It was amazing how easy she found it to get lost in a book. She wouldn't notice if an earth quake hit. The stories, no matter what they were, always fully encaptured and engulfed her in the sorrow, the happiness, the overall emotion and feeling of the book.
And Paige was only reading an American-written book, The Outsiders. It was so odd, nothing like in her world. About muggles, it was so strange to her.
she sat at a table in the back, hidden by book cases. she liked people, but it was quiet so she could read. she was curled up in the chair, her legs held tight to her chest. Little girlish pigtails bobbing.
Her heart ached for the characters.
Her heart ached for other things, but she tried to ignore those.

Cole stepped into the library and his heart fluttered as he saw the familliar face.

"Paige!"

Upon hearing her name, she quickly looked up. and almost died.
"Cole? What-I don't even know what to say." she nearly fainted and felt dizzy. he was back.

Cole ran up to her, his engagement ring hitting his chest on it's chain as he ran, and made it to her side. He grabbed her by the cheeks and gave her a huge kiss.

"Oh Paige..."

"Cole...what happened?" Tons of things went through her mind. the terrorizing dreams that had haunted her about what might have happened to him. The fact that she wasn't dreaming. Everything. Memories. Just everything. She couldn't believe this.

Cole took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Paige...There's a lot about me you didn't know...that you still don't know..."

He shook his head and remembered the most simple of them all. "Remember my 'Nephew' Ian? He was my son. And there's so much more. I need to tell you everything Paige. Everything." He gave her another kiss.

"God I love you..."

"You just disappeared. And never said to where. You know my daughter was born? But I had to let my mother take care of her? She's so young. and you just leaving. made everything seem so much worse." she said quietly, looking down. she was still recovering from the shock.

He looked down.

"Paige I left to protect you. I was...I was-" He didn't know how to tell her...

"Well first of all here." Out of his backpack he pulled out three showboxes. "I wrote you every day. Sometimes three or four or five times a day." He handed them to her.

"I had to go Paige..."

She took them softly in her hands.she looked at them carefully, but not reading them. She looked up at him, soft hurt showing in her eyes.
"Where did you go?"

He felt his eyes fill.

"I-I...I can't tell you...Just in case I need to go again..."

He took the boxes and placed them on the table, taking her hands.

"I was in hiding. The dark lord was after me Paige, and if he saw me with you...and you were pregnant...He'd kill you. That's why I disappeared." He kissed her lips once again and touched her face.

"I've been saving my money and...If you still love me...We can get married..And I have enough for a small house. We can move in...You can take your baby back from your mom and I can have Ian...You can adopt him and I'll adopt her...We'll be a real family..."

He looked down."That is...if you still want me..."

This time she took his face in her hands and kissed him.
"I'll always love you. I always have. I still want you so much, it's not funny. I would die, I know it, without you. I can't believe I didn't these past few months. I have enough money for a house, and a wedding. but is it even safe?" she let go of him, and wiped a tear from her own eye. If the dark lord wanted him, then....she didn't know.

He looked down.

"There's something else I need to show you."

He took a deep breath and pulled up a sleeve. It was a dark mark obviously, but have of it had been gouged out.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you...This is why I was a Ravenclaw...He thought that if I wasn't a Slytherin nobody would suspect...He wanted me to be a Gryffindor but the hat refused to put me there...I was with them since I was 8... When I met you I was already in training and halfway through I realized I couldn't do it. They marked me anyway and said if I didn't show up to the next meeting I was dead...So I ran and didn't come back. I took a rock to my arm and scraped it off little by little but it hurt so bad...

"Eventually, my scar stopped hurting so now...he can't sense me any more..."

"If you hadn't met me, then...you would still be with them?" she looked at the scar carefully, and ran her fingers over it softly. It felt evil just to the touch, and she jumped a little.

He took a deep breath.

"If I hadn't met you you'd be dead...My first assignment was to destrow Hogwarts..."

she had been looking at the scar, but she quickly looked up at him, right into his eyes. Shock, and pain filled hers. She was completely speechless, mouth open.
"I..."

He closed his eyes, realizing the weight of what he had just said.

"Yoi're the first person I've ever loved. You opened me up to so much. That's why I allowed Ian into my life. My heart learned how to love and now I can love him. And I can love your daughter...I can't say I'm completely changed Paige, but I'm learning every day. I could never kill anyone else..and I can't hate the way I used to..."

She looked down, and took a deep breath, god knows she needed it.
"This all happened so suddenly. You just came back. Out of no where. I thought you were perfect before. But you hid all this? All of it? Of course I'll accept it and you. I couldn't go on without you, it goes without saying. But I mean, I just can't believe..."

He shook his head.

"I didn't want you to know. I was ashamed of it..."

"How could you put yourself through that? He tried to kill you....you put yourself through the pain of that scar..." She brushed part of her bangs out of her face. She leaned back against a book case, crossing her arms. She was in thought.
"Why didn't you just stay? I'm sure you could've had your son, and it couldn't be that hard to forget me I' think...."

He shook his head.

"I left to protect you, but I came back because I couldn't stand being away from you. I love you too much to be away forever. He can't find me now and....My son..." He shook his head. "Before you I hated him. I hated him because his mother was forced on my by the dark lord...His choice for me. The perfect Dark Wife. I was with her a few times and then I found out she was pregnant..." He shook his head. "I didn't love her..."

She still didn't get it. She wasn't slow, but she didn't.
"Why am I worth so much that you had to do that? About Ian's mother, I'm sorry. Ian is so innocent though and he could never be like that. I adore that little boy."
She pictured the cute kid in her mind.
At the same time she remembered when She and Cole got engaged....She shook her head, she knew she'd cry if she thought about it so much.

He shook his head.

"Don't you understand? I've been trained since I was smaller than your baby girl that I was supposed to hate. I didn't even really know how to love my own mother. I am so in love with you I cry when I hear your name. When I see you, my heart is actually warm instead of an ice ball. I love you Paige, and I've never done that before."

She took that in pretty hard.
She didn't realize just how much he had cared.
She had even thought he had left just to get away from her.
She fell down the wall, to the ground and hit her head, really hard, on a hard copy book, numerous times.
"How could I be so stupid? I thought you left because you might have started hating me. I've been so selfish about this whole ordeal."
She hit her head on the book a couple more times.

Cole lifted her into his arms and kissed her over and over.

"Paige, hush...I could never hate you...Now let's stop dwelling on the bad."

He placed her on a chair and sat beside her.

"Let's start over."

Out of his pocket he took out a box, and opened it to reveal

Her mouth dropped and her eyebrows raised.
From shock, of course.
She couldn't find words.
She could barely look at it.

"Six month's salary baby girl..." His face was full of pride.

For the first time in a long time, she got major butterflies in her stomach.
"Cole Cole Cole. How could you spend so much?" She laughed, for the first time since she couldn't remember when. she looked up at him. and smiled.

He smiled.

"You're my girl and I love you. Who else do I have to spend my money on? Well, actually..."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny ID bracelet with the word 'Melody' in pretty cursive letters/

She opened her mouth once more, and just laughed.
"Cole Vera, you you you. I love you. But why do you insist on spending on me and Melody?"

"Who better to spend my money on than my wife and my daughter." He leaned in and kissed her again.

She just couldn't stop being shocked, but happy.
"Future wife and daughter Coley, don't go around making rumors now." she smiled up at him.

"Oh who cares! I'll tell everyone... PAIGE IS MY WIFE AND MELODY IS MY DAUGHTER!!!!!" he screamed, even when the librarian came over shouting in some foreign language.

She covered her mouth and laughed, then she covered his.
"Not so loud you dork! We aren't married!" She shook her head, laughing.
"You're insane," She wouldn't uncover his mouth.

He crossed his legs and muttered "wmfll oo mar why wimff!" (((Translation: Well, you are my wife!)))

"What was that?" She laughed.
"We-are-not-married! yet."

He pulled his wand out and whispered something, but the only word recognizable was "accio-"

Appearing in his hand was a long cream colored wedding dress.

"I would've bought you a white one but...Well the whole baby thing makes virginity a difficult thing to lie about..."

"Cole!" She hit his chest, playfully.
"I can get that myself, you didn't have to do it! Why were you so sure I'd take you back?"

He looked down.

"I bought this before I left."

"You weren't so sure, were you?" She asked quietly.

"I wasn't so sure you were going to take me back? Well I was actually convinced you wouldn't take me back but I was going to give you all my gifts anyway.."