A Game of Cat and Mouse

E I G H T E E N

"Wait, you really have never tried the ice cream in Diagon Alley?" Elio asked with widened eyes. He looked positively horrified.

Annie giggled at his reaction. "No. I think I've only been to Diagon Alley once and I was so scared I wanted to leave immediately. It didn't help that someone bumped into me and my brother went berserk."

"Your brother sounds awfully protective." He leaned down and kissed her head. "Guess we'll have that in common."

She nodded and snuggled deeper into his warm chest. They had been cuddling on the couch in front of the fire for the past hour. After Elio had thoroughly apologized for being late with many kisses, she'd gotten a vase for the lovely flowers and poured two glasses of prosecco from the bottle she found in the back of the fridge. Great Uncle Sirius never drank—at least not when she'd seen him—so he probably wouldn't mind. Plus, she needed something to calm her nerves. 

Him showing up thirty minutes late certainly didn't help her confidence. She'd spent the better part of that half hour convinced he wasn't coming at all, that last weekend had been nothing but a ruse. When he'd finally shown up on the doorstep looking all frazzled and holding roses that looked like they'd been through the ringer, she was so relieved and angry and happy all at once. Maybe even a little overly emotional. Relieved he was finally there, angry he wasn't on time, happy to see him again, and emotional because he had unknowingly given her roses that weren't the most opulent blooms, the exact thing her family had always called her. And then when he called her a rose, she was almost ready to accept the proposal he had half-jokingly given her many times. Unknowingly, Elio Nott was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Now, the bubbles in their drinks had settled as much as her nerves while the fire popped peacefully in the background. At first, she was worried that it would be awkward seeing him again but as soon as he opened his arms and pulled her to his chest, it felt like coming home again. She could scarcely remember the time she had spent without him. All she could think about was how wonderful it felt to be with him, how warm he felt against her body, how his woodsy scent calmed even her most erratic of nerves. That was how she ended up telling him more about herself than she'd ever told anybody.

"You and my brother have a lot in common. Maybe you can meet him tomorrow."

His arms squeezed around her at the mention of already seeing each other again. To be honest, she wasn't sure how she'd convinced her parents to let her stay the night at Sirius's home. She'd given a pitiful excuse about wanting a quiet place to practice piano before the ball but her mother must have sensed the look in her eyes because some mental conversation went on between her parents before they finally agreed to let her come. There was probably a lot of bargaining so Annie was decidedly glad she hadn't had to listen to it. That was a perk of having the Riddle name. They were all expert legilimens, even Annie, who wasn't as nearly as powerful as her parents. She'd only used her powers on Elio once—when she asked him if he truly loved her and he said yes both aloud and in his head.

"I'd love to meet him. He'll be my brother-in-law one day."

She decided to ignore his words, not because she didn't believe them but actually the opposite. Annie's heart found itself believing him entirely too much and that was a terrifying thing. A life with Elio sounded wonderful but was it too good to be true? Was this something real or was it only her naivety shining through?

"Do you think he'll like me?"

"Hmm?" she asked, broken out of her thoughts.

He chuckled deeply. The sound seemed to penetrate to her very core. Every ounce of her body was screaming, Elio! Elio! Elio! She was helpless to his charisma. Like a moth drawn to an open flame, so too was Annalise Riddle drawn to Elio Nott.