I sincerely apologize for the long update! Yes, I realize it has been a year but I have been absolutely SWAMPED with my last year of high school, graduating, working and finally attending university. I still get emails from readers asking about the progress of both my stories! Honestly I just never had enough time. But I'm back now and although I cannot promise for fast updates yet, they will hopefully be more frequent.

Harry stared at his aunt in disbelief as she paced her bedroom back and forth. He sat on the bed and made no show of covering up his surprise as his jaw dropped. "What do you mean, you 'said no'?!"

Celosia paced back and forth, her bare feet brushing against the carpet beneath her. She had her arms crossed, her hand up at her mouth as she bit at her thumb. It had been a little over twelve hours since Severus had proposed to her, and she hardly had a good sleep at all.

"Cel, what the heck?!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exaggeration. "He asked you to marry him- why did you say no?!"

"I don't know!" Celosia exclaimed in frustration, throwing her hands down. "I thought I was ready for this, and I've been waiting for a moment like this! But it was like something was missing, I just couldn't say yes!"

"What do you mean something was missing?" Harry asked, his mind immediately going back to the letters she had sent Petunia all those years ago.

"I don't know!" The witch pouted as she stared at her feet. "I knew he'd ask but I didn't think it would be like that. It was as if we were having an everyday conversation. It just wasn't…memorable."

Harry nodded in understanding, confirming his thoughts. She still yearned for a Muggle proposal and a Muggle wedding. She wanted the entire experience. "What happened after that?"

"Nothing." Celosia frowned. "We just stared at each other then I told him goodnight. He slept on the couch, if he slept at all."

Harry opened his mouth again to say something before the bedroom door opened. Both him and Celosia looked at Severus as he walked inside, searching around the room. He made brief eye contact with Harry, and Celosia frowned as she noticed he was visibly avoiding her.

Rather than spitting out his usual criticising remarks at Harry, Severus walked passed him, reaching for a black towel neatly stacked on one of the dressers. He grabbed it and without further action, left the room immediately, shutting the door behind him.

Celosia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, collapsing into a chair. "What do I do?"

"Give him time to cool off, seems like." Harry murmured, still staring at the closed door. "I know I would be pissed if I was in his position. After that, try to talk to him."

"What do I say? 'Sorry I said no but maybe if your proposal was a little more meaningful, I would say yes. Want to try again?'?"

"Just say you're sorry and all that heart to heart bullshit couples do to fix problems. Then dance for him in some sequins, I don't know what the hell you guys do to overcome your problems." Harry shrugged carelessly, blinking a few times after he realized that Celosia and Severus most likely solved all their problems by having passionate sex.

Celosia sighed, completely overlooking the last sentence Harry said. "He probably won't even accept my apology."

"You never know if you don't try." Harry said, standing up and stretching his arms. "If he loves you enough to propose, he loves you enough to not let you go so fast."

After their conversation, Celosia went to take a shower in the master bedroom while Harry sat in front of the television, skimming over his Potions textbook while watching a Muggle cooking show. Some of the food was recognizable to him- ones that Petunia would prepare for the entire family to enjoy, while Harry had very little portions, or a different and less appealing dish altogether.

Severus had dressed in black pants and a t-shirt, walking downstairs with damp hair. He stared at Harry for a second, looking from the boy, to the Muggle device, to his Potions textbook and back. The second time, he caught Harry's eye, but didn't say a word and immediately retreated to the kitchen. There, he pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey cleverly disguised as regular wine, pouring himself a glass and settling down at the bar stool on the island, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

Harry could easily smell the scent in the next room after a while, and stood up to enter the kitchen. Sure enough, an empty bottle was already set aside on the table, a small glass filled with wine and another bottle right beside Severus. The man was staring at the liquid before downing it, already looking delirious.

"You should slow down." Harry warned, not caring what his punishment would be. Severus however didn't even glance his way, and shakily poured himself another glass. Harry rolled his eyes, going to the fridge and waving his wand, a cheese platter and assorted fruit arranging itself on a plate. The entire arrangement settled itself on the table in front of Severus, and the man eyed it. "If you're going to drink, you need to eat."

The man finally looked up at Harry, gulping down another glass. "Congratulate your aunt on rejecting my proposal?"

Harry blinked, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and sitting beside Severus, pouring himself a glass of wine while the man sneered. "Why would I do something like that?"

"You hate my guts Potter; always have, always will."

"Well I wouldn't let something stupid like our mutual hate to get in the way of Celosia's happiness." Harry muttered, sipping at his glass.

Severus scoffed. "She said no- she obviously is happy now."

"Has the alcohol made you stupid or were you always this dumb?" Harry glared at him.

"Don't talk to me like that-"

"No, Celosia loves you to death, and you feel the same. You two have made it blatantly obvious already, and out of all people, I certainly would know." Harry snapped. "What you're forgetting is that my aunt is a Muggleborn, and she grew up with a Muggle lifestyle. You didn't even get down on one knee, for Merlin's sake! You want to give her everything but she can't handle that you can't give her Muggle experiences too. Half the time you won't even let her."

Severus stared at Harry, not saying a word. Harry took another drink from his glass, gulping it down uneasily as Severus' eyes bored into his. The man wasn't even blinking, and right when Harry was tempted to wave his hand in front of his face, he sat straight.

"You should use your hypothetical skills in your schoolwork." He muttered before standing up and walking out of the room. Harry sighed, reaching over and popping a grape in his mouth, shaking his head. The next few days would be hell.

At dinner, Severus was passed out upstairs, Celosia complaining about how all her Firewhiskey was gone. Harry ate his food as his aunt ranted, going through her liquor cabinet. She had allowed Harry to have the rest of the wine bottle Severus consumed half of. "I'll have to go to Diagon Alley for another batch, damn." The woman muttered as she shut the cabinet doors closed. Sitting across from Harry, she ate her food, sipping at her own glass. "What did you do today?"

"Had a nice chat with Snape." Harry muttered, Celosia raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Nothing bad, just trying to talk some sense into both of you."

"He's pissed." Celosia frowned, pushing her plate away. "I guess I should try talking to him."

"If he's even awake." Harry muttered, but didn't make a motion to stop her. The woman climbed the steps slowly, unsure if she really wanted to talk to Severus. He might be so pissed he would kick her out of their room, or break up with her entirely. She had to fix things sooner than later.

Opening their bedroom door carefully, Celosia frowned to see the bed was empty. She walked in and shut the door, turning around before a force slammed her up against it. Severus towered over her, the smell of soap and alcohol mixing in with each other. He had just taken another shower, looking at his damp hair, but Celosia couldn't help but stare at his eyes glaring at her. "Sev-"

"Do you know what it feels like to be rejected by the woman you love?" Severus asked and Celosia blinked, knowing he was also talking about Lily.

"Please, darling, I'm sorry. I made a mistake."

"You're a witch, Celosia." Severus interrupted her again. "You may have Muggle blood flowing through your veins, but you're a witch. You have a wand, extraordinary magic and a nephew in your care who is also a wizard and must complete his magical studies. There is no room for teaching him Muggle things he will never need in life. There's no reason for you to use such a Muggle contraption when you can easily Floo, Apparate or fly without being so easily detected."

Celosia blinked. "We're living among Muggles, Severus, precautions need to be made."

"What kind of safety issue would have been at risk if you accepted my proposal without me bent on one knee?" Severus raised a brow, crossing his arms and stepping away from Celosia, allowing her to move away from the door. "A marriage proposal is a marriage proposal. From what I gathered, Dilaurentis did the same to you and you still accepted."

"I know." The woman blinked back tears, knowing that this was not the time to show weakness. "But I'm a Muggleborn, Sev. I need experiences. I want experiences. Muggleborn is who I am and I want to have a chance to explore it. I'm only going to live once."

"You're a witch." Severus sneered. "Being associated to Muggle things that don't matter is degrading to yourself and wizards all over the world. It's disgusting behaviour."

A tear couldn't help but fall out of her eye and Celosia quickly brushed it away, crossing her arms. She glared up at Severus. "Say that again." She dared.

"You're embarrassing us all with your interest in Muggles." Severus repeated, using the tone he would use to scold a student. "You're a witch, and you better start acting like one, or else shit like this happens. I can't associate myself with a woman who tries to shape me like her previous Muggle husband was."

"Excuse me?" Celosia scowled, immediately getting defensive. "Who said I was comparing you to Alexandre? You just said so yourself that he didn't give me an ideal proposal but I still said yes. You're a thousand times better than he was, and I loved you first! You left me, so what other choice did I have but to move on? You were an ass to my sisters, because one was a complete Muggle and the other was a Mudblood. So what are you going to do, Sev? Call me a Mudblood too? James and Sirius aren't here to punish you for it."

Severus glared down at Celosia, green and black staring at each other. "If I wanted to marry a stubborn witch, I would have looked elsewhere."

"Well, wouldn't want a Muggleborn tarnishing your family name, Half-Blood Prince!"

"Get out of my face!"

"What's wrong, all the Muggle-ness in me bothering you too much?"

"LEAVE, EVANS! All you're being is a troublesome Mudblood!"

Celosia smirked. "And there it is! Truth- finally! Thank Merlin I rejected your proposal. I wouldn't want a husband who thought so lowly of me!"

"Then go find some poor Muggle to give you all your pathetic experiences!" Severus snapped and Celosia blinked. "You mean nothing to me now."

Silence was left in the room and Celosia went from smug to absolutely shocked. A pang in her heart resulted after registering Severus' words and she let another tear escape her eye. Bitterly wiping it away, she set her hands on her side. "Fine."

Severus blinked in surprise as the woman before him Disapparated.