First of all, this is written for Amber (Cheeky Slytherin Lass), courtesy of the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2013. I hope you like it!
This is also written for the Hogwarts Classes Category Competition (Charms - write about a Ravenclaw) and the Headcanon Boot Camp Challenge (Muggle Studies).
September, 1996
Terry likes to hope that maybe, just maybe, this can last forever.
o0o0o
He can't be sure what draws him to Padma at first.
She's not like Su, all wild, open energy, the epitome of a tomboy. She's not like Morag, with fiery passion and a burning temper lurking underneath that controlled facade. She's not like Lisa, whose puppy-like innocence makes everyone adore her. She's not like Mandy, who's still quiet around them after over five years.
She's different. Padma Patil is mature and honorable, the conscience of the group, the mother figure who makes sure they don't corrupt Lisa too much or encourage Su and Kevin's wild sides. She's gorgeous, like her twin sister, but she doesn't seem to care; her hair is pulled back every day, and her Hogwarts uniform always conforms exactly to the regulations.
Padma is the one that catches Terry's eye at the end of fifth year, and when the beginning of sixth year rolls around, he's spent a whole summer thinking about her, a whole summer musing on what they could be.
He just hopes that there's a chance, no matter how faint.
o0o0o
It's a normal year at Hogwarts. He hasn't had one of those since his first year, what with the Chamber of Secrets and Sirius Black's escape and the Triwizard Tournament and the Umbridge fiasco, and it's a wonderful feeling to return to what passes for normal at Hogwarts. It's funny, he thinks, his definition of 'normal' - after all, he's at a school to practice magic.
Terry lets himself get caught up in essays and classes and his friends, and he tries to ignore the fact that his eyes always go toward Padma when she walks by. After all, there's no way Padma could be interested in him - gangly, awkward Terry, too tall and skinny, not as confidently arrogant as Michael or as gracefully soft-spoken as Anthony.
He can't deny, though, that it feels good to worry about something so mundane. He knows that the war's coming - he knows that You-Know-Who is back - but he puts that to the back of his mind, because the war isn't right there in front of him, and for a little while, he wants to forget.
o0o0o
"Terry," she says one day, startling him from the book he's reading. The two of them are the only sixth years in the common room, sitting next to one another in fluffy armchairs that Terry never wants to leave. He looks over at her, a smaller figure curled up in her chair, a thick Muggle Studies book propped open in front of her. "There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon, you know."
His heart beats faster as he nods. "Yeah, there is." For the Ravenclaws in his year - all of them very close with one another, all of them content to call the other nine their best friends, the only group so large in the entire school - Hogsmeade weekends are generally group things. Occasionally someone splits from the group, if they happen to be dating somebody, but for the most part they stick together. "Why?"
Padma takes a deep breath. "Well, you and I are the only ones left of our group," she says. "Everybody else is either going with someone or not going at all. So it'll be just you and me, unless you have other plans."
He shakes his head. He didn't have other plans, and besides, there's absolutely no way he would miss out on the opportunity to go to Hogsmeade with Padma, even if it isn't technically considered a date. "No plans," he says.
She offers up a rare, real smile. "See you there," she says, and buries her face in her book once again.
o0o0o
They're sitting across from one another at a table in the Three Broomsticks, one of those tables in the back where it's quiet enough to hear each other speak. Both of them have Butterbeers; Terry's is almost three-quarters done, and Padma is sipping hers at a more respectable pace. He's just glad it's not strong at all, but then he reconsiders - maybe it is, because there's no way he would have enough confidence to speak his next words if he were fully sober. "So, er...is this a date?"
For a moment, Padma just stares at him, and he opens his mouth to take back what he said, to pass it off as a stupid joke or something along that line. Before he gets the chance to say something, she talks. "Do you want it to be?"
It's not a 'yes', but it isn't a 'no', either, and Terry takes a chance. "Er, kind of."
She reaches across the table and takes his hand. Her hand is small in his, cool against his warm skin, and he can't help the grin that makes its way across his face.
o0o0o
It isn't passionate.
Terry doesn't know if either one of them even have the capability to be passionate. He feels that he's too awkward, not charming enough, not desirable enough for the sort of passionate romance that fourth-year girls whisper about when they think nobody's around. He knows for a fact that Padma is sensible and mature; he can't picture her being that wild about anything, much less him.
They're not doomed to burn out. Their flame doesn't leap and soar unnaturally high. It's there, but it burns slowly, steadily, calmly. It fits them both well. Terry would never be able to keep up with somebody fervent and wild, and Padma would never even try.
He's perfectly content to just sit there with her, talking quietly, her head against his shoulder. He knows nothing more is going to happen - because she's Padma and she'd never do something scandalous, and he's Terry and he would barely know what to do if she tried.
He thinks he loves her for it anyway.
o0o0o
He kisses her on Valentine's Day.
It's something he can't resist. They've kissed before, but never more than one kiss at a time, because they aren't brave enough to find a private place, and they aren't brave enough to actually make out in front of others. Valentine's Day comes, and they bundle themselves up and walk around the grounds. "Hogwarts is beautiful in the winter," Padma says. "Isn't it?"
"Yeah," Terry says, and then channels his inner Michael Corner. "Like you."
He takes the opportunity to kiss her, and she embraces him and kisses back. He thinks he might just be in heaven, because he's kissing Padma Patil - truly kissing her, not just pecking her lips with his own. It's just as wonderful as he thought it would be. She has to stand on her tiptoes to reach him, and he can't stand up straight because he's too tall, but it doesn't matter at that moment - nothing does. Despite the cold, despite the layers of clothes they both have on, he thinks he's in paradise.
o0o0o
"You and Padma are still going out, huh?" Michael says. "How's that going?"
Michael's lounging on his bed, his head propped up on his hand, sprawled out like a model. Going on appearance, he should be the one to be with Padma - the prettiest girl with the handsomest boy - and Terry feels a small amount of pride that Padma chose him over Michael. "Good," Terry says. "It's going well."
Michael nods. "Nice, mate. What's gonna happen over the summer? You two sticking it out, or -"
"I don't know," Terry says. "I haven't thought - we never brought that up."
"Ah, well," Michael says. "If I were you, I would have moved on anyway. I've had my eye on a few other people."
"You always have your eye on a few other people," Terry points out, and Michael doesn't deny it. Terry can't fully understand the way that Michael doesn't enjoy staying with one person. Doesn't he realize the beauty of having somebody else actually care about him? Doesn't he realize that relationships are about more than the physical?
Knowing Michael, probably not.
o0o0o
"You'll write?" Terry says. The Hogwarts Express stands high beside them, a burst of scarlet on the otherwise-dull platform. He vaguely wonders why the train is painted Gryffindor red; the fair thing to do would have been to paint it either a neutral, non-House color, or paint it with all four of the House colors.
Padma's voice shakes him out of his irrelevant thoughts. "Of course," she says, and hugs him. She feels comforting and warm, and for a few seconds, Terry can forget about everything - Dumbledore's death, the fact that the war is going to get even more real now - and just focus on her. "I'll see you in September, all right? I -" She takes a deep breath, and for a moment, Terry thinks she's just going to leave, but she finishes. "Love you, Terry."
She squeezes him, and starts to walk away. "Love you, Padma," he replies. For a moment, he doesn't think she heard, but then she turns around, a few feet from where he's standing, and there's a smile on her face. She lifts up a hand, and disappears into the crowd.
He watches until he can't see her anymore, until her petite figure is swallowed up by those bigger than her, and he wonders what the next year will bring.
o0o0o
Terry always wishes that the peace of sixth year could have lasted forever.
