Last day of school.

Abraxas's head spun with the implications. His whole life thus far had been leading up to this day: the day that his Rosie was not only a legal witch, but out of Hogwarts at last, an adult in her own right. Now, he could ask her to be his wife.

She would say yes. Wouldn't she? In his mind, it had always been understood that they would spend forever together, so he'd never bothered to discuss it with her. Surely she felt the same? As he fingered the black velvet box in the pocket of his robes, he suddenly wasn't so sure. Admittedly, he'd been traveling quite a lot over the past year. He'd written to her almost daily, even though her responses never came that frequently. He always made a point to come home during the holidays, primarily to see her, but it had been several years since they had had any true privacy. This was mostly his doing; given the strong physical reaction of his body that was likely to be provoked by merely standing alone in the same room with her, he always tried to inconspicuously keep a chaperone around, and when none was available, he took her into town for dinners, or strolls in public places. He didn't trust himself to be alone with her.

All the seventh years were still standing in the front of the Great Hall. The ceremony had just ended, and they were having their last picture taken together. As soon as the purple puff of smoke indicated that the photographer had finished, the group dissolved, laughing as shouting and hurrying to embrace friends or greet family.

His eyes followed the blondest head in the year, and he watched as Rosalind kissed both her parents and her little brother, grinning gleefully. She was talking animatedly, her hands gesturing and her eyes shining. Abraxas felt like a voyeur as he silently and secretly absorbed her joy, and decided he could wait no longer. He maneuvered through the crowd of witches and wizards, gaze never leaving the lovely girl whose back was now to him. However, when he was still several meters off, she turned as suddenly as if he'd called her name.

So, so beautiful.

The smile she offered was warm, but he sensed some reservation. His stomach twisted.

"Rosie, congratulations." He placed one hand on her shoulder and allowed himself to brush her cheek with his lips; a kiss she coolly accepted but did not return.

"Hello, Abraxas."

"Can I talk to you a moment?" His throat felt constricted, and his eyes flickered to her parents. He'd already asked Wilhelm's permission, and Meliae was beaming.

"Actually, I was going to go out to eat with my parents. Perhaps tomorrow if you want to come by-"

"Rosie, don't be ridiculous!" Meliae exclaimed. "Supper can wait, and Abraxas is invited to come, of course!"

"Alright then," Rosalind sighed. She waited as though she expected one of her parents to come along too; perhaps he hadn't been so subtle in assuring that all their time together was chaperoned.

"Alone, sweetheart," he muttered under his breath, taking her arm gently. With a little shrug, she allowed herself to be led off, away from the chattering group, and down into the dungeons, until they reached the secret entrance to the Slytherin Common room.

He hadn't wanted to do it here. He'd wanted a romantic meal and fireworks, something with planning that would inspire awe. But all that took time, and he couldn't wait another second.

"Rosalind McTavish." No, much too formal. He cleared his throat while she waited with one eyebrow arched. "Rosie. For my whole life, I've always considered you to be..." he broke off again. Why was nothing coming out right? Everything sounded stilted and rehearsed, even to his own ears. "I..."

"Spit it out, Ab!" she exclaimed at last.

"I love you," he blurted, his voice rough and hoarse as he fell to one knee, reaching into his pocket. "More than anything or anyone in the world and I can't live without you for a moment longer. Will you marry me?"

His hands were shaking so badly that he fumbled with the box. It slipped from his hands, sending the ring inside skittering across the floor, landing next to Rosalind's feet. Flushing, Abraxas moved to pick it up, but she got there first.

For a timeless, breathless moment, she stared at the gold band, and the glittering diamond. She turned it so it caught the light, what little of it that there is in the dungeons, and then, with aching slowness, she pressed it into his still-outstretched hand, and closed his fingers gently around it.

"No," she replied softly, not meeting his eye. "No, I won't."

Abraxas couldn't breathe. His head was suddenly spinning, and he felt as though tight bands were compressing his lungs. "You... what?"

"I'm sorry, Abraxas, but I won't marry you." Lofting her pretty, pointed chin, she spun on one heel to leave.

"Why?" The question was more like a plea, and the wrenching agony in his voice stopped her abruptly. However, she didn't turn back, and didn't immediately reply, so Abraxas continued, as he rose to his feet, "I've a right to know, haven't I?"

"You're too late!" she sounded close to tears, but he couldn't tell, because she refused to face him. "All these years, Abraxas, I've just wanted something... not much, but a kiss, or even just a promise, something to let me know for sure that I wasn't just little Rosie to you anymore. I threw myself at you, but you didn't want me. Not enough, anyway; not enough to bother being anything more than friends. And I waited for years for you- do you have any idea how lonely it's been? I'd get your letters in the post, and they'd read about as romantic as letters from my parents, but I'd read and re-read them at night, away from everybody, until I could convince myself of secret meanings in your words, misinterpreting until they were passionate love letters. I never went to Hogsmeade, and I couldn't stand listening to even my best friends talking about their romances, because I was miserable.

"And now it's suddenly different? After all this time of nothing, you think you can just ask me to marry you? Why, because you couldn't find anyone better? Because it's what our parents want? Is it because you're twenty one now, and you have to settle down, so it might as well be with me? How can you expect me to suddenly believe anything else?"

"Rose-"

"No! You're too late."

"Rosalind McTavish, don't you dare walk away from me."

She froze again, startled by the dark, commanding tone that he never, ever used with her.

"You know perfectly well why I waited," he snarled as he slowly stalked towards her. She still would not deign to face him, which served only to fuel his anger. "As though it hasn't been hell for me, too. Of course I wanted you- Merlin, who wouldn't? But for years it wasn't legal for me to consider touching you, and then after that you were still at school; a schoolgirl, with the knee high socks and your braids and even if you were over seventeen, you still needed to be a student; it wasn't for me to force you to be a woman just because I was a man who desired you. I could love you in a way that was safe, from a distance, and I let you know all the time that I loved you, I was the best confidante and friend you could ever want-" He was directly behind her now, his voice a low growl next to her ear.

"I didn't want a friend! I have friends! I wanted a lover but you-"

"But nothing!" He seized her arm, spinning her around and forcing her face up with his other hand. "I love you."

He didn't wait for her petulant retort- he pressed his lips to her opening mouth, silencing any protest she might have been voicing. Immediately, her arms were tight around his neck, her eager tongue darting curiously into his mouth as he lifted her off the ground, pressing her between the stone wall and his body. She tried to wrap her legs around his waist but her robes got in the way, and she whimpered in impatience. Abraxas ignored this and focused solely on her lips- the taste and texture that had haunted him for too long, teased him and now, finally, he was free to explore and enjoy, sucking her lower lip and flicking his tongue over the ridged roof of her mouth, threading one hand in her hair as the other locked on her hip.

"Abraxas!" she gasped, gulping quick gasps of air. He tried to cover her mouth once more after she'd had enough to breathe, but she held him back. "We have to get out of here. Take me out of here. Somewhere with a bed."

"You're parents are waiting in the Great Hall," he reminded her as he licked the lobe of her ear, drawing it into his mouth.

"Bugger my parents!" she exclaimed, shocking him with her language. "Abraxas, now."

"There's- a place- upstairs," he gasped each words every time he could be bothered to lift his lips from her throat. "It's anything you want. We'll go there."

"Hurry!" she moaned.

"Mel, they've been gone for an hour."

"Well of course they have, Will. He's proposing to your only daughter."

"Rose and Abraxas are finally getting married?" Arum asked with the wide-eyed curiosity of a ten year old. "Can I have her room?"

"If she was going to tell us the news tonight, they'd have come back by now," Wilhelm pointed out, ignoring his son.

"Yes," Meliae agreed with a small smile. "Let's go to supper, then. I'm sure they'll turn up tomorrow morning."

"Happy as newlyweds," Wilhelm added with a grumble. His wife laughed.

"As though you weren't expecting it! I daresay they've waited long enough."

"To get married?" Arum queried. His parents chuckled.

"Something like that, son," Wilhelm drawled. "Alright, then, let's go."

"I love this spot, right here. This little spot right below your ankle." Abraxas stroked the area with his thumb as he spoke, staring at it for a long moment before glancing at Rosalind, who was smiling lazily down at him.

"Kiss me."

He grinned roguishly. "Where, m'lady?"

She tapped her lips, and he obligingly crawled up, running his hand the length of her nude body as he went. For several minutes, the only sound in the room was the soft, wet sound of their mouths and tongues moving against one another's. Finally, Abraxas pulled himself back.

"Love you."

"Love you too," Rosalind replied. "It's almost dawn, you know. I think my dad..." she drifted off, unwilling to continue. "I don't ever want to leave this room."

"I'm afraid will have to. But before we do, I have a request to make."

"Oh?" Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "I've liked all your requests so far."

He smiled, but his expression became serious. "Marry me, Rosalind. I need to have you in my life. There's nothing I want if you aren't there."

"Oh, Ab," she sighed, pulling him down for another kiss. "Of course I will."

He flashed her a huge grin, and leaned over the side of the bed to fumble for the pocket of his robes. Once he found the ring, he slid it onto her fourth finger, pressing his lips to the knuckle once it was on. "You're everything to me, Rose."

For a moment, her eyes misted over, and she touched his cheek adoringly. However, the moment passed, and she grinning impishly and declared,

"Well, I only said yes because it means we'll get a honeymoon to do this for a month straight!"