This Time, Last Time (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

24.

May I have this dance,

To make it up to you?

Can I say something crazy?

I love you.

-"May I Have This Dance," Meadowlark

August 2018

The lights were off at the cottage so James let himself in. He kicked off his shoes next to the door and hung his coat, a little wet from his short walk through the rain, over the back of the old leather armchair. He made his way through the house by memory in the dark and pushed open the door to the bedroom. It creaked a little and Elise stirred. He couldn't see much of her in the dark, especially as she was so tucked up under the covers that only half her face poked out, but her blonde hair made her easy enough to spot.

"Elise," he said gently, voice low. She rolled onto her back, but didn't open her eyes right away.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Sorry it's so late," he said, pulling the door shut again.

"It's okay," she said. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. James dropped his bag next to the bed - he'd run back to his apartment briefly to change and pick up what he needed for work the next morning - and crawled under the covers next to her. "Sorry I didn't wait up," she said.

"It's okay," said James. He rolled over to kiss her, once on the mouth, once on the forehead, and then he laid down, and she wasted no time in curling up next to him.

"Thanks again. For yesterday," he murmured. "You honestly saved my life."

"It's no problem," she said softly. James' fingers drew loops on her back. His eyes fell shut. Elise took a deep breath and sighed through her nose, sinking a little deeper into him.

He wondered if she had fallen back asleep already, but then she said, "I'm glad you came."

James meant to say "Me too," but what he said instead was, "I love you, Elise," answering his own question about whether or not he'd have the guts to tell her.

Elise stayed quiet for an unbearably long time. He wondered if maybe he shouldn't have said it. It was true, of course, but maybe it had been too soon. Just when he was thinking he'd better apologize, she said, "I love you too," and her voice sounded a little funny, like something had caught in her throat.

James smoothed his hand over the back of her head and kissed the side of her face before he let himself drift off to sleep. It was easy, listening to the tapping of the rain on the roof and Elise's steady, slow breaths.

---

A low rumbling thunder and the heavy patter of rain had characterized the night, an easy enough backdrop to fall asleep to. Still, the thunder crack that jolted James's awake seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Oh my god," he heard Elise whisper next to him. James tugged down his t-shirt where it had ridden up and glanced at her, just in time for a bolt of lightning to light up the entire room. She looked at him too, eyes meeting just as the flash settled back into a dusky blackness.

The rain outside poured harder than ever, whipping against the windowpanes and on the roof, loud enough - almost - to drown out the roar of the windblown, turbulent sea not too far from the front step.

They lay in silence for a minute, faces turned towards each other. James wasn't quite awake enough yet to really see her.

The thunder crescendoed again into a loud cracking that rattled the house and several soundless flashes of lighting, the kind, James was sure, that if he'd been looking out the window wouldn't have been a bolt at all, but just uncalled for seconds of blinding bright light.