Written for Hogwarts' Gardening Assignment: Task 10 - Peony: Write about a happy marriage, the Garage Sale Competition: ring, the Writing Club: Disney Challenge C6: Uncle Albert - Write about somebody with an infectious laugh, Lyric Alley: I know that I deserve your love, Sophie's Shelf: 23. Mary/Benjy, Em's Emporium, 3: Sophy (The Crownless Queen): Write a marauder era fic, the August Auction: Slytherin, Insane House: Title - One Hour.
Word count: 614
one hour
Mary paused in front of the bathroom mirror, cotton in one hand and cleansing lotion in the other. It was a ritual Lily had introduced her too, back in Hogwarts, and Mary had gotten used to it. Now, she even liked it better than the wizarding way. Spells were faster, yes, but there was something soothing and relaxing about taking her time and doing it by hand.
But today, as she raised her hand, the light caught on her ring, and she paused, smiling.
She could remember Benjy's proposal like it was yesterday — a moment a peace and lightness in the middle of the war, a reminder that happiness still existed, that it was what they were fighting for.
He had proposed while she was half-concussed and bleeding from her scalp after a Battle with Death Eaters. They had both been scared they'd never seen each other again — she had thought the spell that hit her would kill her, and she had later learned that Benjy had gone half-mad upon seeing her go down, that he had thought she was dead — and she really shouldn't remember it as well as she did, but she did.
The ring was his mother's, passed down from her mother, and Benjy's grandfather had been the one to get it commissioned for his would-be wife. while it was simple, especially for a Mary loved it all the more for it.
It had a single white diamond, with a ruby shard on either side of it, and while it was simple, especially for a family like his, Mary loved it all the more for it.
Benjy had been adorably worried that Mary wouldn't like it for some reason, and he had offered to get her something newer, but Mary hadn't wanted him to.
She still didn't. This ring was proof that Benjy considered her part of his family, that he wanted her to be part of his family.
What was she supposed to dislike about that?
She was still looking at the ring and reminiscing when Benjy stepped up behind her. He was trying to be sneaky — which was always hilarious, because for a Slytherin he was desperately terrible at it — and Mary started to laugh.
"You know," she said with a smile, "this would work a lot better for you if you didn't try to sneak up on me while I was standing in front of a mirror."
Benjy stilled, his face smoothing out into the very picture of innocence. Mary didn't trust nor believe it for an instant.
"I wasn't trying to sneak," Benjy denied. The way his lips kept twitching with repressed laughter — her fault, she knew, because her laugh was infectious — betrayed him.
Mary raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Right. Of course not." She turned around to face him, and sat up on the space beside the sink. Benjy stepped toward her and she laced her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer.
He was still smiling as he kissed her. "Hey," he said when they parted. "I missed you today."
"Hey," Mary replied with a grin. "I missed you too. Give me ten more minutes?" She nodded toward the sink, where her products were still laid out. "I'll finish up here, and then you can come join me in the shower." She winked and Benjy laughed delightedly.
"Sounds like a plan," he said. He kissed her briefly, twice, and stepped back.
She watched him undress from the corner of her eye, before realizing she could just watch in the mirror.
He started the shower before her ten minutes were over — but that was fine. She was done too.