THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH | RON WEASLEY [BOOK FIVE]

26. MEUS AMOR, MEA CAUSA

The silence had suspended, held above their heads heavily, anticipation and realisation slowly settling. Gene was breathless as she looked at Harry, his chest rising and falling heavily as he held her stare. They finally breathed out, giving the smallest of nods to one another.

Gene's lip quirked into a smile, and he returned the smile, so warm and so genuine, she could hardly believe it was real.

"You're smiling." she said.

"I must be madder than you." Harry shrugged, his grin wider than ever before as he wrapped his arms around Gene closely.

She exhaled heavily, letting go of a long and drawn out breath as she buried her head against Harry's shoulder, her arms circling his torso as she clung onto him. They held one another tightly, still under the protection of the Shield Charm Gene had casted, though the cacophony of cheers and laughter and celebration made its way through.

"You were wrong before, Gene," Harry muttered against her hair and she pulled away to look at him, "It was never you or me. It was us against him. It's always been us. Together."

Gene felt her eyes glaze over, nodding furiously because he was right. She had said it so many times before, it had become ingrained in her mind. She would admit that for a while, she had forgotten. But her reasons kept on doubling, and it was unlikely that she was going to forget again, anytime soon.

Finally, she had lowered the Shield Charm, and the deafening screams and applause had struck them both, as Ron and Hermione rushed over first, brought together in a brief hug that was just the four of them, until Ginny, Neville and Luna joined in, then Finn and all the Weasleys and soon, Gene had lost track of who had embraced her.

Amongst the chaos, Gene had found Ron who appeared to be teary-eyed, though she couldn't be sure and she was almost certain he wouldn't have admitted it. They broke away from the crowd, given their space eventually after some choice words from Aurelia, which had earned her a scolding from McGonagall that was likely to have been the first in a good nineteen years.

"Have you gotten cold feet yet?" she asked Ron, unable to hide her smile as she watched the emerald stone on her left hand, sparkling under the suns rays.

"Not yet," Ron mused, earning him a gentle nudge in his side. "Easy," he winced, "Don't you want to know how I found the ring?"

Gene couldn't deny her curiosity.

"Go on, then."

They had made their way out onto the remains of the courtyard, finding that the spot in the stone archway that Gene used to frequent, had been left unharmed. It stood tall and proud, as though it had been waiting for her return.

"The night I came back– the night we found the sword and you lost your locket. You know, the one from your mum and dad?" Ron said, at which Gene nodded remorsefully. Her hand instinctively lifted to her neck, feeling its absence strongly. "Well, I found it."

"And you didn't give it back?" Gene stared at him deadpan.

Ron rolled his eyes, "It was broken and you were so pissed off, I was scared you might have taken it out on me." he argued and Gene found she could not blame him now. "Anyways, I spotted it in the grass and I picked it up, and kept it safe until I knew you wouldn't try to strangle me with it." he said.

"But–" Gene began, still waiting for the part in which she would be enlightened.

"I'm getting there," he said pointedly, "Remember how you tried for days to get it open when it arrived? And you had no idea how, so you gave up?" he asked.