1 Chapter 5
A Proposal Accepted
Time flew for Mia and Severus and soon it was mere days before the Yule feast. Mia could not deny that she had been ill nearly every morning since that first evening they had spent together, yet she always seemed to come up with some silly excuse as to why. As of yet she had been fortunate enough not to have to explain herself to Severus, as he had not caught her being sick before he woke up each day.
More importantly, the couple had set a date for their wedding. Yes, it seemed fast, but the pair reasoned that they had technically known each other since their student days, and that each had spent all the years between then and now wondering fondly about the other. The proposal had been everything that Mia had dreamed it would be. Snape had taken her on a moonlit walk through the gardens and had stopped at the white roses. This had been an old haunt of theirs. Mia adored white roses above all other flowers, and Snape and she had often walked through the gardens, stopping there to talk and laugh. He had stopped and taken both of her hands in his.
"I need to ask you a question," he had said bluntly. Somewhere deep down Mia knew what it was, but she needed to hear him ask all the same. He hadn't gotten down on one knee (Mia had told him in her seventh year how she thought that it was a tacky and outdated practice), but he had looked deeply into her eyes, willing himself to muster the courage and simply ask her.
"I love you, Mia. I've loved you for years. Most of us aren't lucky enough to be given a second chance at true love, but I have and I intend to take it. I'd like to ask you what I should have asked you before we parted. Mia, please say you'll be my wife."
Mia had shed a tear silently and nodded her head before enveloping him in the strongest hug she could marshal. They had stood there, she crying and he thanking the gods for their infinite help for what seemed like hours. They returned to the castle to find that Potter and his underlings had heard everything and told everyone they could find. The castle was in an uproar when they returned, and nearly the entire faculty was waiting for them on the front steps. Minerva and Albus were in the lead of course. Snape made a personal promise to him to castrate Potter the first chance he got. He had bore the hugs and shouts of congratulations as best he knew how, with a weak smile and grunts of thanks. The date had been set for December twenty ninth.
Mia had picked out the dress robes that she would wear with Madam Pomfrey, Professor Sprout and Minerva. She was sure that they had been having more fun that she was, neither of them being married and therefore not being versed in shopping for wedding attire.
The four of them had made a trip to Hogsmeade four weekends ago in order to get their shopping done. The wedding would be a casual affair, attended only by those members of faculty and the student body who wished to be present. The women had been in charge of picking out invitations, flowers, the cake design (the actual cake would be constructed by the house elves the day of the ceremony), and other small adornments necessary for any nuptial affair. Arrangements had been made for hoards of butterflies to be released at the conclusion of the ceremony, which would take place in a large courtyard at the west end of the castle.
Minerva and Poppy had persuaded Mia to wear robes of a deep wine color instead of her customary black. Severus had been charged with finding himself a best man as well as two groomsmen. This was not an easy task, but he had managed to secure Hagrid as his best man, and professor Flitwick and Mad-Eye Moody (who he had to send an imploring letter to) as his groomsmen. Mia had selected Minerva as her maid of honor, as well as professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey as her pair of bridesmaids.
A sinking feeling had occurred to her this morning, however. She had remembered something that Snape had said that first night they had been together. He had said that to have a friend outside of Voldemort's followers was to sign one's death warrant. Mia decided that it was best to leave this to Snape. She had concluded that she would simply ignore it and not let it ruin her first, and hopefully last, wedding. She had enough on her mind as it was. Mia was becoming increasingly convinced that their first evening together had brought about something more than devotion to one another, but this would have to be confirmed by Madam Pomfrey.
It was a sunny Saturday and Severus was meant to be in Hogsmeade picking out his dress robes for the event. Mia decided that now was as good a time as any to consult Madam Pomfrey about her habitual morning nausea. She made her way resolutely toward the hospital wing, not stopping to talk to Hermione Granger in the corridor as she usually did when they saw each other. When she reached it, Hermione opened the door to the hospital wing to find Poppy tending to a first year Hufflepuff who had fallen off his broom and sprained his ankle. She looked up as Mia entered and gave her a smile which surely meant that she would only be another minute.
After she had finished bandaging the boy's ankle and pulled the curtains around his bed, she made her way towards Mia, who was sitting on a bed at the other end of the wing. "What seems to be the trouble, Mia," Poppy had asked concernedly as she took a seat on the bed beside Mia.
"I have something I need you to diagnose," Mia began uncertainly
A Proposal Accepted
Time flew for Mia and Severus and soon it was mere days before the Yule feast. Mia could not deny that she had been ill nearly every morning since that first evening they had spent together, yet she always seemed to come up with some silly excuse as to why. As of yet she had been fortunate enough not to have to explain herself to Severus, as he had not caught her being sick before he woke up each day.
More importantly, the couple had set a date for their wedding. Yes, it seemed fast, but the pair reasoned that they had technically known each other since their student days, and that each had spent all the years between then and now wondering fondly about the other. The proposal had been everything that Mia had dreamed it would be. Snape had taken her on a moonlit walk through the gardens and had stopped at the white roses. This had been an old haunt of theirs. Mia adored white roses above all other flowers, and Snape and she had often walked through the gardens, stopping there to talk and laugh. He had stopped and taken both of her hands in his.
"I need to ask you a question," he had said bluntly. Somewhere deep down Mia knew what it was, but she needed to hear him ask all the same. He hadn't gotten down on one knee (Mia had told him in her seventh year how she thought that it was a tacky and outdated practice), but he had looked deeply into her eyes, willing himself to muster the courage and simply ask her.
"I love you, Mia. I've loved you for years. Most of us aren't lucky enough to be given a second chance at true love, but I have and I intend to take it. I'd like to ask you what I should have asked you before we parted. Mia, please say you'll be my wife."
Mia had shed a tear silently and nodded her head before enveloping him in the strongest hug she could marshal. They had stood there, she crying and he thanking the gods for their infinite help for what seemed like hours. They returned to the castle to find that Potter and his underlings had heard everything and told everyone they could find. The castle was in an uproar when they returned, and nearly the entire faculty was waiting for them on the front steps. Minerva and Albus were in the lead of course. Snape made a personal promise to him to castrate Potter the first chance he got. He had bore the hugs and shouts of congratulations as best he knew how, with a weak smile and grunts of thanks. The date had been set for December twenty ninth.
Mia had picked out the dress robes that she would wear with Madam Pomfrey, Professor Sprout and Minerva. She was sure that they had been having more fun that she was, neither of them being married and therefore not being versed in shopping for wedding attire.
The four of them had made a trip to Hogsmeade four weekends ago in order to get their shopping done. The wedding would be a casual affair, attended only by those members of faculty and the student body who wished to be present. The women had been in charge of picking out invitations, flowers, the cake design (the actual cake would be constructed by the house elves the day of the ceremony), and other small adornments necessary for any nuptial affair. Arrangements had been made for hoards of butterflies to be released at the conclusion of the ceremony, which would take place in a large courtyard at the west end of the castle.
Minerva and Poppy had persuaded Mia to wear robes of a deep wine color instead of her customary black. Severus had been charged with finding himself a best man as well as two groomsmen. This was not an easy task, but he had managed to secure Hagrid as his best man, and professor Flitwick and Mad-Eye Moody (who he had to send an imploring letter to) as his groomsmen. Mia had selected Minerva as her maid of honor, as well as professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey as her pair of bridesmaids.
A sinking feeling had occurred to her this morning, however. She had remembered something that Snape had said that first night they had been together. He had said that to have a friend outside of Voldemort's followers was to sign one's death warrant. Mia decided that it was best to leave this to Snape. She had concluded that she would simply ignore it and not let it ruin her first, and hopefully last, wedding. She had enough on her mind as it was. Mia was becoming increasingly convinced that their first evening together had brought about something more than devotion to one another, but this would have to be confirmed by Madam Pomfrey.
It was a sunny Saturday and Severus was meant to be in Hogsmeade picking out his dress robes for the event. Mia decided that now was as good a time as any to consult Madam Pomfrey about her habitual morning nausea. She made her way resolutely toward the hospital wing, not stopping to talk to Hermione Granger in the corridor as she usually did when they saw each other. When she reached it, Hermione opened the door to the hospital wing to find Poppy tending to a first year Hufflepuff who had fallen off his broom and sprained his ankle. She looked up as Mia entered and gave her a smile which surely meant that she would only be another minute.
After she had finished bandaging the boy's ankle and pulled the curtains around his bed, she made her way towards Mia, who was sitting on a bed at the other end of the wing. "What seems to be the trouble, Mia," Poppy had asked concernedly as she took a seat on the bed beside Mia.
"I have something I need you to diagnose," Mia began uncertainly