After The Magic Has Faded

Their eyes caught one another in a soft, tired gaze and Joey leaned forward a bit, her hand cupping his cheek perfectly in a way that made his heart melt for her. Their lips grazed before them met slowly.

As soon as their lips touched, Astoria felt tingles run all over her body pleasantly. She closed her eyes and found herself kissing him back. She's kissing a Muggle. But she didn't mind. Not at all.

His hands slid to her waist, the blankets making a cocoon around them with the fire jar above their heads on a small table, lighting their faces with a dim lighting as they kissed. His body felt warmer than any flame could have provided, her lips softer than he ever could have imagined.

Her hand slid around to his back, bunching up a little bit of his shirt in her fist. She felt almost hot. She didn't feel remotely cold anymore. She tilted her head, to deepen the kiss only slightly. She didn't want this moment to ever end.

Joey inhaled slowly, tilting his head as she did. They had a connection and a flow that made sparks fly, and they weren't made by her wand either. The way she pulled at his shirt made Joey hold her closer, tighter.

The way he was holding her made her feel so safe and so secure. She hasn't felt that way since before her sister died. She kissed him until she absolutely couldn't breathe anymore. She reluctantly and pulled away, breathing a little heavily, her cheeks flushed.

Joey grinned as they both has to inhale, their breathing slightly staggered as he rubbed her side and kissed her cheek, unable to keep his lips too far from her. She made him feel absolutely alive.

Astoria smiled back, her lips still tingling. Being here with him feels so right. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into him, gently pressing her lips to his neck.

Joey smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling the blankets back around them and holding her close, warmly. It felt so right to be right here, with her, and he could stay right here.

No words needed to be said. It was a comfortable silence. They laid there, listening to the roaring winds, enveloped in warmth. Eventually, Astoria dozed off, happy and content.

That night Joey slept sounder than he had in his entire life, and they slept well into the morning. He shifted enough to wake up and look down, Astoria's hair in his face and her head on his chest. He gave her a squeeze, staring at the top of the tent before he heard someone calling from outside. What was going on?

Astoria groaned when she felt him moving, and she slowly woke up, hearing the voices. She quickly got up and grabbed her wand. She bent down so that her lips were at his ear. "They can't see us. Just be silent." She whispered. She slowly stepped outside, her wand held aloft.

Joey stayed still, listening. It sounded like... Celebration? "We won! The war is over! The war is over!" It was over? No more? His hope was quickly splintered by the sound of fireworks and spell casting. The wizards won... Muggles were over with.

Astoria slowly lowered her wand, her heart pounding. After all these years.. Was it really over? She tucked her wand into her pocket and slipped back into the tent, silently watching Joey.

"This is good... The fighting is over," Joey said quietly with a nod, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, "You don't have to hide anymore..."

Astoria shook her head and listened as the cheers of the wizards slowly became distant. She took a deep breath and sat down next to him, gently taking his hand

Joey squeezed her hand softly, staring at the ground. What did this mean? She was safe... But, what about him? His people?

Astoria looked down at their hands, a soft sigh escaping her lips. It was all over. But what was going to happen now? She looked up and gently grasped his chin, turning his head to face her. "I won't let anyone hurt you." She said firmly.

Joey nodded,"I know... But you can't hide me forever, you're free.. You can go out and make something of your world."

Astoria shook her head. "No." She held his face in her hands. "I'm staying with you. And that's final. There aren't enough wizards in the whole world to start a new world. We need the muggles and they'll understand one day. But until they do.." She leaned in and kissed his lips briefly. "I'm staying."

"We should at least try and find somewhere new... No one can tell I'm a muggle just by looking at me, can they?"

She shook her head and pulled back, looking at her wand. "No, but they may start demanding that they see people's wands to sort them out.." She chewed her lip, trying to think of a solution. "You could say that you're a Squib. It's someone born into a wizarding family but possesses no magical powers at all."

Joey shook his head and sighed,"What if people ask questions? I don't know magic or history or anything..."

Astoria sighed. "I would try to cover for you of course, but they may want to meet your family.. Do you know any wizarding families that could vouch for you? What about the wizard family you mentioned you lived with at one point?"

"We can try and find them, I don't know if they survived... The Burntens, they took me in and we got along well... If we can find them this could work... But I don't know where they could have gone."

Astoria took a deep breath and nodded. "We'll try our best." She looked towards the entrance of the tent. "We can't leave now. The wizards are surely out celebrating and nothing's more dangerous than a drunk witch or wizard."

Joey forced a smile,"Then why don't we celebrate? The fighting is over... The war is done, like we have been waiting for. This is great!"

Astoria smiled softly and slipped her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. She could tell that he wasn't really happy. "How would you like to celebrate?" She asked gently, giving his palm a gentle squeeze.

"I'm not sure, what do you think? You're the one that can make things happen,"Joey said with a teasing grin. She did have the magic.

Astoria chuckled and looked around. "I don't know.." She let go of his hand and searched around the tent. "Aha!" She found a bottle of fire whiskey. She walked over and sat next to him once more. "This is fire whiskey. We wizards love this stuff. It's strong, and it burns like fire, but the effects feel good."