March 25th, 1978
Who: Sebastian Goldstein, Mackenzie Loftus
What: Engagements!
Where: A park
The thing about being muggleborn was that there were a lot of people that didn't like you.
And the thing about muggles, and all people, really, was that they feared what they didn't know, and that often caused dilemmas.
Sebastian Goldstein stood atop of a picnic table in the middle of a small park in London, camera in hand clicking away happily--well, somewhat happily. His girlfriend of almost nine months, Mackenzie Loftus, was sitting on the bench below him, looking as pretty as ever, but she too had the thoughtful expression that had been on his own face for quite some time now. The thing was---he was muggleborn, only wizard in his family and while they were happy for him, his parents and brothers had...well, they'd expected him to come back home after Hogwarts and get a job in the muggle world, using magic as something...extra. Something nice to have.
Mackenzie, she had the exact opposite situation going on, being a pureblood (did he mention Slytherin? Sebastian himself, a Gryffindor) with a family that wanted nothing to do with muggles or anything remotely related to them.
Suffice to say, their relationship had suffered a bit since they'd left school. And to think, they thought it would be easier once they left the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.
But, today was a quiet, nice, warm day, so Sebastian had invited Mackenzie to the park, where they would get lunch after he finished his roll---of course, he couldn't go a day without taking a few shots of her (his favorite subject) and set his camera on her, enjoying the angle he was getting.
In the beginning, Mackenzie hadn't really liked posing for Sebastian-- at all, actually. It had always made her feel like one of those deranged, attention-grabbing models that occasionally graced their presences at where she worked. Why in the world would she want to act like one of those snobby, food-deprived tarts? Certainly not. But, eventually she had gotten over it; taking pictures was what her boyfriend did for a living, and well- she couldn't exactly take that away from him, since he seemed to love and angle it at her all the time.
She leaned forward just a bit, propping her elbows on the table to give a thoughtful smile. "Your hair looks very nice in the sunlight," she smiled, squinting just a bit but feeling better that it wasn't silent anymore. Sebastian's hair- ah, most likely one of the reasons she had liked him so much during school, and still today. Not that it was the only reason but-- it sure did help that she loved to run his hands through his hair whenever she had the chance.
Which wasn't really a lot, now, because they were living in his parent's house now (ha, like her parents even knew), and it was quite obvious they didn't seem to like her that much. But- that seemed to be the story with everyone around them. Actually, Mackenzie couldn't really think of one, or even two, of their friends that actually openly (her brother, for example, just simply said nothing anymore) supported their relationship. And that was extremely straining, but they were holding on, for now.
Mackenzie rose her eyebrows high, dipping her head low for a few seconds to give a half-smug smile.
He grinned and stopped clicking, just looking at her through the lens before dropping the camera to his chest and jumping down from the table. Sebastian slid into the bench beside her, smiling just a bit stupidly. Even though they'd been dating for a while now, it still felt like new; he'd had his eye on Mackenzie for a long time, probably around fifth year, but had never been able to build up the courage to cross House lines and---it was one thing, really, to date a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but to go and date a Slytherin? It happened, but when her family believed the way they did...it kind of scared a bloke away.
"You look very nice in the sunlight," he said with a slight laugh, knowing he was being absolutely corny and silly, but Mackenzie made him into such a hopeless romantic--it was a nice feeling, being able to tell her the things he'd thought about for so long. In private, anyway. They really needed to get out of his house, his brothers were driving him (and certainly Mackenzie) up the wall. "You look nice in every light, and I think we need to move out."
Mackenzie gave a half smile, throughly enjoying that he was next to her now. She draped her arm on his shoulder as he sat, leaning in just slightly as a relaxed manner. "I do, do I?" she teased back, leaning her forehead into his for a few seconds before pulling back. She liked doing this, with him-- just acting silly and slightly stupid. Because, because everyone around her (and him) were just so serious- about everything. Everything, and anything. Her parents (well, before they stopped talking to her), her brother (when he did) and all of Sebastian's family and-- it was a wonderful departure from everything.
Though, talking about moving out was a serious matter. Slightly caught off guard (how had he managed to slip that in there? Definitely hadn't seen it coming), Mackenzie's arm fell slightly and she stopped for a moment. Move--- out. As in, get away from his family and live in their own place and--- oh Merlin, yes please. She would do anything to get away from their current situation (as much as she was supposed to love his family), and-- oh- see, Sebastian was very smart, Alecto didn't know what she was talking about.
"Move out!" she snapped back into reality, moving around on the bench. Of course, of course! Mackenzie had been thinking about it lately, actually, how everything would work out. He had a job, and she did, and she still had her family's money (because they couldn't take it away from her, seeing as she had been of-age for two years now) that he had refused to let her use, but, this was different. "Yes! I think-- yes." Ah, she was acting a bit too pleased, wasn't she? Sobering down a bit, Mackenzie bit her bottom lip to sober up.
"I think we need to move out too."
Sebastian tried his best to hide his laughter at her eager tone and kissed her, glad that she agreed (not that it was really a question, especially when he couldn't stand his family at the moment either). Now, the whole actually moving out thing...that was a bit of a harder thing to do than just thinking about it. He didn't exactly know where or how to look for a flat, or did they want a house? See, these were questions they needed to answer.
He took her hand and stood up, pulling Mackenzie to her feet while his other arm slung around her waist. Sebastian began to move slightly as if they were dancing, because this whole idea of moving out was even more splendid now that they were both on the same page.
"I bet we could find an old castle, one of those small ones the dukes and lords used to live in," he said with a light laugh, bringing Mackenzie closer with a wolfish grin; some people hated it, but Sebastian was a big fan of public displays of affection.
She pressed her lips together in an amused smile, keeping remotely silent as possible as Sebastian pulled her to her feet. Because giving a squeal would be simply--- unacceptable, but, oh, how much she wanted to. This was big news- very big news, very big happy news and, ah, she didn't think exactly how excited she was to get out of his house. And she would have brought it up before, but- ah. It didn't matter.
"An old castle," Mackenzie repeated, her smile going wider as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "We certainly are moving up quickly, aren't we?" she tried to finish in a slow, normal voice, but ended up stating so in a fast, high-pitched tone. Oh bullocks, no one was around to hear anyway.
"And it can have a huge garden in the front, with more trees than ever. And a little pond. We can't forget about the ducks in the pond either, they have to be there as well," Mackenzie said, finally controlling her tone to give a small laugh as they swayed back and forth. Her hands moved from around Sebastian's neck, and climbed up the side of his face.
"Ducks in the pond are very necessity to our new living arrangement."
"Of course there will be ducks, was there ever any doubt?" Sebastian asked with a cheeky grin, well, as best as he could with Mackenzie squishing his face.
Hmm hmmmm, it wasn't really that far-fetched of an idea if you really thought about it. Surely there were some tiny buildings that were 'technically' called castles. No way they could get something like Hogwarts, but what about those dukes and lords that had those big homes (castles) back in the day? There had to be some old ones that could use some fixing up. Sebastian had always been a very hands-on person, maybe it was the muggle part of him, but he liked building things and tinkering with them. Hell, with magic, it should be easy to fix up everything!
Mackenzie really didn't know what she'd just done, because now the man was set on finding her a castle.
He sighed lightly and kissed her, then her cheek, then pressed his forehead to her shoulder in thought. Sebastian really hated that they were in such a sticky situation, that her family had basically ignored her because of him and somedays---well, he wondered if Mackenzie would just be better off without him. She dealt with it rather well, but Sebastian didn't know if that was because she felt like she had to or---he didn't know what. It was terribly confusing, and to be honest, he was a bit tired of it.
"We should get just married," he blurted, because! No, you don't blurt things because you know why, but Sebastian pulled back to look at Mackenzie and---this was it, if he thought about it; either they do this all the way, or they don't do it at all. Foolish Gryffindor he'd always be, right? Jump in head first without really thinking and---he'd thought about it, but never seriously, but if they were going to get a hou---castle, then---then what? That was the next step, wasn't it? And maybe then her family would see how serious he was about her, and his family would put their silly ideas of him becoming an accountant away for good. "Seriously."
She too gave a content sigh, and as Sebastian put his head on her shoulder, Mackenzie tilted her head back slightly too look into the sky. It really was an incredibly nice day- the sky was almost clear and for once, it was actually warm and sunny. They should just eat their lunch out here, it would be easier in the long run. And really, something like that that was just more romantic over all, if she was really going to think about it.
Mackenzie brought her gaze back down, still smiling lightly, and she craned her ear to hear what he was saying to her. Get... what? Her heart picked up a bit (more like a lot), as her mind started spinning off, her thoughts rushing by. Surely, surely- that, oh, he had to be making something of a joke. Yes, that was it because what else could it be?
But then, Sebastian did move his head away from her shoulder, and looked at her in that way (he was serious, he was serious...)--- she nearly-- oh. Oh. Mackenzie froze for a second, staring fixated at his face. Her grip on him lightened as she tried to move her lips and produce something of a voice, but her jaw wouldn't even open.
Married-- married! Oh, her parents would-- had he thought about this before? How long had he! Well, only because she had been thinking about it, but not seriously enough to bring it up or--- did this count as being proposed to? Mackenzie's heart picked up even faster as her eyes blinked furiously, trying to think.
They couldn't, they couldn't because it was just too-- well, yes what was she doing here if she didn't think that this would--- but she really did love him, him and his crazy, blurting-outness things that made her head start to pound from all the things running inside and out of it.
Taking a deep breath, Mackenzie turned her head slightly to the right to say something, her mouth moving but nothing coming out. After a few seconds, she finally managed "We, seriously? Seriously? As in getting all dressed up and-- I don't know if-- As a solution to all-- what?" Ah, that was definitely the most fragmented sentence she had ever uttered.
Sebastian couldn't help it; he grinned stupidly and bounced a little, with each passing second getting more and more excited about this idea. Not an idea, a plan! A plan, a plan! And a castle! And a wedding! Goodness, Mackenzie really shouldn't get him so excited in such a short period of time, it wasn't healthy for his heart to be racing this fast!
"Y-yes! Yes! I mean, if you---" Well, this was a horrid proposal, wasn't it? Sebastian bit his tongue for a second before kissing her quickly, "Hold on one second!"
Without waiting for her response, he disapparated and appeared in the front foyer of his house, scaring the daylights out of his dog, Comet. "Sorry!" Sebastian said hurriedly as he stormed up the stairs, looking for his mother. Or---someone. Anyway. He didn't know---"ERIC! Eric, Eric---"
His older brother looked down from his project of changing the lightbulb in the hallway and glared at Sebastian. "Don't you have pictures to take?"
"Yes I do I mean, I did but now I'm---I can do that, see," his wand was out in a second and the light bulb unscrewed and the new one flew into place quickly, and Sebastian would've noticed the irritated glower on his brother's face but he was too busy trying to propose to Mackenzie. "Did---Bubbe's jewelry? The ones---that---mum said we could----have?"
Eric eyed him carefully for a second, then pointed towards their parents' bedroom, "Blue jewelry box, why---Saggy!"
But Sebastian shot away and into his parents' room and opened the jewelry box--aha! His grandmother's three rings, weehee! Perfect! He couldn't waste anymore time and apparated back to the park, landing just a few feet away from where Mackenzie was, and with a big, big sigh of relief, he came over to her and dropped onto one knee.
She deserved to have this done right, you know.
"Mackenzie Elizabeth Loftus, I am hopelessly in love and devoted to you, and if you'll have me, I'm asking you to be my wife. Forever. Seriously." Sebastian grinned a bit stupidly, but held up the small ring that was always supposed to be for his wife and---yes, this was it. Oy vey.
Mackenzie was ready to scream at Sebastian when he came back, she really was. Well maybe not scream but at least something of a piece of her-- he had just disapparated off! You didn't just leave in the middle of a sentence like that! Or a statement, or this thought that he was telling her about--- putting in her head! So, Mackenzie prepared herself, elated that they were talking about this, on the edge of being furious that he had just literally vanished away before her, and so completely nervous because-- what to do! She put her hand up to her face for a split second, closing her eyes for a few moments. Though, they popped right open again once she heard the familiar crack of apparation.
OH, he was back! Mackenzie lifted up her hand in an annoyed manner, fully ready to give him an earful. But, her anger soon deflated (as well as her hand falling to her side) as Sebastian dropped down onto his knee in front of her. He-- he-- look at what he did to her; now she could hardly form a sentence in her head, let alone move her mouth to say it. Oh Merlin.
"Sebastian-- Sebastian Anthony Goldstein!" Her voice came out entirely unlike she had ever heard before; maybe it was because there was just too much emotion running through her right then. Her body didn't know how to deal with it, because now, she could definitely feel herself shaking.
"You! You! I!" Mackenzie's mouth became jumbled, and she looked down at his face (which was, of course, brighter than sun, it seemed). Oh-- oh, now she really felt like all her emotions were catching up to her because her face was-- oh dear Merlin, she hoped she wasn't crying like one of those whiny girls that always cried when they were proposed to.
"Forever?" she said in a small voice, biting her bottom lip, and then beginning to nod. Sebastian was-- he was the only one she felt actually knew her and accepted every single little detail about her with such a loving attitude that-- well she just couldn't go and say no.
"Yes--- yes. I, yes." Finally, a huge smile broke out onto her face, and even though she was still shaking, Mackenzie managed to bring herself to the ground right in front of Sebastian and hold onto his face tight, taking every liberty because they were engaged and other people would just have to deal if they didn't want to watch.
"Really!" he asked as best he could; Sebastian had a feeling his face was going to be smooshed a lot for the rest of his life. Huh! She'd said yes! She'd said yes! Yes! As in YES, SHE WOULD MARRY HIM! "Oh! That's fantastic!"
Sebastian knew he was a bit of a doof sometimes, his head always in the clouds, but he certainly knew when talking was the last thing a person wanted to do (well, he didn't know about Mackenzie, but he did not want to talk much anymore, at any rate), so he kissed her, softly a few times because he couldn't stop smiling, but then he really wanted to kiss her, more than kiss her, and after he slipped the ring on her finger (AHHH) Sebastian kissed Mackenzie hard, his arms going around her and---and nggggh okay so not a good place to propose because there was grass and dirt and with the way his mind was headed, Mackenzie better stop him or the back of her dress was going to be seriously grass stained.
