A Game of Cat and Mouse

T W E N T Y

Annie woke up to the feeling of warm kisses all over her cheeks. She groaned and buried her face into the pillow.

A laugh had her stomach stirring. "I know you're awake, little mouse."

"Unfortunately," she muttered into the fabric. Annie took a peek outside only to see that the sun was barely over the horizon. Why was he up so early?

"You're not a morning person?" Elio asked with a laugh as he continued to kiss her face, neck, and shoulders.

"This hardly constitutes as morning... What time is it?"

"Six."

Annie's eyes shot open angrily to reveal Elio leaning over her with a lazy grin. His hair was messed up from either sleep or many rounds of lovemaking before said sleep. But despite it being painfully early, his eyes were so bright. "Six in the morning?" she groaned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Why are we awake? The ball isn't until tonight."

He kissed her gently before pulling back with another smile. "Because I love you and I missed you."

She looked down at their tangled bodies. Elio's arms were around her face and under her head while their legs were wrapped around each other. Annie was sleeping peacefully with her head tucked against his chest. Emphasis on was.

"I'm right here, El. You didn't need to wake me."

He buried his face in her neck and kissed the bare skin there. "But I wanted to see your pretty eyes and hear your beautiful voice."

Annie rolled her eyes but wrapped her arms around his neck anyway. "It's six in the morning. My eyes are most definitely bright red and my voice sounds like I smoke a pack of cigarettes a day."

She felt his grin against her skin. "Yes, but it's your eyes and your voice so they're wonderful."

"You are impossible to be cranky with."

"That's the plan, topolina. I plan to make myself so lovable that you can't possibly ever get mad at me." 

Now she was the one who grinned. "Your plan is working."

He looked at her before winking. "That's a Slytherin for you, love. Always planning ahead." She rolled her eyes but before she could say a retort, his face scrunched. "I just realized I don't know what house you were."

"Ravenclaw."

"Ahhh, I knew my girl was smart as hell."

Hearing him call her his girl made an entire horde of butterflies arise in her stomach. He'd said many times last night that she would forever be his but somehow it felt realer when he said it so casually like that. Annie thought that the idea of belonging to someone would be terrifying, like a set of chains would be clamped onto her wrists and she wouldn't be able to fly free. But now, she knew that belonging to someone—belonged to Elio—she realized it was the most freeing thing in the world. It felt like coming home to a warm cottage with the fire crackling and the smell of cookies in the air. Comforting. Soft. Wonderful.

Annie blushed. "My whole family has been in Slytherin for forever. I liked being in Ravenclaw but I always wondered if it disappointed them that I turned out so different." She didn't have to finish elaborating for him to know that she meant she was different in more than just her house.

Elio wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "My Little Mouse, you could never disappoint anyone. You're the most wonderful woman I've ever met and anyone who knows you would say the same. And, yeah, I knew you were different but that's a great thing because when it's you, I love different. I wouldn't change a thing about you."