9 YEARS LATER

Every year my parents threw a family Christmas party and every year it was, without fail, the most stressful day of my life. It was the only time of year where Terry came into contact with the majority of my muggle family and whilst Terry knew better than to reveal the existence of magic, he couldn't help the occasional slip up when presented with something so entirely muggle that he had no idea what it was.

Every year I tried to convince him not to come but every year he'd remind me that my mother wanted her future son-in-law to be presented. He'd even remind me that once we were married, they would be his family as well. I just thought he was trying to win brownie points with my father.

But, nevertheless, because of Terry's insistence on coming along, I found myself standing in front of the fireplace waiting for Terry to arrive. Getting the fireplace linked to the floo network had been one of the first things Terry sorted out when we left Hogwarts and he used it often to visit. The fireplace came to life and Terry stepped out of it, wiping soot away from him.

I cast a quick scourgify on him before stepping into his open arms. His arms wrapped around my waist, squeezing me tight.

"I hate waking up and not having you beside me," he muttered, burrowing his head into my neck.

"You always say that," I replied, pulling away slightly to look up at him with a smile.

"Maybe it's a hint, telling you to never spend the night away from me?"

"Boot!" Terry stiffened, pushing himself away from me roughly at my father's voice.

I bit the inside of my cheek to try and hide my smile when Terry turned to face my dad. Dad was standing in the doorway, eyeing Terry with disdain. Stepping forward to greet my dad, Terry threw me a look, silently telling me to save him when Dad wasn't looking.

"Dad you should go and help mum," I said coming up from behind them both. I stood between the pair of them, looking up at dad, "I'm going to help Terry get settled in – we'll be back in ten minutes."

"The guest bedroom's already been set up." Dad crossed his arms over his chest, silently daring Terry to protest.

"Leave him alone," Mum said, walking into the room. She patted Dad's arm, "We agreed that he'd share her room."

"Dianne," Dad whines, turning to face Mum, only to trail off at the sight of her death glare.

The silent conversation between my parents continued and I ushered Terry out of the room and up the stairs. Once we were in my old bedroom, Terry took out his miniature luggage from his pocket and threw it on the bed, returning it to its real size with the wave of his wand. He then threw himself down on the bed, staring up at me.

"Why does your dad still hate me?" He sat up, patting the space next to him for me to sit down. When I was sitting next to him, he leaned his head against my shoulder. "We've been engaged for 2 years already."

"Maybe it has something to do with you not asking for his permission to marry me?"

"I told you already," he whined, "I had no idea that was a muggle custom – wizards don't see the need to do that."

"I'm sure he'll end up liking you eventually Terry. But Mum's fighting you're corner constantly, you know how much she likes you."

"I'm her favourite son-in-law," he said with a smile, straightening up again. "Despite not even officially being one yet."

"Speaking of son-in-law's," I said standing up and facing him. "My brother-in-laws are supposed to be arriving later today and so, you know the drill, don't let on about anything magical."

"It's like you have no trust in me," he complained, coming up behind me. Wrapping his arms around me, he hugged me from behind. "Merlin, I missed you."

I turned to face him, putting my arms around his neck. "I've only been gone for a week."

"A week too long," he muttered, putting his forehead to mine.

"I've missed you too," I admitted, leaning up on my toes to press a kiss to his lips.

Terry smiled against my lips, moving a hand from my waist to the back of my neck. He pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss. Running my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, I fitted myself against hm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice demanded.

I pulled away from Terry like I'd been shocked. Terry screwed his eyes shut, muttering curses under his breath as I turned to face Dad who was standing in the open doorway.

"Dad," I said weakly as he walked into the room.

He gestured for me to step away from Terry and I seriously considered leaving Terry at the mercy of my dad but he'd chew him apart. I stood next to Terry, who only gestured for me to step away. Moving away from Terry I watched as Dad stepped towards him.

"Listen to me, young man," Dad said, glaring up at Terry. "Just because I like you the best out of all my daughter's significant others, doesn't mean that I'm going to let you get away with anything. Is that understood?"

Terry nodded, eyes wide as Dad walked out of the room. He watched the empty doorway for a while before looking at me with still wide eyes.

"He likes me the best?" Terry repeated.

"I guess you could put it that way." I admitted. "I mean, he complains about you the least."

Terry grinned widely. "He likes me the best."

I smiled, taking his hand to pull him out of the room. "Come along, Boot, let's not keep your soon-to-be best friend waiting."