2002
To say Ron was stressed, would be an understatement. He was pacing up and down his childhood bedroom thinking over how stupid he had been. There is no way this had happened to him.
Where the bloody hell was the damn ring.
Ron felt every single pocket he had on his clothing, but still nothing. He went over when he had last seen the ring and couldn’t think of anything. It was frustrating, to say the least. He had a plan, Ronald Weasley actually had a plan and it was a really good one too.
Ever since he had moved in with Hermione and after their conversation last Christmas he knew he wanted to propose to her sooner rather than later. He had started his search for the perfect ring in March and it took him ages to find one. Ginny had helped him, but it turned out he was pickier than he ever thought he would be. The 15-year-old version of him would have taken the piss out of him making such a big deal over a ring. But he was planning on proposing to Hermione Granger and if there was something he was sure about, it was that she deserved the best. So it took him a total of six months to find the perfect ring and 3 more to come up with the perfect plan.
He was gonna do it at the pond behind the Burrow. It was the place they officially became boyfriend and girlfriend, so it felt natural to get engaged there as well. He had even written down bullet points of what he wanted to say to her and put them in his pocket. He felt his back pocket and groaned. He had lost those too. It couldn't get any worse than this.
“Hey mate,” a knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts, “are you gonna come back down?” Harry asked through the door.
“Yes, of course. Give me a minute.”
“Please tell me Hermione is not in there with you.”
“She isn’t! I’ll be down in a minute.”
He heard the creaks of the stairs as his best friend walked back down the stairs. Ron let out a groan and rested his head against the wall, bumping against it. He can’t get anything right.
When he came back into the sitting room he joined his family who was watching Victoire opening her gifts. He sat down next to Hermione and put an arm around her, kissing her temple.
She smiled up at him and whispered, “Are you okay?”
“Hmm,” he lied, “Just needed a minute to myself. You know how it is. This family can be overwhelming. But I am okay now.”
She smiled again, “I’m glad.”
The rest of the evening went by relatively fast. Ron was too distracted to actually take part in any of the conversations, too focused on trying to remember where he put that ring.
By the time he and Hermione were leaving he still had no clue and was even considering proposing without a ring. He immediately crossed the thought out of his mind, because what kind of guy proposes without a ring?
The couple said their goodbyes and flooed back to their own flat. Stepping out of the fireplace they brushed off the ashes and Hermione offered to make some tea. Ron agreed and kissed her before she left to put on the kettle.
Ron sat down on the sofa and went through all the places he remembered having the ring. Still nothing. He couldn’t believe it. The ring couldn’t be gone. Where could that stupid thing be?
“Uhm, Ron?” Hermione asked from behind him.
“Yes?” he replied absent-mindedly
“What is this?”
“What is wha -”
Shit. Shit.
As he turned around he saw Hermione standing in front of him in the doorway holding a velvet box. The same velvet box he had been missing all day.
“Ron?”
“Oh, uhm. I don’t know,” he muttered.
“Ronald Bilius Weasley, what is this?”
“This was not how this was supposed to go."
“What do you mean?”
Ron stood up from the sofa and walked over to her, taking the box out of her hand, “This.”
Hermione looked confused, “look if I ruined your Christmas gift for me by finding it early I am sorry. I’ll just pretend I never saw it.”
“NO!” he said a little too loudly, which startled her.
“I had a plan ‘Mione. I was gonna take you to the pond and all.”
“Ron, what is wrong?”
“Ah fuck it,” he muttered and got down on one knee.
“Oh my -”
“Please just let me talk, okay.”
Hermione, already teary-eyed, just nodded.
“‘Mione, this is not the way I was planning on doing this, but of course, my original plan didn’t work out. Completely on brand for us, I reckon. I have loved you since I was like 15 years old and every day I thank the universe that you feel the same way. I love you so much and I don’t want to ever be apart from you. You are the person I want to wake up next to every morning and the last person I want to hold before falling asleep. You have seen me at my worst and still chose to love me with everything you have.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, Hermione Jean Granger, would you make me the happiest bloke on earth and marry me?”
Hermione just stared at him, cheeks wet from her tears.
Merlin, she is gonna say no.
“YES!”
“Yes?”
“Yes, you idiot!”
She threw her arms around him and he fell back onto the floor. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. They just lay there for a while, not letting go of each other. When she pulled away she offered him her hand and he slid the ring on her finger. It had a silver band and held a small diamond.
“It’s so pretty,” she squealed and hugged him again.
“Ginny helped me,” Ron chuckled, “I needed it to be perfect.”
“I would have said yes if you proposed with a paper ring, Ron.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” she nodded, “but I’ll settle for this one too, I guess,” she held up her hand and stared at the ring. Ron gently took her hand and kissed her palm. Hermione turned her hand in his and placed it on his cheek, turning his head to kiss him again.
“I love you, Ron,” Hermione whispered, “so so much.”
“I love you too,” he stroked her cheek, “fiancé.”
“That sounds nice,” she smiled.
“Can’t wait for it to be wife,” he murmured and leaned in again. Hermione smiled against his lips.
She couldn’t wait either.