Interlude

Or

Of a Proposal

It had been five months, and the ring was burning a hole in Frank's pocket.

What was he thinking? She'd probably decide not to marry him. It was too soon, and too dangerous. There was a war going on, it's not a time for marriage. When would they honeymoon? Where? All of this was just too complicated.

He cleared his head as he walked into the restaurant. It would be fine. He was going to propose. It will be fine.

He met Alice at the table – she'd arrived five minutes before him, and had grabbed a seat. It was a nice restaurant, the kind you'd have to get reservations for on a weekend. It was just an ordinary Wednesday night right then, though. That would change soon.

He greeted his girlfriend with a grin and a chaste kiss on the cheek, and sat down across from her. "Are you ready to order yet?" he asked her, picking up the menu himself.

She nodded. "I ordered champagne," she said. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," he laughed. "Champagne is good. Great, even. Perfect."

"That's a lot of adjectives there," she teased in response.

This was good. This was going great.

His stomach was doing flips. It was a little distracting.

A waiter came over and took their order. Shortly after, their champagne arrived, and the waiter poured each of them a tall glass of it.

"So… I wanted to talk to you about something," Alice said, and Frank realized she looked nervous. "We've been together for a long time now, as you know, and I love you very, very much. And I think…"

Frank stared at her in shock. Was this going where he thought this was going?

"Well." Alice coughed. "I was thinking maybe it's we took the next step."

She got off the chair and onto one knee, her hand holding a box. "I know it's a little unorthodox. But… I love you, so much. And I want to be with you forever. So, Frank Longbottom… will you marry me?"

Frank took a moment to digest this, and then he laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

Alice looked taken aback. "Not exactly the response I was hoping for…"

"No, no – it's just, I have something for you, as well," Frank explained hurriedly. And then he reached into his pocket and took out a ring box. "I was… well I was going to ask you to marry me. I guess that's a little null and void now, huh?"

Alice stared at the ring box in front of her, and herself laughed a little. "Oh, I love you," she said, and threw her arms around him. She got back into up, and they exchanged rings. "It's beautiful," she sighed.

"Yeah," Frank replied. "I love mine too. A little small, though." It was a little weird to even have an engagement ring. It looked a bit like a thin, standard wedding band.

"Oh, we can get them fitted," Alice responded absent mindedly. "Oh! We should go together! And we need to start planning! Oh, Merlin, I'm so exciting." Alice leaned forward and kissed him. "This is the most romantic thing that could have ever happened."

And Frank wholeheartedly agreed.