Chapter 4
“He won’t get mad at you?” I asked as he turned down a seemingly random corridor.
He snorted, “Give it an hour or two, he has a session with that ‘Harry’ kid, he’ll be too wrapped up in that.”
I became worried as we descended down a flight of stairs, “Where are you taking me?” He did a little skip down the hall, “Hogsmeade, of course, surely you’ve heard of it from the other students?”
“I have, it’s Hogsmeade weekend right now, but I don’t have a pass, and neither do you. Won’t we get caught?”
He laughed, “Think of the whole ‘pass’ thing as a suggestion. We, my friend, are taking a shortcut.” He turned into a small room and lifted a long board. “After you, ma’am,” he said with mock courtesy. I shook my head, “You first.”
He shrugged and dropped into the empty space under it. He disappeared into the pitch-black darkness below the floor.
“It’s a tiny drop, I promise!” he called. “How much?” I asked, afraid, “Bout four cubits!” He said. “What in the hell is a cubit?” I asked.
“Not much!” he encouraged, now jump!”
I sat down and braced myself on the edge. “Here I go…” I called.
I thought it would be like a meter- at most nope.
A short scream escaped my mouth before colliding with a warm body. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” He asked. The cave was pitch-black. I could feel one of his arms scooped under my legs and the other supporting my back. Holding gently but firmly. I blushed in the darkness. “No, it was awful.”
“Oh, please,” he said. His warm breath tickled my cheek. My face was on fire, I kicked my feet, “Put me down!” I demanded. Gently, he did. I dusted off my skirt. “Which way?”
Silence. “I’m pretty sure it's this way he said.” He must have been pointing somewhere because I just stood there, crickets chirping. “Oh,” he said, probably realizing how stupid that was. He grabbed my hand. Twining our fingers, he said, “Don’t let go.”
For a while, he just pulled me along. It felt like hours, but it was probably only minutes. He halted suddenly, my chin bumping into his shoulder.
“There’s a ladder,” he said, “I’ll go up it first, and then help you.” His grip released on my hand. I hadn’t realized how hard I was gripping it. I felt alone, floating, untethered for a moment as he climbed the ladder. Then, a shard of light above me as he lifted a tile in the ceiling.
I squinted, my eyes had become so used to the dark, that the light was harsh. “All clear,” he whispered. “Come up.”
I climbed the ladder. The rungs were old and rusted, digging into my palms. When I was near the top he grabbed my hand and hoisted me up onto the floor with surprising strength. I fell on top of him and my face crashed into his chest. “S-sorry” I stammered. I tried to get up but his body locked around me. “Wha-” he put a finger to my lips. He lifted his head a bit.
Oh. He’s watching to see if anyone’s around so they don’t see us sneaking out.
He placed a hand on my lower back to hold me still. His thighs tautly pressed to my hips. I feel so exposed, my face and torso pressed into him. I look up. His face betrays nothing, deep red eyes focused on the distance, dark brown hair dipping into them. He finally relaxed, “The store owner is gone now.” he whispered, “you can-” he stopped mid-sentence, realizing how close we were.
I blushed, “Sorry, um-,” I pulled myself up, out of his embrace. He turned his face around and ruffled his hair, “Uh, what do you think? Worth falling?” I let out a quiet laugh, “We’ll have to see.”
I looked around the shop, we were in the storage section of a candy shop. He leads me to a back door. The sky was beginning to darken, and the cold November air pierced my robe, chilling me to the bone.
“Holy fUCK,” he whisper-screamed. He rubbed his arms and turned to me, “Can I borrow your robe?”
I nod and slide it off my shoulders, he fastens it around his body. As we walk out of the shop I shiver. He notices and looks me up and down, guilt shadowing his eyes. He started to take the robe off.
“Stop”, I said, “You need it more than I do.”
“Nonsense!” he said, “We can share!”
He draped the right side of the robe over my shoulders. I squirmed away, “It’s too small.” I complained. Not bothered by my complaint, he pulled the robe over me again and pressed my body close to his. “See!” he looked down at me, “I can make it work.”
We walked on like that together for a few minutes. Huddled together. Sharing body heat. So close we could feel each other’s hearts.
At last, we come to a more bustling part of the town, everyone there is clearly having a good time, dancing, laughing, and talking.
“You said you wanted to buy a jacket?” I asked. He nods, “yeah… I don’t suppose you have any money?”
I curse, I forgot all about that. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.” He shrugs, “It's alright, I’m just glad I got out-”
“Is that you?” comes a familiar voice. I whirl around to see Luna Lovegood with a redheaded girl. “I didn’t know you were coming”, Luna said. I feel him tense next to me. “Yeah,” I said, “It was a last-minute decision.”
Lunna turned to the redheaded girl, “this is the person I was telling you about,” she tells her. She turns back to me, “This is Ginny, who’s your friend?”
“Oh- um-”
“Hatter.” He said beside me, “That’s my last name.” Ginny nods, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
He shrugs, “Big school.”
Ginny tilts her head, looking at me now, “I heard you’re a transfer student, do you need any money?” Embarrassed, I shake my head, “No, tha-”
“Yes.” He said beside me, “Ignore her, she’s too kind.” I watch in horror as Luna dumps coins into his hands. “Nice to meet you!” he calls after them as they walk away talking. I sink to the ground and burst out laughing.
“What?” he asks, confused. Wheezing, I laughed, “You said your last name was Hatter? I can’t believe you!”
He grinned sheepishly, “It was the best I could do off the top of my head.” I continue laughing, he rolls his eyes and holds out his hand to pull me off the ground. “Come on,” I laugh, “Let’s get you that jacket.”
~to be continued~