Her hand is warm in yours as you snuggle against each other as protection from the cold. Snow whips around you and the wind howls in your ears as you leave the Three Broomsticks and start to head back to school. Everyone else is in the same boat but snowstorm or not, you have to get back to school in time for curfew or there will be consequences.
You can see the outlines of seventh years, running around and casting protection charms that would work as an umbrella, but none of them come near you and her.
"It's bloody cold," You say, your teeth chattering as you press yourself into her body for warmth.
"You think?" she says back, "I can't feel my feet and various other parts."
You snort with laughter; she's never failed to make you laugh. You bow your head against the wind and plough on through the snow, surprised that you're not being bowled over by the sheer force of the wind blowing at you. You can't see anyone else in front of you now, not even the silhouettes you were seeing before.
The wind seems to pick up speed and your face burns as it slices past you, the snow being pushed into your face so hard that you feel like it's going to leave indents.
"Come on," she says, "We can't get back to school in this!"
You're almost glad when she pulls you over to stand in the doorway of Madam Puddifoot's teashop. The two of you look at each other for a while. The snow in her tousled hair that wasn't protected by her beanie, her damp clothes and the scent on the air that makes your senses go wild.
Madam Puddifoot greets you with a smile and a look of sympathy, she's glad that she doesn't have to leave her shop to go anywhere and you can't blame her.
She shakes her head and water flies everywhere, you laugh as the droplets land on your face and wrap your arms around yourself, you're completely soaked to the bone and have no way of drying yourself apart from sitting in front of the heater.
You walk over to one of the many empty booths and sit down, Lavender sliding into the seat opposite you and wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered.
"Here," you say, holding your arms out for her, "I'll keep you warm."
She shakes her head, teeth chattering, "I'm not cold."
You give her a deadpan look, "Lav, you're shivering your arse off, come here."
You see her bite her lip before relenting and moving over to the same side of the table as you. You wrap your arms around her and breathe in her scent, wanting nothing more to stay like this forever. You close your eyes and listen to her breathing and the feel of her chest rising up and down.
Someone clears their throat and you look up to see Madame Puddifoot standing above you with two steaming mugs of tea in her hands. She smiles and puts them down on the table, quietly muttering, "On the house."
You're disappointed as Lavender breaks away from your embrace and grabs her tea, wrapping her hands around it and pulling it to her chest, savouring the warmth that it gave her.
You reach out for yours and take a sip of the sweet liquid, all the while never taking your eyes off of Lavender. Your eyes flit over every feature of her face, studying it over and over again. The way that her mouth moves to sip her tea, the way that her eyes close with pleasure as the warm liquid hits her tongue, the way that she sighs in relief when she brings the cup away from her lips, the way that her tongue darts over her lips to catch any of the tea that may still reside there and you find yourself thinking of several other things that she could be doing with her tongue.
"Lavender," you say quickly, shaking the thought from your head.
"Mmm," she says, looking up at you and you find your palms sweating. There are so many things that you could say to her. So many things that would most definitely not be appropriate. You want to tell her how you feel about her, but you just can't. You can't ruin the strong friendship that the two of you have.
"Thanks for coming into Hogsmeade with me today," you say, silently cursing yourself for not saying what was really on your mind, "It was fun."
She laughs, "That's okay," she says, grinning, "I don't think anybody minds doing things with the person that they love."
Your heartbeat speeds up as you hear the word love emanate from her lips and you feel your eyes widen in surprise and in shock. Lavender smirks at your expression as your mouth drops open.
"Par, close your mouth, you'll catch a fly," she snickers and you shut it abruptly still looking at her in shock.
"Did you just say-"
"Love? Yeah," Lavender said bashfully, rubbing the back of her neck. She looks up at you and grins slightly, "I love you, Par. If you don't feel like that for me can we still be friends at least?"
And before you know what you're doing you're rambling on and on and on about how long you have wanted to tell her but have never found the courage, about all of those nights that you spent lying awake in bed dreaming of nothing else but having her by your side. As you speak you see Lavender's eyes becoming softer and softer and before you know what's happened she's placed a finger on your lips, silencing you immediately.
"Shut up and kiss me," she whispers softly in your ear and it sends shivers down your spine.
And slowly, you move your face down to meet hers, capturing her lips with your own. You feel like there are fireworks being let off in the distance as tingles of pleasure shudder down your spine as you kiss each other passionately. Her hand snakes around your waist and you wrap your arms around her, drawing her in closer, your lips never parting in the process.
You are so caught up in kissing Lavender that you don't realise that the thunderstorm outside has passed. But frankly, you don't really care.
AN: For
The House Cup Competition Round 2: Prompts – A Character denying something, thunderstorm, "shut up and kiss me" and wand
ASAWAU Competition: Prompts – Shock, snow, space, regret
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