The blissfully hot summer holiday had ended, with a slow bleed into autumn , surrendering to the darkness of winter...of ice and frost , of snow and hail.
First came Ice.Like shards of a shattered mirror , icicles adorned the skeletons of gnarled trees , scattering calisascopic rays of light , each one sharper than the last.Like dangling , deadly , daggers , silver swords or killers knives.Poised and ready to slice through an oblivious victim below .Second came Frost,silently , slyly , sneakily .Infiltrating homes through exposed nooks and crannies , climbing up drainpipes .Snuffing out lingering flames , scratching at your door , leaving it's intricately patterned fingerprints against your window panes.Third came snow , heavy , pounding , relentless days of it.It began as dark , rumbling , thundering clouds , a thick blanket that blocked out the light and infected the rest of the sky until there was nothing but black.Then three days of endless white , exploding from the clouds .Clumps of wet flakes hammering down .Until it stuck , branches stooping low with the weight of it. Like hags .The blizzard harsh and punishing.The haunting howl slicing through sleep , shaking homes and distinguishing fireplaces.Wild , untamed nature.Leaving us imprisoned.Rifts of white slumped against doorways.A biting , stinging , blinding wind that screamed with hysteria.Then it stopped.
Giving away to deafening silence.
The world was white.And glittering , and new.Like a blank page , ready to have a story inked upon.
Untouched , undisturbed and beautiful...The sky had parted , the lingering blackness and the fresh white mist curved around each other , one never spilling into the other , except for two perfect circles at the head of each curve.Opposite ends , yet together they created one large symbolic circumference.Everything perfectly in balance.Two halves co existing.
Winter was finally here.Beckoning for me , Whispering ,Calling , Reaching...Teasing ....Snatching , Shouting ! , Thrashing ! Screaming -
I shot awake...the biting cold slithered away as my blue toes retreated under the safety of the covers , the whirling carousel of nightmares and dreams and - something in between here -there and random ideas tumbling into some order - a subtle awareness of who I am - where I am .Came under the broken flow of disjointed thoughts with their loose connections and entangled grogginess , until my eyes adjusted .Blinking away sleep rapidly , until the room came into shivering focus...
Pansy Parkinson's bedroom.
Four pieces of abused furniture cramped into one absurdly tiny room . Muggle Polaroid's collaged the jade green wall behind her dresser.Ones of younger me and her and us and Ebony and Pansy and her family.Some were faded , others vibrant and new.The only remaining evidence of our wild , intoxicated summer and some of September spent in and around Pan's home town.Her anorexic wardrobe , half empty and regurgitating sickening bile yellows and snot green clothes all over her uncarpeted floor ...her wooden bookcase , one shelf slanted , with leather bound books stuffed into it until it brimmed and spilt out , piling up high in towers of pages and dust.Then finally the bed.Sheets that could've been a fresh mint green in their former life , now faded and stained , cast over the rusted metal frame , tangled around limbs and exposing its stuffing , kicked and stretched until it lay limp over a sleeping body.It looked like a bloody crime scene.
I Huddled under the warm covers , dressed in Pan's best , woolly green jumper. I glanced at my sleeping friend.Her childish black bob replaced with light brunette hair , tangled over her poor pillow.A light sprinkle of cute freckles across her flared nose and wide cheek bones.Short eyelashes fluttering as she slept , trapped in some deep slumber.My strappy red top crisscrossed over her broad shoulders and cut low over her generous bust.She snorted , like a piglet and rolled over , right into my lap...cuddling into me before settling again.Her rosey cheek was warm against my pale thigh , hot breath tickling my knee.Giggling groggily , I skittered my black nails across her flat nose , causing her to startle and wake .
"Morning Pan"
I smirked.She gasped and slapped my hand away , her green-brown eyes flashing like dirty emeralds-she snatched at my shoulders in her frenzy and we toppled over.Me landing beneath her.
"Bloody hell !" She panted , pinning me down.Hair plastered to her chin by drool.
My tired laugh filled the room as she sat on top of me , recovering from her rude awakening.
"Ivory Star you'll be the death of me " she sighed , sliding off me .Sleep still crippling my joints I stretched - happy to be free of her and reclined back into the bedding.
"Darling , you definitely shouldn't have ate that third slice of cake , or that fifth shot ...did we chug vodka at one point ? " I joked.We wrestled playfully for a few minutes before collapsing back onto the mattress , our hangovers beating us both.Pan's head nestled under my chin , her hand found mine and stroked it lightly , thoughtfully.
"Ivy"
"Mmmhmm ? "
"I think I may have ripped your top" she confessed apologetically.
I rolled my eyes , when did she never not rip something of mine !
She gazed up at me , for a moment we simply looked at one another , Before I broke eye contact and rolled away.
Towards the calling window , where an icy chill emanated from a crack in the thick glass , I traced the swirling patterns of lingering morning frost before peeking out .To the world veiled in white .An icy clarity hit my fuzzy brain.
"Mums gonna start breakfast soon , better throw summet on Ivy" she rolled off the squeaking bed and dug around.Throwing me a pair of short shorts.Her room was a bomb site . Everything we'd worn , partied in , thrown up in , climbed over gates in , ran from Muggle police in all cast aside in exactly the same puddles we'd stepped out of.Before crawling into bed.
We were dressed and awake by the time Pan's mum had make us breakfast , steaming waffles and hot chocolate ready.With a side order of pills for Pan's hangover.
Amateur
"Baby , have you seen your Father ? , he left last night and didn't come home" Pan's Mum asked as she served up more golden delights.Pan stiffened over her waffles.
My eyes flitted between them quietly.
"Mum have you taken your meds this morning ? , I left them out on the side as usual" Pansy frowned , chasing a rouge piece round her plate.
"Your final year girls ! Oh how exciting , I can't wait to see you two in your graduation robes ! " Exploded Miss Parkinson suddenly.Before returning into the kitchen and popping her pills.Muttering incoherently.
"She's been fine all summer" Pansy murmured , in between hot mouthfuls.
"Must be something wrong with the meds again Pan , she hasn't asked about your Father for months"
"I'll have to speak to McGonagall again"
Pan's family had a gruesome history.She was a half-blood, - originally I thought her to be a pure blood .
Born in Ireland , Its rumoured she's a descendent of Perseus Parkinson, a former Minister for Magic. Her family was listed as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.But after her Father was killed in a gory , magical murder , mixed up with the ministry and the Le Strange family.Their reputation shattered .They were cast out by the sacred 28 society quickly after.This , as unconventional as it may be was somewhat Pansy's claim to fame.
Because her father married a muggle ,Pan's mom , the death had to be covered up .As suicide.For her moms sake.Dumbledore himself had to step in and Pansy's Mum , depressed , grieving and half deranged had to be partially Obliviated .Which meant she didn't remember anything of her husbands grim death or anything magically inclined.The Wizarding world had been erased from her fractured mind.Making it tricky for us , two rebellious teenage witches.
Now Professor McGonagall herself was in charge of providing Pan with magical medication .To continue the strength of the original obliviate spell .By keeping a steady , little and often stream of it in her blood.The pills were mixed with other muggle medicines.Anti-depressants , Xanax and Melatonin.And given to Miss Pammy Parkinson.She now resembled a human being.
But sometimes , little things Managed to slip through the cracks...of course all magic had its loopholes.
"If Ivy don't get expelled" Commented Pan . I kicked her under the table .
It was late by the time we'd finished packing , ready for tomorrow night.I had lived at Pan's for the entirety of the summer holidays, meaning I'd accumulated a lot of stuff . We had to scrub sick out of some partied- to - hard dresses.Thankfully I'd been organised and bought all my school stuff before the holidays from Diagon alley.Pan had waited last minute and even recycled some stuff from last term.This made me sigh.
Naturally...
Diagon Alley had been particularly low on magical quills this year , so I found a long , black feather myself and applied it to my quill pen , then enchanted it to change the ink colour .It was a pretty thing.
"That's everything ! " Pan huffed , slamming her bulging case closed.
"If you folded everything you wouldn't have to sit on it every year" I suggested parentally.
"We don't have to sit on it every year "
We both ended up sitting on the case.