A Single Instant

by She's a Star

Disclaimer: The wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. :) If I could claim to possess a millionth of her brilliance, I'd be ecstatic, but alas, I can't.

Author's Note: Just a little vignette here...*shrugses* Enjoy. R/H, as always.

~ * ~

It is simple, careless laughter. Nothing unusual, and still I enjoy it. We banter, as always. Argue, pretend to be mortally offended; fighting back smiles all the while.

And then, suddenly, the air changes. The world stands still, and there is only this instant. Only me, only you, only this strange magic that has suddenly enveloped us.

And we are no longer me and you. We are us, and it's beautiful.

You give me the tiniest hint of a half-smile, sheepish and sly all at once. I study you, musing, wondering exactly when this became so perfect and why I never realized it before.

My pulse is racing, everything spins and yet is so entirely still all at once. It's bewildering and strange and different and intoxicating and I love it and hate it all at the same time.

I wonder vaguely if fireworks erupt around us; it seems a time for fireworks. I've always thought romance to be pointless, silly, something reserved for fairy tales where the lovers ride into the sunset and live happily ever after.

But now it's so perfect and strange and wrong and right. I somehow know that I could shrug my arms around your shoulders, lean closer, closer...press my lips to yours. You won't mock me afterwards - somehow I know that in this instant, everything is different.

But I'm too scared to see it change.

And so I let my gaze fall, I step away, and everything resumes as it once was. You're still smiling, still shooting playful one-liners my way, and I silently thank you for hiding that everything could have changed.

And didn't.

My thoughts dance, blurred, around my mind, and it's so overwhelming not having control over them. I slip past you, mumbling an excuse, and walk away.

I crave air, space, an endless somewhere to remind me how insignificant I am...how this, This that seems to be everything is really nothing at all.

I push the door open and step into the snow, enveloped in swirly white.

And the cold doesn't register. All I can remember is my racing heart, your half-smile, and the fact that I'd just experienced true perfection.

I smile.