Ron had never noticed that stain on his ceiling before, the one right at the far corner, by the window. It had to have been there for years, though, now that he thought of it. When he was ten, there had been a particularly nasty thunderstorm that had blown through Ottery St. Catchpole, and the ghoul, feeling especially mischievous, had dismantled several of the pipes in the attic, causing a flood of rainwater to come gushing through his ceiling.

That spot where the water had leaked through for almost an entire week was now a faint rusty color--a cool silver in the light of the moon. Ron wondered how he ever could have missed such an ugly thing until just now, but then, he had never really stared at the ceiling for quite this long or this intently, either.

He�d already tried several times tonight to close his eyes. Each time, he thought he had felt himself slowly crossing that border into unconsciousness, only to be stopped at the last second by the sound of Harry�s light snoring, at which point his eyes flew back open and he would find himself staring once more at that big, shapeless water stain on his ceiling.

The adrenalin coursing through his system right now didn�t seem to be showing any signs of tapering off any time soon. It had been nearly an hour since everyone had scattered off to bed, deciding that there would be much to do in the morning, and it just seemed to be a perfectly sensible strategy to turn in far earlier than usual so they could all rise at the crack of dawn in the morning and get a head start on last minute preparations for what promised to be another typical Weasley special occasion: equal parts chaos and celebration.

Tomorrow was the day his entire life was going to change. Tomorrow was the day he was going to get married.

Husband. He was going to be Hermione�s husband. It still seemed such a foreign concept, though certainly not an off-putting one by any means. The word still carried with it such a strong association: evoking images of his own father, with a brood of children round him, all fighting with each other to climb onto his knees, and a sort of battle-weary smile on his face as he looked on at Mum. That was the image Ron had carried with him, even into adulthood.

When had he turned into his father?

Not that he didn�t love Dad, or wanted to be like him. In fact, for as long as he could remember, he had always wanted to be like him. Just like him. As kind and as funny, and clever and good-natured. But always, there was this nagging doubt in him, if he really could be like Dad. Would he be as good a husband to Hermione as Dad had been to Mum? Would Hermione look at him across the room one day, and smile at him the way Mum did at Dad when they thought their children weren�t watching?

Oh, this was no use. He was never going to get to sleep at this rate. What he needed was someone to talk to, but obviously Harry was out of the running. The poor bloke needed his sleep, anyway. Ron reckoned that best men had quite enough stress as it was, without him depriving his of some well-deserved rest.

Right, then. Perhaps a walk instead. He looked outside the window, wondering if he�d really be willing to brave the bitter January cold, then decided the cold would probably do him some good anyway. With one last glance at Harry, he kicked off the covers, then disapparated into the backyard.

He could hear giggling nearby, no doubt those pesky little gnomes which were sneaking back into the garden after he, Harry, and his brothers had spent the entire afternoon tossing them as far as they could throw. He had a mind to go over right now and take them on single-handedly, but in the end, he decided he had better things to do at that moment. Such as trying to relax.

It wasn�t that he wasn�t happy about getting married tomorrow; on the contrary, he couldn�t be more thrilled. He and Hermione were about to make it official after all these years. Really official. Standing up in front of their family and friends and leaving no doubt whatsoever that they would move heaven and earth to be together. Always. It�s what he�d wanted more than anything for so long, and now it was actually about to happen.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that that was exactly why he was so bloody nervous.

Hermione... He loved her so much that sometimes it was still so hard for him to believe that he was capable of emotion with such depth, such breadth, such intensity. But along with that love came vulnerability, a frightening vulnerability that he never would have willingly taken on, if it didn�t mean that he would get to have this incredible woman in his life.

There was rustling behind the shrubs. His ear caught it immediately, and he followed the sound, going down the hidden passageway just beyond these bushes, that led to another garden behind this one. Someone was there; he caught movement by a tree, and just as he pulled out his wand to take the perpetrator by surprise, he heard a familiar gasp.

�Ron!! It�s me!!�

Ron lowered his wand, and squinted in the darkness. The tree was blocking most of the light from the moon, but when he tilted his head, he saw that it had been no trespasser; it was Hermione.

�What�re you doing here?�

�I was about to ask you the same thing,� she said, coming out from the branches and approaching him. �You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought I�d have tentacles sprouting out of my head for sure.�

Ron laughed, pulling her into him and giving her a kiss on her forehead. �Well I�m sorry, but we don�t normally have visitors lurking about here at this hour,� he said. �I thought you were a bloody thief.�

�I�m glad we straightened that out then. Can�t have hex marks all over me on my wedding day.�

�Hermione?�

�Hmm?�

�You never answered my question,� he said. �What are you doing out here? It�s almost midnight--isn�t it bad luck if we see each other after midnight?�

She giggled, taking his hand and pulling them down onto the ground to lean against a clump of overgrown roots. �You don�t actually believe in that silly superstition, do you?� she said.

�Are you mad??� he said. �You never laugh in the face of lady fortune, Hermione! Don�t you know it�s bad to tempt fate?�

�Ron, relax. I�m not worried.� She reached up to caress his cheek, her touch causing his skin to tingle. �Are you?�

�No,� he said, well aware of how unconvincing he sounded, �not really...�

She pulled away from him slightly to look in his eyes. �You are!�

�All right, a little. Well, aren�t you?� He took her hand and laced their fingers together, his thumb lazily sweeping across the delicate arch of her hand. �How can you not be? Everything�s going to change after tomorrow.�

�I know,� she said. �That�s the whole point, isn�t it?�

�I s�pose.�

She lifted his chin up with her hand.

�Ron?�

�Yeah?�

�You love me, don�t you?�

He traced her jaw with his index finger, taking in every angle and curve of her face in the moonlight. He knew he never wanted to forget the way she looked at that very moment for as long as he lived.

�You know I do,� he said softly. �I love you more than anything in this whole world, Hermione Granger.�

�Then that�s all there is to it...�

She took both of his hands in hers, and he looked up at her in curiosity.

�What are you doing?�

�Just follow my lead,� she said, smiling. Then she cleared her throat, presumably for dramatic pause, and began to recite something familiar. �I, Hermione, take you Ronald, to be my wedded husband...�

�Er... bit early for this, isn�t it?�

�Shush, I�m in the middle of something here.�

He held in his laughter and let her continue.

�... for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in spite of your Quidditch obsession, your stand on elf rights, and your constant teasing about me having fancied one of my teachers... I promise to love, honor, and make you treacle tarts, till death do us part...�

Ron arched an eyebrow.

�Am I to respond to that somehow?�

�Not up for the challenge?�

�Oh Miss Granger-�

�That�s soon-to-be Mrs. Weasley to you!�

He laughed.

�I stand corrected. All right, you�re on.� He took a deep breath of his own, before starting his own impromptu vows. �I, Ronald, take you Hermione, to be my wedded wife... for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, in spite of your limited chess ability, your inability to travel anywhere without at least five books, and your incessant habit of quoting Hogwarts, A History... I promise to love, honor, and eat your treacle tarts-�

�Wait a minute, I thought you said you loved my treacle tarts??�

�I do,� he said. �And that particular vow will be quite easy to keep.�

He felt, rather than heard her laughter, felt her breath enter his mouth when she kissed him, moving her hands up his shoulder blades and pulling him close to her as they both fell back against the soft, yielding ground.

�You�re shivering,� he whispered absently.

�It�s January,� she said, smiling against his mouth. �Bit cold...�

Without hesitating, he aimed his wand high and said, �Inflamare...�

At once, a ball of fire materialized on command, bringing instant warmth as it hovered just above them like a tiny sun.

�Better?�

She nodded. �Much.�

�You know this really is breaking tradition,� he murmured. �We�re breaking about a hundred rules-�

�When have we ever followed the rules, Ron Weasley?�

He looked down at her and grinned. �Good point...�

She pulled him towards her again, swallowing his laugh, and in that moment, he forgot all about what had left him sleepless tonight, what had made him get up out of bed and wander around the garden to gather his thoughts. Because as always, she was right. There was nothing to be afraid of--absolutely nothing.

And there was everything to look forward to.

Afterwards, he held her close, breathing in her familiar scent of lavender and vanilla as she settled her cheek against his chest. He could have held her like this all night, but he knew at some point he would have to let go. He just didn�t want to let go just yet.

�Ron,� he heard her say.

�Mmm hmm?�

�I lied earlier.�

�What?�

She shifted, folding her arms across his chest and resting her chin on her hands. �You asked me if I was worried,� she said, �and I told you I wasn�t. I lied. The reason I came here was because... I was worried. About a lot of things. Mostly if I�ll be a good wife-�

�Oh come on, you�ve already learnt to cook, what else is there?�

She laughed and swatted him on the arm. �I�m serious, Ron. There are things I can�t learn from a book. Marriage is something new entirely. I don�t want to fail at it.�

�You won�t.�

�How can you be so sure? What if you get sick of me after fifty years-�

He placed a finger on her lips, then pulled her towards him for a kiss. �I seem to recall someone very wise telling me earlier that all there was to it is that we loved each other,� he said. �I think she was quite right.�

She smiled. �You�re admitting I�m right?�

�Yeah,� he said. �Might as well practice that now, don�t you think?�

He was expecting a smart retort in response, but instead she just smiled at him, her eyes sweeping his face. Then she reached out to touch his temple ever so gently, and brushed back a lock from his eyes.

�I love you, you know,� she murmured. �I really, truly love you.�

His eye caught sight of the moon above. It hung right in the middle of the sky now, and he knew exactly what time it was.

�Hey,� he said, �it�s midnight. We�re not supposed to see each other now...�

She laughed and scooted out of his arms to slip back into her clothes. �All right,� she said, �since marriage is all about compromise, I reckon I should humor your superstitions.� She reached forward to give him one last, long kiss. �Besides... there�ll be plenty more of this soon enough...�

�I�m marrying a scarlet woman!�

�Damn right, Ron Weasley.�

She winked at him before vanishing. He stayed at the tree for a bit longer, but after a while, he finally went up to bed. Only a few more hours, he thought. Just a few more hours before I�m a married man.

He couldn�t wait.