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It's not a walk in the park to love each other but when our fingers interlock, can't deny, can't deny you're worth it.
Lily stretched, a relieved grin lighting her face as her fiancé drew close. She wrapped her arms around him, leaning in for a kiss.
“I’ve missed you. It’s felt like forever.” She murmured, looking up at him. She never seemed to get used to seeing him. Especially when they were separated for such long periods of time, when she didn’t know whether they would ever see each other again.
“It’s only been a week. Have you gone barmy?” James joked half-heartedly, trying to lighten the tense mood.
“Oi, prat! I’m trying to have a romantic moment with my fiancé here. Reunited after a dangerous long-term mission and all that. Stop ruining it, yeah?” She said, smacking his forearm. James’s smirk still remained.
“Blimey, if I had known you’d be so emotional, I don’t know if I’d have proposed to you.” He said, chuckling faintly. Lily rolled her eyes, kissing him again instead of answering. James tightened his arms around Lily, deepening the kiss.
With regret, she leaned away. “As much as I would love to continue, and believe me, I want to, we must get going.” James made a whining noise like a petulant child, his grip around Lily not loosening. She made a clicking sound with her tongue and pulled herself out of his arms.
“James, we have to leave now. The restaurant closes at 10 and it is now 8:40. If you hadn’t taken so long on that mission, we could’ve finished what we started.” Lily teased, checking her bag for her wand.
James reached out and grabbed her arm. “We can finish up after, yeah?” He said hopefully. “Or even better, we could just stay home.” He flopped onto the bed behind him, pulling her with him. She stayed there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of being in James’s arms, before getting back up again.
Lily smiled slightly at the sight of her love peacefully laying on the bed. “We’ve been doing this tradition for a while. Do you really want to ruin it?” She said. James muttered a no and got up slowly. “Good. Now come on, you big baby.” She linked arms with him as they headed out of the flat, apparating once they were out of the range of the flat’s wards.
They arrived in an alley near the restaurant. James broke into a grin once they arrived, glancing over Lily.
“Better, no splinching this time.” He said mischievously, taking a step away as she tried to swat at him.
She shook her head in mock annoyance. “That was one time. I splinch one time and you never let me live it down!”
“It was the day you wanted me to meet your mum! I was already nervous and then you went and lost a finger! I thought your mum was going to kill me!” James said, wincing at the memory of that day.
Lily rolled her eyes, before straightening out her skirt. “Come on, I’m starving.” She then grabbed James’s hand as they started walking, eventually entering the restaurant.
The restaurant was small and owned by a brother and a sister pair. Due to the sister being a talented witch, the restaurant had sufficient protection for its magical customers. Lily and James had first came to the restaurant about six months ago, after one extremely dangerous mission. They then turned that into a tradition, coming after every risky mission they went on.
The maître‘d grabbed two menus from the podium as they approached and welcomed them to the restaurant while leading the way to their table. She was used to seeing them there.
Lily sat down across from James, smiling at the maître’d as she placed down menus in front of them.
They briefly glanced through the menus for a moment until the waitress spoke, “What can I get you today to drink?” Lily ordered a butterbeer while James ordered a firewhiskey. The waitress nodded and went to go grab the drinks, leaving the couple to their own devices.
“I’m fine, love.” James said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand, which had been tapping almost frantically on the table’s surface. He absentmindedly ran his thumb over the back of her hand, trying to calm her.
“I know, it’s just… The missions keep on getting worse and worse… What if…” Lily didn’t want to finish her sentence. Before James could reply, the waitress came back, bringing their drinks and taking down their orders. Once the waitress had left, James focused back to what Lily was saying.
“There is no what if. We’ll both be okay. I promise.” He thought that sounded weak, even to his own ears. “We’ll make it through this together, at least.”
“I know, it’s just… I’m being foolish, aren’t I?” Lily shook her head. “Ignore me.”
“You’re not being foolish. You’re being you.” He gently kissed her across the table. “And I love you.”
Lily rolled her eyes fondly at his slightly cheesy statement, though it did make her feel better. “I love you too.” She murmured as the waitress brought their food to the table.
While eating they were quiet, but it was a comfortable silence. It was the silence of people who truly knew each other and completely trusted the other. It was the type of silence that said volumes about their relationship.
It was around 10 pm when Lily and James left the restaurant, hand in hand. Lily’s grip on James’s hand was probably tighter than necessary, but she could remember numerous times when it was vice versa. More times than he would probably admit to.
Reaching the alley where they had arrived from, James released Lily’s hand to link arms with her. “Shall I?” He said, a faint smirk on his face. She nodded, a grin forming.
They arrived safely outside the flat and headed into said flat after a moment of getting their bearings. Lily knew that even though she apparated often, she didn’t think she would ever get used to it.
Just like she thought she would never get used to having James around.
For he was James and she was Lily and that’s just how their story goes.