The next morning Snape knocked on Tori’s door, to announce his presence and walked right in.

“Did you sleep alright?” he asked.

“Yes, fine, thank you.”

“Um…Tori…before I say anything to Christobal, do you still feel the same about marrying me today?”

“I do. I know that my parents could never witness a magical ceremony and if we get married now, we will at least have your family with us.” Then she gave him an extremely seductive smile “and I also can not stand being separated from you for one more night.”

“Then I will let him know that he can start preparing.” He hesitated a little before he continued: “If you’d like, we can hold a muggle-ceremony in a few weeks. I suppose that your parents would want to see their daughter getting married with their own eyes. We will even throw a big party if you want.”

She smiled happily. “I think I would like that very much, but are you sure that you’re up to a muggle-wedding?”

“I think I’ll manage.”

She smiled, “I’ll take you up on that offer then, but it doesn’t have to be a big event, just as long as you are there, that’s the main thing.”

When they got downstairs, the entire Di Matteo family was there to greet them and to get to know the newest addition to the family.

Tori’s head spun after she shook hands and hugged everyone and she gave up on trying to remember all of their names.

She had been a little scared to meet the notorious aunt, but the fragile, white-haired, little old lady didn’t seem to be such a threat and she was being really nice to her.

“My dear child, I’d like to welcome you into this family with all of my heart. You have made my Severus so happy.” The elder lady looked at Severus and her eyes filled with tears. “He’s such a nice boy, I’m so glad that you are going to take care of him from now on.”

They told the family about speeding up the wedding and the news was greeted with much enthusiasm.

Christobal dashed out of the room, mumbling “so much to do…”

Severus had to rescue Tori from his little nieces that were fighting to be flower girl. “All of you know that there is no such thing as a flower girl at wizard weddings!” This made the girls look rather blue and Tori stole their hearts when she told them:

“You can come over for the muggle ceremony and then all of you can be flower girls.” The nieces were extremely excited and Severus rolled his eyes.

“Do you have any idea of what you’re getting yourself into?”

She chuckled, “No.”

They managed to escape his family members and found a quiet spot to have breakfast.

“The ceremony will be held at sundown.” He said.

“Is that required?”

“Not really, but it will take place at the altar of Hagar Quim, and we really don’t want any tourists to witness it. Do we?”

She laughed. “That would be some treat for them.”

“It’s more likely that we would get arrested for paganism.”

“And that would damage the reputation of your family on the island, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know. We get away with a lot of things. I guess that’s the privilege of nobility.”

“You have blue blood?”

“Ah, you didn’t know? The Di Matteo family is of noble birth in the muggle world, most of my family members lead double lives. It comes in very handy, even in the 21st century.”

“Wow, sometimes I think that you will never cease to amaze me.”

“I sure hope so; we wouldn’t want to slip into a boring routine, would we?”

“With you? Never!!”

They talked more about their upcoming wedding and Severus explained the ceremony to her, or at least as much as he himself knew about it.

He went out during the afternoon to buy the wedding rings. Tori was escorted to her room, where the female Di Matteo’s started on her outfit.

When she came down the stairs that evening, Severus was waiting for her in the main hall. He held out his right hand and she placed her left one on top of it. She looked at him and saw that he was wearing a white robe with a golden ceremonial cloak draped over it. The bright colors of his clothing made his eyes look even darker and she had never seen them sparkle like they were doing now.

When he had first seen her coming down the stairs, he was overwhelmed by his emotions. She was like a vision of light in her white robe. The flowers in her hair made her look like a fairy-queen and he trembled when he held out his hand to show her that he was willing to accept her as his bride. He held his breath as he waited for her to put her hand on his, as a sign that she wanted him as her groom.

When she did so, the ceremony had begun and he wrapped a golden cloak similar to his own around her shoulders, to show his family that he was going to provide for her from now on.

Christobal rolled out a long rope and when they all touched it; they were transported to the site of the wedding.

Tori saw that they were surrounded by pre-historical remains and found it hard to make anything out of the large, massive blocks of stone. When Christobal led them onto a slight hill, she could hear the waves breaking on the cliffs and realized that they were near the sea. On top of the hill, she recognized an altar. She and Snape stood in front of it, Christobal was behind. The family members had formed a circle around the altar, holding hands.

Christobal began to speak in an ancient language. He held a black, polished stone, engraved with runic writings high above his head and Tori could hear him call out their names.

He was introducing them to the Gods, pleading for them to hear their vows and approve of their eternal bonding.

When he finished addressing the Gods, he looked around and said in a clear voice:

“Will the witnesses to this union please step forward?”

Tori hadn’t thought about any witnesses and her heart jumped with joy when she saw Ron appearing next to her and Harry going over to Severus’ side.

“You didn’t think that we’d let you go on this big adventure on your own, did you?” Ron managed to whisper, and he winked at her.

She had no idea when they had arrived, but Severus didn’t seem to be surprised, so she assumed that he had something to do with it.

Christobal came towards them, his face showing a solemn expression. He brought a strange looking bronze artifact with him. It had a short fixed string and a few needles were sticking out on both sides, turning it into some kind of pincushion.

They had arrived at the heart of the ceremony; it was now time for them to declare their vows. Christobal showed the artifact to the witnesses and gave it to Severus. He picked it up in his right hand and slipped the string over his middle finger, the needles brushing against the palm of his hand. Tori raised her right hand and held it against the other side of the artifact.

The family members that were standing in the circle started chanting.

Christobal looked Snape in the eyes and nodded, and then he did the same with Tori. When he started muttering a sacred text, they locked eyes, entwined their fingers and pressed the artifact into the delicate flesh.

A few seconds passed and Christobal removed the artifact. He gave them another nod and they crushed the drops of blood between their palms. Severus spoke first.

“Tori, I hereby express my undying love for you. Let the fusion of our blood create the eternal bond that we so desire. When I leave this life, through space and time, my soul will search for yours until we are reunited, for I shall only be complete with you, my other half.”

Their eyes remained locked and as she was drawn into those familiar black depths, she felt their minds connecting. The ritual words came natural to her:

“Severus, my love for you is everlasting. Let the fusion of our blood be the symbol of our union, for we are the same. Beyond the boundaries of life and death, I will never seize to look for you, for I belong with you, my other half.”

The chanting had stopped and Tori and Severus held their right palms in front of the witnesses to show them that their blood had mixed.

Christobal handed them a wet linen cloth and they wiped their hands. He held a goblet decorated with rubies and emeralds high above his head. When he held it in front of them, the goblet, which had been empty when he raised it, contained a colorless liquid. He said:

“Drink this nectar as a gift from the Gods, who have blessed this union.

They both drank it; Tori thought that it tasted rather sweet.

The final part of the ceremony was the exchange of the rings. Christobal took both platinum rings from a silver plate on the altar and presented Tori’s ring to Severus. He slipped it smoothly on her left ring finger, never loosing eye-contact. She followed his example. Then he took her in his arms and they kissed. The family members, including Harry and Ron, showered them with gold-dust.

When they finally released each other, the moon had come up, giving the ceremony just that extra magical touch.