Who: Ethan and Sally What: Ethan's proposal Verse: HP!remodel verse
Graduating Hogwarts was obviously a momentous occasion, but Ethan was taking it all very quietly. His dad had turned up, which Ethan appreciated, because Olivia's death had been so hard on the whole family, but on his dad the most. And Mandy was working. So he had invited Sally which had been a little bit of a spur of the moment thing but he couldn't possibly regret it. And she had said yes. She had very enthusiastically (well, he had hopefully interpreted her writing as enthusiastic) agreed. Which meant she would be here. And he hadn't seen her since- well, it had been a really long time. Though he had written to her every day, he had thought about her every minute of every hour. But he had done for years. That was love.
He had concluded with some ease that he was madly in love with her several years ago, and that had been a constant feeling in his life since there. Just there, without argument.
His father met him first, pulling him into a hug and telling him he was proud of him. He could tell he wished his mum were there to see their son graduate, though neither of them mentioned it. There was no need.
And then there was Sally. She looked stunning.And she'd come here for him. To see him. Because he'd asked.
"You look- hello, stranger," he stammered. "You look beautiful."
Sally had planned to be at the ceremony for her brother, of course, but she was very happy for any excuse to see Ethan. When the ceremony was finished, she'd gone to offer Nate her congratulations and a hug before slipping away from her family. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of her- her Ethan? She didn't quite know what to call him. He wasn't her boyfriend, not really, even if she was in love with him. "Hello, handsome," she replied with a smile, blushing faintly at his compliment. She stepped forward, leaning up to wrap her arms around him and closing her eyes as she felt his arms around her. "I've missed you. But that's- that's neither here nor there. Congratulations!"
Ethan beamed, wrapping his arms around her as well, all but clinging to her now that he had her back. She'd missed him. And she was here. For Nate, sure, but she was here and she'd come over to see him.
"I've missed you so much," he murmured, sighing as he breathed in the scent of her hair and her skin and oh, God. "It's so good to- thank you. Thanks. You really-" Ethan pulled back slightly, his eyes not quite able to meet hers as his nerves weighed down heavily on him. "-your letters, your visits- they made this year a lot easier, you know? You really- I owe you a lot and- thanks. Really. You look lovely."
Sally lifted her head to look up at him as he pulled back and she couldn't help her faint smile as she reached up to smooth down a few of his unruly curls. He never quite could seem to do anything with them, no matter what he tried and her hand fell back to his shoulder at his words. "You know you don't have to thank me. Not for any of that. It's- I was happy to write. They made things a lot easier for me, too. You don't owe me anything, I promise. And- oh, thank you!"
"Yeah, I-how is your training and, things?" he asked, smiling at the touch of her hand to his hair. She had never been anything but sweet about his uncontrollable hair, and her attention to it had always pleased him. His hands moved down to her waist and then away quite quickly, because people (her family) were around and was he allowed to touch her like that? Well. Still. His hands drifted down and took hers in his own, holding her fingers gently, his thumbs rubbing over her knuckles. "I'm so glad you're here. I know- I know for Nate. I know, but- still- it's good to see you."
"It's good! Really good. I'm learning a lot, and I'm- I think it's something really good." Sally smiled as his hands move to her waist and she felt it keenly as he moved them away, taking her hands in his own. She gave his hands a light squeeze, unable to look away from him. "I'm here for you both, Ethan. Even if I didn't have Nate here, I'd still be here for you." She released one of his hands, bringing it up to gently cup his face, thumb brushing along his skin. "I meant it, Ethan. I've missed you."
Ethan's heart skipped hard in his chest when Sally's hand came to touch his cheek, his eyes lifting to look at her own. She'd missed him, he'd missed her. She was here. And she wanted to see him. And-
Well, he was in love with her. So, so in love with her. He opened his mouth to tell her he was proud of what she'd done this last year, of how hard she'd worked on the back of everything else, but those words didn't come out. Those words didn't make it. Instead, he opened his mouth and sighed softly, shaking his head as he said "I love you" with all honesty.
Whatever Ethan had been about to say, Sally hadn't expected that. But his words made her smile, dimples showing and she leaned up on her tiptoes, fingers sliding into his hair as she pressed her lips to his in their first public kiss. "I love you too," Sally said, her voice soft as she pulled back to catch her breath. "I-" She couldn't help her soft giggle as she leaned up to kiss him again.
The fact that they were in public really didn't phase Ethan this time. That their families were all around, their friends who had known them for years- maybe it wasn't a surprise, he had had people teasing him about his crush on Sally for the whole time he was in school until it had just been accepted as normal. But now here they were, and Ethan was being kissed. And Sally loved him. She loved him too. His arms wrapped around her again, pulling her in closer, feeling the warmth of her body.
Oh, she was just perfect. He couldn't help but laugh as well, along with her little giggle. He never wanted this to end. He never wanted this perfect moment to be over-
"You should marry me, Sally," Ethan whispered, surprising himself again. He laughed, but it felt so easy. So right. "Will you marry me?"