All for Love
Challenge Eighteen: March Madness Redux
Title: All for Love
Author: lewlinx
Wizard/Witch: Gregory Goyle/Laura Madley
Rating/Warnings: G/PG
Genre: Romance/Whimsy
Word count: Exactly 500
Prompt: 25. a walk around the lake
Summary: There’s more to Gregory Goyle than we’ve ever been shown.
Gregory knocked softly before opening the door. Sofia, his daughter, lay curled on the bed, her back facing the door.
“Sofie?”
“Not now, Daddy. Please leave.”
He hated seeing Sofia like that. She’d always been strong, independent, and opinionated, too much like her mum perhaps. Seeing her suffer was devastating. Laura is better at this than I will ever be! How’d I let her talk me into this?
Gregory didn’t leave. Instead, he sat on the bed and waited for Sofia to turn around. He didn’t have to wait long, and he didn't like what he saw: Sofia's face was set in stubborn anger, and she had let sadness slip to her eyes.
“Wizards can be so thoughtless!”
“They can indeed.”
“Stop patronizing me!”
“Sofie, I’m wholeheartedly agreeing with you. Not because you need to hear it, but because I am one of them.”
She stared, surprised. "No, you're not," she whispered, scooting closer to her father.
“Maybe not now, but I was when I was your boyfriend’s age,” Gregory explained while caressing his daughter’s hair. Sofia smiled up at him.
“Mummy’s always said you’re wonderful, though.”
“She loves me too much, but the truth is, I wasn’t always like this. She told me I’d better shape up if I ever wanted her to consider my proposal.”
“What did you do, Daddy?”
“Exactly what she wanted. I tried to understand what she needed, becoming better and slightly less prejudiced in the process. It worked because when I proposed, she said yes.”
“How did you propose?” Sofia sat up and cuddled next to her father. Gregory hugged her close.
“We’d gone on a picnic with Vincent and Rose, close to Bowood House. Laura had always loved the place, especially the area around the lake because it’s full of magic. Your Grandmum believed that too. She’d told me once if a couple walked three times around the lake and the wizard proposed at the end, the commitment would be sealed forever. Before lunch I asked Laura to take a turn about the lake with me.”
“You prattled about every silly thing you thought of, and I kept wondering why you were so nervous,” Laura said from the door. She joined them.
Gregory smiled, taking her hand as she kissed Sofia’s head.
“That’s it?” Sofia asked incredulously.
“We’d taken our third turn when your dad faced me and held my right hand. 'Aeternum Amoris' he whispered. When he lifted his hand I had my ring.”
“And you started crying and threw your arms around me. So here we are, thirty years later.”
“I won’t find a wizard who’d be that romantic. Wizards aren’t like that anymore!” Sofia complained dejectedly.
“The wizard waiting downstairs might just be.” Laura smiled at her.
Sofia’s eyes widened and her smile brightened. She rushed to the door but hesitated midway, her robes twirling when she stopped. She turned to her parents.
“Go,” Gregory urged, hugging his wife.
Blowing a kiss, Sofia left the room, happiness lighting her face.
Author's Notes: In case you want to see them:
Bowood House
Laura's ring is an Edwardian Style diamond and platinum cluster ring in the shape of a multi-petal flower.
Aeternum Amoris is supposed to mean Eternal Love. It is meant to seal the commitment between the couple once the witch accepts the marriage proposal.
ETA: I borrowed the three times around the lake from my Uni days, there's this lake that separates two of the campuses and tradition says that if any couple, but especially a Douglass Girl and Cook Guy (Douglass and Cook being the campuses) walk three times around the lake their love lasts forever.
Proof-reader: seaislewitch