Animated vixen stole Cupid's arrow and came to rescue me [Romilda]

Cormac was more nervous than normal as he checked his watch again. Everything needed to be perfect this time, because.. it was game on. This was the big one. This was the moment he and she would remember for the rest of their lives, and he wanted it to be just right.

He had been thinking about this for a few months now. They'd only really been dating a year, but already Cormac knew she was different. He'd never felt this way about anyone before. Cormac didn't even see other girls, anymore. He never stopped talking about her, as his friends could all attest to, and spent most of the rest of his time thinking about her. She was the one. She had to be. They had even spoken before about the possibility of marrying someday, and Cormac knew Romilda was waiting on him to get his act together more than anything else. She wanted to marry him. She'd made that explicitly clear.

Originally, his plan had been to wait until she graduated to propose. They could have a longer engagement while they settled into adult life, then marry after they were ready. Romilda, on the other hand, didn't want to wait. She wanted to be engaged now. She wanted to show it off to her housemates and bet excited about it. Cormac hadn't been sure then, but the more he thought about it... what was the point of waiting? If he was already planning on proposing after school, then he already knew what he wanted. A few months wouldn't change it, and he knew that it would make her happy.

After deciding that, Cormac had prepared for the moment of a lifetime. He'd planned to pop the question right at the turn of the millennium. They'd never live through another night like that night, and Cormac thought there was something magical about that. He'd dressed nicer than usual. He'd carried the ring in his pocket, and he was ready. Sooner than he realized, it was midnight. He kissed her hard as the year turned, then reached into his pocket. Then... he hesitated, for just a moment. He thought about how that moment would change his life forever. He hesitated and soon their friends were around them and the moment was gone. He let go of the ring box in his pocket, and he let the rest of the night pass. He missed his chance. He was determined he wouldn't do the same thing this time.

To make up for the missed opportunity, Cormac had went overboard for this valentine's day celebration, even by his standards. Technically, the holiday wasn't until Monday... but he could only see her on Hogsmeade weekends and he knew they'd be celebrating early.  He'd set up tables under a gazebo on the outside of town, and hung twinkling lights, even though it was daytime. He'd dressed in a full suit, decorated the area with flowers, and even had some light music playing softly. He'd ordered out the food from an Italian restaurant he knew she liked, and was keeping it warm for them. He was nervous, but so excited.

Cormac checked his watch again. He had given her very specific directions, since he couldn't meet her and walk her with him. He was too dressed up. He'd told her to dress up some too, which gave a bit of it away, but he still wanted her to take in the full experience of seeing him standing there in front of the date he made for her. He wanted to see her take in his hard work.

Birds were chirping, the sun would soon be setting, and it wasn’t even that cold out. Romance could just be felt, Romilda thought to herself as she walked carefully, making sure not to ruin her heels, as she followed her boyfriend’s directions to where to meet him. Ooh, who just couldn’t love Valentine’s Day, the seventeen year old brunette thought to herself with girlish excitement. Sure, some girls her house only said it was a stupid made up holiday, but obviously they were just upset that they didn’t have boyfriends who cared about the holiday like Romilda did. Her red lips curled in a smile as she thought of her boyfriend—perfect, blonde, handsome, a model, perfect, nice, oohh the list just went on. She knew she was lucky to have such an amazing guy to match how amazing she thought she already was.

Biting down on her lip, the young girl wished she wore a different pair of shoes. This walkways leading out of the school were just not built for heels. A small groan escaped her as her heel sunk in, yet again, to the soft earth. Didn’t anyone who built this school have fashion sense?! Romilda tutted to herself and then remembered that she hadn’t ever really seen any of the professors in heels—or at least heels as nice as hers—so how would they know what a problem this was? The Gryffindor made a mental note to make someone aware of this situation so that it could be rectified for future girls at the school so they wouldn’t ruin their shoes.

As she neared the place Cormac instructed her to, Romilda pulled a small tissue out of her pocket and wiped any mud she saw off her shoes, before hastily putting the tissue back in her deep pocket. She’d have to wash the coat later, but she didn’t want to have dirty shoes or litter. Quickly, she smoothed out her hair and her dress as she made her way to the gazebo Cormac wrote about. Her heart fluttered. She could already see twinkling lights and the outline of her perfect boyfriend. He really was getting very romantic lately, Romilda thought absently to herself. He was super attentive to her during New Years and now this special plan for Valentine’s Day, she wasn’t sure what had gotten into him. He even wrote for her to dress extra nice—like that was something she needed to be told.

Cormac was coming clearer into view now and the teenager could barely keep herself together. She so rarely got to see her boyfriend it felt like. The last time she saw him was two weeks ago and the visits never felt long enough. A large smile broke over Romilda’s face as Cormac turned to face her. Unable to contain herself any longer, Romilda broke into a fast walk/almost run and sped up to her boyfriend, jumping into him and wrapping her arms around her, almost knocking him over.

“Hi, I love you,” the shorter girl said quickly before planting a kiss on her boyfriend’s lips that left him with a lipstick mark when she pulled away. “I have something for you!”

Returning to the ground, Romilda handed Cormac the red box she had been carrying which had a new watch inside. However, instead of telling just the time, a second wheel inside showed short messages. Romilda picked this watch out special, with a matching one for her. The watches were enchanted to pass short messages back and forth between each other, so when one person wanted to tell the other they missed or loved them, they could whisper to their watch and the partner watch would light up and display the message.

It was more expensive than Romilda cared to admit, but Cormac was worth every penny of everything she had ever bought him. Although she loved being spoiled, if someone mattered enough to her, she loved spoiling them just as much. Her face was glowing as she watched him open her gift.

“Let me explain how this works, it’s super cool!”

The breath caught in his throat after just a moment. She was gorgeous. He ha told her to dress up, but this... wow. He was grinning widely as she approached him. He kissed her hello, then kept close, even as she pulled the gift out for him. With her encouragement, he began to open it. He was having difficulty keeping a straight face. He knew she'd wonder where her gift was, but it just wasn't time yet. When he looked at the watches closely, his eyes lit up happily. What a perfect gift! Cormac wore watches daily, but knowing that he could pass short messages with Romilda over the timepiece made it just that much better. He kissed her again in thanks, pulling her closer.

“This is perfect, Romilda.” He praised. “How did you even think of this?” He asked. He didn't give her an opportunity to reply before he started talking. “I have a gift for you, too, but it'll have to wait until a little later. Dinner's probably getting cold.” He slowly led her over to the table. “It took forever to convince them to package this to-go for me, but it's from that Italian place I took you for your birthday, the one you said you could eat every day for the rest of your life?” He laughed.  He sat across from her, admiring the way the light bounced off her face. He wished he could take pictures of her right now just to keep. Suddenly the ring felt heavy in his pocket.

Cormac's own meal was lighter than the one he'd picked for Romilda. He preferred lighter fare in general. He had a salad, a piece of roast, with some mixed vegetables and a potato. He'd indulge some with dessert. He had a slice of  vanilla cake to share, with fresh peaches. He wished he could give her something more decadent but he didn't eat dairy, generally speaking, and he was allergic to chocolate and strawberries both. Simple was better.

Dinner went quickly. Cormac went on for at least twenty minutes about his latest job for Wizarding Wardrobe, and followed it up with a bit about how his parents were taking a trip to Aruba for their anniversary and how much he'd like to go to some tropical destination for a bit. He gave her little time to talk about anything else, but she managed to get in a bit edgewise. At least they never had nothing to talk about, right?

He stood, poured some champagne with dessert and brought the slice out for them. “I think it's time for your present.” He replied, taking in a deep breath, reaching into his pocket as he walked over to her side of the table. He took her hand, and knelt beside her.

“Romilda,” He began. “I never thought that I'd meet a girl like you.” He was nervous, but trying to remember everything he wanted to say. “The one that makes me forget that other girls exist. Even after I met you, I didn't know that you were the one, not for awhile. Now, though, I do. I'm surrounded by beautiful women all day, and a lot of them are interested in me, but all I think about is 'when am I going to see Romilda next? I bet I can see her for a minute this weekend'.” He laughed lightly, then continued.

“Alasdair has basically told me that I'm super boring because I never shut up about you, but I can't. I can't stop talking about you because you're the best thing in my life, and I love you.”  He swallowed. He opened the box. “I want to be with you forever, Romilda. Will you marry me?”