Chapter Sixty One
Draco, perched upon one knee, holding a small box in his hand, smiled up at Hermione, the familiar glint in his eyes made Hermione melt inside. She walked towards him trying to keep her shaking legs steady.
"Hermione..." Draco began, opening the box to reveal a sparkling ring, that matched perfectly the pendant he had given her in Venice, "I offer you this ring as a token of my undying love for you." Hermione took a deep breath and began to feel dizzy, "I hope that in accepting this ring you will also accept me as your equal... your partner... your lover, throughout our lives and beyond. I built this house as a token of my commitment to you and would be honoured if you would share it with me as my wife. Will you marry me Hermione?"
"Yes!" Hermione whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as Draco gently placed the ring on her bare finger. Then he stood up and grabbed Hermione and lifted her off the ground smothering her in kisses.
"You really did all this for me?" Hermione asked after a while, looking around herself at the beautiful room they were standing in.
"Of course, I did," he said simply, "It was torture to be so far away from you these past months." I bought the house the same week that I went back but I didn't want to ruin the surprise until now."
Draco led Hermione through the house, each room was beautifully decorated, in a clean but traditional way, fully stocked bookshelves graced many of the walls, and Hermione saw reflections of her own personality in much of the design. Draco had clearly put a lot of thought into the renovations.
He led Hermione by the hand up the oak staircase and showed her the first floor of the property. There were three large bedrooms, two bathrooms and a beautiful wood panelled study. At the end of a cosy landing there was another door and behind which there was a narrow staircase, Draco stood aside to allow Hermione to go first up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs was an arched doorway, which Hermione entered into. Hermione gasped as she saw that up in the attic of the house Draco had almost perfectly recreated their shared suite from Venice, even down to the en-suite they had shared some very passionate intimacy in. The one thing that was different in the suite was a large mirror that stood where the window would have been in Venice, it was in a plain wooden frame and didn't quite fit in with the opulence of the rest of the master suite. Hermione looked questioningly at Draco, who stepped towards the mirror.
"It's an engagement gift from mother and father." Draco explained.
"It's... erm... lovely." Hermione said unconvincingly.
Draco laughed at Hermione's thoughtful lie. "It isn't exactly what it seems," Draco began, "It's from my father's private collection. It is called ''The Mirror of Narcissus'; my father bought it for my mother for their engagement, it was created by the Greek oracle 'Trophonius'; he used it to see into the future, but he also put an enchantment upon it, so that in the event of his death the mirror would no longer show the future, but could instead be used by two people who shared true love to travel to a place that they both held in their hearts as a sanctuary. He gave the mirror to his niece, who's lover was thought to have had angered the Gods and had a price upon his head. When the guards came for the young lovers they held hands and disappeared before the guards' eyes, never to be seen again, thinking that the Gods had taken their revenge the guards were satisfied, but legend tells us that the couple were transported through the mirror to Atlantis, where they became immortals and live on in true love to this day. It's name comes from the legend of Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection."
"Wow!" Hermione said, staring in disbelief at the plain mirror. "What would happen to us if we were to use it then?"
"I don't know," Draco said, "should we try it?"
"I guess so, but is it safe?" Hermione asked.
"Oh yes." Draco said, "My mother and father said they have been using it for years. They gave me a spell that returns the user immediately to this side of the mirror. All you have to say is 'Reverse Cogitatione.'"
Draco held Hermione's hand tightly and the two of them stepped in front of The Mirror of Narcissus.