boundless (Amit Thakkar x OC)

Finale

Time seemed fluid in the Room of Requirement.

In the windows, the sun was already setting, giving way to a blanket of black sky. Slowly, pinpricks of light shone through, forming into constellations until the black sky was heavy with them.

Amit hummed, holding his chin in his hand as he watched the show.

"I love when it does that."

Emilia nodded, too transfixed for words.

The stars had never come out until Amit started coming to the Room.

Amit quickly turned to face her. "It is still eleven though, right?"

Emilia called over a floating teapot, pouring them each a cup. "Half a sugarcube, still?"

As the couple prepared their tea, Emilia stole a glance at Amit. An open notebook in his lap, his big brown eyes were shaded by long lashes as he read under his breath, swirling his ginseng tea in the cup.

When Emilia casually (though secretly extremely nervously) led Amit to the Room the first time, as a respite from all his O.W.L. studying and tutoring, she'd noticed it had actually shrunk. A little strange at first, soon becoming agonizingly annoying when it became clear that neither of them kept a very clean workspace. A day hardly went by without one or both of them tripping on a pile of books.

In the silence of morning tea, though, it came to Emilia that... this was right.

Amit looked up, lips freezing on the last word he read. A little shyly, he met Emilia's gaze.

"Is there something on your mind, Mia?"

Several thoughts flooded into Emilia's, each making very little sense.

She thought of the endless portraits across Hogwarts, every one a great witch or wizard.

Where do you think they'll hang your portrait in the castle, Amit?

She thought of all the language lessons they took together, even on top of all their homework.

I know Mia means "mine" in Italian. I knew before, too. It was a little obvious.

She thought of taking naps in shifts during particularly long History of Magic classes with him. How he would let her sleep longer than her fair share.

What would I do without you?

Emilia blinked. Her mouth had been open, but nothing special came out. Only this:

"Thank you."

Amit shifted in his chair. He was glad Emilia couldn't see his face warming. "...For what?"

The sentimental thoughts dissipated as suddenly as they had come. Emilia hadn't meant for the appreciation to sound so serious.

"Fer... havin' tea with me. I'm glad ginseng is your favorite, too."

Amit smiled, a ghost of a smile no one could normally see, especially if they weren't looking.

"I wouldn't miss it. For anything."

The sentiment hung in the silent air before Emilia ducked the eye contact, taking a long sip of the tea to hide her wide smile.

In the windows, the night sky loosened, trading its dark purple for soft pink as the sun broke again, lighting the small room as though they really had spent all night talking.

It didn't really matter if they had, Emilia had thought. It had only been a few minutes; though, soon enough, this day will end too. The last day of fifth year. Had it really been a year? Only a year?

It didn't really matter then, either. The hard parts were over.

The years without.

Neither had a way of knowing. But as the sun rose over morning tea, over ginseng, over the sea of Gobbledegook notes, over hasty sketches of constellations, the same thought bubbled into both Emilia and Amit's heads.

I'm so glad I met you.