Three Hundred and Four Days

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by SiriuslyGeorgia

James must have thought she had a screw loose, Lily thought as she sat next to him on the second-hand canary yellow sofa that sat proudly in the living room of her one-bedroomed flat. She'd called him that morning and demanded he come over, babbling about secrets and truth and please-don't-break-up-with-me. It was so bad that she even knew she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself. In the hours since the call, she'd calmed herself down enough to form rational sentences, but her heart was still going haywire.

"Look, James, there's something I need to tell you –"

He cut her off with an easy smile. "You're not pregnant are you?"

"No!" she exclaimed immediately. "Oh Mer – god no, well I hope I'm not, anyway. If you're still talking to me after I tell you what I'm about to tell you, remind me to get a test."

He weighed up her words, looking at her curiously. "So you're not pregnant?"

"Will you be serious for a second? This is important."

"Are you a Russian spy? A closet UKIP supporter? You voted for Brexit, didn't you?"

Her mouth dropped open. "Is that what you really think of me?"

"No, of course not." He reached between them and captured her hand with his. "You know I crack jokes when I'm nervous."

"You think you're nervous?" she demanded incredulously. "I'm terrified you're going to hear what I have to say and then run out of that door screaming about madwomen."

"You're very lucky that mad is exactly how I like my women."

"Remember that after I tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"We've been dating for a while now," she began. She'd had a whole speech constructed, and she'd wished that for once, James would go along with the script in her head.

"Three hundred and four days," he supplied, winking at her.

"You're such a weirdo," she told him, but what she meant was that she was jealous he could wink when all she could do was blink aggressively.

"Oh, come on, like you didn't know."

"No comment." She knew, and the fact he knew too sent shivers down her spine. She really hoped she wasn't about to ruin everything. "Anyway, I really, really like you – "

"Just really, really like?" he teased.

Heat broke out on Lily's cheeks. She'd been wanting to tell him she loved him for a while now, but she felt like she couldn't. Not yet. "Yes. Just really, really like."

"I really, really like you too." That smile did unspeakable things to her.

"Tell me that after."

"I will."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Wouldn't expect anything less. Carry on." His tone was encouraging.

"The thing is, I didn't want us to get past a year without me telling you about this huge part of myself." Inside, she cringed at herself. She hadn't meant to sound so much like she was going to announce she had a conjoined twin poking out the back of her head.

James rarely looked nervous, and this was the closest she'd ever seen him to it. "You're actually scaring me now, what haven't you told me?"

She took a deep breath. Tightened her grip on his fingers. "I'm a witch."

He blinked. Shook his head. Laughed: short, sharp, surprised. "I'm a wizard."

"James! I'm being serious, I know it sounds crazy – "

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