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Just like that, all of the anger washed away; dissipated like sea foam across the sandy shore. He saw it, really, he did. Maybe it was because of that he had let his mind slip, and those words tumbled faster than he could have projected. Or maybe he really hadn't noticed at all and was just so wrapped up in not trying to get himself in trouble (because dammit, he was hoping to get a good shag tonight.) But that was thrown out the window by the shrill of wind whistling past his ears and the walls of the loft tumbled on their side. No! Wait! He was on his side, now! That glass of wine had toppled over and splattered all over his jeans, soaked into the carpets and caught sprays of droplets on the bed comforter. It was cold, and thick, and sticky, and he tried so, so hard not to think about it. His elbows bounced back and forth on the mattress as she shook him; his face was a mix of shock, annoyance, confusion, and guilt, all twisted in his lips to the shape of an 'o'.

”Ugh, c'mon!” He was exasperated, clumsily trying to bring himself to a sitting position so he wasn't outstretched like a hefty sack of Bertie Botts jelly beans. ”You know that's not what I meant!” He complained, an edge sharpened his tone. ”I know you know that's not what I meant.” He waved his hand for an exaggerated effect, completely blinded to the real root of the problem.

It wasn't until she threw her hands back up at him in response and mumbled that he finally quieted down. ”Oh.” It was dumb. It was bloody moronic! But it was all he could think to say at the moment.

He knew she wasn't really jealous of the hound dog; not really. Not the little girl herself compared to what she represented, what she could do that Gracie couldn't. He sighed, long and hard. Scooted to the edge of the bed and slung forward, Dominic held his head in his hands for a slow, paralyzing moment. His frown hung deep, the wrinkles there looked more accustomed to the frown than it ever did his smile. ”You know we have to talk about this right...?” He didn't look up at first, he was almost worried to see the look on her face—to see if she was still even there. ”C'mere,” he gestured, held out a hand for her to hold and waited for her to climb in his lap, beside him, anywhere so she was at least near him.

”....In a few years people might finally start to notice, some'll whisper, others will talk. But I don't care. It doesn't mean a thing. As long as I have you.... I promise.”

See? He wasn't always a git. Now if he could just keep this up and stop from belching out the first thing that comes to his mind like, 'licorice caramel sugar quills' and 'can we snog now?' He should be just fine! Now to remember what spell it was that's supposed to clean up all this blood....?

Her resistance wasn't one-sided, not at all. He dragged his heels into this conversation, procrastinated, pushed it back for years. Sure, occasionally, he would consider the reality of the fact that, yes, this is his first relationship. And yes, it's pretty much guaranteed to not last. But that didn't have to be so. In the mornings he'd wake up so alone, and wonder. But every night he knew he had her. ”I knooow,” he mumbled. Heavy arms coiled around her for support, a hand on her thigh and wrapped around her waist. A sigh fluttered under his breath and he hid his face in her hair, tucked into the nook of her neck and all he could see was pink.

”—Don't say it—“ he cut her off, didn't even hear her trailing off, all he could hear was that word in his head. Dead. Until he's dead. It might not happen for a hundred years, or he could break his neck during his next practice and just... Dominic bit his tongue; it was hard not to think about it.

”It's not your fault,” he furrowed his brows and frowned. ”You couldn't have known. You said it was an accident, right?” To this day, Dom still didn't know why she was in the Forbidden Forest that night, what had gotten her there and how it all happened. ”You're still here.... That's all that matters.” He paused, ignored the flips in the pit of his stomach as she broke loose and voiced her thoughts. He'd thought them, too. Not often, but once or twice on a rainy afternoon. He couldn't help it. But it always brought him right back to the same answer. ”But I wouldn't be happy. I know I wouldn't. I don't want a normal life. If I did, I would've listened to my mum all those years ago, I wouldnt've gone into professional qudditich, I wouldn't be here with you, but I am.

“You're not getting rid of me that easy.” He tried to comfort her with a small peck on the cheek and a lopsided smile.

His arms adjusted to coddle her closer to his chest, her face disappeared from view curtained by pink. A silent sigh was heavy on his lips as he dipped his chin atop her head, slid clumsy fingers through her hair careful to not pull any tangles if he found any. He was worried; he hated knowing he could never be with her, not truly, not in death. This world was a blink in the eye of what was to come, and he dreaded knowing he would face it, whatever it was, alone. He wanted to argue more, but thought better of it and relished in the silence. He could almost pretend that time was still, that nothing would change... If he could only focus on the present. Just then, she shifted, and tilted her head back to look up at him. Her hands felt frozen as they grazed his cheeks. He smiled softly, and it grew, wider and wider, if only because her shirt was ruffled and the view was expansive. ”You don't have to apologize, mon amour, I love you too.” It was with a small chuckle he tore his gaze away from her chest, planted a soft kiss on her lips and was then thrown aside and onto his back.

”Well now,” he smirked cheekily with hands on her hips. Of course, he hadn't at all expected those next words to come flying past her lips like a taunting slap. ”Oh, c'mon, I did not! And I don't think you really needed my help on that.” He implied, laughing gently under his breath—until she said it. ”Oi! What! Did you just?” He scoffed, rolled his eyes and laughed. ”I'll let you get away with that this time.” He bristled, obviously still unamused by it, even if it did make him smile.

”Woman, you've gone mad.” He murmured, laughing and shaking his head as he said so. ”Now c'mere and kiss me, dammit.”

Brows scrunched up creased with worry; it was her laughter that'd done it, that giggle always led to trouble. Mesmerized, his gaze was transfixed on her, followed her every motion. ”Pffft, only mostly.” He retorted with a quite over exaggerated matter-of-fact voice, all the while, his hands pawed over her. ”You know you want it.” He smirked now this time, but it didn't last. His lips were pulled into a teasing kiss, it was hard to ignore the tug at his clothing. ”Hm?” He responded instinctively curious when told not to worry, brow quirked and one eyelid fluttered open to watch her. She fluttered down to his neck, cold lips leaving chills across his flesh as he tilted his head to one side, exposing the skin. He just laughed.

Dominic relished in the moment; imagined a world where time stood still. A chuckle underlined his words as he grinned and dimples adorned each cheek. ”I think that can be arranged,” he mused jokingly. ”Sooooooo, it'll be the end of the summer soon...” he suggested with wiggling brows. ”What do you want to do for our anniversary this year?” He was excited, but he tried not to let it show. Not only was it going to be their fifth year together, but it would be the first year he actually had galleons to spend on her. It wouldn't be pity presents exchanged and a couple of snogging sessions under a starry sky. Dominic wanted this to be special.

He wanted it to be big.

As Gracie leaned in close to boop him with a kiss on the nose, he stole her lips in his for a quick second and smiled. A little growl escaped the depths of his throat as she teased him, tugged at his shirt and flashed him a delicate wink. ”I knew it.” He laughed. Slid his eyes to a close and hummed thoughtfully as her lips teased the nape of his neck. Before he knew it, he was beginning to wiggle and squirm out of shirt before he tossed it aside on the ground. Feverish, Dominic pawed at the ends of her bright pink hair playfully as she pressed her palms against his chest to shift her weight around.

”Mhmmm,” he murmured in reply just before she pressed a few simple kisses against his jawline until they met his lips once again. But eventually, he broke away from the kiss to fix her with a pointed look. ”You never give a damn about anything,” he pointed out. ”You're so indecisive sometimes,” he lamented and groaned with an exaggerated roll of his eye. He may have been stretching the truth, but sometimes it could certainly feel that way. ”You're gonna help me come up with something absolutely bloody brilliant—because I'll take nothing less than that, I mean honestly, we deserve it don't we—and dammit woman, I will cut you off if I have too.” Dominic was serious, but he was also laughing under his breath with every word so it might have been hard to tell the difference. Either way, it seemed he was going to be determined about this.

”And don't think you can just change the subject missy because you think you can snog me and I'll shut up, oh, no, because I'll just snog you twice as long and complain twice as hard.” He was a little more serious this time, he had to admit. He wasn't laughing for one, and he maintained straight laced features, but those deep dimples were a dead giveaway to the smile he was trying so viciously to hide.

”Pffft,” he scoffed and rolled his eyes, crossed both arms behind his head for a pillow. He actually rather liked this, pretending (or somewhat anyway) that he wasn't interested, which really only made her want it all the more. He could lie back and she'd do aalllll the work. Beneath her fingers, his flesh left a wake of chills in her path. ”Excuses excuses,” he mused, rocked himself backwards against the coils of the mattress so she bounced gently up and down in rhythm. Now his eyes were too distracted until she leaned in close to press an innocent kiss on his nose. But he knew it was anything but innocent.

Finally, she decided to at least pretend to try. He cocked a brow expectantly, and waited, and waited, and waited. ”Are you serious? You can't even think of one thing?” Dominic only sounded a little exasperated, mostly amused that she had managed to hold herself back for as long as she had. (And with him inadvertently flexing his muscles every time she glanced down.) Before long, he heard the squeaks and squeal of the basset hound puppy at the foot of the bed, scrambled her paws at the bottom of the wooden frame. ”Would you get that little girl before she rips something else up?” He beckoned with the tilt of his head. ”And if you don't want to do anything, then we don't have to...” He said with a forlorn shrug of his shoulder and the ghost of a frown on his lips. Maybe he was trying to make her feel guilty, but it wasn't anything she hadn't done to him! So that meant it had to be fair... Right?

So maybe Dominic was a little git sometimes, he knew she liked it. Even if she didn't quite know per say, he knew. Just like right now, he could tell that she had caught on to his baited hook and was going to retaliate with a wickedness all her own. That maleficent twinkle began to glow in her glaring blue eyes, but by then, it had gone. A distraction yelped up at them and Dominic couldn't be sure if he was grateful for that or not. He could almost hear her rolling her eyes and sighing, but the sigh was all he actually heard. His neck was craned as far as it could to one edge to catch a glimpse at the little brown nose that bobbed up and down. ”Pfffffft,” he smirked. Her threat was anything but. ”Okay. Sweet, bloody hells, saves me the trouble and the tears.” He grinned cheekily. He knew it wasn't the answer she had wanted, but seriously, could she have expected anything else? He chuckled heartily as she leaned over and hoisted the little pup onto his chest. He hardly noticed the wet dabs of spit pooling on his chest.

She flicked his nose, he wriggled it around to ease the weird feeling that was always left behind on the tip of his nose, like it was still being flicked back and forth by some invisible poltergeist. He rubbed his nose with the flat palm of his hand and stuck his tongue out at her. ”Ah well, if anyone was going to be spoiled in this house, it was going to be you. But I dunno, mate, Smores might give you a run for your galleons.” He mused, scratched the hounds belly and smiled contentedly until she became distracted by Gracie, and pawed upwards at her chest.

He reclined back to his prior position with both arms crossed behind his head and quirked a brow at her. ”Oh yeah? Looks like she'll have to get in line,” he commented offhandedly. Blue eyes softened at the sight of both of his favorite girls together. ”Hm?” He wondered quietly, but curious. For a moment, he seemed indifferent, then contemplative as he thought aloud to himself. ”We could.” He nodded approvingly. ”We could also do somethin' completely crazy extravagant there, too, if we wanted.” He teased the idea around. ”Or simple.” He supposed. ”I do love picnics....” His stomach began to rumble. Damn, now he's hungry.