Chapter 23 - Midnight

Thank you to all of you that have read this and have taken the time to review.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks to June for all of her help and suggestions.

Chapter 23 - Midnight

As the afternoon slowly began to turn into evening, the Snape family returned from a successful picnic. They managed to have a beautiful afternoon, sans cat urine and poison ivy. As they walked back to the castle they saw a small car driving up. Hermione remembered Luna telling her she'd just discovered the fun of driving, as she saw the blond witch coming to a rather scary stop.

"Good lord, she almost ran into the fountain," gasped Severus as he held the children back.

"Well, she did say she only just finished driving lessons," said Hermione.

Severus looked down at her and quirked his brow.

"She apparently missed the stopping lessons."

Luna stepped out of her small blue Mini Cooper. She looked over at the Snape family walking towards her.

"Hello!" cried Luna.

Hermione hugged her friend and smiled.

"Luna, I'm so happy you could come and join us," Hermione backed away slightly and moved next to her children. "Odin, Sage, this is a friend of mine from when I went to Hogwarts. It's been many years since Luna has seen you."

Luna's eyes lit up.

"Hermione, they've grown so." Luna looked to Severus. "Hello, Professor."

"Seeing as I haven't been your professor in almost thirteen years, I think you can call me Severus," said the Potions master dryly.

Luna giggled.

"Oh, thanks, Prof... Severus. It does seem a little odd, doesn't it?"

Severus rolled his eyes and walked inside the castle with the children. Hermione and Luna walked behind them, talking.

Inside there was a flurry of activity. The house-elves had outdone themselves. The entire castle was sparkling, literally. It looked as if glitter had been spread over every item inside the castle, as well as in the gardens. Everything looked like one huge jewel.

Foofoo showed Luna to her room, which was across the hall from Harry's. All of the guests were in their rooms now, getting ready for the evening celebration. Severus and Hermione sent Odin and Sage to their rooms for their bath, giving the two adults a little time alone for a quick bath of their own.

Albus and Minerva were already celebrating in the gardens, as they were on hand when several owls delivered dozens of bottles of champagne, compliments of Count Heinrich.

Lucius was helping Ginny button her dress, again. It had taken them almost an hour to get Ginny's buttons all done, since her lace undergarments kept distracting Lucius.

Harry had been dressed for a while. He was standing outside his balcony. He'd seen Luna driving up. While he'd never thought much of her in school, he realized she'd grown into a beautiful woman. She still struck him as being a big loopy, and he reminded himself never to get into a car with her, but it might be nice to get to know her. She would certainly be different than any of the other women he usually dated.

At nine o'clock a chime rang out throughout the castle. Dinner was being served.

Odin and Sage ran out of their rooms and down the stairs. The house-elves had promised them their favorite food tonight, mashed potatoes topped with spicy chili; and their favorite dessert, brownies topped with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge and nuts.

The adults would have a more formal meal of prime rib, roasted vegetables, salad, soup, and several of the desserts the women had brought back from the village.

Severus and Hermione walked down the hall, and were met by Lucius and Ginny as they came out of their rooms. The two couples walked down the stairs together. Draco and Cho were already downstairs, talking with Albus and Minerva.

Harry walked out of his room at the same time as Luna walked out of hers. Luna smiled shyly. She wore a copper-colored dress with a tight bodice and a full skirt. They had all dressed formally that night. Harry smiled, something he didn't even realize he was doing.

"Hello, Luna. It's been a long time," he said as he approached her.

"Harry, it's wonderful to see you. You haven't changed," said Luna.

Harry chuckled.

"Actually, I have changed," Harry said. Luna looked confused. "Never mind. Come on, let's get the evening started, shall we?" Harry placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her towards the celebration.

After they all ate, Severus and Lucius lit a small bonfire where the group gathered to talk of old times. Albus and Minerva embarrassed Severus and Lucius by talking about them during their own time at Hogwarts.

"Severus," Albus said as carefully as he could, as he was now starting to slur his words, "who was it that you accidentally transfigured into a pink bunny in your second year and couldn't transfigure back?"

Everyone's eyes went wide. It was well known that the Potions master hated foolish wand-waving, but no one knew why. They all got the feeling this might be the clue.

"I think you might have me confused with Frank Longbottom, Albus," said Severus.

"Oh, Severus. Frank Longbottom was a wonderful Tranfiguration student," chimed Minerva. "I think it took us almost a week to get the poor student back to normal. Who was it?" wondered Minerva.

"I think you two have had a bit too much to drink, I don't recall doing anything of the sort," said Severus in his own defense.

Lucius laughed and looked to his friend.

"Oh, come on, Severus," said Lucius.

Severus was shocked as he looked to Lucius.

"I would think you of all people would rather I forgot that particular faux pas on my part."

"Why is that?" asked Draco curiously.

"Because I was the one he transfigured," said Lucius. Everyone started to laugh. "They had to keep me in a cage for a week so that I wouldn't hop away. I daresay I was the cutest fluffiest pink rabbit in all of Hogwarts." Lucius beamed.

"You were the only pink rabbit in Hogwarts," said Severus as he drank down the contents of his wine glass.

Time sped by and it was now just fifteen minutes before midnight.

As the group walked closer to the lake near the end of the garden area, Lucius and Ginny fell behind.

"I have an idea," said Lucius. "Why don't we watch the fireworks from that mountain up there?"

Ginny smiled.

"I think that would be wonderful. Shall we invite the others?" she asked.

"No, it is you I want to take to the top of the mountain tonight, love; no one else." He kissed her and held her tightly to him. They Apparated to the mountain area just across the lake. The castle and the gardens could be seen clearly in the distance. Lucius took his cape off, transfigured it into a large fur blanket, and spread it over the light snow. They sat down holding each other as the fireworks display began.

"What time is it?" asked Ginny.

"We have a little over five minutes." Lucius smiled. He'd asked Severus to add to the final explosion of fireworks a huge golden sprinkle of light that would reach the mountains. As midnight approached, the fireworks began to go off in a number pattern in the sky.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and finally midnight.

A huge golden fire filled the sky, and soon it looked as though sparkling chunks of gold were falling on them. Ginny and Lucius stood and looked up into the sky. The sparkling fire came down just ahead of them

"That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" cried Ginny. She smiled as she looked at the ground covered with the golden light that began disappearing, except for one spot. She noticed a gleaming light coming from a patch of ground. "There's something over there," said Ginny as she moved towards the shining object.

Lucius followed her.

As she got closer she began to wonder what could be glittering so brightly in the light of the moon. She reached the spot and bent down to retrieve the object. She picked it up and saw that it was a ring. There between her thumb and index finger she held a platinum band, with a dark stone surrounded by several other stones. It was too dark, even with the bright moonlight, to tell what colors the stones were. She looked behind her at Lucius.

"Olive – the center stone is olive in color, and it is surrounded by dark orange stones." Lucius walked towards her slowly. "The ring belonged to my grandmother. She never wore it, though. She said her hands were too ugly to do such a thing of beauty justice. When I married Narcissa, my grandmother gave it to me in private. She told me that someday I would want to give this to someone who wasn't chosen for me. I didn't understand her at the time, but I do now. My grandmother was a seer. But she used her gift rarely. That was the only time she used it with me." Lucius got down on one knee and took the ring from Ginny. He looked at it then took her left hand. "You have beautiful hands."

"Marry me?" he asked hopefully, as he held the ring poised at the tip of her finger.

Ginny's eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

"How could you ask me that and not know the answer?" she said as she fell to her knees and kissed him.

Lucius pushed the ring onto her finger and felt Ginny's arms embrace him.

"I will, I will, I will marry you!" she cried.

Back at the castle Severus watched the sky for Lucius' signal but saw nothing. He smiled as he realized what happened upon the final display: his friend had gotten a positive answer.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Hermione.

He whispered in her ear and felt her smile against his cheek.

"Oh, Severus, how lovely that must have been," she said as a tear fell from her eye.

Severus frowned and wiped the tear from her cheek.

"Do you wish I had done something lovely like that for you?" he wondered sadly.

Hermione smiled.

"You did, my love, you did."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The stone colors I picked for Ginny's ring don't have any major significance. I love colored diamonds, olive green and dark orange in particular. I thought it would be a nice change from the emerald and rubies we are used to reading about.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think there will probably be maybe one more then an epilogue.