There is a rather large fire roaring in the fireplace. My feet are propped up on the coffee table in front of me, and I can't help but wonder if maybe those flames will jump out and grab a hold of my feet.
The Gryffindor common room is quiet, aside from the far-away sounds of people outside the open window playing and having fun in the snow that's been falling for the last few days. I'm jealous of those people; here I sit in front of that terrifying fire on a couch that has definitely seen better days, with an open Transfiguration book in my lap. I've probably read the same paragraph over and over a dozen times, but still I don't comprehend what it's about. My mind is elsewhere.
I stand up and make my way over to that opened window, having tossed my book aside. None of the other Seventh Years occupying the various desks and tables look up as I lean my head out into the cool air. They're all trying to finish up the loads of homework we were assigned before they leave for Christmas break tomorrow, which is what I should be doing, for it's no fun trying to complete everything the day before the train ride back to Hogwarts. But perhaps I'm not as studious as the others. I can't seem to concentrate right now.
The vast expanse of land outside that small opened window is covered in a thick white blanket, and from where I'm at, I can see people ice skating on the frozen lake while the giant creature who lives in it is unable to get to them.
"Why don't you come join us?" I hear someone yell. It's a familiar voice. I look down to the ground below Gryffindor tower, and I see four of my teammates; my friends. They're hardly larger than ants from where I am standing, but I recognize each of them by the color of their hair. Fred and George Weasley are rolling around in the snow fighting one another. Angelina Johnson is standing beside them, telling them to stop. And off to the side, looking up towards me is you, with your hands cupped around your mouth, having just shouted.
Surely you couldn't have been talking to me? I'm hundreds of meters up, and am surprised that you can see me through all of the falling snow. I glance around, looking for whomever it was you were talking to, when I hear you yell, "No! I mean you, Oliver!"
I quickly find my shoes and school robes and put them on. I'm outside in no time.
You greet me, and I laugh when I see that you're wrapped in more than just your own Gryffindor scarf.
"They're the twins'," you explain to me, and I notice that, indeed, the twins are scarf-less. Angelina has calmed them down, and Fred has his arm wrapped around her shoulders and is whispering something into her ear. She laughs, and they both cast glances at George, who frowns and begins throwing snowballs.
His aim is horrible, and I think to myself that it explains why more often than not the girls are hit by stray bludgers during team practices.
A ball of snow hits me in the back of the head and I turn, launching one right back into the direction from where it came. Soon enough, the five of us are in a full-out war. I escape to the far side of the grounds and over to the lake. I slip on a patch of ice, and immediately five girls are by my side helping me up. A few of them are giggling, and the two that grabbed onto my arms are a little reluctant to let me go. It amazes me how my good looks and charm seem to work on all of the girls except for the one I would really like to impress...
I gently pull my arms away and thank them all, before ducking for cover behind the great Whomping Willow. Luckily for me, the thick sheet of ice and snow that covers its branches are enough to keep it frozen and unable to move.
From my position behind the tree, I can see the others. The twins have teamed up, and Angelina is putting up a good fight on her own. But poor you, you're only a Fifth Year while the rest of us are in our Seventh, and you're getting hit with almost every snowball that comes your way. Each time you're hit, you squeal, and it's so cute it brings a smile to my lips. I wave my arm so that you see me and you join me behind the tree.
"So this is where you've been hiding," you say, nodding your head. Your blonde hair is covered with the white substance and you wipe a few snowflakes away that have landed on your long, dark eyelashes.
"Yes, this is where I've been hiding."
You lean down and grab a handful of snow. Before I realize what you're doing, you splatter it in my face and take off running. I follow, but there is a barrage of freezing powder that takes me down and I lie motionless on the ground and wait for it to stop.
Soon, there is another familiar voice. Alicia Spinnet's. I look around and see her crawling from a small window near the bottom of the castle wall.
"I can't take it anymore!" she screams as she straightens out her school uniform skirt.
"Where are your robes?" you ask.
"I've been doing detention down in the dungeons for Snape, but I decided to sneak out. I'll have to go without for a while." She properly says hi to the rest of us, and you and Ange and her start talking animatedly about whatever it is teenage girls like to talk about.
Probably boys.
Hopefully certain boys.
That little weirdo, Colin Creevy is walking around with a camera the size of his head. He comes up to me and asks me if Harry is out here with the rest of us, seeing as how we're all a part of Gryffindor's quidditch team. I shake my head, and the boy looks forlorn for a moment, until he looks up and sees you. He brings the large device he's got hanging around his neck up to his face, and peers through the tiny window in the back, adjusting various things on the lens, and finally his finger pushes the small red button on top.
The noise the camera makes startles you, and you stop talking long enough to glance at the small boy. You know he's had a crush on you for some time now, and you pull the scarves up higher on your face and turn away, paying no more attention to him.
I feel a little sorry for him, for it must feel horrible liking someone so much, only to have them detest you right back. I grab a handful of snow and pack it tightly into a ball. Colin is still snapping pictures of you, Angelina and Alicia, and I feel it's my duty to punish you for being mean to the poor fellow. I pull my arm back and send the ball flying through the air.
As soon as it passes through my fingertips, I'm hit by a wave of distress. I'm sure if it hits you in the face, you'll be embarrassed and then that will make me embarrassed. And then you'll probably hate me forever and ever, and I can't have that happen because it's my last year, and besides, I like you... or, rather, like having you on the quidditch team. Yes. That's it. And if you're mad at me, your game will suffer.
I cross my fingers and let out a sigh of relief as the snowball collides with the side of Alicia's face, who is standing right in front of you. It takes you a moment to realize what's happened, and then you and Angelina are basically holding each other up from laughing so hard. Alicia turns to yell at the twins, who are crouching around a rather large collection of snowballs. She gives them a good tongue lashing, and I return to the base of the Whomping Willow to sit and enjoy what's going on around me.
After some time, I see the twins tackle you to the ground. George is holding you down while Fred starts unbuckling your black boots. He pulls them off and tucks them into a pocket under his robes. He pulls at your socks, but you kick your feet and he's only able to get one of them off before he and George flee.
You get up and start prancing around, trying to keep the snow from touching your feet for too long.
"You could have just taken back your scarves, you know!" you yell at the twins, who have returned to their heap of snowballs. They're snickering and you begin to take a step, but then think better of it and stay right where you are.
I've had enough of hearing you yell, "My feet are cold!" so I get up and walk over to you. Without saying a word, I lean down and grab you around the tops of your legs and throw you over my shoulder.
"Is that better?" I ask as I pat your bottom, which is rather nice, I notice. You're kicking and screaming now, but I'm stronger than you are and I'm able to keep a firm grip on your legs.
Alicia and Angelina start screaming, and you stop moving long enough to see what's going on. Fred and George are using their wands to levitate the snowballs they had made, and are sending them flying towards the girls. An array of colorful goo bursts out of the snowballs as they make contact with the girls' retreating backs, and it's only a matter of time before the twins turn their attack on us. I take off running towards the castle doors, but I hear Fred shout a spell just as I reach the door that locks it, and I curse as I turn and start to run along beside the castle wall, hoping to find another way inside.
You're still moving about on my shoulder, but instead of trying to get away, you're pulling at my arms and robes to cover yourself from the sticky substance that's splattering the wall of the castle behind us.
Finally, too tired to go on, I set you down and catch my breath.
"Oliver!" you cry, and glance around me to see what's going on. You quickly pull your head back as a large green blob takes the place of where your face had just been.
I don't know what else to do, so I unbutton my robes and pull them up to cover my head. I open them up wide, and you quickly step inside, wrapping your arms around my back. The top of your head reaches my nose, and I inhale the sweet scent of your shampoo. I can feel pressure on the tops of my feet, and look down to see that you're standing with your bare feet on top of my shoes.
Something hits my back and I almost fall forward. I lean my arms against the stone wall of the castle to steady myself as more and more of Fred and George's creations strike the little makeshift "tent" than you and I are standing in. I curse because I know I'm going to have to wash this robe fifty times before it'll ever be clean again.
I don't know why, but while all of this is happening, you reach your hands up and cup my face. You're smiling, and you're not moving any closer to me, so I can safely assume that you're not about to kiss me, but it's such an intimate gesture that I blush. I knit my eyebrows, silently asking you, "What are you doing?" You shrug, and run your hands along my neck, finally letting them rest at the back of my collar and in my hair. You lean forward and place your head on my shoulder so that your cheek is flush with mine, and I thank Merlin that I shaved this morning.
"Alicia Spinnet! What do you think you're doing out there? I leave for five minutes and you think you've got the right to sneak away, do you? Fifty points from Gryffindor! Get your sorry little self back inside these dungeons right now!"
I lower my robes and see that Professor Snape is poking his head out the same window Alicia had crawled through earlier. He looks up and sees us and says, "Miss Bell, Mister Wood. I expect you'll have enough decency not to have your little snog sessions out in public again? Ten points from Gryffindor." His head disappears and you look up at me. You're blushing madly and you push me away. I watch as you run to catch up with Angelina, Alicia and the twins, who are marching back inside the castle.
After you've gone inside, I smile to myself. I don't really mind if people think we were snogging under my robes, and I hope you don't either.
I, too, decide to return inside and get a move on with my homework, and as I'm walking, I see Colin's camera lying dejectedly in the snow. I look around, but the boy is nowhere in sight. Upon closer inspection, I see that the camera is covered in the same nasty concoction as my robes. I pick it up and open the back. The roll of film that was inside drops to the ground, and I quickly bend down and pocket it before it gets exposed to the light too much.
I drop Colin's camera back to the ground. I have no use for it.
Woo! One shots are cool. So obviously if you're reading my other story, Linger, this is what happened in those pictures from Chapter 10. I'm kinda stuck on that story right now, but I really wanted to write something, so I did this. Yeah buddy.