Are You Crazy Enough To Do It? Challenge: 359. (quote) Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. – Winston Churchill

QL Reserve League: S5, R10, Chaser 3 - You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone [optional prompts: (emotion): fear, (dialogue) "This couldn't have happened at a worse time.", (image) i. Ytimg vi/taYqwXhBogU/maxresdefault. jpg]

WC. 2840

One Year

Mirrors had a bad habit of making one think they looked worse than they actually did. It didn't matter what mirror it was, a person could look in it and be horrified by what they saw.

That can't possibly be how I look! they'd think to themselves. Then they'd do everything they could to try and change it, only to end up looking even worse.

It was a real problem, one that Ron was struggling with as he tried to figure out what to wear. Nothing he owned was good enough for tonight, yet he didn't exactly have the funds to go and buy himself a whole new outfit. It was a dilemma he'd been struggling with for the past few days, making what was supposed to be a special occasion a terrifying time.

She'd spent almost every day of the past year with him, but he had to look his best tonight. He just had to. Perhaps she'd change her mind if she saw him show up in something that didn't suit him.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, you're still staring at yourself? If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd have a thing for yourself."

"Now's not the time!" Ron snapped, glaring into the mirror where he could see his sister standing in his doorway.

"It's dinner," Ginny said. "You've had plenty of them before."

Ron used his wand to do up the tie of his suit. Maybe Muggle attire would be the way to go. After all, they were going out into Muggle London.

"This one's different."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Because… just because, alright."

"Oh." Ginny's eyes widened. "You're not going to propose, are you?"

"No!" Ron said. "I'm not going to propose. If that was the case, I'd be a hell of a lot more nervous than I am right now."

"Then, what's the matter? You see her practically every day, and for some unknown reason she seems thrilled by that. You take her out all the time. You just need to relax, Ron."

"It's an important time," Ron mumbled, once again feeling ridiculous in what he had put on. "One year together. Like really together. A year without the media asking a bunch of questions, a year without not seeing her for months at a time while she goes to another country. A year without any funerals to attend. It's been a good year, and I want it to be special. She makes me happy." He shrugged. "That's all."

Ginny's expression softened, her tone becoming more gentle. "You look fine, you know? And I don't think she's with you for your looks, anyway."

Ron scowled.

"I meant that in a nice way!" Ginny protested. "Dressing up is not going to make your first year celebration any better. But you will make it better by not being weird and nervous around someone you've known forever, loved longer than you realise, and who you're now in a serious and committed relationship with."

Ron sighed, finally turning away and looking at his sister. "I just don't want her to look at me and wonder if she's made the right choice. I don't think I could handle anything like that. I want her to be happy with me… forever. To lose her would be… hard." His sister wasn't the right person to share what such a loss would cause him to feel.

But perhaps she knew, because she offered a sympathetic smile. "Well, I think you're the only one who thinks that might happen. You need to fix that mindset, Ron. She loves you, and most of the time you seem to know that. Then you reach milestones like this and you start doubting everything."

"Hm."

Ginny patted his arm. "Go and have fun, and please, for the love of Merlin, try to remember to be yourself and not some nervous numpty on a first date. She's been your girlfriend for virtually two years, even if you're only counting it as one. She's been your friend for even longer. And some kind of 'sort of, a war-has-complicated-things' girlfriend in between."

Ron nodded. "And you're sure I look okay?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, pushing him out the door. "Even if you didn't, I wouldn't tell you. Now, go, before she wonders why you haven't shown up."

…

He Apparated to the agreed meeting spot, startled to find her already waiting. The moment he saw her, he felt himself relax. Ginny was right. They'd known each other for almost half their lives. In a relationship or not, it was hard not to be comfortable around someone who'd made such an impact on his life. Perhaps that was why it had been easy for them to fall into something where the lines had blurred between friendship and something more. Neither of them knew when things had really changed, but it was different for them than it had been for everyone else. It had been gradual, natural. It had happened earlier than everyone else had seen it.

"Am I late?" Ron asked, looking down at his wrist watch.

"No," Hermione said, smiling. "Right on time. You look nice, by the way."

Ron stifled a laugh, looking at her. "And you, as beautiful as ever." He kissed her, drawing her towards him. Despite her wearing a dress that was really made for summer, she felt warm against him on this cold November evening. "Did you cast a warming charm?"

Under the faint streetlight, he saw her blush. "I wanted to look nice, and I had nothing for -"

"You would look amazing in anything," Ron assured her, kissing her again, and not at all oblivious to the irony of his words. "I don't want you to go cold."

"And I'm not." She pulled away, smiling up at him. "You seem nervous."

"I'm terrified, actually," Ron confessed. "Well, I was. Then I saw you and realised I was being stupid. It's always like that, you know? When you're with me, I just love you so much and I'm so happy. And then when you're gone…"

"You don't love me?" Hermione questioned, feigning concern.

"I always love you. But… it just doesn't feel right not having you around sometimes. I miss you."

Hermione looked at him curiously.

"What?" Ron asked.

"You just made what I wanted to talk to you about tonight so much easier," Hermione said.

"I did?" Ron's heart started pounding against his chest. Had he said something wrong? Had she really been thinking of ending things? Did his constant declarations of love turn her off? She was kind of independent. She didn't need him like he needed her. "So much easier for what? What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's go inside, and we can talk then. The warming charm isn't the most reliable of things." She offered her hand, which he of course accepted.

"You really do look beautiful, you know?" he said as they exited the alley and entered the busy streets of London. Whatever she had to say wouldn't change how he felt about her.

Hermione only smiled up at him.

…

Muggle London was confusing. There were a lot of people, most of whom possessed no magic, and they used a currency he didn't understand. But he had to admit that it was a much better place to eat out than the wizarding world. London, alone, had more restaurants and cafes to offer than all of the wizarding world, globally. So unless they wanted to Apparate to Singapore to try something new, Muggle London it was.

One thing Ron had grown accustomed to was making a booking. He'd even managed once or twice to use a telephone to do it.

They'd chosen an Italian restaurant for tonight that overlooked the Thames. Seated by the window with a spectacular view of the water, Ron couldn't contain himself any longer.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Hermione looked across at him, still smiling. "I love you," she said.

The words were enough to relax him. She wouldn't say that if she was planning on breaking up with him. "I love you, too. And now that I'm fairly certain you don't want to discuss how our relationship is going, what is it?"

"Actually," Hermione said, "I do want to discuss how it's going. That's what I meant."

"Oh."

"Ron, it's a good thing. Don't worry! What I want to say is good. We're going well, aren't we?"

Ron nodded. "I think so. I hope so. I mean, I hope you think that. I love you." A thought came to his mind then. Something that Ginny had asked him. "You're not planning on proposing, are you? I'd like that to be me, you know. Er, tradition and all."

The comment startled Hermione so much that she leaned back in her seat, her eyes wide.

Ron flushed. "Okay, that's not it. Please don't think I want to marry you. I mean, I do. Of course I do. One day, I mean. I'd like to, at least. If I was going to marry anyone."

Hermione now seemed amused. "Ron, why are you so nervous? You weren't -"

"No!" Ron said quickly. "No. Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

It took Hermione a few moments to respond, her face showing bewilderment. "As flattered and as relieved as I am that you see our relationship going that far, I was thinking of a slightly smaller step first."

"Right," Ron said, moving his gaze away from her and out the window.

"Ron." She reached across the table to take his hand. "Please don't feel embarrassed about saying that. I love that you are thinking about it. I'd like that one day, but I think first we should maybe live together."

Ron snapped his gaze back at her. "Live together? You and me? In our own place?"

Hermione nodded.

"Even after what I just said?"

"Even more so."

"But…"

"Oh, Ron." She spoke so tenderly, Ron had never heard it from her before. Usually, she was either frustrated with him, or… just normal. "I've been wanting to bring it up with you for a while now, but I was always so scared you'd say no. Or you'd freak out because you thought I was moving too fast. You always seem to want to go so slowly with everything. But then outside, you were saying how you hate us being apart, and… I guess that answered my question."

"Slowly? I thought you wanted to go slowly."

"There's slow, and then there's Ron's pace."

Ron looked down at their entwined hands. "I just didn't want to make a wrong move. I didn't want to come on too strong and make you second guess everything. I didn't want to scare you into thinking I wanted too much at once. But I gave that away tonight, didn't I?"

Hermione smiled. "And you didn't scare me away."

"Moving in is a big step," Ron mused. "Are you sure you're ready? We've only been together for a year."

"Almost two, technically," Hermione reminded him. "And if you want to get even more technical, I'd say a lot longer. Unless, of course, all those letters you wrote me when I was in Australia were from my friend, Ron, and not my boyfriend, Ron. And I can assure you, no other friend thought to include declarations of love or… other colourful comments in their letters."

Ron went red. He'd missed her when she was in Australia. She'd been gone for so long, only a month or so after they'd really been on track. "You still remember those, huh?"

"They were hard to forget. Sweet, but not something you forget easily. You're a lot more tactful and affectionate now, though. And a lot less... "

"It's a lot easier having you around more."

"So, let's live together."

"Alright."

It surprised both of them how easily it was to say yes after that, but Ron didn't need to think about it. Truthfully, it had not even occurred to him that they should live together, but Hermione was the clever one. She was always thinking of things like that. She was always the one raising tricky topics. Really, she probably would be the one to bring up marriage first. They'd be old and wrinkly before he found the courage to ask her.

"You sound sure, which I'm grateful for," Hermione said. "Believe it or not, you're not the only one who sometimes has doubts about how the other is feeling."

"I'll try to be more open, then," Ron said. "And I'll start now." It was his turn to reach for her hands. "Of course I want to live with you. I can think of nothing better than waking up every morning knowing that you're there to stay. The worst part about our current situation is you have to always leave. Or I have to leave. That we don't get to spend every night together. I want it to be every night, every morning, every moment. I want to come home to you after work. I want you to be there when we need each other. I don't want to have to send you an owl every time I want to see you, or use the Floo Network. And… I'm just going to say it. I don't care if it's too soon. One day I do want to marry you. Sooner rather than later. I just love you so much, sometimes it's hard to deal with. Sometimes I am scared to say how I'm truly feeling, because it's big. It's real. It scares even me to have such big emotions. But I'm glad I feel them. It makes me happy to feel the way I do."

Tears formed in Hermione's eyes, but Ron knew her well enough to know they weren't tears of sadness. He squeezed her hands tight. If they weren't sitting opposite each other, he'd engulf her in his arms.

"How'd I do?"

She laughed, wiping away stray tears with her arm. "You did well. But promise me one thing?"

"Anything," Ron said.

"Never be scared to express how you feel. We're on the same page. I have big emotions, too. Please know that."

"I do now."

"This couldn't have happened at a worse time, you know?"

"I think it's the perfect time," Ron said. "One year - or two, three, however many you think it is - is good timing."

She shook her head. "I don't mean this moment right now. This is perfect. I mean us. Our whole relationship. How we came to be. While people grieved and recovered, we were happy together, going for walks just to get some alone time. While we buried our loved ones, we had each other to hold in a new-found happiness. It was almost selfish, really, to feel so happy when everyone else was so sad."

Ron thought back to after the war. Fred's funeral and how much it had hurt, but how much better Hermione being by his side had made it. She'd given him a purpose even Harry had lacked once things started to go back to normal. She'd been someone to love, someone to focus his attention on when the world around them crumbled, and they had to try and rebuild.

"You don't regret it, do you?" he asked. "The way things happened, I mean?"

She shook her head, smiling. "If they hadn't happened as they did, would we be here right now?"

"If you hadn't made the first move, I'd probably still be sitting at home miserable because I loved someone I never had the courage to tell. You'd be with someone boring like McLaggen still, and then you'd invite me and Harry over - your two best friends - for dinner and I'd be sitting there, seething with jealousy and insulting your boyfriend, because he wouldn't deserve you. Without me, who is going to make you laugh?"

"You know I could do much better than him, don't you?" Hermione said, smirking.

"Let's not go into details about how much better you can do in your relationship choices," Ron replied. "So, where do you see us living?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm picturing an old, run down house that we can -" she lowered her voice, "- do up with magic. It would be our own, almost from scratch."

Ron shrugged. "Suits me." He leaned across the table and kissed her. "Anywhere, as long as it's with you, is home. It has been for years."

Pulling away, Hermione beamed, her cheeks flushed with pleasure. "For the record, Ron, I have complete faith in my relationship choices. I know who is good for me, and I know who isn't. Just remember that for whenever you need to."

"I will," Ron said., kissing her once more. "And you remember that you said that, alright. For the next time I annoy you to the point you want to throttle me."

"So, tomorrow?"

"Probably by the end of tonight based on how much I'm going to kiss you for the next few hours."

I was in the mood for some fluff. Thank you to Autumn & Queenie for beta-ing for me!