notes: this is definitely a light piece. If you're in the mood for an intense piece of writing, this may not be for you. But I hope you read it anyways! Happy reading.

maybe we found love right where we are.

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran

Knocking lightly, Stella stood on the front steps of the Burrow. In her hand she held a bottle of wine as she tried not to let her nerves get the best of her. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she rocked uncertainly on her feet.

She never did very well in large social groups in the first place- her tongue got all tied up sometimes, and she wasn't the greatest with small talk, she knew that. And throw in the most famous family in all of the Wizarding World, perhaps history, and she was heading for full fledged panic attack. She was also a Nott. It wasn't always handy to be the enemy by default, either.

People used to ask, kids at school rather, how it felt to be a Nott. How did it feel to come from the dark side of the battle? And Stella would blink her blue eyes and think to herself, it feels like blood in my veins and air in my lungs just like you.

Smoothing her blouse – a pretty, pale pink that she thought might make her dark hair stand out – she considered bolting. Never mind the fact that she did know most of the Weasley cousins. There was the also the fact that Louis invited her. Did he see her more than a friend? Was this just a throwaway invitation? Her head hurt from all the assumptions.

They had, after all, been spending more time together, but that was because they were friends. Had been friends since they were eleven.

Finally, after what seemed like ages but was probably only three minutes, the door swung open and Stella was greeted with a grinning Louis.

"Hey!" Louis cried, over-enthusiastically, "You came!" He threw one arm round her shoulders and guided her into the house. She shuffled along with him, unsure as to whether or not she should give the bottle of wine to him or to Molly Weasley.

All the while, she was taking in the sight before her. People were everywhere – which she expected – but she didn't expect it to be this many. How did everyone fit in here? It was a wonder the floor didn't fall out from under them, she mused.

"Stella!" She turned around to hear who had called her name – it was Lily, who was standing on top of the kitchen table, looking like she was retrieving something from the chandelier. Upon seeing Stella, Lily jumped down gracelessly, and landed in front of her friend, before crushing her in a hug. "How are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," she gushed. "This prat is keeping you all to himself, aren't you, Lou?"

Stella giggled. "I've missed you, Lily."

"'Course you have," Lily replied easily with a wink, crawling back up on top of the table to retrieve whatever was up there. Stella felt curious enough to ask, and so she did.

"A hair scrunchie," answered Lily, "stupid Fred – agh! Fred!"

Fred Weasley had taken that moment to bound down the stairs and saw his little cousin trying to retrieve the hair accessory he apparently had placed there. He gathered her knees in his arms and threw her over his back.

"Yes? Did you call me?" Fred asked innocently.

" Stupid –let – me – down!" Lily screeched, pounding her fists against his back, while Fred laughed and begun to spin in circles.

"C'mon," Louis muttered in her ear, while Stella laughed at her friend, "I want to introduce you to the mature part of my family." He took her arm and the bottle of wine saying, "thanks for this, by the way. I'll let Gran know you brought it over," and set it easily down on the counter.

He led her to the common area, where a few adults were both seated and standing. Stella felt a knot grow in her stomach, and she braced herself for the nerves that would follow. She spotted a beautiful blonde woman who she knew to be Louis' mum, and an elderly woman who she supposed was his gran and three people whom she immediately recognized.

The pleasantries were short and not as awkward as Stella had expected- his mum gave her a warm smile and two kisses, commenting on how much she'd grown since the last time she had seen her at the platform three years earlier on the train going to school. His gran was perfectly friendly, giving her a hug and commenting on how nice it was to finally meet her, and Stella began to relax.

The three people whom Louis introduced as Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry were whom Stella was most nervous to meet. But Louis kept a hand on the small of her back as she shook the hands of the three in turn.

"Nice to finally meet you, Stella," Ron said jovially, giving her hand a firm shake. "Louis has told us lots about you." He winked at her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Don't be a tease, Ron," Hermione replied with an eye roll, reaching for Stella's hand. "Nice to meet you. We've heard a lot of good things." Her eyes were warm and soft, and though intimidated by her rumoured genius, Stella took a liking to her.

Harry was staying quiet, observing his friends with an amused grin as he took his hand out from the front pocket of his jeans to give hers a shake. He didn't say anything but gave her a friendly grin.

"So, Rose says you took a year off from school," Hermione said to her, "is that right?"

"Um, yes," Stella replied, unsure of where the direction of the conversation was going.

"What made you do that? Did you not like it?"

Realizing she was perhaps talking to the one of the most brilliant witches of her time, Stella was definitely not a comfortable position.

"Not – not really. It's more like I wasn't sure what I wanted to be there for," Stella trailed off lamely.

Hermione nodded her head in understanding. "The great question. Awful, isn't it?" She chuckled lightly. "You'll figure it out."

At the sound of her laughing, Stella relaxed and grinned. "Thanks," she replied. "Any word of advice?"

Hermione was about to say something, but Harry cut in. "Figure out who you are first," he said easily, "the rest will come naturally."

Hermione pouted. "That's what I was going to say," she agreed, "Idiot."

Harry turned to her, cocking his head. "Excuse me, what did you just call me?"

Hermione stuck her nose in the air. "You heard me," she challenged, but her grin gave her away.

"Sorry," Ron apologized, "On behalf of my best friends. They're usually not so immature." To this he received a slap upside the head from Harry, with a "you've got to be kidding me," from Hermione.

"I like them," Stella piped up as she and Louis made their way up the stairs to where Louis' cousins were residing.

Louis chortled. "Good. I know they can be intimidating and all, but they're just normal people, y'know?" He paused. "It was strange to have to see them as opposite when I finally started to grow up and know who they really were." He stopped on the stairs for a moment , tapping his fingers against the banister. Stella turned to face him.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Louis admitted. "I mean, it was different, I just – I don't know. It wasn't like I loved them any less or anything, I just started to see them differently, and I don't know if I really liked it." He leaned back against the banister, his hands resting gently on the top, arms bent.

Stella shuffled to face him, her hands pressed into the banister behind her back. "I get it," she assured. "Almost like you come to the question of, how can I really love you if I don't understand you or who you are?"

"Exactly!" Louis exclaimed. "That's exactly it. And it's not like you don't love them any less or anything –

"It's just this new question of understanding keeps picking at your brain," Stella finished for him.

He poked tongue out, licking his lips. It seemed as though he was measuring his next words carefully. "So, what do you do about it?"

Stella twisted her nose. "I dunno. Ignore it, mostly. Maybe understanding and love don't always go hand in hand. Maybe we just need to accept that rather than try to fix it." She twisted her fingers around and dropped her gaze to the floor. "Sorry," she said hastily.

"For what?" Louis asked, confused for a moment. "You're smart, Stella." He poked her nose lightly with his finger.

Stella hesitantly looked up, meeting his hazel gaze. It was warm and calm, patiently trained on her. She stared back carefully, not sure what she was seeing in them, and not sure she wanted to. Her gaze quickly fell to the floor once again.

"C'mon," Louis said, after a beat had passed between the two, and he led her up the rest of the stairs and into a warm bedroom filled with teenagers and barely legal adults.

An hour later, they were all sat round the dinner table, cousins, aunts, and uncles alike. They passed mashed potatoes and complained about the weather. There were at least four different conversations going on at once, as far as Stella could tell from her side of the table.

"Are you always this quiet?" Roxanne asked her bluntly, halfway through dinner.

Stella looked up to meet the black girl's toffee brown gaze, at a loss for words. "Uh -" she started.

"Roxie, don't be a prick," Louis glared at his older cousin.

"What?" Roxanne shrugged. "It's just a question. It's not like it's offensive or anything."

Stella waved her hand to indicate it was fine. "I'm just not really used to eating with lots of people, that's all," she explained, "it's new territory for me."

Roxanne wrinkled her brow. "But you ate with us a few times this year."

"Not with your whole family though," Stella stressed, referring to the adults in the room. She picked at her peas, moving them around on her plate.

Roxanne nodded. "Oh, I see." She turned her gaze to Louis. "Was that really all that difficult?" She went back to her dinner without another word, striking up conversation with Lucy next to her.

"Sorry about that," Louis whispered to her, "she's a bit, um, blunt at times."

Stella shrugged. "It's not a big deal," she replied, giving a small smile to assure him that she was fine.

"What do you mean you're not used to eating with a lot of people, though?" Louis asked her casually, pouring more gravy over his turkey. "What about Hogwarts and uni?"

"That's different," Stella answered quickly, grabbing a piece of bread and ripping a piece off. "This is with family." She made sure to keep her voice low.

Spearing a piece of turkey with his fork, he turned to her, confused. "You don't eat with family?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

Stella shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Just doesn't ever happen, that's all." Louis must have realized her discomfort and let the subject drop.

He didn't understand, Stella realized.

Her eyes swept across the room, over all the people in the kitchen, all the love to be shared – love that Louis had experienced and grown up with. He didn't understand eating alone.

She looked at him and saw uncertainty, dark and unsure, but she knew even clearer that she could love him more than she'd ever loved anyone before.

"I'm coming to save you, that's what I'm doing," Lily remarked to Stella behind her desk. It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon and Stella still had forty more minutes left of her shift before she was free for the night.

Lily had appeared in a navy blazer and towering heels, explaining she had just come from a presentation in one of her classes.

Blowing air out from her cheeks, Stella checked the clock. "Lil, I still have forty minutes left of my shift," she argued, tapping a pen against the wooden part of her desk.

"Fine, fine, don't blow off work. I even got you a coffee and everything," Lil replied, setting down a paper cup of a steaming drink. Stella gratefully accepted the drink and took a sip, the warm liquid refreshing her and making her feel cozier in the cold and bland office space.

"I'll be done soon, I promise. You can wait for me if you want to?" Stella asked hopefully.

"You know I will," Lily said with a sigh, though a grin was playing on her lips. "Hurry up, missy."

Stella flashed her a smile as Lily walked away and dropped into a seat in the waiting room, her wavy hair swishing as she walked.

Thirty minutes later, Stella was finished her work for the evening. Shutting down her area, she joined Lily in the waiting room and the two began the walk out of the building.

"Where should we go?" Lily asked. "We could go for drinks or for dinner or something."

"Sure," replied Stella easily as she followed her friend out onto the streets of bustling London. It was dark out and Stella wrapped herself more warmly in her coat. "Let's go for drinks."

"Muggle?"

"Yes, please."

The two turned the corner to a small but chic bar that they had frequented a few times before. It was simple and classy, the way Stella liked it, with low lighting fixtures that made everything look glittery and elusive, the way nighttime should be.

They found two stools and shed their jackets, ordering girly Muggle cocktails, a guilty pleasure of them both. They had discovered the beauty of having Muggle drinks sometime during their time at uni together, and frequently wasted their money on them.

"So," Lily started, sipping her drink, "tell me how you've been."

"Oh, good, good," replied Stella, thanking the bartender for her drink and turning to her friend. "Y'know, the usual."

Lily held up her finger. "Hang on." Slipping her hand into her pocket, she reached in to pull out her mobile.

"Ellis wants to know where we're at. Shall I tell her to come meet us?"

"Sure," replied Stella, as Lily clacked out a response on her mobile.

A moment later, Ellis came stumbling through the door, a scarf thrown haphazardly around her neck and her bookbag slapping against her thigh.

"It's bitter out there!" She threw herself down on a stool next to Stella and signaled to the bartender. Lily shook her hair out of her ponytail and turned her attention to Ellis. "El, you should as Stella how she is."

"Okay, that's a strange statement if I ever heard one. But sure. Stell, how are you?"

Stella repeated what she had said to Lily not five minutes previously.

Ellis rolled her eyes. "Okay, wow, thank you for that detailed account of your life. I'm so glad we did this." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyes dancing as she waited for Stella to reply.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Details, Stell! How's Louis? Do you like him? Are you going to marry him?" She said the last part with a wink and a teasing smile.

"Oh, my God. I'm going to kill you."

Ellis leaned her head back and laughed. "Why, what's wrong?" But her teasing look gave her away. And the look that Lily was giving her was enough to bury her face in her arms and never look up.

"Excuse me, what?!" Lily cried. "How did I not know this? I thought he was your fifteen year old crush!"

Stella groaned. "This is why I don't tell you guys things."

"Okay, back to the conversation where you were marrying my cousin," Lily said. "Can we re-direct there?"

"Please don't be mad."

"Mad?! I'm not mad at all! I think it's fab, personally," Lily replied, taking a sip of her drink. "Personally I think he could use a girlfriend. He's starting to become just like James, it's bloody annoying. At least Albus has Rose to make him semi-normal. Anyways. What were we saying? Oh, right. Marriage? When's the wedding?"

"Um, no, no plans to marry him just quite yet." Stella traced her finger around the rim of her cocktail glass. "But I think I do have feelings for him. Again. Which is just so great," she ended bitterly.

"It is great!" Ellis encouraged. "What's wrong with that? He's funny, he's relaxed, easy-going, and so cute."

Blowing a piece of her hair out of her face in a frustrated manner, Stella replied, "well, yes I agree with all of those things, obviously. It's just, I don't know. It's not worth it. We're so different. We come from completely different backgrounds. And I don't even know if he likes me back." Stella took a sip of her drink, waiting for her friend to reply.

Ellis looked at her inquisitively, her eyes searching Stella's before saying, "I think he does, Stell. And I'm not even just saying that. We've all been commenting on how much time he's spent with you lately, and he's obviously going out of his way to spend time with you since you don't even live near all of us anymore. Don't you think you should at least give it a shot?"

"I – I don't know."

"I'll put in a good word for you if you want," Lily said, eyes bright.

"Lily! Don't you dare!" Stella jerked so hard her hand hit the goblet that was resting in front of her, spilling the contents all down the bar table. Her two friends were in stitches as she tried to flag down the bartender to get a rag.

"That would be so humiliating," she moaned as she wiped up the fruity contents.

"I was teasing, Stell," Lily replied with a giggle.

"What about you guys? What's new?" Stella asked, trying to change the subject.

Ellis shrugged. "Not much. Classes, the usual. There's a cute guy in one of my classes, been trying to get his attention for weeks, now. No avail. I'm starting to give up hope."

Stella laughed. "I'm sure that's not true. He's probably playing hard to get."

"Hey!" Ellis cried. "I'm the one who's supposed to be playing hard to get!" Her comment only made Stella laugh harder.

After they had downed another cocktail each, Ellis turned to Stella. "Do you work tomorrow? Want to crash at the university? We can watch a film tonight." She stood up from her chair, slipping on her coat.

Stella mimicked her actions, gathering her hair out of her collar and buttoning up. "Sure," she replied. "I have a day off tomorrow, so it's perfect."

The three girls made their way out of the bar and found a small alley way in which to Apparate in. Within seconds, they were standing outside Ellis and Lily's building – the same building that Stella had lived in with all her friends last year.

"Stupid anti-Apparation spell around this bloody place," Ellis grumbled, bending down to take her shoes off. "If I have to walk another second in these things I will throw a tantrum."

To Stella's surprise, Ellis did not lead her to the front door to the building. Instead, Lily and Ellis led her across the street to a strip of flats.

"Did you guys buy a flat?!"

Lily jumped unnecessarily high to bounce onto the sidewalk. "Tell her, Ellis. Tell her how you left me with a freak roommate for a proper flat with a normal sized fridge and everything."

Ellis rolled her eyes. "My parents thought I needed to focus on my studies, so they paid for me to have a flat this year."

"But don't they realize how silly that is? You could easily just have parties and everything whenever you pleased," Stella responded.

"Hey, I never said they were smart. But they decided I needed to be out of the distracting environment of a bunch of kids running around together. Because Hogwarts wasn't like that at all."

"What was their response to that?"

"That Hogwarts was understandably for young children but now that I'm older my priorities should be shifting, blah blah blah."

"So she gets the flat and I get the roommate who is two minutes away from asking for a piece of Aunt Hermione's hair or Dad's eyelash or something. She's so weird I can hardly stand it."

"Lily!" Stella admonished, clapping a mouth over her hand to muffle her laughter. "You can't go saying things like that!"

"Well, it's true." The lift pinged, and the two girls led Stella to a door labeled 235. "She's creepily obsessed with my family. Of all the people at uni, I get stuck with her. I've been begging Dad to help me and switch places, but he said I just have to stick out the rest of term."

Lily threw herself down on the couch and flipped on the TV, and Ellis disappeared into her room. "Want comfier clothes?"

"Sure!" Stella called back. She hung her coat on the rack by the door, and made her way to the fridge for a glass of orange juice. She was taking her first sip when Ellis walked out, dressed in considerably comfier clothing, throwing a pair of black pyjama bottoms and a worn out navy long sleeve. Stella raised her empty glass in thanks and stuck it in the sink, heading into Ellis' room to change.

After they were settled comfortably on the couch, with knitted cream blankets around them and the TV on, Stella's mobile buzzed. Ellis was fiddling around with the remote, trying to find something for them to watch, so Stella leaned over it to grab her phone from the white side table beside the couch.

Unlocking it with a swipe of her thumb, she opened a new message from Louis.

What are you doing tonight? Want to hang out?

Stella quickly typed a reply with her thumbs.

With Ellis and Lil

That's ok. Me and Max are bored. Can we crash?

Stella looked up. "It's Louis. He's bored and wondering if him and Max can come over?"

Ellis shrugged. "Sure, as long as they're not lazy enough to drag themselves all the way across the street."

Stella giggled and relayed the message to Louis. His response was rapid-fire quick.

Tell her we're bringing bug-repellant spray and our warmest jackets.

Within minutes, Ellis' front door was alive with knocking. Pushing herself off the couch, Stella went to unlock it before crawling back onto the couch. "It's unlocked!"

It burst open. Max headed straight for the fridge, opening it and grabbing the milk carton out of the fridge.

"If you chug that from the container I will dye your blue, and I'm not even kidding," Ellis threatened from her spot on the couch. Max flashed her a wicked grin as he brought the carton to his lips. With a flick of her wand, Ellis spilled the milk all down the front of his shirt.

"Killjoy," Max muttered as he cleaned the mess with his own wand and reached for a glass.

Lily had turned to Louis to ask where the rest of their family was tonight. "Some are at Victoire's, actually. Fred and Dominique and James. I think that's what Dominique said. Al and Rose are at Harry's for something. Don't know where Roxanne is. Molly's studying. Lucy's with Lorcan. And Hugo is –

"-visiting home, he told me that," Lily cut in. "And none of them thought to come see me tonight?"

"Ok, and I'm chopped liver, apparently," Louis said. He sprawled against the coffee table on the rug covered floor. "When did we get so boring, though? Max and I came here for a bit of fun, since the family was being so dull tonight."

"Excuse me, we were about to settle down to a riveting film," Lily replied. "Just because you lot are boring doesn't mean we all are."

"We never do anything fun anymore," Max whined.

"Okay, what do you propose we do then? Because I just told you about my wild plans to watch a film and spoon peanut butter out of a jar and for some reason that's not good enough for you."

"I don't mean to be rude," Stella cut in," but there's really not much to do on a Thursday night."

"Let's go to Paris," Max called, setting his glass down in the sink.

"No, that's so cliché," Ellis replied. "Pick somewhere else."

Stella looked back and forth at her friends. "Are you lot feeling okay?"

"It's their newest kick," Lily replied listlessly, flicking through channels. "All of a sudden, they're world travelers. Apparently a peanut butter jar isn't good enough for these princesses."

Still confused, Stella sought out Louis for an explanation.

"It was Max's idea last month, that we Apparate to a new city and spend the night there. It's fun. More fun if you'd come, though. We should pick somewhere tonight."

A lump raised in Stella's throat, and not for the first time did she wonder if she made the right choice leaving last year.

On the flipside of that, her stomach did also fill with butterflies.

"Holland. Sydney. California. Canada, for Pete's sake. Can we just pick somewhere?" Max ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm not going to bloody Canada tonight," Lily grumbled, bundling down further in her blanket. "We can't go cross-continental either, stupid. Unless you became the most skilled Apparator in the country and didn't tell us."

"You're driving me mental, you know that?" Max twisted his eyebrow up to his forehead.

"Good," Lily shot back, but a grin gave her away. Max aimed his wand at her hair, and a muted strawberry pink coloured her red strands.

"Max!" Lily cried. "What did you do?"

"Trying to make you less fiery."

"Good luck," Ellis snorted.

"How about Amsterdam?" Louis suggested. "Haven't been there yet. Could be nice."

"Done deal. I love it. You're a genius, and one day I will marry you," Max said.

Stella pulled herself off the couch. "Mind if I change, El?"

"What mine is yours," Ellis replied, waving her hand at her. Stella padded her way into Ellis' room, yanking the closet door open and trying to control her breathing. Breathing deeply to calm her nerves, she shuffled items around and pulled out a thick knit cardigan and a brown pair of boots. Sliding out of the sweatpants and buttoning jeans over her hips, her fingers shook as she tried to fit the button through the slit of denim.

Lily and Ellis slammed the door open, Ellis pulling another jumper over her head as Lily examined her hair in the mirror.

"Y'know, I actually like it," she remarked, picking up a strand of dark pink hair.

"Or Max," Ellis said cheekily.

Stella left the room to find Louis waiting in the kitchen, forearms resting on the island. "Almost ready?"

She copied his stance, looking at the swirl of granite, strong and steady. She nodded silently.

"You all right?"

She nodded again, managing to smile at him thinly.

"Your pulse is racing." He pressed a finger to the inside of her wrist.

Beat of silence.

"Stell."

"What?"

"Spill."

"I'm good, Lou, really."

He snorted. "Your pulse suggests otherwise."

"Yeah, well, not much I can do to control that."

Another beat.

"I'm just chicken, that's all." She didn't mention the fact that her racing pulse could also have something to with him.

Louis shifted so that he was facing her. "You're nervous about heading to Amsterdam tonight?"

For the third time she nodded, hating her nerves.

"Sorry, then. I shouldn't have brought it up. Are you angry?"

"No! I want to go, it'll pass when we get there. It's dumb, I swear."

"What would help?"

Stella quirked a smile. "Tell me how fun it's going to be."

He grinned back at her. "That, I can do."

She listened to him weave stories about the city, about the energy-filled air and the lights, and the waters and the bridges, and she thought maybe she could live all her adventures through the sound of his voice.

The five of them made their way back to the front of the campus, and found a secluded area to Apparate from.

"Has anyone actually seen Amsterdam?" Max asked as they were huddled in the dark, wands out and ready to spin.

"Dad took me once when he was on business for a day. Think I remember the alley he took us to Apparate from," Ellis offered.

Max shrugged. "Good enough." He grasped her arm. Louis put a hand on her shoulder, and the girls all grasped hands. Ellis turned on the spot, and all of a sudden they were spinning rapidly.

They had landed in an alley, that much was clear. There was thin rails fixed on stairs and dark windows. A rat scurried by Stella's foot and she jumped. "Why don't we get out of here?"

Walking of the lane, they emerged to a bustling night, filled with stars. The night glowed like the light side of the moon. "What time is it here?"

"It's only one hour ahead of us, so it's ten," Louis answered, slipping beside her. He gave her a quick grin.

The group made their way into the night.

"My God, it's beautiful," Stella breathed, watching the way the light reflected off the water beneath the bridge. The reflection was clearer than a mirror. Lights from people's home shone, and the sky was as dark and rich as her indigo paint colour.

"Feeling better?" Louis asked quietly.

"Much. Thank you." She smiled up at him.

"What should we do first?" Max asked, bundling with an energy so recognizable, the one that needed to adventure, to create stories. The energy that built from the fear of missing out, the energy that desired to be free but was confined in a cage.

"Let's walk for a bit," Stella suggested. "Let's head for the bridge."

And so they did, the five of them, relaxed and casual. They talked about their days and their families, and then they talked about their future plans, and somehow the desire to adventure became replaced with contentment that was found in conversation built between friends.

The cobblestone paths were bumpy underneath their feet as they walked. Ever clumsy, Stella blushed as she lost her footing over one. Louis caught her on the crook of her elbow before she fell, and that made her blush deepen to an even darker crimson. A man playing an acoustic guitar was singing on the side of the sidewalk, his case wide open and filled with change. He gave the group a smile, and they stopped to watch for a moment, listening to his rich voice and the delicate plucking of his guitar strings. Stella shivered as she closed her eyes to listen to the music better. The song sounded like a honey gold. She wanted so badly to be able to capture everything in this moment with her paintbrush.

They continued walking, the last of the gold sound echoing lightly. Louis picked up her arm and tucked it into his own, grinning boyishly when she looked up at him, surprised.

It was simple. Uncomplicated.

As they crossed the bridge, they paused to watch the water beneath them, and Stella grew silent as she watched the thick waves glitter with orange light.

The truth was, they weren't doing anything less different here than they would have been doing in London that evening. All that had changed was the hour that they had lost when they had traveled through time. And maybe that was something in and of itself – who their time was spent with as opposed to where.

Louis' arm brushed against hers and she stole a look.

"Feels like home," she said quietly, so quietly it got lost with the wind so quickly she was surprised he caught it.

He laughed lightly. "You've never even been here, before, Stell."

She looked up to meet his gaze, his bright hazel eyes that stared back at her. "Not about the place," she replied.

She knew she was being fickle, but she wasn't quite brave enough with her words just yet.

But maybe he understood, because his hand slipped into hers.

They wandered around for a while longer. Lily had hopped onto Max's back and had fallen asleep there. Ellis cast a charm to make her feather-light, and the four who were still awake wandered around Amsterdam until midnight.

maybe we found love right where we are.

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran

notes: this one's a fun one to write. hope you liked it like I did! Thank you for taking the time to read.

not jkr.