After the Gryffindor seeker caught the snitch the gold and crimson stands stood up and erupted into a roar of applause, all except for two people. With a forefinger held against his smiling lips, Nathan kept a firm grip on Myrni's hand, making sure she stayed seated around the waves of noise and school uniforms that engulfed them. Then he rubbed the witch's hands and knuckles and let his hand fall from his lips to her fingers--he only let his gaze drop to their hands for a moment before he met Myrni's eyes again. And in that moment, while the sea of students and robes continued to roar with cheers, clapping, and drumming feet, Nathan slipped something onto Myrni's finger,  wrapped an arm around her waist, kissed her, and then they were gone.

The wintery chill of October faded away into a warm breeze, and the gold and sage leaves of autumn shifted into something lush and green and then the Arithmancy Professor and the Auror landed into a bamboo cabin with a straw roof. There was a trunk of clothes and swimwear next to a large bed with curatins hanging all around it.

Nathan landed on his feet with Myrni still gripped in his embrace--then he shrugged off his robes, let go of her and stepped away with a playful laugh, "So, do you like how I tie a knot--with a portkey?" Nathan then began to tug off his shirt.

Myrni was about to jump out of her seat and shout with unadulterated Gryffindor pride when their seeker made the catch. This with the knowledge that she had traded competitive barbs with Ravenclaw's head of house about the match leading up to it. She was certain the house of blue and silver had plotted and prepared in true logical fashion but her lions had matched that with just as much courageous grit to eek out the win.

But Nathan's firm grasp kept her seated when the stands around them erupted in response to the snitch being caught. Her eyes flew to meet his with a puzzled look. And when he brought a finger to his lips to keep her silent, she nearly protested anyway. But the feel of him slipping something on her finger silenced her immediately. She looked to her hand and caught the sparkle of the ring he placed there before she raised her gaze back to his, which seemed to glow even more with a mischevious glint only he seemed capable of having.

Eyes sill locked with his, her mouth fell open in surprise and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks as the realization of what he was doing finally hit her. The bet!

She barely felt his arm move around her but she would always enjoy the feelings that exploded within her when he kissed her. Everything else fell away as she returned the kiss as her silent consent to finally follow through with their becoming married to one another.

When she pulled back from the kiss, she glanced around to find that the Quidditch pitch had given way to a tropical paradise. She recognized it immediately as one of their favorite vacation spots. But it had been years since they had managed to get time enough away to.really enjoy it.

Chuckling at his question, she shook her head and said, "Yes. But your mother is going to go crazy that you didn't let her plan the other wedding of the century." Oz's failed marriage to Aileen marked her first forray into wedding planning.

Myrni stepped back and shrugged off her robes of Gryffindor crimson and gold. She looked down at the ring on her finger and touched it fondly. "But truthfully, this is how I have always wanted it. Just us."

Nathan began undoing and shrugging off the rest of his robes with a few grunts and sighs as he kept an ear on Myrni, making sure she was happy. A smooth chuckle rolled from his throat as he thumbed his fingers in the waist of his trousers, threw a smile at his bride, and gave her a playful sigh.

"She will have to admit, at some point that I," he gave a quick shimmy of his hips and hopped out of the remainder of his clothes. He looked down and inspected himself to make sure he was all there and then composed his naked figure in front of his bride to be, "am a far superior wedding planner," he brushed his hands together as if they could strike some spark to add a dramatic flare to his cheeky smile.

"Do you like it?" he asked distractedly as he pointed to her ring and then held up the one already on his finger, that he had slipped on some time during his clothes-shedding. Then he step towards her and gently gripped her hand in his as he looked at her with a stern stare despite the glee weaving through his steady tone, "I made sure is was expensive and elegant enough for a future Whitman yet showed off the lioness that you grew up to be," he pulled her closer and planted a kiss against her cheek, refraining from making the moment anymore involved than it already was. His heart was already pounding but he was ready to get dressed and turn Myrni into a proper Whitman--sans some pureblood views and expectancies about muggleborns.

What a whirlwind day!

Myrni took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep, contented breath as her mind wrapped around the idea that she was finally married! With a giddy sense of glee, she opened her eyes again  and promptly saw Nathan undressing.

And it was like she was seeing him do that for the first time because she just stood there and stared at him, eyes widened as the articles of clothing started to drop to the floor one-by-one. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks; it was hard to believe he still had the ability to make her blush.

Her eyes darted away to the nearby bed and she spotted a white bathing suit that had been laid out for her. A different take on wedding attire? She thought it fit them perfectly.

Not wishing to feel overdressed, Myrni casually began to shed her own clothes. She bit back a giggle at his continued antics as he assailed his virtues as a wedding planner.

Then he grew serious. She stopped what she was doing when he took hold of her hand, gripping it with a firmness that seemed to say he wasn't ever going to let her go. And she liked the feeling that came from knowing that she was forever his and vice verse. It filled every inch of her and made her heady with happiness.

"Of course I like it," she softly responded, squeezing his hand back. "You know it don't need much to be happy. And all I really wanted was to be with you. And now I am."

Smirking at his choice of words to justify the ring selection, Myrni leaned close for his kiss to her cheek. And when he seemed intent to pull away, she was quick to tug him back. "That's not the proper way to kiss your wife," she playfully growled, brushing her lips against his. She hovered there for a moment and gazed into his eyes, her own dancing with mischief. "And a lioness, hmmm? Does that mean you're eager for some baby lions soon?" she teased.

Of course Myrni was modest about the ring--some days Nathan felt like he was guessing, an exciting but frustrating thing, some days he just wish she'd be selfish and make some sort of demand of him... but the wish came a moment before it was filled as the woman pulled her soft lips to be only a hot demanding breath away from his.

Instinctually, his hands slipped between the parted opening of her clothes and rubbed against her bare waist as a daring smile crawled across his lips, "Hmnn," he growled as he let his hands brush up her back until they skipped and stopped over her bra strap, "But we're not married yet..." he leaned in and nuzzled his nose against hers nd then unlatched her bra and unwrapped his hands from her waist and chided, "Marriage first, and zoo planning is for later."

Then he lifted his hands up to her cheeks and cupped them against her face before he leaned in close to playfully grumble in her ear, "Else we're never going to get married today." He was curious if she would still demand a kiss after that, or just steal it from him herself, or wait. There wasn't an end to the games the Gryffindor Alumni loved play, even if he was suppose to be super seriously tying the knot with this woman right now.

A light laugh escaped Myrni's lips in between their intimate kisses as she felt his hands skimming over her skin. She shivered with a tortured sense of anticipation but pressed herself closer to him, her own hands making their way to the nape of his neck.

Her eyes widened when he unclipped her bra and a breathy gasp soon followed. His playful touches and words were infectious and she quickly responded to his which pointed out that they were not married yet. "Then let's fix this quick," she murmured, daring in her voice. "Make me Mrs. Whitman."

She remained with her face still mere inches from his, and gazed into his eyes with an appreciation for all that they had struggled with to get to his point. And she was not so foolish to think that the struggle would end once they got married.

His voice tickled in her ear with daring of his own and her lips twitched with a mischievous grin that always seemed present when she was with him. Myrni chose to lean in and peck him on the cheek before she finally turned away and started to put on the white bathing suit that had been laid out for her.

Peering over her shoulder as she started to tie the top, she casually asked, "So just what else will we be needing to make this official, then?"

At Myrni's demand, Nathan's face softened as a large grin broke gallantry carved its way over his lips, "Let's." His gentle voice was smoothed over with a heavy husk. After her chaste kiss, Nathan meandered over to the bed and snatched up a black pair of swim shorts. Then, Myrni asked what else they needed. Nathan didn't think much anything else needed to be done, but...

"Well..." The auror pulled on and adjusted his shorts before he answered, "Just our vows." He rolled onto the bed and reached up towards Myrni, wrapping her hand in his, "I vow..." he rubbed her hand as his eyebrows innocently climbed onto his forehead, "to  do laundry and go clothes shopping with you whenever it is..." a smirk settled against his lips, "needed."

After slipping into the bikini and making sure it was secure in all the right places (even going so far as to turn her back to him so that he could make sure everything was tied well), she faced him and laughed as he rolled onto the bed. She could barely refuse his motion for her hand and she held it out to him as she stepped forward and came to perch comfortably on the bed herself.

A soft smile still on her lips as he recited his vows, her own browns rose in a questioning nature. So this was how seriously he took the wedding. She supposed that was to be expected given the nature of...everything.

Pulling their entwined hands towards her, she leaned down and kissed the top of his larger one. Then she offered, "And I vow.....to allow you to save me whenever you like....or whenever the need arises."