February is one of those months you wish would just end. It’s lucky for you, then, that February is a shorter month, and two days (this year, anyway) shorter than those other shorter months. It’s three days less than January and two days less than April. I call that pretty good.
It’s not that I don’t like February all that much – I mean, the month itself is okay, I guess. Actually, if it had only twenty-seven days and twenty-eight every four years, I think I’d like February just as much as any other month. Does that seem too harsh? Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on February. After all, it’s not February’s fault that Valentine’s Day had to fall on February fourteenth.
There – I said it. I’m afraid of Valentine’s Day. I really think that if my Boggart grew tired of turning into Professor Snape, it would become a frilly pink heart and start singing or something. There’s nothing wrong with the idea of Valentine’s Day; I mean, the flowers are nice and the castle always looks great, and sure it’s a sweet idea and all, but really, I wish that this year I could go to bed on the thirteenth and awake the next morning on the fifteenth of February.
See, there’s just one problem with Valentine’s Day: it is so, so awkward. I don’t really know what to do. There’s this girl I like – and, I mean, we’re friends – but I think I might like her more than a friend. Don’t tell her that, though, because I don’t want her to think I’m weird or anything like that. I’d really prefer it if this upcoming Valentine’s Day we could keep the awkwardness to a minimum. I may have already crossed that line though…
Okay, so I bought her a present. It’s not a big present really, just a pair of pea pod earrings I found at a cavern last time I was in Diagon Alley. I thought they would fit her, you know, since she has that pair of radish earrings…I just hope she doesn’t mind the colour green. I thought about dyeing them blue with my wand, but then I realised I’d probably mess up and turn them invisible or something. I thought about asking Hermione to do it – she wouldn’t turn them invisible – but I don’t really want anyone else to know I’ve gotten her this present, just in case I decide not to give it to her. Besides, who wants a pair of blue pea pod earrings?
And there’s just one other problem. Let’s say I do give her the earrings. I can’t just walk up to her and hand them over – that wouldn’t work. I’ve got to give her some sort of card or something, to make the present more complete. That means I somehow have to work out how I’m going to get her a card, or how I’m going to make one. I have some coloured paper in my trunk…I could use that…And yes, I did put the paper in there for the sole purpose of making a card for her, should the inspiration strike. Don’t tell her that either.
I open my trunk and throw down the package of paper. I shift through the various coloured sheets, wondering which one would be most appropriate to use.
The other problem with Valentine’s Day is that it is defined by three rather girly colours: pink, red, and – oh, I guess white isn’t that girly, but it’s too plain to be worthy of its own card. But red and pink are awful choices. Red is just too romantic. Red roses are a romantic cliché, not to mention the fact that the very symbol of this dreaded holiday, the heart, also happens to be red. Pink is too frilly. It’s too frilly to even be included in this paper set.
Maybe I could use red…I mean, it may be overly romantic, but it’s also the colour of Gryffindor, and that’s my House. Perhaps that would be passable? I know I have red paper…I suppose I could use the colour of her House. Her House is blue…but blue has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.
Whose brilliant idea was it to have holidays defined by colours, anyway?
I shift through the rest of the paper, having separated out the white and the red. This is a standard set of paper; I see orange and yellow and green and blue as I flick through it. My eye catches on the blue paper, and I pick it up, considering it. Perhaps blue wouldn’t be so bad? I flick to the next colour.
And then, it strikes me.
The paper behind blue is purple. I pull the purple sheet towards me, excitement bubbling in my stomach. Purple…purple would be perfect. I believe purple is considered a semi-Valentine’s Day colour, and it is neither overly romantic nor frilly. And it fits perfectly – the perfect mix of red and blue. Shoving roughly aside the other pieces of paper, I rummage around in my trunk for a pair of Muggle scissors. Yes, I realize I could make a card by magic, but I don’t want to mess this up. I trust myself with these Muggle oddities more than I do with my wand.
I stare at the paper for a full three minutes, trying to imagine what shape I should make the card. Would a heart be too romantic? I don’t want to be completely unromantic, but I don’t want to come off too strong. Perhaps I could make a rectangle and fold it in - ? I shake my head before even completing the question in my mind. That would be just too lame.
A heart it is.
I take my quill and trace a heart lightly onto the paper. As nervous as I am to give her something so romantic, I can’t help but feel slightly proud of myself for having the guts to do it. Maybe this simple purple heart could be the beginning of something really special.
Purple Heart by Colores
Chapter Notes: Thanks to my wonderfully quick betas Hanni (hansolohpfrk), Jordan (greeneyes), and Rachel (Rachel_Marie)!