...ILY...

I stumble out of my last exam and heave a sigh of relief. Daphne and Padma stumble after me looking bone tired. We head out onto the grounds and collapse on the grass. I look up at the sky and try to relax. "Ugh, my brain hurts." Daphne groans rubbing her head. I laugh and she slaps my leg. "What does that mean?!" she huffs. "It means that one of the smartest girls in our year is complaining about her brain hurting. I know some people are probably already reviewing and checking their answers with others and they're all probably in the top ten of their year. What about those at the bottom of our year? Well, I know Hermione is probably is up in the library checking her answers and obsessing like nobody's business." I giggle.

We all burst out laughing and that's how the guys find us. A giddy pile of tangled limbs on the grass. Padma jumps up and tackle hugs Justin. I smile and quickly find myself in Theo's lap. I turn my head to look at him but he's talking to Blaise about the potions exam. "I told you. Some people would already be reviewing." I mouth to Daphne. She coughs to hide her laugh but not well enough. Blaise leans forward. "What are you two so giggly about?" he wonders. "It's just that we made it through another year." she smiles.

"One year left,… what are you guys planning to do after we graduate?" Daphne wonders. "I've been accepted as an apprentice for an Alchemist." Theo smiles. "I'm still working on my Potioneer apprenticeship." Blaise shrugs. "I'm trying to get into the Wizarding Academy for Dramatic Arts." Justin laughs at the looks of mock shock Theo and Blaise give him.

"I have been accepted as an apprentice Archivist for the Ministry." Padma announces. I clap my hands happily. I turn to Daphne expectantly. "I've received several offers to come and study from Arithmancers around the world." she blushes. We whoop and clap loudly. They turn to me smiling in anticipation. "I got offered a chance to study and eventually teach at Beauxbatons." I look at my hands.

True shocked silence follows my words. "Of course, I was also accepted there before I started school here. Both me and Mione were accepted and she wanted to come here. My mum is one of those 'twins should wear similar clothing and do the same things' kind of people. I'm happy I came here. I got to meet you guys, but could you imagine me and Mione in France?" I laugh. Theo frowns and I can tell he's pouting. "I also got an offer to study at all eleven schools then teach random classes at my convenience while working random jobs for the Ministry." I smirk.

Theo hums softly and places his head on my shoulder. "Remind me to thank my sister-in-law the next time I see her." he smiles innocently. I tsk at him and he kisses my cheek. We sit there joking around until dinner. "Who would you miss most if you did go to France?" Theo wonders. I laugh and point at Daphne. She squeals in delight. "What about me?" Padma pouts. "You're my Ravenclaw sister. Mione and Theo don't count." I smile. "I don't count?" Theo whines in complaint.

"Did you or did you not propose? Did I or did I not say yes? In less than five years you'll officially be family. Therefore, you do not count." I shrug then freeze. Justin and Blaise start oohing and acting like schoolkids who just saw their first on screen kiss. Blushing, Daphne and Padma push them towards the castle. "You said it. You can't take it back love." Theo chuckles. I wriggle out of his arms and hurry up to the castle. He catches up easily and spins me around. "Tempting." I whisper. "Too tempting." he whispers and then kisses me.

I rest my hands on his shoulders. "Just so you know I like both choices as long as you're doing what you love." he whispers. "What are you planning? You keep saying really profound and sweet things to me. What's going on in that Alchemist brain of yours?" I murmur. "Nothing much with you here in my arms. Just that I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you like this." he smirks. I smack his chest and push him up to the school. "You look like a cherry tomato your face is so red." Theo laughs.

I hide my face in his back and wrap my arms around his waist. "You're so mean. I don't know why you're like this." I sigh. Theo pulls me around and I pout up at him. "Your face is really red. Like Gryffindor red. Are you sure you picked the right house?" Theo tries to refrain from smiling. I sit next to Padma and put my head on her shoulder. "Did he irritate you again Mrs. Nott?" she teases. I smack her arm with both hands trying to hide my surprise at the name change.

Theo waits for me outside the hall after dinner. He holds out a hand and I take it rather reluctantly. He pulls me closer. "Do you know where my sister-in-law is?" he asks innocently. I roll my eyes. I point to the doors and countdown from ten. Right on the dot Hermione emerges. Theo runs over and hugs her. She shoots me a quizzical look but I just shake my head.

"Accept it." I mouth. She pats Theo's back. "Thank you for wanting to come to Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons." Theo says in a somewhat shaky voice. Hermione looks at me but I hold my hands up. "Um, your welcome." she replies. "You're the best sister-in-law a guy could ask for." Theo ruffles her hair. I blush and turn away as the students leaving the hall freeze.

I curse under my breath. I kiss Theo's cheek and grab Mione's hand and pull her up the stairs. "Goodnight sister-in-law! Goodnight my lovely wife!" I hear Theo yell after us. I explain as we run what happened and Hermione bursts out laughing. "You're kidding me. That's too adorable. My brother-in-law is the absolute best." she smiles. I groan and head to my dorm leaving her there giggling.

Theo and I watch everyone depart Dumbledore's funeral from a window. "Come here." Theo whispers. I walk into his arms. He holds me tight and kisses the top of my head. "I was going to wait a little bit longer but I don't think I can. So, do me a favor and don't take this off." he whispers sliding something onto my finger. I freeze and look at the ring on my finger. My tears splash onto our hands and he wipes them away. "It belonged to my mum. She told me to give this to the girl who stole my heart and that would be you, Amelia Catherine Granger." he kisses the top of my head.

I hug him tightly not wanting to let go taking peeks at the romantic and vintage diamond ring now adorning my ring finger. I kiss his cheek and he chuckles in my ear. "Glad you like it." he mumbles. "I don't like it. I love it. I love you." I lean back so he can see how genuine I am. His eyes widen in surprise. It takes me a full minute to realize what I just said.

I look away blushing madly. He turns my face back to him. "One more time. I don't think I caught that." he whispers. "I love you, Theodore Nott." I repeat and kiss him softly. "I love you too Amelia Granger." he mumbles. I smile as he pulls me into another kiss. "Promise me you'll be safe." he pleads. I nod. "I'll try. I'll probably be spending a lot of time around the Golden Trio but hey I will try my hardest to stay safe." I promise. He winces at the idea of me spending time with the three people notorious for getting into trouble.

I kiss the corners of his mouth. "Come on now, don't pout. We need to hurry or we'll miss the train." I run my fingers across his shoulders. He's still pouting as we get on the train. He pats his lap and I shake my head. "Not whilst you pout." I tease. He flops back onto the seat whining and flailing about. I fight back a smile but he's adorable when he's throwing a fit. I lean over and place a hand on his cheek. "Hey, lover." I murmur and he freezes, "You look real adorable when you pout like this."

Theo blushes so bad I'm afraid that he's stopped breathing. He blinks up at me and holds out his hands. I get up and lie next to him and he cuddles me until he's calm. I run my fingers through his long blonde hair and hum softly the lullabies my mother used to sing to me when I was a child and throwing fits. In a few minutes he's knocked out. I try to sit up but he tightens his hold whining in complaint.

As the train pulls into the station Theo wakes up. Groaning he lies back down. "Darling you have to get up." I whisper peppering his face in feather light kisses. He rolls over on top of me. I smile and boop his nose. Theo kisses my neck and then the soulmate necklace. "Remember what I taught you in case the worst really does happen?" I wonder. He nods. "Let me know when you get home and I'll let you know if anything happens, ok?" I stare at him remembering every little detail.

Mum drops her spoon into her soup. "What's wrong?" dad wonders dipping the bread into the soup. "Theo gave her the ring." mum smiles. Dad drops the bread into the soup and finally looks up. He smiles brightly. "Stop it you guys! It's n-not that s-serious." I mutter trying to stay calm. Hermione laughs and looks away. "Not that serious! Not that serious? Daphne and Blaise overheard the whole thing. They finally said 'I love you'. It was the sweetest sight." Hermione nudges me with her elbow.

I follow Hermione down to the living room. She nods at me and we lift our wands. Tears roll down my cheeks as we wipe our parents' memories. Mrs. Zabini comes to take them to the airport on the earliest flight she could manage. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of them. This is from Theo, by the way." she pulls out a medium sized package from her travelling robes and hands it to me before departing with our parents. I'm too emotional to go through it so Mione places it in her bag.

I lean against the back door watching the Weasley's and Harry setting up the tent. "Shiny." Fred chuckles staring at my hand. "Thanks." I reply my head in the clouds. "Sorry." he mumbles looking away. I pull my head out of the clouds where it was wandering aimless and free. "What?" I tilt my head in confusion. "A few years ago. I called out another girl's name when I was with you. It was wrong of me to do that and I'm sorry." he mumbles. I shrug. "No need to be sorry. I'm already over it." I laugh.

"Yeah, I can tell. You two are practically married already and you've got these tattoos which I'm guessing symbolizes something meaningful for the two of you." he chuckles poking my shoulder. I roll my eyes. "I just wanted to apologize since I didn't then." he sighs. I punch his shoulder. "There, feel better?" I wonder. He rubs the spot where I punched him. "I can honestly say that I don't hate you. I just hope you find someone who makes you genuinely happy." I smile. He tuts and pretends to gag.

"You sound so in love it's making me sick." he stumbles outside. I laugh and then freeze when I notice Ginny standing there. Fred turns too to see why my laughter stopped so abruptly. "Hey Gin. What's up?" Fred asks analyzing Ginny's expression. She grabs his hand and yanks him up the stairs which is hilarious considering their height differences. I go change into my dress and heels. I can hear Ginny whisper yelling at Fred. I dab on perfume and do a little make up. Then I go visit Fleur and give her my gift.

Chaos erupts and I search the crowd for Mione. Ron grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd. We stumble through the tent until we reach Harry and Hermione. There's a café and Hermione pulls everyone to it. In true Golden Trio fashion trouble follows and we end up duelling two buff dudes who vaguely remind me of Crabbe and Goyle. I knock them back into the street, fix the damage to the café, delete the footage, and pay for the drinks.

They stare at me in shock. "Oh, don't be so surprised. My grades are better than Mione's." I turn and wipe the memories of the attackers and the staff of the café. "Come on little sister and her friends." I guide them down the street. "I repeat, you are only older by 25 fucking minutes." Hermione huffs. "Your point being. You three get into trouble so frequently it's concerning to everyone." I look pointedly at Harry and Ron who blush.

I lie on my cot stroking my soulmate necklace as it vibrates. A light smile blossoming on my face. I finally went through the package Theo gave to Mrs. Zabini for me. From the very first time he saw me at the sorting until now he'd been writing very detailed letters to me. Hermione read a few over my shoulder because I was crying so badly. The softy even included pictures and the like. "Wow, I heard that you guys looked like you were already married. I guess it's true." Harry sits on the edge of my cot.

"Yes, my awkward child. I really like him." I smile at my rings. "Hey! I'm not awkward!" Harry huffs. I give him a 'bitch please' kind of look and roll my eyes. "The Yule Ball, watching you dance. You looked nervous and hyper like you just got thrown in there without learning how to dance." I tease poking his arm. I sit up and cross my legs. "You're in love with Ginny, aren't you?" I ask with a knowing smirk.

"You slept with Fred back in third year, didn't you?" Harry counters blushing quite badly. "You slept with Fred?!" Ron gasps. I punch Harry's arm and jump up punching Ron's too. "I don't talk about my ex-flings." I growl through gritted teeth. I walk over and hug Hermione. "You two got back early." I whisper in her ear. They left to talk things out after Ron's return. She smiles and pats my head. "Theo says hi." I whisper.

Bellatrix looms over me her wand tip pressed into the side of my neck. "Where did you get that ring?" she hisses. I don't reply. My arm is still bleeding from where she raked her nails down my arm. Draco appears in my peripheral also analyzing the rings on my fingers. Something clicks in his brain and he looks at me a quizzical look in his eyes. "What a pretty necklace! Was it a gift? Answer me when I'm talking to you!" she growls yanking my hair. I wince but don't answer.

"Bella, she can hardly talk if you act like that." a woman who looks a bit like Draco snaps. "Well, Cissy, I'm just curious where she got the Nott family ring from." Bellatrix pouts and points at my hand. The woman walks over agitatedly and focuses on my hand. "A.G. and T.N.?" the woman whispers. Bellatrix leans down examining the rings on my fingers. "Who gave you these rings girly?" Bellatrix smirks dragging her nails down my arm to my fingers. I grin at her causing a temporary look of confusion to flicker across her face and then I slam my forehead on her nose.

Blood gushes forth and she rears back screeching in frustration. I buck wildly to unseat her and kick her in the stomach. She flies across the room slamming into the wall before crashing to the ground. I scoot back until I reach Hermione and cover her protectively just as Harry and Ron burst up from the stairs below.

I run over and hug Padma. I cling to her after not seeing her for a year. Our conversation is unintelligible to even us as we babble excitedly through our tears. "Don't treat her like that. She slammed her head into Bellatrix Lestrange's nose." Hermione scolds. I smile innocently. "She was getting nosy so I hit her nose to stop her." I shrug. "You... you hit..." Padma starts getting mad. "And then kicked her across Malfoy Manor." I smirk sassily.

I search the hall for Theo and spot him looking forward but saying something to Blaise. I start thinking of him and he looks around eyes landing on me. After Snape and the Carrows are taken care of he runs over and pulls me into his arms. I instantly feel better. He leans back to look at me. "Ah, when they said that you were on the run with the trio, I thought you were going to be in trouble. I'm so glad you're safe." he whispers in my ear pulling me into another hug.

I got separated from my friends after falling down the stairs and I thought I saw Theo nearby. I spy the twins and hear an all too familiar spell. I just barely have enough time to push Fred and George out of the way before the wall explodes. I go flying into a pillar and collapse onto some rubble and a collapsed knight. The last thing I see are Fred, George, and Percy scrambling over to me and then I black out.

I hear Theo and Fred talking when I come to. I'm not necessarily in a girlfriend/ fiancée kind of mood. "I already know you talked to Lia." Theo chuckles. I can almost imagine the look of disbelief on Fred's face. Theo taps my necklace then his. Fred laughs. "Well, that settles that. I just feel a little bad since she got hurt trying to save me." Fred sighs. I groan and roll onto my side. Their conversation pauses waiting for my reaction.

I groan again and cover my face. "Lia, love, are you ok?" Theo whispers. I sit up and open my eyes slowly. The room swims into focus and widen my eyes in shock. I scuttle back on my hands and hide in the corner. I pull my knees up to my chest. "Who are you two?" I whimper. They exchanged a worried look and Theo inches closer. "Do you really not remember me?" he eyes me worriedly. I shake my head. "Look at your hand. Our initials are engraved inside the diamond and on the bracelet." Theo points out.

"I can't remember anything." I murmur starting to 'take off' my rings. Theo goes into freak out mode and calls Daphne and Padma over. They look me up and down and start laughing. "She's messing with you Theo." Daphne smirks. Theo tilts his head in confusion and turns back to me. I've gotten the rings to the ends of my fingers.

Theo gasps and closes his hand over mine. "You can't take those off. You said you wanted to get married in ten years." he slides the rings back down. "I thought I agreed to five years." I tease. Theo looks up slowly and Fred walks away shaking his head. "You scared the living daylights out of me." Theo pinches my cheeks. I wrap my arms around him. "I love you too much to forget." I giggle. "You're not out of the woods yet. I heard you and Bellatrix went at it at Malfoy Manor." Theo frowns. I give his lips a quick peck before filling him in on the past year.

Our friends join us at some point. Theo has pulled me onto his lap and my head is on his shoulder. "Lia? Please never go on an 'adventure' with the golden trio ever EVER again." Theo sighs. I laugh and nod. "I could sleep for a week." I yawn. "Well, the battle's not over yet, but as soon as it's over we can go home." he whispers.

I kick Bellatrix's dead body with my foot and Theo pulls me away. "I had to check and make sure she wasn't playing possum like some people." I stare pointedly at Harry. Harry blushes and drops his head. I'd cried my eyes out when they brought back his 'dead body'. "What a waste of my tears! Next time you die I'm not crying! I'm going to kick your body like I kicked hers." I huff. Theo pulls me to his chest. "Lia needs a nap. When she's awake we'll help with the clean-up." Theo notifies McGonagall.

He takes my hand and leads me from the hall. I turn to go up to my dorm but he pulls me down to the dungeons. "No one except for Slytherins are allowed to go into your common rooms." I hiss worriedly. Theo picks me up and keeps walking. I whine all the way there and he sets me down in his dorm and leads me over to his bed. I stare at it for a moment and feel Theo hug me from behind. "Time for a nap love." he whispers helping me out of my clothes.

Theo cuddles me as he falls asleep, his head on my chest and I run my fingers through his hair. I fall asleep still stroking his hair. When I wake, he's kissing my fingertips. "Hey there. I missed those pretty eyes."