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I do not own Harry Potter or its characters.
The Wrong Royal – Chapter 10
It had been two months since Severus and Lily had left Hogwarts. Severus was taking Lily on a trip all over Europe, specifically to a selection of ancient countries. They had so far visited Egypt, Italy, Greece, Spain, and now, they were in Paris, France. On their trip, they went to see both magical and Muggle sites, such as the Pyramids of the Pharaohs, and some sites filled with ancient magic from Egypt that were closed off to the public but because of Severus' status, they could get in and even received a tour from one of the curse breakers.
In Rome, they saw the Coliseum and threw coins in to The Trevi Fountain. In Greece, they went to Athens and saw some of the monuments that the wizards had preserved much better than the Muggles ever could. In Spain, they went to Barcelona and enjoyed the music, and Lily shopped as she had never shopped before, in the fashion district. Finally, they had arrived in Paris, and of course visited the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Palace Versailles, sacré cœur, and the Place de la Concorde. Lily loved the obelisk in the middle of the square; it reminded her of their time spent in Egypt, which was somewhere that she had always loved and wanted to visit. She has happy to have seen it, and even more so with Sev.
Before they knew it, was the second-last day of their trip.
They went on a boat lunch tour along the river Seine, eating a three-course meal of salad, salmon and black forest cake for Lily, while Severus had soup, beef Wellington and pistachio sorbet, all while they were passing by Notre Dame and the Statue of Liberty, before getting off the boat at the Eiffel Tower. The rest of the afternoon was spent on a bus tour of Paris. That night, they went – despite their France travels – to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner. Lily had the cheese stuffed ravioli in pesto, and Severus had the veal parmesan. It was a delicious meal, in the romantic environment of the restaurant's second floor, with candles looking out the window at Paris lit up at night.
Afterwards, they walked along the streets of Paris.
"Oh, Severus, this has been such a wonderful trip. I can't believe that it's almost over," Lily said, gushing despite her best efforts.
"I know, darling, but think of it this way. This won't be the last trip we'll take together. We have the rest of our lives which are longer than Muggles anyways. How about we get some crêpes?" Severus asked, seeing a crêpe stand just ahead of them, knowing that it was one of the few things that they had not done yet. Each morning at their hotel they had a breakfast with croissants and bagnes (French mini donuts), but no crêpes.
"Sure, why not," Lily said, dragging Severus with her to the stand.
"Bonjour, madame, monsieur. Qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" the man at the stand asked them.
Lily looked confused for a moment before Severus translated for her.
"He said 'hello miss, what would you like?'"
"Well, I don't know, I've never had one before – you choose," Lily replied quickly.
"On voulez une Crêpe Suzette si vous plait, monsieur," Severus told the man.
The man poured the batter onto a round stone and after it cooked, he put strawberries and sauce inside, with icing sugar sprinkled on top. Severus handed the man some Euros, and he gave them the crêpe and two forks. They ate it while walking through the Tuileries Garden, admiring both the stone statues and flowers that were laid out around them. Walking from the Louvre to La Place de la Concorde, the glow of Paris at night was surrounding them as they talked.
"This has been such a wonderful vacation, Sev, thank you so much," said Lily, smiling gratefully at her boyfriend.
"It's nothing, Lily, I've had a fantastic time too," answered Severus, giving her a smile in return.
As they continued on, they reminisced on their trip.
"And then you fell through that hole at the side of the pyramid when we took that picture. It was so funny!" Lily exclaimed at one point.
"What about when you posed with that 'statue' that turned out to be a mime," Severus countered with a smile.
"True," said Lily, blushing a bit at the memory. It was interesting to watch, especially with that fiery hair of hers, though it didn't look so vibrant in the night. "Isn't Paris just so beautiful at night?" Lily sighed, changing the subject. Severus's lips twitched in an almost-smirk, but he held it back.
They had just entered the Place de la Concorde, and around them, the fountains and obelisk were lighting up brilliantly. In the background, over the tree tops, they could see the Eiffel Tower lit up as well. It was truly an amazing place to be, with the Louvre behind them, and with the Garden and the Champs Élysées lit up in front of them.
Severus led Lily to the center over by the obelisk and turned so that she was looking at both it and the Eiffel Tower. He turned to face her and took her hands in his.
"Lily, we've known each other for only seven years but it's felt like so much longer," he began. Lily nodded, though he could see her features had become a bit confused. "That day in third year, when I sat down with you at the back table in the library to study Potions, little did I know that that 'hello, can I sit here?' would lead to us being best friends," he continued, kneeling on one knee as he spoke.
"You are my best friend and the love of my life. My favorite part of the day is seeing you smiling, it's worth so much more than anything else I have, and I would give it all to make you smile every day. Nothing could make me a happier man then to wake up to you every day for the rest of my life." By now, Lily's mouth was gaping open, her keen mind having already grasped what was about to happen but her body unable to move, for it was in shock.
"Lily Elizabeth Evans," said Severus, speaking each word precisely, "would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
He opened a little blue Tiffany box that held a beautiful diamond ring with pavé-set diamonds to complement the one-carat centre stone. It looked like a flower was blooming in the box. Lily had tears in her eyes from the very beginning of his speech, and could only nod her head for a moment before she found her breath and said, "YES, OF COURSE, YES!"
Severus put the ring on her finger before getting up and embracing her as they kissed. The camera that Severus had previously charmed clicked away, saving this moment forever.
Severus and Lily took a Portkey back to England, so that she could share the news with her family before going back to Canada. When they got back, they had a small party in a Muggle restaurant so that Lily's Muggle friends and family along with her friends from Hogwarts could come. Lily and Severus reached the gathering after everyone else, and after exchanging greetings with all they had invited, Lily went over to the microphone at the side of the room.
"Hello everyone, we have an announcement to make," Lily said, with Severus standing next to her, holding her hand around the ring so people couldn't see it. "Severus and I are getting married!" she exclaimed, unable to keep it a secret any longer, holding up her hand so that people could see the ring. Of course there were gasps and squeals and the usual reactions that came with the announcement of an upcoming wedding, and too quickly for Lily to anticipate, all the girls in the room pulled her away from Severus to give themselves an opportunity to gush over the beauty of the ring.
"It's so beautiful!"
"Where did he propose?"
"Was it romantic?"
The questions just kept coming.
The guys in the room went up to congratulate Severus in a much more calm, conventional way, until he was left talking to Lily's father, the only person other than his parents and grandparents who knew that he was going to propose to her on the trip. He'd asked for her father's permission out of politeness, and besides, it would have made Severus feel better to know that he had Mr. Evans's blessing to marry his daughter. As he watched his soon-to-be-bride from across the room, talking excitedly with her friends, he knew it would've felt right with or without consent from her father. He loved Lily with everything he had and more.
Nine months later
Severus was standing with a priest, and Darren was at his side as his best man. James, Jon and Remus stood alongside Darren as groomsmen. They all wore ties of a deep chocolate with their classic suits. On the other side of the priest was Alice, the maid of honor, Petunia, and Kelly as the bridesmaids. They wore espresso tea-length satin dresses that had a poise bias band at the waist for the bridesmaids, and a tangerine band for Alice. The dresses of the bridal party were a perfect complement to the ties of the groomsmen, but that was how Lily had planned it. She was meticulous that way.
They were at a beautiful vineyard in Tuscany. The ceremony overlooked the grape vines, giving it a romantic mood. Without warning, the music started up, and Lily's father walked her down the aisle. She was in a beautiful red and white mermaid dress. Severus couldn't take his eyes off of her for the procession, ceremony, and the rest of the night. It was as if he'd never looked at her properly before, and now that he had, he never wanted to stop taking her in.
The wedding was perfect, and the food afterwards was paired beautifully with wine. Everyone who attended the wedding thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings, from Lily and Severus's friends, to his grandparents. As the couple had their first dance under the stars, they knew that they would remember this day for the rest of their lives.
AN: one chapter to go. Thank you for reading this! Please remember to hit those little buttons at the bottom to review and subscribe to find out how it ends. And let's all just pretend that Lily's hair doesn't clash with a red dress:) sorry it took so long to post midterms just happened so all the teachers are cramming tests and projects down our throats.