Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me.
Written for the Maroon 5 Competition with song 'Never Gonna Leave This Bed'.

The party is fast and furious and her heart is pounding with the bass. A redhead grabs her arm - Dominique? - and starts to yell over the music, but Lucy shakes her off. There's no time.

She starts fighting to the exit and someone calls her name. She doesn't look back. Once she's free of the hot, grinding grip of the crowd, she starts to run.

-:-

She shows up at his flat and hammers on the door. "I know you're there, Zacharias, we need to talk!"

It's silent except for her harsh breathing and the crunch of snow underneath her feet as she dances from foot to foot.

"Aiiii," she half-wails, knocking on the door again, "please."

The door opens. "I told you - Merlin, you know it's winter, don't you? Come in," he says, one hand scrunched in his blonde hair and a strange expression on his face.

"Thanks," she says, trying to tug down her skintight dress to cover more of her reddening thighs. "Er, how are you?"

He shuts the door and turns to stare at her. "It's two a.m., Lucy."

"I know that," she says. "But, you know, it's been so long. I miss you."

"Are you drunk?" he says, gently steering her onto his couch.

"No, just terrible in heels." Lucy collapses onto the soft suede and looks up at him through drowsy eyes. "And tired."

"I'll take you home." Zacharias still has that strange expression on his face, but he turns away again to look for Floo Powder in his cupboard.

"No!" She shoots back up to a standing position and takes a wobbly step toward him. "Look, Zacharias, it's the middle of the night and I ran out of the party of the year because, okay, because I realized I was an idiot!" She tries to brush her red hair out of her face, but it sticks to the tears spilling out of her eyes.

"But-" Zacharias starts to say.

Lucy shakes her head once, twice, and continues. "And you were wrong, I'm the one who's not good enough for you, and you deserve someone refined and intelligent and perfect but this is all I can offer you. Just me, just me, and maybe that's not enough but it's all I got. Take it all, take all that I have, just please don't tell me it's over-"

And then he stops her. He sits on the couch and pulls her next to him. Wiping away her tears with his thumb, he smiles at her.

The strange expression is gone, she realizes, and his eyes are soft. "Lucy, I'll have to disagree with you."

She takes a sharp breath. He wraps an arm around her.

"About you being not good enough for me," he continues, and her breath whooshes out. "You're still the one who deserves better. But I won't tell you it's over. Can't."

She leans into his arm. "Why not?"

"Because I love you," he says. "And Lucy, I'll give you all I have, too, but I can't promise it'll be okay."

"But I love you." Lucy blinks up at him, the drowsiness overtaking her again and her feet starting to ache. "That'll be enough."

"Staying?" Zacharias asks.

"Never gonna leave you, I promise."