Living in London (A marauders era story)

10- A pictures worth 1000 words.

Nash and Finn arrived back into their dorm building late, one snowy November, evening. Clattering and clambering back into Nash's dorm with red tinted cheeks hauling heavy shopping bags and laughing until their stomachs hurt. Shaking snow from their hair, their clothes and their bags.

Nash dropped hers first as she, rather unceremoniously, proceeded to collapse backwards onto her bed, laying there as she regained her breath through staggered giggles.

Finn followed her lead and dropped his own bags then his guitar case was (as gently as possible) propped against the drawers and he too collapsed onto her bed.

His long legs hung lamely over the edge as hers came up to her chest, she curled herself up into a ball and rolled onto her side to look at his profile in the dim lamp light.

The mountain of pillows under them made the bed lump and bump bellow them as they lay there gasping back their breath from the heavy set of stairs and the laughter that had robbed them of their voices.

"Ahh.....haha....ahhh....I...it hurts to laugh now." She managed to wheeze out. "Not my fault you slipped, that was comedy gold." He chuckled back holding his side as if winded.

"What a gentleman you are. A lady slips in front of you and all you do is laugh at her."
"What lady."
"Uh!" She pulled a pillow from behind her and thwacked him with it hard in the chest.

"Ah! Please, you laughed too." He argued back picking up one of her throw pillows too now and tossing it back at her. "Yeah only because you looked like a shitty Santa with that snow beard you had going on." She chuckled back.

"Uhhhhh....i feel like I've been beaten." He remarked and her laugh came out harsh and cold, like it stung on its way out. "Haha.....laughing and stairs....a terrible combination."

"We should really start our assignments." He reminded her and she groaned into the pillow she now dragged up over her face. "Naaaaaashhhh." He teased through a drawl. "Uhhhh come on then." After a moment she sat up slowly.

As she stood up beside him Finn's eyes wandered around her room for the hundredth time since he'd met her. He slowly dragged his gaze across each small trinket and decoration across her desk until he caught sight of a small, ornate, antique photo frame with a black and white photo of three stern-looking children inside.

He knew instantly who the young girl in the middle was. She may have only been about ten in the picture but the nine-year interim had not taken away much of her facial features.

But that version of Nashira looked like she had never smiled and that couldn't be his Nash, the girl currently spluttering and coughing between every barked out breath. Wheezing between jagged, deep inhales.

"Is that you and your brothers? I've not noticed that one before." He asked and she span back around to face him from where she had busied herself putting away her shopping bags of Christmas presents.

"Oh, yeah- that's them." She replied slightly cagey with her tone.

All three children had the exact same ink-black hair and piercing, stormy eyes. The two boys' slightly lighter than their sister's. Or as light as the black and white would permit.

"They look just like you." He told her and she cracked a small smile. "I always looked more like our cousin as we grew....i have no idea what they look like now...but I hope Reggie looks more like Sirius than our father." She told him and he cracked a smile back. "I think they look a lot like you still." He assured.