Love
She stood silently at the window, her mouth was framed upwards, and her briefly combed red hair hung loosely near her shoulders. A flush licked her cheeks, and freckles danced on her face. Her focus was stern, for she stood in curtain of stillness, although her delicate nose inhaled rhythmically, taking in the scent of her surroundings.
It was not just for any morning that she stood so peacefully. It was Christmas, a time for all to feel safe and welcome. It was not that the girl did not feel so, in fact, she felt almost as happy as her first Christmas. Yet, she missed her family, as she had agreed to stay with someone else that had no family to go to.
Someone who unfortunately was not a morning person, like she was. In the few hours that she had been awake, she had not yet cought even the slightest glimpse of him.
"Good morning."
She turned around, her gaze coming to focus in front of a boy with messy black hair and green eyes which were hidden by glasses.
She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Good morning to you, too, Sleepy Head."
"Sleep well?" He asked, hugging her tighter.
She shrugged, pulling out of the embrace. "I was up at five thirty." She smiled, shrugging at the worried look on his face. She rubbed her arm and shivered, her thoughts drifting back outside to the cold.
He tugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her.
She smiled and whispered, "Thank you."
The room was very empty for Christmas, so the dancing fire and bright lights showed dim shadows of the couple at the window.
He smiled. "Sit down," he instructed.
The room stayed silent, as they made way to the warm sofa.
He sat down on the couch and leaned her up against him. He grabbed a blanket and covered the both of them. She abated, glad for its warmth.
He asked, "What were you doing up that early?"
"Thinking," she replied simply.
"What are you thinking about?" He questioned gently, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Her sober brown eyes became fixated again on each tiny flake of snow as they fell one by one onto the dizzy whiteness outside the window. Each one fell with its own delicateness, as the wind steered each one into place.
"Snowflakes," she stated.
"What about them?" He asked, hugging her tighter.
"They're an interesting prospect," she concluded aloud, enjoying the warmth from the boy behind her, and the calm fire. She turned around to look at him.
"Go on," he prodded placidly.
She continued, "It's a metaphor for love." Getting lost further into thought, she felt the need to continue, and she knew he wouldn't mind - the two of them often shared their thoughts, and were always interested to hear the other's views.
"People come from the same place, as do snowflakes - from the sky. They have a journey changing due to wind, as they get blown all over the place, a symbol of our hectic lives. Then, they land simultaneously, as people in love are brought together. And they mold together as one. After it all, they melt into water and are reborn again."
There was a long moment of silence while he stared at the fire.
"I've never thought of it that way," he admitted.
She smiled. "You were hardly even listening!" She slapped his arm playfully.
"Y-yes, I was!" he argued.
She laughed. "I know. I was only joking."
"So, er..." he looked uneasy. "What would you like to do? Are you hungry?"
She shrugged. "I'm not that hungry, actually."
He let go of her. "I'm not either."
She giggled. Standing up, she stretched her arms, her eyes skimming the snow falling longingly. "It looks so inviting out there," she admitted.
"We'll go out there," he decided, standing up and sliding into some trainers.
"Oh, can we?" she asked, delighted at the idea.
He nodded. "Of course."
Pulling on their jackets, hats and gloves, they exited the portrait hole.
"Mum never lets me go outside on Christmas," she explained. "She doesn't want me to catch a cold. Plus, she's all about 'family unity' and going outside isn't something that her baby girl should be doing." She snorted.
"I can only imagine your mum saying that," he said weakly.
"I bet you could," she teased. She resumed her giggling.
There was an awkward silence, during which he clenched her hand in his. "So, Ginny," he said. He looked at her quietly, her blue knit cap blanketing her forehead.
She smiled at him, but said nothing except twinkle her sweet brown eyes in a delighted manner.
"So, Ginny," he began again. "How is your family?"
She laughed. "Mum and Dad are fine."
He grinned. "Good. Glad to hear that."
Ginny just laughed a little. After walking in silence, they found themselves at giant doors. They had deep engravings of different figures playing on them, and a few decorations had been hung above.
Pushing the doors open, the bitter wind scratched at their faces.
As they stepped out from under the roof, the falling snow drifted into their hair and face, and it landed silently on each platform and rooftop.
"It's beautiful!" Ginny exclaimed. She ran into the yard and kneeled down, allowing her hands to trace the brilliant snow with a subtle finger.
"Mhm," he agreed, skeptical with his surroundings.
Ginny folded her arms. "Well, you're no fun!"
He turned around, his eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean, Mr. Look Around-er, is that you should do something like THIS!"
With that, she grabbed a large handful of snow and crusted it together. With a big swing, she sent it flying at his face. Because her aim was actually quite good, it hit him on his cheek.
"Hey!"
Giggling, she packed together another snowball to whip back at him.
Laughing heartily and ducking, he tossed one at her.
She laughed as the freezing snow hit her cheek. "Ouch!"
She whipped a snowball back at him.
"ARGHHHH!"
She hit him in the eye, plastering his face with bleaching white snow.
It continued for a while, until he pelted Ginny with about thirty snow balls all at once.
Ginny became shocked for a minute, until she caught him slipping his wand back into his robes. "HARRY POTTER!" She tackled him, pinning him to the ground. She lay on top of him, their faces inches apart. "Pinned you." She sniggered.
He laughed. "I'm sorry."
"Oh ho, Mr. Potter, you're just going to have to make it up to me," she whispered slyly.
He raised an eyebrow, shuddering from the penetrating cold of the snow. "And how am I going to do that?"
She peeled off her cap, flipping her hair casually. "Well, I would imagine that there would be a kiss involved - or something," she said seductively.
"Oh, Ginny, anything but a kiss! How horrible! Can't you think of anything else?" he teased, frowning falsely.
"I thought of other things, but that one seemed to work best. Kiss me," she instructed.
He leaned up and kissed her, his flushed face tickled with warmth. When they pulled apart, he asked, "How'd I do?"
She shrugged, which proved to be difficult, as she was lying on top of Harry. "You passed, I guess."
"You guess?"
"I've had better," she vexed.
He rolled over, so she fell off of him, and the snow pattered soundlessly on his cloak of hair. "You know Gin," he admitted, "you almost had me there for a minute."
She grinned. "Did I?" Her teeth chattered, and he let up, pulling her into a standing position.
"Are you cold?"
She giggled. "Well yeah, I mean, I was just lying in the snow for a few minutes," she reminded him.
"Oh. Yeah. Well, I mean do you want to go inside?"
She nodded. "I guess. A cup of cocoa would be absolutely spiffing." Brushing the last specks of snow off her jacket, she linked arms with Harry as they walked stiffly back to the Common Room.
As they entered the warm room, Harry and Ginny parted.
Ginny ran up to the girls' dormitories and shucked off her wet clothes. She slipped into a shining green dress, and slid in a pair of simple silver earrings, and she braided her hair into a neat plait tied with a simple silver-coloured ribbon.
Grabbing a large gift wrapped in thick gold paper, she trotted down the steps.
He stood at the stairs, a smile hovering on his lips. He held out his arm politely. and they walked to a table which he had conjured and decorated for their romantic setting.
"Why Harry, it's lovely!" Ginny exclaimed, as Harry pulled out a chair for her.
He grinned, seating himself across from her. "I'm glad you like it."
After drinking some hot cocoa and feasting on biscuits and assortments of sweets and breakfast foods, Harry pulled out his gift for Ginny - an emerald necklace on a silver chain.
"It's beautiful, Harry!" Ginny said happily, carressing the stone. She leaned across the table and gave him a quick kiss. She lifted her hair up and turned around, allowing him to tie the chain around her neck.
She handed him his gift. He husked off the paper, cocking his head at the unusual package. It was a large book that read "The Life and Times of Harry Potter" on the front. He opened it up carefully, examining what was enclosed.
Inside, there were hundreds of pictures and newspaper clippings. The first one read, Little Potter? and it went on to explain how Lily and James Potter, the Wizarding World's favorite couple, had been blessed with a baby boy.
The book went on through Harry's life - the news of him living with his aunt and uncle, going to Hogwarts, becoming the fourth Triwizard champion, and so on.
"Thank you," he said breathlessly; he really meant it, he knew that she had put a lot of time and effort into it.
She smiled. "It's no biggie - I'm glad you like it."
After a warm embrace, they sat on the couch, and she leaned up against him. There were a few moments of pause.
"Ginny," he said finally. His voice was warm, and his steamy breath made her feel relaxed.
"Hmm?"
"Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too, Harry."
The End
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A/N: Hi! Here's a little story for you guys, so I hope you liked it. I generally don't write romance, but it was written for the Turnip SS for Christine. I hope you enjoy it!
If you want to see more of my works, I have two other stories (Meet the - Children? and An Unclear Past) which would love some feedback. AUP is feeling very left out, as MTC is a "greater success", so if you want to drop by there, that would be lovely.
Please review, I really would like an opinion on this. Whether it's a SPEW review or an "OMFG! kewl!!!!!!!!!", seeing a new review gives me a little tummy jolt.
Snowflakes by Winged Artemis
Chapter Notes: Dedicated to Christine.
Thanks to both Schmergo (Schmerg_The_Impaler) and Abigail (joybelle423), who Beta'd this.
Disclaimer: There is no way I would impersonate JKR. And I know there are so many people who are out there who want to hunt me down and sue me, so I'm telling you now - I'm covered, so ha.
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