she had uttered, she flung herself at him and kissed him hard on the mouth.
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