Harry gaped at Ginny for what felt like hours. “Marry you?” he asked softly. Ron could still be heard banging on the door. “Ginny, I- I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll marry me,” said Ginny, stepping closer to Harry. “I know that I should wait for you to ask-if you were even going to ask- but I can’t wait for you anymore! I’m sorry, Harry, but you’re kind of slow…”
“How do you figure?” asked Harry defensively. “We’re still really young!” Even as he said it, Harry realized that he just said the one thing that he was always so defensive about. They weren’t young. They were of age and could do exactly as they pleased. For heaven's sake, Ron and Hermione were getting married on a whim after they'd snogged once, so why shouldn't he and Ginny get married, too?
“Look at how long it took you to ask me out again after You-Know-Who- I mean Voldemort- was gone!” cried Ginny. “Who knows how long it would be before you got the guts to pop the question! I can’t wait for you forever, Harry. Mum will be thrilled at the idea of having two weddings to plan and we’ve known each other for almost ten years, now. I mean, we could wait until after Ron and Hermione’s wedding, so we’d have a bit of a long engagement, but I don’t care as long as I know that we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives! We’ve been in love for three years, Harry, and I’m not about to let you ruin everything by waiting ages for us to move up to the next step in our relationship. I’ve wanted to marry you since… since I was ten, actually, but that’s not the point.” Slowing down, she continued, “The point is that we love each other… shouldn’t that be enough?” Ginny gazed into his eyes with such a fire that Harry had never seen before.
He had to admire the fire in her eyes as well as the meaning of her words. “Well, I was kind of hoping to ask you, but you beat me to the punch. You know I love you, Ginny Weasley, with everything inside of me. I’m not too pleased with the idea of a long engagement because if I could, I’d marry you right here, right now. But if a long engagement is the only way, then fine. Yes, Ginny, I’ll marry you. I won’t have a ring right away, but I’m yours if you’ll still have me… but I think we better wrap up this moment, though, before Ron breaks down my door.”
Happy tears poured down Ginny’s face as she laughed. It was the first time Harry ever recalled seeing her cry. “You’re right, he is knocking awful hard," she laughed. Before he had a chance to open the door, though, she grabbed his arm and asked, "Why would you think a ring would matter to me? Especially when I kind of just sprung this on you unexpectedly…”
“I’ll say,” said Harry as he flung open the door. Ron stood there with his fist still raised as though he were about to strike Harry in the face.
“What took you so long?” asked Ron.
“Found it,” muttered Ginny as she picked up an imaginary earring back off the floor. “They’re just so small, Ron, and I didn’t want you to accidentally step on it or kick it. Then, I would have never found it.”
“Ginny, you’re a witch. Couldn’t you summon it, or something? I swear, you are the strangest sister I could have ever asked for. Wait”do you even have pierced ears?” asked Ron.
Ginny opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again.
“Never mind,” muttered Ron. “Next time I’m not even knocking,” he warned.
“Ron!” cried Hermione as she tore through the door, knocked Harry out of the way, and leaped into Ron’s arms.
“Oomph!” said Ron. “Hello, Hermione. I missed you, too.” Harry rolled his eyes dramatically as Hermione planted kisses all over Ron's face.
“Oh, by the way,” said Ginny quietly, “Harry and I have some good news…”
The next few hours were spent in Harry’s kitchen going over plans for the future. Hermione wanted a wedding in late summer or early autumn, which worked perfectly because it was still July. Plans for an August wedding went into effect as Harry and Ginny tried to settle on a month.
“I don’t want a winter wedding,” said Ginny. “It’ll be too cold. I don’t mind snowmen or snowball fights, but I don’t want the best day of my life to be ruined by a snowstorm.”
“How about spring?” asked Harry. “Autumn is kind of cutting it close to Ron and Hermione’s, but spring is nice…and they’ll be loads of flowers.”
“Yes, but it’ll be rainy,” said Ginny. “And again, my wedding would be ruined by a storm.”
“How about early June?” suggested Hermione. “The weather will be warm and the rainy season will be ending. It’ll be a long wait, but I’m sure it will be worth it.”
“June?” asked Ginny. “I’ll be almost nineteen and Harry will be nearly twenty so that’s good…the weather sounds nice, too. What do you think, Harry?”
“June it is!” Harry said in triumph. “Finally,” he added in a whisper to Ron.
“I’m with you, Mate,” said Ron. “Mine is next month, so just think how I feel.”
“Sorry…” said Harry sympathetically, though he could tell that Ron was thrilled to finally have his emotions for Hermione out in the open.
“So, Harry, when shall I tell Mum?” asked Ginny suddenly.
“Your mother? Oh, I don’t know…Isn’t she going to be mad because you’re still only seventeen?”
“I’ll be eighteen, and that’s nearly the same age Ron and Hermione are!”
“Correction,” said Hermione. “I’m going to be a few weeks away from twenty come my wedding. You’ll only be a couple months shy of nineteen. That’s a bit different.”
“Mother will fall for it,” said Ginny. “Besides, I’m mature for my age, and she adores Harry!”
“Good point,” said Harry. “She does love me, doesn’t she?”
“Don’t let your head get too big, or it’ll blow up,” warned Ron. “I’d tell her now, Ginny. She’ll only get angrier if you keep it from her. If she is anything like anybody else, she’ll just be happy that the two of you are finally getting married for good and not keeping up with this stupid on-again off-again thing you’ve got going on.”
“You’re sure?” asked Ginny, turning the tables with who was usually the confident one of the two.
“When have you ever worried about what Mum thinks?” asked Ron with raised eyebrows.
“Ok, I’ll do it,” said Ginny, Disapparating on the spot.
“Not wasting any time, is she?” Hermione commented. “Harry, we’d better go too. I’d say you should go alone, but I don’t think you want to leave us in your house.”
“I don’t care if you are alone in my house,” he said. “But if you want to come…”
“We’ll stay,” said Ron a bit too quickly. “Or, we could go too…” he said slowly as he caught Hermione’s glare.
“Thanks,” said Harry as he Apparated to the Burrow.
Harry appeared on the front lawn of the Burrow, followed moments later by Ron and Hermione. Ron prodded him in the back and he felt his feet move across the lawn toward the house. Ginny was already in the kitchen talking with Mrs. Weasley. Harry could hear every word from the sitting room where he was standing.
“We love each other, and it seems silly to wait any longer. Ron and Hermione were thinking about an August wedding, so Harry and I thought we would wait until next June. I’ll be almost nineteen, so I think I’ll be plenty old enough, especially with almost a year-long engagement. What do you think?”
“How long are you planning on waiting until you move into Godric’s Hollow?” asked Mrs. Weasley coldly.
“We haven’t really talked about it…” Ginny replied softly. “We were sort of preoccupied with the whole wedding thing.”
“Ginny, I don’t know whether to be upset with you or overjoyed.”
“Overjoyed would be the best option,” said Harry as he walked into the kitchen, not sure if he was walking into a battle zone or not, but it didn't really matter.
“Oh, Harry!” said Mrs. Weasley. “How do you feel about all of this?”
“I’m still sort of numb to it, actually,” said Harry honestly, pulling up a chair beside Ginny.
“Do you really want to get married?” asked Mrs. Weasley, obviously trying to protect her youngest child.
“Well, you know, Mrs. Weasley that I’ve always felt like a member of this family and I love your daughter very much. It’s logical that the next step would, of course, be marriage.” The whole topic of conversation felt a bit strange to Harry, but he managed to keep a straight face. He'd always thought of Mrs. Weasley as his own mother, so discussing marrying Ginny with her was not an easy talk to be having.
“But, so soon? You two still have your whole lives ahead of you!”
“So did you and Dad,” said Ron as he and Hermione entered the kitchen and sat at the table, “but that didn’t seem to stop you.”
“You know very well that your father and I were made for each other, but the four of you, well…”
“What makes you think that Ron isn’t made for Hermione and Harry for me?” cried Ginny. “How do you know?”
“I don’t,” said Mrs. Weasley simply. “That’s why I’m not sure about all of this…”
“Why?” asked Hermione, “Because you don’t know? Well, I know for a fact that I love Ron and I’ve been waiting almost nine years for him. If you think I’m going to wait any longer than the end of August, you must be crazy!” Hermione ignored Mrs. Weasley's angered stare at her words and kept her head held high.
“Same for me,” said Ginny, jumping into the action.
“Right,” added Ron and Harry quickly, not wanting to be scolded later.
“Well, I can see that you have all made up your minds,” said Mrs. Weasley quietly. “If you want to break a mother’s heart…”
“Thanks, Mum!” said Ginny kissing her mother on the cheek.
“You’re the best, Mrs. Weasley!” said Hermione.
“Thanks,” mumbled Ron, upset that the argument hadn't gotten any more heated. He always enjoyed when his mother was yelling and it wasn't at him, and he'd been expecting her to have a go at Ginny.
“So that’s it?” asked Harry. “Everything’s settled?”
“Harry, don’t make her change her mind,” whispered Ginny. “Let’s go get a drink at the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate. See you later, Mum!” Ginny linked arms with Hermione and swept out of the kitchen and Harry followed on their heels. He could hear Ron’s heavy breathing right behind him.
Dream Come True by rupertgrintlover13
Chapter Notes: Yay for shorter waits! Thanks for all the reviews. I've enjoyed reading them and responding to them. Keep reading (all my stories) and reviewing!