Chapter 15 Burning Desire

It was still night when Holly sat up in her bed. Something outside her window had awoken her and she went over to have a look at what it was.
Down on the grounds, next to her favourite tree at the lake, she spotted some kind of light. From the distance she couldn't tell what it was, so she decided to go down and check it out. Once again, she found herself slipping into her dressing gown and out into the deserted and chilly corridors of the castle.

When she arrived down in the Entrance Hall, she went over to the front door. To her surprise, she found it hadn't been locked this evening at curfew and she could sneak off into the welcoming darkness of the night without anything holding her back.
As she came closer to the Great Lake, she spotted this strange light again. It felt as if it called out to her, a strong attraction pulling her closer and she couldn't keep away. Quickly, she strolled over the slippery grass beneath her feet in its direction.

The closer she came, the stronger it pulled her in. When she finally was near enough to find out what it was, the light suddenly disappeared, leaving her behind in complete darkness.

It took her several moments adjust to the blackness surrounding her and she felt a little uncomfortable. After all, she couldn't see anything around her, except for the silvery moon above her. Yes, she felt uncomfortable, but strangely there was no fear creeping up her back as she would have expected in such a situation.

The only other emotion she felt was disappointment. She had been so curious about this mysterious light and now felt the frustration about not being able to find out what it had been.
So, even though she had every reason to feel frightened as she stood there, she simply wasn't.
Holly couldn't explain herself, but the sudden disappearance of this strange light had not unsettled her. It had even felt right at that moment, as if she had expected that to happen, as if the light was supposed to do exactly that.

By this time, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she took in the beauty of the stunning view in front of her. She had always loved the landscape around Hogwarts, the roughness of the Scottish Highlands held an ever so magical appeal in her opinion.
She heard herself sigh happily, at ease with the setting, not thinking about the strange light from earlier anymore.

All of a sudden, someone gently grabbed her shoulders from behind and even though it took her by surprise, she felt no need to scream.
Only her body stiffened a little at the shock of being touched without warning. She felt herself unable to turn around to see who stood behind her, so she stayed in her position, waiting for the mysterious person to reveal themselves.

The hands at her shoulders went down the sides of her arms, tenderly, leaving a trail of goose bumps on their way down.
Whoever this person was, she was sure they meant no harm. She didn't know how she could be so sure of that, it simply was a given.

Soft fingertips moved up and down her arms, tracing patterns onto her skin and she felt the well-known tingling sensation spreading through her body once again accompanied by a shiver running down her spine.
Finally, the hands slipped over her palms and their fingers interlaced with the other's.

The person had moved closer, up against her back now and Holly felt their warmth against her, such a nice contrast to the cold of the night's air.
She leaned back against him, comfortable against his broad chest. She still didn't recognize this man, but she was sure she knew him. His strong arms moved around her, their fingers still entwined so she found herself embraced by this mysterious person as well as by her own arms.

Holly knew she should be afraid, not knowing the person holding onto her after all, but she couldn't help but feel anything other than safe at this moment.
She enjoyed the feeling of his body pressed against her backside, his head laying on top of hers. He must be quite tall. And strong. She could feel the muscles of his heaving chest as well as those of the embracing arms around her, holding her in such a caring way.

She never wanted this moment to end and felt all tension fall from her body as she leaned further into him, her head resting back against his shoulder.
His heart beat a steady rhythm under her ear.

He whispered her name into her hair, his hot breath tickling the skin of her parting and Holly felt as though she recognized his voice and for only the split of a second she thought she knew who he was.
Just when she wanted to turn in his arms to face him, everything around her vanished into thin air.

Holly woke up, breathing calmly, yet tears filled her eyes.

She couldn't explain why, for fuck's sake, she couldn't even remember the dream she must have had, even though she did her best at trying to recall some of its contents. But the more she tried to grasp it, the more it dissolved leaving nothing behind but a strong sensation of safety and this exciting tingling feeling inside her belly, as well as a faint smell of cinnamon in her nose. Other than that, everything had vanished.
Slowly, those soothing feelings lessened, and she was left behind in the darkness, empty and lonely once again.

The rest of her first week back at Hogwarts passed by quickly. Holly spent a second evening in Dumbledore's company, trying her best to master the art of Occlumency, but it turned out to be very hard to learn, thus she hadn't made any progress so far.

Finally, the week-end arrived and with it, at last, Quidditch practice.
Angelina Johnson had been made new Quidditch captain since Oliver Wood had graduated and left school last year, and they now lacked a Keeper.
Therefore the first thing on their agenda was to find a new one. Angie had booked the Quidditch pitch for five hours right after breakfast on Saturday, so there would be enough time for Keeper trials as well as a first practice as soon as the team would be complete again.

Ron had shared with Holly during the holidays that he wanted to try out for Keeper and Holly thought it to be an excellent idea. Having her best mate in her team would make Quidditch even more fun, after all.
They went down together to the pitch right after breakfast and Ron was a little paler than usual, yet otherwise didn't seem to be too nervous.

"I can do it! I always played as Keeper with my brothers over the years, that has to be good for something!" He joked, more to calm his nerves than entertain Holly, she thought.

"Yeah, Ron, you will do great. I've played with you before, remember?"

Holly patted her best mate's shoulder and left him on the pitch with the others who had showed up for the try-out. She herself went to the Gryffindor's changing room where her Angie and Katie Bell were already waiting, chatting. Holly changed into her Quidditch robes and sat down on the bench, waiting for the others to arrive.

One after the other, Alicia Spinnet and Fred and George came into the room. They already wore their robes, so Angelina could get started:

"Hi everyone. I have several things planned for us this year, including new tactics and moves that will hopefully get us to our goal, my goal, to win the Quidditch Cup at the end of the year. It's my only chance at winning the Cup as captain, being it my last year at Hogwarts. Take this warning: I will not tolerate any trouble making from you guys, even though I value each of you as Quidditch player as well as friend.
Now, let's get started and find us a new Keeper! Come on, out onto the pitch!"

Holly and the rest of them got up, a little speechless after Angie's speech, and followed their captain outside.

After some warming up, Angie started the trials.
Everyone trying out for Keeper got their turn at guarding the hooped goalposts while the rest of the team flew around, passing the Quaffle between them, trying their best to score. Every Keeper got five chances to hold off attacks before it would be another's turn.

Most of the try-outs were horrifying, not comparable to Oliver's ability and Holly started doubting they would find anyone good enough to take his place.
Some played alright though and then, finally it was Ron's turn.

He flew over to the goalposts and rotated in front of them, focusing completely on the Quaffle.
When Katie threw the Quaffle at the goals, he saved it effortlessly. Then Alicia tried as second, again the Quaffle didn't find its destination. The same with the third and fourth ones, even though Holly and George did their best to score.
Lastly, it was Fred's turn. He flew into Ron's direction, clearly aiming for the highest goal, so Ron drifted up to protect it. Just at that moment, Fred changed his target, now aiming at the lowest one, before letting the Quaffle leave his hand. Ron reacted instantly, dropping down and nearly slipped off his broom as he kicked the red ball far away.

Holly broke out into cheering, and flew over to her best friend, hugging him tightly. Fred, George and the rest of the team followed her, congratulating him and welcoming him to the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Ron smiled goofily, he couldn't believe he'd done it. He had clearly been the best of all wannabe Keepers today and now everyone knew he was able to live up to his brothers' standards.

After Angie told all the other try-outs that she was sorry, but Ron had beaten them, the whole team started their normal Quidditch training.
It felt good to be on the pitch again and Holly was so happy to be flying again, the liberty she felt while spiralling through the air, leaving the floor far behind and her worries with it. She loved the sensation of wind blowing into her face and through her hair. And she simply lived for playing Quidditch, spending time with her friends, searching for the Snitch… But the best always was the way she felt after some hours of good training, when all her muscles were worn out and tired from her effort and the exercise.

When they were done training, everyone went back into the changing room wearing tired, yet satisfied smiles on their faces. Holly's feet felt wobbly after the hours of flying, especially since she hadn't trained much during the summer. She knew she would have sore muscles tomorrow, but it felt good to her nonetheless.
Everyone stripped off their Quidditch robes and went towards the bathrooms to take a shower before heading back into the castle for dinner. She looked forward to that now, particularly since they had skipped lunch for the sake of Quidditch.
Most of the others were already taking their showers and Holly was one of the last ones left in the changing room when someone spoke to her:

"Ron did really well, don't you think? I'm honestly impressed."

It had been George's voice, coming from behind her so she turned around, regretting it immediately.

He had in the very same moment taken off his robes and revealed now his naked torso. Apparently, he had only worn some dark trousers underneath the robes, not sportswear as Quidditch players normally would.
Holly inhaled briefly and took this sight in for a moment, her eyes quickly wandering over the shape of his broad shoulders, his muscular chest and defined stomach.
She was so distracted by George's body, she couldn't remember what he had said to her.

"Pardon?", she whispered and finally looked back up into his face. Big mistake.

Her eyes were met with cheekily sparkling blue ones and he even gave her one of those crooked smiles she couldn't stop thinking about.

Holly felt her face slowly burning up and quickly turned away for him not to notice.
It was too embarrassing! What the fuck was wrong with her? Hadn't she seen the twins change clothes by her side at least a hundred times over the years?

"I said", he chuckled "Ron did great today."

"Yeah, totally. I'm so glad he made it into the team."

Her voice sounded distracted, even to her own ears.

She caught herself wondering what his skin would feel like beneath her touch and what he would smell like now, after the training…
Holly, stop it, immediately!

Whilst arguing with her stupid self, her long hair had gotten itself tangled up in her robes and she found herself unable to remove them. Holly tried to free her hair, but because she couldn't really see what her hands were doing, it turned out to be quite hard.

"Damn it! Stupid tangled hair!" Holly cursed under her breath.

"Come, let me help you"

Suddenly George's fingers took over and fumbled in her hair, slowly working their way through the tangles and releasing one strand of hair after the other. All she could think about was the close proximity between her and the half-naked body behind her.
Her fingers tingled with the longing of reaching back, touching him and she felt her heartbeat quicken. It took all her concentration to keep herself from giving in to the desire to lean back against George's chest. Her body screamed at her, demanding her to touch him, feel his naked skin, the muscles underneath it… craving his touch at the same time, longing for him to hold her, embrace her, do anything to her…

Finally, the last strand of hair was freed, and Holly turned around to thank him for his help.
George looked at her expectantly, his eyes twinkling with sheer irrepressible mischief.
He was so close… They hadn't been this close since the night at Grimmauldplace Holly had tried not to think about.

She felt herself unintentionally stepping a little closer, nearly touching him now.
The small space between them was filled with electricity, Holly's whole body was tingling with longing.
Slowly, George raised one hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. Her skin burned at his contact, his touch only fuelling the ever-growing desire in her body.
Holly felt her breath coming in gasps and could hear George's quicken as well, his hot breath tickling her forehead at every exhale.
His eyes, she could see now, were not just this stunning shade of light blue. The edges of the iris actually were midnight blue and there were tiny spots of green in them as well. His pupils had darkened as she had moved closer.

Holly didn't know how much time had passed as they stood there, just looking into the other's eyes… He still seemed to be waiting for her to move but she didn't remember how, all she could was stare at him, those breathtaking eyes, the sprinkle of freckles on his slightly too long nose, the inviting curve of his lips... Unsure of what to do next, confused by the situation, her body's reaction to his proximity and mostly irritated by his behaviour, she absentmindedly bit her lip.

That movement was what got George out of this trance-like state and he finally moved in, slowly, cupping her face gently with both hands.
Holly's stomach flipped, her whole body burned, and she moved in as well. Her fingers could no longer be held back, finally touching his hot skin, gliding over the smooth surface of his muscular stomach and chest, lastly resting at his shoulders.
She closed her eyes, waiting for their lips to meet, her body ready to explode.
The tips of their noses tenderly brushed, his breath mingling with hers, hot against her expecting lips and –

"Hey, Georgie, what's taking you so long?" Fred's voice shouted as he came from the bathroom and slowly around the corner, a towel wrapped around his hips.

At the sound of Fred's call, Holly and George jumped apart, just before their lips had the chance to touch the others'.

Damn it, they were so close this time! Poor Holly and George :/
Next chapter will be written out of someone else's perspective, any guess whose?
Stay tuned,
- A