September 21st, 1890 — Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch

The beginning of the school year had played out differently than the ones before where quidditch was concerned. The lack of beaters meant the regular motions of practice had to be altered to fit the new style of the game—and he'd happened to be Gryffindor's captain the year it all took place. Previous years had been spent dreaming of what it would be like to lead the team and develop new play strategies, but the lack of bludgers made it all very... boring. At least there was an advantage of being a chaser in the years where chasers mattered that much more.

He'd asked everyone to meet that day after classes had concluded, but he'd specifically asked Sloane to meet him fifteen minutes earlier. It had only been two days since they'd confessed to fancying each other, but those two days had gone by so slow. He'd never realized how difficult it was to find alone time until he was all too conscious of the matrons, professors, and other students nearby every time he interacted with her. The best way to spend time with her was obviously to use what privileges he had. He doubted she'd mind.

He was standing against the wall outside the Gryffindor locker room, arms crossed against his chest, when she arrived. His face lit up and he stepped off the wall, his arms dropping to his side.

"You're late," he teased. As if he should be surprised. He looked around with feigned innocence, as if Maddy or Hestia would pop out of the shadows at any minute. "And it seems everyone else is, too," he added with a conspiratorial glance in her direction.

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Sloane Bixby

  

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The last couple days had been... odd to say the least. Sloane felt a little as if she were floating on some precarious cloud that could suddenly drop her at any moment. It didn't help that she hadn't been able to get any time with Cam on their own in the meantime. There was always someone around, friends, professors, prefects. She wasn't really complaining, not about the friends being around anyway, but it was funny how they used to find themselves with spare moments quite often and now that they wanted them, it didn't seem to happen.

With practice ahead this afternoon, Sloane had donned her practice gear in the dorm and headed down to the pitch at the time Cam had asked. It was doubly odd with him as captain now, though she was certainly relieved by that. Having to take orders from him was weird though.

She'd remembered to turn the ends of her braid pink for practice, knowing Cam had a soft spot for the color. Of course now whenever she caught herself daydreaming about him, it naturally turned pink anyway and she had to change it back purposefully. Nothing quite like being a walking mood stone. Sloane slung her broom over her shoulder and practically skipped to the pitch, knowing she was a few minutes late, but hoping it wouldn't be held against her, only to find she was the only one who'd arrived.

"Splash was being a pest, I had to extricate her from a vase in the common room on my way out." The cat was huge, she did not fit where she tried to most of the time. "Where's everybody else?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, though it was hard to miss the look he gave her; she jsut didn't know what it meant.

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Of course it was Splash. If the kitten hadn't been a nightmare before, it certainly was now that it was growing—but he couldn't think about that right now. Not with Sloane here, and with the clock ticking before one of the others arrived for practice. He shrugged, pretending not to know, but keeping the unconvincing was fun for only a short time.

"I may have given them the wrong time. I'm not sure," he said, taking a step towards her. Figuring out how to navigate their feelings with the boundaries naturally set by their age and circumstance, especially when those feelings overlapped with three years of friendship, was a difficult task, but it would hopefully be easier to do with a few extra minutes of alone time. "I think I told them to be here in, hmm..." He finally came to stand in front of her and helped pull the broomstick off her shoulder. He tossed it to the ground near his own before turning to smile at her. "Fifteen minutes or so? I've never been too good at planning." It wasn't much time, but he hadn't wanted to draw any unwanted attention. Maybe he should have asked them to come a little later.

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With furrowed brows, she watched him carefully as what he was insinuating slowly dawned on her. Oh. Ohhh. Her smile was slow and there was a hint of a blush on her cheeks, but she finally understood what he meant after a moment.

She watched her broom get tossed to the ground beside his and the smile of his had butterflies erupting in her stomach. Casually she held her hands behind her back, rocking on the balls of her feet a couple times as she looked up at him. "Hmm, you might want to get better at that, Captain." Her suggestion had two meanings; one of course for practices, but they also need to work on their coordination for moments like this. Points to him for getting them a few to themselves now, though.

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His smile mirrored her own, his smile spreading as he realized that she understood his meaning. He glanced down at their feet, almost embarrassed. He hoped she didn't think he was being too forward—unless she liked that. Her cheeks were pink, and, Merlin, the way she'd said "captain" made his own cheeks turn pink, but he was still nervous about messing it up by being too... himself.

He tentatively reached out and pulled her arms out from behind her back, his hands sliding down her arms until he held her hands in his. "Mm, I might need your help with that. You know me," he said, feeling his own thrumming heartbeat as he squeezed her hands. He glanced down at her lips and back at her eyes, seeking something—affirmation, maybe. Permission. A sign that she wanted it to, and that he hadn't somehow been mistaken when she'd said she liked him.

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Pressing her lips together to smother the grin that threatened to take over her whole face, Sloane had to bit her lip to really pull it off. He stepped in closer and she held her breath, the feeling of his hands sliding down her arms sending a wave of nerves and anticipation through her. She worried briefly he might notice the absence of the bracelet, but she'd stowed it in her nightstand for practice like always. The last thing she wanted was for it to get lost or broken during quidditch.

She tangled her fingers in his easily enough, both relieved to have a couple minutes without anyone else around, and also very aware of how close they were. It was hard to miss the way he looked at her "How can I help you with that?" She tilted her head to the side a little, looking up at him through her lashes,

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It was impossible to think straight while she was looking at him like that, and he was almost certain she knew it. She was playing coy, and knowing that did not provide him any relief or stop his breath from quickening. He couldn't come up with a coherent answer to her question, his attention instead distracted by her blue eyes, the thousands of freckles that dusted her cheeks and nose, and the way her teeth dug into her lip. His hummed a non-answer through closed lips as untangled one hand from hers and lifted it up to her cheek, his thumb following the line of freckles down to her jawline.

And then, unable to contain the butterflies in his stomach any longer, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers—clumsily, imprecisely, and a little too rough. His eyes fluttered shut and his other hand came up to wrap around the back of her neck. The warmth from his cheeks shot down his chest and through his limbs, and all he could think was he was kissing Sloane. After two years of close friendship, one year of fighting, a summer of misadventures, and a brief period of awkwardness earlier that month, he was kissing her and she (hopefully) was not about to smack him for it.

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Sloane may have been the kind of girl who preferred to have boys as friends, despite her numerous female friends, but she wasn't immune to the rush of a crush and a first kiss. Just because she was a tomboy didn't make her any less of an absolute girl sometimes.

He finally seemed able to work up the nerve to make the first move, which she'd been banking on, her free hands had nowhere to settle as he pulled her all of the way in and closed the gap entirely. Sloane really hadn't known what to expect, but there was no denying the warmth that spread through her as he kissed her, albeit clumsily. She had to marvel at how they'd gotten here, but she wasn't complaining.

She leaned back after a moment, chuckling breathlessly just a little. Her lashes fluttered open as she turned blue eyes up on his brown once again, a rosy flush and a smile on her face. She didn't have any more of an idea how to do this right than he did, but perhaps she had just a smidge better intuition as her hands finally found a spot to rest lightly on his shoulders. She slid them up gently to frame his face, pushing up to her tiptoes to try again, just a little more gently.

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The first kiss did not last very long, but it left its impact. A giddy chuckle escaped his lips as he opened his eyes to look down at her reddened cheeks. He imagined he looked similarly, but there was no time to be embarrassed; they only had minutes, and he was determined to make it last for the two, three, however many days they would have to go before they had another moment of alone time. As her hands slid up his shoulders and onto the sides of his face, his hands naturally found their place at her waist. It was a more comfortable position than holding her face to his, and probably even more comfortable for her, too.

He kissed her again, gentle but firm. His arms snaked around her backside and he pulled her closer. He did and always would love that Sloane was so much shorter than him, but this would be much easier if he had somewhere to sit down—or if she had a stool. His chest shook with silent laughter at the mental image. As much as he would have enjoyed kissing her until one of their team-mates stumbled upon them, his neck began to ache and he had no choice but to reluctantly pull back.

"Was that okay?" he asked his voice hoarse and breathless.

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In the back of her mind she knew they needed to stop, lest one of their teammates come upon them like this and that was the end next they'd barely begun.

The height difference was also a slight problem, though she didn't feel it until after, her calves ached from trying to stay on her tiptoes. Though the fact that he'd pulled her so tight against him certainly helped. It couldn't last for as long as she liked, but that was unfortunately going to be how they had to operate for the foreseeable future. All they could do was steal a few moments here and there like this; she was already frustrated by it.

Still, a goofy sorry of smile made its way into her lips, and a breathless laugh escaped. "Perfect." She assured him. Now she had to untangle herself from him and get a bit of distance to clear her head for practice. She pushed up one last time to kiss his cheek before slipping out of his grasp to grab her broom. " I'm going to do a couple laps so I have a different reason to be all flushed." She teased with a wink as she moved past him.

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His heart ache as she moved away, and he knew he'd be spending the next day, maybe even week, thinking about the feel of her hands on his face and her lips on his own. But between those moments of alone time, he would have to continue functioning as if nothing had happened between them. He couldn't treat her any differently than Alice or Sisse. At least among his friends it was known that his friendship with Sloane was a close one, so maybe they could get by with sitting a little closer, smiling a little longer, and sharing whispers—and long as they didn't let themselves get carried away.

He smiled as she pecked his cheek, and his gaze followed her as she grabbed her broom. It would be difficult, he knew; playful as their friendship had always been, there was a line between playful and flirtatious that they'd obviously crossed, and it would be hard to dial back. Merlin. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to make it seem as though he'd already been flying.

"I'll wait for everyone else," he said, picking up his own broom and smiling at her. "If they ask, you beat me in a race and I gave up."

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The following 2 users Like Cameron Gillenwater's post:2 users Like Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Fallon Gillespie, Sloane Bixby

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