A/N: I ended up combining the plans for the next few chapters into one, so there will just be one more chapter after this.
Slipping into the seat next to him on the small lounge, she drapes a woollen blanket over their laps before snuggling into James' side. Almost instinctively, he settles his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. A tender smile lights up her face in response, and she burrows into the warmth that is radiating off of him, enjoying the way their respective body heats are beginning to merge and overlap.
Not even the sound of their rowdy housemates bustling around them, celebrating the end of yet another year with true Gryffindor cheer, can distract her from him. In a way, it is like they are, in that moment, nothing more than background noise. She would usually be eager to join the festivities, but, after spending the day fixing last minute party problems and inspecting all of the refreshments to make sure nothing illicit had been snuck in, the act of socialising is beyond her. It's not as if it really matters anyway; everything seems to be going fine without her involvement, and they all know that they can come to her if they need help.
Besides, just curling up with James sounds like a much better way to welcome in the new year.
Wanting to be closer to him, she slips her hand under the blanket and intertwines it with his, smiling when he squeezes it in return.
Her boyfriend is, she is discovering, an incredibly tactile person. She already sort of gathered that from the way he interacted with his mates, clapping them on the back in jest when messing around and embracing them when they looked downcast. But she has since discovered she used to underestimate how far it goes. He always seems to want to be touching her, whether he's playfully shoving her while mucking around in the snow or holding her hand while walking to class or cuddling with her while sitting in the common room after dinner.
Going into the relationship, one of her biggest concerns was that she would eventually become an afterthought to him, someone who was special to him but always remained just outside of his inner circle of family and friends. After all, few people share a bond as tight as the Marauders', and she didn't know how she would fit into that. To her relief, however, that fear has already well and truly been shown to be unfounded. He is just as playful and affectionate and intimate with her as he is with them, albeit in a much less platonic way. And, while she's aware that he and his friends have, and will probably always have, a myriad of secrets that she isn't privy to, they have welcomed her into their fold with open arms.
Quite literally, in James' case.
"I love this," he murmurs into her ear, his low voice cutting through the noise around them. "Sitting here with you is… It's perfect."
She tilts her head so that her mouth is beside his ear, knowing that he won't hear her otherwise. Closing her eyes to gather the courage to verbalise her thoughts, she whispers back, "I do too. It… It sort of feels like home." He shivers against her as his hand tightens around hers, but she can't tell if it's because of her admission or because of the feel of her breath against his skin.
The past few weeks have been, against all expectations, the best of her life. Redefining their relationship and their boundaries has been a difficult process for both of them; after all of the past animosity, they couldn't just slip into a relationship as if it were a heated pool in the middle of summer, no matter how easy being around one another felt. Instead, like foresters controlled burning a savanna to make way for new growth, they have had to blaze through every misconception and hurtful memory in the hopes of making more space for their attraction to grow. It is only as the ashes of their past settle around them that they have been able to truly make progress with one another. But the process, as exerting and uncomfortable as it has been, has been so worth it. Every lie debunked and issue resolved has brought them closer together, letting them see each other for who they are rather than for whom the images they built up in their heads purport them to be.
And, along the way, he has managed to exceed all of her expectations. He is still immature and self-centred and more than a little hypocritical, but he's also loyal and sincere and endlessly entertaining. Being around him is like a constant adventure with someone who she knows will never let her down, and whose back she will always have in return. As the fire burns behind them, they look forward, to the future, with faith in their ability to face it side by side. After all they have been through, it seems like there is nothing they can't handle together.
The sizzling flames may still lick at their heels as they try to escape the constricting vines of their turbulent past, but it has no hope of overcoming them. For, even when the heat of the past and of each other threatens to overcome them, the promise of new flora keeps them going, and they will rise like phoenixes made new by the ordeal.
