James unlocked the door and they went inside. Passing through the kitchen, James stopped at the door to the second bedroom and swung it open. Rose gasped.
"James! What is this?"
James grinned. "Welcome to Noah's nursery."
Rose took in the draped crib, and the high dresser, and the big comfy armchair, and the little white bookcase, and the frames on the walls, and tears sprang to her eyes. It was a traditional nursery, and the colours were all soft blues and greys and sepia. Lace curtains hung at the window, and there were stuffed animals scattered about the room. "Oh, James." breathed Rose. "I didn't know you could do this. I love it."
James pulled her into a one-armed hug and began pointing out features of the room. "See, the dresser can double as the change table. I already put most of Noah's things in it. Then I found this lamp, I thought it was pretty cool. Oh, and look at the photographs."
The first photo had Rose and James as little kids playing in a mud puddle. She was all arms and legs, her wavy auburn hair flying in the wind. James' raven hair too, was sticking up, but that was to be expected. He could never make it lie flat. As Rose watched, photo James tried to smear the young Rose with mud, but she ducked and got him in the face instead. They turned and waved at Rose. "We were so young." she whispered.
The other photos were more recent, but none of them had both Rose and James. Rose commented on this fact. "I know." replied James. "Say cheese." He pulled a camera out from one of the drawers and stepped beside her. There was a click and the photo magically shot out.
In this photo, Rose was crying, but she had a big smile on her face. James was simultaneously focusing on holding the camera and also gazing lovingly down at Rose. She turned her face up towards him, and they kissed briefly.
"Perfect." said the real James. He slid the photo into an empty frame and fixed it back onto the wall.
Back in the living room, James and Rose curled up on the couch. "I love the nursery James," said Rose "but if we can't afford the house yet..."
He stopped her. "The house is ours."
"I know, but we need the crib back at the flat until we can move in..." This time Rose was stopped by the look in James' eye. "What's going on?"
"I made enough money, and I bought the house." explained James.
"But how?" asked Rose.
"Well, you know we were pretty close. It was just a matter of galleons. Anyway, it was payday last week, and I managed to get an early advance on the next one. We had just enough money, so I did it! I know it might have been smart to wait, but I know this was important to you Rose." replied James.
"We live here." said Rose, stunned. "This is our house."
"This is our home." agreed James. "We're basically broke, and I had a six month lease on the apartment, so we still have to pay rent until the first of August, but we'll manage."
Rose nodded. "We don't have to leave." she realized.
"We never have to leave." agreed James.
"Well, in that case..."
Rose turned to James and kissed him. He responded eagerly, but backed away when she started to tug at his shirt. "Rose, what are you doing?"
"I want you." she replied.
"But... yesterday? You said we weren't doing that." James accused.
"I know. But it's okay now." She leaned towards him.
He took a deep breath and held her off. "No, it's not. Why are you suddenly all right with this?"
Rose frowned at him. "It's not sudden James. Well, it is, but it's not random. You just did something really wonderful for me. Can't I do the same for you?"
"Hey." said James "I don't want you to feel like you have to have sex with me. I told you, that's not why I'm here."
Rose sighed and sat back. "Yesterday I was caught up in thinking about Eadlyn." she explained "But you've helped me through that, and so did Grandma. I'm not saying I'm over it; over her. I love her and miss her. But I'm going to be happy. Like I said, you just made me really happy, and I didn't feel guilty. I love you, and I want you. I'm not just agreeing to sex for you, I'm doing it for me too."
"You're ready for this?" asked James. "It's okay to say no."
"I'm ready." said Rose. "I can't promise that I won't have bad days ever again, but hopefully they'll be less frequent. And today isn't one of them."
"Okay." replied James. "Okay."
He laid her gently on the couch and kissed her slowly. The first time they had made love, it had been, well, an accident. The second time, they were both alone, and scared. They had each needed somebody to hold onto. Each time after that had been passionate. But this time, something was different. This time was gentle and sweet. They were gentle, because they had already been through so much pain and neither wanted to hurt the other. They were sweet, because that was how they loved each other; sweetly. These were two people who had found each other, even if it hadn't been in a normal way. They were like soulmates. They spent the night exploring each other, discovering new things. They had been drawn together, and now they enforced that bond, so that even if it somehow broke, they never would. At the height of pleasure, they whispered each other's names.