The Serpent and the Eagle
Padma Patil and her twin sister Parvati were among the few students who remained at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays in their sixth year. granted, not many students often stayed, but as Padma's parents were vacationing in India for their anniversary, she and her sister decided to give them their space.
Parvati was holed up in Gryffindor Tower either doing homework or reading, Padma wasn't sure which, but she herself wasn't about to hibernate her holiday away. She bundled up in coat, boots, gloves, hat, and Ravenclaw scarf and ventured out into the grounds. A few of the younger students were building a snowman on the sloping lawn, and the large snowballs kept rolling away from where they had set up camp. Padma smiled.
"Immobulus," she said, waving her wand. The largest snowball froze mid-roll and a red-faced third year collapsed gratefully against it.
"Thanks," he said. She nodded kindly and continued on her way.
The Whomping Willow looked deceivingly serene with its branches covered in snow, but Padma remained wary. She skirted far around to give it a wide berth, lest it decide to come alive on the spot.
Finding a more secluded area near the lake, Padma situated herself on a log and simply breathed it all in. the sky was heavy with grey snow clouds, and it was the kind of cold she liked: no wind and thus not bitterly cold, but still snowing lightly. Padma sighed. She would have to remember to do this more often. It felt as though most of her time was spent indoors, studying or doing homework-related things, and she often forgot that there was more to life than school. Yes, she would definitely have to do this again.
The snow was heavy on the ground, a fine layer of powder over the harder, more packable stuff. Ignoring the fact that she'd only thought to wear a single layer of jeans, Padma lay down in the snow. Stretching out her arms and legs, the Ravenclaw moved her limbs methodically, even arching her hands slightly to make wingtips. After a few moments she heaved herself up, careful not to trample the snow and muss her creation.
Padma smiled at the imprint. It had been so long since she'd made a snow angel and she was seized by a childlike feeling of giddiness. Taking a few steps away from the first snow angel, she flopped down again. A smile grew on her face as she gazed up at the grey clouds and breathed in the winter air.
"Shouldn't you be inside, bookworm?"
Padma stopped, recognizing the slightly nasal voice. "Hi, Theo."
Theodore Nott sat down on the nearby log. "Don't you have homework to do?"
She lifted her head enough to see him. "No. Not all Ravenclaws get an orgasm out of studying, I'll have you know."
He raised an eyebrow. "Where's your shadow?"
Padma pulled herself up; her jeans were quickly becoming saturated. "Parvati is up in her common room, I expect." She sat down next to Theodore. "You're full of questions today."
He shrugged. "I wasn't sure you functioned without each other."
"Well, I barely see you outside of Malfoy's company," she retorted. "How in Merlin's name do you do it, Theo?"
He snorted. "I don't need that ferrety git, and he knows it. If anything, he needs me." He looked at her with cool blue eyes. "Who d'you think taught him Serpensortia for the duel with Potter in second year?"
Padma shrugged. "I just assumed he knew it, his father being a known Death Eater and all. Or else Snape taught him. Come to think of it," she remarked, "it makes sense for all you Slytherins to know it, if you ask me."
Theodore smirked. "And I assume all you Ravenclaws can conjure eagles, and Gryffindors bloody lions, then?"
She laughed, recognizing the absurdity of it all. "Well, how do I know? You Slytherins do have a spotty reputation at best."
He rolled his eyes. "And Gryffindors are all a bunch of saviors, yeah?"
Padma smacked his arm, unable to suppress a grin. "Give it a rest."
His mouth crooked into a half-smile. "I can't help it if you make it too easy to point out the enormous flaws in your arguments."
She leaned against his shoulder, glad that she was so comfortable with him. "I didn't say you all had a bad reputation," she muttered.
Theodore put his arms around her, resting his cheek against the top of her hat. "Some of us may escape it only because we don't exploit it," he replied.
Padma nodded thoughtfully. "I always forget your dad's a Death Eater too."
He winced, glad she was unable to see. "I try to forget about it myself, most of the time… but it can be helpful too. Gets you places you wouldn't normally be able to go."
"Places I wouldn't want to go," added Padma, shivering. He rubbed her arms in a warming motion.
"Your jeans are drenched," he commented, before taking out his wand and performing a simple Drying spell.
"Thanks." She stood up and looked around. "We'll catch hell if anyone sees us."
Theodore shook his head, rising with her. "There's barely anyone here as it is. And I could kick Malfoy's arse with my wand behind my back," he added as she opened her mouth.
"I was thinking more of Snape," she snapped back.
He was silent, but his lip curled defiantly. Pulling her closer, he kissed her soundly on the lips. Padma broke away giggling.
"You know he'd rather see you hanging with Parkinson or Greengrass or Bulstrode," she said, starting the trek across the grounds back up to school.
"In case you haven't noticed, Parkinson and Greengrass and Bulstrode didn't stick around," he replied, kissing her again. She pulled away.
"So you're only spending time with me because they're all gone for the holidays? Because I'm what you're stuck with?" Her pace quickened and Theodore scrambled momentarily to keep up.
"Hardly," he snapped, annoyed by her sudden change of tone. "They're what I'm stuck with because House division is followed as strictly as religion." A deep frown crossed his face. "We've been talking about this for over a year, and it seems to be me waiting on you. What are you so afraid of, Padma?"
He grabbed her hand and she shrank against him, reaching for his arms to hold her. "I-I don't know," she confessed. "I just… I don't like that people judge so much."
Theodore softened. "Don't worry about what they think. If I worried about what people thought all the time, I would be completely different. I could be Slytherin prefect if I wanted," he pointed out, "but I prefer to let someone else have the spotlight."
They pushed through the heavy double doors and Padma made for the staircase, aiming to go up to her dormitory and sort things out, but Theodore didn't give her the chance.
"It doesn't matter what they think," he said fiercely. Padma froze on the stairs.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" she asked, staring hard at the first floor landing.
His silence prompted her to turn; it hadn't been a rhetorical question, and the Ravenclaw fully expected an answer. What she didn't expect, however, was for him to be standing one step down from her and thus directly eye-to-eye.
"Bloody hell!" she shrieked.
Theodore looked mildly amused. "No, I'm not going to let this go," he confirmed. "I'm not going to let you go."
She had known his answer all along, even before she'd asked the bloody question, but Padma needed his reassurance – and now that she had it, she was beyond over the moon or on cloud nine. She threw her arms around the Slytherin's neck and kissed him.
"Let them think what they want," he murmured against her lips. "It's only your opinion that matters to me."