If it weren't for how much she felt that he loved her in his embrace, Tilda would have pouted once he pulled away. She'd never been one to be overly affectionate, yet that didn't seem to be a problem with Eugene. She followed him with her gaze, watching as he went to his desk. He'd mentioned surprises in his last letter; a cruel thing to do when she couldn't merely go to his place and try to convince him to tell her. Funnily enough once she'd resolved to surprise him at home, all thoughts of any surprises had faded into the background. She'd just wanted to see the surprised look on his face.

But now apparently it was her turn, and Tilda clasped her hands in anticipation as she grinned at him eagerly. Her eyes followed his hand, curious. Later when she told the story, she would blame sheer exhaustion for the fact that she hadn't already realized what it was by the time he stopped in front of her. Being met with the sight of the blue stone winking up at her, Tilda gaped first at the box then at him, then back at the box. She didn't even remember to cover her mouth like Matron had tried to get her to do thousands of times in the previous months.

"Eugene...." She whispered, unsure if she was able to utter anything else. Before she could gather anything else to say to him, her eyes stung hot and she finally brought her hand up to wipe away the tears. "Oh Merlin!" Once she'd started crying, the tears didn't seem to stop, aided by the exhaustion that was finally hitting her. But now instead of the bone-tired fatigue that had threatened to put her to sleep on Eugene's couch before he got home, it was aided by sheer joy; at the fact that all they had waited for was finally finally here.

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