She's pissed. She's pissed because she forgot her homework and only noticed when she was already halfway there. Why is Arithmancy on the 4th floor and her common room in the basement anyway? She reaches the 3rd floor and suddenly the stairs start moving, leaving her without anywhere to go. "Great," she huffs and takes a step back from the edge of the platform, bumping into something soft.
"Hey, watch where you're going," a voice behind her says and she turns around to shut the voice up because she really has no time for this today, but then she sees a friendly smile on a face that almost makes her stumble backwards and off the platform.
"I'm sorry," she mumbles, looking at her feet, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. It's Emily Fields. She's seen her before, hanging out with a girl from her house, Hanna, and some other friends. Emily is in Gryffindor and beautiful.
That's all Paige knows. Emily is beautiful.
So beautiful that Paige has caught herself staring at her on more than one occasion, admiring her smile, imagining what it would feel like if Emily smiled at her.
"It's fine, I was joking," Emily's voice shakes her out of her thoughts. "You're Paige, right?" She nods. "I'm Emily. Nice to meet you." The smile on Emily's face is soft and small and Paige feels her heart beating faster. Emily smiling at her is better than she ever thought it would be.
"I saw your last match. You kicked ass." Paige can feel her face heat up. "Thanks." They fall into an awkward silence, looking at one another. "How long do you think will the stairs stay this way?" she asks, glad that she came up with something. "I really don't know. They have a mind of their own."
"Yeah, that's true," she agrees and they're silent again. Mustering Emily, she tries to find something, anything she can say and her eyes fall to the books in Emily's arms. "Divination, huh?" Emily nods and rolls her eyes. "I had Professor Firenze last year, but Trelawney is just... weird."
"I know why I didn't take divination." Emily looks at her questioningly and Paige quickly adds "Too much of a risk. Although, maybe putting up with Trelawney isn't as terrible as Arithmancy." She scrunches her nose and Emily laughs. "I'm not going to lie, I would put up with three Trelawneys to avoid Arithmancy."
"Well, just another regret to add to the list," Paige says with a shrug but when Emily's laugh falls, she scrambles to explain. "I was joking." Emily smiles again and she can hear the stairs moving.
"We can move now," she says and Emily nods. "Yeah, we can. It was really nice meeting you. I hope we'll talk again," Emily answers as they walk up the stairs. Paige feels the heat rising to her cheeks and smiles. "You too."
She spends the following week looking for Emily, trying to think of a way to talk to her without seeming awkward when she sees her. She doesn't find one.
Not until she notices her sitting under a tree by the lake, reading a book in the mild sunlight. She walks up to her, leaning against the tree. "What are you reading?" Emily snaps her head up to look at her. "Oh, hey," she says with a small smile that Paige returns. "Hey." She sits down next to Emily, trying to figure out how close is too close and how big is too big of a smile.
"So, what are you reading?", she asks again and Emily narrows her eyes at the book in her hands. "Uhm, Quidditch Through the Ages." Emily's voice sounds small and Paige has to frown. "And? Do you like it?" Nodding, Emily closes the book, running her finger over the back of it. "Yeah, it's really interesting."
"I didn't know you were that into Quidditch." She sees a light smile tugging on Emily's lips and her heart flutters. "I enjoy watching it a lot, I'm just not good with the whole flying thing," Emily says, looking up from her hands and at her. "Scared of heights?"
"Scared of falling." Paige feels her frown deepen. "Isn't that the same thing?" Laughing, Emily shakes her head. "No, I can stand on high platforms and I love being on the astronomy tower. I just can't deal with moving fast while being so high up, if you get me?"
She nods and gives Emily a smile. "Yeah, I get you. Although, the fast part is the best thing about it," she says with a grin and Emily rolls her eyes. "You have to think that though. You're a chaser. A really good one."
Emily's eyes meet her own and she drops her gaze, letting it linger on Emily lips for just a second before staring at the ground, her heart beating fast. "Are you gonna watch our match this weekend?" she asks, glancing at Emily's face again. "You're up against us, right?" She nods, picking at blades of grass. "Well, I guess I'll have to decide who I am cheering for then," Emily says, slowly getting up. "I have to go now. Good luck for the match, I'll see you there."
Paige hears herself mumble "Yeah, see you there.", looking up at Emily, who returns a soft smile, turning around to leave with one last glance. She watches her walk away, leaning back against her tree and inhaling deeply. Her cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much, but she doesn't want to stop. Actually, she can't stop smiling. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't.
The sound of cheering people makes its way to her through the curtains, dull but still loud. Her heart pounds steadily and she grips her broomstick a bit tighter. It's a good day for quidditch, she can feel it.
The curtain is pushed aside and they walk onto the field. Her eyes scan the crowd for Emily without luck and she feels a little bit disappointed, but the excitement for the match distracts her and when Madame Hooch whistles, she climbs on her broom, ready to push herself off of the ground.
Hearing the whistle sound again, she launches herself off, flying to the far left as she sees Graham go for the Quaffle. She speeds forward, dodging the hand of a Gryffindor, catching the ball and moving towards the rings, gripping it tightly. The keeper hovers in front of the left hoop and she keeps going in his direction, faster and faster, seeing the panic in his eyes grow.
Just before she crashes into the keeper, she yanks her stick upwards, throwing the Quaffle over the confused looking guy in an arc lamp for Morgan to catch and toss it through the right hoop.
"Ten points for Hufflepuff! Nice trick, McCullers!" she hears the commentators voice yell and out of the corner of her eye, she thinks she sees Emily, raising her arms and cheering along with the Hufflepuffs. With a grin on her face, she darts away to stop the Gryffindor's attack.
They're in the lead with 30 points, but it doesn't look like Jess has seen the snitch yet and Graham's forehead is bleeding, making him look incredibly pale. Her own shoulder hurts, because Mickey accidentally caught her with his bat when he hit a Bludger, but that doesn't stop her from shooting forward to snatch the Quaffle before the Gryffindor guy can even move his hands.
She catches a glimpse of Jess speeding along the outline of the field and grins. They got this. Passing the ball to Morgan, she ducks, steering downwards and then up again. She hears someone yell "McCullers, Bludger!" just a split second before she sees it rushing at her head, a Gryffindor chaser flying towards her on the other side.
She doesn't think, she doesn't breathe, letting herself fall to the left, legs fiercely slung around the broomstick, one hand gripping it firmly, the other swinging with her, then stretching out to catch the Quaffle as she uses the momentum to get on top again. Screeches flare up around her, screeches that turn into cheers, whistles and screams of joy when she grabs the ball, launching it towards the middle hoop with all her force. The keeper lunges, trying to stop it, but he is too slow, the Quaffle flying past him and through the hoop.
She can barely hear the commentator over the cheers, the hoots and the whistles and she grins widely, looking over to where she saw Emily earlier. She is still standing there, cheering for her and Hufflepuff. Her gaze lingers and she could swear Emily looks right back at her.
"Jess Howley caught the snitch! Hufflepuff wins 220 to 30!" The cheers grow even louder and she raises a fist. They won.
She is the last one to leave the changing room, savoring the win for herself, storing it away somewhere deep inside, where it can't disappear. She walks across the field, enjoying the light drizzling rain that has started. Everyone else is already back inside, and she thinks about Emily and how she cheered for her.
"Great match." A voice shakes her out of her thoughts. "You were amazing." Standing right outside the pitch, Emily smiles at her and she stops, grinning at her shoes. "Thank you," she says looking up again. "You didn't have to wait for me."
Shrugging, Emily smiles some more. "I wanted to. I told you I'd see you at the match." She smiles, feeling her nerves tingle. "Yeah, you did."
"I like to keep my promises," Emily says, touching her arm lightly and they start walking back to the castle. "That last score was amazing, but I was scared you'd fall." She laughs and shakes her head. "Don't laugh, it looked like you were going to!" Turning her head to look at Emily, she smiles. "I'm sorry. It's just- I've never been worried about falling."
She sees Emily swallow, licking her lips quickly. "I've always been." With that, they reach the front door and without thinking, she opens it for Emily. "Maybe you shouldn't be," she says, stopping on the way to the stairs. "Maybe."
Her lips feel dry, her heart is beating fast and she clears her throat to break the silence that settles upon them. "I, uhm, gotta go to my common room now. I'll see you around?" Emily smiles and takes a step closer. "Definitely." And then, Emily hugs her, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other over her shoulder and she is so close to her. So close that she can smell her hair, her cheek brushing Emily's and finally, she remembers how to move her arms, embracing her, careful not to hold her too tight, inhaling deeply.
When Emily pulls away, she holds her breath as she lets go, trying to store it deep inside her, next to today's win. She never wants to forget this feeling. With another smile, Emily turns around and walks up the stairs, leaving her dazzled and happy.
In the common room, she gets several pats on the shoulder and even some hugs, a few comments on the match and she smiles, thanking everyone before disappearing into the dormitory to bury herself in unfinished homework.
Deciding to start with Transfiguration, because it's the easiest, she dips her quill into ink, frowning at the blank piece of parchment. The only thing she can think about is Emily. About her smile and her hair and the hug. And about how her kisses might taste.
They see each other the next day and the day after that and the day after that, talking about whatever crosses their mind and each time their hugs last a bit longer. Sometimes, Emily joins her for breakfast and sometimes she joins Emily and her friends for dinner.
Today though, today they are sitting under the tree by the lake again, their backs against it, shoulders brushing against the other's, doing homework and eating peppermint toads together. Well, Emily is doing her homework. Paige is too distracted and keeps glancing at Emily. "Do you need help?" Emily asks and Paige lets her gaze drop to her halfway done essay on the Avis spell.
"Uhm, no. Just taking a break." She tries working up the nerve to ask Emily what she's been wanting to ask for weeks, but before she does, Hanna appears next to them. "Hi, Paige. Em, you remember that we're supposed to meet up with Aria and Spence later?" Emily frowns and nods. "Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I?"
Hanna looks at her, then at Emily and shakes her head. "I just wanted to make sure." Her eyes find the Quidditch book that's lying on Emily's bag and she raises an eyebrow. "Since when are you that into quidditch? You hate flying."
She can see Emily swallow, and her own eyebrows crunch together. "I've always liked quidditch," Emily brings out, sounding weak and unsure. Hanna frowns again and nods her head slowly, looking between them again. "Yeah, sure," she says, turning around to leave.
For a second, Paige stares after Hanna, then turns to look at Emily. "What was that about?" Emily bites her lips and looks straight ahead. "I don't know, maybe she's jealous because I'm spending time with you," Emily says laughingly and she joins her, her stomach fluttering when Emily turns her head to look at her.
Her eyes find Emily's lips and before she knows it, she is leaning in, meeting them in a soft kiss. It takes some time for Emily to react and Paige is so close to panicking when the lips against her own soften a bit, before slowly kissing back.
A hand covers her own where it's lying on the ground and Emily's mouth leaves her own. "What was that?", she hears Emily whisper and opens her eyes just in time to see Emily lick her lips. Her heart flutters and she looks at their hands. "A kiss," she mumbles and bites the inside of her cheek.
"Why didn't you do this sooner?" Frowning, she meets Emily's gaze. "Because I didn't know if you liked me. Why didn't you do this sooner?" she asks back and Emily smiles. "I didn't even know if you liked girls, so I was trying to figure that out. I would have done it eventually."
"And the whole quidditch thing was..." She waits for Emily to finish the sentence, running her thumb over Emily's knuckles. "The only way I could think of to get to know you better. Because the only things I knew were that you are in Hufflepuff, really pretty and really into quidditch. I do like quidditch, I've just never thought about it that much."
She breathes out a laugh, because Emily read books about quidditch for her and because Emily thinks she is pretty and because she kissed Emily and nothing bad happened. "You know, I remember the sorting ceremony and how you walked up to that chair. I didn't understand what it meant, but I the first thing I thought was that you are beautiful. And when you were with that girl-"
"Maya?" Emily interrupts her and she nods. "Yeah. When you were with her, I realized what it meant. I just never worked up the nerve to talk to you." Emily pulls her hand into her lap and squeezes it. "I'm very glad that we ran into each other on the stairs then." Emily's voice is gentle but firm, and her breath hitches at the sound of it.
Smiling, she tries to take it all in and whispers, "Me too." Emily smiles back at her, drawing circles into the palm of her hand. "I wish I didn't have to go now," she sighs, pulling her lips inside her mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She nods and gives Emily another smile. "Yeah, okay."
As Emily gathers her stuff, Paige takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment to store this moment along with the wins and the hugs and Emily's smell. Hearing Emily stop bustling about, she opens her eyes again, finding Emily smiling at her and she knows her own smile is just as bright.
Emily leans in and brushes a kiss over her cheek, one hand resting on her knee. "See you," Emily whispers into her ear and Paige nods. "See you."
She watches Emily walk away when she remembers something. She rips a piece of parchment off and scribbles something down with barely enough ink and no time to dip the quill into some. She holds it in one hand, fumbling for her wand. When she finds it, she points it at the note and with a small wave, it turns into a butterfly.
It flies in Emily's direction, reaching her just before Paige can't see her anymore. Emily stops and lets the butterfly land in her palm, reading it slowly. Then, she turns towards her, nodding and Paige is sure she can see a wide grin on her face.
She smiles to herself and looks at the water of the lake. Falling is not something she has to be worried about.