TOGETHER (A HARRY POTTER LOVE STORY) 4

43

MILLIE'S POV:

I awoke the next morning on Christmas day in the warmest of moods I'd felt in a while. Mione, Lyra, Elwood, Austin and I had stayed up late last night in the kitchens with blankets and cushions, drinking hot chocolates and eating so many mince pies I was still full up now. I had barely thought about Tarek once, and definitely did not care whether he had been angry at me for not telling him where I'd been.

Mione and I met up with Lyra, Elwood and Austin in the Great Hall for breakfast, which consisted of at least a hundred piles of every typical food in an English Breakfast, and countless racks of toast and waffles, whilst soothing sounds of traditional carols bounced from wall to wall, sung heartily by the Hogwarts ghosts. Once I'd felt I was fuelled enough for a break-up, I thanked my friends gratefully, who cheered me on with encouraging beams, before standing up and leaving the Hall, nerves bubbling in my stomach. The same hesitant questions were circling my head like a low hum, asking myself whether this was the right decision, wondering how I'd been so stupid to have not seen the way he'd treated me before...

Exiting the heated castle through the front oak doors, the frost hitting my skin immediately made me realise that some sort of warming spell must have been placed on the inside of the castle to heat the endless stone corridors, for I hurriedly pulled my gloves from my pocket and slipped them onto both hands, wrapping my scarf even tighter around my neck.

Despite the cold weather, as the powdery snow hit my shoes as I walked, a sort of internal warmth flooded through me, turning my face contently towards the low, winter sun. Smiling to myself, I passed various groups of students building snowmen, and creating snow angels, until I reached a large clearing, in which the largest group of students I had seen so far had positioned themselves, all involved in an apparently massive snowball fight, with some people even levitating giant snowballs with their wands to drop on their friend's heads. Leaning against a snow-covered tree, I crossed my arms for further warmth as I spotted Harry right in the midst of it all, his familiar cheeky grin stretched on his face as he sent a particularly large snow ball flying through the air right at Seamus's back, who screamed girlishly, before sweeping one up from the floor himself and launching one back equally as hard at the laughing boy, who yelped, dodging it right at the last moment, short bursts of excited shouts leaving his mouth every few seconds, pushing his dark hair from his eyes.

My daydream was disrupted as a tall figure passed me and sent me a quick wave. Without thinking, I pushed myself off the tree, calling after him, "Tarek! Wait!"

Tarek turned, eyebrows raised as I caught up with him, shaking his head. "What?"

"Merry Christmas!" I greeted automatically, stomach once more exploding with a horrid sickness as I dug my nails into my palm. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Later, babe, I've got stuff to do," he muttered, letting out a sigh at this apparently jarring suggestion. "I'll see you tonight, yeah? Better look hot..."

And with barely a glance in my direction, he spun on his heel, leaving me staring after him with an incredulous expression. My eyes narrowed, embarrassment transitioning to anger in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, you will see me tonight, you dickhead..." I said to myself fiercely, shaking my head. "And yes I bloody will look hot-AA-!"

I released a loud yelp, which was quickly replaced with an uncontrollable laugh as I realised who had swung me over their shoulder. Harry's arm was over the back of my thighs holding me securely as he strolled through the snow ball fight, my hands curled into fists as I ordered him fiercely to put me down, to no avail - it wasn't until we'd reached the complete other side of the clearing that he allowed me to slip back down to earth, a triumphant smile on his face as our eyes met. My stomach flipped, and anxious thoughts flooded my mind as I wondered how awkward this was about to be after last night-