Under Your Scars || Sebastian Sallow x MC

Epilogue Part I - Happily

Juliette POV

June 10th, 1900

Rain fell in a perfect circle around us, but not a drop touched Rose or I as we strolled up the dirt road to the estate we now called 'home'. We had spent so much of the summer at the Sallow Estate, and I hardly visited my Edinburgh flat anymore. It did not quite feel like home without the right people in it.

"This was a great idea, Rose. I can't remember the last time we had some girl time, just you and me."

I turned at the crossroads of the dirt road and the footpath leading up to the house, but suddenly felt a tugging on my arm.

"No, not yet mummy, wouldn't you want to erm—Stroll around the garden?" Rose made the most nonsensical suggestion, paired with a pleading look and puppy-dog eyes that too-closely mirrored her father's.

I cocked a single eyebrow in response.

"Amour, it's pouring rain. I'm pregnant. My feet hurt. I would like to go inside," I said bluntly.

I made for the door, taking my umbrella enchantment with me and leaving Rose to her rainy-day stroll.

As I reached for the handle, the crunching of gravel beneath feet alerted me to Rose running up behind me. She thrust herself between me and the door, arms out to her sides to bar the entire entryway.

"Rose, what's gotten into you?"

"I just really really think we should stay out longer," she argued.

"Rosalie Anne Fontaine," I put an end to the umbrella enchantment so I could point my wand directly at my daughter. "Move, or you will be moved."

Rain began to drench us both so she sighed, her chest deflating in defeat, and finally stepped aside.

I turned the handle and gave the door a gentle shove. I was immediately met with blazing light and a wall of heat.

Fire.

Putain de merde, the house is on fire!

I quickly pointed my wand into the house and shouted,

"Aguamenti!"

As the stream of water shot forth from my wand, my eyes finally adjusted I realized the house was not, in-fact, on fire.

They were fucking candles.

There were hundreds, no, thousands of candles. They were on every flat surface: The credenza, the floor, the mantle, the tables, the bookshelves. Any surface not covered in candles was covered in white rose petals, which I assumed came from our gardens.

At the end of the aisle of candles, I found Sebastian. He stood frozen and soaking wet from the stream of water I had just shot into the house.

Under the layer of dampness, he appeared dressed for an outing in slacks, a white dress shirt and green vest. I quite enjoyed how the water caused his shirt to cling to his muscles, so I did not even offer to dry him off.

"Girls, erm-- you're home early..." his eyes darted around nervously as if he had just been caught in the act. Though, I was not quite sure which act I had caught him in.

"I tried, dad," Rose's dejected voice emerged from behind me as she stepped into the house.

"Tried what?" I asked, now eyeing her to try to ascertain what their scheme was. "Sebastian Henry Sallow, what is going on here?"

Rose took me by the hand and lead me down the aisle while Sebastian waved his hand over the candles to relight the ones I had inadvertently extinguished. They both blissfully ignored my questions. 

"I'm never leaving you two alone again. Far too much Slytherin plotting," I hissed to Rose, which was met with a mischievous giggle.

I'm in so much trouble when these twins are born.

"Well," Sebastian cleared his throat "Jules."

His eyes drifted to Rosalie beside. I watched her nod in my periphery, encouraging him to continue whatever it was they had planned.

He took a step forward, taking my hand from Rosalie and gathering the other so they were held between us.

First, he sunk down to one knee and all air seemed to leave the room.

Merde. Merde. Merde. What is this?

Then, he spoke:

"Jules, twice in the last year I thought I had lost you without telling you how I feel. How I truly feel."

My eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly in confusion. Of course, I knew how he felt about me, he told me at least a dozen times a day—

"I've loved you since the day we met," he continued with a crooked smile, lost in memory. "From the moment you knocked my arse off that dueling platform, I knew I needed to make you mine in any way I could. I was content to be your friend, your companion, for those many years, but I always wished I had the opportunity to turn it into something more.

"When you arrived at Hogwarts last fall, it felt as though you had returned to me. Fate finally gave me a chance to love you the way I wanted to. You deserve so much more than I can ever give, but I want to be the man that gets to try, every single day to love you the way you deserve."

He let go of one of my hands and fumbled around in his pocket a moment before producing a small, blue velvet ring box. My knees were growing so weak they threatened to buckle beneath me. I held more tightly onto him, using him as my only anchor to reality as my head drifted into the clouds.

This was really happening. 

"This is where I vowed to my sister that I wouldn't let you slip away from me," he nodded, gesturing to the room around us. "And here I am, keeping that promise."

He let go of my last remaining hand, and I feared I would fall into him completely. Thankfully, Rose stepped in behind me and held me by the shoulders to stop me from swooning.

Sebastian opened the box, revealing the most dazzling sapphire I had ever seen. It was set on a gold band, flanked with tiny diamonds on all sides. I found myself giggling a little at the fact that the sapphire was tinted a shade of green.

The color of my love.

I did not get to see it for long, though, because my eyes were welling with tears of pure elation.

I was already nodding furiously by the time he asked:

"Juliette Marie Fontaine, will you marry me?"

____________

Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you, but you never come
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said, "Marry me, Juliet
You'll never have to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

Love Story

-Taylor Swift