A/N: This is for "The proposal challenge" by xxArtemisxFowlx on the HPFC and it's long overdue. I used the song Love Story by Taylor Swift for inspiration.
My prompts were: month of August, a party, a Garnet stone engagement ring.
I dedicate this to my chummy MysteriousFlower in honour of her upcoming wedding! You go girl! I give you and your beloved my best wishes. Here is a bit of your favourite pairing.
(Narcissa/Hermione of course) Both their points of view (Narcissa-hermione-narcissa again, and so on) ^.^
…
…
…
-We met in the most beautiful city on earth – or so they call it- and yet its splendour was nothing to match your eyes. In Florence it was that I met you, and in Florence it is that I left my lonely heart. Not to be taken back again.-
-I had never seen anything quite as exceptional as you. I thought I knew what perfection was; I'd been wrong. I thought Italy fitted in what you would call perfect, until your eyes met mine. You are unmatched.-
…I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air
See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say hello…
-You were my designated enemy before, and yet I was in a situation where friends were make-believe and appearances concealed the true lies on each visage around. Friends were enemies for me. I had frowned and sneered when I first saw you, I was still following a man I had been assigned to love by tradition as old as my ancestors, like my upbringing had raised me to hate someone remotely akin to you. I did not truly feel it though, this contempt, or so I realised when I learned about your courage and skills, nothing similar to the picture I had collected of an 'impure' in my mind. In any case, my disdain for you had vanished long before we met again, under wholly other circumstances.-
-We were on different sides and yet we were fighting for the same cause all along; we were only staying true to ourselves, and acting the way we should to not hurt the ones we loved… I wish we had done so when we met in this different light, on a warm summer night, under this bright uplifting moonlight shed in the peace of a war-less time.-
Little did I know...
That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles-
And my daddy said "stay away from Juliet"-
-You were with your parents, I was with… him, though he was nowhere in sight. They looked away and you left them and walked up to me, unaffected and calm. Your confidence struck me, and then you spoke up, in the most friendly, casual manner, like you'd known me forever. I slowly fell into the enwrapping warmth of your eyes, and found myself smiling.-
-You stood unnoticed and graceful in this ancient garden; surrounded by guests and still alone, in your own world, apart from the rest of the crowd. I smiled to myself, taking you in from head to toe, noticing how more at peace you seemed now; I could only have read between the lines the torment you had felt during former dark times, similar to mine, and that you had finally been released of. I was free now also and I felt linked to you. I came up to chat, leaving my family behind, not waiting for their consent or approval, mysteriously drawn to you like night butterflies by lighting bulbs.-
And I was crying on the staircase-
begging you, "Please don't go..."
And I said...
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes
-We were deep in conversation, in a talk of light and cheerful subjects: the faultless climate, Arts, fine food, the magic of the Piazza del duomo or the Ponte Vecchio… but my thoughts were more focused on your charming youthful features, and on how the locks of your untamed hair sparkled softly in the shine falling from the full moon, your laugh light-hearted like champagne bubbles. I spontaneously longed to brush a caressing finger across your cheek-
-I must have felt strongly adventurous. I grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the feast, not bothering looking back. We escaped and found ourselves galloping down the marbled and rocky roads like two schoolgirls, in the falling dusk and both with our hair unbound… And outside of town; we ran into a field that was laid out all around, growing further than eye-sight. We fell down on the fresh aromatic grass, giggling and pulling at each other's hair and robes, in a childish fashion. We did not seem to have one single care in the world.- So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes, escape this town for a little while
-Your lips are suddenly attacking mine, while your hands push me down, I'm trapped under you. It was what I was yearning for all along, but something I never could have asked for. It's pure bliss, how you take control of my senses and ravish me on these bare, rough grounds, in the midst of nature, in Italy, of all places. I gasp for air. What is happening to me? Am I… am I falling for you? Well, to be entirely sincere… How couldn't I be, really?-
'Cause you were Romeo,
I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don't go
-Lucius discovered the truth and turned his back on me. Not that I cared about him, but I was devastated nonetheless. I found myself alone for the first time in decades.-
-My parents discovered everything and I was disowned. But I hoped it would only be temporary, that they would hopefully change their mind and come to understand how I felt. And I said…
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes
-In your letters you said you were ready to run away from all the madness to come live with me. Anywhere. But I couldn't let you. I couldn't face how selfish it would have been of me to let you turn away from your friends, your family, your everything, even though you swore I was now everything to you. I knew better, that's why I did not answer to your letters. I was truly sorry not too, my love.-
-The beating in my heart did not fade. Nor did the strength of my feelings for you. But I accepted the idea that you were right. Now that some time had passed, I was forgiven and able to live again like before, that meant a lot to me. Though I knew where I truly belonged: in your arms.- Romeo, save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess
It's a love story, baby, just say yes
-I was glad to hear your parents and you were back on good terms. It was not the same for me. My son would still not talk to me and I was truly, utterly alone. I had the best memory to cherish though: the one of your smile.-
-I still had no answer from you, and I had not attempted to struck up a relationship with anyone else. I knew for whom my heart fluttered and it was a fact that I was truly ruined for anybody else. I got tired of waiting, wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town
-A chance meeting. I was confronted with the happiness I had been avoiding. But had I been right to keep punishing myself for everyone still, anyway?-
-We met again. I knew destiny would fall back on us. I just felt it in my bones. How could two soul mates be separated ultimately? And I said
Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head, I don't know what to think
-I accepted your love. I held you through the night, and the following year, through the ignorant glares, and the glorious moments of elated joy. I held on to you, you held on to me.
-You kissed me again. I won you back; it was easier than I thought. And you kept winning my heart over and over again. A whole year passed.
He knelt to the ground and he pulled out a ring
And said
Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad, you'll pick out a white dress
It's a love story, baby, just say yes
-Was it because of the party at the Weasleys' in this start of Autumn, that I finally felt confident enough to propose to you? Maybe. Perhaps it was the warmth with which they accepted me that triggered this reaction in me, that snapped a light on. The ring had been waiting for more than a month. Garnet stone and white gold, it was; It had been in the offing far too long. And when I took your hand, and we locked eyes, I knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that this was right. Wholly so.-
-You put a knee in the ground, retrieved a velvety midnight coloured box from your purse and presented it to me. I wondered. Could it be… really? I squealed in delight. "A ring, my love?"… "Not just a ring, my adored. A ring for you. Will you… become my wife, Hermione Jean Granger?"… "Yes. YES. Yes and yes again." I leapt up in elation. Everybody was looking, grins spreading on their faces. I kissed you. Kissed you again and again. And you kissed me back."
~I will never stop holding on.~
You are cordially invited to Hermione Jean Granger and Narcissa Cordelia Black's wedding reception.
To be given on the 11th of September in London.
H & N.