Making sure to take careful steps, Emily snuck out of her 7th year girls' dorm and tiptoed down the many flights of stairs that led from Ravenclaw tower and out onto the grounds. It was past curfew, but on a night like this—with fresh, clean snow that had yet to be tampered with—she couldn't resist. Finally making it out of the front doors of the castle, she proceeded to run to the edge of the frozen lake, next to her favorite oak tree that she sometimes reads under—when the weather permits. In the back of her mind, she kept worrying about getting caught out of bed after hours, but it was Christmas break and she was stuck at school. Rather, she had volunteered to stay during the holiday. It's not that she didn't get along with her family, but a certain redheaded, freckle-faced boy she had her eye on would be staying as well, though he was have his best friend—the boy-who-lived, the one-and-only Harry Potter. She had no one. Mind you, Emily had a handful of friends, but her best friends all went home for Christmas, and she was the only Ravenclaw left for the break so it got quite lonely. She needed to have some excitement, hence the sneaking out.
Looking out over the glistening ice that covered the lake, she wondered how the giant squid was faring being caged under a thick sheet of ice and all. The thought left as quickly as it came as she knelt down and plopped down on her back, proceeding to make snow angels. She was in the middle of making her third one when she thought she heard footsteps, making her freeze where she lay. She really hoped it wasn't Filch, or she'd be in some serious trouble. She shuddered at the thought of what detention with him would entail.
"What are you doing?" a voice said from behind her head. It was male, oh yes, but not as harsh as Filch's. And he sounded young. She tilted up her head—snowflakes piercing her eyes, making her blink constantly as she tried to see her new companion. Where her eyes deceiving her? Could Ron Weasley really be standing in front of her? "What are you doing?" he repeats.
"I was making snow angels," Emily said as she pushed herself into a sitting position. They just stared at each other in silence for a minute, unsure of what to say. Neither was expecting another to be out so late. "What are you doing?" she finally asks.
"I always sneak out during the first snow," he tells her, sort of bashfully. "It's sort of a tradition of mine. I like to be the first to mess with the snow." He looks down at her snow angels, though he seemed to be avoiding her eyes more so than studying her artwork. Emily thought she might have even seen him blush. Why would he be blushing? "I'm Ron, by the way." He extends his hand out, not for her to shake, but to help her up. She accepts.
"Yeah, I know," she says, her face flushing as well.
"Right, we have some classes together, don't we? You're Ravenclaw?" Emily just nods. "What's your name again?"
"Emily."
"Nice to officially meet you," he said, awkwardly smiling at her. Did he really mean that or was he just saying it because he didn't know what else to say?
"You, too," she replies. Another awkward silence occurs. After a moment, she says, "I was going to make a snowman. Would you like to join me?"
"Sure."
They head off to different sections of snow to make their balls. They roll the snow in silence for a while, until the three balls are made.
"Wingardium leviosa," Ron whispers, and the giant balls of snow lift up in the air, one at a time and are stacked on top of each other in their respective place. Emily takes out her wand and uses it to break off a couple branches from the oak tree to make arms. She finds a couple pebbles nearby to make the eyes, mouth, and buttons. They end up using another stick for its nose. She then takes off her own scarf and wraps it around the snowman's neck.
"There," she says. They both step back to admire their handy work.
"Not bad," he says as he turns to face Emily. She feels a giant chunk of a snowflake fall onto her cheek, but before she has a chance to wipe it off, Ron's hand has reached her face and did the job for her. His hand lingers over her cheek for a moment before letting it fall to his side. They both turn away, blushing.
After composing herself, she asks, "Where's Harry then?"
"He's asleep," he informs her. "He doesn't exactly know of my tradition."
After a brief pause, she finally gets out, "Have you ever been inside Ravenclaw tower?"
"I can't say I have."
"Would you like to?" She has a hopeful look on her face as she waits for a response. "Everyone is gone for the break, so it gets quite boring by myself." He looks perplexed at her question. Noticing the look on his face, she quickly mumbles, "I'd understand if you don't want to—"
"I do," he interrupts, causing her to smile. He returns the gesture. "And we can stop by the kitchens for some hot cocoa first. I know a couple of the house elves that work there." It sounded like he was trying to impress her.
"That'd be great," she tells him. "I've never been to the kitchens before."
"Well, then that's something you can check off your list." He grabs her hand and leads her back up toward the castle, albeit quietly. The whole way to the kitchens, Emily has to stop herself from giggling from sheer giddiness. Never has anything like this happened to her; she never even really had a boyfriend before.
After getting their hot chocolate and thanking the elves, Emily starts to head up the staircase, but Ron stops her. "Are you wanting to get caught?"
"No," she says, a little confused that he was ask such as thing.
"Here, I know a passageway," he says as he grabs her hand and leads her to a set of stairs that were hidden behind a random tapestry.
"Has this always been here?" She asks, quite dumbfounded that such a thing actually exists.
"Yeah. Harry found a map of the school that shows all of these secret passages."
"Does Filch know about them?"
"No, I don't think so. At least not all of them."
They reached the entrance to Ravenclaw tower.
"Now, how do we get in?" Ron asks her, but Emily need not answer because as soon as he had spoken, a voice from the portrait they were standing in front of started spewing off a riddle. It only takes her a minute to get the correct answer. The portrait swings forward to reveal a cylindrical room clad in blue and bronze.
"Riddles?" Ron says as he follows Emily inside and the portrait immediately shuts behind them. "You have to answer a riddle each time you want inside?" Emily just nods. "I'm bloody glad we don't have to do that to get into Gryffindor tower. I'd never be able to get in."
Emily can't help but laugh at this. She leads him over to the dying fire and starts it up again. They both sit down in front of the now-blazing fire. The warmth felt nice after being out in the cold and wet snow. She kicks off her wet shoes and coat, and Ron follows suit.
"Is it always so…dark in here?" he asks her as he scanned the room.
"You see, there's this thing called night time…" she starts, but stops at the look he gives her. "I'm only joking. But yeah, it's never really all that bright in here, but I've gotten used to it." She leans back, her weight falling on her hands. He follows suit, but his hand accidentally slightly grazes hers. They both glance toward their touching hands before he moves his hand away, saying, "Sorry."
"It's fine," she tells him. She then put her hand on his. He looks up at her, a quizzical look in his eye. She sits up and moves to face him. He just stares at her, unsure of whether to make a move or not. Giving in, Emily leans in toward Ron and her lips meet his briefly before she pulls back questioningly. He just looks into her eyes for a moment before he pulls her towards him, his lips connecting with hers. He loses his balance and he falls onto his back, bringing him down with him, her landing on top of him. They continue snogging in front of the blazing fire. Their lips part only long enough for her to tug off her jumper, and again when she helps Ron take off his. He runs his hand up her back softly, causing Emily to shiver involuntarily. She then does her best to kick off her jeans, while he does the same. Soon, there is nothing left to shed.
She climbs back on top of him and—grabbing his shoulders for support—thrusts down onto him, eliciting a quiet moan from him. They are entangled in passion, their lips rarely parting, for a good few minutes before they finish. Emily grabs the sides of his head and brings his lips to hers once more before she climbs off of him.
Once her breathing gets back to normal, she says, "You can stay the night if you want, unless you want to take a chance on getting caught. Then you'd have to explain what you were up to so late." She grins at him.
"I think I'll stay," he decides. They grab their clothes and she shows him to her dorm. Bathroom's through there," she points. "And if you'd rather sleep alone, there's four beds to choose from. I won't tell the girls when they come back." They both put their underwear back on.
"I don't think they'd appreciate it if I dirtied their beds," Ron says as he climbs into bed with her. She just grins. Of course, that's the reason, sure. She turns on her side, facing away from him. He turns to face her and they fall asleep like that, spooning.