"Supposedly there's something romantic about being on top of the Eiffel tower at a full moon," Alex Russo said into the wand phone balanced between her ear and shoulder. "Personally, I don't see it." She held up a gray sweater with silver sequins and posed at the mirror before throwing it onto the pile of rejects on the bed.
"Of course you don't, sweetie, but you don't have a romantic bone in your body. It takes too much effort, and you love being lazy," her best friend Harper replied, "Hold on a sec, would you? Zeke!" she shouted loudly, "Where's that ice cream?" Harper was four months pregnant and milking it for all it was worth.
"Harper!" Alex complained, "you know that's not true! Besides, it's not the Eiffel Tower I objecct to, it's the full moon! He'll be all hairy and you know I hate kissing when he's like that!" Alex's boyfriend Mason was a werewolf. He'd learned to control it so he still retained a mostly human form, but for 3 days a month he still looked like he needed to shave every five minutes.
"Oh Alex, just go and put up with it. God knows he puts up with enough from you," Harper said. There was a knock at Alex's door and she jumped.
"Harper, he's here! And I'm not even dressed yet!" Alex hissed.
"Use your wand silly. And have fun tonight! But not too much fun! I don't want to have to break you out of wizard jail," Harper admonished.
"I will," Alex said before hanging up. She swirled her wand around her body and a slinky sheath dress in a light peach appeared. Waving her wand to make the pile of clothes disappear, she walked over to the door and pulled it open.
"Hi," she said a little breathlessly. The change clearly hadn't taken over yet, because the boy, well, man staring back at her was clean shaven and looked fantastic in a fitted gray suit.
"Hi," he said back. His British accent gave Alex the shivers, no matter how much she was around him. He pulled a bunch of bright orange orchids out from behind his back.
"These are for you," he said, presenting them to her with a flourish.
"Aw, Mason, thank you!" she took them and flicked her wand, sending them to a vase already sitting on the table. He often brought her flowers, so she liked to be prepared to get them out of the way. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hello.
"Ready to go?" she asked after a few moments.
"Ready if you are," he said grinning. She circled her wand around their heads and they flashed out.
Seconds later they appeared on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. It was nearing midnight in Paris, and the Tower was closed for the night, but somehow Mason had bribed someone to leave a table with candles, and a fancy dinner sitting out for them.
"Wow," Alex said, more for his benefit than anything else. It would have been easy for her to set this all up with magic, but he had wanted to surprise her and had refused her help. He escorted her to a chair and held it out for her as she sat down. The full moon had already worked the change on him, but in the candlelight she could pretend it was just the shadows that made his face so dark. They sat quietly for a few moments. It seemed like they had so little to talk about anymore. Since Alex had gotten her full wizard powers she spent most of her time like Uncle Kelbo had, trying to come up with crazier and crazier stunts to pull.
"So," Alex said almost too brightly after the silence had stretched uncomfortably long, "What's the occasion? This is… special." Mason smiled and stood. He dug in his pocket while coming around to kneel at her feet.
"Ohhhh no," Alex said quietly. Mason had been trying to propose for months now. Every time she said no, she wasn't ready, his crestfallen face almost made her regret the decision. But there was so much left for her to do, and she didn't want to be tied down yet.
"Alex," Mason started, a silly grin on his face. Honestly, Alex didn't know how she'd manage to keep a straight face through six of these proposals (admittedly, in two of the others she'd not been able to help herself and burst out laughing before he'd even gotten two words out). "Ever since I met you I…" he continued, but Alex never found out just what he wanted to say, because Justin flashed in and waved frantically at her.
"Oh thank God," she said quietly. She really didn't want to sit through another proposal only to have to turn him down again.
"Can you hold that thought for a few minutes?" she asked Mason, her eyes on Justin the whole time. "Or maybe a few years," she added under her breath. She didn't even wait for a response, although she did check his expression briefly, and it was giving a whole new meaning to the expression "puppy-dog eyes." Sighing, she grabbed her glass of champagne and made a mental note to have the conversation about waiting to get married once she'd found out what Justin wanted. Or rather, have the conversation again.
"What's up?" she asked as she approached.
"Am I interrupting something?" Justin asked, gesturing at Mason and the candlelit table behind her.
"Oh that!" Alex snorted, "It's nothing. Mason's just trying to propose again. Thank God you interrupted or I'd've had to say no. Again." She pulled a face at the thought and buried her nose in her champagne flute.
"Alex!" Justin admonished, "How long are you going to keep stringing him along? A guy can only stand to hear 'no' so many times!"
"Really? You came all the way here to interrupt my date, dressed like…" Alex surveyed his wizard robes, which were only slightly less frumpy than when Professor Crumbs had worn them, "that to give me advice on my love life?"
"What? No!" Justin protested, "I just- I need you to come home." He sounded sincere, which was the weirdest part.
"Why?" Alex asked.
"Professor Crumbs died."