Cards, Fire & Cinnamon - F.WEASLEY

10

───── ❝ Christmas Eve❞ ─────

After several days of lounging about the frostbitten castle, with Harry getting destroyed at wizard chess far too many times to count, it was Christmas Eve. Harry and Cass went down for lunch and like all the days before, they sat, talked and ate delicious food. She had been learning a lot about him and with every day the feelings that she had deepened slightly.

They were outside, admiring the castle covered in snow and the skeleton looking trees when Harry broke the very comfortable silence. "So I was thinking..."

"Dangerous," she interrupted with a laugh.

"Oh come on! I thought I had a pretty good idea," he laughed through his tone was highly defensive.

She smiled at him, "Let's hear it then Potter."

"Since everyone else is gone and no one is expecting us to be anywhere, would you want to go and have our own private dinner?" he asked, turning all his attention to her.

Her head picked up intrigue, it sounded like an amazing idea. Cass had gotten a little bit bored with their usual routine, this seemed like something that would break it for a few hours at least. "And where would this take place?"

"That's what you'll have to find out," he replied, a grin forming on his face.

"Okay, I'm officially intrigued."

"Meet me at the quidditch stadium in two hours," he said before he turned and ran off in the other direction.

"Harry!" She called after him but got no response. Instead she laughed, breath forming a mist in front of her, as she watched him run away from her. He looked to be loving every moment of it. She walked back to her common room alone and spent the time reading in front of the fire, trying to warm her frostbitten fingers. The two hours passed faster than a flash of lightning. She jumped up, grabbed her coat and scarf then headed out to the Quidditch pitch.

When she arrived, Harry had his broom in his hand which only added to her intrigue as she approached him. "So, where are we going?" She asked, rocking back on her feet slightly.

"You've just got to wait a little longer, I promise," he replied with a slight laugh as she looked at him with fake anger. Cass looked around for any hint of what was going to occur this evening. "To get to our destination we have to travel a little." He smiled then stepped onto his broom, gesturing for her to sit behind him. Cass hadn't been on a broom for a good year and a half, given the fact that she had gotten banned from the quidditch team at her old school. She just got a little too enthusiastic on the pitch, or so she would say anyway. "Are you coming or?" Harry asked, looking back at her when he noticed her apprehension.

"It's been a long time since I've been on one of these," she laughed as she sat down behind him.

"You better hold on tight then," he flirted, causing her to scoff loudly. Nevertheless, she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle. Harry proceeded to kick off the ground and moments later they were up in the air, going so fast that the snowflakes couldn't land on them. Cass looked around her, taking a deep breath of the frosty air as she swung her head back. She loved the feeling of the wind through her hair as it flowed over the curvatures in her face. I forgot how freeing this felt. "You doing okay back there?" Harry asked as he ducked under the branches of a particularly tall tree.

"Definitely," she laughed. A genuine happy laugh that had a smile plastered on his face. They continued flying until they reached the top of a snow-covered hill. The broom was lent against a tree and Cass followed as Harry walked towards another fur tree. He lifted one of the branches and gestured for her to walk through. She ducked underneath and walked through, all the way to the edge of the cliff. She found a small picnic for two, complete with pillows, blankets and steaming piles of warm food.