"Wakey wakey, rise and shine!"
"What?" muttered Tanwen groggily. She peeped over her duvet to see Jon standing at the end of her bed, beaming at her. "You're far too early, go away!" She snuggled back down under her duvet.
"It's a beautiful sunny day," he said brightly, grinning, "Alex and I are rounding up people to go tobogganing."
"It's far too early!" she repeated, retreating further under her covers, "and you're far too cheery for this time. Come back when I'm awake."
Jon looked at her huddled form under the duvet and gave a wicked grin. Grabbing hold of the bottom he yanked it hard.
"Ahhh!" Tanwen screamed as the covers slid over her bare legs, "Cold!"
He laughed as she crawled down the bed and tried to pull the duvet back from his hands.
"You're so mean!" After a brief struggle she gave up trying to pull it up to the top of the bed and settled for crawling underneath it.
"Are you always this lazy?" he asked.
She mumbled something incoherently. He reached a hand under the covers and started to tickle her feet. She kicked his hands.
"Ouch!" he protested removing his hand, "Little vixen!"
"You deserved it!" Tanwen told him severely sitting up with the quilt wrapped round her.
"Please come," he pleaded, changing tack and going down on one knee. He looked pleadingly at her with wide innocent eyes.
"I can't see that," she told him, closing her eyes.
He laughed, "Ok then, stay in bed. I'll just be off to get Diggory and Griffiths by myself."
Tanwen opened her eyes. She sighed and got off the bed, still wrapping her covers round her. "Fine, I'm coming," she conceded.
"Oh now you're interested, the moment I mention Diggory you jump up, but my company's just not good enough for you?" he pretended to look offended.
She yawned and wrinkled her nose.
"You're hair's a mess," he said without waiting for her to reply.
"I have just been rudely woken up," she reminded him.
"You're going to take forever to get ready aren't you?"
"No-"
"-Yes you will and it'll be lunchtime before we go to get the others."
She glared at him.
"Let's just go like this," he gabbed her round the waist and carried her and the quilt into the next room.
"Jon, put me down!" she yelled, wriggling.
"Promise you won't take forever to get changed," he commanded, grinning at her.
"Just go and get Will or Cedric first and come back," she suggested, "unless you don't think they'll come unless I'm there."
"Ok," he dropped her suddenly. She fell to the floor on top of her quilt and glared at him. "Be quick then, vixen," he told her with a smile as he grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire.
Tanwen stalked away muttering to herself under her breath about noisy and harassing early morning visitors.
Twenty minutes later Tanwen finished drying her hair with a hairdryer and set about finding her clothes. Loki was sat out in the living room, happily munching on his bamboo shoots, while she wandered around her room in her underwear. She laid out her clothes on her newly laid bed and pulled on her black cords.
Loki was squeaking away in the next room, "What is it?" she asked as she wandered through, "surely you can't want mo-" she stopped horrified and clasped her hands over her chest. She made a small squeaking noise.
Will and Jon stood open mouthed in front of her fireplace. Both an interesting shade of pink. Simultaneously they both raised an eyebrow.
"Scrud buckets," Tanwen muttered, running back into her bedroom and shutting the door firmly. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. Hastily pulling on a long sleeved top and fluffy jumper she ran a brush through her hair before tying it back. She put on boots and picked up her gloves before walking back into the living room.
Loki was chortling to himself and Will and Jon grinned at her. She blushed again and turned away to put on her coat by the door.
"It was nice to see you this morning," Will said grinning.
"Always a pleasure," added Jon with the same expression.
She ignored them and held her head high, walking past them to the fireplace. Throwing a handful of floo powder in, she said clearly, "Riverside."
She arrived in the Diggory's kitchen and stepped out the fireplace. Cedric and his
Mother wandered in carrying through their breakfast things.
"Tanwen!" Cedric hurried to dump the things he held to embrace her, "how are you?"
"Not bad," replied Tanwen, kissing him on the cheek, "yourself?"
"Much better now you're here," he replied gallantly with a grin, "I'd like you to meet my mother. Mum, this is Tanwen, my girlfriend."
"Pleased to meet you," said Mrs Diggory, walking over to shake her hand, "Cedric's told us all about you."
"Nothing bad I hope," replied Tanwen smiling.
"Oh no," she assured Tanwen smiling back.
"Mind you, I wouldn't believe everything he's told you. He probably exaggerates wildly," Tanwen said with a look at Cedric.
"Me?" he looked innocent, "now why would I do that?"
Tanwen opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by the appearance of Will in the fireplace.
"Will, good to see you," said Cedric nodding to him.
Will nodded back, "Hello Mrs Diggory, I hope you're well," he said turning to greet Cedric's mother.
"Very well thank you Will, how are your parents'?"
"Oh just fine, thank you," replied Will.
"Who would have known he could turn into such a model of good breeding, hey?" Cedric whispered to Tanwen. She laughed and smiled at him.
There was another puff of green smoke and Jon appeared in the fireplace.
"Everyone ready?" he asked.
"Ready for what?" asked Cedric, a little confused.
"Tobogganing," replied Will, "didn't Tanwen tell you?"
"Maybe she was distracted," Jon grinned.
"I know I was when we went to collect her," Will said wickedly.
Tanwen coloured and Cedric looked questioningly at her. "I'll tell you later," she muttered.
"Right. Ok then, wait a second while I go grab some warmer clothes," Cedric said, dashing off out of the room. They could her him thundering up the stairs.
Will introduced Jon to Mrs Diggory and the three chatted politely to her until Cedric came back down. Tanwen was careful not to make eye contact with the two boys.
Ten minutes later the four of them were walking through the Contay manor to the front door.
"Alex's supposed to have fetched Lizzie and Blake. Marcia couldn't come," Jon was saying. "I went to see if she was coming after waking Tanwen up."
Tanwen glared at him, "that was the rudest wake-up call I've ever had!"
He shrugged.
"What did he do?" asked Cedric, one arm round her waist as they walked.
"Well I was sleeping peacefully when he burst into the room shouting at me to get up. Needless to say I ignored him and he pulled the covers off me," Tanwen replied.
"You make late night visits, I make early morning visits," Jon replied pleasantly.
"What?" Will asked.
"They gave me a lift home yesterday and Sinea-Jon's little sister- left her necklace on Loki so I returned it," explained Tanwen, "I didn't mean for it to be so late, but I went out to eat into the city and the public transport was terrible!"
"So what was it you said you'd tell me later?" Cedric asked her.
"Oh..erm," Tanwen floundered, "You see I sent Jon away to pick up one of you guys while I got ready. And I wasn't quite finished getting ready when they arrived back…."
"So?"
"As in I wasn't finished getting dressed," Tanwen blushed.
"If you look down her top you'll find she's wearing a red lace bra-very nice if I do say so," Will informed Cedric grinning wickedly.
Cedric glared at him. Tanwen studied the floor.
"But we don't know if it's part of a set," added Jon, pulling open the front door as Cedric turned to glare at him too.
Pulling her coat tightly around her Tanwen walked out the door into the snow, the other three just behind her. The long sweeping lawn was covered in a white blanket of snow. Up on a hill to their left smoke was billowing from a large bonfire. Several figures waved vigorously to them from the top.
"Hurry up!" came Alex's voice.
The four of them set off up the slope. Tanwen held Cedric's hand and Will walked to his right, Jon to her left. Tanwen was studiously ignoring Jon, choosing to talk to Cedric instead.
At the top of the hill Alex and his friend Blake stood on one side of the fire Lizzie on the other side of Alex, Mrs Contay and Sinea stood on the other. They were all well wrapped up in thick coats and scarves. Behind them several toboggans sat waiting for them.
"You took your time," Alex told his twin.
"Tanwen is very lazy in the mornings," he replied with a grin.
Tanwen snorted and walked over to greet Minette and Lizzie. She didn't really know Blake very well. He was in Hufflepuff with Alex and Lizzie and was a fourth year like them so she had Herbology with him, but they'd never talked that much. He was tall with black hair, chestnut eyes and long dramatic eyelashes, which suited him really, Blake was rather…theatrical.
Several minutes later they paired up and picked up the rope round a toboggan for each pair. Naturally Cedric and Tanwen paired and Will grabbed Lizzie's arm. Jon was taking his little sister and Alex and Blake had decided they were 'too manly' to share so they were going to take turns.
Positioning their toboggans at opposing sites on the hill the couples settled themselves down. Cedric sat down and wrapped his arms tightly round Tanwen as she sat down between his legs and picked up the rope. She could hear Minette telling Jon to be careful with Sinea behind her and grinned. As reckless as he was, there was no way he'd let anything bad happen to his sister.
One, two, three….
And they were off. They raced down the hill, gently bumping over snow drifts as the cold wind rushed through their hair. The crisp crunching of snow underneath echoed in their ears.
Tanwen and Cedric hurtled down the slope, in front of them there was a large frozen lake. A huge snowdrift loomed in front of them, Tanwen made a small squeaking sound and closed her eyes tightly turning her head towards Cedric as they ploughed into it.
"Oof!"
They ploughed straight into it. Whiteness filled her vision and she began to cough and splutter to try and get rid of the snow in her face. Behind there was a crumbling noise as the path in they had just made in collapsed inwards. She felt Cedric stand up behind her and punch his fist through the top. But he didn't break the surface. A quick scan revealed a long twig protruding from the wall around them. He pulled it out and proceeded to poke at the ceiling. Eventually a small shaft of light burst thought and shone down through the hole he'd just made.
"Are you ok?" he asked her as he scraped at the snow around them in an effort to make more room.
She nodded and got off the toboggan. Tanwen shook her head in an effort to loosen the snow lodged in her hair; Cedric just pulled off his gloves and brushed his hands through his. She looked around her, feeling a little anxious, "how far in are we do you think?" she asked.
He shrugged, "I'm not sure, I think we came in a far way though, we were going so fast."
She shuddered and walked over to wrap her arms round his waist, "I don't think I like it in here."
"We won't be here long I'm sure," he told her comfortingly, tilting her face up to kiss her. He grinned slyly, "don't you like being alone with me?"
She grinned back and pulled his head back down towards her and kissed him deeply.
He slipped his hands under her coat to place his hands on the small of her back. She felt his lips curve into a smile as he slid a cold hand under her clothes to touch her back. Gasping she pulled out of the kiss, "two can play at that game Mr Diggory!"
Pulling her gloves off she ran her hands down his chest before slipping her hands up to touch the skin underneath.
"You know," he said, cheeks flushed and smiling slyly, "people can use shelters like this to live in. And they don't need nearly as many clothes on as we have on right now." He slid his hands further up her back.
Tanwen shivered as she returned his grin, "Just what are you suggesting exactly?"
He leant his head to kiss her neck, leaving a trail of kisses behind him he moved to whisper in her ear, "would you like me to show you?"
Tanwen laughed softly, running her hands up his muscular chest. "Oh I think I have a fair idea of what you mean."
Just then the roof above them started to crumble.
"I think this might have to be continued at a later date," murmured Cedric regretfully.
Looking around Tanwen could see chunks of snow starting to fall all around her. Telling herself to be calm she joined Cedric who was digging with his hands at the wall of snow behind the sledge. As more and more snow started to fall around them, landing on their backs and kneeling legs Tanwen felt a feeling of increasing panic. Her hands started to shake as she dug.
Noticing Cedric said, "It's ok, we're almost out." Of course he had no idea how far in they were, for all he knew they could be several metres in. But this was not something you told someone showing signs of claustrophobia.
She nodded and took deep breaths.
Five minutes later they still hadn't broken through. Tanwen's breaths were uneven and she clenched her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the snow falling on her. Cedric didn't waste time trying to calm her, he dug faster, praying that they were almost out.
She sat in a huddled ball, whispering to herself, "it's ok, it's ok, it's ok" over and over again. Her fists clenched tightly round the rope of the sledge and her eyes on Cedric who was disappearing further into the long tunnel they had dug.
His fist punched through into the open air. Breathing a sigh of relief he pushed around the gap causing the snow to crumble. Turning back he called to Tanwen, "It's ok, we're out!....Tanwen?"
He crawled back along to where she was sat. She was shaking violently. He wrapped his arms round her tightly, "Hush sweetheart, it's ok, we can go out now." Breaking away his kissed her forehead and took her hands in his, "Come on."
Slowly he coaxed her along the narrow snow-lined corridor and out into the fresh air. By the time she was out her face was pale and her eyes wide, still shaking. He pulled her into a tight hug as they knelt on the ground, gently stroking her hair.
Eventually she was still, her head rested against his neck. It was nice like that, just the two of them stood in a winter wonderland. Tanwen thought it was like a picture from those snow globes and told Cedric as much.
"Snow globes?" he asked confusedly.
"Yeah, you know, they have snow scenes in the middle, like a snowman or something, and when you shake them hundreds of little flakes of snow whirl around inside."
"Nope, have no idea what you're talking about, sounds like a muggle thing if you ask me," Cedric replied, shrugging.
"I'll have to show you some time, they're real pretty," she replied, leaning back into him, "I love winter, when it snows that is. At Beauxbatons it never really snowed, we were too far south. Everything looks so beautiful when covered in snow."
"It certainly does," Cedric agreed gently looking at her pointedly and brushing a few flakes from her hair.
Tanwen blushed prettily, she never knew quite what to do when people complimented her. But Cedric just had this way of making her feel a million galleons.
"You know," he commented with a smile, "not that I mind incredibly, but we are getting very wet sitting here in the snow."
"Yeah," Tanwen agreed, "I don't really mind either," she grinned and shivered involuntarily.
"I've changed my mind," Cedric said, nudging her to stand up, "I do mind when my girlfriend starts to shiver. Let's go back to that fire."
Tanwen nodded in agreement and stood, brushing the snow off the back of her trousers, they really were thoroughly soaked. Ah well, she shrugged. Bending over, Cedric grabbed the rope to their toboggan and Tanwen linked her arm through his free one and together they began to make their way to the top of the hill.
A/N: Sooo, Tanwen's a bit claustrophobic and Jon's a chirpy morning person, slightly annoying at times, but you gotta love him, well I do anyway. My story's almost seasonal-wow that was totally unplanned!
Thanks to you reviewers, hope you liked this chappy, next time you're in for a shock and I don't think any of you'll guess what it is although you're welcome to have a guess, the person who guesses the closest can have a cameo part if you like. Just tell me a name that you'd like to go as, any notable descriptions etc (no names like Foxtrot 37 please, they've got to be normal, as in something you could reasonably call a person), call this a kind of experiment to see if you guys actually like this idea. Well let me know, and tell me your guesses in your review.
'Til Chapter 19: 'Blindside'