Dancing Dirt Into The Snow

Dancing Dirt Into The Snow

It was a beautiful winters day. Overnight, we had the first real fall of snow this year and so the school awoke on this Saturday morning to a winter wonderland.

We were walking through the snow, admiring people's snowmen and avoiding several snowball fights. The cool air felt good in my lungs and I laughed as I saw two third-years stalking one of their unsuspecting friends, their arms full of ready made snowballs.

We made our way through the grounds, smiling and waving at any friends we happened to come across. Our Other Third had to stay inside, school duties forbidding him from joining us. And so we went outside without him.

The further from the castle we walked, the more the crowds around us thinned. Eventually we came to a nice secluded area, far enough away from the eyes and ears of our fellow students.

I smiled as I took in my surroundings, admiring the beauty and the stillness around me. And then I felt it. A snowball had connected with my back.

I turned and saw him, grinning like a wild man. I couldn't help but laugh. "Waiting until my back was turned, huh?" I asked playfully, my hands on my hips. He nodded and it was then I noticed he had his hands behind his back. Uh oh. I saw it coming but too late to move. So I was on the receiving end of another snowball, this time in the stomach.

He was laughing by now. In fact, he was so distracted by his victory he didn't notice me scooping up some snow and throwing it. That is until it connected with his head.

He stopped laughed and looked at me, a look of mock anger on his face. "Well, its on now," he said, scooping up some snow before throwing it at me. I had anticipated this and so had already moved out of the line of fire. He started heading for me, gathering more snow as he went. I tried to move out of his way but it was in vain. He got my leg. I picked up some snow, hastily forming a snowball and threw it. I got his shoulder.

And so we fought. We heard nothing but the sound of our own laughter, the impact of a snowball, our ragged breaths as we ran in the snow.

Unsurprisingly, it was me who first surrendered. I held up my hands, asking for a truce. He threw one last snowball. "Truce," he agreed. He held out his hand to me and I accepted it, then breached the gap between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt his arms circle my waist and I sighed. It felt good to have him this close.

I pulled my head back slowly. Our faces were mere inches apart. I could look into those eyes forever. I slowly moved my hands from his back, over his shoulders and down to his chest. I smiled, then pushed him over into the snow.

As his back hit the soft snow he laughed. "Hermione, you witch."

I grinned. "And don't you forget it."

He held out his hand to me. "You gonna help me up or what?"

"Exactly how stupid do you think I am," I asked incredulously, my eyebrow raised and my arms crossed over my chest.

"I'm not going to pull you down. Promise."

"Hmm," I replied, pretending to think it over. I held out my hand to him but widened my stance first. Can't be too careful. He clasped my hand and I helped him up.

"See, I'm a man of my word."

I nodded. He grinned and pushed me over.

I laughed as I lay there in the crisp snow. I smiled widely as I held out my hand to him. I wasn't asking to be helped up and he knew it. He grasped my hand and allowed me to pull him down next to me.

We lay in the snow together, staring up at the cloudy sky.

After a few minutes of silence, he said to me, "I can't remember the last time I had this much fun."

I turned my head to face him and found his bright eyes staring at me. "Me neither."

I felt his hand cover mine and I smiled at him as I moved my hand so we could interlace our fingers.

We lay together in silence for I don't know how long. All I could concentrate on was his beautiful face and those eyes gazing into mine. That and the feel of his thumb as it stroked my hand.

"Should we start to head back?" I asked eventually. He nodded mutely and we stood up. I had to laugh - we were both absolutely covered in snow. We brushed it all off, helping each other to get the snow off our backs. We started our slow stroll back to the castle, my arm linked through his.

We had not gotten far when he stopped, his eyes moving all over the place, clearly searching for something. "Can you hear that?"

I listened intently. I could hear soft music coming from somewhere. Smiling, I grabbed his hand. "Come on," I said, dragging him in the direction the music was coming from.

We crept to behind a large tree. "Ready?"

He nodded. We peeked around the corner and could not have been more shocked by what we saw.

Professors Snape and Trelawney were slow dancing in the snow, to the music that was coming from the small black box sitting atop a nearby tree stump.

"Wow. That's...unexpected," I whispered.

I heard a cough from behind me. I turned and saw him, standing a few steps back from me in a slight bow with his hand held out. "May I have this dance?"

I laughed. Even after six years of friendship he could still surprise me. I made a slight curtsey. "It would be my pleasure, good sir," I smiled, playing my part.

I went into his arms and we swayed softly to the music. He spun me under his arm and then dipped me low, a grin covering his face. The whole world seemed to fade around me. All I could concentrate on was the feel of his hand resting gently on the small of my back and his cool cheek pressed against my own.

I felt him shift and my eyes closed involuntarily as he placed a kiss on my temple.

"Thank Merlin for you Hermione. What would I do without you," his voice was barely above a whisper and I wondered if he even meant for me to hear him. "I love you more than words can say."

My eyes flew open. He pulled back from me so I could see the lopsided smile on his face. We had stopped dancing now; we just stood there in each others arms, getting lost in each others eyes. He closed the gap between us and pressed his lips onto mine. In that moment, my whole world shifted. I responded to his kiss and before I knew it, our passion overcame everything.

I pulled away, out of breath. I became acutely aware of his hands pressing into my back and the fact my arms were now around his shoulders. I didn't even remember moving them.

I leaned my forehead against his. "What about our pact," I reminded him as I moved my right hand across his cool cheek.

A few years ago the three of us were joking about how it seemed the whole school was waiting for us to fall into a love triangle. We laughed as we promised each other we would never go there, we would never develop feelings for each other. We could never cross that line.

He smiled. "I think it's safe to say that I broke it."

I couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, me too."

We kissed again. I felt my entire body reaching out for him. I couldn't get close enough.

"I'm so in love with you, Hermione Granger," he told me as he planted kisses over my chilly face.

"I so very much love you," I replied.