The month
of November was now drawing to a close and the Christmas Holidays
were fast approaching, students hurried from classroom to classroom
in an order to escape the freezing passageways and whenever a class
ventured down into the dungeons they were hit with a wall of bitterly
cold air and were forced to huddle around their cauldrons in an
attempt to stay warm and stave off the encroaching cold.
"You
know, I really don't understand why they don't install some sort
of heating system down there," Jules muttered angrily as she sank
into an armchair trying to rub some life into her hands after a
particularly gruelling and not to mention cold potions lesson.
"They do
have the fires …" Lana replied pulling out several rolls of
parchment, unfurling them and unscrewing a pot of ink.
"Yeah,
but not everywhere, I think I'm going to have to cast a permanent
heating charm on my robes." Stacey interjected.
At this
comment Jules smiled wickedly, "Oh I don't think you need a
heating charm, after all you do have Oliver to snuggle up to…"
Snuggling huh?
"Yup,
reckon you and Oliver will be doing some serious canoodling tonight,"
Lana nodded knowledgably whilst dipping her quill into the ink well
and commencing work on her essay. Stacey rolled her eyes, "There
are some details we have to figure out on the charms work…"
"Phfft,"
Lana waved her hand airily, thankfully not the hand holding her quill
as neither Jules nor Stacey felt like being showered with ink.
"That'll take what, ten minutes? And then you two will be there
in the library, lamps flickering and you'll suddenly catch his eye
across the table and bam! You'll be on each other like animals."
Lana tailed off and looked in the distance with an almost wistful
look.
Animals? I've got way more self
control than that.. heh… I'll show her… well no I obviously
wont show her….
"Besides,"
Jules piped up, "There's always the Hogsmeade visit this weekend
and we all know what happens in Madam Puddifoots…"
oh there is no way in hell am I
setting foot in that place…
"Do I
look like the kind of person that wants to sit in a fluffy, pink
coffee shop?"
Lana
sniffed, "Cho thinks very highly of Madame Puddifoots…"
Jules
snorted, "Ah let it go Lana, anyways I reckon Stace will drag him
off to the Shrieking Shack," she giggled, then doing a passable
imitation of a swooning woman she added, "Oh hold me, you big manly
quidditch player, you…"
Stacey
threw a cushion at Jules and glared at her playfully, "enough
messing around, I actually want to do something in this free period,
like start and finish this potions essay."
"You
threw the cushion!" Stacey narrowed her eyes at Jules
"Ok, ok,
to potions then."
Having
thoroughly exhausted themselves with their potions work Lana, Stacey
and Jules left the Ravenclaw common room and rushed down to the Great
Hall for what promised to be an excellent meal. Just as Stacey was
about to enter through the main doors she felt a hand slip casually
into hers. She noted Jules and Lana walking on with out her, sharing
a look. Stacey smiled to herself and squeezed Oliver's hand,
looking up as she did so.
"Good
evening Miss Lewis, I hope I find you well?" came Oliver's smooth
voice.
"Very well indeed, and you Mr Wood?" Oliver grinned
brashly at her.
"I'm
great," he leant down whispering into her ear; "see you in the
library, the advanced charms section." With that he placed a
chaste kiss on her temple and walked off towards his fellow
Gryffindors leaving Stacey standing under the threshold to the hall
like an idiot.
Huh, Oliver… perfect sexy male
specimen with broad shoulders and…Stoppit. FOCUS! Move… blocking
the doorway Lewis…
Hurrying
towards her house's table she quickly sandwiched herself in between
Jules and Lana and pilled food on to her plate, smiling to herself
all the while. Looking either side of her she could not but fail to
see that her two companions were not eating, in fact there was a very
obvious lack of food on their plates and very obvious smirks on their
faces.
"So
making plans for your secret assignation?" Jules inquired taking a
delicate slip of pumpkin juice.
"The
flobberworms section?" Lana added lightly
"Advanced
charms," Stacey replied acidly, "are you two going to eat or
would you rather spend the rest of the evening grinning at me like
the Cheshire cat?"
Lana
looked at her puzzled and pulled a Stacey's-lost-it face at Jules,
"What have cats got to do with it?"
Right, forgot pureblood…
"I was
making reference to a muggle book…but that's neither here nor
there, you gonna eat something?" Both Lana and Jules needed no
further encouragement and proceeded to dig in.
Half an
hour later Stacey having bid her fellow Ravenclaws goodnight made her
way down the echoing corridors to the quiet and relative warmth of
the library. Poking her head around the doorway she peeked into the
gloomy room and noted a few sixth years bent over scrolls of
parchment, scribbling away furiously. Stacey pushed open the door
fully and walked down several aisles, the further she delved into the
bowels of the library the darker and less illuminated it became.
Sighing she pulled out her wand and waved it at a nearby oil lamp
which flared to life in response. Dumping her book bag on the nearest
table Stacey plonked herself down into a chair, kicking off her shoes
she pulled out her hair-tie running her hands through her messy
tresses as she did so.
"Nice,
I'm really digging the birds nest look," came an amused voice
behind Stacey.
"Oh you
know, I try my best…" Stacey said primly, patting her hair
lightly. Oliver then came into view as he lowered himself with casual
ease into the seat opposite her and loosened his tie.
"No
really, its uh…" Oliver let out a small laugh, Stacey's eyes
narrowed, coughing slightly he continued, "very, unique. Very
attractive"
"Somehow
I don't believe you." Stacey returned
"No
really it is, but I suppose its going to have to take some convincing
right?"
Stacey
looked at him, one eyebrow raised in question, Oliver licked his lips
and nodded as he leaned forward, whispering in her ear, "you look,"
he placed a light kiss on her cheek, "very," a second kiss on her
other cheek, "very," he kissed her lightly on the crown of her
forehead, he paused. "Attractive" he muttered his mouth
centimetres from hers, and with no further ado his lips were on hers
in an all-consuming kiss.
"Proof
enough?" Oliver asked, grinning when he broke off the kiss.
Stacey
swallowed and bit her lip, "Oh it'll do, for now. But really we
ought to be doing some charms work, don't you think Mr Wood? And
besides we're not even in the flobberworms section."
Oliver
chuckled slightly, "You kill me you know that?"
Stacey
flashed him an uncharacteristic smirk, "Oh I know I do, but I think
you can manage a little bit of charms."
True to
Lana's prediction the pair of seventh years only needed ten minutes
to finish off the project and it was with a flourish the Stacey wrote
her name on the piece of parchment.
"All
done then?"
"All
done," Stacey smiled and leaned back in her seat sighing to
herself, "Can't say I'm not glad to see the end of that. I'll
just put this book away, be back." Stacey then grabbed the
offending book off the table, ignoring her shoes she tiptoed on the
cold stone floor towards the correct shelf. Humming a familiar tune
to herself she put the useful tome back in its allotted place and
once again tiptoed across the library floor. Suddenly two arms shot
out and grabbed her round her waist and a small gasp escaped her
mouth.
I seem to have been attacked a lot
recently…
Stacey
then found her self in Oliver's lap her legs hanging over the arm
of the chair.
Not that I'm complaining
"Any
reason why you felt the need to do that?" Stacey asked, feigning
anger
"Oh, you
looked somewhat unsteady, didn't want to take any unnecessary
risks."
"Unnecessary
risks? So instead you give me a heart attack?"
"You
know you really are going to have to overcome this," Oliver said in
a serious tone "We cant have you experiencing heart problems
whenever you come into close proximity to me."
"I told
you it's your animal magnetism," Stacey sighed dramatically "I
really can't help myself. But the question is what are we to do
about it?"
"Well, I
think the only way to go about this is for you to spend as much time
with me as possible, so you become desensitised so to speak."
Oliver pulled Stacey closer to him, "How's this? Feeling any
heart palpitations coming on?"
"Mmm, I
think you're going to have come a lot closer than that."
"Closer,
huh?" Oliver smiled at the prospect; he leaned in towards her, his
eyes smouldering. Stacey breathed in deeply taking in Oliver's
scent, she stuttered nervously, "Oh I think they're coming on
again."
"You
don't sound very sure." Oliver murmured his voice low and
gravely, his mouth grazing her neck.
Stacey
swallowed, "Oh they're there." She felt Oliver smile, brushing
his lips softly against her neck and trailing butterfly kisses up to
her jaw. Stacey sighed as Oliver's lips found their way to her own.
"You
know," Stacey muttered, between each small kiss, "I never
thought, I'd be one of those girls who spends their spare time
sneaking around in the back of the library."
Oliver
backed up slightly, "Oh this isn't sneaking, although I do happen
to know the flobberworms section is only a few rows back, so…"
Oliver grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Bloody hell... is the entire
population of Hogwarts a bunch of completely over sexed teenagers??
Stacey
grinned lightly and bent down, her mouth hovering inches away from
Oliver's ear, her hair falling across her face "The flobberworms
section huh?" her voice came out low, dripping with sugar, "Oh
but you see Oliver, I've always had this fantasy involving the
quidditch locker rooms and my very own captain." Stacey broke off,
noticing Oliver's now wide-eyed expression, "But as you seem to
have this odd fixation with the flobberworms section, I'm sure
Roger will be willing to oblige."
Oliver
eyes locked with hers, he let out a sudden growl, and grabbed Stacey
once more around the waist, causing Stacey to shriek out as he picked
her up and placed her on the table. Oliver's chocolate brown eyes
bored into Stacey's, causing her breathing to quicken once more at
the intense gaze she was faced with.
"What's
to stop me from ravishing you right here?"
Stacey's
eyes flicked over Oliver's shoulder and she muttered "Madame
Pince?"
Oliver
snorted, "Madame Pince my arse…."
"Leaving
your bottom out of this conversation Mr Wood. I think a sense of
propriety would do you good at times like these."
The change
in Oliver's demeanour was startling, and would have been amusing if
the situation hadn't had been so awkward. Blushing a furious shade
of red, he straightened up immediately and coughed lightly turning
towards Madame Pince with what he hoped to be a winning smile.
Oh good God… I've been caught by
a teacher... she's going to tell Flitwick, then he'll tell
Dumbledore, who'll tell my parents... oh God... I may as well pack
my bags... Mium's going to home school me… and lock me away till
I'm thirty...
Noticing
Madame Pince's withering look and taking into account her previous
comment about propriety Oliver adopted a more sober expression.
"Miss
Lewis, I'd appreciate it if you left this sort of behaviour out of
my library, I really expected much better of the Head Girl. If you
and Mr Wood would be on your way." The schools hawk like librarian
looked at them imperiously, "Now scoot!"
Stacey
hastily jumped off the table, grabbed her bag followed by Oliver's
hand and pulled hard only letting go once they were safely out of the
library and several corridors away.
"If I
lose my head girl ship and end up being brought back home by my
Mother, mark my words Wood, you will pay." Stacey enunciated each
word with a hard poke to Oliver's chest.
Oliver
looked down at Stacey; he nodded solemnly, "I'm really sorry
Stacey." The tall quidditch captain paused and breathed in deeply,
"But, I did tell you the flobberworms section would have been
better."
Stacey let
out a strangled yell and turned on her heel shouting over her
shoulder, "Flobberworms section my arse!"
"Ah
Stacey," Oliver said grabbing her hand as he did so.
Damn his long legs and quidditch
playing induced fitness
"You're
not going to lose your badge, if anything I think Dumbledore will
find the whole thing very amusing." The frown on Stacey's brow
lessened, and Oliver leaned forward resting his forehead against
hers. "I think we've had enough excitement for one night."
Stacey
nodded, cocked her head to one side and held out her hand, "Walk me
to my dorm?"
As the
first term of the year was drawing to a close, the weekend of the
last Hogsmeade visit before the Christmas holidays was upon every
third year student and up. The morning of the trip Stacey, Jules and
Lana all came down into the Great Hall to get in a hearty breakfast
before the outing.
"I
reckon," Jules began just as the three sat down opposite Roger
Davis and his 'posse', "I reckon the Hogwarts administration
must have cut a deal with all the traders in Hogsmeade, so that
they'd arrange a trip close to Christmas so we can all do our
Christmas shopping."
"So?"
Lana replied, cereal spoon half way to her mouth.
"Its
like they're forcing us to buy our gifts there."
"What do
you have against helping small businesses?' Stacey questioned.
"I'd
hardly call Madame Malkins a small business."
"Fine,
Madam Malkins aside…"
"If you
feel so strongly about it, don't buy any presents from Hogsmeade."
Interjected Lana.
"Maybe I
wont!" came Jules declaration.
Both
Stacey and Lana nodded, and went back to the serious business of
eating.
"How
long do you reckon she last?" Roger Davis leaned over to ask the
two girls as Jules was engaged in conversation with a Ravenclaw
fourth year.
"10
minutes," both Stacey and Lana replied with no hesitation.
"Really,
I was going for more like five." Roger smiled as he shook his head;
"I'll see you girls later."
As Roger
rose from the table with a wink, Stacey lent back and quietly sipped
her morning coffee.
"So,
today's the day, huh?" Jules interrupted Stacey's mulling
having finished up with the Ravenclaw fourth year.
"Ah, yes
the long awaited date with Mr Wood," Lana added.
"You
guys seem way more excited about this than I do…" Stacey muttered
under her breath.
"What
was that?" Jules asked cheerily
"Nothing,
nothing… well c'mon I need to grab a coat from the dorms"
With that
the three seventh years followed Roger up to the Ravenclaw tower and
their dormitory.
"So
where are you guys meeting?" Lana asked when Stacey had found a
suitable coat and they were descending the steps into the common
room.
"Oh he
said he'd meet me in the Entrance Hall."
"Ok,
cool…" Jules muttered, "Oh damn, I forgot my money, er…'
"Its ok,
I'll go ahead, see you guys this evening."
Stacey
then proceeded to make her way down the winding steps of the
Ravenclaw tower to the main part of the school. As she meandered her
way down one of Hogwarts ubiquitous corridors she ran into a gaggle
of fifth year Hufflepuffs.
"Hey
Stacey," came a familiar voice from behind her, she turned to see
the handsome prefect Diggory.
"Hi
there Cedric, going to Hogsmeade?"
"Yup,
got to stock up on Honeydukes chocolate before I get cut off from the
rest of world."
Stacey
fell into step with Cedric and the rest of his friends, "Cut off
from the rest of the world?"
"Oh
yeah, Ced's getting sent off to grandmas," piped in a random
member of the group Stacey vaguely recognised.
"Oh tell
me about it, the whole summer I was with my Grandparents, they live
in the middle of nowhere, and there are only so many country walks
you can take, you know?" Stacey said sympathetically.
Cedric
shrugged ruefully, "write me?"
Uhhh….
Stacey
laughed nervously, "If you're lucky, " by this time they had
arrived in the entrance hall and Stacey saw Oliver, his scarf flying
in the draft; his collar loosened as he stared into the distance his
eyes squinted slightly. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Um,
looks like Oliver's waiting for me," haha… yup hot
quidditch boy is waiting for me… oh god… stoppit Lewis.. "If I don't see you later have a good holiday Cedric."
"Yeah
you too, Merry Christmas Stacey"
Is it just me or does he look
slightly put out?? Nah, its nothing…
"Merry
Christmas, don't get too bored." Stacey replied and waved
slightly before making her way towards Oliver.
"Oliver!"
at the sound of his name the quidditch player turned to face Stacey
with a smile.
"Hey,
how are you?" he grinned down at her.
"Not too
bad, not too bad." Stacey casually returned, "So what are our
plans for the day?"
Oliver
looked at Stacey slowly, "Um.. I didn't have anything specific
planned…"
"What?"
Stacey asked feigning disappointment, "no romantic walk where you
take me by the hand and lead me to some place that you've been
going to since third year, where you can have some time to yourself
and just forget about the world?"
The look
of complete and utter confusion on Oliver's face following her
statement caused Stacey to burst out into uncontrollable laughter.
"Right,
well now that you've had your daily dose of laughing at my expense.
Fancy a trip to Zonko's?" Oliver asked, offering the crook of his
arm as he did so.
"Why
not, its been a long time since I've stepped into a shop expecting
to come back out again maimed, time to mix it up again I reckon, live
life on the edge and all that."
"You
talk a lot, you know that right?"
"What?"
Stacey spluttered out an attempted indignant response.
"I'm
kidding, c'mon" Oliver threw his arm around Stacey and pulled her
closer to his side.
"What do
you mean…??? I what?"
"Shhh…
" Oliver soothed kissing Stacey on the top of her head, "you
overreact too…"
"Ugh.."
said Stacey as she pushed Oliver away. "Fine if I have soooo many
faults."
"Yeah,
but they're endearing." Oliver said as he took her face in his
hands and laid a kiss on her nose. "Very endearing."
He's so… too perfect
"So
Zonko's then?"
"Right,"
Stacey nodded the affirmative, "Zonko's"
The couple
had finally made it down the high street, and there it was, every
prankster's dream. The fine establishment that was Zonko's, often
frequented by names that appeared several times on Filch's
equivalent of the FBI's most wanted list.
"Ready?"
Oliver asked in mock seriousness
"As I'll
ever be…" after considering her comment, "oh god that was
corny."
The two
stepped over the threshold and were greeted with a number of magical
contraptions to aid and abet any prospective troublemaker. The
shelves were stacked high with various kits and packs to keep even
Fred and George Weasley occupied for days. As Stacey moved away from
Oliver and trailed her finger across various names that were
emblazoned on the boxes crammed onto the shelves she failed to notice
the brightly coloured boomerang headed for her, only when several
voices yelled "LOOK OUT" and a large figure dove straight for her
did she notice anything was wrong.
"Really
Lewis you should start paying more attention to your surroundings."
Eh, would you look at that, my own
white knight
"You
know," Stacey paused, looking up at Oliver's face, "you have
really long eyelashes."
Oliver
frowned lightly, "uh thanks?"
Suddenly
realising the compromising position they were in and the group of
concerned customers surrounding them, Stacey tapped Oliver on the
shoulder, "not that I don't like you on top or anything but could
you let me up?"
Oliver
smiled and sprung to his feet, holding out his hand for Stacey to
take.
"Thank
you Mr Wood," came Stacey's prim reply.
"Oh are
you alright my dear?" came the breathy voice of what appeared to be
the very harried shop manager.
"I'm
fine, just a little sore but its cool."
After
having left the premises Stacey and Oliver stood outside the shops
doorway not quite knowing what to do with them selves
"How
about some lunch, why don't you get us some drinks and I'll get
us the food and we'll meet at the benches in the town square, say
ten minutes?" Stacey suggested after some deliberation.
"Sure,
sounds like a plan."
"So
anything in particular you want?"
"Surprise
me," Oliver called over his shoulder as he turned away from Stacey.
Okkk.. well I could get something
from the Three Broomsticks… or….
Stacey
smiled grimly to herself as she saw the floral print curtains that
framed the windows of Madame Puddifoots. As Stacey was now near
enough to see the stitched detailing on the pink curtains, she
grimaced.
Never did I think I'd go into this
place…
A younger
couple opened the door to gain access to the small teashop and Stacey
caught a whiff of the various pastries and delicacies on sale within.
Mm, it might not be too bad after
all.
Shaking
her head she turned the handle and pushed opening the door triggering
off the charm that was placed around the door so that a small chime
went off in the depths of the tearoom.
"What
can I do you for, my dear?"
Several
minutes later Stacey emerged from Madam Puddifoots laden with several
paper bags smiling lightly as she made he way to the town square. As
she rounded the corner she noted Oliver already there also with two
paper bags and a freshly conjured blanket.
"Nice,"
was Stacey's first comment when she reached the tall boy.
"Aint it
just?"
"Mhmm…."
Stacey nodded, " just wonderful." She grinned as Oliver leaned
down towards her, his lips catching hers just as snowflakes began to
fall.
