Snow Day

A/N: Wrote this after seeing Syndra's Snow Day skin on League of Legends (Looks a bit like Daphne, right?). It's kind of linked to a story I'm working on for when my Mass Effect one ends.

Enjoy, and have a good christmas season.

Harry groaned and rolled over slowly, turning to the wall as a nasty slice of sunlight beat mercilessly down on him. His blankets wrapped him in a heavenly warm cocoon, but beneath the surface he felt like a giant had just finished stomping on him. With another moan of pain he shoved off his blankets and jumped onto the cold stone floor. The chill crept up his legs and he hurriedly slipped on a pair of slippers.

Stumbling over to his bathroom he leaned into the cupboard and grabbed two hangover potions and a glass of water. His reflection looked back at him with heavily ringed eyes and a open-mouthed expression. "You look worse than the last inhabitant of these rooms, and she was a toad," sniffed the mirror primly.

He lifted a slow finger at it and jabbed the glass, glaring. "I didn't ask for your opinion, you enchanted piece of melted sand." The mirror just huffed and Harry turned away slowly, shaking his head. "Now I'm talking to glass, someone remind me why I like drinking," he mumbled, summoning a shirt and falling onto his couch with an explosive sigh.

A flick of his hand ignited the fireplace and he summoned another glass of water, downing the second potion quickly after and grimacing. The sludge slid down his throat slowly, but it burned away the headache and the dull feeling that pervaded his limbs on the way down. That was already better.

He had just gotten up and summoned his robes when someone knocked on the door. With a low curse he slipped on his teachers garb and walked over, trying in vain to smooth his hair over. The door ground across the floor with an ungodly screech as he opened it and he clapped a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth.

"You stink of alcohool and look like death turned over," said a haughty voice in front of him.

"Oh," he replied slowly. Daphne Greengrass stood in front of him with her arms crossed and her violet eyes narrowed. She was dressed in a long white fur coat and matching hat, along with a tight, knee length sweater and white feetwarmers. She looked more stunning than usual. "Wait, it's saturday isn't it?" he said snapping out of his reverie and looking her in the eye.

"Yes," she ground out. "I'm sure you would never forget about our arrangements."

He rubbed a hand on the back of his head and lifted his other palm towards her. "Nah, just had a hard night. Be right back." Ignoring her muted protests, he shut the door on her and jogged over to his room, his previous nauseousness forgetten in the moment. Of course, he was going to Hogsmead with Daphe to get the artifacts he needed through her contacts and indulge her in a swing by the Hogshead. With a flick of his hand he summoned his charmed longcoat and a scarf, slipping them on while charming away his stuble.

When he opened the door again she was glaring at him but nodded once. "That is significantly better, I would rather not appear in front of my contacts with a ruffian in my wake."

"Yeah yeah, a ruffian who could kick your ass at any time," he muttered, entering the Great Hall with her in tow. Only a few students were still trailing out of the castle and he belatedly realized it was probably far later than he at first thought. No wonder she was a little antsy.

"Do you always need to resort to such crude language, Professor?"

"I don't know, do you always have to be so arrogant?"

She huffed and slapped away Filche's dark detector. "Get off me, Filch," she snapped.

"Hey, Dumbledores orders, slytherin!" He snarled, marching forward menacingly. At his side, Miss Norris hissed, her hackles rising.

"She's with me, Filch, back off," muttered Harry, pushing the old caretaker out of the way and marching out into the crisp cool december air. The wind bit at his nose and whistled by them, carrying stray snowflakes into the sunlit sky. Before them, a vast expanse of snow touched only by a river of students, and oversized footsteps trailing from Hagrids cabin up to the castle.

"Nice view," said Harry.

"Hmm," replied Daphne, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and opened her mouth a few times without saying anything. The sunlight reflected off her golden sheets of hair and her breaths rose small white clouds.

"What?" he said after an awkward pause.

"We... we still have our arrangement for after the meeting?" she said a little too quickly.

Harry grinned and shook his head, summoning a clump of snow and tossing it towards the headmasters window. It landed against it with a loud slap and he could have sworn he saw the tip of a blue hat poke out from within. "What's this, Daphne Greengrass, the coldest girl in Slytherin has a crush?"

She stiffened and glared at him, sending a volley of snow at his legs. "I enjoy educated conversation with someone more intelligent than the average idiot. If that is what you call a crush, then yes." Somehow, Harry doubted that the rosy tinge on her pale cheeks was due only to the wind.

"Watch it with the snow, I remember saying I could kick your ass anytime."

She scoffed, looking away from him and tightening her grip on her scarf, burying her hands within its deep folds. "As if you would lower yourse-" A snowball smacked her in the face and she stopped midphrase. She froze, spluttering and coughing as wiped at it furiously with gloved hands. Her eyes widened in shock and she turned towards him slowly. "Did you just…" a vicious smile crossed her lips. "That was a mistake."

She lifted her hands and three globes of snow floated off the ground and started to circle her slowly. Harry raised an eyebrow and backed off slowly. "Uhh… ok?" She stretched her hands out and a half a dozen snowballs rocketed out towards him at breakneck speed. He barely had time to roll out of the way and send a wave of snow careening at her, two of her balls smacking him in the side.

She shrieked as it knocked her off her feet and into a snowdrift. In an instant, Harry dived at her and pinned her down in it, holding her down by her arms and glaring at her. "That was rude and unannounced," he said in a mocking voice.

She smiled sweetly, "I'm a slytherin, we're sneaky by nature."

The snow around them settled slowly, drifting down in a white cloud and catching in her eyebrows and pale hair, melting on her rosy cheeks and red lips. Harry felt his breath quicken and realized she must have been under the same effect, as she quickly averted her eyes and wriggled beneath him uselessly. "Perhaps we should move on," she said laboriously.

Harry halted any further protest by taking her chin in his gentle grip and kissing her on the lips, they were warm and soft and he felt like he was melting on the spot. Beneath him, Daphne made a sound of assent and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He could have stayed there forever, until a snowball smacked him in the back of the head. He jerked away, looking around.

A groan escaped his lips when he saw Dumbledore leaning out of his window, wand in hand and waving cheerily at the two, a pair of oversized pink mufflers on his ears. Daphne's uncharacteristic giggles interrupted him and he grinned, bursting out laughing and falling down into the snow beside her. Perhaps the day wouldn't be that bad in the end.

A/N: I didn't really go into a deep revision of the text, I just felt like posting it.