A/N: And the last chapter of Part 1! Here is some extra length for you, my duckies, for soppiness purposes :D

And don't miss the epilogue! ;)

A/N: Happy belated birthday, dear UKReader! All the best wishes!

"So, do I understand you right, Miss Leary, you and Mister Durinson were down in the Hogwarts sewage in the search of… privacy?" McGonagall's voice was sarcastic, one thin eyebrow raised, lips pressed together, and Wren clenched the mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Yes, Professor… We were having a… date..." Her own voice sounded very, very fake to her. She threw a look at Durinson who was standing a few feet away, also wrapped in a blanket, an identical mug in his hand, and was talking to his Da. They did need to cover up for the sprogs. And then he threw her a sideways look, from under one of his wicked hiked up eyebrows, and her heart daftly fluttered. Blimey, he was fit. And so very beautiful. And apparently, and she was still not letting herself think about it, maybe... a wee bit in love with her.

"Miss Leary?" Apparently Professor Flitwick had been addressing her for quite a while now. She gave him a sad puppy look, signalling that she was mighty affected by today's aggro and was totally in no shape to answer tricky questions. "The problem with your statement, Miss Leary, is that three other students have already admitted being the cause of your presence in the sewage, and..."

"Surely, we wouldn't take the word of first year students over Miss Leary's and Mister Durinson's, Filius," McGonagall's voice was full of meaning, and she gave Wren a pointed look. "And after all there are no school rules prohibiting students to go into the sewage, it just had been previously locked and inaccessible, so technically neither Miss leary, no Mister Durinsons have broken any regulations. Except perhaps rules of propriety and sanitary norms."

Both Professors scrunched their noses, and Wren properly agreed with their assessment. She was pongy! She took another sip of her chocolate. All she wanted was a hot shower, and then couple more, she wanted her shower gel, with her favourite lilacs scent, and then she wanted to lie down. There are couple more things that she wanted, like maybe a snog from Durinson and to tentatively check if he was going to back off on his words, but hey, she wasn't greedy. A shower and clean linen would be enough, especially in the contrast with two bloody Dementors trying to suck life out of her and simultaneously slightly break her neck. Her hand flew to her throat, it hurt like hell, and she assumed it was turning manky purple colour now.

"And after all, Mister Durinson and Miss Leary facilitated the apprehension of the monsters," Professor Flitwick continued McGonagall's thought, looking at her as if asking if that was the line the two of them were choosing, and she nodded. Wren exhaled in relief, that all could have ended much worse. And now shower!

After two hours under the hot stream of water and having used up the whole bottle of both her soap and shampoo, she was sitting on her bed, towel around her head. Thea was for once allowed into the other House dormitory, and Wren was once again repeating the story. Thea was squealing and gasping. Unlike during the official questioning by the Professors and the Headmaster, and then the Ministry workers Wren didn't omit anything when talking to her mate. They were finishing a box of Choco Locos, and Wren felt like vomiting, from all the sugar, she didn't fancy chocolate much, but Thea kept on unwrapping sweets and pushing them in her hand. Wren felt sleepy and all soppy, the Gryffindor chick had apparently been really worried for her, and suddenly Wren pushed an unfinished sweet aside and threw her arms around Thea's neck.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Thea." She suddenly felt like crying and realised she was flagging. Thea patted her back gently and sniffled suspiciously.

"I was shit scared, Leary, don't do it again. Even for the sake of the Durinson wanker." Their laughter sounded a wee bit shaky, and Wren gave her friend a sunny though drowsy smile. "And blimey, did he actually say he fancied you?"

Wren had told Thea this part as well, mumbling and blushing like the worst barmpot, and though she still couldn't believe it herself, to be honest she really wanted to just say it outloud.

"Well, we just had a near death experience..."

"Wow, wicked!" Thea interrupted her and clapped her hands, "I mean I know I've been off radar recently but even I could see the two of you weren't a bomb the last week or so. You looked really gutted, and I've heard he went on a fucking bender! They have these poxy Slytherin private parties, where they snooker firewhisky in, and only the posh wankers are invited, they say he got so arsed up that he conked out for the first time ever, the bloke apparently really can hold his booze, but this time he was so out of it they had to drag him into the dormitory like a flour sack. And then there was a punch up with random blokes, you know those manky testosterone pigs, they just have those fucking argy-bargies for the sake of swinging their fists around… So yeah, he was obviously venting. But look at you now!" Thea squealed again and gave Wren fake googly eyes, lashes battering. "And now, just like me you'll get a healthy dosage of dull monogamous shag! Ace!" Wren laughed, and after giving her a tight hug Thea disappeared at the stairs. Wren crawled under the blanket and covered with her head. The students were to soon come back from the village, tomorrow everyone would be talking about her and Durinson, fucking again, and the Dementors, and she was so not ready for this…

She was already half asleep when her mobile bleeped. She blindly battered her nightstand and pulled the phone to her nose.

Asleep? She stared at Durinson's text, immediately completely awake. Bugger, bugger, what was she supposed to say? They hadn't talked since the Ministry was questioning them, and then they both were showed to their dormitories. Fuck it… Bloody tension, she hated it… If only she knew how to behave and where they were standing…

Almost. You? Here, that was nice. Very neutral, and she didn't look clingy. Just two words, two punctuation marks. Very nice.

Not really. Have a duel with Mirwood, remember? Need to kick his arse. What?! What the actual fuck?! Was he mental?! She sat up jerkily and started frantically typing, Are you an idiot? Haven't you had enough fighting for one day? She was going to also tell him that Mirkwood should have known better and their testosterone fueled barney was disgusting, she hadn't finished her text, when her mobile bleeped again.

I'm taking a piss. I bet you are all cheesed off right now and scrunching your adorable nose and think I'm a testosterone filled bellend :) Our seconds arranged peaceful resolution. I'm in bed already.

What a puffed up wanker! Wren huffed some air out and climbed back under her blanket. Seriously, who did he think he was?! She decisively stuffed her mobile under her pillow. He surely didn't deserve an answer from her.

Bleep. Sod it all, she was not going to look at that! He was taking a piss out of her! She closed her eyes and stubbornly tried to sleep. Another bleep came. Bugger.

Fuck it… She pushed the hand under the pillow. I know we will see each other tomorrow, but I wish we were together right now. She bit into her bottom lip trying to contain the daft wide grin. Internally she was squealing and doing a mental happy dance. Awww… Oh wait, there was another one there.

How do you want to behave tomorrow? We can pretend nothing happened and discuss it in the bathroom tomorrow night, or we can let others know it's official.

Yeah, that was the question of all bloody questions, wasn't it? Firstly, she still didn't know what that 'it,' which was apparently official now, was. What sort of 'it' were they talking about? The sort where… they sort of said they loved each other? Because that was right after a double Dementor attack, and all very emotional, and after all it was him, the slag and the wanker, and it's not like he had a long history of stable romantic relationships. neither did she for that matter...

She squirmed on the bed for a mo and stared at the canopy. Seriously, she had nothing. She was also flagging, and tomorrow would be such a mental day… Oh fuck it, whatever!

What is official? She had nothing better. Seriously, she was totally certain she wasn't cocking anything up with him by simply asking for clarification, yeah? No matter what Teen Witch magazine said, it was just daft to think over every text to a bloke four hundred times. And if anything, their relationships were cocked up to start with.

You and I. Dating. Do keep up Leary. Wren squeaked and reread the eight words, three punctuation marks, about seven thousand times. Then she breathed through it, exhaled sharply and typed back.

Might as well just make it official. See you at breakfast. The final text turned out very well, Wren thought. Nonchalant, chill… Not too clingy. Given it was like the tenth version she typed but whatevs.

Sure. Night. Yeah, in the nonchalance area he was so much more advanced. Fuck it. She sighed and decided there was no point of worrying about it now. Even if she spent the whole night agonising over it, she'd achieve null. And besides, she was knackered…

Just as she predicted the next day was beyond barmy, and started with someone shaking her out of sleep.

"Leary, wake up!" It was one of her classmates, Ann Glossop, who was dishevelled, in her PJs and yelling into Wren's face, "Is it true that you and Durinson fought five Dementors last night?! And there are ghouls in the castle?! Will they close the school?!"

There was some mad kerfuffle around Wren. She was rubbing her eyes trying to understand what was going on, and more and more students were flocking into the dormitory, she got dragged out of her bed, the common room was full of students, and everyone was pointing at her neck, she imagined it was of terrifying ink purple colour, and they kept on asking and hollering and someone was pulling her arm, others were talking between themselves, and Wren thought she'd get the headache of all headaches from all this palava, when suddenly the voice of Thrain Durinson carried through the school.

Students and Professors of Hogwarts, this is an official announcement from the Ministry of Magic and the administration of the School. We inform you that indeed yesterday an incident involving two Dementors took place, but with the help of two students and all Professors of the school, as well as several Ministry employees the threat has been eliminated and the school is completely safe. The situation had been under monitoring of the Ministry since September and yesterday's happenstance can be considered its final, utterly successful resolution. The details will be discussed in the official announcement during tonight's dinner. Enjoy your day and good luck in the classes.

A long pause hung in the common room, and Wren breathed out in relief. Thank goodness, hopefully she'd now be left in peace over this.

"Do I get it right that they knew about them the whole time and you and Durinson cooperated with the Ministry to catch them? Blimey, Leary, are the two of you Aurors in training?!" There was unadulterated excitement in another student's voice and everyone looked at her. Oh fuck it.

Shower was a nightmare, apparently her classmates thought it was OK to yell questions to her through the closed door. Seriously, she wasn't answering them outside, could she at least wash in peace?! She was getting dressed, a little flock of girls were burning her with inquisitive stares, and finally she snapped and with a groan she ran out of the tower, down the stairs…

… and into the wide chest of Thorin Durinson. He apparently was standing at the bottom of the spiral staircase, casually leaning on the railing. She oomphed and lifted her eyes at him. He was smiling to her softly, all toff and fit, with his slightly loose tie, gorgeous hair and his mind-blowing peepers, but she thought she detected a tinge of worry in the blue irises.

"Morning, Leary." Oh, she somehow had forgotten how criminal his voice was, and warm tingly feeling went through her body. Oh, he was so bloody fit!

"Morning," she realised they were still standing super close to each other, and there were plenty of bystanders. Peeps were starting to stare, and she cleared her throat. He was completely chill, seemingly very engaged into studying the freckles on the bridge of her nose, and she blushed. She got it, he was a chill bloke, but she was having bloody kittens here!

"I've come to escort you to breakfast, Miss Leary," he flashed her a cheeky grin, one eyebrow cocked up. Blimey, that was working... "I imagine you are mortified by all the attention and your little heart is fluttering, so let's just rip the plaster in one move. Enter the Great Hall together, and so to say get hanged for the dragon as an egg." She threw him a suspicious look, was he taking a piss? And how much of this pluck was even real? He then leaned in and picked up her hand. "Shall we?"

"No," her answer was decisive, though she fucking didn't feel that way. "I know you are a bloke and for you it's like Cruciatus but we need to talk first." She blurted it all out and looked at him with a frown. Seriously, she wasn't ready for feeling all spun out during the breakfast, then going to classes, and through this whole bloody time wondering what the fuck was going on between them. He tilted his head slightly and gave her a studying look.

"Common, Leary, that calls for a chat in the notorious prefect bathroom." Oh poop.

She came in, he followed and closed the door behind him. She noted that the tie stayed on his neck, but then she remembered it was a different game now. To be precise it wasn't a game anymore. Before it was a shag centered arrangement, he was in charge because he was basically bloody mentoring her, and she was bricking it all the time, but now they were equal in it. She turned on her heels and gave him a direct look. He was leaning at the door, wasn't trying to come up to her and snog her or anything, and she felt… relieved. Her noggin properly conked out when he'd touch her. She examined his face, the eyes were smiling but the corner of the lips were tense, he was nervous… Hm…

She made a few steps towards him, and she realised his eyes were following every movement. Mostly her hips, but the rest received a lot of his attention as well. That was… exciting. Like properly tickling her pickle. Suddenly she was much less freaking out. Oh, she was going to have so much fun with it! Maybe it had something to do with the hungry look in his eyes, and the way he licked his lips, and how his fingers twitched on the large hands that she was completely barmy about.

"You see, Thorin," she purred, and yes, she bloody now knew she could purr, at least with him, and he visibly shuddered, "We now know that this," she gestures at the bathroom behind her with a flamboyant wave of her hand, "All this business seems to be working for us..."

"What business?" He croaked and cleared his throat. The more affected he seemed, the easier she felt. As Jeremy Clarkson would yell at this moment, po-o-o-ower!

"The shag." And… ten points to Ravenclaw. His whole body jolted, and she smirked. Blimey, that was craic! She was now standing in front of him, and she placed her hand on his chest. His heart was drumming under the uniform jumper like a Pixie in a cage. "But I'm just not that sort of girl, you know..." Apparently she was at least a little bit that sort of girl, since she playfully curled her fingers and started drawing little swirls on him. He inhaled sharply, and she wondered where her sudden seduction skill came from. Probably from the fact that he was so obviously randy and loved up. "That whole casual bonk thing that we had before..."

"We are not doing that anymore, Leary," he covered her hand on his chest, and his thumb brushed at her knuckles. OK, she was not the only one here pushing all the right buttons. Blimey, it was like they were already half shagging, while they were literally just holding hands. "I thought our conversation in the sewage was quite clearly pointing onto something else..." He was leaning, the voice all rumbly, and she threw him a look from under her lashes.

"We were in a mortal danger then, Durinson, and relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last, you know.." She was quoting Speed, but he couldn't know it of course.

"But they haven't started under intense circumstances," he purred, fuck it, his purr was better, and he picked up the second hand and pulled her closer. "They started at the King's Cross, you were having coffee, I caught your reflection in the schedule..." Oh bollocks, the bloke was good. She was properly melting here, into a ginger coloured puddle of adoration on the tiled floor, and his lips were already that close, and her nose caught his smell, and it was the most delicious thing she had ever sensed, especially without the minging sewage stench added to it.

And yet she slightly moved away, not taking her hands away but not allowing him to distract her completely.

"That is very nice of you to say that, but do I need to remind you what happened after that? And don't get me wrong, I had offered myself, and casual or not, the shag was glorious..."

"It was never casual, Leary," he gave her an exasperated look, and she choked on her spiel. "I know you have no experience in it, and I know what you think… well, hopefully what you thought of me, but it was never casual..." He pulled her, and this time she stepped closer and he was looking down at her, blue eyes smiling and tender, and oh bloody hell, it was so romantic, like in a T rated film, and so soppy… Oh fuck, whom was she kidding?! That was the best day of her life!

"What was it then if not casual?" He chuckled and made a 'tsk-tsk' noise.

"Are we doing that thing where a bloke is being tortured into making some colourful confessions and it's all very mushy and soppy?"

"Yep," she popped the last sound, and he groaned theatrically.

"But the breakfast, Leary!.." The whining was adorable and quite fit too. Damn it, he was dangerous. "I'm starving..."

"Your eggs on toast can wait, Durinson," she was aiming for a stern tone, but he suddenly guffawed.

"Do you keep track of my breakfast choices, Leary?" Oh bugger. She did. She couldn't help it, somehow watching him eat would always make her so randy! Oh bugger…

"You know my favourite sweet flavours!"

"You stare at my hands in classes!" Another hiked up eyebrow, and she blushed furiously. Oh bugger, bugger, bugger… Hopefully he didn't know she was imagining them on her arse. Although he probably did.

"You helped me at the nineties do!"

"That I did," he was chuckling and his shoulders were shaking, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and his lips hovered over her nose. "I also bought you a box of your favourite biscuits from Madam Puddifoot."

"You did?" Oh, it felt bloody ace. All of this. Having him so near, him confessing cute little things, smiling to her… There was warmth coming from his body, and she nuzzled him.

"I did. It's still in my trunk. I bought them for Thursday. And then you dumped me." She froze, her nose still pressed to his sternum. "I was going to ask you out on Thursday..." His tone was uncertain, as if he didn't know himself why he was telling her this, and she looked up at him. He looked properly dischuffed, and somehow that seemed very funny to her, she giggled, and he tried to move away from her. Oh, he was actually upset! She quickly schooled her face into an apologetic expression and wrapped her arms around his waist tighter.

"I'm sorry, but how would I know? And I got so scared… I was falling for you, and..." She realised she was the first to breach the subject and to say it outright, and she felt pretty awkward, but he was listening attentively and somehow it looked like he needed to hear it. Maybe she wasn't the only one with habdabs here. "Um… And I didn't know right? And it's not like you anyhow indicated that you wanted monogamous relationships..." Her voice was quieter and quieter, and she shifted between her feet. "I mean if I knew you wanted to stop seeing other people..."

"Were you seeing other people?" His voice was suddenly tense, and she saw his eyes grow suspicious. Oh wow, he was jealous! And possessive apparently. OK, that could become a real aggro. Like a fucking huge aggro. But OK, it was fine for now, they needed to try to start something, all the other barney could wait.

"Sorry, I phrased it wrong. I wasn't sure if you wanted you to stop seeing other people. Or just shagging other people for that matter." He gave her an odd look, still frowning, and she clawed at his chest a little bit. "No judgement, Durinson. I mean we had agreed on it, from the start, yeah? And again sex positivity and shite, yeah?" She smiled to him. To think of it, it really mattered very little. Yeah, she was jealous too, but it's not like he cheated on her when they were in proper relationships. He picked up her chin with his index finger and lifted her face, her eyes met his. He was frowning but then he nodded to some thought of his and smiled to her.

"I wasn't shagging anyone once we started, Leary. I was bonkers about you and was moping around the Castle." Oh! Oh? Blimey, that felt so wicked! Forget him not shagging others, him admitting he was 'moping'... that was huge!

"I was moping over you too," she smiled back, and he chuckled. And then leaned in, and she closed her eyes in the anticipation.

She could almost taste the sweetness of his mouth on hers, when he whispered into her lips, "I love you, Wren." Her eyes flew open, and it turned out it was very easy to say it back.

"I love you too."