Entry for the "Flying Lesson" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

Task: We should consider the speed of a relationship as we do the speed when on a broom. Maybe one of our pairing is moving too fast in some regard and making the other uncomfortable. There are so many factors that could be causing problems so you shouldn't struggle. Min 600 words

Prompt: (creature) Hippogriff

Entry for the "Chocolate Frog Card Club" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

(Gold) Roderick Plumpton; Challenge: Incorporate the Tutshill Tornadoes into your story.

Entry for the "Gringotts Prompt Bank"

Adjectives: crisp; beautiful; worthy; thick; icy; frozen; frosty; rare; pure

Verbs: surround; cover; gleam; snow; roam; enjoy; circling; conceal; wrap; cancel; snuggle

Nouns: Scotland; sled; blanket; brown; body; bliss; snowflakes

It was a beautiful, frosty winters day in Scotland, one of these that would have been worthy a giant oil painting. The castle of Hogwarts and the mountains surrounding it were covered with a thick layer of powdery snow. It was gleaming slightly in the sun that was standing at its highest point on the sky, which was blue instead of grey for a change. The air was crisp cold and it started to snow from time to time, the new snow covering the frozen Black Lake, but still there were some students that roamed over the grounds, enjoying the little winter wonderland and the icy weather.

Over the snowy crowns of the trees of the Forbidden Forest, some Hippogriffs were circling peacefully. Some students were having a snowball fight with their friends, others were building a snowman or whole igloos and a few students even took advantage of the thick ice of the lake to skate on it. Also, one Hufflepuff boy had brought a sled and now the older students were giving the younger ones rides around the grounds. Their laughter was carried over the whole grounds by the wind and even reached the ears of two students that were a little bit more far away from all the joyous action that was going on.

Katie Bell and Marcus Flint were sitting side by side on a large rock, which they had cleared from the snow and had covered with a brown blanket instead. The rock was hidden behind thick, snow covered bushes that had grown high enough to conceal the two students from the eyes of anyone who happened to look at that particular spot of the shore of the lake.

They had brought a second blanket, which they had wrapped tightly around their shoulders as they sat there, cuddled together pretty closely, enjoying to be close to each other for the first time in weeks.

Both Katie and Marcus had been busy with school work, and they had also been forced to cancel their rare secret meetings to ensure that nobody would find out that they were together. Their relationship maybe had been going for two months, but still they did not feel like they were prepared to tell their friends – well, at least Katie felt like they would not understand, and she was outrightly scared of Alicia and Angelina finding out about Marcus and her. Unfortunately, the inter-house rivalry had not lessened since their first kiss, and especially the Quidditch players were taking part in that.

Marcus gently placed kisses along Katie's jawline, his warm lips a contrast to her cool skin, and Katie smiled happily, feeling like this moment was a moment of pure freedom. She savoured every second, every feeling that was filling her body as she snuggled closer – the most prominent feeling just being pure bliss. The way Marcus' strong arms were slung around her body gave her the feeling of complete safety, and even through the thick clothes they wore she could feel his body heat.

"Did you read that article from Quidditch Today? That one about the Tutshill Tornados and their new seeker?" Katie asked, leaning even more against her boyfriend. "I think the man looks like he will be able to give them an advantage during the next games."

"Nah... did not read it. And I don't want to talk about the Tornados right now, I have something so much better in my arms," Marcus murmured, his low voice and his breath tickling her ear causing a pleasant shiver to run down her spine. Her cheeks felt warmer now and she was, as always, a little bit embarrassed about his comments.

"I love you, Katie," he breathed into her ear and Katie blushed even more, smiling widely as she turned her head and responded:"I love you too."

Snowflakes landed on the pair as they kissed each other gently and lovingly, needing nothing more than this and these three words to show each other how much the other person meant to them.

After some time, they parted, and Katie changed her sitting position, turning sideways so she could lay her legs over Marcus', something that allowed her to get even closer to him.

"Katie...," Marcus mumbled, starting to kiss her cheek and her neck again. "The Christmas holidays are soon... and all Slytherins are going to leave, so I thought maybe we could share my bed. What do you think about that?"

Suddenly it felt as if the atmosphere was being spoiled a little bit, and Katie gulped, her throat being a little bit dry. She had a feeling about what Marcus wanted to indicate with this suggestion and even though she wanted to spend even more time with him, she did not feel entirely comfortable about it.
"I... I don't know...," she stuttered nervously and bit her lip, unsure about how to formulate her slight insecurity while he still pressed his own lips to her skin longingly.

Marcus obviously had sensed how her body had tensed a little bit and he looked her into the eyes, asking:"What is wrong, Katie?"

"I... uhm..."

"You can tell me. I am your boyfriend, I love you, no matter how crazy you behave, or no matter how high we loose against Gryffindor in Quidditch."

"I... I don't know if... if I am ready yet to... uhm... sleep with you... uhm... I mean... sex..."

"I did not intend to make you feel uncomfortable, Katie, I am sorry," Marcus replied quickly, rising a hand to run his fingers through her brown hair soothingly. "I only want to have you in my arms when I fall asleep and when I wake up and well... of course I would not be unhappy if we made love but Katie, I never would and never could force you to do something that you don't want to do! All I want is to sleep with you. Sleep."

Katie breathed out noisily and chuckled, feeling a little bit more embarrassed now. Marcus grinned down at her, gently pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered:"We will do everything in your pace, Katie, I promise. Oh, did I tell you before how cute you look when your cheeks turn as red as a tomato?"