earthy_charm (earthy_charm) wrote in snark_n_bark, @ 2007-11-02 21:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, luna, neville |
Diamond ring, wear it on your hand
Characters: Neville, Luna (and assistance from Mrs Bramley and Gran)
Summary: Neville surprises Luna again, this time to make things a little more official.
Neville woke early the morning of his second surprise for Luna ('early' meaning that he was up before the dawn instead of with it). Leaving Luna still in bed, he quietly got showered and dressed for a day at the nursery. Luna slept on through these activities, used to his mornings, and he had become a lot better over the months of them living together at keeping his noise to a minimum.
Once dressed, he went up to the attic and looked in on the twins, who were finally grasping the concept of sleeping the night through. They looked as peaceful as their mother and he was smiling a little as he went downstairs and opened the backdoor.
He found his way to the greenhouse with a low level lumos. The sun still wasn't over the horizon, though grey light was leaching across the sky removing the night. He would have to complete his task within the next ten minutes.
It had taken him a long time to cultivate the Liliaceae Nocturna Magica, but his success had come at just the right time to spark an idea. The tulip-like plants were in full bloom in the darkness, and he talked gently and coaxingly to the flower he selected, apologising for its sacrifice. As a Herbologist he couldn't afford to be too sentimental about taking cuttings and the like, but he thought it only polite with the more magical species to say 'thank you'. He cut the long stem and secured the end in a test tube shaped, short vase that would provide water and nourishment throughout the day. He tidied the stem up with a few more snips and then quickly drew the jewellery box from his jeans pocket. He took out Luna's engagement ring and carefully slid it over the Nocturna's stigma. Once the ring was in place he waited, and as the light of the dawn spilled through the glass walls of the greenhouse the Nocturna's dark purple petals began to close, hiding the ring inside.
Pleased that everything was proceeding to plan, he hurried back inside and tried not to run up the stairs in his eagerness - he didn't want to wake Luna up. Back in their bedroom he withdrew the card he had hidden in his sock drawer and carefully placed that and the flower on his pillow, ready for Luna to find when she woke. With a last loving glance at Luna's peaceful face, he left the room and headed off to work.
*
Luna awakened slowly, lying on her side with her limbs spread over Neville's side of the bed. He was almost always gone by the time she woke up if the twins didn't prompt an early morning for both of them, so it was no surprise that the sheets were cold except where her own body warmed them. It certainly wasn't unusual not to find Neville's head still on his pillow -- however, a flower resting in the indent his head left on the pillow was unusual. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up and, after stretching and yawning, picked up the card next to the flower. The message inside was cryptic but sweet. "Treasure this flower like you would my heart. Carry it near you," she read aloud. Shaking her head slightly and chuckling, she picked up the flower and took it with her up to the nursery to accompany her as she waited for the twins to awaken.
Nimue turned out to be quite entranced by the purple bloom, which in turn meant that Gawain was entranced as well, and Luna had to set it on a high shelf to keep it away from grabby hands that didn't yet know how to keep from crushing delicate things. "Somehow I think that Daddy would prefer you wait at least until you're dating before you start breaking his heart," Luna told Nimue with a laugh. Their day continued in its usual routine, with Luna caring for and playing with the twins, singing songs and telling stories that they listened to raptly even though they couldn't possibly understand all of the words, let alone the plots. Luna read a copy of The Quibbler from a few months ago while the twins napped, and she was in the middle of an article about the uses of bringlehopper saliva when she heard the sounds of someone coming in through the Floo.
Secure in the knowledge that only a handful of trusted friends and relatives could simply enter the house without her allowing the access and disinclined to leave off in the middle of an interesting article, she simply continued reading and waited for the visitor to find her up in the nursery. Within a few minutes, she heard footsteps on the stairs to the attic, which meant that the person was someone who knew well enough to come directly upstairs. Luna set aside the half-finished article with a sigh, though she smiled as Theresa quietly opened the door and came inside.
"Hello, Luna-love," Theresa greeted as she entered. "How are you today? I see the twins are nicely settled. Hmm, you look like you could do with a break. Why don't you go have a shower and freshen up? I can watch the twins for you." Theresa smiled at Luna, her eyes bright as she thought of the surprise that Neville had planned for the evening. She thought of Augusta, who was waiting in living room, eager to help her grandson "do the right thing", and her smile widened. "Take as long as you want," she added. "Oh, and why don't you try on something a bit smarter? I'm sure it does a woman good to dress up from time to time, for whatever reason."
Luna was going to question Theresa's instructions, but then she remembered the flower Neville had left and took in Theresa's excited expression. Obviously Neville was up to something again. "I'll just do that, then, thank you," she said, taking the purple flower with her as she went down to the master bathroom to "freshen up."
After her shower, she dried her hair and considered doing something special with it as well, but decided to leave it down since Neville had been so disturbed by her wearing it back in a plait. She tapped her finger against her bottom lip. Luna didn't wear cosmetics often, even when she did go to functions which required dressing up, but she did own them. Well, just mascara and a pale coral lipstick, but she applied both carefully before heading into the bedroom to dress. If Theresa considered it important enough to Neville's surprise to tell Luna to dress up, Luna intended to pull out all of the stops.
She finally chose a velvet robe in nearly the same shade of deep purple as the blossom which now sat on the bedside table, with a scrolling silver trim around the sleeves, neck, and hem. She belted it with a chain of jingly silver coins and dug out the paperclip earrings that she remembered Neville specifically mentioning when he confronted her about her new look. The robe itself was a bit on the plain side, though still pretty enough that Luna had bought it in the first place, and she didn't want Neville to get the wrong idea.
Thus dressed and primped, Luna climbed the stairs once more. Shoes could wait until she had more information to decide if she needed torture implements with heels or not. She expected to find the children still napping and Theresa with them, but the nursery was empty. Her forehead furrowed slightly. Perhaps the twins had awakened unexpectedly and Theresa took them downstairs for some reason? Refusing to panic before she had covered the perfectly harmless possibilities, Luna turned back around and rushed downstairs.
Neville had arrived at the house hot on the heels of Mrs Bramley and his Gran. He had changed at his Gran's house and he enlisted her help to start setting up all the dinner stuff while Mrs Bramley distracted Luna upstairs. Mrs Bramley had helpfully prepared all of the food, which he had brought with him in magically warmed dishes. Mrs Bramley came down for a moment and then she and Gran hurried upstairs together to get the twins and the things they would need for the evening. He kissed both women's cheeks as they left, grateful for their help. He plated up the starter and was all ready and waiting when he heard Luna hurrying down the stairs.
"Neville, the twins and Theresa are -- you're wearing robes," Luna said, momentarily shocked out of her... complete non-panic. The black robes obviously hadn't been worn in years, as they were a few inches too short, a touch loose around the stomach, and deliciously more than a touch too tight around the chest and arms. Neville was clean-shaven, too, and his hair, while fortunately not cut, was smoothed back as neatly as it would go anymore. Ogle later, she reminded herself impatiently. "The twins and Theresa are missing!"
Neville grinned at Luna as she appeared, dressed in robes that matched the flower she was happily carrying about with her. The smile faltered a bit and he felt a tad guilty at the distress he had inadvertently caused through his machinations. He stepped forward and ran the fingers of one hand through her hair. "Mrs Bramley and Gran are looking after the twins while we have dinner," he explained. "They're perfectly safe - as long as Gran keeps her temper." He bent and kissed her cheek. "Come and sit down," he invited.
Luna took a deep breath and relaxed. See? Nothing to worry about. Good thing I didn't panic. With that issue sorted, she not only allowed herself that delayed ogling but ran her palms over the taut fabric covering Neville's chest, shoulders, and upper arms. She squeezed Neville's biceps affectionately and sat at her place as requested.
"Yeah, they don't fit me very well," Neville commented at Luna's tactile inspection of his robes. He took his own seat, and sniffed appreciatively at the cheese and vegetable pastry parcels. "I have to admit that Mrs Bramley did all the cooking - I just plated it up. Gran was responsible for the costume," he added, with a wry smile.
"I suppose that depends upon your definition of fitting you well," Luna said, appreciatively watching the ripple and stretch as Neville sat. "Though I don't understand why your grandmother would take such an interest in what you're wearing to dinner when she's not even around to see it." She placed the flower next to her plate and took a bite of her food. She closed her eyes for a moment in bliss as she chewed the perfect golden pastry and the cheese flowed over her tongue. "Finding an excuse to get Theresa to cook for us, that I understand."
"Mmm," Neville hummed in agreement, his mouth already full. They ate in comfortable silence and when the starters were finished, Neville insisted that Luna stay sat while he took the dishes through to the kitchen and brought in the main - which was lamb shank in a red wine sauce. "I'm a very lucky man," Neville decided after sampling his first fork full. "I am surrounded by amazing cooks. Well, that or a very fat man in the making. I think I am just going to have to accept the belly. There's no way I could ever give this kind of eating up."
"Good thing I'm fond of it myself then," Luna said before digging into her own smaller portion. She watched Neville eat, enjoying his own open enjoyment of the food. "I'm very lucky too, but it has little to do with amazing cooks."
Neville grinned at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners with all his love and happiness. He couldn't wait for the real surprise to occur. But in the meantime, Mrs Bramley had made a delicious looking apple and blackberry tart for pudding and Neville was eager to see if it tasted as good as it smelled.
They had both just leaned back in their chairs, stuffed and feeling well with the world, when Neville suddenly realised what the time was and how dark it was getting outside. The clocks had just recently gone back and he had forgotten how swift the sunset would be because of this. He dropped his napkin on the table and tried not to look in too much of a rush as he held out his hand to Luna.
"I think maybe we should go outside and get some fresh air," he said. "Helps with the digestion. Um, bring your flower with you."
Luna raised her eyebrows at Neville's poorly-disguised hurry to go outdoors as well as the continued request that he bring the flower along with her. It was pretty enough, yes, but it wasn't even in bloom. It hardly seemed to merit the importance he'd placed upon it from the beginning of the day. Really, if it didn't begin singing and tap-dancing by midnight, she was going to be disappointed. However, Neville must know what he was doing, and her curiosity wouldn't be satisfied just by sitting here. She took his hand and rose from her chair, picking up the flower as she turned to him. "Our pond does look lovely at twilight and I don't get outside to enjoy it much these days," she said agreeably as they walked to the back door.
Neville led Luna over to the pond as she had mentioned it. He watched her face as she watched the sunset and as the last rays of sunlight faded from the sky, he took hold of both her hands and raised them between their bodies, so that the flower clasped in their twin grip was on a level with Luna's chin.
"Do you know what kind of flower that is?" he asked her quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace of the evening, nor what might be a perfect moment in his life. "It's a Nocturna Lily. They only open at night." His eyes were on Luna's face still, pale and beautiful in the moonlight, but he knew even without his peripheral vision that the petals were beginning to part, revealing the surprise inside. "I love you," he told Luna, waiting for realisation to dawn in her eyes. "I love you, and one day, when you least expect it, I'm going to marry you."
The lily's scent grew stronger while Neville spoke. Though Luna would have liked nothing better than to continue staring into Neville's eyes, the term "drowning" making sense to her now with her throat closing up like this, she did want to see the lily open. It seemed that Neville had had her carry the flower all day just for this moment, and she oughtn't miss it. The petals peeled back as the darkness deepened, and something within glittered in the light from the windows of the house. Neville created flowers that did all sorts of things, from purring to nipping, so glittering wasn't such an odd thing for a flower from him to do. Still, the glitter seemed rather concentrated, and the rest of the flower wasn't blue or pink.
Luna pulled one of her hands out of Neville's grasp and pushed her fingers into the flower's bell. Yes, there was something hard and inorganic inside, and she fished it out and held it up to the windows' light. When she realized that it was a ring and connected Neville's words to it, her throat closed up all over again. It was perfect; it wasn't a single boring diamond like the ring Martin had tried to present her, and she'd never be able to look at the flower design without thinking of Neville. Heedless of the lily falling from her hand, she flung her arms around Neville's neck with enough force to lift off the ground.
Catching Luna to him, Neville was swept first with relief and then with jubilation at her exuberant reaction. In his excitement he spun them around, laughing like a loon. Dizzy, and immensely happy, Neville stole a kiss, and then another. They had technically been engaged to one another since before the removal of his memories, but to actually give Luna the ring, to see none of the trepidation he had feared in reaction to the renewed proposal was joyous. It joined the arrival of the twins and the first time he'd slept with Luna as being moments in his life he would never forget - at least not without magical intervention.
"You like it, then?" he asked, breathlessly. "I thought you would like the flowers, and then I realised that the sapphires and rubies were like having Ravenclaw and Gryffindor in the same ring, and then the shop assistant told me that rubies and sapphires are chemically the same stone." He was babbling, and he kissed Luna again to stop it.
"It's even more perfect, then, and it was already perfect before," Luna said once the kiss ended, in response to Neville's additional information about the stones. She held the ring up to the light again and admired it for a moment, then took a step back and held it out to Neville. "Put it on me, then. We'll see if it fits properly so that the perfection continues." Her tone was lightly teasing, but she was certain that Neville wouldn't have gone to the trouble of picking out such a personalized ring and planning this elaborate way of giving it to her without either making sure it was the right size or had a good re-sizing charm.
Neville laughed, suddenly nervous when he realised that his hands were shaking. He lifted Luna's left hand and kissed the back of it, the motion calming him. Hands now steady, he took the ring and slid it onto the appropriate finger, glad to see that just as the shop assistant had promised it automatically adjusted itself so that it fit Luna... well, perfectly. "It looks good," he thought aloud. He had worried that the ring would be too much, but he shouldn't have. Just as he had suspected, and Padma had agreed, the ring suited her. "It looks really good," he repeated, brushing his thumb across her fingers and thinking that things were finally official. They were engaged.
Luna stared at the ring, moving her hand this way and that to watch the sparkle shift around. With all of the faceted stones involved, it was very shiny. "It looks like it belongs there," she said finally. "Which is a good thing, because it's not going anywhere. Oooh, I'm going to have to show it to everyone now!" She bounced on her toes, then considered the fact that it was still early in the evening and the children were otherwise occupied. With one last bounce, she pushed onto her toes and kissed Neville. "Not now-now, later-now. We haven't had dessert."
Neville frowned for a moment, confused as they had definitely eaten the delicious tart Mrs Bramley had made. Then he caught up and he grinned. "No, we haven't," he agreed. "Was there anything in particular you fancied?"
"Something that involves me wearing nothing but my engagement ring, and those robes of yours on the floor." Luna kissed along Neville's jawline. "Other than that, I think we should just go with whatever feels right at the time," she murmured in his ear. "I am enjoying your surprises, but not everything has to be planned out."
"Just your ring?" Neville echoed in an appreciative way. He bent slightly to kiss just behind her ear, one of his hands sliding round to cup the back of her neck. "Mmm, you're beautiful in the moonlight," he whispered huskily and slid his fingers inside the neck of her her robes, gently tickling her skin. With his other hand he fumbled with for the clasp of her belt. "What about my robes on the grass?" he asked.
Luna squelched a giggle at the light brush of Neville's fingertips. They'd come a long way from Neville panicking over an offer of fellatio in one of his greenhouses, for him to make such a suggestion. "I think that's an excellent idea," she said, and set to work making it happen.
Later, as she shifted to find a comfortable position with her back remaining on Neville's robes while his lax body still covered her with warmth, she compared the sparkle of the ring on her hand, resting on Neville's shoulder, to the glitter of the stars above them. The ring won out.