After the war the first thing Harry had done was get Sirius's motorcycle from Hagrid and had spent a few countless weeks figuring out how mechanics worked and had set about fixing it. He had managed to make it run properly again, but the flying part of it was still a little iffy. Luckily he didn't need it right now, considering this was a completely muggle date. His heart pounded as fast as the bike as he swerved around the London streets, his nervousness clawing at his throat, begging to spew out of him.

He told it to shut up.

Finally, finally, the winding streets gave way to one specific humongous gate. He stopped at the gate and pressed the small button beside it, requesting entrance.

"Name?" A monotonic voice asked layered with static.

"Er.. Harry Potter. I am here to pick up Lia, Cecilia." He corrected himself. A loud buzz was his answer as the gates groaned open. "This is it Potter." Harry murmured to himself before pulling his visor back down and driving up the cobblestone lined driveway.

He had hardly dismounted and taken off his helmet before the huge doors opened up and she came out. Just like last time, he could not take his eyes off of her from the second she entered his periphery. She was covered completely in a long bottle green coat with fur cuffs, a matching beret on her head. As she walked, her coat moved slightly, hinting at an outfit of black and brown with knee high boots. Her hair waved gently behind her as she walked, her red painted lips pulled up into an excited grin.

"Hi." She breathed as she reached him, looking up at him with shining eyes, and everything stopped. Time stood still, the very air which had been weaving gently stopped, his heart which had been hammering until now, stilled in peace. He wondered why he had ever been worried when standing in front of her, with her eyes on him, was the most peaceful he had ever felt.

"Hello." He greeted gently.

"You look perfect." He breathed as his eyes traversed over again. He couldn't stop looking at her, at the gentle waves in her hair, at the red in her fingertips from the cold, at her grin which revealed her white teeth, at the way she swayed in happiness. She was mesmerising.

"Thank you. You look good too." She replied. He felt a zing go through him as her eyes roved over him in appreciation (he should remember to do something nice for Kreacher for his outfit of white sweater, blue jeans and boots and the leather jacket) before they drifted to behind him and widened in surprise and excitement.

"We're going by bike? This is so cool!" She bounced up and down her hands disappearing into the pockets of her coat. Her happiness was infectious and Harry couldn't help but grin back. He turned to take out the second helmet from the storage. He stepped closer to her, and indicated to the helmet, asking her nonverbally if he could help her with it.

Lia removed the beret from her head, stuffing it into a coat pocket before stepping closer to him. Harry's hands brushed through her hair, smoothening the flyaways. Another part of him fell into place with that simple action and his conviction that this, her, was where he was meant to be. He placed the helmet on her head before they both got on and he drove, hoping that what he had planned would make her happy.

As they began driving away, Lia's arms which were first on his shoulders shifted to wrap around his waist. His breath stuttered for a minute as his brain stopped functioning, yet his driving faltered. Driving, it seemed, came to him as naturally as flying.

They drove through the suburbs, exiting the city and entering the countryside. Slowly, the city lights were exchanged for the stars, the hubbub of the city transitioning into quiet peace. Even though they didn't have an option to talk with the wind ringing in their ears, it felt like they didn't need to, their date had hardly started yet it already felt like the best day of his life. Soon, they reached the cliff that Harry had set up the date on. He parked the bike a way away from the final spot and took off both their helmets.

"So is this the part where I need to be totally cliche and ask if you brought me here to kill me?" Lia joked as she walked along him. Harry snorted in laughter. "Of course not, why would I kill you when everyone knows I am with you?"

Lia's reply was cut off as she tripped over a root, before she could fall down, Harry caught her arm, pulling her close to him.

"Careful." He whispered as he looked into her wide eyes. She pulled her arm out of his grip laughing nervously. "Where are we anyway? I don't think I recognized the roads."

"I'm not really sure actually, I found this place a while back when I was just driving. I know the way to and from here so I never really bothered to learn its name, it adds to the charm you know?"

Her reply was cut off as just then they finally entered the grove that the copse of trees was surrounding. The ground was a lush carpet of green grass and white flowers in between which he had added jars with candles which made the flowers glow beautifully. In the centre of it he had placed a small wooden table with baskets of food. Above them were strings of hanging lights and small bells stretching between the trees. He had cheated and gotten a few magical bells, ones that would always play a pleasing melody in natural air. A gentle breeze blew through the clearing, the air filled with the melody of the bells. Harry, who was directly behind Lia, felt the gentle strands of her hair tease his face, his nose filling with the smell of jasmine.

"Oh." A single word escaped Lia's lips, her trembling hands coming up to cover her mouth.

"This is…I don't even…" Unable to speak anything she spun around, eyes shining with tears and happiness looking up at Harry. "This is the most beautiful date I have ever been on." Her face radiated joy as her eyes looked into his, neither able to look away. Harry's heart thudded in his ears, his face matching the exact shade of red that was Lia's lipstick.

"I wanted it to be perfect." He whispered back. His hand brushed against the single tear which had escaped her eye. He held out his hand to her. "Shall we eat?"

"Let's." She placed her hand in his and let him lead her to the table. She handed her coat to Harry who placed it over the back of her chair as he pulled it out for her and moved to unpack the baskets. "Since it is a picnic, I hope you don't mind that the food is a bit simple. We have some cold meat sandwiches, a greek salad, chicken wraps, berries, a hummus platter, of course chocolate chip muffins, croissants, crisps, and to drink water champagne, juice in case you didn't want champagne." He finished proudly, finally finished unpacking both the heavy baskets.

"How on earth did you fit all of that in there?" Lia asked incredulously and impressively.

"Ah." Harry chuckled nervously, rubbing his hair at the back of his head. "My friend is really good at packing, she's always been very hyper organised and stuff." A sudden panicked look crossed his face as he began waving his hands in front of his face. "Not to say she did all this! Once I had the idea of what exactly I wanted to do, she just helped me figure out the logistics of it all!" He didn't want her to think he had been taking credit for someone else's idea, he wanted her to know that he had put effort into their date, so much effort.

A laugh pulled him out of his nervous blabbering. "Relax, and let's just enjoy this wonderful picnic that you bought shall we?" Agreeing Harry sat as Lia set out the cutlery and picked out a sandwich, blueberries and a couple cookies. Harry picked out a simple croissant and sat anxiously as Lia bit into the sandwich. He watched as she chewed the bite, her expression widening in wonder and joy.

"Oh my god These are amazing, where did you get them?" She completely devoured the sandwich and reached for another. Harry could feel tension loosening from his shoulders, he started on his croissant as he answered. "Actually I made them myself."

"Wait seriously? Woah so you can plan amazing dates and you can cook. Tell me more about yourself then ." She propped her chin in her left head, her right hand going for the food.

"Well." Harry popped open the champagne, pouring it into their glasses before he continued answering again. "I went to school in Scotland, I have two friends and I now live in London. What about you?" He skipped over the traumatic parts of his life, this was not the time for that.

"Such generic and unspecific answers." She commented as she cut up a few raspberries and added it to her drink along with a packet of sugar. "I studied in Switzerland actually, it's where my mom went to school, my best friend is Elsa who you already met, we've known each other for well forever, we were born three days apart and have been inseparable ever since, and I recently shifted back to London after staying for a couple years in France."

"Such generic yet specific answers." Harry shot back at her teasingly while his mind catalogued all that she had said, he would not be forgetting that. Lia laughed at that, her strawberry stained fingers wrapped around the glass stem.

"Alright here's something specific about me, I love strawberries, and if possible I would add it to everything I eat."

"I love treacle tart, I have it at least once a week, twice if I can manage it." He offered as he too added a few cut strawberries to his champagne and placed two plates of salads in front of both of them.

Lia's nose wrinkled in nausea at his answer. "Isn't that practically just sugar?" Harry gave her a rueful smile. "I never got to have much sugar when I was young, in fact the first dessert I ever ate was in boarding school and it was a treacle tart, I guess it just stuck."

Lia nodded her head thoughtfully. "Strict parents?" Harry laid the fork he had been using on the table, his hand gripping it's handle for strength.

"Strict aunt and uncle, my parents died when I was a baby." Bitterness twisted his lips, he hadn't wanted to talk about things that made him sad tonight. He had wanted to create happy memories. Lia laid her hand over his, her warmth seeping into his. He looked up into her eyes, dread pooling in his stomach over the thought of having to see pity in her eyes, yet all he saw was understanding, empathy and sadness.

"Mine died when I was 7."

Amber, that was all he could see. Pools of amber which surrounded him in warmth, understanding and sadness. A similar sadness which very few could understand, and for the first time, Harry didn't mind that he had to talk about his parents. He dropped the fork and turned his hand over, entwining their fingers together where they lay on the table and squeezed her hand. She smiled back at him as she picked up her fork with the other hand, both mutually deciding to move on from such heavy topics.

"So tell me about your friends then…"

Before either of them knew it, hours had passed and even more of the cold had set in. Lia had wrapped herself back in her coat on which Harry had placed a subtle warming charm, he didn't want her to get cold. They had finished a good portion of the food and were now sitting sipping their flutes of champagne, a pleasant buzz in both their heads.

Throughout the date, neither had let go of the others' hand, nor had the conversation at any point ever been dull or awkward, it seemed they could not get the words out fast enough, always another anecdote, or incident or obscure fact slipping from their lips one after another.

"...You are so lying!" Lia gasped out in between tears.

"I really am not! One of our professors really did release a box full of moths as some sort of activity and then left us to deal with it!" Harry retorted. He glanced at his watch and when he saw it was almost midnight he straightened in his chair.

"I have a surprise for you." He announced.

"Really?" Lia asked excitedly. "I hope you know you have set my expectations extremely high with this date."

"Then I have accomplished my goal." Harry said as he stood and held out a hand to help Lia to her feet. She placed her hand in his and let him pull her closer than strictly necessary to walk as they moved from the clearing to the edge of the cliff.

"I don't know if that is such a good thing, I will be disappointed if our next date doesn't atleast live up to this." She snorted as she responded.

Harry stopped abruptly, pulling her even closer. His breath ghosted over her nose and mouth, eyes shining in anticipation and happiness as he asked, "Next date?"

Lia's hands came up to run through the bird's nest he called his hair. "Of course, did you really think I would let you go after just one night ?" She whispered back.

"Then." Harry's hands cupped her face, his moving impossibly closer to hers. "You won't mind if I kiss you will you?" He had hardly finished speaking before Lia had tilted her face into his, connecting their lips.

Home. I am home.

That was the first thought in Harry's mind. He had read in multiple novels that when you kissed your true love, you felt fireworks, yet that was not the case for him. He felt at home. He had found his purpose and cause, the reason he would get up every single day and the reason that would be filling his dreams forever. It was fireworks, and the stars, and the universe and the warmth of a Weasley sweater, the magic of Hogwarts all wrapped into one and magnified, it was something that was almost too much yet not enough.

When they finally pulled away it was not all at once, but with repeated pecks and with each chasing the other again and again until the happiness in their souls quieted enough to hear the faint bangs in the background. Right, the fireworks which he had requested from George, the more muggle version of the classic Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks. Harry tucked the hair he had messed up and turned her until her back was pressed to his chest.

"Look." He whispered as he directed her to the sky where the fireworks were forming various shapes, with exploding hearts, gold showers and (literal) shooting stars.

"It's gorgeous." The lights from the fireworks lit up Lia's face, her expression of joy and wonder causing irreparable damage to Harry's heart. He needed to buy a pensive. Stat. He never wanted to forget this moment and regretted not bringing a camera.

"Yes. Gorgeous." He replied as his gaze never wavered from the gorgeous woman in his arms. If he could stay in this moment forever, he would happily waste away his life basking in the warmth and happiness he felt at that moment.

Lia turned to look at him, a mysterious look in her eyes as her hands came to rest on his chest. He wondered if she could feel the way she set his blood on fire.

"These are so unique and beautiful, where did you even get them?" She asked.

"Oh, a friend of mine makes them, he has his own shop where he sells stuff like this and prank items and other odds and ends." She nodded her head in acceptance before opening her mouth and freezing Harry's blood.

"Ohhh, you mean at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

What. The. Fuck.