Astrid woke up surprisingly early in her dormitory, stretching out her arms after sleeping in a restful position for so long. She flung her legs over the side of the bed, touching the cold stone floor sending chills through her body. She looked around at her dormmates who were all currently still sleeping tangled in their blankets. She quietly made her way over to her trunk where she picked out a cosy outfit, desperate to keep herself warm on this cold winter morning. She looked out the window looking to see any signs of snowfall, to be denied immediately as the grounds were still dark and lifeless. Astrid let out a heavy sigh and pulled on some shoes to head down to the great hall for breakfast. 

She walked through the corridors, absentmindedly looking at all the paintings just waking up from their night’s rest. As she was turning into the great hall, two ginger-haired boys dashed past her. She stopped in shock for a second then shook her head chuckling while heading over to the Gryffindor table. Astrid sat down next to a yawning Charlie who was grabbing a muffin.

“Mornin’ Astrid,” Bill said as he too reached for a muffin

“Mornin’ Bill, Charlie,” She replied nudging Charlie in the shoulder, “Did you boys get any sleep last night? She asked knowing damn well, Bill was up all night trying to keep Charlie from getting hurt in the forest.

“Aw look at the Bill, she is worried about us.” He cooed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She could feel her face heat up a little. 

“Well, of course, I am with you boys running around the forest all night.” She replied grabbing an apple, “Besides who knows, you might run into a Chimaera like Hagrid did last week.”

“Yeah well, Hagrid was looking for it wasn’t he?” Bill remarked

“Yeah she guess so,” She mumbled, biting into her apple

“Anyways, are you planning on going to Hogsmead today?” Charlie asked

“That’s today?” She expressed “Blimey Snape’s potions essay must’ve really gotten to my head. But yeah I guess I am, want me to ride in the same cabin as you?”

“Of course we do! Its the whole reason Charlie asked.” Bill said chuckling

Soon enough, it was time to get onto the train to Hogsmead. Andre ran up to them and embraced them all in a tight hug.

“Hey Andre.” They all said as they were released from the hug. 

“Sitting with us in the cabin, yeah?” Andre asked

“Of course!” Astrid replied

The four of them made their way into the cabin. Bill and I sitting on one side as Charlie and Andre sat in front of them. Charlie gave a small sour look at Bill as he reluctantly sat by Andre. Astrid gave him a confused look but he didn’t reply. Her attention soon shifted as the boys began talking about their many nights in the forest. The 30-minute train ride always seemed short with them, since their conversations very always fun and entertaining. Once the train stopped Charlie raced Bill to the station as Andre and Astrid walked out chuckling. They met up with Charlie and Bill by The Hogs Head as she pulled her hat out of her pocket and pulled it over her head. The boys began walking towards Honeydukes. Astrid quickly followed suit walking behind them not wanting to get thrown into the snow by Bill, as he had done so their last Hogsmead trip. Charlie fell behind after they passed Puddifoot’s tea shop. 

“Hey, Charles,” She said giving him a smile

“Hey, Astrid I- where is your scarf?” He asked stopping

She looked at him quizzically. “My scarf? Isn’t it…?” She gently placed her hand to her neck to find she had left it on the train. “Dammit… it’s on the train. I should probably go get it…” She turned to head back to the train when Charlie stopped her. He had already taken off his scarf and was wrapping it around her neck. 

“I’ll be fine.” He said sincerely, knowing she was going to protest. She let out a heavy sigh, emitting a cloud of mist, then smiled up at him. “Thank you, Charlie.”

She got caught up in his eyes for a while until she realized Bill and Andre had left them.

“Charlie, they left us, Come on, let’s go catch up to them.” She was quick to grab his hand and drag him through the crowd to find them.

They finally reached Andre’s favourite shop. “You think Andre pressured Bill to come here?” She asked Charlie

“Probably, I doubt Andre would be able to breathe without going to Gladrags every Hogsmead trip,” He said chuckling. 

They went inside to find that neither Bill nor Andre was there. 

“Well, where are they then?” She mumbled

“Maybe they fancied a butterbeer,” Charlie said already bringing her to the door. 

With her hand still held in his, they made their way through the bustling crowd. They raced to The Three Broomsticks when she caught a glimpse of red hair going through the door. 

“Charlie, I think I saw Bill,” She said pointing to the door at the pub. Before he could answer she started to dash toward the pub door. 

“Hey! Wait-” 

Before Charlie could properly protect, she slipped on some of the frozen ground and landed straight on her arse. She could hear stifled laughter behind her.

“Not funny Charles” She pouts, this only made him laugh a little louder.

“Here”

She looked up and saw his other hand was extended to help her up. 

“Thanks,” She murmured, taking his hand and jumped to her feet. She looked up to see Charlie’s face inches from her own. Her face began to burn, realizing how close they had gotten, but for some reason, she didn’t back up. She couldn’t even bother to let go of his hands or break the silence. She kept staring into his brilliant blue eyes as he stared back into hers. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off by a cold drip on her nose. She furrowed her brows and looked up into the sky to see tiny flurries of snow, fall down upon us. She smiled from ear to ear and looked back at Charlie to see if he shared her excitement of the snow. But, she noticed he had been staring at me the whole time with a goofy grin upon his face. 

“What?” She asked, chuckling softly.

“You’re beautiful.”

This caught her off guard. “I- What?’’

In response, he let go of her hands and snaked his arms around her waist. 

“You’re beautiful, Astrid.” He pulled me closer, making me reach her arms around his neck for support. She stared into his eyes, smiling uncontrollably until he leaned down closer to her face until we were nose to nose. 

“I always thought there would be no one for me. Its always been dragons, dragons, dragons. Whenever I pictured my future in the past that was all I saw. But when we started hanging out more I couldn’t see a life that I wanted to live without you in it. I really like you, Astrid. I have since our fourth year. I’m now even more certain of it. Ast-”

She didn’t need to hear anymore. Her feelings for Charlie have always been strong and with him saying it just proved to her that she wanted to be more than just friends with him. Feeling more confident than ever, she closed the gap between them and shared a soft kiss.

Charlie stood shocked for a moment but quickly responded by kissing her back.