Page 38 of Hex Appeal

"Is that so?"She raised an eyebrow."I thought you were about to propose."

The students around them had given up all pretense of not watching.One girl was frantically taking notes.A boy nearby was making encouraging "go on" gestures.

Malachai glanced around, seeming to fully register their audience for the first time.His ears reddened slightly, but instead of retreating, he straightened his shoulders and took both her hands in his.

"You're right.Some things shouldn't wait for privacy."He took a deep breath."Ceries Frostwind, you drive me absolutely crazy with your unorthodox methods and your disregard for proper procedures."

"This is a unique proposal strategy," she commented, trying to mask her thundering heartbeat with humor.

"I'm not finished."His eyes held hers, serious yet warm."You challenge me daily.You make me rethink everything I thought I knew about teaching.About magic.About myself."His voice softened."And I've never been happier than since you came into my life and turned everything upside down."

A collective "aww" rose from the gathered students.

"Marry me," he said simply."Not because of school politics or hexes or faculty policies.Marry me because I love arguing magical theory with you over breakfast.Because I love watching you teach with such passion.Because I love you, Ceries Frostwind, hex mishaps and all."

The silence that followed was absolute.Even the garden gnomes seemed to be holding their breath, leaning forward slightly from their positions.One had produced a tiny stone handkerchief and was dabbing at suspiciously moist eyes.Another was frantically gesturing for Ceries to say yes while pretending to be a statue whenever anyone looked directly at him.

"Well," Ceries finally said, her voice suspiciously wobbly, "that was properly romantic."

"Is that a yes?"Malachai asked, vulnerability showing through his composed exterior.

"Yes."She beamed at him."But we're still going to argue about hexes."

"I would expect nothing less," he said, pulling her close for another kiss.

Applause erupted around them.Juno let out an approving wolf-whistle.Headmistress Raven nodded once, satisfied, before gliding away with a dramatic billow of her robes, though not before Ceries caught what might have been a smile on her usually stern face.

"Bet you didn't see this coming when you first explained shield charms to me at The Crooked Wand," Ceries murmured against his lips.

"I believe I was too busy being lectured about my organizational habits and sock-ironing practices," he replied."Though looking back, I think I started falling for you somewhere between 'swimming won't turn someone into a toad' and 'what's wrong with recreational amphibian transformation between consenting adults?'"

"I have excellent pick-up lines," she agreed."Though I may need to modify my approach for our wedding vows."

Epilogue

Six months later, theyincluded those exact pick-up lines in their vows, much to the delight of their students and the scandalized expressions of more traditional faculty members.Ceries vowed to always remind Malachai that "swimming won't turn someone into a toad" and wondered aloud "what's wrong with recreational amphibian transformation between consenting adults?"Malachai, in turn, promised to occasionally iron fewer socks and to embrace Ceries's "innovative approaches" in all aspects of their life together.

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