Warnings: Homosexuality
Pairings: LunaxGinny, hints of LunaxDraco
Disclaimer: The characters and locations in this story belong to J.K. Rowling.Ice
Ginny and I were hiding ourselves away again, this time under the decorative stone bridge that spanned that width of the little creek which ran from the lake to Professor Sprout's pond. We were curled up on the snow-covered ground beside the water, which was, at this time of the year, frozen.
The cold wasn't too bothersome. Ginny (cleaver, beautiful Ginny) had created a magical, smokeless fire to keep us warm. Besides, we could keep each other warm...
We were always finding different hiding places where we could be together and actually be together. Touch each other; say things to each other that we never could in the presence of others.
On this particular outing, there wasn't going to be any groping. We were wearing too many layers to fight the vicious wind – no warming spells could work well in weather like this. We could have found a better spot, but we were more likely to be caught inside, when everybody was cooped up within the walls of the school. Outside classes had been cancelled due to the miserable cold and hard, stinging ice flecks that masqueraded as snow.
So there we were, Ginny and Luna curled up in our cloaks around a tiny (but still warm) purple fire. We'd gone there so we could speak to each other, but the howling wind prevented us from fully hearing what the other was trying to say. We were content to just be in the other's arms where there was no one to stare, giggle, or take it the wrong way... or rather, the right way.
I looked up at Ginny and said, "Do you remember potions class yesterday?" hoping that she would at least be able to see my lips move if she couldn't hear me.
She must have understood enough of what I'd said because she threw her head back and laughed. Even through the wind I could hear it, like a thousand bells pealing, high notes and low... or maybe I only thought that I could hear it. I'd long since memorized her laugh.
The potions class I'd referenced... it had been one of Gryffindor's finer moments. Collin Creavy had spilled shrinking potion on Snape, and a Ravenclaw prefect had had to carry the now fifteen inch tall professor to the hospital wing because everybody else was laughing too hard. It may have been a victory for Gryffindor, but the Ravenclaws (myself included) had celebrated it as well.
We knew that we would have to savour the victory while it lasted, because Snape would exact revenge twice as harshly during Thursday's class.
Ginny had stopped laughing now, "Madam Pomfrey could hardly keep from laughing, I heard," she said.
I laughed now, and I'm sure I must have sounded like a crow in comparison to Ginny, lovely Ginny.
She cut me off with a gentle kiss. I returned it eagerly. Kissing Ginny was electrifying and warm, even the slightest brush of her lips affecting me in unimaginable ways – this was not the slightest brush of her lips. Her mouth covered mine, and I could taste her sugary breath, her mango lip-gloss.
This was Heaven. Even the stinging snow, the howling wind, the paralyzing cold and the knowledge that tomorrow Snape was going to make Potions class Hell. This was Heaven. Ginny was Heaven. Only one thing could possibly ruin this...
The crunching of snow behind me (we could hear it, even over the wind) tore us away from each other. I saw the expression of horror on Ginny's face before I turned and saw Draco Malfoy who wore an expression of shock and fear that made him, now seventeen, look twelve.
In his wool-sheathed hand was a tattered copy of the muggle novel Dune. Ginny saw it before me, and I saw her expression change from one of horror to one of amusement. Her perfectly shaped pink lips pulled into a shimmering smirk, her crimson corkscrew curls bounced brightly under the fold of her lavender knit hat as she cocked her head questioningly to the side, "Good Afternoon, Malfoy."
We all had things to hide. He knew it as well as we did. He didn't want anybody to know that he read muggle novels; we didn't want anybody to know that we were... well...
Looking back on Hogwarts, things might have been better if everybody had just known everything about us. Maybe we would have been even happier. As it was, this was a secret that, at the time, neither Ginny nor I wanted out.
Draco scowled and ducked under the bridge, muttering an incantation before sitting down on the other side of the fire. The space under the bridge quickly started to warm up, and the hard snow bounced off of invisible walls on either side of the bridge.
We all pulled our hats and mittens off, and Draco opened his book and pulled out a plain brown leather bookmark.
After a few moments of awkward silence that seemed so much quieter after hours of deafening wind, Draco spoke, addressing Ginny, "So... you and Luna..."
"Yeah."
He nodded and went back to his book.
"So Draco," I said, "Have you heard about Snape and the shrinking potion?"
To my surprise, he laughed. It wasn't as beautiful as Ginny's but it was pleasant.
I'd hear that laugh again, I just knew it. And in the future I'd savor it as much as Ginny's, sweet Ginny.
END
AN: The LunaxDraco bit at the end wasn't originally intended, it just wrote itself. I might continue this and turn it into an innocent PG13 GinnyxLunaxDraco story. We'll see.