Falling Snow
The stone floor was slick with slush, but when he slipped Ivan righted himself with hardly a pause and hurried past a gaggle of first-year girls into the Great Hall. It was a Sunday, so there were plenty of students left breaking their fast this close to noon. He ran down the length of the Ravenclaws' table, looking for a certain sixth-year prefect, and found him right at the end poring over a huge tome of ancient runes propped up against a dish of sliced fruits.
"Yao!" he greeted breathlessly as he slammed into the seat opposite the prefect.
"Good morning, Ivan," Yao said, eyes flicking up to acknowledge him before falling back to his book. He was used to the fourth-year Slytherin's sudden drop-ins every now and then.
"There's something I want to show you, come and see."
Yao considered him for a moment over his book. Ivan was trembling, his face red from the cold, violet eyes bright with excitement. The palms of his mitten-clad hands were crusted in snow, melting now in the warmth of the Hall, but as uncomfortable as they look he did not seem to mind them. Yao took off his glasses, folded them close.
"All right, but let me fetch my coat and put this away first," he said, gesturing towards his book.
Ivan beamed.
They met up ten minutes later in the Entrance Hall and made their way out to the castle grounds with Ivan leading a step ahead. It was viciously cold, and Yao was beginning to wish he had dressed a little more warmly; he huddled into his coat and buried his hands in his pockets, hoping that whatever it was Ivan wanted to show him would not take long.
"It's just over by the pumpkin patch," Ivan said, breaking from the main path and into a little footpath he had trodden through the snow earlier in the morning. Yao followed a little more slowly, picking his way carefully over the icy patches.
They came up to the wooden posts fencing off the pumpkin patch. Ivan dropped to his knees, beckoning for Yao to do the same. Yao crouched down beside him.
"Look!" Ivan whispered.
And Yao saw it. It was a little stalk with a single green leaf poking out of the ground. Someone had dug away the snow around it so it stood in a little circle of wet soil, and Yao immediately realised it had been Ivan's doing. He took out a hand from his pockets and brushed a finger lightly against the delicate leaf.
"It's from the sunflower seed you gave me. I planted it but it didn't grow, even though I watered it every day and used growth potions. The gamekeeper saw me with it one day. He said I should take it out of the flower pot and leave it to grow on its own. So I did, and I check every once in a while to see if it has grown, but it never did. Until today."
"Ivan," Yao said, but found he did not quite know what else to say. He gave a sudden sneeze.
"Are you cold?" Ivan said, suddenly concerned. Yao ducked his head, pressing a finger under his nose to keep from sneezing again.
A single snowflake fluttered from the sky. It landed on the exposed patch of soil and melted into the ground. Yao swallowed a sneeze, took out his wand, and waved it over the little sunflower with a muttered spell. A little bubble of warmth bloomed over the stalk.
"Now it'll be able to grow safely," he said.
The sneeze he had attempted to stave off erupted violently from him.
Ivan took off his scarf – the one his sister Yekaterina had knitted for him in the green and silver of his house – and looped it around Yao's neck. "You should have wrapped up warmer," he mumbled as he tied the ends into a secure knot.
Yao sank into the scarf with a grateful sigh, absentmindedly smiling that soft, warm smile he usually reserved for his younger siblings. Ivan felt a pang at the rare sight. He gazed longingly at Yao's lips, remembering with a painful twist in his heart that next year would be Yao's final year at Hogwarts. Yao would sit his N.E.W.T.s, graduate from Hogwarts, and enrol into the service of St Mungo's to train as a Healer. He would never see Yao again, never see Yao in the Great Hall with his nose buried in a book, forgetting to eat; never see Yao overseeing study sessions in the library with the younger students; never see Yao keeping order as they queue for class in the corridors, telling off rule-breakers and receiving affectionate cheek from his many admirers.
He would never see Yao smiling again.
Without realising what he was doing, Ivan leaned over to press to Yao a swift kiss. Yao's lips were soft and slightly wind-chapped. He put up little resistance, so Ivan kissed a little more deeply, a little more hungrily, years of carefully contained desire finally spilling over in this one act on impulse. He pulled back as abruptly as he started it, stunned and feeling a creeping horror at what he had done.
"Yao, I…"
He faltered at the look on Yao's face.
Yao got to his feet. He stood for a moment, tracing trembling fingers over his lips in quiet shock. Ivan made to get up after him, but Yao recoiled from him, took a step or two back. Then he spun on his heels and trudged his way back towards the castle without a single word, kicking up a flurry of powdery snow in his haste to leave. Ivan remained where he knelt by the little sunflower, his heart breaking into a million tiny little shards.
It was beginning to snow again.
Entry for Day 4 of the 30 Days Of Writing A Drabble A Day Challenge.
Just a little Hogwarts!AU for my OTP.