The next month passed by smoothly. Lorelei maintained her grades, as well as her friendships. She introduced Mrs. Norris to her friends; Myra took an immediate liking to the temperamental cat. Her relationship with Filch continued to grow and they met as often as they could. When they couldn't meet, Filch would leave little gifts like a flower or a random trinket he had found in an old storage room.

"Your birthday is coming up soon isn't it, Lorelei? Do you think Filch will do anything special for it?" Beth asked as the girls were walking into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Oh yeah. I suppose it is." She had completely forgotten it was only a few days away from the 18th. She tilted her head. "I don't know if Argus even knows when my birthday is."

"I'm sure he could sneak a look at your student record if he wanted to." Myra said. She was slowly accepting the fact that Lorelei was in a relationship with Filch, but she still didn't like him.

Lorelei laughed. "I'm sure he could. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if he does anything this weekend." She smiled at the thought of Filch surprising her like he had for Christmas.

"You're going to be 19 right?" Beth asked.

Lorelei nodded. "I'm an old lady compared to you two." She stuck her tongue out at her friends as they sat down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

Her friends laughed as they sat across from her.

"You see your old man anywhere?" Myra teased.

"Don't say it like that!" Lorelei scowled. "He isn't that old!" She scanned the Great Hall, looking for Filch's familiar slumping form in the corners. She saw him and flashed him a bright smile. She watched, pleased, as his face coloured slightly and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Ugh! I don't know what to wear!" Lorelei threw her hands up in defeat and plopped onto her friend's bed. "Everything I own is Slytherin coloured uniforms." She was trying to pick out what to wear to her date with Filch tonight. He had pulled her aside and told her to meet him at the courtyard where they had decorated the Christmas tree.

"That is a problem. You can't go on a date wearing a school uniform, and your town clothes don't fit the occasion." Myra mused.

"What about this?" Beth held up a simple black dress. "I've never seen you wear this."

Lorelei sat up. "I forgot I had that. It was supposed to be an event dress, but I ended up getting a different one." She took the dress from Beth and held it up to herself in the mirror. "This could work."

"I approve." Myra added from across the room.

Lorelei smiled. "Thanks, Myra."

Beth's tall form appeared in the mirror behind her. "You should clip your hair back like this." Beth placed a few of her butterfly clips in Lorelei's hair.

"That does look cute." Myra agreed.

Lorelei turned to her friends. "Thanks you two, I don't know what I would do without you."

"You better hurry and get ready, it's starting to get dark out." Beth shoved Myra out the door of the dorms to give Lorelei some privacy. "Let us know what happens when you get back from your date!

No matter how many times they met, Lorelei still got butterflies when they were together. Filch was holding her hand and guiding her down the abandoned hallways to the courtyard.

"Are you going to make me close my eyes again when we get there?" Lorelei joked.

Filch squeezed her hand. "Not this time." He was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of her. She looked stunning in her black dress, her hair clipped back and not falling in her eyes for once.

Lorelei noticed a subtle glow emanating from the doorway to the courtyard. 'Is there a fire?' She wondered to herself.

Before the two could walk into the courtyard, Filch stopped and turned to look at Lorelei. "Don't get your hopes up too high now. It's not much, I didn't have much time to prepare."

"Oh, Filch, you worry too much." Lorelei held his hand up to her face. "I know I'll love it, whatever it is."

Filch blushed. "If ya say so." He led her through the doorway into the courtyard.

Lorelei's breath caught in her throat. Surrounding the tree and all around the courtyard were candles: floating in the air, sitting on stones. In the midst of the candles underneath the tree a blanket was spread. There was a bouquet of spring flowers sitting in the middle of the blanket along with a small golden box. Lorelei was instantly curious what was inside the golden box.

Filch looked nervously at Lorelei, but relaxed when he saw the smile lighting up her face. "You're happy with it?"

"It's beautiful, Filch! I don't know how you managed this, but it's perfect." She turned to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well calm down now, you haven't seen your present yet. You might hate it." He half joked.

By now Lorelei had led Filch over to the blanket and sat down to admire the flowers. She buried her face in them, taking in their fresh smell.

Filch sat next to her and delicately put his hand on her back. "You should open your gift." He picked up the golden box and handed it to her.

Lorelei opened the lid of the box and inside was nestled a little pendant made of glass strung on a chain of gold. The glass orb was blue with magical swirls inside that sparkled like the night sky above them.

"Oh Filch, it's gorgeous!" Lorelei handed the necklace to him. "Please put it on!"

Filch placed the necklace around Lorelei's slender neck and after a little fiddling managed to secure it. "There, now let me see it on you."

Lorelei turned to face Filch, still admiring the necklace.

"Beautiful." Filch said, looking only at Lorelei.

"It really is. I've never seen anything like it before." She finally looked up at Filch. "I love it. Thank you."

Filch looked down for a moment. "It's a special necklace, imbued with special magic. It's a promise.." His gravelly voice trailed off.

"A promise of what?" Lorelei prompted, leaning forward curiously.

Filch looked back up into Lorelei's eyes. "My promise to you that no matter what I will always lo…" Filch swallowed and cleared his throat. "I will always love you." He said quietly.

Lorelei looked at Filch with tears welling in her eyes.

"I didn't think a ring was right until after you graduated, so that will have to wait until next year, that is, if you feel the same." Filch's inner walls were crumbling by the second. He didn't know what this girl had done to him, but it was making him feel whole again.

"Filch…" Lorelei reached out her hands for his. "I… I love you too."

They both leaned into a kiss. Lorelei ran her hands up Filch's arms until they were around his neck and pulled him in closer. Filch wrapped his arms around her and eagerly kissed her back. Feelings that had been held back came pouring out and the two found themselves making love under the stars.

EPILOGUE

After Lorelei graduated, she stayed on as Filch's new apprentice groundskeeper. As promised, on her next birthday Filch proposed and within a few months they were married at Hogwarts. Beth and Myra being her bridesmaids of course.

Life for the two was not all smooth sailing. A boy named Harry Potter caused quite a few mishaps as well as the second rise of Voldemort. Filch and Lorelei stayed behind at Hogwarts during the Second Wizarding War to help evacuate the students and protect the castle as best they could.

After the war and the unfortunate death of Severus Snape, Lorelei became the new Potions teacher, only taking a leave of absence to care for her first and only child. Mr. and Mrs. Filch lived happily at Hogwarts until Filch's passing when Lorelei went to live with her then adult child.

*Just want to say a huge thank you for anyone who read this! This is my first finished fanfiction and I had so much fun writing it!*