A/N: Many people asked for this at the end of the trilogy and I hope I have managed to deliver something good enough for everyone!

Anulia

...

31 December 1983

For a little over two years, the wizard world had been free from war. Its people needn't cower in fear anymore and built strong foundations of love for generations to come. The world was certainly a better place, much less evil to worry about, but some still found themselves alone. This included Julia Macdonald.

Well, she wasn't alone exactly, but sometimes it sure felt that way. She was in her final year at Hogwarts (finally!), which meant Annie had graduated the year before. The corridors felt alone without her best friend—and crush—by her side. Julia even felt alone at Mary's house because she had Reginald now, and she was getting married, which was great, her sister deserved that, yet Julia was a little bitter at the moment.

She felt incredibly stupid. Here she was, walking in the snow, with an incredible wind, to a house whose inhabitant would never see her more than a friend. It felt hopeless to even try to think about the possibilities, but she persisted and walked with a confetti bomb in her pocket to Annie's house far later than she should've been.

Annie had said that Julia could come over whenever she liked, and Julia had been too caught up in Mary's wedding plans so far that winter holiday that she hadn't been able to see Annie yet. Besides, Annie said that she missed Julia too, so it wouldn't be too far off base to assume that Annie would love to have her over, right?

Annie had applied for the auror academy straight away after graduating, and to no one's surprise, she was accepted. This meant that she was training around the clock for two years, which also meant that Julia hadn't gotten to visit her in Hogsmeade like she had other people.

She exhaled deeply to watch her breath shoot out in front of her before it disappeared. The snow fell heavier from the sky as Julia finally made it to Annie's door that belonged to a house in Godric's Hollow.

Anytime that she wasn't at the auror academy, was spent in her house in Godric's Hollow with Harry—who had grown so big now! Julia could see it in Annie's eyes that she wanted to have kids, and she thought that she would be a great mother.

Julia had walked from the center of the town—where she had originally apparated to—to Annie's house that was quite a bit of thinking time away. Once she made it to Annie's doorstep, she knocked and admired how quiet it was outside while she stood freezing her arse off on the stoop.

Annie answered the door with her wand pointed directly at Julia through the crack Annie had opened the door. Upon seeing it was Julia, she opened the door fully and laughed under her breath.

"Look who turned up," Annie said, taking a look at her watch. "Are you aware that it's eleven?"

Julia never really got used to seeing Annie and the few months of separation had allowed all her feelings to hit her full force again. She quickly swallowed back a love confession before she actually responded.

"Yeah, it is pretty late," Julia spoke shyly. "I can come back another time, perhaps tomorrow or-"

Annie interrupted by grabbing Julia's bicep and pulling her lightly into the house.

"I can't leave you out in the snow!" Annie said, practically scandalized. "I mean, look at you! Your nose is all red."

As Annie said this last bit, she booped Julia on the nose and Julia forced herself to laugh instead of completely panicking.

She followed Annie into her kitchen, a warm, midsized room with enough character for an entire neighbourhood. The cabinets were red, which James had pointed out was a Gryffindor color, but Annie hadn't done that one purpose. Julia saw her letters pinned up on the fridge and both her face and heart warmed.

"I'll make us some tea," Annie said, not leaving any room for Julia's potential protest.

Julia sat on the counter as Annie made tea the muggle way—just as Lily had shown her—and shifted the confetti bomb in her pocket. She would have to do that eventually, but with not much courage at the time being, Julia settled for later.

"So, how's the auror academy?" Julia asked, genuinely interested.

"It's a dream, Jules," Annie said, her hazel eyes lighting up and Julia fought the urge to swoon. "Frank and Alice have totally shown me the ropes, and I can't imagine doing anything different with my life!"

"Merlin! I'm so happy for you!" Julia replied, sliding off the counter and giving Annie a hug, which she gladly accepted. "I knew you'd be a great auror!"

"Well, it's all thanks to you that I applied," Annie laughed lightly and shook her head at herself before meeting Julia's eyes. "Without your encouragement-"

"Oh stop it! You just needed a little push," Julia brushed Annie off as she poured the hot water.

After adding the correct amount of milk and sugar to her tea, Julia watched Annie nearly spill her own all over herself as she stirred it. Julia laughed while seeing the scene play out and didn't stop when Annie looked a little desperate for help.

Julia followed Annie into the dining room where they sat at a table Sirius and Regulus had helped Annie choose. They sipped their tea as time ticked further towards the new year.

"What're your plans for after Hogwarts again, Jules?" Annie asked intently.

Ever since her fifth year, Julia's career plans had switched so many times that even she had lost track. At one point, she had wanted to pursue a career in journalism, but each time she saw the Potters flanked by reporters had driven her away from that field of work. She had landed in a completely different occupation, however, McGonagall had pushed her to go into it, to begin with, so Julia was more than a little confident in herself for multiple reasons.

"That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk about in person with you," Julia grinned and Annie gestured for her to continue. "I'm gonna start playing for Puddlemere-"

"Oh my Merlin, Julia! That's James's team!" Annie shot out of her chair to give Julia a hug, who was now laughing openly about her friend's support. "You're gonna be a quidditch star. I can see it now-"

"Oh sod off," Julia said, still laughing at Annie.

"No! It's true! You're like the best beater ever," Annie spoke before tacking something on the ending. "Well, besides me, of course."

"I don't see you playing professional quidditch," Julia replied as she laughed and rolled her eyes at Annie's antics.

"Yes, but I'm practically a quidditch expert with James and now you playing," Annie joked but then switched gears. "I am so proud of you, Jules."

Julia tried her best not to let the blush creep onto her cheeks, but she definitely failed terribly and settled on training her eyes on her glass. Annie didn't seem to receive the notion that Julia couldn't handle compliments without getting flustered and continued speaking.

"Professional quidditch is a big deal!" Annie said and Julia chanced a look up at her.

When she looked up, Julia tried to tell herself that Annie was definitely not flushed because of her right now. That thought alone would give her too much hope, but Julia couldn't shake it, especially not when Annie made direct eye contact with her.

"And I know you'll do a smashing job at it. I'll be right there cheering you on too," Annie swallowed some more tea. "I do hope that I'll be there on account of being more than just your friend though."

Julia blinked a few times as the words started to make sense to her lagging brain. She couldn't help herself from blurting out a joke before actually addressing Annie's words, which proved to ease the tension just a bit.

"So, you're finally making your move because I'm going to be a rich and famous quidditch player?" Julia could hardly contain her smirk as Annie groaned and put her head in her hands.

"Not the response I was hoping for, but it wasn't a rejection," Annie sighed, speaking more to herself than to Julia.

"What were you hoping for?" Julia asked, an extremely large grin on her face.

"Kiss me," Annie bluntly said.

Julia got up from her chair, checking her watch and removing the confetti bomb from her pocket. She showed it to Annie and the girl immediately became confused.  Annie was about to ask what it was, but Julia twisted it and confetti flew in about just every direction. As the confetti settled onto the ground, Annie sputtered and Julia laughed near hysterics at the look on her face.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" Annie finally managed to ask.

"I truly do think that we should use Merlin's name more respectfully because-"

"Julia," Annie raised her eyebrows.

"It's midnight, which means it's officially 1984 and it looked like you need some help celebrating," Julia shrugged but took a step closer to Annie.

"So you took it upon yourself to make a mess in my dining room?" Annie asked, taking a step closer to Julia.

"Oh, don't act like you aren't impressed," Julia replied.

Annie snorted before making direct eye contact with Julia again. As Julia took another step closer to her, Annie nearly held her breath before realizing that she could smell Julia's shampoo, and count her freckles, and see the scar right beneath her left eyebrow.

"You're perfect," Annie whispered.

"I'm far from it," Julia said, resting her forehead on Annie's. "But you can believe whatever you want."

These were the last words spoken before lips met lips, and the two girls kissed for the first time. It was slow, unlike their constant banter, but it was perfect just like Annie had called Julia. It was sweet, and everything that they had ever wanted. They found hope and comfort in each other, and their kiss was nothing short of the emotions that coursed through them.

Julia rested her head in the crook of Annie's neck and smiled to herself. The world had found its peace a few years ago, but Julia knew that hers hadn't come until she kissed Annie, and she found that she was completely okay with that. Everything had never been as right as it was when Julia was with her, which meant Julia could really care less about everything else.

"Will you be my date to Mary's wedding?" Julia asked quietly, not moving her head up from its spot.

"Of course."

Years later Julia would claim that the final push Annie needed to confess her feelings was the confetti bomb, even if Annie had asked Julia to kiss her before the thing exploded.