Nick walked back into the house with an excited Harry at half-past-one. Each of them held a gift bag, excited to show Elise all they had bought while they were gone. Nick poked his head in to check on her, noticing she was sitting up in bed, book in hand. He waved Harry in, announcing their presence.

"Good morning, sleepy head." He called.

Elise looked up with a smile, putting her book down next to her. Harry ran up to her, brandishing his gift high above his head.

"It's for you mama!" He said.

Elise took the bag and ruffled his hair lightly. "Thanks, little man. What did you get me?"

She peered into the bag, noticing a stack of three books. A trilogy she'd been wanting to read.

"Nick said it's for 'Entrapment'!" Harry said.

Nick laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Entertainment kiddo. It's so mummy doesn't get bored in here while she's sick."

Elise laughed too, setting the books neatly on her night stand. "You have something too, what's in that one?" She asked, pointing to the bag in Nick's hand."

"Well, Harry convinced his grandparents to let him sleep over this weekend, so I thought we could go out." He took the gift out and unfolded it. "And you can wear this, if you want."

Elise looked it over. A dark red dress with a low neckline and flowing sleeves. It looked like it ended just above the knees. It was gorgeous and she had just the shoes for it.

"Perhaps I will." She said, smiling at him knowingly.

Harry had moved to rest his head on her lap and was letting her play with his hair. It had grown quite long by now, and she often found herself questioning how that level of thickness was achieved in hair. Normal hair brushes did almost nothing to it, and no muggle product contained the mess.

"I'm actually feeling much better than I was this morning, shall we watch a movie?" Elise asked, patting the bed.

The boys climbed in excitedly discussing what to watch. Elise watched them, grinning widely. Nick got up to bring snacks and Harry chose "Peter Pan", excitedly snuggling up to Elise as the intro started. She sighed into him, relishing in the moment. After all, pretty soon they would both be in school again, and they wouldn't get lazy days like this very often.

Nick returned sporting popcorn and sodas. He jumped onto the bed, purposefully shaking Harry from his spot. The two fought for a minute before settling down once more. Elise shook her head, focusing on the popcorn in her hand. They would not interrupt her movie watching today.

–

Friday evening came quickly, and Elise had just dropped Harry off at his grandparents, eager to see what Nick had planned for the night. She came back into the house, surprised to find him dressed up more than usual. She supposed it made sense, considering what she was wearing. Still, she only barely masked her surprise.

His black slacks complimented his red shirt nicely. He had the top two buttons unbuttoned, revealing a silver necklace he often wore. Elise had gifted it to him two years ago for his birthday. He had wine red shoes on as well, completing the look. They made quite the picturesque couple with their coordinating reds and blacks, and Elise was excited to walk around with him, knowing all eyes would be on them tonight.

"Ready to head out?" Nick asked, patting his pockets to make sure he had everything.

"Mhm." She hummed. "Where are we going this evening?"

"I already told you, it's a surprise." Nick smiled, leading her out the door.

She rolled her eyes but followed him into the car. Off they went, to a restaurant Elise didn't recognize. It was huge, and she knew it must have cost a small fortune to reserve a table on a Friday night. She hugged Nick's arm appreciatively as they made their way to the door, her silent thanks carrying through her touch.

They entered through the big, open doors and were promptly led to their seats. Nick helped her into her chair and sat across from her, dismissing the waiter after requesting drinks. Elise glanced around the restaurant, enamored by the dimly lit dining room. Chandeliers overhead reflected tiny fragments of light, they bounced off the crystal glasses and shiny silverware. She caught Nick's gaze, totally locked onto her, and smiled.

"What's all this about, then?" She asked.

"Am I not allowed to spoil my girlfriend every once and a while?" Was his response, a smirk on his lips.

Elise hummed flirtatiously, leaning on the table to be closer to him.

Nick leaned in too, smiling widely at her. Elise found herself studying the man before her, his bright eyes and neatly combed hair. Hair that, since she had met him, had grown increasingly darker. She'd learned early on that he had bleached his hair blonde as part of a dare from a colleague. She decided she liked his dark hair much better, it brought out the green of his eyes, much like Harry.

"You know, I like your dark hair much better than the blonde." She commented, sitting back in her chair.

He chuckled, running a hand through it as he did. "Believe me, I do too." He crossed his arms and looked at her questioningly. "You know, I thought you'd have figured it out by now, but you still haven't."

Elise raised an eyebrow. "Figured what out?"

"I figured it out almost instantly. I recognized you the moment I saw you." He laughed.

"What are you talking about…?" Elise laughed along, shaking her head.

"I know you considered the fact that we went to Hogwarts together for a while, but did you just assume we had never met in all our time there together?"

"Did we?" Elise covered her mouth with her hand, suddenly embarrassed.

"Um, we used to study together on Wednesday nights…" Nick laughed harder. "Like, every week."

"Seriously?!" Elise jolted back, how could she not remember that?"

"Well, sort of." Nick had calmed down by now, and only smiled goofily at her. "You used to come sit across from me on Wednesday nights and complain about Ancient Runes, so I would help you with what I could."

Elise had her face in her hands now. "So I essentially cheated off you for a year, didn't care to pay you back in any way, and you still approached me after all that?"

"Well, you paid me in company. It wasn't your fault we weren't very close, I barely spoke." Nick smiled. "Wednesday nights were my favorite nights."

Elise looked at him then, too mortified to speak.

"Elise, honey, it's fine. I wasn't trying to embarrass you." He shook his head. "Just thought you ought to be in on everything, you know?"

Before she could respond, the waiter had brought their drinks. He poured wine into their glasses carefully, then pulled a pen and notebook out from his suit jacket.

"Have any of the appetizers caught your eye?" He asked, looking between the two of them.

"Yes sir…" Nick discussed appetizers with the waiter for a minute before he left, but Elise heard none of their conversation, too busy trying to remember her Hogwarts days.

She remembered everything Nick had said, so she knew he was telling the truth. Still, she just couldn't bring herself to believe she didn't recognize him until now. As the waiter came back to set plates in front of them and ask if they were ready to order their main course, she found herself more annoyed than anything.

"You should've said something!" She admonished when the waiter left once more.

"I didn't think it was that important." Nick shrugged. "I also figured you might already know, I guess I was wrong."

Elsie shook her head at him. "Prat."

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it? We know each other now, and I couldn't have asked to meet anyone better for me." He looked at her sincerely, ignoring her insult.

Elise bit her lip, picking at the food on her plate nervously. "That's true…" she managed.

The night continued on beautifully after that. They stuffed themselves full to bursting with delicious food and left happy and satisfied. On their walk to the car, Nick took Elise's hand and gently led her down past the restaurant. Despite her confused complaints, he kept quiet as he took her to a nearby tree, away from all the lights and noise.

"What are you up to now?" She sighed, smiling at him.

He shrugged, a nervous smile on his face. "I wanted to show you this."

He took his wand out and whirled it around methodically, spells and enchantments leaving his mouth in a hushed whisper. Elise looked around, awed by the scene before her. The small clearing glowed with shimmery orbs of magic, and if she looked closely, she could see each one contained a memory. Some of him and her, some of Harry, but each one was a special moment to them both. She sighed contentedly as one of him sitting with a small Harry asleep on his arm and her asleep on his lap floated by. She glanced around at some more before her eyes caught him.

There he was, kneeling down before her, ring box in hand. His nerves shone through his hopeful smile as he looked up at her with nothing but love and adoration. She felt herself gasp softly, rooted to the ground. Her heart raced as her mind processed her next movements. Elation aside, she was supposed to say something here, wasn't she?

He beat her to it. "Elise Clarke, will you marry me?"

She finally remembered her line, "Yes!" she cried, crouching down to clutch his face. "Of course I will." She whispered, peppering small kisses on his cheeks and forehead.

"Brilliant!" He beamed up at her. "Can I get up? My knee hurts…" He laughed, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on her waiting finger.

"I suppose." She rolled her eyes playfully, helping him stand back up.

Nick hugged her then, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She sank into the embrace, resting her head on his chest to hear his racing heart. They stood just like that for a minute, trapped in the moment. Nick pulled away, suggesting they head to the car before it got any darker. A happy Elise obliged, and they walked hand in hand to Nick's waiting truck.

"My mum is going to be ecstatic when she finds out." Elise cried giddy.

Nick didn't have the heart to tell her that she was already well aware, so he laughed along. He watched her from the side as he drove them home, glad to see her admiring her ring. Elise watched him too, plotting his reward for when they arrived home.

–

In a different part of town, Harry smiled as he slept. Happy dreams floated through his consciousness as he thought of the past few days. He couldn't wait to see his mum and see what she thought of Nick's present, would she like the ring?

Elise's mum stood to leave the room, chuckling softly at the sleeping boy. As she closed the door behind her, she felt the anticipation of the night catch up to her, she would be waiting anxiously to hear from her daughter now.

Her husband waited for her in their living room, just as excited. They went to bed that night full of nervous excitement, ready to help their daughter begin this new chapter of her life.