For the Fun In The Sun thread on the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry Forum.


Justin doesn't notice when his breathing begins to shallow. All he knows is that the plane is being whipped around by the wind and it feels like he's about to be thrown out of his seat. And even though he knows planes are built to fly—he wrote a whole paper on the physics of it for fun once—he can't help but be captivated by the thought that this plane is about to go crashing down. He's about to die. It's irrational, but there's not a bone in his body that doesn't believe it to be true.

"Take my hand."

Justin starts. "What?"

"Take my hand," Harper repeats. When he doesn't make a move, she rolls her eyes. "I'm not thirteen anymore, Justin. I'm not going to jump you. Just take my hand."

He finds himself frozen. Harper huffs in response and snatches his shaking hand into hers. Then with a gentleness Justin hadn't known she possessed, rubs small circles into the back of his hand with her thumb. She breathes loudly. In through her nose, out through her mouth. She's waiting, he realises. Waiting for him to follow her lead.

Justin throws a cautious glance in Alex's direction. But although she's been sitting on the other side of Harper this entire time, her head is tilted backwards into her seat. Eyes closed, mouth wide open. She's fast asleep. And so, with no looming threat of being teased by his little sister, Justin finds himself complying. He watches Harper's face intently, copying her every move. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

He's breathing again.

All of a sudden, the turbulence has passed, and Harper untangles their fingers. She immediately turns her attention away from him, pulling some crochet from the pocket in front of her. Justin flushes. He stares down at his hand, flexing his fingers. Her hand was warm, he thinks. And then, before he has time to squash the thought: It was nice.