As You Are // D.M.

BOUND TOGETHER

Fuck.

I nodded my head in one fluid motion, taking in a deep breath.

"Armena—" he breathed.

Draco clasped my left hand in his own, staring down intently at my fingers. He stared and stared for a long while like he was trying to find the right words but he couldn't. His brow furrowed and I almost said something when he finally spoke; his voice clear and bright.

I watched him as he slipped from his wooden chair in this library and kneeled on the ground. His grey eyes stared deep into my own as he kissed each of my knuckles— one by one. I let out a gasp, as I realized what was happening, what he was about to do, and what was to come.

"When I first met you, I didn't know what to think or feel about the emotions that plague my mind. I didn't know what kind of soul you bore or how you would react to the boy who was a coward during the war. Yet, you showed me nothing but kindness. I knew it the moment I caught your eye in Charms, how they flashed bright green as we made contact. I didn't want to love you Armena. Love scared the shit out of me and it still does, but you loved me. I made a promise to you eleven years ago that when this was all done, I was going to marry you. I was going to protect you and worship you until you didn't want me anymore. I made a promise to you that night in your library that no matter what happened, if we were worlds apart I would find my way back to you. Call it luck or fate but I did just that. I found you again after all these years without even knowing you. I found you and then I found you again—"

I felt the tears prick at my waterline, as his words rushed through me and filled up every empty space in my body. I blinked my eyes, feeling the wetness run down my cheeks.

"You used to appear in my dreams, Armena. For years I would see you in my dreams under a willow reading to me, telling me how much you loved me— your voice was like honey. I now know that was your soul reaching out to me. I know that because I always knew your soul to be golden and bright, I have seen your soul and I have held it in my hands and I want more. I want your body and your soul forever if you will let me."

Draco reached into the pocket of his black trousers and pulled out a black velvet box. I let out a shaky breath as my fingers drifted up to my face. Before me was the very ring that I was eyeing at the jewelry shop in Diagon Alley all those months ago. The black marquise diamond sat in the center of a gold band with small clusters of bright white diamonds sat in a halo around the dark stone. It looked like a shooting star and it was more beautiful in person. 

"Armena—" he started, his once voice shaky, "I have been away from you for a decade. A decade and so help me Merlin, I want to be the one to marry you. I want to have you beside me for the rest of our lives. I want to worship, praise and honor you for as long as we both live. So will you do me the utmost honor in becoming my wife?"

I flickered my eyes up to meet his beautiful grey eyes. I reached out to him, cupping his face in my own hands and pressed my lips to his. My salty tears mixed in with our lips as we both cried into each other. I pulled away slightly, our lips ghosting against each other as I whispered the word that I had been wanting to say for eleven years.

"Yes" I breathed into him. "Yes, yes, a million times yes!"

I crashed my lips into his roughly, not caring if I could hear the cheers from our friends in the quiet library. I kissed him as if our life depended on it, like it was the last kiss we would both ever receive in this lifetime. I could hear Pansy, Blaise, Ginny, and Potter all moving toward us but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from him as the tears spilled down my face.

"I love you" I breathed.

*******

February 20th, 2011.