Chapter 3: Relatively Calm

Severus took his cell phone and started walking. He was halfway to Hogsmeade before the device signaled that it had found a carrier wave and was ready to operate. He fumbled with it a few minutes, finally managing to speed dial Rose's mobile phone. Even more fortuitously, Rose answered.

"Rose, it's Severus," he gingerly held the devise to his ear. "Can you talk for a minute?"

"Of course, love," Rose was alarmed. "Are you all right?" It would take a major problem to impel Severus to use the cell phone, she feared.

"Everything is fine, except I miss you," he replied. "I have some information and more questions about wedding plans. Would it be possible for me to come down and meet you this evening?"

"I can be at your flat at 8:30 tonight, if that isn't too late. How late can you stay? Should I bring some dinner?"

"I'll have dinner at the Great Hall. Just bring yourself and whatever you want. I don't have patrol duty tonight, so there's no reason why I couldn't stay for breakfast." Severus smiled. He could get very comfortable with technology.

Severus made a point of arriving at the Great Hall for dinner early enough that he could grab a seat near the Transfigurations Mistress. As Minerva McGonagall approached the head table he followed, held her seat out politely, then took the chair next to her. With the smallest of smiles, Professor McGonagall thanked him. "And am I correct in assuming you wish to speak with me, Professor Snape?" she gently asked as she shook out her napkin and placed it in her lap.

"Yes," he said shortly. He stared at his plate. "I wanted to ask you about ceremonies you have observed."

"I presume you mean wedding ceremonies?" McGonagall's face, as serene as ever, concealed her amusement. This Muggle was going to be the making of the man. "I cannot deny that I have attended a number of weddings, including that of every student from Hogwarts for the last 20 years, as well as my own. What did you want to know?"

"The Headmaster informed me that publicly marrying a Muggle hasn't been done in recent memory. My intended has no wish to follow Muggle customs, and I have no knowledge of Magical ones. I have never attended a wedding of any kind." He leaned towards her and spoke very softly and intensely. "What do people do?"

"First you must consider the purpose of a public wedding ritual. I am assuming you are not a follower of the Ancient religion? No, of course not. Well then, you do not want to incorporate those rituals into your wedding: there are powerful curses against blasphemy, you understand?" She reflected. "The true purpose of the ceremony is to announce to the gathered folk that an officially recognized marriage has been duly contracted, and for the couple to receive the affirmation and support of the group. Any aesthetics or socializing that results is simply for entertainment. It is the public acceptance of the union that is essential. The first thing you ought to do is draw up a list of invited guests. And you would be well advised to ask the Headmaster to preside over the occasion. You owe him that pleasure. Albus has plenty of experience and produces a very good ceremony." She studied the man beside her. "You have a contract prepared?"

"It is in the works," Severus replied. "Albus has given me a referral to a lawyer for drawing up the document. There will be no magic involved, as this is a free-will marriage."

"The wedding vows, to be spoken publicly, should reflect the contract, although in less legalistic terms. Both of you might wish to speak of your specific commitments, beyond the scope of that contract, but that is not essential. I realize there are bounds beyond which privacy will not go." Professor McGonagall gave him a sharp look. "Where do you plan to hold the ceremony? Hogwarts?"

"No," Snape barely concealed a shudder. "There will be a reception at Hogwarts, but we prefer a more private ceremony. The location is not yet decided. Would you be willing to attend, Professor?"

"Name the time and place, Severus," McGonagall replied. "I wouldn't miss the wedding of the Millennium for the world!"

Unable to settle in his chambers, Professor Snape decided to pack up his potions grading and Floo down to London to await Rose there. He had finished the homework and was surfing the web for information on Tahiti, immigration law, and wedding customs when Rose knocked on the door.

"You are wringing wet!" Severus said to his beloved.

"I also desperately need a shower," said Rose, as she pulled off her coat, boots, and sweats. "I took a dancing class."

Severus stared at her costume: skintight hose in a shade of pink that concealed nothing, and a black shirt with long sleeves that concealed even less. "Without me?" he said, hurt. "Wearing that?"

"Not that kind of dancing class, love," she hugged him carefully. "Ballet."

"Why?" he hugged her back lasciviously, in spite of her soggy state.

"Because I missed two weeks, which is a year at my age. The body forgets very quickly and loses strength and flexibility. Mine forgets faster than most, I fear."

She gave him the five-minute lecture on ballet with a brief demonstration, promised to take him to see some performances and classes, then escaped to the bath, returning quickly in green robe and slippers, with a towel wrapped around her head. She also smelled of roses, instead of Rose. They settled together on the loveseat in front of the fire.

Severus outlined the results of his day's research, and then grabbed a notebook and pen. "Whom shall we invite for the receptions and whom for the ceremony? And where should the ceremony be held? If we hold the reception before the Christmas holiday, we don't have much time to decide these things."

"Russ, could we have the ceremony in your mother's elm grove? I think she would have liked that."

"Yes," he said, "The perfect location. We will go there Saturday to see what arrangements would need to be made. And the guests?"

"I think your coworkers should be invited. You would have to invite them all, to avoid hurt feelings. Is that possible?"

"I have endured worse," he said, grinding his teeth a bit. She clutched him, thinking of what he had endured in the war. Dobby had been very forthcoming about events, when she asked him. He patted her, surprised at the fierceness that greeted his remark. "Also the Weasleys and the Grangers. And your children will be there, I expect?"

"Will they be upset at this ceremony, Russ? Sarah doesn't like loud noises or sudden flashes of light. She's hypersensitive. As for John, he will be so angry that nothing save the most obvious surprises will sink in."

"No magic need be employed, love," he replied. "This is a free-will marriage. No curses, hexes, spells, enchantments, potions; just you and me and the weight of contract law. Unless you feel that one or both of us need outside compulsion?"

"There seems to be enough self-generated compulsion," Rose remarked. "Lord knows why anyone would marry these days. I can't understand my own reasons, let alone yours."

"I for one would like it recorded in history that Severus Snape, the last of the proudest of pureblood wizard families, found a Muggle woman of great virtue and lived happily ever after." He smirked at his own arrogance. "Until the other wizards all rose up and burned me at the stake, that is."

"Will you really be in danger, Russ?" Rose paled at the thought.

"Wizards don't burn, love," he soothed her. "And I don't expect to lose my job or suffer any other penalty over marrying you. We aren't breaking any law, just starting a new custom. With a good press campaign, we could even eliminate the threat of poison pen letters. Arthur's been speechifying about détente with Muggles every other week. He's been very successful at sorting out the aftermath of the war, and he's popular with the voters. We are going to have to deal with the press soon, though. Better we set the timing and the tone, than let the Daily Prophet do it." He carefully avoided raising the issue of possible threats to her. "We also need to regularize your status in Great Britain. I don't want you deported as an illegal. Dumbledore recommends that we talk with this lawyer. Could you set up an appointment for both of us with her?"

Rose squinted at Dumbledore's loopy handwriting. "All right." She sighed. "Not much representation on the bride's side of the church, there."

"You are gaining a family of sorts out of this deal. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall already speak very highly of you. Don't worry!" He dropped notebook and pen, and removed the towel turban from her hair. "Now, about those reasons why you are marrying me: shall we review them? Maybe even find some more?"