I, I will be king and you, you will be queen -- Winter 1998

"I meant skip the part where you argue with me about all theses facts." I informed. "Not the part where I still try to convince you that your life would be better off without me." I sighed. I gave a small laugh at what he said first. "Yeah, I guess you still do need an answer." I bit my lip slightly and took a moment to organize everything in my mind. "There is about a million things going through my mind." I admitted softly. "I just have no idea what one to listen too." It was hard to know what to do when your mind and heart are telling you two completely different things.

I smiled at her slighlty.  "Listen to the one that will make you happy.  I know, it's something you never do.  But you need to listen to that voice every now and then -- even if it hurts me or whatever.  You need to listen to what will help you," I said to her.

Of course when he said even if it hurt him, I though of my family using him against me and torturing him. I could feel myself pale slightly and my eyes widened as I remembered the dream I had the night before Draco and Pansy's wedding of Aunt Bellatrix using her hybrid spell on him. I shook my head violently to clear it. I don't think that was what he was trying to get at. He meant if I said no and broke his heart and hurt him that way. "My minds telling me to say no, run away, and never look back to protect you." I explained slowly. "My heart is telling me to say yes and worry about protecting you when we cross that bridge." I didn't even bother saying if, there was no if about it. We would cross that bridge, it was just a matter of time.

I raised my eyebrows at her.  "And which are you going to listen to, June?" I asked her quietly.

Of course, I knew what I wanted to listen to, but it wasn't the best choice for Lincoln.  But he had told me to listen to the one that would make me happy, and saying yes would. But what about him? I had to protect him. Right? I lifted my hands and let my head fall into them as I shook it, the tears still coming. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down a bit before I could let my arms fall back to my side. "If you want me to pick the one that will make me happy, the choice is obvious." I wanted him to know that. He had to understand how much I wanted to say yes but past experiences told me it was a bad idea. I sighed. "I was born unloved and the disappointment," I began, "my whole family treated me that way, except Draco. When I went to school, I figured it would be the same so I didn't bother feeling any differently. But then, you came to protect me, someone who didn't know who I was, who didn't seem to know that they were supposed to treat me like the disappointment I was. And then you helped me with my magic, you had confidence in me when I didn't and you catered your teaching to me. No one had ever done that before." I shook my head slightly, the tears were still silently falling as I spoke. I wanted him to understand how much he meant to me. "You did more for me than you will ever know. You can't say that my happiness is more important than your safety and happiness to me."

I reached up and wiped away her tears gently, putting my hand beneath her chin so she would continue to look at me.  "June... if you continue to push me away, will it not be the cause of my unhappiness?  See?  We have a bit of a conundrum here," I said to her simply.  "But if we stay together and be strong, the safety will be there for both of us," I assured Juniper softly.

I narrowed my eyes just slightly, working through something in my mind. "You mean, you would be happy spending the rest of your life with me? You would he happy if I said yes?" I wasn't sure why I was asking, maybe I just wanted to make sure he wanted to marry me just as much as I wanted to marry him. It was stupid, of course, he was the one who asked me. "If that's true, and me saying yes can make us both happy, then...." Then why was I so hesitant to say yes? I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I looked up at him. "I'm not used to making decisions, especially big ones like this. If it's about someone's safety, that's different but...." I sighed as I shook my head slightly. He was right, if we were together, it would be easier for me to make sure he was safe and to protect him from my family but if we weren't together, he wouldn't need protection to begin with. I looked down. "I love you. That's why I'm having such a hard time making a decision." I sighed once again as I looked up into his eyes. If saying yes would make us both happy, then that should be my answer. I just had to make sure. "You would be happy with me, right? You know what my family's like. You know you won't be able to protect me all the time. You know the risks of being with me." I took a shaky breath before I could finish. "Are you sure you still want to ask me to marry you? Tell me truthfully, even if you think it will hurt me."

I smiled at her while she spoke.  "Juniper, I am sure that I want to marry you still.  And I will try to protect you all the time... despite your efforts to not have me do that all the time," I said to her.  "I love you and you have no idea what you've done for me.  I know your family, but you also know mine.  The difference is... most of mine is gone... except for the mother in azkaban and the grandparents I never see anymore thanks to the Lupins."  I shook my head, realizing that I was starting to ramble.

Taking her hand I said, "You saying yes right now would make me happy.  For now and in the years to come."

With that, the small part of my mind that was still telling me to say no vanished. My heart was begging me to say yes with each beat. I tilted my head slightly as I looked down at our intertwined fingers. This all just felt right and for one of the first times in my life, I allowed the happiness of this moment to fill me. I couldn't help the smile that came to my face, I tried to hide it from him. I was about to say yes when I realized I wanted to at least pretend I thought I deserved someone like Lincoln and to do that, I wanted to think he didn't have to convince me. I took a deep breath, and took a moment before I spoke. "Can we start this whole conversation again?" I asked. "I promise I have an answer this time." I looked up at him, forcing my smile into a half smile, trying not to give anything away.

I was not entirely sure what was going on, but I smiled at her nonetheless.  "As long as you've got an answer for me," I said to her.  "Do I need to go back behind the tree...?"  I shook my head playfully, and got back down on one knee, keeping one of her hands in mine while I took the ring out again.  "Juniper Renee Malfoy, as much of a pain as you can be... I found that I fell deeply in love with you.  Would you do me the honor of saying yes and marrying me?"

I smiled as I bit my lip and gave a small laugh. I sighed as I tilted my head slightly, looking down at Lincoln. There was no way I could say anything but yes. "And I fell deeply in love with you." I said. "I just wanted to pretend that I actually believed I deserved someone like you and that you didn't have to convince me." I took a deep breath and nodded, my smile widening. "Yes. A thousand times yes." My smile widened even more and I laughed, a real laugh, something I hadn't done in a long time. I sighed again, content for the first time in forever. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world right now." I felt a tear fall down my cheek, a tear of happiness. "Thank you." I said sincerely.

I smiled, slipping the ring onto her finger -- the ring that the only man that I would call my dad gave me.  I pulled her into a hug.  "Why on earth are you thanking me?" I asked, chuckling, feeling relieved.

"Because I'm happy." I replied simply, as if the answer should be obvious. I hugging him back. "I'm happier then I've been in a while, with something that's happening to just me, not to Draco and I or just Draco." I elaborated. Of course I was happy when Draco and I moved out, when Draco and Pansy got married and when the twins were born safe and sound but this was the first time in a while I could be happy for myself. And that's what scared me most. "That probably sounds crazy but it's something that doesn't happen to me very often."  I smiled up at him. "So, thank you." I looked down at the ring on my finger. I sighed at how beautiful it was. "It gorgeous Lincoln, thank you."

I smiled at her, understanding completely.  The things that always happened that was for the better, always did seem to happen to Draco or to both of them.  It was never just Juniper's turn.  With the way her family was, it came as no surprise.  I held onto the hand without the new ring on it as Juniper seemed to be enthralled by gazing at it.  "It was my grandmother's - well, adoptive step-grandmother I guess one could say," I said to her.  "Dad gave it to me."  It had taken awhile, but Chloe and Remus were my real parents in my opinion... and I finally could actually call them Mum and Dad -- even if it was not all the time.

My eyes widened, I took my eyes off the ring to look at Lincoln. "Professor Lupin gave it to you?" I asked, running through everything in my head. "To give to me?" I looked back down at my new ring, watching it shimmer from the light in the trees. "It represents family, a real family." I smiled up at him. "Your family. The Lupins." I could not keep my eyes off the ring for long and looked back down it. "This is my something amazing." I said, more to myself. I never thought I would get or deserved my 'something amazing' for getting through everything for the last few years, not like Draco, but maybe I did. Maybe I did deserve everything Draco and Lincoln tried to convince me I did. I shook my head to clear it, focusing on my ring. I leaned my head against Lincoln, smiling. "It's beautiful."