It went without saying that Peregrine wasn't going to let her sleep in her room once she told him that Freddie was with Gilderoy.

The boy didn't need her tonight; Peregrine did. He needed to feel her in his arms to convince himself that she wasn't just a dream, that their encounter by the river had really happened, that she reciprocated his feelings and didn't allow the thought of their impossible future together to hinder what they were feeling now, to destroy their present happiness by worrying about what hadn't happened yet.

For him, she was perfection shaped into a woman he had fallen in love with, for whom he would do anything, for whom he would lay his life down should the need be, he mused, as he gathered her in his arms, their bodies impossibly close on the single bed, a thing she seemed to enjoy greatly, judging by the content sigh as she snuggled into his embrace. She fell asleep in mere minutes, her head clouded in the mass of red curls scented by the fresh water of the fast flowing river tonight, her face in the crook of his shoulder, her forehead pressed to his chest most naturally, as if they had always slept like this.

An elated smile fluttered on his lips as his eyes observed her sleeping figure, committing the tiniest details to memory, until he fell asleep himself a long time later, trailing his fingers across her body, caressing her soft skin lightly, with reverence. She didn't even send him for her night dress when he insisted on going to check on Freddie before they settled for the night. There was something spellbinding in her lying bare in his arms, without a hint of a need to hide from him despite being convinced that she wasn't beautiful. If only he could make her see herself through his eyes, he mused, his thoughts morphing into first dreams as he pressed his lips into her hair.

The window of Peregrine's room hadn't been shuttered the previous evening, and so it was the shy light of the breaking dawn that woke Fiona up.

She sighed with elation when Peregrine's scent filled her mind, reminding her where she was, carrying flashes of the last night. He seemed to be all around her, filling her entire world, and she loved it... She hadn't moved the whole night, it seemed, she thought, shifting slightly in his embrace now to stir her muscles to life before getting up.

Unable to resist, she let her admiring fingers travel up his muscular arm, then across his chest, her featherlight touch turning his skin into a trail of gooseflesh in its wake, her breathing catching when she realised that her softest touch that hadn't meant to disturb his sleep stirred the entire man awake, the feeling of him, so indecently close, making the memories of the previous night still replaying in her mind clearer. Fiona tilted her head up so she could see his eyes and, in perfect sync with her moves and thoughts, he opened them and shifted in his turn, making her gasp with longing, soliciting his all-knowing smile. Goodness... he... was tempting... and unresistable, her mind informed her in flickers as he pressed his lips to hers, while one of his hands made its way across her body, slowly, enticingly, towards the place where she needed it to be right then, making her every conscious thought scatter as she only breathed, and lived for him, as he became her only reason for existing for a long moment, and then once more, a little later, when he joined her in that secret corner of the universe only lovers could reach.

They stayed in the bed for long moments after, silent, breathing each other in, enjoying the other's closeness until the grey light beyond the window morphed into a blushing shell pink streaked with gold.

"I should return to my room before my mother wakes up, or someone comes looking for you and finds us like this," she murmured, snuggling closer to him instead of disentangling herself from his embrace. Botheration, he was impossibly perfect and perfectly irresistible; she was sure that she would never get enough of him. Even now as his fingers travelled over her soft curves again, reluctant to release her from their teasing touch, tempting her to close her eyes and banish the thoughts of reality and stay, she found herself ready to comply, to abandon herself to him. But it would have to wait, at least until tonight.

Trying to free herself from him against her will, she giggled. Until she met Peregrine, she was convinced that perfection didn't exist. No one had ever made her feel this way. No one had ever filled her heart and mind like he did; no one had ever reciprocated her feelings this fully. She had fallen in love with him. She had really... fallen... in love...

"I'd give anything to know what's on your mind," he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her earlobe making her shiver.

"A kiss will suffice," she offered, tilting her face up, her body melting in his arms as he delivered what she had asked for, kissing her until she had to pull away for breath.

"I was thinking that you are perfect," she said then, too fast for the words to be anything but the truth, her honesty taking his breath away.

"I'm not. You are," he said, kissing her one more time, ordering his hands and thoughts to stay still. It was getting late. "I think it's better if no one sees us like this. No, I don't mind as much about our friends, but I'm not sure how your mother or Freddie would accept us." And her father, but he would think about how to hide his love for his king's daughter once they reached Alaric's castle. "Moreover," he added on a sigh, "I'll feel better if I can keep my feelings for you hidden from strangers, Bella. I'm a Highlander, you know what that means in this wor..."

Fiona pressed her lips over his to prevent him from saying another word. She would do anything to make him feel safe and happy; she wouldn't allow him to believe that their relationship was putting her into danger.

"I understand," she said, finally disentangling herself from his arms, and getting out of the bed, her red hair tumbling around her like a blanket covering her almost to her waist, the sight of her taking his breath away.

Peregrine stood up, pulling his shirt on quickly before he gathered her in his arms and kissed her one more time, then wrapped her in her cloak, and walked with her to the door, holding her hand. He would take her to her room and then wake Gilderoy, Peregrine decided even as they took a step into the dark corridor and bumped into Leodhais.

The raised eyebrow look which the elf bestowed on them, only visible thanks to the wan light reaching them through the open door of Peregrine's room, made Fiona giggle, and blush like the sky outside. She freed her hand from her lover's, then ran into her room, leaving it to the men to explain and talk.

"I was coming to wake you up. Annwyn is already downstairs," Leodhais announced defensively in reply to the frown Peregrine greeted him with. "Just... hurry up," he added, asking no questions. "I'll wake up Gilderoy; you prepare the horses. Breakfast will be served in a few minutes."

With that he was gone, retreating towards Gilderoy's room, leaving Peregrine to shut himself in his chamber to gather his wits and prepare for another day, the first day of his new life centred around the woman he loved.