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It was an ordinary Saturday in early June, weather a little bit nicer than expected, but nothing out of ordinary and yet her boyfriend was clearly nervous. It was obvious in the way his fingers twitched, constantly playing with his hair, putting a loose strand behind his ear just to pull it out mere seconds later, and even more in the way he kept trying to bring everything to perfection. He usually didn't care much about such little details. Yes, he was a well put together person that preferred to keep everything clean as the opposite of his life in Azkaban and on the run, but checking three times if for sure they had a picnic blanket just to change his mind and go for another one, wasn't like him. Hermione just couldn’t figure out what was the reason for his sudden change of behaviour, before a planned long walk and picnic.
Wait… no, it wasn’t sudden, when she thought about it now. Actually he was becoming increasingly more stressed in the past few days. For a moment she feared that something was wrong with work or even worse with them , but she quickly dismissed those thoughts. Sirius was full of nervous anticipation, not like a person about to drop some bad news, not to mention that he wouldn’t take her out on a date in the wild just to break up with her, he wasn’t cruel. That was just simply stupid. When she dismissed that ridiculous idea, she immediately came to the conclusion that he had to have something planned for them.
Which left only what and why. After all, it wasn't their anniversary yet, there were still a few weeks until that, there was nothing particularly special about this day to give her any clues. She wondered if she forget about something important, or maybe missed any clues, while he for the fourth time checked their picnic basket. Thankfully it seemed that it was the final time and he left the kitchen carrying it with him.
Seeing him so unusually nervous, Hermione didn't have a heart to even tease him about and just took his hand to follow him when he apparated to the mysterious destination. Because yes, the place where they were going was a surprise too, it really made her only more suspicious about his plans.
They landed on the field, but the first thing she truly registered was wind messing with her hair and the unmistakable noise of waves crashing upon the shore. She looked around trying to guess where they were, something more than just 'near the sea', but nothing she saw was characteristic enough to do so. The field was filled with all the late spring wildflowers, and there were some houses in the distance, but nothing gave her even the slightest idea where they actually were.
Hoping that physically being in the surprise place meant that he would stop keeping it a secret, she turned towards him and asked, "Where are we?"
He smiled, and leaned to kiss her cheek. "In Dover, or rather near it."
"The white cliffs?" She didn't even try to disguise the excitement in her voice.
Not that long ago, while she was walking around the Muggle flea market with him, she found an old vinyl with songs by Vera Lynn. After that it kept playing in their kitchen for another few weeks, the music reminding her of her grandmother. The famous song ' White cliffs of Dover' was among her favourites and she confessed to him that she always wanted to see them herself. The fact that he remembered something she just said in passing, warmed her heart and made her nearly hundred percent sure that he had hidden reasons for this trip.
Sirius only nodded with a bright smile, clearly pleased with her eagerness. “Come on, we have a little bit of a walk to do, before we reach the spot I have chosen for today.” He took her hand and led her through the field.
It didn’t take them long to reach the cliffs and Hermione gasped, marvelling about their beauty. The nearly completely white rocks protruding from the rough sea, constantly washed by the angry waves, crashing onto them. They walked alongside the edge, keeping a safe distance from it, and admiring the spectacular view.
In the end it took them approximately half an hour, before Sirius stopped, proudly declaring that they were here. At first Hermione didn’t understand why he picked this place, but then she turned around and realised that she could see the entire path they made and the spot they were on, as it was reaching deeper into the sea giving them a beautiful view at the rest of the cliffs. She just stood there watching the sun reflecting in the water and on the white stones, making them nearly shiny.
When she finally turned back, Sirius had their entire picnic set up on the grass. She sat beside him, accepting a glass of white wine and looked around at all the things he prepared, there were some fruits and some pastries and even a chocolate cake for the dessert. They ate mostly in silence, only from time to time engaging in some small talk about their work or their friends, but usually they remained silent, just quietly watching the clouds chasing each other in the sky.
One of Hermione’s favourite things about being with Sirius was the fact that they could just… be. They didn’t need to do anything in order to enjoyably spend their time together, they could just lay beside each other and watch the sky and that was enough. The silence between was never heavy, never uncomfortable.
At least until today, because now Hermione could feel the tension in the air, the nervousness and anticipation that emanated from Sirius. It seemed that he was getting close to the point of finally snapping and doing… whatever he had planned. However Hermione was done with it much faster, unable to bear the uncertainty about what was about to come.
She sat up from laying on the blanket and looked down at him. “So?”
“So what?” He looked at her a little lost.
“You clearly want to do or say something, so go on with it and spare us both those nerves.”
“Is it so obvious?” Sirius asked with a pained expression.
“Are you kidding? You're a ball of nervous energy,” Hermione teased fondly.
“Shit…” He gulped. “Alright, there’s probably no point in dragging it any longer.
Sirius reached into his pocket, taking something out and then kneeled in front of her. Kneeled on one knee...
Hermione felt her brain freeze at the sight. He for sure couldn’t mean that . Right? Or did he?
When she realised that the thing he held in his hand was a small jewellery box, she didn’t have any more doubts, it was truly happening, no matter how unbelievable it seemed.
Sirius shifted awkwardly on his knee, before sighing. “I had an entire speech prepared,” he confessed, killing the last remaining doubt about what all of that meant, “but I will admit that I don’t remember a word of it.”
Hermione chuckled, fighting the tears that started gathering in her eyes. She always knew that he was… well, serious about the two of them, but seeing that he wanted the future with her was just something more, something else, something that warmed her heart, filling it with happiness she never expected to find.
“So I will improvise and hopefully don’t make a fool of myself.” He took a deep breath, before looking straight into her eyes. “When we met for the first time, it didn’t mean anything and I couldn’t suspect that it would be one of the most important moments of my life. Then we became friends, and honestly… it turned out to be worth nearly getting killed.”
“Sirius!” Hermione exclaimed, her mind immediately going to that horrifying moment when she saw him falling towards the Veil of Death after being hit by Belleatrix’s spell. Sometimes she still had nightmares about that day, about not being fast enough with pushing him aside and him falling to his death.
However he ignored her protests and simply continued. “I hadn’t even thought that I could ask for more and then you gifted me with your love. And it is the best thing that ever happened to me. But like they say, the more you get the more you want. So I dare to ask for one more gift, for a chance to one day call you my wife.” Before she could say anything, answer his question, he hurried with an explanation. “I know that it’s early but I want to… I want everyone, you and all the others, to know how important you’re to me. We don’t need to hurry with the actual marriage, but this is my declaration to you, a vow, a promise.” Then he paused and took her hand in his. “So will you give me that honour to one day become my wife?”
Hermione tried, she truly did, but she had no chance to stop the tears that started to pour from her eyes. It was literally everything she ever dreamt of but was too shy to actually do. She wanted to answer, proclaim her own declaration of love, but her throat was squeezed tightly, not allowing her to utter even a single word, so she just nodded vehemently, making sure that there was no doubt about what her answer was. And fearing that maybe her tears made the message she tried to convey unclear, she threw herself into his arms kissing him deeply and desperately, wishing to pour all her love into that single kiss.
Thankfully, it seemed that Sirius understood her perfectly, his hands wandering towards her hips and tugging her closer to him. Then he hauled them both to their feets and spun her around, not breaking the kiss, until she started giggling, unable to keep a smile from her face. She looked into his eyes and saw the pure happiness that had to radiate from her own face too.
“Don’t fall from that cliff, kids.” A teasing voice came from behind them, making them nearly jump apart.
They both turned their heads in that direction, only to see some old Muggle woman with a brown dog, both clearly on a walk. She had a kind smile and left them without another word, only muttering to herself about young love.
Hermione felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment at being caught like that by a stranger, but Sirius only laughed merrily, tugging her closer to him once again.
“She called us kids . I feel young again.”
Hermione just rolled her eyes at his words and stood up on her toes to kiss him again, but she stopped a mere breath away from his lips. “My answer is yes , by the way.”
They kissed for a moment, before he took a small step away from her and finally opened the jewellery box he had to keep in his hand all this time, presenting her with the ring he had chosen.
Hermione was stunned, how beautiful it was, a sapphire surrounded by pinkish gold and two small edelweiss, that immediately made her think about Switzerland and their first proper date, that took place in a restaurant with a stunning view of the Alps and a glacier.
“Do you like it?” The nervousness returned to his voice.
“It’s absolutely perfect.” She smiled at him, tears once again appearing in her eyes, when he smiled back with a clear relief and then took the ring out and put it on her finger. It even fitted perfectly.
Hermione already could imagine some people being unhappy with this development, but she on the other hand simply couldn’t be happier. One day, in probably not that distant future, she would marry the love of her life, they had to celebrate it. With that thought she tugged him down for another kiss, this one much more deeper and full of hunger.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing heavily, she ordered. “Pack the picnic.”
“But we still have a dessert,” he protested halfheartedly, his eyes dazed.
“And we will eat it at home. After we celebrate properly.” The last part she whispered into his ear, biting his lobe.
“Oh, oh,” Sirius stuttered, his eyes going wide.
He quickly casted a spell sending all their things back to the picnic basket and Hermione just prayed that that delicious looking chocolate cake would still be in the good enough state to eat later. As soon as things were packed, he took the basket into his hand and with a quick glance around probably to make sure that no one was close enough to them, he apparted them both back to their home. They had a celebration to attend.