It has taken me forever to get over my writers block (I still haven't completely), but I still did not find a good way to continue the story without repeating previous sequences. So I finally decided upon wrapping the story up now. I hope that it has come full circle; myself, I like to think that it has. I have said sorry for taking forever to update once too often, so I guess you all know by now; thusly, I will not do so again. There will an epilogue of sorts, though I can already tell you that it will not be a typical one, but other than that, this will be the last chapter. Thank you all for staying on board, for reading my story, for your kind words and support.
Greetings, Grey Tulip
Now, on with the story!
"Am I allowed back to bed?" I asked. I had spent last night on the couch after our fight.
"Maybe, if you behave."
"I'm hurt" I replied mock-seriously. "Never would I dare not to."
"Sure." She deadpanned. "You know, you can quit the whole innocent routine now. I don't believe you anyways."
I pouted at her. "What, sweet innocent little old me, not credible? You don't mean that."
"Oh, shut up" she retorted playfully, before kissing me swiftly. I kept it down to soft and sweet this time. After all, we had just patched things up after our little fight. I was not about to destroy that balance again.
"You didn't have to do quite as much, you know?" she asked me once the kiss ended. "A simple sorry would have been sufficient. Not to mention that I let my insecurities got the better of me, too, so I guess I should say sorry as well."
"Oh, and I'm not allowed to do something nice for you without a motive?"
She simply raised her eyebrows at me.
"Alright, alright. We haven't really fought like this before. I didn't know how to react. I'd rather do too much than too little, you know?"
She grinned. "I do. Come to think of it, I would likely have done something similar."
"You? You would have read a few dozen relationship guides first" I mocked her semi-seriously.
She gave me a little scowl, but could not really keep it up and started to grin as well. "Well… maybe"
"Quite honestly, I thought of simply asking you what you wanted to do, because I did not have any idea how to do something nice for you that you would not have done anyways without resorting to the old clichés, but then I thought that the old clichés weren't all that bad either. Really, I just want to spent time with you. I love your body, don't get me wrong, but I love this" I lightly tapped her head "and this…" I tapped against her chest lightly.
"The heart is on the other side" she murmured quietly, clearly not wanting to interrupt me, but unable to keep her thoughts to herself.
"And poof, you've gone and ruined my big romantic speech. Insufferable know-it-all" I chuckled at her. The once frequently used insult had become a teasing kind of affection by now. "But" I drew my hand up to the right side of my own chest "I love you with all my lung, too."
I kissed her swiftly, before taking her hand and dragging her over to the bedroom. We did not do much that night. We just curled up like two cats, her arm lazily draped across my stomach.
We had just had our first big fight since we had gotten together. It was not the last to come, of that much I was sure. There was a reason we had clashed so much during our first six years of Hogwarts; we were, after all, two headstrong women who had very different opinions on many things. The honeymoon stage of our relationship, where all we could do was gaze into each other's eyes and have endless amounts of sex and would be content, was clearly over.
But, I realized with clarity that night that, in the grand scheme of things, it did not matter. We would spend many hours being angry at each other, saddened by the other's carelessness, screaming and fighting, but it would be worth it. It would be worth it, just to see those smiles, and feel this kind of contentment. Knowing, for now, that this was the woman I wanted to marry. And know, later, that this was the woman I married, till death do us part.