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The Brilliant Shades of Fire and Snow

Drifting on the surprisingly gentle breeze, like pieces of chipped gold and amber, sun burnt leaves hovered above the ground before finally being caught in between the damp blades of grass. The chilly breeze grazed the surface of the lake causing ripples to form and stretch to the bank before slowly disappearing.

The grounds were empty except for a single figure who was skipping rocks across the mostly still lake, her long flame-like tresses blowing around her pale face and into her cornflower blue eyes, blocking her sight for a few seconds before the lake came back into view.

A stronger gust of wind caught her off guard and she groaned in annoyance as her hair once again danced into her eyes again.

'It would probably be better if you tied you hair back,' a voice said from behind her and Dominique Weasley spun around and caught sight of Alex Marsh standing with his hands in his pockets, the wind playing with his oak brown hair.

The fifth-year Gryffindor joined her by the lake and both fifteen year olds glanced at the rippling gray water on which no more stones met as she now was watching him.

'I hate wearing it died back,' she said after a stretch of silence and he glanced back at her, his pale brown eyes smiling.

'It can't be that bad,' Alex said mock-comfortingly and she grimaced at him.

'I just don't like it,' she announced before throwing her last stone out over the water and they watched as it bounced before sinking out of sight.

She turned away from the lake and began the walk back up to the castle. Alex glanced over his shoulder before joining her and they walked in silence back to the Entrance Hall.

'Personally, I think pulling your hair back would look nice,' he smiled at her and she rolled her eyes before making her way up the marble staircase.

-DW-

Dominique piled hot roast potatoes onto her plate and took a sip of pumpkin juice as Alex slipped into the seat opposite her.

'So, I heard something interesting in Arithmancy,' he said and she glanced at him, eyebrow raised, inviting him to explain.

'Apparently Jeffrey Hartle is someone's new boy toy,' he said glancing pointedly at her as he took a bite of his stew.

'What's it to you?' she said coolly and he looked at her incredulously.

'Hartle? He's an idiot. I would've thought you had better taste than that.'

'He's not bad on the eyes,' she shrugged and he shook his head.

'My respect for you just fell,' he said and she laughed.

'Respect? You haven't respected me since that accident in second in year.'

'That wasn't an accident!'

'Was too.'

'Was not. You planned it,' he accused her and she grinned.

'Still claim that it was an accident.'

'Of course you do,' Alex muttered and she chuckled.

-DW-

Alex looked up as Dominique walked across the common room on her way to where her cousins sat laughing at the back of the room. She caught his eye and smiled before darting over to where he sat and she bent down so he could hear what she said to him over the ruckus everyone was making.

'You'll be thrilled to hear that I dumped that dumbass Hartle.'

Alex smirked at her before replying, 'told you he wasn't your type.'

'And how, Mr Marsh, do you know what my type is?' she asked, eyebrow raised.

'Talent,' he whispered in her ear and something flickered in her eyes before she returned his smirk and straightened up and continued walking, his eyes straying to her as she took a seat next to her cousin.

-DW-

The fifth-year Gryffindor-Slytherin Care of Magical Creatures class slowly trekked through the snow that had fallen overnight, covering the grounds in a soft white blanket making it difficult for the class to drag their feet through and get back to the castle for lunch.

Dominique stumbled and had a quick idea before smirking and bending down she scooped up a handful of snow and pelted it at the back of her cousin, Roxanne's head. She turned around quickly and glared at Dominique as everyone else paused to watch.

Roxanne grabbed a handful of snow and hurled it at Dominique who ducked and it smacked a Gryffindor boy in the face. Barely several heartbeats later everyone had dropped their bags and were scooping snow up and soon the air was full of snowballs and the kids were all ducking and weaving, trying to not get hit while taking aim and most were failing miserably.

Dominique threw herself onto the ground so as to dodge any flying missiles coming her way and she snatched at some snow but she gasped as someone tripped over her and fell down next to her. She glanced to her right and saw Alex with snow all through his brown locks.

'Really genius idea,' he said and Dominique laughed. Joy was pounding through her veins and it lit up her eyes and Alex suddenly found himself rather breathless. He regretted this pause when Dominique got to her knees and flung snow into his face.

He yelled in shock and shook his head to clear his vision and saw Dominique leap to her feet. Without thinking, Ale lunged forward and grabbed her around her knees causing her to topple to the ground.

'Ha,' he said as he leaned over her before realising exactly what position they were no in; her lying flat on her back, her hair tied back and (he noted that she did indeed look very nice with it up) with him leaning over her, his face inches from hers.

He quickly drew back and she sat up, an amused smirk on her face.

'Alright, I desperately need a hot shower now, thanks Dom,' Roxanne said, a small but happy smile on her face. The rest of the kids nodded in agreement and they began to stumble up to the castle.

Alex got to his feet and pulled Dominique up. She smiled in thanks and looked into his face for a moment before turning to pick up her bag. Alex reached for his own bag and slung it over his shoulder, his heart beating a little faster than normal.

-DW-

Alex entered the tower, a light dusting of snow covering his shoulders and his hair, a bright smile on his face as his friend re-enacted his sister's reaction to a disturbing prank in her mind or, to everyone else, a hilarious show. Alex couldn't help but laugh though it was soon stolen as was his smile by the spectacle awaiting him in the common room.

Dominique was sitting in a sixth year boys lap, their lips meshed together, fingers knotted in one another's hair and Alex felt a burning flame catch in his chest and he quickly turned away just as Dominique pulled back and met his eyes which were burning with an emotion she knew but couldn't identify at the moment.

Alex wheeled around and stormed out of the common room without offering any sort of explanation to his friend. He stalked off along the corridor and ignored the sound of the Fat Lady's portrait opening and slamming shut behind him.

The sound of running feet made him lower his head though he didn't stop even when Dominique finally caught up to him.

'What's wrong?' she asked but when he didn't stop walking she reached out and grabbed his arm to slow him down. 'Hey! Alex – what's wrong?'

He stopped walking but refused to meet her eyes and instead studied the stonework of the floor. He was stunned and confused by the emotion pounding through him of which he couldn't make head nor tail of.

'Alex, what the hell is wrong?' she demanded and his eyes snapped up to meet hers, anger and something else flaring in them.

'What's wrong with me? What about you? What the hell was that performance back there?' he shouted at her. Her expression had cleared and was now unreadable as she stared at him.

'I don't understand how that concerns you,' she replied coolly after a pause and Alex stared at her, speechless.

'What?' he said in a stunned and slightly hurt tone.

'I don't see how whatever I do with other guys matters to you. It's not as if you fancy me or –' she suddenly fell silent, her blue eyes trained on his brown ones,

'You don't, do you?' she asked softly and Alex suddenly found it difficult to breathe as he scrambled to find something to say.

'I –' the lump in his throat stopped him from speaking as she continued to stare into his eyes like that.

'Alex?' she asked and instead of answering he did the one thing that made sense to his muddled mind. He leant forward and caught her lips with his.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she pressed her lips against his. Alex's hands slipped into her long hair which was coming out of the ponytail she'd pulled it into as his own eyes shut.

The two of them parted only when the need for oxygen became overwhelming though he didn't remove his hands from her hair and she made no move to leave his arms.

'Well,' she said after she'd caught her breath, 'guess that answers that question,' she smiled slightly causing him to chuckle.

'They say actions speak louder than words,' he said with a slight shrug and she laughed before leaning forwards once more.

So what do you think? Hope you all liked it and drop me a review to tell me what you thought.