Persuasive

thirty-eight

"Have you ever apparated?"

I shot my head towards him and widened my eyes.

"Please don't tell me we're apparating, it's so painful." I muttered.

"Guess where we're going." he smiled and raised his eyebrows at me.

"Hmm.. Paris? No no, maybe you're taking me to the Bahamas-"

"Uh who do you think I am? We're going to New York." he stated as he rested his arm around my shoulder.

"New York is fine too."

We continued walking as far away as we could from Hogwarts, until finally we've made it to a random hill by the Great Lake and we climbed up. I looked back up at the sky and kept dashed my eyes between every star, focusing on the constellations. We stood for a long moment, not saying a word. Simply just admiring the clear sky and the vivid stars that shone above us. It felt nice being up here with him, with no worries. Just us, and a billion stars.

"Have you ever been?" he pondered as he gazed up at the sky.

I nodded my head no and gazed back at him. "Have you?"

"Never had anyone to go with."

"You could've went alone?"

"I was waiting to go with the right person." he replied.

I smirked at him and raised my eyebrows. "Could you say that again I didn't hear you-"

"Shut up." he snickered as he rolled his tongue to the inside of his cheek.

He stepped closer to me, keeping his eyes glued to mine as we stood two feet away from each other.

"Ready?" he questioned as he held out his arm for me to grab.

I nodded my head and clinged our arms together, quickly feeling ourselves twist and turn into blackness. I have to say, it was much less painful than when I apparated with Draco. In the next second, we arrived in front of a huge building so tall that the top half was covered by clouds.

"What the fuck!" I blurted as I glared up at the building.

My voice was overpowered by the sound of loud automobiles passing by, and the chatter of muggles walking freely around the city.

"It's 2 am why the fuck are people up right now?" I chuckled as I grabbed on to Tom's arm.

"It's New York, nobody sleeps." he called out to me, but I couldn't really hear him from how loud it was.

We sauntered through New York, paying close attention to how muggles acted in the notorious city. The way they dressed, spoke to one another like they had zero manners. This city was full of junkies and imbeciles, and the air was filled with pollution and bitter coldness.

"Can we go to the Bahamas now?" I snickered as I glared at Tom while we were walking side by side.

"Oh come on, it isn't that bad. Come with me." he smirked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him.

We hurried through every corner and every street, passing by all of the buildings as our hands were interlocked. The bitter air brushed up against my face and sent shivers down my spine from how freezing it was. The feeling of his hand in mine was the only source of warmth, otherwise I would've frozen to death by now.

It felt magical, unreal, coasting through the city with him like we were the only people there. Watching all of the lights in the buildings and hearing the music coming from the huge speakers placed throughout the city. We laughed and shouted loud enough for the whole city to hear us, not having a care in the world.