"Gil." She appeared at his side in the Great Hall, her tray clattering onto the bench beside him. "We're going to Hogsmeade on Saturday."
Gilderoy looked up from his toast, one eyebrow raised. "We are?"
"Yes." She didn't elaborate. She simply began buttering her toast with the efficiency of someone who had already decided the matter.
"Am I allowed to ask why?"
She glanced at him, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Because we've been together for months and we've never actually gone on a proper date. We had a dinner date, yes, thanks to my dear boyfriend." She elbowed him gently. "We've trained together, studied together, fought together, become Animagi together, but we've never gone out together."
Gilderoy set down his toast, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Amelia Bones, are you asking me out?"
"I'm telling you we're going to Hogsmeade." She took a bite of her toast, chewing deliberately. "If you want to call it asking, you can."
"I'm calling it asking." He leaned back in his chair, his grin widening. "I'm also calling it the highlight of my week."
"Don't be dramatic."
"I'm never dramatic. I'm simply enthusiastic that a girl is asking me out on a date."
Amelia rolled her eyes, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Saturday. Ten o'clock. Don't be late."
Saturday arrived with a pale grey sky and a light dusting of snow that had fallen overnight, softening the edges of the castle and muffling the sounds of the grounds. Gilderoy stood at the entrance to the courtyard, his cloak pulled tight against the chill, his breath forming small clouds in the cold air.
Amelia appeared moments later, her practical robes swapped for something warmer: a thick wool cloak in deep blue that brought out the colour of her eyes, her hair loose around her shoulders instead of its usual practical knot.
Gilderoy blinked.
"What?" she asked, catching his expression.
"Nothing. You just..." He paused, searching for the right words. "You look nice."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm wearing a cloak. How do you know I look nice?"
"Stop asking silly questions, girl. I am just complementing my girlfriend as a duty of a boyfriend."
"Oh, so you're doing it just for the sake of your duty?"
"No, I'm doing it for something else." His eyes dropped to her breasts.
Following Gilderoy's eyesight as it landed on her chest, she sent a stinging hex in his direction, which he effortlessly dodged.
"My apologies, gorgeous lady. You really look beautiful."
"Hmmf. That's more like it."
She shook her head, but the smile she was trying to hide broke through anyway. "You're impossible."
"Flattering, though."
"Impossible and flattering. What a combination."
The Thestral-drawn carriages waited at the edge of the courtyard, their invisible steeds shifting restlessly. Gilderoy offered Amelia his hand to help her up, and she took it, a small gesture that felt more significant than it should have.
The ride to Hogsmeade was quiet at first, the crunch of the carriage wheels against the snow filling the silence. Gilderoy watched the landscape pass, the Forbidden Forest to their left, the mountains rising in the distance, the small village appearing gradually as they rounded the final bend.
Amelia broke the silence first. "I've been thinking about what you said. About the war."
He turned to look at her. "Which part?"
"The part about not being able to afford ignorance." She was looking out the window, her profile sharp against the grey sky. "I think about it too. More than I let on."
"You're not ignorant, Amelia. You're the most prepared person I know."
"I'm prepared for the Ministry. For the tests, the training, the procedures." She turned to face him, her eyes serious. "I'm not prepared for what happens if I lose someone else."
Gilderoy felt the weight of her words settle between them. He reached across the carriage and took her hand, threading his fingers through hers.
"You won't lose me," he said quietly. "I'm annoyingly hard to get rid of."
She laughed, the tension breaking. "That's true. You are annoyingly hard to get rid of."
Honeydukes was warm and crowded, the air thick with the scent of sugar and chocolate and something that might have been treacle. Gilderoy steered them toward the chocolate display, his eyes scanning the shelves with the enthusiasm of a child who had been given free rein in a sweet shop.
"Anything you want," he announced, gesturing expansively. "My treat."
Amelia folded her arms. "You're going to buy me sweets?"
"I'm going to buy you whatever you want. This is a date. Dates involve spoiling the other person."
"They do not."
"They absolutely do. It's in the dating manual."
She stared at him. "There's no dating manual."
"There is. I wrote it. Chapter one: 'Spoil Your Beloved with Sweets.'"
She tried to school her expression into something stern, but the smile kept breaking through. "Fine. One thing."
"One thing?" He pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I'm offering you any sweets you like, and you're taking one thing?"
She rolled her eyes, but she reached for a box of chocolate frogs. There were two kinds, one normal and one premium, and she chose the premium ones with the golden wrappers. "This. And you're not buying me anything else."
Ignoring her, he bought her the chocolate frogs. He also bought a bag of Fizzing Whizzbees, a box of Peppermint Toads, and a bar of Honeydukes' finest chocolate, the dark kind with the caramel centre.
Amelia watched him pay with an expression that was equal parts exasperated and amused. "You said you'd buy me one thing."
"Technically, I said I'd buy you whatever you wanted. You wanted one thing. I wanted several things. Anyway, since we're a couple, won't we share this?"
"Oh? Earlier you were offering to buy me many sweets and gave me an example from the book you wrote, 'Spoil Your Beloved with Sweets.' Now you want to share? Hmm..." She side-eyed him.
"Isn't there a saying, 'What's yours is mine?'"
"Yes. But that's a phrase for married couples."
"No, it's not. It's for normal couples."
"Alright, alright." Amelia grinned at him, their banter settling into something warm. She hugged him around the waist. "Yes, we can share, dear boyfriend."
The Three Broomsticks was quieter than usual, the lunch crowd having already thinned. They found a table near the fire, the warmth of the flames chasing away the cold that had settled into their bones during the walk. Gilderoy ordered two butterbeers, and they sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the fire flicker and dance.
Amelia broke the silence first. "Tell me something I don't know about you."
Gilderoy considered this. "I was actually quite shy before I met you."
She snorted. "You? Shy?"
"Believe it or not, I used to be a quiet, unassuming person." He grinned. "Then I discovered the power of a good smile and an even better lie."
"Lie?"
"Exaggeration. Same thing." He leaned back in his chair. "What about you? Something I don't know."
Amelia traced the rim of her glass. "I wasn't never outgoing. I used to be strict and accept no nonsense."
"And now?"
"And now I'm still strict and I still accept no nonsense." She took a sip of her butterbeer. "The difference is I've learned to tolerate you."
He laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Take it however you want."
---
Finishing their butterbeer, they walked through the village after lunch, the snow crunching beneath their boots. The streets were quieter than usual, most students still in the castle preparing for exams or catching up on sleep. Gilderoy found himself grateful for the silence.
They passed Zonko's Joke Shop, and Amelia paused, her eyes scanning the display.
"Did you ever go there as a student?" Gilderoy asked.
"I went once." She shook her head. "Hated it. The noise, the chaos, it was too much."
"Too much chaos for future Auror Bones?"
She shot him a look. "Future Aurors are allowed to have preferences."
"Of course. I just assumed you'd enjoy a bit of chaos, considering you spend so much time with me."
"That's different," she said. "You're chaos I've chosen."
He felt something warm settle in his chest. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Amelia winked at him.
They continued walking, the silence between them comfortable. Gilderoy reached out and took her hand, and she let him.
The snow began to fall again, soft, light flakes that drifted down like tiny feathers. Amelia looked up, her face catching the pale light.
"It's beautiful," she murmured.
"It is," Gilderoy agreed, but he wasn't looking at the snow.
She turned to catch him watching her, and her cheeks flushed, just slightly, just enough for him to notice.
"You're doing it again," she said.
"Doing what?"
"Being charming."
"I'm always charming. It's my natural state."
She giggled, biting his ear playfully as she wrapped his arm around hers, and they walked towards the Thestral carriages. "Never change, Gilderoy. Never change."
The carriage ride back to Hogwarts was warmer than the journey out, the Thestrals strangely seeming to sense their mood as their pace stayed steady and calm. Amelia leaned against Gilderoy's shoulder, her eyes half-closed, her hand still in his.
He didn't speak. He didn't need to. This moment, this simple quiet moment, was enough.
When they reached the castle, Amelia straightened, her expression shifting to something more alert, but her hand stayed in his.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For today."
"Thank you for suggesting it." He squeezed her hand. "I had a wonderful time too."
"So did I." She smiled, warm and unguarded, and tugged him forward.
"Come with me," she said.
"Where?"
"The Room of Requirement."
As soon as Gilderoy heard the words, he took her hand and dragged her enthusiastically, reversing their roles so that he was now leading her instead of the other way around. Amelia grinned at his immediate response.
___
Drop powerstones please.
📖 Advanced Chapters on Patreon- Patreon readers are getting the equivalent of 18+ advanced WebNovel-length chapters!
📸 I've started adding images to the story to make reading the fic more fun and immersive!
I'll be adding more images as the story progresses, but these images will be Patreon exclusive.
https://patreon.com/A_Peverel