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A PERFECT MATCH

Chapter 38: For eternity

The next morning, Snape knocked on Hermione’s door.

“Did you sleep all right ?” he asked.

“Yes, fine, thank you.”

“Er, Hermione. Before I say anything to Christobal, do you still feel the same about marrying me today ?”

“I do. I know my parents could never witness a magical ceremony and if we get married now, we will at least have your family with us.” Then she gave him a seductive smile “And I also could not stand being separated from you for one more night.”

“Then I will let him know he can start preparing.”

He hesitated a little before he continued: “If you like, we can hold a muggle-ceremony in a few weeks. I suppose your parents would want to see their daughter getting married with their own eyes. We’ll even throw a big party if you want.”

She smiled happily. “I think I would like that very much, but are you sure you’re up to a muggle-wedding ?”

“I think I’ll manage.”

She smiled. “I’ll take you up on that offer then, but it doesn’t have to be a big event, just as long as you are there, that’s the main thing.”

 

When they got downstairs, the entire Di Matteo family was there to greet them and to get to know the newest addition to the family.

Hermione’s head spun after she shook hands with everyone and she gave up on trying to remember all of their names.

She had been a little scared to meet the notorious aunt, but the fragile, white-haired old lady didn’t seem to be such a threat and she was being really nice to her.

“My dear child, I’d like to welcome you into this family with all of my heart. You’ve made my Severus so happy.” The elder lady looked at Snape and her eyes filled with tears. “He’s such a nice boy. I’m so glad you are going to take care of him from now on.”

They told the family about speeding up the wedding and the news was greeted with much enthusiasm. Christobal dashed out of the room, mumbling “so much to do” and Snape rescued Hermione from his little nieces that were fighting to be flower girl.

“You all know there’s no such thing as a flower girl at wizard weddings !” The girls looked rather blue and Hermione stole their heart when she said: “You can come over for the muggle ceremony and then you can all be flower girls.” The nieces were over the moon and Snape rolled his eyes.

“Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into ?”

She chuckled. “No.”

They managed to escape his family members and found a quiet spot to have breakfast.

“The ceremony will be held at sundown.” He said.

“Is that required ?”

“Not really, but it will take place at the altar of Hagar Qim, and we don’t want any tourists to witness it, do we ?”

She laughed. “That would be some treat for them.”

“More likely we would get arrested for paganism.”

“And that would damage the reputation of your family on the island, wouldn’t it ?”

“I don’t know. We get away with a lot of things. I guess that’s the privilege of nobility.”

“You have blue blood ?”

“Ah, you didn’t know ? The Di Matteo family is of noble birth in the muggle world, most of my family members lead double lives. It comes in very handy, even in the 21st century.”

“Waw, sometimes I think you’ll never seize to amaze me.”

“I sure hope so, we wouldn’t want to slip into a boring routine, would we ?”

“With you ? Never !”

They talked more about their upcoming wedding and Snape explained the ceremony to her, or at least as much as he knew about it.

He went out during the afternoon to buy the wedding rings. Hermione was escorted to her room, where the female Di Matteo’s started on her outfit.

 

When she came down from the stairs that evening, Snape awaited her in the main hall. He held out his right hand and she placed her left one on top of it. She looked at him and saw he was wearing a white robe with a golden ceremonial cloak draped over it. The bright colours of his clothing made his eyes look even darker and she had never seen them sparkle like they were doing now.

 

When he had first seen her coming down the stairs, he was overwhelmed by emotions. She was like a vision of light in her almost see-through white robe. The wild flowers in her hair made her look like a fairy-queen and he trembled when he held out his hand to show he was willing to accept her as his bride. He held his breath when he waited for her to put her hand on his, as a sign she wanted him as her groom.

When she did so, the ceremony had begun and he wrapped a golden cloak similar to his own around her shoulders, to show his family he was going to provide for her from now on.

Christobal rolled out a long rope and when they all touched it, they were transported to the site of the wedding.

 

Hermione saw they were surrounded by pre-historical remains and found it hard to make out anything of the large, massive blocks of stone. When Christobal led them onto a slight hill, she could hear the waves breaking on the cliffs and realised they were near the sea. On top of the hill, she recognised an altar. She and Snape stood in front of it, Christobal was behind. The family members had formed a circle around the altar, holding hands.

 

Christobal began to speak in an ancient language. He held a black, polished stone, engraved with runic writings high above his head and Hermione could hear him call out their names.

He was introducing them to the Gods, pleading them to hear their vows and approve of their eternal bonding.

When he finished addressing the Gods, he looked around and said in his clear voice:

“Will the witnesses to this union please step forward.”

Hermione hadn’t thought about any witnesses and her heart jumped with joy when she saw Ron appearing next to her and Harry going over to Snape’s side.

“You didn’t think we’d let you go on this big adventure on your own, did you ?” Ron managed to whisper, and he winked at her.

She had no idea when they had arrived, but Snape didn’t seem to be surprised, so she assumed he had something to do with it.

 

Christobal came towards them, his face a solemn mask. He brought a strange looking bronze artefact with him. It looked like a jojo, but had only a short, fixed string and a few needles were sticking out on both sides, turning it into some kind of pincushion. They had arrived at the heart of the ceremony. It was now time for them to declare their vows. Christobal showed the artefact to the witnesses and gave it to Snape. He picked it up in his right hand and slipped the string over his middle finger, the needles brushing against the palm of his hands. Hermione raised her right hand and held it against the other side of the artefact.

The family members that were standing in the circle started chanting.

Christobal looked Snape in the eyes and nodded, then he did the same with Hermione. When he started muttering a sacred text, they locked eyes, entwined their fingers and pressed the artefact between their palms, the short, fine needles pricking into the delicate flesh.

A few seconds passed and Christobal removed the artefact. He gave them another nod and they crushed the drops of blood between their palms. Snape spoke first.

“Hermione, I hereby express my undying love for you. Let the fusion of our blood create the eternal bond we so desire. When I leave this life, through space and time my soul will search for yours until we are reunited, for I shall only be complete with you, my other half.”

Their eyes remained locked and as she was drawn into those familiar black depths, she felt their minds connecting. The ritual words came natural to her:

“Severus, my love for you is everlasting. Let the fusion of our blood be the symbol of our union, for we are the same. Beyond the boundaries of life and death, I will never seize to look for you, for I belong with you, my other half.

The chanting had stopped and Hermione and Snape held their right palms in front of the witnesses to show them their blood had mixed.

Christobal handed them a wet linen cloth and they wiped their hands. He held a goblet  decorated with rubies and emeralds high above his head. When he held it in front of them, the goblet, which had been empty when he raised it, contained a colourless liquid. He said:

“Drink this nectar as a gift from the Gods, who have blessed this union.”

They both drank it, Hermione thought it tasted rather sweet.

The final part of the ceremony was the exchange of the rings. Christobal took both platinum rings from a silver plate on the altar and presented Hermione’s ring to Snape. He slipped it smoothly on her left ring finger, never loosing eye-contact. She followed his example. Then he took her in his arms and they kissed. The family members, including Harry and Ron, showered them with golddust.

When they finally released each other, the moon had come up, giving the ceremony just that extra little magical touch.

 

After the ceremony, when they had returned to the palacio, Hermione finally had the chance to talk to her friends.

“Did Severus sent for you ?”

“We both got a message from him this morning, saying it was your wedding day and if we would be so kind to use the included pebble as a portkey at sundown. I must say it was quite a surprise to us, as was the site of the wedding. Talk about magic !” Harry was deeply impressed.

Ron looked around in the palacio, his eyes scanning the priceless paintings and other pieces of art. “Wow ‘Mione, you never told us dear old Snape was loaded !”

Hermione felt a little awkward. “I didn’t know about that, besides, it’s his family’s house, so I don’t know if he …” but Harry interrupted her.

“So you don’t know yet where he’s taking you for your honeymoon ?”

“Er, I assumed we would stay here, because we’re expected at Hogwarts in two days.”

Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing smile. “That’s true, but until then … anyway, I’m sure your hubby will take you there soon enough.”

She was intrigued, but knew they wouldn’t tell her anything more. Therefore she changed the subject, there was something else she had wanted to ask them.

“How is Draco ?”

Harry changed his smiling face into a serious expression. “He’s as well as can be expected I guess. When your ‘package’ arrived, he wasn’t in Arthur’s office, so we were able to break the news to him gently. He tried not to show any emotion, thinking we wouldn’t understand, but luckily Ginny was there and I think he’s fine now.”

Ron intervened. “I don’t think any Order of Merlin-ceremony has ever been as exciting as this one. First you guys disappearing, then us barging in … it all must have happened quickly, because we had barely reached Arthur’s office to come up with a plan when Lucius’ body appeared in the fireplace. Say, what did you guys do to him exactly ? He was all covered in blood and it seemed he had run into something big and sharp.”

“Oh, Severus killed him with a sword.

“A sword ?!” both young men gasped simultaneously.

“Too long to explain, just say there was one at hand, and since we didn’t have our wands …”

Ron couldn’t quite take it in and he looked at Snape with new respect.

“I bet it was awesome.” He sighed.

Hermione gave him a fierce look. “Nothing of the sort. I was scared to death !”

Ron was going to ask more about the fight, but at that moment, Snape decided it was time for him and his new bride to leave.

“Excuse me boys, but I think you have demanded enough of her time. I trust it you will be able to get back home ?”

He had been very polite to them, but still they couldn’t shake the feeling of being intimidated by him.

“Hermione, if you’re ready, I’ll be outside on the patio.” And he left.

Both Ron and Harry sighed relieved, they almost had expected him to yell ‘ten points from Gryffindor for monopolising my wife’. His marriage certainly didn’t seem to have softened him up.

“Well, I guess we will see you at the banquet.” Harry said and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Had to kiss the bride.” He winked. “Oh, and before I forget … a wedding present.” And he handed her both her and Snape’s wand.

Ron kissed her as well and said: “I still can’t get it you’re married to Snape, but I’ll get used to it somehow, just, don’t go starting on any babies will you, that would be too much for me to take in.” He had a horrified look on his face, picturing his former Potions teacher holding a little baby in his arms. He shuddered and said goodbye.

Hermione laughed and thought there was plenty of time to let them know. Maybe she wouldn’t say anything and just send them a card when the baby was born. No, that would be too cruel, wouldn’t it ?

She turned around and headed for the patio, excited to find out where here husband was going to take her.

 

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