AN: I did a set of Tumblr headcanons about hugs a while back and—because they wouldn't leave me alone once they were done—now here is an expanded set of snippets stemming from those headcanons. Because who doesn't need a little fluff in their life once in a while?
"Rowan's hugs linger, tight and fierce and comforting against whatever comes your collective way. Hesitant at first, in the stiff way of someone who hasn't many people to hug, but easier and more frequent with every passing year and every vault she nearly loses you to."
"Do you think," Rowan sighed into her best friend's hair, her arms looped around the other girl like a vice. "-that we could manage at least one year without a near-death experience? Just one?"
"Naturally? I doubt it. Unless you've found some sort of new spell that guarantees a safe, quiet school year..." The friend in question propped her chin on Rowan's shoulder as she fought the urge to sink into the bed just a few feet away. Dueling was tiring under any circumstances, but dueling an Acromantula seemed especially exhausting. Perhaps it was the mental terror of staring at those pincers. And the outrageous number of legs...She shuddered and held on to Rowan tighter. Either way, she felt as wrung out as one of Filch's scrub rags.
But, as ready as she was to fall into bed and sleep for a month, there was no avoiding Rowan and the protective fretting that had no doubt been building all evening. If she looked, she suspected she might find tracks worn into the dormitory's carpet from all the pacing. She had been pounced upon the instant she stepped through the door, fussed over and interrogated in the same breath until the story of the latest vault poured out of her. Rowan hadn't let go of her since, though they had migrated from their awkward huddle in the doorway to a more relaxed perch on the edge of Rowan's bed.
"Hmm. I'll look into that." Rowan made a thoughtful noise, as if truly considering the possibility that there might be just the right book hiding in some forgotten corner of the library. The girl in her arms snickered, and Rowan chuckled back. If only.
"If you tell Pince what you're looking for, she'll probably trip all over herself to help. The library would be a much quieter place if we weren't holding strategy sessions there so often, you know."
"Well, maybe she'd be more fond of the rest of you if you came to actually study once in a while..." Rowan said pointedly, though the rebuke was softened with an extra squeeze.
"When, I ask you," The other girl tilted her head to yawn into Rowan's shoulder. "-have I ever had the energy for extra studying? Between regular classes and prefect prep and the vaults and detention-did I mention that I'm probably headed for a good long detention after what happened tonight?-I'm barely scraping by!"
She felt an arm unwind from its position around her shoulders to reach up and pat her disheveled hair. The gesture was rather stiff, but the intent was nice. She had the feeling it would get better with practice, much like Rowan's hugs had.
"Also, if we don't actually go to bed soon, I'm going fall asleep on you."
Rowan snorted, but didn't let go.
"I don't mind." The embrace tightened, warm and comforting and enough to blot out the madness of another night of cursebreaking. It always was. "I'm just glad you're here."
"Me, too, Rowan. Me, too."
