Accidents Happen ∙ Garreth Weasley

15

The next few weeks passed painfully in multiple senses. Lina had frequent visits to Nurse Blainey, just to be checked over and to receive her weekly allowance of wiggenweld potion. Her cast had been removed, and the same with the bandaging on her ribs, but the ache of old injuries still lingered like a painful memory. 

Cold winds blew in from the mountains daily, and her fingertips were constantly in a state of near-hypothermic. The whole school was cold (being an ancient castle and all), the potions classroom especially. This made advanced potions even more unbearable, but luckily after her confrontation with Sebastian, he and Ominis no longer bothered her, or sold her any more dodgy potions. And as for Garreth, Lina was just as confused as ever. Nothing had changed between them, and she wasn't sure if it ever would. 

On the way back from this infernal class one snowy afternoon, Garreth told her to carry on without him. "I think I left my textbook in there," he said. "Go ahead, and I'll meet you in the library in a few."

She agreed, and slowly wandered towards the warmth of her favourite place in school. She strolled through the gardens near Hufflepuff, lost in thought about what she was going to write for her arithmancy essay. 

Suddenly, white powder smashed against Lina's back, cold fluff sticking to her robes and rogue tendrils of hair, and she whipped around to find Garreth laughing. His fingers were covered in a dusting of snow, and tucked into his arm a small pile of snowballs were sitting. He smirked, and Lina opened her mouth in shock. Another lump of snow hit Lina, this time on her jaw, a little bit of powder falling onto her tongue.

That was it.

He hurled the next snowball at her, but she quickly ducked out of the way, squealing, and began to pack clumps of cold into hard spheres whilst still dodging Garreth's skewed throws. Her snowball was finally finished, and it was heavy in her hands as she chucked it over a hedge towards him, causing him to disappear beneath the foliage.

A moment passed, and when Lina realised he wasn't going to stand up she ran over. "Garreth! Are you ok?" She asked, seeing his limbs splayed out across the floor. He was repressing a grin, a rumour of it tugging at his lips as he tricked her, and she knelt over him tapping his cold cheeks, a worried look decorating her face. "Hey! Garreth!"

Bursting into a fit of laughter, he began to chuckle, and in response Lina smushed a handful of snow into his face. She pouted, scrunching her nose up in slight annoyance as he laughed even harder, his eyes pressed shut and smile wide.

Pulling her down onto the snow next to him, they both laid on the soft blanket of white, staring up into the grey, cloudy abyss above them. Sound was muffled and the light was harsh, and Lina closed her eyes as a feeling of peace washed over her, and the pair stayed like that for a while. 

LINA POV

I yawned and sat up, glancing around the courtyard. It was empty, the powdered snow the only company aside from Garreth. He clambered up, offering his hand

"Hold on," he muttered, brushing something off my cheek with his thumb.

"What was it?" I asked.

"Just some soil, I think? Only Merlin knows how that got there, though," he responded. His hand lingered on my face as our gaze locked, and suddenly we felt close. Very close. I swallowed hard, and I felt his eyes flicker down to my lips and back up to my eyes, speeding my breathing up. Throbs emanated from my heart so loud I was sure he could hear them as the gap between us slowly closed.

I was expecting the kiss, yet why was it so... unexpected?

It was a breath of fresh air; his lips crushed against mine messily, and fireworks erupted in my stomach as his thumb traced lines across my cheekbone. I could feel the held-back hunger that hid behind his kiss, sitting heavily in my heart, and I sharply drew in a small burst of air through my nose.

He pulled away first, his hand dropping down to his side. "Merlins beard, I am so so sorry Lina I shouldn't-"

"Garreth."

"-have done that, and if you don't want to-"

Cutting him short, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back in, pressing his lips to mine once more. I wasn't sure what came over me. He stood awkwardly for a second or two, before his hands slid around the side of my waist, resting over my hip gently. Melting into the kiss, my lashes fluttered closed, solely absorbing the moment. Garreth's lips tasted like peppermint, and an overwhelming sense of happiness and something like excitement found its way into my heart and we both began to smile. Pressing our foreheads together, a grin erupted on my face as the kiss finished. I giggled slightly at the absurdity of it all.  

Garreth scratched the back of his neck, his face flushed yet smiling - either from the cold or our kiss, but probably both. "So I guess our library plans are cancelled?" he asked.

"Probably. I have arithmancy next, and- oh shit! I haven't done the homework!" I suddenly realised, going into slight panic mode. "What am I going to do? I've never missed homework before!"

He smiled slightly, his eyes softening. "What?" I asked. "I'm stressed now!"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Lina. I promise."

"I doubt it, but there's not much I can do now. I guess I'll see you later then?"

"Uh, yeah, see you later!"

As I walked away, the stupidest grin stuck to my face. I guess there wasn't much to be confused about any more.