"We're going on a date tonight."

I looked up from my book, "Huh?"

James grabbed my book, Little Women, from my hand and marked my page before setting it down on the table. He sat down next to me on the couch and laid his head in my lap.

"I, James Fleamont Potter, am taking you, Daphne Jane Beaufort, on a date tonight."

I ran my hand through his hair absentmindedly, "Okay, love. What do you have in mind?"

James looked up at me from my lap, "I can't give away all of my surprises."

"Oh? So there's more than one surprise tonight?"

James sighed, "That's not-, that's not what I meant, but I guess you could say that."

"I swear to Merlin if you propose-"

"I'm not going to propose!" James laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Not yet, at least. It has to be special, and I want us to be finished with school."

I nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan."

"Ask you in a year?"

"Ask me in a year." I echoed back.

James threw up his fists in excitement, "Fuck yes!"

"What time should I be ready for our date?"

"Seven?" James asked as he paced across the living room.

I laughed, "I'll be ready at seven."

James sat down next to me on the couch, wrapped his arm around my shoulders as he kissed me on the cheek.

We had been outside for most of the day, and now that it was four in the afternoon, I had enough sun for the day. So, I was sitting on the couch in my dry bikini reading.

Remus had been sitting with me for a bit but went upstairs to take a nap. The full moon was in less than a week and it was making him a bit sickly, but not too much.

James and Sirius had been having a water fight in the pool. Magic involved. They were attempting to make waves and a 'mini' tsunami as Sirius called it.

"Aw-, look at those two!" James exclaimed as he pointed out through the glass doors.

I followed his eyes and saw Regulus and Jolie outside by the pool.

They were sitting under the umbrella, with Regulus leaned back in a chair as Jolie sat on his lap. They had been laughing about something when Regulus had cut Jolie off with a kiss.

I grinned, "We are the best matchmakers ever, they look so good together."

"Do you think they'll let us be godparents?"

"If they don't, I will slap that bitch."

James smirked, "There kids will be cute."

"Agreed," I replied as I pulled myself into James' lap. "But our kids will be cuter."

James quickly looked me up and down, "Okay, you can't say things like that when you're sitting on my lap, practically naked in the tiny bikini-"

I cut James off with a kiss.

His hands moved to my waist as he pulled my body closer to his.

I ran my hands through his hair as James' hands moved across my body.

My lips moved from his lips down towards his neck.

"Y-, you really can't do this to me." James stuttered as he fiddled with my bikini bottoms. I felt him stiffening beneath me.

I cocked my head at him, "Really?" I shifted in his lap, making him groan. "Because it doesn't seem so."

James knocked his head back and laughed, "Well-, I-, fuck, you know what I mean."

He sat back up and cupped my face, bringing me in for another kiss. James' lips moved against mine as he slowly raked his hand through my wavy hair.

"I love you." I murmured against his lips.

James grinned against my lips, "I love you so much."

I cupped his face, kissing him even harder than before.

He's my other half.

James kissed me back with just as much passion as his hands moved to the thin waistband of my swimsuit bottoms.

"Woah-,"

There was a crash as someone ran into a wall.

James and I pulled away from each other to see that Remus had walked into the living room, attempted to flee with his eyes covered, and ran into a wall.

He was rubbing his head as he began to blush slightly.

"Er-, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

I laughed, "Uh-, it's okay. I need to go get ready."

James gave me a pouty face as I kissed him on the cheek before standing up from his lap.

I adjusted my swimsuit straps and smiled at Remus, "Sorry, the living room probably isn't a good place."

Remus grinned shyly, "Yeah, whatever you say-"

"Moony! Did you fucking have sex on this couch?" James yelled, "The couch that I am currently sitting on?" He stood up dramatically, "Why is everyone in this house so goddamn horny?"

I stifled a laugh as Remus shook his head at James.

"Prongs, you and Vixen were literally just about to do it on the couch, in the middle of the day, while everyone is home, with Jo and Reg right on the other side of those windows-"

James rolled his eyes, "Fine, point taken."

"Can we just agree that nobody has sex in any common areas of this house from now on?"

The two boys nodded, "Deal."

"On that note," I teased, "I'm going to go get ready."

James winked at me.

Remus chuckled, "Okay, Sirius is sleeping by the way so don't be loud."

"I'm never loud."

James smirked, "That's a lie-"

"Shut up James, I meant when I'm getting ready. Send Jolie up once she and Reggie are done being sickeningly adorable."

"I'm just going to ignore what Prongs said," Remus muttered, "But I'll send Jolie up."

I smiled, "Thank you."

"See you later, love!" James exclaimed.

I furrowed my brows at him, "I'm going to see you in an hour when you come upstairs to get ready."

James rolled his eyes, "You know what I meant."

• • • • •

After taking a long shower, I got ready for my date with James. Jolie had joined me upstairs and braided my hair into two French braids. I had chosen to wear a white babydoll dress, paired with some tan sandals.

Even though we had been on plenty of dates, I still got excited for them.

"You and Regulus are painfully cute together." I teased as I applied my mascara in the bathroom mirror.

Jolie, who was sitting on the counter, laughed, "We are, aren't we? Bloody hell, we're just like you and James! We're all couple-y!"

I laughed, "It's not a bad thing-, wait-, we can go on triple dates!"

"Pardon?"

"A double date, but with three couples instead of two." I responded, adding the finishing touches to my makeup.

Jolie clicked her tongue, "That sounds borderline Mormon-"

"Hello, ladies."

We both turned to see that James was standing in the bathroom doorway. He had already showered earlier and was now dressed in grey slacks with a billowy baby blue shirt. His unruly hair remained the same.

He pushed up his glasses, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yup, I just need to get my purse."

Jolie hopped down from the counter and saluted James, "Have fun lovebirds, I won't wait up."

She kissed me on the cheek before leaving the room.

James pressed a soft kiss against my lips, "You look lovely, darling."

I smiled at my boyfriend, "Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself."

"Don't flatter me." James teased as I brushed past him, grabbing my purse from the top of the dresser.

I laughed, "I'm ready now."

After bidding goodbye to everyone, James and I stepped out of the house and onto the narrow cobblestone street that was a few blocks from the city center.

The mid-July heat was being to calm down as the sun got ready to disappear, allowing the moon to take its place. The sun was still out, despite it being a little after seven in the evening. That was perhaps one of my favorites things about the summer. The days were longer, the nights didn't drag on as they do for about three or four months of the year.

James and I walked to the city center with our hands intertwined. We were mostly silent, but it was a nice kind of silence. We were busy taking in everything during one of our last few days spent in Italy.

"I don't want to leave." James admitted.

I smiled at him, "Me neither, but we'll come back."

"After all this war bullshit is over?"

"I promise."

James grinned at me, "Regulus told me about this cute restaurant that he and Jolie went to, does that sound alright to you, love?"

"It sounds perfect, Jolie wouldn't shut up about how good the food was."

"Neither would Reggie."

We both laughed softly as we walked past groups of people who were strolling about the cobblestone street. Some were alone, some were with a significant other, some were with friends, and others were with family.

One particular group caught my eye. Two young parents were sitting on a bench with their toddler, who was eating gelato. The parents looked young, but they looked happy. They laughed as their daughter tried to grab the gelato cone from her mother.

James noticed too.

"That's going to be us, one day."

I grinned at him, "Really?"

"Yes," James squeezed my hand reassuringly, "Except we'll have more than one kid. I don't want them to be an only child-, don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but I want our kids to have a brother or sister."

I nodded in agreement, "That sounds like a plan."

James kissed me on the cheek as we veered left, entering a small restaurant.

We ended up sitting out of the patio, giving us a view of all of the people passing by. I just love people watching. Although, some people are complete idiots.

James and I ended up ordering a Margherita pizza to split, even though he ended up eating over half of it. We sipped limoncello as we watch the sun start to set over the city. Families were replaced with teenagers, and younger adults, who were out to go clubbing and drinking.

After dinner, James and I strolled through the streets.

The streets were mainly empty now that it was dark out.

Compared to the streets in the United Kingdom, the streets in Italy were constructed from cobblestone, narrow, and lined with buildings and townhouses. Most of the doorways were arched, where you would see the occasional coupled pressed up against the wall, whisper sweet nothings to each other.

We swung our intertwined hands as we began to walk home, saying hello to the occasional person who passed.

The faint sound of music from a club drifted through the street.

"Veux danser, mon amour?" James asked as he came to a complete stop in the middle of the street.

I kissed him on the cheek, "Toujours."

James spun me around as we danced in the dimly lit street in the middle of a foreign country. The music was in Italian, so we had no idea what they were saying, but we didn't care.

We were crazy in love.

I laughed as James picked me up and spun me around. He set me down and pulled me closer to him. James' hands wrapped around my waist as he softly pushed me back against the wall of a building.

James leaned in and whispered, "Je t'aime."

His lips brushed against mine before he closed the rest of the distance. Our lips moved together as we kissed up against the concrete wall.

When we broke apart from the kiss, I kept my eyes closed for a few seconds. I was giddy with love and limoncello, and I wanted to hold up to the kiss.

I opened my eyes and met James' hazel eyes, "Je t'aime aussi."

James grinned before bringing his lips back to mine.