When Jo woke up, sweaty and shivering with Kolya's paw in her face, it was a few minutes past midnight according to her clockwork wristwatch. His gleaming blue eyes told her everything she needed to know, and she carefully peeled herself out of bed, hauling the energetic Rag-doll into her sleepy arms once she rose to her feet.
Jo bit back a long yawn when the events of the whole day came rushing to her in a scrambled mess of bits and pieces.
Absently fishing for a ball for the feline to play with in the common room, she didn't care everyone was too deep into their sleep, again, to hear Lavender's snoring.
Potion. Potions was mostly a haze and Jo realised it was sheer nostalgia that pushed her through.
A slight smile curled her dry lips as Kolya bunted her with his head, tickling her face with his whiskers. She pecked him on the cheek, tucking his head under her chin and made way down the stairs under the moonlight cutting across the common room through the large windows.
Jo pressed another series of kiss against his face, letting out a small sigh as they cwtched up together on a nearby cosy sofa, his weight and presence grounding as she stroked his long, velvety fur.
A memory flashed in her mind and the brunette let out an abrupt snort of laughter, forgetting the ball in her free hand to feel her aching cheeks.
It took a while to calm down and Jo had to bite back another bout of laughter, her dark brown eyes gleaming in the light.
"It's always chemistry," she murmured breathlessly into Kolya's fur. "I hope we don't burn anything like alcohol though."
Lest she get drunk on the alcoholic fumes again.
Jo clamped her hand over her mouth at the thought.
Sometimes she loved the swift and intense bouts of rampant emotions her child body infrequently went through. It made living with the memories considerably easier.
Included Welsh translations (and pronunciations as best as I could) in previous chapters — thought some of you would like to know.
(Personally, Welsh is a BEAUTIFUL language)